155 Mysterious Man

"I've heard a group of individuals is foiling our plans," a man wearing a dark cloak with a purple demon face on it spoke.

"Yes, there is a group of people whose purpose is to stop us. We need to stop them from continuing their attacks," the other hooded figure replied. These people sounded like robots the way they talked. It didn't seem natural and more forced.

"First thing we need to do is to determine who these individuals are and figure out a way to disrupt them."

"Let's figure out who they are."

___

Emile and the party didn't have a clue that someone was going after them. They were still excited about the success of the shop's first day. They could only improve from there as people spread the word about the Space Gems.

The guild was killing Rodia Cows to get their drops. They were approaching the end of the quest.

These guild members wanted to get coins by doing the quest. Guild Fame was secondary to them, they didn't know what the fame could do or what benefits they could get from it.

The party hunted the mobs outside the city, and Emile grew to level 13. He was still leading far ahead of the other players.

Having such a high level was a discouragement for other players. They didn't understand how Emile got so much experience. They worked hard, but could never catch up.

Some of these people ignored the level leaderboard and focused on increasing their proficiency in the skills. They would get better on a technical level. They wouldn't fully ignore levels since getting to higher levels would bring about new challenges and opportunities.

Emile had a short celebration as he had more free attribute points to use. He also gained some points in his stats. It didn't make too much of a difference to his previous stats.

During the grinding session, Emile felt something he hadn't felt before; it was a feeling that someone or something was watching you. He couldn't pinpoint the location of the gaze.

Emile became more cautious after the camera incident and the Winter Deer ambushes which allowed him to pick up the cue that something wasn't right. These scenarios sharpened his senses.

Emile told the party about the feeling he had. He also decreased his efficiency while fighting and only cast fireballs. Emile didn't test his earth ball or water sphere. His gut told him to hold off against spamming skills.

"Dude, you're just paranoid," Nimble Rod said to Emile as he killed another mob. Nimble Rod noticed nothing in the surroundings, so he assumed Emile was paranoid.

"Hopefully, it is just paranoia," Emile said as he continued killing the mobs. Scarlet Sunset and Flower Queen looked around as they took his worries into their heart.

They noticed nothing and didn't feel what Emile felt.

They ignored it like the rest of the party. The feeling grew stronger for Emile during some moments and diminished during others. Soon, the eerie feeling disappeared.

Emile could fight to his fullest again.

This episode was minor towards Emile's life. He wouldn't remember this too much since nothing happened.

___

A few hours later, a man was reporting to a member of the Dark Ones. He was the man spying on the party.

"There was two fire casters, one water caster, one earth caster, and finally one wind caster."

"They don't attack from a close distance?"

"One of the fire casters has a role near the front of their party and tanks the hits for the party. He should have lots of health. The water caster also likes fighting in close distance with his rod covered with a blue hue. The others either stick in the back or get close to deal damage before retreating," the man reported their information.

"They're dependent on the elements. We can exploit that weakness. I have an idea."

___

Other than grinding, the party did nothing noteworthy for two days. These days the shop continued flourishing as increasingly people demanded the products. People were reselling the Space Gems for more.

Emile allowed the shop to sell 250 Space Gems which quenched their thirst for a bit. It was like pouring a lake into the desert. Sure it could make the ground wet for a few days, but the desert will change back to its original form.

There was one other thing that Emile noticed in the past two days. The number of NPC's were also at an all-time high. NPC's arrived at his shop to buy stuff. He wondered why there were so many NPC's trying to buy stuff. After researching, Emile discovered that the mayor advertised the shop for him.

It warmed his heart, Emile walked to the mayor's tower to give thanks in person. He arrived at the top floor.

"Thanks for the advertisement," Emile said. He was ready to leave after he said that, but the mayor stopped him.

"Remember the rewards they would give you for destroying the machine that destroyed Pyaka City? I finally got them from Sun Point Region, so it should be decent," the mayor said.

"Oh, what is it?" Emile asked.

"I don't know," the mayor replied. The mayor took out an item from a random drawer he had in his desk. It was a small parcel which Emile took into his hand.

Emile opened the parcel and inside was a small stone colored blue. A wave of disappointment hit Emile's mind as he looked at the stone. Emile identified the stone.

Azurite Stone

An extremely rare mineral found in the depths of the earth. The stone has magical training properties for any water casters boosting their efficiency two times.

Radius: 5x5 meter

The stone was only useful for certain people while useless for others. Emile would get good use out of the skill since he used the water sphere's all the time.

Emile checked into the parcel again, hoping for more items. The parcel didn't disappoint. There was another stone inside. The color of the stone was red.

Velvetium Stone

An extremely rare mineral found in the depths of the earth. The stone has magical training properties for any fire casters boosting their efficiency two times.

Radius: 5x5 meter

The parcel didn't have another item inside of it. For some odd reason, the Sun Point Region knew that he practiced fire and water, so they made his life easier.

The other party members would also get an increased proficiency since there was a radius for the item.

"All right, that's all they gave me," the mayor said.

Emile was jubilant with a wide grin on his face. These items would allow him to practice faster than others who are more talented and gifted than Emile.

Emile walked out of the mayor's tower and on the way to the teleporter, someone bumped into him.

"Dude, I need help," the man sounded frantic.

"What happened?" Emile asked.

"In the valley to the south of the city, around 500 meters away has a weird person who was attacking and killing people. I managed to escape the man, but my party members perished," the man said with agony.

[Quest: Mysterious Man]

[Objective: A mysterious man is going around and killing people. Stop the man's rampage]

[Comment: There's something fishy going on around here]

[Difficulty: S]

[Progress: None]

[Time Limit: None]

[Penalty: None]

[Reward: Title: City Protector]