Arc | Chapter. 80: Leveling Up

Chapter. 80: Leveling Up

Meika didn’t really understand things, everything was slightly too weird… Even though she was being accompanied by an S Tier individual ⁠— the Water Paladin ⁠— she still found everything odd. Perhaps it was simply because the man before her, didn’t actually behave like an S Tier individual should in her mind.

Not like she knew any other S Tiers, but the Water Paladin seemed odd to her somehow or in some way, unconcerned about his friends that had gone up ahead. Shouldn't he be worried? Meika was certainly worried, they were going to fight a wyvern⁠— it was said that a wyvern could still give difficulty to S Tiers.

And yet the man was totally unconcerned about anything really, at the same time it wasn’t a confident kind of unconcerned but more like unbothered.

Meika found it off-putting, and for a moment as she walked along with the man towards the cave of destination she couldn’t help but wonder⁠— and she heard a small yelp as blood splattered.

“You were supposed to immobilize it,” Arc’s voice came from afar.

“Well it was just so weak, what can I do?!” Malz replied somewhat alarmed.

Meika just blinked and looked forward, only to see what seemed to be some kind of⁠— and she paused recognizing the Rekar Boar, a B Tier monster. Its limbs were completely turned to mush and it wasn’t breathing as blood dripped from a giant gaping hole within its chest.

And all Meika could do was blink.

Had they just accidentally killed a B Tier monster…?

The girl, Ceylon, was just standing there with a spear within her hands, her expression was weird but most of it carried disappointment. Which meant⁠— she wasn’t even completely shocked about what she had witnessed. Meika meanwhile was just aghast.

She didn’t even understand how things were supposed to⁠—

And a roar came from behind the small group, Ceylon jolted, and Arc and Malz just turned as this time an Acrid Wolf pounced upon Malz. Another B Tier threat⁠— and it hit. Malz didn’t even move as the beast tried to eat her shoulder. Meika blinked, noticing that the fangs refused to pierce the woman’s skill.

What was she even watching…?

It was a wolf that was easily heavier than her, its fur was green and acid was dripping onto the grass as it corroded it. It was a lumbering beast that was easily two meters long and yet it helplessly scratched and bit at Malz. What the⁠—

“Well it’s immobilized,” Malz said after some hesitation.

“That’s not…” Arc sighed, shaking her head and approached the wolf.

Meika blinked as the acid splattered onto her but it just slid off her clothes without so much as doing anything. Arc just stepped forward and with a flick of her finger, she sent the wolf flying⁠— the gigantic beast yelped in pain as it hit a tree before falling onto the ground. Then, with a flick of her finger ice sprouted⁠—

Its limbs and neck became fixed to the ground as the beast helplessly thrashed. Meika couldn’t⁠⁠— what? It had been defeated and subjugated so easily.

“There, now Ceylon can kill it.”

“Huh, right.” Malz nodded.

And meanwhile, the girl in question, Ceylon seemed hesitant, holding her spear as she stared at the thrashing beast. That was until Arc approached her, and gave her a small pat on the back. That was enough to make the blonde girl nod and step forward, she was still shaking but nonetheless raised the spear and stabbed⁠.

The beast yelped and thrashed harder and the ice didn’t even budge. Meika just blinked as the blonde girl seemed to murder the beast without flinching too much and a few moments later a sigh left her.

“It’s still alive…” Ceylon shook her head. “A B Tier monster has too much vitality for me to kill.”

Meika thought that that indeed made sense.

“Oh right.” Arc nodded and flicked her finger.

And a spike of ice pierced through the skull of the beast, immediately killing it as chunks of bone and flesh spilled out. It was… effortless. A B Tier monster hadn’t stood a single chance, it had been handled as if it was nothing more than the weakest of all monsters.

Meika just blinked as Ceylon raised her brow, surprised.

“One more level and I can choose a class it seems.”

“That’s nice, do you have any idea what class you want?” Arc asked.

“Not… really…” Ceylon trailed off seemingly uncomfortable. “I never gave it that much thought…”

“Right…” Arc just agreed.

Meika meanwhile was still trying to understand what had transpired before her eyes. Not only had two B Tier monsters been easily killed but they had also been wiped the floor with. And they were leveling up a single blonde girl who… wasn’t even level ten? Such strong individuals were helping with that?!

She didn’t believe it…

“Well, let’s just go ahead and you can make a decision when you get your class options,” Arc said nonchalantly.

Ceylon nodded in response, and with that they began walking forward. But Meika just stood there, somewhat shocked and lost. She didn’t know what she had to be doing⁠— and she got a tap on the back from none other than the Water Paladin.

“Let’s go.”

Meika hesitated but nodded, immediately tagging along.

Perhaps… she was stressing about the dragon for nothing considering everyone seemed confident enough… There was still another woman and the red-haired boy who hadn’t yet spoken, just minding their own business. If the two of them were as strong as Arc and Malz, then it certainly wouldn’t be a worry…

And Meika let out a quiet sigh to herself as they walked through the forest, in the end. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening. They were supposed to be walking into the hardest battle for their lives, but instead it felt as if it was nothing more than a casual stroll. It was hard to understand.

Oddly enough, in spite of the cacophony of sounds inside the forest, nothing dared to approach. It was as if the sounds and the monster noises were nothing but an illusion, which Meika found strange. The casual atmosphere didn’t help either, and they were growing closer to reaching the cave where the dragon resided.

Meika had never expected that her experience during this mission would be like this, but she supposed it was fine.

Shaking her head, she looked ahead only to see the cave in the distance. And at that moment a deeper roar shook the forest. Meika tensed⁠— it was a roar that sent shivers down her spine, it was feral and full of aggressiveness.

Then a moment later she saw a monster sprinting out of the cave, it was⁠ shadowed and the world around it distorted⁠— her pupils constricted immediately recognizing it. It was a Shadow Panther⁠— A Tier threat and it was coming right at them!

Malz stepped forward and Meika panicked.

They were going to die!

“Oh, let me try it then.” Malz pointed her hand at the panther as it pounced towards them. “[Shadow Gravity].”

And, the panther immediately hit the ground, the rock exploded; flesh and shadows flew through the air as a silence permeated the forest. There were no shrieks, no struggle, no nothing. Its life had been extinguished as soon as it hit the ground.

Meika’s jaw hit the floor as Malz just scratched her head.

“Dying from that… isn’t that a bit pathetic?”

And in response Arc just sighed.

* * * * *

Ceylon didn’t really know what she was… doing. Yeah, she was here, in the mission to kill the wyvern along with Arc, Malz, Faral, Regis’karr, and the Dragon of Water whose name she did not know. She was here in this place, in this mission, in order to level up and get stronger.

But the thing was an F Tier individual, she had never so much as leveled up before in her life, she had no basis or aspirations in regards to strength. And now, here she was, trying to forge her path with incredibly generous help coming from Arc. Malz too, though to a much lesser extent.

It was a bit hard to think about everything. Then again, she was here to grow stronger, all in order to be able to fend for herself should Arc not be available. It was⁠— it made sense really. She had managed to stall the Hero of Flames long enough, and had stood up for herself. It was hard, but she had done it.

However, perhaps, other people wouldn’t be as kind as the Hero of Flames, which was why she had to grow stronger. Ceylon had no goals of being stronger than Arc, or surpassing her, or even having strength worthy of being a hero’s friend, but rather it was more about being strong enough in order to not burden Arc.

Hopefully, that barrier was at B Tier. A Tier that most individuals did not reach in their lifetime… It was weird to think about. But Ceylon’s main goal was to… be strong enough, so perhaps the Tier she needed could be C Tier, or perhaps it could be… A Tier.

She didn’t know, and admittedly, she didn’t want to know.

It was not something she ever expected to deal with, but it was something she had to deal with, for better or for worse. However, she had yet to even take the first step, and perhaps the most important step, and that was…

Picking a class.

A step that most nobles had a lot of assistance with, and in fact, received great help with. And that was due to the available class options for a person; there weren’t many really. For the average person they had about four starter class options, and while they would mutate down the line⁠ they would end up loosely connected. So if she picked something related to magic, down the road she’d still be using magic.

And well, she was nervous about her class choices, she hadn’t done anything combat related this entire time⁠. Which meant that most likely all her class choices would be for… other adjacent things. It… she didn’t want that.

She… wasn’t looking forward to it either.

Ceylon didn’t show her emotional turmoil as they entered the cave. In the end, she was receiving generous help from Arc and Malz, and well she couldn’t let negative emotions consume her. Instead she had to be hopeful that her options would be something good⁠— something that could be worked with in order to give her a brighter future.

Taking a breath, Ceylon raised her spear as she heard the sounds of monsters ahead. Meanwhile, Malz spoke.

“I’ll give up if I cannot do it after this.”

“Alright,” Arc agreed.

To be honest, Ceylon was shocked Malz was so… bad at controlling her strength, though at the same time the panther was an accident given the entire thing was coated in magical shadows that Malz just so happened to… well crush.

Not like it mattered, Ceylon just had one thing to care about and that was… leveling up.

At that moment another Shadow Panther came from ahead, and Malz with a flick of her finger⁠— ripped it. All four of its limbs went flying as it landed on the ground like a sack of flour, then it was quickly apprehended as it unleashed harrowing screeches of pain throughout the cave.

It was still alive.

Though it was also offputting. Meika, the normal adventurer that had been unlucky to come with them, just gasped in surprise once more. Ceylon felt… a bit bad all things considered. As for Arc not wanting to expose herself, it seemed that she didn’t care too much about rumors so long as the wide world didn’t see her actions, so perhaps letting Meika watch this much was fine.

That she didn’t know, but again⁠— it didn’t really matter.

Taking a deep breath Ceylon stepped forward and raised her spear. The Shadow Panther before her was miserable, it pulled at her heart strings, but she didn’t care. She had to grow stronger.

Gritting her teeth, Ceylon stabbed forward. The panther yelped⁠— again. Ceylon drew another painful scream from the beast as she continued to stab it mercilessly. She didn’t know for how long she did it, or how many times she stabbed, but by the time she was a sweating mess the beast was still alive.

Arc quickly put it out of its misery and a deluge of notifications came.

Not like she paid attention, for she just knew that she had reached the right level for things.

“I can choose a class now…”

“That’s good.” Arc nodded. “Do you want to do it now?”

Ceylon hesitated. “I’d rather do it outside but I don’t want to interfere with the mission, and I’d rather not have you around…”

Arc blinked, but nodded with a weird face before gesturing to the Dragon of Water. The man approached and Arc whispered things into his ear, all while Ceylon sighed.

She didn’t want to admit it, but should her choices be terrible she didn’t want Arc to see her.

Arc had [Appraisal], if she got a bad class, Ceylon didn’t think she’d be able to bear the shame. But this way, she could at least prepare herself for the worst…

She took a deep breath once more, and the Dragon of Water came her way.

“I’ll be protecting you, let us go. You too Meika.”

The girl nodded in surprise. “Alright.”

And with that, they left the cave. Ceylon paid no mind at Meika who asked questions to the Dragon of Water, instead she stepped to the side as the Dragon of Water seemed to cast a spell on her, before he too left.

Now she was all alone.

Taking a deep breath, Ceylon opened her notifications and then… paused.

What?

[You have been offered multiple unique classes.]

[Eight class choices available.]