Very soon, Guthne and Leiu were out of Black Mountain City. Their destination was the regions around the towering Black Mountain, North of the city.

Just as they left the from the Northern city gate, they were welcomed by a somewhat gloomy forest. There was also a noticeable lack of Players.

These woods, filled with pitch-black trees and heavy atmosphere, were the home of relatively high-leveled monsters. The flora was particularly thick and the top of the trees seemed to be interconnected, naturally or not. The entire place was covered by a looming shadows, which made it slightly dark.

The forest trees had Dark-Brown wood and jet black leaves. They looked a bit strange and creepy, some even were deformed into a strange shape and others were as thick as 10 normal trees.

As soon as he stepped into those dark areas, Leiu heard the System Notifications. His passives were, yet again, activated.

'These are, at most, shadowed areas. It's not nearly enough to be categorized as night.'

Leiu grunted in annoyance as he saw Guthne's irritating leisurely walk. The old man seemed to have no sense of danger.

As they ventured deeper, Leiu's heart started beating faster. He didn't why exactly he was feeling anxious, but the suffocating feeling within him was strange and inexplicable.

"Hurry up, kid! We don't have all day!"

Leiu didn't give a response. He stood there, his head raised and eyes focusing on the Black Mountain that was barely visible through the thick and interwoven branches. Eventually, when a sound came from a distance away, he snapped out of his trance.

The origin of the noise was a monster that was half-human half-horse. A centaur.

It wielded a long spear in bulky hands, but was what most domineering about it was its relatively large and muscular body.

Centaurs were mythological creatures that were supposed to be strong, therefore, their presence so close to the city was worrying.

"So those are the centaurs! I've always wanted to-"

Before Guthne could finish, Leiu smacked him in the head and covered his mouth before dragging him behind a tree.

"Shut up!"

Leiu was about to lean to the side and take a peek, however, the moment he heard loud galloping, he knew that the centaurs had discovered them. Panicking, Leiu pushed the old man and then clumsily rolled out of the way. The tree they had been using as a cover was blown to bits as the centaur thrust its spear at it.

Leiu didn't even have time to take a simple breather before the silver spear was already upon him.

The centaur manoevured its weapon with dexterity and swiftness, sweeping it downwards, right at where Leiu was.

[Dark Empowerment]

As he activated his defensive buff, Leiu raised his sword, hoping to parry the incoming spear, which brought with it a gust of cold wind. Despite his quick reflexes, the moment the spear clashed with his sword, Leiu felt a monstrous force that made his hands go numb and his body experience a strong shock.

His vision blurred as he was blown backwards, unable to even to control his spinning body as it violently rolled on the ground.

You have been inflicted with the following Debuff: Confused (3 seconds)

Leiu's mind was befuddled and his thoughts were in total disarray. He could see more than half of his Health Bar empty and the Centaur was rushing at him again, yet he wasn't able to snap out of fit.

Horned Centaur: Lv49

'How is this E+ Difficulty?'

In this Confused state, Leiu couldn't retaliate or evade. He laid there, only able to watch as the Centaur closed in the distance and thrust its silver spear.

Before the killing blow could be dealt, however, a figure leapt at the Centaur's flank, forcing it to swipe its spear at it. Surprisingly, it was old man Guthne who interfered.

His heroic help notwithstanding, Guthne was still a non-combatant NPC. He wouldn't be able to revive like Leiu.

Guthne made use of his small mining axe, which, albeit withstanding a direct clash with the Centaur's spear, was still unable to defend its wielder. Guthne's small body was smashed into the ground, a groan of pain escaping his lips.

"What are you doing! Run!"

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Fortunately, when Leiu screamed at him, Guthne no longer continued his courageous act. He luckily rolled out of the Centaur's hooves, hastily jumped to his feet, and then sprung into a mad sprint.

As for the Centaur, it didn't bother with the running old man, instead, it chose to shift back its focus onto Leiu, who was no longer Confused.

'I have to slow it down!'

Instead of charging it and engaging in a close-quarter clash, Leiu made use of his weapon's integrated skill: He shot Icicles at the incoming Centaur. Leiu exhausted all available charges of the skill, somehow managing to hit the Centaur and slow it down.

He sped toward the direction of the city's Northern Gates, not daring to stop even for a second. After a short bit, he longer heard the loud galloping of the Centaur, but even then, Leiu chose to stop only when he entered a so-called 'Safe spot'.

...

"What are you grinning about, you almost killed both of us!"

Leiu couldn't keep silent as he saw Guthne's face.

"Me? If not for you being too weak, we could have dealt with that Centaur. What use are you if you can't deal with the dangers?"

"Deal with the dangers? That was a Centaur. I can't beat that."

After snapping at the elderly blacksmith, Leiu took a deep breath and calmed himself down. It was no use arguing with an NPC, it would just make him look stupid. Nevertheless, it was Guthne's fault that they were discovered.

"We need to go pick up my axe, I dropped it when I helped you."

Leiu clicked his tongue but didn't object. Thus, after a brief rest, the two headed back into the dark forest.

This time around, Guthne kept silent and stuck close to Leiu. As they were being extra-careful, they were able to see and detect the roaming Centaurs, which were more numerous than Leiu expected. Still, as they maintained their distance and remained quiet, they succeeded in venturing deeper without re-experiencing an unfortunate situation like that of earlier.

"We've been walking for half an hour. Where are the caves you spoke of?"

"How should I know?"

Seeing Leiu's cold and deadly glare, Guthne quickly corrected himself;

"I-I mean they should be close, I think."

'All this for an E+ Quest.'

Were it not for his need to obtain good Chains, Leiu wouldn't have wasted so much time and effort in such a quest. The Difficulty definitely didn't match the risk involved.

'Unless there was another path to the caves.'

"This should be it"

Guthne pointe at a conspicuous cave a distance away. Excited, he rushed towards it, seemingly forgetting that these woods were teeming with Centaurs.

The cave, if it could even be called that, was just a formation of big boulders that had an opening in them.

In certain corners, Leiu saw the ore they were looking for, however, Guthne didn't immediately start mining them. He kept pacing around while stroking his beard, unaware that they were still in an exposed and dangerous place.

"Hurry...up."

Leiu kept looking around, feeling anxious. There were no enemies around yet he felt as if he was being watched. For a moment or two, as he was urging the obnoxious Guthne, his vision turned pitch-black again. At first, he thought he was inflicted with the 'Blind' effect, but it wasn't the case.

This 'occurence' was happening both in the game and in reality, but Leiu felt it more clearly here. A cool and comforting sensation washed over his body, steadying his rapidly-beating heart. The feeling of being watched was abruptly cut-off, filling Leiu's head with an unusual serenity and clarity.

"Hurry up already!"

Guthne gave him a mocking look before shrugging his shoulders and then proceeding to mine the Black Iron.

The mining process didn't last long for long. Guthne was efficient and in possession of a lot of 'Stamina'.

"And that's do..ne..." Guthne, who caught sight of a beast rushing in their direction, turned around and sprinted away, "Meet me back at my store!"

As his eyes focused on the source of the noise, Leiu saw three silhouette coming into view: Two centaurs and an equally large beast chasing them. It was unlike anything Leiu had ever seen, but its appearance alone was frightening.

It had a body of a deer, eagle claws, a lion's tail, and a cheetah-like face. A mixture of several beasts, all merged into one ferocious monstrosity. Leiu had limited knowledge about mythological creatures, but he was certain that it wasn't a Chimera.

Calygreyhound: Lv40

Although they Centaurs were higher-leveled, they were the ones fleeing. Purposely or not, they were coming straight at Leiu. In fact, one of the two raised its spear and stabbed forward.

In response, Leiu rolled out of the way and then shot an Icicle at it, which was intercepted by the second Centaur. Feeling desperate, Leiu used [Dark Empowerment] just as the first Centaur used its front legs to hit him.

Although he was inflicted with the Confused Debuff, he still look a big chunk of his Health. Around the time he got back to his feet and downed a Health Potion, the Calygreyhound was already upon the Centaurs.

The beast let out a loud roar as it lunged onto its preys: it opened its mouth and let out an ear-piercing shriek that was not too dissimilar from a banshee's. Leiu covered his ears and staggered backwards, choosing to retreat instead of foolishly attempting to defend or fight.

'I just need to be out of combat for 30 seconds then I can summon Milkan'

Seeing the two Centaurs, which were more affected by the Calygreyhound's shriek than he was, Leiu felt a tinge of hope. He sheathed his sword and rushed away, though the disgusting crunching sounds didn't escape his ears.