"Hey Arin, why have you not returned?" asked Bertho rather uncomfortably as he felt the energy in the area. It immediately put him on edge. The closer he got to the hill, the worse the feeling became. Whatever was happening here was clearly not normal.
"I can't believe there have been two creatures that have come through that portal," said Arin. "They are absolutely evil in a way that I can't describe. Your body automatically goes into fight-or-flight mode the moment you feel them, but the only option you have is to fight. Everything about them feels wrong and like they should not exist."
"So I can't leave," Arin continued. "I am not letting those creatures into the forest, so I need you to relay the situation here to the elders. I also need help from the others who are scouting the forest for threats and resources. I don't feel right letting the recruits fight something like this."
"Most of them can only reliably shoot at fifty-meter distances," said Arin with certainty. "You need to be accurate to kill those beasts. They need to be able to hit a tennis ball at a hundred meters before they are reliable enough for this." He shook his head in disgust at the slow pace of the recruits.
"Now don't grumble, Arin," said Bertho with a sigh. "Not everyone is as talented as you, and they did not have a bow in their hand when they were born. Most people need years to reach that level. You set unreasonable standards."
"But I agree with you," Bertho admitted after a moment. "If it is like you said, they will be of no use here. Especially because they have not been given training on how to shoot at small targets on high ground.
"Wait a minute," said Arin as Bertho was about to turn around. "I want you to feel it yourself. Your report will be more accurate that way, and they appear quite frequently." Bertho hesitated before nodding and staying.
The two of them waited for about five minutes. Then they felt the same presence roll over them again, only this time much stronger than before. It felt like a wave of wrongness washing through the forest. Even Bertho found himself unconsciously tightening his grip on his bow.
Two creatures emerged from the portal. Walked was probably not the correct word. One looked like a crow without feet whose head was twisted backward, while the other looked like nothing more than a blob of slime. Both somehow managed to look deeply unsettling.
Two arrows later, they were dead.
The shots were not perfectly centered. The arrow that struck the crow went through its body instead of its head. As for the slime, it did not appear to matter where the arrow landed. The creature simply collapsed and stopped moving.
"Okay, I know what you meant," said Bertho as he lowered his bow.
His hands were still shaking slightly. He had not even gotten a chance to shoot, as Arin had expected the creatures and reacted immediately. As for making fun of Arin for missing from forty meters, he had absolutely no intention of doing so after seeing those things.
"For convenience, what are the rewards?" asked Bertho with intrigue.
"Don't know," said Arin. "I've been too on edge to care about it. Could you look toward the portal for a minute?" Even though system screens could be made transparent, they were still distracting when they appeared directly in front of your face.
"No problem," said Bertho. "And by the way, why were there two that time? You only ever spoke about one before."
"Probably because you're here," Arin replied uncertainly. "Maybe it can release more creatures now that another person is in the area. I don't know if that is actually true, but I would rather mention it and be wrong than keep quiet and be right."
Arin shrugged as he opened his notifications. He was not going to be one of those soldiers who noticed something strange but stayed silent because they were afraid of looking stupid. If there was even a chance that his theory was correct, people needed to know about it.
While Bertho continued watching the portal, Arin opened his status menu.
You have slain (Corrupted Dog - Stage 0.1).
Gained one Silver Coin.
You have slain (Corrupted Crow - Stage 0.3).
Gained one Silver Coin.
"Oh, the rewards are really good," said Arin excitedly.
The thought of making money immediately improved his mood. Suddenly sitting on a tree branch guarding a creepy portal did not seem quite as bad. Money was money, and Arin had plenty of plans for it.
"Yes, but you know that half goes to the clan, right?" asked Bertho.
"Yes, I know," said Arin. "But that doesn't matter. Half still stays with me. I've killed four corrupted creatures since arriving here, which means a whole two silver coins for me, baby."
"Wait, how much did you say?" asked Bertho with shock.
A silver coin was ridiculous. Some economists had already attempted to estimate the value of system currency. A wooden coin was roughly equal to ten euros, a large wooden coin around one hundred euros, a copper coin around one thousand euros, and a silver coin roughly ten thousand euros in purchasing power.
Hearing that they could earn that much money from a few kills was absurd. The family had spent a fortune obtaining the Secret Realm, but suddenly it seemed entirely possible that the investment would pay itself back much faster than expected. Bertho was beginning to understand why factions around the world were fighting over these places.
"Okay, I will go and relay your findings to the elders," said Bertho. "And run away if you can't handle it anymore."
Before leaving, he dropped off two arrow sleeves for Arin to use. They were surprisingly valuable at the moment, as acquiring them cost quite a bit of money. Producing enough arrows for everyone had become a serious problem for the clan.
Relying solely on Erik and his mother to produce arrows was no longer possible. Both of them were busy forging knives and short swords for the clan, something they would likely continue doing for quite some time. The demand for weapons was simply too high now that people were preparing to explore the wider world.
Fortunately, Erik did not seem to mind.
His Blacksmith class was leveling rapidly, and the guild had promised that he would be allowed to study under the Roth family for a period of time. He had not even known they existed until recently, but now he desperately wanted to go. Even if they refused to share their secret smithing techniques, the experience alone would be worth it.
So Erik happily spent his days hammering away at the forge. One knife after another took shape beneath his hammer as his class steadily improved. More importantly, he no longer had to spend his time making arrowheads. In Erik's opinion, that alone made life significantly better.