"Do you think it's the beasts?" Chlory asked as she looked towards Ben.
"We are in the forest. That's obviously the case, but are the beasts here that ballsy?" Ben replied.
"Right. And what do you think of the black flame?" Chlory said as Ben looked at her in confusion.
"What flame?" Ben asked Chlory.
"It's right there." Chlory's face palmed at how Ben was smart but also very stupid at the same time.
"That's not a flame." Ben said as Chlory frowned.
"…Then what is it?" Chlory asked, as she felt like she was missing something.
"I don't know." Ben bluntly replied as he turned around and started observing the dead bodies.
"Huh?" Chlory felt pissed at how Ben was acting as she clenched her fist.
"…Sigh." After thinking about it for a while, Chlory let go of her fist as she took a deep breath to calm herself.
After a while,
"Hmm. They are still not here." Looking in a certain direction, Chlory muttered as she wondered if they had found something.
"Probably ran into a herd of beasts," Ben said.
Chrunch Chrunch
"Haha. Do you know what's in front of you?" Chlory asked as she turned towards Ben.
"…Dead bodies?" Ben said as he pointed towards the bodies.
"Then why are you eating there?" Chlory said this as she felt frustrated.
"What's the problem? It's not the first time I've seen a dead body." Ben said as Chlory massaged her temple.
"Just mind your place when eating." She gave up on correcting him.
Listening to Chlory, Ben turned his back towards the dead bodies as he continued eating his snacks.
Chrunch Chrunch
[Are you two there?]
As they were minding their own business, they suddenly heard Cedric's voice.
"Yes. Where are you two?" Chlory replied.
[Ann found some major tracks to the city lord's son.]
"…I see. Should we come?" Chlory asked.
[Yes. Ann said she needs you two too.]
Cedric said as Chlory and Ben looked towards each other.
"What about the dead bodies? What if the beasts eat them?" Chlory asked.
"I don't think that would happen." Ben interrupted as Chlory looked towards him.
"Why?" she asked.
"If that could have happened, it already would have. Their bodies were fine when we came, which is way after they died, but they were still not eaten. I think something is triggering the instincts of the beasts to ignore them." Ben said as Chlory thought about it for some time and nodded her head.
"…Do you think it's that?" Chlory said as she looked towards the ominous black flame that was still alive on the bush.
After observing it for a while, Chlory found out that although the black flame seemed dangerous, it was still weak. The leaves of the bush were barely burning.
The bush was already dead; its leaves were brown, which meant they were pretty flammable, but despite this, the black flame was barely charring the leaves.
"I think so," Ben replied as he glanced at the black flame.
"Although it is weak, probably because its holder was recently born, it still gives off this dangerous chill." Ben said as Chlory nodded.
After making sure that the flame wouldn't harm the dead bodies, both of them left the scene as they headed towards the location where Cedric asked them to come.
Right after they left the scene, a flying crystal ball appeared from above.
The crystal ball emitted strands of purple electricity as it hovered around the black flame.
…
'Hmm. It's not exactly like what I had read about.' Ann thought with her eyes closed.
"Did you find anything?" A voice interrupted her as she opened her eyes and looked toward Cedric.
"Some clues. There's a possibility he is in the cave up ahead." Ann said as she pointed in a certain direction.
"I see… Why did you ask them to come?" Cedric asked as he started walking.
"…Just because. The cave seems to be full of monsters." Ann said this as Cedric nodded his head in understanding.
"Lets hurry."
Whoosh
Cedric said as he started dashing forward.
Ann swiftly followed him from behind. She frequently closed her eyes for small moments to coordinate her artifacts.
'I should collect them. It seems resourceful.' Ann thought as a small smile formed on her face.
As the two of them ran, they frequently ran into monsters, but Cedric swiftly dealt with them. Soon enough, they reached the entrance of the cave, but instead of entering right away, they waited for the other two to arrive.
"Here."
As soon as she located Chlory, Ann waved her hands towards her, calling them under a big tree, where they were waiting.
"So, what did you need us for?" Chlory asked as she looked at Ann.
"Oh. I just think the monsters inside the cave need more people. The city lord's son is inside." Ann said as she pointed inside the cave.
Obviously, except for the fact that the city lord's son was inside, she was lying.
'I can't let them know that I'm after that thing.' Ann thought.
"Is it strong?" Ben asked.
"Not that strong, but there are a few of them." Ann said.
She was referring to the dead three-horned dire wolves, who were already dead.
'I will just say that my artifact made some mistakes when we see them laying dead.' Ann thought as she smiled. She had the perfect plan.
"Then doesn't that mean the city lord's son is in trouble?" Ben asked as Ann shook her head.
"For some reason, they aren't attacking him. And also, he seems unconscious." Ann said as the three of them nodded their heads in understanding.
"Let's head inside," Cedric said as he started walking inside the cave.
Ben and Chlory followed him, and Ann entered last.
…
"What are these?"
Walking inside the cave, Chlory saw six big, three-horned dire wolves laying on the ground, breathless and unmoving as she questioned.
"They are dead," Chlory said as she slowly walked up to them.
"…I see. My artifacts were detecting them wrong." Ann made an embarrassed face as she scratched her head.
There was a puddle of blood forming beneath their dead bodies. But ignoring that, Chlory still walked forward with a frown.
'Could they be killed in the same way?' Chlory thought as she started to examine their bodies.
Ben understood what she was doing as he also walked towards them and started to examine their bodies.
Ann, however, ignored the dead wolves as she turned and started walking towards the corner of the cave.
Cedric followed her.
As soon as she walked closer, she saw an unconscious figure lying on the ground.
"…Here!"
Recognizing the figure to be the son of the city's lord, she called the others as they walked towards her.
"How is his condition?" Cedric asked as Ann looked at him in a little confusion.
"…Alive. He seems perfectly fine." She said, as she could find no scars or injuries on his body.
Cedric frowned at the news.
'Then he wasn't the one who fought the wolves.' Cedric thought. Just as he was thinking, his eyes fell on a gray bag as he crouched down and opened it.
Clang Clang Clang
Just as he did, a lot of glass bottles fell to the ground.
"Oh. Maybe that's why." Chlory said as Cedric looked at the potion bottles.
"It looks like it. He used all the healing potion." Cedric said as he tossed the bottle.
"Why were you examining their bodies?" Cedric asked as he looked at Ben and Chlory.
"Oh. The three bodies we found before had all their inner organs missing. I wondered if it was the same with them." Chlory said.
"And?"
"It's not the same. They were killed by something different." Chlory said.
"Then, did he kill them?" Ann said as she looked at the broken sword that fell out of the bag.
"I don't think so. The scars on their bodies were not made from a sword." Ben said as he picked up the sword and examined it.
"Sigh. Lets return. Our work has finished." Cedric said as their mission was to just rescue the city lord's son, which they just finished.
"Yeah le-"
As Ann was about to finish her sentence, she sensed something at the entrance of the cave as she fell silent.
She wasn't the only one who sensed this, as the other three were already on their guard with their weapons out.
Chlory had a blue book floating in front of her, and Cedric was holding a silver sword with a silver book floating in front of him.
Ben had already let go of the broken sword as he had clenched both of his hands and was standing on guard as he looked towards the entrance.
Due to the glowing blue crystals on the wall of the cave, it was pretty bright inside the cave, as they were able to see properly.
"He is stronger than the dead ones." Ben said as he looked at the beast standing at the entrance.