You are Kline Bueller, and you and your companions are currently facing a group of violent gang hellbent on making your life miserable and wanting you all dead.

"By the gods," Hilana practically pales at the sight of the masked men with weapons. "This is the worst possible situation we're in."

"And they are?" You ask her, nervously. Your see Hilana gripping the hilt of her weapon tightly, taking a step back

"The Scarlet Masks. They are vicious berserkers who love to fight and kill just for the sake of it. They are not pushovers." The princess shakes her head and stares at you. "We need to do something now."

The group of masked men continue to march in your direction, and Verna is still babbling nonsense, her face still having a dazed expression.

What do you do?

>Brace yourselves for a fight
>Get the hell out of there
>Search for any hiding places

Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Novice%20Adventurer%20Quest

Sorry for the very long wait, I actually forgot about this, I'll try to make more updates if I can.

>Get the hell out of there

>>6229831 (OP)
>>Get the hell out of there

>>6229928

You decide to get away from the approaching enemies and turn towards the other direction, hoisting Verna to her feet as the three of you run away.

"I wish I'd brought more friends with me," You grumble, pushing yourself forwards as your heart pounds in your chest.

"It won't make a difference. The Scarlet Masks are like a force of nature; you can only weather through them, not outright them." Hilana grunted as she kept looking back over her shoulder.

"Princess...? What's happening?" Verna asked, finally regaining her senses. "Why are we running?"

You think carefully about what to tell the fight-happy girl...

>"The Scarlet Masks are after our asses."
>"We need to get back to the castle, the king is worried about us."
>"I forgot something at the guild."

>>6230046
>"The Scarlet Masks are after our asses."

>>6230083

"...The Scarlet Masks are after us. They're trying to murder us."

Verna's eyes light up in excitement. "Oh gods, I can't wait to fight them-"

"No! We are not going to fight and bunch of bloodthirsty madmen!" Hilana scolds her, looking back to make sure that the masked men aren't following you all.

You hear nothing but silence. "Did we lose them?" You ask, torn between sheathing your blade and keeping it out.

"I don't know. I just want to reach a safe place and wait for daybreak." Hilana sighs.

"But I wanted to fight them...!" Verna whines.

"And have your brother and father devastated over your death? Absolutely not!" The princess snaps.

The three of you then keep moving forwards and spot some buildings that seem familiar to Verna and Hilana.

"Oh, thank the gods. We're almost to the castle! All we need to do is-" Hilana freezes as she sees a trio of masked men standing before you. "Shit."

"...I wish Maria or one of my friends were here." You grimace as Verna quickly draws her blade, a big smile on her face. You decide to do the same as well...

Meanwhile, a robed figure enters the front gate of the kingdom of Rioel, getting out of the carriage and looking around...

You are...
>Maria
>Evelyn
>Lamont

>>6230156
>Maria

Love that tsundere cleric.

>>6230333

You are Maria Salzberg, and you have come to drag back that stupid commoner fool Kline back home with you, even if you have to wander through the dangerous streets alone. There was no way you were leaving him in the most dangerous kingdom ever to exist.

"I swear, if that Kline isn't dead, I will make him wish he was when I'm through with him!" You growl angrily as you stomp down the road, the sky still pitch black above with stars.

Distant sounds of shouting and fighting filled your ears and your heart began to race, your mind filling with thoughts about Kilne being in danger. What if he was hurt, or worse, dead?

You quickly put a stop to these thoughts. This isn't the time to give into fear. You have to find the commoner and save him from trouble. With your staff out, you rush to the sounds of fierce fighting not far from your position.
"DIE!" Verna shrieks, swinging wildly at a masked man with barely hidden glee.

Meanwhile, Hilana is struggling to land a blow while being on the defensive. "Oh, gods! I don't know what's worse, about to be killed by a berserker or my father seeing my atrocious fighting skills...!" The princess then yelped and jumped back from an axe strike aimed at her torso.

You are now Kline Bueller, and you are forcing back your opponent with relative ease; his fighting style consists of wild attacking while yours was of practiced finesse. With a few strokes of your blade, you managed to stab the masked man in the chest, ending his life.

"Damn, that wasn't too tough..." You breathe out.

"Kline! Help!" Hilana shrieks.

Oh, right. The princess.

>"Princess, go on the defensive!"
>"Press on the offensive, Hilana!"
>"Dodge, your highness!"

>>6230339
>"Dodge, your highness!"

>>6230339
>>"Dodge, your highness!"

>>6230978
>>6231009

"Princess, dodge his attacks!" You should.

Hilana does so, managing to avoid some severe strikes and doing a good job keeping herself from getting sliced up by that axe.

"C'mon, Princess, you'll never be able to hit him that way!" Verna shouts.

"I think the issue is less about hitting him and more about staying alive." You remind her.

Hilana soon gathers her wits about her and recalls her training, blocking her opponent's attacks and manages to land a few hits on him. Not bad!

Verna is now finishing off with her opponent via stab to the throat, seeing him go down in a slump.

Suddenly, a sharp pain runs through your left shoulder as an axe grazes against it, making you hiss in pain and forcing you back.

"Kline!" Hilana shouts, but she yelps as she raises her blade just in time to lock weapons with her opponent.

Gods, how could you get so damn careless?! If Maria were here, she'd say-

"YOU IDIOT COMMONER!"

-Something like that.

"Maria?!" You blurt out.

>"What the hell are you doing here?!"
>"I need some healing, please!"
>"I don't know whether to be relieved or annoyed..."

>>6231014
>>"I need some healing, please!"

>>6231014
>"I need some healing, please!"

>>6231149
>>6231165

"Less talking, more healing, please!" You cry out, trying to deflect your opponent's attacks, but doing it with a busted shoulder is NOT easy at all.

Maria storms towards you with fire in her eyes, casting a blinding spell at the masked man in front of you, then casts a strong healing spell on your wound, fixing it up almost instantly, just in time for your to go for a counter attack and kill your opponent by driving your blade into his belly.

Maria watches your opponent fall down, then whirl around and shoots you with a vicious glare.

"I swear, I don't know what possesses you to do these dangerous things! I should just tie you to your bed, if that's what it'll take to teach you a lesson!" Maria rages at you, glaring swords at you.

"Listen, Maria, I'm really sorry, but-"

"Don't! Don't you dare! Not another word!" The blonde hisses. "We are leaving this place at once!"

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but I have a slight problem that needs dealing with." Hilana speaks up.

"Who is this woman, Kline?" Maria turns to you with an emotion you have trouble believing to see on her face: Jealousy.

"She's the princess of Rioel." You flatly state. "I'm her teacher."

"And I really need his advice in order NOT TO GET MYSELF KILLED!" Hilana yelps as she dodges a strike from her opponent.

"Get him, princess!" Verna shouts.

"...What is wrong with this kingdom?!" The blonde B-Rank Cleric stomps her foot onto the stone road.

"I'll tell you later," You sigh and turn towards Hilana. "Princess, strike when he's wide open!"

Hilana steels herself, watching her opponent carefully, before she makes her move and weaves towards him and thrusts forward. The masked man in front of her suddenly stops...and falls backwards, a growing red spot appearing on his tunic as blood seeps out from his chest.

"I did it...I DID IT!" Hilana bursts into laughter, her body shaking. "I beat him! I beat my first oppo-" Suddenly, she then bends over and lets out a loud retching noise.

"Princess!" Verna shouts, concerned as she rushes over to her charge.

"Oh, gods in heaven, preserve my soul..." Maria's face goes pale at the sight of the princess puking the contents out of her stomach onto the ground.

You grimace at the sight, remembering the first time you ever killed a human being. It wasn't pretty, but it was a part of being an adventurer.

What do you do?

>Ask Maria to help Hilana
>Give Hilana one of your potions
>Just watch and let Verna handle her

>>6231228
>>Give Hilana one of your potions

>>6231652
You pull out one of your panacea and give it to the princess, who briefly stops vomiting long enough to drink it all down and she lets out a shaky sigh.

"I...I killed a man. Gods above, I'm so sorry for showing you such a sight." Hilana sighed.

"Let's go back to the castle, princess." You softly tell her.

"Absolutely not! We are going home! They can go back home themselves!" Maria snaps.

"Wow, she sounds like my sister. And not in a good way." Verna states, rolling her eyes. You couldn't help but agree; Maria tended to be such a buzzkill at times.

"...How did you get here in the first place? All the carriages have been retired for the night." Hilana stares at the blonde Cleric.

"I took a private carriage, obviously!" Maria snorts. "Besides, I'm taking Kline back in the same carriage, so you can just head back home-"

"What's that?!" Verna shouts, pointing to a pillar of smoke rising in the night sky as the smell of flames hit your noses.

"Maria's carriage," You sigh.

"No...NO! MY CARRIAGE!" Maria wails, tears running down her eyes. "WHY?! WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS?! WHY IS THIS KINGDOM SO INSANE?!"

"Er, are we going to stay here and keep fighting the gangs? Or are we going back to the castle?" Verna asks.

Hilana grumbles. "I, for one, am going to the castle. You too, Verna."

You slowly approach the weeping Cleric and usher her to the direction of the castle, and together you manage to evade the roaming gangs and reach the castle grounds without further incident.

"And now the front gates are closed. Lovely." Hilana spat out.

"Can't we use the side door?" Verna whines, clearly wanting to go back to the city for more fighting.

"If the front is closed, then it's more likely the rear and side entrances are closed as well!" The princess snaps at her bodyguard.

"But what about the secret entrance?" Verna says.

"Gods, I haven't used that entrance since I was a kid..." Hilana sighed. "Let me see if I remember it..."

You wonder if you should offer some more options to them...

>Have Maria warp them inside the castle
>Use a rope to climb over the walls
>Write in

>>6231702
>>Have Maria warp them inside the castle

>>6231702
>Have Maria warp them inside the castle

>>6232394
>>6234217

"Maria, do you think you could warp us inside?" You ask.

"Do i look like a servant to you?!" She snaps angrily, glaring at you.

"Could you please warp us inside?" You ask with fake politeness in your voice.

Maria huffs and warps you all into the castle, ending up in the throne room. You look around the empty room; everyone seems to be asleep.

"Thank the gods. I'm going to my room and take a good rest. Miss, er..."

"Maria Salzberg." Maria responds.

"Would you care to join me in a bath and rest in my bedroom?" Hilana looks at the sputtering blonde.

"What about us?" Verna whines, fidgeting slightly.

"You two have your own rooms; you can clean yourselves." The princess rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds good, I need a nap." You quickly make your way to your room before anyone could stop you. You seriously need a break from all this fighting and whining. But somehow, you knew there would be more trouble coming up.

Meanwhile...

Who do you choose to be?
>Evelyn
>Lamont
>Someone else

>>6234653
>>Evelyn

what class are we? i hope we are something like a wizard that can also heal.

>>6235535
Kline is a C-Rank Fighter, capable of using sword skills and often carries potions and antidotes.

>>6235043

You are Evelyn Kitridge, and you are currently on a mission in Northumber, a kingdom up north that's very chilly, but is also home to ruins of the Great War.

As you scan the runes on one of the walls of the ruin, you hear a sneeze from behind you. "Damn it, Samantha!" You whirl upon the B-Rank Summoner clad in purple robes and sporting green hair.

"It's cold!" She whines, rubbing her hands for warmth. "Why are we here?!"

"Because we need to figure out if the rumor of a cult searching for destructive weapons is true or not!" You roll your eyes heavenwards; you wonder why she even wanted to come with you. Maybe she was lonely or just wanted to kill boredom.

Suddenly, a loud noise could be heard deep down the hallway, making the two of you jump.

"What was that?!" Samantha yelped.

You shush her and cast a scanning spell, searching for any signs of life. There are several signs of life down the hall, including a very large one.

What do you do?

>Go down the hall and investigate
>Head back out of the ruins and get backup
>Convince Samantha to use a summon

>>6235638
>>Go down the hall and investigate

>>6235638
>Go down the hall and investigate

>>6235972
>>6236368
You head down the hall with Samantha in tow, wondering what or who made that noise. You hoped it wasn't anything serious.

Several voices could be heard, growing in volume as you kept walking down the hallway.

"Who's even talking? Is it the cultists?" Samantha whispers.

You shush her, trying to listen closely.

"She moved! Our queen moved!"

"Be silent! Who knows who could be listening to us?"

"There's no one here! Besides, no one's around to stop us!"

You pull out your staff and glared, moving towards the end of hall slowly. Samantha is breathing softly, but she isn't talking anymore, at least.

As you get close, the sight of a giant statue of an ancient goddess greets you, a bunch of robed men below her. Cultists.

What do you do?

>Ambush them.
>Wait and see.
>Go back and call for reinforcements.

>>6237225
>>Wait and see.

>>6237225
>Wait and see.

>>6237225
>Ambush them.