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  I was leading the way with Stole following close behind.

  “Mister, are you sure you don’t want me to warn you about monsters ahead of time?”

  “Just tell me when we’re getting too close.”

  Aurora was the next in line, with Kyrian and Darwin sticking close to her. Of course, as the Tank, she would have to protect two people. Skaris brought up the rear.

  “Ok, if you’re sure.” Stole said and then stood behind me. A moment later, I could sense that she was focused –a sort of calming air coming from her general area.

  So I too, began to focus on my Hearing.

  This barren island had scarce few things for me to focus on. A perfect training ground for me to hone the new talents afforded by the [Crow Totem]. The slow rumbling of lava boiling; its magma counterparts running underneath the surface of these ashen grounds. The sounds of inconsequential animals humping away in the undergrowth. The sound of our footsteps –Aurora’s heavy greaves, Skaris’ softer but more certain boots, the swishing sound of Kyrian’s cloak rubbing against his clothes and Darwin’s heavyset boots.

  The soft pad of Stole’s boots.

  The caudal sound of reptilian-type monsters in the distance.

  I might not be as Stole or any other Scout-oriented builds, but for a DPS character? It wasn’t bad.

  Not bad at all.

  Istill felt that I hadn’t seen the full effects of receiving the Crow Totem from Arrosh. Once again, Arrosh’s decision to follow along had only been for my benefit.

  And there was still the ‘technique’ of the Sword Saint.

  ‘In time, in time.’ I told myself to have patience. No point in rushing that; there were plenty of other things to do right in front of me.

  “Ssslaveborn? What issss the wait for?” Skaris interrupted my thoughts.

  Nodding, I said, “Let’s go.”

  My party moved as one and it didn’t take long for us to pick up speed.

  “Is there a location we’re heading to?” Kyrian asked, jogging alongside me.

  “The cave where Arrosh and I hid from the Myung-sas.” I answered.

  “Mr. Lock. Those monsters, are we planning to hunt them? What is our protocol if we run into a monster of grade-6 or above?”

  Technically, my party had experience in killing a Grade-5 monster before; namely the [Cheonma(??天馬)]. But it had been weakened at the time, exhausted from the days of battle with the Scavenger’s Guild. Even the Myung-sa that the advance party had killed on this very island had [Exhaustion] ticks on it. A Grade-5 Monster…

  “We’re not ready.” I said finally. “Grade-5 and above, we retreat. We can handle up to two Grade-6 monsters. Maybe, depending on our terrain.” Then letting my voice carry to the rest of the party, “Not even I’m sure what type of monsters live on this island. Don’t expect everything to go to plan. Listen to my orders and be ready to improvise on the fly.”

  “Ssslaveborn.” Skaris seemed frustrated. Of course, he was the most impatient individual in the group when it came to pushing our boundaries.

  Still, I had to put my foot down on this matter.

  “There’s no need to.” I said a little bit more sternly than I meant to. “We’re here to level up. All the loot here can be gotten from the Dwarf City below. That’s an unnecessary risk. Cores can be gotten from the Free Trader’s League.”

  “Tessssting onessss sssstrength is reasssson enough.” Skaris shot back. “And the dwarvessss will not part with their ssssteel eassssily. Their greed is famousssss.”

  Aurora gave me a look too.

  “And that’s why we have to save our strength.” I said grimly. “We don’t know what they’re going to ask for in exchange. They have no use for gold here.”

  “Is this Master Smith guy really that great?”

  Skaris scoffed, answering in my stead.

  “Whelp. Armsss that can piercssse the ssscales of a dragon, and sssshieldsss withssstand itssss breath. Only a Massster Sssmith can make one… and to my knowledge, only dwarvessss can become massster sssmiths.”

  I didn’t want to correct Skaris but technically, there was one other method of becoming a Master Smith. It was through a special questline involving a dungeon called the [Blood Forge]. But as the name indicated, there was a severe price to becoming a Master Smith that way. Yes, becoming a Master Smith would open up a lot of doors for you but…

  ‘Sacrificing the other members of your party is just too high of a price.’

  Once Darwin began to get tired, Aurora, Skaris and I took turns carrying him.

  “...Aurora, you alright?” She looked like she was struggling.

  “...He’s heavy,” was all she said.

  It wasn’t that Darwin was particularly heavy. The three of us had enough [Physical] stat to carry him easily. It’s just that he was so big and kept squirming whenever he was uncomfortable. Still, with Stole’s firm instructions, the boy managed to hold still.

  Overall, it took us a little less than two hours to get to the Cave.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Stole?” I asked.

  She closed her eyes. “No one’s following us. None that I can detect anyways.”

  Finally, we were in the caves.

  “Sssscent of the ssstrong.” Skaris muttered, taking a deep sniff.

  Kyrian cast a spell that caused two glowing yellow orbs of light to float around us, illuminating the dark cave. “It’s so quiet here.”

  “Hehe… it feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve hunted together, Mister.”

  “Mr. Lock, how big are these tunnels exactly?”

  Kyrian was right. It was quiet here.

  Way too quiet.

  I didn’t expect the monsters to come rushing out to meet us, but… well, I don’t know what I expected. There was this sense of unease gnawing at my insides and I continued to worry. I knew myself well enough to know that this wasn’t simple nervousness about task ahead of us. The only real hard part about this were the high-grade monsters running amok the island.

  Damn, just what exactly was this feeling?

  “Help me close up the tunnel.” I muttered, finding the boulder that Arrosh I had used to plug up the entrance.

  “What’ssss the usssse in that?”

  I bit my lip. “Just help me.”

  Skaris and I rolled the boulder into place. I turned to Stole. “Stole, you’re sure no one was following us?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” She pouted. “What, you don’t trust me, Mister?”

  I shook my head. “No, I do. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

  “Oh.” She backed off.

  No one was following us. Even if they were, it would be stupid of them to do so. The whole point of this expedition hinged on the fact that there were limited resources on this island: [The Fruit of Clear Mind]. Every Party had to gather at least 18 every trip. If some of their members were more susceptible to the Special Field, they’d have to resort to eating the fruit every few hours; easily racking up the numbers of fruit to 25 or more.

  Us on the other hand, had the power of Alcohol on our side –courtesy of the Master Smith. As far as I knew, the fact that Alcohol would stave off the Special Field Effects were known to me and only me. We could afford to be stingy with our fruit and take our time gathering it.

  But adventurers didn’t always work through logic. How many people had seen my new sword and been greedy enough to risk it all to find out where I got the item? Yes, it was a Loot item and had nothing to do with the Master Smith. But a monster hunting ground was just as valuable in this business and knowledge of such a thing could be traded easily.

  Also Zenom gave us three chances in total.

  “Ssslaveborn, what are you-”

  “Leave him. He’s thinking.” Kyrian said sternly.

  The gears began clicking, lines connecting the dots in my head. Limited resources meant there was a demand and where there was demand, some parties might decide to stock up on supplies. If there was an abundance of supplies, some parties could afford to forego collecting those supplies. Instead, they could capitalize on something else to trade for those supplies –such as gathering information about the island. And if they failed on the first day, so what? They could try again two more times.

  Damn it, I had approached this from the wrong angle. Zenom hadn’t created a limitation by implementing the rule of 18 fruits per party, he had created a Black Market.

  And who knew the most about the monsters? Who had stood out as being exceptional at leading a party through an expedition?

  Me.

  “We’re being followed.” I said finally.

  “What?! You just said you trusted me!” Stole whined.

  “Quiet.” I hissed. “They’re following us covertly. Maybe a group of two or three members, small enough to stay hidden but still defend themselves.”

  “Are you sure, Lock?” Kyrian asked.

  I gritted my teeth. “I don’t have any proof but I’m sure.”

  “Then what makes you think we’re being followed, Mister?”

  “Instinct.” I answered simply.

  Skaris shared a look with Aurora.

  “Tell ussss what the nexsssst ssssteps are.” Skaris asked.

  “Mr. Lock, what should we do?”

  Kyrian was a Mage, he worked through logic and proof. After all, Magic in this world was a science. Being a Pioneer with Wayfinder capabilities, Stole was less likely to believe me; her own immense talent kept her from placing weight in something like instinct. But Skaris and Aurora? Frontline fighters like them knew not to ignore the instinct of someone who fought on the line between life and death. Because sometimes, instinct was all that kept you breathing.

  “Before you say anything, know that we can’t kill them.” Kyrian said hurriedly.

  Kyrian was right. Whatever I decided to do, killing was out of the option.

  “We can’t.” I answered, taking out a little item we found in the first Fracture that Skaris, Kyrian and I entered. The very Fracture where we met Aurora. The item that has served us well over and over again.

  “But something else can.”

  The [Neung-uh’s Ocarina].

  “What do you plan to do with that?” Kyrian looked worried.

  I looked to Darwin who was hunched over and kneeling, drawing in the ash-covered mud with his fingers and humming to himself. Sensing that I was staring at him, he looked up with a small grunt meeting my gaze.

  “How fast do you think we can run while carrying him?”

  “They went in there.” Astelion put out a palm, touching the boulder blocking a cave entrance.

  “No shit.” Delas leaped up, sticking to the sheer cliff walls like a gecko. He studied the gaps between the Boulder and the Cave.

  “What are you doing, Delas?” Jourgan, an unusually thin elf, asked. Delas didn’t bother turning to look at the cursed man. Just like Coum, Jourgan had sunken eyes and a hollow quality to his face to make him look almost ethereal. Not quite good looking, but a haunting beauty; which didn't fit at all with the man's personality. A pity, all elves in MSS were supposed to be beautiful.

  Still, the man wasn't entirely useless. He had absorbed a Core of the [Ghost Chameleon], a grade-7 monster. With it, he could provide a party-wide stealth. The only problem was that it drained him of all his mana in less than an hour.

  And being out of mana put the elf in a bad mood.

  A really bad mood.

  Delas learned that the more disgruntled you are, the more likely you are to succumb to the Special Field’s effects.

  He learned it the hard way.

  During the advance party expedition, Delas couldn’t put Tania and Coum out of his mind. Well, not Coum. Mostly Tania. When Lock had shown up at the docks on time, being carried by his party members, Delas hadn’t know what to think. How the hell had Lock Slaveborn escaped from the Scavenger’s Base? Was he rescued by his party members? Did he escape by himself?

  And the fucking orc swordmaster too.

  It pissed him off that there was no way to reach out to them. He didn’t dare make contact with the [Player’s Guild] under Zenom and Cecelia’s watch. The more he thought about this situation, the angrier he became. If anything, anything had happened to Tania…

  “Jourgan, Delas. Here.” Their only Dwarf Member, Mamar, tossed them something.

  Delas caught the [Fruit of Clear Mind] and chomped into it. “How the hell did you know?”

  “Because you’re an american.” Mamar snorted. “You Americans are always angry.”

  “And I’m sure your dwarven accent is just like your German one too.” Delas swallowed the fruit and felt his mind clear once more.

  “This better be worth it, Delas.” Jourgan said to him, his thin brows were furrowed in concentration.

  Delas nodded. “You saw the swords he brought. He knows a hunting spot.”

  “Stupid, to cause trouble on the Church’s expedition.” Mamar kicked at a pebble.

  “Stop that,” Jourgan chided. “It’s hard enough to account for your voice.”

  Mamar scowled but didn’t reply.

  Delas looked at Mamar and Jourgan. They were technically not part of their branch of the Player’s Guild which was under Nathan’s jurisdiction. From what Delas could gather, Mamar and Jourgan were here as a sort of courtesy –so that their own branch could take some of the credits scene when they recovered the Church’s Treasure.

  Whatever that was.

  Their last member, a female elf who went by the name of Freir, stayed silent.

  Creepy Bitch.

  It’d be so much better if Tania was here. If she was here, Delas would have a much easier time-

  “Delas.” Astelion muttered a warning. Delas was growing angrier again. No matter how many fruits he ate, if he couldn’t control his anger, he would succumb to the Special Field’s effect faster and faster.

  Delas shook his head. He just had to get to the Trader’s League and he could ask the local Player’s Guild Branch to send out a message to his own back in Miltus. Then he would know what happened to Tania.

  “Open the boulder.” Delas whispered. Astelion and Freir moved the boulder out of the way –Freier’s slender frame showing surprising strength. Astelion, even with his Beastman Body built for [Physical] stats was a Wayfinder and Freier –with her slender Frame was actually a Tank. Funny that that worked out.

  They went into the cave and Astelion froze.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Monsters ahead.” Astelion rumbled. “Not sure how storng, but a lot.”

  “Like 5?” Jourgan asked.

  “...I cannot be sure.” Astelion answered back.

  “If that Lock Slaveborn guy can do it by himself, we can do it as a party then.” Mamar grumbled and before waiting for an answer, started walking into the cave.

  “Stupid germans and their…” Jourgan trailed off, still concentrating on holding up the [Advanced Camouflage] on their party and followed in after.

  They walked some more before Astelion warned the party again. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “We can always turn back afterwards.” Delas reassured his friend and continued.

  Tzzzzzzzzzzz

  The sound of electricity crackling.

  The party froze.

  They slowly turned as one.

  A net made of electricity swung down from the ceiling and rushed towards them, covering the entirety of the cave corridor. It snapped like a living thing, hissing with strands of lightning so hot that it left grooves of angry heated rock on the cavern walls.

  “FUCK! A TIME DELAY TRAP! RUN!” Delas yelled and bolted along with his party.

  Did Lock Slaveborn know they were coming? How? As far as he knew, there was no way to pierce through the [Ghost Chameleon]’s ability. Was that Beastman bitch-brat really that talented? Could she have seen them together?

  Or was this just level of new paranoia that Lock Slaveborn was displaying?

  “That shifty-eyed, OCD piece of-” Delas was cut short as something slammed into him from behind, driving him to the ground.

  The web of lightning sailed harmlessly above them, sputtering out a few seconds later.

  Delas stood up, realizing that it was Freier who had saved him. Without even thanking her, he looked around the cavern. They were in a large hall-like place with pillars of those… what were those things called? The spiky things that grew on the ceilings of caverns.

  Mamar cursed in German. “He knew he was being followed, idiot!”

  “He doesn’t. It’s guesswork. I told you that he’s a paranoid fuck!” Delas swore back.

  “Enough!” Astelion stepped in between them, his 8-foot statue giving the two pause.

  There was a soft growl.

  Then another.

  And another.

  And dozens more.

  Delas turned around and saw red and yellow orbs starting to open up in the dark all around them.

  “We’re surrounded.” Jourgan muttered.

  Freier took out her shield. “Chuu-ins. Grade-7 monsters. A whole pack of them.”

  Mamar cursed again.

  They were surrounded.

  And amongst them, Astelion was the only one who heard the faint melody of an Ocarina being played in the distance.