Previous | Table of Contents | Next

Jeffery exhaled and steadied himself. The buzz he had been feeling earlier at the bar had long since faded. In fact, it probably faded around the time he thought he had died by looking into his client’s eyes. Speaking of his client, Jeffery took in a deep breath and turned around, facing the group he was tasked with guiding this time around. In the twenty-three years he had spent as a wilderness guide for the first-floor advancement exam, he had seen all kinds of couples, groups, teams, and raids. He had a good feel for a person’s capabilities based on the way they presented themselves.

Jeffery glanced at the beautiful woman who had hired him. Since he had agreed to her request, his suffering wouldn’t benefit her in any way, so the odds of her fake-killing him again weren’t that high. With the tiny portion of strength she had shown him, Jeffery had been a bit surprised she was standing near the back of the group, but considering what she had said about her companions being impatient and their youthful appearances, Jeffery assumed she was an elder figure watching over two promising individuals, perhaps from a guild since the individuals belonged to different races. Then again, what kind of guild would pay an outsider with a portion of a Fruit of Knowledge?

As for the flaming man and woman, Jeffery recognized them at a glance thanks to his favorite set of gambling tools: Geimeo Cards. Any self-respecting gambler would recognize Deowi, the top explorer of the fire spirit race. The fire spirit race woman must’ve been Deowi’s sister, Gaegukja Yeol. Practically living in the local watering hole had its perks, alcohol didn’t just flow down his throat, all kinds of rumors flowed through his ears as well. Rumor had it the Extreme Heat Clan was under a lot of pressure, and they were doing their best to recruit new blood.

Jeffery’s gaze landed on someone he wasn’t quite sure about. “Is the person back there a part of your group?” he asked in a whisper. “He’s been following us for a long time now.”

“Oh, yeah,” the purple-eyed woman with horns on her head said. “That’s Kax. He’s with us.”

“This is the guide you got us?”

Jeffery turned his head towards the feminine voice. It had come from the shirtless man’s direction, but there was no way it belonged to him. A small woman, most likely a fairy, another creature not normally seen on the first floor, was hanging out of the tattoo on the man’s chest. Honestly, it was a bit disturbing; the fairy reminded him of a maggot crawling out of a wound.

“He’s the best guide out there,” the beautiful woman, who had identified herself earlier as Lindyss, said.

“Hmm.” The fairy hummed. “Why does he look like he’s going to poo himself at any moment?”

“That’s just how my face looks,” Jeffery said, lying through his teeth. “People often say I have resting-poo-my-pants face.”

“Oh,” the fairy said, her eyes lighting up. “That’s not a bad mildly inconveniencing curse to give someone.” With that, she sank back into the shirtless man’s chest like a razor clam disappearing from view. Even though the shirtless man sported many tribal-looking tattoos that barbarians enjoyed flaunting, Jeffery couldn’t help but wonder if the man was actually a cyborg. Perhaps the fairy lived inside the mechanical parts of him and kept him functioning.

“Moving on,” Jeffery said and scanned the group. None of them looked like they wanted to say anything, so he nodded. “Are you ready? The tower will transport us to a random region within the advancement exam. The area we land in could be anything from frozen wasteland to tropical island. People believe if you pray to the gnarled tablet before entering, your chances of getting a good starting area will increase.”

“Then, if we disrespect the tablet, will it put us in a harder area?”

Jeffery resisted the urge to shudder as the fairy popped out of the shirtless man’s body once more. “I suppose if paying your respects to the tablet helps you, then disrespecting it should cause you to be worse off, but in the end, it’s all a superstition.” Jeffery turned around and scratched his neck. The fur lining his coat seemed to be much itchier than usual today. Jeffery placed a hand on the tablet, and although he never prayed to the tablet himself, he said a silent prayer this time. The root bracelet on his wrist glowed amber, and the tablet glowed amber in turn. The glow washed over the party until it was the only thing remaining in their vision, and when it faded, their surroundings had changed.

Jeffery grimaced upon seeing or, in this case, not seeing the environment. His vision was obscured by massive flurries of snow, and the ground was blanketed by a sea of white. The sky was white, the air was white, and the ground was white. The first time he had prayed to the gnarled tablet for luck, it threw him into the most hostile environment it could think of. Jeffery turned around to examine his clients; if the weather happened to put them into a bad mood, then his chances of surviving would plummet. They didn’t seem fazed by the weather, so Jeffery didn’t have any qualms about giving them orders. “Let’s take out our tarps and hunker down. We won’t be getting anywhere in this weather; it’ll be best to wait out the storm.”

“What do you guys think?” the purple-eyed demon asked.

“I think we hired him for a reason,” Lindyss said. “Let’s follow the advice he gives unless it sounds like it’ll get us killed.” She patted Vur’s shoulder. “How about you make a shelter for us?”

Vur glanced down and patted the brown runes on his forearm.

“Not me,” Diamant said. “This is all snow and ice. It’s up to Mistle if you want to manipulate the surroundings.”

“I’m on it,” Mistle said before she could be goaded into action by Vur. Blocks of snow and ice rose around the group, and within seconds, an igloo had been formed around them.

Jeffery swallowed upon seeing the scene, and when a fire appeared in the space arranged for one, the wilderness guide didn’t say a word while the group settled down and got warm.

Previous | Table of Contents | Next