-Near the North Gate of Order of Light City-

We packed our supplies and sold the loot we gained from previous battles. We got lots of gold coins. I bought new equipment made out of good leather for better protection. The weight of the armor is also light which won't slow me down that much. I also bought a cloak and hood to hide my face. I don't want players to recognize me when I'm in my zone again. I bought a light shield and it will greatly improve my defense. A new light dagger is good for surprise attacks too. Rings that improve my mana regeneration also didn't hurt. I spent a large amount of gold but it's worth it.

-High-Quality Light Leather Armor Set

(High increase in Light Armor Benefits.)

-Thief's Cloak

(Slightly increase in Stealth benefits.)

-High-Quality Light Shield

(Intermediate Damage Reduction from Physical and Magical Attacks. Strong attacks might still damage and knockback the user when blocking.)

-Light High-Quality Bone Dagger

(Intermediate increase in Light Weapon Benefits.)

Ring of Mana Regeneration x2

(Slightly increase in Mana Recovery Speed)

My party members are well equipped now. New weapons for them to boost to their damage output, better armors for better protection too.

*TOOT TOOOTOOTOOOT!* A loud sound of horn echoed throughout the city. It was the signal to assemble in front of the north gate.

"So that's our signal. Get ready guys!" I excitedly marched towards the North Gate with the others.

We arrived at the entrance and it is so crowded. It is eight am in the morning, aren't they supposed to be at work? Jeez.

"Hey hey hey! It's me, your Lady Celeste! The total names of the players who applied are about 723 people. Wow, I was expecting less but a couple of noobs won't hurt the dungeon run. Is there anyone here who doesn't have their name on the list?" Man, she's still pretty rude.

Elou, Akko, and Lili raised their hands. They're so honest.

"Oh, I remember you guys. Hey you, put their names on the list. They're the ones who defeated the Wild Kittens gang or something," Celeste ordered. Why do people always forget about names? And why would you reveal something like that in front of hundreds of people!

"The rules are simple. First, we need to travel to the forest and find the dungeon. Second, exploring the dungeon is our main goal but if the dungeon is hard for the players to handle we will go out and regroup for further planning. Third, no killing of fellow players. Fourth, dropped items of dead players will be automatically collected by guards and transfer them to the warehouse in town. We have the magic spell to do that. Lastly, if you get loot from the dungeon, it will be yours as long as you're the one who got it first," Well, sounds reasonable. If you die, you only lose level points and save the items you got so far. Not bad.

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"If there are no questions, get ready!" She's pretty excited. She explained it very well.

We marched like a bunch of ants towards the forest. It's a long travel. Players who don't have mounts are having a hard time catching up. I should save some gold to buy my own mount. I always forget to buy one.

The monsters, on the way, are fiercer than any monster we've met so far. Grims, Centaurs, and Ogres can be seen on the way. Grims are a jet-black dog of Giant, bear-like size and pertained to be spectral. It has a pair of yellow eyes that can gleam in an ominous way. Centaur has the head, arms, and torso of a humanoid and the body and legs of a horse. Centaur also uses a giant ax to attack enemies. Ogres are closely linked with giants and human cannibals. They are inhumanly large and tall and has a disproportionately large head with abundant hair.

(GRIM RANK: C

CENTAUR RANK: C

OGRE RANK: C)

While we're traveling, we saw a really big monster from afar. It has the size of two Ogres! It was a Giant! Giants are larger than orcs and have some grim pets around him. Giant's main weapon is a giant Club. This monster is way stronger than the Goblin Chief!

(GIANT BOSS RANK: B)

"We won't let a Boss Giant roam around the area! Prepare for Battle!" The brat shouted without fear.

"EARTH SUMMON! Go as tall as the giant!" She created a Golem that is so big that it's as tall the Giant. The players surrounded the giant to kill it. Fighting a Rank B boss requires ten players of Rank B to kill it but today the giant will be facing hundreds of Rank C and above adventurers, too bad for the giant.

The giant's hands were preoccupied with the golem which restricted its movement. The archers and spellcasters focused their attacks on the Giant. It was a one-sided fight. The Giant didn't last a minute. The other mobs also had to leave the place as soon as they can. I just watched them kill the giant, though.

(GIANT HAS BEEN DEFEATED NEARBY.)

"That was good! Good warm up guys!" The brat said. It wasn't even a warm-up. You didn't even break a sweat. She got a stone I received from before.

We continued on our journey. The estimated time to our destination would be around four to five hours. It's only been an hour when we fought the Giant boss.

The pace of the journey is faster than usual. I'm pretty sure we'll get exhausted when we reach the forest. Jeez, I even forgot to eat my breakfast.

They said that elves protect the forest. As long as you don't do anything bad with the forest they won't hurt you. Though, with our numbers, they might get the wrong idea. If something wrong happens, it may lead to war between players and elves.

Elves are considered "Creatures" because they're not as aggressive as normal monsters. Elves have their own random personalities. They don't have specific tasks, automatic responses or triggered by certain actions or dialogues which made them not "NPCs". But it's not only elves that behave that way, there are Orcs and other races too but most of them are not discovered yet.

I hope the brat has a plan if we reached the forest. She may look and sound like a b*tch but she's really smart.

It was a long journey but thankfully we arrived at the forest without us noticing because we enjoyed talking to each other while traveling. It took us three hours. There were no monsters that dared to get near us. If it was just a regular party they would really take longer because of the monsters around.

The forest is not as hot as the grassland. It's because the tall trees provide us cover from the sunlight. Till now, we still haven't seen even a single elf. Maybe they're in the deep part of the forest.

"We are near the cave. We should take a break here. I'll give you an hour break to do your stuff at home. Be back at twelve noon," She ordered. Well, thank God, I can now have my brunch.

Most of the players logged out from the game.

-Aries' Home-

I also did. I spent my hour just eating brunch and brushing my teeth.

*RIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIING!* I heard the phone ringing so I picked it up.

"Hello Bro, sorry I forgot that I have something important to do. I'll be back when I finish it as soon as possible," The call was from Mari and she talks so fast. It looks like she's really busy.

"Ok, just be careful out there and don't get too late. It's dangerous outside," I answered and we before I could finish my sentence, she already hung up.

I logged in back to the game. Most of the players are back too. This is one of the most important explorations so far prepared by the Order of Lights because Vanguards Stronghold guild is the one who does it mostly.

"Ok, guys! Time to move out!" The brat is always excited.