A Warlock's Ascent

"You are kidding me right?" Ricardo asked in a surprised tone.

"What? Did I ask you something silly?" Dave asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah… I mean this is common knowledge. How the hell did you not know about this?"

"Well for starters I was not born in this world like someone else I know,"

"Fair enough… You see the main advantage that the Solo Adventurer has is that all the Exp goes straight to them. Usually, Exp gained is equally divided between your party members."

"I see."

"Yeah, and a Solo Adventurer gains more stats points than you do in a party. That is why most powerful Warlocks in history have always been Solo Adventurers."

"Is that so? Wait, so if I work in a party then how would the Exp will be divided? Like if there is a guy that didn't do anything much and just stood at the corner while everyone fought. Then will he get Exp too?"

The question about Exp division had been plaguing his mind since the day he set foot in this world. Now he could finally get the answer that he really wanted.

"Yeah, in a way."

"That is not fair."

"That is why people are very picky when letting someone enter their party. No one likes a mooch."

"Hmm… That seems fair… By the way, can you give me some advice on how should I train my magical abilities? Like how do I start? And what should I do when I started controlling my mana? What should I do next?"

"You start by trying to control your mana, by simply meditating. And then while you kneading your mana, you start learning Runes. They are the language of mana. With the help of Runes you could cast spell build…" but it was then his sentence was cut in half…

BBBOOOOMMM!!

Both of them immediately stood up. When they returned back to the camp where he saw that the old man and Grump were already on their feet and were looking towards their south where the explosion took place. And they could see dark fumes of fire in the direction.

"What the hell was that?" he asked as soon as he returned to the camp.

"Sounded like an explosion. Was it Magic Hamel?" Grump asked while looking at the old man.

"Yeah, it was. If I am correct that then it was a magic called Great Fireball that exploded." Hamel said.

"Monsters?" He asked Grump.

"Don't know about that. But we should leave this place. That explosion took place near our campsite. And we cannot afford to seen. Let's go" Grump ordered. He immediately started putting the pots and pans back in his inventory, then they started moving again…

They moved along the border of Cloudhold, which was a very good thing. The dense forest to their right was although very beautiful and calm, but he knew better. Underneath that calmness are monsters, lurking at every corner, waiting patiently to pounce at the living creature that comes their way.

As they walked along the borders of the domain, they were not far from the shore of the great lake. And now that the sun was up, the fog around the lake has diminished. Now he could see Death Valley clearly. The red fog had surrounded the island as well as the water around it, which made him wonder whether the poisonous fog affects the water of the lake.

As all the rivers of this world get combined in the lake, their streams intertwine, forming whirlpools. From here, he spotted whirlpools all around the lake. This made him realize that the Death Valley was like a very strong fortress, which is very hard to get access to. This made him wonder, what could that Island be hiding?

As he was thinking about all the stuff of the world, his train of thought was broken when he heard a screaming sound of a Hawk…

KEEEAAAARRR

He looked up and saw that there was this hawk that was flying over them. And the interesting part was that it was flying in circles around them. Hearing the hawk, Grump also stopped and looked up. He then took out a small whistle from around his neck and blew it…

PHHEWW

Hearing the whistle the Hawk dove down towards them and landed on Grump's hand. It had a small letter tied up to its leg. Grump untied the letter from its leg and took it. After delivering the letter the hawk flew away once again.

Grump opened the letter and started reading it at once. Everyone stood there quietly, patiently waiting to know the contents of the letter. After Grump was done, he made a ball of the letter with his hands and started groaning with frustration…

"What happened?" The old man Hamel asked.

"A lot of things… And none of them is good for us." Grump answered.

"What now?" Hamel asked in an annoyed voice.

"Well for starters some adventurers blew up the Midgard Bridge's Bridge connecting Vecrus and Cloudhold," Grump answered.

"Bridge's Bridge? What is that supposed to mean?" Dave asked.

"You know how the Midgard Bridge is the road that connects Ravenshade and Infragilis… There are these 3 bridges in between that complete the road. And the bridge connecting Vecrus and Cloudhold blew up." Grump said.

'That is so confusing. Bridge's Bridge… People of this world should really work on their naming skills.' Dave thought.

"What about the other bridge? The back Bridge?" Hamel asked.

"Yeah, that is where the second bad news comes in. We could take the back bridge. But here is the deal, we have a schedule to keep up with. That is why we have to reach the Back Bridge as soon as possible. So, we cannot stay at the border anymore. We need to go through the middle of Cloudhold to reach the back bridge on time. It is only then we can expect to keep up with the schedule."

"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Hamel asked.

"It is. But you know how it is." Grump replied.

"FUCK!" The old man Hamel yelled with frustration.

While Dave on the other hand could understand, what was the hurry? They were escorting the old man to Infragilis, so why does it matter how much time they took? Why was the schedule important anyway. He wanted to ask Grump about it, but he realized that this wasn't a good time. He would ask him when they stop for a break again.

"Alright. Is that all?" the old man asked.

"There are few more things. It seems after the beast tide, the condition of Cloudhold has worsened. Grego has sent me a warning that there could tribe of Kongs on the way. As well Mountain Bears just came out of extinction." Grump said.

"Oh Fuck…"

"Good news is, there has been no sign of Tribal Cheif, yet," Grump said.

"That is just great. GREAT!" The old man then started rubbing his head in frustration.

"Anyway, we should keep moving,"

Dave on the other hand started remembering what he had heard about Kongs. From the Grump had told him, Kongs are monkey-like creatures. They are mostly found in caves around Barcelma and the forests of Cloudhold. The interesting part about these monkeys is that they have some level of intelligence.

In the word of Grump, 'Those mother fuckers are halfway between Kobolds and Goblins.' Kongs also travel in groups like Goblins. But they are tougher than them. And they are also stronger and faster. But their strength does not come near the strength that is possessed by Kobolds.

When they were surveying the area around Ravenshade, Grump also explained to him that there is sort of like rivalry between the Kongs and Kobolds. Both of them are each other favorite snacks. And they get wild if they saw one another. That is why he advised him to run away from the area where Kobolds and Kongs are fighting. Because while fighting, both the creatures tends go berserk sometimes…

They changed their course and started moving deeper into the domain of Cloudhold. As they were walking, Dave started getting nervous, as they were going deeper into the domain, the vegetation around them was getting denser and denser. Which was making him very nervous.

Grump was also having a hard time navigating through the dense vegetation. So he gave his great battle ax to him to put in his inventory. Then he took his Kurkuri knife and started using them to cut down the vegetation in their path.

Dave who was still nervous was clutching his bow tightly. Seeing this Ricardo said…

"You know that your pocket space has a equip function right? So why are you still holding your bow like that?" he asked. Hearing this Hamel, looked around at his grandson. He had ordered him not to talk to Low Born Earthian with them. And yet he disobeyed him. But at that time he didn't say anything because he knew that if he say something, it might anger Grump…

Hearing Ricardo's query, he looked at him with a curious gaze. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Haven't you noticed it yet? When you take out your weapons or your equipment from your inventory, they automatically get equipped in your hands. It doesn't matter in which position you have stored it. When you will take it out, it will come out in your hands in a battle-ready position"

Hearing his explanation, he realized that the boy was right. Whenever he takes out his shield from his inventory, it always comes out automatically equipped in his hands. So he started experimenting with this feature.

He touched the belt of his quiver around his back and ordered his system to put the thing in his inventory. And when he commanded to bring back his bow and quiver, it came back already equipped in his hands, in a battle-ready position.

So he put his bow and quiver back in his inventory and started walking empty-handed. But it was then, their party came to an abrupt stop when Grump stopped.

Then Grump suddenly turned around and put his finger on his lips. Seeing him shushing them, everyone got tensed. Grump then gripped his Kukuri knife tightly and moved forward slowly. As he went forward the three of them stood there like statues not knowing what to do.

It was then a breeze blew their way. And with the breeze a distinct disturbing smell of blood. Smelling blood, he immediately took his bow and arrow. He didn't know what was up ahead, but from the smell of it, he could tell that it was not something that he want to encounter.

But it was then Hamel started moving and went ahead behind Grump. Seeing his grandfather move, Ricardo also wanted to go behind him. But he stopped him. He knew that the old man was strong. After all, he couldn't forget that he performed magic while fighting with a Goblin rider. But Ricardo over here was still a young boy and it would be not safe for him to go on ahead.

As both of them stood there for some time in silence, he started getting anxious. And as time passed and none of the old men returned back because of which his anxiety started reaching new heights. He started getting startled by even the rustling of leaves from the wind. But before he could get more anxious, Grump returned back.

After returning the old man gestured with his head to follow him. And it was then, he started breathing with relief. As they walked in further, the smell of blood started getting denser and denser. And finally, they came across a small clearing which presented them with a very gory scene…

The clearing was filled with dismembered bodies of monsters. There were Kobolds and Goblins in the mix. Also, he saw a body of a green color chimpanzee in the mix. He assumed that things must be Kongs that he had heard so much about.

The trees around the clearing were broken, scratched, and bloodied. Most of the clearing was filled with the blood and organs of most of the monsters. And all the bodies were either chopped or torn apart. It was truly a very gory scene. Ricardo who was just a boy, puked immediately as he saw the scene. He went to one of the trees and started hurling his guts out. But no one went to help the poor boy as everyone was busy inspecting the scene.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"A war. Probably a territorial war." Grump answered.

"It must have been brutal," Hamel said while seeing the scene.

"Yeah… But I am more worried about that." Grump said while pointing at the nearest tree. He followed his finger to a big cut, carved on the bark of a tree. It was a single slash. But the slash itself was very big and fat.

"Tribal Chief?" Hamel asked with a quivering voice. Till the time Ricardo also came back and tightly gripped his grandfather's hands.

"Yup." Grump said. Hearing his answer, Hamel started cursing under his breath.

It was then every one of them was startled when they heard a movement near them. The movement came from a nearby bush. Dave who was startled pulled the string of the bow and was about to fire an arrow at the bush out of panic. But before he could do anything, Hamel conjured a blue color ball and set it free on the bush.

BOOM

The mana ball caused a small explosion. And when the dust from the explosion cleared up, they saw that there was a small green color chimpanzee corpse lying in the explosion zone. Seeing that it was a small baby, he sighed with relief. But Grump and Hamel had another reaction altogether…