- E Ranked Expedition 3 (unedited)

"It's already been 2 hours since we brought him back and he's still out cold. He must've been really beat." I mumbled while Shadow sparring in an open area pretty close to the camp.

I left Corey and Lily there for a bit while I left to clear my head on what decisions I should make about our current decision. Leaving that man alone isn't an option.

"Ah. I guess I'll head back now, I have no other options do I?" I said while putting my weapons back within my cloak on my back.

I walked back to the camp and saw Corey and Lily laughing about something, probably something about their past. 'They have known each other since before I showed up.' I thought while walking up to them.

"Hey, since it's already mid-day and he shows no signs of recovering soon, I'll let you two go out and hunt while I stay here with him. We came out here for the development of you two anyways." I said while glancing at the tent.

"Sounds good to me, I was getting bored." Corey said with an excited expression, one you could compare to an innocent child if you told them that you had a limitless supply of candy. 'I wonder what kind of deserts exist in this world.'

The passing thought was quickly dismissed as I didn't really care too much. "Are you sure you'll be fine?" Lily asked me while making the most adorable face I think I've ever seen. "Yeah, you two need to catch up to me anyways. I don't mind sitting on the sidelines for a while." I quickly replied, trying to eradicate her worries about my feelings.

"Just make sure if you run into the boss you don't attack him. His hide is pretty resistant to magic attacks and definitely physical attacks, and neither of you have good offensive spells as it stands. I don't want you two to get hurt." I warned them while taking a seat against a tree.

"Thanks for the heads up. We'll be heading out now." Corey said while taking out his staff and performing some impressive maneuvers with it. The two walked off and quickly disappeared within the tree line.

"Now that they're gone we can have a good talk." I said. However, I got no response. "I know you're awake. Keep pretending and I'll assume you mean harm to me and my party." With these words the person in the tent sat up.

'I can't believe that worked, I was just taking a gamble. I had nothing to lose, so why wouldn't I take this precaution.' I thought while smirking.

"Sorry." Was the only reply the man guy gave me as he stepped out of the tent. He had a tense expression plastered all over his face. 'A man of caution I see.' Was all I could think as I watched him take a seat a few feet away from me, never breaking eye contact with me.

'He's not even blinking. He must remember how fast I was when killing those boars.' I thought. "Don't worry, I mean you no harm. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be sitting in front of me right now." I commented while making a careless gesture.

"I know that. That's why I'm cautious, I'm not sure of your intentions." He said in a quiet voice. His voice was one of pain yet confidence. I wasn't sure how I knew that though. 'Yet another thing that doesn't make sense. How in the world could I possibly even know that?' I thought while staring at the man.

"Can I get your name?" I said while finally closing my eyes and looking down. 'Hopefully he'll stop being so tense now. It's making me feel pent up as well.'

"Yes. Laori." He said. His voice was still in the same position he was in when I closed my eyes, so I could be sure he wasn't trying to run away, though I'm sure he would if he didn't know of my [Extreme Speed] Weapon Skill.

"I don't have any alternative goals involving you. I saved you because it was my fault those boars ambushed you in the first place." I explained the situation to him while making sure to keep my eyes closed.

"How can I believe you?" He said, still not having moved from his spot. "You know, if you're always this cautious, that would explain while you're out here in a dungeon without a party." I jokingly said, hopefully to releive the tension between us.

"Hah. You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sure if you did have ill intentions you would've carried them out by now. I'm sorry for doubting you after you saved my life." He said while sighing. 'I wonder what happened to him to make him like that in the first place.' I thought while finally opening my eyes and looking up.

"My name's Sphar, Sphar Linx. Me and my friends came out here to complete some quests from the guild. I assume you're out here for the same thing?" I asked while standing up and stretching my back.

He only nodded while also standing up. "Well, I'm going to go join my friends in there. You can grab your weapon and do whatever you want, as long as it's not harmful to us. I'll see you around." I said before turning my back and walking into the woods.

'He seems like a good guy, I wonder what he'll do now.' I thought while following the sounds of battle coming from not too far up ahead. 'That's definetely Corey and Lily, let's see how they're handling themselves without me.' I jumped into the tree branches and made my way towards them faster than before while maintaining my silence.

I stopped on a branch around twenty feet away from them, close enough to hear their conversation while also not easily giving away my position. "NOW!" Corey yelled while raising an earth wall. A boar was charging towards him at full speed and lily stood behind him. He raised his wall and the boar ran into it.

It didn't break it though and ended up stunning itself for a split second. Corey and Lily each ran to seperate sides of the walls and pounced at the boar with their weapons. They finished it off before it could fully recover.

"Good job Lily." Corey said while trying to catch his breath, Lily was doing the same. "Yeah, you too. I just wish we had some offensive magic like Sphar." Lily said while making a saddened face.

"Don't worry. Both of us will get some better skills once we rank up, which is quite easy to do in the early stages." Corey said, trying to lighten the mood.

'I should just watch them for now. I can come farm here anytime pretty easily.' I thought while smiling. I spent the next few hours watching them fight boar after boar. They had a couple close calls, but did pretty well by themselves for the most part.

"Alright, let's head back to camp. We've completed all the quests except fighting the boss. We should do that tomorrow with Sphar." Lily said with an exhausted expression. 'They really pushed themselves to improve today. I should head back to camp now.'

I dashed through the trees as fast and silent as possible before arriving at the camp around five minutes later. Sure enough, The guy who called himself Laori was gone. 'I didn't expect him to just sit here and wait all day, though it's kinda sad to see him go. He seemed like a pretty cool person.'

I sat by a tree and waited for the duo to show up and tell me about their accomplishments. They showed up not too long after I did and explained how they're adventure went. "It sounds like you two had a pretty fun time." I said, making sure not to reveal I was spying on them the whole time.

"Yeah, but tomorrow will be even better. We'll get to take on the boss!" Corey said, getting himself all excited again. "Yeah, sounds like a plan, let's get settled for the night though. After we slay the boss we're heading back to the city." I said while gesturing Corey to follow me to the river to wash off.

'I'll help them slay the boss, but I'm going to make them work for it.'