Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

"That bitch of a witch has a lot of mouth on her especially given her age and that dainty frame," back on track to reach their first task area, Mel couldn't help nagging about Linkle the whole way.

"Either way, this book might help us," looking through the book of horrors as they walked through the forest, Erika tried to decipher the records. It wasn't that they were written in a foreign language, but the mere explanation about those monsters was far too bizarre for her to wrap her head around.

'If only there were sketches of these monsters maybe that would've helped me figure out what they're like.' With only words to go by and nothing else, she was having a hard time trying to absorb all the absurd information.

"What about you Mino? Can you explain what that monster you saw was like?" Turning her attention to the monster girl now walking right beside them, Erika didn't expect much, and the cowgirl delivered just that.

Folding her hands, she kept staring at the ground as they walked. Her mind was peeking down her memories, yet even then, she was having a hard time coming up with ways to describe the parasite.

"It had teeth that came out of the belly, and they turned into legs, almost like a spider, then there was fur, pincers, and eyes producing all over that darned gooey skin," as she tried her best to explain, her face contorted with disgust.

"Okay maybe don't tell me about that ever again…" Aria muttered, the revolting image of the parasite now etched into her mind.

"Let's just stay quiet for now, how about it?" Feeling disgusted himself, Amedith killed the conversation short, something every one of them was thankful for.

Their journey throughout the rest of the day was quite uneventful. However, in the back of all their minds, an offer made by Linkle kept swirling in. The carriage left by the dead family–she was willing to sell it to the party so they could travel more efficiently, however lacking any real funds, they decided not to even think about the investment.

But after walking all day, every single one of them wanted to head back to the city and loan that carriage and a couple of horses in advance if possible.

'Finally…' Thought Raven as they set up two tents near a riverbed at night. Getting to lay down under the starry night, the strain on his body was quickly draining away. Especially with the moonlight helping with mana recovery.

"Anyone wanna take a dip in the water?" He asked, glancing over to the rest of his group.

Having only brought one spare change of clothes, none of them seemed too enthusiastic, but everyone except Aria decided to at least wash their bodies with a wet cloth in the water. Leaving the dark elf and her two body clones to deal with setting up the fire and hunting for food, the hero and the rest dipped their toes into the river.

Eventually soaking their bodies until their knees, a child-like joy crept up everyone's lips. The fish swimming around helped improve their mood further, and what started with light splashes ended with them pushing each other into the water. Laughs and giggles echoed under the glistening moon, but they only lasted as long as the memories of their childhood didn't grow bitter.

"We used to cause so much trouble for the nuns," having given up on staying up, Erika sat in the water, looking at her friends with a warm smile across her lips. "Broken buckets, trashed toys, sneaking fruits from the pantry that they kept hidden from us all…"

Though their body was rushed with cold, their mind kept soaking in the bittersweet memories of their childhood. Gazing at the stars, they sat there quietly until someone was reminded of something noteworthy.

"I remember when Aria and Mel first used their powers," glancing sideways at Mel, Raven couldn't help but laugh. "The nuns thought you were possessed, and Aria's clones were a ghost or something!"

Sharing a light laugh for a moment, everyone's eyes then shifted to Amedith, and without even saying a word, he knew where they were getting. Rolling his eyes, he heaved a sigh and smiled.

"Fine, most of the newer nuns didn't know I was a boy so they would take me to the girl's bath even though I kept trying to explain to them what was wrong," thinking back to the time, when a nun forcefully took off his shorts in an attempt to convince herself that he was girl, Amedith shook his head with a streak of embarrassment across his face.

Having been listening to it all from the far corner, Mino squeezed her legs close. Resting her head on her knees, she turned her attention to Raven and asked.

"What about you? Don't you have any stories from your childhood?" The moment everyone heard her question, their eyes turned right to her before turning to Raven.

As for Raven himself, he had to think back for a while before coming up with an answer.

"I remember asking a lot of questions during prayers, why we did certain things that we did, or why we prayed to Aphrodite even though there are plenty of other gods?" Falling quiet with those words, his eyes dejected to the ground. A flicker of lost curiosity reflected in his eyes, the others seemed just as down for some reason–which made Mino's curiosity grow.

"Did they answer?" She asked, and instead of answering through words, Raven lifted his left hand as well as his leather armor.

Hiding right under his arm was a seared rune burned into the side of his chest. It was impossibly small now that he'd grown so much, yet traces of it still lingered.

"They branded me a heretic," letting his arm back down, he forced a smile. "Had it not been for my fae ancestry blocking its effects, I may have lost all my arcane blessings."

Following his words, silence lingered in the air. Nobody knew how to continue this conversation or even divert it in a different direction. Thankfully, however, the dark elf came to their rescue from behind.

"Are you guys not done?" Unloading a deer from her shoulders, Aria continued to complain. "I guess I'll do all the work, and you guys can just enjoy the cold spa!"

Despite her snarky tone, the way the conversation was going, everyone counted her words as a blessing–one that gave them an excuse to get out of the water. The rest of the night was just as uneventful as the day, and the morning after that was the same, at least until their arrival at the accursed forest which just happened to be their destination.

Special Note: Netori elements will get more intense in the upcoming chapters. Ex: Brainwashing someone(evil female) and playing cruel games for their partner's survival(Forcing the woman to kick their partner in the privates everytime Raven makes them cum, they can stop having sex whenever, but they just keep wanting more! This is a tame example, lemme me know your ideas!)