Mika and Jarred began preparing the supplies, while Kyle prepared the carriage.

Meanwhile, Carl and I set off to buy food. As we walked, we stumbled upon an old shop.

Carl went inside to select some ingredients, while I stayed outside, noticing the place was strangely deserted. Curious, I looked around for the shopkeeper but couldn't find anyone.

I wandered further, eventually reaching a narrow alleyway. At the end of it, I saw an old woman smoking.

“Excuse me, are you the owner of the shop? ”I asked.

“Hm? Oh, just take whatever you want,” she replied casually.

“Uh, don't I need to pay? ”I hesitated.

She chuckled. “Payment is not in money, child, but in deeds... the kind that aren't so good, you know? ”

“Huh? But you just said I could take whatever I wanted? ”

“Yes. It looks like your friend has already taken what he wanted. Enjoy.” She smiled, a cigarette perched between her fingers.

Her words sent a chill down my spine. I hurried back to the shop, where I found Carl leaving with an armful of food.

“Carl? What are you doing? Why aren't you paying? ”I asked, catching up to him.

He turned and grinned. “Did you see the old lady at the end of the alley? ”

I nodded silently.

“She told me before that everything’s free in her shop. Everyone here takes what they need without paying,” he explained.

“But she said... payment isn’t in money if you take anything from her shop.”

Carl laughed. “Yeah, she said the price is life itself or something like that. Do you actually believe her? ”

“Well...”

“Come on, who’d say no to free food? ”He chuckled, walking ahead while I remained, feeling uneasy and unsettled.

When we returned, Mika and the others had finished preparing for our trip. Mika had even started cooking a meal before we left.

I decided to take a quick shower and change. By the time I returned, Mika had finished cooking, and we all sat down to eat.

"Oh! This tastes amazing!" I exclaimed.

Mika laughed. “Glad you like it.”

“Mmm! It’s been a while since I’ve had something this delicious,” I continued.

“Sigh, enough with the flattery, just eat,” Mika said with a playful roll of her eyes.

Once we finished eating, we started loading all our gear onto the carriage, preparing for our journey to Caroline Mountain.

After a few minutes of final checks, we were ready to go. Kyle took the reins, while the rest of us settled inside the carriage.

“How long will it take to reach Caroline Mountain? ”I asked.

“It should take us about two hours,” Mika replied.

“Got it,” I said, leaning back, already feeling a bit bored from the ride.

To pass the time, I decided to check the items in my ‘Empty Space.’

“Oh, they’re all still here,” I muttered.

“Empty Space? ”Jarred asked, rubbing his chin with a curious look.

“Yeah, I have some things stored here,” I explained and began pulling out my possessions one by one.

The first thing I retrieved was my Elderstaves.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Whoa! Are those Elderstaves? ”Carl exclaimed.

“Looks like it. I’ve never seen one in my life! ” Jarred added.

“Can I see it? ”Kyle asked from the front, his curiosity evident in his voice.

“Sure, Kyle. I’ll show you later,” I replied.

“Hehe, thanks, Azrael,” Kyle beamed.

Next, I pulled out a purple magic orb that Sunny had given me some time ago.

“A-a magic orb?! ”Carl gasped.

“Hey, calm down, Carl,” I chuckled.

“Oh, come on, Carl, you’re acting like a kid,” Mika teased with her arms crossed.

The next item I pulled out was a dagger that Jun had gifted me.

“Oh! That’s… that’s a Curse Grade weapon! ”Jarred exclaimed.

“Curse Grade? ”I asked.

“Jarred knows a lot about weapons, so he can tell what grade a weapon is,” Mika explained.

“Oh, I see,” I replied, excitement bubbling in my voice.

“Can I hold it? ”Jarred asked, his eyes filled with eagerness.

“Sure, here,” I said, handing the dagger to him carefully.

He examined it closely, from the hilt to the blade.

Curious, I asked, “How can you tell what grade a weapon is? ”

Jarred began explaining, “It’s pretty simple. The difference between a Unique Grade and a Curse Grade weapon lies in the aura they emit.

A Unique Grade weapon releases a thin aura, barely visible when mana is channeled into it. A Curse Grade weapon, on the other hand, absorbs the user's mana before it releases a thin aura.

The danger with a Curse Grade is that if the user can't control it, the weapon can drain their mana completely, leaving them helpless in battle.”

“But I never felt my mana being drained when I used it before,” I noted.

“You wouldn’t notice it right away. If you can’t control it and use it for too long, it will deplete your mana quickly,” Jarred warned.

I nodded thoughtfully.

“There are various grades of weapons,” Jarred continued. “For example, Normal Grade weapons don’t absorb any mana; they’re just regular weapons. However, you can coat them with mana or eternal energy to strengthen and empower them.

Next, there’s the Elite Grade. These weapons can absorb mana from the user. If exposed to a powerful enough source of mana or eternal energy of the user, they may evolve into a legendary or even mythical-grade weapon.

Curse and unique grades come with what we call 'Blessings,' similar to legendary and mythical grades. These are 'Unique Blessings' and 'Curse Blessings.'

Unique blessings have abilities focused on destruction and controlling the surrounding environment, while curse blessings involve poisons, paralysis, and other non-destructive powers that can incapacitate an enemy in seconds."

I listened intently, realizing there was so much more to these weapons than I had ever imagined.

"So, it’s that simple to distinguish between unique and curse-grade weapons. I noticed that this dagger was draining your mana earlier, so I immediately knew it was curse-grade," Jarred explained.

"Doesn’t that dagger drain your mana while you hold it?"I asked.

"Of course it does. The way to minimize the mana it drains is to willingly give it some of your mana. That way, it doesn’t draw too much from you," he replied.

"Give it willingly? "

"Yes, to prevent it from draining too much mana from you, you should willingly provide a bit of mana for it to absorb."

"But isn’t that still dangerous? "

"Yes, it does drain your mana, but the advantage is that curse-grade weapons don’t absorb a large amount of mana if you give a small amount to it."

"Is that so? Then, how are curse-grade weapons made, and why are they used? "I asked, curious.

"Cursed-grade weapons are created when the forging process fails. Originally, curse-grade is an imperfect result of a unique-grade weapon.

When the creation of a unique-grade weapon fails, it becomes curse-grade. I’m not entirely sure why the process fails, but that’s how curse-grade weapons come to be.

They’re used by some because they’re effective for assassination missions due to their abilities, which are suited for that kind of work."

"I see, now I understand," I said.

Jarred just smiled while continuing to observe the dagger. I then took out the necklace Clark had given me, which I didn’t remember placing in the empty space. I examined it briefly before putting it on.

Next, I took out the guardian egg Sen had given me.

"Oh, a guardian egg," Carl said with curiosity.

"It has a crack. Do you think it might be about to hatch? "Mika asked.

"I’m not sure. It’s been here for five years, and it still hasn’t hatched," I answered.

"A guardian egg needs to be exposed to mana from the Twin Realm. It struggles to survive in our world while still in the egg," Jarred explained.

"I see, that’s probably why it hasn’t hatched yet."

"But... This one is different. The crack suggests it might be close to hatching," Jarred continued.

"But it isn’t in the Twin Realm to absorb enough mana to hatch," Carl said.

"That’s true, but this one is unusual. There’s a species of guardian that can survive without exposure to mana from the Twin Realm," Jarred added.

"Do you think this might be one of those species? "Mika asked.

"I’m not sure, but we’ll find out once the egg hatches," Jarred said.

After the discussion, I continued to stare at the guardian egg, holding it with both hands.

An hour later, Carl had replaced Kyle at the carriage's reins. Kyle was fascinated by the Elderstaves, having never seen or handled one before.

After a few hours of travel, we arrived at the forest where we would pass through to reach Caroline Mountain. We all got out and walked a bit to inspect the area.

As we walked, we saw a warning sign that read, "Do not enter; there are inhabitants in the forest that should not be disturbed."

"Residents in the forest? I’ve never heard of anyone living here," Mika said.

"Do you think they might be man-eating monsters? "Kyle asked.

"Or perhaps people who eat humans," Jarred suggested.

As soon as Jarred said this, Carl began to tremble with fear, biting his nails.

"Man-eating... people? "Carl asked, still shaking.

"Come on, Carl, do you still believe in that? You’re too old to be scared of such things," Mika said.

"So, what should we do now? Should we continue? "I asked.

"Of course. This is the fastest route to Tancki Valley," Mika answered.

We then returned to the carriage and began to enter the forest. Just minutes into the forest, the atmosphere felt different.

"Guys... Can someone switch with me... here? "Carl said, nervously driving ahead.

Kyle went to the front to accompany Carl.

"I'm glad you came to help me; thanks, Kyle," Carl said, sighing with relief.

"What else could I do? It’s better to be here and see what’s in this place," Kyle replied.

After a few minutes, Kyle and Carl switched places, and Carl fell asleep beside Kyle.

"How will I know when we reach our destination? "Kyle asked.

"Just keep going straight until you reach a bridge. At the end of the bridge, there’s another forest, and if we go straight through that, we’ll come out in the middle of Caroline Mountain," Mika instructed.

"Got it."

After a few minutes of travel, we could see the bridge ahead, but before we could get close, we noticed some people nearby.

"Uh, guys. I think there’s a problem," Kyle said.

Carl suddenly woke up.

"Ah! Those are the people I was talking about—cannibals! This is the end for us! "Carl exclaimed in fear.

"Calm down, Carl. You're not helping," Mika said.

We got out of our carriage and tried to talk to them.

"We're not enemies; we have no ill intentions. We just want to pass through," Mika said.

"That one looks quite tasty," one of the men in front of us said ominously.

"Ah! I told you so! "Carl cried out.

"Will you be quiet for a moment? "Jarred retorted.

"No one passes through here. We’ve been stopping people from crossing for a long time. If you insist on pushing through, we’ll have no choice but to use force," the man in front of us warned.

"We can resolve this peacefully without anyone getting hurt. We’ll give you whatever you want as long as it’s possible," I said.

"We need one of you. It’s been a while since anyone has come to this place," the stranger replied.

"Tch! Cannibals," Mika muttered.

"I told you, they really do eat people," Carl said.

At this point, my companions prepared to fight, drawing their weapons to defend themselves. The strangers in front of us also drew their weapons.

"Wait, can’t we talk this over? "I asked.

"This isn’t up for discussion, Azrael. As far as I know, no one lived in this forest before, which means they’re recent arrivals," Mika said.

"If that’s the case, you prefer violence over peace," the stranger said.

"It’s not like that, but we have no choice but to fight. We won’t give up any of our companions," Mika replied.

The man smiled, and suddenly, people emerged from different parts of the forest. At this point, we were surrounded and had nowhere to run.