"Easy," Raitha replied.
"How so?" Shyam asked. He now could only wish that what she said—'easy'—really was the case.
Because this damn fairy cannot be trusted so easily!
"There are two ways to do so, actually. First, you can reach Tier Two—Hydra Path: Wavecaller—or you can reach system level sixty!" she replied as she scratched her back with the slime stick.
"I do have the Tier Two Hydra Path guide. The only thing I lack is ESs. I should try and gather as many ESs under three days, or else I'll have to pay a delay fee," Shyam murmured as he walked without a destination.
Although it was possible to tier up even without ESs, that process would take months. And right now, he didn't have much time.
He needed that Heat Red Flower under three days in order to complete the task.
"Then why not kill bosses? Who knows, might you tier up while doing so?" Raitha suggested.
"And... how will I find them?" Shyam replied. All the bosses that he had killed were either spawned or listed in the guild halls. Besides that, he didn't know where—or even how—to find bosses.
Chances are there weren't even many bosses lying around waiting for him and only him to approach them. There were a lot of D-rank adventurers here. Even if there were bosses left in this area, they might already have killed them.
"How would I know?" Raitha replied as she played with the slime stick. Shyam finally noticed her playing with what he almost lost his life for—but let's be real, he almost lost his life in every fucking battle he fought so far with the bosses.
"Give me that," he said and snatched it from her.
"Hey! Give it back or I'll cry!" she said as she rolled on the wet dirt.
But Shyam didn't give a fuck!
As he should. Yahaha.
"Well, I should still try and see if any boss-killing quests are still left," Shyam whispered and started walking back to the village.
An adventurer could only accept three quests of their class. Which meant Shyam could only take three D-rank tasks. And he had already completed two of the quests he took.
So now he could take one more.
This time he could take a battle mission, as the rewards from the quest were enough to pay for the inn bill.
He could freely spend his gold coin now.
After coming back to the guild, he submitted the gathered herbs and went to see the quest board.
"Let's see," Shyam whispered as he stared at the quest board, trying to spot a D-rank boss-killing quest.
"Hey," someone said from behind Shyam, almost as if someone called him. But he ignored it. Only natural—why would anyone call him in a place where he knew no one and no one knew him?
"Hey, Shyam!" she said again.
And this time, Shyam's heartbeat rose so much he might actually die from it.
Not only did he recognize this voice, but he also feared it way more than Raitha's roastings.
Shyam slowly turned around to confirm.
His heart stopped the moment he laid eyes on the girl who called him.
It was none other than—
"Ravina!" he muttered.
Yes, the same Ravina from Kamalgram who almost accidentally killed him with her declaration spell. He still remembered that spell like he was attacked by it only yesterday.
"I was a bit surprised when I saw you here. What are you doing here anyway?" she asked.
It didn't seem like she was nervous at all, while Shyam sweat like he had just survived the impossible. A truck-kun attack!
"I, uhh… I am ad-adventuring as usual," he replied with a stuttering voice.
He wanted to escape this situation as fast as possible.
This girl had a crazy spell to exterminate goblins with just a few words.
While Shyam needed to at least use spells and mana.
What if he made her angry and everyone in this guild gets found dead the next moment?
He didn't want to take that risk.
"Soo... anyway. I have to go now," Shyam said as he tried to escape this intense situation of life and death.
"Hope we don't meet again," he yelled—inside his head.
THE POWER OF IMAGINATION.
"Hey, wait!" she shouted as she called him back.
"What is it?" he said nicely.
"Leave me, bitch." he said—again, IN HIS MIND.
Because...
POWER OF IMAGINATION!
"I got this one quest that is so hard to complete. Could you help me?" she said as she turned her gaze down and put her hands back.
Trying to be an anime waifu, eh?
Shyam looked at her with weird eyes and said,
"Why did you take it then?"
I mean, he is right to question her.
If she couldn't do it, then just don't take it.
"Well, I took it thinking I could do it. But the boss was way stronger than I thought it would be," she replied.
…But makes sense in a way. (Agreeing because she looks cute!)
Though the word boss interested Shyam in this topic.
The fear of her murdering the entire guild kind of just vanished and excitement took its place.
Ravina came just at the right time—just when Shyam needed her.
Or… what she came here for.
"Well, if it's like that, I think I can help!" he said as he put a smile on his face.
Not to maintain their relationship but because he might get a new soul to capture.
He now had four more empty slots that could be used to capture four more souls!
"Really? Great then, let's go!" she said as she jumped and then started walking toward the exit.
But Shyam stopped her midway.
"Wait! First I'll need to buy a new sword," Shyam said as he rubbed his hands behind his back like a silly child.
After that, Shyam and Ravina went to the blacksmith shop and bought a shiny sword.
It was a Humanly-level sword.
Though Shyam didn't really know what that meant, it looked way better than his previous steel sword, so he bought it.
Unlike his other swords, this sword's handle was made of thick leather, which was more grippable.
Overall, it was better than any other weapon he had seen so far.
Even Ashima didn't use a weapon like this, despite being a mayor's daughter.
After buying the sword, Ravina and Shyam left the village entrance and walked toward the boss area.
On the way, Shyam learned more about Ravina.
Like how she ran away from home because she wanted to be an adventurer and not the lord of some village—which would only restrict her future.
A village where even E-rank adventurers were uncommon.
She knew there was a bigger world that awaited her. A world which many people failed to see.
And that she liked tea.
Fuck, this tea is everyone's favorite, isn't it?
Guess Shyam's habit of drinking as little as possible was going to be a problem in the future if he ever felt like socializing.
BUT HE WILL MANAGE!
After walking for a while, they finally reached the quest area.
But there was nothing there.
Just an empty, grassless place—almost as if someone, or something, stayed here.
"I swear I fought it right here!" Ravina said as she looked around.
Shyam wasn't concerned much.
His greater sense didn't detect much of anything except some low-level slimes and ignorable goblins on the way.
"How does it look anyway?" Shyam asked.
Even if it hadn't shown itself yet, he still needed to be ready.
If he knew how it looked, then maybe he could prepare a good plan before they start fighting.
"It was a blue long-tailed eagle boss," she replied as she showed Shyam a picture.
Shyam looked at it.
"An eagle, huh…" he murmured and looked up at the forest.
"AN EAGLE!" he shouted.
Was she really trying to kill an eagle? Like literally?!
It could fly!
How are they supposed to defeat it with a sword?
Forget boss—Shyam couldn't even defeat a normal eagle even if he fought with all his brain cells.
"How are you planning to kill an eagle?!" Shyam asked loudly—as he should!
"I don't know. Eh, we'll see when it arrives," she said, making a silly face.
As if she didn't know that it was an eagle before they came here.
Suddenly, Shyam's system window flickered:
[ Long-Tail Eagle Boss – 1 / Earthly Tier 1, Level 25 Air Boss ]
---
Ch-37