Unfortunate or Fortunate

"How interesting, thank you for answering my question.", Akiol thanked the archer player.

"It's no big deal.", the archer player acted humble.

Akiol was aware that the creations of Borus had their own peculiarities. He didn't plan to dive too deep on why the players couldn't use any of the creations of Borus. If he ever came across one, Stars could probably talk to it.

The talks of sharing information continued throughout the trip. Akiol remained resting on the top of the covered crates as he eavesdropped in the conversation. Unfortunately the topic was steered towards the direction of their individual builds. Stat ratios, equipment materials, aimed Skills and Titles. This was something Akiol wasn't interested in, nor did it provide much information regarding the west continent.

Rather this stuff was something he already found out about during his preliminary research! Considering Akiol did not hold access to the system he could not provide any input on such a topic, thus his own voice in conversation slowly faded.

Moving closer towards the driver seat Akiol whispered to not interrupted the ongoing conversation, "When do you think we'll arrive?"

"At our current pace?", Wharm also whispered, "Shortly before sunset I would think."

The beginning villages were this close? Akiol recalled the roads weren't well built in the central village, instead relying on teleport scrolls. If only his trip to the East wasn't so filled with. . . chaos. Else he'd be able to compare the differences of all three continents.

Akiol suddenly turned his attention left towards the distance in the forest. A moment later a large explosion took place, dirt rising above the treetops. Immediately the mercenary players all focused towards the direction.

'You sure he isn't unlucky?' -Stars

"He might just be both unlucky and lucky.", Akiol tossed a glance towards Wharm.

{Star Guidance} helped him understand a general idea of what was occurring. Nearly hundreds of stars bundled in one location, moving about sporadically. Eventually they all began to break apart and spread out.

A large portion were moving towards the cart. Rango seemingly also noticed and remained absolutely still, stopping the cart's progress. Noticing the players were still confused Akiol gave a warning, "There's a lot heading towards us."

"Damn.", the warrior player drew his sword and stood at the ready.

The encirclement of mercenaries began to move towards the direction the explosion was sourced. Akiol did not leave his position on the cart, he intended to let the mercenaries handle this issue. The incoming creatures weren't much of a threat, he could tell that much.

Several small flowers began to sprint out of the forest. Their bodies made of the bulb the flowers and their legs made of vines. They moved awkwardly like spiders with missing legs. Immediately the mercenary players launched into action.

The sorcerer player launched small firebolts, accurately hitting several of the incoming flowers. The archer player shot several arrows, but rarely did one land. A thief player occasionally snuck about to stab into the flowers, but failed to kill it immediately. They had to stab several times before the flower stopped moving.

The sorcerer player spat, "Be quick with killing them! If the mother notices we're screwed!"

Akiol looked upwards towards the forest and rose an eyebrow. Several trees shook, and a few of the stars went flying about. With context Akiol presumed a set of players were hunting this 'mother'. From what he could tell with {Star Guidance} he felt these players were not succeeding.

His fingers twitched in reflex to his palm aching. Massaging his palm Akiol simply watched the situation develop. The players seemed to be handling the incoming flower creatures and needed no assistance. Despite the players hunting the 'mother' having signs of struggle, they were still holding on. It was likely there was a Priest among them.

A piercing shriek spread across the players, and the mercenary players all fell to the ground. Immediately the sorcerer spat, "Those idiots! They've enraged the mother!"

Enrage? As in a boss? 

Akiol slid off the cart and landed on the ground softly. A swarm of the small flower creatures leapt forth and extended their vines towards the paralyzed mercenaries. When suddenly in the blink of an eye these creatures fell apart into several cleanly sliced parts.

Slowly the mercenaries recovered. Immediately the sorcerer sighed in relief, "Thank you."

"Hold the thanks for now.", Akiol's attention never left the distant battle.

The treetops crashed and crumbled as a sound crawled closer towards the cart. It seemed to have sensed its children being harmed. It was very likely that the mercenaries were the one who triggered its rage mode. 

It burst through the trees, splinters flying outwards violently like shrapnel. Akiol watched the entire situation calmly. The 'mother' of the plants looked like a large version of the smaller ones. Thick wooden vines made up its awkward legs. 

It was only First Stage. Akiol believed it to be strange for such a high level creature to be near the road connecting two beginner villages. So Akiol inspected everything as the creature seemed slow in his eyes.

The splinters were caught with mana, no longer did they pose a threat. Akiol zipped past the mother and appeared in front of a group of players. Wind bellowed violently as he narrowed his eyes.

Crashing into the ground the mother then split apart in half. Having been cut cleanly into two. Akiol's attention was towards the new players however. A group of First Stages, not surprising since they were capable of putting up a fight against the mother.

However one was familiar! It was the First Stage that picked a fight with Wharm!

Akiol reached up and grabbed an incoming dagger. A thief in stealth was rapidly revealed, their stealth attack thwarted. Immediately after the familiar First Stage player also recognized Akiol, "It's you!"

"I should say the same.", Akiol responded.

He shot a warning look towards the thief and let go of the dagger. A complicated expression formed on the thief's face as he backed up. The familiar player pointed a finger and accused, "You let a thieving merchant get away with scamming players, and now you steal people's kills?"

Akiol pointed a thumb behind him, "I'm protecting a cart. This creature could've caused harm."

"What about the drops huh??"

"Keep them.", Akiol didn't argue over First Stage materials.

Originally he thought this group of players had made the mother attack the cart intentionally. However it became clear from the group's condition that this wasn't the case. They were genuinely struggling against this boss!

Within a blink Akiol reappeared on the carts crates. Sitting cross-legged he asked the mercenary players, "You guys good to continue?"

This startled the players. The archer player even visibly flinched as he looked back in fright. With a grimace he replied, "I'm a little low on HP."

"You can recover as we travel.", the warrior player said as he returned to the cart.

The sorcerer eyed some of the flower creatures before shaking his head. It was clear this was someone else's loot, they were just unfortunate enough to stumble across the chaos. Thus with Rango's huff, the cart began to move yet again.

Wharm patted his forehead with a handkerchief, "I must thank you again Akiol. I simply have no idea why my luck is so rotten as of late!"

'Even he agrees.' -Stars

"It wasn't an issue. Despite your encounters you remain unharmed, that in itself is lucky.", Akiol returned to a laying position.

"Perhaps so.", Wharm still felt nervous.

The sorcerer pointed out, "That was a First Step wandering boss! Even when I was First Step I wouldn't be able to handle it so easily. Much less cut it in half in the blink of an eye!"

The thief player nodded, "I didn't even see you draw your sword!"

Akiol knew this was because he was currently trying to refine {Photon Cutting Slash}, so they simply didn't 'see' him draw his sword. However he didn't mention this part, "The Boss was already enraged. Its HP was undoubtedly low."

The sorcerer player shook their head, "No way. That wandering boss only gets enraged after a certain amount of its children are defeated. Not when it's low on HP."

Making the helpless gesture with one hand Akiol answered, "I don't know the particularities of this wandering boss."

"That's not the point! You handled it with ease! You said you don't know your level, do you at least know your own Step?"

Wharm puffed up his chest a bit, "Akiol is a Third Step!"

Suddenly all the mercenary players focused their attention to Akiol. Patiently they waited for confirmation. Akiol silently considered his options before confirming, "I am."

"A Third Step!! What's a Third Step doing at a beginner village if you're not a Guidehand??", the archer player blurted.

"I had an unfortunate accident regarding teleportation. I got lost for a bit until I stumbled across this merchant cart."

"Lost? Why didn't you use a teleport token!"

Akiol noticed the player mentioned tokens over scrolls. Keeping this in mind Akiol provided an easy excuse, "I'm an adventurer! I wasn't going to lose out on an opportunity to explore!"

The mercenary players all made sounds of acknowledgement. It made sense now. Still, sorcerer player praised, "If it weren't for you we would have failed this request."

"It's not a big deal.", Akiol smiled in response.

The archer player continued, "Are you dead set on remaining an adventurer? I'm sure just about anyone would be happy to have a Third Step among their ranks. Guidehands aside I know the Sects are paying top dollar for Third Steps."

"I don't like the restrictions."

"Are you not even a mercenary? They don't even have restrictions!"

Akiol laughed as he made another excuse, "I don't have enough reputation. Doing repeat quests never interested me."

"That's fair.", the archer player nodded along, "If you want to join the Guidehands I'm sure they'd welcome you with open arms."

"I have no such plans.", Akiol noticed the archer trying to recruit him.

With a faint smile Akiol corrected himself inwardly. He had no such plans for now. 

Things could change!