Just as the party thought their task was over, a new problem knocked at their door—a herd of Drows blasting their way towards them. If not more, there were at least a dozen, eyes full of bloodlust.
Jay looked at Han, who was barely able to stand, shaking on his legs.
"Han is exhausted, there's no way he can handle this. Martha doesn't have any offensive skills, Scarlet is still scared, and Nana can't fight. It's just like that time when we were defeating that game boss. I don't want to play solo again," he muttered, clicking his tongue.
He pulled Han onto his shoulders and rushed toward Nana and Scarlet, who were hiding in the bushes.
"What the heck are you doing, Jay? Put me down! You and I both know we can't fend off those Drows," Han shouted, demanding he stop.
"Shut it. You'll never be able to fight in your condition. Build a high ground and hide with the others. I still have to pay for that Kogar." Jay smiled.
Han didn't mutter another word. "Good grief, you bastard."
Using his remaining Mana, Han made a wall—strong and high enough—taking Nana and Scarlet with him.
But Jay didn't go with them. He rushed toward Martha, who was standing at the top of the cage Han had made to hold the Weeps.
"Really, that idiot. Selfless as always. I hate it," Martha murmured. "This is going to be a little hard. Drows can't enter the cage, so now their prey is us." She sighed.
She closed her eyes, diving deep into thought, trying to find an idea. Suddenly, a bulb of light clicked on in her mind. "Got it!"
"Jay! Can you buy me some time?" she shouted.
"Looks like you've got an idea, but I don't think I can hold them off for long," he replied.
"Don't worry, and I have another request—could you—" She threw her ribbon to him.
Jay's eyes flicked as he caught it.
"Goodness, you sure ask a lot."
He switched direction, distracting the herd, and darted through the jungle. But the Drows were fast—they quickly caught up with him. Just as one was about to reach him, a wall popped up between Jay and the Drows. It was Han.
"Thanks, Nana," han murmured before collapsing to the ground.
"Big bro!" she shouted.
"Nana had used her skill [Ability Boost] to temporarily increase Han's mana, just enough for him to build a single wall for Jay to buy some time. Even when tired, he never gave up, and I"— Scarlet eased his eyes closed and put his head on her lap. "You truly are a good man," she whispered.
"That nerd! He never rests," Jay smiled, darting through the rough jungle. The wall wasn't strong enough to stop the Drows for long—a single hit almost broke it.
"That hit would easily kill me. Looks like I have to speed up."
Jay knew he had to hurry. He tore some branches and grabbed some rocks as he ran. He put them on the ground, clenched his fist, eyes focused, and his mark glowed. Skill activated: [Blacksmith Lagoon].
The branches shredded themselves, becoming a single slim strand. The rocks sharpened, swirling to form a spearhead. The strand formed a stick and connected to the sharpened rock, forming arrows.
"Hm, that should be enough." Then he swiped his hand toward a big branch, stretched it to form a bow, and pulled out a string from his pocket—it was Martha's hair ribbon.
"She's one hell of a girl. I have to return the ribbon, too. It's really important to her."
He took the bow and arrows and rushed toward the other side of the plains. The wall broke, and the Drows swarmed through.
On the other side, Martha had collected some poisonous leaves. Using her skill [Material Sewing], she converted them into a liquid paste, glancing at the Drows in the distance.
"Drows are superior attackers. The only reason they can't kill the Weeps is because they have no defense. Their skin is penetrable, but that's not the only reason they failed against Weeps. The key to defeating them is that they aren't immune to poison. Weeps developed this ability, but Drows, on the other hand, chose the easy path of becoming flesh-eaters. They stayed at high areas to avoid poisonous plants. But in a jungle full of poison, even the deadliest predators are just helpless cattle," she smirked.
Jay reached her. Martha whispered her plan.
"Huff... Huff... So that's your plan—to poison them, I was confused when you ask me to make bows and arrows," he said.
"Yes. Dip the arrows in the paste and shoot," she handed him the paste, green and smelling like rotten eggs.
The herd of Drows was not far, rampaging through everything.
"Do you think I can shoot them all?" he smiled.
"Everyone knows you're the best shooter in all of Japan," she slapped his back.
"In game!" he pointed out.
"And we're in a game, idiot! Don't think too much—just shoot." She slapped him again, harder.
"Don't blame me if I miss." He pulled the arrow, stretching the ribbon, gently aiming at the Drows closing in. He moved it a little to the side, accounting for the airflow, and then—
The arrow swiftly danced through the air, piercing the head of the first Drow. The Drow fell, rolling as the poison spread through its body. Before the others could react, arrows barraged through the sky. One after another, the Drows started to drop. In an instant, the battle was over.
"Nice shot," Martha gazed at Jay, his eyes sharper than before.
"Hm... looks like we won. Quite nostalgic," Jay lowered his bow.
"Yeah!
Well, I want something... Can you give me a knife?" Martha asked with a devious smile.
"That look... I feel something bad about it..."
Jay and Martha rejoined the others. Han was still exhausted, sleeping like a baby with his head on Scarlet's lap.
"Hold on! What's going on here?" Jay shouted, startled.
His voice woke Han, who opened his eyes slowly and looked at Jay.
"You shithead, didn't your parents teach you not to shout when someone's sleeping?" He looked at Jay with a disgusted face.
"Says the boy sleeping on a girl's lap," Jay retorted.
Han's eyes moved upward, seeing Scarlet. He jumped. "Wha—I got unconscious, I didn't know you were there, I mean—" Han stumbled over his words.
"Idiot!" Scarlet turned her head away, hiding her bright red face. "That idiot... Always makes me so embarrassed, but it's good he's alright."
Still exhausted, Han sat down. "So you guys handled the mutant cows, huh?"
"Yes, all thanks to my amazing archery," Jay stood tall, his nose getting bigger like a proud cartoon character.
Suddenly, a glow of light emitted from the symbols on Martha and Jay.
"What is happening?" Scarlet muttered.
[Level Up]
[New Skill Unlocked]
The stats hologram of both projected in front of them. Han peeked at it.
"Wha—That's cheating! What are these skills?"
[Jay Stats]
[Lvl 3 ---> 4]
[Hp 280 ---> 340]
[Mana 250 ---> 320]
[New Skill: (Replicate)]
[Martha Stats]
[Lvl 4 ---> 5]
[Hp 320 ---> 380]
[Mana 400 ---> 520]
[New Skill: (Strings of Hien)]
Han was flabbergasted.
"(Replicate) helps the user replicate any weapon with all its attributes—even magical power—as long as they have all the required materials. Each replicate costs 10 mana points."
Han sighed, "Normally it's not that big of a deal, but being able to mass-produce something with magical power is scary." His eyes then glanced at the other skill.
"(Strings of Hien), a skill made by the God [Hien]. It creates strings made of air itself, invisible to anyone except the user. It works at their will and can cut through mountains when mastered. Mana replenishment depends on the number of strings used."
He looked at Martha. "You know how broken that can be." Martha and Jay smirked at him.
"Hm... looks like someone's falling behind," Jay taunted Han.
"Looks like the gods of the game have some problem with me. They get broken skills, and I got what? [Quick Tackle]?" Han felt a little down.
"Who is the God [Hien]?" Scarlet asked, hearing the name for the first time.
"[Hien] refers to Apollo, a Greek mythical god, known as the god of music, holding the strings of a lyre. His strings were said to conquer the titans. In some mythology, he is also known as the god of the sun," Nana answered without hesitation.
Everyone was a little shocked. They looked at Nana with startled eyes.
"How did you know that?" Jay asked, curious.
"I read it somewhere," she replied, a little hesitant.
"So that means this world also follows the same mythology as Earth. But why and how?" Martha was submerged by a wave of questions.
"We can find out later. The sun's starting to set—we should leave before it gets late," Jay pulled her back to reality.
"hmm!"
• • • • •
Before the sun set, the group reached the kingdom safely. They showed the guild paper to the guard at the gate and, after entering, quickly took a carriage van to the guild building. Before they entered, Nana asked Martha for a copper coin. She took the coin and tossed it into the fountain in front of the building, praying for something.
"Now I can sleep a little," Han said, his eyes still baggy.
They entered the guild. The crimson-haired lady greeted them. Martha pulled out the blood they had collected and gave it to her. Her face showed a little shock at how quickly they had completed the mission.
"Interesting, didn't Drows attack you all?" she asked, a little suspicious.
"No!" Jay denied everything.
She didn't waste much time and contacted the head guild for mission completion. After testing the blood and checking other formalities, she opened a different drawer below the one with badges, pulled out 11 silver coins, and gave them to Martha.
"The blood of the Weeps is of very good quality and really well extracted. After informing the buyer, he was happy and wanted to give 3 silver coins as a bonus."
Everybody smiled. After a long day of crazy adventure, the prize was pretty good.
They exited the guild, deciding to come again after some days because missions of such low rank need some time to appear at the guild. But before they did anything else, Martha pulled out a small bag from her left pocket.
"What's in it?" Nana was curious.
"Teeth of Drows," she smiled deviously.
Everyone looked at her with shocked eyes.
"Hhh... I knew she was going to do something crazy when she asked for the knife," Jay murmured.
"We still have some time left, so why not go to the place that holds the most information?" Martha shouted.
"What place do you mean?" Scarlet was confused.
"Black Market..." Her smile widened, eyes glowing like stars.
"You just want to sell the teeth, huh..." Han gave her a side-eye.
"Shut up."