“Wait so you can have sexual intercourse with someone that is not your mate?” asked Kyrie.

“How are you just realizing this right now?” Marcus asked, “You have been longer on this world than I have and that too with all your memories intact. Also you have interacted with other humans.”

Marcus and Kyrie were on their way to the portal which would take them to Galados. Kyrie had been curious as to why Marcus had come to the inn in the morning. Marcus had told her, albeit sparing her the details as to what he had been up to last night.

Kyrie said, “I have not been keeping abreast of the mating rituals of the various species. Moreover, I have a feeling that our mating process works way differently than yours or any other species on this planet?”

“How does-” started Marcus but then stopped. He felt it would be a bit rude to ask about water nymphs’ mating process directly. So he just decided to not say anything.

Kyrie said slyly, “You were going to ask about the mating process of water nymphs, weren’t you?”

Marcus harrumphed but did not say anything. Kyrie laughed.

She said, “Don’t worry, I will tell you.”

And she told him and Marcus listened to everything with patience and absolute focus. He asked questions where he had doubts and was thoughtful about what Kyrie had said. It was indeed very different from humans.

After some time Kyrie asked about the mating process of humans. Marcus gave a sigh and explained to her about love, lust, relationships and other relevant things in general. He did not go too much into details as he did not want to give Kyrie too graphic a picture but he did give her a decent explanation. Kyrie had many questions and Marcus answered them to the best of his abilities.

Marcus found that he was enjoying the conversation. Then he realized something. Kyrie and he had hardly had casual conversations till date. How long had they been adventuring partners? About a few months or so now. He frowned. He needed the help of the in system calendar to find out how long they had been adventuring partners.

In all this time, Marcus did not know much about Kyrie. They had discussed quests, enemies, other adventurers and strategies. They had not talked about their past as they did not want to talk about it. But they had not had many simple normal casual conversations till date. Which Marcus felt was odd. This was the first casual conversation that had gone on for such a long time.

The normalcy of the conversation somehow threw Marcus off. He told his observation to Kyrie who gave him an odd look.

“What?” asked Marcus.

“I thought you wanted a professional adventuring relationship. That is why we do not have casual conversations. Moreover, if you consider, we, and especially you have had very less down time. You are always in the library, even during our free time. That is why I did not ask much about you”, said Kyrie with a shrug.

Marcus gaped at her. Then he closed his mouth and said, “When did I say… professional! Ah! Never mind. We can be friends, you know. I do consider you my friend, but I know so little about you.”

Kyrie laughed, “And I know a bit about you. We can remedy that later. For now, let’s enter the portal. It is time to join our team.”

Marcus realized that it was their turn to go through the portal. He nodded as they walked towards it and stepped through it. They were in Galados the next moment.

Kyrie said, “Let’s go meet our team. They should be at the guild unless they have already started the hunt. We can have more normal conversations later, friend.”

Marcus smiled. They made their way towards the adventurer’s guild in Galados. After setting their resurrection point at the guild they inquired about the team Zoey had sent to Galados. The head at the adventurer’s guild was confused a bit. When Marcus clarified that it was a four person team which was sent to clear the hellhounds, the head’s face cleared. It seemed that they had already gone hunting and would be back during lunch time. At least one of their members would be. They would be reporting the status for the morning.

Marcus and Kyrie decided to wait in the guild for their team member. They did not have to wait long as lunch was about a couple of hours away. They chatted about each other for some time. Well, Kyrie talked a bit about her life on Tarados, her friends, her family, her likes and dislikes while Marcus talked about whatever he could remember, which was not much.

Soon, the doors to the waiting room opened and Marcus saw a familiar face enter with the guild’s head.

Marcus grinned and stood up, “Nadia Shortclaw”, he shouted.

Nadia looked up at where Marcus was standing and grinned back.

“Marcus Blank. Still alive and adventuring”, she shouted back.

They hugged. Marcus introduced Kyrie to Nadia. Nadia took a brief stock of Kyrie before turning to Marcus.

“It is good to see you Marcus”, said Nadia, “What brings you here?”

Marcus told her about the quest for the hunt for the demon lord.

Nadia said, “Ah! You two must be our missing teammates.”

“So, you are the one of the four who is hunting the hellhounds in this region.”

“Yes. We have taken help from other adventurers, but they change on a daily basis. The four of us remain the same. Speaking of them, come with me. Let’s have lunch. You will meet the other members of the team.”

Marcus and Kyrie followed Nadia out of the guild. They did not have to travel long as the restaurant where the team was having lunch was about a few hundred meters from the guild.

As Marcus entered the restaurant, he looked around searching for Nassir. Nassir was Nadia’s husband and her adventuring partner. Marcus found him easily as he had met him earlier and somehow remembered him. He was sitting with two other adventurers, elves from the look of it. They were sitting on a table at the far corner of the restaurant. They seemed to be busy discussing something and did not notice Marcus, Kyrie and Nadia’s approach.

Marcus examined the other two elves as he approached the table. The first elf was Kinnear Truebow, level 62 while the second elf was Charinge Truearrow, level 62. Another team like Nadia and Nassir, like Marcus and Kyrie considering their levels. Nadia and Nassir were also at level 65. It seemed that Marcus and Kyrie were top levelled this time. Marcus did not know what to do with this information.

Nadia introduced Marcus and Kyrie to everyone, and they all sat down to eat. Initially they simply made small talk. Then Nadia started explaining to Marcus and Kyrie about what they had been doing till now.

Nadia said, “We have been here for about a week now. In this time, we have killed a few hounds and recruited adventurers who are interested in killing the hounds. These recruited adventurers are temporary and change from day to day. We decide on an area in the morning and wait for these temporary adventurers to come. Then till lunch we kill as many hellhounds as possible. Well some adventurers spend more time but, in the evening, we get together to discuss. We normally rest after lunch. We do not want to burn ourselves out. There have been no signs or rumours of Harados till date. I think that is about it.”

Marcus had some questions and he asked about how exactly everything was done and how many temporary adventurers are recruited per day and their compensation. Nadia answered. It seemed that Nadia was the leader of this group and Marcus was okay with it.

After lunch they discussed some more about what they were doing and Marcus was now getting a clear picture. He just had to understand now how he and Kyrie would join them.

Nassir said, “The hellhounds are not that tough. Their average level is around 60. A pair of adventurers could easily clear them out.”

Charinge nodded and said, “Yes. We have been moving in pairs. The hellhounds move in teams of five. That is what we have observed. They are still not much of a challenge.”

“We have not encountered larger packs”, said Kinnear before Marcus could ask about it, “Nor have the temporary adventurers.”

The next few minutes passed with Nassir, Kinnear and Charinge bragging about their kills. Marcus listened with polite interest. However, Kyrie seemed hooked on every word they said. Maybe she liked good stories.

In the evening, Marcus and the others met the temporary adventurers to listen to their report. No sign of Harados. More hellhounds killed. Nadia considered it good and dismissed them.

Nadia said, “We will now plan for tomorrow. Come on then.”

Nadia took them to one of the rooms in the adventurer’s guild. The first thing Marcus saw when he entered the room was a large map of the landmass Artorios. It had all the locations of the city, towns and villages pinned with notes pinned besides them. Marcus could not read the notes.

Beside the map of Artorios, was a map of Galados, the town they were in and its surrounding region. It was a large region to consider as far as Marcus could see. The map of Galados was divided into grids made from strings tied over it. There were several pins of varying colours and notes on that map too.

There were three desks in the room. Two desks were littered with papers, books and writing instruments while the third was neatly organized. There were two couches and an attached bathroom. The room was well lit. There was a window, but it was closed yet the room felt pleasant to Marcus, well ventilated. Some sort of magic he presumed.

Nadia walked to the board with the maps while Nassir sat at the well-organized desk. The two elves sat at the littered desks while Marcus and Kyrie took the couch. Marcus was feeling like he was part of a well-established organization making a play for something big.

Kyrie said, “This is cool.”

Nadia laughed and said, “I am sorry we don't have a work desk for you. Would you like one? We would share.”

Kyrie said, “Not for me”, and she looked at Marcus.

Marcus sighed and stood up, “Can you brief me on what all you have researched till now. Considering the number of books and the notes in this room, it must be extensive.”

Nadia blushed and looked away. The others looked uncomfortable too.

“What?” asked Marcus.

Kinnear said, “We did get all these books, but we have not gone through them. We are mostly fighting hellhounds and acting on information we get from temporary adventurers. The notes simply show how much area we have cleared and whether we should go back to that area or not.”

Marcus walked up to the maps and examined the notes. It seemed like Kinnear was telling the truth. Then he wondered as to why she would lie.

Marcus groaned and walked to the desk where Charinge was sitting and saw what the papers lying on the desk were. They were doodles, drawings and random scribblings.

Marcus said, “Scoot. Move over. This is my desk now.”

Charinge complied with a salute. Marcus started organizing the desk. He looked at all the books in the room, selected the important ones and put them on his desk. He organized it neatly, sat down and started reading the first book.

Everyone except Kyrie was gaping at him. Kyrie simply shook her head.

Kyrie said, “It will be a while before he reemerges. You can continue Nadia. What is the plan for tomorrow?”

Marcus half listened to them, considering the book he was engrossed in. He didn't even hear them leave. The book was interesting. It provided good lore on the hellhounds. The book was over too soon. Then the next one. Then the next one. His eyes seemed to be tired. He rubbed them and closed them for a moment.

The next moment he was being shaken awake. When had he fallen asleep?

Kyrie said, “Did you read the whole night?”

Marcus looked at the book in his hand and closed it. He put it in the pile which had read. It was now four books tall.

Marcus said, “I don’t know. I fell asleep at some point.”

Kyrie said, “Come on. We need to go. Morning briefing. I have grabbed you some breakfast. Eat while you listen.”

Marcus grumbled and got out of the chair. There was no mirror in the room and so he could not guess the state he was in. He tried to make himself presentable as much as he could without one.

Kyrie handed him a couple of sandwiches as they made their way to the guild’s common room. The briefing was going to take place there. Marcus saw that a lot of people had already assembled in the common room. What was the time? He checked it on the status screen and saw it was 10:12. Well, he was out for quite some time.

“Where was he?” asked Nadia as they approached the remainder of the team. Nadia, Nassir, Kinnear and Charinge were standing near a table at one end of the common room. There were other adventurers, temporary ones, Marcus presumed, who were either sitting or standing and were spread across the room. Marcus counted 10 of them.

Kyrie replied, “He was still in the room. Fell asleep reading.”

There were sounds of laughter, groans and some hand clapping and some back slapping. Money seemed to be exchanged by some adventurers. They had been betting! He could understand if Kyrie, Nadia, Nassir, Kinnear and Charinge betted, but what did the other adventurers know about him? Then he thought that he would bet on a stranger too, if he was asked. Wouldn’t he?

Nadia said, “Now as we are all gathered here, let’s get this party started.”

Nadia opened a map interface in front of her. It was the map of Galados and its surrounding region. It was divided into grids. Nadia highlighted some of the grids. Five of them to be precise. She assigned the 10 temporary adventurers present to these five grids. Next she highlighted two grids and assigned them to Kinnear and Charinge. She assigned two grids to Marcus and Kyrie and assigned three grids to her and Nassir.

Nadia said, “I will explain what to do. I know some of you already know as this is not the first time you are helping us but there are some new faces.”

Nadia paced a bit and continued, “Check out the entire area assigned to you. Kill all the hellhounds. Find out any traces or information of the demon lord Harados. Do not engage the demon lord if you find him. Communicate his location to me or Kinnear immediately. That’s it. Are there any questions?”

Marcus raised a hand. Nadia rolled her eyes and said, “Yes Marcus. What is it?”

Marcus stood up and said, “I know you have been hunting hellhounds for some time now and trying to track Harados, but have you had a discussion regarding the strategy to kill hellhounds, specifically their attack patterns and their weak points. Also, does anyone here know how they are going to track Harados? Has anyone looked into it or even tried to track Harados?”

There was a moment of silence after Marcus finished. Everyone was looking at Nadia who was now frowning and thinking something.

After some time Nadia said, “Alright Marcus. Share with the class what you know about the hellhounds. Keep it brief though.”

Marcus walked up to the front and started to explain to everyone present what he knew about the hellhounds. He explained to everyone regarding their attack patterns, how to track them, how to evade them and how to kill them efficiently. He explained their weak points and their weakness, which was obviously holy damage and pure magic damage.

After he was finished with the hellhounds, he talked about Harados. Marcus said, “Harados the Houndmaster is a master tracker and so he knows how to cover his tracks. Unless you are very proficient with a very high level passive [Tracking] skill, you will not be able to find him. There is a unique way of tracking him. You need to find traces of magic where you kill the hellhounds. You need the [Detect Magic] spell for that purpose. If Harados has been near his hellhounds, you would be able to detect demonic magic along with wood magic. Somehow that is his signature magic. I mean there might be other creatures who have similar magic signature, but Harados’ signature can only be found around hellhounds. Now, does anyone have the [Detect Magic] spell?”

There were a lot of Nos and head shaking. No one had the spell.

“That does pose a bit of a problem”, said Marcus, “Then you can continue as normal. Just take into consideration what I said.”

Nadia said, “You got all this information from reading a couple of books last night?”

Marcus shrugged and said, “I read a lot. I am also good at summarizing.”

Nadia said, “Alright adventurers. Good hunting!”

Then to Marcus she said, “I need a word with you.”

The temporary adventurers left, and the core team gathered near Nadia with Marcus at the front.

Nadia said, “Do you mind explaining the same to Zoey? About Harados. What you said just now?”

Marcus said, “I have no problem. Don’t you think she would know about this though?”

The look on Nadia’s face told Marcus that Zoey would not know about what Marcus had shared. They made a call to Zoey and discussed what Marcus had researched. Zoey directed Marcus to find out as much as he could to make their hunt easier. Marcus went back to the room to read up more on Harados and his hellhounds.

Kyrie decided to help the temporary adventurers and then check out the adventurer versus adventurer scenario in Galados. The other core team members went on checking their grids.

This continued for a week. Marcus continued his research. Kyrie helped the temporary adventurers and rose up to top rank in her bracket in the adventurer versus adventurer arena. Nadia, Nassir, Kinnear and Charinge used whatever information Marcus gathered to destroy the hellhounds around Galados. They all got the [Detect Magic] spell, courtesy of Zoey and used it to track Harados. However, they did not find him. The other teams also had little luck tracking Harados and Marcus increased his efforts in discovering a way to track Harados.

It was a week later that Marcus got something interesting. It was a ritual or a spell of some sort. If Marcus had read the text right, then killing about 10 hellhounds and using this ritual summoned Harados.

Zoey was contacted. A plan was formed. Zoey did not want to mobilize her resources if the ritual did not work. So, she tasked only Marcus and Kyrie to conduct the ritual. Nadia and others would observe and if they were successful in summoning Harados, then and only then, would they get all the adventurers together to attack Harados.

It was risky. And Marcus was sure that if he was successful, then Marcus and Kyrie would definitely die. But they had to do something. All the adventurers involved in the hunt were killing an almost endless supply of hellhounds with no sign of Harados.

However, the ritual was not simple. Some materials had to be collected. Nadia and the team started collecting them. They had to collect sufficient materials for two rituals.

The first material was the blood of a hellhound. That was easy considering the number of hellhounds they had been killing. They needed a bottle worth of hellhound blood. It took them two days to gather two bottles.

The second material to be gathered was a flower called Devil’s Spike. Marcus wondered who had named a flower like that. It was a fucking stupid name according to him. Marcus and Kyrie had to go to a village called Darvos, about 100 km away from Galados. This village had the flower growing in a field about 5 km away from it.

A total of 10 flowers were required for the ritual. They did not grow in a bunch. The plant was scattered throughout a large region and Marcus and Kyrie took almost a day to gather 20 flowers.

The third and the final material required for the ritual was a horn of a specific magical being. The specific magical being was Albadosor. Albadosor was a rhinoceros type creature. It was huge, standing at around 10 feet height with a length which was almost double its height. It had six feet, two long horns protruding out of its sharp face and four small wings on its back whose function eluded Marcus.

They had to find two of these Albadosor and kill it for its horn. There were quite some locations on Artorios where they could find it. Nadia talked with Zoey and adventurers were sent to gather the horn.

Nadia and team found a location near Galados, about 50 km South to the town. There was a ford leading through some hills and an Albadosor was supposed to roam around there.

They decided to hunt it. It took a couple of hours to get there. Marcus and Kyrie took their flying mounts while the rest had ground mechanical bipeds.

Charinge was the tracker of the group, and she tracked the beast to its lair. Calling it a lair was a bit too much as they found the beast lying in a small patch of water on the bank of the ford.

Albadosor, Level 120

Health 24000 / 24000

The albadosor looked like what Marcus had read about it. It was dark grey in colour with hard skin overlapping its body. Its eyes were half closed and it looked like it was in some sort of stupor.

That was not much of a challenge. They knew its strengths and weaknesses based on what Marcus had read. Kyrie cast [Enchant Weapon: Poison] and shot the Albadosor with the [Power Shot]. The others rushed in as soon as Kyrie’s shot hit the creature’s eye. Kyrie followed up with two more shots which finally poisoned the creature. The albadosor let out a loud bellow of rage and charged at the incoming adventurers. They all dodged the attack. Marcus had to be careful. As soon as the others dodged the attack, Marcus sidestepped a bit and adjusted his twinblade such that the sun shone directly on the blade. It gave out a sharp glow which shone right into the albadosor’s eyes.

The creature tried to stop, skidded, slipped and fell on its side. Marcus gave out a whoop of joy. His strategy had been successful. His twinblade had a chance to blind his enemies temporarily but it was a small chance. And it worked this time. Marcus was sure that using the sunlight helped.

As the albodosor fell, Nadia, Nassir, Kinnear and Charinge charged in. Nadia threw her chakrams at the creature’s weak spots, while Nassir pierced it with his large spear. Kinnear was mostly near the head, weaving in and out with her short sword while Charinge cast a few spells and shot energy bolts from her staff.

The albodosor had high physical and magical resistance. However, it had been poisoned, blinded and attacked with many magical and physical attacks at the same time. Even Marcus slashed at its legs. Kyrie continued her volley of arrows. They had killed it before it even had time to get up.

Marcus looted the horn from the albadosor. The body disappeared into dust once he had looted it.

Nadia said, “Well that was good hunting. Let us hope one of the other teams gets another horn.”

Marcus said, “This creature is fucking easy to kill if you have sufficient information.”

“Everything is gorking easy to kill if you have sufficient information”, said Nassir.

Marcus acknowledged the statement.

Nadia said, “Does that mean you have all the materials for the ritual?”

Marcus nodded. Kinnear said, “Now what?”

Marcus grinned, “Now, we try to summon Harados.”