Chapter 4: Search and Found

Sleep did not come to her easily; she lay there for at least an hour before finally falling asleep. Then, she had a freaky dream where she was standing in a sea of flames, before a giant eye opened high in the sky. She opened her own eyes to find herself back in the room next to Cleo, who was sound asleep. Alice carefully sat up in her makeshift bed. She pulled her bag closer to her before rummaging through it. When she was transported here, she brought everything she had with her, including her phone, laptop, a novel, and some other items. Luckily, her phone still had power, and the time read 4:59 a.m. Was that the time here or back home? She wasn't sure. Alice put her phone back and decided to walk around outside after getting freshened up. The early morning was cold, and darkness still lingered as the horizon was slowly shifting to day. She walked around behind the homes to see if she could notice anything unusual, but in this light, it would be luck if she did. The backs of the homes were almost all the same, a backdoor, some had gardens and whatnot, while others were bare. The village wasn't very large, by the time she completed her loop, the sun was rising. On the map, the dungeon was marked not too far away from the village. Once they asked around, Alice planned on checking it out. Clair had told her that there were two types of dungeons, portal types and grounded types, it'd be quite annoying if it was a portal type. She made her way back to the town hall, where Leinan had been setting up breakfast for them. Alice offered to help, but she was brushed off and was told to instead wake up Cleo. This task proved to be difficult. Alice didn't want to be rude or startle her, so she tried gently tapping her while calling her name, which evolved into shaking and then yelling. Cleo eventually awoke from her slumber, the duo ate and then began their investigation. The first stop was an elderly couple's home. They hadn't seen or heard much, but they prayed for the safe return of everyone missing; they specifically prayed for Lia. A few other people claimed they heard noises at night, but nobody had seen anything, and they all mentioned Lia. The final home they went to was Lia's. When she answered the door, she was malnourished, her clothes were dirty, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Regardless, she let them in, her home was in a similar condition as she was, but despite all of that, she made them tea, and Alice accepted.

" Miss, we're here to find the missing people. Would you happen to know anything?" Cleo asked, this triggered something in her. Her eyes shot wide open, her hands shaking as she lunged and grabbed Cleo by the shoulders, " Please, you must find my baby THEY TOOK HER FROM ME THEY CAN'T-" Cleo pulled Lia into a hug, and the rest of her sentence came out as a mix of mumbling and sobs. They stayed with Lia for a bit until she calmed down. She was able to tell them what had happened the night her child was taken, " We were both sleeping inside, but I woke up to the sound of the back door opening, even though I always lock both doors before heading to bed. I saw my little Sua walking out, I called out to her but she didn't say anything so I followed her...and- and that's when I saw it, strange people standing at the forest edge taking her away," Lia takes a shaky deep breath, " I tried following but one of them stopped me, cutting my arm in the process. One of them spoke, though it sounded odd."

" Why didn't you tell the mayor?" Alice asked, readjusting her sitting position, " I did. They didn't believe me, Ren said that I was delirious, that I left the door unlocked and Sua wandered off on her own," Lia says, wiping her face clean using a cloth Cleo had given her. They decided to head back for now, having learnt all they could from the people, but before they left, Cleo clasped Lia's hand in her own, " I promise we'll find Sua, we'll bring her back safe and sound, ok?" Cleo's eyes glazed with determination, Sua thanked them for coming, and they said their goodbyes. " You head back first, if they ask, just tell them I stayed back to ask more questions," Alice pats Cleo's shoulder before heading to the forest, "OH!" Alice ran back to Cleo and pulled her close so she could whisper, " I'll give you my dessert if you don't tell the Yu family about what we learnt until I get back." Cleo accepted without question, though it seemed like she was confused, she did as told, anything for an extra dessert. According to the map, the dungeon entrance was just up ahead. Alice eventually reached a clearing in the forest, an unnaturally shaped hill jutted out of the ground and on the hill was the entrance. Welp, she saw the entrance, now she can go back. Alice returned after wandering around the forest a bit more. After she quickly washed up, she helped Leinan set up dinner, and they all ate.

" SO, did you learn anything from the people?" Fen asked, Alice slid her plate of cakes before she answered. " We asked around, but mostly everyone mentioned something about a sound, everyone but Lia. She said something about people, she also mentioned how one of the people who supposedly took her child walked oddly, and that if she ever saw it again, she would immediately notice." Alice lied about the last part, she had her suspicions for now. When night fell and everyone was asleep, Alice woke. She checked the time on her phone- which was about to die-, it was 3. She snuck out and made her way to the edge of the village, where the forest starts. Alice stops in her walking, she scrunches her brows and tilts her head up, she can hear...music? She carefully follows it, and what she sees confirms what Lia had said earlier. A child walking toward a group of cloaked strangers, Alice dashed forward and grabbed the kid by the hand, yanking him back, and pulling him awake from his strange trance. One of the cloaked figures stepped forward and drew their own dagger, but Alice had a plan. She carefully crouched down and got a good hold of the disoriented kid, and in one swift move, she triggered hunters surge, picked up the kid, and ran. Just to be safe, Alice brought the kid with her to her room, careful not to wake up Cleo, she let the kid use her bed to sleep. " I'll bring you back to your parents in the morning," She pats her head before slumping against the wall, closing her eyes, hoping she can fall asleep. Much like the night before, she had that nightmare where everything was on fire and people were dying, and like last time, she woke up. After quickly washing her face, she took the kid back to her parents. How lucky she was that she remembered which house that was, it was thanks to the interviews they did yesterday. The parents were relieved to see their kid safe and sound, and when they asked what happened, Alice simply promised that she would explain when all this was over, and that she didn't want to risk the "things" that did it to know. Alice was getting close to wrapping this whole thing up; all she needed was proof. Alice slid open the door to find Fen in full panic. When he saw her, he grabbed her shoulders. He was visibly shaken. " Oh, thank the gods you're ok!" He said, which was odd, why wouldn't she be? Before he explained what he meant by that, he led her to the guest room they had been staying at, the door looked....charred. Panic set on Alice's own face when she saw inside, the whole room was ransacked, aside from the door, the far wall was burned. A nervous smile breaks out on Alice's face. That bastard is rushing, she thought to herself as she made her way back to the door. " Ren said he saw people heading toward the forest, he went after them himself, you should join him quickly," Fen said, worry for his brother and Alice's friend were noticeable in his voice, she simply nodded and ran. It's a shame she used hunters surge earlier, but if she's lucky, she won't need it. By the time she got to the clearing, those cloaked bastards were waiting, three of them.

                                                                   -SIDE QUESTS-

                                                        - KILL THE CULTISTS(0/3)

Alice reached into her inventory as they drew their own weapons, her right hand resting on the hilt of the jian Arthur gave her. She immediately charged in, her hand still on the hilt in the inventory. When she was close enough, she drew it, cutting into the closest guy, but it was shallow. Alice put herself on defence when the other two struck back. She tried her best to block the sharp blades, but some of them got past and nicked her arms, nothing too serious. These guys were nothing compared to the hobgoblin she had fought; they were level 8. Alice paced herself, two of them rushed in at once, she grabbed one by the arm, pulling him forward into the point of her blade, the sound of flesh piercing rings clear. Keeping the momentum, she tensed her arm, dragging it to the side as the blade slides through the first guy and lodges into the arm of the other, whose dagger had already sunk into Alice's side. She would've preferred to have walked away without any injuries like this, but oh well. After dispatching the second guy, she made light work of the last. She gained two levels from this, putting her at level 17. She recently discovered her profile tab, which displayed a little image of her on the side, and next to it her stats. Below it was her level and exp bar, apparently at level 20, she'll gain a new skill tree. For now, she had to focus on finding the missing people and Cleo, so she entered the dungeon,

                                                             -MAIN OBJECTIVE-

Reach Level 900

REACH DIAMOND RANK IN 5 MONTHS AND HAVE ARTHUR JOIN YOUR TEAM

??? ??? ????? ?? ???

                                                              -SIDE OBJECTIVES-

INVESTIGATE AND SOLVE THE DISSAPERANCES 

 KILL THE CULTISTS(3/3)