They crossed into the forest as the mist swirled at their feet. The air was damp and cold; it sent a shiver down Arata's spine.
This place is really chilly, and I can barely see three steps ahead of me.
"Are you alright?", The cloaked man turned to Arata.
"Yeah, sure.". I can't be a burden. I'll just have to push through.
They trekked through the trees and the fog. The deeper they went, the clearer the fog got.
Something seems fishy...
The trees got more spread out the further they went. They eventually found a spot where the trees had dispersed.
"Should we send up camp here? I feel like we've been walking for hours."
The cloaked man reached into his cloak, standing alert as he scanned through the trees around them. Monsters lunged at them from every direction.
"Where did they come from?"
"They were probably hiding in the mist."
"What I don't get is... Why are they different species? Monsters in groups don't work this well or form packs with different monsters.", The cloaked man thought
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Put your back to mine and stay close. I don't want you to die here."
"Got it."
"How did you know that they were hiding?"
"It's one of my skills."
Arata put his back to his as he tried to pull out his dagger. "Ah! I forget to get my dagger from the guards."
"Fine, here's one of mine.". He pulled a sword out of the card.
"Whoa...the card can do that too?!"
"It has a storage function."
Arata grabbed the sword and stood on guard. The monsters circled them, as if measuring up their prey. They broke out and attacked all at once. Luckily, the wide area allowed the two of them to put up a fight. The cloaked swordsman slashed through hordes of monsters while helping Arata kill some too.
"We need you to level up a bit!! If you die here, there's no coming back!!"
They kept on fighting through the monsters. Eventually, all the monsters were wiped out.
Arata pulled up his status screen. "Awesome, I leveled up to level 10. My stats now look somewhat decent."
"That attack felt coordinated. Those were low-level beasts, but they attacked without getting in each other's way, even in such great numbers. That felt like someone was controlling them.". The cloaked man thought.
"Let's head forward. They might still be more up ahead."
"Aren't we going to rest first?"
The cloaked man wheeled around to look at him. He said with a deepened voice, "Don't forget, we came here to defeat these monsters before they can cause any trouble."
Arata was forced down by the intensity of his voice. This monster has to be strong to have him spooked.
They trekked deeper into the forest to find a cave hidden in the fog.
"A cave?"
"That's where I sense the most danger."
They stepped into the dark, moist cave. The cloaked man pulled out a flashlight and switched it on.
What!! Now a flashlight too!! Who's ever responsible? Are they from my world as well? I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't that first time of doing this.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just that I don't have a flashlight."
"Does that mean she didn't even offer you the rookie adventurer's package?"
"The rookie adventurer's package?". He pulled out the package and rummaged through it. "There it is."
Arata switched on the flashlight and pointed it forward. They walked through the cave till they got to an inner cavern. Its walls were glowing with a green hue, dimly illuminating the room.
"What is this? For a cavern, it seems strangely constructed."
"You noticed it too. This place, those monsters. We're facing a high-level monster, strong enough to organize all this. "The worst-case scenario is... a demon lord."
"...! A what?! Should we call for help?"
"No. Don't worry; I should be strong enough to protect us. Anything bad happens, then we call for help."
"Why's that?". Don't you normally call for help to prevent something bad from happening?!