The night had quickly arrived and most of the inn’s lights were switched off. The inn lady had also gone to bed so only Lucri, Sylphiala and Arnold were awake.

They sat at one of the booths for guests with a single candle lighting their table.

“What does this discovery have to do with demons?” asked Sylphiala.

“You said that you’ve heard of demons before but have you heard of demons called Imps?”

She frowned at the mysterious word.

‘I knew it. Imps aren’t native to this world and no one has seen them before.’

Flord didn’t give that big of a reaction to seeing the corpse back then but he did ask about the origin. Arnold had exaggerated and said that the demons were part of the Demon King’s army. The truth, however, was that the Demon King only ruled the minority of the races in the demon world. Humans didn’t know this. Chances were high that the group the village encountered were those that belonged to the majority who weren’t ruled by the Demon King.

That had caused unrest among the adventurers and that ensured that the reward for discovering the demons increased immensely.

‘500 gold…’ Arnold’s mouth watered. It would be a while before they could get the money though.

“What demons have you heard about then?”

“Things like trolls, fallen angels, alps, evil spirits and so on…”

“That’s about all humans know about demons, huh. Imps are demons that feed on demonic aura so wherever there is demonic aura you’d find them there. Being an elf and all, I’m sure you know that supernatural beings feed on equally supernatural energy?”

The demons Sylphiala was talking about were monsters that adapted to this world after coming here thousands of years ago when the demon aura deposits were extremely dense.

The battle between the demon god and Prometheus had created this rift in space that allowed demons to crawl through. Although most were killed, others still roamed this world. Their numbers were miniscule compared to other races.

They were known pretty much everywhere in this world by now. If not for their appearance in this world then fairy tales and folklores wouldn’t have existed in this world.

The appearance of Imps was new.

“Demonic aura… This is my first time hearing of this.”

“The cave I saved the survivors from was filled with the aura of demons. The output was weak so there was no telling when they would’ve moved their base.”

‘If that happened then I wouldn’t have been able to kill them and destroy the portal.’

There was an upside to this though. If he were to have waited for the imps to move location then he would’ve been able to find another source of demonic aura. There was no telling if there were more places that could attract demons but it was better safe than sorry.

“How did the guild respond to this?”

“We didn’t directly go to the city’s guild since the boss wasn’t there at the time. I sent one of the hunter members to come to this town to show the corpse of the demon to the Guild Master. Did you not hear of it?”

“No. Clint and I arrived here this morning so we didn’t really hear anything about that incident. We haven’t even gone to the Guild yet.”

“I see…”

Silence. As if they had finished what they wanted to say, Sylphiala and Arnold’s eyes swam around the room.

Lucri looked between the two of them before speaking for the first time:

“Um, so for how long will everyone take a break from adventuring?”

“Our party? Can’t really say. All of us have our own things to worry about. Clint’s wife is on the verge of giving birth so he’s pretty stressed about it.”

“Oh, he was married?” Arnold wasn’t that surprised because Clint was a man who could make woman swoon over him with just a few words, “I was under the impression that the two of you were dating.”

She gave him a displeased look, “You assumed wrong, wannabe strongest swordsman. Besides, we aren’t each other’s types. He married his village’s fief lord’s daughter a few years ago. The two are smitten even now so he would naturally be worried about her.”

‘Hmm…’ Sylphiala’s words somehow carried regret, ‘She’s definitely lying about them not being each other’s types. It seems that she’s the one who’s not his type. Well, I have no interest so I won’t pry.’

“Anyway, Crull went back to his tribe because there are rumours that one of the males of their tribe wants to challenge his father who is the current alpha.”

“Alpha? What kind of tribe are they?”

“Mister Crull is from a warrior tribe. His unique skin colour shows his origin of being a Vestere warrior.” Lucri answered Arnold’s question.

‘Vestere… Wasn’t there such a name in the game? He was a god just like Naraseth. It seems that not only martial arts but tradition and cultures had also lasted for thousands of years.’

His interest had been piqued by all the familiar things he heard from this world that were vastly similar to the game. No matter how familiar he was with the game, there was bound to be more than what was on the surface.

“Why doesn’t mister Crull become the alpha instead? I mean, he’s stronger than his father, right?”

“You’ve known him for years now so you should also know that he dislikes having his freedom taken away from him,” Sylphiala said, “His adventurer days would be over because he would have to protect the tribe. For a guy like Crull that is way too much responsibility. It doesn’t surprise me why he hasn’t even gotten a wife yet. He and Lucia split up with the two of us after we got to this town. Lucia must’ve gone back to the city to go visit her family.”

“What about you?” asked Arnold.

“What about me exactly?”

“I heard that you lived in the forest at a settlement untouched by humans. That place shouldn’t have any problems, the last I’ve heard.”

‘I can tell that she is lying about leaving for her settlement. Elves with ears that have been maimed are not accepted by their race. Well, I shouldn’t mention this to her. Since Lucri doesn’t know then that means that humans don’t know of this custom either.’

It wasn’t his business why she was banished.

“Well…” Sylphiala looked up at the moon with her chin on her hand, “A very important… person is nearing his death so it is important for all of us to go.”

“A very important person?”

“He’s the guardian of our forest so it’s important that all of us be there when he passes away.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be talking about the Guardian of Dryads, would you?” A smile surfaced on Arnold’s face.

Sylphiala’s eyes widened in shock.

“H-How did you…”

“What’s a Guardian of the Dryads?” Lucri seemed clueless over who they were talking about.

“He is simply that. A guardian who protects all beings inside the forest of the Wood Elves. He is also the father of elves.”

It was a monster known as a Hiisi with the appearance of a tall giant with a moose’s skull and vines all around its body. It could create tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes using the power of the elementals.

Arnold knew of this because he had battled this monster several times in the game so that he could get a drop.

The Tyrial Ring of Cardinal.

It allowed one’s magic efficiency to increase a thousandth-fold and gives you the potential to control spirits. Defeating the Guardian also gives you a certain amount of magic power.

If a level 1 were to defeat the monster then you would be able to get magic power equal to a level 40 player.

“…No human should know of his existence. How is it that you know?” Sylphiala’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“I have travelled across the continent in the past so I was bound to find some things that even us humans have never seen or heard of before.”

Sylphiala sighed, accepting whatever bullshit was coming out of his mouth. The truth was that the monster was actually on the wiki page of the game so it was fairly easy to find it.

‘Man, I’m kind of interested in the ring even if it is a trash item compared to the SS and Star Class Items we usually had. Anyway, If he’s dying then that means the dryads keeping him alive are also on the verge of death.’

A hiisi’s main goal was to protect the dryads which maintains their life but they began protecting the entire forest where elves lived since elven had coexisted with dryads for many millenniums.

“It’s like this guy says. The guardian of the forest is dying and wishes to for us to see him off to his next life.”

“That’s so sad… Aren’t there ways to help him live?” Lucri asked in concern.

“Not that any of us elves know of… I won’t return for quite a while. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning. What are the two of you going to do from now on?”

“The two of us are heading to the capital!” Lucri cheerfully exclaimed, “This will be my first time ever visiting the empire! I’m so excited!”

“Hahaha… Yeah, we’re going to do some quests first before then. Although we have a lot of money now, it’ll be gone in just a few weeks if we don’t make more.”

“Money troubles, huh? Why not consider going dungeon raiding? It’s far more profitable.”

“Dungeon raiding…” Arnold repeated the words to himself.

Liam always used to go dungeon raiding with his guild friends back in the day. They would always race to be the first to raid a dungeon once it was announced that one opened. Many single players use this chance to raid a dungeon as a stepping stone to making their own guild.

There are two ways to establish a guild: make a name for yourself by clearing a dungeon or invite others to join your guild. The problem with the second method was that no one wanted to found a guild with a nobody. That’s when the first method truly shines; your name would gain popularity and others would definitely be willing to join your guild.

That was how Misteltein was formed. Alecs and Liam were originally only a two-member guild but after months of rising up the leaderboards, the two was able to find its core founding members. It didn’t take long before they rose from the top 100 to become one of the top 5 guilds in Star Fantasy.

Besides making your name known throughout the game, there was also the chance of obtaining a very high grade item or weapon when you clear the boss room. That made dungeon raiding that much more worth it.

“There’s rumours of a dungeon being in the forest near the empire. No one has gone in yet since the Adventurer Guild HQ hadn’t given anyone permission yet.”

“That’s strange. Normally people like them would always want to be the first to explore dungeons. Maybe they don’t have any S-rankers who can explore the dungeon?”

“On the contrary. There are many S-rankers willing to go to that dungeon and clear it. The problem is the location where the dungeon is.”

“Location?”

“The two of you probably don’t know this but there is a place where multiple undead spawn deep inside a forest that belonged to a gentry of the empire.”

‘Undead…?’ Arnold’s face scrunched up. ‘I have a hunch about something but there isn’t enough evidence…’

“The forest is also crawling with many strong monsters so it’s dangerous for just anyone to go inside. I think it would be best if there was an SS-rank party willing to go.”

SS-rank adventurers were the highest rank given to only the elite. They are called when city-level threats appears during times of emergency. The average SS-rank adventurer are between level 35-50. In player standards they were at best mid-boss levels.

The only SS-rank parties of the Eulia Empire were the Sky Kings, Dead End and Red Tornado.

Only the first two should be stationed in the Empire since the remaining party was out on a mission in an unknown location.

“I think I’ll pass going dungeon raiding just yet,” Arnold looked at Lucri, “The two of us have only done two high ranking quests so far which is abnormal for a small party that was just established. I think it’s best if we do small quests for a while.”

“Yes, sir Nova is right.”

Lucri agreed without hesitation. It was like his opinion wasn’t needed since Arnold was the leader.

“Is that so… Well, the two of you can ask any of us for advice if you need help with anything.”

“Thank you very much, Sylphy.” Arnold smiled. Sylphiala frowned in response.

“Don’t you dare call me so familiarly. We haven’t even known each other for that long.”

‘Is it really that big of a deal?’ Arnold looked at Lucri for answers.

“Elves only allow others to call them by their nicknames if it is people that they trust and have known for a long time. A nickname is to show their bonds and friendships with others. Or so I’ve heard.” Lucri explained.

“I-I see. Sorry for calling you that… miss Sylphiala.”

Sylphiala only harrumphed.

Lucri looked at the clock on the wall and yawned, “It’s getting pretty late. Should we go back to our room, sir Nova?”

“I actually want to talk with Nova before the two of you leave.”

“Huh? Why?”

Arnold, who was about to stand up, stopped and looked at her.

“Then I’ll get going then…” Lucri seemed suspicious but he left regardless.

After his footsteps disappeared up the stairs, Sylphiala opened up her mouth:

“I’m telling you this beforehand but don’t get any ideas about the two of you being in the same room.”

“Huh, what?”

‘What the heck is she talking about?’

“Guys like you are all the same. Only thinking about fighting and having sex like animals.”

“W-Wait a moment!” Arnold hit the table with his hand, “Why the hell do you think I’d go for a guy!? I’m not into that stuff!”

“…A guy?” Sylphiala’s eyes widened when she realized something, “…So she hasn’t told you yet?”

“Huh? Who?”

Sylphiala rolled her eyes in annoyance, “Lucri is a girl.”

…

..

“Huh?”