Chapter 170: Training Program: 9 [Back Stabbing....who?]
"It looks like they were fighting" Eli muttered to himself as he slowly walked towards the new team.
Eli saw a Yellow-Golden colour mixed haired girl arguing with a shiny blue-haired guy.
And other three seem to be looking at them weirdly.
Eli couldn't hear what they were arguing, all he could hear was,
"hmm---mmmm----rrrrr--mm-rr--aaaa"
It felt like they were speaking in a different tone...that's what it was picking in Eli's ear.
Eli wanted to get closer to the new team, but he wasn't sure if they would be friendly.
"Well, Whatever" Eli shrugged his shoulders and started to walk towards them.
'step, step'
He walked with loud steps so that they would know he was coming.
The other team turned vigilant and took their battle stance as they saw Eli approaching.
"Well, they're not amateurs, I guess" Eli thought to himself.
He continued to walk towards them, unfazed by their battle stance.
When they noticed an auburn-haired man walking towards them unarmed.
They slightly lowered their weapons, but still, they had their suspicions.
Eli stood in front of them and said with a small smile.
"Hello"
"..."
The other team simply stared at him as if saying 'leave'.
"Do you need help?"
Eli ignored their stares and asked with a smile as looked at a yellow-Golden haired girl who was fiercely glaring at him with her sky-blue eyes.
"..."
That girl scanned at him before saying, "We like to--" with a stern expression.
"W-Wait, Arlyne. Let me speak with him" The shiny blue-haired boy interjected.
"..." The Arlyne glanced at the interrupter and thought for a second before motioning her hand as if 'go on'.
Seeing that, He nodded his head and glared at Eli with his Dark Brown eyes as he said,
"What you want?"
"....Do you need anything?" Eli who wasn't sure what he heard, So he simply asked again his first question.
"No, We don't"
"...." Looking at the intense glare, Eli thought, 'Maybe I am interrupting something...' with that he glanced at others before nodding his head and started to leave.
'Those two....' Eli walked with a frown.
Seeing him leave, Blue haired boy smiled with a smug expression and looked at Arlyne.
Arlyne looked at him with a death glare before shouting at the person who kindly offered them help,
"Excuse me!!!"
However, Eli simply ignored them....no, he couldn't hear that in the first place.
Seeing that Eli ignoring her, Arlyne turned her and glared at the shiny blue-haired boy and said with irritation,
"We could have asked for his help, right? Simon"
Simon answered without batting an eye, "No, we cannot possibly ask a filth like him for help." He then started to walk in the direction where Eli came.
Simon's words were hurtful and discriminatory.
Arlyne thought, 'I cannot believe he said that' and suddenly mentioned,
"...That's the way he came".
"...Yes, I know that I just wanted to check....Just be sure"
Arlyne's eyes twitched in irritation as she glanced at Eli's back. She couldn't believe that Simon had been so rude to him.
Sure, Eli doesn't have a good name in the Academy since he asked for Luna, A saintess's virginity.
Well, he facing the consequences of his actions.
"Please wait here, princesses," she said to the two girls, putting down a big sack.
Then, she jogged towards Eli.
"Hey, wait!" she shouted.
Simon, who was walking ahead, turned to look at her.....He was startled to see her jogging towards the auburn-haired boy.
"A-Arlyne?" he called.
Arlyne ignored him and continued running towards Eli.
Eli pondered what to do, he hasn't had that much interaction with any of the people in that team.
"gggggggnnn"
A loud vibration echoed in his ear. Feeling uncomfortable, Eli rubbed his ear with a pained expression, just about to look at the cause when,
"WAIT!!"
A Yellow-Golden mixed hair, sky-blue eyes with a round face and a petite body wore light sliver armour around her chest, hands and legs and wore a formal white with a blue dress under the shiny armour and there were also two thin sheathed long swords hung around her hips.
Arlyne slid in front of Eli with blocking hands.
"...." Eli stared at her.
"....We need your help" Arlyne said with hesitation while lowering her head.
'What she said?....She wanted to pick a fight with me or...' Eli thought and said with a hint of doubt, "Help?"
Hearing that, Arlyne lifted her head and nodded with shame, "Yes".
She knew that Eli was probably angry with them, and he had every right to be. He had offered to help them, but that idiot shooed Eli like a dog.
Arlyne thought that Eli might ignore her, but she sighed in relief inwardly and said with a smile, "Okay, but before that, I need your help."
'....Well, help for help is best rather than backstabbing' she thought nodding her head.
"Sweet" Eli smiled happily, 'Hop on the ride' he thought.
They walked towards Arlyne's team.
Simon felt like he eat a shit when he saw Arlyne coming with Eli.
"A-Arlyne?" Simon asked with a disbelieving gaze.
"What? Why do you look like I did something wrong?" Arlyne frowned not understanding his expression.
While Eli was smiling with amusement, 'He must be trying to court her....All the best man' he thought as saw competitive? gaze from,
Simon, A shiny blue hair, Dark brown eyes, an oval face, and wearing black pants and a white shirt with the Axe attached to his back and in the chest area embroidered with green letters, 'Henry', he had chiselled arms and legs, he glared at Eli.
"What's with the smirk?" Simon said, infuriated.
Eli simply ignored him and looked at Arlyne.
"I need your Saintess to heal me before I can help you," Eli stated as he glanced at the two girls.
Everyone raised their eyebrows upon hearing this.
"W-What? What is the meaning of this Arlyne?" Simon suddenly shouted.
Arlyne glanced at him and sighed before saying, "It's just a transaction."
"....What do you mean Transaction?" Simon was even more infuriated.
"I mean, we need his help, and he needs our help in return...It's a simple exchange" Arlyne explained.
"But he's a filth! We can't ask our Saintess to heal him! " Simon protested.
"Simon?" An Elegant voice suddenly chimed in.
Simon was startled when he heard the elegant voice. He turned around and saw the silky white-haired boy standing behind him.
"F-Forgive me, Your Majesty" Simon said, lowering his head in shame.
The silky white-haired boy smiled at Eli.
"We will heal you, and in return help us to lead to your team member Mr. Alexander, we need 'his' help" he said, pressing the word "his" to make sure Eli understood.
Eli looked at this 'Pretty Boy' who was constantly glancing at two girls beside him.
Silky white hair, royal blue eyes, a diamond face, wearing an elegant white robe with green embroidery 'Theos' and having a single long golden sword on his hips. His tight robe revealed the traces of his sculptured body and there was a red scarf around his neck embroidered with golden letters, 'Theos'.
Eli also smiled and nodded, 'Whatever you said pretty Royal boy, I didn't hear a single thing'.
It's not that they trusted Eli fully, in fact, if they were to give a numerical value then it would be around 1-2%...
Why, then, did Arlyne seek his aid if she didn't fully trust him?
It was a matter of necessity. At this juncture, there were six maybe...five formidable individuals involved. It had boiled down to a staggering five against one.
Even though Eli was peerless in combat, He had to safeguard his own bracelets, a task that considerably complicated his role.
It's why she faced Eli without a tremor of fear, even if it came down to a one-on-one confrontation. She was aware that, in a direct clash, Eli might eliminate her, but what about others....Sure he would run out of gas before finishing them off, right?
This was also the reason the white-haired boy cooperated with Arlyne, unlike Simon who was simping like a kid.
What Simon did was good in a certain way, however, for a place like this, where they don't know anything, using help from someone who was walking freely as if 'he knows everything'....was the correct option.
Arlyne simply ignored Simon and the white-haired boy, then turned to look at two girls, and said with a respectful tone, "Your Highnesses, Please"
Eli then looked at two shades of pink-haired women who looked like twins and was about to ask when,
'Tuck, Tuck, Tuck'
A tremor coursed through the ground, and Eli, attuned to the sensation, recognized it as the same ominous vibration he had felt during the initial skirmish with the Giant Scorpions alongside his team.
In a swift, well-practised motion, Eli retrieved his weapon, and the others, sensing the imminent danger, mirrored his actions by arming themselves.
They were in the middle of a junction that was split into Three paths. Everyone's gaze darted around, scanning the surroundings with a sense of foreboding.
'TUCK, TUCK, TUCK'
Eli frowned when he felt the vibration was starting to differ....Eli then suddenly a familiar dark mana,
"Li--?" Eli mumbled and looked to his right side and saw....
A black-skinned humanoid monster with large teeth like a lion, goat-like head, snake-like neck and....human-like body nakedly running towards them.
A chill ran through his spine When Eli saw that,
"What the...Faunmia?"
It was his first time seeing something like this, since the moment he entered the dungeon, he only saw Gaint Scorpion, a colony of Scorpions, and a very very giant Scorpion only.
"Tsk, looks like they sensed him" Arlyne clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Eli who was now deaf....didn't hear it.
Eli was fully engrossed in the humanoid figures, not understanding why he felt a familiarity with them.
Eli did gather some info available in the Library before the Training program. The only information he gathered was about monsters related to Earth-type and there were nearly 100s of them.
That's where he got information about scorpions....however, here they seemed a little different from what he studied like their high-speed tendency.
"Faunmia also different from what I studied....here Except for black-body they are the same and....they are discharging Dark mana from their black-body.
It felt like teachers taught us '1' but here on the exam they ask how many one in one hundred one one?"
Eli pondered something irrelevant to current matter and turned to ask if they knew what it was.....However, looking at the back of five who were running their full might left him with a speechless face.
Eli had taken aback expression.
'Did they..' Eli wasn't sure what to say.
Eli looked at the incoming monster and then looked at the corner where the other team where disappeared.
Eli was sure it was clearly long distance, Since he didn't want to use the Plasma Arts, he brazed himself.....Nah, he was just curious about this monster, whose body emitted Dark mana.....
That was similar to his wife...Lilith....and he didn't like it for some reason.