They all knew they were the cause of the cave's collapse, but as it had already happened, they glossed over it, and so did the man. It seemed he was just upset about it.
After a short silence, Hegen cleared his throat and addressed the man again.
"Well, sorry about that but I just realized I don't think we got your name."
The man responded after a brief hesitation.
"I'm Wyallie, a disciple of the Shilorian Sect. I request that you aid me in my escape from this forbidden land. Usually, I wouldn't need to ask for your help but I've encountered an unfortunate accident and will be wounded for a while."
As Wyallie said this, the entire group simultaneously got a sudden quest popup.
[Quest Received:
Rank: World
Description: Wyallie has encountered a mortal foe and requested your help getting out of the cave. You may face dangers while escorting Wyallie.
Task: Escape the cave with Wyallie
Reward: +5 Levels, +40 Attribute Points, +Unique Chest, +???
Penalty for Failure: -10 Levels, -15% Attributes (Permanent), ???]
The entire group sharply drew a breath in shock. Little did they expect to run into a World Rank quest. Unlike regular quest ranks, World rank quests had the ability to alter a game's course of action. Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising if entire parts of the map were changed or wars were waged due to this quest. Seeing this, the group couldn't help but hesitate, as World quests were significantly more challenging than most quests, equalling that of a legendary quest!
Hegen, however, unlike the others, instantly accepted the quest. Not only did he need to find out about the Nine Realms and Wyallie's true origin, but he now had an incentive to do so! Upon seeing Hegen accept his quest, the others followed suit. Hegen addressed Wyallie first.
"Of course, Wyallie. We will help you get back to where you came from or at least out of this cave."
Wyallie's expression instantly shifted to one of delight as he happily responded.
"Oh thank you! I will make sure to reward you dearly upon our exit!"
Hearing Wyallie's words, the rest of the group became visibly excited. Then, Wyallie began to walk towards a wooded path in the trees, so the group followed quickly behind him. Hegen, who was the closest to Wyallie, asked Wyallie a few questions as they walked.
"So did you come from the Nine Realms?" he asked, ensuring the others couldn't hear his question.
Wyallie looked confused but still nodded to the question. Noticing this confusion, Hegen gave a short explanation to their current situation, not able to completely clear the confusion as he himself wasn't too sure on how Wyallie had gotten here as well.
The look of confusion had disappeared from Wyallie's face, but was replaced by one of skepticism. Regardless, Wyallie simply nodded at Hegen's words as Hegen continued asking a few more questions. Wyallie didn't know much of what there was to know about the Nine Realms as he was just an outer sect member of the Shilorian Sect, but he did let Hegen know that, to his knowledge, the Immortal Demon hadn't passed away but was still roaming the Nine Realms.
'Interesting. I wonder if my brother has decided to take my place now that I'm gone? Regardless, it's too early to make assumptions just yet.' Hegen thought to himself.
After Hegen finished asking his questions, they continued on in silence with only the sounds of the forest accompanying them. This didn't continue for very long, however, as the Wyallie quickly shouted for the group to prepare for battle at the same time Hegen noticed a piercing killing intent aimed for their group, or more specifically, for Wyallie. The group quickly readied their various weapons, with Lancer taking the front, bracing herself with her shield.
Shortly after they readied themselves, they noticed a shadow jump out from the tree line, landing directly in front of their group.
[Demonic Clone: Dantalion (Unique Boss): Lvl 20
HP: 50,000/50,000
After revealing itself, the killing intent increased severalfold, causing most members in their group to almost keel over before steeling themselves. The only ones who seemed to be fine from this were Hegen, Wyallie, and Slumber.
Giving the group little time to react, Dantalion quickly launched itself at the group, smashing directly into the unprepared Lancer, sending her back several meters. Hegen and Slumber, who were still prepared for an assault quickly launched into action with Slumber healing Lancer and Hegen charging directly for Dantalion.
Hegen quickly utilized the Blade of the Flowing Ocean to intercept Dantalion, both of them stopping in their tracks. Upon coming into contact with Dantalion, however, Hegen realized that he wouldn't be able to beat him in a contest of strength. Realizing as such, Hegen suddenly sidestepped, causing Dantalion to lose balance slightly. Before he could catch his balance, however, Hegen sent a flurry of sword strikes at him, each causing slightly under 50 damage. This caused a frown to appear on Hegen's face as it would be ages even for him before he would be able to kill off Dantalion.
As Hegen was thinking, Dantalion had regained his balance but instead of charging for Hegen as he expected, Dantalion quickly charged for Slumber, catching the entire group including Hegen off guard. Slumber, however, was not to be outdone as he wielded the staff he used and blocked Dantalion's charge, which still sent him flying but lessened the damage considerably. Now, unfortunately, Slumber was separated from the rest of the group with Dantalion between them.