Deranged Writer's Afterword

" ---I wish you all the best for your future."

Laurine finally concluded her speech and the students politely clapped.

Today was the day we crossed over to Leora, it was also the first day of our summer vacation.

The school had arranged a common gate for all the students to a plaza within Leora, after reaching there we had to find our own way into the school.

The War of Grey and Gold would start within a week under normal conditions but I need to speed it up if I want to make full use of my time. After reaching Leora, we would be given missions to complete throughout our vacation.

The objective of the missions could vary in difficulty, it could be finding a lost cat to killing someone.

In the novel, Max and the group were given a mission that played a role in him meeting with 'them'.

Leora was a unique place since it wasn't just home to humans, it was the home of some very strong tribes of animals adapted to mana.

The first and most prominent tribe within Leora was the 'Lion' tribe. Its leader was one of the strongest animals adapted to mana, he played a very important role in the war and was a great leader to his people.

The war hero, Leo.

The next powerhouse was the 'Wolf' clan, their leader who was also a war hero had abandoned the clan and left. Even though their leader wasn't present the 'wolf' clan was still plenty formidable.

But the most important aspect of these tribes was that they worshipped weapons.

The 'Lion' tribe worshipped the sword.

The 'Wolf' tribe worshipped the spear...

Both the tribes strove to reach perfection with their adored weapons.

These two tribes had a big alliance going on making them even stronger as a whole.

" Hey Adam, snap out of it....it's our turn.", Lecia nudged me on the shoulder as our turn to use the gate had come.

I nod my head and take her hand in mine and we walk through the gate at the same time.

~~~~

" It doesn't look any different...", I comment as we pass through the crowded plaza.

" Y-you're right...", Eric said smiling awkwardly.

I sigh and observe the atmosphere within the group, it was really bad and I know exactly why...

I look back and there she was a few meters away from us, as soon as our eyes met she looked away, a small little frown on her face.

It was Emilia.

She hadn't talked to me till now and I don't think she's ever going to talk to me again.

Emilia had entered together with Katherine, but she wouldn't join up with us probably because of my presence, she's probably following us because she's totally lost.

I sigh once again, I can't make everyone else uncomfortable because of this.

" I have some things to do.....so you all head on ahead without me."

" What is it ?....I'll come with.", Lecia says with an understanding look on her face.

I grab her shoulders and push her away from me,

" No, it's something I have to do alone...", I say not wanting to drag Lecia into my mess.

" What is it ?", Eric asked glancing between Emilia and me.

" Uh.....I can't say because it's a super-secret."

Almost everybody sighs hearing me,

" Why don't the two of you just talk it out ?", Lecia suggested for the hundredth time.

I promptly ignore her and start walking away but come back, I walk towards Katherine who stared at me puzzled. I kneel and remove the leash tied to Lola's neck.

We had brought both of them with us, instead of putting them in a crate like we usually do.

" It's probably better if we don't use these for a while.", I say to Katherine proceeding to remove the one on Rhys.

" You're right...I almost forgot.", Katherine says nodding her head appreciatively.

I give her Lola's leash and bid them all goodbye, I wave at Emilia, who ignores me before heading off.

~~~~

I'm lost.

I have no idea where I am.

I trudge along the busy streets looking for a place to rest since I had been walking for a while now, Rhys also looked a bit tired.

My eyes fall on a strangely designed building.

' Luna....huh ?'

I read the name of the bar out loud, it had the aesthetics of a tavern that one would usually only see in fantasy worlds....well I guess this is a fantasy world.

I walk into the bar, it was filled to the brink with people who were having a jolly good time. A woman sang a happy tune to set the mood for the bar and the sound of people chugging beer was heard almost continuously.

I find a booth for Rhys and me and we make ourselves comfortable while waiting for someone to come and take our order.

Rhys lay down beside me looking a little scared, he must be scared because of the crowd....ah now that I think about it this was the first time Rhys was seeing this many people all at once.

I gently pat him on the head wanting to reassure him that everything would be fine.

A waiter soon came and took our order.

I ordered two strawberry shakes for myself and Rhys, I also order a plate of salted mini pretzels.

Our order arrived very quickly, and the waiter added in a little complimentary sandwich because of Rhys's cuteness.

I split the sandwich into equal halves and gave Rhys his share,

" Yummy !", he said munching on the sandwich.

Rhys had somewhat improved in his speech since last time, I've been training him a lot.

Teaching him the alphabet was no easy task...

I feed Rhys from time to time as I devoured my food.

Just as we were about to finish our food, a man whose face was covered up by the hood he wore approached me.

" Y-you... DISGUSTING BASTARD !", he screamed out trying to punch me.

...

'What the fuck ?'

Why am I being attacked?

Also, this is the second time someone's called me a bastard this week.

I'm seeing a pattern here...

" YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US...HUH ?" The man lands the punch this time and I fly away not even having the time to think.

I get up quickly, my body hurt...it'd just been a day since I was discharged, I was advised to take it easy...this sucks.

The bar went silent as people circled around us eagerly watching the fight.

" I don't know what you think I did.....but this is a mistake, I don't want a fight."

" Shut the fuck up.", the man removed his hood revealing his face...

He....wasn't a man.

A beastman stood before me, to be more precise a wolf.

The man's face was that of a wolf's but his lower body was similar to a human's, the man was covered with blue fur from top to bottom.

Without even trying to listen to me, the man charged at me.

'Shit'

Just as he was about to land another punch, I use [Incite] to daze him and avoid his fist.

" Please....let's just talk this out.", I say not wanting a fight.

Ignoring me, the man charges at me once again.

I couldn't use [Incite] because it had a cooldown time of ten seconds, but I still manage to avoid his fist.

'Goddamnit !'

I need to fight back or this is just going to drag on.

I decide to make a coat of armor using [Hell Fire] before the man could charge at me again, but as I started using the skill...a searing pain engulfed me.

~~~~

" What's happening ?"

One of the bystanders watching the fight asked looking at Adam who was on his knees even though he had only taken a single hit from the beastman.

" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Adam screamed out in pain.

Hearing him scream everyone inside the bar took a step away from Adam except for the man, who walked closer despite his screaming.

" You're crying after a single punch.....then you're in a world of pain today, you little shit.", he remarked raising Adam's face, gearing up to punch his face.

But seeing Adam's face, the man lets go...surprised.

Black blood flowed down from his eyes, it looked like he had fainted.

The man was confused, he hadn't hit the kid that hard....so just why was he bleeding so much?

" It doesn't matter.....you deserve this.", the man said roughly pushing Adam to the ground.

The man kicked him once and was about to give another kick when a woman's voice echoed throughout the bar,

" Geez...I was away for a minute, what trouble did you make now ?"

The people give way for a beastwoman, she looked at the bloodied boy and sighs.

" Nephyr...this guy....he...Just look...", the man pointed at Rhys who was also making his way towards them, Rhys had been trying to cross over to Adam since the beginning but couldn't do so because the people had blocked his way. Rhys made use of the path the woman had used and ran towards the man.

Nephyr's eyes widen as she noticed the small panther.

Rhys looked up at the man who stood before his mommy.

The man who had hurt his precious mommy...

The man kneeled down and gently patted Rhys on the head.

" It's going to be okay, little on- Arghhhhhh", the man groaned out in pain as Rhys bit one of his fingers off.

Rhys's red eyes glowed as he stood in front of his mommy, blood slowly dripped from his chin as he glared intensely at the people who had hurt Adam.

" DON'T HURT MY MOMMY !", the tiny panther screamed.

" Huh ?....what now ?"

Everybody in the bar stared at the tiny panther confused out of their minds.

~~~~

Author's note:

That's the end of volume 4!

This volume was tough to write since a lot of stuff happened, I tried my best but it might still be lacking in some areas. Tell me your thoughts on this volume in the comments.

Volume 5 will have a lot more action, I'm a little nervous since writing fights isn't an area where I excel then again I wasn't that good at writing when I first began this novel and I think I've improved a little so let's hope that I improve more along the way.

I won't be taking a break since I want to complete as much of the story as I can before my exams start which are in a month...I think?

We're also very close to 200 ps for the first time ever so let's gooooo.

I'll stop ranting now.

Anyways, thank you for reading till here.

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