As we joined Canary at the gate of Naut City, a Player from a sub-Party of Crimson Swords came running in. The Player recognized Hawk and approached him.

“You are the Leader of Azure Rain Forces, right?” the Player asked.

“Yes. Do you need something?”

“Captain Blitz told me to bring any member from your Party or other top Parties immediately.”

“Why?”

“Captain will explain once you meet. He promises to compensate any who feel unsatisfied.”

Hawk glared at the Player with doubtful eyes. As he considered the legitimacy of the claim, another Player entered Naut City.

With one gaze at the Player, I felt I knew who the girl was. The girl walked with her brown hair tied in a single ponytail reaching her knees blowing with the wind. Her brown eyes gazed at people as if piercing through them. Her small face was decorated by her pointy nose and rosy cheeks. While paling to the perfection that is Kard, the girl could be set to beautiful, but a better description would be prince-like. The girl was most likely of European descent. However, what stood above this all was her image. She felt like a mythical female knight. Her movements seemed like a Valkyrie prepared to wage war.

Hawk narrowed his eyes and looked at the girl.

“Why don’t you go? I don’t see any harm going?” said the girl to Hawk.

Before Hawk could reply, the Player immediately turned to the girl and said, “From Platina Knights? Please come as well.”

“Alright. Hawk, will you come along?”

“Yes. Watching you fight will serve as an important experience for them.”

“And you are?”

My body reflexively bowed down as I introduced myself. My country did not have a tradition of bowing down nor would I ever bow down to anyone, yet my body instinctively told me to do so. “I’m Dove. Hawk’s Vice-Leader.”

Canary, who bowed only seconds after I did not due to imitating me but due to her own instincts, introduced herself as well, “I’m Canary.”

“I am Swan, Leader of the Platina Knights. Since you guys bowed, I’m expecting you to not hold me back.” said Swan as she walked back towards the gate.

Confidence did not fill her tone. Her words were simply stating a fact—my mind told me. As we followed, I whispered to Hawk, “What did she mean by bowing?”

“Only those who reflexively feel the urge to bow can even hope to keep up with me.” The one who answered was not Hawk, but Swan. She did not seem to be bothered in explaining. Once again, her arrogant words did not feel that way at all.

As we followed the Crimson Swords Player in the World Map, the encounters we had were handled by mostly by Swan. The Crimson Swords Player, while not bad, did not hold a candle to our abilities; however, even our abilities, even Hawk’s, could not hold a candle to Swan’s.

I would never defeat Swan—I accepted that fact immediately. Even Hawk would be absolutely destroyed by Swan if they were to Duel now.

Swan was an Earth Lancer. Her Ability let her pierce the ground with her spear. A large sharp pillar of earth would then erupt from the ground, dealing massive damage to the victims.

[Lancer]

A job specializing on wielding spears.

Stats: Health: *** Mana: ** Attack: **** Defense: ****

Magic: * Resistance: ** * Speed: **** Dexterity: ***

Usable Weapons: Spears

Usable Armor: Middle Equipment, Heavy Equipment.

Her spear differed from all that I’ve seen, including the occasional uncommon Spears appearing in the Shops. The spear’s pole was grayish white, like bone. Two crossed bones marked the connection between the tip and the pole with a skull on each side on the intersection of the bones. The tip was crimson red, as if it was drenched in blood. She utilized Medium Equipment for better movement.

As we discussed, Swan took over the front attacker from Hawk. Every battle, she would immediately rush at the front squad and clear them effortlessly. One fact could be pointed out easily was that Swan’s fighting skills extended further than in Reality. Her weapon seemed to be part of a body like a person who wielded a spear since birth. The entire battle seemed preplanned; she took action after action without a single stop. This was without a doubt a sign of her experience in uncountable number of battles. Not once did a Goblin attack come close to reaching her.

“So this is… the strongest Player in Naut City… No wonder Razor said he was leagues above the rest.” said Canary in awe.

“She is the only child of a family of knights using spears dating back to the 18th Century from Europe. From childhood, she only learned enough to be barely literate. The rest of her time was spent training her in battle. Day in and day out, practitioners of various combat schools from all over the world came to challenge her. The girl only knew how to fight, but fight she did unparalleled.”

“I had a feeling she was something like that.”

“I admit we are no match for her right now; however, we will definitely strive to reach her level in the future.”

“Of course.” I nodded in agreement along with Canary.

While reaching Swan’s level was but a step in completing Reality, it was an important initial goal for us currently. We wanted to become stronger. Although we met Kard who was far stronger than Swan, we had yet to see Kard in battle, so Swan would serve as our current basis of strength for the time being.

Around two in the afternoon, we arrived at a forested area of the World Map. Dozens of Crimson Swords Players patrolled the area. I found nothing special in the area and wondered why so many Players gathered here.

The Crimson Sword Players led us through the crowd into an area with less tress.

“Please go between those two trees.” ordered the Player, pointing at two trees nearby.

An unsettling feeling filled us as we passed through the trees.

“Ehh?!” Canary could not help but be surprised.

Passing through the trees led us to a completely different area. Flowers of all colors decorated the new area. Over a dozen tents were set up, one looking larger than the others. Many humanlike Characters were present. Some walking around as if they were busy; some lying on the floor having their wounds treated. These Characters were all tall and thin. They wore thin green clothing that was easy to move in. Their skin was white as snow, and their faces were all well-featured. Their eyes were either blue or green, and their hair was blonde and long. Their distinct feature was their long pointy ears.

“Elves?” asked Hawk.

One of the female Characters approached us. Compared to the other Elves here, her appearance was significantly more attractive.

“Yes. This is an Elven camp. I’m Sylvie, leader of the medics here. Please come this way.”

As Hawk performed her analysis on Sylvie, both she and Hawk suddenly got off balance and wobbled for a bit.

“What was that?” asked Sylvie.

“My personality scan…”

“I don’t know what that was but it’s dangerous to try that on Elves.”

“Fine…”

Following Sylvie, we were led to the largest tent in the Elven Camp. On the way, the Elves greeted Sylvie with bright smiles. The Elves looked at her adoringly.

Three people sat within waiting for our arrival: two Players and one Character.

“Swan and Hawk. Please unblock us already.” said one of the Players.

The first thing noticeable on this Player was his tall and large body. His muscles were comparable to bodybuilders and appeared closer to thirty years old rather than our age. Not a strand of hair grew from his head that appeared disproportionate due to how buffed his body was. His eyes were large and black. His upper clothing consisted of only a vest, so his abdomen muscles were for everyone to see. His race was not really discernible.

“Thank you for coming. Blitz discovered this area and the Elves want something, but we don’t know what to do.” explained the other Player, letting me know that the previous Player was Blitz.

The other Player, who I assume to be Crimson Swords Vice-Leader, Burst, was of African-American origin. His hair, eyes, and skin were all black. His body was just as buff as that of Blitz. His face was those of a brawler, which combined with his other traits made him look like a wrestler.

We sat along with the other Players facing the Elf. Despite appearing older than the other Elves, he was still more handsome than the other Elves. His clothes were more decorated than the other Elves, indicating his position as the leader. Listening to Sylvie’s words,

“Father, please explain the situation to them.” said Sylvie.

“Yes. I am Salvador, leader of this Elven Camp. We were sent here to fight against the recent infestation of Goblins, but we suffered injuries and casualties in skirmishes. We want to request your help in clearing out the Goblin camps.”

“Since Blitz asked for help, there’s something more to clearing out the camps than fighting.” stated Swan.

“Yeah, it’s probably something that requires intelligence since otherwise Blitz and his Party would just charge in.” added Hawk.

Their words implied that Blitz was a musclehead that only knew how to fight without thinking. This did not come as a surprise to me since Hawk always referred to Blitz as ‘idiot’.

“Yes.” said Salvador as he brought out a piece of leaf, “This is a leaf from a Goblak tree for finding Goblin Camps. This leaf when exposed to moonlight will wither more and more as it moves closer to the Goblin camp. Once it completely withers, the remaining stem should be dropped on the ground. This opens a hole on the ground leading to the underground Goblin camp. In the camp, there is a mud pit with a pillar in the middle. This pillar must be destroyed otherwise Goblins will keep being born from the mud pit. Once the pillar is destroyed, the camp will collapse and you must immediately return back out.”

“How many camps are there? How difficult are these camps?” asked Hawk.

“There were fifteen initially. We eliminated two of them and sealed them. We sealed a third as well, but it was already abandoned. Twelve remain. As for difficulty…” Salvador stopped and glanced at Blitz.

“I sent one of my sub-Parties into one of the camps. None returned and their names disappeared from the list…” said Blitz.

“We offer our condolences…” said Hawk.

“Me as well. This marks the first Player deaths we know of from Naut City…”

“How many were in the Party?” asked Hawk.

“Six. Four below average Player led by an above average one. An Elf accompanied them for assistance as well. Only five Players could enter the camp.”

I’m sure Blitz did not want to send them to their deaths. While he may be an idiot, he surely trusted his Party Members to be able to accomplish the task. He seemed more composed than most people would be if their comrades died.

“We would be most grateful for your help.” said Salvador.

“Why not request help from Naut City?” asked Swan.

“The country of Elves, Alfheim, uses Ygg as their currency. Ygg holds no value in Naut City. Any Fitts we may have are used for treating the injured.”

Hawk looked at Canary and I and said, “Any objections?”

“None.” we replied in unison.

“Then Azure Rain Forces will provide assistance.”

“As the Leader of Platina Knights, I will have them provide assistance as well.”

“Thank you very much.”

“We’ll inform Zoe and Purge as well. Blitz, please go to the Golden Warriors’ house and inform them as well.” said Swan.

“We’ll be taking our leave. We’ll come back at dusk.” said Swan as all the Players stood and prepared to leave the room.