Reborn as a Reluctant Demon Lord

Chapter 8 - Prophecy

With 20/20 hindsight, I can pretty safely tell a couple reasons why Gertrude couldn't be the [Demon Lord]. I'll let you in on the most obvious one. It is best if the [Demon Lord] is actually beatable. Gertrude's battle prowess mixed with her own secret blend of crazy would probably have led to nothing but the entire realm being filled with scorched earth as she slaughtered anything that moved from one end of the realm to the other.

Yes, she still scares me to this day. No, I do not have recurring nightmares about her... I don't sleep after all.

But enough about the grandma of my non-existent nightmares. Let's catch up with the rest of the party.

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As amusing as the scene would've been for Garrett to be teleported into town while he was still in a screaming [Rage] from his last kill, unfortunately, the time that he got to spend looking at skill options before being transported gave him time to calm down. And also pick up the [Greateaxemanship] skill. A purchase that made him pause and do some quick mental math. Wait a second. I had 8 skill points at level four. That's 2 per level. I purchased [Rage], and then I was at 3. But I hit level 5, spent another 5 points, and I still have 5 left over? Do you get extra for hitting level 5 or something? He mulled it over while he still had his hand on the obelisk. I guess I can check with everyone else.

His sudden appearance startled a boy who was using a wheelbarrow to move some cut logs. The wheelbarrow fell over, and the logs spilled out on the ground.

Before Garrett could do anything, the boy ran off, yelling, "Dad! Dad! There's another one!"

Another one? Ah. Jake and the others must be nearby. He confirmed it by closing his eyes and trying to locate the party and noticing that they were close. He even noticed Lindsey suddenly behind him. "Well, except for Titus, the gang's all here. Wait, are we missing a member?" Garrett did a quick headcount and realized Megan was missing. Hope she hasn't gone [Rogue]. He chuckled to himself.

Garrett walked over and began picking up the logs and putting them back in the wheelbarrow when he suddenly felt the party coming towards them. And one of them was coming in way faster than the others.

"LIIIIIIIIIIINDSEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" A certain cat-eared [Sorcerer] yelled at the top of her lungs as she charged the [Knight] at full speed. She leapt towards the [Knight] at the last moment in a move that Garrett wasn't sure whether it was a hug or a tackle. The bunny-eared [Knight] wasn't phased though and had already been materializing her shield. She stood her ground, and Sam got a shield right into her stomach. You could practically hear the air leave Sam's lungs as she hit the ground.

Garrett and the rest of the party that had been following behind her stared at them both baffled. Sam held up a hand. She gasped out, "Don't worry. I'm fine." She sucked in some air. "I forgot. No glomping in public." At that, Lindsey nodded and then grabbed her hand to help her up.

Then like nothing happened, the two had their own guarded conversation. Fairly literally. Since Lindsey had her shield out, she used that instead of just holding up a hand to whisper to Sam. And for once, Lindsey was doing most of the talking, and Sam was mostly just providing commentary.

"Oh, no! How terrible!"

"Aww, how sweet."

"No way. He didn't!"

"With his bare hands?!"

Garrett was grateful that his greeting wasn't a full-speed tackle. Jake just walked up to him while stumbling a bit, gave him a hug, and said, "Good to see you made it old-timer! You had me worried!"

Garrett gave Jake a small noogie. "Oh, you know. Us sage types have to take our time. Makes us seem extra mysterious." He released Jake and asked, "And how did you hit level 6?"