Saharan Successor

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Chapter 143 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 8

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Fayrene struggled to keep up with the flaw of conversation the minstrel kept on her, but miraculously for her, Vek returned inside the tavern and got back to where she was standing at the table, surprised and confused to see Maryden together with Fayrene.

"She will tag along with us when we depart tomorrow."

"Mmm, okay. I have finished setting traps around the forest and tavern. If anything happens I will be alerted before something approaches us."

"I doubt something will happen, but if you feel safe doing that, you have the freedom of doing anything."

"Whoa, I thought draconians are similar to us humans, body structure." remarked Maryden, when she saw Vek from up close, that he had characteristics that the stories about draconians didn't match, his snout gave him away.

"I am a kobold, not a draconian."

"My first time seeing a kobold. You look quite civilized, compared to the stories I heard about your kind, that would be hostile to people."

"Yes." responded Vek, who returned to Fayrene's side, not talking too much with the minstrel, trying to figure out what her plans were for approaching Fayrene and him.

Yet he didn't find much into his observation, and with Fayrene having enough of standing in the lower floor of the tavern, she took off to her room on the second floor accompanied by Vek and Maryden.

"You really want to stay with us? I thought you had changed your mind."

"Hah? I'll not sleep in that creepy room. Please, let me stay with you guys."

"First let me see how the room is."

They were at the door when this talk was happening, and with Fayrene opening the door and stepping inside, the air inside was quite harsh, probably not even ventilated, and with her arcane power making light of the interior, she noticed the bugs on the floor, and the spider webs.

"Eeeewww, bugs are here too. Maybe I will go to sleep on the lower floors on a bench." mentioned Maryden, freezing in place when she observed the bugs.

"You are afraid of bugs? Really?"asked Fayrene with a perplexed expression, while her eyes returned to the room which contained all the requirements for a safe sleep, except for the room tenants that didn't pay rent.

"Really."

"Quiet down. Here, let me show you how to deal with bugs."

Saying that, she extended her right hand forward, where arcane energy began appearing that later sent in the air fragments of energy that morphed into needles that began descending on the bugs, beginning the extermination of the bugs that started evaporating when the needles pierced their bodies.

Fayrene's eyes were flooded by the notifications of the system that told her about the exp gain, which was insignificant, gaining (1) EXP for each bug she killed.

Maryden watched with shock how easily Fayrene cleaned the bugs in her room, with another arcane construct that took the shape of a broom began cleaning around the spider webs, while she herself went to pick on the pillows and the bedsheets to clean them by the window.

"Far better."

"You are amazing. It took you only 15 minutes to clean this room."

"Don't exaggerate is not something that great. Also, it seems we only have one bed, this is a bit troublesome, I thought there would be at least two beds."

Fayrene looked at Maryden, who also returned the stare, getting a bit panicked before she told her in a quiet way.

"I can't sleep on the floor, I will catch a cold."

"I am still asking how you managed to go on your past travels?" remarked Fayrene who took out from her inventory candles that she began placing around the room, later lighting them, creating a brighter atmosphere in the dark room.

"This is my first time alone. Usually I would be with my seniors, who would take care of everything for me."

"... At least do something around."

"I can sign."

"Not at this hour." said Fayrene who tried to keep her calm, and after having to struggle together with Vek to clean around and arrange their own blankets, making the bed far more acceptable then it was when they got here.

Maryden tried to help around but she almost dropped on the floor some candles that could have started a fire in the tavern, which was stopped by Fayrene, who gave the minstrel a deep look with her purple eyes.

"Stay in the corner, and when I say we finished setting our stuff, then you can come."

As if she was yelled at by her mother, Maryden with her flute in hand, walked to the corner of the room, where she could see Fayrene and Vek do the last touches. In the meantime, feeling a bit bad, she began playing the flute but in a slow and delicate way, as if to say she was sorry.

"Mistress, this girl is really careless. She almost burnt the entire room." whisperer Vek who was setting up his own lair, while Fayrene was making sure the bed was covered in more warm blankets because from what she observed there was no fireplace in this room, except the lower floor that had a decent fireplace.

"Yes, I feel she is a city girl, since she is really clumsy. But it is good that I have my eyes on what she is doing. Still, what do you think of her?"

"I feel she is a good person. Her reactions aren't forced, and her tone also doesn't seem hateful like the rest of the people who talk with me."

"Mhm, good to know. We'll learn more about her on our journey."

Some more minutes passed, and Fayrene who finished preparing the room so they wouldn't freeze when sleeping, turned to Maryden who was still playing her flute giving off a quiet recital.

"Hey, you, minstrel. You can stop, we should go to sleep since we'll have 6 hours of sleep the most."

"Ahh, finally! Thank you very much." mentioned Maryden who placed her flute on her only backpack that she probably kept most of her clothes and supplies, and afterwards she jumped on the bed, entering deep in the comfortable blankets.

"I can't even feel the cold. This is so comfortable."

"Tsk, minstrel this isn't the bed from your home. Don't occupy the entire bed." told Fayrene who watched dumbfounded as this young girl planted herself in the center of the bed, she worked on suiting for the winter.

"Right, my bad."

Apologizing, she went to the side of the bed, making space for another person, and Fayrene still gave her a look as if she thought something about her. Nonetheless, taking her winter coat, she revealed her dark dress that was fitted just for her, and without changing her clothes, she entered the bed wearing her clothes.

'Quite decent. Listening to Mathias stories about how he would deal with cold, amazes me. He is my source of knowledge, not the other way around. I am really lucky to have met him.'

She was thinking about Mathias while closing her eyes, trying to rest a bit. Yet what followed next was feeling the hug, sharing some warmth with her, and a silly comment.

"My lady, your skin is so smooth and soft. Also your hair smells nice."

"What do you think you are doing?" asked Fayrene who turned her head at Maryden, who gave her a silly smile.

"Warming up with you and trying to get to know you since we will spend some days together."

"Hah, just go to sleep, we'll go early."

"I am scared, this place feels really somber."

Fayrene tapped the minstrels head, reminding her that she was safe, before turning quiet, trying to have some sleep, but not before asking Vek if he felt comfortable on the floor, with the layer he made using the rest of blankets she had with her.

"Yes, I used to sleep in caves by myself. This is nothing, actually is way above my brethren's standards."

"If you want to get in the bed, I can make you some space next to me."

"No need, thank you for the thought, Mistress."

"Little friend, why are you calling her Mistress, isn't her name Fayrene?"

"That's because she is the wife of Lord Mathias, my teacher and master. I have to show her respect, especially for the fact that she treated me nicely and housed me, giving me food."

Maryden's curiosity was stirred about Mathias, but when she tried to ask Fayrene about him, she just told him in a calm, serene way, before she stopped any conversation with the minstrel.

"You want to know who my Mathias is? He is someone who will become the greatest person of this land. Now stop bothering me, I want to sleep."

The minstrel received the message, and also got quiet, closing her eyes, instantly dozing off, getting embraced by the dreamscape. Such a swift sleeper, it was the first time for Fayrene, who observed at how fast this girl next to her could sleep, as if nothing worried her when she got in the bed.

After some minutes she made peace with her worries managing to sleep, similarly could be said for Vek, who was also deep into his sleep.

.

Night enveloped the entire world, especially the Silverpine Forest Tavern which acted like a base of operations for the players who never slept, keeping their hunt in the forest.

Currently the Forest could be said to be the hot-spot for most high-rankers who were in the range of level 52-61, with only the peak of the players getting to a decent lead of levels compared to the high rankers in the top 20, with the top 10 players sitting at levels that passed 67-70 mark.

The high rankers, those players who either had this sense of superiority compared to others wishing to prove to other lower level players that they were the best, or simply those that did this extreme leveling out of passion and being drawn, captured into the game, such players could only strive for the peak for their own personal reasons.

Such was the case for Fang, who was inside the Silverpine Forest fighting together with his group monsters that were level 70 from plant type monsters called Archespore to some group of wolves that looked rather rabid from how they attacked his group without even considering their life, and since he started fighting those beasts and monsters in the forest, he leveled up two times by now, keeping his leveling rate quite alert together with his guild.

"Guild master, how is it? Have you entered the top 10? We got two levels this hunting round and the monsters keep flowing in our direction. Also, I have only 20 more stamina remaining, we should prepare to return to the tavern."

"Haven't checked since we started hunting. Let's finish those plant monsters, and in the meantime I will check."

Said and done, with his guild teammates having their morale high, hunting the two plant monsters that appeared from the underground was while indeed challenging since their level was lower giving them a challenge, this didn't mean they couldn't defeat the monster.

Its attack patterns were easy to read, and something that high-rankers took advantage of massively in their hunts, being able to see such patterns compared to the casual player who is clueless about those small details in fights.

.

[RANKING LEDGER]

1.Kraugel - Lv. 71

2. Red - Lv. 70

3. Zibal - Lv. 68

4. Chris - Lv. 68

5. Mihara - Lv. 67

6. Mando - Lv. 66

7. Vivian - Lv. 66

8. Paula - Lv. 66

9. Malakai - Lv. 65

10. Bodre - Lv. 65

11. Seuron - Lv. 64

12.  Skull - Lv. 63

13. Yura - Lv. 62

14. Fang - Lv. 62

.

.

He could see his name on the top list of the ledger, but compared to where his spot was in the past, being in the top 5 because he had to move hunting grounds, and find suitable places to level he lost on time, while the rest kept leveling steadily at the same rate as him, if not faster.

"Not yet, I am in 14th place, but the distance to the rest of the peak is close, one big step and I'll immediately jump back to my old seat. You guys aren't that far."

"Well, I am in place 32, but the fact you are carrying us on your back can't be denied. If you hadn't waited for us to group up, and instead focused on solo play, you would have beaten that Kraugel guy or that crazy Red guy."

"I doubt. Those guys are crazy good at the game, both Kraugel and Red. I doubt I can beat them in PVP as I still didn't get any special class change from my quests and hunts."

"We'll get there, brother." replied one of the four guys beside Fang, who began taking a deep breath starting recovering his resources that he spent on the fight.

"Indeed, we'll get there, I am not worried about that."

They were staying doing nothing just recovering their resources, and while the atmosphere was that of a dark forest with its landscape covered in snow with nothing giving you the impression something could happen, the guys felt a strong wind blow past them.

This change kept on going for a brief moment, making the group look toward the forest, but they couldn't see anything out of ordinary. Since clearing this zone of monsters, they didn't respawn back, but suddenly the ground began shaking.

"Guys can you feel the tremors in the ground?"

"An earthquake?"

"No, I doubt, this one feels different, I know it since I live in Chile. This one, how do you describe it?"

"Marching?" asked one guy from the group, who also started feeling the tremors.

They went upright getting ready to intercept what was to come, but the screams of players began spreading from the surrounding spots for groups hunting here.

"Monster wave! There is a monster wave you bastards! Get to safe spots before you are killed. Arghhh!"

It was the hysteric voice of a guy that ended with a dying scream, which later allerted all the hunting parties currently in the forest, which in a disorganized manner began gathering toward the tavern.

People gathered around, while others tried to see what was going on, similarly for Fang who retreated to a zone close to the exit of the forest, but also inside the forest, and he felt regret when he saw the high number of monsters grouped up.

They were monsters that looked like large lizards, but their shape was visible that of insects as they crawled out of the forest for reasons unknown to Fang and his group.

[Endriago - Lv. 70]

"What's going on? There's so many of those monsters and they beat me if I can tell their levels. From what I can see their level is about 70, for the first layer." commented on of Fang's teammates, who rubbed his eyes when seeing this flood of monsters.

Fang had multiple thoughts if he should approach this monster wave, and suddenly when he had enough of the player's screams, he instructed his guys to follow him, and they began hunting down the monsters without attracting the attention of the entire group of hundreds.

First kill went smoothly, using all their skills on the high level monster, then feeling emboldened they went for the second, and third, continuing to collect numbers until from nowhere the monsters instead of focusing randomly on the players trying to fight them off instantly charged on them.

"No way! Those insects can think for themselves and target us? We only took out 10 of those insects, not a big deal, go on and fight with the rest of those fools."

Fang shook his head, and activated his defensive skills to keep up with the aggro they gathered on themselves after killing 10/120.

"Retreat toward the tavern, we have to warn the guys at the tavern, and get them ready to clear this monster wave. Still, I can't explain to myself what happened. Could it be an event to help us players get to a higher level?"

"Fuck, that hurt. I don't know, brother, but those monsters hit like a truck."

"No man, your armor is trash, that's why. You still have the same armor piece since we were level 30." remarked another teammate, rubbing some salt on the guy's wounds.

"Focus guys. I don't want to see any of you dead from the start of the Wave."

.

.

When this monster wave happened, the clock was 3:25 AM, not even close to the sunrise. The tavern entered a state of slowness, with the players not being able to get any services from the innkeeper who went to sleep, however before the monster attack was perceived by the players inside a room at the second floor, a creature sleeping on the wooden floor covered by some blankets opened his lizard eyes like a spark.

'Something touched my traps. They started getting triggered.'

Not even long since he felt his traps being activated, his confused sleepy eyes, immediately shut open, saying to himself surprised.

"All the traps got activated. Something bad is going on around here."

Getting on his feet, he walked toward Fayrene side of the bed, and noticed that the raven-haired woman had her eyes shut, sleeping, but instead of being relaxed she was frowning.

"Mistress."

The first thing he did was to place his small hands on Fayrene's hands and shake her, instantly waking her up.

"Mistress, I am sorry for waking you."

"What is wrong little Vek? Wait, I have a bad feeling, really ominous."

"Yes, Mistress, all the traps I've placed in the forest have been triggered, something big is approaching us and we are in danger."

"What could happen?" asked Fayrene in a quiet way, turning her head at Maryden who was sleeping like a baby, unbothered by anything.

She was asking that and from the lower floors of the tavern, the scream of a guy recertered inside the building, giving the first alarm of what was happening.

"Guys there's a monster wave outside! About 200 monsters are attacking in our direction, moving toward the checkpoint. I repeat, a monster wave has been triggered inside the forest surrounding the tavern!"

Hearing that Fayrene turned her head at Vek, and told him in a serious tone.

"We should see if we can help with something downstairs."

"I agree."

Later turning her head at Maryden still sleeping, she shook her a bit until she woke up at last, asking in an innocent way.

"Mom? What hour is it?"

"First, I am not your mother. Now get up and prepare yourself, the tavern will probably be attacked by monsters."

"What??" inquired Maryden shocked, having her sleepy expression instantly shattered by the news she heard, which was accompanied by the player who shouted again the news outside.

"Ohhh no, it is all over for me. I can no longer become the most famous bard of the world. Mom, dad, little Mary is sorry, she couldn't return home."

"Hey, give me a break. We still don't know how dangerous the situation is, so don't panic yet… Panic when you see no way of getting out from here.

Let's go, little Vek."

"Ahhh, wait for me, don't leave me all alone here. What if monsters crawl here, and eat me."

"Then you have no other choice but to follow us."

***

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