In the early morning. Hazel, John and Gallien were waiting for Dreue at the side of the forest, today they will dive more into the forest, exploring wider area. They aim to familiarize their self with the territory before attacking the Hobgoblin presumed location.
"What do you think of Dreue story? I don't fully believe him, but he provides us with so much support so I think we should take the risk and let him join our party, we should be able to do many quests with him" John said as he was checking the map of the forest.
They bought it for a store in the town, it is quite useful, it marks the possible locations of monster and their levels as well as major landmarks.
"Honestly, I don't think he has any reason to lie, as a fellow mage, I feel I can understand him a bit better more than both of you"
"I agree with Hazel, I am unable to think of any other logical explanation for situation, so he should be telling the truth, if one could enjoy a rich meal then there is no reason, he would eat leftover crumbs"
"You are right, maybe I am overthinking"
…..
"Dreue! We are here" as soon as they spotted Dreue, Gallien called for him.
"I am sorry for being late, I had trouble sleeping yesterday" Dreue said in apologetic tone, it seems he was still depressed after yesterday conversation.
"Don't worry about it" Hazel replayed with smile on her face.
"Leaving that aside, the last time was just a test for your ability, so we went ahead to the forest before agreeing on our roles or how we should divide the spoils" John said in a serious manner.
"There is nothing much to agree on, you three hunt the way you are used to, and I will just pinpoint the location of the monsters."
"I will be generous with you, the monsters you notice and hunt without my help, I will not take anything of them, it's between you. But the monsters you hunt with my help, meaning I was the one to detect them and otherwise you would not know they are there, for example a Fire fox hiding behind a tree, I want half of them!"
"These week monsters, killing them would be easy for you, so you count it as making extra money without much effort". Dreue said in a hurried tone, he started walking into the forest leaving no room for discussion.
"Wait a minute. You left an important point out". Gallien stopped Dreue.
"We know that you would not provide an attack power for the team, but you didn't say anything about us protecting you from monsters, did you assume it was natural for us to protect you? Your support will already be paid as you said, but protecting you would require part of our focus and power, it means that our overall power will be decreased that also should have a cost, don't you agree? Or are you able to protect yourself during the hunt not requiring our protection??"
Gallien crossed his arms in front of his chest, he hit the bull's-eye, it seems Dreue's plan about having free protection did not work. Hazel and John looked a Dreue strangely thinking maybe he is not as he said, a man who's just trying to make a living.
"Pardon me, it seems I was not thinking straight from the lack of sleep, your one point, instead of doing fifty-fifty, I would only take one third of the monsters I help you catch," Dreue replayed hurriedly, he was afraid their view of him would change, and that may bring unwanted problems.
….
John and Gallien were both martial artists, John was a rank four warrior and Gallien was a rank three archer. Martial artists were divided into many classes depending on what style of combat they master, the weapon and the skills they use.
They differ from mages in that the collect another type of power, the aura. Unlike mages who had mana cores, martial artists aura is spread all over their bodies instead of gathering in one place, they can use their aura to perform skills that strengthen some parts or all of their bodies, they can also cover their weapons with aura to perform certain skills.
leaving aside weapons that can be thrown, martial artists are usually unable to perform long ranged attacks but there are always exceptions.
On the other hand, priest use another type of power, the divine power. They use it to cast miracles. Miracles are some what similar to spells, in fact priest and light mages have so much in common.
…..
In the forest after for two hours, the party already hunted a lot of monsters, they stopped to take a short break before continuing.
They set up a camp, and started roasting some of the One-horned rabbits, among the monster sit was undoubtedly the most delicious.
"Guys if you don't mind, I want all of the horns of the monsters especially the One-horned rabbit, I will trade you for any other parts of may share" Dreue said as he was eating the roasted rabbit, it seems his appetite is endless.
His Eccentric behavior always amazed them; they were unable to see through him anymore.
"Do what you want". John replayed in bland tone.
"I have no problem". Hazel also agreed, lately her eyes are always on Dreue, she was very curious about what's going through his mind and what's he is planning.
"Me neither". Seeing both of his teammates agreeing, and having nothing to lose, Gallien also agreed.
…..
Today's hunt finished, as the party was leaving the forest, Dreue stopped suddenly, looking in a certain direction.
"Draw your weapons, it seems there is a group of strong monsters is coming toward us" he shouted.
They quickly got into attack formation, they held their breath and tensed their bodies, focusing all of their attention toward that direction.
Every second felt like an hour, unknown danger was closing on them, previously no matter what they faced, Dreue never shouted or acted like that, this is the first time they see him like that.
Along time passed, they were all thinking is it the Hobgoblin or what?
Dreue relaxed suddenly," it seems I was mistaken, my lack of sleep caused me to make many mistakes today, I hope you forgive me, I will make sure it never happens next time"
Dreue said in faint tone, his facial expression was very strange as if he was trying to control it but was unable to fully do so, he resumed walking toward the town.
The three adventurers were very suspicious of his behavior, and never believed him, they returned later to the same place and searched the area for a long time but they found nothing, was it truly lack of sleep?