"Ash, what the hell was under the river?!" Aeris said, coming closer to Ash as if pressuring him to answer.
Ash turned nonchalant, his expression, his face was cold as ice. "If I told you, what would you do?" Ash said.
Aeris hesitated to answer for a moment, thinking about Ash's response which clearly had a hidden message and Aeris grasped it.
"I wouldn't approach it, Ash! just tell me so we could be on the safe side." Aeris said, calculating the patterns around Ash, which was raising up high, indicating a form of anger or irritation.
"Listen, Aeris. That creature might be the strongest creature in this entire world. It's not something like the Vilewarren. Even the Vilewarren would look like an insect against that creature." Ash explained.
Aeris thought about the possibilities if they encountered that thing, but he couldn't. Without any information about it, he wouldn't be able to do anything.
"So, how could we avoid it? Something strong as that must be hard to keep distance from." Aeris asked, stating a fact to honor the strength of the River King.
"It's simple really, not as difficult as you think. Just stay away from that damn river. I didn't name it the River King out of nothing." Ash said, a smile forming slowly on his face.
Aeris considered what Ash said and nodded. Aeris trusted Ash with his life, though the reason is deep in his heart and it's nothing near the surface of his confession.
"So, You are Ash..." Shizuna said, pointing at Ash. "And you are Aeris. Kimii... Ah, you, what's your name?" Shizuna said, Japanese still slits through her mouth.
"Nyro, You can call me Nyro." Nyro said with a thumbs up.
Shizuna smiled and nodded.
"Everything is good, Shizuna joined us, and we are ready to--"
"Wait!" Ash interrupted Aeris mid-speech. Aeris looked in bewilderment, staring at Ash.
"Shizuna, What is your level? If you can tell." Ash asked, concern shaped his expression.
Shizuna hesitated for a moment, thinking about leaving her level hidden in the shadows of her system, but if she would be one of their teammates, she has to say it.
"Hehe, Why wouldn't you say your level first, Sneaky Ash?" Aeris said, His smile arched on his face, along with his brows, they also arched. Peak of teasing.
"Not now, Aeris. I will tell you later." Ash said, shaking his finger from behind that only Aeris could see. A hidden message to stop asking.
Aeris grasped the message quick enough to shift the question back to Shizuna. But...
"My level is currently at 4. It's quite low, I know." Shizuna said, a bit disappointed in herself.
Ash looked at her and almost choked.
'H-Huh?! Quite low?! I reached level 3 and I thought I broke a record! Well, before Aeris and Nyro told me their levels.' Ash thought, getting accustomed to the new reality.
"That's good, not bad, Shizuna. With low experience in bows and you got level 4, that's impressive." Nyro stepped in the conversation, lighting up the atmosphere a bit.
Shizuna smiled gently out of pure happiness. Her disappointment in herself vanished in the shadows.
"Now, we are ready to venture to the castle listed on the map we have." Aeris said, taking the tone of the leader, as always.
"Yea, let's end some damn banes on the way." Ash said, forming his hand like a claw before closing his fist.
Aeris put on his smile and reached the door.
"Let's go, Travelers!" Aeris said while opening the door and burst in a sprint out of the old hut.
"Hell yeah!" Ash, Nyro, and Shizuna said in union, taking a sprint like Aeris behind him.
Together, They began their adventure through the Fluffbane forest.
***
IN THE FAR NORTH
A large city existed, full of people wearing simple tunics, stores of weapons and elixirs, children running and playing with each other, different cultures, auction houses, and many more.
Lively roads filled the entire city, with it's medieval designs and buildings. There were warriors too, checking their weapons at the smith, finding some rare materials to buy or sell.
Every corner, every place, every store was like a black hole, attracting at least a dozen.
This is the central city of the 'Old Times'. The main anchor of nearly everything. At the center of the city resides the central castle, The largest castle among the three castles in the 'Old Times'.
Through a narrow way in the city filled with small stores of swords, bows and other weapons, a teenager with foreign clothes, was walking in the middle.
'That city is surely massive!' Thought the boy, admiring the atmosphere of the central city. A live scene of a fantasy he always heard about but never saw before.
Along his way, he saw a vegetables store and a store specialized in axes beside it.
'I wouldn't even dream of what my eyes seeing right now.' The boy thought and almost laughed.
He took a glance above and saw the central castle. That's his destination, that's why he came to the central city in the first place.
After what seemed like an hour, the boy reached the castle's gates. The castle was enormous! Its intricate patterns and the towers that rose from its four sides was fascinating.
'Wow! Each tower is exactly in one of the main directions!' The boy is indeed right. Each tower was named on a direction name.
The north, south, east, and west towers. The boy must have possessed a high level of intelligence to grasp that hidden detail from the first glance.
The guards saw the boy coming. When he faced them, they stopped him immediately.
"What are you doing here, boy? Only travelers have permission to enter." The guard said with an even tone, and also with a bit of authority.
"Then he must be a traveler to come here. Based on his clothes, he should be." The other guard said, based on the foreign clothes the boy wore.
The boy smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I'm a traveler." Simple.
The first guard who spoke smiled.
"Well, if that's the case, we will ask you two simple questions." The first guard said, making the boy anticipate the questions. Though, fear never took over his nerves.
"Your name? And, your code?" The second guard asked, continuing what the first guard started.
"Sylas Valmere," Sylas stopped for moment, as if he was building suspension. "Code: *789#0001."