The awkward silence stretched over the clearing until Lisa finally cleared her throat, pushing past Pixel and Kaelen to flip open the silver latch of the rare drop box.
The lid popped open with a soft, pressurized hiss, releasing a faint cloud of cold blue mana that quickly dissolved into the morning air.
The entire party leaned over the container, their previous argument completely forgotten as they analyzed the contents.
Nestled inside the velvet lining lay three distinct items: three small, glittering diamond crystals that caught the morning light; a sleek, leather-and-silver collar intricately etched with glowing runes; and a magnificent, folded garment.
Kae cleared his throat, pushing his disorientation aside to lock his executive focus onto the loot.
“Aegis, run a complete subsurface profiling audit on these items.
Let’s see what we’re working with.”
[SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE ANALYSIS ACTIVE]
[ITEM 1: ELEMENTAL DIAMOND CRYSTALS x3 – HIGH-VALUE TRADING ASSETS]
[ITEM 2: ANTI-HEX RUNIC COLLAR – RESISTS SMALL-TO-MEDIUM MAGIC SPELLS]
[ITEM 3: PHANTOM BLACK CLOAK – ACTIVE CONCEALMENT PROTOCOL DETECTED]
“Incredible,” Lisa whispered, her experienced eyes widening as she picked up the sleek, long jacket.
“This isn’t just standard armor.
This is a Phantom Black Cloak.
It has advanced concealment properties woven right into the fabric—it completely masks your presence from low-tier trackers.
And this runic collar is a rare defensive asset; it naturally deflects offensive spells.”
Kae didn’t hesitate.
He immediately reached down and snatched the magnificent, phantom-black long jacket, throwing it over his shoulders.
The deep hood fell perfectly over his head, the sleek dark fabric instantly contouring to his frame.
“I’m taking this,” Kae declared, adjusting the cuffs with a sharp, deliberate snap of his wrists to reclaim his executive presence.
“I need to cover up these Earth clothes.
Walking around a high-velocity fantasy server in literal rags while you guys look like fully kitted adventurers is completely destroying my corporate brand authority.”
“It actually suits you really well, Kaelen!” Karen said encouragingly, her cheeks dusting with a light pink as she smiled.
“You look like a proper rogue strategist now.”
Kae offered a rare, genuine smile of appreciation to Karen.
But the moment he turned his gaze down toward Pixel, a highly sarcastic, mischievous smirk crept back onto his face.
He picked up the glowing, runic leather collar from the box and knelt down in front of the feline.
“And as for you, my elite Strategic Consultant,” Kae purred, his voice dripping with mock sympathy as he leaned in.
“Since we now know you’re less than a battler, we have to make sure you’re properly accessorized.
Let’s get this securely buckled around your neck.”
Pixel squinted her amber eyes in deep suspicion, backing away an inch.
“What are you plotting, master?
I do not require slave garments.”
“Oh, it’s not a slave garment.
It’s a safety precaution,” Kae replied smoothly, clicking the silver latch shut around her neck with perfect comedic timing.
He stood back up, dusting off his hands with a look of immense satisfaction.
“After all, you’re a complete weakling who has zero physical defensive stats and hides in a traveler’s bag the moment a light breeze catches you.
A fragile little thing like you needs all the medium-magic protection she can get so she doesn’t get accidentally deleted by a passing stray spell.”
An absolute storm of telepathic fury erupted within Kae’s skull.
“A WEAKLING?!” Pixel roared mentally, her ego completely fracturing.
With the explosive speed of an apex predator, the black cat launched herself straight off the dirt road, flying through the air and landing squarely on top of Kaelen’s head.
Her back paws blurred into a frantic motion, violently digging into his scalp, while her front claws hooked into his forehead, aggressively messing up his pristine hair.
“Oouch!
Son of a—!
Get off me, you feral furball!” Kae yelled, spinning around in desperate circles as he clawed at his own head, completely losing his corporate dignity once again.
“Defilement of the consultant’s assets!
Defamation of character!” Pixel screeched directly into his brain, digging her paws deeper into his scalp.
She let out one final, sharp, telepathic hiss before hopping gracefully off his head, landing back on Lisa’s armored shoulder with a perfect, elegant finish.
She gave her front paw a dignified, slow lick.
“Yeah?
How about that, Master?
I think you are going to need a comb before we enter the gates of Oakhaven.”
Kae stood there, his hair completely standing on end like a bird’s nest, his face flushed red with pure, unadulterated embarrassment.
Karen burst into a loud, bubbling fit of giggles, holding her stomach, while Lisa simply rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she scooped up the three diamond crystals and packed them safely into her pouch.
“Alright, you two chaotic toddlers, break it up,” Lisa chuckled, adjusting her mana-blade as she turned back toward the winding mountain path.
“The sun is officially up, the loot is distributed, and we have a long walk ahead of us.
Let’s move out.”
And so, with their broken units slightly upgraded, a newly styled Architect, a highly insulted feline time-god, and a laughing healer followed the knight down the rocky ridge, finally stepping out of the shadow of the southern curse and marching toward the distant, welcoming spires of Oakhaven.
The Roadside Ambush & The Eagles of the Night.
The journey had devolved into a grueling, silent march.
The initial high of surviving the forest and securing new gear had completely evaporated, replaced by the crushing reality of basic physical exhaustion.
The party had been moving non-stop for a full day and a half, dragging their boots along the winding, dust-choked border road.
Karen’s posture was completely collapsed, her wooden staff acting more like a crutch than a weapon as her ash-blonde hair hung limp around her face.
Even Lisa, despite her formidable physical conditioning, had a visible sheen of sweat rolling down her neck, her heavy steel gauntlets resting dead at her sides. Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
Kaelen groaned, his feet feeling like solid blocks of lead inside his boots.
He glanced over his shoulder at his leather travel pack.
Pixel was curled up lazily on top of it, completely unbothered, her eyes closed in absolute bliss.
“Hey, Lisa…” Kae muttered, his voice raspy from the road dust.
“How much longer is this endless marathon?
We’ve been walking for a day and a half straight.
My internal stamina bar is flashing red.”
“Yeah, it’s true,” Karen chimed in, her voice a small, fragile whisper as she pushed her sliding glasses back up her nose.
“We’ve been moving non-stop.
I don’t think my legs can take another mile.”
Pixel opened one amber eye, stretching her front legs forward in a long, luxurious yawn before letting out a soft, mocking meow.
“I am entirely unsure what the two of you are whimpering about,” the cat’s dry telepathic voice resonated inside Kae’s skull.
“Personally, I feel completely rejuvenated.
My energy metrics are at an absolute maximum.
I could easily endure this pace for another three days.”
“Yeah, that’s because you’ve been riding on my back the entire time, you absolute furball!” Kae snapped aloud, his patience completely bottoming out.
Without warning, Kae reached behind his head, grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck, and pulled her off his pack.
“Unhand me, you barbarian!” Pixel screeched mentally, her front paws flailing.
Kae ignored the protest, completely evicting her from her premium seating and throwing her down toward the dirt.
“Pouch time is over.
You’re going to walk the rest of this journey like the rest of us.”
Pixel twisted mid-air with effortless grace, landing softly and gently on all four paws in the dust.
She didn’t miss a beat.
She immediately sat down, lifted a paw, and cast a thoroughly disgusted glare up at him.
“Jeez, Kaelen,” she sniffed telepathically, her tone dripping with haughty condescension.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to properly treat a lady?
Your mechanical brute-force approach to conflict resolution is precisely why your corporate reputation remains in the gutter.”
Lisa halted ahead of them, letting out a heavy sigh as she pulled a worn leather map from her side pack.
She unrolled it, squinting down at the faded ink lines before looking back at the exhausted teenagers.
“I know it’s been rough, gang,” Lisa said, her voice laced with genuine sympathy.
“We’ve been traveling non-stop because we were positioned deep in the wilderness, incredibly far away from the civilized sectors of the Eastern continent.”
She pointed a gauntleted finger at a sharp junction on the parchment where the dark purple stains of the southern border met the green ink of the trading routes.
“According to my calculations, we are right here,” Lisa explained, tracing the border line.
“We’ve only just cleared the immediate boundary between the Southern continent and the Eastern region.
To actually reach the gates of Oakhaven from this specific valley…
it’s going to take us at least one more day and a half of continuous walking.”
“What?!” Kae, Karen, and Pixel all yelled in unison—Pixel’s telepathic shock ringing so loudly it made Kae wince.
“But we are completely out of supplies!” Kae argued, crossing his arms as his executive focus shifted into crisis management.
“We ran through the last of our rations this morning.
We won’t last another full day out here without food and clean water.”
Lisa looked cornered, her cheeks flushing slightly as she put her arms up in a defensive gesture to stop the rising panic.
“Calm down, gang.
Just calm down.
We aren’t going to die out here in the wilderness.” She paused, her eyes scanning the empty, rocky road ahead before a reckless grin broke across her face.
“Not if we can manage to find ourselves some means of transport.
A ride.”
Karen blinked, looking around at the vast, desolate cliffs and dead trees surrounding them.
“A ride?
Lisa, where are we going to find a chariot or a carriage in the literal middle of a lawless wilderness forest?”
Before Lisa or Kaelen could formulate a response, a low, deep vibration began to ripple through the earth beneath their boots.
Rumble.
Rumble.
“Whoa, what’s happening?!” Karen shrieked, her posture instantly going rigid as she gripped her staff, her amber eyes wide with familiar terror.
“Please tell me it’s not another Behemoth!
I can’t run anymore!”
Kae immediately narrowed his eyes, shifting into a low stance.
He reached deep into his internal engine, channeling a subtle thread of Void Energy through the soles of his boots, as a makeshift radar sweep to sense the surrounding density.
“It’s not a monster,” Kae muttered, his voice turning sharp and decisive as his radar picked up multiple targets moving with high velocity.
“We’ve got company.
Four o’clock, right down the main road.
They’re moving fast.”
The heavy rumbling resolved into the clattering sound of iron-rimmed wheels and the aggressive snorting of a mechanical beast pulling a large, armored cargo chariot.
Before the dust could even settle around the bend, the vehicle screeched to a halt, completely blocking the path.
Four heavily armed figures leaped off the wooden boards of the cart in unison.
The moment their boots hit the dirt, they locked themselves into a bizarre, synchronized theatrical pose—one leaning low with a dagger, two crossing their spears in an “X” shape, and their leader standing dead center with his chest puffed out like they were a group of low-budget movie stars posing for a promotional flyer. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
The leader was a hulking, grotesque demi-human pig-man.
He wore mismatched pieces of iron armor stretched over his massive pink torso, and a heavy iron broadsword rested precariously on his shoulder.
“Halt, weary travelers!” the pig-man boomed, throwing his free hand into the air to emphasize his grand performance.
“You have crossed into the hunting grounds of the elite!
We are the Eagles of the Night!
The grandest mercenary syndicate to ever grace the black markets of the guild!
Your coin belongs to the skies, and your gear belongs to us!”
Karen squinted her amber eyes through her round glasses, her terrified expression instantly turning into one of utter confusion as she looked at their ridiculous theatrical stances.
“Bandits!” she screamed, her voice cracking under the sudden panic.
“Silence, four-eyes!” the pig leader demanded, snorting aggressively through his wide snout as he pointed his heavy broadsword directly at the party.
“Give us all your money, your precious items, and every single scrap of belonging you have on you right now if you wanna stay alive!”
Lisa’s fingers instinctively twitched, her arm subtly reaching back toward the hilt of her mana-blade.
The two spearmen immediately lunged a step closer, their weapons leveling directly at her chest.
“Hands off the sword if you don’t wanna get hurt, lady!” the first spearman barked.
“Try anything funny and we’ll cut you to pieces,” the second chimed in, leveling his weapon.
“Show absolutely zero resistance and we’ll let you walk out of this valley alive
Lisa slowly pulled her hand back from her weapon, her expression darkening as she raised her palms.
“Oh, oh…
this is not good.
The tactical layout is completely compromised.”
“Bandits!
We’re being robbed by pig mercenaries!” Karen freaked out completely, her knees shaking as she hoisted her hands high into the air, her wooden staff trembling violently.
The spearmen waved their weapons aggressively.
“All of you!
Hands in the air!
Drop your gear on the dirt right now!”
Lisa and Karen immediately complied, standing rigid with their arms raised high.
But Kaelen and Pixel didn’t move an inch.
Instead, the two of them walked casually over to a smooth, flat boulder by the side of the road and sat down together.
Kae dug into his pocket, pulling out the absolute last, stale crust of bread that Lisa had given them earlier.
He tore it cleanly in half, handing one piece to Pixel, who took it between her paws with perfect grace.
The two of them sat side by side, completely unbothered by the four armed criminals, calmly munching on their bread.
Their eyes weren’t locked on the swords or the spears; they were staring intently at the luxurious, reinforced cargo chariot sitting behind the thieves.
Kae caught Pixel’s eye, a slow, calculative smirk spreading across his face.
‘Let’s analyze the current operational data using basic logic metrics,’ Kae’s silent thought bounced into the feline’s mind, perfectly structured.
‘Our current physical assets are completely exhausted from a grueling, day-and-a-half trek through this dust-choked wasteland.
Our internal stamina bars are flashing red, and basic manual locomotion is no longer a viable option.’
Pixel chewed her piece of bread with agonizing slowness, her white-tipped tail flicking in agreement.
‘An accurate baseline assessment, Master.’
‘To optimize our arrival matrix and ensure we reach the gates of Oakhaven alive, we require an immediate, high-velocity alternative to walking.
We need a fast, mechanical asset to bypass the remaining topography.’
‘And how exactly ?’ Pixel’s amber eyes flashed with a sudden, dangerous amusement.
‘God has literally just dropped a premium, reinforced cargo transport directly into our laps,’ Kae concluded mentally, his smirk widening into a confident, predatory grin.
‘These low-tier bandit anomalies aren’t a threat—they are the delivery boys.
Heaven just answered our logistical crisis.’
Pixel swallowed her bite, her gaze locking onto the massive chariot.
“I highly concur with your tactical deduction, Master,” the cat’s dry, mocking telepathic voice resonated inside Kae’s skull.
“The mechanical specifications of that carriage are thoroughly optimized for a six-hour transit.
It would be an insult to the divine order not to confiscate it.”
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ Kae’s silent thought bounced into her mind.
Pixel chewed her piece of bread with agonizing slowness, her white-tipped tail flicking with immense satisfaction.
“I highly deduce that we have just encountered our designated transport, Master.
The mechanical specifications of that carriage are thoroughly optimized for a six-hour transit to Oakhaven.”
Pixel swallowed her bite, her amber eyes flashing with a sudden, dangerous light.
“Should I deploy the twenty-meter chronos-stasis and freeze these low-tier anomalies right now?”
Kae didn’t lift his hands.
He just licked a crumb off his finger, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the magnificent chariot.
“Wait for my signal,” Kae whispered smoothly, his tone low and utterly relaxed.
To the four bandits standing across the dirt, all they heard from the black cat was a couple of casual, quiet sounds.
“Meow, meow.”
The thieves stood there completely oblivious, entirely unaware of the trap they had just walked into.
They genuinely believed they had the party cornered, completely blind to the fact that they were currently standing on the absolute precipice of a digital execution.