Alessio Leone's Perspective
Truth be told, Alessio didn't have to go after the magical items in Gloomshade Forest alone.
Matteo, Hana, Cassandra — even Eleanor — could've gone with him, if not for one simple, crippling obstacle: gold coins.
The cost of travel had already made that barrier crystal clear.
To take a teleportation portal from Eldenwall to Durnholde, Alessio had spent two thousand gold coins.
And that was only because both cities were within the same kingdom, Thalgrande, even if they were far apart.
If his destination had been across the border, into another realm, the price would've been even worse — maybe downright impossible.
He still had a little over three thousand five hundred coins left.
Enough to cover the one-way trip, with a small safety margin for essentials.
But…
If his quest failed, he'd still need to find a way to earn the money to get back.
Bringing the entire group would cost around ten thousand gold coins — far beyond his current savings.
Simply impossible.
So, with no other choice, he went alone.
But fate had presented him with an unexpected detour.
Meeting Sith in Durnholde hadn't been part of the plan.
Yet thanks to that, he no longer had to walk that road by himself.
Other new players would've been dead weight — useless in a quest like this.
But not her.
Not the woman he had once seen, with his own eyes, carve entire battlefields in the future.
And, unexpectedly, she agreed to follow him.
No long talks, no conditions.
After he made his proposal, she asked only one question:
"Will it be profitable?"
Alessio didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
That was enough.
She followed.
And so, the two walked side by side, leaving Durnholde's cobblestone road behind as they approached the edge of Gloomshade Forest.
The horizon darkened as they drew closer.
The trees — dense, twisted — seemed to form living walls rising against the fading light.
The air grew colder, heavier, as if even nature itself knew that this place wasn't normal.
Alessio kept his gaze forward.
Honestly, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he needed a few lessons in social skills from Matteo.
As pleased as he was to have convinced Sith to come along, he still couldn't quite understand why she had agreed so easily.
So he decided he needed clarity before they entered the forest.
He turned to her, ready to get a few things straight — the only way to enter Gloomshade with a clear head.
Looking directly at her, he asked,
"Can I ask you a question?"
Sith turned from the forest and met his eyes — those sharp, green, piercing eyes.
"Sure. But only if I can ask one first."
The unexpected trade caught him off guard, but he accepted.
"Fine. You start, then."
She studied him in silence for a few seconds, then turned her gaze back to the living wall of trees ahead.
"My question's simple. What exactly are we doing in this forest?"
Alessio took a moment to answer.
He couldn't tell her everything.
After all, he'd only just met her, and while he trusted her potential, trust itself wasn't something freely given.
Still, he knew that without some basic context, she wouldn't be much help.
And above all, he knew that even if he told her part of it, she'd never find the exact location without him — or without the final clues the old man had given.
"I assume you know the legend of Gloomshade Forest," he said.
Sith nodded.
"It's hard to walk through the city without hearing at least three NPCs tell it."
He knew that.
Durnholde had been built upon that legend, echoing through every corner of the city.
He continued,
"The story isn't just a legend. There's truth behind it. The remaining army of Durnholde really did vanish in those woods — along with the Thalgrande army sent to hunt them down on the king's orders."
Sith didn't flinch.
She kept her expression steady, simply nodding.
That much was still within the range of what any player might consider plausible lore — stripped of the exaggerations added by time and gossip.
Everyone knew the army was never found, even if no one knew why.
Alessio went on,
"The last commander of Durnholde — and leader of its surviving army — possessed two magical items."
He didn't even need to finish before he caught the spark in her eyes.
Even a future legend wasn't immune to the lure of treasure.
Magical items were always a turning point.
"Of course, the army sent to pursue them had its own enchanted gear," Alessio continued. "And all of it has been considered lost since that battle. If everything lines up correctly, I might know where those items were last seen."
Sith's eyes narrowed, locking onto him with even greater focus.
For a moment, Alessio half-expected her to torture him right then and there to get the information.
But instead, she just said, flatly:
"Seventy–thirty split. And if there's a magic sword, I get first pick."
Those were bold terms.
After all, she didn't have the information, didn't have the map — she was there purely as a guest — yet she was already dictating the rules.
Alessio paused to think.
He knew the deal was unfair.
He'd done all the groundwork — well, he and the small advantage of having lived it all before.
But the item he remembered being found in this forest was only a rare-grade piece — an armor set.
So even if they found more, they likely wouldn't be much better than that.
And despite being rare, those items would still be considered top-tier even ten years later.
After all, in his previous life, Alessio had never owned anything beyond rare-grade gear.
Accepting Sith's split could be worth more than hoarding the loot — it was an investment.
One that could pay massive dividends later.
An investment in her trust.
Besides, Alessio didn't plan to settle for rare items in this life.
He would aim higher — far higher.
So he agreed.
He pulled out a small sheet of paper from his bag and wrote up a contract.
It was the simplest way to formalize an alliance.
Even though such contracts weren't enforced by the system, any kingdom would still recognize them, and breaking one came with serious consequences.
They signed with their names and fingerprints, each keeping a copy — standard practice for any negotiation.
Only then did Sith turn back to him.
"Your turn. Go ahead."
That's when Alessio remembered his original question —
something that had nearly slipped his mind amid the negotiations.
"Why did you agree to come with me so easily, before knowing any of this?"
Sith gave him a strange look, quiet and unreadable.
For a moment, he expected a sharp, practical answer — something fitting for the woman she'd shown herself to be.
But instead, she smiled faintly, turned, and started walking toward the forest.
"Because you're kind of handsome," she said, without looking back.
And she let the words linger in the air — like just another weapon in her arsenal.