Aren faced the direction of the abyssal and, with his ranger skill [Hunting Instinct], made sure that the abyssal wasn’t coming after them. He can sense how near a monster is and its general direction, with the feeling getting stronger the closer it is or the stronger it is than him. Even though he’s in a fair distance away from that monster of darkness, the feeling was still strong and almost palpable. It hasn’t increased in intensity, so the enemy might have decided to not chase after them.

There’s something that he has been thinking about, and that is the passive trembling his body has been doing since their arrival.

General Info Name: Aren Montrea Affiliation: None Level: 37 Age: 10 Gender: Male

Jobs Jack of All Trades Brawler Mage Rogue Ranger

Health: 1032/1563 (+4/min) Mana: 436/616 (+2/min) Fame: 91 Experience Points: 56,792

Strength: 773 Vitality: 414 Endurance: 626 Agility: 476 Dexterity: 411 Perception: 314 Intelligence: 221 Wisdom: 232 Fortitude: 193 Charm: 21 Faith: 10 Luck: 21

Bonuses: It's Me!

Here's a gift.

Favors: None Discovered

Status Effects: Soul Terror: Your body passively experiences minor tremors. Fear strengthens the effect. Can cause paralysis. The reason is apparently “Soul Terror”, of which the cause is unknown as of yet. When he looks around, there is no immediate potential sources of the status effect. The only explanation he can come up is that the area they are in is some kind of a field spell, kind of like Stan’s [Silent Keep] but bigger and darker. The tremors did start after they went in after all, but the only problem now is how to counteract the effect. It’s too distracting and makes any movement slightly disorienting considering how much he has to control his own body just to run.

Thankfully, it’s just that; bodily tremors. It only makes things harder to do but doesn’t actually affect anything else as long as he is not extensively scared. Of course he still feels afraid, but it’s so weak that it’s basically just background noise to him now.

He suddenly felt something cold on his neck, then turned around to find Misha handing him a health potion. It wasn’t exactly comfortable having open wounds on your body, so he gladly accepted and drank from it. Being tired from the earlier ordeal, Misha sat upon the place next to Aren to rest as well.

“Are we safe?” she asked.

“Bueh.” Aren spat, still not used to the potion’s taste. “Yep, we’re good. It’s not moving any closer to us.”

The potion began work and healed him up. Aren looked at his side to see Seris sitting just near them. Seris had already recovered from another health potion Misha gave her, but now she’s only sitting down with her spear on her lap. Her gaze faced downwards, and her expression full of grim.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asked.

Misha followed his gaze, and became concerned as well.

“I hope so. We’re going to need her to come with us, if we’re going with your intent.” Misha replied. “Even if we want to help her, we can’t if we don’t even know what’s bothering her.”

“Why not just ask?”

“Aren. You can’t just go to a depressed person and casually say ‘Yo, what’s the problem?’” she argued, saying the last part in the best Aren impression she can.

The impression was so spot on that Aren didn’t even bother to be irritated. “Alright. You’re the expert here.”

Aren started approaching Seris, which was quickly interrupted by Misha grabbing his arm. It was clear in her face that she’s serious about the whole situation, wanting Aren to stay back or else he’ll make it worse. But Aren stubbornly pressed on, ignoring Misha’s miniscule strength before her hold was broken.

“Yo, can you still get up?”

Seris looked up at Aren, before staring at the side. She wasn’t in the best mood to do anything right now, but figured it would be rude to not give an answer to an innocent question.

“Yes, I can, but I won’t.”

“Well, that’s fine.”

Seris suddenly found herself being carried like a sack of potatoes. Her face stuck, stupefied, and the situation barely registered on her head, before she started to flail around. Aren casually adjusted her on his shoulder as she flailed.

“W-what are you doing?!” asked the confused Seris.

“Aren! What are you doing?!” Misha asked as well.

Aren took Maharlika and carried it over on his other shoulder. Seris naturally yanked the spear away from him, and was about to whack him in the head before he talked.

“It’s clear as day that she won’t go. So I’ll have to force her to get out with us.” reasoned Aren.

Aren himself doesn’t want to resort to this method, but it’s his only hand. He can try and let Misha talk it out with her, but he doesn’t know for sure if she’ll succeed. He can also try do the talking, but having a [Lv.3 Persuasion] with a low charm isn’t going to do a lot for him. He’s pretty sure that her current mood is drastically putting his chances in the negative side, so he didn’t bother. The only surefire way he could get her out of here was force, and what other way could he do that other than literally carrying her out?

“Can you not at least respect my decision?” Seris angrily protested.

“And then what? Leave you to die?”

Seris fell silent for a while, prompting Misha to look at her with worry.

“Yes…”

Misha looked at Aren, who shrugged at her. Knowing that Aren is right, she finally agreed to his idea.

“Don’t let her go.” Misha demanded.

Aren obliged by adjusting Seris on his shoulder along with a nod.

“What? You as well?”

“Do you think your life is dispensable?” she suddenly asked Seris, walking around Aren to face her. “We are not just going to let you die. Don't just decide on your own about waht you'll do with your life.”

Seris silently stared at Misha’s eyes.

“Just, please. Don’t be so selfish.”

Misha tugged on Aren to start walking, clearly upset. He shook his head, then continued on their way with Misha by his side, and Seris over his shoulder. However, Misha’s agitated scolding wasn’t enough to completely stop Seris from actively complaining and wriggling on Aren’s shoulder. He’s surprisingly really strong as she can barely pry herself free from his grasp.

“Release me! This is beyond unreasonable!”

Sighing can be heard from Aren’s mouth.

“You’re the one being unreasonable here.”

“How come?! I did not ask to be saved, much less be dragged out of this place against my will!”

Aren pensively, almost mockingly, tapped his chin as he looked up.

“Well let’s see… you’re really stupid. That’s all.”

Aren felt pain from the back of his head. He was hit by something really hard, as if it was a spear.

“Your rudeness was not asked for.”

“You didn’t have to whack me. Geez.” Aren complained, scratching the back of his head.

In truth, there were many reasons Aren could probably spout at her, but he isn’t so insensitive that he’ll do that though. Her expression before was imprinted on his mind, and he doesn’t want that to happen again. Contrary though, it wasn’t out of his goodwill but rather it would be an annoyance if she turned back like that. That kind of attitude won’t bode well with his plan. She’ll probably anchor herself if she did that, so he absolutely had to make her move no matter what.

That is why she is now over his shoulder, and making her irritated to take her mind off whatever that was in her thoughts. Misha tried to stop him before but decided to go with it once she understood Seris was indeed serious about staying. She wanted to talk to her and wanted Aren to not resort to this kind of method, but she had no choice as she doesn’t even know her circumstances.

“It seems that you absolutely won’t let go of me. Fine. Let us have it your way then.” Seris finally conceded.

Misha looked back at Seris who were hanging like a sack of potatoes. She was momentarily surprised after seeing her expression, but eventually felt relieved and giggled. Seris was pouting, almost childishly at that. It was as if a father was carrying her stubborn daughter, a scene that alleviated Misha’s mood somewhat. Hearing Misha giggle of course made Seris glare at her, but she had already looked away the moment she turned her head.

As for Seris, she didn’t really think that she would be carried like this by some person she just met. She was carried in a manner that was unsightly and embarrassing, something a royalty like her absolutely would not want to be subjected into. The only ones that would do this to her was her father when she was a child, and her combat instructor. That is why she couldn’t help but feel irritated and flustered. On one hand, she felt a nostalgic sense of security from being carried, but on the other, it feels wrong when a stranger does it. She wants to be put down, but also not.

The conflicting feelings all naturally turned into the pout she is currently wearing on her face. Though she isn’t aware of it, being carried like a child somehow awoke something inside of her and started to drown her other emotions. Maybe all she really wanted was for someone to stop her. Someone to slap her across the face and tell her that she’s being a pain. Being forcibly opposed breathed relief on her for some reason.

Seris held Maharlika and gazed at it for a while, noticing the tremor that her body’s still doing. She forgot about it, but it seems that this trembling is not exactly from fear. Sure, she’s a little afraid, but not to a point that she would be petrified like what happened earlier.

That point of her life made her realize a lot, one of them being her absolute inferiority. Despite having years of training, and Maharlika in hand, she was still driven to death’s doorstep easily. Knowing that, gloom slowly seeped back to her mind again, threatening to put her back into that sad state again.

“You know, I was worried back there.”

Aren’s voice snapped Seris out of her thoughts. She looked at his back incredulously, knowing that he wouldn’t see her expression.

“Why would you be?”

“I thought I wouldn’t make it.”

“With those injuries? You shouldn’t have made it.”

Seris haughtily huffed at his statement. Remembering earlier, he was badly injured when he appeared behind her earlier, evident from his tattered clothing. He must’ve fought some monsters before coming here and took all the blows. But she has to hand it to him, he’s pretty tough to be able to survive all of the injuries he sustained. Granted many of them were shallow, but it was a significant amount of damage nevertheless.

“But not unless if you shoot through the air.”

Her mind grinded to a halt after Seris heard Aren say that. She wasn’t sure if they are even talking about the same thing. But more than that, he apparently claims he “shot through the air” which were a very familiar set of words for her.

“I overshot a little and didn’t actually know the exact angle and direction I had to go for, but it thankfully worked somehow.”

It finally dawned upon her what he meant by “I thought I wouldn’t make it.”

“Wait... that thing that flew... it was you?!”

“Hm? Is it that surprising?” Aren asked casually.

“Of course it is!” flared Seris, surprising both Aren and Misha “You could’ve died you madman! You’re even more stupid than I am, moron!”

This was a development that both Aren and Misha did not expect. They thought that Seris wouldn’t care about it with their first impression of her. Misha might’ve held an ounce of hope that Seris wasn’t like that, but even she believed it to be unlikely. As such, it was surprising for them that she would just suddenly scold Aren from this.

“Think before you act, idiot!”

But before Aren could think properly, Seris had already berated him. The insult wasn’t what irked him, but the fact that she thought he didn’t think. The highest form of insult anyone could spit at him would be anything related to not using his brain.

“Hah?! You’re the one to talk!” argued Aren.

“Be careful. Your rear is exposed.” Misha chimed in teasingly.

“And it looks like it has a mighty need to be spanked.” threatened Aren while wiggling his fingers menacingly.

“Eek! Don’t!”

Seris tried to cover her hind, but couldn’t do so. Feeling very exposed and vulnerable, she started to borderline cry. All of this could end if she just whacks Aren repeatedly until he let’s go, but couldn’t actually bring herself to do it. Is it because she has been recently conscious about her own ability? If she can’t even break free from him, how did she think she’ll be able to resist their persistence? Or is it because she subconsciously wanted company after avoiding it for so long? Once again she felt very weak and could only look at her spear.

“But you know, it’s shocking.”

Aren once again snapped Seris out of her thoughts. It’s almost as if Aren can sense that Seris is going to lapse into a state of depression again.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I thought you’d be the kind to not be worried over something like this.”

“You do care about us even though we just met, just like us.” Misha added.

Seris looked at Misha, who slowed down to look at her face to face, with confusion. It was natural for her get worried. They were speaking as if she’s not human and didn’t care for others.

“It means that Aren was right. You really are stupid.”

Misha followed up with a poke on her nose and a smile. This naturally fueled Seris with irritation, causing her to flail around as Misha gleefully retreated.

It was very ironic how Seris, who wanted to stay and die, scolded Aren for almost dying. She thought of Seris as someone who would just brush off Aren’s earlier attempt of saving her. Her impression of her is cold, but strong and independent. These were the qualities of someone who wouldn’t bother about someone else’s achievements, only their own. It is why Seris warned them both to keep out from whatever she is doing. But for some reason she’s being awfully less nonchalant and more expressive this time. Was it because of her defeat earlier? It’s plausible that her sense of pride shattered in that very moment, and now she’s someone who’s given up.

What’s even more surprising is the way Seris is currently acting. Despite all her annoyance and irritation towards them both, she hasn’t shown the slightest bit of hostility. In fact, Misha can say that this doesn’t feel any different from Aren teasing her. With these facts together, she can conclude that something switched in her mind in order for her to act like this.

Misha would like to rack her brain more, but she has a feeling that it would only lead to her viewing Seris in a pointless perspective. Meanwhile, Aren is doing the exact opposite. He went into thinking overdrive, like he always do, and simulated numerous scenarios that would likely be the cause of her current attitude. Fortunately, he couldn’t come up with anything concrete. Unfortunately, this only led him to overthink more.

“The two of you are being little brats. Can you not at least act a little more mature?” demanded Seris.

It was Aren this time who had his thoughts broken by Seris, snapping back into reality. However, he couldn’t tell if it was indeed reality after hearing what Seris asked.

“What do you mean ‘act a little more mature’? We’re still ten.” retorted Aren.

“Yes, ten, just like me. You don’t see me acting like I child, do you?”

Aren and Misha looked at each other. Is she being ironic or hypocritical?

“Are you serious?” asked Aren, genuinely confused.

Seris only arched her eyebrow at Misha, not understanding what Aren meant by that. Misha sighed and shook her head. How come someone like this could be so dense on their own self? Even she knows how herself acts. Then again, Seris is someone who couldn’t recognize the true value of her own self, so she’s not that surprised.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I won’t give up my immaturity just because you demanded it so.” Aren answered with Misha nodding along in agreement.

Seris on the other hand only grumbled after not understanding what these two meant. Well, it’s not like she greatly cares anyway. As long as they do not get too ridiculous in what they do to her, she wouldn’t do anything. Granted that she literally can’t do anything because of Aren.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Misha asked.

Aren, already knowing her name, forgot to ask before. It was a good thing he didn’t just blurt out her name, or else he would’ve been in big trouble. Ignorance showed through Aren’s face as he waits for her answer. Seris thought for a while, before giving an answer.

“...Seris.” she answered meekly.

“Seris? What about your last name?”

“It’s just Seris.” She affirmed with more vigor this time.

“Ah. Okay.”

Misha didn’t press further as she understands. Although tempted to reveal her name, Aren refrained from doing so to avoid any trouble. If a royalty or a noble hides their last name then decides to just die, then their endeavor must be a secret that they keep from their own family. Maybe she’s a runaway or a really stubborn one who wants to prove her family wrong. Either way, it was best not to get involve in her personal affairs. All he has to do is to get her out, get his and Misha’s name known, then he’ll let time do the rest. In order to do the second part though, he has to at least establish a friendly relationship with her.

“Nice to meet you Ris.”

Misha has already started the friendship route with a nickname.

“It’s Seris!”

But Seris didn’t agree.

“We heard you the first time Ris.”

“Argghh!”

However, she could not win against the combined might of these two.

The group continued to walk away from the center, often engaging in playful banters against each other. It was only until a few minutes later that they noticed something was off. They were still not anywhere near the border with them still inside the gloomy and dim forest, and Aren’s [Hunting Instinct] hasn’t change in the slightest. Another round of walking finally confirmed their worries. Not only were they unable to reach the outside, but they kept coming back to the same spot over and over again. They were undoubtedly trapped.

Trying to find another way, the group decided to walk into another direction still far from the center. They walked for a few minutes in dead silence until they reached a certain area. Seris then noticed that the both of them have suddenly stopped. Before she could say anything, she was put down and Aren walked forward, his eyes fixed on something. Turning around, she could not believe the scene before her.

As if it was kind of a nightmare, a mass grave of corpses and skeletons laid before her; haunting her very eyes.