Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

"So you're really not coming?" Aria asked, her eyes glaring at Raven.

"I told you that I have a friend to visit first; that girl we helped sell the herb, remember?" Raven clarified for the second time that he wanted to visit Aerin's house first. "Don't worry I'll join you guys before the week is over, we're staying at Rose's house for a week, right?"

"We are, but why not come with us first and then go visit your friend?" Wanting to visit Rose's house together, Aria tried to push Raven. However, feeling Erika's hand tugging on her shoulder, she stood there for a second before deciding to back down with a tired sigh. "Fine, but make sure you're not too late!"

"Are you people done? We need to shut the gate soon," one of the guards interjected. It was the same man, who'd harassed Aerin and her mother when they'd tried to make it into the city.

And though irked by his interruption, looking beside him at his wife–Tanya, Raven scoffed and turned back smiling. Waving at his group, he stayed behind for a while–which in turn only frustrated the guards some more. Locking him out of the gate after a while, the guards disappeared back into the city.

'This letter…' Looking at the letter in his hand that was delivered to him this morning, Raven read through the well wishes of the queen as well as her desire to meet again, all of which were marked with her bright red kisses.

'That only leaves Darius, maybe I should've visited him, after all?' He'd wanted to visit the mage, but with how much things had changed for him, Raven didn't want to burden the man with yet another heartbreak. 'It's better he doesn't see me go, just in case we were to die on this journey after all.'

An unexpected peck on his cheeks caught Raven off guard. Looking to his side, he noticed Tanya standing beside him with her hands folded behind her back. Wearing a smile, she looked into his eyes, dreaming, hoping that the man in her front would come back alive, again and again, and over and over.

"Excuse my husband, I heard he doesn't like you 'cause you knocked him out for trying to exact a bribe," holding Raven's hand, she kept on smiling.

"How did you come out?" Turning to the shut gate, Raven noticed the side entrance wide open from where the guards would walk in and out to check transport before opening the main gates.

"My husband and his companions said they were going to grab a drink since the hero and his followers are gone," her heart aching at her own words, Tanya got on her toes and locked their lips together for a spell.

Unlike last time, being sound of mind and yet showing such care to the mage, the woman somehow felt at peace, far more than she'd ever felt with her loud husband. And that emotion, phased through her lips, making them taste as sweet as strawberries.

"Well…" Pulling away with a hazy look, Tanya squeezed Raven's hand before bringing it to her stomach. "Remember your promise, come back to me and make me pregnant with a baby of your own."

With smiles on their faces, the two finally parted. Tanya went back to her husband while Raven turned to the forest. Near the once dreaded cave filled with minotaurs, was the house of the girl that he wanted to visit. Letting Mino out of the bracelet he marched forward in the direction of the house he'd only once visited.

"Where exactly are we headed?" Never having met Aerin or her mother, Mino wasn't as sure who they were visiting.

"A friend I promised to visit a while back," walking deeper into the forest, Raven was headed in the general direction of Aerin's house but wanted Mino to pick traces of human scent through the air. "Keep your nose perked up for two humans, both women by the way."

"I guess?" Doing as told, Mino simply followed his orders.

The journey had taken nearly a day for him before, but not remembering the exact location was bound to make it harder to find their house. Also, it didn't help that the entire place was swarming with monsters, anywhere from brutish goblins to the much smarter kobolds and orcs.

"HAAAA!" Through conjured magic with a deep red aura, Mino crushed every pesky creature that lunged at them with a projection of a minotaur ten times the size of her body. Looming above her body like a shadow, the translucent projection mimicked her actions.

With a swing of the fist and a grand slam on a horde of goblins and other hordes heading in their direction, it all ended in a matter of seconds thanks to her spirit projection magic.

Watching his servant clearing the forest so effortlessly, Raven was almost mesmerized by the effortless yet gruesome artistry of another mage. Unlike him, Mino's magic was a lot more barbaric. Instead of swiftness and the cunning of a shadow, it was much bolder and involved more movement.

'And yet her projection and her stand tall like a tower.' Watching a bead of sweat trailing down her hair, it was clear to him that just like his own, her branch of magic had its own shortcomings. It was more involved physically and drained not just mana but also stamina–something which was much more abundant in her species than his.

"You tired?" He asked, and with an awkward smile, Mino nodded.

"Relax then, I'll handle the monsters," holding his hand forward, Raven created a film of darkness that encircled the two in a sphere. "This should help for low-intelligence creatures."

Growing spikes all over, the sphere moved at the same pace as the two walked forward. At first, Mino felt a bit unsure about the near-transparent shield of dark, but after the very first monster ran right into the spikes, her fears quickly subsided.

Pulling out of the stabbed monsters, the sphere let the body fall on its own before regrowing the spike again, and even when some monsters stayed at a distance, it hurled those very spikes at their bodies and killed them in an instant.

'Thankfully, I stocked pretty well.' Checking into the pouch dangling by the side, Raven glanced at the mana potions resting inside.

Having just enough to last a day or two, he knew they had nothing to fear and the search for Aerin's house continued.