...

After an intense battle, Shin and Charlotte managed to defeat the Minotaur Knight that was blocking their path.

The battle lasted longer than they had expected because the minotaur was able to completely digest all of the remaining powers of the other two minotaurs that were killed earlier. And due to that, that Minotaur Knight suddenly evolved into a King Class Monster Boss at the very last moment and forced their Elemental Companions to be unsummoned.

Fortunately, the minotaur was already close to dying after the combined attacks that they threw at it earlier.

Charlotte retrained its movements with her water elemental magic while Shin was dealing most of the damage to it. The former was also giving the latter some minor heals from time to time which surprised Shin pretty much. He was not expecting that her Elemental Possession had that kind of utility. And because of that, he couldn't help but think that he needed to re-evaluate his own Elemental Possession to uncover more of its mysteries.

"Maybe I should ask some advice from Arthur and Leonard about that Secret Fusion Skill or something," muttered Shin as he sat under a nearby tree to regain his peak condition and mana.

After that, he turned his head towards Charlotte who was sitting on a nearby tree before asking. "Are you still not done organizing your loots? I don't think we still have enough time to stay here."

Hearing that, Charlotte gave him a sidelong glance before sneering. "Says the one who goes around and messes with big guilds during his quest."

She then stood up and looked at him with a knitted brow. "But are you sure that you don't want to get any more shares on the monster drops? That deed and blueprint are already enough?"

Shin shook his head when he heard that and said. "I said it is already fine. Their value is at least on par with the other drops that you've gotten. Moreover, you spent quite a lot of effort fighting those three bosses alone and I just helped you a little at the final stretch."

'Moreover, these things are the answers that I am looking for to help me with the problems that I currently have," he added in his mind while taking a quick glance at the two items that he got.

After that, he turned his attention back to Charlotte before going back to their main topic. "Anyways, are you going or not?"

The corner of Charlotte's mouth suddenly twitched when she heard the last part of what Shin had said. 'It is really hard to figure out this guy. He is cold at times but-… Urg! I don't know!'

...

Inside the cave, Shin saw quite a lot of minerals along the way. Most of them might be common materials but they were too many that it was enough to attract the attention of some powerful guilds.

Moreover, they were only in the higher level of the cave which could also mean that there might be a few more minerals below and those lower levels might even have some rare minerals.

Shin was planning to keep quiet until they reached their destination. But after a long time of trying to suppress his curiosity, he still gave in and asked. "Ahm… this place-…"

He was still in the middle of talking when Charlotte cut him off by saying the thing that he wanted to say. "Why hasn't this place not attracted the attention of the big guilds yet?"

Seeing that she was aware of what he was thinking, Shin could only nod his head slightly and waited for her to continue.

"Well, there is no complicated reason for it. It's just they haven't discovered this place yet," said Charlotte in a nonchalant manner.

"Huh!?"

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but frown his eyebrows for being confused. "How is that possible? From what I can see, this place is not well hidden so how come no one has discovered it yet?"

"Maybe those guilds have no interest in exploring this remote area yet, it is a different matter for the solo explorers. Especially those information sellers who are exploring the most secluded places of the game," he added with full suspicion.

"You are right about that," said Charlotte while nodding her head. But not long after, she quickly added. "But you forget to consider a few critical things."

"As you've seen during our journey here, the population of monsters in this area is quite scarce. Sure, they are quite strong and high-leveled. But at the end of the day, the number of monsters here is still too little to satisfy the needs of the big guilds."

"For big organizations, quality is not everything – they still need to put the quantity in mind if they want to support the demands of their members. So, they need to reconsider if they want to invest some manpower if they want to explore these kinds of areas."

"What's more, there are also a lot of other places within the Elven Kingdom that are rich in materials, so it is better for them to focus on those hunting grounds instead of gambling their luck on remote places with a small number of monsters."

" And it is indeed reasonable for those elite teams to explore this map. But just like what I've said earlier, there are a lot of other places that can be explored here in the Elven Kingdom."

"And 'Valley of Forgotten Time' is not worth their time and effort," she quickly added.

"Why is that?" asked Shin once again while further knitting his brow.

This time, Charlotte paused her steps and looked at Shin before answering. "Don't you find it strange that this map is called that way? The Valley of Forgotten Time."

"This place may be a little large compared to the other maps but it is said to be one of the curse places within the Elven Kingdom."

"The spawn rate of the monsters here is so low that it takes a few days (in-game time) for the monsters to respawn. As for the materials that can be harvested in this area, they are so scarce that they are almost non-existent."

"And if ever you are lucky enough to stumble upon one, that material can only be an uncommon one at best."

"Given all of that, even the experts who love to play alone are also not paying any attention to this map. For them, it is better to grind experience points in the other hunting grounds and explore the borders between the Elven Kingdom and the neighboring countries," she added after a brief moment of pause.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but become a little surprised before pointing at the ores stacked on the walls of the cave. "Eh!? Then these minerals-…?"

Understanding what he wanted to say, Charlotte slightly nodded her head before confirming. "Yeah, all of those ores can only be Common and Uncommon Ores at best. And don't get your hopes high, the minerals on the lower levels are all the same."

"That is crazy!" said Shin to himself as he swept his gaze at the ores around them before muttering with a soft voice. "Tsk! Such a waste."

After that, he suddenly turned his head to Charlotte and asked with some suspicion. "If everything that you've said is true, then how come you know about this place? More importantly, you seem to be very familiar with this map. It is as if we are in your own backyard."

'Tch! He is really sharp,' cursed Charlotte inside after hearing his question.

She was silent for a moment before releasing a helpless sigh and giving him her answer after some hesitation. "That is because of the quests that are given to me by my Elemental Spirits."

"Eh!? Wait! What?" said Shin in surprise while staring at Charlotte with an astounded look before his mask.

Seeing his reaction, Charlotte couldn't help but frown her eyebrows before looking at him strangely. And after some internal struggle, she couldn't help but ask. "Hey! Don't tell me you really don't know about it?"

Shin was still a little confused about what she was asking, so he asked. "Know what?"

With that reaction, Charlotte practically got the answer to her question. And when she realized that Shin really didn't have any idea what she was talking about, she could only look at him with a weird look on her face for not knowing what to say.

Even if Shin couldn't fully see the expression that she was making due to the veil that was covering the lower half of her face, he could still tell that she was looking at him as if he was some kind of an idiot just by looking at her eyes.

"How about you enlighten me about it, oh great Sage of elves," said Shin with a twitching mouth, trying to suppress his annoyance.

This time, Charlotte could only put her hand on her forehead before saying with a frustrated tone. "Gosh! You are so blessed to stumble upon a lot of fortunes yet you haven't taken advantage of them at all!"

"What have you been doing all this time? Don't tell me you did nothing but fight since you started playing the game?" she asked while trying to calm herself down.

Hearing that, Shin could only answer honestly. "Well, that is the main reason why I play this game; to challenge a lot of strong players to make myself stronger. But I am also doing a couple of quests here and there whenever I find the chance."

"Why? Is it wrong? Aren't games meant to be played that way?" he asked when he could sense that Charlotte was looking at him more and more weirdly as time went by.

Sigh~!

"I heard from 'God Slayer' and 'Death God' that this is your first Virtual Game, but I never thought that you are this amateur," said Charlotte while shaking her head. 'I guess I misunderstand him as an experienced player after seeing him fight so well.'

(She is talking about Lawless and Faker. She was not used to calling them with their current IGN since she is more familiar with their previous Game IDs.)

After that, she turned around and resumed walking while saying. "Alright, I'll tell you more about it along the way. But first, we should hurry and take care of our main business here."

"The life force of that Elemental Spirit of yours is getting fainter as more time passes," she added without looking back.

Shin pursed his lips a little when he heard that before tilting his head a little and following after her.

...