Chapter 60

The next day, Seth woke up early and went to the Adventurers Guild first thing in the morning to bid his farewell to everyone there. 

On the way there, he kept his eyes on his status. 

Particularly, on his two new skills. Both of them were great skills and he couldn't help, but imagine the various ways he might be able to use them. 

One thing that he had learned from all the skirmishes he had been in was that he was limiting himself. Rather than making use of every skill in his disposal, he would try to fight head on which wasn't always the best decision. 

If he could think flexibly, he might just be able to deal more damage without putting himself in much danger. Especially with a skill like void blades. 

When he reached the Adventurers Guild, people were still talking about the disturbance in the tunnels and he knew he needed to give an explanation. 

After talking to Erika, he took permission to meet Wyatt who was in his office. Once he entered, he began talking about what happened in the dungeons. Though, he omitted any information that would need more explanations. 

“So, the disturbance was due to you?” Wyatt asked, taking a sip from the cup of tea. From the last time Seth had seen him, he looked much healthier and all of his injuries have also healed. 

“It was due to Noah exactly, but it won't happen again. It was just a small thing. We were uh… training and he ended up attracting monsters,” he lied through his teeth, munching on what tasted like biscuits made of jelly. They were delicious and Wyatt had taken them out for him. 

“That's good! I was getting notices to check what it's all about and didn't want another monster like the abyssal horror in the dungeon.”

Seth almost let out the fact about the lesser abyssal horrors, but kept it in. He didn't want to start explaining everything about the Seven Seals and The Abyssal One. 

Noah had also told him to limit the information to others. 

“Like I said, it won't happen again. We are anyway going to Nightshade City and would only return after a few weeks. I came here to say thanks for saving me from Gideon and to bid your farewell.”

“I told you before, but you did more than me in the battle,” he said and squinted his eyes. “Nightshade City? That's an interesting place. I'm sure you would see interesting things there.”

“I hope so,” he said and finished the last jelly biscuit from his plate before getting up. “I will take my leave now.”

Wyatt nodded and Seth walked towards the door before his voice stopped him in his tracks. 

“Noah sees potential in you, Seth. Try to learn as much as you can from the man. He has seen things, but have always come out on top. Even if I don't agree with everything he did, I respect his strength.”

“I will try my best.”

With that, he left the Guildmaster's office to bid farewell to the others. 

***

Derek swung his axe in a vertical strike, but only met with air. Turning around, the berserker looked at Seth who stood there with a smile on his face. 

He rushed at him again and Seth slid back, escaping the sharp edge of the axe before kicking Derek at his chest. He blocked it and threw Seth back. 

“You are agile, but your kicks don't have much power.”

Derek said and charged at him, taking advantage of the wide field they had for the practice battle. 

Seth dodged each of his strikes. The burly man was fast for a berserker, but he was still no match for his speed, especially after ranking up. 

The axe suddenly shone with a sheen and Derek smashed it on the ground. Cracks appeared and a fissure opened up, heading straight towards Seth who jumped back, dodging it. 

Deciding that it was the perfect time to use his new skill, he focused on imagining blades appearing right besides him. He felt his mana drain up as two blades made up of abyssal mana appeared next to him. 

They looked like sharp knives, wrapped up in a purple sheen, brimming with destructive energy. 

Derek seemed surprised to see them. 

“Is that a new skill?” He asked. 

“Yes, it's called void blades,” he said. “Have a taste of them now.”

He aimed them at Derek and they rushed at him. The berserker swung his axe at them, hitting one of them to the ground. The second one escaped it and headed towards his chest, but he rolled on the ground. 

Seth tried to control it to turn around, but the blade touched the ground and disappeared. 

I need more control with them. 

He thought and rushed at Derek without giving him any chance to do another attack. 

He jumped over a strike and punched him right in the face. Derek stumbled back and Seth took the opportunity to end the battle. 

He took out his blade and aimed for his sides, but Derek blocked it with his axe and tried to headbhutt him. Just then, Seth disappeared and appeared right behind him. 

It seemed like Derek was prepared as he immediately turned around and picked Seth up and threw him back, but before he could move again, he felt something on his neck. 

A void blade hovered on Derek's neck as the man dropped his axe. Seth had conjured one and kept it right behind him to use as a secret weapon and like he thought, Derek had no idea about it. 

Seth grinned and picked himself up from the ground. “I guess this is enough,” he said as the blade disappeared from Derek's neck who nodded with a frown. 

“That skill of yours is annoying. How many can you conjure?”

“A dozen or so if I'm going all out. I would need to save my mana for other skills. I also am not used to controlling the blades. I can give it a command in my mind and they would act on it, but it's hard to cancel it and give them some other command.”

Seth said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He had informed Derek about him leaving for Nightshade City yesterday and the man had immediately asked for a practice battle before leaving. 

That's why, they were at the back of the Adventurers Guild right now early in the morning. 

Derek seemed to want to test his skills and Seth wanted to try out his new skills, so it was a win-win situation for both.

“Keep practising with it and you will get a hang of it. New skills are like learning an entirely new weapon sometimes. Always takes time,” he said, staring at him. “How are you so strong suddenly anyway? You were not even half of this during the bandit battle.”

“I ranked up.”

He said casually and Derek seemed to be going through a string of emotions as he looked at him in shock before laughing out loud. 

“Of course you did! That will explain things. Only my class isn't letting me rank up even if I'm so close.”

“You should try to defeat a boss monster in the dungeons.”

“I am heading there in a week. I heard after the lizard population died, the cave rats have gotten stronger and have a new boss. I might try to hunt it.”

Seth had heard earlier from Derek that berserkers normally had it much harder to rank up since they were required to be formidable warriors, so at the peak of a rank, only a boss monster like the Lizard Chieftain or a monster ten levels higher than them would help them. 

It was very different than Seth who hadn't yet struggled for ranking up. 

“Good luck on that,” he said. 

They talked like that and walked towards the location where the carriage was supposed to be. 

They wanted to start their journey early to cover a good distance before the evening. Apparently, there was a village a day away from here and they would be able to avoid sleeping on the road if they could reach there. 

Seth also wanted to sleep in an inn rather than the carriage or in a campsite. He had enough sleeping in the wild already. 

As the carriage came into view, Seth saw Rebecca and her party standing next to it. Noah seemed to be talking to the carriage driver and Elva kept staring at him like she was entrance. 

That seemed to be common with girls and Noah, so he wasn't surprised. 

“Seth, you are finally here!” Rebecca shouted out when she saw him and Derek. 

“Yes, sorry it took time,” he said and greeted everyone. 

He knew that her party actually didn't want her to go since it would mean they would be low in strength during the quest, but it seems like Rebecca and them had come to an agreement. 

“I will be back in three weeks at the latest, so try not to take any hard quest. You won't have a barrier to protecting you,” she said, looking up at Vernon and Jules. 

“We are going to take it easy and just hunt goblins and trolls. At least until Elva gets bored. Don't worry. Just take care and send letters.”

“I will.”

They turned to Seth once they finished talking with Rebecca. 

“Take care of yourself too, Seth. You would surely love that place. Last time I was there, I was able to try out a golem and even fight someone with it,” Jules said, looking at him. 

“Sounds like fun.”

“It is. The whole city is very different from the rest of the kingdom. You will know once you reach there.”

Vernon said and after talking a bit longer, the carriage driver told them it was time to leave. 

All of them got onto the carriage and it started moving. Seth kept his eye on the figures of his friends and acquaintances until they disappeared and they got out of the main gate. 

The city had been a lot of fun for him with all the interesting people, the adventures and just finding a sense of civilization again after living in the dungeons for weeks. Now, he was bidding it farewell for a new opportunity. 

I should rest till we stop for lunch. 

Seth thought, shaking his head and deciding to take a nap, but just then, he saw Noah looking back to the city with furrowed brows. 

“What happened? You're already missing the city?” he asked in a whisper. 

“No, I just felt a gaze.”

“What kind of?” 

“I don't know. It's probably nothing. I'm just a paranoid person.”

Noah said and shrugged his shoulders before closing his eyes. Seth did the same since they had a long ride ahead. 

***

An image of the carriage rolling through the dirt road flashed on the orb and the eyes of the man shone as he kept looking at it. 

“Noah,” he said, a raspy voice filling the dark room. “It won't be long before I will see your head in my collection.”

He turned around and the orb glowed, putting focus on a corner of the room where heads of monsters, humans and beastfolks were displayed as a trophy that the man had killed. 

Some of them had tried to resist, others had almost managed to harm him, but in the end, he had their heads in his hands. 

The whole wall was full with them and he had only put the ones he felt were worthy to stand against him. 

Noah was certainly one of them. 

“My wrath would consume you this time.”

He said and put the orb down before heading out from the room. It was time to make his move.