The Hike

"I don't quite understand," Rhys smiled, confusion still etched onto his face as he appeared soaking wet. After running to Sigtak lake, he had found an empty lake, devoid of life before he realized that it had turned into a Lebhaft slime during the storm. With little time left he ran back to the village to find everyone evacuated and the slime outside on the field, frozen and broken into a million pieces. The group he had previously helped was sitting and lying on the grass, grass that was mildly cold. They seemed to be talking, some even sleeping as they just stayed, worn out.

"What do you mean by you killed a Lebhaft Slime while only being at level one?" Rhys asked.

"We killed a Lebhaft slime while being level one and now we're level 5 except for Otto," William agreed, "What? It wasn't that hard." Elizabeth glared at him from her spot, but was too exhausted to argue with him. He had barely done anything, only managing to steal the orb from the slime, which was arguably what the assassin class was meant for, but that was all he did.

"What? Is there a required level to be at to kill a monster?" William point out.

"No, what do you mean by level*?" Rhys replied, slightly irritated by William's tone of voice, "There isn't any level in Sileo or anything. What do you mean by level?" William turned white for a second, head running around dizzily at all the possible issues that might arrive with Rhys knowing about their situation. By the sounds of it, Sileo didn't have a completely neutral tone towards players. He didn't want to be on the bad side of someone like Rhys just yet.

"What do you mean by levels?" Otto asked straight back, "We said levels as a method to help us count how much we've improved. So, what do you mean by levels?" Otto was bluffing, bluffing like an idiot as he tried to deflect the situation back onto Rhys. He didn't think that Rhys would fall for the bluff, but at least he would drop the questioning on something insignificant.

"Nothing, nothing," Rhys left the question, still inquisitive on it. His sighed and lifted up his leg to inspect his shoes which by this point were covered in mud. He was soaked to the bone and was tired and although he disliked staying too long on the other side of Sileo, he realized that he had to. The evening was approaching, the stars were coming out, and on the other side of Sileo there were other things that would come out.

"Alright then, food," Rhys started, "You all need some food before you die of hunger."

"Food?" Everyone perked up. They were like a starved pack of wolves as Rhys urged them up to head back. Their steps suddenly sounded somewhat thunderous as they made their way back to the evacuated village. Everyone hiding in their hideaways and sanctuaries was coaxed out one by one as Rhys called them out. They didn't seem to listen to anyone but Rhys, believing in him completely.

"The Lebhaft slime is gone!" Rhys yelled out as people slowly moved out of their bear dens, "And the rain seems to have sort of stopped." The pouring rain was gone, leaving them with just a little drizzle of plops on the ground that had little consequence to the wet and dry of their clothes. There was some mud, a lot of mud, and an intermediate amount of mud, but shoes could be washed, pants could be scrubbed.

"Yeah, can me and… Strawberry Pudding stay here for a day? Can't go back in the mud," Rhys said, "Unless of course, you actually force us into the muddy weather."

Lucas wobbled his way out and bowed to Rhys before nodding furiously. His stumbly old legs seemed rejuvenated as he sprinted across to meet up with Rhys, "Yes, yes, yes, absolutely, totally fine. I-I-I will get the rooms ready, hm, Tom, yes, Tom and Julia will have some more accommodations, right?" Another elderly couple nodded slowly, still awakening to the death of the Lebhaft slime. They looked similar, of average height and weight. They both had mousey brown hair and thin lips that were pressed tight together.

"Yes, there is room," Tom sighed, "After Johnathan and Elizabeth left, there has always been room!" The last bit ended up sounding more like a lament, with Tom burying his face in his hands. It was as if his children had died, "We have their old rooms and the leftover guest room. There isn't any room in that shack of bar that Ronald has anyway." Tom spat out as someone from the back grumbled.

"Isn't a shack of bar," An even older man walked forward, "It's a fine bar with good beer and drinks. If you ain't gonna use it then don't use it. I don't really give two shits." The older man spat at Tom before hobbling back into the crowd, his back was arched at a dangerous angle – Like the hunchback of Notre Dame. His eyes were disproportionate and his tongue stuck out sometimes.

"Like hell it's a fine bar," Tom yelled back, "Anyway, you'll have a better chance of surviving in our home. It's not big, but it's sturdy. Sturdier than any other home here. Sometimes the wind blows the roofs off of the other houses, but ours is nailed. Great nails too…" Tom murmured off as Lucas let him murmur away before continuing himself.

"Food, you all need food," Lucas stated, "We have food, but 'fraid you're going to have to buy them. No discount. No haggling. The price is the price." Everyone in the village exchanged glances. That meant that they were going to raise the price or give the outsiders a negative discount just to screw with them. Rhys nodded and shrugged as he looked over to where Emilia was, "And don't worry about Emilia. Emilia is going to be just fine with Landon here."

"Alright, alright," Rhys said, "I'll pay for the refurnishing of the old thread shop. In exchange, a discount on the food. I'm a poor man here, y'know?" There was a weak ripple of laughter as some kids ran through, just to mess with the elderly, laughing as some of the old people stumbled around. A little girl ran past a thin-as-a-matchstick man before she zipped past Tom and Julia, pushing the apart. She grinned, showing a missing front tooth and uneven pigtails on the side of her head. Her eyes sparkled as she saw Rhys.

"Mr. Bryne sir is here!" She giggled before running off, chanting 'Mr. Bryne sir is here!". Her pigtails flew behind her as she smiled from ear to ear, "Mr. Bryne sir is here and he's gonna give us all the gold we want!" She jumped around before tripping and falling on her face. Immediately she jumped up and ran around, nose rosy red from the crash.

"I give some pocket money for them," Rhys answered too quickly for Klaus to ask, "It's a benefit, they don't mess with me, I pay them money for their… protection."

"Protection of what?" Adrian asked, "I do not see need for protection." Rhys laughed and turned to Lucas, who was talking to Landon, "Are they perhaps protecting you from themselves?" Rhys ignored the question and gave a long high-pitched whistle before everyone's attention was back on him again. With the burst of excitement from the children and Tom, everyone was in a sort of buzz.

"Okay, okay, so we'll stay at… Tom's and pay up (with a five percent discount) for the food, and leave the next day," Rhys said, waving his arms as if to conclude the ending of a song. He was the conductor in charge of the orchestra that was the people of Murret Stilhed. Everyone mumbled something in agreement before Rhys grabbed onto the unsuspecting Otto, holding his arm in a death-grip before he wandered off, "C'mon they'll disperse after a while. I'll show you Tom's home. Been there a couple times anyway."

"Is that so?" Otto said, uncomfortable with the hold on his arm, "Alright then. So, um, Rhys, where are we going after this? You said that we were going to go somewhere." Rhys turned to Otto. William and Elizabeth were arguing about something in the back, Mei-wan and Hai-rong were softly chatting, and Ade was sticking close to Ater, who was still trying to shake him off. Adrian, Klaus, and Hiro talked in broken English as they tried to make sense of the mumble jumble that ran off of their own tongues.

"Does it matter where? You don't know where you're going, you don't know what you should be doing. I don't think it really matters where I take you," Rhys said, grinning, "We're heading to Mormio, I'll find something useful for all of you there. Defeating a Lebhaft slime wear those shabby things is an achievement, usually we'd send at least a dozen troops and a minor commander."

"So why are you holding onto me?" Otto asked, raising his arm to show his point, "Let go of me… Please." Rhys laughed again. He always seemed to be laughing, regardless of the situation. It was, to Otto at least, a show, a show that was displayed for everyone except him because he could see through Rhys. Quite literally.

"Because I have the strangest feeling that you'll run away the second I let go," Rhys grinned, letting go, "Like you're not really here. Just here, but not here. And I need you to help me overcome the awful treacherous Olivia*."

…

"Sir, the new batch of players have arrived," A soldier reported. He was sent to Murret Stilhed to find the new 'hoard' as his master called it. His armor was of the best quality, made from the hinds of grade A monsters and with his personal skill, Almawt Likuli Min Yurani*, he was perfectly equipped to spy on weak players. They were fresh baby chicks facing off against a hawk. Death would be immediate.

"Hm, is that so?" The 'sir' looked down at the soldier. His mind seemed to be flowing out of the world, floating through the large coloured glass windows and barriers. He didn't even seem sober, a sort of consistent blissed-out look on his face matched his idle movements. He wasn't smiling, but he looked relaxed, "'Kay then how many did you find?"

"About 140," The soldier said. The other shot him an irritated look, "I-I only managed to count the ones that were visible. There may have been some with a spe-"

"I don't particularly give a fuck if you only managed to count the ones that were visible," The man sighed, "Just telling how many you found?" The soldier stuttered out a '143'. He had one shot, one shot to fail or pass this assessment. It wasn't even an assessment; it was a mission. Count the players that come from the border of Nichego* and kill anyone with one of the twelve class skills. He failed, didn't find anyone, didn't kill anyone – he didn't even manage to count properly, "Are you seriously the best assassin this world has to offer?"

"N-no, sir," The soldier stuttered again, "There is Sir Shiki and Sora."

"Are you teasing me… Lewis?"

"No, sir." His name was not Lewis. It was Lawrence.

"'Kay then… Hm," The other man, hummed something as he crossed his legs. He was sure the wave that he felt from the sudden entrance was large, larger than the one that his group made. The soldier swallowed as the other tilted his head. He really looked quite young, he was young, but it was a sort of horrifying young that made it appear as if he was a child stuck with something disgusting as his personality, "Alright, you did well. Come up here."

"S-sir?"

"Don't start doing badly, come up here," The soldier inched forward towards the edge of where he was sitting. There were rumors, rumors of what this man could do, and rumors were never good. Some said he ate children for breakfast, adults for lunch, and the elderly for dinner (as it was a light dinner). Some said he was crazy, always looking for something entertaining, "Closer…"

"Alright, sir," The soldier walked up to the man, who was still leisurely on his seat, legs spread out, arms dangling and eyes everywhere except on the soldier. The soldier was face to face with the other, eye to eye as brown met a startling sharp purple. Purple was a royal colour, rare and pretty, but this purple reminded the soldier of gooey mucus glands of the Witches Toad.

It drowned people in disgusting mucus, filling them up with its eggs before inseminating them with a thing rod like structure that protruded somewhere near its mouth. The person infected would die, slowly being eaten out for more toads to spawn. This man was that toad.

"Geez, you soldiers are so dull," The man laughed before he dragged the other onto him, slamming his mouth onto his. There was nothing romantic, nothing sexual or appealing as the soldier stood frozen. His eyes were as wide as saucers and suddenly he fell to his knees.

Weakness exploded into him as he felt something get dragged out of him. His was on his knees, the other leaning forward, gripping the bottom of his chin as he just sucked. The ground was hard, he needed the distraction from the strange, not immoral, but strange feeling.

It was strange, cold, wet. It felt violating and tiring as the other continued to force something out of him, he was being held by prickly fingers and a sensation that was just beyond slightly tingling. The other seemed to be just as bored as he continued, squeezing his chin as if there was more to be taken.

It continued, seconds feeling like minutes turning into hours as the strange sensation of something cold and moving was inside him. He was still, still as stone, there was no movement allowed, that was something that rang through him. Suddenly it stopped and the other pulled away as the soldier fell to his palms, coughing and sputtering.

There was a laugh and a languid pet on the cheek before the other shooed the soldier off. The soldier scuttled off, cheeks burning with embarrassment as the click of the door marked his exit.

[You have stolen the skill Almawt Likuli Min Yurani]