Ibro understood more than the stratification that Megedy said. He understood that these villagers were not data or setting of the game. There is a big possibility for them to be real people.
What drove these people to be here with him in the game? He didn’t feel any sad emotion or a desire to revolt. He felt like they were really happy being here under his command.
He needed to take precautions too if something went wrong either now or in the future. He couldn’t trust them fully.
“So technically this area is grade 4 in danger. That is not a very high grade.”
“My lord, our village has just been established.
Every other village had their areas a white grade and every time they moved towards a higher grade they got their underground area upgraded. Now we have grade 4 to grade 5 area. What about the future?”
Ibro understood the reason behind his fears, but he asked trying to understand more:
“Why do you mention grade 5?”
“The ground had black color. That meant this area is a mix of grade 4 to grade 5.”
“You mentioned that this game took my memories and created this area based on it. Will I face the same monster derived from my memories too here?”
“No, my lord. The game only uses your memories to create some general circumstances. But generally, these areas would be filled by monsters from the huge database of the game.”
Ibro felt weirder towards this man. He didn’t trust him more but he felt his words carried no evil thoughts. Ibro decided to put their loyalty to the test here.
If one of them tried to harm him then he would kill him with no mercy. Ibro was also buying some time for Dronil who faced some resistance that weakened his ability a lot.
‘I finished scouting this area. It’s really a boundless area. I scanned the area ranged 3 kilometers from you. There are really many different types of monsters out here.
I believe their level is the same as the previous monsters we met, but their grade must be higher. Be careful kid, they have very large numbers and look well organized.’
‘You mean they are like an army?’
‘I believe so. Every army had a general. So be careful.’
Ibro just smiled. He made his decision when he was hearing Megedy talk about this area. This area is a much-hidden danger that he must early eliminate.
Although it was a perfect training ground for him and his army, he didn’t want to raise a tiger next door. Losing some chances was better than losing your entire life. He then said to the both of them:
“I will go on an expedition to kill all these monsters here. I wouldn’t be able to protect you or train you. You must go back now and wait at the riverside.
I told Mony before to rush up to the port and make one fishing ship. So maximum at morning you will see the fishing ship. You can return to the village by then.”
Megedy rushed at once:
“My lord you can’t delve deeper in this area. This area is boundless and there is no end or limit to it.
If this area is gold grade then the next area must have one black area. There is no demarcation line that separates village territory from the outside. I urge you, my lord, to come back and postpone this plan.”
Ibro didn’t know if this man really worried for him or was he faking it. He didn’t decide to start his expedition just testing their loyalty. He needed to feel these game true colors.
He needed to fight hard and experience how hard it was. He didn’t doubt his ability even once. He just smiled and said in confidence:
“I told you to obey my orders before. Will I need to remind you to follow my orders every time I give one?”
Megedy felt deep fear from this calm smile of his lord. He suddenly knelt to the ground and Aras followed him. For the first time this intelligent young captain spoke as he said:
“My lord doesn’t need to risk his life for scouting this area. I can volunteer to do this job for you, my lord.”
Ibro just smiled and then asked in a calm tone:
“Why do both of you care this much about my life?”
Ibro was checking their profiles when he asked this question. As he thought, the loyalty value slightly fluctuated when they heard this question but it turned again to normal.
Ibro was sure these two weren’t loyal to him. Then why were they caring this much about his life? What about their deep motive? That was a difficult issue to discuss.
Many possibilities appeared in his mind. He couldn’t decide which one was the closest to the truth. He lacked a lot of info about this game. He recalled also Sefiera.
Was she also related to him by somehow like these people? It seemed he wasn’t playing with his fate here but many others’ fates were tied to his. His smile didn’t change.
Although they weren’t rally loyal to him but they were tied to his ship. He didn’t need to worry much about them; he also mustn’t be fully relaxed either. He decided to keep his alert with these people until he unveiled the real reason behind their presence with him here.
“Never mind my question. I hate to repeat myself, so go now and wait by the river.”
Although they showed obvious dissatisfaction and deep worry on their faces, they moved after some time of silence outside the cave.
Ibro felt conflicted about them. He felt their regret. Did they choose to be with him here? If this was the case, then he would be glad to prove their choice was really right. He then looked towards this unknown region and felt a strong challenge towards it.
‘I want to know the details about what you figured out Dronil.’
‘I didn’t figure out much. I need you to move around this place so I can get a full picture of the situation here.’
Ibro felt slightly annoyed about this place limitation to Dronil’s ability. That also made him raise the level of danger of this place by one degree. He started to move away from that cave entrance.
When he moved some distance away, he noticed that the entry was marked by a bright gold-colored ball hanging above that entrance.
That meant he could see that entrance and locate it from a long-distance away. That wasn’t the rule only for monsters, but also for other players here including him.
‘This game is getting more and more interesting.’
He started to move in confidence away from this cave hole.
He was afraid to lose his only way to the surface, but now he didn’t need to be afraid. After ten minutes he met his first monsters here. They were also humanoid monsters that had a head like a cat.
“Cat monsters: level 10 gold grade monsters.”
They were really gold grade. These monsters were close-range ones. Although there were many patrols like this group in the area, Ibro didn’t hesitate to go and face them.
He was very confident in his abilities to take these monsters down. He closed on these monsters rapidly. This time he wasn’t here to babysit his two subordinates, so he used all his powers.
He moved very fast approaching that 10 monster squad. Once he became less than 20 meters away from them, they looked at him with glaring eyes.
Suddenly a strange horn appeared in all of their hands. Ibro felt weird, why would they show this horn? He didn’t care and rushed towards them wanting to take their lives. When he was just five meters away from them, a sudden voice emerged loudly from these ten horns.
