Alexia

“Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll be leaving,” I tell the man with a nod of my head before beginning to walk past him, making sure to keep my guard up as I walk. Just in case he tries something.

“Wait!” the man says, suddenly panicking as he reaches out to grab my arm, but I just teleport past him without giving him the light of day. At least, until he becomes desperate and exclaims, “Please help my friends!”

I blink at that in surprise before turning around and facing him with my arms crossed.

“What?” I ask, a frown forming on my face. “Explain.”

The man seems to only just now realize that he had lost control of his emotions and regathers himself with a quick clearing of his throat. But I just say, “If you don’t explain now, I’m leaving.”

So he finally drops the act and says, “My friends and I left our base in search of water in the mountains where we were attacked by the subordinates of the level capped monster of the island.” His face droops with sadness. “All of the others were captured by them, but I got away and have been searching for help ever since.” He clenches his fists slightly, a tear beginning to form at the corner of his eye as he looks up at me and exclaims, “Please help them!”

I frown in response.

If this isn’t a trick of some sort, it wouldn’t hurt to help them out. And it could bring me to the level capped monster I’m searching for.

I look over the man’s equipment once more before remembering his level.

He’s forty-one levels beneath me with a lower Class species as well. So it’s not like he can hurt me, even if he got a group of people at the same level as him.

I purse my lips.

It wouldn’t hurt to save them I guess. I don’t really care much about things that don’t involve me most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help someone out if I feel like it and am passing by.

But first, I ask, “How did you get away when your friends didn’t? And why are you at such a high level? Did you enter a dungeon?” My last question has me frowning and shaking my head right away. “No, you’d have to have finished the dungeon if you entered it, and you’re nowhere near a high enough level for that. So why are you at a much higher level than the other non-Legendary Feat holders I’ve seen?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The guy tenses up slightly at that before answering my first question by suddenly vanishing from sight. But despite that, I still track him with my eyes simply by the sounds of his footsteps and breathing, proving him to just be invisible.

“Light magic?” I ask to his surprise as he stiffens up immediately. Then he relaxes again and becomes visible while answering, “Yes. My class specializes in stealth-based light magic.”

So he used his magic to get away.

There’s the question of if he abandoned his friends or not, but considering that he’s asking me for help…

I’m still not sure if he’s trustworthy, but it’s the only lead I have on the level capped monster, so I might as well go along. And if he’s telling the truth? Then I can save his friends too.

“That still leaves the question of your level,” I prod, reminding him while beginning to tap one foot quietly with patience.

He seems to struggle for a second, clearly not wanting to tell me before he eventually answers, “I found a Nest on the other side of the island during the Tutorial…”

I raise a brow.

“Nest level?” I ask for clarification.

“Fifty,” he answers without any hesitation this time.

“And location?” I continue, this time making the man sweat. But then I shake my head and say, “Never mind. Tell me once we’re done.”

He lets out a sigh.

There’s no point in asking now. I’m just gonna forget where it’s at and have to ask again by the time we finish.

I’m a little surprised he found a Nest though. Those don’t appear very often. Places that are cut off from the normal plane of existence just like dungeons are, but are only a single area. Almost as if a single area of a dungeon with a set level range was cut out of the dungeon and left on its own.

They don’t give anywhere near as many benefits as a dungeon, but they do give one loot box for the first clear of it, along with the EXP of whatever is killed inside of them.

But unlike dungeons prior to the Reset, Nests couldn’t be claimed by a Noble. Not that it matters now since Dungeons can’t be claimed anymore either.

People also don’t build around Nests because the things, unlike dungeons, release monsters outside of themselves as well. So unless they want a city where monsters are periodically being released into the city then they won’t be building around it.

If it’s a level fifty Nest, then it could be rather useful for Astrid to level up in… assuming she doesn’t just skip straight past that Nest during her time in the dungeon. Which is highly likely she will.

So I guess the only use I have for the Nest is for whatever loot box it’ll give me.

One last question though.

“Why were you searching for water in the mountains?” I ask while tilting my head slightly and glancing at the hot springs in this very cavern. “Did you just not see the hot springs?”

He blinks for a second, his confusion overriding any fear or hesitation he was feeling before as he asks, “You didn’t notice?”

“Notice what?” I ask with a frown.

“I thought you were just too high a level for the heat of the water to bother you, but that water is hot enough to boil a level 20 alive,” he says with a sideways glance at the hot springs.

Oh.

Wait, is it because I got my adaptation to fire magic? Makes me more resistant to heat?

Because while the gap between level 20 and 100 is large, it’s not large enough for something that could boil a level 20 alive to feel comfortable for a level 100.

Interesting.

“Let’s go,” I tell him while summoning my polearm again and indicating the entrance to the cavern. “Lead the way.”