Volume 3 Chapter 4: Part 1: (Patreon)

Volume 3 Chapter 4: Part 1:

"Tricia! Use your magic right now!" Nigel screams out. He's holding back three kobolds with his shield. They kept pushing him back bit by bit.

Tricia continues chanting, and a giant fireball forms in front of her.

"I'm ready now!" "Goo- Dammit!" The moment Nigel let go of his tension, the kobolds took advantage! The monsters begin to push him back with great force! But,

Shing!

Two arrows came flying out, piercing the kobolds in the middle of their heads. With the two in front of Nigel losing grip, the others behind tripped!

Chance! Nigel uses all his force and pushes the kobolds back, blowing them away! He turns around to see Rena and Cyrus with their thumbs in the air.

"Tricia, shoot it now!"

"Understood!" The fireball launches towards the pack of kobolds! The moment it made contact with the kobold's skin, their bodies blazed up!

The kobolds ran around in agony. That caused the fire to spread to other kobolds around! But that isn't the end,

"Oh no!" Tricia's expression turns pale.

"Willa! Use your water magic now! They're going to burn the whole forest down!" Onyx screams.

Because of their frantic running, the kobolds slam into the trees, lighting them up. It's only a few right now. But it won't be long before the whole forest is engulfed in flames!

"O-on it!" Willa begins to chant her magic.

It'll be too long. But Onyx knows the magic will be late. "Cut the trees down!" Onyx runs over to the trees and starts slicing them down. Cutting the trees down will stop the fire from spreading more.

Cyrus and Rena did the same and started cutting the tree near them. Nigel contains the kobolds, not letting them move anymore.

"I'm done with my magic!" Willa shouts as she casts her magic. Raindrops came down, quenching the fire. It didn't take long before the fire was gone.

"Thank goodness." "Don't drop your guard; they're getting back up," Cyrus screams out, seeing the kobolds getting back up. Onyx doesn't hesitate as he charges in.

...

"I'm so sorry!" Tricia quickly bows her head. It didn't take long for the group to finish killing off the kobolds. They have set up camp beside a river.

Nigel shakes his head, "Don't worry about it. It was on my command that you fired your magic. Next time, keep in mind the environment you're in.

Your fire magic is powerful. You might even have C-rank firepower. However, power can be a liability if you can't understand it. Firing fire magic in a forest is one of them." Nigel laughs a bit when saying the last part.

Fire magic in the forest? That alone is already a hazard.

While Nigel lectures Tricia, Onyx is setting up camp. It's been three days since the stone lizard incident.

We're doing fine. Despite the situation today, the group was going at a good pace. There's a dramatic difference from the group before to now.

There is more cohesion between each member. The cooperation made it easier for the group to work fluidly. Well,

"Willa, Tricia isn't the only one that has to learn from this. You have to be warier with the surroundings too. You still get frazzled when monsters jump at you. And when Onyx screamed out, you hesitated too." Cyrus lectures as he continues,

"Also, don't use your healing magic all the time too. Minor injuries like cuts and bruises don't need to be tended to with magic. Analyze your teammates, and that'll make your judgment easier."

Despite the teamwork they have, there are still some problems.

Tricia and Willa are still inexperienced in fighting. This isn't the first time they got lectured. After each fight, Nigel and Cyrus would give them some notes on how to improve.

Rena would jump in too to add some of her intakes.

This is a good move from the guild. Onyx smiles. Having the lower-rank adventurers follow the higher-rank adventurers is a good way for the inexperienced to learn.

Onyx can see Tricia and Willa listening attentively to what Nigel and Cyrus are saying. It didn't take long before they finished talking.

Finished setting up their tents,

"Mr. Onyx?" Willa walks over to Onyx.

"What's up?"

"Can you teach me some of your moves?!"

Hmm? Onyx's eyes turn strange, "Shouldn't you be asking Cyrus or Rena about this? They're more of a fit for you. I'm an attacker while your role is a rearguard."

Willa shakes her head, "It's fine! Nigel told me we should also learn about the other roles. That'll make it easier for coordination plays."

"Are you sure you want me to teach you?" Onyx scratches his head wryly. This will be the first time he'll be teaching someone.

"Yes! It's fine."

"Then I don't mind teaching you." Onyx smiles, "But just so you know, I haven't worked in teams that long so my knowledge is limited."

"Thank you so much, Mr.Onyx!" Willa smiles brightly. She has gotten less wary as they travel together.

"It's ok. But what do you want me to teach you?" There's not that much he could teach.

"Hmm?" Willa thinks about it and asks, "Nigel did talk about understanding what the other person is doing."

"That's a little difficult. Our thoughts really depend on the situation we are placed in."

"The situation?"

Onyx nods, "Depending on the situation, I will have to change my priorities on how I have to fight. Take this mission, for example; as we fight, there are multiple things to account for." This is something Onyx realized as he fought.

"I see." Willa looks down, a little confused.

"Don't act so down. Even though there are different things we have to account for: there's always one focus all the groups prioritize. Specifically in this quest, it's apparent."

"That is?"

"Shouldn't you think about it for a second?" Onyx laughs. He can't give her all the answers.

Willa thought about it before saying, "The wagon."

Onyx nods, "Mmhmm. In this mission, the priority is to keep the wagon safe. That means you also have to account for it in battle. We have to keep it safe while fighting off the monsters."

Willa understands even more after hearing this, "Thank you so much, Mr.Onyx."

Onyx shakes his head, "Nah, it's something you would have realized if you fought more." Willia became an adventurer recently. And even more recently, she joined a party.

"But you're so smart, Mr.Onyx. The captain is right! You are the strongest!"

"..." Onyx's face turns stale from that, "Willa, don't ever listen to what Ryan says about me. All of it is nothing more than exaggerations."

"No, he's not! Everything the captain said matched up with what you did." In turns over close range, Onyx is the group's strongest. But he was the only one.

So there was more pressure on him as he's the one who had to do the most damage. And yet, he was fine. Just perfect.

"He told me you made a path towards the tyrant with only one move! And you did the same thing here!"

"She's right, Onyx." Overhearing it, Cyrus adds, "You've been the group's center. You have been watching over how we fight." Onyx would be back up when there was a problem on one side.

"Yeah! You are so cool, Mr. Onyx!"

Onyx scratches his head, a little embarrassed, "Can you stop it with the Mr? You know I'm younger than you, right?" Onyx gives a wry laugh as he says this. But the moment he did, everybody else got stun locked.

"Wait! You're younger than me?!" Willia tilts her head, confused, "I'm 17 years old." She got her skills two years ago.

"Yeah, you're older than me. I should be 16 in a month or two." It should be about a year since he got his skills.

"..." Willia got stun locked again. And she isn't alone.

Onyx tilts his head, "What's wrong with you guys?" Even Rena was surprised by this revelation.

"Huh?! Aren't you supposed to be 20 or something?!" Tricia always thought Onyx to be older than her.

"When did I say that? I never said I was 20." There has never been a time when he said his age.

"And why are you so surprised, Nigel? Didn't you and Cyrus see me fight Galven? Didn't you guys hear Madelyn scream out my age?" Madelyn clearly screamed his age out so loud in shock.

Everybody in the guild hall should have heard it.

"I wasn't there when she said that. I've only seen the part where you beat Galven up like a drum."

"Same here."

"...I see." Onyx then shrugs his shoulders, "Anyways, I'm 15. So there's no need to use formal language with me."

"Yeah, But-"

"My age is nothing more than a number. There's nothing wrong with it."

Yeah.....That's not the point! The others want to scream this out. The problem they had was how fast the person was progressing. If he's 15, that means Onyx got his skill a few months back.

So the group couldn't believe this was killing things left and right like a master.

"Hmm? Are you surprised too?" Onyx looks over at Rena. And she nods her head too.

"I always thought master was older than me." Despite his antics from time to time, Rena always thought Onyx was older than her. Turns out, he was two years younger than her.

"..." Willa doesn't know what to say anymore. But the next thing she does is squat on the ground.

She grabs onto her knees and begins to draw a circle on the ground,

"...Ahh, you ok?" Onyx looks over her shoulders.

"I can't believe it. I'm older than him. Yet the difference is so big." It just took a chunk out of her pride. Somebody who was younger than her was already D-rank.

And she was still in the lowest rank.

"..." Did I do something wrong for being younger? Onyx scratches his head and gives a wry laugh. But he shouldn't be doing that.

It just made it worse.

Willia isn't the only one shocked to the core because Cyrus, Nigel, and Tricia did the same thing!

"Can't believe it. I'm 10 years older than Onyx, and he's the same rank as me."

"Can somebody slap me in the face."

"Why? How can there be somebody like this?"

Onyx scratches his head, unsure what to do. He could feel the gloominess coming from the four of them.

"Anyways, let's set off again. We got our rest now." Onyx ignores them, wanting to continue on with their journey.