As Marcus flew on Lara, he felt the wind around him. It was not much as Marcus had realized that a protection bubble surrounded him every time he flew on Lara. Still, the breeze was pleasant even though they were flying high above the ground.

Solaris came beneath them and Lara dived down. The dive was slow, graceful and it did not discomfort Marcus. Lara deposited Marcus near the adventurer’s guild. Marcus smiled as he dismounted and patted Lara on the head. Lara looked tired. But she had leveled up. She was now level 2 and her health had reached 200 points. That was quite the jump.

Marcus dismissed Lara and saw that Kyrie was doing the same with Nalana. Nalana had also leveled up. After their mounts were dismissed, they entered the guild to find Destiduous sitting on the reception in a drowsy state.

Destiduous straightened suddenly and fell down from his stool as he saw Marcus and Kyrie approach.

Destiduous stood up and he had a grin on his face. He said, “Welcome back adventurers. How are you today?”

Marcus and Kyrie chatted with Destiduous for some time. They asked how Solaris was faring. They could still see the destruction caused by Mára when they flew to Solaris. Destiduous told them that reconstruction efforts were still going on and it would be a few months before everything was back to normal. Kyrie was disappointed that adventurer versus adventurer was not going on till further notice.

Then Marcus and Kyrie talked to Destiduous about Opulential as Destiduous was interested in hearing about what had truly transpired there. Apparently, Marcus and Kyrie were the first adventurers from Opulential that had come to Solaris. Marcus and Kyrie told him about the demon lord and his army and the fight. Destiduous was glad to hear that the demon lord had been stopped and there was no major destruction.

Then Destiduous told them about Florianne. Marcus and Kyrie were shocked to find out.

Marcus said, “Half of Florianne was destroyed even after the champions selected by the Game Masters fought for the city!”

Destiduous nodded, “Yes, and now everyone is doubting the Game Masters. They are saying that the champions are not up to the mark. Discord is being spread amongst everyone. There is a group who wants to petition the Game Masters to change their champions. There are also rumours of a rebellion. Times are not good. Times are not good at all.”

After that, they talked with Destiduous for some more time. They activated the resurrection stone, setting Solaris as their resurrection point and then went for supplies. They spent the night in Solaris, doing nothing, just relaxing.

The next morning Marcus and Kyrie went to the portal. This time the portal worked well, and they were teleported successfully to the town of Tilimore. They went to the adventurer’s guild there and activated the resurrection stone there. Then Kyrie took off to find the arena. Marcus went to the library to learn more about the town, the village Grush and the surrounding region.

It took about a week for Kyrie to reach rank 1 in adventurer versus adventurer arena at Tilimore. She was so happy to fight another adventurer that she had not even felt disappointed to find that there were only five adventurers in her bracket to fight. Marcus researched as much as he could about the region, the landmarks and the enemies that they would face if they embarked on a quest while in Grush.

One week later, they were ready. Grush was about 100 kilometers South of Tilimore. There were a few villages in between but they had decided not to stop at any on the way. They had sufficient supplies to last days and Marcus was sure that their wyrms could complete the journey in a few hours.

It took five hours for Marcus and Kyrie to reach the village. They landed on the outskirts of the village and walked the rest of the way. Just as Salinar, Grush also seemed to be populated with Gnomes and Umaru. There did not seem to be any other adventurer in the village currently as everyone Marcus and Kyrie passed, stared at them openly and some with wonder in their eyes.

Marcus had decided that they would go to the inn. From there they would start the inquiry about the book. The book which was rumored to be near Grush was The Enchanting Mistress by Chanish Toth. The book felt like an erotic novel to Marcus.

It was almost dinner time when Marcus and Kyrie had reached Grush. When they entered the inn, The Ocean Waves, they could see some patrons eating dinner. There was a single waitress moving around the tables taking orders and serving people their meals and drinks.

Everyone stopped and the noise dropped to complete silence when they saw Marcus and Kyrie. The innkeeper approached them. He was an Umaru named Tilik Cone.

Tilik said, “Welcome adventurers to my humble inn. How may I serve you today?”

Marcus replied, “We are here on a quest. We will be staying here till then. What are your charges?”

Tilik told Marcus. Room was 250 units per night with each meal, whether it be breakfast lunch or dinner, costing 30 units per plate.

Marcus nodded as he heard the rates and paid for three days of stay. Meals, they would pay for when they would have them. They checked out their room, they were staying together and went down for dinner.

Marcus ate stew and rice for dinner, washing it down with juice while Kyrie ate her usual salad with juice. Marcus found the food delicious. The stew consisted of fish which he did not know of, but it was exemplary in taste according to Marcus.

As they ate dinner, the other patrons threw them glances, but no one disturbed them. Soon, the patrons slowly started to move towards the room opposite to the dining room. Marcus and Kyrie also joined them to find that it was a common room. There were smaller tables present in this room with stools arranged in a random order.

Patrons mostly drank and entertainment was provided in the form of a gnome lute player singing local popular songs. Marcus and Kyrie enjoyed the music with Marcus drinking some of the local ale. Some of the patrons approached them with questions and they answered them. They mostly approached Kyrie because Marcus was sure they found her exotic.

They retired late at night. The next morning, they woke refreshed. Well, Marcus was refreshed as he had his [Well Rested] perk activated.

They got ready and went down for breakfast. The innkeeper joined them.

Tilik said, “So, what is the quest that you are doing here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Marcus gasped, “Wow! So direct.”

Tilik spluttered a bit, trying to make an excuse but Kyrie interrupted him, “Ignore my teammate. He likes to pull people’s legs. We are here looking for a book. The Enchanting Mistress by Chanish Toth. Maybe you have heard of it.”

Tilik shook his head. Marcus asked, “Is there anyone who can be considered as a local historian that could help?”

Tilik said, “Not that I know of. I mean there are many old gnomes and Umarus in the village and you can ask them, but I doubt they would be able to tell you anything. I shall give you some names of the gnomes and Umarus that you can talk to. I shall also send them a message, if it’s okay, that you are coming.”

Marcus agreed to this. Once the necessary information was exchanged Tilik said, “Also, adventurers. Can you look at our quest board? There are not many quests, and they are not high level too, but we could use your help. Not many adventurers venture so far South on Umanahash.”

Marcus and Kyrie both agreed to Tilik's request. Tilik thanked them and left them to finish breakfast. After breakfast, Marcus and Kyrie went to the quest board which was near the reception of the inn.

There were four quests on the board. The first was about dealing with goblins. It seemed that on the way to Grush, some goblins were looting travelers. The people of Grush wanted them gone. The quest was from the mayor. There was also a separate quest from the mayor. It seemed that one of the fishing spots was plagued with Zagui and they needed help dealing with that.

The third quest was from the innkeeper. He needed a specific plant from an island which was near the village, just about a kilometer from the coast. The fourth and the final quest was about a treasure hunt.

Marcus and Kyrie decided to do all the quests. They did not seem difficult. They went to the mayor to get the details about his quests. The mayor was a nice elderly gnome woman named Chia Keystone. They learned much about the village from her as she liked to talk and often got sidetracked while giving them details of her quests.

They divided themselves to take care of the quests. Kyrie went to hunt goblins while Marcus went to kill the Zagui. The Zagui were low level, only level 10 and Marcus was able to kill them easily. He followed the Zagui back to their den and wiped it completely. They had an elite Zagui and a leader, but Marcus was able to dispatch them easily.

The quest had been easy, but it was time consuming. Marcus ate dried rations for lunch, and it took even two more hours before he completed the quest. It took time because he was taking it slowly. He knew that even though the Zagui were low level, carelessness could lead to his death easily.

As he fought the Zagui, he thought of the time when he had first woken up in Una. He had been attacked by the Zagui at that time and had spent the night on a tree scared of the snarling and clawing animals who had plagued him till they had been killed by some hunters.

Good times, thought Marcus sarcastically.

It was ten o’clock in the evening when he reached back to the village. Kyrie had already reached an hour back. They gave the status update to the mayor, completing the quests. They did not earn much experience from the quests as they were at a low level compared to them, but they did earn decent units.

Then Marcus and Kyrie went to meet the contacts provided by Tilik to ask them questions about the book. They met with about ten people, but it was a dead end. No one knew about the book they were searching for. However, they did learn a lot about local gossip.

They retired for the night. Tomorrow they would have a look at the treasure quest before they found a boat which would take them to the island from where the innkeeper wanted the plants.

The treasure quest was posted by an old Umaru by the name of Reginush Grush. Marcus had learnt that the Grush village was named after the founding family. Grush would be one of the descendants of the original Grush.

Reginush lived in a small hut near the water. Marcus saw no signs of any other person when Kyrie and he approached the hut. Marcus knocked and a voice asked them to enter.

Reginush was reading a book near the window as Marcus entered. Reginush closed his book, stood up and went up to Marcus. Marcus could see that Reginush looked fit even though he was old. His grip was strong and the thump he gave Marcus on the back when Marcus introduced Kyrie and himself made him slump forwards a few steps.

Once they had settled down, Reginush offered them tea. They both refused.

Marcus decided to get to the point. He said, “We are here for your quest.”

Reginush slapped a hand on his thigh and said, “About damn gorking time that an adventurer came to our village and helped us. It has been gorking too long. The last adventurers came to our village about two months ago. And they did not even look at the quests on the quest board. They had come here for some other quest. They completed it and just gorking left. Damn gorking rude if you tell me. You know the villages of Una are plagued with quests. The gorking adventurers simply want to complete those in cities and towns as they offer more experience or more units or better equipment. I mean, what about us gorking villages then? Gork if adventurers care about us.”

Marcus interrupted Reginush’s tirade saying, “About your quest, sir.”

“Gorking sir, is it now?” said Reginush in a pleased tone, “I like it. Very well. Settle down. I shall tell you about the gorking treasure.”

Marcus did not know how he could settle down more, but he shifted in his chair pretending he was settling down.

Reginush began, “Grush was established by my ancestor, Eliynar Grush, who wanted to get away from the gorking cities and towns you adventurers are so fond of. His was the first family to settle here. Other families soon came, seeking refuge or fishermen came here as they would have good access to fish from the village.

Soon the village grew, and it prospered. All was well. Then the village was attacked by a gorking pirate company who heard about the prosperity of the village. They attacked the village at night. Unknown to the pirate, my ancestor Eliynar was a magic user. He brought lightning and large tides on the gorking pirate’s ship. He gorked them up pretty well. He gorking drowned everyone who was on board and crashed the ship.

Now, it is rumored that my ancestor went to the bottom of the ocean for the ship. The wreck of the ship is located not far from here. You can see it. Ask any goring fisherman. They will take you.

Anyways, my ancestor went down to the wreck, and it is rumored that he found a treasure there. He considered the treasure more of a gorking headache than anything and so he hid it on an island. You can see the island on your map. It is called Tulom island. The island is famous amongst the local fishermen. A plant grows there called pilaf. It is very tasty, and the innkeeper makes an excellent dish out of it.

Anyways, my ancestor hid the treasure there. I want you to go there and find it. Now, many have scoured the island and have found nothing. I believe you adventurers may fare better. Even if you fail, it would be gorking alright. At least someone other than the villagers of Grush with a gorking different perspective would help. So, what do you say? You will go, right?”

Marcus and Kyrie agreed. It seemed that they would combine the treasure hunt quest with gathering the plant quest. They were to collect pilaf plants for the innkeeper after all from Tulom island.

Marcus and Kyrie soon left Reginush’s house.

Kyrie said, “That Umaru swears a lot.”

Marcus said, “He is not happy, that one. Especially with us fucking adventurers.”

Kyrie laughed as they made their way to the pier. They hired one of the fishermen to take them to Tulom island. The boats were not motorized but run by an oval magic pearl which was attached to the bottom of the boat. The controls of the pearl were in the form of a glove which the fishermen wore.

The water was clear as they made their way to the island. Kyrie was swimming beside the boat rather than sitting with Marcus and the fisherman. Marcus could see her form rippling through the water and she would occasionally come out with a whoop of joy and dive back in. Marcus felt that her behavior resembled a dolphin.

Soon the boat reached the island and Marcus thanked the fisherman. The fisherman told Marcus that he would come for them tomorrow at the same time. Marcus was okay with that. He was not sure how long they would take on the island, but it should not be more than a day.

They first explored the island in search of the pilaf plant. The innkeeper had described it to them and so it was easy to find. The island was kind of littered with it. The innkeeper wanted a few leaves, two wholly uprooted plants and seeds.

As they were collecting what was required, Marcus said, “You know. I remember something. There was a rice-based dish on Earth called pilaf. And here we have a plant named pilaf. That makes me wonder whether Una has a rice pilaf dish too. Will it be like that on Earth, or will it have this plant and so it would be called rice pilaf?”

Kyrie said, “I think that I do not want this conversation to continue. If I answer, I have a feeling we shall soon be dwelling on whether the dishes you eat here are actually dishes or a figment of your imagination.”

“What?” asked Marcus confused.

Kyrie said, “Now you know how I feel conversing with you sometimes.”

Marcus laughed and they collected the necessary amount of plant and its parts. They were lucky to find its seeds. They grew in the flower of the plant.

After that they started exploring the island in search of the treasure. They had no hint or clue other than the information of Reginush that the treasure was on this island. They searched for hours, exploring every nook and cranny of the island but they found nothing.

Tired, they sat down and ate something. Marcus was not a fan of dried rations, but he ate them anyway. They were resting on a group of rocks on the island. Few palm trees surrounded them. Instead of coconut, they produced another fruit whose name Marcus did not know.

It was by chance that Marcus saw the opening. It was between two plant trees shadowing a large rock. The opening was such that it could not be seen easily, and Marcus was sure everyone would miss it if they did not know it was there.

Marcus pointed it out to Kyrie and after eating their rations, they walked towards it. They entered the opening which led to a slide. They slid their way down. The slide twisted and turned and ended in a dark cavern. There was no light. They took out their torches and looked around.

It seemed that they had slid down in some sort of a room. Marcus could see the smooth walls and a door at the end of the room. They entered the door to find a short passageway. There was a sound at the end of the passageway which Marcus could not discern.

They reached the end of the passageway and Marcus stepped on something. He paled as he heard a grinding noise as if he had stepped on a pressure plate. He pushed Kyrie back and ducked.

It was not a trap though because the moment the grinding noise was over, torches flared in the room in front of him. Marcus waited to make sure that it was actually safe and got up. Then he apologized to Kyrie and got her up too.

They looked at the room at the end of the passage. The room was huge, at least fifty meters and was circular in shape. The passage was the only entrance to the room which Marcus could find. There was a large hole in the center of the room and sand poured into it. There were four holes which Marcus could see from which the sand was pouring out of. Marcus observed that the sand was pouring out of the four holes and into the central hole. It was like a sand fountain. Marcus wondered how the sand was flowing so smoothly.

Kyrie said, “What now?”

Marcus said, “I think we may have to find a way to stop the sand.”

“And how do we do that?”

Marcus looked around. He found handholds on each side of where they were standing. They were standing at least fifteen feet from the ground of the room which was covered in sand.

Marcus pointed the handholds to Kyrie, “There are handholds. I think they take us to the holes from where the sand is pouring from.”

Kyrie nodded. Then each of them took a handhold. Marcus went left while Kyrie went right. Marcus climbed and shimmied his way towards the top of one of the holes from where the sand was pouring out. He could see a small lever which was not visible from afar. He pulled it. There was a grinding noise and it seemed that the hole beneath him was closing.

Marcus heard another grinding noise and saw that Kyrie had also managed to close the hole that she had gone to. Kyrie was already making her way across to the next hole. Marcus did the same. As he made his way to the next hole, he somehow felt like a monkey. Marcus wondered why.

When all the holes were closed, the sand stopped pouring into the room, but it did not stop pouring into the central hole. Marcus could see rungs at a short distance from where was clung onto the wall. He made his way to the rungs and saw Kyrie do the same. They met at the rungs and waited. The sand was now flowing faster into the central hole, filling it up.

When the sand had all gone in the central hole, Marcus could see the bottom of the room. Somehow all the sand had flowed into the central hole leaving minimal grains of sand on the room floor.

Marcus and Kyrie took the rung down to the bottom of the room. They slowly walked to the central hole which was filled with sand. Only about a couple of feet remained without sand.

Marcus looked around. What were they supposed to do now?

Kyrie pointed to another set of levers. They were large and on the opposite side of the room. Marcus and Kyrie went up to one lever each. They pulled together and Marcus heard another grinding noise. The four holes opened up and sand started to pour in. In the central hole, the sand level started to decrease. It seemed that they had reset the room.

Marcus and Kyrie ran towards the rung. However, Marcus saw a flash of something in the central hole and he changed direction. Kyrie called him but he ignored her. He had seen something in the hole. There, a short passage. He jumped down as the sand moved down and entered a narrow passage. He called Kyrie who appeared a moment later. The sand level was decreasing fast.

Kyrie jumped and Marcus had to catch her. He pulled her up, with a bit of difficulty as the falling sand seemed to be pushing her down.

When they were safe in the passage, Kyrie said, “Ugh! I am covered in sand.”

“Me too”, said Marcus, dusting some of the sand off of him.”

Kyrie unequipped her clothes and shook. She equipped them back and groaned, “It is still there. I need water to get it all out.”

Marcus nodded. He said, “I need to unequip all my equipment too and store it for eight hours in inventory. That would clean it up.”

“I know that”, said Kyrie sharply, “That does not solve our current problem though, does it?”

Marcus shook his head. He then looked down the lit passageway. There were lines on each side of the wall, glowing with a golden light. It was the flash of these lines that had caught Marcus’ attention in the first place. The sand was filling behind them, but it was somehow not entering the passage. Magic, Marcus presumed.

They walked through the passage which ended in another circular room. This time, there was only a chest in the center. The walls were lined with the shining golden lights to give them sufficient illumination.

Kyrie made her way cautiously towards the chest. Marcus examined the walls of the room. The room was not that big, about ten feet in diameter and about twenty feet tall. Marcus walked up to the chest too.

Kyrie said, “I see a keyhole but no key.”

“Do you have lockpicks?” asked Marcus.

“No. Do you know how to use lockpicks?”

“No.”

“Then why did you ask for them?”

Marcus simply shrugged and said, “Thought I could give them a try.”

Kyrie shook her head and bent down to examine the chest more closely. Marcus could not see what she was doing but after some time she heard a click and the chest opened.

Kyrie said, “There was a switch.”

“Then what the fuck was the keyhole for?” asked Marcus.

Together, they opened the lid to find a leather-bound package and a letter in the chest. Marcus took them out. The chest was empty. Marcus felt the inside of the chest. Then he also asked Kyrie to do so. They found nothing. No hidden switch or compartment.

Marcus placed the chest, the letter and the leatherbound package in his inventory.

Then Marcus looked around the room and said, “What do we do now? How do we get out of here?”

Kyrie noticed a hole where the chest had been. She was proceeding to put her hand inside when Marcus stopped her.

Marcus said, “It could be a trap.”

Kyrie said, “Oh, come on Marcus. I rather doubt it.”

Kyrie put her hand inside and it seemed to Marcus that she pulled on something. His world shifted. Everything became a blur. Then the next moment, he was sitting on the beach of the Tulom island. He threw up and heard Kyrie do the same.

“Teleportation”, said Kyrie after she was finished throwing up.

“I figured that out”, said Marcus.

Kyrie said, “Shall we look at the supposed treasure then?”

Marcus took out the leather-bound package first. He unfurled it and started laughing. On his hand rested a book. The Enchanting Mistress by Chanish Toth. Marcus had found the book he was looking for. And that too as a part of a treasure quest. Marcus somehow found this funny.

Kyrie frowned, “Are you telling me that the Grush family treasure is a book?”

Marcus said, “There is a letter too.”

He got the letter out of the inventory and opened it. Kyrie leaned in to look at the letter over Marcus’ shoulder.

They read the letter and Marcus said, “What the fuck!”

In the letter was written,

The real treasure was the friends you made along the way!