Chapter 24: Sacred creatures

The light slowly fades and a long-haired woman with skin as white as snow wearing a long robe walks towards Asher and Chronos.

"I am the seer and guardian of Malana village." The blue-eyed woman looked straight into the expressions of Asher and Chronos. "I have seen the good you have done to me and as I promised, I will take you to my home, the river of the sacred birds.

"Oh my, so all this time you just wanted to test us?" Asher wrinkled his eyebrows in surprise. "Wait, I don't understand what this is all about."

The woman casts a spell and suddenly their surroundings turn dark as she begins to show the tortured holy creatures.

"I must protect my tribe, so I decided to create two rivers to deceive the evil creatures who are trying to hunt us."

"Oh my, so all this time the river is just an illusion?" Chronos enlarged his eyeballs with a curious look on his face.

The woman nods her head gracefully. "Yes, it is the only way I can do it."

The woman cast another spell until strange vibrations appear which makes Asher and Chronos' entire bodies start to tremble.

"This portal will take you to the abode of the creature you seek." The woman slowly faded away and finally disappears.

'You have completed the quest: Finding my twin.'

'You have obtained 100 Gold; 1x Remedy'

The two of them finally enter and they arrived at another place.

"Chronos where the hell are we?" Asher looked around the place which is full of large and shady trees.

"Wait, I'll check it out." Chronos immediately opened the map which Persea has been given but instantly raises his eyebrows. "Ash, this location isn't shown on the map at all."

"Heh?" Asher started feeling curious and immediately open his map and it turns out there is no exact location of this place.

"Strange, but we better find the creature's whereabouts and meet up with Rufina soon."

A few minutes later, suddenly a melodious chirp is heard making them stop for a moment.

"Wait, it's that the bird we are looking for?'

They continue to follow the voice, which turns out coming from behind a wall made of plants and Asher slowly passes through the wall.

"Chronos, take a look at this place." Asher's pupils dilated and his mouth opened slightly at the beauty of the river in front of him. "What a beautiful place."

"Yes, Ash. "Chronos gradually turned his gaze and looks at a few small white birds flying around the river and then again chirping melodiously. "'Hey, that's the white bird is Rufina talking about." Chronos immediately runs over and tries to catch one of the birds.

Suddenly, a notification appears in both of their info columns and there is a quick explanation of how to obtain the creature.

[Sneaking]

An ability that each class has to be able to approach monsters without being noticed. This ability will appear when the player and the target are close enough, but the success rate of this ability depends on the enemy.

"Chronos, we can use this ability." Asher snapped his fingers. "We just need to create enough distance and then catch this thing."

"All right, let's do it." Chronos clapped his hands repeatedly. "We can do this."

They quickly approach the white bird and Chronos tries using his abilities to make catching the creature easier, however, it turns out all player skills unable to be used in this place because it's located in a sacred place.

"Chronos, I guess we can only use a sneaking then. " Asher shook his head repeatedly. " Hmm… so striking this creature is also impossible," He took a deep breath and sighs.

"Yeah, we can only rely on our sneaking ability now." Chronos is scratching his head. "Well, I guess we can at least try first."

A few meters in front of him, a couple of white birds could be seen wandering looking for some food. Asher who notices the bird's position immediately walks toward the creatures slowly.

"Looks like the birds have not noticed my presence yet." Asher is walking cautiously close to those animals.

Step by step he keeps moving until the distance between Asher and the bird is very close to him. He slowly leans down his body, staring at the creature relentlessly and preparing to sneak up to capture it. However, his feet accidentally step on a branching tree lying on the ground, causing a sound and instantly making the birds stare at them.

Asher and Chronos realizing it immediately jumps toward the creature, but their movements are not fast enough until finally the bird flies and disappears into nowhere.

"Oh, man! We almost got that thing." Asher wiped his sweat and grumbles in annoyance. "Damn! I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings."

Not long after, the birds are spotted again and this time it's on top of a large rock near the surface of the river.

"This time, I won't make a mistake." Asher walked back towards the creature and focused on the bird.

"I'll go from this side." Chronos walked in the opposite direction. "I hope we will get the bird."

They both walk slowly toward where the creatures are until they finally manage to get into the perfect position for capturing. Asher gives the signal to Chronos when to jump.

"1...2...3...."

On the count of three, they simultaneously jump and finally manage to capture the creature. A few minutes later, a strange light burst out of the bird's body and they are instantly transported back to Malana's village.

'You have got Malana's sacred bird.'

"Wait, this is the village of Malana?" Chronos knitted his brows and looks around. "But, how do we end here?"

"I don't know either Chronos, but we need to hurry up and meet with Rufina then hand over this bird to her."

They quicken their pace toward the room where they will find Rufina hoping to meet with others.