Chapter 513: The Sacred Order "What’s wrong, stupid Alex?" Fran asked in a teasing tone. "Why do you keep looking outside? Do you need to pee? Or maybe... the little monkey needs a potty?" "Shut up, stupid fairy." Alex glared at the annoying fairy, who was once again poking fun at him. "Is there something there, Alex?" Ron asked. "You’ve been looking outside the cave since earlier." Carlo glanced at the fourteen-year old boy, and remembered what he had said earlier. Alex had always been very sensitive to the gazes of people because he had once been a thief. Unfortunately for him, he had made the mistake of trying to pickpocket their leader’s pouch during their visit to Arian City. After catching him red-handed, they initially planned to bring him to the guards, but Medina had intervened. She had said that Alex was still too young to know what was right or wrong. Instead, they should let him join their party to correct his ways. At first, Carlo had thought that she was joking. But the beautiful elf had always been upright and righteous. In the end, Ron had agreed to let the thief join their party so that he would grow up to be a proper individual by sticking with them. Fran had joined a month before Alex, so she had naturally treated him like a junior even though she was four years younger than him. Since then, the two had always been bickering with each other. It had already been a year since their first meeting. "For some reason, I felt like someone was watching me when I was out with Carlo," Alex replied. "I thought I was just being paranoid at first, but I can usually feel when someone is looking at me. Someone, or something, is out there and they know that we are inside this cave." Fran glanced at the entrance of the cave and frowned. No matter how she looked, she couldn’t see anything out of place. Since she was Fae, she also possessed Dark Vision, allowing her to see even during the night. Medina always looked after Alex like an older sister, so she took his words seriously. The beautiful elf took out a lyre from her storage ring and started to play. Shutting her eyes, she hummed a little tune before plucking the strings and creating a mellow sound. Faint runic letters materialized around her and spread out as they headed out of the cave. Although her self-taught detection magic was very subtle, it was very powerful when it came to sensing her surroundings. Ten minutes later, the beautiful elf slowly opened her eyes. She carefully stored the lyre inside her storage ring before taking out her bow. Seeing her reaction, the entire party became fully alert. "What is it, Medina?" Ron asked, his sword drawn and ready to fight. "It is very faint, but there is indeed something out there," Medina replied cautiously. "It has strong stealth abilities. If not for the special melody I played, I might have missed it completely." "Do you know what kind of creature it is?" Carlo asked. "I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s a Shade," Medina answered. Carlo clicked his tongue. "Damn... a very troublesome critter. I just hope that it’s not a High-Ranking Shade." The mischievous and playful Fran hurriedly moved to hide under Alex’s cap. The two of them might not get along well usually, but they were both part of the Stay Away From Fighting Group, which avoided joining battles unless there was absolutely no other choice. After a few tense minutes, Alex’s breathing became steadier. "It’s gone," Alex said. "Maybe it sensed that we are now aware of its existence and decided to pull back." Ron sheathed his sword because he also sensed that the danger had passed. However, he believed that the creature would come back at a later time when they were sleeping and at their most vulnerable. "We will do double shifts tonight," Ron declared. "Let’s eat first and decide who will be on the first night watch with me." Usually they only needed one person to stay awake to act as the guard while others were sleeping. However, Shades were very dangerous entities. The Demon Lord had employed them as advanced scouts. Some of them were so incredibly powerful that they could wipe out entire parties. There had been ambushed by one once many years ago. If not for the teamwork between the original three members—which they had honed for many years—they might not have survived that encounter. During the uneasy dinner, Alex suggested that he, Carlo, and Fran should take the first shift instead of Ron. "The Shade has most likely realized we are aware of it and won’t attack so soon," Alex reasoned. "Since Ron is our strongest fighter, he should cover the time when the Shade is most likely to strike." "That makes sense," Medina said. "Having half the party awake at any given time will also discourage it from attacking." The other members of the party nodded, agreeing to this arrangement. An hour after their dinner ended, heavy rain started to fall. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and streaked across the sky like live dragons, fighting against each other. The only saving grace was that the Shade might have thought that attacking them wasn’t worth the risk and hence stayed away from the camp. After breakfast, the group once again continued their journey to Arian City, which was half a day walk away. The travel was surprisingly smooth as if whatever had happened the night before was just a bad dream that everyone shed away. "Alex, Fran, just go to the orphanage first," Medina said. "You don’t need to go with us to the Adventurer’s Guild." "Good!" Fran nodded. "Time to play hide and seek with the kids again! Alex, you’re going to be IT as usual. If you find me this time, I’ll teach you a fairy spell that even a stupid monkey like you can use." "Hmph! This time, I will definitely find you." Alex rubbed his nose. "Oh really?" Fran said in contempt. "Our score is 69-0. You still haven’t found me after so many games. What makes you think you’ll find me this time? The kids have even started calling you Mr. Hide-And-Seek Loser King." "You’re the one who made up that name!" Alex complained. "But this time things will be different. I’ll find you and you’ll teach me that spell that I asked you to teach me. I’m no longer the Alex of yesterday." "I’ll be the judge of that." Fran smirked. "Now let’s go to the orphanage!" Fran didn’t even wait for Alex’s reply and simply flew to the orphanage called Little Hearth. This was an orphanage that was sponsored by the Dawnseekers. Alex, and Fran were very close to the children there. After seeing the two youngest members of their party leave, the three Adventurers headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. There, they found the members of the Hero Party lounging about the common room. "You’re finally here, Ron," one of the Heroes of the Kingdom, Sean, said with a smile. "If you keep me waiting for one more day, I swear weeds will start growing on my body." "It’s good to see you, Sean," Ron replied. "Frankly, I thought you kicked the bucket after your last mission." "As if." Sean snorted. "I just hunted a Dark Dragon. It was tough, but I still killed it at the end." The members of the Hero Party glanced at the Dawnseekers and gave them a brief nod. Sean’s party was composed of five people. Excluding Sean, they had an Elf Archer, a Sorceress, a Cleric, and a Spearman. The five of them were Rank S Adventurers, and their party went by the name Sacred Order. "Do you have what we asked of you?" Sean asked as soon as Ron sat on the couch across from him. "Of course," Ron replied. "It was a very troublesome job, but we managed to get it." The Swordmaster then took out an ornate box from his storage ring and presented it to Sean. The Hero opened the box and saw a silver ring adorned with a jewel that looked like amber. A moment later, he took out a similar looking ring from his pocket and placed it beside the ring inside the ornate box for comparison. It was a replica that would allow him to determine if the ring was genuine. Both rings then started to glow with a faint golden light. The members of the Hero Party sighed in relief. "It’s real," Sean muttered. "So the legends are true..." "What legends?" Ron asked. "It’s a secret that I am not authorized to share," Sean said before carefully closing the box. ’Now, I just need to find the true second half of this ring in the Shadow Forest.’ He then stored it inside his magic bag, which was protected by several layers of magic before taking out a pouch to give to Ron. "Thank you Ron," Sean said as he handed the pouch to the swordmaster. "Here is your pay. Two hundred gold coins. We will be leaving this town tomorrow and heading to the capital. If something important comes up, I’ll ask for your help again." "As long as the pay is good, you can count on us," Ron replied as he took the pouch. "Well then, if there’s nothing else, please sign this scroll so I can present it to the Guild Receptionist as proof that we completed the mission." "Of course." Sean took out an enchanted pen and signed the mission scroll. "It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Ron." "The pleasure is mine, Sean." Ron smiled. After delivering the requested item and receiving the signed scroll, the three adventurers went to the orphanage to rest and spend some time with the kids, whom they planned to treat to a delicious dinner with their earnings.