A white void, that was what Barry’s surroundings seemed like, as he seemed to be levitating in a place of nothingness. When he opened his eyes, he was confused as to where he was at the moment. He last remembered getting into an intense brawl against a raging Orc that craved for battle. Which ultimately resulted in him and Puck passing out from fighting with everything they had.

  Ned was the last person he saw that was with him and Puck at the time and assumed he was still taking care of them both, believing he was still asleep and that this was a dream.

  He got up and started walking forward, curious if he could find anything in the distance as he went. Some time passed by, but nothing would appear in his view, ending his stroll and deciding to sit back down and wait till he inevitably woke up from his sleep.

  But soon after, he would hear some commotion from behind himself, he turned and was surprised at what he saw. “Is this…another memory fragment?”

  He was now viewing one of his memory fragments, only this one was a replay of his first one, of what he could assume was him calling out for the mysterious true Barry guy that he recently saw with Puck. ‘That first memory still confuses me, it doesn’t make sense for me to ever meet him when his character looks so out of place back on Earth. Strange…’

  Another memory fragment was replayed, the one when he almost died from his stroll through the long road with a death fog and zombie hounds chasing him. Reminiscing back, he was annoyed at how troublesome those hounds were and hated that they were on his ass everywhere he went. He would also see the flashback that he had experienced at the time, about him using his consumable items to survive.

  Barry would continue to revisit these past moments and think about his choices, the parts of him saving the people from the tutorial because of these bothersome feelings of righteousness and no reward, was questionable to him. Maybe if the situations he was in were more favorable to him and weren’t so bullshit, he probably wouldn’t have minded stepping in to help. Although everything worked out for him, he would have liked it if he was rewarded in someway.

  Looking back at his recent act of standing up for the village, he decided to agree with these feelings of doing right because he felt like he had an obligation to with everything that had happened to them so far. Having issues with the local predators like wolves attacking their livestock, Kobolds raiding their village, and finally an army of Eviscerators launching an invasion on their poor town.

  He had already promised the children that he would return with their goods, and he did, so when he received the quest about the invasion with no reward, he wondered if the people were hoping that he would come back and save them when it occurred. ‘Yeah, it would have been pretty shitty for me to abandon them, even after taking those precious items from the kids…’

  And when the Orcs arrived after stopping the invasion, he did question about staying to help the village, and he did stay to help, which ended in Wreav and his gang turning away despite being defeated by Wreav. His action and self decision was proof that his previous deeds of good must have changed his attitude to help others. ‘Still…I believe that if Wreav really wanted me dead, my life would have ended then and there. I’m just glad I was able to make to it out alive.’

  His thoughts then shifted to thinking about Wreav and Ned, ‘So, they’re both taking part in Lost Adventure, huh? I have more questions now then before, how far does Lost Adventure extend to? Are the people in this world real or not? I hope Ned can give me some answers.’

  Barry would then begin to hear mumbling of some kind, he glanced around the void he was in, wondering where the noise was coming from. “...sleeping…Barry is still…sleeping…”

  A bright light would illuminate, completely blinding Barry, despite raising a hand to block out the light.

  —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Munching, that was the first thing Barry heard next to him, as he laid in a bed resting. The sound of someone chomping down on something crunchy awoke him. ‘Who the hell is eating something so loud, next to me? And what is it?’

  Looking to his left with a bothersome look and tired eyes, Barry discovered that it was Puck sitting on a chair next to him, nervously eating the most crunchy red apple he had ever heard. “Puck, why is that apple so crunchy?”

  Puck’s nervousness would fade away at Barry’s first words, dropping his apple and approaching his friend with joy that he was awake. “Barry! You okay, Puck and friends were worried.” He then grabbed another apple from a fruit basket and stuffed it into Barry’s mouth. “Here, try it!”

  Barry had no choice but to bite into the obnoxious apple, experiencing the annoying, yet satisfying crunch that the apple gave off. ‘Well damn, I have to admit, this apple is satisfying to bite into, and it tastes good.’

  He looked around and realized that he was in a cozy room, crafted furniture was displayed all around with knick-knacks and such. “Where are we, Puck?”

  The Kobold would pick up his apple and continue to eat it, “We back at Puck’s home with friends from the village. Mojo expert will be back soon, rest for now, Barry.”

  Barry would take his advice, staying in bed while eating his apple. As he waited, he thought about asking Puck concerning about him being a part of Lost Adventure. He would still see that he was a part of his Party, based on the system window. He also noticed that there was a huge unnamed list in his system options, when he opened it, it revealed the rest of Puck’s kin. He could track and manage their profiles if he wanted too, he wondered how all this was possible. How was allowed to do all this, and why? Regardless, he used the quick option to auto-manage the Kobolds profiles because there were was too many of them. He would then name the list, “Puck’s Kin.”

  ‘This is all confusing, I guess since Durg is no longer leader and Ron being exposed for tricking the Kobolds with his cheap dragon illusion, that I am considered the leader now. But how did this become a thing?” He tried coming up with a logical explanation, unsure of the reason.

  He figured that Puck was still unaware of the fact that he could be a part of Lost Adventure, he would prefer that Puck wouldn’t have to participate in it, but it seemed like he would have to without a choice. Challenges will come if that was the case.

  He decided to bring up the topic to Puck, wanting to confirm his suspicions. “Hey Puck, did you-”

  “Ah, I see you are awake, Barry.” At the entrance of the room was Ned, just now entering the room. “You’ve been asleep for almost two days. I and everyone else from the village decided to move into Puck’s home, since ours was destroyed in the process of everything that had transpired.”

  “Yeah…” Barry remembered all the destruction that the Eviscerators and Orcs managed to do, rubbing his neck and feeling sort of at fault. “...I know apologizing doesn’t do much, but had I known the Orcs only wanted to tell you they were leaving the area. Maybe your village would have still been mendable. Sorry.”

  Ned shook his head and gave a small smile. “No, you warned us of the Eviscerators appearing in time for my people to hide. And the incident with Wreav and his men could have still happened regardless if you had known about their true intention for showing up, without notice. They would have wanted to do battle with you, to sate their lust for fighting.”

  The old man would then turn to Puck, thinking about something for a moment before speaking. “Hey Puck, could you go outside and find me a blue four leaf clover around your home? I’ll need it for my mojo magic, to help Barry finish his recovery.”

  “Yeah! Puck go look right now, be back soon.” The little Kobold rushed out in a hurry to retrieve the clover, leaving the two alone in the room.

  Ned couldn’t help but laugh once he was gone, “He’s an interesting little fella you have at your side Barry, he refers to magic as mojo, how funny is that?”

  “He’s a Kobold, it’s to be expected, at least from my first experience with them. These guys can build slides as their secret entrance and elevators to get around their home, yet fall for the simplest of tricks. They’re thickheaded, but still crafty and have earned my respect.”

  Ned sat down in a chair near Barry’s bed, “Yes, they are a silly bunch.” There was a moment of pause before continuing. “So, Barry, what sorts of questions did you have for me?”

  Getting down to business, Barry wanted to know more about his involvement in Lost Adventure, he wanted to know if Ned knew any more than he did. “Well, how long have you been participating in Lost Adventure?”

  “Not that long, in fact, only for about 3 days before you arrived in our village. One morning, I awoke after reading a good book in my chair. A blue screen appeared in front of me, congratulating me on being a contestant for the game. At first, I thought it was some other mage or wizard that was trying to communicate with me, but I soon realized after it explained more that this predicament we are in was real. I believed that I was the only one who was involved in this game, until you came along.” Ned would then bring out one of his reading books from his own inventory. “It informed me the basics of the systems functions, leaving me to figure out the rest.”

  “Then did you receive any quests or challenges from the system? That invasion from the Eviscerators was one of my quests to accomplish, for example.” Barry informed.

  Ned nodded, “Yes, I have, actually. But it was only recent while you were asleep after your fight with Wreav. I haven’t received one until now, I wonder why. You probably have received it as well, check your quest info right now, it’s a complicated one that most likely involves everyone participating in the game, I’m sure you will find it so.”

  Barry listened and opened his menu to check out what the quest was about this time, he assumed that the reason why Ned hadn’t received any quests was because of Ven’s issues with connecting to Ned’s world. What he saw was another interesting mission, one that would be a long and intense journey for him to complete.

  “

  Main Quest

  Title: The Fall of Scion!

  Description: A great calamity will fall upon the world of Scion in the coming year! Search far and wide to prevent this disaster from ever occurring, band together or die in your futile attempt to stop this catastrophe!

  Objective: Expedite all across Scion, in search of clues to find the reason for the potential misfortune that is planned to fall upon the entire world!

  Time Limit: Less than a year.

  Reward: All Contestants will receive 10,000 gold. The one to contribute the most will receive an ever greater reward, with the second and third receiving a lesser, yet generous, reward compared to the first place contributor.

  Penalty: Your pleasant and total eradication from existence! (?? ? ??)

  “

  This quest seemed similar to the tutorial quest, similar in that it required everyone to work together under a time limit with the same penalty. Should they all do nothing to prevent the destruction of the world, Scion, they would have to scour everywhere to stop it from happening. The time limit was vague, but at least it gave them a rough estimate of the amount of time they had, probably because the calamity could happen sooner than later. There were no clues or directions that Barry saw on the map, as a good start to find out more about this total annihilation.

  “This is…wow, a big problem. Especially for you, considering this is your world.” Barry figured this mission meant more to Ned than it did to Barry.

  Ned didn’t like the quest at all, this was too much for him to handle alone. “Yes, quite unfortunate that something like this is involving my home as a part of this tragic game. I wish to know why the gods have decided to use our home worlds and people as sources of entertainment…” Barry could tell that Ned was upset with the situation that they were in.

  Were they all being punished for something? Or did the gods just get bored and decide to make up this sick game? He, too, would wish to know the reason.

  Barry had a couple more questions he wanted to know, like how Ned had his suspicions about him not being from his world. “Say, you were skeptical of me when we met, weren’t you, Ned? What gave me away?”

  Ned’s worry would turn back into amusement and chuckled. “Well Barry, no offense, but you are terrible at pretending to be someone you are not. Your over exaggeration of being a great adventurer from a far, far, faaaaar away land of a place called Earth, in the middle of a sea, was surely believable.” Barry could feel Ned’s truths stabbing his soul.

  “You were trying too hard. Oh! And your outfit at the time was entirely different from those that I’ve seen from other places.” Barry’s soul cut deeper.

  “And you happened to be daydreaming at the time, when you were probably checking your inventory or something, while you were in front of me.” Ned’s final points made Barry feel like he should stop trying to deceive people with his horrible acting.

  Barry couldn’t help but give out a heavy sigh, as he turned away, he wanted to punch something because of how embarrassed he felt at the moment. “Alright, Ned, you made it pretty clear that I should work being more believable…damn it.”

  The mage laughed, he was getting a kick out of seeing how mad Barry was at himself for being so obvious. “Don’t fret, young lad, you still played the part of being a brave and strong adventurer as you said you were. Although you are not from my world, the village still thanks you for what you have done. Truly, you have earned your role.”

  The young adventurer decided to let go of his anger for his poor acting and accept the old man’s kind words. “Yeah, well, it would have been pretty shitty of me to abandon you all while knowing there was going to be an invasion on your village. Might as well get all the combat experience I can get, especially from new enemies I’ve never fought before. And that part about slaying undead, that much was true on my world, and they never existed until this whole thing started.”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  He would then explain to Ned everything that he had experienced back on his world, the old mage would listen closely to Barry’s story of his time during the start of Lost Adventure. Ned was intrigued about everything that was told, from his first encounter with a zombie from the crematorium, to the final chapter of his tutorial with the undead king. Barry would even share his hate for the doctor that abandoned him from the beginning. What Barry didn’t share, was that he didn’t know what his true identity was.

  “Fascinating, encountering Kobolds, Orcs, Eviscerators, everything here is completely new to you. While back on your world, none of those things would ever exist, including magic. That is amazing, Barry, especially your resolve to fight through everything that has happened.” Ned had to give credit to Barry, compared to the people of his world that he shared, who panicked and struggled to survive, Barry fought with all he had without fear. “I have to ask, what is it that pushes you to get through each obstacle you have faced? Even now, I am curious to know what it is?”

  Barry thought about his question, at first he hesitated to tell Ned what motivated him to keep going, but then figured that Ned wasn’t a bad person and actually cared to know, given his personality that he’s known so far. “...sure, I’ll tell you, Ned. So, the thing is…Barry isn’t my true name, and well…” He began explaining his story of his amnesia, his memories, and believing that he must have died and was reincarnated at the crematorium from the beginning.

  All the while, Ned was even more invested in Barry’s background, he wondered how such a thing was possible if magic did not exist in his world. Was it perhaps the game that brought him back to life? Or maybe something else, Ned wondered the same thing Barry had thought about.

  That was when Barry realized he had been holding onto something he was really curious about, taking a moment to look through his inventory and pulling out the very documents of his death report from the beginning, that he’d been wanting someone to read for him. “This! This is a report of my supposed death, I can’t read it and I still can’t now, for whatever fucking reason. And I was hoping someone like you could read it to me? In your world, the language we are speaking in is Common tongue, but in my world it’s referred to as, English. It should be the same thing in writing, would you mind reading it to me?” Barry then handed the documents to Ned.

  Feeling the paper, the quality was better than the one’s his world used, Ned would then examine the pages that he was given. Barry would watch Ned’s expression, he hoped Ned would be able to tell him what was written down. And that was when something strange happened, Ned’s facial expression was beginning to look blurry as Barry watched him. ‘What?’ The harder he looked, the more distorted Ned’s face would look. ‘No! No!’

  Barry rose up from his bed, trying to listen to Ned’s voice because he believed that Ned was trying to read everything out loud to Barry, but only heard a bunch of jargon and distorted words that made zero fucking sense. “No! This can’t be fucking happening!” Barry shouted, enraged that not even Ned could tell him the truth of his identity and what happened.

  Not only was he not able to read Ned’s expression about his death report, but he also wasn’t able to hear him at all. And with his curiosity answered, he got out of his bed in a fit of rage and stomped towards the closest wall to begin punching it with all his might, trembling the walls. “WHY! CAN’T! I! KNOW!”

  He would then feel a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment, before he instinctively brushed it off, which was Ned who must have tried to calm Barry down. Still, Barry could not tell what Ned’s face looked like because it was blurry to him. This only pissed him off even more, this time making his way to his bed and deciding to throw it to the side. “THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT!”

  Gripping the sides of the bed, he chucked it with ease at a wall, breaking it apart, still not satisfied and began looking around for something else to vent his anger on.

  “Barry?” He would then hear Puck’s voice, sounding concerned.

  He would look back and see the worried Kobold, holding a pile of different flowers and plants, there was not a 4 leaf blue clover among them that Ned had asked him to find. “Barry, what’s wrong?” Puck asked.

  Barry, huffing and puffing with anger, looked back between Ned’s distorted face and then back to Puck, and finally, at the bed he had destroyed. He took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh, ‘I shouldn’t show anger in front of them…fuck…’

  “Hey, Puck. Sorry, I just found a scary looking bug on my bed and tried killing it…along with the bed.” Barry lied, not wanting to worry the poor Kobold with his problem.

  Ned would chime in, this time Barry could hear his voice again. “Yes, it was a nasty looking bug that crawled on his head. Barry reacted with haste and impulsively wrecked the bed.” The mage helped Barry’s claim, respecting Barry’s decision to hide his real reason for now.

  Puck was shocked, he then hurried to the destroyed bed, dropping what he had brought, and began searching for the bug that the two claimed to have attacked Barry. “Puck will find scary looking bug and eat it for Barry!”

  The sight of watching Puck searching for this elusive bug, made Barry somewhat at ease, he didn’t want to hide anything from Puck, but at the moment he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He wanted to cool off after finding out that having someone else read it to him was futile. ‘Another time, Puck. But not now…’

  His documents would then be handed to Barry by Ned, he would then grab and move it into his inventory. This time, when he looked at Ned, he could see his facial expression, which was normal. “Barry…I’m sorry I-”

  “No Ned, ” Barry cut off, he could see that Ned’s facial expression was starting to get blurry, believing that if someone even showed any expression towards his truth, that their face would become distorted. “It’s okay, you don’t have to try talking about it. I’ve accepted that no one is able to tell me what happened to me, let alone show any facial expressions at my truth. It’s impossible…” He whispered to Ned, not wanting Puck to hear.

  A hand was placed on his shoulder, even though he couldn’t tell what was written on his documents, he could tell that Ned was trying to show support. That much he was able to know, and it gave him some sort of comfort at least. ‘Why the hell do the gods want to hide my past from me? It irritates me soooo much.’

  Some time would past before Barry would leave the room, cooled down, with him and Ned heading to the first floor. Puck would stay behind, determined to avenge Barry by continuing his search for the scary looking bug. Upon reaching the center, he would see the village people socializing with the Kobolds and helping them around. Everyone was happy, both kinds chatting and working together. For the people of the village, despite losing their home, they were lively with the Kobolds.

  Then a thought appeared in his mind, the realization that they too will all have to take part in Lost Adventure without a choice. He figured Ned probably knew that everyone here would be forced to take part in Lost Adventure without a choice. Even though Barry was not originally from Ned’s world, he wouldn’t want Ned’s world to meet the horrible fate that was foretold based on the main quest. “Ned, even though my primary goal is to recover my memories, I’ll do all that I can to help prevent this great calamity from happening on your world.”

  Ned gave a warm smile in response, “We thank you, Barry. And I hope that you will be able to recover all of them soon, if I ever find a way to help, I will let you know.”

  Barry would be greeted by everyone in the treehouse as he made his way to the first floor, Ned’s people thanked him for his warning about the Eviscerators, while Kobolds were ecstatic to see the one who freed them all from Durg and the fake crimson dragon that Ron construction with his illusion magic.

  It was then that Barry was informed about what the Kobolds had done to Durg, sentencing him to exile from the treehouse and the area around, never wanting to see him again. He wanted to go see Ron after remembering him just now, especially after knowing that people from the world were also becoming involved in Lost Adventure, so that was what he did. “Hey, you must have met Ron, right?” He asked Ned. “Curly red hair elf, freckles, with nerdy glasses?”

  Ned nodded, “Ah yes, I caught sight of him the moment we all entered here. I’ve met a few in my life, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen one in person till recently. Elves are normally secluded, tending to stay hidden away from public areas and keeping any other kinds out from their homes. So when I first saw Ron, not only was I surprised to find another mage by sensing their magical aura, I wondered why an elf would stray far away from their home?”

  “Really?” Barry was genuinely interested in knowing more about the world he was in. “That makes me curious then, now that I know elves like to keep to themselves, I wonder what made that cheap Houdini leave his nest?”

  Looking down as they got on an elevator, he saw the elf sitting in the same place he ordered him to be at, the elf looked at Barry and had a timid expression on his face at that moment. Barry snickered, believing that his presence still shook Ron to the core from the beating that he gave him before. ‘Good.’

  When they reached the bottom, he casually strolled over to Ron, who tensed up and sat straight with full attention. “Heya, Ron, how’s it going? Enjoying your personal time so far, while I was gone? Or were you hoping I never came back?”

  Ron voice was nervous at first and then fumbled with a few of his words. “U-uh, n-no! I didn’t wish for you to be dea- I-I mean, when I saw you come in beaten and blood- What I’m trying to say is-”

  “Calm down, Ron, listen and tell me the truth.” Barry rolled his eyes, he could confirm that Ron was still fearful of Barry of delivering another beating. Ron would shut up, listening to what he had to say. “Are you, and be honest because it’s important, a part of a game called Lost Adventure? Does that sound familiar?”

  The moment that the word, Lost Adventure, was said, Barry could see that Ron’s expression showed a hint of surprise but still showed a bit of hesitation. “I…It does sound familiar-”

  Barry pulled out a hammer from his inventory and slammed it down in front of Ron, trying to intimidate him, which gave Ron a great scare. “Yes! Yes, I know Lost Adventure, I am a contestant of the game!” Ned was amused by Barry’s interrogation tactic with Ron, wondering what he must have done to strike terror in the poor elf.

  Once he was given the answer he wanted, he looked at Ned with a grin. “Oh look Ned, another one of us it seems. How great is that?”

  Ron was confused at first by his words, but then quickly figured out what he meant and how he knew. “W-Wait, so you’re also a part of this strange thing? The both of you can see these weird manifestations of blue screens? Hold on, what you just did with taking out a hammer from out of nowhere is proof…then you two must know the reason for this happening, right?”

  “No boy, “ Ned replied, shaking his head. “We do not know the true reason for the gods placing us in this predicament, aside from being their show of enjoyment. This is all still new to us, you probably know as much as we do for now.”

  Ron was hoping the two would know more than him, the question of why this was all happening was eating at him inside. “Then…you both must have seen the main quest that appeared recently then? Even you, Barry, realize what the penalty is for failing to complete it, right?”

  Barry glanced all around, knowing what would happen to everyone here if everyone that was a part of this scenario, were to fail to accomplish this task. “Yeah, we’re all fucked if no one finishes this quest, I’m well aware. And like it or not, we’ll need each other’s help to get the job done. I may not have liked how you used these Kobolds to achieve your riches and such, or how you pushed everyone framing Puck as cursed, but this is a wake-up call, and I’m sure you want to live as much as all of us.”

  The illusionist looked at Barry, no longer timid, but rather focused on the issue at hand, then back his hands and legs that were in bondages. He wanted to exist and not be annihilated like the main quest promised, and so he spoke with pure confidence. “Alright, alright, I’ll provide my full support for the cause. Only because I don’t want to be erased, I still have a kingdom and riches to build in my life and I don’t want to end without achieving them. You have my word, the both of you.”

  Ned was pleased with his answer, while Barry couldn’t help but burst out laughing because of Ron’s goal to live a glorious life as a king. Ron’s face reddened, wondering if Barry was laughing at his dream of building a kingdom. “Hey! Is my dream that funny to you!? Can you not imagine how awesome that would be?”

  Barry couldn’t stop laughing. “Haha, with your frail look and cheap magic tricks? You think you can actually make it happen? Was that why you left all that gold and valuable items laid out in your treasure room? So that you can get an ego boost?”

  Ron’s face was burning red, he was getting mad. “Y-Yeah, well, this cheap mage managed to fool you before. Watching you scurry around like a headless chicken back then, you Feifvgre!”

  Barry was then mad at his reply, slamming his hammer back down, startling Ron again. “Did I hear that you wanted another ass beating? Because I can give it, free of charge?”

  While the two were arguing, Ned silently laughed at the two. This would be a moment to remember, that was for sure, watching an elf and human trash talk each other even after acknowledging the danger that were to happen to all of Scion. ‘They’ll get along, just fine…I hope.’

  Puck would then appear from behind, holding a handful of different bugs that he found. “Puck is back, with lots of bugs!” The Kobold would then approach the young mage and adventurer who were bickering, wanting to ask Barry which bug was the one that attacked him. “Look Barry, which one-”

  “AAAAAH!” Ron then started freaking out the moment he looked at all the squirming bugs that were in Puck’s clutches, backing away to the wall behind him. “Keep them away from me! Don’t come any closer!”

  The little Kobold was confused, wondering what made bugs so scary looking. Barry, however, had an evil grin and snatched a colorful centipede looking bug. “This one Puck, it was this one that tried to assassinate me, now I’m going to show our friend as closer inspection…” Then approached the terrified mage.

  Ned and Puck would watch as Ron tried hopping away from Barry, his legs still tied, not wanting to get anywhere close to the creepy insect that squirmed. Puck would then munch on the rest of the bugs, while Ned just stood there watching the chaos happen, enjoying the show.

  After a while, Barry would stop chasing him and hand the bug back to Puck to eat, leaving a tired Ron alone. Barry would then ask Ned in private about where he should go to begin his search for clues of this calamity, not being given any leads from the quest.

  Ned would think about any good places to start, then a though appeared in his head, although he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. “There is a place that you can go to, it is a great big and bustling city with all sorts of different kinds of people. Someone I know should still live there, one of my associates from my time before when I lived there. If this game is affecting the world around us, I’m sure that the people there will have taken notice and are doing something about this quest. My associate runs an alchemy shop called ‘Shelly’s Sheerly Sherry’, a weird name to call a shop I know, but that is where I would go for leads. The shop owner is called Oswald, another old grandpa like myself…”

  He would pull out a pin, with a sigil shaped like a rune symbol, from his inventory and handed it to Barry. “Take this, show it to Oswald and tell him that I hope he is running a successful business, and also to stay clear of Sirens, no matter how attractive they are. He’ll get a good laugh when you tell him that.”

  Barry wondered what a Siren was, he would probably find out later once he reached the shop. Ned gave him directions to the city, known as ‘Haglethorn City’, known for it's beautiful, yet prickly, flower gardens around the city that also served as a form of protection. Ned had shown Barry a feature of the system that allowed them to add each other as friends and keep communicating with each other. And so they exchanged friend requests and added each other. Ned didn’t want to leave his people just yet, he was expecting them all to receive a similar experience with the system and would then tell them all he knew about it. Then after, he would journey elsewhere, in search of any information about the great calamity.

  One other thing that Barry would tell Ned, was about the list of Puck’s kin that was given to him by the system, he explained how he was able to manage their stats and such, seeing how much progress they were all making. Ned was curious about it, regardless, he promised he would take leadership while Barry was gone and make sure everyone was getting stronger every day with training. And when Ned decided it was time for him to leave to join in on completing the quest, he would appoint leadership on to the next person he found was capable.

  Barry agreed and then shared what was told between Ned and him to Ron, who was also familiar with the city and would act as their guide, while following Ned’s instructions to the place. Barry also figured that Puck would likely want to tag along, since he was always by his side every moment.

  So Barry approached him and asked him if he wanted to join them, he wanted to confirm Puck’s decision first. “Puck, Ron and I will be going on a long and important mission, travelling all over the place, filled with danger so threatening that you could very likely die. It’s up to you, if you want to join us. But I also understand if-”

  Puck jumped with joy, exploding with excitement at the chance for new adventure. “Puck go! Puck join you, hold on and let Puck grab things!” The little firecracker then sprinted to go back to his room to pack up for his first adventure ever, like a child hearing they were going to the sickest vacation ever.

  ‘Well, if he’s with me, I’ll try to make him strong enough so that he can take care of himself when I’m not around. Regardless, his abilities will definitely be appreciated in our journey.’ Barry thought.

  When everyone was packed up and ready to leave, Puck would show them the proper way out, which was a concealed entrance behind the waterfall that flowed to their home. The people of the village and the Kobolds would say their goodbyes, wishing them success and safe travels on their journey to the city.

  And with one last glance back at his home, the little Kobold led his new friends to begin their important mission, excited to experience more that was beyond the area around his treehouse. “Come, this way to through the super-duper cool secret entrance! Follow Puck!” The little guy then sprinted down the cave tunnel which illuminated with glow stones.

  Ron tried catching up, “Hey, slow down! I don’t do well with running!”

  “Well then you better work on your stamina, so keep up Ron!” Barry then matched Puck’s speed, following along and overpassing Ron.

  “Don’t leave me behind you guys! Damn it!” Ron knew he was going to have a rough time keeping up with the two, as they would travel on their quest.