29 Keep It Secret

Connor's eyebrows met in confusion, "I am leveling up with you though."

"I have a secret," Elliot leaned in and whispered. "I have XP boosts."

"What?!"

"Shh," Elliot said. "Lance might hear us."

"I could hear you both clearly, if you must know," Lance whispered from beside them.

The two dispersed and cleared their throats.

"And for your information, I know you're cheating the system," Lance added. "I heard from Midnight that not long ago, you were just Level 0. Now you're almost 40? Impossible."

"How would you know?" Elliot challenged, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"I hold the record of the fastest rise in the levels. Sacred in 2 months," Lance lowered himself to reach Elliot's height. "I calculated everything. Your rate of leveling up is abnormal."

Elliot scoffed. "How could you even calculate anything?"

"I have studied math and statistics, probabilities, and basic common sense. You level up too fast," Lance said. "You thought you would go unnoticed but no. Sooner or later, you will get caught if you don't slow down."

"What do you suggest that I do? Just… stop?" Elliot asked. "I can't do that. I have a promise to my mother. I will become the mightiest Adventurer."

"You don't have to stop," Lance said. "Just slow down. For now, you're still below the radar since barely anyone knows you. But if you get to Legendary and people know that you have just entered not even five weeks ago, they will investigate."

"Wow," Connor breathed out. "Then, how do you cheat, Elliot?"

Elliot was about to speak when a series of messages popped up.

'April is forbidden to speak April's secret.'

'The punishment for those who knows other than April…'

'is death.'

'Keep it secret.'

Elliot stopped, opened his mouth, and then closed it. Unable to say anything, he just shook his head. "I can't tell you. I am forbidden to do so."

Connor and Lance looked at each other. Then they looked at Elliot who was looking down in fear.

I was close. He thought.

"Well, okay," Connor said. Elliot looked at him and smiled gratefully. "I am your friend. I will always be here for you."

"So cheesy," Lance snorted and swung his arms around the necks of the smaller boys. "Well, let's all remain cheesy. But not as cheesy as Connor."

Connor scoffed, "Hey!"

The three kept on telling each other's life stories until dawn. The villagers started to crowd outside the cottage they stayed in.

"I heard the Adventurers are inside."

"Thank heavens. Help has arrived."

"Why were they late? My son had already died!"

"They arrived too late. What's more to save?"

…

"Let's stay here," Lance said. "It's too crowded outside. They'll flood us if we go out."

Connor's stomach rumbled in hunger. "I'm hungry."

Elliot chuckled and Cooked food from his Inventory. The meat from the Great Boars was still stacked. It didn't get spoiled or rotten through the Inventory which made Elliot happy.

He couldn't possibly consume all the meat from the boars with just him and Connor. Even if he added Lance to the party, it was still hard to finish them all.

When Elliot was about to finish, a knock sounded from the floorboards. There was a new small feature where a circle with an X on it appears on hi Console. If he presses it, it would cancel his current craft.

The three jumped in surprise, brandishing their weapons and waited for the enemy. One of the boards lift up and Laura came inside with a tray. A girl followed and was carrying one tray.

"As agreed, here are your breakfasts," Laura said. "Thank you, Adventurers."

Laura place the tray on the table. The girl with her followed and bowed, "We're sorry we were too late. The people outside might rampage if we went through the door."

"Why?" Elliot asked, canceling his ongoing process.

"Some people hated you for coming too late," the girl said. "And the others have been convinced to hate you. It wasn't even your fault."

Lance sighed, "Welcome to the world of being an Adventurer."

"Is this like a regular thing?" Connor asked. He was staring at the food and his stomach growled.

Everyone laughed and let the poor boy eat first.

"Adventurers often get hated on for either being too late or for failing their quests," Lance said. "I mean, sometimes people get so mad, they forget common sense and humanity. They attack."

"I'm sorry," Laura said. "I tried to talk to them but they were tenacious. I couldn't persuade them to not bother you."

Lance was about to speak when Elliot beat him to it.

"It's nothing," he said. "I got insulted on a daily basis before I became an Adventurer. A few hateful words do not hurt me at all."

"What a good lad," Laura said. "Finish your meal. We will collect the tray and bring you your lunch. But before then, we will go now."

"Thank you," the three boys chorused. Laura and her assistant went through the underground tunnel, leaving the Adventurers in the cottage.

"That was deep," Lance remarked that made Elliot elbow him. "But I can relate."

"You can?" Elliot and Connor chorused.

Lance chuckled and said, "When you're the prince, everyone expected you to take over your father's throne. When I said I wanted to become an Adventurer, everyone laughed at me. They said I wasn't fit to do a barbaric job like becoming an Adventurer. I had the affinities of the two most unstable affinities in me, and I can handle them well. They wanted me to rule the kingdom with it."

"But I had a dream. When I was a kid, an Adventurer came by and he was the mightiest of them all. My father sent him to convoy us while we travel to the neighboring kingdom and on the way, he fought a dragon. His affinity was light and he fired balls of explosive white light magic into the dragon effortlessly. He was my hero." Lance shook his head, remembering the scenes that were replaying in his mind.

"And then what happened?" Elliot asked, taking a sip of the warm soup Laura gave them.

"We got to the other kingdom. The Adventurer returned to the palace a couple more times until I got news that he was a member of Pentos–"

"Pentos?!" the two cut him off.

"Yes, Pentos. He was said to be the ace of the legendary guild. Capable of soloing three Alpha Strikes at once. He was the most powerful Adventurer I have ever been and the one who inspired me to become an Adventurer."

"And you said I was the cheesy one," Connor remarked.

Lance was speechless. His face flushed after realizing that he was talking too much. "Whatever."

This made Elliot and Connor break into a fit of laughter. The two continued teasing their friend.

Elliot's eyes landed on the Manual. In the middle of their laugh, he looked at his friends and looked at his level.

What would I have done without the manual? He asked himself.

"Let's eat?" Lance asked. Elliot stared at him so he looked at Connor. "Did Elliot somehow forgot to understand us?"

"Hey, Elliot. Let's. Eat." Connor gestured like he was eating that made Elliot snort. "He's back."

"You two are fools." Elliot rolled his eyes. "But I love you guys so much."

"I guess we're all cheesy then," Lance remarked. "I was right!"

The three were talking about their stories, continuing to enjoy each other's company.

They didn't know what dangers lie ahead of them.

–

In a village not far away, a man was walking towards the forest.

"I can feel you, April," he said. His long brown hair was swaying with the gentle breeze. "We will reunite once again."