“Where do you think we should put this vase, Sora?”
Inside the guild headquarters, Finlay, Serko, and Sora were busy putting the finishing touches on the decor of the building. The day had been moving rather slowly and so they decided to busy themselves with small adjustments until the group came back.
They didn’t have much work to do after finishing the construction and Isla and the others were quite busy so they couldn’t spend much time with them.
“Hmm, maybe there,” Sora said as she pointed at a small wooden table in the corner of the lounge.
“You think so?” The dwarf asked.
“It’s easier to see from the entrance.” The girl replied as she stepped next to the door. In her head, she imagined the entire view of the lounge for a newcomer and she believed the decoration had to feel cozy and safe so that they don’t get afraid or repulsed.
“That’s a good idea,” Serko exclaimed. “Do what she asked, Finlay.”
The boy nodded his head and put the vase on the table before he stepped back to take a closer look.
“This isn’t too bad.”
At that moment, as they were talking, the door to the headquarters suddenly opened. Immediately, everyone stepped back. This has become sort of an instinctive reaction whenever the door opens as what happened a few days ago was still etched into their heads.
However, once they saw who walked inside, they immediately relaxed.
“Isla! You’re back!”
“Did nobody come back yet?” She asked as she moved to the nearest chair and sat down. The group immediately noticed a deep frown on her face.
‘Why does she look even angrier than earlier today?’ The kids thought to themselves, feeling even more concerned for their friend. Isla had been acting really odd the entire day and nobody knew why. They tried to ask her and only received ambiguous responses that explained nothing.
Arthur’s complete disappearance was also a concern for them. They hadn’t seen the boy in two days when he usually came to visit them at least once a day.
It wasn’t clear if the two had some kind of a fight or if it was just a coincidence but the situation was concerning for them.
“No, they didn’t come back yet…” Finlay replied in a confused tone.
“Did something happen, Isla?” Sora asked.
“… No, it’s fine.” She shook her head. “Some things have changed and we will have to adapt our plans immediately.” Rubbing her forehead, Isla seemed to fall into deep thought for a good few seconds.
‘This is bad… This is really bad… How did he pull it off? What happened between the two?’ Isla frowned deeply.
What she had seen outside had truly hit her in an unexpected spot. Everything she was planning at that moment stopped completely. It was as if what happened had made all the plans freeze to a halt.
‘That bastard…’ She clenched her teeth as she stood up again. Isla knew that she could not sit there and do nothing.
“I’m sorry, guys. But, I will have to leave again. When the others come back, tell them to wait for me here. I might take some time.” Isla said as she walked to the door.
“Uh… Understood.” The kids nodded their heads without much to ask. They knew that Isla would explain everything when she came back though it didn’t make them any less worried. Isla had always been a very composed person but the past two days had been a true test for her.
But, Isla wasn’t going to let it happen. Not when she was so close to achieving her very first major step in the capital. Nobody, not even Lamenter, can stop her now.
‘I have to meet him, now.’
***
“The weather is getting even worse so quickly…” Exhaling a small, cloudy breath, Arthur stared at the world outside the cave with a dazed expression. The wind and the snow shrouded the mountain range.
Walking outside into that storm is akin to entering a world of complete white, a blinding monochrome mix of nothingness that hid the dangers lurking within it.
‘This isn’t going to be easy at all.’ Arthur sighed inwardly. ‘There is still a lot of time before the sun sets but… I don’t even know if we can move through such a storm.’
Deka was still putting together a plan to pave a path through the forest and perhaps avoid the Yetis. But, he didn’t know if that option was even viable as they were dealing with a very unpredictable bunch of monsters.
‘They’re by far the wildest type of creatures I have fought. They don’t even feel like they coordinate their attacks at all. Their only desire is to shred you to pieces and eat you up.’ Tapping his finger against the hard wall, Arthur recounted his fights with the Yetis.
He had already learned a good number of their attacks, abilities, and their strength in general and he could only come to one conclusion… These monsters will be extremely hard to deal with in groups.
Arthur’s usual plan is to simply read his opponents and then act accordingly so that he can have the best counteraction. However, that style of fighting had one major flaw… It basically becomes completely useless against unpredictable enemies or when Arthur’s senses aren’t working.
He realized that in his fight against Sloth when the man completely nullified Arthur’s senses. The boy was able to somehow counter that by simply suppressing his intentions and letting his body do the work instead.
But, that didn’t truly fix the flaw and simply gave a temporary solution for it. Against brainless monsters like the Yeti, Arthur was going to face a far worse situation than his fight against Sloth.
That was why, he took the time to simply stare into the outside while his brain tried to find a solution to that flaw.
At that moment, when Arthur was contemplating everything, he suddenly was snapped out of his daze with a weird sound coming from somewhere far away. Blinking slightly, Arthur looked up.
‘Hm? What’s that?’
For a second, Arthur didn’t know if he was just imagining things or not. But, when the sound came back again, he realized that it was indeed real. Something was making a deep noise far away from there.
Curiously, Arthur walked outside the cave to check as he was certain it came from. His ears perked up to listen closer. He walked a few steps away from the mouth of the cave and stopped before his eyes slowly moved to look at the behemoth of a mountain above him.
His eyes slowly squinted as he felt a weird sense of eeriness… The noise was not that of a living creature and more like a rumbling of sorts.
“What the hell is going on…” He muttered. The storm didn’t allow Arthur to see far up so he couldn’t figure out what he was listening to.
A few seconds passed and the rumbling grew slightly louder as if it was approaching him at a rapid pace.
That was when Deka rushed out of the cave in a hurry.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!