Chapter 13: Fairy Mountain

“Your class…” Lily’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Almond. “It is unheard of to get an SS-rank class right off the bat.”

“I don’t think so,” Almond shook his head and faintly smiled, “What if those who awakened it didn’t reveal it? I initially awakened a D-rank class, but I met some sort of conditions, so there’s a high chance there are other people who have an SS-rank class.”

Lily became thoughtful, “True. It could be that the S-rank is the maximum rank of class one can naturally get. The higher rank class might need to fulfill some conditions to acquire.”

Almond nodded, “I have one more insight in this matter. I think that if we can trigger some kind of event by fulfilling conditions, we can rank up our classes.”

“That…” Lily blinked and nodded, her eyes twinkling, “It does sound possible. I want to try doing it. Do you have any information about this since you experienced it?”

“I…died. I didn’t almost die as I said before, but I actually died,” Almond wryly smiled. “I was killed by those three beyond doubt. I could feel it…that darkness.”

“But then I heard I fulfilled some condition and resurrected with this new class.”

“That’s a rather extreme condition,” Lily lamented. “I don’t want to try dying.”

“Of course,” Almond released a hollow laugh. “But…I think the clue should be in our class. Also, we should wait until we get our specialized class after reaching level 10 before exploring this.”

“Mhmm, true that,” Lily nodded with a grin and stretched her arms as they went around Almond’s neck before she planted her lips on his before shortly Almond’s hands went around her waist.

Her tempting smell wafted into his nose as their lips played with each other, the taste of her lips feeling strangely sweet.

Lily’s hands tightened as she pressed closer, feeling an electrifying pleasure. The slightly sweaty yet manly smell numbed her brain as their lips wildly played with each other.

Their heartbeats quickened each second, their breathing rugged yet coming in sync.

It was a new yet desirable experience for both of them.

Feeling this warmth and pleasure of becoming close to someone, Almond…didn’t want to push this away.

“Your hormones are exploding, I can tell. But this is not the place or time, guys,” Natalia said while rolling her eyes.

“…”

“…”

“Cough, let’s go. It’s time to start moving,” Almond stood up and grabbed the belt-holding sword in the sheath before putting it on his body at his back.

“Put your backpack in this storage pouch, it’d be bothersome to carry it now that you have a sword to carry,” Lily said as she opened the storage pouch.

“Thanks.”

And then, the trio finally resumed their exploration, moving towards the fairy mountain’s southwest area base.

This mountain was humongous, stretching at six kilometers in height with the mountain base taking up to ten ten-kilometer radius of area.

“So, which site do you think we should raid first?” Lily asked with a smile. “I trust you have more comprehensive planning than me.”

Almond chuckled and said, “We’ll go to the Nest of Willowbees area first. Leveling will be harder now, but our goal is to reach level 10 to trigger our specialized class’s initiation before Labyrinth’s night descends.”

“Because once 24 hours pass, the monsters will double in number.”

“Yeah. It will take time to complete quests of our specialized class, so the earlier we get them, the better,” Lily nodded.

“Thank you for carrying me in advance,” Natalia cheekily said.

“Nah, you will be our key player,” Almond deviously smiled.

Natalia felt a chill, “The hell are you planning?”

“It’s fine,” Lily held back her laugh and smiled as she patted Natalia’s shoulder, “He will surely lead us well.”

Natalia: T-T

“First, I sacrificed my love, now my body…fine. Do whatever you want with me.”

…

As the trio entered Fairy Mountain and started walking towards their first destination, Almond took out a parchment from his pocket and opened it.

It revealed the map of this Mountain and the special areas on it.

***

[Fairy Mountain]—Major Location.

1. Nest of Willowbees—Bronze rank level 7 – 10

2. Cavern of Glassblaze Bears—Silver rank level 1-3

3. The Shimmering Fen—Silver rank level 3 – 5

4. Briarwood Grove—Silver rank level 5 – 7.

5. Frostbite Cliffs—Silver rank level 7 to 10.

-Secret Areas on the mountain:

—> White Polan’s Lair—Silver rank level 1 to 10.

-Field Bosses on the mountain:

—> Blade Mantis—Bronze rank level 10.

—> Maddening Beaver—Silver rank level 5.

—> Wandering Fairy—Silver rank level 10.

***

“We’ll most likely spend three days on this mountain, and we won’t be alone here,” Almond said as he looked ahead at the higher ground containing new types of tall and big trees.

“If we encounter another group, we’ll act according to their power and conduct,” Lily narrowed her eyes.

“Let’s hope we don’t encounter a big group,” Natalia weakly smiled and added, “By the way, is that area of Willowbees?”

“Not yet but we’ll get there after crossing that patch of trees,” Almond tapped on the parchment in the Willowbees’ area, and it changed, revealing information.

This item was Map Parchment. It’s a blank paper when bought, but it can be filled with details drawn and written by a person.

“You’ve really made sufficient details on this,” Lily raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you have all the details like this of all areas on the first floor?”

“All floors.”

“Damn!” Natalia couldn’t help but utter in amazement.

[-Nest of Willowbees-]

-Description: Hidden among the towering trees and thick, flowering vines, this is the hive of the Willowbees, large, aggressive insectoid creatures that resemble a cross between bees and willows. They feed on magical nectar from enchanted flowers, giving them the ability to shoot blasts of pollen and summon vines to entangle intruders.

-Key Features: Dense foliage, towering enchanted trees, massive bee hives dangling from branches, and scattered pools of magical nectar that can be collected as a resource to craft Healing Potions.

Monsters:

—Willowbee Workers (weaker, swarm enemies)

—Willowbee Guards (larger, with venomous stings)

—Willowbee Queen (boss, summons roots and vines to trap enemies)

“Let’s go. We’ll enter their territory after crossing a kilometer of distance. We might encounter wild monsters, but they won’t be a threat to us unless it’s the Field Boss of the lower area, the Blade Mantis.”