"Is everybody ready?"
"Yea"
"Yes"
"Yep"
It was only for a few hours that we stayed in the weird shop with Val before venturing towards our destination.
Everyone has been preparing.
We borrowed some gear alongside weapons and light armor from Val which was most likely funded by Marco's enormous amount of money.
In this place, one dollar was like a single copper coin while silver was a multiplier of it by ten, the same went for gold which made them the biggest currency which was one hundred dollars.
'He just threw it on the table like some dirty rag'
Even with the popularity Elizabeth recieved as some sort of legend, her income wasn't even comparable to such amount of money.
'I remember briefly seeing a few silver coins in her wallet'
Looking at myself i wondered what the armor could possibly made out of.
It didn't cover my body entirely, just the chest and knees aswell as some heavier pauldrons that clanked from time to time with each step.
It reminded me of leather but it had a pattern of scales on its surface, i tried to scratch it with a sword before but it simply slid off its surface and irritating my ears.
'what kind of lizard has this kind of skin'
Not only that, but the shield i carried on my back had the same sort of scale like material.
Yes, a shield.
Since i got myself stuck in the position of Ash's guard, i had to have means of blocking attacks that came her way.
Thus i was given a shield half my size and a words of consolation from Marco.
"Don't worry, you won't need a sword so.. try your best!" He said.
But i never used the shield aswell.
Sure, i could cover some attacks but after hearing what we had to do, i was reluctant to go.
'they didn't need me in the first place right? Maybe i can still go back and say that i can't actually use mana..'
"We're almost there, be carefull not to trip."
'god dammit'
I knew clearly that the second part was partially adressed towards me.
The mud was gone as we walked on the spiky rocks which seemed to have formed in an unnatural way.
The fog has cleared up considerably as i could see far into the distance.
There it was.
Right after Ash, Zephyr and Marco's body and a few hundred meters away was a big dark spot on the ground that stretched out from left to right of our vision.
It seemed to have no end as on our right i could faintly see the city's lights far in the distance.
I could even make out the top of academy's building which was like a massive beacon of the Heathgrove.
"Let's stop here for a few minutes while Zephyr and i reassemble the hooks."
"Fine by me." I shrugged as i found a round rock and sat down.
I had a pouch tied to my waist from which i started to pull out my things.
We could choose a few items from the shop and i made sure to take the ones that looked usefull.
Others didn't really want to take anything from there but i'm not like them, i'm greedy and i needed something to compensate for my powerlessness.
I laid down everything i had in front of me.
Those were just trinkets that looked like they wouldn't do anything.
Even i wondered if i had lost my mind after i took them without knowing if they were usefull.
But it was just something in my gut that told me i would need atleast one of them.
A small red, star shaped necklace with five green feathers coming out each of its ends and a miniature skull placed in the middle.
Metal ring with various patterns engraved on its surface aswell as a saphire on top of it.
'the bone shovel, he acted like it was something valuable.'
That was all i could fit into the pouch but i was satisfied.
While i was trying to figure out how to use the trinkets, i noticed a shadow looming over me.
I raised my head and noticed the redhead who, for some stupid reason, hated me.
"Hey." She said, her tone serious.
"Why don't you just go back to academy? We don't know what might happen and you probably wouldn't want to get hurt.."
'i see, so she doesn't plan to leave me alone'
Just as i expected when i noticed her coming over, she only talked about how weak and useless i am.
She didn't hesitate in the slightest to throw in some insults to mix things up.
'she is so annoying-'
As he finished the thought, he felt incredibly sleepy due to the lack of it and did something that he probably shouldn't have.
- Yawn.
He covered his mouth with his hand and noticed her staring with the corner of his eyes.
"Eh?" She said in confusion.
She probably didn't expect Vlad to ignore her so openly.
And it was most likely the reason she started to lose her temper.
"D-d-did you just yawn at me?"
Her teeth clattered as she spoke, her eyes were full of anger for some reason.
"I didn't sleep well, so can you like, go mind your own bisness?"
Vlad, oblivious to her reaction, tried to make her go away and try to figure out the purpose of the tools he had.
But it wasn't something Ash would do.
She stepped closer while raising her hand right over Vlad's forehead.
A small flame materialized on her palm which didn't go unnoticed by Vlad as he started to pay attention to her, his eyes shook.
"Would you mind repeating that? I didn't hear it well."
With a smile of a snake she watched with amusement as his mouth opened and closed a few times before coming to a realization and meeting her gaze.
She froze for a moment, thinking.
'is he insane? It's just a few centimeters away from him'
But that didn't matter to him who still thought the logic from his world applied here.
'she's doesn't have the guts to do it.'
There was no way that someone would actually burn a person over something as trivial as miscommunication, he was sure of it.
Irritared by his lack of desperation, she clicked her tongue before walking away.
'heh, i knew this would happen, it always wor- wait what's that smell'
As he was thinking how easy it was to deal with her, a bitter smell reached his nose before a stinging pain aswell as warmth came from his bottom area.
He quickly turned his head, barely being able to see that his pants were now on fire.
'IT BURNS!'
.
.
.
.
"This is the place." Marco remarked as everyone stood on the rifts shoulder.
Leaning in, a tunnel was noticeable at the inside of it just a few meters below them.
"Is the rope tied tight?"
He asked as Zephyr who knelt next to the rock it was tied to, gave a thumbs up.
"I guess Vlad can go first." He said while throwing the other end of the rope down into the rift.
I grabbed the rope, tying it around my waist before standing on the rifts edge.
The black inky surface was way deeper now that i was taking a closer look at it.
My heart speed up a little as i noticed its enormous depth.
'i could have appreciated it's beauty more if it didn't hurt so much'
Holding onto the rope i slid down by the rock wall while holding onto my blackened pants.