"R-Really? Is that true? When is the opening ceremony? I’ll be sure to join. I don’t need any benefits either—I just want to hunt with stronger people." In his excitement, Oscar began blabbering on and on.

"Calm down, man... I haven’t decided on the date. But whenever it is, I’ll be sure to inform you. So just chill out for now." Looking at him, Dhruv couldn’t help but remember Vexar.

He still wasn’t sure what excited these men so much about fighting. If it were possible they could just continue fighting nonstop with no regard to other things.

’Maybe their brains are full of muscles as well,’ Dhruv thought, smiling.

After some thought, he looked at them and said some final words. "Criteria won’t be low and it won’t be easy to enter the guild, so make sure to keep yourself ready."

"I don’t want an easy challenge anyway... haha," Oscar replied with a smile.

"See you soon sir..." Richard said as both of them prepared to leave.

"Me too."

Soon, their bodies began to disintegrate. While Oscar was happy with how things had turned out, the other one was having some strange thoughts.

The moment Richard appeared on the first floor, he quickly began wiping the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Crackkk!

With a cracking sound, a ring worn on his right-hand index finger broke before dropping to the floor.

Looking at the broken ring, Richard turned to Oscar and asked, "Fuck... what have we gotten ourselves into?"

’What happened to him...?’ Oscar thought, staring at Richard.

This was the first time Oscar had seen him this panicked—no, fearful. Even during their first encounter, when the man was about to be chewed by a monster, Richard hadn’t been this panicked.

"Why are you saying that?" Confused Oscar asked.

"You have no idea what that thing was?" Richard replied with beads still forming above his head.

"That thing... now you’re weirding me out. Can you please tell me what happened?"

Looking at his friend, Richard asked while pointing toward the broken ring, "Do you know the purpose of that ring?"

"No."

"It hides emotions."

"E-Emotions... hides them? Why do you have a ring that hides emotions."

"It gives an edge in negotiation..."

"Edge in negotiation... what are you talking about... hey man, if you don’t want to explain, just say so. Why make it a riddle?" Oscar was getting annoyed by Richard’s way of talking.

"Calm down... that ring lets me hide my emotions. Remember the time we met and you asked why I wasn’t afraid of the monster? Actually, I was afraid... sigh."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, really... I mean, who wouldn’t be?"

"I thought you were calm because of the ring’s power?"

"Yes, the ring lets me control my emotions and enhances my thinking power. But—"

"But?"

"There’s a limit to it. If I cross that limit, the ring will break, and a curse will be placed upon it. The curse isn’t really strong, so no problem there..."

"A-And..." Oscar was slowly beginning to understand what his friend was getting at.

"So, there was something so strange about him that you couldn’t control your emotions?" Placing his bow in the ring Oscar moved toward his friend.

"Yeah. Something like that..."

"So, what was this emotion you were trying to control?"

Not trying to hide it anymore, Richard said a simple word.

"Fear."

***

’What a strange duo...’ Dhruv thought, watching their disintegrating forms.

’Well, at least they are strong.’ Manifesting his wings, he began making some guesses about them.

’Richard is an archer... and a strong one at that. But what class does the other man have? Mage... no. Warrior doesn’t seem like it. Tank... with his figure, I highly doubt it. Agility-based class... could be possible.’

’I don’t know his class, but one thing is sure... he’s rich. Walking in broad daylight with that many high items sure isn’t easy for just anyone..’ Dhruv thought, recalling the ten rings the man wore, one on each finger. None of them looked simple either.

Thinking about items, Dhruv remembered one of his own.

Just the thought of it turned his expression serious.

His hand moved as a crown appeared there. Looking at it, Dhruv recalled the pain he had felt while using it.

"Only ten seconds..."

Ten seconds—that was the time the crown could be activated for. Ten seconds were enough to drain his core dry. Ten seconds were all his mental capacity could hold before it began breaking under the strain of its eight enchantments.

Ten seconds were all he could afford.

’This won’t do... there’s no point in having this item if I can’t use it,’ he muttered, staring at the crown with determination.

He has to improve his mana capacity... evolve his mana regeneration and begin learning how to have precise control with each enchantment.

As Dhruv reflected on the incident, he began to recall the part where whispers had started humming in his ears.

’What was it saying...’ Headaches formed as Dhruv tried to remember the full conversation.

"Shit..." Feeling like his head would explode, he stopped trying to remember and worked with what little he could understand.

’Why did... why did he...’ That was all he could recall.

’Why did... why did he...’

’Why did... why did he...’

’Why did... why did he...’

’Why did... why did he...’

As he repeated the words, Dhruv felt something hiding among them. Desperation, betrayal and confusion were the prominent one he could feel but that wasn’t the end either.

It was asking... trying to find some answer.

Before he could come to any further conclusions, a connection reached his mind.

[Master, I’ve found the ship,] Archana said in a playful voice.

[Okay, where is it? Share its coordinates,] Dhruv asked.

[It’s at 6524X, 4—] she began telling him her co-ordinate.

After reaching Tier 3, the map maker had developed many new features—showing and sharing coordinates was one of them.

[Coming there. Inform the others as well,] he said, cutting the connection. He looked at the crown one last time.

’I’ll deal with you later.’ Smiling, he put it back in his inventory and moved toward the location.