In the deepest Okren Forest

Gorstag swore. "This forest makes my head float!" He covered his nose with a cloth. "The air is so humid, I don't like it!"

Uldor glanced at Gorstag. "Keep your voice down! Our voices can be heard!" Uldor admonished in a whisper.

"That's right, this forest is very humid, there's a lot of moss growing on the ground and rocks," explained Theo, who walked ahead. "And I read in a book that Okren Forest used to be a hiding place for demons when they were expelled from the sky," Theo added.

Theo, Uldor, and Gorstag walked slowly through the dense Okren forest. The sunlight grew dimmer as the towering trees covered the sky.

"Then you believe those obscure myths made up by the ancients?" asked Gorstag.

"Hmm...I believe everything written in the book because it was all based on previous people's experiences and stories," Theo replied.

"So you believe Iblis exist?" asked Gorstag again. Uldor just listened to the conversation between his two friends.

This often happened when the band was together, whether it was talking about nonsense or weighty matters.

"Of course," Theo replied confidently.

"You're just like a child. A grown-up like me wouldn't believe in superstition," Gorstag said with a snort.

"You don't believe in Iblis, but you believe in dragons, you're funny Gorstag, hahaha," Theo chuckled under his breath.

"Dragons exist and have attacked humans, my father and mother also helped the emperor during the conquest. My father even made dragon bones as decorations in our house! So I believe it!" protested Gorstag excitedly.

"But before dragons came to the surface, they were also considered superstitious creatures. So I can infer from what you're saying that you're superstitious too," said Theo with a winning grimace, looking at Gorstag behind him.

"How could you come to such a conclusion? It's so unclear!" Gorstag fumed.

"That's easy because I'm Theo," Theo replied with a smile.

"You're dump!" grumbled Gorstag.

"Stop it...you all can continue this pointless debate later," Uldor interrupted. He kicked Gorstag's leg lightly. "He's just teasing you because you get angry easily," Uldor explained.

"Aghh...whatever!" cursed Gorstag.

"Shush...keep your voice down!" scolded Uldor quickly.

They continued their journey deeper into the forest. They stopped in the center of the forest, hiding among the trees. As they approached closer visibility, they saw three small camps consisting of tents and a large campfire in the center, Uldor stepped forward and spread his arms to signal his companions to be quiet, then moved forward.

The brown-skinned man lurked from behind a tree. Then returned. "There are three of them, wearing red hooded robes. There are three small campsites, with a large bonfire burning in the center. Wooden fences enclose the encampments."

"What are they doing in the middle of a terrible forest like this? They're very suspicious!" whispered Gorstag.

"What about Theo? What's our plan?" asked Uldor.

Theo thought for a moment and then whispered to his friends. "We'll approach them and pretend to be lost adventurers."

"What if they don't believe us?" asked Uldor in confirmation.

"We'll kill them! Easy, right?" Gorstag pounced on Uldor's question.

.

"Mmm...yeah right, we'll go Gorstag's way," Theo said.

Uldor shook his head at their plan which looked like a child's strategy. "At a time like this, I just realized that Kain's intelligence is needed."

"When I'm on a mission with Kain, I'm the one who does most of the thinking, he does most of the stroking of his favorite hammer," Gorstag protested unhappily.

"Never mind, let's just say everything you said is true, we better hurry," Theo ordered.

Once everything was ready, they approached the campsite and pretended to be lost adventurers.

They were already approaching the wooden fence that surrounded the camp. When they were near the fence, they greeted three people who were standing around a large campfire.

Theo approached them casually. "Greetings, my brothers!"

The men were surprised and got up from their seats.

"Good evening, my brothers!" replied the man standing in the center. Then from the right stepped forward another man. "What brings you into this forest?"

"We were on an adventure in this forest. But we got lost due to the carelessness of one of my friends," Theo replied calmly while pointing at Gorstag.

"What kind of adventure brought you into this Okren forest?" asked the man looking suspiciously.

Then Theo calmly answered. "We are mercenaries, and we happened to be on a mission to find porcini mushrooms, but as I said earlier, we got lost because," Theo turned to Gorstag, "Our friend got separated, so we searched for him and ended up bringing us here."

Uldor who had been silent appeared from behind Theo. "We didn't mean anything by it, we just asked your permission to rest for a while in the camping area."

"We're really tired, this is our first time going deep in this forest, don't worry, we have no evil plans for you," Theo replied politely and lowered his back slightly.

The person in the middle stared at them with a displeased look and then the three of them conferred in a whisper. They still did not trust Theo's group. Gorstag glanced at Theo to ask permission to stick his axe in their heads, not the permission Gorstag got but a sharp look from Theo's eyes.

After a few minutes of deliberation, one of the hooded men approached Theo.

"Okay, you can join us. But we cannot guarantee your safety," he said, and Theo bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

"But not for long, after sunrise you have to leave this camp," he continued.

"No problem, this is more than enough," Theo replied.

They all sat around the campfire that was burning quite large. Their eyes glanced at each other. Until one of the hooded men broke the awkwardness. "Forgive us for being like this, I guess what we're doing is normal, right?"

"I'd be like that too if I were in your shoes, we don't mind that," Theo replied, ending with a fake warm smile.

Gorstag wanted to vomit at his leader's unnatural acting.

"I'm Hars, and this is Erwan," while pointing to the skinny man beside him then he pointed to the big man next to Erwan. "The big one is Dapo."

Theo bowed his head, then introduced himself, "Theo and the stupid guy next to me is Gorstag and the quiet guy is Uldor."

"If we may know, which guild's mission are you taking?" asked Hars who was sitting across from Theo.

*****