Getting back to the boys, Alena along with Miriel, Lyndis and Serena were now all finished with all of the measurements and discussions on what they would wear thanks to Alena having the tailoring skill in the Advance levels and even the blacksmithing skill to the Intermediate levels.

“How did you get those skills to such a high level?” asked Lyndis, “And what level and class do you have?”

“Lyndis! It's impolite to ask for one's class and level” scowled Miriel before bowing to Alena and saying, “I'm sorry about her words.”

Alena shook it off and said, “Don't worry. You freeman as the others said are interesting in lots of ways.”

“....”

It was with these words that the group realised something.

'Alena is an NPC!'

However the biggest clue to this was in her arms right now which was a baby that was most likely to her child. Players cannot much to some people's despair and many other pleasure, have children. That right in this game were to only the NPCs.

However players could adopt NPC children if they wished.

“What's wrong?” asked Alena confused on the sudden silence.

“Please don't worry about it” replied Miriel quickly as Sain raised his eyebrow at her. She seemed to be...sucking up to her for some reason.

He would need to ask later on.

However for now Sain asked, “What tasks did Viv mention?”

“Oh, that? Don't worry about it. Those are minor tasks that I and my husband can deal with ourselves. Mostly just making sure that everything is in order with the documents that we have” she pointed at a whole stack of paper on the table which the group only noticed now.

Upon hearing the topic of 'husband' Lyndis spend no time to ask, “Who is your husband? What does he look like? And how did you get together?” quickly to which Sain had to smack her head since it was a bother.

He quickly noticed that Serena and Miriel seemed interested in this as well. Shadow and Raven on the other hand looked really bored. Sain also really could not care any less but it was impolite to look bored when others are speaking.

“Oh...well I can say my husband is a knight that works for this city. He's handsome browned haired person with a bit of a childish side. When we first met he said he was completely smitten by me and immediately proposed to which my father beat him up in anger. He did this another four time before he could let me respond to which I said to date for a while before marriage. It took another 5 years before we could actually get married though.”

“Wa...that father of your seems to be really protective of you” said Lyndis.

“Yes” Alena nodded with some pride in her voice, “He really like protecting me. However it's even more so for my twin sister. She's with my husband right now on a mission because...” she looked at the child in her arms.

“Well I have to take care of this little one here who is only a two year old. For some reason father started avoiding me when he was born...and they met...” a gust of sadness went through Alena's face before it turned to normal.

Suddenly the evaluation of this father was shot down with a beauty like Alena despite being married and having a child looked sad talking about him.

“It's too bad...since he was such a good father before, always trying to make use happy and as a child your parents are very important. It's only recently that he became a bit cold.”

“Don't worry” said Lyndis with a thumbs up, “We'll beat up that father of yours when he appears and if he dares appears.”

The others nodded in agreement to her.

Alena let out a laugh to this and said, “Sorry...but my father is really strong. My husband is said to be unrivalled by the sword in the Kingdom but both my father and mother could beat him up with ease with their bare fists no less.”

“Wow...it sounds like your parents are sort of monsters” exclaimed Miriel.

“Yes...to beat someone strong up like that...” Serena muttered to which Alena smiled again.

“Haha, being just strong isn't the most of it, both of them are completely irrational to the point that the young me knew that they lacked common sense in the most basic sense. Well that should be enough about me, how were the others back at Witchelm City?” she asked changing the topic at a good time.

“Well...” Sain started, “Eden is...you know and then Alexandra appeared and we were dragged into a B rank Guild Quest about a Demon King...then there are our masters.”

“Masters? You mean Gen and the others?”

“Yes, they took us in before we joined the guild. You know them?” Sain explained.

“Oh yes. I grew up around them and looked at Anna as a big sister figure in fact!” she said excitedly, “So what exactly happened for Ron to go on a rampage? I know even while he's drunk, he would never intentionally harm others.”

Sain looked at Miriel who was there for those events and then explained it to Alena.

“Really? They are STILL fighting?” asked Alena really surprised of this news.

“What exactly happened for them to...” Miriel asked.

Alena waved one of her arms and said, “Oh I was told it was just a minor feud over something so simple and yet...decades later they are still at it. Some things never change.”

“Yes, I should get you six something to do before I start on your new equipment. What level do you wish for it to be? I suspect it will take at least a few weeks to do with my schedule.”

“In that case, around level 120 should be fine. Most of us are near that level” Sain replied to the question. Lyndis whined a bit being level 110 and needed to catch up the most.

“Ah, that's a good and easy level to create for. I have had many people expect me to create equipment for them that are exactly what level they were to only come back to complain that I had not created it in the way they wanted since they levelled up in the meantime. Now...go down to the second lowest layer in the city and ask around for a guard called Lenny. I believe he has some trouble he wishes to be dealt with.”

Sain and the other nodded and start to leave. But before they did Alena added on, “You can stay here if you wish. I am actually a very good cook.”

“Thank you for the hospitality” Miriel replied bowing to her before leaving with the rest of the group.

xXx

While walking down to the second lowest layer as Alena said, Sain opened the group's status windows.

Status WindowSainShadow[quart=Race: Human,Race: Human]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 116,Level: 114]Class: Shaman,Class: Rogue[/quart][quart=Title: Tactician,Title: Dark Walker]Fame: 625,Fame: 620[/quart][quart=Health: 4795,Health: 4318]Mana: 1982,Mana: 897[/quart][quart=Strength: 151 +31,Strength: 145 +32]Agility: 166 +36,Agility: 415 +36[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 145 +25,Intelligence: 15 +14]Wisdom: 145 +34,Wisdom: 15 +14[/quart][quart=Vitality: 160 +14,Vitality: 138 +14]Stamina: 93 +17,Stamina: 115 +17[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 60 +22,Fighting Spirit: 70 +22]Endurance: 27 +14,Endurance: 23 +14[/quart][quart=Leadership: 14 +14,Leadership: 5 +14]Luck: 9 +14,Luck: 35+24[/quart][quart=Offense: 36,Offense: 45]Defence: 58,Defence: 46[/quart]

Status WindowRavenLyndis[quart=Race: Human,Race: Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 110,Level: 110]Class: Shield Footman,Class: Sword Priest[/quart][quart=Title: Shield-Bearer,Title: Blade Dancer]Fame: 610,Fame: 610[/quart][quart=Health: 7362,Health: 4557]Mana: 852,Mana: 1427[/quart][quart=Strength: 260 +45,Strength: 267 +31]Agility: 160 +26,Agility: 190 +16[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 15 +19,Intelligence: 131 +27]Wisdom: 20 +19,Wisdom: 17 +17[/quart][quart=Vitality: 261 +34,Vitality: 145 +14]Stamina: 125 +22,Stamina: 100 +17[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 65 +27,Fighting Spirit: 66 +20]Endurance: 50 +19,Endurance: 30 +13[/quart][quart=Leadership: 5+19,Leadership: 5 +14]Luck: 5 +19,Luck: 7 +14[/quart][quart=Offense: 55,Offense: 60]Defence: 90,Defence: 55[/quart]

Status WindowMirielSerena[quart=Race: Night Elf,Race: Half-Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 118,Level: 113]Class: Magician Bard,Class: Druid[/quart][quart=Title: Sound Maiden,Title: Nature Wielder]Fame: 625,Fame: 630[/quart][quart=Health: 2053,Health: 2014]Mana: 3198,Mana: 2852[/quart][quart=Strength: 20 +21,Strength: 19 +33]Agility: 145 +26,Agility: 147 +16[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 390 +26,Intelligence: 260 +24]Wisdom: 145 +26,Wisdom: 250 +34[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 22 +19,Fighting Spirit: 22 +25]Endurance: 20 +14,Endurance: 20 +14[/quart]Concentration: 40 +13Concentration: 49 +14[quart=Vitality: 30 +14,Vitality: 30 +14]Stamina: 70 +17,Stamina: 65 +29[/quart][quart=Leadership: 5 +14,Leadership: 5 +14]Luck: 5 +14,Luck: 7 +14[/quart][quart=Offense: 10,Offense: 10]Defence: 10,Defence: 10[/quart]

From before....they were roughly in the 70s and now they were in the high 110s. There was roughly about 40-50 levels gained through this trip and over half was gained during the one dungeon run in the cave.

Right now they had experienced a total of 1 year and 3 months in the game or otherwise almost 4 months playing the game since they were sent to the mansion and instructed to play together for a task that is now postponed for now.

In another 2 months in game or 2 weeks in real life time, they would have to start school. This means that they will be less and less time to play in the game. As such it was wise to hunt to make sure everyone reaches level 120 at least to equip the armour that Alena was making for them free of charge.

“I wonder what we should do now...after all that skill training, I feel like not doing much for now” Lyndis yawned.

“You better not slack off” said Miriel in respond.

“Can you lay it off for a while Miriel? We just completely a 6 month trip and some of us want to relax before we are thrown into something more troublesome” said Shadow.

“What?” Miriel glared at Shadow and he glared back.

“Please...don't fight...” said Serena trying to stop the fighting while Sain was ignoring what was happening around him and now thinking of their skills since Lyndis mentioned it.

Skill Window[third=Serena,Miriel]Lyndis[/third][third=- Magic Mastery Intermediate Level 1 (15/100)

- Nature Mastery Intermediate Level 1 (15/100)

- Mediation Beginner level 6 (19/100)

- Mana Burst Beginner level 2 (2/100)

- Minor Health Regeneration Beginner level 9 (450/1700)

- Minor Stamina Regeneration Beginner level 8 (351/1500)

- Quicken Death Beginner level 1 (0/100)

Language Comprehension Beginner level 1 (0/100)

- Blood Burst Beginner level 5 (877/900)

- Root Bind Intermediate level 1 (522/2500)

- Heartbeat Healing Beginner level 6 (79/100)

- Plant Botany Beginner level 5 (14/100)

- Poison Removal Beginner Level 1 (0/100)

- Health Restoration Beginner Level 3 (45/100)

- Poison Coating Beginner Level 2 (167/300)

- Blessing of Strengthened Night Beginner (5/100 000)

- Blessing of Invisible Torments Beginner (8/100 000)

- Blessing of Eternal Suns Beginner (25/100 000)

- Leaf Slicer Beginner Level 5 (221/900),- Magic Mastery Intermediate Level 1 (19/100)

- Whip Mastery Beginner Level 4 (24/100)

- Illusion Magic Mastery Beginner 4 (32/100)

- Sound Magic Mastery Beginner 5 (22/100)

- Barrier Magic Mastery Beginner 2(32/100)

- Ice Magic Mastery Intermediate Level 1 (13/100)

- Magic Control Mastery Beginner 8 (32/100)

- Mediation Beginner level 6 (12/100)

- Cooking Beginner Level 3 (63/100)

- Identify Beginner level 2 (12/100)

- Mana Bolt Beginner level 7 (52/1300)

- Clairvoyance Beginner level 4 (156/700)

- Melody of Sound Beginner level 7 (730/1300)

- Cracked Barrier Beginner level 5 (1020/1800)

- Shriek Beginner level 6 (199/1100)

- Ice Bolt Intermediate Level 1 (60/2400)

- Ice Burst Beginner Level 5 (345/900)

- Freeze Beginner Level 2 (111/300)

- Ice Barrier Beginner Level 1 (91/100)

- Sound Tunes Variation Beginner Level 4 (11/700)

- Muffletone Beginner Level 2 (23/300)]- Sword Mastery Beginner 9 (72/100)

- Fire Manipulation Mastery Level 8 (28/100)

- Cooking Beginner Level 3 (25/100)

- Pocket Fireball Beginner level 4 (154/700)

- Fire Blade Beginner level 8 (873/1500)

- Life Burn Beginner level 3 (380/500)

- Power Strike Beginner level 8 (440/1500)

- Speed Strike Beginner level 8 (470/1500)

- Power Stance Beginner level 8 (460/1500)

- Speed Stance Beginner level 7 (310/1300)

- Precision Stance Beginner level 7 (355/1300)

- Burning Touch Beginner Level 4 (622/700)

- Flame Strike Beginner Level 8 (523/1500)

- Sword Dance Beginner Level 4 (310/700)

- Fire Bomb Beginner Level 7 (513/1300)

- Bandaging Beginner Level 6 (12/100)

- Flame Coating Beginner Level 2 (18/300)

[/third]

Skill Window[third=Raven,Shadow]Sain[/third][third=- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 8 (84/100)

- Shield Mastery Intermediate Level 1 (55/100)

- Shield Bash Beginner level 9 (121/1700)

- Double Strike Beginner level 7 (353/1500)

- Footwork Beginner level 9 (544/1700)

- Repair Beginner level 7 (572/2100)

- Ram Beginner level 6 (15/100)

- Shield Parry Beginner level 8 (61/1500)

- Spear Parry Beginner level 6 (657/1100)

- Body Reinforcement Intermediate level 1 (15/2500)

- Anchor Howl Beginner Level 5 (240/900),- Dagger Mastery Intermediate 1 (651/100)

- Stealth Intermediate Level 7 (74/100)

- Hearing Intermediate level 1 (59/100)

- Dark Vision Beginner level 4 (35/100)

- Night Vision Beginner level 4 (88/100)

- Locate Trap Beginner level 5 (25/100)

- Disarm Trap Beginner level 5 (42/100)

- Backstab Beginner level 8 (881/1500)

- Double Strike Beginner level 7 (674/1100)

- Climbing Beginner Level 9 (89/100)

- Become Mist Beginner level 3 (16/100)

- Burst Speed Beginner level 9 (225/1700)

- Plant Botany Beginner level 5 (14/100)

- Pin Point Hearing Beginner Level 4 (26/100)

- Shadow Step Beginner Level 5 (127/900)]- Compressed Magic Mastery Beginner Level 5 (15/100)

- Mana Control Beginner Level 9 (75/100)

- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 6 (22/100)

- Identify Beginner level 2 (70/100)

- Party Scan Beginner level 5 (20/100)

- Mana Bolt Beginner level 9 (355/1700)

- Mediation Beginner level 8 (8/100)

- Summon Familiar Beginner level 4 (4/700)

- Minor Heal Intermediate level 1 (822/2500)

- Moderate Heal Beginner Level 3 (215/2900)

- Weaken Beginner level 8 (1046/1500)

- Bursting Will Beginner level 5 (50/100)

- Wolf Summoning Beginner level 2 (47/100)

- Magic Arrow Beginner level 9 (923/1700)

- Water Fill Beginner Level 5 (164/900)

- Iron Skin Beginner Level 4 (75/100)

- Swift Legs Beginner Level 4 (75/100)

- Berserk Fury Beginner Level 4 (75/100)

- Poison Removal Beginner Level 1 (2/100)

- Paralyse Shot Beginner Level 5 (132/900)

- Poison Shot Beginner Level 5 (479/900)[/third]

The number of skills and spell they could use almost doubled compared to six months ago. It was a large surprise that they gained so many more skills and spells to use now. In fact it was rare for a player to gain so many new skills and spell over this amount of time.

Usually new skills came from getting new classes and rarely through actions and spells which were expensive to buy especially on the later levels made it so that all mages were short on money. Warrior were the same with new swords and armour needing to be updated all the time.

'Speaking of skills....'

“Miriel” said Sain stopping everyone else from speaking, “Did Viv give you any skill books that were leftover?”

“Ah.”

Miriel let out that short remark.

“Ahhhhhhh!” And she started banging her head into the side of the wall over and over again.

“Serena, start healing her! Moderate Heal!” shouted Sain seeing that at this rate Miriel would literally kill herself.

The two quickly casted recovery spells onto her while Lyndis restrained her from doing more harm to her.

“I...” she muttered, “Can't believe I forgot about that....so much money...gone....” she cried a bit saying these words.

“Isn't it fine?” said Shadow for a brief silent. “I mean how much gold do we have already and plus we're getting new equipment from Alena as well. There's really little point in money unless we have a goal.”

“Little point in money?” said Miriel now calm but at the same time cold.

Like a limp doll, she got up and took out her whip and laughed crazed in madness.

“Ahhh!”

Sain, Lyndis and Raven all moved in to stop Miriel from doing anything rash while Serena stared at this and Shadow merely looked bored at what was happening. Thankfully they were still in an area where there was little to no people around so that they did not make a large commotion.

“Actually...” Shadow took out some books from his inventory, “Viv gave them to me before he left.”

“....”

There was silence....and a demon appeared.

“This piece of trash should die!” Miriel breaking free of three people started to attack Shadow with her whip.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

However Shadow with the highest agility in the group easily dodge the attacks and dared to yawn about it. As such Miriel redoubled her efforts to attack him over and over again to the point that the other three who originally tried to stop her sighed and gave up.

“Oh~ I see that you guys made it to this city” said an unfamiliar voice.

Everyone turned to see someone in a knight outfit that was white and red and had a mechanical feel to it. The person in question had long red hair and a handsome type face.

“Who?” Everyone wondered aloud.

Crash!

The knight toppled over in shock and immediately got up pointing at himself saying, “I'm Summer!”

“But it's autumn right now” said Sain remembering that it was this season of the year.

“Yes...NO! That's my name!” Summer shouted, “How could you forget me?! It hasn't even been a year yet!”

Then another person appeared with the same type of armour though it was a female version. This person had long white hair instead.

“Oh~ Nice to see you all again” said this person.

“Lielm?!” said Miriel, Lyndis and Serena at the same time. To this sudden realisation, Summer face palmed himself with a great sigh in regret.

“That means...” Lyndis pointed her finger at Lielm then at Summer, “Ah! That knight feller on that Demon King Guild Quest!”

“Yes...” Summer replied though depressed now. Lielm let out a crude laugh similar to when she was possessed to be a Demon King and patted Summer on the pat which produced some shockwaves due to her high level and strength.

“What are you doing here? Are Eden or Alexandra here as well~? No? I guess we can hang out for a bit then~” said Lielm without much of a concern of the person next to her.

“Hey!” Summer hit Lielm on the head and shouted, “We have work to do! The Order still needs you to do extra work for becoming a pawn for a Demon King!”

“Aw....I don't want to...” Lielm flashed her puppy eyes at Summer but they had no effect at all.

“We need to meet Alena to sort things out you...fool!” Summer hit Lielm on the head again.

“You know Alena” questioned Shadow.

Summer looked surprised and said, “Of course we do. She is one of the few people that everyone can trust as part of the branch that connects the Kingdom to Independent Guilds to ordinary citizens. While I heard she had connections with a guild in the past, she's more or less a neutral party now.”

While Summer was explaining this, Lielm sneaked past the alertness of the group and then touched Sain's right hand poking at it.

“Ahh!”

Sain let out a short scream and backed away.

“Interesting...” Lielm muttered.

Bang!

She was hit in the head again.

“Ow....”

Lielm glared at the person who hit her who was Summer of course. As level 800 beings they were on a separate tier compared to everything else. They could be seen as legendary or heroic beings in the eyes of players or NPCs.

To compare them, the average guard was at level 100. The average knight is at level 200, the next big jump are Royal Knights that are sometimes level 300 each.

Then there are elite units as well like a famous knight or key figure that are level 400. At level 500, they are beings that are very much related to important history in the game while at level 600 they are being that are often related to class quests and are masters of their skills.

But for one to jump from that point to the level 800 point requires unmatched skill on all levels and even for players, those who reached that point was even less than NPCs which is saying a lot.

“Lielm..why did you do that?” asked Summer scowling her.

Lielm pouted and said, “Don't wanna say now.”

Summer's eye twitched and then there was a bright smile on his face as he said, “What do you not want me to know?”

'Impossible...that trick cannot work...'

Lielm looked brightly back at Summer and said, “That I feel a familiar presence on them all especially that one!” she pointed at Sain.

“Familiar...?”

The gaze that Summer had in his eyes sharpened as he said, “Blade!” and a large mechanical sword appeared in his hands.

“Lielm felt the presence of a Demon King in you...that wasn't there before...what happened?” he demanded to the group but they were unable to answer as they were paralyse with fear.

“Is that so...” he raised his sword full of energy, enough to split through this city, “Die!”

Bang!

A heel dug deep to the side of Summer's body as he was kicked away hitting and destroying a wall in the process.

“Bad Summer!” Lielm said with an angry face though it looked comical, “You can't just harm them thinking they are enemies!”

“But you just said-”

“And that doesn't matter. Lielm is friends with them! They're aren't demon kings!” she said cutting apart what Summer tried to say.

“But they could be later on!” Summer shouted to which Lielm hit him again saying, “Eden already explained it to us before remember?! Unless you want to get Eden angry....leave me out of it.”

Hearing Eden's name, Summer paled and then retracted his sword back to the other dimension. He did not want to face Eden who commented that a Demon King, the strongest type of Demon King was a small fry.

Besides Summer had a feeling that back then, Eden did not go all out and was holding back...along with that white dragon as well. Facing them plus all the other unknowns in that guild would bring extreme trouble to the Order.

“Fine...but an explanation better be made later on.”

“Of course there will be...I eavesdropped on some of the high ups in the order before when they were having a conversation with that Eden” Lielm said all of a sudden.

“What?” Everyone said that at once surprised that Eden was already connected to the Order of Knights before the Guild Quest.

'That kinda explains why he accepted the quest so easily...' Sain thought.

“And...what did was the conversation about?” asked Miriel. Lielm creep up to her and hugged Miriel and then said, “Oh it was about those things on your right hands. Eden planted them right? That means he planted his power into you lot. The Order noticed long ago that they were very similar to the power that the Demon Kings held.”

Lielm let out a laugh and then said, “And then the Order's knights was about to attack him and that Eden found it funny. Shocked, the Order knights asked what was funny and you know what he said then?”

“....”

Everyone did not want to say anything since Eden was unpredictable to the point that nothing would be surprising anymore.

“He said not to compared him with some small fries and started chanting!”

“Chanting?” Lyndis raised that question.

“Yes. I couldn't remember what the exact wording was but it was super creepy! It was like...something was crushing my heart when I heard it. After that I loud explosion happened and all of those Order Knights were instantly defeated. It was super surprising what happened since the Order Knights were super powerful and yet Eden was super super powerful~!”

“And...” Summer said, “What does this to do with why I shouldn't attack?”

“Everything!” Lielm moved back to riding on Summer with her hands on his shoulders, “Eden said if we dared do something like that again, he'll wipe us out.”

“But that's impossible. For one being to wipe out an Order that was built to fight the strongest of foes-”

“If you were there than you would know. You said before that Eden seemed like holding back during fighting right? You were right Summer. Eden is something you do not want to get angry. There are rumours that if you do than the city will blow up!”

Summer took a few moments to open his mouth, not say anything then close and then repeat that a few times and finally said, “If that is the case...besides, it is unlikely for one to quickly turn out like a Demon King...I apologise for any harm I may cause” while bowing slightly to the group.

“No no” Sain shook his hands a bit embrassed, “Miriel was in the middle of trying to kill Shadow so you helped stop that by appearing.”

Summer looked puzzled and said, “The one who had a poor presence from before?” he went to look at Shadow frowning.

Next he gave his advise to him, “You...if you continue this way, you will lose your advantage.”

Irritated that such words were directed to him, Shadow replied, “And what does that mean?”

“I can feel your presence better than before.”

“So?”

“That is a problem since before, even though you were weak, I had difficulties tracking you and yet now that you are stronger I having an easy time doing so. You will be a common person soon if you keep this up.”

With that Summer left with Lielm who was waving her arms goodbye to them as they went ahead.

The group with the exception of Shadow waved back tot her as he was thinking of Summer's words just then.

“Hey” Shadow said. Everyone turned to him. Seeing this he sighed and said, “So that's what he meant...before when we started even if I did that you guys wouldn't even respond and now...”

“Isn't that a good thing?” asked Lyndis seeing that now Shadow did not 'suddenly' appear out of nowhere anymore.

“Not at all...well in the perspective of battle. It'll be harder for me to hide from enemies in plain sight and attack from behind. I did notice my stealth skills were developing slower than before...I think I will limit myself from now on to 'correct' this” he said.

“I thought you had an issue with having no presence?” Sain asked this time.

“Yes but it is also the greatest thing I can bring to this group.”

“....”

With that, Shadow refused to talk about the matter anymore. As such they continued to make their way down each layer of the city and eventually got to the one where Alena directed them to go.

“We should ask around for the guard called Lenny” said Sain seeing that even though there were many layers to this city as there were branches on the tree, each layer was extremely large even though it was not the complete size of the city each.

“....”

Everyone looked away from Sain when he said that except for Lyndis.

“You guys...” Sain muttered a sigh seeing how they didn't change one bit at all in this area.

“Fine, we'll split up in two groups...” Sain saw that Lyndis was unusually excited for this. He suspected that Lyndis would take this chance to explore the city and spend her money instead of searching and corrected his words, “No...we will go as one group and split up later as I don't trust Lyndis right now-”

“What?!” Lyndis was immediately displeased seeing the change in plans with her.

“And search for the guard Lenny who seems to need some sort of help” Sain continued ignoring Lyndis.

“Also to sell those skill books at as high as price as possible” said Miriel refusing to forget about that issue there.

xXx

Several minutes passed and they managed to quickly gather information on the guard in question as well as Miriel running off to sell the skill books. In fact it was too easy as the inns and taverns were all filled with words and rumours about him.

The crazed mad driven guard who lost his sanity during a mission where he was the only survivor.

“Right, what do we know about him so far?” asked Sain in a group meeting.

“He's a common guard that was not noticeable before this incident. However afterwards, he's so well known that there are a couple of players coming from other cities to ask about him. Apparently him being the only survivor and now mad makes it likely for him to be a quest giver” said Miriel.

Shadow continued after her, “From the words of the people, Lenny was well liked enough that his recent tragedy of his comrades is well known. All we know is that the city dispatched him and 20 odd guards on a mission that is unknown as the city refuses to talk about it.”

“Ah, that mission I know about. It was raiding a lab that was hidden near the city. There were some minor disappearances a few years ago and they had only found traces of it. One of Lenny's superior on the mission was part of a group who worked long and hard to find this trace and the lab” Lyndis added in.

Sain nodded to this information and then asked Serena, “Any news from the healer place he was sent to?”

“Ah...no....he was saying some words about a monster and his friends over and over again...” Serena muttered out a bit frightful and then said, “He also said that his friends were alive and well while screaming that the monster was going to kill him.”

“....”

The group was silent since they had a generally bad idea on what was going to happen if they tried to search through all of this.

“Any other information?” Sain looked at Raven to which he answered, “The other guards refused to give me information on him. Many others have already tried. Some with good relations know that Lenny was not that strong of a fighter.”

Sain pieced together these bits of information they gathered and came to one conclusion, “We need to meet with this Lenny and get a quest from him. After that we will probably be going to the lab to slay the monster or something along those lines.”

“That sounds about right” Miriel yawned stretching her arms more relaxed then when they were on the carriage before with Viv.

“You seem awfully more relaxed now for some reason” said Lyndis critical of her.

Sain noticed that it was usually the opposite with Lyndis looking relaxed while it was Miriel who criticised her.

“Well....it's like a massive load is off my shoulders right now” Miriel said straightening her back and expression back to normal. “With Viv gone of course. You guys don't know how terrifying...actually we witnessed a bit of it at the port town remember?”

Memories of a hundred people screaming with their guts...

“Serena?” Miriel looked over to see Serena pale, “Ah, I'm sorry for bringing that topic up” she said while trying to comfort her.

“No...problem...” Serena muttered back with a smile trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking.

“Don't worry about it” said Lyndis trying to encourage her, “All of us felt sick at the time...I was trying not to vomit...anyway can we leave this depressing topic?”

“Yes...” said Sain, “I suspect we need to meet Lenny in person.” As such, the six of them set off to where Lenny was. A place for a mentally unstable.

Walking through the lively city, it was strange to think that they would end up in a place that neared depression for those who went near it. Several screams were heard as they walked closer and closer and...

“Players?”

Sain had recognised the number of people in front of the building which was a hospital for the mentally unstable...or was it the right place?”

“Serena.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Is this the right place? And also were there always this many people who visited this place at this time?”

“T-This is the p-place...but....” Serena looked at the crowd who didn't notice them yet.

Miriel sighed and then said, “It's obvious what happened right? Lenny is giving out the quest and now people are gathering to get the quest from him. Ask and find out” Even though she said that, she had no intentions of doing that herself.

Instead it was left to Sain and Lyndis to do the talking and they got a few words from the other players who were kind enough to explain what was happening.

“Ah, the crazy guy called Lenny is giving out a D ranked quest! It's very limited though...first 50 players to get it only and you have to be under level 150 as well” said one person as Sain quickly counted the numbers.

There were still enough for another 20 players. As such they got in line as Lenny gave the quest with some words. However when they got to him, he stayed there silent...

“Emblem?” he asked as if he knew that they were part of an Independent Guild. Sain showed him the black emblem that he was giving from Miriel to hold. A flash of energy came back into Lenny's eyes as he talked quickly and quietly.

“Alena sent you right? Don't talk back! I don't want anyone else to know...that lab you are going to is dangerous. I don't know what was done there but there is something that took the corpses of my friends...comrades and made it into a monster. You must be wary and destroy any corpses you may find...as they may come back a second or third time. There is also a man...in white with a coat covered red in blood. Kill him for me and for this city. He's the man who had been kidnapping all those people years ago...and he had since run out of bodies to use...I fear if he is not stopped yet...more will...”

The players behind Sain and the others noticed that Lenny was acting strange and came closer to listen in. However at the same time Lenny acted and screamed to which everyone including the group took a step back.

“Here...is the quest!” Lenny almost shouted.

Search through the forgotten Labs

The guard Lenny had described to you in more details than the others who came to him of the things that lie in the lab. There is a man who is responsible was once a serial kidnapper who had plagued this city years ago. Kill this man to stop this madness and burn the research!

Guild Rank: D

Requirement: Part of Independent Guild

Reward: Contribution points, etc

The group had gotten a D rank guild quest instead of a normal D rank quest. A D rank Guild quest was equal to a C rank quest. At the same time Sain had to act normal as the other players should not know of that they had gotten this kind of quest from Lenny.

'Was this Alena's idea?' he thought.

However his thoughts were disrupted with players behind him telling him to hurry with.

“We accept” he said quickly to calm the other players down.

You have accepted the quest

The others seemed to have gotten the same quest now and had slight shock on their faces. Sain quickly took them outside where they would not be heard so easily and said, “Say nothing, we know what to do now.”

The others nodded and Sain smiled taking them to where the other players were gathering to get to the lab which was only a short walk away from the city.

“Gather here if you got the quest from the guard Lenny!” one player who looked extremely well equipped in heavy armour with a large gold colour shield and sword shouted.

'Looks like he's going to be the leader of this quest then' Sain thought slipping into the crowd of players along with the others.

“Right!” The player that looked really high guard started speaking to the players gathered, “The lab in which we are to investigate the lab in which was spoken up! It is located nearby the city and after we clear it, we can return and claim good experience and perhaps a reward though I doubt the latter in any case! We gather at the north most gate in an hour if you need any more time to prepare! Those who wish to go early may do so if they wish! However make sure to live so you can tell us what to expect later.”

There was a laugh in the crowd of players. A player nearby explained it to his companion of the joke.

“There was a group a while back that had a party charge in alone before everyone else was prepared and were hunted down by monsters in the dungeon they were going through. The video was really funny and went viral.”

“How is that funny?” asked the other player.

“It was funny since you had to watch them being super arrogant and equipped in expensive armour and weapons only to be killed by weak foes. You can't buy skills.”

Hearing this, Sain turned to the others and asked, “What should we do? We don't even know the location of the lab...it would take at least an hour to find out either way...should we stick to the group?”

“Yep, safety in numbers” said Lyndis agreeing with this idea.

Miriel added, “Just make sure not to cause conflict with other players. It'll be troublesome if that happened.”

“Got it” Sain replied looking at Shadow for a comment but found that he disappeared.

“Shadow?” Sain asked looking around surprised that already he had disappeared.

“Yes?” Shadow tapped Sain on the shoulder to which Sain said, “That problem of yours is that your presence wanes when you don't speak for long...”

“If that is the case then I shouldn't speak at all...much that I want to” he replied with a chuckle that the solution came so easily. Then he stayed silent until it was hard enough to notice him. There were way more flashy people in this crowd of players after all.

Eventually the crowd of players split up doing their own things. Many went to get some supplies from the various stores shattered around the city while others went to the most north gate at once.

There was no party of players who would try to leave immediately, probably due to the words of the player that talked to everyone that made the joke of charging and dying quickly...Sain recalled there was a common wording for this in certain circles but did not remember it well enough.

“Right...” said Miriel checking her inventory, “With this, we have around 300 gold at best. Undead really did not give us much money and the skill books could only be sold at half price without a merchant.”

Sain nodded and said, “Right, more players are gathering now to leave. We better hurry up as well.”

In the next hour that proceeded a number of players went and did their own things only to fully gather when the time to go was due.

“Is everyone here?” the same player that spoke before said to the group of players to which an echo of 'Yes~' was heard. With this, the group of players filled with a total of 50 players set off to the lab to complete the quest they got.

However in the mist of them, there was one party that had another quest which was a higher rank than what the other players got.

xXx

On the way to the quest locations...

The group of players more or less had no rank. It was simply a gathering of players doing the same quest and as such there was no need for rank at all since their total size was only enough to be considered a small force.

“But still...how come there aren't any battles at all?” asked Lyndis who was tapping the hilt of her sword repeatedly.

“Monsters aren't stupid Lyndis” Miriel started to lecture, “They also take into account the strength and number of enemies. If they have a good chance of winning in their eyes, they will take it. I believe the correct term for why this is happening is strength in numbers.”

“Hmm...too bad. Wanted to fight for a while now” she sighed hearing this.

Sain tapped Lyndis on the shoulder and said, “Please don't be a battle crazed person.”

The other nodded and agreement with Sain while Lyndis bellowed out, “What? How can you say that to a lady?”

Shadow sneered with a grin with, “I see no lady, only a complete battle manic in the makings.”

“Hey! I can't be that bad...can I?” Lyndis said almost shouting than thinking deeply about it.

“The first signs is that you wish to fight” said Miriel in monotone and then added, “Of course if only you were to say you wish to get stronger. You at this point only care to have a battle right?”

“....”

Lyndis pouted and did not say anymore on the subject itself.

As such Sain moved to a topic he wanted to talk about a while since they came to city but could not before.

“Right, now that we have all of our skills and spell back in action” Sain said, “Miriel...can you put up that sound barrier thing?”

“Of course” Miriel said in a prideful fashion, “Muffletone.”

Suddenly the sounds around them, the words and chatting of other players were gone...no just tuned out just like the group to them.

Muffletone was a spell that Miriel gained while experimenting further with sound magic. It's use was less so in heated combat but more of before and after battles where they might lure another group of enemies in. Also it is useful to lower than chance of certain information to get out.

But this spell was not perfect of course. A complete lack of sound will make anyone suspicious and those with the proper skills to bypass this spell like Shadow and his hearing skills are not affected. The only good thing was that it was a low cost spell.

Thanking Miriel Sain continued, “With all our skills back, we have to reorganise ourselves a bit on what role we can play or just know what we can do at this point. We are...quite different from what Miriel originally envisioned us to be at the start. Agree?”

“Agree” the other echoed.

“Right...first Raven and Shadow's role should be the same. Their skills haven't diverged that much though...Shadow are you able to use stealth with any of the active skills yet?”

Shadow shook his head and said, “I can't since my skill level with stealth is too low. I suspect I need to be in the advance levels for that.”

“I see...in that case just do as you wish. Your skills are good enough to be a melee user in direct combat either way” Sain said while moving onto the next person, “Serena is now able to support others with your spells and also attack better now right?”

“Y-Yes” she replied.

“In that case since I have a more powerful healing spell to use now, you can possibly focus less on healing from this point on. Binding enemies and taking them down before they hit us is also important.”

Sain looked at Miriel next, “You turned out the exact opposite of what you proposed to do.”

“Yes I have.”

“With a whip you are fine in melee and yet your offence is on the same level as Lyndis and you managed to up your support side at the same time. Honestly I have no idea how you do it, I struggle with my own skills while you continue to just get stronger so quickly.”

“I take that as a compliment then” she smiled and then looked at Lyndis, “And now to this bomb manic.”

Lyndis shot Miriel a glare and then looked at Sain with expectation of his praise and such.

“Lyndis...well both your sword skill and fire skills have developed nicely. Keep it up.”

And that was all for her. She looked dejected until Miriel added in, “Your sword skill are above average and the damage you can do combined this with your fire skills is very high. With your hidden class and power, you are most likely to be the most powerful of all of us in the end. That is what Sain was about to say right?” Miriel looked at Sain who let out a bit of a cold sweat for a second but gave back a refreshing smile with a nod.

“As for me, I guess I can barely scrap by compared you everyone else” Sain let out a dejected laugh of self pity to which the others noticed and did not like for him to do.

“What are you talking about?” asked Lyndis despite his short words of praise to her earlier.

Shadow nodded and said, “You are the core of this group. Without you we couldn't even fight properly.”

“Agreed” said Raven.

“D-Don't be too...hard on yourself!” said Serena trying to encourage her.

Miriel sighed and then said, “How much longer do you think you are weaker than any of us. Although at times you are a despicable person with a twisted personality in doing things, you are someone that we need.”

“....”

Sain felt his face going red and looked away quickly especially from Miriel who to him had the best words of encouragement.

“Anyway getting to the next point which the one which I rather talk about-”

“He's super embarrassed right now isn't he?”

“-I want to talk about what will happen later on. As in how we should process when we reach level 200 and take our class advancement to the next point.”

“Level 200...” Raven muttered, “That's a long time away.”

A bit disturbed that Raven started to talk more, Sain hastily replied, “That's true but it's better to figure out what we what we want to do now. For example, I'm leaning towards a battlefield controller.”

“Anyone else not know what Sain just meant?” asked Lyndis raising her hand. Everyone except for Miriel raised their hands as well. As such Sain explained it to them in the simplest form.

“A battlefield controller is a person who casts spell that affects the situation of the battlefield without directly taking part in the combat. For example I can use poison to deal some DPS, paralyse the enemy, bind them and many more. At the same time I can buff my allies as well with my spells. Basically it's a full support role that can only happen in my role.”

“I see, so we'll still have to leave the tactics to you in the end?” Shadow asked.

“More or less.”

“Well in that case, I'm leaning towards a more combat orientated class then. Playing stealth is fine but is extremely boring and repetitive with hiding and attacking at the right moment. Sain, I suggest you ask this quest later on when we are nearing the point we have to decide. Right now is not the right time” he said to which Sain agreed and did not bring that topic up against for the rest of the walk.

xXx

Eventually the players numbered exactly 50 reached a part of forest where there was a half hidden entrance that resembled ruins. This was the entrance to the lab...where the quest would take them.

Everything about it was unknown but judging by the quest limitations the monsters will be at most level 150 in range and nothing more. Everything else was unknown at this point but with 50 players, the chance of failing was low, very low.

“Right! We should go in slowly now! If there are two more more paths, split up but do NOT go alone. At worst there might really be a monster in here that we have to be careful of” the same player with the golden shield and sword shouted to everyone.

The other players silently agreed and with that player, one by one entered the lab.

Inside the lab was quite dusty. There was all sorts of things broken and thrown around the place even though it was the most outer area. There were sharp claw marks on the walls that belonged to a large creature that made the players weary.

After 20 or so metres of a straight path, there was a stairway to the lower levels.

“Two parties should stay on this level and explore to find out what they can and then join the rest of us later on” the player that made himself leader said.

As such two parties, 12 players left the group to explore the top floor some more while the other 38 players went further down.

Onto the second floor, the place was much larger. At least 5 times larger than the one above it. If one looked, it was a place that resembled a hospital in any case which were often the settings of horror games where a made creature chased and attacked you.

Broken tables, chairs and beds were found everywhere. Eventually the parties on the top floor joined the rest of them and then helped with the search on the second floor.

“There seems to be 10 floors in this lab” a player shouted to the rest of the large group pointing at a worn out map of the place that still had bits of it intact. The more important information like the size of each floor was ripped off though.

Seeing the size of this lab floor and that there were at least 10 floors in total, the players knew that this would take a while and would not simply end in a single as they hoped.

“By the way, what was the first floor like?” one player asked the parties that had explore the first floor.

“Wrecked. Nothing to see and a lot of useless junk lying around. It's not as bad as this floor though. At least there weren't as many of those...marking everywhere.”

This conversation was heard by most of the players since the place echoed quite a bit and with people generally not talking too much, crucial information could be spread easily.

After an hour, the stairs to the next floor was found under a pile of beds stacked up over each other.

“They tried to trap something down there....most likely some sort of monster or monsters. Get ready for a fight. Tanks at the front, healers at the back.”

The player descended down to the third floor where they were met with...nothing at all. It was the same as the second floor except that there was a mixture of broken beds and glass now. Passing through the rooms, the lab was ransacked as if someone had cleared it in a hurry recently.

“Did the guards that came here before do this or....”

Eventually the way to the fourth floor was found behind a door that was heavily barricaded to the point that warriors with axes had to chop it down while mages fired magic attacks onto it. The group knew that since their voices echoed too much they couldn't discuss their quest that much.

“Found anything?” asked Sain to which the other shook their head saying, “Nothing here at all. Not even a scrap of paper or anything.”

This kind of conversation was not at all uncommon amongst the other players as they discussed a bit on how this place was more deserted than they thought. However this was a D rank quest and as such it was on a level that a mistake could kill them at any time.

It was only onto the fifth floor which was blocked by several doorways that had to be broken through that they faced monsters at last.

“Mages fire!”

Several mages used their attack spells at once blowing up the enemy that was seen. Only a spattered set of corpses could be seen.

The player with the golden shield and sword said, “Good job. We should continued at this pace-”

SPAT!

The upper body and everything with it of that player disappeared...

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRR!!!!!”

BANG!

And from the lower floor came a being that looked like a ball of meat...made up of human corpses. The rest of the remaining bits of that player's body was absorbed into the meat ball and it used it's countless hands and legs to give chase.

“Run!” someone said seeing this one in a kind creature.

Bang!

At the same time the exit to the upper floor was blocked with some sort of forcefield or barrier in place. Several attacks onto it proved useless. And in the mist of this was a mad laugh with only a few words to the players that remained.

“Only one can leave~ Only one can live~ Face the monster o brave warriors else turn on yourselves!”

“....”

There was a bit of silence of all players as they were making their choices. Face the creature...or turn on their fellow players.

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 9100~

- Finally finished the first chapter...could have yesterday but my brain was melting into the heat known as near Australian summer. I swear things weren't this hot several years ago...and yet it feels like the hottest days that summer would get.

- Anyway a new city, old people and a new quest. So much to right about...a giant round meat monster made up of corpses is something I remembered from somewhere...but I can't remember but I still used it! Also with all the action to come, I think it would probably take another 2 chapters to finish.