Dawn came. Astor slept with his new equipment all night long. Surprisingly, Cayn didn’t say anything about it, probably because he wasn’t aware of the item’s rarity yet. Should Astor come out clear about it? …Nah. Let’s be egoist for once.

  He did notice something about the cloak though. And not only that, but the mattress and some cushions as well. Cat hairs. Everywhere. There was definitely a cat around. At first, he thought it was some wolves’ hairs but a cat-obsessed person like Astor couldn’t be fooled for long. The size, the smell, the orange shine. There was no mistaking it. But where was the cat? Could this old man have suffered a recent loss?

  After a light breakfast, time came for departure. They politely thanked the man but to Astor it felt like it wasn’t enough. He felt the need to repay for the legendary item, yet he had no means to do so.

  The [Druid] paved them a way to the main road by moving trees. No wonder they got lost yesterday despite Astor’s photographic memory; the area must’ve been modified without them noticing.

  Many armed adventurers and citizens alike walked on the road, heading to the First Land’s city. It was way busier than yesterday. Given that yesterday was the yearly debut for a Journey, which was a big event, what could prompt such affluence?

  “Astor,” Bel said, “keep up.”

  He paced up, following his teammates more closely so as to not get separated. The crowd kept growing. Astor felt uncomfortable. He hated big groups of people in one place. It reminded him of older times; ones that he wished he could forget with a snap of a finger.

  “What’s going on?” Cayn asked the other two.

  Astor had no clue.

  Bel went ahead and just asked someone. “What’s happening?”

  “We’ve been called for reinforcements,” a girl said.

  Bel continued, “For what?”

  “You haven’t heard?” a man asked. “A new type of monster has been discovered.”

  There were two types of monsters currently known: those of yesterday’s, corrupted by mana and those made out of mana entirely. So a third type was big news. Astor observed Bel, and as expected, she was more than rejoiced.

  Cayn shut her down, “We are not doing anything about it.”

  “Why not?” she said.

  “A Journey is about helping others while discovering your true self, not fighting monsters mindlessly.”

  “Well, that’s your idea of it. I’d rather fight.”

  They both turned to Astor. Not again…

  “We can do both,” he said. “But I’d prefer the quickest route.”

  “Oh right, you gotta go fast for some reason, right?” Bel said.

  He nodded. Bel reiterated her point and Cayn rebutted immediately, affirming that helping people would be faster. It was going to be a long route full of arguing, wasn’t it?

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Enormous ramparts made out of various plants in front. Trees tall enough to skyscrape. The First Land’s city was upon them and it was truly a feast for Astor’s curiosity. Why were the city’s ramparts made of so many plants? Flowers, vegetables, fruits, mix of both nuts and seedlings scrambled around. There was so much information to process and yet Astor wanted to know it all. But could he really afford to waste here and ask around? Surely not, he’ll have to learn another time, not during the Journey.

  The queue to enter was long and people grew impatient. People being Bel. “Can they hurry up? We need to pick up some quests.”

  “Patience, Bel. Patience,” Cayn said.

  There really were a lot of people though. Looking behind, the queue seemed unending. Good thing they went early in the morning. How was the old man doing? Thinking of it, they never asked his name and he never told them either. Will the new type of monster affect him? Hopefully not.

  Their turn came in. “Why are you here for?” the receptionist asked.

  “For our Journey,” Cayn replied.

  The receptionist asked the trio’s consent to look at their status. And with it, he spoke, “[Identify].”

  Three blue screens appeared in front of him; Astor couldn’t get a clear view of them but assumed they were status screens. [Appraisers] like the receptionists were rare, he must be paid a ton to check on everyone’s status like this every day. If Astor ever got that class, he’d be set for life.

  And as he imagined what his life could be, the ground trembled. He could feel the vibration all over his body. He fell on the ground and so did everyone around.

  “Is everyone alright?” Cayn asked Bel and Astor.

  Astor was about to answer but an unshakable feeling surged him. He looked at the direction where the vibration came from. Humongous, no; gigantic. With its hollow eyes, a tortoise no smaller than the biggest trees roamed near them.

  “The new monster type?” someone amongst the crowd said. “This isn’t what we were told.” His voice shook.

  Astor could feel a crowd panic instill as he watched the talker’s face decomposing from terror. Someone had to calm everyone. He could, but how? He has to do something before someone gets hurt. Something, quick.

  Bel interrupted his train of thoughts by yelling and pointing at the monster, “Can we go beat it?!”

  Crazy battle-obsessed girl.

  People started being fired up. Of course they would be, adventurers are no wimps. They seek glory for a living. Imagine beating such a big monster, not only that; but being the first one to vanquish the new type of monster. That said, Cayn shut her down, not letting her go for an easy death like that.

  Silence installed itself out of nowhere. Growing noises approached, different from the earthquake earlier.

  “Stampede!” someone shouted.

  The message relayed. “Stampede! Stampede!”

  A stampede was no joke, it was an amalgam of both animals and monsters gathered for one single goal: running away. They’d trample over everything on their way, humans included, to survive.

  Astor and his party were right in the rampart’s door. What should they do? Enter the city or go back and flee to the Mainland? No need to think, it was evident; the ramparts existed for a reason, and it was probably this situation, right here, right now.

  “Let’s go inside,” Astor said, leading the other two.

  ***

  People bustled around: guards ready to strike any monsters coming; adventurers strategizing the incoming giant tortoise’s fight. It was impressive how fast they reacted to the situation. Yes, they were somewhat ready for the new type of monster, but did they also prepare for a stampede?

  Cayn gently knocked Astor’s forehead. “I know you are deep in your head because everything is new to you, however, we have to make decisions.”

  “Ya, green-eyes’ right, we gotta decide on what we do about all that. I vote for fighting monsters in the stampede,” Bel said.

  They are right, he made a good decision making a party with these two; without them he’d be lost. “What else can we do?” he asked.

  “We can help people run away or defend the city,” Cayn replied.

  Three options offered to him, but only one seemed evident to satisfy both teammates. “Defend the city.” That way, Bel could fight monsters while Cayn could help people. They agreed and went around, assisting everywhere they could.

  Monsters would gnaw at the ramparts, making holes to enter and attack people mindlessly. And if it wasn’t enough, the more docile animals would follow and run around, wrecking havoc. Bel distracted the monsters and animals making it easier for Cayn to immobilize them with chains made with the [Protection] skill. All the while Astor would seal the holes with [Element], shaping earth into solid walls.

  They’d go on for as long as possible this way but it felt unending for Astor. Pressure rose, as he still didn’t know what the new type of monster could do. He hoped the whole situation would resolve itself yet deep down knew something was going to happen, involving him and the other two. There was just no way the System would give them a skill set for no reason, everything must have been linked somehow.