CHATTER CHATTER CHATTER

  The sun has risen once again, waking up the slumbering world and chasing away the darkness oning over it. Now, the m birds are flying freely and the crowd is buzzing about like busy bees, the sound of rolling wheels apanying them.

  They were all cttering and chattering, walki and right as they went about their day. Some raised the covers from their stalls, some moved heavy crates, and some were busy repairing their houses. Each part of the city was busy and full of life.

  "Fuwaahhh～～!" ［Yuna］

  A subtle ahy yawn danced in the air, her strides as silent as her breath as she opened her mouth. A small tear formed in the er of her eyes, yawning once more whilst she walked dowreets. It was Yuna.

  "Haah... This is why I told you to sleep early st night. Now look at you, you look like a walking zombie... Just hootions did you make?" ［Grey］

  "Umm... 300... No, 400...? Wait, a thousand? How many was it again?" ［Yuna］

  "Haah... No matter how many it is, I'm sure you made too much. You 't everack of them anymore. Seriously... You should take care more of yourself." ［Grey］

  "Sorry... It won't happen again, I promise..." ［Yuna］

  Said the young dy, but Grey looked far from vinced. It wasn't the first time she promised so, and she had broken them all without fail. The moment she gets excited, there is no stopping her, Yuna going all out every time.

  In fact, she was so excited, she made a few thousand potioerday. 4.208 of them, to be exact. She might have lost t, but Grey could still remember clearly, all of whiow ihe young dy's ste ring.

  Of course, they weren't anything too precious. They were just potions Middle-Grade, Mid-Tier potions. Though, ing out such a rge number of potions in all but a single night was nothing short than amazing. Yuna's speed was beyond incredible.

  "Fet it. Just make sure to get a good night's rest ter. If you don't follow up on that, I'll make sure to fiscate all your alchemy equipment." ［Grey］

  "Uuu... Grey, that's too mean...!" ［Yuna］

  "Then just don't sleep te again. It's as easy as that, and I won't be ging my mind no matter what you do.... Do I make myself uood?" ［Grey］

  "... Okay.., Fine... I promise... I'll sleep early tonight..." ［Yuna］

  The weekend has e, and now, Grey and Yuna are out ireets, heading towards the Adventurers' Guild. They already made pns to go into the forest and collect herbs and material today, watg to stretch their bodies after a while.

  They tiheir strides, their footsteps barely making any sounds ireets, and soon enough, they finally arrived at their destination. A familiar yet unfamiliar building standing proud and mighty before them. It was Xeros' Adventurers' Guild.

  There were as many people as usual, easily numbering a few huhey were all there to work, most of the adventurers looking up the quest boards with their parties, discussing seriously what quests they should be taking for the day.

  The yout of the guild wasn't too different than usual, only the style of architecture and the materials used differing. There were still all the necessary ters and all the facilities of a Guild, adventurers aionist buzzing about the pce.

  "Mmn... There's so many herb colle quests..." ［Yuna］

  "Do you want to take some for the day?" ［Grey］

  "No... I want to fight some monsters for today. I heard that there's been a lot of Kobolds around the forest tely. Should we go for them." ［Yuna］

  "Kobolds, huh... Did a horde spawly?" ［Grey］

  The two whispered quietly as they looked at the subjugation requests posted before them, and unsurprisingly, there were quite a number of subjugatios which required the subjugation of not just Kobolds, but Kobold Warriors aes as well.

  Kobolds are wind-attribute, warrior-type monsters which look like werewolves, only that it was with a hyena rather than a wolf. They are a size smaller than a werebeast, but it makes up for it for speed and nimbleness.

  Frey, they are the most iing of monsters. After all, not only are they of the wind-attribute, the higher variants of such monsters are ones who use gaus and brawl against their e close bat. They were the most simir to him.

  "Do you think a Kobold King is leading them, Grey?" ［Yuna］

  "That's a bit hard to imagine. If they were, they would have already reached Xeros by now. I think that's pushing it a bit too far." ［Grey］

  "Hm? What if it's not a horde but a instead?" ［Yuna］

  "That may be possible... It's been some time since we've seen one." ［Grey］

  Hordes as, they're rare occurrences which spawns abnormally rge numbers of simir monsters, with the only differehat one was always in the move and one was stationary. heless, both of them are iing to see.

  Though they won't be taking any herb colle quests, it was worth reading through them and gathering a bit of information oo find them, how abundant they were, and what dangers lurk near such locations.

  It was especially helpful for rare herbs at higher-ranked quests they 't take with the ranks of their alternate cards. They'll be able to receive rge amounts of money, but pared to exposing their identities, it was not worth it.

  "Alright, let's take this ohen." ［Grey］

  Before long, they finally picked a quest. It was an F-rank quests named "Kobold Warrior Subjugation", which as the name suggests, they are tasked to subjugate a total of 5 Kobold Warriors, and bring their mana cws and mana crystals as proof.

  The two didn't dilly-dally any longer and headed straight towards the reception desk with the quest forms in hand. The receptionist greeted them with a smile as per usual, processing their quest without wasting even a single sed.

  "Here you go, Mister Shin, Miss Elena."

  "Thank you." ［Grey］

  The moment they received their quest, the two of them quickly headed towards the eastern gates. It didn't really matter which gate they went out of as they would still be entering the Lorinia Forest anyway. They simply picked at random and headed there.

  They stepped out of the city, and into the forest in a matter of seds. A deep sea of green and browed the two of them, the moist ahy st of the forest tig their noses, subtle sts dang in the air from time to time.

  Steps echoed and the branches cracked. As the leaves rustled and the vines danced in the air, a variety of herbs and flowers started popping out left and right, getting more and more abundant the deeper they went into the forest.

  "Ohh!! So many herbs! It truly is abundant as they say!" ［Yuna］

  It wasn't too long before Yuna started going ham, running all around the pce the moment she was surrounded by all sorts of materials. It hasn't even been a couple minutes and there were already wild medial herbs to be seen everywhere.

  Of course, Yuna didn't waste any more time and started preparing right away, taking out her harvesting tools and preparing bags and sacks while she was at it. It was as if the tiredness she once felt was all a lie, looking as eic as be,

  "Grey, here you go. You help out too." ［Yuna］

  "Hm? I'm helping you out as well? I was thinking of scouting ahead for Kobolds and other mohough." ［Grey］

  "No! That wait! I promise this will only take a while!" ［Yuna］

  Or so she says, but with how excited her eyes were, there was no way it would be ending in "only a while". Rather, Grey was sure it would take them at least a couple hours at the very least. They may evehere until the sus.

  Well, not that Grey could really go against the young dy's wishes. He could refuse her, but she would immediately start pouting the moment he does, trying to vince him persistently every time she . All her sparkly eyes spelt was trouble,

  "Haah... Fine... As long as you promise that we'll go back before su. Any longer and I'll leave you behind. I'll be going home first." ［Grey］

  "Okay～! I'll keep that in mind! Let's start fing!" ［Yuna］

  "Hey, Yuna. Are you even listening?" ［Grey］

  No... The answer was no...

  The moment Grey agreed, Yuna's mind quickly drifted away into space, her pointy ears not listening anymore. All that mattered to her was that agreed, quickly handing the trowel, scissors, harvesting knives, and many more items to her.

  Grey didn't know whether he should ugh or cry at how whimsical and free spirited his beloved fiancée was, looking at her with a flicted expression whilst she smiled ever so happily. A smile which didn't st too long...

  TWHACK

  "Oww!" ［Yuna］

  ... Soon turning into quite a pained expression the moment Grey flicked her forehead with his fingers. The young dy was shocked, c her forehead with her hands whilst the pailed in, looking at Grey with an expression fused as be.

  "Wh... Why...? Why did you do that...?" ［Yuna］

  "Just because." ［Grey］

  "Eh?! Why?! You meahat hurt a bit, you know?!" ［Yuna］

  Now, it was the young dy who was pining and Grey who wasn't listening. He simply casted "Silence" in the forest and humming to himself, ign Yuna as if she was invisible to him. He may love her, but that doesn't mean he 't be petty,

  Shenanigans aside, Grey and Yuna soon started pig up the herbs and fing fruits, nuts, and berries while they were at it. Not only were there rare herbs, there were also some magits blooming in some secluded pces.

  There were also a number of wild animals which happeo be abundant in the forest. Some of them were simple forest animals, but some were very special. Not only are some of their ans useful in alchemy, some also had very fine and lea known to be delicacies in Xeros.

  BUHHIIIIKKK BUHHIIIKKKK HIIIKKKKK

  Now, they weren't just fing, but hunting as well, a rge boar running throughout its forest, the ground shaking and trembling with every step. It was even bigger than a bear, dashing with all its might aroying the boulders blog its path.

  It was an E-ra, "Smash Boar", a null-attribute beast known for its superior strength which is capable of smashing trees and boulders. It was a fearsome beast many adventurers and alchemists avoided uhey were fident in their skills.

  "e here, Mister Piggy～! Don't make things harder for yourself!" ［Yuna］

  And that very same beast was now running away from the young dy with extreme terror in its eyes, even shedding tears from fear in its eyes. It was running away with all its might, knowing full well that death was chasing it fervently.

  After all, other than the fact that it was absurdly powerful pared to other E-rank monsters, it was also known for oher thing. That was that its meat was iender and delicious, nobles and royals fang them quite a bit.

  "Mister Piggy, I'm ing for you～!" ［Yuna］

  Of course, as a gourmet such as herself, there was no way Yuna assing on the opportunity to taste such delieat. She was fervently chasing the Smash Boar, her eyes sparkling like that of a starving predator.

  "I'll make sure to eat you happily, Mister Piggy!" ［Yuna］

  Said Yuna as she leaped towards the air, jumping much further ahead than the Smash Boar. The tter was able to step on the brakes and stop itself, but it was already far too te, the young dy now g one of her fists tightly.

  "Haap!" ［Yuna］

  She threw her pund a loud boom echoed all throughout the pce, the punch eg perfectly towards the Smash Boar. Its whole momentum was stopped, its body bsted several meters away without aance.

  Yuna didn't pour in her all into the attack, but her strike was more than enough to send the Smash Boar to the afterlife, its eyes white as snow as its mouth was filled with froths and bubbles, twitg a little bit before finally freezing up.

  As for Yuna herself, there roud and expet smile blooming on her face as she looked at the Smash Boar. No matter how much she eats, with how big the boar was, it would be able to st them a long time.

  "Oh, looks like you just finished as well." ［Grey］

  "Ah, wele back, Grey, everyone." ［Yuna］

  "Yeah! Keep up the good work, Mistress!" ［Vega］

  "You caught an even bigger ohan mine, Mistress! You're amazing!" ［Pro］

  Well, it wasn't just Yuna who was hunting, Grey was as well. And to make things much easier for them, they also summohe familiars and the spirits to aid them. They moved more than a dozen times quicker than before because of them.

  They weren't just hunting Smash Boars, but other beasts and animals as well, making sure not to hunt too much that it will hurt the ecosystem. Evehey were able to gain quite a lot, a few tons of ingredients added inside Grey's "Iory".

  With the Smash Boar Yuna just hunted, one more ingredient was now added to their arsenal. With them, there was er way to celebrate Yuna's birthday other than cooking with the new and exquisite ingredients they just acquired.

  "Grey, what should we cook for tomorrow? Do you have anything new?" ［Yuna］

  "Do you mean a meat dish or for desserts?" ［Grey］

  "Both! I want to eat new dishes! Your cooking is the best, after all!" ［Yuna］

  "Alright. I'll think of something." ［Grey］

  "Un! I'm looking forward to it!" ［Yuna］

  Or so what Grey promised, but in truth, he had already pnned a number of things for Yuna's birthday. It only happens once a year, after all. There was no way he was going to be cheap about it. He's going to make sure it was the best.

  The fing and hunting tinued as usual, everyone going around the pce with excitement still looming in their hearts. They tio find rare magits as in the Lorinia Forest, the "Iory" once again with a mountain of items.

  Well, other than herbs, magits, as, there were also some spirits to be found, a couple Lesser Spirits popping out here and there, dang along numerous Floating Spirits. The sound of soft chimes drifted in the air.

  "Hmm... There's not a lot of them, huh..." ［Yuna］

  "It must be because we're far from the Labyrinths," ［Grey］

  And though they were numerous, they were nothing in parison to the number of spirits Grey and Yuna once saw when they were still ba Avalon. Evehey were in pces with such abundant and bountiful nature, they were not that many

  It seems like the spirits have been dispersing and scattering around the whole world, their appearating rarer and rarer with the passing of time, slowly but surely sing the world of corruption aing strohemselves.

  THWACK THWACK FWOOSH FWOOSH WHIP

  And speaking of spirits, Grey and Yuna's tracted spirits are now engaging in battle with moo grow strohey were just like the High Dragons who absorb the corruption of those they defeat, turning them to nourishment.

  From "Explorers", the Spirits have now reached a higher rank or Lesser Spirits, all of them now "Adventurers". They are now at F-rank, able to go toe to toe with ogres a even E-rank foes if the 4 of them work together.

  Of course, with the adva in rank, their forms now looked a bit different than before, looking more refined and more distinguishable from normal things in nature.

  Scheat now had more fmes surrounding it, Markab now grew metals all over its rocky body, Alpheratz grew a couple roots and a flo of it, and Algenib has frosty crystals and snowfkes surrounding it.

  "Scheat, be careful not to burn the forest." ［Yuna］

  G G G G

  They are also now able to follow more plex instrus, and respond much better to circumstahe spirits are now able to express themselves more freely than before, personalities starting to take shape in their cores.

  "Ahh! Algenib! Watch out!" ［Pro］

  Shouted Pro, urgency traced in her voice. Whilst it was letting its guard down, one of the enemy Hobgoblins suddenly sprung up towards it, raising its spear with much vigor, its eyes screaming out with ill i and hostility.

  Normally, such attacks wouldn't work to spirits, but after the tra which they gained physical forms, in exge for being able to exert their full power into the physical world, they are now vulnerable to both physical and magical attacks uhey go back to their spiritual state.

  However, it was far too te to turn baow. The moment the little mass of id snow realized that it was in dahe spear was already poiowards it, only a couple moments before it would reach her.

  "Tsk! How dare you, you ugly f*cker!" ［Pro］

  Well, not that Pro would just let things so south. The very moment she warhe little snowball, she opened her mouth and fired off a beam of light towards their dire, a bright shimmer fshing in the deep and verdant forest.

  The attack erfect hit, a golden javelin of light pierg the Hobgoblin's head and b a hole through it. It didn't eve a ce to graze Algenib, a subtle thud resounding in the air as the hobgoblin fell helplessly towards the ground.

  "Algenib, are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!" ［Pro］

  G G G G

  "Why are you ag so happy?! Do you not uand what just happened?! Even if you're strohan that ugly f*cker, that was still dangerous!" ［Pro］

  G G G G

  Pro tried to reprimand the little spirit, but rather than act dejected, it acted very happily and cheerfully, dang around her as the sound of sweet and soft chimes drifted in the air, much to Pro's dread. It ointless.

  The little spirits may now be able to uaer than before, but their mind is er than a toddler's, only having a simple uanding of the world. To Algenib, it only seemed like Pro ying with them rather than scolding them.

  Now, Pro finally knows what it feels like having younger siblings. They may be cute most of the time, but they also be irritating and frustrating with how careless they are. Even her fierce personality has now turo a worried one when fag them.

  "Fufufu! Having younger siblings is fun, isn't it, Pro?" ［Vega］

  "Please shut up, Sed Sister..." ［Pro］

  "Oh? Are you going against your older sister now?" ［Vega］

  Well, it wasn't just the tracted spirits she had to worry about, but her older siblings as well. Especially Vega. Now that she has more younger siblings, she has been ag more annoyingly. Grey and Yuna could only chuckle and giggle at the sight.

  The tour in the forest tinued and so did the pig of herbs. Time passed hastily, lunch soon arriving with the bright shimmer of the sun. And so, everyone had a quick lunch where they ehemselves, resting for the long afternoon ahead of them.

  "Yuna, slow down a little bit. No one's chasing you, you know?" ［Grey］

  "I kow! But we shill haff a wot of erbs to pik! Mmm～! Wis ish dewishosh! (I know! But we still have a lot of herbs to pick! Mmn～! This is delicious!)" ［Yuna］

  "Yuna... Don't talk when your mouth is full." ［Grey］

  Yet another flick was delivered towards Yuna's forehead, the young dy squealing out another "O!" aears f in the er of her eyes. It was such a lovely lunch together, not void of aement.

  Lunch was quickly over, and everyone resumed everything they were doing, pig out even more herbs and hunting even more tasty beasts and animals. They also went fishing by the river and caught some crabs, lobsters, and fish for themselves.

  But perhaps the most exg part was the taking down of Kobolds which suddenly appeared before then. Not only were they able to plete their quest, they were also able to stretch their bodies and have a little bit of fun.

  "There really are a lot of them, huh... No wohe Professors kept on warning us. This really is dangerous for the students." ［Grey］

  "I knht?... Ah, Grey! Why don't you check with your eyes. Maybe there are still more of them around our area." ［Yuna］

  "Good call. I was just about to do so anyway..." ［Grey］

  And so, Grey used his "Heaven's Eye" once more, sc all over the forest and searg for any more Kobolds. It didn't take too long for him to find themー No, it would be more appropriate to say hundreds of them.

  There were only a few of them around them, but the further he searched, the more kobolds he saw, higher variants present, and ag like guards proteg a certain area of the forest. It wasn't just a simple horde...

  "Haha... Looks like we got lucky..." ［Grey］

  "Hm? Are there really a lot of them?" ［Yuna］

  "There's not just a lot of them... There's a ahead of us." ［Grey］

  CHAPTER 369 END