“Nothing, there is absolutely nothing we have found in this last month. Arggghhhh!!!” Lyndis flipped the stacks of paper in her hands into the air.

“Well we didn't find anything in the previous month as well” commented Shadow.

“Nothing to be discourage about, it just proves how deeply hidden this organisation is” said Sain in response.

Right now, 2 months had passed since the beginning of their investigation. It had also been a month since that large mass of players tried to hunt down Sain and Shadow as well. Frankly, there were no other large groups of players that wished to hunt them considering they took on 50 players and still won.

Because of this fact, even though the Kingdom willed it, no player wanted to take the quest. And because of this, Sain and Shadow's 'mission' went one smoothly.

“But to spend two months like this and have nothing come out of it...” sighed Miriel.

However for the rest of the group, it was then mainly trying to find any clue nonetheless. Some of them even went to other villages to try to find anything. But the results was like Lyndis said.

“Yeah, two months and we have nothing. Plus we only gained...what? Six levels in these two months?” said Lyndis, “We need to get to level 300 as well and we only have 16 months to do so which is way too short.”

“We have figure that out later as well” said Sain calmly looking through some files, “But first comes this Guild Quest. If we complete this one, then we only need to complete two more to clear that part of the orders we were given.”

“How the hell are you so calm about this?! The thought of getting kicked out of the guild...ahhh!” Lyndis grabbed her hair and started pulling before she realised what she was doing and stopped.

Sain ignored her for the most part but Miriel and surprising Shadow tried to stop her from doing too much harm to herself.

After two months of nearly no action, Lyndis's was by far the most stressed out of everyone. The thing that allowed her to relieve her stress, monster hunting was declining for them right now to focus on this task.

“Oh?”

However, Sain had some good news for them it seems. He looked through this piece of paper about the taxes of a certain city nearby.

Miriel noticed the expression on Sain's face and asked, “What is it?” crawling over to get a good look as well.

“This is...” muttered Miriel going into deep thoughts as well.

“Please tell we you have good news” said Lyndis letting out a large yawn. She leaned back onto the wall and relaxed even more.

“Yes I do have good news” said Sain with a grin, “We finally have a crack in that organisation that we can break through.”

“According to this, there is an increase in exportation of certain supplies from this city recently. It's not much but this place is known for their consistent usage of certain resources and is unlikely to screw up in exporting them” said Miriel explaining what Sain had found.

“What the hell? That really isn't much. Could be a screw up” said Lyndis but in turn Shadow said, “Remember how in the last month or so, certain supply routes were being attacked?”

“Yeah....OH! That explains why then. One of those supply routes was part of that organisation or something and now we also know that that city is part of it as well!” said Lyndis excited enough to charge and try to siege and destroy the city in question.

“Umm...no” said Sain deflating Lyndis' words, “One of those supply routes may not be connected but rather the village it was going to. One supply routes goes through...a few villages at a time as well so it's almost impossible to get anything through it. Plus it may not be the city itself but a small part of it, a tiny part of it that is helping out a bit and we need to find that.”

“....”

Lyndis tilted her head in confusion for a bit and then asked, “Then why are we still here?”

Sain waved her down and then yawned as well saying, “Because we need some sleep now as well. We were all awake for a few days in here you know...”

xXx

“So you think there may be a lead to [Little Droplet] in this city?” asked Gen looking through the files that Sain just gave him.

“Yes.”

“And there is a lead there because...?”

“Circumstances show that there may be a chance that someone is at least connected to that organisation since the city helped out with the supply issue recently. Normally it would only be this city that needs to take care of it right?”

“Hmm...” Gen scratched the beard that was growing and said, “If you believe so, I can't keep you from going. Also remember that you still have another quest from Aria to find her siblings as well.”

“That can come after, we need to actually find [Little Droplet] first” replied Sain.

Gen nodded with approval of those words and said, “Okay then, everyone else can for a while. I need to talk to Sain privately for a bit.”

The rest of the group left the room leaving only Sain and Gen in there. With them gone, Gen let out a look of worry to Sain and asked, “So with this, those attacks will end right?”

Sain nodded and said, “Yes, with this, a crack has been made to [Little Droplet] at last.”

Gen let out a sigh and Sain asked him, “Master why are you looking so depressed? If not for this chance, we could have been searching for years with no success at all.”

“Why?” Gen looked astonished at Sain, “Because of this, so many people have suffered. So many have starved to death as winter comes and food is becoming more difficult to get without help.”

“However this leaves [Little Droplet] with no other choice than to depend on more...easily access places to get their resources to survive as well” Sain countered, “Plus did the Guild Quest say 'No matter what method'?”

“That is indeed true...but I did not call you here for this kind of talk. Morality talks can comes after you are given a unforgivable choice.”

Sain nodded and started to listen to what Gen was about to say.

“Now that you have reached this point, there are several things you need to know. Naturally one thing is that your levelling speed will decrease dramatically the higher you go.”

“Yes, experience requirements to level up has increased recently, if not for that, we would have gained at least 10 levels in the last 2 months” replied Sain remembering that what used to take them so-so to gain now was even harder.

But the gain was that monsters after a certain level started to drop more money, silver coins as well and though rarely, even gold coins.

“Good, but another thing to be even more wary about is that monsters are increasingly stronger from now on as well. Mere teamwork can be broken through with brute force no matter how steady your formation will be. Also, with the increase in ability, you will start to feel restrain at times to use teamwork. Therefore it is more important now to focus on individuality since I believe by now, you have achieved a lot in teamwork.”

Sain nodded. He had noticed that it recently, Lyndis was able to charge in and destroy enemies quicker than if they worked together to take them down. In fact, he felt that even he could do the same without the others.

He made a mental note to split them in smaller teams like when with Viv was travelling with them to counter this. There were so many things that only needed all of them to cooperate with. Even normal bosses were able to be taken down with a faction of them.

The only thing to be worried about are those abnormal bosses with higher attack, defence and speed than other bosses though those are rarely met.

For example, that Black Werewolf King was one of those abnormal bosses since it had lived for too long thus being able to transform quicker and have it's abilities enhanced more than it should. If only three of the group took that thing on, perhaps they would be defeated.

Extreme speed in one form and extreme attack in the other and especially it's extreme regeneration as well. They could only counter both due to their numbers in fighting it.

“However” Gen started to speak again, “There is another problem that will arise due to this. If you become too accustom on fighting alone, then your teamwork will suffer later on. It is then that you need to decide whether it is more important to continue with individuality or focus on teamwork.”

“....”

Sain thought about it. Right now, they needed to lean more towards working alone but at what point what on should they work together more? Or should they get rid of that altogether?

No, it would be a waste to just disregard teamwork like that. Because of this kind of training, they were able to defeat foes that were stronger than their combined sum. On principle, monsters were stronger than the average player. This meant to survive, they would need to band together.

But Sain had no idea what to do right now. Why did Gen tell him this to begin with?

“I see you are confused right now but later on it will become clearer. To fight alone and to fight together, both are similar but so different at the same time. Only when you experienced fighting alone can you appreciate fighting together.”

“....”

Sain believed Viv said something like that before though in a different way. Something like he, Eden and Alexandra were all able to fight alone and such if they wanted to. He couldn't really remember what he said, his memories might be incorrect though.

“Is that all you wish to say to me master?” asked Sain, soon enough they would need to go to where the others were. They needed to prepare to leave the city again soon. Also, the faster they moved, the better to follow the lead.

“Yeah, just one thing” said Gen while at the same time asking, “What do you fight for? What is done everything for?”

“....”

Sain moved to the door and opened it before saying, “I exist to protect no matter what” and left the room.

Alone now, Gen only could pondered, “I wonder what he really meant by that....” and looked at the door again before saying, “And 'who' said that as well...I hope things won't go bad for that ignorant apprentice of mine...take care to not be consumed by 'yourself'.”

xXx

Outside with the rest of the group, they started talking of what to do now though Sain wasn't here yet...

“So where are we going?” asked Lyndis. Miriel sighed and asked, “Didn't you read that report as well? How could you not remember it?”

A bit shocked and panicking, Lyndis suddenly said, “I couldn't help it since I was too tired!”

“So were the rest of us and we all know where we are going” said Shadow.

“Grr....damn you Shadow! This cute Serena would never backstab me like that!” Lyndis shouted while hugging Serena all of a sudden. Serena could only let out a 'It can't be helped' laugh out feeling Lyndis around her.

“If you wish to know then ask” said Sain appearing behind Lyndis.

“Kya!”

Kick!

Lyndis kicked behind her without thinking and almost sent Sain flying away. That is almost since Sain dodged the kick in time with a frightening reaction. If not for the 'Bursting Will' skill, he would have definitely be hit.

He thanked the skill on not only increasing his stats at this point but also increasing his reaction speed as well. It saved him a number of times in the past and will in the future.

“Oh, it's you” said Lyndis calming down seeing it was only Sain.

However on the other side, Miriel's angry side came out and Serena instantly got away from Lyndis at that moment.

Snap~!

Lyndis felt a sharp pain on her leg.

“Ouch!” she said feeling that pain before looking at Lyndis shouting, “What was that-”

She suddenly paused seeing the current Miriel. It was like a demon god appeared before her right now since the killing intent that was coming out was that much.

“Lyndddddddddissssss!!!” Miriel said in a cold and angry tone. She walked over to Lyndis and grabbed her by the collar but Lyndis did not react. Miriel was simply that scary right now and no one wanted to interfere in fear of attracting the attention of this demon in front of them.

“M-Miriel...calm down...” plead Lyndis.

Miriel shot her a glance before saying, “No.”

“....”

Lyndis stared shivering without saying a word due to this. She did not speak or even struggle as Miriel pulled her to an alley way away from the sights of the rest of the group.

“Hey isn't this bad?” asked Shadow that snapped out of it first. Raven started to move to the alley way but Sain stopped him.

“....”

Raven made a look questioning why Sain had stopped him. In turn, Sain replied, “Raven I understand your feelings but...do you like being whipped?”

Raven shook his head.

“I see....I fear Miriel would do worse than that if you interfered right now...also Lyndis needs to learn some manners as well...suddenly trying to kick me all of a sudden. I'm not like Shadow you know” Sain started to pout a bit and ignored that Shadow was retorting something right now as well.

A few seconds later, Miriel came out with a non-responsive Lyndis at hand. Her eyes seemed diluted more than it should and her mouth was open in a strange way as well.

“How does one whip someone so they ended up like that?” wondered Shadow with squinting eyes at her.

“Do you wish to experience it yourself?” asked Miriel with a refreshing smile. For some reason, Sain saw Alena behind Miriel for a second there. It must have been his imagination for that to appear all of a sudden like that.

The world wasn't that strange.

“No no no, I rather retain my sanity you know” replied Shadow backing off a few steps just in case.

Seeing that, Miriel further applied her dominant nature onto Shadow saying, “If that were true then you would have obeyed me on many occasions in the past” with a sly smile on her face.

Feeling that things were turning really bad for him, Shadow hid behind Sain and shouted, “Sain! Tame that witch!” while pointing at Miriel.

“....”

Several people, except for Lyndis whose consciousness was out for the count, went wide. Sain only sighed seeing that Miriel was becoming enraged again and said, “Shadow, you can't call a lady that” in a soft tone filled with all kinds gentleness in it.

Shadow looked in disbelief and said, “What lady are you-”

He suddenly paused looking at Miriel to which Sain had no choice but to look as well.

“L-Lady....” Miriel was blushing red being referred to one.

“....”

Sain had nothing to say here in fear of making this situation even worse than before. He could only sigh to think what the effects of the 'Mark' was having on her. He already knew what was going on simply because of the large differences between her in the game and her in reality.

Though he had nothing to say about it since he was the same to some extent.

“Anyway let us go to-”

His words were cut off by a large shouted.

“Please wait a moment!!!!” Sain looked and found that it was Aria who said those words and were running towards him...too quickly.

“Ah.”

The next moment, she tripped and fell into Sain's arms to which he caught her. Suddenly he felt that there was a large amount of killing intent going his way.

“???”

Ignoring it, he looked down at Aria and asked, “Are you all right?”

Aria looked up at him with slightly red cheeks and said, “Yep, now I am” with a big smile on her face that was like an angel's.

Once again the killing intent increased. He wondered what was going on here...

You have generated the skill: Sense Killing Intent

Sense Killing Intent Beginner Level 1

A remarkable ability to sense things around you have developed into a skill that allows you to sense any killing intent or dangerous intents directed your way. Better run when you see a message from this skill since danger usually comes with it. As this skill levels up, you can even sense where this feeling is coming from.

“This skill...?” wondered Sain looking at it not realising that he was grabbing Aria with his other arm and pulling her closer to him.

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“Eh?”

Sain wondered what was with this message....

He quickly looked around; Raven's black face, Serena's worried face, Shadow's smirking face, Miriel's smiling face and Lyndis' deranged face.

Eh? There seemed to be something wrong with what he saw.

“Umm...can you let me go? It's getting...” said Aria to which he looked down on her again. Looking at them, it looked like they were embracing each other.

You have sensed a dangerous presence

Again, that message.

Sain quickly scanned everyone's face again.

Raven's black face, Serena's worried face, Shadow's smirking face, Miriel's smiling face and Lyndis' deranged face.

Nothing seemed to have changed but he still had that bad feeling. On the meantime he let go of Aria and apologised for his conduct to which Aria said, “Don't worry about it” with an innocent face to the point that Sain could not help but to blush a bit to it.

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“....”

Again with this message, Sain had his suspicions but wasn't Miriel smiling right...

“Oh.”

Looking at Miriel, it wasn't that she was smiling but rather her face was completely stiff and it happened to be a smile. Judging by the feeling she was giving off, she was even more angry than with Lyndis minutes ago...

“Sain~ Can you come with me for a second? I need to talk to you about something....personal” said Miriel grabbing onto his face without mercy. How the hell did she have this much strength?! Did Serena's 'Berserk Conversion' skill somehow managed to go to Miriel while he wasn't looking?

“W-Wait a sec Miriel!” Sain cried out feeling this was not going to end well.

However any other attempts to persuade her was stamped out with her hand's grip strengthening. He was quickly dragged into the alley way where he thought he heard Shadow made a comment on how Miriel was about to rape him...

This was not funny at all!

Before he knew it, Miriel had tied him up using her whip and pushed him onto the wall. Sain had a feeling that Shadow was right after all. God, how did it come to this?

“Miriel! Please stop!” he shouted.

“Not going to happen” Miriel continued to tie him up.

“There has to be a better way to do this!”

“Well this IS the time and place” said Miriel assuring her will onto him.

“In an alley way?!” Sain retorted without realising it.

“Why not?”

“Because it's dirty to do such acts in this place! Plus someone might come and...!”

“What are you talking about? All I'm going to do is tickle you to the point you will almost faint” said Miriel bluntly.

“Oh....” Sain was a bit stunned at that answer, he calmed down a bit seeing the alternative was much better in fact.

“Fueh....” Sain let out a sigh of relief that 'that' would not happen here at least.

“Sain what did you think I was going to do to-” Miriel moved her face in closer which only made it more apparent that her face was going red the next second.

SLAP!

“You pervert! I would think that only Shadow would think of such things in situation!” she screamed.

Actually it's was due to Shadow's suggestion that Sain got this impression in the first place. But Sain did not say that but instead said, “You pulled me, a guy to the alley way, tied me up and are pinning me to the wall. What am I suppose to think?!”

“Shut uppp! This is your fault for getting close to that Aria! I thought you had a bad impression on her that you didn't stare much...”

Miriel was silent thinking of something and cut off her words then. Then she had to ask a certain question upon realising something.

“Don't tell me, you're gay? That's why my advances haven't been working?” Miriel had a look of helplessness as her strength left her.

However Sain was left stunned again.

Gay? Was that what Miriel thought of her failures to be because?

“I thought I noticed you being closer to Shadow recently...to think you were in that kind of relationship with him...” muttered Miriel near tearing now. She stared daggers at him.

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“....Ah.”

This message snapped him out of his shock. Therefore he had to quickly explained that he was not gay and not in a relationship with Shadow since it could ruin two people's lives even though such people were more accepted than in the past.

“Miriel, me and Shadow are not in a relationship” he said carefully.

Now she was really crying.

“So you ARE gay....sob...”

“I'm NOT gay for Gods sake! What the hell gave you that impression?!”

“Because...Because...my advances....”

Sain sighed and said, “You know that we have other things to do now. Such options are at best very limited and frankly would be a bad idea since it will distract both of us. Plus there is a difference of the you in game and in reality...I have a feeling you will be quite angry after you log off” he continued to say carefully. One false move and he was done for here. To perfectly clear his name of such things, he needed to play every card right!

“Then...you find me attractive?” she asked looking up at him with those puppy eyes.

“Y-Yes...” he was literally forced to say that in this situation, “But Lyndis is also attractive and so is Aria and even Serena when she grows up as well! Not only that, some of the Masters are attractive as well, well the female ones and not to mention Alena, her sister and her parents as well even though Eden is guy he still looks like a woman” Shoot! Why the hell did he have to say all of that? Did he have a death wish right now?

“....”

You have sensed a dangerous presence

Once again this message appeared in front of him. Why did it seem like this skill would be very easy to level...?

“You...looked at the others with such eyes? So many people and I did not realised how perverted those eyes were?” Miriel looked dejected and looked at him in a dangerous way.

You have sensed a dangerous presence

Sain again had a bad feeling...now was the time that Miriel would trike at him...

He instinctively closed his eyes and waited for pain or death itself.

Smooch~

Sain thought he heard a strange sound and his lips pressing on something. It was really soft...

“Eh?” Sain opened his eyes not to see a Miriel about to kill him but one that was looking seductively at him???

“Don't look at other women. You are mine now” she said whispering in his ear, “Else...” She touched her lip lightly with her finger and Sain was really wondering why the hell he was focusing on that right now.

He instead decided to look at her current outfit that changed thankfully from before.

From the bottom up, she now as a long violet dress down to her knees. She also wearing boots that reaches the mid way to her knees and the boots are folded a third of the way up. She also wears a buttoned up shirt that is long sleeved and is tanned in colour that is a lighter colour than her dress. Around her neck is a brown scarf that at the ends have a snowflake pattern onto it.

Another thing is that her hair is split to the left and right tied up by a flower on the right side and cloth on the left side to form a small knot of hair at the back.

All of this gave her a different kind of charm compared to before. If the previous outfit showed off her provocative nature, then this one showed off her modest nature though she was completely provocative being this chose to him nonetheless.

He could only stare at this strange Miriel that seemed to captivate him.

“But that doesn't mean you can be let off punishment~ Punishment for getting close to another girl while you knew you had me~” she said.

“Eh?”

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“Though I don't use it often nor do many people know about it...I have a certain talent of being able to tickle someone so greatly that they will feel like fainting and yet cannot.”

You have sensed a dangerous presence

You have sensed a dangerous presence

You have sensed a dangerous presence

Advice from the Game: Get out of there if you want your sanity intact

His newly gained skill was sending off danger messages like there was no tomorrow. He then suddenly remembered Lyndis' expression and thought that would happen to him. He had to avoid that outcome no matter what!

“Miriel!” he shouted, this was the only way.

“What is it~?” asked Miriel simply enjoying Sain's struggling at this point. He couldn't even move due to her whip restraining him at the joints.

“Let's go on a date later.”

“Hmm?”

“Just the two of us, does that sound good?”

“Yep~”

“Then-”

“Two dates, plus you need to make sure you don't ogle at other girls” she strangely made a determined look on her face when she said this. Sain felt hopeful suddenly.

“Fine” Sain nodded his head wanting to get out of this place to the others as quick as possible. He made a mental note to not be with Miriel alone from this point on as well.

“Yay~ But you are not getting off nonetheless” she said cruelly and in a cold tone.

“Eh?”

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“You know...I kinda have this great feeling when I see others tormented...to think I could see this on you as well~ Ah~ Today is a good day. Tormenting Lyndis. Getting two free dates with you and best of all, tormenting you as well~”

You have sensed a dangerous presence

“Eh?”

Did he hit a weir switch in Miriel somewhere? No...Sain felt that this was Miriel's original hidden emotions coming out now. It was just that something else overridden it later on and it was coming out at this moment!

Damn what kind of situation was this and be caught up in this at this moment?!

Miriel's hands made strange gestures while moving closer and closer to his body...

Sain paled not being able to even scream at this moment....

Then...

He was not sure but he felt like he was ascending to heaven but at the same time descending to hell if anyone knew what that meant.

xXx

Meanwhile with Shadow with the rest of the group and that person named Aria waiting for Sain and Miriel to come out of that alleyway, he was spying on their conversation using his hearing skills.

One thing was that Miriel thought he and Sain were....no. He would need to get her back for that comment even though he was on the verge of laughing out loud to that.

Second was that Sain was definitely going to be a whipped man later on. Shadow knew that the two had somewhat mutual feelings but was restraint due to this group of theirs though he doubt they would be in a relationship even with only the two of them.

One was too serious while the other acted serious.

Finally this Aria person was pestering him again not seeing those two come out.

“Sir Shadow! Sir Shadow!” Aria cried for his attention. Seeing that Sain was not here she moved on to him?

Shadow took a glance at Lyndis who was still out of it and...to the alley way where Sain was in the process of being out of it, he said, “Be quiet I can't listen in on those two.”

“Then...those two are...umm....” Aria was quite red saying that to the point that Shadow could only think that she was quite a sheltered girl.

As his thoughts went to 'Look even Serena isn't phased by it', he quickly realised that Serena was turning red listening on his conversation with Aria that was filled with misunderstanding of Sain and Miriel.

Well, it's not like he was on the blunt of it. Might as well let it go, where it goes.

“Look at Lyndis” said Shadow pointing at her and said, “That is going to be done to Sain.”

Both Aria and Serena turned to look at Lyndis again who was out of it even now.

“Now what could have Miriel done to cause that? It looked like she was on the verge of something and Miriel didn't let her to the point that her mind broke and is still broken now even though a few minutes passed” he continued to say.

Both Aria and Serena turned red and Shadow simply crossed his arms and nodded in understanding.

Though they probably think it's something else, it is in fact being tickled without being allowed to faint.

He continued to say, “It will be soon done. Sain is approaching his limits which is surprisingly higher than Lyndis. Men are actually quicker than women most of the time.”

The two turned red again.

Another blessed misunderstanding. He wondered what would happen later on when they found that their thoughts were completely wrong.

“Almost done....about....now.”

Shadow thought he heard a silent scream somewhere and the others seemed to as well. Soon enough, Miriel who had a satisfied look on her face led out Sain who had the same out of it look as Lyndis out of the alley way.

The first thing was that both Aria and Serena were staring at Miriel with blushed faces.

The second was that Shadow said, “So how was it? Was Sain's reaction better than Lyndis?”

Miriel looked at Shadow with some understanding that Shadow probably heard it all and gave him a devilish smile and said, “His reaction was better than expected” in a completely different way than she usual was.

It was like the Ice Queen turned into a Succubus but really it was simply an Ice Queen enjoying herself.

Shadow smiled knowing that another misunderstanding with Aria and Serena happened again. He would need to tell Lyndis about this later on...though he wondered why he wanted to tell her to begin with.

xXx

At the same time, Raven stood there listening to what Shadow was saying and did nothing but listened.

Soon enough, Miriel approached him saying in sigh language which he was taught to know in secret by her, “Did Shadow say something inappropriate? Aria and Serena are giving me strange looks.”

Raven nodded and Miriel responded again in sigh language away from Shadow's sight, “Give me the information later. I will punish him for this.”

xXx

“Eh? Was that a dream?”

When Sain and by extension Lyndis woke up from their out of it state, he realised that it was time to log out already and prompted them all to, to get to class in time of course. He noticed that Aria was still there as they logged out.

xXx

As Peter got out of his capsule, he could have sworn that he head banging noises from where Hina was.

No wonder, she did that to him in game...now that he thought about it...Peter felt that he was turning red just by thinking of it. No good, he needed to focus on task first since that takes priority. Anything else can come later.

Gathering the group up he could not help but to take a glance at Hina. Which she notice. She turned red immediately and turned away.

Peter could only sigh seeing that she was quite different in game compared to reality. As such was the result of her 'Mark' again screwing with her. Out of everyone, she was having the worse time with it since she was originally a cool character type not a cute one.

“First of all...since there was some issues...” Peter started to say as Hina coughed at the same time, “We need to talk about some things while we prepare for class...we have 5 minutes for talking before having to go to class I believe.”

Peter looked at the group which had no problem to this, “First of all, how much cash do we have in game?”

“It used to be around 5000 gold. Minus the thousand gold we needed to spend on upgrading our gear even with recommendation and favours and also minus another 300 gold with my new remodelled outfit from the old one and another 500 gold on Maria's new sword and another 500 for Serena's staff as well...we have around 2500 gold left though it's closer to 2700 gold” answered Hina ignoring that she was still slightly red while looking at him.

Peter could not help but to be red looking at her as well.

“In that case we could buy a carriage to use else try to find an escort quest to the city in question” said Peter.

“The second seems unlikely, better to go for the first. If we use our masters' names again we could get one pretty cheap. At minimum it is a few gold, a hundred gold would be a good point to use for the carriage, horses and supplies we may want to take with us” said Hina in one go and continuing with, “I heard there are certain items you would want to take to that city.”

“Say, what is the city's name? None of you answered me before” asked Maria again, this time in real life compared to before in game.

“The city is called Shia and it's a new type of city in the game. An urban type that is completely different from other cities” explained Ian, “I think they said that the city was going to have even skyscrapers in there though it's still in construction.”

“Ho...is that why I haven't heard of it before?” Maria wondered and which Peter replied with, “Perhaps, and because it is still currently being constructed that we are going there. A place like that where literally hundreds if not thousands of tradesmen come and go and are pouring in supplies and out with money to the extreme, it is impossible for such a place to have carelessly give supplies to a small village far away.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement there. Plus there was a fact that any city under the rule of Weed would not dare even spare a coin for their own use else for the punishment that would come.

Anyway the group continued to discuss what they were to do when they got to the city. Some research on some of the inns they could stay at, some of the places they should visit first. Ian was interested in the bow collection that the city had which was more mechanical than the tradition bows and so on.

“By the way, what did Aria want with me before?” Peter suddenly asked seeing that whatever she wanted, he didn't know since Miriel in game...

“Oh, she said something about not forgetting her quest and even going with us” replied Ian who seemed to have taken care of it.

“Wait, going with us? Don't tell me...” Peter gave Ian a suspicious look but Ian only gestured to not worry saying, “I rejected that offer much as I wanted to accept. I don't trust her as much as some should considering I still think her circumstances is off.”

“I see...” Peter agreed with that though the good will of the others seemed to not care about it.

Eventually the group headed to class and before long, after 2 hours came back to get back into the game.

xXx

“Okay, we're about to go now” said Sain calling out to the others to hurry in whatever they were doing. Through Miriel's schemes and words, she had managed to buy this second hand carriage for a modest sum of only a hundred gold while it's actually price would have been three times that.

It was actually quite a large carriage compared to the ones they had been on before. There was enough space for four people to lie down on their backs and still have some more room. Plus it's design was one of the wild west that you see in old movies about that place and time.

“Okay, I'm tying the hinges onto the horses” said Miriel. To pull this carriage you would also need horses or bulls. Since bulls were generally more expensive to use and buy with better endurance and stamina, the group had to go for a horse instead.

With the buying of the carriage and horses, the total amount of money they had decreased to just around 2500 gold now.

In mere moments, they had used up half their savings from years in a few months.

It was no wonder why most players remained poor even though the places they hunted in gave them more gold than before. The higher level you go, the better gear you need and therefore the more gold you need to spend to get it.

Plus there was the issue of repair fees, travelling costs and accommodation to consider as well which slowly but surely decreased the amount of gold you had.

Basically the group was extremely lucky to even save around 5000 gold together at this point mainly due to the fact that their masters spoiled them a bit and that Alena took care of the price of things when they were with her.

Each of their outfits even back at level 140 each, would have cost them several hundred gold each. That mean a little under 2000 gold immediately not to mention their weapons that they were lucky to get free in exchange for materials.

Normally blacksmiths charged for their services alone even if you give them the materials especially those from the Grandmaster level.

In the meantime, Sain checked several things. The first was that new sword that Lyndis brought as well as the new staff Serena brought as well. The second was their outfits that were either changed like with Miriel, or upgraded like with everyone else.

Sharp Katana of Flame Durability: 60/60 Damage: 80-95

A blade that is quite sharp that can cut through most monster shells with a single slice. It's sharpness is powerful but a double edged weapon as as a result, it's durability is much lower than other swords at it's level. But in exchange, it's damage is higher than before. It also has an unusual ability of being tempered though strengthening with flames.

Restrictions: Level 200, Samurai Type Class

Options:

- Strength +20, Agility +30

- 30% higher attack speed

- 25% more damage against living enemies

- Flames can be combined with this weapon to increase damage and durability temporary

Seeing this, Sain could only sigh at the extreme damage it had for a level 200 weapon. His own Magitite Spear that was a growing type weapon currently only had 70-75 damage and this was not adding onto the bonus the weapon had to increase the damage even more.

Compared to Raven's Halberd whose damage is 35-40 and level 160, it was considerable strong though Raven's doesn't focus on attack alone and the actual damage is higher considering the weight of the attack and that he also uses a shield as well.

Likewise with Shadow's short sword with only 40-50 damage and also level 160, it was lower as well but at the same time it had an effect to increase stabbing skills performance like backstab by 50% as well and Shadow's own ability to get multiple critical hits at the same time.

However Sain thinks that Shadow should get a new dagger since his one now has too little damage. Perhaps he would get one with a new bow at the Shia City.

Basically with this, Lyndis now had the strongest direct attack out of everyone even though it's durability was quite low.

He then looked at the staff Serena got.

Magical Staff of Nature Durability: 50/50 Damage: 7-9

A powerful staff that allows the user to enhance nature type spells. There are several special engravings on this staff that provides some level of protection from attacks as well. Another thing is that this staff gives out a natural calming effect causing the user to be less likely to be attacked and stay calm even in difficult situations.

Restrictions: Level 200, Druid Type Class

Options:

- Intelligence +30, Wisdom +20

- Increase Nature based spells by 20%

- Decrease damage taken by 15%

- Chance of enemies attacking user decreases by 40% with the presence of other people, else alone only 20%

Likewise with the new weapon Serena got as well, it was truly powerful as well. Increasing the power of her spells as one thing but also to decrease damage, increase stats and even lower the chance of being attacked as well.

Sain wondered if all level 200 weapons were this strong. The cost of 500 gold a weapon was really good for this level of weapon as well but Sain presumed that they got a discount due to being in a S rank Independent Guild plus other schemes they may use.

Even if a weapon at this rank was 500 gold though in actuality it was closer to a thousand gold more expensive, buying new weapons for the rest of the group would deplete the amount of gold they had by another 2000.

He really didn't want to think about it much and decided it was better to replace equipment when they find better ones or need to really upgrade if it dips in their performance.

As such he started to look through their upgraded outfits now.

Upgraded Reinforced Leather Outfit Durability: 100/100 Defence: 50

A leather armour that is quite plain but was made to fit the person in question. At the arms, magical arm guards were incorporated into the outfit while adding extra defence along side the arms and legs as well. Metal boots were also added in as well to increase kicking power. Has recently been upgraded to a higher level to increase durability and defence.

Restrictions:

- Level 200

Options:

- Spell Strength +15%

- Agility +30

- Kick damage +30

Upgraded Holy Flame Armour Outfit Durability: 120/120 Defence: 55

Armour that was made to fit a person who is both a swordsman and a fire user. This armour was modelled after and was based off the Holy Flame that purifies and destroys evil. The armour is of medium weight and includes a second layer underneath as well which is dress with flame resistance cloth. Has recently been upgraded to a higher level to increase durability and defence. resistance cloth.

Restrictions:

- Level 200, Melee and Fire User class

Options:

- Fire Resistance +25%

- Agility +30, Charm +35

- Flames have a slight Holy Nature, +15% Damage to Undead Type Foes

Upgraded Half Plate Guard Outfit Durability: 120/120 Defence: 60

An outfit that includes a chest piece that goes down but to the stomach, arm guards that do not extend completely to the shoulders, knee guards that do not extend to the thighs and metal boots that fully cover over the ankles. Includes leather armour underneath to provide some defence in the gaps. Has recently been upgraded to a higher level to increase durability and defence.

Restrictions:

- Level 200, Melee Class

Options:

- Strength +20, Vitality +35

- Impacts of light blows will be decreased exponentially

- Impacts of heavy blows will be decreased moderately

Upgraded Super Light Assassin Outfit Durability: 50/50 Defence: 5

Extremely light and tight clothing that was made to ensure that the wearer would be completely unrestricted in moving around. However due to the thinness of the outfit, the defence and durability of it decreased a lot. Along with the scarf used to hide one's identity, the outfit is perfect to use at night where enemies have a hard time tracking you down. Has recently been upgraded to a higher level to increase durability and defence.

Restrictions:

- Level 200, Thief or Assassin related class

Options:

- Agility +20

- Able to blend into the dark better, Stealth Skill +20% in the dark

- Dagger skills +30% damage

Remodelled Stylish Magician Outfit Durability: 60/60 Defence: 25

An magician outfit that was made with style. Every piece of his outfit was designed to match in style from top to bottom and yet not neglect the protection of the wearer as a fashion statement. This outfit made for a female magician also improves her abilities as well. Has recently been remodelled and also upgraded to a higher level to increase durability and defence.

Restrictions:

- Level 200, Magician Type Class

Options:

- Intelligence +30

- Charm +30

- Casting speed +25%

Upgraded Iron Claw Druid Outfit Durability: 60/60 Defence: 35

An outfit that designed for comfort for the user. It's light weights and easy fitting shorts and boots make it easy for the wearer to run around. The leather chest piece is there for extra defence and protection while the arm claw that extends from the right hand to the shoulder increases defence and attack at that area.

Restrictions:

- Level 200, Druid Type Class

Options:

- Able to deflect blows and attack using the iron claw

- Agility +35

- Projectile Resistance +30

Seeing all of this, Sain could say that the upgrade of their equipment did three things. The first was increased the durability of their armour by 20 points, the second was increase their defence by 20 points as well with the exception of Shadow's one and finally boosted or even added new effects to their armour as well.

He believed that the blacksmiths and tailors that were working on this, imbued their armour with new materials considering they weight almost the same but there seemed to be new parts here and there.

For a price that totalled 1000 gold along with a further 300 gold to modify Miriel's outfit to the current one, it was an extremely good price even if they had to throw around their Guild's name, their Master's name and plead to them for this deal.

If not, Sain feared that the costs would reach up to a 1000 gold each, which meant over 6000 gold in total normally. They were really lucky to get this off for this price.

Another thing was that now they could use their Magitite Rings as well. Bringing up the window for the ring, it showed this.

Magitite Ring

Made from the hands of a Grandmaster! As such the abilities of the ore that was used in question would be great. You can clearly see the small tiny details that had been used in place on every speck of this ring.

Requirements: Level 200

Options:

- Increase Mana Regeneration by 20%

- Increase Magic Resistance by 10%

- Due to the level of craftsmanship, can increase boost skill level by 1

Aside from increased mana regeneration which was extremely important and useful, magic resistance was also increased which is one of the harder things to increase and finally all of their skills were boosted by 1 level due to this ring.

Theoretically if one wore all six of these rings, they would get a boost of 6 skill levels making them so much stronger due to that as well along with a 120% boost in mana regeneration and a 60% boost in magic resistance as well.

Too bad he needed to share.

With all of this now, he estimated them being able to take on monsters 35 levels above them in their base form. With buffs it would go up to around 40 levels above them and with boost it would be 50 levels above them.

Sain had to also consider the increased strength of enemies from this point on as well since the difference between a level 100 and level 150 is actually smaller than the difference between a level 200 and level 250 not in stats but combat ability.

Even with increased stats, a monster 50 levels above them may have some strange ability that would still make it difficult to defeat.

However as Sain was looking through all of this and thinking this, the rest of the group had already finished packing and were simply waiting for Sain right now.

“Sain! Hurry up! I rather not spend the night time fighting monsters here!” Shadow shouted for him to hurry up out of his thoughts.

Sain only let out a small laugh and said, “We'll be doing that either way. Shia City is 2 weeks away on carriage, 2 months away by foot.”

With a carriage, the amount of time they needed to spend travelling would decrease. It was not only the travelling speed that would increase but the decrease in time needed to rest and even less so due to the need to carry supplies while walking.

As such, Sain moved onto the driver's seat with Miriel and asked, “Do you know how to drive?” honestly.

Miriel nodded and said, “I learnt a bit back when I got the horses. The theory should be right.”

“....”

Sain had a strange feeling seeing Miriel doing something based off theory. However soon enough they were off, going through the city gates and onto the roads to the west, where Shia City lied still being constructed from a town.

This would be the place they would be in for the next while at least.

First it began with Witchelm City, then to Lily City with Viv and finally...now to Shia City. This would be the third city they would visit.

Sain relaxed a bit looking around before deciding to train his magic a bit. To the side Miriel actually groaned and asked, “Are you going to train here? More to the point, why are you training again?”

Sain looked at her confused, “Training is endless you know. I say some people behind us should as well to not waste two weeks on nothing.”

He thought he heard several more groans from the back with his words but he ignored it.

If they wanted to get stronger, then they needed to endlessly try to be stronger than before, even if they didn't gain experience, skill proficiency or anything else. This was the way Sain chose to get stronger.

xXx

On the way to Shia City...

“That's...?” Sain looked into the distance and found something he could not believe.

“What is it?” asked Miriel who was not seeing the same thing as him.

However Sain still continued to stare at the creatures in the distance. They numbered four in total...and all of them were boss class monsters. Each of them were different creatures so Sain was not in hell sure on why they were not attacking each other.

But from the looks of it, they seem to be allies.

“This is bad, stop the carriage, prepare for battle!” Sain shouted agitated.

“Hmm? Ah oh...” Shadow was the second to notice the bad news since he was able to hear some monsters coming up but was it was worse than he thought.

It was before long that those 4 Boss Monsters noticed them. From what Sain could tell, all of them were level 250 each. Before they could take on one of the same level but 4 at once?

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 8900~

- I wrote 13 pages yesterday and another 10 pages today....sudden motivation to write from a death scene I've watched is strange...

- Anyway due to sudden motivation to write as well as sudden inspiration in the middle scene of this chapter, my planning was messed up again...yay. Anyway I was tempted to end at the group at the city but decided to end at them facing boss monsters on the road.