Grone and Tyler walked through the forest, the sounds of their footsteps muffled by the undergrowth. Tyler glanced at Grone. "So, I've reached C-rank, that ans I have to give back the necklace."
Grone nodded, his gaze fixed on the path ahead. "You'll have to give it to once we arrive. What level did you reach?"
"Level 67," Tyler replied, his eyes focused on the trail.
A small smile played on Grone's lips. "Hmm… not surprised at this point. I realized you'd grown stronger than when we fought the White Fang."
Tyler shifted his gaze to Grone. "Speaking of the White Fang… is that the evolution of the slither we were talking about?"
"Yeah…" Grone confird, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "I've also been aning to ask you sothing. Your blood… there's sothing strange about it. You said you have a skill that allows you to turn your blood into poison anyti. But when we were fighting that serpent earlier, it was more than that. Your blood… it was lting things, from the grass to the White Fang's jaw. Earlier, when we fought the Crimson Wolves, your blood wasn't able to do that?"
Tyler's expression turned contemplative. "Oh, yeah, about that. Rember when that snake bit ?"
"How could I forget?" Grone said, the mory of the dangerous encounter clearly etched in his mind.
"Yeah, it injected with venom," Tyler continued. "My skill makes immune to venom, but this one was too strong. So, my poison blood adapted. My poison blood and the monster's venom rged, creating sothing more corrosive… more lethal, I guess. It created 'Acid Blood,' a new skill." His voice remained calm, even as he described the potentially terrifying developnt.
Grone looked at Tyler, a thoughtful expression on his face. "That is… very unheard of. So your skill leveled up when it mixed with the venom?"
Tyler nodded slowly. "Yeah…"
"Huh," Grone mused. "Things just get stranger with you every ti. But, I guess am glad it happened because it saved your life."
Tyler shifted the conversation. "So what are you going to do now?"
"About what?" Grone asked, seemingly lost in thought.
"About your daughter, Heather. She has the blood of the hero inside her. That ans she's going to level up at a fast rate, too, right?"
Grone sighed. "Honestly, I couldn't sleep last night because of that. I kept thinking what we were going to do about it. I spoke to Lisa about it, and we decided we're not going to do anything."
Tyler's eyebrows shot up in confusion. "What do you an you're not going to do anything about it?"
"Lisa wanted us to visit her grandmother so she could use Dead Silence on her," Grone explained.
"What!?" Tyler exclaid, his surprise evident.
"You need to understand," Grone continued, "heroes can sense when another one with their blood is close. Even if they are kiloters away. We wanted to use Dead Silence on her to lower the risk of her being found. The hero's blood has a special signature they can detect from far away. Even if there was once blood of a hero spilled on the ground, they can sense it. Although they'll have to be really close for that to happen—a yard away or so."
Tyler processed this information. "So you're going to use Dead Silence on her?"No, we decided not to," Grone said, shaking his head. "I told Lisa that we shouldn't. I an, look at . Not being able to level up has really brought misfortune. And I don't want her to beco like that. And I knew deep down she also didn't want her to beco like her, since she also can't use her advanced skills because of the Dead Silence skill. Then we thought about what we were going to do. We decided we *are* still going to use it, but not right now. However, we are going to move from here after so ti."
Tyler frowned, confusion etched on his face. "Wait, move? What do you an? You're going to get out of town? And what do you an you're going to still use it on her? I don't understand. You said you weren't going to, now you said you are."
Grone sighed, trying to explain clearly. "Okay, how do I put this simply? Dead Silence causes the person to not be able to use their skills, but it doesn't stop the person from leveling up. You see, Dead Silence, if used on soone with the blood of the hero, can seal that signature—not completely, but it reduces its aura. It will be hard for any hero to detect unless they are, like I said before, just a yard away. So we decided we *are* going to use it. But once we know what her skills are—whether she's a tank type or a mage type like her mother—and if she's a mage type, it's going to be a big advantage because it ans she'll be able to hide that signature aura from any heroes without using the Dead Silence skill."
"Without using the Dead Silence skill? How is she going to do that?" Tyler asked, still puzzled.
Grone considered this for a mont. "Well, if she's a mage-type hunter, then she'll be able to do it using her own skills in another way. That's what Lisa told . I don't really know how to explain it the way she did, so just know it's sothing like that."
"So when exactly are you going to move?" Tyler asked, changing the subject.
"Well, we talked about it, and she's going to move with to Lyria, but that's after I reach level 70," Grone replied.
"Lyria?" Tyler echoed, surprised.
"Yes," Grone confird. "There's another hunter base near there. And it has higher-level monsters. Believe it or not, Lyria may just be a village, but the monster zone near it is way more powerful than these ones. And the base is bigger than this one as well."
"What kind of monsters are they?" Tyler asked, intrigued.
Grone considered his answer. "Well, how do I say this? There are ones that are like… parasites."
"Parasites?" Tyler repeated, a hint of unease in his voice.
"Yes," Grone confird. "There's a swamp there, and most of them live in that swamp. Now, the swamp isn't covering the whole area, just a slightly big area. And they say the deeper you go, there's actually a very big pond as well. And people have rumored to have seen a humanoid monster there, but so say it's just a rumor—that humanoid monsters don't actually exist there. They say the place would be very unsuitable for any humanoid monster, and I agree with that."
"So what tier is it? Is it orange or red?" Tyler asked, wanting to gauge the danger level.
Grone looked at Tyler as they walked. "It's orange tier. It's above this one, as I said."
Tyler nodded thoughtfully. "Oh, that ans I'm going to have to level up too before I get there."
A small smile touched Grone's lips. "You're only left with three levels before you surpass every level of the creatures here."
"What do you an?" Tyler asked, confused. "Aren't the creatures here able to level up past every number?"
Grone explained, "Ah, no. Yellow-tiered monster zones have monsters that only reach up to C-rank. That's when they can't level up anymore. You see, it's different creatures, really. But they all eventually reach their level limit and they can't level up anymore."
"Oh, I didn't know that was possible," Tyler said, surprised. "Is it possible for humans, too?"
Grone considered this. "No, not really. I an, I don't really know. I don't think I've heard of a human who has reached their limit before. But I'm guessing reaching a limit just ans you've beco stronger than anyone—and there's no one else to rival you, not even monsters or humans. You'd have reached a level so high that killing even the currently most dangerous monsters wouldn't even raise your level that much, or at all. And that person, as far as everyone knows, was the hero… but that person doesn't exist anymore."
"This hero… where did he co from?" Tyler asked, intrigued by the legend.
"Well," Grone said, "it's said that he ca from a village in the north called Winberg."
As Tyler opened his mouth to ask another question, a system notification appeared in his vision: *Sli has used skill: Bash.*
A sli, seemingly appearing out of thin air from Tyler's right side, launched itself at him. Tyler reacted instantly, pivoting and delivering a powerful kick that sent the sli flying. The sli slamd into a tree with a sickening thud, instantly dissolving into blue dust carried away by the wind. However, it left behind a grey, glass-like core, significantly larger than any Tyler had seen before—easily the size of a tennis ball.
Grone, visibly surprised by Tyler's swift and efficient response to the sudden attack, watched as Tyler calmly walked over and picked up the core.
"You said the hero ca from the north?" Tyler asked, his tone unchanged by the near-miss.
Still slightly stunned by Tyler's reaction, Grone replied, "Yeah, he ca from the north."
Tyler's mind raced. *Ah, so he is from this world. Sohow, I thought that if Grone said he didn't know, maybe the hero ca from another world, possibly mine. I hoped that soone from my world might have co here. I an, I don't know why I thought that, but I thought it would make so sense with so ideas I have.*
"Why do you ask?" Grone said, breaking through Tyler's thoughts. "Do you want to go there?"
"Well, I'm not really sure," Tyler admitted. "Is it a dangerous place?"
Grone chuckled. "Oh no, it's just that people there speak a different language. They don't speak Notarian, like you and I."
Tyler's mind flashed back to their first encounter in the forest, Grone's surprise at his ability to speak Notarian despite his foreign appearance. "Oh, right," Tyler said, "just like in my own world, different kingdoms have different languages. It totally makes sense."
"Yes," Grone replied. "How many languages were there in your world?"
"Oh, there were quite a lot actually," Tyler said, "like… I think more than a thousand. I'm not really sure."
Grone's eyes widened. "Wait, a thousand? We only have four languages here."
"Four languages?" Tyler mused. "Wait, could these languages be from the West, East, South, and North?"
"Yes," Grone confird, "they are from those regions."
"Huh," Tyler said, "I guess that was an easy guess. Then learning these languages must be easy, huh? I an, it's only four languages."
Grone nodded. "Yes, I know how to speak all of them, but I'm not really good at the Dryken tongue. Probably because it's the hardest of them all. And when I was being taught by my teacher back then, I would sotis skip classes just to go to training. Well, mostly because my father wanted to. Thinking that if I devoted more to training than learning literature, maybe I might get stronger. Oh, well, at least you know all four of them," Tyler added, a wry smile touching his lips.
Grone paused, then shifted the conversation. "Speaking of languages," he said, "how can you speak our language if you ca from another world? That was one of the things that made it hard to believe you from the start.
"I honestly forgot about it when I found out you were G-Rank," Grone admitted. "I an, the thought alone was so confusing and yet so interesting—to think that there was soone else there who was, or had, a similar situation to one I have."
"Oh, yeah, um, I don't know," Tyler continued. "It's probably because of this skill that showed up when you showed up back then. It said sothing like, 'Universal… Comprehension.' I'm not really sure; I don't rember the skill very well, but as far as I know about it, it gives the ability to understand languages. Believe it or not, I'm speaking in my own language right now, but you must be hearing Notarian because… I'm not really sure. Maybe this skill is translating?"
"Translating? Huh," Grone said, "well, this feels strange."
"What do you an?" Tyler asked.
"Well, if it was translating," Grone explained, "wouldn't your mouth move in a very different manner to the words you're speaking?"
Tyler considered this. "Um, yeah, of course, it would." Tyler chuckled. "It would look really funny, wouldn't it?"
Grone smiled. "Yes, it would. Honestly, it could be very distracting. Talking to you and seeing your mouth moving in a different manner to your words—it might make so people angry."
Tyler chuckled again as they walked, the sound echoing lightly in the forest. He noticed they were approaching a river, the narrow path across the rocks visible ahead. "Well," Tyler said, resuming the conversation as they carefully picked their way across the water, "that ans that I really *am* speaking in the Notarian language."
"The funny thing is, I can still hear myself and hear you talking in my language," Tyler comnted, still marveling at the skill's effects.
"Oh, that ans that skill of yours is really useful," Grone said, impressed.
"Yeah," Tyler agreed. But he imdiately slowed his pace as the sli core he'd been holding vanished into his inventory. In the distance, he saw Rebecca approaching. She was clad in dark chest plate armor, brown-black pants, and a brown garnt underneath. Her long silver hair flowed down her back, and she carried her bow, several arrows strapped to her back. Her shoes were dark, almost black, and her bow looked different—thicker, smoother, and more refined than the one she'd had before; clearly a recent upgrade.
As Rebecca walked closer, Grone's eyes widened in recognition. He leaned towards Tyler, lowering his voice. "Is that who I think it is?"
"Yeah, it's her," Tyler confird, also lowering his voice. "I totally forgot about her, but not to worry. I don't think she will cause a fuss or anything."
"Why do you say that?" Grone asked, a hint of skepticism in his tone.
"Just trust ," Tyler replied, a confident smirk playing on his lips.
Rebecca, however, noticed the sudden shift to hushed tones as soon as they saw her. This sparked a surge of irritation. *Those stupid idiots,* she thought angrily, *are they talking about right now, aren't they? Dammit, just when I t him again, and he's with this old fart again.*
Out of curiosity, Tyler glanced at Rebecca. Her level appeared above her head in a blue text box: **Level 56**. *Not bad,* he thought. *Last ti I saw her, she was… I'm not really sure, was it D-rank? She was probably D-rank, but she's now C-rank, and level 56 at that.* He then rembered the recipes he had acquired for crafting bows and arrows. *How should I make those?* A system notification appeared before him: *Rebecca Sharp has used skill: Perception.*
Rebecca's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the D-rank necklace around Tyler's neck. *Oh, so he's D-rank now?* she thought. *I knew he was E-rank . There was no way he could be so fast. Was he given a buff? But there are no mage hunters around here. They don't normally co to these yellow-tier monster zones. Anyways, I have to talk to him.*
As Tyler, Grone, and Rebecca drew closer, Rebecca abruptly changed course, walking directly towards Tyler. This surprised both him and Grone. She stopped directly in front of him, the wind ruffling her hair. "Hey," she said, her voice sharp, "just what the hell is wrong with you?"
Tyler, completely taken aback by her sudden confrontation and aggressive tone, stamred, "Oh, um… what?"
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