Descending Into A Novel

Chapter 183:Mission Bonanza (3)

"W-wait!"

The man screamed out, screamed out too late unfortunately. As Raymond’s spell proceeded to pin him down to the floor, chains of ice tightly bounding his every limb.

He yawned, this mission was just...too easy.

All their opponents were just criminals, lacking access to Arts, mana techniques, and basically every essential skill that awakened had to develop in order to fight properly.

In terms of potential score, they would only be in the twenties. Maybe a few in the thirties, considering the average was only 15. They were barely qualified to be awakened. Only just managing to make the cut.

Hard work and dedication let them form their core, and maybe even undergo their first tempering or form their first circle, some might even reach the second level. But without proper techniques to back it up, they were just slightly stronger training dummies that fought back, and weren’t as durable.

Well. The others seemed to be struggling just a slight amount however.

"Raymond help me!"

Zachary shouted for his help, his sword furiously clashing with a metal bat. Sending sparks flying everywhere.

Every strike was a losing game for Zachary however, as he was continuously pushed back by overwhelming strength. Which, when carrying such a light weapon like a bat. Also translated into speed that was hard to react to.

Each time he tried to use his Arts, or any of his skills. His opponent would immediately push the offensive, each swing of his bat powerful enough to smash through walls. His sword being the only thing preventing Zachary from suffering any broken bones.

Since Raymond was the only one who was free enough to help, Zachary called out for him.

Not that Raymond had any intention to. He was a kind and benevolent soul who believed in guidance rather then simply giving the answer, and also because recently Zachary had absolutely demolished him in a video game. (Only because he cheated)

"Suffering builds character. You got this man!"

"What the fu-

Klang!

Zachary let out a grunt, his entire body being pushed downwards as he tried to block another swing.

Dashing back, he raised an arm. Aiming his palm and preparing to fire a ray of light that would normally. Without any time to focus and condense the ray, he could only release it as a blast that slightly pushed his opponent back. Rather then an actual ray of light which would cut through him.

Unfortunately, even lousy awakened like them still had a few tricks up their sleeves. Facing the blast of light head-on, he proceeded to swing his bat at it. His bat covered in a blue aura, it smashed directly into the ray and managed to send it flying back towards Zachary. As if it was a ball and he was the batter.

Thunk!

Zachary felt his jaw drop.

That was just a completely nonsensical idea that should never have worked. It wasn’t even a small object but a continuous stream of mana that resembled light. How in the world did one even manage to redirect it by hitting it again?!

A brief golden outline appeared on his body, taking a step to the right. His body instantly moved several extra meters of distance. Dodging the redirected ray of light.

Having his own attack used on himself felt really disgusting, he felt like he understood Raymond a little bit now.

Not giving up yet, Zachary used the same Art again. A brief golden outline appearing on his body as he took a step forward. Reappearing right in front of the man with his sword raised.

Without giving the man any time to react, he immediately brought his sword down. Turning it at the last second so it fell flat on his head.

Zachary wasn’t that ready to kill yet.

They also needed them for info, and seeing the man crumple into a pile on the floor. Zachary felt his frustrations from constantly getting his Arts interrupted wash away from his body.

Fighting was truly the best. Stressed? Just fight! But maybe don’t fight your mom.

With his opponent dealt with, Zachary immediately turned to find Raymond. Who was lazily lounging backwards on a chair of ice he made.

He held his hands up, "Wait. Don’t get angry yet."

"...you have one sentence to explain yourself."

Raymond gestured for Zachary to sit next to him, before pointing at the rest of their classmates.

Thomas and Noelle were both being pushed back by their own foes as well. They might have been able to stand on equal grounds against foes a level above them. But it didn’t mean they were guaranteed to win.

The others as well, were all fighting as hard as they could. Although in the case of Ellen and Audrina, it was more like fighting to stay awake. But they were all still struggling against their foe anyways so it made no difference. The numbers disadvantage didn’t make things any easier either.

At this point, Zachary realized immediately what Raymond was doing.

"Wait. You actually were trying to help us?"

"If I need to, I’ll step in. You asked for help but you still managed to get your guy didn’t you?"

It would have sounded a lot better if Raymond’s tone wasn’t so condescending. He didn’t say it, but his posture alone indicated ’I told you so’ energy.

In short, since Raymond was currently on his second circle and was a rank above them all. He could easily sweep through all of them without breaking a sweat. But he didn’t, not because he was lazy. But to help them.

Although, laziness might have also played a part. If Raymond just provided help whenever and easily, they wouldn’t struggle. Choosing to instead rely on him to bail them out whenever they got into trouble.

Essentially, tough love. Acting unbothered to help them out in the long term.

Zachary stared at his struggling classmates with a conflicted look on his face.

"Popcorn?"

"...sure."

Which didn’t last for long. Sitting down next to him and munching on the popcorn Raymond handed to him.

The two of them sat like that for a while, the occasional small talk as Raymond blocked any incoming projectiles headed their way.

"Raymond. Help me."

With Ellen’s soft voice from her lack of energy, it was hard to hear her amidst all the intense fighting. But both of them still heard her anyways.

Raymond sighed, setting his bucket of popcorn down as he stood up and brushed his clothes.

Zachary asked, "I thought you weren’t going to help?"

"If I don’t help you guys. Then you guys improve while I get to laze around, a win-win situation for everybody. But if I don’t help her..."

Raymond didn’t need to finish his sentence, Zachary had heard enough complaints from him to get an idea of what would come next.

"It’s even worse since she’s so grumpy..."

Ellen was always the one who slept earlier then him and woke up earlier then him. Like a robot, she would wake up a perfect 7 hours later and be perfectly fine—which Raymond considered to be pure psychopathic behavior.

The moment she woke up, she was already in peak condition. Fully energised from her sleep, without a single hint of grogginess for most of the day.

If she woke up even just a few minutes earlier or later however, then her entire day was practically ruined from the start. Her aura itself seemed to turn gloomy, and her already cold stare would be enough to freeze ice. With Raymond often suffering unforeseen consequences(although he was also the cause for said sleep disruptions half the time).

As for Raymond, he usually required a small one hour nap after waking up just to recover from waking up. Technically, as a perfect human. He had long surpassed these types of issues, but sleeping had become more of a mental recovery rather then a physical recovery for him, and he always considered his mental health as important.

He didn’t know what exactly had ruined her sleep last night, but he wasn’t about to be on the receiving end of her anger again anytime soon.

Raymond let out a sigh. Slacking off was really difficult.

***

"So none of you guys know anything?"

"W-we promise! We really don’t know anything!"

They weren’t allowed to kill for the mission, obviously. Since they were dealing with a human threat rather then a monster threat. The group had hoped to get some info on the said boss they were supposed to catch, only to be disappointed when none of them provided any actual useful info.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying either. Audrina had done her magic and sufficiently ’talked’ to them. Raymond didn’t even need to resort to magic. Yet they still didn’t spill anything.

No name, no rough power estimate, no location, no nothing.

"They always receive their instructions from a club, maybe we should try and go there?"

It was likely they had already moved, but it was still worth a shot.

Raymond yawned again, "Why don’t we save it for tomorrow first? We’ve got two people here who can barely even function."

Said two people, was naturally Ellen and Audrina.

Ellen gave him a grateful look as they all dispersed to go back to their own rooms and rest. Her movements sluggish as she sat down next to him.

"Can you teleport us to our room..?I don’t feel like walking..." She mumbled.

"There’s a barrier preventing me from doing that."

She let out a groan, her head falling onto his shoulders.

He could feel her soft hair trickle down, despite all the intense fighting she had done. She still somehow managed to still smell good, like a field of flowers.

Raymond normally would have felt flustered, but this had occured enough times that he didn’t really feel surprised anymore, and pushing Ellen off of him when she was so tired was just mean.

Seeing her so sleepy like this was also really...

A word appeared in his head, but he didn’t dare use it to describe her.

"Wake me up after an hour..."

With that she closed her eyes. Falling asleep within seconds. A sign of just how tired she was.

"..."

She was really such a strange person sometimes.