Bryan and the rest were waiting for Souta outside the Desolate Woods. It's dangerous inside the woods right now as the burning rocks are falling down all over the woods. It was destroying the woods.
They had a look of concern on their face as they waited for Souta to appear.
Lumilia asked what happened there but Bryan and Fred didn't give her an explanation. They said that it's better if Souta said it as he's the one who really knew what's happening there. Even Fred wanted to tell her what happened but he didn't know the exact thing that occurred there.
Lumilia didn't have a choice but to wait for Souta even though she was extremely curious about what transpired there.
She could see that Fred, her butler, was trembling and Bryan was covered in blood. This only made her curiosity reach its peak.
...
Souta was dashing through the forest with all of his might. Every second the ground shook as the burning rocks crashed deep in the ground.
He held his chest as he felt his blood flowing out of his wounds. While his other hand was holding his bag tightly. He wouldn't let it go no matter what because the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and the flesh of a level 20 above undead was inside it.
He ran past every tree as his speed increased with the help of his skill [Dash]. He could feel it, his stamina was running out at a very fast speed.
Swoosh!! Swoosh!!
"It's not that bad. I've gained more this time," Souta muttered.
...
He arrived outside of the Desolate Woods. He was greeted by a red fluffy fur.
"Hmph!!"
His face was buried in the red fur as Yuko hugged him tightly. He tapped Yuko's hand as he felt the pain in his wound from being pressed tightly by her.
It took him a while before he managed to get out of Yuko's embrace.
"Huff... Huff..." Souta gasped and he turned his head to his side. He saw that Lumilia and the rest were looking at him.
"Mission complete," Souta said as he smirked at them.
Bryan laughed and Lumilia sighed in relief. Fred and Jusmin smiled at this.
Bryan raised his hand which was holding the Mystical Light Cherry. The quest this time was hard and there were many unknown factors that appeared but they still managed to accomplish their objectives.
Bryan gave the Mystical Light Cherry to Lumilia without hesitation.
"Is it really okay for me to receive this?" Lumilia asked with slight hesitation.
She knew that she didn't even help in getting the cherry and without Bryan and Souta they wouldn't be able to acquire the cherry. The Mystical Light Cherry should belong to Souta and Bryan, not her. Even without her help or Fred's help Bryan and Souta would regardless acquire the cherry. This was the reason why she hesitated.
"It's okay, that's part of our quest. You should help us sometime in the future," Souta said to her.
"O-Okay," Lumilia nodded at him.
It was then that Souta heard the system prompt inside his head.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations on completing the quest Gathering!!]
[You've received 20,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!!]
Souta smiled when he saw this. He had 4 skill points left and added with 5 skill points, he now had a total of 9 skill points. He could use it to level up his [Shadow Bind] skill to six but he decided to postpone it until he went back to Ladros City.
Lumilia saw his smile. She then bowed her head and said, "Thank you for helping me. I will not forget this debt."
Souta snapped out of his daze when he heard her. He waved his hand and said, "Don't mention it."
Lumilia smiled at his actions. She didn't know his real objective this time but he helped her and that's all she needed to know. She thought that Souta didn't receive rewards for helping her, so she decided that she would pay him back in the future.
"We're grateful for what you did for our young miss," Jusmin and Fred stepped forward and also thanked him.
They also thanked Bryan, causing him to smile awkwardly while scratching his cheeks.
Cluster watched this scene silently.
Souta felt two hands circling around his waist. He looked behind and saw that it was Yuko. Yuko stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks.
Souta patted her head and let her do what she wanted. He then remembered something. He looked at Bryan and asked, "Bryan, I want to ask something."
Bryan turned to Souta and said, "What is it?" He doesn't have any idea what he's going to ask.
"How did you survive from the [Bestrou] of the Earth Crawler Ape?" Souta asked. He was curious about this. He wanted to know how Bryan survived that powerful attack. If he was in Bryan's position at that time, he knew that he wouldn't be able to defend that attack from the Earth Crawler Ape. He would be forced to use the [Possession] skill of the Vajra Sword if he was in that position.
"I don't know either... At that time, I thought I was a goner but..." Bryan frowned as he tried to recall what happened at that time.
"But?" Souta looked at Bryan while caressing Yuko's head.
"Some power flowed inside my body. It gives me strength and I felt the world slow down, so I managed to cast some defensive spells but that wasn't enough. That unknown power protected me," Bryan told Souta what he felt and did at that time.
Souta frowned at his answer. He rubbed his chin and thought that Bryan wasn't an ordinary person. It seems that Bryan holds some secrets within his body.
Ah~ I smell the scent of a hidden quest.
He remembered the time in the game when he always talked to his colleagues(NPC) in Mechanic Country just to get their quest. When he was low rank at that time, he helped his captain and commander. It's okay if he parties with NPC because an NPC wouldn't get a share of reward in the quest. Just like the time when they subjugated the Patience Commandment, he wasn't solo at that time, he was with the other commander of the Mechanic Country.
He's a solo player in the game but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't interact with people. He just didn't party with any other player as he wanted the rewards on the quest himself. If he doesn't interact with people(NPC) then how would he get a quest? He wouldn't get a hidden quest if he only took a quest from Adventurers Guild. He needed to interact with various NPC and raise their affection points to know their secrets. After he knew their secrets, the NPC would give them a quest but not all NPC would give a quest.
Suddenly, a strange energy swept out in the whole area.
Souta and the rest stopped. They turned their heads and looked at the Desolate Woods. They saw a shocking scene that occurred in front of their eyes.
The grass and trees withered one by one. The green leaves started to fall from the trees and it lost its life. The soil on the ground dried up and the birds that were flying away slowly fell down.
The strange energy snatched all life within the Desolate Woods. All the life force of the whole forest gathered in a single point within the inner woods.
"What's that?" Fred muttered with a stunned expression.
"Let's get out of this place," Souta said with a grave expression.
"Yeah, I feel uneasy about this," Bryan nodded.
"Young miss," Jusmin looked at Lumilia.
Lumilia looked at Jusmin and nodded, "Yes, we should go now."
Yuko picked up Souta in her arms before she ran away.
"Oi! You can put me down. I can run on my own," Souta said as he patted Yuko's hand.
Lumilia and the rest looked at each other before they followed Yuko.
A loud neigh of a horse echoed in the whole area. It shook the hearts of everyone who heard it. Everyone felt their life was going away when they heard the sound of the horse.
Lumilia and the rest felt pain from hearing this neigh. The strange energy was sucking their soul away.
Souta looked back and saw a pale colored horse and a man with pale color armor in the sky. The horse and the man were exuding a very powerful aura. The aura surpassed the limits of a mortal body.
Carmilla and Julius were looking at the armored man from below.
"Ufufu, I didn't expect that this one would be alive after so many years of being sealed, so that's the reason why the Authority hasn't appeared at all," Julius said with a passionate gaze.
"As expected... He's really a powerful man," Carmilla observed the horseman from top to bottom. "But his power deteriorated from being sealed for twenty thousand years."
Julius smiled and he opened his arms widely. "Let's take him with us."
Souta couldn't hear their conversation. He was outside of the Desolate Woods and those people were in the inner woods of the forest.
Since Souta couldn't see the noble head and the Head of the Dry Gulch Town. It means that they already died at Julius' hands.
Soon, the ground shook once again as the two commandments fought the armored man.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The aftershocks of their fight were truly devastating. Souta and the rest could even feel it even when they were outside of the Desolate Woods.
"So that's why..." Souta muttered while looking at the fierce battle behind him.