The First Anomaly Encounter

A week passed since the start of the adventure into the Northern Mountain Range.

They passed through many pine forests, grasslands, and barren rock terrains. Most of the valleys they would enter would a stream leading in the direction of Roast River.

The relationship of George and the party members seemed to have improved a lot.

Hester was finally getting along with the party and was no longer complaining. Abe and Emma had also opened up a little with each other and George.

In particular, Bernice's relationship with George seems to have gotten very close. Even Emma was feeling slightly jealous and shocked. If this had happened before George's story, it would have been the exact scenario Emma had wanted to prevent.

During the break at night, she would come to him to talk about books and discuss with him. She would sometimes ask him for advice on certain matters. Despite not seemingly having an education, George seemed to be very knowledgeable on certain matters.

It seems like half the time they are talking to each other about some random topic.

Although George appears to be indifferent on the surface, Emma could detect the subtle changes in his aura.

Although it is about the same as before, there is a slightly reduced amount of coldness. It seems even Bernice's bubbly personality can infect even a very cold person.

Of course, during this, the party also learned a bit about George from their conversations.

Like for example, George hates bullying with a passion and has a soft spot for children.

The geography remained roughly the same throughout the week. The mountains were consistent in being everywhere and at different elevations. The elevation as they went deeper in remained consistent although it seemed to be going up slightly each day.

Only a single thunderstorm appeared, but it barely missed them to their luck.

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Sunday arrived and it was already almost afternoon.

The party had just ate and were on the move again.

"We're here." George simply said, pausing in his tracks.

Curious, everyone peeked from behind George to look.

The small forest they were traversing ended here and was replaced with a prairie field in a relatively flat area between mountains, similar to the car park at the gondola lift area.

However, with one key difference.

Instead of a modern building, a tall, large, castle-like mansion without any defense walls silently sat amidst the tall grass. The beautiful medieval structure did not look like it was in ruins and was being maintained.

"Wow~." Bernice gasped in amazement.

"Is that an anomaly like you spoke about?" Hester was the one who actually asked the question.

"Yes. I'll go into a little more detail of anomalies since we are here."

"First of all, do not approach anomalies like this castle unless you are running from a powerful enemy is a dire emergency. Most of them have invisible fields of influence which can trap you if you walk into them. If you walk into them, you won't be able to leave. Being stuck within an anomaly's influence means you are effected by their rules. Some are strict while others are loose, such as the banning of magic for example."

"As for this anomalies field of influence, it starts at around a hundred feet away. Got it?"

The four of them nodded in unison.

The prairie grass in this area makes the area of influence easy to find. This one blocks all sound and air from the outside, so the grass will not be moving in the wind." George pointed at an area a hundred feet away in the direction of the castle.

They peered over and saw an area around the castle where the grass was not moving and is completely still. The cutoff was abrupt like black and white.

"I don't know if the Aeternum Empire has categorized them, but I do so on a danger level from one to five. A danger one is the rarest and most terrifying while a danger five is common and poses little to no danger."

"I said earlier you cannot leave when you enter, but this is actually not true. You can be strong enough to destroy the area of influence or you have to find the key that'll allow you to leave. The key can be a literal key or be abstract, like solving a riddle or mystery."

"Although this anomaly is a danger five, I highly recommend not going inside. It'll waste time and put us off schedule. Does anyone have questions?"

"It sounds like you've had experience with these anomalies since you can rank them accordingly." Emma pointed this out.

"Yes, I've accidently ran into them or I checked them out of curiosity. Some anomalies can have attractive forces that lure you in, while others move and accidently pull you in." George nodded.

"So how dangerous is a danger one?" Asked Abe with curiosity.

"I would argue they are more hazardous/dangerous than an SSS-rank dungeon. I was unfortunate enough to encounter a hostile one." George seriously told them his story. "It manipulated the laws of reality to transport me inside despite being far away. I barely managed to escape. I was incredibly lucky that time because I managed to get the 'key' on accident a minute after entering, but just that minute was terrifying enough to scar the minds of anyone."

"But aren't you E-rank? Compared to us then, it would be easy." Emma spoke her thoughts.

"Trust me, they are extremely powerful. They are rare compared to the general population, but they have tons of powers. They can fly, teleport, or move across landscapes. Most have a form of intelligence and can manipulate all kinds of laws."

"Most are not from this world and have a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are invisible, made of rainbows, look like a normal ruin, look futuristic, or occupy a huge portion of the sky. Some even eat other anomalies or imitate the ones they've eaten to look weaker."

"Wait, how do you know what they look like if you've encountered only one?" Abe asked.

"Most of them only target more powerful adventurers and don't care about weaklings like me. What I've described are the total number of them I've encountered ever since I first went into the mountains. Throughout that time, I've only encountered a handful of them. Compared to danger one, I've encountered hundreds of the lower danger anomalies." George explained.

"Wouldn't they be a calamity if they left the mountains?" Bernice had chills.

"For some reason, none of them ever leave the mountains. This castle is the outermost anomaly I have found so far. I don't have enough info on them so I can't be certain." George explained.

"So... how do you know the danger level of an anomaly?"

"It varies, but the more powerful ones generally have larger areas of influence. Of course, that doesn't apply to a danger one. They use the laws of reality to conceal their influence so you walk in without noticing. If you spot an anomaly without an area of influence, it is highly likely a danger one. There are exceptions, but that is the general rule that I've stuck by."

"Of course, I'll immediately notify you all to run for your lives if I spot a danger one. If this was by myself, it may have left me alone. I can't say that now since you are all higher ranks than me."

"Regardless, just hope we never encounter one. Even if you combined all your powers, you would still be an ant in front of a danger one anomaly. I would be shocked if none of you died and somehow escaped."

Abe, Emma, and Bernice felt a chill down their spine. They unconsciously backed away from the castle in the distance.

'Perhaps that is one of the reasons the empire does not colonize the mountains.' Thought Emma.

"Luckily this is a weak danger five. I know the key to escaping this place so it's not a big deal." George said.

"Wait! Hester's not here!" Bernice shouted in realization.

Everyone looked at the last spot Hester was and he was not there.

"Crap! He's about to enter the anomaly!" George looked in the direction and saw Hester's figure in the prairie a few feet away from the field.

It was too far for them to stop Hester, and he walked inside like he was being hypnotized.

"Huh? Wait, what did I do?" Hester snapped back to reality and looked around in confusion. Seeing the party members a few hundred feet away, he tried to walk back before hitting a barrier.

"What's this? Why can't I go back?" Hester's face turned pale, realizing he had walked into the field.

"What do we do?" Bernice began to panic.

"Why did he walk over there and enter?" Emma voiced her confusion.

"I said most anomalies below danger one don't have intelligence, but it doesn't mean they have some instincts and traps. I don't know how, but the castle must have casted some kind of illusionary and hypnotic spell on Hester and our surroundings."

Although George said this, he frowned in confusion:

"But that's strange. I've never encountered this when I passed by here myself. I'm pretty sure this anomaly doesn't have the ability to do such a trap. Only higher danger anomalies have the ability."

As he muttered this, the four of them walked over to near the field barrier.