The Rise Of Calamity

Currently, we had been running for another 3 hours without being able to see any signs of civilization close by.

While there had been a few malicious beasts that had attacked us on the way here, they were all at the lord stage and under. There was only one lord stage beast that was at the peak of its rank, yet even though I tried to communicate with it, it did not respond.

At first, I had thought that the beast must have been in a berserker state, but after analyzing it and also not feeling any bloodlust, the theory was quickly debunked.

According to my analysis, there was something else going on...

---

[Analyzing]

[Analysis Complete!]

[Name: ???

Gender: Male

Race: Tailor Fox

Age: 7

Power Level: 37 691

Title(S): None

Affinity: Earth

Skills: None

Status: Corrupted, Pained ]

"Hey, June?"

"Yeah?" She looked up at me. I was currently sitting on a branch as we rested for the last time before reaching Fedrick City.

I was simply sitting there looking into the distance which I had started doing a lot for the last few days, while also swinging my feet like a little kid.

"There is something wrong with these beasts..." I narrowed my eyes while refusing to blink them for a reason I did not know myself.

"What do you mean?" June raised a brow with eyes filled with curiosity. however, she quickly regained her composure before clearing her throat and repeating "What do you mean?" With a slightly deeper and colder voice.

Chuckling lightly, I could feel June\'s piercing glare land on my face making me choke on my own laughter.

"Well, don\'t you think they are acting a little weird? Maybe even a little too aggressive?" I tilted my head back after finally blinking after stubbornly choosing not to for a prolonged amount of time.

"No? I mean, aren\'t they usually aggressive anyway?" She scoffed while puffing her chest out, crossing her arms, and looking away with an audible \'hmph\'.

\'No matter how good tsunderes seem in anime, they are really annoying in real life\' I sighed

"Normal beasts are called beasts for a reason. They aren\'t animals but rather, they are evolved versions of the animal species they hsd come from. Unless they are in a breserk state or hadbjust evolved, they are just as if not more intelligent than humans. Beasts don\'t like tmgetting th attention of humans nor are they stupid enough to attack someone without being moderately sure they can kill them or at least run away from them..." I lectured.

"Your point?" She snarled due to not understanding what I was trying to say.

\'Is she trying to outsmart me?! Hmph\' she gritted her teeth.

"What I am trying to say is that these beasts are either all working together to protect something or.

..." I halted the swinging of my feet and frowned.

"Or?" She got up impatiently

"Or something is controlling them or at least corrupting them... Whatever it is, it shows that they would rather die than allow us to proceed. This all lead to a single conclusion. There is something powerful behind this, which also means this is no longer a B rank mission" An extremely large grin spread from behind my mask

"Oh no! We should go back and inform Guild master!" June started to panic

"What are you blabbering about? This had just become interesting and you want to tell her already?" I snarled while jumping onto my feet and crossing my arms.

"B-but... Guildmaster will kill us if she finds out" she stuttered"

"Then don\'t let her find out" I grinned

"You\'re going to lie to her?" Her mouth gaped as she stood there like a child who had heard a curse word uttered by a grown-up.

"Alright... You can tell her, scaredy-cat" I launched towards the direction of the city leaving the frozen June behind to slowly start panicking about what to do as she watched me fly into the distance.

A horrified expression filled her face as she turned back and forth between the direction I went and the direction back to Lagua city. Not long after, she started pacing back before stopping, turning around, and shooting in my direction. This scene repeated around 5 more times before she finally concluded that the best thing to do was follow me.

If one were to see her face right now, one would be able to imagine an imaginary tear falling across her cheeks while she imagined how her guildmaster would react to the news of us going against her order.

***

"Oh, you came?" I snickered while looking at the crestfallen expression of June. 

"mmmm" She grumbled in a low voice while pouting.

\'She looks kind of cute, doesn\'t she?\' I smiled

[...]

\'What?\'

[Womanizer...]

\'...\'

[-_-]

\'Womanizer?\'

[ >︹<]

\'Oh god... You know how to use emojis now...\'

[Haha, it\'s nothing]

\'I WASN\'T COMPLIMENTING YOU DAMNIT!\'

[I love you too]

\'ugh...\'

I and June kept running at the same speed for over an hour, which allowed us to finally spot something in the distance.

There were no trees within the last 30 miles of the city, meaning we had to tread of the plains of land while the sunset in the distance glowed the earth, grass, and bushes with an orangy-red hue.

"Hey, June!"

"What?" She spoke with a solemn tone

"Wanna race?" I asked while stretching my legs

"Why?" She looked up with a glare

"Cuz\' why not? I\'m bored and I feel like beating you at something that isn\'t cultivation talent" I smiled mischievously behind the mask.

"WHAT DID YOU SA-" She immediately straightened her back while a menacing aura erupted out of her body. She then continued by glaring at me, jumping back and stretching in that exact order, before speaking once again and saying "Let us see who the slow one is you little crap" 

"Sure. Rules are that there are no rules other than the fact that you are not allowed to intentionally harm your opponent" I smiled

"HAHAH! I\'m gonna beat you so bad that you are going to start kissing my feet for forgiveness. By the way, what is the prize for winning?"

For some reason, as she spoke, I could slowly see illusory dollar signs appear in her eyes.

"How about this. The person who wins gets to ask for one wish from the other person. If you lose you have to do that wish or give the other person 300 Large gold coins. Deal?" My smile grew even larger, but of course, no one could see it."

"SUPER DEAL!" She shouted enthusiastically 

{NOTE: Sorry about the late release}