For I Am A Side Character - 95: A Man Wearing A Monster's Presence.
About a few minutes after Soril was able to place his position to protect the boss-room, in the distance, he could hear the clanking noise of armor being made.
In that moment, he knew someone was approaching him.
“…Hmm, one person?” he said to himself.
As he looked further beyond in the dark dungeon, he witnessed the sight of a boy wearing a rather rusty armor covered from head to toe, walking alone with nothing but a book on hand.
‘Is it a knight…or is it a mage?’ he thought himself. Seeing as how such a person was carrying to varying items, it was hard to assume what kind of class the person was. And more suspicious about this boy was the fact that not a single drone was following behind him. In this day alone, there shouldn’t be anyone here in the dungeon other than the students themselves.
So either this person was a student who got lost and hos drone was destroyed or…he was a tresspasser.
When the boy got close enough to not get involved with the drone watching over Soril, he finally spoke to Soril in a rather coarse tone.
“Um…If I may ask, can you point me to where the exit is?” he said.
And to hearing this voice, Soril quickly realized who this person was.
“Y-yeah, the exit can be found just south of here. Just go through that tunnel there and keep going south.” said Soril as he didn’t hesitate to guide the rusty armor knight.
“Thanks, um…can I ask you something again? If you don’t mind.” he asked.
“What is it?” asked Soril.
“Did the other Class-E students went through here? I was supposed to be with them, but something messed with our group and now they just ran off without me.” he said.
Going back to the time when Class-C was being chased by Class-E, they had one member missing from their chase. That said person was now here in front of Soril.
“…No, I didn’t see anyone pass through here.” he said.
“I see. Well, seeing as how you’re standing in front of the C- Boss room, I can only assume that you’re from Class-C…in fact, I think I recognized you from somewhere.” he said.
“I am from Class-C, and my name is Soril.” said Soril as he introduced himself.
“Ah…now I remember. You’re that guy…I see. Well, it was nice meeting you Soril, hope you have a nice day now.” he said as he made his way to the south tunnel of the dungeon.
Havin waved goodbye, Soril waited for a few minutes and noticed that in the shadows…a sort of presence was following nearing him.
And that presence, made itself known in front of Soril.
“…Hmm, looks like you have it easy here.” said the presence as she sprouted from the shadows of the dungeon.
“So the boy in the rusty armor, he’s our target right?” asked Soril as he stared at the shadow before him.
“Right, from the way things are going, it seems as though nothing bad is going to happen in this event any time soon. But keep your schedule clean, if things do go south, I’ll call for you.” said the shadow.
“Right, ah before you go Tyen-lin, I have to ask you something.” said Soril as he unconsciously looked away from the jiggling nature of the big-breasted ninja.
“Pervert…what is it?” she asked as she scowled at Soril’s unconscious perverted reaction.
“…I was wondering if there were any signs of intruders lately. Mostly, about Demon fanatics?” said Soril.
“No, not that I know of. But why do you ask?” she asked.
“Just a gut feeling. Anyway, if the principal does say anything to you about some possible intruders, try to at least inform me about them.”
“Sure, I’ll keep a look out.” said Tyen-lin as she activated back her magic.
With that said, Tyen-lin went back into the shadows and started following the path to the south tunnel.
Their objective was pretty much clear to them. Watch over the target for any possible attacks. His life is valuable to the house of shadows. And mainly right now, Tyen-lin is the one monitoring the target. With how Soril is busy with the event, she will only call on to him if things go dire.
Not a single thing is known about why the boy was a priority, but orders were orders…
So as Tyen-lin left, Soril went back to guarding the door and he waited…
For minutes, he waited to hear some kind of development, and to his eager hope, the drone beside him announced his team’s win.
“Hmm…So we got second place huh. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get first.” he said as he then moved to leave the door.
But before he could, he heard the sound of metal clinking by the distance again. Yet this time, it wasn’t just one footprint, but seven of them.
“…Hmm?”
“Ah?”
As Soril looked up, he was meet with the gaze of Jason standing before him, carrying nothing but a sack filled with crystals. And it wasn’t just Jason, along him stood the rest of the Class-A groups.
A lot of them were nervous and shocked to find Soril standing before them, but none were more shocked than Jessabelle who had this nervous smile put on her.
“I-isn’t that Soril from Class-C?” asked one of the students in Jason’s group.
“It is, what should we do?” they asked as they couldn’t help but get nervous in the sight of one potentially dangerous enemy.
“Don’t worry, we got the three power-house trio by our sides. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” they said.
“Y-yeah, you’re right.” they said as they started to feel confident.
But as the rest of the members in the Class-A group was confident, the trio on the other hand were nervously waiting on what to do.
From their perspective, Soril wasn’t a student to lightly evaluated even as he is.
To Audrey, she knew the potential that he holds as a hunter…from her perspective, simply from the stance he held right now showed her a form of pressure that made her unsure of her own capabilities. From the fact that Soril likes to hide his abilities, she couldn’t help but be uncertain of what he was truly capable of.
To Jessabelle, she couldn’t help but feel nervous around him. She did not expect ot find him here of all places. so with the fact that her heart was beating like a wild drum as she stood at the only man that made her heart beat like this. Her emotions for Soril simply puts her in an unstable state. Despite her composed look, she was giving it her all not to break down on the spot.
As for Jason, he was very excited to see what would happen in this very moment. Aside from Audrey who was able to match his skill in the sword, Soril was the next student to ever make him raise a brow of curiosity in a test of skill. Through all the bouts he witnessed that Soril was able to do during his spar with Jessica, since Jason could only watch from the sidelines, the feeling of having to face off with him finally made his blood boil with excitement.
While the others were cautious, it was only Jason who stood with a curious aspirition to battle against Soril. It would have been best that he could fight him one on one, but nonetheless, he was also curious about what would happen if they were all to attack him at the same time.
But If Soril were to say anything to avoid conflict, Jason would have accepted it and move on. He wasn’t unreasonable per say, so he made the intention of giving Soril the choice to whether or not fight him in this very moment.
“Say Soril, I know you’re class already took second place already in this event, So I was curious to know.”
“What is it?” asked Soril as he stood with his arms crossed. Showing a glare of hostility to Class-A.
“…I wanna know if you’re actually willing to do this.”
“Do what exactly?” he asked.
“Fight us…no maybe yet, just fight me. Whichever is better.” he said.
“Why would I-” Soril tried to deny a duel in this moment since there was no reason to, but before he could, the system board appeared before his very face in this very moment…and the message it showed simply enticed him to a point of sheer foolishness.
‘…Oi, you gotta be kidding me.’
[Side Mission #4: Initiate combat against Class-A with the intention of bringing out the potential inside Jason’s God given gift.]
[Rewards: Expand The Space inside Mystical Space Bag. (+30 Slots)]
[Time Limit: 1 hour.]
Soril was a bit taken aback by the quest made by the system. He was surprised to see that right now, the system wanted him to openly fight Jason. And the reason behind it was to open Jason’s birth skill.
‘Did God want me to push forward with opening Jason’s skill?…has he still not learned the blue flames…no originally, he was going to open his skill once he was dragged into the Elven world, so why does God want me to open in now?’
Being a bit hesitant, Soril looked to Jason and saw the passion in his eyes. The passion to simply test his abilities.
“…Hmm, as long as we can keep this in the down-low, I hope God knows what he’s doing with this mission.” seeing as how Soril trusted God to this degree, he accepted the side mission and made the effort to actually use this chance to bring out Jason’s capabilities. It seemed like this side mission had more ot show than what it seems to be.
“…Say, Jason…Do you think I can have the honor of fighting you all head to head?” asked Soril as his entire presence changed.
“…Hmm? Are you serious?” asked Jason as he looked incredibly intrigued by Soril sudden change of character.
“Maybe…”
With that said, Soril decided to unseal the first seal, turning his presence entirely more menacing than before.
And from his change, Jason, Audrey and Jessabelle quickly noticed the change in Soril. From his usual calm appearance turned to a rather threatening one at that.
“Looks like he is serious.” said Audrey as she got out her Katana.
“…Ah.” Jessabelle was a bit hesitant, but soon enough, she was pressured not by her group but by the presence shown by Soril.
Although he was only an A-rank, which the students have already meet before, his entire presence as himself simply wasn’t normal to what anyone could say to be “Normal”.
The presence he brought was like that of a [Silent Beast], a beast that showed killing intent despite the little effort he made. No one could have expected that his once calm demeanor was now that of a beast standing forward in front of them.
Seeing him like this, Audrey was reminded of the experience she had inside the dungeon that she and Soril experienced together. The fact that his eyes were that sharp in that instant, made her heart beat ever so. Today…in this moment, she had meet a boy her age that she was uncertain she could beat.
To them, he had the same presence as the A-ranked dungeon boss, [The Goblin King] which they all once had experienced fighting together. Maybe he was even more powerful than that monster.
“…He clearly isn’t a B-rank hunter.” said Jessabelle as she looked incredibly nervous.
“Heheh, this is really getting me riled up.” said Jason as he had a cold sweat drip down from his cheeks.
To them…in this moment, they instantly knew that Soril had already surpassed them simply by his aura alone.
And despite Jason having to defeat an S-rank by himself. The S-rank he defeated wasn’t completely an S-rank. It was nothing but a corpse controlled by the high-rank demon back when he and the [man in armor] saved the Miller brothers from the demon fanatics.
At most, that S-rank demon fanatic was nothing but an A-rank.
What stood before him now was someone clearly on another level. What stood before him was a hunter who had a mind of its own…a mind and experience that shouldn’t be looked down upon.
Feeling overwhelmed by his presence alone, Jason had to make sure that the rest of his group members were ready. It didn’t seem like this battle was going to be a one on one, Soril’s presence simply overshadowed that choice.
The only possible way to win right now was to work together as a group…
“…Lets do this everyone, get ready!” said Jason, but the moment he did all but in an instant, all four drones watching over them as a live camera suddenly feel down to the floor as if they all suddenly lost power.
All were confused as to how it happened, but none of that mattered right now since all of their focus was on Soril.
“Then, lets do this.” said Soril.
[Enlightened Domain of the Dark.]
[Ethereal Will of the Dark]
These two skills are always an option when fighting against a large number of enemies. It increases both the will and senses of his fighting capabilities, with the Ethereal Will of the Dark, he won’t hesitate to take action even against some rather important characters in the story. And with the Enlightened Domain, he can keep a close eye on the one person that has a skill towards speed and flashiness.
At that moment, his presence as an enemy grew larger for the group that it started to take effect on the common members. Out of the seven, the four were found nervously shooked by his image and aura, and the reason for this was because of the effect of the Ethereal Will.
“A-are you sure we want to do this? I mean, isn’t it unfair to fight a K-kid on his own?!” asked one of the students as they covered their fear and nervousness with an excuse to back out.
“If you want to back out, then go ahead. You’re just going to get in our way if you fight scared.” said Jessabelle as she eagerly showed more bravery than any of the four common students.
“W-we’re not scared! I just think its unfair…after all, it 7 to 1. its incredibly unfair…right?”
“…”
“…Ah..”
The four students turned to Soril and saw no change in his eyes. There, they could still feel the danger simply from his gaze.
“Ah, fuck it! We’re with the strongest trio there is in Class-A, there’s no way we can lose!” said one student who changed his mind from walking away. It seems to him, it was a wasted chance to be involved in something quite exciting.
And in his cheery vote, the others decided to raise their swords as well. Seeign as how they decided to stay and fight, it felt like they had a boost in confidence.
But their confidence, didn’t mattered at all.
As Soril raised his sword, out from his mystical space bag, he pulled out the sheath of his sword and he puts it inside his blade, covering the very blade that could possibly cut off the head of a student.
This gesture of his, simply showed them that this was his way of mercy…
But still, even with such a gesture, the killing intent in his eyes never lifted even for an ounce.
Jason swallowed his spit in the nervousness of it all. He could feel just how dry his mouth was…but he couldn’t keep his eyes…his focus away from the invitation of battle.
“We’re ready…” he said.
And in his affirmation, Soril took his step forward.
Out in his appearance, he was but a man wearing the presence of a monster….and in his presence, it invoked fear into the hearts of the Class-A students.