Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening-Chapter 72: Sealed Oath

"Wait, we’re dragging it??!"

Ruby’s voice broke through the silence of the swamp, her frustration evident.

They didn’t carry along any sort of large storage devices and all the parts they had harvested from the beasts had filled up her pouch.

But there was certainly no way that was getting into the limited space of her pouch. They were really going to have to drag it all the way to camp if they wanted to get the special mission to he ranked as complete.

"Let’s get going before it gets dark!"

Kieran withdrew his gaze from the ashes of the flames that had died the moment the creature took to his feet.

"Alright!"

Ruby said, walking up to the beast’s head, her eyes widening as she took a step back, surprised by the size difference.

"Huh? This thing is lighter than I thought" Ruby blinked in disbelief as she had managed to lift the creature’s head off from the ground, albeit with some effort.

"It’s still heavy, but not as much as I thought!"

She explained again, getting Kieran to look at her.

Walking up to her, Kieran stretched out his hands to experience what she was talking about.

Swishing sounds were heard as Kieran lodged his hand firmly into the bloodied eye which he had damaged, to get a solid grip, Kieran tried lifting it and she could feel the weight of the head offering some resistance; but it was like Ruby said, not as heavy as he thought it would be.

Putting in more strength, a rune looking like a plainer, less sophisticated version of the ones he had managed to glimpse at on the creature’s body, appeared on his arm and the head suddenly felt weightless, like it had been hollowed out!

All he had to deal with now was to make sure that the size didn’t get in his way.

"Huh???!"

Ruby couldn’t stop her mouth from opening wide when she saw Kieran raise the beast’s head over his like it was nothing.

’At least I don’t have to carry it!’

’At least he wasn’t completely useless!’

They both thought at the new development.

"Let’s go!"

Kieran said with some urgency in his tone, his grip on the beast’s head tightening as he glanced cautiously around the swamp which was slowly getting darker. The distant howls of the now active beasts made it clear that their time there was up and that they were no longer welcome.

The rune only helped them solve the issue of transporting the head, it did nothing to hide the scent of blood from spreading and attracting more beasts.

Luckily, it wasn’t fully dark yet and the beasts in the field weren’t active, but they still had to deal with the creatures of the swap which sprung up from the murky waters and from behind the trees around them, at several intervals, all attracted to the scent of the beast’s blood; confident now that the creature responsible for their previous docile nature was gone. Making them go from fight to fight!

Ruby dealt with the beasts which popped up, her kusarigama flashing at speeds that Kieran failed to keep track of, easily slicing though the bodies of several beasts without compromising their speed as they burst through the swamp territory after a few long hours of running.

Their journey was far from over though! They still had to make it to the camp before darkness covered the sky completely and all beasts of the field awakened from their slumber and overcome them with their sheer numbers.

After running for a few more hours and several more kilometers, It had become dark completely, there moons of the planet shining eerily in the starless sky. The howls and growls of beasts had increased substantially, the increased rustling of the tall grass signaling the approach of several beasts.

Just as doubt and despair was about to creep in, they noticed the unmistakable sight of the mountain range. They were home! Well not yet... but close.

It only took a few more minutes to arrive at the camp.

Stepping in, the sight of the huge head carried by Kieran caught the attention of several eyes – of both soldiers and recruits, as they almost wondered what kind of mission they had gotten themselves into.

The attention on them didn’t last long though, it was quite the normal thing in here to see people return bathed in beast blood and their own too. In fact, most of the returning recruits were usually accompanied with injuries of varying degrees, so their blood bathed figure didn’t really stand out much.

After about two more minutes of waiting in line, it was finally their turn to report the contents of their mission.

BANG!

Kieran dropped the head of the beast, which conveniently devoured a lot of desk space with a noise making people aware of how heavy it actually was unlike how Kieran had made it seem, carrying it over his head.

Wiping off the blood he had gotten from fighting through the field with Ruby off his face, Kieran proceeded to report the details of the mission with Ruby observing from the side.

It was his mission after all, she barely did anything!

"The forbidden swamp mission, in full!"

Kieran said and the entire hall fell into silence once again.

He had just said, ’the forbidden swamp mission’ and even added ’in full’ claiming to have hunted the monster which even made the mission a special one.

While most of them were of a higher ranking than him and would easily bully him in a fight, that wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that he had done it alone, as a level 4 hunter. Not many of them could boast of the same when they were still at level 5.

"So, he obviously had help from the girl beside him"

A random ranker said and the number of piercing gazes that turned towards him in that instant made him want to disappear.

’What did I say wrong?!’ He thought.

This was a mission that even groups of level 6 hunters failed to complete and Ruby had only recently become one, so even with her help, it wasn’t enough to understand how they had managed to defeat such a terror.

Feeling Kieran’s gaze on her, Ruby nodded with a smile and stepped forward to a part of counter which opened up as she emptied the contents of her pouch which was previously filled with the first aid materials she had used up on Kieran.

Seeing the series of body parts fall into the opening which seemed rather deep, those present became certain that they were talking about the same and only special mission in the swamp.

Those beasts only resided in a specific part of the swamp which was the location of the mission, most of them present had been to the location once or twice so they would know.

"Did you do this together?"

The receptionist asked.

She was quite shocked, but still managed to maintain her calm and proceeded with her job.

"No. I only led him there, I didn’t do much!"

Ruby added, making the receptionist face warp in disbelieve and the crowd behind them burst into commotion. There was no way they were willing enough to accept the fact that a new level 4 hunter with no track record whatsoever, had on his first time going out, cleared the toughest mission of that level. By himself!

"Are you sure? You know the penalty for wrong information, right?" The receptionist warned Ruby sternly after managing to regain her composure.

"Of course, I even took a sealed oath. You can check that, it should be enough!" Ruby defended with a smile and the receptionist couldn’t keep in her shock anymore as her eyes widened and her mouth was left wide open, barely able to utter actual words.

Those at the back also became silent upon hearing Ruby’s claim.

Meanwhile, Kieran who had been the MC of the show until now, looked around unable to understand the reaction of people when they heard Ruby mention then sealed oath.

It was his first time hearing it, so his lack of reaction could be understood. The receptionist was the first to notice this, so she took the opportunity to give a rough explanation of what Ruby had just mentioned.

"The Sealed Oath is a method the camp created to seal deals of high importance and to prevent betrayal from both parties. It was mirrored in this system so groups could make deals and not care about being backstabbed"

’That’s it?’ Kieran thought still not understanding how that was the reason behind their shock, but the voice of the receptionist brought him out of his thoughts as she continued her explanation.

"Despite its functionality, it was barely used outside deals or agreements of extreme importance and this is because of the punishment of breaking such a deal." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Expulsion"

Kieran’s eyes widened at the absolute claim.

Expulsion from the camp mean more than just getting your bags packed, especially to those of noble lineage.

In the camp there was a difference between getting disqualified and getting expelled. Getting expelled from the origin camp was one of the sure ways to ruin the rest of your life for good.

Now, he understood the reason why they had all fallen silent and he looked towards Ruby who still had a smile on her face like it wasn’t something that serious. He could swear that he had seen her almost make a move when he was still entangled with the beasts.

"Check it!"

A solemn voice was heard from the silent crowd and a man with a scar running from the side of his head down to his neck stood up, an equally solemn expression which matched his voice on his face.

"Ah that’s true. I’ll need you to come forth so I can check if your claims are true"

The receptionist regained her bearings and proceeded with her work.