"Wrap it up, that will prevent you from doing anything foolish to any innocent soul down where we are headed," Moon said with a firm tone. Adam could finally discern the System status panel of the fabric.
『Name: Lady Beatrice's Excess Burial Cloth.
Durability: 1000/1000
Description: Blessed with holy water prayed over by a Catholic priest.』
"Beatrice. Imagine if there were a Dante in this, we'd be in quite a predicament," Adam mused. His mind was adjusting too rapidly, and something disapproved, watching him closely as he wrapped the arm in the cloth securely.
--
"You can't be serious," Moon exclaimed, surveying the dark surroundings with confusion. The area was still muddy, sparsely covered with trees, and on their right, a wall-like line of trees stretched out. The only illumination came from four large moon-like bodies in the sky.
"Well, the cave system is much farther than I thought," Moon admitted, dropping the weapons he had and collapsing on the ground with his hands over his face in frustration.
Adam stood back, holding tightly onto the wrapped arm as though he feared someone might snatch it away. His dark eyes were wider than usual, and his pupils were extremely dilated, giving him an almost intoxicated appearance.
Walking up to Adam, Moon asked what was bothering him, while the two former attackers kept a cautious distance.
"The terrain seems different now. The vast system of caves is probably much farther than I had originally thought. We can't stay out here like this, especially with the other beasts still roaming about and that skinny bastard being active now," Moon explained, swirling his finger in the mud, trying to alleviate his stress.
Adam still seemed relatively perplexed. Moon noticed this and sat up, further clarifying his point.
"Newbies," he sighed.
"So, basically, the secret to survival in this Scenario is to find good shelter that can protect you from just about anything. There aren't many areas like this, so it's either hide and fight or fight and die. Since Kaizer and Vari haven't returned, they must have found something by now, or perhaps the skinny bastard got to them," Moon mumbled to himself, going silent.
Then Yohan, one of the former assailants, spoke up, saying, "The other guy said that he could create something called a Haven."
Moon looked at Yohan, staring intently into his eyes, though they were partly obscured by his straight brown hair. "The one the other bastard promised to take you to if you dumb fucks killed me? Yeah, yeah. Trust the goofy bastard with half a brain cell to have a whole Haven before the game has even started and admit people based on who kills me… You all are daft," Moon retorted, standing up, adjusting the fastens on the fabric he wore, and grabbing his weapon sack.
"No, but we really did see it. It was like a huge castle, just in the middle of this wide empty grassy land," the other assailant said.
"Even if that were true—which it can't ever be—the stupid bastard has something against me for some reason. We have to find another area, preferably before more Plague demon bastards arrive, and establish a base there," Moon asserted, signaling for the others to follow him.
"Is there a problem with that?" Adam asked, playing with the stiff claws of the beast, scooping up mud, and tossing it around, acting childlike.
"Yes, there's a problem with that! I'm stuck with two level 4 newbies and a level 1 jester!!! Those are three huge problems right there!" Moon exploded, turning around in frustration.
Adam fell silent as Moon's outburst snapped him out of whatever dopamine-fueled state he was in.
"The problem is that since I'm at a higher level, I can't form a Party with you three in it... Ergo, I can't carry you all, and ergo!! I'll have to protect you and create opportunities for you to level up myself! I'm not up for babysitting!" Moon exclaimed loudly, and there was a brief rustle in the trees that caught everyone's attention.
The two unarmed assailants positioned themselves behind Adam and Moon as Moon stayed on high alert. Then, a round ball-like object popped up from the branches, followed by a whole body.
"Oh, it was Moon," the bald one from before said.
"Eh?" Moon turned his head and looked at his two mates hopping out of the tree.
"Moon, I think your friends are here. Hehehe," Adam said, his pupils so dilated that it looked concerning.
"What's wrong with that bastard?" Kaizer asked, pointing to Adam behind Moon.
Moon turned his head slightly and shook his head. "Just don't worry about that."
"First of all, you guys stay armed," Moon instructed, taking down the fabric and loosening the knot. Kaizer and Vari looked at the two former assailants, who said nothing.
"You have quite the peculiar crew, Captain Hook," Vari sarcastically remarked with a brief chuckle.
"Those two are too calm to be real. They claim that white-haired bastard told them to come after me to get admitted into a Haven. They even tried to lure me there too. Probably a skill or something, to be honest," Moon said as he tossed a large, bulky axe to Vari and then a spear to Kaizer. Then he ripped up the fabric and threw a few yards of it to his companions.
"Ahhhh. I see. That's fine. It's better to keep those two alive, so the white-haired bastard doesn't send more or come looking for us himself. You are still smart as shit, damn," Vari said, spinning his wrist with the axe in hand to get used to the weight.
"Why are you guys here? I thought there were some cave things to hide out at," Adam said as he swung the skinny arm around like a child.
"Seriously, what's wrong with the blue jester?" Vari asked with a more concerned expression, whispering to Moon.
"He's holding an item from the Lesser King of Plague. You know how continuous use of such items forces the production of dopamine. Raw, unaltered happiness like that turns you into a fool, making bad decisions and acting strangely. It's a really bizarre effect for items from Lesser Kings; I still don't understand it myself," Moon whispered back.
"He's still level 1, right? No wonder it's this bad. If he gets to at least level 7, he should be able to control it reasonably. Right," Kaiser asked, sporting a wide smile that showed both amusement and concern.
"Well, yes. But that'll be challenging; this game doesn't take kindly to level 1s, even in the first Scenario," Moon stated, and they all ignored Adam's question, focusing on sharing information to make better decisions.
"Oh yeah. We are on the wrong side of Area G. I was confused as heck when 'The Land of Fog' didn't have any goddamn fog. We have to go even further down to the other side of the area just to get to the cave system. It's a six-day trip on foot, probably twelve if we try our best to avoid the mobs and maybe even longer if the other skinny plague bastard is here. And even if we survive that long and manage to get there, surely there would be other parties already based there. Hostility is guaranteed, given we remain who we are," Kaiser stated, attempting to hide his chuckle behind his palm.
[A/N: Bro just said all this crap and then chuckled like a child with a crush. Tsk.]
"For crying out loud," Vari muttered in frustration.
"So, we are really going to die here... And if this shit is really, really real, then we really, really do die!!" Vari wailed, slamming the axe into the mud in a fit of rage.
"There has to be some other place we can set up a base. The skinny bastard ran down south, meaning up north, there are surely more of those rats and other Plague Disciples. We could risk it and go searching. I mean, we have weapons, and even that Jester already has a whole Devil Item made for Plague disciples. So, we could risk it..." Moon said, a conflicted expression on his face.
"You don't need to think that hard. The game might be hell, but there's always a way. Don't exhaust your mind before we even get into the first circle of hell now," Kaiser said, pointing to a bright beam of light that erupted loudly down towards the east.
"People. People with skills already," Vari said, maintaining his unsettling smile.
Adam had never noticed how eerie that unnatural smile looked.