Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 55:First Mission (2)

Raymond set his notebook down, opting instead to just watch Ellen as she practiced her archery. The train car was too short to fully practice so she made up for it by increasing the difficulty of her targets.

Moving targets, spinning targets, partially blocked targets. Each time she would get a perfect bullseye or a near perfect hit.

Seeing her inhale as she pulled back the purple bowstring of the Kairos bow, straining as she exerted her strength with each arrow. The golden mana that would coat said arrow and bow, shining a radiant light on her—revealing Ellen’s concentrated expression in all her glory. Her shiny skin glistened as beads of sweat dropped down...

Raymond suddenly felt the motivation to start drawing flow through him again.

Drawing was a crucial skill that most mages would learn, at least that was how it was in Raymond’s home dimension. It trained their dexterity, their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, memory and observation skills. Each an important skill for mages especially.

Raymond had started learning how to draw from his teacher as well, but he had quickly grown to love it. Drawing and painting becoming his favourite pastime activity. But he hadn’t drawn anything since he had gotten stuck in this dimension due to the lack of inspiration.

The last times he drew anything were just small character sheets for his novel. One for each member of the Zachary gang, plus a few occasional interesting parts such as Thomas’s and Audrina’s reveal as an angel / demon.

Picking up his pencil, he found himself absorbed in Ellen’s movements. His eyes, carefully analyzing her anatomy. Occasionally looking down at his notebook to scratch a few lines here and there.

It was a shame he didn’t have any colour pencils, or paint. But he would have to make do with just black and white.

Looking back up again, he stared at her face—carefully memorizing each detail. Before, he had a perfect photographic memory. But now with how weakened he was, it was just good. Nearly perfect, but still a bit blurred at parts.

But it let him see the differences between her older more mature form and her current form.

After nearly an hour of continuous sketching, he brushed the dust off page. Cleaning up a few features here and there.

He quietly stared at the drawing for a bit, then looked back up at Ellen who was still training. A sense of satisfaction filling him.

’Perfect.’

There was no background, putting the focus entirely on the main centerpiece. Ellen’s disciplined yet elegant form, the bowstring drawn and loaded. With one arm extended while the other was pulling the string to her cheek. A few stray strands of hair softened her features, with her hair tied back into a ponytail.

Her expression in the drawing was focused, absorbed in her practice. Her multicoloured eyes fixated on an invisible target. Even despite the lack of colour, Raymond’s skill had made it feel rich in colour. The tone and contrast making it feel alive.

Soft shadows paired with subtle gradients managing to depict the texture and weight of her training uniform. Showcasing its appearance through pure artistic skill.

In the end, he was left with a nearly one-to-one perfect drawing of Ellen.

He quietly closed the notebook, it was supposed to be purely for his research into Borrow Future Strength but he had repurposed its last page for his spur of the moment drawing.

Setting his pencil down, he quietly casted a spell to preserve the drawing. He didn’t want it to get smudged or torn.

Looking back at Ellen, Raymond soon found himself lost in his thoughts again.

***

It had been a long two days, and an even longer night. Raymond was woefully unprepared for the bed in his cabin. Unlike his soft, airy one in the academy. It was hard and rough.

But he managed to survive, the food was at least decent enough and he spent most of the time entertaining himself by continuing his work on Borrow Future Strength. So he didn’t feel any boredom while on the journey to Dravenport.

Finally stepping out of the train and onto the station platform, he took a deep breath of the evening air. Compared to the capital and academy air which felt a bit stale at times, or the air at New Rayan which was way too dry. The air at Dravenport was amazingly refreshing.

As a coastal town, Dravenport was one of the few rare human settlements that was fully under the control of the government and not under any of the families. Mainly because the town didn’t offer much. It was still reliant on fishing and imports for food, its power was being supplied by a neighboring city, and it only had a population of around forty something thousand. A far cry from the capital’s population of ten million something.

It just wasn’t important enough to warrant a mini war with the government over, and was actually more of a burden then an asset.

Which made it perfect for a first mission. The danger level was basically the lowest it could be here.

He and the rest of the special class students soon made their way to their hotel. Except for Noelle, she had simply called back home and suddenly she had the best suite in the best hotel in the town.

Thomas, Audrina, Lucy and Cador had to carry their luggage with them since the roads of Dravenport were too underdeveloped to smoothly drag behind. Although Cador was carrying Lucy’s so she was just following behind as well.

As for Raymond and Ellen, Raymond had his storage dimension. He had offered to help them but they had declined out of politeness. So it was no longer his problem.

Luckily spatial-attunement mana existed in this dimension. Again, rare but not rare enough that there were literally zero spells available for it like time.

So while it was odd that Raymond could cast said spells even without a spatial-attunement mana or being a high rank. Most would just chalk it up to his talent, hopefully.

Meanwhile Thomas’s instructor Juliet was currently missing, Raymond didn’t know where she was but she was probably observing them from somewhere. Quietly making sure they were safe and following the mission.

Probably.

Checking in to their rooms, he heard a small ding on his phone. Pulling it out, he found a notification in the special class chat group telling them to gather in the lobby in ten minutes.

Taking his and Ellen’s luggage out of his storage dimension, they quickly set it down and changed clothes before leaving to go to the lobby. Where they found the rest of the special class students already.

Truly a mystery how they seemed to be able to teleport to places.

Noelle was there as well along with Lucy and Cador, standing next to instructor Juliet as well as a bunch of suit wearing middle-aged men, engaged in a small discussion. Their hairlines receding and each strand graying ever so slightly.

"Those are the people who requested help from the academy."

Seeing Raymond’s slightly confused expression as he stared at them. Thomas helpfully informed Raymond on who they were.

"They’re the senior management of the Livins Power Company, and here to brief us on what we should do."

Seeing Raymond and Ellen, Juliet clapped her hands slightly to get all their attentions. Coughing lightly, she continued.

"Since you’re all here, I’ll repeat the mission briefing again. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask any of the gentlemen next to me."

The mission was simple, since the town of Dravenport relied on the nearby city for power. The Livins Power Company was responsible for supplying said power (which was just electricity-attuned mana). Most of the power lines ran underground but a small part ran above ground due to the presence of a D ranked monster nest. That part aboveground had been facing trouble as its monster repellant had run out and was being regularly damaged by the wildlife.

Their job was to head to the aboveground part, nestled within the jungle. Eradicate any of the monsters that were damaging it and protect the Livins Power Company employees while they repaired the power lines and reapplied the monster repellant.

Usually, they would send their own employees to guard them as well. But the academy had wanted to use this as an opportunity to teach them, so they had kindly asked the Livins Power Company whether or not they could entrust this to their students.

The Livins Power Company happily accepted the deal of course, they got paid to have their own power lines repaired by others? And they got to make a few connections with some of the most promising future talents? It was literally a free deal that cost them nothing. They would have been stupid to decline.

"Any questions you would like to ask?"

Noelle raised a hand, asking her question when one of the directors pointed at her. "The power lines were built aboveground to avoid running into the nest of the D ranked monster. Will our fighting there attract this monster or disturb it in any way?"

He shook his head, "The monster will not in under any circumstance leave its nest. It will only attack those it deems to be threats to its eggs."

Ellen raised a hand as well, "What type of wildlife are we expected to go up against?"

"The most common monster that is attracted to our power lines are Electro-shocking Hornets and Impacting Zaplings. If the concentration of Electro-shocking hornets get too high or too low however, it usually draws in any wild Barbed Bears."

Bees and birds basically, and if the amount of bees got too high then a bear would come running along. Luckily they were all considered to be G rank monsters, with only the Barbed Bears being considered an F ranked monster. A weak F ranked monster but still an F rank.

"How are we going to reach the power lines?"

"The Livins Power Company will provide a flying shuttle for transportation. Although these shuttles are designed to withstand some damage, their main purpose is speed. So do not rely too much on its protection."

Seeing no one else had any questions, instructor Juliet lightly clapped again.

"Well then, since we arrived quite late. All of you should go and rest now, make sure to wake up by 8 a.m tomorrow, this mission is estimated to take two days or longer so if you have any downtime you are free to go and explore the town."