Wolverine nodded at Cheetara’s forms. She had improved considerably. Sure, she still had a way to go, even he did, but the kitten showed great promise. Even the master acknowledged it, judging by the look in his eyes the previous night.
Wolverine scanned the area again while Disciple Cheetara Cutie awaited his instructions, clawing at a yarn ball. Every time the master left him with the great mission of guarding the palace, especially while going out with Disciple Beakwing Wingy for special flying training, he exerted his aura around the area a few times to establish a bit of dominance. His protection would also be given to his master’s human disciples, or apprentices, as they were called. Harmony and Lucas were just as much as his family as the others.
So when a rolly-rolly barreled into town pulled by one neighing giant, Wolverine Woofy leapt on top of the rooftop with Cheetara to watch.
“Is something the matter, Big Brother Woofy?” Cheetara asked.
“I’m watching the rolly-rolly,” Wolverine said. “Sometimes bad people come out of them and threaten our master’s servants. We can’t have that, now can we?”
“No way!” Cheetara said. “Just tell me what to do, Big Brother. I’ll deal with the pests.”
“Just observe,” Wolverine said. “Use your senses and continue to cultivate. One day, you will be rewarded with an impressive evolution. There are some who choose to take human form centuries after cultivating.”
“Are you going to take it?” Cheetara asked.
“No,” Wolverine said simply. “The way of the sunlight wolf is important to me. Also, I don’t think I’m capable of such a thing. It is normally with evolved cats, dragons, maybe some turtles.”
“The dragon advances,” Cheetara mumbled.
“Huh?”
“Look, someone’s getting out of the rolly-rolly,” Cheetara said. “Is that a magician? I can feel mana!”
“Let’s go,” Wolverine said. “I do not believe this one’s friendly.”
“Yes sir!” Cheetara cheered, mimicking some salute the best she could.
After cultivating and training all morning, Harmony bathed and then changed into a fresh set of trousers and a light blue shirt that went well with her hair. She didn’t bother with any jewelry, aside from a necklace from time to time. She fastened a long leather sheath to her belt and placed her wand inside.
She still felt weird not working today, but that didn’t mean she’d stop training. Harmony wanted to catch up to Nate and Milia as fast as possible. She didn’t want to be excluded from dungeon dives or anything dangerous. Sure, she knew they were only looking out for them, for their rookies, but Harmony still wanted to walk with the duo.
A part of her still couldn’t let go of the annoying crush she had on Nate. She wasn’t in love with him or anything, they never spent intimate time together. Since he claimed to know nothing about magic, he didn’t get close to her, didn’t correct her wand motions even the few times she purposely tried to be clumsy just to see if he would.
No, she wouldn’t do anything to betray Milia, her other master and friend. Harmony had come to love Milia, like the big sister she always wanted. Teachers could be big sisters, right?
“Good morning, Anna,” Harmony greeted her maid as she entered the kitchen. “Or rather, good afternoon.” She giggled. “I didn’t expect for training to last that long.”
The older woman bowed. “Good afternoon, Lady Harmony. Your father may not enjoy the lessons you’re taking from the potion maker’s wife, but he’s also happy that you didn’t run off to elope with anyone.”
Anna laughed at Harmony’s blushing expression.
“I would never do such a thing,” she said, almost pouting, but holding back. Anna had a way of seeing through her, so the blue-haired girl often found herself putting extra effort into hiding things.
Anna placed Harmony’s breakfast on the table. “Unlike your father, I do like the idea of you being able to defend yourself. And kicking men’s butts. Perhaps that will bring a lesson or two about arrogance and humility. That Lucas boy is a good example of honesty, perhaps too pure, despite being a blacksmith’s apprentice. As for magicians… well, the only thing we can do is pray they leave as soon as possible.”
Harmony was about to stab her fork into her breakfast sausage when she felt the hostile presence enter the town.
Drew Starrigon stepped out of the carriage after the driver opened the door for him and surveyed the backwater town of Kyushu. Where were they? The party hadn’t a clue their true seventh member followed them this entire time, searching for any traces of their trail. To think they’d break out the lightning horses. The man wasn’t sure if his flight magic could keep up.
So Drew wasn’t really their seventh member, just their babysitter if he had to be honest with himself. He was a tall, beady-eyed man, thin, and covered in the finest magicians’ robes money could buy. The third son of Duke Starrigon and the rightful suitor for the most beautiful elf he’d ever laid his eyes on, Iris the Heavenly Bow.
Although when she kicked him in the jewels and shot him with an arrow for daring to leer at her and maybe accidentally touching her fine legs, okay, well, Drew knew he deserved that. But he never gave up. Being the third son was a lousy endeavor, but there were other ways to boost one’s reputation within a noble social circle. First, he increased his standings as much as possible with other third, fourth, and even fifth sons, all feeling as bitter about their unluckiness as him. Not all of them had a father as spiteful as his own, but Drew only saw it as just another challenge to earn his favor like the rest.
The second, of course, was to have a wife so beautiful and exotic that even the lucky first and second sons fell to their feet out of envy. Drew was currently working on this. He had the riches, but getting a woman from the hero’s party was not only extremely ambitious, but difficult. The male members guarded them like vicious older brothers. Kelvin and Maxus beaten him up twice so far, and the man didn’t want to experience that again. Honestly, he couldn’t blame them, but also they were already married, leaving just the hero as his only true competition. But not really. The hero’s habit of sleeping around with as many women as possible was known throughout his social circle. It made Drew a tidbit jealous, but happy that Iris at least had higher standards. That, or the rumors of the hero having an anti-fraternization rule in his group were true. That’d be a huge waste, given the beauty of his party, but again, not a problem. Just an opportunity.
Drew thought about eliminating his siblings, but canned that idea. They were strong magicians and often wore protective amulets around their necks, ancient and extremely rare artifacts that his father gave to them. He offered no such thing to Drew. The only acknowledgement he ever received from the duke was a short nod when the news of him having the spark got out. That was back at age five.
Drew clung to that and cultivated as much as possible; however, no matter what feat he showed, none of his family seemed to give a damn. Not that they should, not for a measly third son.
If Drew made it into the hero’s party, however, they’d regret ignoring him.
Being a babysitter, a sad spy for the Lord Ruler, hired only because his uncle recommended him for the job, didn’t bother Drew that much.
Really, the only person that scared him in the royal family was the princess. Another one of the kingdom’s most beautiful flowers, but with vicious strength capable of rivaling some of the most powerful magicians in the kingdom. Drew wouldn’t be surprised if she planned to steal the throne from her father while pretending to be his precious little girl. And she did so a lot, allowing the Lord Ruler to spoil her blindly.
Despite being a force to not be underestimated, the Lord Ruler’s soft spot for his creepy daughter bugged Drew to no end. How could he not see the demon within those eyes?
Drew thought himself to be a demon as well, especially since he planned to mess with this town a bit. He plotted against his family members and so-called friends from other houses constantly. Yet, he was but an academy bully compared to the princess.
As Drew walked toward the town hall, the mayor’s workplace, he allowed his pressure, aura, and killing intent to blast out. But he stopped when he sensed the presence of a magician. This one wasn’t strong… no, there were two of them.
A blue-haired beauty of a girl and a boy about her age. Two beginner magicians. They would surely bow and kowtow to him, but he didn’t have time for them. First, he’d try to be friendly.
“Good day,” he said in his best fake friendly voice. “I know this may sound odd, but I’m here to find some friends of mine. A group of people who probably moved into the town a couple of days ago.”
Judging by their subtle reactions, Drew knew the hero’s party had been here. However, they were either hiding their presences or had left again. Tracking them was going to be a pain in the ass, especially after the tedious journey from the west side of the kingdom.
Drew could feel these two weren’t going to tell him anything. Perhaps the boy would with a financial incentive. He decided to try.
Revealing a small bag with a few gold coins stuffed in, he said, “I’m willing to pay for the information, of course. I’m trying to join them, you see. They don’t know I’m here, kind of a surprise.”
The strawberry headed boy did look at them briefly before sneering. He actually had the audacity to sneer at Drew!
“Who are you?” the blue-haired girl asked.
Drew noticed something strapped to her side. In fact, it emitted quite the power presence.
“I am Drew Starrigon, son of Duke Starrigon,” he announced proudly, unable to help himself. People were watching for a bit until he unleashed a heavy pressure that brought them down to their knees. To their credit, the blue-haired girl and boy struggled against it. “You’re newbies,” Drew said quietly, seeing no benefit of exposing what they clearly kept a secret. It was another secret to add to his collection, after all. Plus if Ramon and the others had been through here, they were likely out training. “I’ll go easy on you, since you’re of no threat to me. But you should know how the magician world works. If you insist on not telling me where I can find my party, then—”
“It’s obvious you’re lying,” the red-haired boy snapped.
“You know nothing about me, kid,” Drew said. “But if you insist on doing things the hard way, well, don’t say you weren’t warned.” He walked over to the blue-haired girl and reached for the strap.
She probably thought he was aiming to do something foul to her, based on the fear in her eyes, but Drew wasn’t a bandit. Well, perhaps he’d be labeled one now. He snatched the wand out and marveled at it.
“Luckily for you, I won’t expose your secret to your town,” Drew said quietly. “In exchange, I’ll be taking this. A wand this powerful is wasted on you. I’m surprised it didn’t tear your arm off for trying to use it.”
Drew increased his pressure further, preventing the duo from speaking. If he couldn’t handle these pests, then getting into the hero’s party would be pretty much impossible. There was no room for the weak. He did have paid professional sect back-up on the way, in case Iris decided to be an unreasonable pixie.
He turned around, only to see all white cover his view, before getting blasted into a nearby building, dropping the wand along the way.
With his pressure gone, Harmony, filled with rage, jumped up and dashed to her wand. Lucas, also recovering, stood, clearly prepared to brawl, but stopped at the sight of two unexpected newcomers.
After collecting her wand, Harmony turned to Wolverine and Cheetara. Seeing them seething with cold rage for daring to harm their fellow apprentices, Harmony nodded.
“Thank you, Wolverine, Cheetara,” she said. “He caught me off guard.”
By now, the townspeople were panicking and quickly surrounding the mayor’s daughter, asking about her condition. Ugh, Harmony didn’t have time for this, but she didn’t have a choice but to leave everything in Wolverine’s paws. Even Nate warned her against revealing her secret, which was why she simply didn’t break Drew’s pressure. Her people watched her every move, likely terrified that she’d get violated. Harmony would’ve just revealed herself before it came to that. Hiding her power was infuriating! But given the people’s utter terror at a magician being present in their town, she couldn’t make things worse. Lucas, also warned about this thing in advance, could only sit back and let Wolverine handle it.
For a moment there, Harmony thought she’d have to wait until he left, secretly go after him, and send a nice present to blow up his carriage.
The thin man, who looked to be around their age, slowly got up, though obviously dazed. He winced.
“Who attacks unprovoked?” He paused. “My back.”
Harmony patted Woofy. “Good boy.” The sunlight wolf panted, his tail wagging. Cheetara looked at her. “You too, Cutie.” She caressed the kitten too, gaining herself a purr and a meow.
Wolverine growled at Drew, who shrieked like… a scared noble lady. Harmony strained to keep from laughing, keeping her face expressionless. That was when the idea hatched in her head. Mostly to keep Woofy from killing him in front of everyone. Couldn’t have the cute wolf scaring the people, especially when he was a protector. In fact, the people were behind him, glaring at the intruding magician.
“Fine, if you want to find them, there’s an A-ranked dungeon somewhere around here,” Harmony said. “I’m sure you can use your magician powers to find it. Just get out of here. No one wants your trouble. I don’t care what noble house you’re from.”
“You insolent little…” He froze at the sound of Woofy’s growl. “So it was that spirit beast. So powerful. I suppose I cannot blame you for siccing it on me, but you may end up regretting making an enemy of House—agh!”
Cutie delivered a palm strike that sent the man into the air. He landed hard. He rose with ground-shaking fury.
“I will not be humiliated by a… kitten!”
Waves of red appeared around his hands. He took aim at the kitten that was no longer there. Still infuriated, he aimed at Harmony and Lucas.
Cutie, perched on top of his head, meowed, then with one light tap, Drew was out cold. Woofy walked over to the unconscious man, brought up his leg, but stopped at Harmony’s gaze, as if he was making a joke the entire time.
“What should we do with him?” Lucas asked.
“He’s getting the anti-mana handcuffs,” came another voice. Harmony turned to see her father and a dozen guards march toward the unconscious magician. “This gold of his will be going to the kingdom guards that will be escorting him to his dungeon. I hope trial will be ten times as difficult as any other.”
Harmony giggled. At that time, she recalled words Nate said to her before. “If someone comes to attack, a magician specifically, don’t go guns blazing, if you can help it.”
Harmony still didn’t know what a gun was or what that saying meant, except for the last of it. “Wolverine will always protect you.”
“Nate truly is a weird one,” Harmony said.
I sneezed a little randomly, as if someone was talking about me behind my back. Another hour had passed since we entered the second floor. I couldn’t say I expected much from the hero’s party, but at least they were decent meat shields—I mean magicians—taking down waves of enemies. Nuwa healed any minor injuries, but also fought with various forms of what seemed to be light-based magic.
I collected ingredients and fought at the same time. Milia helped out too. Hell, we had a conversation about different pies while we were at it. The hero’s party eventually seemed too exhausted to continue, so I called a break. Iris looked like she wanted to dive into me and cry away her problems.
Don’t get me wrong, the hero’s party had power, but now I began to question the validity of Ramon defeating the Midnight Dragon, supposedly a creature powerful enough to threaten the entire kingdom. Sure, winners wrote history. It was fucked up and just the way things were. Either the Midnight Dragon wasn’t that strong, or the hero’s party as a whole managed to take it down, but for some reason, the Lord Ruler gave the hero all of the credit. Probably to make the people practically worship him. Or was it the Lord Ruler? You know what, once again, giving a fuck required effort.
I had so many new ingredients of varying quality that soon I’d find myself able to compete with the potion makers of a city. Perhaps this called for a trip to Wingston to scope out what I was up against. Later anyway.
“I’m not saying you guys don’t exercise,” I said, gaining horrified expressions. “I’m kidding. Two hours of nonstop fighting is a pain in the ass.”
A sudden bestial roar made everyone stand up. Approaching us this time was a giant six-armed bear with fiery fur and pressure so strong even I got a little excited. Literal fire for fur.
“Aha, there it is,” Milia announced, her hands on hips. “I was wondering when you’d show up, sir second-floor guardian. Oh, and the stairs aren’t far off.”
I pat my fiancée’s shoulder.
“That… that’s a Rowbear,” Ramon said as he gathered his electricity. “This is going to be… Wanda’s ass, we’re in for a fight.”
“So that’s what a Rowbear looks like,” I said. “Wait, how did it not burn down the entire forest?”
“Emiris said it was hallow-infused,” Milia said. “All of its fire likely turned into darkness.”
“That’s not even the most concerning thing,” Ronica said. “Rowbears are usually found in dungeons or around volcanoes.”
The Rowbear, standing thirty feet tall, roared, charging us, knocking powerful fireballs in all directions.
