Vivan prepared his gears for the journey very quickly as the inventory mechanic is really good for carrying stuffs.
And he changed into his beginner adventurer dress.
Then he sat by the open window of the chamber that was welcoming the delighted rays of mid-day sun with open heart.
Thoughts spiraled inside as he called for Lenora after a long time.
The jolly playful voice echoed in his mind.
"How can I help GhostWalker?"
"Hi! Lenora. First of all you have been pretty silent all these days, Isaac would have given me his opinions on every single thing."
"Well, I am just a junior grade AI after all and I do not have permission to interfere with player's day to day events unless you ask me to. We can only observe and record."
That information was brilliant news for Vivan. He was worried about being constantly monitored by the LME as it not only help the player but also take away important skills and stats in case of imbalance.
"What do you know? HAHA! An unmonitored way would really help me to break the game in various ways again." He thought to himself but then suddenly he got worried about Lenora.
But there was no response from her. So he said,
"Lenora, I am really sorry that was not meant to make you sad or worried."
In a shocked humorous voice she responded.
"What are you talking about GhostWalker?"
"You see the thought I had just now as a part of the system I can understand it will be offending to you."
She answered in an irritated tone.
"Once again, I told you I can't interfere with your day to day event unless you allow me to."
Now Vivan was curious and a doubtful voice came out of his vocal cord.
"So, unless I mention something to you directly you can't hear my thoughts?"
"No GhostWalker, I Can't. The only time I was able to hear your thought on LME was the time I was synced with you as during the syncing process we get to know the last thought of players to interact with them."
Vivan's eyes glistened. He wanted to confirm it.
"Well, that's good to know because I don't want LME to reset my growth anymore."
Lenora was silent to that but when Vivan thought,
"Lenora you are a dumb ass without any proper connection to LME. Just an employee who does not need to know the details only needs to follow instruction."
Her voice came vibrating and Vivan could feel the rage just from it.
"I'm sorry to disappoint sir. I also think the same sometime that the whore of a princess who jumps onto men on first meeting would be a good partner for you."
Then she went complete silent. No matter how many times Vivan tried to talk to her she never responded.
"Have I just lost my source of information? What is it Lenora? Are you my wife or something?"
Again only his words echoed in his mind and Lenora remained quiet.
Three knocks on his door turned his attention as Samuel entered the chamber with open smile.
"What's up? You ready or not?"
Vivan shook his hand with a return smile.
"Yeah! I'm set. So you are my partner I guess."
"Yes! GhostWalker. The king decided to send me as your guide. Our mounts are prepared, waiting outside by the entrance of the castle for us."
And with that both of them headed toward the horses prepared for their departure.
By the gate of the castle the king Arathen and Elara were waiting.
As they mounted their horses Arathen prayed for their successful return while Elara kissed Vivan's hand with a prayer for his safe return.
The rhythmic sound of hooves echoed through Novarim and landed on the eastern path toward Greypeak covered in trees.
Vivan opened first.
"Samuel do you know this Clevon kid?"
Samuel raised a brow.
"Kid? He is a married man who is in line of succession as the next family head."
"What? And he took a decision like that?"
Samuel laughed hard.
"Yeah! He is a dumb ass of a man. Who always pokes wrong hole. HAHAHHA"
Vivan smirked first then his teeth reflected the sunlight.
"What is it with this guy? All of you use the same line to describe him."
"Well! He has a history of it." Samuel's funny gaze turned to Vivan.
"What history?"
Samuel took a pause to control his laughter before he could speak about it.
"You see, this fool mistook a maid as his wife after drinking too much on his wedding day. HAHAHAHA, and took her to bed."
Samuel broke into laughter. "Ever since people called him poker of wrong holes!"
Vivan clutched his stomach from laughing, but as their laughter echoed across the quiet forest path he could not shake the thought that this quest would end in anything but laughter.
The two pressed deeper into the mountain trail, still chuckling about Samuel's story. The rhythm of hooves echoed against the trees until it was broken by a chilling howl.
The forest seemed endless until the howls came. One, then another, then a chorus that shook the ground itself.
From the shadows of the tree, due to the half-asleep sun of afternoon, a pack of dire wolves circled them.
Each of the wolves was taller than a man's chest and their fur was laced with streaks of black flame.
Samuel's eyes widened in fear.
"Corrupted! This is not normal."
Vivan dismounted following Samuel and equipped his blade.
"What do you mean by corrupted, Samuel?"
The alpha, twice the size of the rest, growled with a snarl that rattled in their bones.
"There are many reasons for which a beast turned into corrupted but the common indication is that." Samuel pointed at the black flames on their fur.
The wolves surged.
Samuel's first strike split the first one in two as the sparks flashed off his armor as claws raked against him. Another three circled them while two attacked their mounts.
Vivan ducked under a lunging wolf from the right by rolling across the dirt and slashed its belly as it soared past him.
He kicked off the ground twisting into a precise strike that sank into the next one's ribcage.
But the third wolf slammed into him mid-movement. Vivan got knocked to the dirt by that. As it tried to snap his neck Vivan threw an uppercut into its maw.
He rolled up and pulled the sword out of the second wolf's ribcage and plunged it onto the third one that got knocked by his fist.
Samuel hacked one more with his sword. Their back touched each other as six more wolves circled them again.
Samuel gasped.
"These are pretty clingy."
"Yeah!" Vivan's breath was ragged but his mind paced faster than his reflexes.
"They don't attack randomly. They rotate – frontline pressure, side distraction, rear finisher. Bloody pack of AI."
Samuel gripped his sword tighter.
"What's AI?"
"Nothing. Just focus on them." – Vivan's gaze pierced through the hungry eyes of the wolves.
"Damn it! These guys are not strong enough individually to get mental multiplier activated but as a group these are really annoying." He muttered to himself.
The wolves lunged again. But Vivan already calculated their pattern and timings.
As the first wolf leaped toward him, he ducked under it-
"Vector left, parry angle sixty degrees, enemy flank exposes in two seconds.." He counted then threw the second wolf to Samuel's blade and he muttered-
"They should come with the rear finisher now."
It was a second just after two wolves charged at them together.
Vivan's body reacted in a lightning fast sideways roll mid-air, his body was twisting horizontally between the thin gap of the charging wolves like a blade in motion.
His sword arced in a spiraling slash.
"Mana Strike!"
The steel grazed fur and the two heads of the wolves chopped off in a clean sweep.
Vivan landed on his knees holding onto his sword vertically pointed toward the ground and shouted.
"Samuel, Right side. NOW!!"
Samuel's instinct trusted those words as his sword slashed the last wolf over Vivan's head as it was trying to bite Vivan from the right.
Both of them were gasping due to the fast paced battle. The veteran warrior was bleeding but the newbie adventurer was barely grazed by the dirt.
The alpha finally moved. It barreled through its own pack, smashing Samuel with bone cracking force. The warrior hit the ground as his sword skidded across the dirt.
Vivan's eyes widened then a grin appeared on his face as-
[System Chime]
Danger detected Danger level: high Activating Mental Multipliers
The alpha lunged at him, jaws out like sharp steel. Vivan sidestepped by instinct, his blade sliced across the beast's body and a deep line of dripping blood made the alpha moaned in pain.
The beast turned to Vivan in a lightning fast speed as his paw burnt in black flame.
[System notice: Alpha wolf has activated flame strike]
But every nerve of Vivan's body screamed as every ounce of his gamer instinct burned. He read the alpha's moves, not with muscles, but with pure calculation.
"Its front paw shifts – momentum angle off balance. Opening!!"
He slid under its throat, blade dragging upward in a clean and vicious arc.
"Mana Strike!"
The alpha's head cracked as blood sprayed across the wound while the body hit the ground.
Rest of the pack froze. One by one, the remaining wolves whimpered, their forms dissolved amidst the shadows of the long trees.
[System chime]
High difficulty encounter cleared +10 STR, +10 AGI, +10 INT, +10 SPD +4000 gold coins +50 edible meat Coat of fur dropped
Vivan collapsed to one knee as the sun slept for the day but the new gained stats surged through him like wildfire.
Samuel staggered up, clutching his ribs, eyes locked on Vivan in awe. For a long moment he said nothing, then slow and disbelieving grin spread across his face.
"You… are insane."
Vivan coughed out a laugh, wiping sweat from his brow.
"These guys were nothing."
They rested for a while as Samuel drank two rare health potions to recover. The dead bodies of their horses were left behind them as they moved toward the mountains.
The path toward the mountain opened wide under the moonlit sky.
The forest seemed to hold its breath. The only sounds echoed through it were the distant rustle of leaves and faint drips of water from high ridges.
The path ahead twisted sharply and narrowed toward a dark cave at the foot of the mountain.
A cold breeze drifted out of the cave carrying metallic scent as they moved closer.
"Blood." Samuel's eyes narrowed.
As they stepped ahead skeletons of guards were laid by the cave entrance in Clevon crest. Shattered bones, broken armors and –
"Old… dried up." Vivan checked out a skeleton.
"Is this?"
Before he could finish that line Samuel pulled his sword out.
"That's the crest of Clevon household."
Vivan equipped his sword again following Samuel.
"Greypeak does not forgive, huh? And it keeps its secrets well I assume."
Then he stepped forward but a sudden grip from Samuel held him back.
"We need to report back and bring more reinforcements."
Vivan narrowed his eyes.
"Why?"
Samuel hesitated for a moment then a whisper came out of his voice.
"I think this is Grimveil Cavern."
Vivan asked again as irritation expressed itself through his question.
"And what about it?"
"Well! This cave is rumored as the cave of death. Even the location of it was erased from record for civilian safety."
Vivan's eyes glistened with curiosity.
"So you are saying the foolish heir of Clevon challenged the cave for his bravado?"
"I think so." Samuel whispered.
Vivan thought for a moment. Then he stepped forward.
"Well, I don't want to return back without more information. If we face trouble out of our control we can turn back."
Samuel tried to hold him back but understood in front of Vivan's determinations his fear would not be able to stand a ground.
As the two warriors stepped inside the cave a never ending darkness claimed them.
And under the starry moonlit sky of the quite night humming in cold breeze outside the cave glistened over the silver hair of the silent watcher on the tree branches.
….To be continued