Finding an inn to stay at during our ti in the area proved simple enough. Like Mirktown up above, Mirkvale Undertown catered to adventurers and traveling martial artists. I an, there wasn't much difference between the two, since many adventurers were also martial artists.
Regardless, there were plenty of inns, restaurants, and entertainnt venues. We were spoiled for choice. However, we did run into so trouble.
I looked and acted like a spoiled House scion, which led many to believe that I didn't belong in Murim. So of the town's residents, and even a few adventurers, took issue with that and confronted us. It took a lot of effort on Anna's part to convince them that yes, I did belong. Even then, I received a lot of unfriendly looks.
Despite that setback, we found a decent enough inn and rented out several rooms for ourselves. Anna and I shared a room, as per usual, while the others stayed in their own rooms. We decided to stay here for a month, just in case, and paid in advance. That made the innkeeper very happy.
Afterwards, we decided to rest and relax for the rest of the day, before heading out tomorrow. The others decided to explore Mirkvale Undertown and see what it offered. I planned on joining them, but then Anna dragged into our room with a lascivious gleam in her eyes.
"I've been worked up for a while, and I can't hold it in any longer," she said. "How about that role play I ntioned earlier?"
It turned out that Anna wanted to pretend to be a prostitute, with playing as her House scion client. I sighed in resignation and surrendered to my fate.
Oh, the sacrifices I made for love.
After a rather enjoyable evening, my companions and I bought so supplies before heading back topside. It was a beautiful, if cold day, with clear skies. Our group headed into Mirkvale Forest.
None of us expected to find anything, especially on our first excursion. However, our initial exploration would help us familiarize ourselves with the area and give us an idea of what we were dealing with.
As we left Mirktown, I made a big fuss about it in public. The more attention I attracted, the more likely our enemies would target .
Several adventurers regarded with contempt and… What was the word? It was German I believed. Ah, yes. Schadenfreude. That was it. The other adventurers regarded as a rich idiot who was getting in over his head and took pleasure in it.
Perfect.
So, with that, my companions and I headed into Mirkvale Forest.
Entering Mirkvale Forest was like entering a whole other world. The trees were so tall and so thick, that they ford a canopy that shrouded the forest in perpetual gloom. Only thin slivers of sunlight managed to pierce through.
Thick undergrowth covered the forest floor, so thick that we needed to push our way through most of it. The sll of damp earth and rotting vegetation filled the air. The cry of wild animals and monsters created a perpetual din.
And for so reason, all of this felt familiar to .
I had never been to Mirkvale Forest before. However, I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. I stood there, trying to figure out why I felt this way. However, no matter how hard I tried, nothing ca to mind. I felt as if I were chasing shadows.
"This is going to be even more difficult than I anticipated," Cally said, frowning. "I knew this place was dangerous and difficult to traverse, but not to this degree. If the entire forest is like this, it'll take us years to search even a fraction of it."
"This is why Lord Gabriel hired adventurers," Priest Jai said. "So we wouldn't have to search the entire forest ourselves."
"Even so, that will take too long," Cally said. "No wonder our enemies chose to build a base here. Despite the dangers, it's the perfect place to hide." She paused. "I hate to say it, but I fear that Gabriel's idea is our only viable option. We need to lure our enemies into attacking us."
I felt a hand on my shoulder, startling . I whirled around to find Leroy standing nearby, a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you alright, my lord?" he asked. "You've just been standing there."
It took a mont to realize that I had been in a bit of daze.
"I'm fine," I said, shaking my head. "I was just lost in thought."
As I said this, I looked over at Anna. She stood there with her eyes closed, a peaceful expression on her face.
"I missed this place," she murmured.
All of us looked at her in confusion.
"You've been here before?" Cally asked, frowning.
"Yes and no."
Cally scowled.
"What is that supposed to an?" she asked.
"Don't worry about it," Anna said, opening her eyes. "Just follow . I know where to go."
Everyone looked at her in confusion and doubt. However, for so reason, I trusted her words. Not because I loved her. Well, not just because I loved her. But because… I didn't know where my faith in Anna ca from. All I knew was that I trusted her with my life in this place.
"We might as well," I said. "It's not like the rest of us have any idea of what we're doing."
The others glanced at one another, before nodding. I gestured to Anna.
"Lead the way," I said.
Anna smiled at , before venturing deeper into Mirkvale Forest. The rest of us followed after her.
It soon beca apparent that I hadn't misplaced my faith in Anna. At first, I thought it would be difficult to traverse Mirkvale Forest, with the thick trees and dense undergrowth. However, neither of these proved an obstacle to my fiancée.
Anna moved through Mirkvale Forest with ease. Sotis she found these hidden little paths that the rest of us failed to notice. Sotis she traveled along the tree branches, the ones low enough for us to easily climb onto. Sotis she pushed through the dense undergrowth, only to prove that it wasn't as dense as it looked.
We didn't encounter a single monster the entire ti.
Altogether, Anna moved through Mirkvale Forest as if she had lived here her entire life. I followed along with relative ease. The sa familiarity I felt with the forest proved helpful here. While I wasn't as adept as Anna, I didn't fall far behind. However, the rest of our group found it difficult to keep up.
Traveling this way demanded an exacting toll on our bodies. This wasn't a problem for the martial artists of our group. However, the rest found it exhausting. After about an hour of this, Cally, Priest Jai, and Priestess Natille called for a break.
"I can't keep going," Cally said, out of breath. "If we don't stop to rest, I'm going to collapse."
Anna looked around with a frown on her face.
"Let's travel a little deeper," she said. "There's an arbormaw nearby. If we stay here, it might attack us."
Cally, still out of breath, glared at her.
Arbormaws were plant-type monsters, carnivorous trees. They had tooth-filled mouths located at the base of their trunks, near their roots, thus the na. They liked to pretend to be regular trees in order to ambush their prey.
At Tier Three, they weren't much of a threat to our group. However, given our companions' condition, no one wanted to get into an unnecessary fight.
"Why don't Leroy, Anna, and myself carry the rest of you?" I asked. "That should make things easier."
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Cally nodded, before she walked over to Leroy and leapt onto his back. He caught her without issue, before adjusting her position. I raised an eyebrow at that. The two of them were getting more and more obvious. Unless I had completely misread their entire relationship.
Priest Jai and Priestess Natille, on the other hand, hesitated.
"We couldn't burden Lord Gabriel like that," Priest Jai said.
I rolled my eyes.
"Enough," I said. "Right now I'm just a regular person. Feel free to treat like one."
Despite my words, Priest Jai and Priestess Natille still hesitated.
"Either let us carry you," Anna said in a cold voice. "Or we fight that arbormaw. Your choice."
Priest Jai and Priestess Natille shared a look, before they nodded. By so unspoken agreent, I carried Priest Jai while Anna carried Priestess Natille.
About ten minutes later, we ca across a clearing. Despite this, the thick canopy above prevented any sunlight from shining down. We found no respite from the gloom here.
In the very center of the clearing sat a viney bush surrounded by small earthen mounds. Cally gasped the mont she saw it.
"Anna!" she exclaid in a quiet voice. "Are you insane? That's a strangler vine!"
Strangler vines were another kind of plant-type monster, ones at Tier Four. They liked to, well, strangle their prey before burying the corpse nearby. This nourished the earth, which in turn fed the strangler vine.
"Don't worry," Anna said, also speaking in a quiet voice. "As long as we don't get too close, the strangler vine will leave us alone." She gestured to one of the earthen mounds. "See? That one's fresh. The strangler vine won't go looking for prey any ti soon."
I studied the earthen mound she pointed out and realized that she spoke the truth. It looked fresh, a few days old at most. Cally must've realized it too because she relaxed sowhat.
"And the strangler vine's presence will prevent other monsters from approaching us?" she asked.
Anna nodded. Cally gave her a mystified look, along with the rest of our group.
"How do you know all this, Lady Annabelle?" Priestess Natille asked.
Anna shrugged.
"I just do," she said. "Either way, let's rest."
We obeyed Anna's suggestion and settled down to take a break. Everyone made sure to keep a fair distance away from the strangler vine. The martial artists among us kept an eye out, while the others focused on recovering their stamina.
"We'll need to rethink our strategy," I said. "When I first saw the map of this place, I thought we'd be able to search it. It would take a while, but I thought it was possible. However, after experiencing it in person, I realize that searching Mirkvale Forest like this isn't viable."
Cally drank so water, before nodding.
"I agree," she said. "I thought as much when we first entered the forest, and nothing we've seen thus far has changed my mind."
"Still," Priest Jai said with an uncertain expression on his face. "Using Lord Gabriel as bait seems sacrilegious."
"Is there no better option?" Priestess Natille asked.
I shrugged.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." I glanced at Cally. "Unlike what so people claim, I'm not a suicidal idiot."
Cally rolled her eyes at .
"Unless we get our hands on one of our enemies, I don't see how we'll be able to find their base," I said. "And using as bait is the fastest way to capture one of them."
"Maybe not," Anna said.
Everyone looked at her.
"Gabriel, you have an ability that allows you to see the world as spirits do, correct?" Anna asked. "You can see mana, among other things?"
I nodded.
"Yes. It's called Spirit Sight."
"Well, why don't you observe Mirkvale Forest from the air?" Anna asked. "No matter how well our enemies are hiding, they will leave so kind of trace behind. Maybe it will be an odd flow of mana, maybe it will be a lack of monsters around a certain area, maybe it will be a trace of demonic magic."
I, along with everyone else, stared at her for several long seconds, before I facepald.
"I feel so stupid right now," I said. "Why didn't I think of that? And after all the training I went through."
Anna snorted.
"Maybe you're more of a reckless and suicidal idiot than you thought," she said in a teasing tone.
I opened my eyes and glared at her.
"Okay, new plan," I said. "We're searching the forest from the air."
Cally stared at in disbelief.
"Are you telling that we trekked through this place for no good reason?" she asked.
I gave her a sheepish smile.
"Maybe?"
Cally's eye twitched. She stood up and marched towards with violent intent.
"Stay still," she said. "I need to hit you a few tis."
"That doesn't seem like a good idea," I said. "You might hurt yourself trying."
Cally just grew angrier at that and pounded her fists on my chest.
"Ow," I said in a deadpan voice. "That hurts. Please stop."
Cally hit harder in response. After a few minutes of this, she marched away and sat down with her back towards .
"If it makes you feel better, coming here wasn't a complete waste of ti," Anna said. "I an, I'm having fun."
Cally moved so that her back faced Anna as well as . Leroy walked over and sat next to her, before offering her a comforting back on the back. She leaned against his large fra.
"Okay, in all seriousness, coming here still works out in our favor," I said. "There's no reason why we can't use as bait and search the forest from the air. The wider our net, the higher our chances of success."
Cally glanced back at for a mont, before turning away in a huff.
"How are we going to do that?" she asked. "You can't be in two places at once."
Well, I could, in a certain manner of speaking, but I wouldn't be using that today.
"Good question. Here's my answer." I tapped my chest. "Aurora, do you mind coming out?"
My familiar erged from my chest and landed nearby. While she wasn't as big as she was, when I t her in my soul, she was still larger than before. Unlike before, when she was about the size of a wolf, Aurora was now about the size of a horse.
"Finally," she said, stretching her wings out. "I was wondering when you would call for ."
"Well, now is your ti to shine," I said. "Search Mirkvale Forest from the air while the rest of us put on our little act."
Aurora nodded, before she leapt into the air and flew right towards the canopy. As a spirit, she wasn't as constrained by the physical world as the rest of us, so she passed right through it and disappeared from sight.
"Alright," I said. "With Aurora's help, we have the air covered." I looked around. "Anyone else have any ideas?"
"Aurora grew again?" Cally asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"
I shrugged.
"We've all been busy," I said. "There just wasn't any ti."
Cally mulled it over for a mont, before nodding.
"I don't have any ideas, but can we kill the strangler vine?" she asked, pointing to the viney bush in the center of the clearing. "I'm still in a bad mood."
I gave her a helpless look, before sighing.
"Sure," I said. "Go right ahead. You guys have fun."
Anna raised an eyebrow at .
"You aren't participating?" she asked.
I grinned at her.
"Of course not," I said. "I'm a spoiled House scion. I don't fight. That's what the help is for. I have an image to maintain."
Anna gave a flat look.
"Let guess," she said. "You want us to do all the hard work while you take all the credit."
"Now you understand!"
Anna rolled her eyes at .
"Fine," she said. "I don't mind too much. This will give a chance to test out my new strength against a real opponent. Let's go."
With that, my companions fought with the strangler vine while I stood on the sidelines and watched. You know, maybe acting like a pompous ass wasn't such a bad thing after all.
It took my companions little ti and effort to kill the strangler vine. Yes, it was a Tier Four monster. However, it faced a team of Third Ranked Awakened that could punch well above their weight class. Not to ntion, all of them wielded Holy magic to one degree or another. It wasn't even a fair fight. My companions dealt with the strangler vine in no ti at all.
Anna, in particular, proved effective in taking down the strangler vine. Not just because of her affinity with Fire either. She fought as if she had a lot of experience dealing with strangler vines. Targeting its weak points, avoiding its attacks, etc. She was in her elent.
Watching Anna like this deepened the sense of déjà vu I felt ever since we entered Mirkvale Forest. It proved maddening, like a splinter in my mind. I wanted to remove it, or at least figure out why I felt like this.
What was so important about Mirkvale Forest?
At this point, I started to suspect that Tempest directed here not to deal with the Order of the Infernal Star, but for so other purpose. The question was, what? What did he want to accomplish here? More importantly, should I go along with it?
Whatever it was, I suspected Nox knew about it too. She ntioned several tis that she would begin teaching after my companions and I finished with our business in this place. However, she never specified what sort of business.
After my companions dealt with the strangler vine, I took its corpse and placed it in my inventory ring. We then decided to head back to Mirktown.
As we left, I talked with Aurora through our bond and told her not to return to Mirktown by nightfall. I wanted to find the enemy base, yes. However, Aurora's safety took priority. I didn't want her to get into trouble when we were too far away to help her.
My companions and I arrived back in Mirktown at around early afternoon. We marched into the Mirkvale Adventurers Guild, where I presented the strangler vine's corpse. Unlike in most locations, the Adventurers Guild here didn't post jobs, except on rare occasions. Instead, it issued bounties on monsters. The strangler vine's corpse earned us a lot of gold sols.
Of course, it also reinforced my image of a spoiled, pompous House scion that relied on my retainers to do all the hard work for . My companions looked rough, since they did the actual fighting, while my appearance remained pristine. This earned a lot of contempt and resentnt from the local adventurers.
When Guildmaster Gale witnessed this, his lips twitched as he tried to keep his amusent from showing.
And so, our first foray into Mirkvale Forest proved a moderate success.
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