The first thing we noticed when we got out was a melting ice structure-it was most likely left behind by Aisha telling us to find more of those structures. Without any exchange of words we began forward-I could easily see the line of ice structures laid out ahead of us.
The moon was brightly illuminating the Altera surface, allowing Raven to navigate the grassy plains easily in the dark. Amos eventually grew tired of screaming and fell asleep in Raven's arms, leaving us in unbearable silence. The air loomed ominously around us as our feet dragged against the damp evening grass. I felt like passing out on the spot but I knew I had to keep my guard up. We couldn't afford to lose Amos, not after the promise we made with Agatha.
I hope Amos stays asleep until the morning, I thought grimly. Right now sleep is his best escape from grief.
"Hey," Raven spoke quietly. "Thank you for the help back there. I would've lost of them if you weren't there."
"No problem," I replied with eyes glued forward. "Uh, you really went to town on that Nasod back there."
"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm sorry if it freaked you out."
I shrugged," it's no big deal. I can understand your rage."
"You gonna put that thing away?" He asked. "It's dangerous to carry it out in the open."
I looked down at the Elshard still clamped tightly in my clammy hand. I could still feel some of its power running through me," it's fine." I said nonchalantly. "Besides, we can use it as a weapon if we get jumped."
"Hopefully we don't get jumped-" he paused as Amos began stirring in his sleep-my chest ached as he mumbled his sister's name.
"Poor kid," Raven whispered. "He lost his parents and his sister. I can't imagine what that's like."
He's sort of on the same boat as me. The only difference is not everyone in his village is dead and he knows what happened to his sister.
"So what are you going to do now?" I asked. "Do you really think you can take care of him?"
"I don't know," he answered. "I don't think Elsword would mind us adopting him but I doubt Lowe will think the same way. Our team isn't exactly fit to raise a kid."
"But you promised to take care of him," I protested. "And Agatha sounded like she wanted us to take him in."
"I-I know," he answered. "Agatha probably saw our team as a good family for him, but we're not fit to be his guardians. He could end up dead with us."
I opened my mouth to reply but I couldn't bring myself to respond as a sudden feeling of dread dropped in my stomach. It felt like something was watching us, listening on our conversation. I had to force myself to stop walking as my heart rate rose drastically and my head began to pound.
"What's wrong?" Raven asked urgently. "Did you hear something nearby?"
"N-no," I stammered-I felt my legs trembling beneath me. "I-I feel really scared."
"What?"
I ran my hand through my hair," I-I don't why, but I feel really scared right now."
He cursed under his breath," just calm down and tell me why you're scared."
"I told you I don't know why," I snapped, nearly waking Amos up. "I-I suddenly felt l-like something was watching us." I added more quietly this time.
"Something?"
"L-look I can't explain it but I know something is wrong," I felt my eyes burning. "E-Eun, what's wrong? What's happening to me?"
It is the magic lingering nearby. Eun growled. Perhaps this is the unknown presence Aisha felt before.
Now that I think about it, Aisha did mention something about sensing an unknown presence up here. If this is the exact same presence she felt while exploring the surface we may be in a bit of trouble-especially now that we've exhausted ourselves.
"I-I'm going to go ahead," I offered. "If anything jumps out at you use this." I held out the Elshard to him.
"Are you crazy? What if you get killed by what ever is out there?" He asked through clenched teeth.
"Right now you're more valuable than me," I said, forcefully wrapping his fingers around the El Shard. "Your number one priority right now is to protect Amos. I'll help by playing as bait."
"I don't know how to use this thing," he added urgently. "W-what if I screw up?"
"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out," I reassured with a smile. "J-just stay here and wait. If I don't return in ten minutes leave." I locked eyes with him. "Understood?"
He opened his mouth to protest but snapped it back shut once he realized there was no winning in the argument. He tightened his lips together to hold back any lingering opposition and bobbed his head. I gave him a reassuring pat on the back before heading forward.
You know that moment when you do something (something that you thought was really smart at the time) but you instantly regret it a minute later? That was what it felt like to move forward by myself.
Even if I had Eun by my side I knew I couldn't solely rely on Eun, our repeated failures to protect the villagers and our friends proved our combined strength wasn't enough. Eun could successfully give me a boost in combat, but its power alone is not enough to secure the survival and safety of myself and others.
Unfortunately for me, it didn't take very long for me to bump into the culprit behind the dreadful aura. After a couple minutes of walking they came into view, they had their back towards me and it didn't seem like they were moving. From a distance I could make out their long black cloak, which covered them from head to toe. It was impossible to make out any further details.
I stopped in my tracks and observed them from a distance. They either couldn't sense my presence or they didn't care if I was there, they kept their back on me as they stared off into space. After I was sure they wouldn't come charging at me I began my way toward them.
The small voice at the back of my head began screaming at me to turn around. This person didn't seem to care or even notice our presence, so why bother getting closer to them? The safe move would be to turn around and look for an alternate path-but I was already too far into this to be backing out now.
I heard my heart beating my my ears. Each step made my legs grow weaker; my body grew colder as we inched closer to them. I swallowed and shakily pointed my spear at them. I wasn't sure if I should attack them or talk to them. They didn't seem to be harmful but I couldn't risk putting myself in any further danger.
"What a beautiful night," they spoke abruptly. I screamed and dropped my spear-there goes my idea of being sneaky.
Like me they jumped in surprise. My hands instinctively formed into tight fists as they turned around to face me. The shadow of their hood hid a majority of their face, I could only make out a scarlet red eye and a few strands of red bangs sticking out from the cloak.
"My goodness you scared me," she said, relaxing her tensed shoulders.
I refrained myself from answering and kept my eyes on her. She didn't comment at my lack of response and began to study me, my stomach turned uncomfortably as her eyes trailed curiously on me. I tightened my fists and braced myself for a sudden attack.
Her eyes travelled down to my fallen spear," oh, you dropped something." She pointed to the ground.
I would be crazy if I willingly let my guard down to pick it back it," it's fine where it is." I answered.
She shrugged and gazed up at the sky," I love the night." She said with a smile. "The sky is so boring during the day."
"I-I guess," I weakened my clenched fists at her response. "Who are you?"
"I'm a traveller," she averted her attention back to me-shivers ran down my spine as her eyes locked with mine. "A traveller who's heard of many strange things."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked skeptically. "And how did you end up here?"
It's not like Altera is as easy to access as Bethma or Elder. She would've needed a tremendous amount of magic to fly herself up here. It's a miracle she could even stand up if she actually exerted that much magic.
"I have a bad habit of snooping," she began. "To keep things short, an angry little girl and her..." she scratched her cheek. "The girl and her guardian attacked me after eavesdropping on their plan. I knew of this island before but never had the chance to explore it. I figured it would be a good hide out so I used the last of my magic to get up here."
"You used magic?" I raised my brow. I can't imagine the recovery process she had to go through afterwards. The healing process would have to be prolonged thanks to the presence of hostile Nasods.
She giggled," I use a different type of magic, one not many mages are familiar with."
That might explain the strange aura she gives off. If her magic was that uncommon it would make sense for it to make us feel uncomfortable.
"Enough about me," she took a step closer. "Tell me about yourself. What are you doing on this lonely little island?"
"I'm here with a Red Knight party," I answered sheepishly. "I, uh, came here for a mission."
"That sounds so much fun," she clapped her hands excitedly. "I heard Red Knights get to go to all sorts of places and fight all sorts of enemies. Is that true?"
"Y-yeah," I took a step away from her. "I guess we've had our share fair of fights."
It's funny how her enthusiasm about the Red Knight party reflects my own. I bet she would make an excellent team member, especially with that attitude toward us. Maybe that's the same reason why Elsword was so willing to let me join. If he was the one to meet her I'm sure he would've recruited her on the spot.
"How wonderful," she chimed. "You get to fight bad guys and go exploring. That's like a dream come true."
I'll admit it, the adventures we had were pretty awesome-if you take out all the times we almost died or lost someone.
"Oh I'm so sorry," she took a couple steps back. "I must seem so nosy to you. It's a bad habit I really need to change."
"It's alright," I smiled, allowing my fists to drop. "I can understand your excitement toward the Red Knight party. I was in the exact same position as you."
"Oh stop lying," she laughed. "I know you're feeling awkward from my fan-girling."
"I'm not-"
"Well I shouldn't keep you from doing your job," she cut me off. "I should be going as well. The outside is dangerous at night."
"You could tag along with us," I suggested-I knew this was a dangerous decision but she didn't seem like a bad person. Leaving her out here alone could put her life in serious danger."The Nasods have gotten more dangerous lately."
"Don't worry about me, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." She announced proudly. "Travelling alone has taught this young lady a lot about self defence."
Even if you are skilled in combat it would still be dangerous to go against a group of angry Nasods alone.
"Please don't freight over my safety. I may be nosy, and a bit crazy, but I'm not stupid," she held out her hand for a handshake. "If you continue travelling with your party I am certain we will cross paths again, but until then I wish you the best of luck on this mission."
"I wish you luck on your travels," I took her hand; they were abnormally cold, but that should be expected during this time of day. "My name is Ara, and you are?"
"That's a good question," she laughed-letting go of my hand. "I haven't been addressed by my name for so long I've seem to have forgotten."
She has to be joking, right? There's no way she could've forgotten her name.
"You're the first person I've properly spoken with since..." she paused. "I can't even remember the last time I've spoken to someone like this."
That's a little strange, to say the least. It's impossible for someone to forget their name, even if they've lacked human contact for a long period of time. Then again, this person was a little strange to begin with so I shouldn't be too surprised.
"Oh," I glanced awkwardly to the side. "So what do you want me to call you?"
"Whatever you want," she bounced excitedly. "I just want to be addressed by a name."
Now this is something I never thought I would be doing. When I came here I expected her to threaten me or even attack me, instead I'm stuck trying to name her.
"Uhh, how does the name Scarlet sound?" I braced myself for an instant rejection.
She rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a second," it's a lovely name, but why Scarlet?" She asked.
"Um, because of your eyes and your hair." I explained. "I can change it if you don't like it."
Her eyes widened," you must have very good eyes. I can barely tell what colour your eyes are in this lighting."
When you have heightened senses it doesn't take much effort to spot things out in the dark.
"Scarlet sounds like a wonderful name," she grinned widely. "Anyways I should get going now. I hope to see you soon, Ara."
"Take care, Scarlet."
She waved me good bye and took off into the distance. I kept an eye on her until she was completely out of sight-she seemed like a genuinely nice person, but I had to make sure she wouldn't sneak up behind me. Once I knew she was gone I breathed a sigh of relief and picked my spear back up.
"What was that all about?" I thought out loud.
She is strange. Eun piped in. A charming girl if I do say so myself.
"She reminds me of myself," I laughed. "I was just like her before joining the team."
I suppose you have a point but I do not trust her. There is something about her that unsettles me.
"I think you're just a bit bothered by her boundless energy." I said as I began my way back to Raven. "I'm sure you'll get used it once we get to know her better."
It is not that simple, Ara. I do not mind her enthusiasm toward your team; in fact, it is very entertaining to see her interest in it. However, there is something about her that makes me feel uneasy. Ara, I would highly suggest keeping your distance from her until we gather more information about her.
I could understand why Eun would feel so uneasy toward her, she does give off a very strange aura, but if she was dangerous why didn't she just kill us on the spot? I had my guard down during our conversation, so why didn't she attack me then? Wouldn't it have been easier to kill me on the spot than to slowly build my trust and then killing me? And I doubt it was because she wanted to follow me to the others, there's no way she didn't see them walking by earlier.
"Eun, you might just be overthinking this." I frowned. "You're probably just shaken up by today."
Perhaps, but until we know more about her I refuse view her as a friend.
Raven and I exchanged a very awkward conversation once I returned. He bombarded me with an endless wave of questions while I struggled to give him an honest answer. I told him about the strange person I ran into but I didn't go into details on our conversation. He was fairly distressed at the new knowledge of the mysterious traveller, but how can you blame him? We didn't have a clue as to who this person is and what their real intentions were. For all we know, they could another threat to Altera-as if the Nasods alone weren't enough. I kept my mouth shut about trusting her, knowing he'll go on about me being too trusting of strangers, but he would say the same thing if he had met her. She was a very sweet person who just wanted to travel and had an interest in the Red Knight party-like me.
Our discussion on the mysterious visitor eventually came to a stop and we both agreed to keep quiet about this until we knew more about her. Raven returned the El Shard back into Elsword's bag before continuing further down the path.
It took us another half hour before reaching the hideout. The Ponggo hideout was breath taking, to say the least. It was hidden along a narrow path stretching down from a cliff side, one wrong step and we would've fallen off the island. The hide out itself was an open cave, a large opening faced out to the bottom layers of the island-it opened up to a dome-like structured situated at the bottom of the island. The structure gave off a blue tint in the darkened cave, it was the only source of light. Two waterfalls, which stemmed from the two rivers flowing above, covered two opposing sides of the cave. Unfortunately the presence of the water made the cave a damp and cold camp, almost all of its rocky ground was soaked from the many stray water droplets.
Our friends had set themselves up near the entrance of the cave while the Ponggos were set up at the other side, both sides were successfully hidden from the structure's view thanks to the waterfalls. This divide struck me as odd but that alone wasn't enough to snap the sleep out of my eyes. Along side our friends were Nasods-the old and rusted ones.
The Nasods didn't seem hostile, if anything they appeared to be allies. The Nasods sat peacefully alongside with them while others spoke to the Queen quietly on the side.
"What is going on?" Raven blurted, catching the attention of our team and their guests-everyone but Chung who was asleep.
"Thank goodness you're okay," Aisha jumped to her feet and tackled me with a bear hug. "We were all so worried."
"Uh, yeah," I awkwardly returned the hug. "Umm, will anyone fill us in on what's going on here?"
"It's a long story," Elsword sighed. "We can talk about it later."
Aisha released me from my hug and turned her head at Raven. He bowed his head as she locked eyes on Amos, who was still peacefully sleeping in his arms," wow, I can't believe he's alive." She backed away and perked her head curiously to Raven's side. "I'm surprised Agatha let you carry him."
I swallowed the familiar lump forming at the back of my throat. I knew they were going to ask about her but I didn't think the subject would come up so quickly.
"Man, it's really dark in here," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I can hardly see you Agatha."
"Aisha," Raven began reluctantly. "Agatha...she's uh..."
"She didn't make it out." I finished. A long pause settled in the crowd, even the Nasods (who don't even know who she is) seemed shock at the news.
"A Nasod snuck up on us and attacked," he elaborated. "It changed its path last minute and targeted Amos. Agatha was quick to react and took her brother's place."
Someone in the crowd cursed.
"The poor kid watched as she lived her final moments." He concluded grimly.
"Oh my goodness," Aisha gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "T-that was his last family member too."
"I know," Raven sniffed. "We failed to protect her."
"I can't believe it," Elsword rested his head on his hands. "This can't be happening."
The Nasods surrounding them bowed their heads, shamefully almost. I wanted to throw every last of them off the island. I didn't care if they had no involvement in the attack, they were Nasods in the end, and they could easily be tricking my friends into believing they are allies.
It's that mind set that causes bitterness between humans and Nasods. Eun scolded. I understand your rage but I would advise abandoning that view as soon as possible. Much like humans and demons, Nasods are not completely evil. There are innocent Nasods among the group and you must not let your hate turn against the innocent.
'You're right, Eun. If Mother was here she would've lectured me on the same thing.' But it's so hard to remind myself that not all Nasods are evil, especially after what we've been through.
Amos stirred in his sleep, but this time he didn't stay asleep. He blinked his eyes open and studied his surroundings, he fell into a blind panic almost in an instant," where am I? How did I get here? Where's my sister?" He started thrashing in Raven's arms.
"Amos," Aisha approached the hysteric child. "Calm down, you're in a safe place now."
"Let me go!" He collided his tiny fists into Raven's chest but that alone wasn't enough to free him. "Agatha, help me! Please help me!"
"Keep your voice down, Amos." Elsword piped in. "You might give our position away."
"Agatha, please help me," he began to cry-his punches began weakening. "I-I'm stuck in a nightmare and I can't wake up. C'mon, sis, don't leave me alone."
"Amos," Raven lowered his voice. "She's gone."
Amos shook his head," no, I know she's still here. S-she's just playing a mean prank on me."
"Kid, stop fooling yourself."
"This isn't funny anymore, sis." He clutched onto Raven's jacket and began to bawl. No one said a word as he broke down in Raven's arms.
"I'm going to be outside," Raven announced quietly. "I wanna have a talk with the kid."
"Just stay safe out there," Elsword ordered. "Please stay safe."
Raven bobbed his head and began his way out. I could hear him whispering an apology to Amos, that only made the poor kid cry more.
I settled myself in with my friends and warmed up a bit with some hot water. Elsword dived into the explanation of the Nasods as I was warming up.
Apparently these Nasods were already at the hideout when they arrived. They pleaded for mercy before they could attack. When asked why they were here, the Nasods told them they were the few that freed themselves from the Revolution.
The Revolution was basically the start of a newer and better Nasod generation. The King Nasod knew of our presence and had begun to build his new army, an army of new Nasods models that were more efficient in combat; however, that meant the older models were to be scrapped and thrown away. Many of the old Nasod agreed to be destroyed as it was viewed as an "honour" to make more room for the newer models, others refused to let the King end their lives. They proposed to be upgraded instead of being scrapped, but the King viewed it as a tedious and long process. As a result, those who didn't want to be scrapped turned their loyalty away from the King and fled from his servants. Like us, they were now seen as enemies.
Elsword (who used his brain for once) proceeded to question them about the El Shard. The Nasods showed knowledge on its presence. Aisha further asked them about how they obtained the information on the Shard but none of the Nasods could give a concrete answer. Some said the King knew of the power long ago while others stated visitor spoke to the King and a lizard ally about its existence.
It got me wondering about Scarlet and her possible involvement but I decided not to bring her up.
The strange dome-like structure was revealed to be the Nasod Core, home to the Nasod King himself. Elsword didn't go into detail on it and he certainly didn't bring up any plans on attacking it, but I had a feeling we would be visiting the King very soon.
The rebel Nasods also seemed to have taken a liking to Eve. Many of them spoke to her about her plan about retaking the throne while others questioned her about her absence. Eve answered their questions calmly and explained to them her plan to strengthen the Nasod Kingdom once again, accepting both new and old Nasods. Her willingness to keep the old Nasods alive earned her a good amount of supporters while a few skeptics refused to side with her, but that didn't bother Eve anymore.
I shared hushed conversations with Aisha as the night dragged at. At some point Raven returned with Amos, he was in a much calmer state this time. Amos didn't feel comfortable resting with so many Nasods around and insisted on resting on the other side of the cave with the other villagers. Raven walked him over but never returned to our side. I'm guessing Amos didn't want him to leave or Raven wanted to keep an eye on him.
Aisha drifted off to sleep along with Elsword while Eve was given the night watch duty, I tried resting as well but I couldn't seem to fall asleep. After many failed attempts to fall asleep I gave up and offered to take over night watch. Eve was reluctant to have me awake any longer but gave in after much back and forth. Like the others she knocked out nearly minutes after closing her eyes.
I rested my back against the cold rocky wall and tucked my legs into my chest. The night grew colder as time dragged on, how anyone can sleep in the cold like this is beyond me.
"Hey," Chung suddenly whispered. "Who's on night watch?"
"Me," I yawned loudly. "I can stay awake for a bit longer."
"Are you serious?" Chung shot up to a sitting position and squinted his eyes at me. "How long have you been up?"
I shrugged," it doesn't matter."
"Did you sleep at all?" He asked, concern sounded through his voice.
"I tried, but I couldn't fall asleep." I admitted. "It's whatever."
"It's not whatever," he sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, what are you doing to yourself?"
I opened my mouth to reply but I couldn't think of anything to say. I simply shrugged and pulled my legs closer to my chest.
Chung mutely shuffled over and sat himself down beside me. He wasn't wearing his armour anymore, instead he had a thick blue sweater on and a pair of shorts.
"Really, shorts?" I arched my eyebrow. "Aren't you cold in that?"
"I've felt colder," he leaned against me, my chest tightened as our arms rested comfortably beside each other. "You need to sleep, Ara."
"I know," I answered. "It's just hard to...sleep."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He offered kindly.
"No," I replied with a sneeze. "Not tonight."
"You're going to catch a cold at this rate." He proceeded to unzip his sweater.
"I'm not that cold-" I let out another sneeze.
"Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that." He pulled his remaining arm out of its sleeve and rested the sweater over me like a blanket-it was surprisingly warm.
"T-thanks," I muttered with warmed cheeks.
"Get some sleep," he snaked his arm around my shoulders, exposing me to more of his warmth. "You'll be putting your health in danger if you don't get any rest."
He had a point and I guess it should be easier to sleep now that it's warmer, but would it really be okay falling asleep like this? What if I start having a nightmare? How will I explain it to him when I start thrashing in my sleep?
"Geez you're stubborn." He gently pushed my head against his shoulder. I would be lying if I said I wasn't screaming mentally to myself. "Look, I don't mind if you sleep like this. I see you as a friend now so this is all cool."
"Whatever floats your boat," I snuggled closer to him and shut my eyes. I really hope I won't be regretting this later on.
"Sweet dreams." He dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Thanks."
I drifted off into a deep sleep that night, and to my liking, I didn't have a single nightmare.
Waking up the next morning was awkward, to say the least. Aisha started teasing me the moment I opened eyes, Elsword eventually joined in and took her side. I swear my face was beet red from all their teasing while Chung seemed unfazed by their comments. I pleaded them to stop poking fun at me but the duo was obviously having too much fun to let it go. After some time had passed, Eve took pity on me and got them to stop embarrassing me.
I took that chance to walk out of the hiding spot and washed myself off in the river above. The water was cold but I didn't care, all I wanted was to clean myself off and make myself presentable again. Unfortunately I couldn't do anything about my robe, that would have to be washed back at Ruben. After drying myself off with one of Aisha's spare towels and fixing up my hair, I changed back into my clothes and returned to the hide out.
Everyone was sitting in a circle eating some berries someone had found earlier. Elsword and Aisha was in the middle of catching Raven up with the new information, thus I was free from their teasing for the time being.
The rest of us ate our small breakfast in silence as the duo concluded their story. Raven remained silent once all the information was out. I had a sneaking suspicion he wanted to say something about Scarlet but decided to keep quiet about it.
"Sounds interesting," he glanced briefly at me before turning his attention to Elsword again, as if to reassure our promise to keep her a secret. "Nice to know not everyone is fond of the King."
"That doesn't solve our Nasod problem though." Aisha frowned.
"At least we'll have my numbers on our side." Chung pointed out.
There was a moment of silence.
"So how's Amos?" I asked after some time had passed.
"He slept for half an hour," Raven replied. "I tried to get him to sleep but he refused. The kid was playing around with some potions he brought while reading this giant book throughout the night."
It's nice to know he's still determined to work on his alchemy. It would've been horrible if he gave up that passion because of Agatha's death.
"Elsword, what do you plan to do now?" Eve asked, changing the subject. "The Nasod core is right in front of our eyes now. If we want to attack we need to do it soon."
"I know," Elsword said, rubbing his chin. "But we don't know the layout of the core. I'm afraid of running into traps."
"Eve, what do you think will be down there?" Aisha asked. "Maybe the core will have a similar layout to your old kingdom."
"My kingdom was mostly protected by servants." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "There must be guards around the core, some small guards and some bigger ones."
"So we definitely won't be at our very best when we meet this King." I blurted.
Eve bobbed her head," it is impossible to reach the King without facing one of his guards."
"So what about traps?" Chung inquired. "You got a clue on what they might be like?"
"Traps, eh?" Eve thought silently to herself for a couple minutes before replying," traps triggered by footing could be a possibility or laser beams. Spike traps could also be a possibility, but I think the laser beams are more likely to appear."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Lasers are easy to set up and can be reused." Eve explained briefly. "Floor traps need to be reset after being triggered which leads to extra work for the King, and the spikes will need to be cleaned after one use."
If the King was really evil he would use all three in the core, but i doubt he'd have the time to set all of that up.
"I'll think of something today." Elsword said, helping himself up to his feet. "Don't worry about attacking the core until tomorrow, I want you guys to get some rest before facing the King."
"Elsword, I have a request for you," Eve looked up at Elsword. "I had a conversation with some of the Nasods last night and they have requested us to rescue the Nasods that have been taken to the core."
"Do they know where they're held?" Elsword asked.
Eve shook her head," I will make something to extract memory from a Nasod memory chip. We will simply need to defeat a Nasod in the core to obtain their location."
"In that case I see no problem with the rescue," Elsword replied with a smile. "We'll be counting on you."
Eve pried her eyes away from Elsword," I understand." She smiled.
"Anyways, I want everyone to stay here and keep watch of the villagers," Elsword ordered nonchalantly. "I'll be out looking for tonight's dinner."
"I'll come with you," Raven said, springing up to his feet.
Elsword raised a brow at him," why so eager to come along?" He asked.
Raven shrugged," I don't wanna stay here all day." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I, uh, also wanna talk to you about something." His eyes wandered to the ground. "It's about the kid."
