"Man, where are those stuff?" Aeon said as he lifted a huge rock.
It had already been three hours since he started roaming around the area looking for the wanted items. However, he didn't even catch a glimpse of one. If he spends any more time around the area, the beasts might already come back to their homes, so Aeon decided to go back to the camp and eat some lunch. He started jogging and temporarily dropped his objective.
….
After 20 minutes, Aeon finally got back to the camp carrying a big wild boar that he caught along the way. Some students sighed with relief as they watched him stroll over.
"Aeon!"
Hearing his name, Aeon immediately turned around and saw Korona running towards him with Suri walking behind her. He waved at them with a smile.
Korona stopped in front of Aeon and reprimanded him, "Don't do that again. Riding on a magical beast, what were you thinking? That's dangerous!"
"Calm down. Calm down," Aeon said as he tried to get Korona to stop yelling, "I was planning on hitching a free ride to look for some of the wanted items."
"Hmph. Stop making excuses, you just wanted to beat up that bear!" Korona said as she turned her back against Aeon.
Suri finally caught up. He was able to hear the entire conversation, though, despite being a few meters away. They were practically yelling at each other. He asked, "Do you really need the money from the items?"
Aeon scratched his head. It really wasn't THAT necessary. But it would achieve his goal of giving his father a better life. "Sort of."
"Fine," Suri sighed, "go get something to eat, we'll look for the items after."
Aeon was overjoyed. It would be much easier with other people helping him. But then he remembered that his three hours worth of labor in finding those items ended up with him empty-handed. "I already tried, but I haven't found a single one for the past three and a half hours."
Suri cocked an eyebrow. Was it really hard to find those items? He looked over at the center of the camp where the list was posted and saw that there were still people standing around it. The rewards were really hot to the current batch, but to Suri, it wasn't much. He looked at Aeon again and asked, "Why don't we try to go a bit deeper into the forest?"
Hearing this, Korona interrupted, "Is that really okay?"
"Well," Aeon said while rubbing his chin, "maybe we can go deeper, but we're going to need more help."
After Aeon spoke, a familiar voice came from the side. "Did you say you were going to look for those items?"
Aeon, Suri, and Korona simultaneously looked over and saw that it was the wind mage with glasses. They have been attending some classes together so they learned that his name was Levi, but they were not close at all. The three suddenly wondered why the person approached them out of his own accord.
As Levi asked his question earlier, he had his signature smile plastered across his face. His head was slightly bowed and he had two fingers on the bridge of his glasses making him look like some sort of genius. He stuck with this pose.
However…
No one responded.
Aeon and the other two walked away.
Levi's upper lip twitched. Why was he being ignored?! He realized that he was striking such an awkward pose and that only made him angrier. After a moment, he disappeared from his position with a gust of wind and reappeared in front of Aeon's group. He yelled at the three while pointing a finger at them, "Why are you three ignoring me?!"
Hearing Levi scream, Aeon and Suri looked at each other. Then, the two said at the same time, "Because you're fishy!"
Levi froze.
I'm… FISHY?!
As if that wasn't enough, the two conversed with each other.
"He gives me some creepy smiles sometimes too," Suri commented.
"Really? I thought I was the only one!" Aeon replied.
"Yeah! Especially way back during the test," Suri said.
Throughout the two's conversation, Korona and Levi just stared dumbly at them. Korona had no idea what they were talking about while Levi felt devastated.
Is smiling at people bad?!
Levi started reevaluating his life. He never really knew if it was bad. He didn't have that many friends even after he started working. In the end, he bowed at the two, halting their conversation.
"I'm sorry for my weird behavior!" Levi suddenly blurted out while bowing, "I'm not really a social person. I thought that us battling in the examination made us acquaintances."
Aeon and Suri looked at each other again.
…
"Okay fine, you can join us," Aeon said while crossing his arms in front of his chest, "do you need the money too?"
Levi immediately straightened up and replied, "I do!"
"Why don't you go with your team, though?" Suri asked.
"I'm not really in good terms with the only Seran in our team so that only leaves us with two Remorans. We couldn't really go deeper without a frontline man." Levi replied seriously. He was back to his usual demeanor.
What he said was logical. Having been quite few in numbers and despite attending different element-specific classes, Levi was popular amongst the Remorans. Korona also heard about his strength from her other friends so she knew that he was formidable among their peers. But in the end, entering magical beast territory without Serans would just be a disaster.
"That makes sense," Suri said, "does that mean that your other Remoran teammate would join us as well?"
Levi nodded. "She might."
"It's settled then! But let me eat first. I'm starving." Aeon said as he dropped the gigantic wild boar from his shoulders.
….
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Aeon asked as he slashed at the grasses and plants in their way.
Levi nodded. He was holding onto a map of the Grey Forest. After looking it over one more time, he replied, "Yes, I'm sure.."
Before moving out of the camp, they asked Merell for approval regarding their team up and search. The assistant supervisor for the camp immediately agreed, only telling them to be careful. He also said that he would inform Klaus about it.
The other Remoran in Levi's team, Selena, did join them, but she did not bother socializing with them at all.
The list posted in the camp had seven items. Two plant types, two rock types, two gem types, and one liquid type.
Levi knew about three of the items on the list, and one of them was the Galaxy Flower, the one they were currently aiming for. The plant needed lots of water in its system so they would most likely grow near bodies of water. Their group was currently heading over to the nearest one, a waterfall southeast from their camp.
Throughout the way, they had already slain 37 aggressive magical beasts. Some of them were huge in size, but their bases were not too dangerous so they posed no threat to the group. They dispatched them one by one and brought with them the meat of those who Levi deemed worthy of being a luxury. No one knows if he was a gourmet, but they trusted his knowledge, so no one stopped him.
"Okay let's move a bit slower now. Water supply attracts all animals so we should expect an influx of magical beasts," Levi reminded.
The team complied and moved at a slower pace.
After some time, they started hearing the sound of the waterfall. Sure enough, they began to see more monsters. Some were still on the way to the falls while others were already leaving.
They were quite lucky that they did not run into magical beasts that move in groups. Those kind were always harder to deal with. Moreover, they were protective of their comrades so if one was hurt or injured, it is already a given that the attacks from the beasts won't stop until the alpha of the group is dealt with or the other team is wiped out.
The team arrived in the pool below the waterfall. There wasn't really much to see there. Moreover, the area fogged, giving them less visibility.
No signs of the Galaxy Flower.
"Remember not to touch the flower with your bare hands if you ever see one. Use a glove and take out the soil along with the plant," Levi reminded with a hushed voice.
The group moved away from the falls, along the river.
Being a fan of stories, Aeon was always curious about secret areas behind waterfalls. If he did not check it out right there and then, who knows how long before he'd see another waterfall again?
With his curiosity piqued, he turned around and asked the group, "Shouldn't we check behind the falls?"
Everyone in the group looked at Aeon and started thinking about his suggestion. There could be a possibility of having an empty space behind the fall so they should check. They won't lose anything since they were already there anyway. The group nodded and turned around. Aeon moved through the crowd and headed to the front. He wanted to be the first one to see what's inside.
The group did not have any problem getting to the falls. Jumping over a few rocks was no big deal. In no time, Aeon faced the curtain of water made by the falls. Immediately Aeon peeked through the curtain of water through the small window on its side.
What he saw stunned him…
There was indeed an empty space behind the falls and within it, dozens of flowers bloomed. What they were looking for was amongst them, the Galaxy Flower. It had a deep purple stem and its petals were pure black speckled with tiny white spots, making it look like the night sky. It was a magnificent plant that would leave anyone in awe.
However, that wasn't the main reason why Aeon was stunned.
Deeper into the cave, just barely visible through the limited lighting, Aeon saw dozens of baboons twice the size of a normal adult.
Aeon felt his sweat drop. The place was not ideal for them to fight.
He slowly turned around and planned on warning the rest of the group to be quiet. However…
"Aeon, go in. We're having some trouble here," Suri said while balancing himself on the edge of a slippery rock.
All four of them were cramping on the same rock, except Aeon. Every time one of them moves, one would struggle to avoid falling. Unless Aeon moves aside and gives way, all of them would keep on having a hard time.
What the fuck are y'all doing?!
Aeon could absolutely not move inside! On the contrary, he needed to step on the cramped rock, too, and leave!
"You guys, get back!" Aeon whispered. He was nearest to the baboon nest and needed to keep his voice extremely low. As expected, no one was able to hear him.
"Yeah, go in," Korona commented. She even slipped giving Aeon a mini heart attack. Fortunately, Suri was able to catch her.
No!
No, no, no, no, no!
Aeon pressed a finger on his lips, gesturing for all of them to be quiet, but no one was looking at him.
Failing to catch the others' attention, Aeon started flailing his hands in the air.
But the group had no reaction. Aeon felt dizzy.
"Might as well leave if there's nothing behind the falls," Levi said.
"Yeah, let's leave," even Selena could not stomach pressing her body on strangers anymore.
Aeon felt extremely delighted. At last, they could leave.
Unfortunately…
"Whoops," Suri yelled.
Slide!
Splash!
Aeon felt himself age by fifty years.
Suri, you fucking idiot.
Slowly, he turned around.
Several pairs of blood-red eyes were now looking back at him.
….