"Why didn't you come yesterday?" Mia, the class rep, stopped to interrogate the two boys who preferred playing Ahartohaim over attending classes.
"We..." Cole started, looking at Eden to continue.
"Yeah, we..." Eden looked back at Cole.
"You?" Mia pressed.
"Yeah, we were kinda busy," Eden said, unable to come up with a suitable excuse. Neither he nor Cole wanted to make Mia angry.
Not because she had power or connections, but because they appreciated her. She was a graceful and hardworking girl with a kind heart. Sometimes she was too kind, never saying no to helping her classmates and always being available when they needed her.
Eden and Cole couldn't understand why she neglected herself to help people who didn't even respect her. But Mia had her own life and needed to make her own mistakes.
In a way, Eden and Cole were the black sheep of the class, but because Mia always helped them, they never wanted to upset her.
"Kinda busy, huh?" Mia pointed her small finger at them. "What can be more important than your future?" she asked, referring to the academy. She was the perfect student, after all, and valued her grades, unlike some others.
"We always act with the future in mind," Cole said, placing a hand on his chest.
"Always," Eden echoed, doing the same.
"Ahhh, why can't I have a serious conversation with you guys?" Mia said, exasperated.
Cole exchanged glances with Eden. Their eyes said, "I am serious." Then they turned back to Mia with a look that said, "We're definitely serious."
At that moment, Clara, the girl with the voluminous hair, ran into the classroom, crying.
"What happened to her?" Mia asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Some girls made fun of her hair," Cole responded.
Mia turned to him with a serious expression. "And you didn't intervene?" she asked.
It was common for Eden and Cole to defend their classmates and flirt with girls. Not doing one of those things signaled strange behavior.
"No. We needed to pay her back," Cole said, not forgetting the time in class when Clara moved aside, betraying them.
"How could you? She's a girl," Mia said, her expression more cute than angry.
Eden looked at her from above, as Mia's height only reached his shoulder. "And what if she's a girl? Loyalty must exist from both sides," he said on a deep tone.
"Ahhh, you're such a-" Mia began, but Clara stormed out of the classroom carrying her things, and ran down the corridor. Mia wanted to follow her immediately, but Eden grabbed her arm, holding her in place.
"Class rep, the class is about to start. Don't chase after her," he advised calmly.
"No, she's my responsibility. I must help her," Mia said sharply.
Seeing the resolute gaze in the class rep's eyes, Eden let go of her arm. And without wasting anymore time, Mia ran after Clara.
"Will she ever stop acting like that?" Cole asked.
"When she understands that very few are her actual friends," Eden said. "But she'll be in a lot of pain when that happens."
. . .
Eden and Cole didn't have enough free time to attend all the classes, so after marking two, they left in Cole's car to take part in another mission. Duty called, as they said to anyone asking.
The team didn't change, nor did the mission. The only thing that truly changed was Monique's behavior. She treated Eden and Cole as if they didn't exist. Not that her mood interested anybody.
Because of their previous discovery, the two boys were given free reign over their search zone, and of course, they chose to return to Akem City. Today, they needed to reach Level 4 and complete the Unique Quest no matter what.
Arriving in the city, the first thing the boys did was visit the potion shop. Cole opened the door somewhat apprehensively, inviting Eden to enter first.
Without hesitation, Eden entered the potion shop, which was void of any stench or hard-to-breathe air.
"It seems my recipe worked," he said, stopping at the counter.
"It did its job," the old man replied in a not-so-happy voice.
"I came for my reward," Eden said, motioning for the old man to bring him the potions.
With a smirk, the old man placed four bottles of "Griffin Tranquilizer" on the counter. "I'll be waiting for my customers."
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"Don't worry, when the people from my world arrive, I'll send them to you. They won't have enough money to buy the potions right away, so you'll have just enough time to prepare more," Eden said, storing the bottles in his inventory.
"Your people will arrive in three days," the old man said. "You'd better keep your word."
Eden gave the man a long gaze. "How do you know when my people will arrive?"
"The godsents told us."
The godsents, Eden repeated. If it was them, then it was alright. They received orders directly from the "God", so it was normal for them to have access to this information. However, three days was sooner then Eden predicted.
"Alright, old man, I'll keep my word," Eden said, turning to leave.
"What's your name, boy?" the old man asked.
"Eden."
"You can call me Framus from now on," the old man said before resuming his work.
Eden nodded and left, thinking about the date when Ahartohaim was released in the past.
"Where to now?" Cole asked after taking his equipment from the bank.
"At this time, killing Wooden Golems is the fastest way to level up, so let's return to Oakland Valley."
Cole led the way, and Eden walked slowly, pondering the old man's words. He seemed to have heard his name before but couldn't remember where.
In any case, Framus is definitely not a common individual... and Ahartohaim will be launched sooner than in the past, Eden thought. He wasn't sure if he was the one responsible for that, but if not him, then who? And why?
Back in Oakland Valley, the boys started to grind for levels. They had become more precise with their attack patterns and more proficient at trapping the Wooden Golems. After a few hours of hard work, the long-awaited notification finally came.
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[Congratulations, you have reached Level 3]
+2 Attribute Points
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"Finally," Cole said, sitting on the grass.
"Let's recover before starting again," Eden suggested, taking out a piece of bread from his inventory.
"How many do you have left?" Cole pointed at the bread in Eden's hand.
"Three, but I'll definitely eat some proper food once we're done here."
"What proper food?" Cole asked, drinking some water.
"Definitely some meat, or a soup, or something," Eden replied, taking another bite of his bread.
"Can we eat delicious food?" Cole asked.
"Bro, the bread tastes like bread. I've told you, aside from a few differences, this game acts like a real world. We can cook, we can eat tasty foods—everything."
Cole's face brightened. "Then can we hunt and eat grilled meat?"
Eden nodded.
"Then let's open a restaurant, or a chain of restaurants. We can use the foods from our world, or even just the cooking recipes."
"Trading food between the worlds at this stage would be a stupid move; we don't have enough trading slots in our inventories. We will need gold threaded cards to make the transfers profitable enough. And we can't do shit until we increase our levels. Our top priority is to farm EXP, not do business," Eden said after finishing his meal.
"Then it's settled. We will open a restaurant in the future," Cole said, excited.
"Slow down, little businessman. Did you heard what i said?" Eden asked. "And It will be a long process, not to mention that not all the inhabitants accept us."
"Why are you cutting my—"
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[System Notice: Due to a decrease in the population of Wooden Golems, the forest has summoned a guardian!]
Nearby players: 2. All players must gather to defend against the Forest Guardian.]
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The system announcement interrupted Cole's words. Both he and Eden jumped to their feet.
So, this happens, Eden thought, remembering some things. He had a vague idea that there was a catch with the Oakland Valley, but he couldn't remember what.
"This can't be good," Cole said, preparing to run.
"Let's wait and see the stats of this guardian. Maybe we can beat it," Eden said.
He remembered that if they killed a certain number of Wooden Golems, the forest would spawn a guardian. The good news was that the guardian's stats were influenced by the number of players inside the valley. And If they managed to kill the monster, a rich reward awaited them.
The ground trembled, trees moved to make way, and wild animals ran as fast as they could. From the deep forest emerged a tall, four-legged, green mass.
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[Forest Guardian (Rare Level 4)]
HP: 1200
Defense: 20
Attack Power: 38
Movement Speed: 16
Description: Protector of the forest. Regenerates +10 HP every 10 seconds.
Skill: Thorn Barrage: Unleashes a volley of sharp thorns - 10 HP in all directions, damaging anyone within range.
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"Aaa, yes, let's get out of here. I'm not facing that thing," Cole said, grabbing Eden's arm.
"No, it's a great opportunity. We can take it down," Eden said with confidence. "It's not impossible to beat."
"Take it down? It has 20 points of defense. Without hitting a vital spot, I can't deal more than 4 points of damage."
"Cole, be a man and let's try to beat it. Think of it as training. Not to mention that we don't know when or if this thing will disappear. We will waste a lot of time finding another suitable area, and it will definitely take more time to level up," Eden explained, trying to convince his friend to take part in his plan.
Cole remained quiet, but the monster moved towards them.
"It's too late to retreat now," Eden said, taking his sword out from inventory.
"Fine, fine, if I die it's on you. You'll have to compensate me," Cole said, making his decision.
"Then if we win, I'll take all the rewards and experience."
Cole thought for a second. "No."
Eden moved to the right side of the monster, while Cole stayed on the left.
This monster has a somewhat simple attack pattern, and its attack power is just a little higher than mine. We can probably beat it, Eden thought.
"Try to dodge its attacks as much as possible!" Eden shouted to Cole.
He advanced, and as soon as he entered the monster's attack range, its front leg, large as a tree trunk, moved to strike.
Eden slid on the grass, avoiding the attack. Arriving beneath the monster, he got to his feet and started slashing with his sword, dealing a consistent damage of [ - 16 ].
Cole, on the other side, was the direct target of the monster. "That's why you wanted me to stay?" he yelled. He definitely couldn't face the monster on his own and buy Eden enough time to finish it off.
But Eden didn't remain under the monster for long. He slid out when the massive body above him trembled and was about to collapse. Eden didn't even have time to stand up before the monster dropped to its belly.
"Now we attack again before it gets up," Eden said, dashing to deal more damage.
"So you know how to deal with this thing?" Cole asked.
"A little bird with the voice of a bell told me," Eden joked. "Let's move near the trees. When you see the monster stop in place, go hide behind them."
"Okay!"
The monster rose up, and a [ +10 ] appeared above its head, its HP was now 1,144. After a loud roar, the monster located its enemies and charged at them. The sharp branches on its head aimed to pierce the two unlucky individuals.
Cole jumped behind a tree, while Eden evaded the charge and slashed again for [ - 8 ] damage.
Seeing that it missed, the guardian turned around and slowed down, moving its head sideways to prevent its opponents from evading.