Eldrian was unable to process what mana sense was showing him. As fast as he could he stopped using the ability to rid the terrible head-splitting headache. However, while he was unable to process what had filled his mind, he had taken note of a few things.

'The mana is strange, and the trees aren't normal.' Eldrian noted as he held his head and waited for the headache to subside. After a few minutes, he used mana sense again, but this time firstly only trying to see the details of the trees. Thereafter to only see the local mana.

[Wilted Ackley]

[Once a proud oak tree filled with strength, capable of fighting for its right to survive in the forest. Now, but a husk. Alive only due to the strength that had allowed it to grow. Death around the corner.]

Most of the trees were as such, but a few further back seemed to have become something new.

[Spirited Ackley]

[Refused death yet having had the life sapped from it like one might collect the sap of a tree. It is not just a husk, but part of a network. Beware, as the trees might not have eyes, but they can sense you.]

'How strange,' Eldrian mumbled as he switched over to observe the local mana. As expected death-mana was almost everywhere. However, the Spirited Akcleys were connected via thin lines of green and black. The colors twirling around each other and heading from one tree to another. These lines densest at the top branches and near the roots.

"No idea what this tells me." Eldrian mumbled as he also spotted a few undead animals. They were not attacking him and seemed to mimicking what they had done in life. Grazing peacefully, yet the wilted grass would turn to ash as they bent down to eat. If the grass managed to stay whole then it would simply fall through the skeletal mouth or throat.

"Hey! Are you guys here?" Eldrian shouted after a bit more observation and confirming that there was nothing dangerous nearby. His shout spooked the undead animals, though he was unsure if they were just running away or going to fetch reinforcements.

After a moment of silence, Eldrian shouted again and on his third attempt a dwarf finally stepped out of the shadows. "Be quiet, you don't want to be swarmed by the undead."

"Bringïrr, right? So you guys are still here." Eldrian smiled as the first step of his plan seemed to have worked. 'At least I don't have to rush back to the camp.'

"We still need to protect you, but our job isn't to help-"

"It is, since you can't let the undead do as they please with me," Eldrian replied, clearly indicating that him being turned undead would be a complete failure on their part. He had no idea what that would do to a player or if it was even possible. But, preventing his death before it was even a question was more in line with the dwarves mission.

The dwarf looked at Eldrian stumped. It took him nearly a minute to recover. "Are you insane? Why would you threaten me with your own death?"

"Because, for some reason, you don't want to help when you can. Why would you just stand aside and watch as people die? As an entire city is endangered."

"It isn't our job to protect people. Especially when those people aren't even of the same race, and we know none of them. Why should we risk our lives for people we do not know?"

"Why are you risking your lives for me then? You don't know me."

"We-... That is..." Stumped, the dwarf turned back to the only thing he really knew. "Because those were our orders!"

"So..." Eldrian looked around and noticed a cloud of dust in the distance, "Since you have to protect me that makes me your boss. Right?"

"No! Not even close!"

"Are you sure? I mean, you wouldn't want to fail your mission."

It was at this moment when Bringïrr also realized that a horde of undead was charging at their location. Turning to Eldrian he asked in disbelief. "You wouldn't?"

"Why not?" Eldrian smiled as he turned to look at the dwarf as he realized something. Their orders weren't just to make sure his soul wasn't destroyed. Accomplishing something like that would actually be really hard since something could easily happen before they could intervene.

The safest method of protection was naturally not risking resurrection. And if there was one thing the dwarves hated most, it was failing their mission. As such they wouldn't take any risks they didn't need to. This made Eldrian even more confident in his plan.

A few more seconds passed and the sound of the horde filled the air. Face red in embarrassment and anger from being manipulated by someone who was only at Tier 3, Bringïrr spat out, "Fine, now let's move!"

Shrugging, Eldrian activated Augment and focuses it on his legs. Choosing a random direction that would not bring him deeper into the corruption and also away from the horde, he ran.

His speed was not anything amazing, especially compared to the dwarf next to him who managed to keep up with him through seemingly walking, Eldrian still managed to lose the horde thanks to the cover of the withering trees.

When they arrived at a safe spot, Eldrian asked, "So, you agreed to help. Can you share what you know of this corruption?"

"No." Bringïrr immediately shot Eldrian down, indicating for him to be quiet as he took out a crystal and focused on it. After around a minute the dwarf looked up and declared the rules for their cooperation.

"As I was the one who decided to step out of the shadows, I will be the one responsible for keeping you safe. The others will stay in the shadows and only step out and help if the situation is too dire."

"This means you must do your best to avoid any such situations. As our first priority is to keep you safe, that is what we will do. If you continue to show a lack of care for your life, we will take the option out of your hands as this is also an indication that you might not be worthy of our time."

This was certainly not the ideal situation for either of the two. But Eldrian felt he could work with it, in any case, he didn't want to die if he could avoid it. He also didn't want to risk losing this new connection he had made, although it might not be a clean one. It was certainly a strong one.

"Secondly, I am not allowed to share anything I know of the corruption with you. My superior just informed me that this will be a considered a test for both me and you."

"Fair enough," Eldrian nodded while a bit disappointed. However, having a bodyguard was good enough. Bringïrr was Tier 8 and his armor and weapons were certain to be beyond amazing from what Eldrian had seen so far. Or rather the lack of what he had managed to see.

There should be few beings at Tier 8 in the forest, if any. Smiling, Eldrian wondered what the next steps of his plan were supposed to be.

He was not worried about the dwarves. Not because he disliked them or wished them ill, but rather because he simply did not think anything here could really threaten them.

"So then, what now?" Eldrian asked after a moment of thinking and the only thing he could think of was to head deeper into the forest.

Bringïrr shrugged, "I am just here to help you should anything come that you cannot handle. I won't be stepping in when you can handle things."

'Well, that means no easy XP grinding and also that I have to be careful of how I move. Alright, let's just go deeper.'

With that thought, Eldrian slowly started heading deeper while using mana sense constantly. Switching between its abilities constantly to try and find a pattern in the mana flow or possibly discover something strange that might help him figure out how it worked.

He also made sure to give all the Spirited Akley trees a wide berth. He had no idea how they worked, but he did his best to not move near them and also to not cross the lines of mana between the trees.

'How does he see them?' Bringïrr wondered as he followed behind Eldrian. Curious how much the elf knew of undead plants. It was something that most people were unaware of. In fact, undeath could form a sustainable eco-system given the proper tools.

...

"Can you believe him?" Nikki cursed as they only came to find that Eldrian had set off for his mission after messaging him.

"Relax, he was always hesitant in joining the guild. The benefits aren't that great in any case. If we tried to put them over his head he will certainly just quit." Judith said, causing the others to sigh in unison.

"Then how are we supposed to handle this quest? The rewards are too good." No one denied Nikki's words, however, they also couldn't take the quest lightly. Failure with a guild quest was far more punishing than failure with normal quests.

"Why don't we wait, we have two more days to decide." Elizabeth proposed and naturally the others agreed with that.

"Make sure to send it over to him, we will also all try to convince him tomorrow," Therdul said as he lifted his shield which he had been leaning on, and stored it away. "By the way, have any of you talk with the NPCs?"

"No, they are all so busy and on their own missions. Trying to do so just irritates them." Nikki said and the others nodded.

"True, but they have started seeing us as more than just irritating children." Zyviss countered, "I actually talked with a few of the guards the other day. Most of it was them being overjoyed at how dull their guard duty was."

"Don't you mean complaining?" Therdul asked and got a firm no in reply.

"Nope, they truly are happy that nothing has happened. And I mean, just think back to the battle. Would any of you wish for something like that to happen again if your lives were on the line?"

Silence settled for a while as they all realized what Zyviss was getting at, "Are you starting to see them as people too?" Elizabeth asked.

"They are far too complex to be simple AI. I mean we all knew that, everyone knew that since the start. However, I am starting to see what Eldrian always goes on about."

"Have none of you realized that no one in this camp is a battle fanatic. It is so common in games and stories that people love war and wish to prove themselves. Yet... Here everyone just wants to survive. No one is happy being here, yet they are here. Here to protect their homeland."