Koss stood up. He went to talk to his soldiers and the scared young woman. Vincent decided to do the same and went to talk to Ester, Lupa, and Tula, who stayed with them. [We have a vague idea that a Bloodline skill could change the user's class, be it an ability or a spell. If it's hereditary, then it's probably fifty-fifty to awaken such skill.] [But if it means one of their parents was a Berserker or someone from their parent's family roots is to be discovered. We should digest our current situation before asking about this intricate subject.] -I learned Inspection, which Ester called it a Bloodline ability, but my Hero class name stayed the same. Even with the one of a kind Soul Dimensional Storage, Promised Quest, and the Overheat.- -Maybe both my class names changed before I could see the class names in the Inspection window.- [Yes, I think so too. Well, let this cute wisp summarise our current situation before you continue in an endless trip of thoughts.] [Laurel Town has been burning for a few days and is probably not a habitable place anymore.] [Adverturers are also called Rankers for their rank, and the guild is called World Adventurers Guild Association or WAGA for short.] [Kass and his fiancee were retired. Koss is an army instructor, and Tula, probably something similar. Koss has a red cape and a wooden tablet with his rank while Kass had a white cape and didn't possess a wooden tablet.] [Our only hope is to ask Koss for help. We can ask him to escort his daughter and us to Lusterfall City. That's the only place we can go to, but we must be vigilant. We might get attacked by dangerous ants. I wonder how lager they are to pose a threat like this.] -My thinking is somewhere along the lines. I'm also guessing that the baggage carrier might be a rescued villager.- Vincent repeated this summary and his thoughts to Ester, Lupa, and Tula. The girls nodded at the plan to ask the Koss and take them to Lusterfall City. Koss was on the same page on the other side of the campfire. He told the new recruits how he wanted to go back to the city because of his daughter. The three new recruits and the scared young woman nodded while their facial expression changed from one of despair to one of hope. They became glad to go back and leave the dangerous forest. "Can you take us to Lusterfall city?" Vincent asked. "Yes, we were planning to go back. It's settled then. Good thing me and my brother used to take quests while training to become soldiers and support our parents. I know a shortcut that only takes two weeks to arrive." Koss agreed to his request without delay. "However, we lost our food supply bag to the ants. The bag we have left has food for one to two days, and our water supply is in the same condition. Do you perhaps have any resources to spare?" Koss said as he scratched his head from being a bit embarrassed by their situation. [This request would be a red flag if Koss wasn't Tula's father.] -I agree. How about we ask them to provide protection for sharing our supplies? Maybe he knows if a river is nearby. Our Ani Banana supply should last for months, so we don't have a problem regarding food.- [Good idea. Let's follow your plan.] "We have food, but our water supply is dwindling. We can share if you offer protection in exchange. We were headed for a nearby river. Do you know it's the location?" Vincent tried to pry information regarding the long line of missing trees. Koss turned his head at the new recruits and the young woman. After he saw a smile on their faces at the offer, he returned his gaze to Vincent and said, "We accept. I know the way to the nearest river, so we'll head there first." Vincent felt at ease hearing about the river. The group finally found someone to guide them instead of walking without knowing their current location or knowing the remaining days or weeks left to arrive at their new destination. Vincent went to the cart as the deal was complete. He faked, taking out a bucket filled with bananas from the cart, but the green light and the floating mana particles of the summoned Ani Bananas gave his ability away. Ester hurried to Vincent and winked at him. She took the bucket of fruit, headed to Koss, and said while giving it to him, "My fiance is cautious about his special Soul Bound Bag Of Holding. But the darkness of the night gave it away, hehe." Ester suddenly became reliable, showing a hint of the lies she had to say to survive in Tival Village. Her sweet chuckle caused the three new recruits to gawk at her as if she enchanted them. They felt jealous of Vincent after she called herself his fiance while remembering him say that Lupa was his girl as well. [Ester can handle herself quite well. You better start learning lying with a straight face like her. It's a side we'll probably see many times if we keep interacting with people, and she needs to lie in your place.] [On the other hand, Lupa is only good for fighting and cooking meat at the right temperature, heh...] "Ohh, really?" Koss said with his brows raised in surprise. Then he continued while sharing the bucket of Ani Bananas with the others, "These bananas look unusual and are bigger than I have ever seen." "Ahh... we found them on a huge tree. Maybe that's why they are big, hehe." Vincent ended with a chuckle to stop the Elder Demonic Ani Banana Tree subject from getting brought to light. Koss suspected Vincent and Ester were mixing lies with the truth, but he said nothing and accepted their words at face value. They were his daughter's saviors and healed her injures as he noticed nothing amiss apart from her memory problem. Koss suspected they were adventurers, with one of them possessing a healer class. Then he suspected Ester was a wealthy person and used a costly healing scroll on his daughter because Vincent and Lupa protected her and Tula like a pair of bodyguards. However, Koss later heard how Ester was Vincent's fiancee and the beastman Lupa, possibly as well. He decided to leave the story as is, and be happy that his daughter is safe and uninjured. 'Tula's memory problem can be tackled later.' He thought. Vincent decided he could use Inspection now. He didn't use the ability since it would make him lose focus on the possible enemies that appeared. It would stop him from acting at a moment's notice to the possibly dangerous situation. [Name] Koss [Condition] Healthy, Tired [Class] Warrior [Class Warrior] *Wild Blow *Strong Body +2 [Name] Tame [Condition] Healthy, Scared [Name] Hara [Condition] Healthy, Scared [Name] Culo [Condition] Healthy, Scared [Name] Tulip [Condition] Healthy, Terrified Vincent understood that the Berserker class was superior than the Warrior class. It caused Inspection to deny knowing information regarding Kass's skills, unlike his twin brother's Warrior class. Later, the two different groups split into four smaller ones. The three recruits stayed together. Koss and Tula talked with each other sitting beside the campfire. Vincent went to the cart with the excuse of checking their supply. He summoned a few Ani Bananas when no one looked and chatted with Kazumi about what to do next. The last small group was Ester, Lupa, and the young woman Tulip. She placed the large bag on the ground beside her and cautiously chatted with the two girls. Lupa started with an ice breaker stating that her mate was off-limits. Tulip felt frightened a first but shortly raised a faint smile when she heard Ester chuckle and gently pull Lupa's soft wolf ear. Tulip's frightened face soon displayed a bit of life. Tulip told them her name a few moments later. Both Ester and Lupa became surprised to hear how Koss saved Tulip in the nick of time before a soldier ant attacked her with its sharp pointy limbs. Tulip lived in Laurel Town with her parents. However, only she survived. Tulip decided to carry one of the two bags of supplies until they took her to Lusterfall City. She felt safer to take a chance with the soldiers than running to Lusterfall city alone. Ester could understand how Tulip felt. She felt the same when fighting against the Great Gray Wolf and bet her life on Vincent the curse upon the world instead of running away. [Don't worry, Vincent. You can hide that frown. Koss promised to stay guard for us, but I will be watching all night long and will wake you up if anyone tries anything.] -I'm not worrying about Koss.- Vincent took a peek and noticed the new recruits eyeing Ester, Lupa, and Tulip. Their gaze didn't dare approach Tula as Koss was beside her. -I have a feeling I might break some bones tonight.- [You don't need to worry about that. Let the girls sleep with Tula, and they are safe from harm. I wonder what Koss would do if they approach his daughter, hehe.] -Your sly suggestion is a good one.- [It's ingenious, not sly, humph...] As per Kazumi's suggestion, Vincent suggested leaving the guarding duty to the soldiers in the name of their protection deal. He also added that the men and women sleep in a separate group on opposite sides. Koss and Tulip immediately agreed. The three new recruits silently nodded. Ester and Tula nodded with a smile as they were going to still sleep beside each other. Lupa, however, frowned in a grumpy mood. It was the first time she couldn't sleep beside Vincent. She secretly glared at the new recruits with the urge to beat them, but she held back not to be a bad girl, subsiding the faint building bloodlust. Later, the four women slept together. As for the men, Vincent, Koss, and two new recruits slept a few meters away. Only Culo, the new recruit, stayed awake to guard the rest. After around five hours of sleep, the new recruits planned something sinister. They took a rope from the large bag Tulip carried and started walking towards the women's sleeping section with bad intentions. Kazumi could see the three young men slowly approaching the sleeping women while revealing a disgusting smile. Their intention was as clear as a cloudless day. [You better wake. The three young soldiers are planning something vile.] -I know. I was half asleep because I couldn't sleep with the tension of a bad thing possibly happening. I took a quick peek when I heard more than one pair of footsteps.- [So, what will you do?] -If Koss doesn't wake up... I might tear them a new one.-