Chapter 25 Welcome Cadet!

.

.

.

-----------

[Your quest has been updated]

[Resko's past

Requirements:

Find out what happened to the old Village of Resko 2/?

* The Southern Wall Corps used to have a strong influence in these lands, however, due to fear and the ambition of man, they were betrayed by the people they protected, and eventually, their flames were extinguished.

Find out what happened to them 1/1

* The Village of Resko is built on top of the Catacombs of the group known as the Southern Wall Corps, its leader once slew powerful creatures, sealing those he couldn't take down.

* Even after so long, they still remain in the depths of the Catacombs…

* A particularly powerful creature is sealed within the depths of Resko, even now, its power is slowly recovering…

Stop 'it' from manifesting 1/?

Time until 'it' awakens ?

? 0/1

...

]

"What…"

'Too much is happening at once, I'm getting lost…'

'The quest advanced quite a bit in just one sitting... Is this due to my sudden Reputation increase? A reward for my past Quest?'

'Both?'

"Everyone… Can you please raise your heads first?…" He said awkwardly as he looked at the elders

'Having all of these old people act like this feels off...'

The elders and the Village head all raised their heads accordingly.

"Now that this was resolved, it's time for us to take care of the rest…" Edimund said with a smile as he looked at Testros again

The man dropped his head but soon raised it again.

"It's only a matter of time until what lies down there awakens fully, so we need to prepare for it."

Dale asked:

"How?"

'If they were unable to defeat it in the past, how are we supposed to deal with it now?'

'How do we complete this Quest? What are the keys...?'

"... To be honest with you… I can't reply to that…"

"It's nigh impossible to raise a warrior that can take on something even 'he' couldn't take."

"And we need to consider our time. How long do we have? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?..."

Edimund continue:

"Though, albeit true that it's unlikely… It isn't impossible…"

"Even if it's hard, wouldn't it be better to leave this place?"

'Considering the degree of difficulty between facing what is down there and facing what is up here, the latter option seems more reliable.'

Everyone looked at him with pitiful expressions.

"I would like that to be an option… But we are literally between a rock and a hard place. So we can only move forward." Hina said as she shook her head

"We are too old to leave, and the others aren't strong enough to lead the rest..."

"Anyway, leave that to us kid…" Edimund said as he took a deep breath

But Dale interrupted, his time to speak had come.

He had been waiting for this.

"I refuse." He said with conviction

"I came here to stay, I have no intention of letting you all clean up after this on your own… So I would like to do my part."

'This is my chance...'

'This is definitely a Quest, everything points to it…'

'Even if it isn't, this is my chance to become stronger fast!'

'Because these people are definitely filled with quests for me to do!'

'Also, with this, I can confirm what I thought before, if being good if words can truly influence Quest acquisition.'

Hearing him, the elders' eyes opened slightly. Some just smiled while others shook their heads with thin smiles.

"Kid… No, Dale. There is no need for…" Said Edimund

But Dale interrupted him once again.

"Look, I am not the kind of person to cause a problem and leave it to a bunch of old men to solve on their own…"

Misgurd protested:

"Who are you calling old, kid? I'll beat your ass!"

But he had a wide smile on his face as he complained.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself… I was lucky in the previous encounter… To be honest, as long as there was a warrior strong enough to resist the Miasma, it would've been enough to do what I did."

Dale bowed toward these old masters.

"So please, teach me!"

'Let's go, persuasion check!!!'

"..."

"..."

They looked at each other before Tina got up from her chair and said:

"Isn't this perfect Edimund? You wanted to reward the kid, and here is your chance… Now if you excuse me, I need my beauty sleep…"

"Beauty sleep? Tina, your chest isn't getting any less soggy…" Barme said with a slight grunt

/BOOM!/

The old lady suddenly exploded with energy, almost blasting poor Dale out of the room.

Thankfully, Misgurd was there to grab him.

/GLARE!!/

Tina looked at Barme with an intense gaze, to the point it felt she wanted to pierce him with her eyes...

But just as she did so, the energy disappeared as if it never existed.

All of this happened within the span of a fraction of a second…

"Ara?... I think I heard something just now?... I guess it was my imagination…"

She looked at Dale and said:

"Come visit me anytime little Dale, I'll make you some delicious apple pies as a reward for what you did fufufufu…"

And just like that, she left…

Everyone apart from Testros, Misgurd, and Edimund was sweating heavily.

"..."

'That was intense...'

Dale slowly recovered his bearings, shaking his head slightly as he looked at Barme.

He was impressed, he thought only a few of them were combatants, but it seemed everyone was rather strong… Otherwise, considering how much it affected him, a normal old man might just die.

In fact, everyone in this village seemed strong… Well, he only knew these old people personally so it might've been a wrong impression…

"Sigh, Barme, why do you want to die so badly?" Misgurd asked as he lowered Dale back onto his seat

"H-Humph!"

He opened his mouth to say more but he quickly shut it as he looked around the place, letting out a sigh of relief when he didn't notice Tina.

"Urg… This was too much for me already…" Adamante said as she got up and left the Guild

...

Soon after, Ophelia, Jyter, and Barme left, leaving Misgurd, Edimund, Testros, and Dale behind.

"Kid, your determination has been heard, so I'll make sure to help you." Misgurd said with some enthusiasm as he tapped his back lightly

"I would give you a Rank Up, but what you did today isn't on the papers and I doubt they would allow me to give you the rank I wanted on the same day you were appointed…"

"So let's go small for now."

"I'll continue to support you in your quests with information."

"My muscles may be weakening but my mind remains strong, I know a lot about all sorts of monsters and creatures around the village, so I'll make sure to keep you occupied bwahaha!"

Edimund got up from his chair and patted Dale's shoulder as well.

"There isn't much I can do..."

"Although I may be the head, it's not like I have any sort of secret plans or anything of the sort of this situation… But we'll surely think of something, just not now, everyone is still rejoicing, it wouldn't do them any good if we were to break their festive mood."

"There are some things I could have a younger person such as yourself do… But not now, get used to things and come visit me in a few days, Resko has many things buried beneath it, we may need to dig some of these up."

He looked at Testros and nodded slightly before leaving.

Misgurd also left with him, leaving Dale alone with Testros.

"Kid... Once again, thank you."

"A weight that had been on my shoulders for years has lessened considerably… Nevertheless, our problems are far from over."

"Be it our village's worsening conditions, and now this… We can only try our best, but we'll never give up."

"I don't really have the authority to do it, but since I am the last one of the Southern Wall corps, through military law, I am the commander in charge…"

He let out a dry laugh.

"I can't imagine I am saying this… Haha…"

He smiled and tapped Dale's shoulders one more time.

"For your contributions to our cause, I, Testros Palinar, Commander of the Southern Corps, am promoting you from Civilian to 1-Star cadet. Welcome to the Corps! From now on, be prepared for Hell!"

[DING!]

[Chain Quest Activated, Rise of the Southern Wall Corps]

[Restore the Southern Wall Corps to its former glory 0/?]

[Your Rank is currently: 1-Star Cadet]

"We'll see how long you can persist… Look out for heavy training and daily physical torture."

"I expect discipline and determination, with these two you will go far… Hahaha, I always wanted to say these."

He tapped Dale's shoulder one more time before he said:

"Meet me at the training arena in the morning at 6 Am… Don't worry, I won't take all of your time. But training is only effective when done every day…"

"Giving your body a quick glance, I can tell you already trained it greatly, but we'll need to put it to a test..."

"I'll train you in everything I know, it isn't much since I left the Corps as a Low ranking soldier, but I have sharpened what I knew for multiple decades… It's more than enough for now…"

"It's better if I show it to you tomorrow."

And with no extra words, he left.

"..."

Dale stayed there, standing alone in the dark room illuminated by a few candles…

"I did it…"

'It was much better than I expected… But everything went smoothly in the end…'

Dale remembered that there was a legendary sword outside and he had a silly smile on his face.

But he soon shook that off, he had things to do, and ASAP!

"... It's almost time for the auctions!"

'Time to go…'

...

Dale ran out of the Guild and saw the pathetic guys on the ground, still trying to raise the sword.

"..."

'I expected as much, at the very least this reassures me people won't be able to take it from me without causing some disturbance.'

"Excuse me..."

/Grip.../

He let out a sigh and grabbed the sword with his right hand, his muscles tensing as he raised it to his shoulder and he started to run, ignoring the gazes of the people behind him…

[Resko Reputation +1*2=2]

"Eh? Why?"

But how could the focused Dale notice the eyes of the girls behind him as he ran into the church?

Without a doubt, this was only the start of his troubles…

…

.

.

.

Notes