The last month has been very productive for Arvin. He trained his combat prowess for a whole month and now he could feel the changes in his body. For the past months, he either studied from the books of Alman or he would go out in the jungle to look for decent prey. And now he could proudly say that he has now become a warrior.

While hunting Arvin trained in his newly acquired strength while reading Alman’s books he learned a lot about runes and magic. That knowledge would be useful for him in the future. Arvin also learned a lot about different herbs and their properties that could be found on the first floor. It was because of reading about these herbs he was able to find out about gobi grass that could help him in masking his smell from the wolves.

​​

While training for the past month. Arvin realized that to get stronger Arvin to need resources that could help him to increase his level by a significant amount. So Arvin had decided that when he ascends to the second floor, he would start accumulating a lot of resources. If he ever wanted to complete the last quest of Lopt, that was to reach the top first he would need to get stronger and fast. For that, he would need a lot of resources.

While resources were an important factor to get stronger and fast, constantly increasing his battle experience is also an important factor. Arvin knew this much that he was a loner who likes to work alone. That meant that every battle that he would fight in the future will be alone. As he would have no backup, his battle prowess should be enough so that he could get out of any dangerous situation on his own…

Now by the body of the golden wolf, Arvin started dismantling the wolf. The golden fur of the wolf was very good material for the clothing line. He read that in one of Alman’s books. That was also a reason that Arvin wanted to hunt the golden wolf down.

{Your battle prowess has increased by a lot. That is a very good thing.}

‘Yeah. I can see that. Even after fighting with a whole pack of wolves, I didn’t sustain any injuries or such. Plus I am also feeling tired at all. In the past, if I would perform this same thing I would have passed out from exhaustion.’

{See… That is what you get when you become an apostle of great Lopt.}

‘Don’t get cocky.’

{….}

‘That brings me to a question. I should be strong enough by now. So when can we start using that egg?’

{I would suggest that you should start your training with that egg as we get on the second floor. There is way more mana there. So training with the egg would go without any problem.}

‘Hmm… Ok then.’

{Cool.}

‘And another thing. What is the deal with the guardian? Will, I will be able to defeat it?’

{Yes. Your strength is now enough to defeat the guardian.}

‘Cool’ Arvin said.

After the wolf’s skin was complexly and safely had been dismantled, Arvin got up to return to the outer circle of the Kalgan Forest. He had decided that early in the morning, he would visit Arcane city for the last time. There he would buy some clothes and other essential items. He would say goodbye to Josh and then he would move one to hunt the fierce bird. With that thought, Arvin started moving into the forest.

Arvin could have transformed himself into a Corgan and flew away towards the outer circle. But he wanted to enjoy few last moments in the forest. So instead of transforming, he started walking towards the stream. There he had a good bath. He also cleaned his ax and started making his way towards the outer circle with no worry of the world. After all, no beast in the forest could hurt him now. He had gotten stronger.

Arvin has just reached the middle portion of the forest. It was then he heard a scream.

AAAhhhhAHH

It was a scream of a girl. Arvin vigilantly looked towards every direction. He was in a forest right now. So it was harder to find the direction from which the scream of the girl came as her scream was echoing in every direction. So Arvin without any worry, stripped down and turned into a Corgan, and started flying up the sky.

In the night sky, Arvin started flying high in the sky. He then spotted a light some 600-700 m from the location from where he flew off. Arvin then started moving towards the light…

Arvin soon reached what looked like to be a camp. It was a temporary camp where 3 people were sitting around the fire. Out of those three, one of them was a boy while the other two were girls. They were sitting around the fire and cooking some pieces of meat. Probably for dinner…

……..

All of them were wearing a white full sleeves top with white pants and white boots. The wall looked like they were in their twenties. One of the girls was an Asian girl with long black hair tied in a bun. Another girl was a Caucasian female with light blue eyes and blond hair. The boy seemed a lot older than both of these girls and also had an Asian look.

“I can believe you screamed because of a spider Alice” The boy spoke.

“It was of the size of my hand. It was very big!” the Caucasian girl rebuked

“You have fought with more dangerous beings on the second floor. And still, you are afraid of a spider?” the boy spoke.

“So what?” Alice snarled.

“Nothing.” The boy replied.

“Do you guys think that he may be hiding in this forest?” The black-haired girl asked.

“I don’t think so. Remember from our intel, it told us that the guy was just a Rank-F about 4-5 months ago. So even with all the top-level resources of this floor, he would have become a Rank-C or lower. So I don’t think that he is in this forest.” Alice replied.

“Yeah, that plausible. But then where the hell did he went?” the boy asked

“Maybe he is dead. Or maybe someone is holding him captive.” The black-haired girl suggested.

“I think that maybe Alman is responsible for his disappearance,” Alice suggested

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Because I don’t think he had any idea what that boy is carrying with him.” the boy said.

“That is plausible only if he doesn’t know. But if he does know then it is possible that Alman had already dealt with that guy and took that weapon.” Alice said

“Hmm… With his background, it is a possibility that he just got the news of that weapon before we could come down here.” The black-haired girl said.

“I think we should talk to the elder about this matter. He should be able to guide us about what we should do about this.” Boy said.

“I think maybe we should also look into that Arvin guy too,” Alice said

“Why?” the black-haired girl asked

“Well, Alman has given out a very heavy bounty on his head. And from my intels tell me, that guy is an earthling like us who came to this floor, just a few months ago. And he gained a substantial amount of strength in these months that he was able to run away from the clutches of Alman. From these facts, there can be a possibility that maybe he has the weapon with him.”

“That is a bit of a stretch…” boy spoked.

“That is just a possibility. But we cannot overlook it.” Alice replied.

“What about the Cullen family? Do you think that maybe they might have betrayed us?” black hair girl asked.

“No. They don’t have the balls to betray us. Plus they have loyally served us for all this time…” boy spoked.

“Anyhow… meat seems to be ready. Let’s eat and forget about Lopt, Alman, Arvin, and Cullen family for now, and let’s just concentrate on eating” Alice said while eating her piece of meat.

…..

Arvin heard their conversation from start to end. After hearing their conversation he got confused. He understood that fact Alman was looking for him. But why the hell these people were looking for Lopt? He became very confused.

Arvin had figured that Alman might have found out about his dual identities and that is why Arvin’s quest failed. But now it seems that maybe there something else in the play here.

‘What do you think about their conversation Lopt?’ Arvin asked.

{It is confusing as hell. But on the other hand, you should probably get out of here}

‘Why?’

{These three… They are from the higher floors.}

‘I figured that much.’

{Arvin you should thank me that I taught you the technique to hide your mana signature. Or otherwise, they would have killed in a matter of milliseconds.}

‘Thanks… But Lopt, after hearing their conversation, I am thinking maybe I should investigate about this situation.’

{Do as you wish. But from now on, be very careful and don’t let anyone else see your face.}

‘Got it.’