"Yes, I am completely unscathed, thanks to your timely arrival," as Arin uttered these words blood started dripping from his lips mid-sentence and he coughed violently.

The townspeople who had come to supposedly save him could only smile awkwardly as they scratched their heads.

Even the usually serious Nocterin could barely hide his chuckle as he pulled out a bottle with purplish liquid in it.

"Drink this, your highness. It is a second-grade healing potion." Nocterin said while opening the bottle's lid and bringing the bottle near Arun's lips.

Arin took a sip, it tasted pleasant. He gulped down the entire contents of the bottle. As he did, his calloused body began to revitalize and the wounds closed completely without leaving a single scar.

"This is even better than the Regelix Serum." He thought to himself.

Regelix represented the heights of technological advancements, it was the culmination of decades of research. But this epitome of technology fell short to the power of a simple magic potion.

After Arin had healed completely, he told the townspeople to leave and finally ventured en route to the quest's place. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible especially after this incident.

*****

Arin and Nocterin stood at the entrance of a bizarrely huge wooden house with its gate open. Contrary to what he had decided before, Nocterin entered together with him.

The enterior felt like a family residence that had been untended for a long time. Every furniture was in the wrong place. It looked like a mess.

"Sir Evans, could you come out for a moment." Arin's loud shout echoed through the interior.

No movement was apparent at first but soon they noticed a faint shuffle from the darkness upstairs.

"Evans? You must be mistaken, I am just a pious old man." A creaky voice made its way to them as a sillouhette drew near.

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The figure entered their eyesight. A old weak man with sunken eyes and a famished body. He looked pathetic.

Nocterin couldn't help but question the prince's friendship choices in his mind.

"P-Prince Arin?" The old man's voice trembled slightly as he realized who this visitor was. "How come your highness visted this lowly commoner?" The old man's tone stabilized.

"Lowly? And you? What are you talking about, sir Evans. You are the grandmaster of vine, after all." Arin's lips arched upwards in a smug smile as he said in a teasing manner.

"Vine, you must be mistaken. This follower of god doesn't dare to even about something as sinful as alcohol." The flustered old man replied, appearing a bit shocked.

"Really? Whats this then?"

Arin kicked over the nearby table to the side revealing rows upon rows of bottled alcohols.

"..."

The old man was completely aghast not knowing how to react.

"Forgive me god, this servant's house has been defiled by someone's mischief. I will surely punish this prankster." The old man kneeled to the ground as he looked upwards and prayed in a saddened tone.

"Why is everyone so dramatic in this game? Do they think I am some child!" Arin started cursing the game's creators but stopped when he realised he had helped too.

Sighing, he said to the old man,"Sir, you could benefit from some acting classes. That act is not going to fool anyone."

"I am only here to help you, we should not waste time." He added while staring daggers at the man.

Knowing no trick was gonna work, the old man said with a defeated expression,"fine, what is it that your highness requires my assistance for."

"I don't want assistance but to assist you. I heard that the potion you spend years making has been lost by you somewhere." Arin explained with a teasing smile.

This master of vine actually had a dangerous foible. He would often forget recent events when he drank alcohol and this was the reason he had lost the potion.

"Ah! I do remember that the potion was left by me in the vampiric ruins but unfortunately the key to that place has been reduced to a lump of metal." Evans replied in an embarassed tone.

"If your highness really manages to find that bottle, I would be incredibly grateful," he added.

"Your gratefulness isn't what I want, however if you could give me that renowned tome of yours..." Arin looked intently at the elder.

The elder hesitated at first but finally heaved a sigh and replied,"I accept your conditions, your highness."

"Smart choice, sir Evans." Said Arin with a smug expression as he signaled Nocterin to go outside. He felt that Nocterin had been traumatized enough.

*****

Arin and his guard were roaming through a sparse forest when Nocterin finally gave into his impulsive thoughts and asked,"where are we headed? Your highness."

"To the cave of Necrowolves, the wolves known for loyality."

This statement startled Nocterin. Necrowolves were highly dangerous second-grade creatures and the prince wouldn't be able to hunt them without his help. He didn't say anything though.

After an hour or two, the two had finally reached their destination.

A humongous rocky mountain opened to a narrow cave entrance. The rocks that constituted it were a bleak green decorated by traces of moss.

Arin went in, followed closely by Nocterin. As they traversed deeper and deeper into the cave system the interior got increasingly darker and more dingy.

There was a peculiar odor present in every part of the cave, like that of rotten potatoes. The stillness was broken by a shuffle in the shadows, a low howl sounded as if warning them not to tread further.

Despite their scary name, Necrowolves were neutral and only attacked if they felt threatened and going further in the cave would make them feel threatened.

As Nocterin was about to retrieve his scythe from his spatial pouch Arin signaled him to stop.

"We aren't gonna kill a single one of them." He said, his confident smile hiding a ingenious scheme.