Chapter 8: Visitor from Lizhi Village

After, the four of them walked into the Black Forest for a while.

"Drest, is the house of the young man named Elio still far away?" The village chief asked Drest

"Eee.. if I'm not mistaken. It's close. it seems." Drest answered instead and with uncertainty.

The village chief who heard Drest's answer could only sigh. "Haizz.. this kid really is."

"Well, we can rest for a while here." A few moments later the village chief instructed them to stop in front of a large tree. He then approached one of the adventurers.

"Reeve, what do you think?" The village chief asked Reeve

"It's getting a bit late; I'm afraid we'll get lost further into the Black Forest until nightfall." Said Reeve answering the village chief. "That would be quite dangerous, considering some monsters will be more aggressive at night."

" Moreover, the deeper into the forest, the greater the chance of encountering high-level monsters," Reeve added.

"Okay, you rest for a while, too; after that, we will continue our walk again." The village chief patted Reeve's shoulder casually.

Reeve then took out his drinking water bag and immediately rested on the large tree's roots. While drinking water from his bag, Reeve recalled last night's meeting at the village chief's house.

*Last night at the village chief's house

"Excuse me ... village chief, you calling me at this time of night seems to have something important?" a man opened the side door of the village chief's house. Although without wearing light armor like the guards at the village entrance, this man was still fully dressed with a dagger at his waist.

"Reeve, if you get a mission to live in the Black Forest with your current level, how much chance do you think you will survive?" the village chief asked Reeve.

"Huh...?" Reeve looked somewhat surprised at the question from the village chief.

"Village chief, are you joking? Not to mention that I'm only a level 60 adventurer; even adventurers with a higher level than me would find it difficult, in my opinion." Reeve immediately answered the question from the village chief confidently

"Well, let me change my question a bit. Do you think a human can stay and live permanently in the Black Forest?" the village chief looked at Reeve with a more serious gaze.

"This..." Reeve seemed speechless at the chief's question.

The village chief then told the story of Drest, who was rescued by a young man named Elio while chased by a group of goblins in the Black Forest. Drest had even stayed at the house where the young man lived.

"Hhmm... a human living in the Black Forest, especially since he's such a young man." Reeve still felt disbelief at the explanation from the village chief.

"And this Talisman..." Reeve looked at Drest's Talisman in his hand and seemed to think of something

"I think the village chief's wild assumption is likely correct." After a few moments of silence, Reeve's statement echoed throughout the room after he had taken a look at Drest's Talisman for a while.

From Drest's parents to the village chief, their eyes were fixed on Reeve as he spoke that sentence.

"There are at least two possibilities in this matter."

"The first point is either this young man named Elio is a rich man, in which case he has a lot of Talisman in stock, or the second point is that he really is a Craftsman."

"For the first point, I don't think so because if he's rich, why would he live in a forest like the Black Forest, a forest filled with monsters."

"The second point is a possibility with a fairly high chance. This young man named Elio is a Craftsman, so if he gave a Talisman to Drest, he could make another one again."

"After all, what kind of person would give a Talisman for free to someone else while he is in a forest full of monsters, right?" said Reeve explaining his opinion in detail to the village chief.

The village chief seemed silent for a while as he thought about something.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning, we will try to come to the Black Forest to meet this young man named Elio as a representative of our village, Lizhi Village." The village chief announced his decision.

While looking at Reeve, the village chief added. "Reeve, you try to invite other adventurers in the village whose level is not too far from yours."

"Drest, you come too." The village chief turned his gaze, this time toward Drest

"Ehh.. but Village Chief..." Drest's father looked rather disapproving of his son returning to that dangerous forest again.

"Drest is the only one who has ever met and recognized that young man, isn't he?" the village chief said, telling Drest's father why he, too, should go to the Black Forest.

"Besides, he's not alone this time. There is Reeve, who will come along, and there is also the Talisman given by the young man, right?" The village chief assured Drest's father to look less worried.

***

"Awoooo..."

"Hhmm... this sound." There was a howl not far from where they were resting. Reeve was awakened from his thoughts by the sound of the howl.

"This is the howl of a wolf monster. Everyone, let's hurry up and move from this place." Reeve got ready to leave the place immediately.

But the wolf monster appeared when the four of them were just about to leave the place.

"Ggrrr..."

One by one, the wolf monsters appeared in front of the group from Lizhi Village.

"That's the Blood Fang Wolf," Reeve said.

"Although their level is generally only around level 45, they are the type of monsters that group together, so it will be tricky," Reeve added.

"Hakan, you protect Drest while the village chief is my responsibility," Reeve whispered slightly to the person beside him.

"Alright, bro Reeve, LEAVE.. IT.. TO.. ME..." That person also answered Reeve in a loud voice.

"Ggrrrr..."

The Blood Fang Wolf pack immediately ran over to attack.

"Ah, sorry, bro Reeve, I forgot that in front of monsters, we shouldn't shout because it's a sign that we're challenging them directly." Hakan apologized to Reeve while slightly lowering his head.

"Haizz... you have a habit of getting too excited sometimes." Reeve sighed. "Anyway, here they come."

Reeve and Hakan then also charged toward the Blood Fang Wolf pack. They aimed to get further away from the village chief and Drest. But they also kept a little distance from the two of them.

Reeve was a dagger-using melee fighter. He quickly cut the distance between him and Blood Fang Wolf to attack directly.

"Hey, Hakan, watch out for their agility. Blood Fang Wolf are famous for their speed and agility." While facing several Blood Fang Wolf, Reeve reminded Hakan

While Hakan was a sword-using melee fighter. "Aiyo..." Hakan replied as he slashed at the 2 Blood Fang Wolf before him.

Because they were busy fighting, Reeve and Hakan didn't realize that several Blood Fang Wolf was sneaking between the bushes.

Some of these Blood Fang Wolf seemed to want to attack the village chief and Drest directly. They were sneaking around and moving slowly. Once they got close, they moved quickly and jumped to attack Drest and the village chief.

"Aahhh..."

Hearing a scream, Reeve looked towards Drest and the village chief. Where he saw 5 Blood Fang Wolf jumping and about to attack Drest and the village chief.

"Damn, it..." Reeve kicked the Blood Fang Wolf in front of him and tried to reach Drest and the village chief quickly.

"Shockwave Slash."

Suddenly, a young man's voice was accompanied by what looked like a shockwave from a sharp weapon slash that formed like transparent energy.

The shockwave slash successfully killed the five Blood Wolf Fangs and smashed them into pieces.