During the next 30 minutes, the group continued walking through the jungle, being guided by Sammy. Everyone agreed that this place was very strange. The plants looked much more like something from the time of the dinosaurs than anything else. The monsters also had a prehistoric feel to them. Bugs were much bigger than they were supposed to be. Aside from the Cherry Mantis, they Also saw a group of red grasshoppers jumping around. Those creatures could create small bursts of fire under their legs once they were in the air, allowing them to essentially double jump. Luckily, the fire wasn't able to ignite the dry leaves and twigs that were on the ground or on the trees. It seems like the foliage here was much stronger than the monsters themselves. Hera imagined that those bugs would be even bigger than most rabbits. Their name was Flashfire Skipper, and they were around level 20, but they traveled in packs of at least ten which could prove to be a problem.

Another creature they saw was a bush that would roll around almost like tumbleweeds. But they had a very lush green coloration, and some of the green could reach out as if it was a tentacle. It was called Tumblevine, and it was just level 25 again. That only made Hera feel better about their situation. After all, the monsters seemed to be following the level of the 10th layer as they were supposed to be. They saw a couple of those who were somewhat small, or at least compared with all the flora in this place. Each of them was about the size of a beach ball, but some time later, they saw another one much bigger that would easily be 6 meters tall, and that was only what they were able to see between the trees. If those creatures were still keeping the same shape, it would be a giant ball with a radius of 3 meters.

The last creature they saw before finding the village was a mix of a gopher, a flying squirrel, and a leopard. The leopard part was only because of the black spots in its fur. Unfortunately, Hera wasn't able to use her [Observe] on that creature since she only saw it flying by. The biggest issue was that the monster was the size of a Great Dane, and it still was able to glide around the trees with ease.

When they finally reached their destination, what they found was a large wooden wall supported by bones and the exoskeleton of various giant animals and bugs. Some of the bones and pieces of bugs were reinforcing the wood, while others formed spikes that would stop any large creature from climbing above it. If a small monster decided to use the bones as stairs, that could be a problem, but Hera imagined that there was another defense that would stop them, or maybe the smaller monsters were not a danger to those inside. Some vines were also being used as rope to tie pieces of it together, and it was hard to tell if those were from the trees or from one of the Tumblevines. As they approached the walls, a voice came from above.

"Who goes there?" it was a masculine voice that didn't sound friendly but wasn't hostile either.

Hera looked up, trying to see what was happening, but she could only see a small pair of white horns moving atop the wall. She felt a bit exposed since Nimbus and Lurize were inside the legacy. Sammy told her to keep them out unless they were needed since having a humanoid griffon would raise some questions. Explaining about her legacy first and then showing him was the best option.

"Hello there. We are travelers looking for the Hidden Village. Would this be the right place?" Adriel asked in a yell since the voice was so far away.

"Hidden Village?" the voice scoffed, "What kind of hidden village is so out in the open that anyone can just find it? You got the wrong place. Get lost."

"No, no. I'm pretty sure there is only one village in the middle of the forest like this. The description we also got matches. Very tall walls made out of wood, bones, and exoskeletons," Adriel pressed, describing exactly what Sammy told them.

"You are describing any decent wall. Anyone would use every resource available. If they only gave you that description, they are morons," the voice said.

"Hey!" Sammy protested, "Tell him you came to pay off a debt by joining the vanguard."

"We came to pay off our debts by joining the vanguard!" Adriel yelled.

"Fucking hell," the man mumbled loud enough so those on the ground could hear it, "Why the fuck are you showing up from back here? You know what. I don't care. Go around the perimeter, I'll send word, and people will be waiting for you at the gate."

"Thank you," Adriel smiled and looked to the sides, "Should we go left or right?"

"I don't care. I'm already doing more than I should. If you take the long way around, it's your own damn fault. Not like you already walked more than you should or anything. Bunch of dumb…" the voice got farther and farther away as he spoke until they couldn't hear it anymore.

"People here seem nice," Alex rolled her eyes.

"Maybe it's not everyone," Hera suggested, but she only got some odd stares from the rest of the party, "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised how innocent you are sometimes," Bonnie chuckled.

"What? Not everyone is an asshole!" Hera gasped."

"True, but in my experience, eight out of ten people are assholes," as Shane finished speaking, Mylo and Blue glanced at her, "Don't give me that look. I know I'm one of the assholes in this group. It's up to you to figure out who the others are."

They continued talking while walking to the left, which, fortunately, was the short way around. Just five minutes later, they arrived in front of the gate. It was a much more reinforced structure made mostly out of bone that almost looked like a fanged maw of a massive creature. They had to wait about 20 minutes before they saw any movement, and that was only someone on top of the wall looking over. Only then did the gate finally open. The bones raised as if it was opening its mouth like a goblin shark, putting its mandible forward. Inside, there was a group of four people. Two guards wore bone and bark armor, with their heads inside different animal skulls. Between them, there was a large shirtless man with dark skin. But most of his body was covered in some gray fur, leaving only his pecks and some of his abs exposed. He had a wooden mask on that showed some sort of animal bearing its fangs and wore dark leather pants. To his side, there was an older wrinkly man that was holding himself with a walking stick. He wasn't wearing a mask, but he had a long cloak that went all the way to the ground and seemed to drag behind him. The old man also seemed to have a hunchback, or he at least had trouble standing up straight. His face was friendly, but Hera quickly noticed that he was a beastman, evidenced by the ears covered in hair or fur on top of his head.

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"Humm... Hi?" Blue waved at the group inside the village.

"Are you all going to wait for a monster to sneak by our defenses, or are you coming in?" the man wearing the wooden mask asked.

"Oh, sorry, can we?" Bonnie asked.

"Just get inside already. Keeping the gate open is a lot of effort," once again, only the man with the mask spoke.

The group quickly walked past the gate and realized what he meant by that. In order to open the gate, people had to pull on two sets of chains, one on each side. It also took two people to pull one of those chains, and they seemed to struggle. Their body language made Hera remember people in the gym doing the bench press. She could only imagine that their faces also showed how much effort they were putting in, but just like the guards, each was wearing a different animal skull.

"Good. You can drop the gate," the man with the wooden mask said, followed by a loud noise behind them. Hera looked back and saw the wooden part of the gate slamming against the ground. She couldn't tell what was happening with the bones, but she could imagine they were back in their 'closed mouth' formation.

"Now, would you mind telling us again why you are here?" the old man asked.

"Oh, yes. We came to join the vanguard. " To pay off our debts," Adriel repeated, unsure what that meant.

"May I ask what debt sent you here? You don't have to say if you don't want to. I'm just curious," the old man continued.

"Don't give too much information," Sammy said for the entire party to hear.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say If we don't have to, I rather not say," Alex stepped in.

There was a pause, and everyone felt the eyes of the man with a wooden mask staring at them individually. The silence broke when he finally said, "I guess you never know what to expect from people."

"Now, now. You know how these things are. Please, walk with me. I would like to talk with you some more before anything," the old man gestured to the party to follow. As they started walking, the guards and the man with the wooden mask moved with them. The guards flanked the group, with the four that opened the gate joining in on the rear, and the shirtless man stayed beside the elder, "Before anything. Do you know what the vanguard is, and what do we do here?"

"Not really," Blue replied.

"Yeah, they just sent us here," Bonnie added, not to raise suspicion.

The man with the wooden mask looked back, "Damn, I really thought I was better at reading people."

"Don't worry. I'll do my best to explain. You see, there are many things in the forest that can be a danger to people in general, and our job is to ensure that those in the kingdom are not affected by those things. Be it monsters, diseases, or whatever may happen," the group walked through the village as the elder spoke.

The place was unique, to say the least. Near the walls, there were some simple shacks. They seemed to have one, or maybe two rooms at most, and a latrine on the outside. As the buildings got closer to the center, they became more luxurious. There were a couple of cabins here and there, but the biggest house was in the middle of the village. It was a hollowed-out tree, and the place had a couple of balconies and a hanging garden on the second floor. Everything seemed made out of wood, almost as if the tree naturally grew to form this house. Hera was impressed. She imagined that it would be hard to find a place like that, even back in civilization.

"We must fight monsters and search for any possible danger. Then we remove that danger so the people in the kingdom can live happily and in peace," the old man passed by the houses and reached a small entrance leading to a staircase that went down. He gestured for everyone to come inside, and soon they all started to descend the steps of this cave. The man with a wooden mask and the guards stayed outside, which made everyone feel more comfortable. When some light started to shine at the bottom of the staircase, the old man continued, "As you can imagine, this is a dangerous job, and it's also thankless. I mean, even in the kingdom, almost no one knows about the vanguard and about this place."

"Why is that? And how do you make sure that those dangers never reach the city? We are not exactly on a geographical bottleneck," Bonnie asked. She studied the map of the Waperath Jungle, and she couldn't think of a single location where a single village would be able to create a barrier.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out into what looked like a large arena. Wooden walls completely surrounded it, but no bones or exoskeletons were around. However, the wall behind them was made of stone, and it would rise much higher than the rest. Hera looked at the old man, trying to figure out how he would fight. They were brought here for a reason, and in stories, this would usually come with a test where they fought the seemingly weak old man only to get their asses handed to them.

"For two reasons. As you may know, people don't come here voluntarily. Only those who committed crimes and have a debt to pay are sent here. And, of course, only certain crimes earn you a spot in the vanguard. You won't be sent here for stealing some fruit," the old man laughed but started coughing right away. It took him a few moments to regain his composure and continue, "Now, for your second question. It would be impossible to find everything if we were just running around searching for strong creatures. But we can make them come here."

With that line, a loud noise came from above, and two carcasses were flung over the stone wall while still being attached to a rope. Between the two, a large honey-colored crystal started to let out a thin layer of smoke.

"What is… where did he go?" Shane looked up at the corpses, but when she was going to ask the old man a question, he was no longer there. Suddenly a loud noise came from the staircase they came through. Everyone snapped in that direction and saw a thick stone grate blocking the entrance with the old man on the other side.

"We attract monsters here with food and items. That is the gist of it. I honestly can't be bothered to explain more to people who are about to die. I'll come back in the morning if you are all still alive, then I'll tell you the details. If not, we will bury your corpses. Well… if there are any corpses left to bury," the old man waved at the group and started walking up the stairs. At the same time, the jungle started to make noise, as if countless monsters were starting to move, and the sound was getting louder with every second.