"Ah, I suppose I should have a look at the map," Arthur replied, retrieving his scroll once more, his curiosity piqued. Just as he expected, it was indeed a map! Alten, intrigued, swiftly dashed over to Arthur's side to catch a glimpse.
The scroll unveiled a sprawling landscape, adorned in shades of brown. Upon closer inspection, it beca evident that it depicted the entirety of the forbidden area.
Alten couldn't contain his astonishnt and blurted out, "Where in the world did you find this? It's incredible!" Grinning, the boy clad in leather armor pointed to a swamp on the map and declared, "We acquired it from the Swamp Hydra. We embarked on a perilous journey to retrieve this very map, and it guided us to this place."
Alten stood in sheer awe, unable to muster more than a breathless "Woah..." Eager to join in, Leon and Lyrian approached, their interest piqued by the tales of the boy in the leather armor.
As Lyrian cast his eyes upon the map, his gaze was imdiately drawn to the word "Guardian" sprawled across the Flatstone Mountains, not once, but four tis. "Wind guardian, earth guardian, water guardian, and fire guardian?" he exclaid in slight confusion.
The blond-haired boy nodded, affirming Lyrian's discovery. "Indeed, those are the four guardians stationed at the entrances to the inner system of the caves," he explained.
Alten couldn't contain his disbelief. "Wait a minute! So you an to tell that we've been searching high and low for these cave entrances, and there was a complete map right under our noses?" His outburst caused the larger boy to chuckle heartily.
Arthur, seizing the opportunity, chid in, "Well, it seems this eting was fortuitous. Since our goals align, which I assu is to reach the golden-tiered beast, how about we join forces until we achieve our objective? After all, there is strength in numbers."
A brief silence followed as both Leon and Alten turned their expectant gazes toward Lyrian, awaiting his decision. Arthur, observing the scene, thought to himself, 'He must be their leader...'
Lyrian weighed the proposition in his mind and finally responded, "Sure, I don't see any problem with that. However, we do have a pit stop to make here, so we'll have to split up." He pointed to a specific area on a smaller, separate map adjacent to the main one—the map of the cave system.
The area on the map revealed the words "Dwarven Village," marking their next destination. Curiosity piqued, Arthur inquired, "May I ask why we're stopping there? If it's not of utmost importance, our team can find an alternative solution."
Lyrian responded, "We need to repair an obsidian sword. Do any of your team mbers possess the skills for this?"
Arthur paused briefly, contemplating their predicant, before admitting, "Unfortunately, we don't have anyone with that expertise. However, it's not a major issue. Joining forces, even for a short while, is better than facing it alone."
The boy donning the leather armor chid in upon hearing this revelation, "Hey, now that we're a team, do you guys happen to know a place where we could rest? Our tents were torn apart by so fools during our journey here, and we couldn't catch up with them the next day."
With an eager smile, Alten swiftly responded, "Actually, we do have accommodations for all of you!"
The boy in leather armor lit up with excitent at this news, exclaiming, "Really!? That's amazing!"
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm "Absolutely! Let's make our way there right away," Arthur declared.
The bright smile on the leather armor-wearing boy's face turned into a gloomy frown as he witnessed the tents that were in front of him.
Torn and burned, they were the tents of Lyrian and the other two after their camp was ransacked.
"What the heck is this!? These tents looked like they've been sewn together from scrap just yesterday!" The boy wearing leather armor, now known by Lyrian and the others as Han (On their walk there they introduced each other) exclaid in disappointnt.
"At least we have sowhere to sleep." The larger boy, now known as Hugo, said calmly.
"We? There are only 3 tents for the 5 of us. So of us will have to sleep outside!" The blonde-haired kid, now known as Silas, also said with an upset tone.
At this ti, Cedric was still fully unconscious, even though Lyrian had held back drastically.
"This dumbass looks like he won't wake up till morning, how about we throw him outside?" Han said, looking at Cedric who was on the ground.
Han, Silas, and Hugo continued to speak about their sleep conditions, Leon, Lyrian, Alten, and Arthur went to the side and spoke about what they would do the next morning.
Arthur reached for his trusted scroll once more, carefully unfurling it to reveal the detailed map in front of them. With a determined expression, he extended his finger towards a marked location and shared his suggestion, "Look here, everyone. It seems that the closest guardian is the powerful earth guardian. I propose that we face this challenge first."
Lyrian furrowed his brows slightly, his curiosity piqued. He asked, "Do you happen to know if the guardians have different difficulty levels?"
Arthur responded promptly, eager to share his knowledge, "Yes, they are all believed to be equally powerful. So, it doesn't really matter which one we choose in terms of difficulty. What truly matters now is if everyone in our team can fight the sa guardian without their powers being weakened."
The group pondered for a mont, considering the implications of their abilities in the upcoming battle. They asked each team mber if they were comfortable facing the earth guardian, taking into account any limitations, particularly for those who relied heavily on fire-based abilities. Thankfully, no one objected to the idea.
"Alright, it's settled then. Tomorrow, we'll embark on our quest to challenge the earth guardian," Lyrian announced, as he, Leon, and Alten settled into their tents taken from the raided camp earlier that morning. The rest of the team found shelter in their own tents, while Cedric remained outside.
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