"The adventurer king was a traveler?" Seth did not know how to process that information.
"Yes. The first man to claim traveler status. In the third epoch, there were a lot of travelers but the adventurer king was the prime one. The Ultimate Traveler! Single-handedly, he built the profession of adventuring based on the qualities of travelers."
"I see… It all makes sense now. The system identified me as traveler 2.5. The first digit should refer to the series, while the last digit should imply my number in the aforementioned series. I am the fifth traveler in the second series." Seth muttered as he received some sort of epiphany.
The eldest brother chipped in. "I'm traveler 2.51."
The second brother said. "I'm traveler 2.309."
"Hey, I'm traveler 2.666," told the third brother.
Seth's green eyes gleamed as he suddenly understood. "We all belong to the second series. The first series must be the adventure king's batch. But was the adventure king from Earth?"
The eldest brother surprisingly gave a composed reply. "I dunno. Not enough information for me to reach a conclusion."
"Hmmm… where is he now?"
"He sacrificed his life to stop the Highlord."
"The Highlord?" Seth listened attentively as this was his first time hearing about this figure.
"You don't know about the Highlord? Dude, that's like the demon king of this world. Everyone knows who he is."
"...."
"The Highlord is the sole orchestrator of the Eternal Night. A true grim figure that only seeks carnage and destruction. He wielded forces of evil that could go toe to toe with the strongest armies in the world. The Highlord was only stopped by the heroic sacrifice of the Adventure King and his party!"
"I see…"
The group soon arrived at their destination. There was a tree in sight with a complex pattern on its surface.
The eldest brother pointed at it with a smile. "This is what you need!"
There was a pipe fixed into the tree. A lid covered the mouth of the pipe and prevented its shy essence from leaking out. Seth took out ten tubes from his bag. He opened the lid and watched as a drop of clear brownish liquid flowed into one tube. The liquid came out as slow as a snail.
After filing the ten tubes, Seth put them in his bag and sighed. "Whew, I'm finally done."
He then glanced at the three brothers. "By the way, are you also in search of something?"
"No, we were thinking of hunting some howlers, but it's already too late. I heard the howlers have been extra-active at night nowadays. We will try our luck tomorrow. Let's head back."
"Ok. Thank you for leading me here." Seth nodded his head.
The four of them walked towards Lostvale. Seth used the trip to get more information from the three brothers. He felt more comfortable asking them than asking the natives of this world.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Top floor, Lostvale Adventure Guild.
Not many adventurers can brag about reaching the highest floor of the guild. The floor was restricted to only the most trusted of adventurers. There was a room on that floor called the meeting room.
In there, the guild master, the town's chief, and a bunch of important adventurers discuss the imminent issues that involved Lostvale.
The guild master, Hendrix, called for a meeting on this very day.
After an hour, Kyler, the town's chief, walked in with his entourage. There, he met the other adventurers and grimaced.
'What is wrong? Everyone is here.' Kyler thought. He found it scary that the seats were full for the first time in years.
Hendrix welcomed, "Kyler, it's good to see your old face. Take a seat. We have much to discuss."
Kyler responded as he took a seat. "Is this about the reappearance of travelers? If so, I'm quite aware of that."
"No. No. This is much more serious, Kyler. Our worst nightmare, I would say."
"Just spit it out already." Kyler countered.
Kendrix was never one for drama. He kept his conversations concise and preferred to speak through action. So, him acting like this was a cause for alarm. Kyler didn't know when he started shivering in fear.
Kendrix massaged the large scar on his forehead and said, "It's better if our first source explains it."
Directing his stare at a certain individual, Kendrix signaled for this person to speak up.
If Seth was here, he would be surprised as he knew this person. It was Caleb, the adventurer. Trystan and Burke sat beside him, but Raina was nowhere to be seen.
Caleb straightened up and spoke. "I will get straight to the point. A few days ago, my party came across a bizarre event. We encountered not just one horde of oneriths, but multiple hordes. At first, we believed we were the target of these hordes, but that turned out false. They moved like an army and had a single destination in sight, which was the town of Cravel."
Caleb stopped talking, but everyone in the room understood what happened next. They heard about the fall of Cravel but didn't expect it to be so deep-layered.
Kendrix took over. "Last night, another town fell—the town of Mythmere. Mythmere is a couple of kilometers south of us. My scouts have reported another horde of onerith moving towards Honeypeak. Vesstan, plot the map, please."
Kendrix ordered the elven adventurer to assist him. Vesstan laid a vast map of Western Ryithh on the table. He marked the locations Kendrix spoke about and highlighted Cravel.
Suddenly, everyone had pensive expressions. When looking at the map, they found out that Cravel was close to all these towns. It was only by luck that they hadn't been hit with a horde yet.
Kendrix finally dropped the bad news. "Also last night, another of my scouts discovered the trail of a horde of oneriths coming this way… Lostvale will be attacked in three days!"
Kyler tried to argue. "Wait. Kendrix, do not jump to conclusions. There is something wrong with this. How can two towns fall in two days? The distance—"
"The distance means sh*t! My scouts do not lie. We need to prepare for an attack. It would be foolish to concentrate on something else."
"But oneriths do not move in hordes unless they are controlled–"
"I know. I received a letter from Raina of the Wild. She said the true perpetrators of these attacks might just be fey'rians!"
Raina was a legendary figure among the adventurers. She was known for her great knowledge and impressive strength. So, her words were always taken seriously, especially at tumultuous times like this.
"Raina? Where is she now?"
"Most likely, she ran away." Caleb interjected.
Raina was never part of his party. She only tagged only for their trip to Cravel. When they returned to Lostvale, she left without saying a word.
"Tch. As cruel as ever. Kendrix, what do you propose?"
"Hehehe, old bastard, finally. You say something good."