10 Aftermath

They left the cabin, preparing for a trip towards Acrine.

Steve's wound in his left arm was still aching badly. Although, it should be improving quickly with the medicinal paste Butch had once more given to him.

As Steve left the cabin, he saw some more treehouses. Altogether, there might be around 30 of them. It seemed like The Silent Legacy still wasn't really a big organization yet.

"How many Earthlings are around in Elea?" Steve asked them.

"Not many, at least not many we know of. Armies try to hide if they have an Earthling or not... if they didn't try to hide them, some powerful mages would try and kill them. After all, Earthlings can become really powerful, Killing them before they grow strong is important."

"Which reminds me, this implies that you'll have to pose as an agent at all times. Don't let anyone know you're from Earth, not even anyone within this outpost. Only me, Butch and Olivia should know. Enemies are everywhere." Cara said seriously.

"Who's Olivia?" Steve asked as he became quite scared. If someone were to know he's an Earthling, he would be killed?

"...me... I've been next to you all this time!" Olivia angrily said, "don't you recognize me?"

As Steve got a better look, he noticed it was the girl he met the other day in the Adventurer's Guild. She looked quite cute while she was pouting.

"Olivia was helping us find some agents inside the Adventurer's Guild. She's been a part of the Legacy for about a year, being one of our first members. She's worthy of our trust." Cara said as they entered another cabin.

"Wear these clothes," Butch said as he handed Steve a pile of clothes. They're an old pair of mine, but they should fit you.

Steve went and changed his clothes. They were some leather clothes, seemingly made of animal or monster skin.

They started climbing down the trees, to leave for Acrine.

'Wait, I just realized... These guys live in the forest? How do they not get swarmed by monsters?' Steve thought.

"Do monsters not climb trees? How are we safe here?" he asked.

"It's only possible because this is a low-level forest. This forest doesn't have any monsters during the day, only at night. The monsters you see here at night are just temporarily transformed animals. These 'evolved' animals don't have a lot of intelligence. They don't climb trees, so the only threat we have is the rank 2 monster wandering around here. However, as it is the king of this forest, it rarely leaves its cave. I still wonder what made it come out." Butch said as he pondered what the reason could be.

He continued talking, "Anyways, there are forests that are way, WAY worse. They would even have monsters running everywhere at daytime. To be honest, this is one of the safest zones in Elea. I've heard there are even regions where rank 2 monsters are the weakest ones you'll find."

They were about to arrive on the ground, Steve saw that there were quite a few horses in a metal cage downstairs. They probably used these to ride towards Acrine.

"What happens to these horses at night, don't they become monsters?" Steve asked.

"My my, you're a curious one. You've been asking questions all day," Cara said, "Although, you should probably know all that information or you'd be quickly exposed as an Earthling. If Olivia hadn't been the one helping you in the Adventurer's Guild, you probably would've been dead already."

'Why would I be dead already?' Steve thought, but Cara was already answering what he was thinking about.

"You think it's a coincidence Butch sent you to the guild the other day? You were lucky he met you because he made sure Olivia was the one to guide you. The fact that you didn't even know what an agent was, while you seem to be in your thirties, is just way too suspicious. That's when we figured you were an Earthling. If she hadn't told us, you would have probably died last night in Acrine," she concluded.

"To answer your question though, the solution is very simple. We currently have 2 mages in The Legion. They just set up a barrier at night, to stop them from turning into monsters." Butch said.

"Anyways, stop asking questions right now. Try hiding your identity, just say you are an agent we had picked up yesterday." Butch said as they went towards a group of people.

There were 15 other people waiting there, ready to leave towards Acrine.

---

An hour later, they could already see the town's gates. It was eerily quiet. A pungent smell was filling their noses.

The group was silent, having bad expressions on their faces. This was their hometown, and it would be as empty as it could be. Today, and all days to come.

When they entered, they saw red streets. The sheer amount of blood that had flown the other day, had dyed the streets completely red.

They could also see quite some animals running around, trying to find some food. They might seem cute right now, but just a few hours earlier they had probably helped kill all people inside the city.

Butch & a few of the other men went into stores, trying to find some valuable stuff.

"Feels wrong to loot these stores, boss..." one of the men said, as they were taking some valuable herbs.

"If we don't, others will. It's not like I feel happy doing this..." Butch answered.

Meanwhile, Cara, Olivia and Steve made their way to the town center. They would never forget the view they had when they arrived there.

Cara fell to her knees. She started crying.

"WHY?!! WHY THEM?? If only I was stronger... I would've been able to save them all..." she shouted, tears filling her eyes to the brim.

Steve started puking once more. This wasn't something you wanted to see ever, ever in your life. Thousands of corpses lied together, rotting in the sunlight.

He still went further towards the center though. Finding anything of value here could form the starting capital for the legacy group. He had decided to join them, as they seemed like a genuine bunch. At the very least, he would learn more about Elea.

As he was looking, he stopped in his tracks. He saw a familiar face and only now did he realize what had happened here. It was the little girl that had forced him to go and fight. Steve collapsed.

'Even if I don't really know anyone here yet, I still want to get stronger to protect them. I have a system, I'm an Earthling, but I'm still too weak... I need to train hard so that I can help prevent disasters like this one...' he thought, as he had also gotten tears into his eyes.