The next morning, I woke up as early as dawn. I remember dreaming but not quite sure what I dreamt about. It was a rather strange feeling, almost as though a fog was blocking my brain from accessing it but for now it wasn't a major issue so I ignored it.
After a bath I got dressed and equipped myself with everything I had. The wound on my arm was healed and three scar lines had formed on my forearm.
I put on the Full coat and Aranian gloves before placing Black Salamander at my hip. The sword didn't come with a sheath but it had an effect where it could stick to my body for a meager cost of mana. All treasure weapons from the system seemed to have this effect. It was the reason that Jeoffrey's spear was able to stay on his back and Xavier's twin katanas could stay at his hips.
It was strange without a doubt but I wasn't going to complain.
After making sure that everything was alright, I headed out my room and walked downstairs towards the living room. It came as a surprise when I felt several familiar presences. It seems everyone had gathered early too.
Everybody was primed and ready for action too.
Lydia was clad in her purple battle robe that seemed to accentuate her forming curves. Her hair was loose and free flowing. Her emerald eyes shining with fierce determination.
Jordan was standing next to her, his Bronze armor covered his entire torso, chest, shoulders and legs with the shin guards. His arms though were perfectly covered with his thunder gauntlets from his hands to his elbow. The armor allowed for both free movement while at the same time provided enough protection against fatal injuries.
Candice wore a pair of jeans but by her waist I could see her twin daggers on either side.
Veronica wore a stunning white dress that reached all the way to her ankles but had slits on either side of it so it didn't restrict her movement that much.
Mordecai and Dulton each had their common swords at their sides while Rina and Nale had a dagger each.
Clara who had a bow and quiver strapped to her back making her look like a huntress while Conrad wore what looked to be dark swordman clothing that I could only describe as belonging to a wuxia world (a martial arts world). His silver sword was by his waist.
Grem on the other hand was still spotting his brown uniform from school and had his twin daggers by his side. The only thing that changed about him was the shoes he wore. They looked like runners but they were more refined and from the faint aura I could feel coming off it, it must have been a treasure.
Looking at this group I couldn't help but feel how diverse they all were. Most of them were already approaching level 10 with a few having already surpassed that threshold.
"Okay" I said to the group as I got a hold of myself.
I explained everything that everyone already knew. There were three things that we had to do today.
The first thing was to submit our forms to the mayor's office. This was something that everyone had to do whether they liked it or not.
The second thing was to form a team, this however they were free to choose whether they would join or not. I wasn't really forcing them. And I also made it clear that this team would be going with me to London at one point in time so they had to think about that.
The third and last thing was to have everyone level up as much as possible. While everything was peaceful now there was no telling what was going to happen in the near future and having everyone get a power up would be for the best.
Thankfully nobody disagreed and even Conrad seemed cool with it.
After that they handed me their papers.
"Let's go" I said walking out the door. "Oh yeah we should meet again tonight maybe even have dinner together…we'll have a special guest"
I looked in Jordan's direction and he seemed to get me.
After that we made our way over to the Town Hall. As we made our way over the people who were in the streets looked us in awe and some in wonder. The guards and other evolvers though gave us wary looks. Not that I blamed them.
With the way we were dressed it certainly looked as though we were going off to war or something so it was probably right for them to raise their guard just in case we were up to something.
We stopped right in front of the large white building that was the Town Hall
And I told everyone to stay and wait for me for a little bit.
"I'm coming with you." Conrad said. "I have to see my uncle"
I nodded. There was nothing wrong with that and besides what I was about to discuss with the mayor was something I would already tell the others later anyway.
We walked up the wide stone stairs that led to the doors of the building. It didn't take long for me to find the door leading to the mayor's office. And I could already feel his presence behind it.
Ever since I got a boost in my perception thanks to the skill
I knocked on the door.
"Mr. Mayor its Huey Coleman" I said knowing full well he was already aware I was coming. After all there was no way the guards didn't report the movements of our group this morning.
"Come in" his voice echoed from inside. I pushed the door open and entered. Conrad following behind me.
As expected, the man was with his assistant from last time. The mayor seemed to be looking at the map that was on the table just after the door, the one that looked like a pool table and had a map of the town on it. There were markings on it, colored in different places and drawn with different symbols on them. One section of the map was colored brown and somewhere in the middle of that area a fortress was roughly sketched…it must have represented the current Camp White.
Then there was another area colored in a thick green pigment. It covered a wide area and was just a short distance away from the fortress. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that area was…Woodlands Forest.
There were several arrows, that looked strategic, pointing into the green representation of Woodlands Forest from different areas. They looked like…
'Plans…but for what?' I thought.
Mayor Bennet stood straight as he leaned away from the map to give us his attention.
"I got the papers here sir" I said handing them over to him. He took them in his hands and turned to his office desk just a little further inside. The other man who wore framed glasses was standing in the same spot he stood last time I was here.
It made me wonder whether the man just stood there all the time. This time however the man was looking at me with wide eyes as though he was shocked by something. It made me wonder why that was though but I ignored it. That wasn't what I came for.
"Sir there's something I need to talk to you about too. Its important" I said. The mayor paused slightly, set down the papers I gave him on the table before he turned to look at me.
"And what could be so important that I have to listen to you?" he asked
"Its about the Woodlands Forest" I said and I saw him frown slightly. "There's something in there…something powerful and from what I felt it was beyond First Star Order. If we don't get rid of it soon I'm afraid of what will happen to the camp"
"Really? And how do you know that?"
I sighed. I knew convincing him wouldn't be easy but revealing about my trip to the woods in the middle of the night felt like the only way to do it even if I didn't want to.
"I managed to sneak out and…"
I told him about how I snuck out two nights ago and how I entered the forest with the goal of checking on the London Bridge to see if it was still fine but I got intercepted by the Second Star Order Dire Wolf. I didn't say the exact level but I just made it seem like it was just in the beginning stages of the realm but it was still powerful nonetheless.
Mayor Bennet himself knew it and the fact that I mentioned the possibility of something else stronger than that out there didn't sit too well with him. Still the man seemed to listen so that was a plus I guess.
By the time I was finished the mayor released a heavy sigh as he stayed silent for a while.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked looking me in the eyes.
"I am" I said not averting my gaze
The mayor rose to his feet and made his way over to the map one more time.
"I've been thinking about what you said about going to London and as it turns out there is a military base not far after crossing the bridge. The plan was to clear the forest first or at least clear it enough so that we can get the survivors across to the other side." he explained in a slow tone. "But with what you've told us that might be difficult now"
Silence filled the room with a heavy dose of foreboding.
Until a voice seemed to cut through it.
"Can I say something?" a voice foreign to me entered my ears. We all turned to look at the man with the glasses. It was my first time hearing him speak.