Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 61:First Mission (8)

"Raymond! Do it now!"

The four of them—Thomas, Noelle, Lucy and Cador ran towards Raymond’s position in a straight line. A massive swarm of electro-shocking hornets chasing behind them. Small arcs of electricity jumping and sparking between the hornets, creating a mini lightshow.

It would have been oddly beautiful it weren’t a bunch of hornets that desperately wanted to kill them.

A few ashes gathered behind the four of them as Cador’s Arts tried to reduce the load on them. Audrina’s black fog gathering around them as well.

"Arctic Winds!"

A blue gust of wind rushed from his body, a pale glittering tornado roaring out of his wand as his mana fueled the spell. Winds swirling around him as he channeled the spell.

Yes, he was supposed to improve the spell yesterday so it wouldn’t have the leakage problem that caused part of the winds to be formed around him.

As for why he didn’t?

He was just lazy. It was a long day yesterday already, made even longer by his and Ellen’s shopping. So when they got back, he immediately cleaned himself up with a spell and fell asleep. Still in the same clothes.

The hornets, now gathered up into one dense swarm. Quickly got eradicated by his spell, caught in the tornado. They could do nothing but buzz extremely angrily as they slowly died to the extreme conditions.

By the end of his spell, only a few hundred were left. That was quickly taken care of by the others, littering the ground beneath them with thousands of hornet corpses with two barbed bear corpses somewhere off to the side.

Raymond had honestly gotten sick of seeing hornets, the uncomfortable sound that was created under his boots every time he walked was enough to send shivers down his spine. He didn’t even want to know what it was like for the others who had been stung and shocked repeatedly.

If it weren’t for his shields, they would have suffered way more. He wondered what it was like for Thomas and Audrina in the previous timeline.

Ignoring the crunch under his boots, he collapsed his ice dome. His face slightly pale as he felt the effects of mana burn creep in once again.

It was becoming a part of his routine for the last few days. Use up mana, get mana burn, go to sleep and recover fully and then get mana burn again. He really despised it.

He heard a few yells, several employees rushing in to the part of the power lines. Setting up whatever equipment was needed for the repairs before more monsters could take advantage of the lack of monsters here.

Collapsing into a pile onto a couch in one of the temporary resting zones set up by the company, he closed his eyes. Resting briefly while he waited for the rest to finish helping with the cleanup.

Raymond would have loved to help, but he had mana burn so he didn’t. But also because he didn’t want to.

Soon enough, he felt a presence approach him. Lazily opening an eye, he saw Ellen standing over him slightly.

"Mind moving a little? You’re taking up all the space. "

"I wanna lie down though."

With a resolved sigh, she lightly nudged his head. Sitting down on the far left.

With Raymond’s head resting on her warm soft thighs.

A lap pillow.

"Ellen?"

"Hmm?"

He turned slightly, making eye contact with her multicolored eyes. Seeing her tired expression however, he decided to just give up.

"...nothing."

’Well...it’s more comfortable then the arm rest at least.’

Closing his eyes again, he went back to resting. The next few hours were promising to be intense. Tonight, he and Ellen would need all the energy that they could get.

...to interrogate Cador, or Lucy depending on the circumstances. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

***

Quietly zipping up the black windbreaker, Raymond pulled the hood up. Covering his white hair fully, along with a small disposable face mask and coloured contacts.

His regular appearance was unfortunately too eye catching. His hair especially.

While Raymond disliked the colour black, it made for the best choice in a night attack like what they were planning.

Looking over his appearance in the mirror, he made sure that every notable part of himself was hidden. Not a single inch of skin showing.

He was even wearing a separate pair of combat boots which made him taller by a few inches, with padding located on the insides of his clothes to give him a bulkier frame. Making him look more like an adult rather then a fifteen year old.

Looking at himself, even Raymond could hardly recognize himself. Safe to say, it would be hard for others to recognize him as well.

Unlike some other protagonists, who only wear sunglasses and a hat, not even bothering to do anything else.

All in all, he looked like a standard assassin. His outfit resembling what Audrina would wear frequently.

Summoning his staff, he waved his hand over it. Causing to slowly change forms. The wood changing to become malleable and thin. The colour shifting to become slightly grey.

Leaving him with only a single right-handed glove.

Slipping it on, he adjusted the fit slightly before testing out a few hand incantations.

Checking over his appearance again, he stuffed a few pillows under his blanket to create the appearance of someone sleeping. Locking the door to the room (after he had already hung a ’do not disturb’ sign on the outside) .

Opening the window, he cast a spell to slow down his fall and leapt out. Landing on the ground outside with a light thud. Meeting up with Ellen who was also dressed similarly to him, in all black. Her silhouette appearing to be from an older more mature woman.

"They’re both outside right now, we need to hurry before they get close to the academy. I don’t think instructor Juliet is here for now."

One of the most crucial parts of this was the absence of instructor Juliet.

Luckily, she was likely away right now. As she had been for the past few days as well.

Raymond often wondered whether they were going overkill. Was it really necessary to do this just because two new people joined the academy?

But honestly, he couldn’t help but admit that the current situation right now was unbelievably exciting!

The idea of a secret plan, sneaking out at night, interrogating others. It was like those movies he watched on Earth. It made his heart race!

’...have I become a fighting maniac like Zachary?’

The thought scared him. Becoming a person who derived enjoyment only from fighting others. Never able to be satisfied with the thrill from anything else.

Shaking his head to remove that thought, he nodded at Ellen.

"Let’s go."

The two of them quickly set off, making their way to the only mall in the town of Dravenport. Where Lucy and Cador were currently. Also shopping, like how Raymond and Ellen were yesterday.

It was the fourth day of their stay here at Dravenport, but the academy decided to give them an extra day even though they had already finished their mission so they would only go back tomorrow afternoon. Right now was their only chance.

Standing on the roof of the mall, Raymond checked his tracking spell. Confirming that the two of them were still inside. He had applied it on them sometime during the clean up today, it had been draining on his mana but since it was mostly dormant until he activated it—he had been able to recover his mana.

Casting a spell to let him see what they were doing, he recoiled slightly in surprise.

"They’re both inside shopping for...pets?"

Raymond almost thought he was seeing wrongly. But Lucy and Cador were indeed inside of a pet store.

Lucy was checking out the rats and hamsters, while Cador was strangely staring at another dog. His eyes unblinking as he and the caged dog engaged in a staredown for dominance.

The academy did allow pets, Raymond had even considered joining the Summons and Pets Club before deciding not to. But as far as he was aware, Lucy and Cador didn’t own any pets?

Lucy would own several in the future, most notably a wolf, a wyvern and a griffin.

Of course, they weren’t just any regular beasts. Her Art which let her fuse with her bonded pets—made it so she only sought the best of the best. Each one of her pets were extremely strong with varying abilities but she had none right now. In fact, she didn’t even seem to posses the Art at all!

Rather, she opted to use a rapier and several other Arts in combination instead. Which made for a very different sight compared to her past version.

Ellen seemed confused as well, "A pet store? What are they looking for in particular?"

"Lucy’s looking at some rats and hamsters, Cador is just...having a staredown with this dog."

"..."

"Maybe they’re just looking for a pet? Like a regular one with no crazy powers or anything?"

"I doubt it, Lucy isn’t that kind of person to own those kinds of pets."

It was quite bizzare, but Raymond and Ellen had more pressing matters right now concerning the two.

"How should we separate them?"