Setting Out and...

[Welcome Back to The Mythical Age!]

Nex respawned back to where he was before he logged out of the game, right in front of the Adventures Guild.

After being done with getting used to having his avatar body back, he entered the Guild building to check on his mission. He was then informed that the stones will be ready in an hour. By then, he can finally begin his journey onwards the Dwarf Settlements.

To kill the remaining hour, he decided to go out and do some final preparations for his outing. He still has to repair his equipment, look into some hunting gears and most importantly, buy some local spices and herbs, ingredients and cooking utensils.

This time, he is wise enough to put his sword back inside his inventory. On the surface, he seems like another mediocre player who is just scrutinizing a ladle. Who would ever pay attention to someone like that?

But for someone like Nex, whose sense has been honed by years and years of constant battling, it was plainly obvious to him that he was being followed right from when he reentered the game.

Since he was only doing mundane things and these stalkers were polite enough not to interrupt his shopping spree, he just ignored them. Besides, he couldn't fight them inside the city. So he happily tested if he had a skill in bargaining and haggled for the ladle with the shop keeper.

When he was through with his phase of being a shopaholic, he returned to the Adventures Guild once again.

He reemerged with a large bag, which was full of security locks and spells, slung over his shoulder. As he had expected, he was met by the same people from the other day with the same smiles on their faces.

"So, we meet again."

"Don't tell me that crap when your little muppets have been following me for the last hour!" Nex complained.

"I apologize for that." The Archer said with a sincere face. "But you should understand that I just couldn't give this opportunity up."

"Oh?" Nex raised an eyebrow while folding his arms. "And what exactly is this opportunity you're talking about?"

"To have a chance to do a quest issued by the Adventures Guild." The Archer answered without a shred of hesitation.

"It isn't hard to find a delivery quest for you and your group to do, don't you think so?"

"You may be right." The Archer conceded before pushing his argument.

"But this obviously isn't some normal quest but one that is issued by the Adventures Guild. If we manage to be a part of this quest and fulfill it well, we may have a chance to attract the eyes of someone from the Guild and get recruited. This is something we can absolutely not give up on."

"So this is the reason why you're being persistent." Nex shook his head and walked past them.

"Sadly for you guys, I'm not interested in creating parties with you. I want to do this mission on my own, so you should find someone else to help you."

"I think you should stay and talk some more." The Archer furrowed his brows at other's unwelcoming attitude. So he spoke with a threatening tone while walking up to Nex and stretching his hand towards the latter's shoulder.

"I didn't say that this conversation is over yet."

And then that happened.

"Oh?" Nex stopped and looked back.

"And what exactly is your ability to prolong this conversation?"

This frigid tone made the whole group freeze. Not a second has passed when they begin to shake out of fear as they heard a faint but clear sound of a roaring beast somewhere near. A sense of powerlessness filled them. The Archer, who was the nearest, took a few steps back until he fell to his butt. His face became deathly pale and he couldn't make any sound, not even a grunt or a whimper.

For the next few seconds, the whole group felt as if they all stood naked on top of an icy mountain. This sort of stifling feeling along with the coldness, it was akin to staring death itself!

Only after a minute or two did they manage to regain their consciousness and looked at each other with terror. A single sentence was in their heads… 'What the hell is this thing?!'

Even though he bore most of the brunt, the leader already managed to recompose his self. Being an expert hunter in real life, he began to marvel at what he had just experienced.

'That thing was definitely a skill or at least part of it. As for the other part…' He slightly shuddered; remembering the terrifying feeling those silver eyes gave him.

'This person is at least a high-ranker hunter. Not just any high-ranker but a high-ranker who had his fair share of killing people.'

♦♦♦

"This Dragon Fear sure is useful." Nex muttered while he ran through the forest, now fully equipped.

"I can unleash small amounts of my killing intent through it and increase the intimidation effect without scaring my opponents too much. I don't even need to use too much mental strength to control it."

For people who had done a lot of killings, killing intent is just lusting for a prey's blood. This sensation would cause most people, especially the ones with weaker minds, to be intimidated to the point of being scared.

But for people who had reached a very high level of strength, both in body, mind, and soul, it's another story. Killing intent or fighting spirit can evolve into terrifying support abilities. Those legends of awesome mental attacks and mental battles that could result in insanity, if not death, would no longer be legends but realities. If a user is strong enough, it can even rival innate skills like the Dragon-Kins' Dragon Fear or blessings made by gods.

Since Nex's avatar is weak right now, both in body and soul, using his killing intent is too taxing. It's not even worth mentioning right now. Luckily, he has the Dragon Fear skill to assist him. He could use it in small amounts and it will not put too much stress on him.

After running for some time, he stopped and surveyed the area. He compared it to one of the maps he had memorized.

"So, with the pace, I was going at for the last two hours, I can reach the settlement in about four hours." He calculated.

He shook his head, "But that would be too boring for an adventure. If I want for it to be truly called a journey, I would have to do additional things other than the delivery mission and cooking. Not to mention the fact that I was given 18 hours to reach the settlement."

He deliberated more for some time before he decided to pass through an area that was next to his route. The reason for going there was that the area was marked as a newly created Spirit Zone. If you have good intentions and have an abundant amount of luck, there is a chance that you could meet baby Spirits.

It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Spirits before nor does he want to play with the endearing creatures. It was because he wanted to make sure of something he had noticed ever since he met the monsters inside the game.

The monsters and creatures here have all originated from Perias. That is a fact. However, what was puzzling to Nex was that they were from different periods of time! Yet, in this game, they appeared at the same time. Moreover, there were differences in strengths.

For example, the species of the Hobgoblins and Orcs that he met inside the [Forbidden Forest] came from an era where they were much weaker. Whereas most of the monsters he met inside the southern forest, when he was hunting for the Profession Quest, were supposed to exist in another era where they were much stronger!

This may have caused some shock to Nex but in the end, he didn't put much of his mind into it as such things were possible if the creators of the game were able to clone Perias properly. They should be able to access the genes of the creatures and research them well enough. Things were made completely possible considering the Earth's technology advancement. The only important thing in all of these is that this is a simulated world and not a real one.

He wanted to go and meet the Spirits, so he could examine them and conclude in what age of Perias the game was in. The Spirits were beings that were made directly by the elements of the world.

"Too bad I couldn't check it through Maple." Nex shook his head in regret.

Maple is a very special and powerful type of Spirit that was called Innate Spirit. She was born from not only the world's elements but also from a person's soul. So checking the era of the game through her was too troublesome for the current him.

"Now that I think about it, I wonder how Iris is." He thought with a smile.

He wasn't really keen on admitting this but he had found himself quite fond of the little girl who insisted that he was her father. He even felt a bit sour when he parted from her. Even if he knew that she was not a real person, he became attached to her because of his unsealed emotions.

Iris also reminded him so much of someone who is very precious to him. He still finds it hard not to think about that person and feel concern for her wellbeing.

"What am I thinking?" Nex stopped his thoughts at once and started to move again. This time, he is headed at the direction of the Spirit Zone.

Unknown by him, a small token inside his inventory shone for a moment, as if trying to pass a message.

♦♦♦

"wuuu! I'm still unsuccessful in contacting Daddy! I really want to talk to him!"

Inside an extremely large manor in the center of the capital of Cloud Kingdom, an adorable silver-haired little girl, wearing a princess-like dress, sat on her bed and pouted. She was staring gloomily at the token in her hand when she suddenly heard a doting voice coming from the entrance of her room.

"Oh? Can you tell me more about this Daddy?"

Hearing the voice, Iris excitedly lifted her head and saw a stunningly beautiful Elf lady with silver hair like hers and much lighter silver eyes that were looking at her with a gaze filled with love.

"Mommy! You're awake!"

And with a brilliant smile, Iris ran straight to the lady and hugged her tight. To which, the woman responded by hugging back and petting the back of the little girl.

"Mommy, I met Daddy!" Without wasting any more time, Iris told her mom about the little adventure she had with Nex.

"And you're sure that that person is really your Daddy?" The lady smiled after hearing the story and asked the little girl gently.

"Yes!" Iris said with conviction. "We have the same eyes and our soul had almost the same smell."

The lady's eyes widened, "Iris, are you sure about that?"

When it comes to things like sensing souls, Iris has the highest potential throughout the clan history. So if she claims things are such, the matter should be taken seriously.

"Of course! I wouldn't recognize a wrong Daddy!"

Hearing her words, the lady sighed. Due to her illness, plus, their clan's low numbers and their high status, Iris has grown without many friends and family who truly loves her. The number of people she had learned to trust and be close to was just a few individuals.

So earlier, when the lady woke up from her sleep and heard from James about how Iris treated a human male like he was her father, she couldn't help but worry that something's amiss.

"Iris, what is this man's name?"

"What do you mean "this man"?" Iris pouted. She then pointed a finger towards the lady while her other hand was on her waist. The little girl looked so formidable while scolding her mother.

"When he reaches the capital to do his Third Awakening, he is going to be your husband!"

'Ahhh… I need to know what lies those old women fed to this child.'

Iris' mom smiled bitterly and then rephrased her question.

"Okay, can you tell me what the name of my "future husband" is?"

"That's simple." Iris giggled in contentment. Her chubby cheeks flushed a little with glee.

"His name is Nexus but he told me I can call him Nex!"

Nexus…

The moment the lady heard this name, her head suddenly began to hurt like she has tried to remember something way too hard. Emotions began to fill her but were abruptly interrupted by the moving of the seal inside her soul. It made all those feelings disappear, leaving her with only two messages inside her head.

One full of relief, while the other, of reluctant emotions.

Finally, he's here.

But I can't meet him yet.

Full Title: Setting Out and Iris Mother