Arpious of the Planes

"As the king of the Uxtan Kingdom, I order you, Tayber, to bring your party and slaughter the Death Level Monster that has appeared in the [Mountain of Twilight],"

His highness sat on his grand throne that was 2 steps above me. Red robes, lined with gold flowed down from his shoulders, just barely touching the bright red carpet that went through the middle of the throne room.

The pressure he emitted was not that of a weak and fat king. Our king is one of the very few rulers on this plane that has fought with his soldiers, side by side until they achieved victory. This is why the entire kingdom respects him greatly.

Even now, he hasn't participated in any wars but his stature is that of a seasoned warrior. About 6'3 in height and every muscle of his was toned. They weren't massive but enough for him to swing a weapon flexibly.

Short brown hair and a scar going across his left eye.

"If that is the king's will, I will accept whatever order you give," I respond.

"Good. You are dismissed," The king says.

I immediately rose from my one knee and bowed before walking out the throne room. The large wood doors closed behind me with a massive,

BAM

"How was it. Were you ordered to kill the anomaly?" Ted says, who was leaning on one of the various quartz pillars that held up the king's castle.

"Yeah,"

"Just like we thought. Well, we can't go against the king's order so let's get this over with," Ted says, walking beside me as we leave the castle.

"I know, just make sure you don't underestimate the enemy. It's most likely an intelligent monster. Remember what happened five years ago, the king of the [Mountain of Twilight] tried to send a monster horde to try and destroy our kingdom,"

"I know, I know. Let's just hope we don't run into any of the guardians or the king… otherwise, we'll be dead meat," Ted responds as we walk out of the king's castle.

"Let's stop saying such negative things. How about we get the rest of the party and get some dinner. Who knows, it might be our last dinner together…"

"Who's the one saying negative things now… HAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHA!"

We both laughed our heads off until my throat got sore. After coughing a bit, we made our way to Ester's house. She should be taking care of her plants right now. Finn and Eloise should be at their house so we can pick them up after.

"So are you going to confess to Ester now? How long have you liked her… 3 years maybe, and you haven't even given a hint. She's completely oblivious… I think," Ted says.

"How about you, when are you going to confess to Eloise? It's been like 4 years for you," I tease back.

"Dude, I'm honestly scared Finn is going to kill me if I confess… Like come on, he's the tank and berserker of the group. I'm powerless against him as the spearman,"

"Well you have reach I guess,"

"Finn's arms are massive, they are probably more than half the length of my spear," Ted says.

"I guess you are screwed… Ah, we're here," I say, seeing the wood and stone house in front of me.

It had two floors and at the window sills of each room, we're flowers of all kinds.

I immediately knock on the door with Ted standing right behind me. The door creaks open as a 5'4 grandma greets me. Her smile was as warm as ever, just what Ester needed after her parents were killed in the monster horde 5 years ago.

"Good to see you again grandma, is Ester here?"

"Ah Tayber, welcome. Come on in. Oh, is that Ted, come on in as well. Let me prepare some tea," the grandma says, opening the door and letting us come in.

"Ah, granny is so nice. I wish I got to live with her instead of Mom and Dad. They keep saying 'Train harder. You're not strong enough,'" Ted mocks his parents.

"At least you have parents,"

A woman's voice appears beside me. I couldn't even sense her, but that would make sense since she is the assassin of the group, Ester Rutter.

"A-Ah, my bad," Ted says, seeing Ester appear next to me.

"It's whatever, so what are you guys doing here?" Ester asks.

"I just wanted to invite our party for some dinner tonight and tell you all something pretty important," I say.

"Sure, I have nothing else to do anyway,"

"Let's stay here for a bit. I would feel bad if the tea that granny is making would just sit here," Ted says.

"Sure,"

Both I and Ester giggle to ourselves, seeing Ted's rare compassion.

…

"The tea that grandma makes is always the best," Ted says as we walk to Eloise and Finn's house.

"You do know those tea leaves are grown by me?" Ester says.

"That's cool but the way granny brews the tea makes it special. Damn, I wish I had such a nice grandma. Even when my grandma and grandpa were alive, they were nowhere near as nice as this," Ted says, wiping away a non-existent tear.

"What a weirdo," Ester mumbles under her breath.

We soon arrived at a house almost identical to Esters house… with just fewer flowers.

*knock* *knock*

A tall and slim man soon opens the door. It was Eloise and Finn's dad… he always had a stern face on him so it was hard to tell if he liked us or not.

"Are you here for Eloise and Finn?" The slim guy asks.

"Y-yeah. I need to talk about something important over dinner with them,"

"Alright, make sure they come straight home after you are eating," The slim guy says, before closing the door.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Finn and Eloise walk out the door. I asked them if they wanted to go to dinner which they immediately agreed to. It seems they wanted to get away from their strict parents.

…

"Okay I brought you all here today to talk about the order I just got from the king,"

Everybody stopped eating their meal of choice and paid more attention to me.

"I have received the order to slay the new monster that has been causing so much ruckus within the [Mountain of Twilight]. The king didn't give us a date so we'll take the next 2 days to warm up and hone our teamwork even further," I say.

"For sure,"

"Okay, this will be fun,"

"He was the first person to tell me by the way,"

"Cool,"

"Alright, get some rest tonight and we'll start early in the morning. It's been a while since we last had a mission so we need to work hard for the next 2 days,"

Everybody nods in agreement before resuming their previous conversation.

My teammates are the most precious to me after my parents, there is no way I'm letting them die.

Ted, my best friend since childhood and the spearman of our party. About 5'10 in height, only 1 inch shorter than me. Long brown hair that flows to his shoulders and shiny brown eyes that looks like polished leather. Skin that is white but rid with scars due to the countless battles he's participated in. His build is pretty skinny but he makes that up with his insane spear skills. He's been practicing since a child… well it's more like he's been forced to practice the spear since childhood.

Finn, one of my only friends since I've finished the sword academy and the Tank/Berserker of our party. About 6'2 in height and a build that is massive, fitting for a tank and berserker. Short black hair and cold black eyes that look like obsidian.

Eloise, Finn's one and only sister and the healer of our party. About 5'6 in height and she has soft, pale skin, unlike her slightly tan brother. Flowing blonde hair that she got from her mother goes to her waist. Her warm smile is only gone when her brother starts to act up… she turns into a demon rather than a priest.

Finally, Ester, the assassin of our party. About 5'7 in height and she has beautiful, soft, white skin. Her black hair only goes halfway up her back. She always has a cold expression on but I've seen her one moment of weakness… it still makes me sad just thinking back on it.

It was a cold rainy day when the monster horde had already raided the outskirts of the Uxtan Kingdom. I and my mom were running from a monster when we were saved by the king. He was strong, amazingly strong, I wanted to be exactly like him.

We continued to run with the king protecting our back. Eventually, we took shelter in a broken house and the king had disappeared without a trace. Curled up into a ball right next to me and my mom was Ester… she was crying and kept muttering about how her parents will come back.

We eventually took her in and she was very distant even though we lived in the same house. We went to the same school. We ate at the same table but we were always distant.

After about 2 years with her living with us, she found out that her grandma was still alive so she immediately left and lived with her. I didn't feel anything at that moment. But I would feel something later on…

"Hey, Tayber. Want to spar after dinner. We can get a headstart today," Ted says.

"Let me join then,"

"I'm joining to then,"

"I guess I'll heal you, idiots,"

"*sigh*... you guys. We can't be looking weak in front of the kingdom… I mean, we are the heroes after all…"

『Status』

[Name: Tayber]

[Race: Human]

[Status: None]

[Level: 102]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 500/500  SP: 300/300]

[Strength: 100]

[Defense: 100]

[Magic: 100]

[Speed: 100]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 30]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Contortion] [Concentration] [Tangible Bloodlust] [Earth Shattering Strike] [Grand Sword Enhancement] [Sword Coating: Light] [Destroying Sword Swing] [Light Enhanced Sword Swing] [Enhanced Sword Stab] [Light Enhanced Sword Stab] [Light Magic]

[Titles: [Hard Worker] [Blessed by the Overlord Spirit of Light] [Hero]

…