- Town of Wandering Minstrel -
Khun really underestimated how long will the road be.
They had been walking for hours without stopping but the road still seemed to be quite long. Being a descendant from 10 Great Families, his strength and stamina were better than ordinary people ever since he was born. But right now, his strength and stamina seemed to be nothing. Even when he was sweating a lot already, they still haven't seen the town yet.
Charlotte was an irregular, her strength and stamina were trained since she joined FUG. Even though her strength and stamina were getting better and better for she had broke several chains, right now, her strength could be compared with a B- rank regular. But she started to feel tired, although her condition was better than Khun.
"I couldn't tell from far away.....but this mountain is massive....." Khun said.
"Hang in there. We'll be there soon" Mi- Eum said, without even sweating or showing slightest tiredness.
Mi- Eum was a data human. He was designed to have good stamina, better than them.
"Didn't you say it before? Or did I imagine it?" Khun asked.
Charlotte looked at the blue haired male. No matter what, her strength and stamina were indeed better than his. She extended her hand towards him.
"Do you want me to help you?" She asked.
"And how are you planning to do that?"
"Carrying you, perhaps?"
To think that he was being carried by a girl, especially by Charlotte, made him felt embarrassed.
"No need" he rejected her offer immediately.
"But you won't last long with your condition" said Charlotte, worried. "Do you want to take a rest for awhile?"
"No....I'm fine."
Charlotte pouted. This man was too stubborn, she thought. But maybe this was the right time to try another new skill.
[Lotus Power- Heal]
She opened her left palm where a pink lotus bloomed again. From the pink lotus, there were three rays of light, each went to Khun, Hockney and Rak. When that light touched them, somehow, they felt that their strengths had been recovered.
Khun looked at Charlotte, puzzled.
"Lotus always has a healing and recovering characteristic. It isn't really a flower that loves violence, but rather peace. With this, I could recover your strength and stamina" she explained. "It could also heal wounds and injuries!"
".....what a great ability....." he couldn't help but to say those words.
Charlotte smiled even wider. This time, she extended her right palm again, helping the blue haired male to walk and climb the mountain. He didn't hesitate to take the hand that helped him to walk.
After walking for some time, they saw an interesting scene.
They saw a giant statue made from rock. The giant statue was a giant man with two horns on his head with his hand holding on a ball that they thought as a fruit, his mouth was opened as he wanted to eat that fruit he was holding.
Mi- Eum said that the fruit was the "fruit of good and evil", where they quarantined and put the evil and dangerous guys inside it. They will also put those who disturb the balance in the Hidden Floor in that place.
"If we live a life that is evil rather than good, they say that the giant eats the fruit and breaks out his shell to punish us" said Mi- Eum. "On the other hand, if someone lives a good life and wins in the fight against evil, that giant pushes the fruit of good and evil to a very deep underworld and is said to keep them away from returning again. And the warriors who achieve that are able to proceed to next stage."
Charlotte knew who was in that fruit of good and evil. If she didn't read the manhwa, then she wouldn't know that her brother and her sister- in- law were trapped in that place. She felt a bit annoyed when Mi- Eum said that they put bad guys and evil people in that place, she thought that her brother and Endorsi weren't bad people. Bam was just different from the others, it wasn't a crime to be different.
Mi- Eum taught them about the stages. By sticking their hands out and say the words "show me a stage that I can move to", there will be several red screens appear before them. The screens were like cards, showing the stages where they were in and which stages that they haven't unlocked yet.
Right now, their stage was the "Town of Wandering Minstrel". It seemed to be the start. By finishing the tasks in a stage, they could unlock and move into another stage. Even though Mi- Eum had never seen it, but he said that if they kept unlocking the stages, they could meet some great people. Khun thought that by unlocking all the stages, they might meet the data of the young Zahard they were looking for.
"Guys, could you please check your right pocket?"
When they checked their right pockets, they discovered watches. Each of them had one and neither of them was aware when was the watch placed in their right pockets.
"It's not a watch" Mi- Eum corrected. "It's a 'good and evil monitor' that tells the level of your good and evil. The more good things that you do, the more black part of the graph disappears. If you get rid of the entire black part on the circle, you get a chance to eliminate the fruit of good and evil. But if you do bad things, the black portion of the graph will increase and if the black part exceeds more than half of circle, your sworn enemy will start pursuing you. Something ve~ry scary will happen if the black covers the whole circle."
Charlotte knew that if she does the good things, her brother will die. If her brother has to die because of her doing good deeds, it would have been better if she becomes a criminal instead.
They continued to walk again and again to the point that Khun was seriously exhausted. Charlotte was also sweating right now.
She wasn't only walking in a long road, in the same time, she was also using her power to recover her comrades' strengths and stamina.
"Damn it.....I wish it would boost my stamina too....this freaking data world....." said Khun who felt really hot that he had no other choice but to unbutton a few buttons of his shirt. When he did that, Charlotte complained but Khun insisted for it as he really could not stand it.
After walking for an extremely long road, Charlotte was also exhausted. She sat down for awhile. As the lotus on her hand disappeared, there was no one supporting and keep recovering their strengths and stamina. The brown haired girl sat down on the ground, panting.
Khun knelt down and looked at the brown haired girl, "Are you okay? Do you want to get some rest?"
Charlotte closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself. It felt really nice to be able to sit down for a bit after walking for a long time and in the long road. But in the same time, she felt ashamed of her own power.
Her strength could have matched with a B- rank regular, but her stamina was actually this low. Even though whenever she breaks a chain, her strengths, attributes, defense and everything will increase accordingly, but without proper training, no matter how many chains she broke, she will still be weak. What happened today made her believe that her training wasn't enough, it was no wonder she couldn't break the chains faster.
The chains will only break when she was strong enough to handle the power. It wasn't about "how long", but "how strong".
But at least she was better than Khun and the others.
Honestly, Charlotte really underestimated the road. Yes, even though she felt tired because she trained whenever she was happy, but the room was also too long. And she had been supporting the others with her skill.
Charlotte looked at Khun and replied, "I'm fine. It's just I need a little break."
'I need to be more diligent.'
"You've tried your best. And besides.....on the whole way......you've been supporting us......."
He patted the back of her head which made Charlotte smiled even wider.
Charlotte shook her head, "It's fine."
Khun extended his hand to help Charlotte stood up before they continue their journey.
Mi- Eum then pointed to a direction where they could see a huge town. The town with lots of giant pillars in traditional style was their first stage: Town of Wandering Minstrel.
"Wow!" Khun was surprised to see the town. "It was bigger than what I thought!"
"Really.....?"
"It's not that far" Khun said, extending his hand to Charlotte. "Come on, we have to go. "
She took that hand and tried to stand up again. Activating her skill again, she insisted to support them once more until they reached the town.
"This is tough with my short legs...." said Rak who was decreased in size and turned into mini- Rak. Hearing Charlotte somehow chuckled a bit, he scolded her, "What are you laughing at? Are you looking down on me because I'm small? Let's fight!"
"She'll take you out within one second, gator."
Walking for some time again, they finally reached the entrance of the town.
The town was rather busy. Each person did their own stuff, despite of being the part of a virtual world and just a virtual town, the Town of Wandering Minstrel was rather lively and noisy.
In the town, they found the three of their comrades: Altaira, Boro and Sachi.
"Brother!" Charlotte called.
"Charlie! What happened to you?"
Altaira was surprised to see Charlotte, sweating badly as if she was forced by someone to run in a long distance. He ran to see his younger sister, checking whether she was fine or not.
"How did you get here?" Khun asked Altaira.
Altaira didn't finish the Hell Train. He should have fell together with them but mysteriously, he ended up in the town like any other regulars who have finished their routes in the train. Boro and Sachi had cleared the train again and again, it wasn't a surprise that they ended in the Town of Wandering Minstrel first but Altaira.....?
Later, he explained. He has been holding into Boro rather tightly like a sticky glue and refused to let him go until he reached this place. Boro was really annoyed with Altaira as no matter how he tried to push him away, this man was holding into him very tightly as if he will die if he let him go.
Both Sachi and Boro were surprised to see Rak still alive and breathing. Boro immediately went towards Rak and lifted him up with a huge friendly smile and relief,
"I'm so relieved that you are alive!"
"H...huh? Stop acting like we are close all of sudden. You're just no one. You should worry about your own life."
"Haha....."
"Anyway, what the heck is this place, Khun!? I've never seen a world like this before! We fell in that well over there, but as soon as they found us, they were calling us heroes and singing! And making weird proposal...."
Before Boro could finish talking, a group of men came out from the town and began to sing.
"OUR GREAT~ HEROES~!!"
"They're here again!" Altaira cried.
"Who will defeat evil and save the world with pure light! They embark on great journey!"
Charlotte held her head as she felt headache coming. She was tired already and now, these people came to sing some weird songs. She couldn't help but to feel angry and annoyed.
"OUR~ GREAT~ HEROES~!!"
If it wasn't for a woman to come out and the people stopped singing, Charlotte had already planned to use Shinsu to attack them and to stop them singing their poor song.
"You've finally arrived. I heard from Mi- Eum that you were on your way. You must have gone through a great deal of hardships to get here. This is the town of the wandering minstrel, a place which welcomes you and send you off to another even greater world. We welcome you all. The great heroes who will win in the fight against the demons isolated in the fruit of good and evil and lead them to hell."
Altaira grew together with his sister so how could he didn't know her temper? He also knew that Bam and Endorsi were in the fruit of good and evil. When Charlotte heard that this unknown stranger straight up calling her brother as demon and wanted them to push him to the hell, how could she hold it back? She didn't walk this far just to hear her brother being insulted like that. He put his right palm on Charlotte's mouth, preventing her from cursing the one who said those words.
The woman who said those words was a long pink haired woman. On her long pink hair, there were red flowers. She was wearing a yellow cloak with roses covered around her cloak. Her eyes were pink with red lips.
".....who are you....?" Khun asked.
"I am the head of this village. My name is Dee~"
'Did they just choose random letters on the keyboard for everyone's names around here....' Khun wondered.
"You are the heroes who have completed the dangerous journey in the train~ and will destroy the demons in that fruit of good and evil in order to bring peace to this place!!"
Altaira could really feel the blood lust coming from Charlotte was getting stronger. While internally crying, he was really hoping for the head of village, Dee, to shut her mouth and stop calling the people in the fruit of good and evil as demons. Charlotte wasn't a saint, her temper wasn't that good. Added by the fact that she was tired and she had no time to deal with this, Altaira didn't know how long he could hold her back.
'Would you please hold yourself back and stop calling names of those in the fruit of good and evil? This brat won't be able to hold her temper any longer......'
"Will you help us~ bring peace to this village~?"
"That's what she said to us too. We said there is no way since she looks suspicious" Boro whispered to Khun who was pondering. "You should just refuse it too. She isn't just crazy, but terrible singer."
Khun knew that this was the requirement to pass the stage. Even though he was unsure, but looking at the good and evil monitor that he was holding, he decided to give it a shot.
"Sure. We'll help you."
"WHAT....?! Hey, Khun!"
The good deeds that Mi- Eum mentioned to them were done by fulfilling the quests and the tasks prepared in each stage. Dee took out a scroll with a screen floating on the air. There was the word [E] on it.
She handed the scroll to them.
"This is your first practice quest. A Grade E quest: hunting the screaming plant monsters" she said.
"Screaming plants....? What are those?"
"They're these monsters that make terrible noises and disturb our peaceful town."
'Just like you and these singers' both Altaira and Charlotte thought in the same time.
"If you open this scroll, there is a quest code at the bottom. If you shine the scanner that you have on that code and push the button on the right hand side, the quest begins immediately. When the quest begins, a villain appears in a certain spot and if you defeat that villain, you complete the quest and receive good deeds points."
She walked towards Khun and handed him the scroll politely with both of her hands.
"Now then, try to complete this quest to gather good deeds points."
".........."
"If you gather enough good points so that the scanner is filled with white light, the big breeders will give you the scroll for the main quest where you banish the fruit of good and evil to hell."
Khun took that scroll and looked at Boro who asked him whether he was going to do that quest or not. They needed to fulfill the quests in order to advance to the next stage. Boro still didn't understand and Altaira offered to explain things to them later on.
"By the way, where did you get those clothes?" Khun asked to Boro, Altaira and Sachi who changed their clothes.
Khun made up his mind to go to a shop and to get himself new clothes. Hockney followed as well. According to the trio who have shopped around in the Town of Wandering Minstrel first, all clothes, drinks and foods, anything was free for them the heroes.
Charlotte can't possibly go around wearing her black shirt that was already wet because of her sweat. Altaira understood that and helped her with it. At the end, the brown haired woman wore a white- colored dress that reached her knees with short sleeves. She also wore a pair of black stockings with white heels.
"Brother, do you seriously want me to wear this outfit?" Charlotte asked.
"Of course" said Altaira. "What, you don't trust your brother's judgement?"
Prices didn't matter, for everything was free for the heroes and the warriors. The quality wasn't bad at all. It felt rather comfortable. The dress didn't seem to be going to restrict her abilities if she had to fight later on. It was fine.
But there were two problems. First, the white color. If she was bleeding later on, the white color was stained with blood. It can't be hide or covered anymore. She also liked the design of this dress. But because she liked this design, she didn't want it to be destroyed. She would rather not wear things than having to wear them and ruin them at the end. The second was that Charlotte rarely wore dresses ever since she transmigrated. She felt kind of weird wearing a dress after not wearing them for so long.
"Ai, it's not like anyone could possibly hurt you here. The Hidden Floor is prepared for D- rank regulars, not someone whose strength matches with B- rank regular right?"
"Then what about Charlotte?"
"Huh? Which one?"
"I can't believe you forget her easily. The one who I should fight with."
"Oh, that one? Don't worry. We're just having fun" said Altaira. "If you want to change, you could change later on. Now, let's go-"
"Eh, don't push me!"
Among all of them, the only one who didn't want to change his cloth was Rak. He was comfortable with his current outfit anyway. There was no need for more.
Taking his eyes off the only woman among them, Khun then began to open the scroll. Boro was still dubious, but Khun assured him and said that this was just a practice. Charlotte also agreed that the quest would be harmless for them, for they had an irregular with them.
Charlotte drily laughed, "You are taking me as a weapon?"
"Not a weapon. But you won't stand us being in danger right?"
He understood her. Charlotte couldn't argue with that one.
As soon as he started the quest, they could see a bright light falling from the sky like a beam to a place. That place seemed to be outside the town.
"Something just appeared!"
"It's over by the mountains! Let's go!"
'What? Return to the mountains again? Are you not tired running there and running here?' Charlotte wondered. But still, she followed them to finish the quest.