Destination

Hopelea, Tower of Remains, Morning

“Hey, we’ve got to retreat!” Jun commanded.

Damn, I didn’t think we’d encounter a roaming boss. Their spawn chances are quite low. He’s level 75… I don’t think we have the damage per second necessary to take him on easily.

The monster quickly closed the distance between itself and Jun’s party. The creature was a large serpent. This monster had grey skin and fang-like protrusions from every side of its head, going down along its spine.

Amber raised her mace and cast Veil of Darkness. Almost immediately, the monster slithered off course and rammed into the walls of the dungeon because it lost the ability to see. Tonio quickly followed up with a spell, Flash Freeze. Not only was the serpent blinded and disoriented, but now it was unable to gain traction on the floor.

“Nice moves! Just like we practiced,” Jun complimented.

The full party of eight members tucked tail and ran to the nearest safe room. Jun followed closely after the rest of the party to ensure everyone would make it back safely.

Shelby, the tanker of the group, was lagging alongside Jun.

Shelby carries all of that armor. No wonder she can’t keep up with everyone else. “Everyone else, go on ahead. Shelby and I will catch up soon enough.” Jun shouted to those ahead of them.

“Got it!” Amber called back.

Just like clockwork, a swarm of skeletons spawned between Shelby, Jun, and the rest of their quickly fleeing party. Shelby raised her shield while walking backwards to assume a more defensive position. Jun dashed by Shelby while infusing lightning into his sword.

Jun lifted his blade, and with every slash, a radiating aura of lightning was left behind in its path. He viciously drove his blade into the rapidly dwindling skeletons further ahead of him. With every slash, two or three skeletons fell apart like a house of cards.

“Gahh!” Shelby shrieked. She dropped her shield after being struck by a skeleton on her arm.

“Is everything all right over there?” Jun asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be good,” Shelby replied.

Shelby wound her good arm back, then struck the skeleton standing in front of her with a devastating blow with her morning star. The strike took the head clean off the spine of the skeleton.

Shelby could probably do just as well as a DPS class with her strength alone.

“Let’s backtrack to the safe zone everyone else stopped at. There’s more of them coming,“ Jun said. Without collecting any of their things, Shelby and Jun jogged to the safe zone everyone else made it to before them.

“You two okay?” Victor asked while examining Shelby’s injuries. “Ahh, you could do with a heal.” Victor pulled Shelby’s arm closer, raised his hands over it, and cast a heal. The deep gash running down Shelby’s forearm closed itself and left a scab running along the line.

“Be sure not to use this arm too heavily for the next few days, you might reopen this wound. I’ll do my best to properly clean and dress it when we get back.” Victor said.

Damn, that shield was fairly expensive. We could’ve at least sold it. But with the risk of that serpent still lurking, it’s really not worth going back for. Shelby’s gear was due for an upgrade soon, she just hit level 65.

“Let’s get out of here as soon as possible. We already hit our goal for tonight. We also completed a few quests while we were out here.” Jun said while shrugging his shoulders.

…

Hopelea, Elysia, Evening

“Really, it’s no sweat Shelby,” Jun said assuredly.

“I still feel bad because I put you in danger and lost some of my gear,” Shelby responded.

“We’re already almost there, and it’s far too late to have any regrets,” Jun said while grinning as he held up his heavy coin bag.

Jun and Shelby were well on their way to the Old Dogs Forge. A smithy that exclusively deals with experienced adventurers.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that scent. It’s like if blood were boiled over a bonfire. It always makes me recoil whenever I’m inside.

Jun and Shelby just walked into a clean shop. The forges were well organized so that not even a single nail was out of place. The bricks that lined the floor were placed so precisely that the lines in between them were almost perfectly straight. The shop had an inviting and curated sense that evoked a rich sense of creativity.

“Hey old man Zak, you in there?” Jun howled from the entrance.

“You youngins don’t know the first thing about respect,” Zak called back. Zak placed the current iron rod he’s working on back into the fire, then waddled to the front of the shop. “Alright, what are you looking to get this time? I think this makes the tenth time you’ve been here this month,” Zak said while counting up using his fingers.

Zak was a stubby man with deep-set wrinkles, a distinct under-eye mole, orange-brown hair that faded to white at the edges, and a healthy deep sienna brown skin color.

“I need a shield. Are these materials fine?” Jun asked while setting down blue iron alloy, beetle shells, and some cash onto the table in front of him. “These work quite well together,” Zak affirmed.

Shelby set her hands down on the table in front of her. “The shield is going to be for me. I’ll need something taller and wider than what Jun would carry.” Shelby went on as she pointed out how she easily towered over Jun.

“Ouch, low blow man,” Jun quipped.

“I can make this work, ma'am. I do think a taller square shield would fit you nicely.” Zak said. “I’ll have this ready by tomorrow, but have you heard any of the commotion about the Demon King?” Zak asked.

Shelby and Jun immediately locked eyes. How couldn’t they? This was the accursed man they were searching for clues about for the last couple of months.

“The Demon King?” Jun asked.

“Yeah, apparently he’s some warlord making tons of ruckus in the far north. He’s just some clown if you personally ask me. I don’t know where he got his moniker from, though,” Zak shared.

“Have you heard anything else about this man?” Jun asked enthusiastically. “Not much, except that he’s plundered, I believe, three villages now… He’s sorta the talk of the town. I’m surprised you guys haven’t heard of him yet.” Zack said.

Duly noted. I was still trying to figure out where to find him. If this pans out well, it’d only be a few days until I’m back home.

…

Hopelea, Elysia, Morning

Jun, Shelby, Jordan, Tonio, Victor, Channel, and Cali were seated at a table waiting for Amber to return. Amber took a seat at the end beside Jun.

“It’ll be a short wait before our food is ready,” Amber shared.

“Is there a reason we’re up so early?” Channel asked. “I was planning to stay up late,” he shared, as he leaned over the table.

“Yeah, we just found out where that accursed Demon King is stationed,” Jun explained. “He’s stationed somewhere in the north, we’ll travel there to hunt him down. As soon as we’ve finished eating, we’ll take the carriages I’ve already paid for outside,” Jun added.

The barmaid walked across the floor with a handful of plates of piping hot food on a tray.

This food looks quite nice. Beans, toast, and some sausages. It’s not anything like what I’d normally have for breakfast back home. After the group finished eating, they got onto the carriages waiting outside.

“Which way are we heading, Captain?” The man holding the reins to the first horse asked Jun.

“We’re heading north,” Jun responded.