Once we reached the area that I had told the guards we'd be waiting, I set up a small hut for the three of us to stay at for the time being. A quick sweep with Observe and Detective Analysis showed me that we weren't close to any of the monsters in the forest, and should have been safe for as long as we wished to stay.

"It's a shame." Diane said with a sigh, stepping into the house and quickly finding a chair to sit on. "We probably won't have another chance to really explore a city again any time soon."

"Huh?" Bella looked over in confusion. "Wasn't there that concert that you wanted to go to?" She asked, to which Diane shrugged.

"Yeah, but we're not really going to be exploring the city there, just watching the show. And once we leave Evergreen, we'll be headed for the demon continent. Only a handful of players have made it there so far, so information is pretty limited. Most of the players there are monster players."

I couldn't help but shake my head. "There's not much that can be done about that. Unless you want to visit another country before we go to the frontlines?" I asked, to which Diane shook her head as well.

"The only place I could think of would be the homeland of dragons. Maybe we could pick up some new skills there. But, we would almost surely run into your old player, and he may even rally all of the local dragons to fight you… you're popular in all the worst ways. You know that, right?" She asked with a small smirk.

I chuckled, moving to sit down. "So, what do you know about the demon continent?" I asked, and Diane hesitated.

"Well… from what little I've been able to read about it… it seems like the entire continent operates like a dungeon. Monsters are constantly appearing out of nowhere. Furthermore, their level and type aren't strictly set. You could encounter a low level slime, or a greater demon just going out for a walk."

"The reason it's called the demon continent is because the demons have essentially banded together. Whenever demonic monsters spawn, they join a demon empire, and exterminate any other monsters or people in their path."

Bella blinked, looking between the two of us. "If that's the case, couldn't people just eliminate the demons, and let low level monsters occupy the continent?"

Diane shook her head again. "Monsters just keep spawning without end, so that isn't an option. Unless something even stronger emerges on the continent, which nobody wants to have to deal with, the only option is to just continue the endless battle against the spawning monsters."

I pursed my lips at that explanation, feeling as if that didn't seem quite right. However, I wasn't really sure what other answer there could be without more information. "Regardless. For now, you two work on whatever preparations you need. Bella, do you have any crafting skills or anything?"

"Just my carpentry. Back in Elvenwall, the teachers always stressed that we should always be able to make our own arrows. At least until we managed to acquire Empty Bow Expertise, at least."

I nodded, looking at the elven woman. "In that case, make as many arrows as you can for now. Diane, this is as good of a time as any to work on more scrolls or potions." Diane nodded her head, moving to the back room of the hut to pull out her alchemy stand. Seeing this, Bella blinked, before shrugging her shoulders and heading out to collect fallen branches. Naturally, she didn't go very far from the house, knowing that there were monsters if she allowed herself to wander.

As for me, I began my regular training for all the skills I could safely do so. This included using my projection-type skills, all of my support skills, as well as my Hawkeye-X to patrol the area around the hut.

After about half an hour, I noticed one of the female guards that we had spoken to before approaching the hut, so I stood up to go and greet her. She let us know that they had been able to shift schedules around a bit with the various instructors, so we would be able to go to the Forest of Embers after another hour. She even offered to guide us to the dungeon when the time came.

I thanked the woman, letting the others know the new schedule, and then returned to my training while I could. Once another hour passed, the guard returned, forcing us to finish our preparations. Given that we planned to return to this hut after we were done in the dungeon, I didn't bother destroying it. That said, I didn't exactly leave anything there, not wanting it to just get stolen by a passing player.

The guard greeted us with a smile, turning to guide us along the paths away from the city. Soon, we were able to see one exceptionally large tree, the trunk of which opened to a great, flaming portal. "The current training team should be coming out any second." The guard informed us, before turning to leave.

Sure enough, it was less than a minute later when the flaming portal rumbled. The first to emerge was a group of three elven guards, clearly the ones doing most of the heavy lifting for the training team. Behind them, a small stream of players began to walk out, most of whom I didn't recognize. There was, however, one among them that was familiar to me.

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The redheaded human, Ella, blinked as she spotted me. It had been months since I last saw her, when we were both working as night guards back at Arcanhide. I nodded my head, deciding to give her a little give. I waved my hand, downcasting a Fire Shaping to wave a hand of flames at her.

Ella's positive trait allowed her to instantly learn any fire-attribute skill she saw, and cast it at half the normal cost. Thus, I decided to help her learn what could potentially turn into the strongest fire-attribute skill.

Her eyes lit up when she saw this skill, clearly receiving the information about it. However, before she could speak up, I shook my head to stop her. I could message her later, after everything was taken care of.

Or at least, that was the plan. Diane, Bella, and I all stood off to the side, waiting for the procession of players to leave the dungeon. As they did, one of the last to leave glanced in our direction. It was an elven male that I didn't really recognize. However, his eyes widened in recognition, and barely hidden hostility. He grit his teeth, turning away from us.

Arching a brow, I kept silent for a moment, entering the dungeon once the last player had left. "Sorry, Diane… looks like we might have to miss the concert." I said in apology, and she let out a resigned sigh, nodding her head.

Only Bella seemed confused, looking at the two of us. "What's the matter? Did someone recognize you?"

"Yeah." Diane nodded calmly, turning to face the dungeon door again. "Should be one of the players we killed before. Whether it was those undead or the criminals, they all deleted their characters. Makes sense that one of them would end up here. Bella, we're about to move fast. Hang onto Drake, and don't let go until we say we're safe."

As Diane said that, she climbed up onto my back in a practiced motion, hanging off my backpack. Bella's eyes widened, jumping over to hug my waist. I picked her up with one arm, activating my Ghost Zone to hide the three of us and quickly left the portal.

Just as I was leaving, a message arrived from Ella. Drake, you need to get out of there! Some guy in my group snitched on you, and they're calling an expert to drag you out of the dungeon!

I didn't waste any time responding to her, activating my draconic form and soaring into the air. My scales were a foggy white this time, the skill having been activated with Glancing Steps-X as the medium. When I had been testing out the various combinations with my draconic form, this one had truly stuck out for me, as it allowed me to use Glancing Steps-X without a solid target.

In other words, I could flash forward dozens of kilometers at a time, the landscape practically flashing around us. I kept moving west, further and further until I saw a large, dormant volcano near the coast. Once there, I landed, setting the other two down and quickly pulling the car out. "Diane, you're in charge of navigation. We can't afford to wait for a ship this time." I said, and she nodded her head, jumping into the passenger seat while Bella stumbled briefly, her legs weak. After a few moments, she was able to climb into the back of the car, and I got in the driver's seat after dismissing my transformation.

Drake, are you alright? Ella's message came through again as I started driving south through the air, maintaining my Ghost Zone around the car.

I'm fine. Sorry for the silence, I was in a hurry. What's going on back there now? I asked, wanting to get an idea of the situation. It had been less than five minutes since we left, but it wouldn't take long for someone to teleport over from another city.

Well, some brawny elf chick named Jana showed up and rushed into the dungeon after you. She came back out almost right away, though, and started running west. In the meantime, the guards are in an uproar, spreading a quest for your arrest and calling you a Kingslayer.

I arched my brow at that, glancing in confusion over at Diane before responding. Kingslayer? Last I checked, I've never killed any royalty.

I don't really get it either. They're claiming that you severed the potential of a future king, brutally murdering him without even allowing him to respawn. With that, I at least knew that the person I saw was one of the undead players, not a member of Grog's group. They're offering a full two hundred platinum to anyone that gives significant information contributing to your capture, as well as the title of Duke.

"Wow… they're really going all out." I muttered, before explaining the situation to the other two in the car. Diane tensed up when she heard that Jana had followed us to the west.

"Think she can track our car?" She asked, and I honestly wasn't sure how to answer that. We had outrun Wisteria previously with Glancing Steps-X, so Jana shouldn't have been able to catch up easily. I just had no way of knowing whether she'd be able to find us cloaked more than a thousand meters in the air.

"I hope not." I said in a hesitant tone. "Either way, once we pass the coast, we won't have to worry as much. Even if she is stronger than the monsters in the water and can track us, she'd need to worry about her mana. It shouldn't be easy for her to follow us to sea."

Diane nodded her head. "In that case, speed up as much as you can, even if you have to boost it with your skills. For now, go straight south, and we'll look for landmarks as we travel."

I agreed, though part of me was far more worried for other reasons. According to our original plan, we would have had time to farm at least five more dungeons before we left Evergreen. I wasn't sure whether or not we were strong enough to protect ourselves in the demon continent. Not like we had much of a choice at this point.

If it looked like we wouldn't be able to fight, we could visit one of the other continents. At least there, we wouldn't have to worry about hiding so much. Though, I would prefer not having to backtrack like that if possible.

Sorry, Ella. Looks like we won't get much time to meet up and chat. I messaged while driving. It wasn't exactly like I had to watch for obstacles so high in the air. Good luck training that skill I showed you earlier. From what I understand, it has the potential to turn into the strongest and most versatile fire skill. With your trait, you might be able to make good use of it.

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