Came morning, Ren woke up feeling refreshed. He didn't experience bloating or a hangover. In fact, he had the best sleep he ever had. However, he dreaded about the fact that he wasted hours snoring to dreamland.
Ren shrugged and quickly threw the matter away before he got the chance to brood over it. It was over. The time had already passed. Best move on and resume their journey and hastened their phase.
"Did you sleep well?" Elena beamed, face bright as the sun.
"Yeah . . ." Ren's eye squinted to pry for puffiness behind the Princess's sparkling eyes. "Did you sleep?"
Elena blinked. "No. I was not tired, and someone had to look out in the night."
Ren hid his embarrassment behind a cool voice. "Sorry. I didn't know I had fallen asleep."
"It's fine." Elena summoned Tiki and hopped on its back. "You seemed tired, so I didn't wake you. Should we go, or do you want breakfast?"
Instead of replying, Ren jumped over to Tiki's back. "No. let's hurry and move on." And they resumed their journey to Hedgegrove.
Looking over at the time, it was only eight in the morning, but Ren still didn't hear the blow of horns. "It looks like there's no Wild Hunt today."
Elena shrugged. "They can change the time depending on their moods, so let's not lower our guard. The more we got closer to Hedgegrove, the higher the level of beasts we would encounter."
Ren kept his silence, thinking of the other players. There were a hundred of them who went here, but he didn't know what fate befell the others since they had already disbanded and made their own group.
It looked like even a hundred or thousands weren't enough to overcrowd the forest. Yesterday, Ren had saw bits of players scurrying here and there. And after an hour of travel, there was no longer any sign of them. Not a shadow or a small peep.
Who knew where they went? Ren could only hope that Isolde, Roz, and the ladies in Golden Phoenix were fine.
The Wild Hunt required at least ten players, the minimum for them to survive the day. Ren counted. If they had someone like Princess Elena then no need for an entire army. Her alone was enough.
"By the way, aren't you stuffy with your cloak on?" Elena asked, pulling Ren out of his thoughts.
"This helps me hide my appearance. Is it a bother?"
"No. Hood or not, I can perfectly see your face. So it doesn't matter to me whether you wore a mask or a helm." The Princess eyed Ren over her shoulder. "Mind telling me why you're hiding your appearance?"
Ren shrugged. "I have a lot of enemies, and this allows me to move freely."
"Hmm . . . We do sometimes cover our faces on stealth missions."
"Glad to know that the Elves' pride doesn't hinder you from doing so."
"We have pride, yes, but we also have sense. Covering your face doesn't exactly mean that you're weak."
"Glad to hear that we shared the same opinion," Ren replied. Other races simply ditched players knowing that they were hiding behind their cloaks. The Orcs, for example, were a group of proud warriors that would rather run into their graves than hide behind thick armor.
To each of their own. Ren guessed.
After a few minutes of traveling, Ren and Elena heard a clinging of metals before spotting a group of players fighting what seemed to be a humanoid at first glance.
"Like that group, for example, we can pass this forest unhindered if no one recognized us . . . ," Ren said when he didn't know what to say next. It just came out of his mouth, but once he had a closer look at the players, he took a second glance and trailed off.
Wasn't that . . . Lamir?!
Right . . . the Prince of oils did buy twenty slots. Ren almost forgot about him. Though at this moment, he seemed to be fighting a losing battle, and what was left of his twenty-strong army of 'beautiful, powerful 'l men was reduced to nothing more than half.
Did he bring celebrities and models with him? Ren thought because those men were definitely no pro players.
When Ren went silent, Elena glanced at where he was looking. "Know them?"
"Kind of," Ren uttered without thinking, eyes still on Lamir and his team.
"Tough luck," the Princess bristled. "They're up against a Fieldian."
"Fieldian?" Ren would know if he used [Probe], and he did, but he also let the Princess fill him in.
"If there is a Fieldian pursuing you, be afraid. The creatures conjure steeds from the mist, often beasts ideally suited to hunt down their quarry. While mounted Fieldians are extremely dangerous, charging headlong into battle and inflicting ferocious carnage with their sabers.
"Also, these Feys are extremely patronizing and cruel. They care nothing for the thoughts and feelings of mortals and gladly toy with their lives in a variety of thoughtlessly punishing ways."
"They look like elves," said Ren after Elena's explanation.
Elena sneered for the first time, lips twisting in a grimace. "I've seen a demon kill for fun. It's not a pretty sight, but this casual cruelty pales in comparison to the elaborate, refined, and pretentious malevolence of the Fieldians."
"Don't let their casual resemblance to elves fool you," the Princess spat. "I would sooner dine with a friend of the pit than break bread with these Feys."
Ren didn't comment. He watched on as these Fieldians rode down Lamir's companions, dismembered them while laughing like children playing a harmless game.
Using [Probe], their information and Stat appeared before him.
[With a galloping of hooves and flash of green steel, the vicious Fieldians took to the hunt in pursuit of prey to slaughter.
This haughty and cruel fey appears as horned elves adorned in formal hunting attire. At their side were mystical cavalry sabers fashioned from green steel, while upon each of their backs was slung an elegant longbow that sand with every arrow fired.
One would almost call this fey beautiful if it weren't for their malevolent nature. Their speech is like honey, using poetic words and flowery prose throughout the hunt. This veneer of nobility fell, however, when a Fieldians spots its prey. Atop steed of magical mist, Fieldians ran down their quarry with unrivaled savagery, toying with their victims as a cat did with a mouse.]
