After quite some time passed, Zamia spoke again. 'You might be right, but I still think it was wrong for Cephaphyr to place himself in danger for you. Someone who would not die.'

Surprising her, Eldrian agreed. 'Oh, that I agree with. That is why I told the others to run in case of danger. I can die and still live, they can't. The only reason I didn't do the same with Cephaphyr was that I assumed you had investigated the caves and found he would not be injured.'

Hearing this caused Zamia to become embarrassed. She had made a great mistake by not making sure the caves were indeed safe. Having believed that it would be the same as the last time she had looked.

After a while more of silence, she spoke again. 'I understand and must apologize. It is as you said, I did check the caves. But that had been a few weeks ago, during which the Oni seemed to have come in.'

'Maybe that is why Vivian is inside the caves!' Eldrian shouted as this thought came into his head. It was the most basic explanation.

How did I not think of why?Zamia asked herself as she realized she had never thought about why a human would enter the caves. This caused her embarrassment to be worsened. Peace had made me dumb.

'Now that we know something is wrong, can you look into the caves again. That Oni might not have been the only one.' Eldrian asked, not wishing to run into a few Oni when inside a cave. He felt that would be really bad. Cephaphyr unable to use his speed, the rest unable to spread out. It would just cause them to be at the enemy's mercy.

'I will do that tonight. Don't worry, tomorrow you can go on with your task.' Zamia said, finishing their conversation as she flew into the sky.

Well, that was interesting. Eldrian though, turning towards Cephaphyr, 'How tired are you?' He asked.

'What! I am not tired at all!' Cephaphyr replied in a hurry, causing Eldrian to chuckle.

'No need to be worried, I just wanted to ask for a spear or two. My other one broke.' Eldrian said, wondering what had happened to the broken pieces. They were not in his inventory.I'll ask the others later.He decided as he explained to Cephaphyr what he wanted.

Unlike last time he hoped Cephaphyr would be able to make both a short spear and a normal one. He also asked if Cephaphyr could add a spearhead to both the front and back. Unsure Cephaphyr had told him he would try his best.

After which Eldrian headed to the stream to take a bath. Having found it far too comfortable the last time. He certainly was not going to stop himself from enjoying the little things. Maybe IRL, but not in the game. It was supposed to be fun.

...

Five more Oni...Zamia said to herself as she scanned the caves. Causing her to become even more curious about why they were here. Two were Tier 4 and three were Tier 5. It was a really strong group, something unlikely to just be found randomly. They would certainly be part of a military of some demon or devil. It would be rare for such a strong group to fall under other Oni.

Hence Zamia was certain that they had a mission. Which caused her even more confusion, knowing that no Kako leader would have sent anyone to their forest. One case with the devil was already too much. Another was simply taunting them to fight back, something the devils would not want.

I'll take care of them and leave the rest of the goblins. Their task might be really easy now.Zamia thought as she shapeshifted into her human form, a beautiful woman of ample figure. Her human form was certainly something many men would not be able to withstand.

Her hair was silvery-white, reflecting the moonlight. She worea pure white dress, causing her to seem like a maiden out in the fields. Enjoying the flowers or something.

Yet on her sides were two daggers and on her back a longsword. Taking out the daggers she cast a sphere of darkness around her. It might not be a good hiding technique, but it was good enough when inside the caves. Where a dark spot would be hard to see.

This dark spot quickly disappeared into the caves, killing the Oni as soon as she found them. Simply cutting their neck sufficed. She did not even need to be careful, they were all so absorbed in their games.

They did not realize the shouts for help through bleeding troats where other Oni. It being only a gurgling mess of sounds. Those hearing it instead thought someone was enjoying some killing.

Coming out of the cave Zamia dispelled the darkness and transformed back into her Alicorn form. She never really like being in a different form. It always felt alien to her, like she was not herself.

As the darkness faded and night came back, it became clear that Zamia was alone. She had not saved the woman, leaving that to Eldrian and his party. Party to give them the satisfaction, and also because she had no reason to do more. They weren't even the same race as her, she felt no duty to help them.

As she left the caves again she sighed, the goblins would be in a mess. Panicked and without their strongest. Zamia had failed to detect the Tier 6 shaman, having probably been killed when the Oni first moved in.

Not just that, but two other Tier 5 shamans were also gone. Meaning there were only three left, who would likely fight for what was left of the goblins. If Eldrian and his party waited a few hours like planned and only acted in the morning. They would walk into the goblins fighting each other.

I really had wished this to take at least a few months. Not just a few days.Zamia sighed, wondering if she should let Cephaphyr go with Eldrian before she could bind their souls. Or let him stay until Eldrian reached Tier 3. In both cases, they would have to come back here.

...

Waking up from the game Eldrian went for a run. After which he had nothing really to do. Sure he had some homework but like any college student, he wanted to put it off for later.

What to do?He asked himself a few times. In the end, he decided to simply browse the forum and look for some interesting posts. Especially on the group of players trying to make guns.

He also read some magic posts, most players just letting the system do everything for them. But not all, some, after reading about High Elves. Were curious why they could not do the same.

Following Eldrian's post and guide, they tried it, along with other High Elves. Most still failed, but some managed to get a feeling, like Eldrian had stated he felt at the start.

Naturally, this had caused him to get quite a bit of cash from tips. Nearly 400 dollars already, an insane amount to Eldrian. He himself returned some of this when reading about other experiences these players had had.

Trying to figure out if it could help him in his own approach.

...

Climbing back into the game, Eldrian thought about what he needed to do. He felt like he needed to probe the caves first. Maybe with Cephaphyr, maybe alone. He had yet to decide.

I'll ask everyone what they think.He thought as he placed the headset on his head. Wondering how different the new headset they had announced would be.

Waking up, Eldrian found that he was the first. Naturally, it was only around four in the morning. Any decent human would still be sleeping.

Standing up Eldrian headed to a part of the woods to practice again. Naturally, he could not do his normal spear drills, instead, he took out the greatsword and used it for now. He chose to practice with the greatsword since it was his best weapon after grace. Yet he quickly found something strange.

Wasn't that a bit too easy?He asked himself as he found that keeping his mana flowing had become far easier. Looking for an answer he turned towards his stats, wondering if he got some buff or title.

He did not.

After a few minutes of searching, he finally managed to see something different. His affinity had increased some more, from 96-something- to 97. Eldrian did not see this at first, but after eliminating everything else. It was the only thing he could think of and after a few seconds of pondering. He remembered that it was 96-something before.

Why? Why did it increase again? Eldrian wondered, realizing that he had never read of others posting that theirs increased. They might simply not have posted it, like Eldrian. But he felt that it might be only him.