Letter to Alchemist Association

The sound of the battle at the border echoed throughout the town.

In his office, Lark was seething with frustration, he had run out of ways to defeat Nikos. His eyes bag darkened, his mind was exhausted. How the fuck do I always lose to that bastard? It's like he's always one step ahead of me.

Lark slammed his fist on the office desk.

I guess there's no other way around it. He grabbed a bunch of paper, a quill, and the ink.

He took a deep breath first, before he began to write a letter to the Alchemist Association.

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[Seal of the Branch Store]

Headquarters Alchemist Association,

Dear My Fellow Alchemist,

I am writing to the headquarters with great frustration and disappointment to report on the dismal performance of our branch store over the past three months. Despite our best efforts, we have failed to meet our sales targets, and our stock has been depleted to an alarming level.

To make matters worse, a new merchant named 'Nikos' has appeared in the market of Oakheart, and I'm truly believe that he was the reason behind our downfall. This so-called "genius" merchant has somehow managed to undercut our prices, offer better quality products, and charm our customers with his smooth talk. 

It's as if he have a personal vendetta against us.

But that's not all. I have just discovered that we have been scammed out of 80% of our stock. I can hardly believe it. That man 'Nikos' must be used some kind of curse to make our branch store fall for his trick. I swear for it.

Not only that, many of our high influenced buyer we trusted has been working with this new merchant, and they have been buying from his stock at a fraction of the cost. It is a betrayal of the worst kind to our Alchemist Association.

And now, no one wants to buy the remaining stock. It's as if the market has turned against us. I've tried to negotiate with the Oakheart's government and adventurer guild, but they're not interested in helping us. They're too busy making deals with this new merchant.

I am at my wit's end. I don't know how much more of this I can take. It's like the whole world is conspiring against our associations. I blame this man 'Nikos' for all our troubles, he bewitched everyone to supporting him. He was the ones who have ruined our business, and I demand that the headquarters take action against him.

I request that the headquarters investigate this matter immediately and take necessary steps to protect our business. We cannot let this new merchant destroy everything that the association have worked for.

I am fed up with this situation, and I expect a response from the headquarters soon.

Sincerely,

Lark Eryndor 

Branch Manager [Oakheart Town]

P.S. I have attached a detailed report of our sales and stock levels for your reference.

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Lark finished his letter and released the messenger bird from its cage, placing the letter in the bird's magic small bag.

He open the window and released the messenger bird into the sky, to carry his message to the headquarters. Nikos, just wait for your demise. The moment our headquarters hearing the news, everything will end for you.

Hours had already passed. On the border, the adventurers led by the guild master Mesa fought off the monster waves with all their might.

Many adventurers were busy fighting three to four small monsters at a time.

The clanking sound of weapons, the grunts of adventurers and monsters, all mixed together as the battlefield voice.

Meanwhile, Mesa's huge and tall body, as a giant race, was being surrounded by other huge monsters; trolls, orcs, and minotaurs. They all ganged up on him.

Mesa's body crashed against a troll, making him face the minotaur. Then he grabbed the minotaur's horn, making it hard for the monster to move, and with his right hand, he slammed the monster's head with his mace hard.

All the adventurers fought with all their might, but the monsters just kept coming, seemingly endless.

In another post, two army guards, a crocodile-man and a cat-man, fought side by side.

— Multiple Thrust

Rander, the crocodile-man, thrust all the monsters in front of him, slicing their bodies with ease as they rushed towards him without end.

"These filthy monsters! They just won't stop coming," he grunted with ragged breath.

On his side, his childhood friend, the cat-man Clawrend, fought off a group of wind wolves.

— Flickering Needle

Clawrend's thin and long sword, 'Rapier', rapidly tried to strike multiple wind wolves, but they evaded the attack with ease using their wind movement, closing in on him.

— Needle Storm

The moment the monsters closed in on Clawrend, he released a whirlwind of sword attacks, striking multiple enemies and inflicting enough wounds to make the pack of wind wolves retreat and keep their distance.

Clawrend glanced at his friend for a moment, "Hold your position, Rander! There's still no gap for us to escape yet."

As the chaos of the battle continued, on the other side, inside the forest, Reychard's investigation group began to enter the mysterious cave.

One by one, they entered the cave, Nikos slowly making his way into the cave entrance. His lean body was able to fit into the space with ease, but not so for the others who had larger bodies.

Inside the cave, Nikos was greeted by a pitch-black view, and he immediately pulled out a magic lamp from his magic bag. The lamp quickly illuminated the surrounding area.

Reychard, Orion, and Jarek entered with some difficulty, the entrance cave being a narrow slit. The walls were rough and unforgiving, with edges that sharply pointed out and dug into their skin as they squeezed through the narrow opening.

The entrance is too narrow and tight, this mean we don't have anyway to run from something inside this cave. Either we kill the things down here or die here with no chance to escape. Nikos thought, he glance to his magic bag. 

I still had teleporting scroll, but it won't be easy like that time on the lake dungeon, the scroll need time before completely teleport all of us, and on the outside the monster waves still run rampage, we can't be so sure if we could fight the march of the monsters.

Finally, everyone was inside the cave, and Chole was the first to mention the smell inside the cave. "Do you guys smell it?"

A rotten, moldy, and putrid smell pierced their noses, a decaying smell that filled the cave.

"It's a decaying smells." Nikos said.

Everyone nodded agree, they too smell the same things.

"We can't waste our times. Let's move and see what lies ahead." Reychard said, as he move forward deeper into the cave followed right after by the others.