Myropsis sighed as she heard Eldrian's question. She worried that this might be a deal-breaker for him, if it is she would press him to accept. "Because they want someone who can bring back news even if everyone dies!"

"What, no! I do not agree to that." Eldrian quickly countered, he did not want to go on a suicide mission and see more people die. He would naturally grow close to die. Even if he tried not to, he could not guarantee that he would not care for them by the end. He was sure seeing them die would hurt. While he knew this was something unavoidable in this world, he hoped to not join suicide missions where it was far more likely.

"They are going whether you join or not. The difference being that if you go with them you might be able to help, and if not then their sacrifice will not be in vain." Myropsis quickly countered.

"Fuck!" He cursed hearing her counter, he could easily just say so what and move one. Doing so, however, did not sit right with him.

"Why are you so upset, death is a normal thing?" Myropsis asked after a while of silence. Not quite understanding why Eldrian was acting up so much. Even if he was aversed to death, he should not be this upset.

"Just because it exists does not mean I need to like it!" After this silence ruled for a while again. Until Eldrian begrudgingly asked, "When?"

"In two or three days." Myropsis quickly answered with hope.

"And where the hell are we scouting?"

"Pyknos Forest, or as it has been recently called; the lost forest." Myropsis patiently replied, glad that Eldrian seemed to be on board. Her getting access to the crystal also relied on him now.

"That really does not help me, what and where the hell is this forest?"

"It used to be the densest forest in the area, a great place to hunt. But now some kind of corruption has started to kill the forest, already causing more than half of it to die. Hence why we now call it the Lost Forest."

"As for where it is, it is South of the city. At its entrance is a fort and this is likely where the entire group will be debriefed on what monsters to be wary of." Myropsis tried her best to explain what she knew, unfortunately she did not know much more than rumors. It was all that was actually know of this situation.

"What fort? Why send a small party instead of an army? Why..." Eldrian questioned until he was satisfied.

In short, other than the cities, the kingdom of Taurus had also set up a couple of forts at key points in the land. Mostly focused on the South where enemies would normally come from. The Kynigo region protected by two mountain ranges on its West and East; the East also has a massive lake making travel hard for hordes of monsters. North was the inner land of the kingdom and hence mostly protected and safe.

The reason these mountain ranges were so effective was due to the fact that Dwarves inhabited them. They were enticed to inhabit the large mountain ranges as an extra line of defense. The dwarves had been more than willing after being given full rights to the mountain and all its riches.

This being a great loss or great profit for the kingdom was hard to say, though most would say it is a great profit. While the kingdom lost the rights to the raw materials, they received the finished products from the dwarves, slightly under market value. The Dwarves giving the lowered prices as a symbol of friendship and trust.

The forts on the other hand were a means to set up a few lines of defense in the South. They were basically just castles built to be self-sufficient with less than three thousand men, but capable of housing up to a hundred thousand. Being able to actually feed around twenty thousand without needing to go into their reserves.

Eldrian's other questions were a bit more difficult to answer for Myropsis. Why a small party; because the person interested, the city mayor, can't afford to task more people. Be this due to the loss of talent, or the cost of hiring said talent.

The kingdom did not scout in force since hordes of undead were confirmed to inhabit some of the forest already. The corruption was seemingly strengthening them and allowing them to live off of less food. Going with an army meant waging a war, and the kingdom of Taurus was not good at taking locations.

They were great at guerilla tactics and defensive wars with how fast they could send reinforcements, while always hitting any supply lines that might be needed for their enemy. Assaulting a position was not their strong point.

They could manage decently, but the cost was simply not worth it to them. Especially considering the fact that the invasion had only started, while many kingdoms had already fallen it was still very much the beginning. They would rather fall back and bide their time as no real civilized areas were in danger at this time. Losing the forest did not do much harm to the kingdom when looking at the bigger picture.

As for why even send anyone, the mayor was worried about what was happening, as was the rest of the royals. They were most worried about how easily this corruption could spread, seemingly from nothing. It was similar to what happened to the barren lands, only it was more focused on making the land more and more suitable for the undead. At least this was one of the things confirmed to date.

The mayor feared that this could spread even in their city and forts, which would make defense next to impossible. Knowing this now will enable him to take action and evacuate before the corruption reached the city should it be possible.

"I get it, it is important. So I am the backup plan." Eldrian replied once understanding the general situation, still a little bummed that he was the last-ditch plan. For when everything when to hell.

"You are more plan F, than plan B or C. The mayor isn't sending just your average adventurers, but some of the strongest there is. You are just there to ensure that if it all goes south, then their sacrifice won't be in vain."

Eldrian took a long sigh to help him accept this. "Alright, you can tell him I'm in. Though I would like access to the Magic Crystal before I leave. Just tell him this is of utmost importance to me, that I won't even touch it, and that it would actually increase the chances of success. Also, can you give me a compendium of useful Tier 2 spells, stealth included."

"Alright... Wait, what? Why?"

"I already mastered all the Tier 1 spells you gave me, if I can gain access to a Magic Crystal I am pretty sure I will be able to reach Tier 2 soon. Then the added strength will make a big difference, you know how little Tier 1 spells can do, even if I can control them at will. Tier 2 will have much more of an impact."

Myropsis did not feel great learning that Eldrian was progressing so fast, however she cared more for this mission than her jealousy. Knowing that this was not a request of greed but one of honest intention she quickly overcame her jealousy. "I'll try my best."

...

"Akarui, where are you?" Erik shouted as he rushed into the garden, the small girl quickly coming out of the temple upon hearing his voice.

"Faust!" She happily ran to him and gave him a flying hug while laughing.

"Are you ready for our outing?" Erik asked as soon as she calmed down and climbed back onto her own feet.

Nodding vigorously she replied, "Sure am, I also took some seed from all the plants here as you asked. But why?"

"It's a surprise, now let's go. I don't get an off day all that much. Luckily things have been quite calm lately."

"Alright! I can't wait, can we get some cake later?"

"Sure can, but we first need to get a carriage."

"Is it far?" Akarui asked suddenly less energetic.

"Not too far, consider this as a special ride," Erik replied while scanning his map to figure out the route to the magic tower the soldier had told him to go to.

After finding a carriage Erik used some of the Tier 0 magic to entertain Akarui while they traveled, having prepared some sweets for when she became bored of the simple spells. Half an hour later he was almost out of ideas to keep her entertained, but they were there.

Helping her down Erik quickly headed to the front door of the tower and gave the guards a special trinket. Seeing it they quickly sent a message to one of the mages and a few minutes later the door opened. Closing as soon as they entered.

"What are we doing here?" Akarui asked, her eyes wide open as she stared at the pretty pillars and interesting lights.

"We came to see the place, you can go nearer to the pillars if you want," Erik replied, having read her thoughts like a book.