===
[Jomnuk Dramegrip]
• High priority target.
• Main operator of the defensive system.
• Responsible for setting up the defensive barrier around Henolur and the only dwarf that is capable of doing so.
• Believed to be currently targeted by multiple assassins sent by the Inferno.
===
"Jomnuk Dramgrip? Inferno? Defensive barrier?"
The more I read, the more I realized that this was no simple task.
Turning my head to face Douglas, I asked
"Is this the correct assignment?"
"That's correct; you must protect the target from Inferno. The dwarven equivalent of the Monolith."
Douglas's face suddenly turned serious.
"You must be very careful; they are a group made up of Duergar, a subrace of dwarves that contract themselves with demons."
Douglas explained from the side.
Part of the information he was telling me, I knew. But I still listened carefully.
I've long realized that I did not know everything. Just because I wrote this world didn't mean that all the information that I knew was correct.
On most occasions, there was extra useful information that I was not aware of. Like for example, what Douglas was explaining to me at the moment.
"Unlike the dwarves, who are an honorable race, Duergar's are much more insidious and sneaky. Not only are they adept in setting up ambushes, but they also specialize in hidden weapons, and some even go as far as using poisons. Therefore, you must be extra careful when fighting against them since they might appear when you least expect it."
The more he spoke, the warier I became.
Turning my attention back on the papers, my frown deepened.
"…If I may ask, why me?"
If what he said and what was written were real, then that would mean I would have to safeguard an extremely important person from an organization equivalent to the Monolith.
I was in no way qualified to handle this sort of high-profile mission.
Putting the papers down, I looked up.
"If I have to be frank, I don't think I'll be able to do much with my strength. I'd be more of a burden than actually help."
"Don't worry about that."
Douglas walked back to his seat with a calm smile and looked at Waylan.
"You won't be the only one that will be going."
"Uh? Me too?"
Dumbfounded, Waylan put the teacup down.
"The demons will soon attack again; don't you think they will need me here?"
"This is more important."
Douglas shook his head and handed Waylan another stack of papers.
"They asked for at least one <S> ranked individual. Since you just fought, I thought that you were the perfect fit for the job."
"Ugh."
Letting out a groan, Waylan lazily slumped back on his chair.
"Who else is going? Can I bring more people?"
"As many as you want. The dwarves have entrusted us with protecting Jomnuk. Though they did send a couple of people to aid you."
"Any strength requirement when selecting the members?"
"No. You don't have to worry about that. Your strength is enough to handle most of the attacks. The rest can be brought to handle the weaker individuals or help with miscellaneous stuff."
Taking the papers, Waylan went through them.
The more he read, the deeper his frown became. Finally, after a while, he put them down and questioned Douglas.
"You sure? He seems like a very important person. Will they not send any <SS> ranked individuals?"
"You don't have to worry about that; if someone of that caliber arrives, we naturally have countermeasures against it."
"I see…"
Turning his head to face me, Waylan nudged his head.
"What about him? Why do you want to bring him on this mission? From the looks of it, this looks like a very dangerous mission. I don't think a <C-> rank like him will be able to do much."
"You don't have to worry about that. The main goal in bringing him is so that you can watch over him."
"Hah?!"
My eyes shot open.
Waylan was also just as surprised as me.
Facing Douglas, he asked.
"Watch over him? Is something going to happen to him?"
"No."
Shaking his head, Douglas secretly winked in my direction.
Because it was so subtle, the only one who noticed his action was me, and the moment I did, I instantly understood Douglas's intentions. Hence why I stopped speaking.
"If nothing is going to happen to him, then why do you want me to look after him?"
Stroking his beard, Douglas vaguely said.
"Waylan, I'm sure you've also noticed it."
"…you mean."
Though Douglas's words were vague, Waylan, who had been with him for over a couple of years, instantly understood what he was trying to say.
Douglas smiled.
"Right, his swordsmanship is quite lackin—"
"Not just lacking, it's quite frankly terrible."
Cutting Douglas off, Waylan looked at me.
"Although you did get better as you fought. Honestly, it was very painful to watch. I don't even know how you made it this far with that kind of swordsmanship."
Listening to Waylan's words, I lowered my head and didn't say anything.
Although his words hurt, everyone one of his words was correct. There was nothing for me to refute.
My swordsmanship was indeed lacking.
I could only calmly take the criticism at the moment.
"Now, now, Waylan, since you're also a swordsman, I thought that it'd be a good idea for you to teach him something. Didn't you say that you were getting bored?"
"…I did say that."
Scratching his head, Waylan turned to face me.
Scanning me from top to bottom, he looked back at Douglas.
"There's a bit of a problem, though."
Extending his hand toward the right, a broadsword appeared in his hands.
"I use the broadsword while he uses a sword. So what I can teach him will only be limited to the basics."
"That's more than enough."
I finally spoke up.
There was no way I would miss the chance that Douglas had provided me.
Staring at the broadsword in his hand, I lifted my head and looked at Waylan straight in the eyes.
"I don't need to learn any fancy techniques or stuff like that; all I want is to improve the basics."
Malvil said that the problem that I faced lay within my fundamentals, not in my techniques. I already had the Keiki style, and that was enough.
I didn't need to learn anything else.
"I don't have a problem with that, but…"
A sly smile suddenly appeared on Waylan's lips.
Looking at Waylan from an angle, the sly smile on his face reminded me of Emma.
My face cringed a little at the sight.
"Douglas, if I don't recall wrongly, didn't you say that you were also quite bored? If I'm teaching him something, why don't you teach him something as well?"
Douglas smiled at Waylan.
His face remained completely unfazed.
He took a small sip of the hot tea and put the teacup down.
"You don't have to worry about that; I was planning on doing that from the very beginning."
"…huh?"
Waylan looked at Douglas in surprise.
Alternating his head between me and Douglas, Waylan dumbfoundedly asked.
"You're actually going to teach him?"
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"Mhm, I will be polishing his psyon control."
Turning to face me, Douglas suddenly asked.
"Ren, was Donna the one who taught you how to control Psyons?"
"Yes, for about half a year.
"No wonder you're psyon control is much more refined than your swordsmanship."
Stroking his long beard, Douglas smiled in satisfaction. However, my next words caused his hand that was stroking his beard to freeze.
"Actually, although for a shorter period of time, Monica also taught me swordsmanship."
Lowering his hand, Douglas asked with an alarmed voice.
"Did you just say, Monica?"
Douglas's reaction confused me.
Ever since meeting him, not once did I see him ever get flustered. Yet, at the mention of Monica's name, his usual calm facade broke instantly.
"I did."
"Haa..."
Sighing, Waylan massaged his forehead.
"This makes a lot more sense now."
"…what does?"
Waylan asked from the side with an amused smile.
Judging from how his lips were trembling, this was also the first time he had ever seen Douglas this flustered.
Ignoring Waylan, Douglas let out a helpless sigh.
"That child, although talented, is the worst person to ask for mentorship. She's the type of person that thinks differently from others, and so whatever she teaches is based on her experiences which most of the time is useless on others."
The more Douglas talked, the worse the smile on his face became.
He then turned to face me.
"She is someone that has little to no patience. You probably experienced this, right?"
"That…"
Recalling the bitter experiences that I went through when Monica was teaching me, I nodded my head.
Douglas was right; Monica had zero patience.
Whenever I got something wrong, she would throw a fit and beat me black and blue.
"You're right. My friend and I did go through quite a rough beating because of her."
"Friend? There was someone else too?"
Douglas alarmingly asked.
Obviously taken aback by the fact that Monica not only taught me but someone else.
Taking a sip of the tea, I nodded my head.
"Yes, you probably know him; his name is Kevin. Kevin Voss."
At the mention of Kevin's name, Douglas's brows furrowed.
"…Kevin Voss? I think I've heard that name before."
"I'm sure you have."
Kevin was the first-year super rookie that scored some of the highest scores recorded in the history of the Lock. There was no way Donna didn't talk about him.
"…Is that so? Interesting. So you're saying that Monica trained both you and him?"
"Correct. We were beaten by her a lot, but he deserved it. Me not so much."
"Deserve it? Why?"
"Just cause."
For someone to have a system yet still be unable to follow instructions, he deserves to get whatever beat down Monica gave him.
"Alright, enough about Kevin and Monica."
Standing up, Douglas looked at Waylan.
"Are you okay with the arrangements, Waylan?"
Putting his broadsword away, Waylan also stood up.
"Yeah, I have no problem with the arrangement."
"That's good."
Similarly, standing up, I asked.
"What should I do now?"
"For now, go back and rest. You just came back from a long fight. You're in no state to fight."
"You're right."
I was indeed quite tired from the fight.
Nodding my head, I decided to bid farewell to Douglas and Waylan. However, right before leaving, I turned around and asked.
"By the way, you previously said that you could have as bring as many people as you wanted in the operation. Does that mean I can bring my group members?"
If possible, I wanted to bring them with me. This might serve as a good experience for them.
Looking at each other, both Waylan and Douglas smiled.
The first to open his mouth was Douglas, who said.
"Yes, you can. We also have an interest in them."
"That's good."
A part of me was relieved by the fact that they also caught the attention of Waylan and Douglas.
With their coaching, they might improve a lot more.
"Alright, I will be taking my leave n—"
"Hold on a second."
Just as I was about to leave, Douglas called out for me. Tilting my head, I asked.
"Yes?"
Douglas pointed at the ring on my hand.
"That concealment is quite strong. If not for the fact that I was closely examining you, I wouldn't have noticed it."
Douglas's words instantly cause my body to freeze.
"Tell me, Ren. What is a demon doing on your hand?"
***
Ding—
Signaling the end of the lecture was the loud chime that rang throughout the academy halls.
"What are you going to do now Kev—"
"I'm leaving."
Packing up his stuff, Kevin dashed out of the classroom, much to Emma's shock.
"Wait, wha..."
But before she could complain, Kevin had already left.
Ignoring Emma, moving out of the classroom, Kevin decided to head back for his dorm. He had something to do.
These couple of days, he had trouble sleeping, and this was all due to the mysterious red book that appeared out of nowhere in his room.
Ever since the last experience, a lot of questions flooded his mind. But, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't quite figure out what was going on.
To make matters worse, every time he fell asleep, he would re-envision the visions that he had upon touching the book.
Kevin felt that he was going crazy.
Just what was going on?
He knew that the answer lay in the book, but for the past few days, he had not touched it.
There was a simple reason for this: the more he read it, the more his confusion grew.
As such, he just decided to wait for a couple of days before deciding to read it.
It was sort of like when stacking chapters for his favorite ongoing novel.
Ci Clank—
Entering his room, Kevin quickly headed for his bedroom.
The red book was sitting on top of his shelf above his work desk.
Kevin sat down on his desk chair and took the red book out without hesitation.
"Huu…"
Staring at the book in his hand, Kevin took a deep breath.
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He had a nagging feeling that today was the day. Today he was finally going to see who the person in the book was.
With trembling hands, Kevin opened the book.