The sun was beginning to set and with it the day’s light was fading. Norman’s discomfort was growing with every lost moment of sunlight. None of the scouting parties have ever come out this far. Who knew what could be out in these woods. He kept his eyes peeled for the slightest bit of movement from the surrounding areas.

“You need to loosen up. You will miss a lot if you are this tense.” Mike pointed this flaw out to Norman because he could feel his intensity.

Norman gave Mike a quick glare before he continued watching his surroundings. ‘Who does this guy think he is,’ Mike thought to himself.

Mike walked over to Zack who was sitting on the ground next to the unconscious elf. “Is Norman always this high strung?”

“He was like this even back in high school,” Zack said. “He would always get into fights because of it. I don’t think that will be changing anytime soon either.”

Footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of the village. Mike and Norman both stood at the ready. Leading the group of elves was Varlushia. She came to a stop right next to Zack and reached out her hand.

The two of them shared a mana pulse. Zack could see the effects of their actions. Firstly, the chief was interested in seeing what a human was. Secondly, the elves were grateful for the return of Varlushia and her companion. She showed him the mental image of him meeting the chief of their village. This was due to the fact that he could understand the mana pulse easier than his companions.

Zack returned the expression of Norman and Mike’s apprehension to the concept.

Varlushia took a second to think before sending out another pulse. When she did she sent an image of his whole party coming back the next day when the lighting was better and they could have better conditions to meet under.

Zack knew that this would be a better idea. He returned his interest in that idea.

She smiled and suddenly had an idea. She reached into her back pouch and pulled out three crystals. When she put them in his hand she sent out another pulse. She gave the mental image of mana flowing into the crystals, and the crystals glowing with their newfound energy. This was the same crystal that was on their armor and weapons. Somehow the elves have figured out how to make the crystals into gear that can store mana for different reasons. The final part of the pulse was her expressing her thanks for them saving her life.

While this was happening, the other two were watching the rest of the group of elves take away the injured elf.

“See, you were tense for no reason,” Mike whispered to Norman while he was watching the scene in front of him.

“This could have easily gone a different way. We don’t know anything about their culture or their capabilities. Blind trust can lead to an easy death.” Norman continued to watch as the elves all walked away.

“Thanks for being willing to go through this,” Zack said as he rejoined the two of them. “Let’s go ahead and get back before it is too dark to even see.”

“Agreed,” Mike said as he led the way.

Norman followed, still deep in thought.

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Back at the camp, Elana was starting to worry.

“Have you seen Zack X?” She asked as she saw him walking towards the dining area.

“Not since much earlier today. Did he go somewhere?” X asked.

“I don’t know. I figured he would have told me if he was leaving camp for something.” Elana’s worry was building.

“I will help you ask around,” X said.

The two of them asked around camp until they found Darius who was just returning from a scavenging mission with a few of the other members of the camp.

“Did Zack go with you on this supply trip?” Elana questioned.

“No,” Darius pondered for a second. “I don’t think I have seen him for a while. I actually was looking for him and Norman earlier for this mission. I just assumed he was with you.”

“Wait,” X chimed in, “did you say that Norman was missing too?”

“Yeah,” Darius responded. “Although it isn’t something I would usually call an issue, I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“I think we should see if the patrol team saw him leave,” Elana said while practically dragging X towards the main gate.

“I will ask around after I put up these supplies,” Darius said as the others were leaving him behind. “Glad we could have this chat guys.” He proceeded with putting his gear in the appropriate place before he ran into a familiar face. “Candy how is the building going?”

“Oui,” She responded, “Darius! Things are going well. I got this ability today from a teenager right after Mike left the camp.”

“Ability you say?” Darius asked. “Must have been X. What can you do?”

She paused for a second to think. “Well for starters I am a magic-user. Secondly, I got a Guild job called Builder. That lets me upgrade buildings! It is an Architect’s dream!”

“That’s good. I am a Fighter class. I basically get physical skills and buffs.” He cut himself off when her previous comment dawned on him. “Wait a minute! Who left with Mike?”

“Humm. It was the tall buff mean-looking guy, and the black guy with the twist that is usually hanging out with you. They all went out to scout. They said something about making sure there were no more goblin surprise attacks.” She was confused by the intensity Darius was expressing.

“You may have just saved me a search,” Darius said. “I will talk to you later. I need to catch up with Elana.” With that, he ran off to catch up with Elana and X.

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Elana was beginning to panic. She has been in many situations during her life. Each scrape, scratch, and bruise built her intuition one ounce at a time. It managed to keep her alive in the dangerous neighborhood she grew up in. Every drug deal that went wrong, every fight she won or lost, every time she and her brother ran from the cops, and even the day her brother died she trusted her instincts. Right now they were screaming at her. Loud and clear they were telling her that Zack was in danger.

“X we need to find him,” Elana stressed.

Before X could respond Darius found them and immediately blurted out, “Mike, Norman, and Zack all left the camp to scout the area for more goblins.”

“I hate when my bad gut feeling is right,” Elana said. “Lets go right now!

“Agreed,” X said, “But we need to grab Adriana first. I want us to have a good bit of manpower going into this search.”

With that, the party ran over to Adriana’s workstation.