Kevin’s advice brought more than just a little surprise. The duo speed went by another notch as she sang at the beginning of the requiem at the thirty-second mark. Her raised-brows didn’t go down as the surprise kept on coming. The buff from Requiem of the Vreden Dags kept stacking until it reached the tenth time. It took a lot of precise singing at the right timing as the mark kept on changing after the fifth stack.

Their speed went well beyond the capacity of the Devastator. Even its red beam of intense heat missed at the last second. The plains burned as the tall ferns caught by the residual fire of Devastator’s attack. In mere seconds, a wildfire spread across the plains. The soulless Devastator stomped upon the blazing fires as it tracked down its fleeing target. The scout drones flew ahead as it followed the same programmed code as the Devastator.

The duo left behind Middlefell Plains as they took shelter inside a forest. A rather grim one at that. The trees were leafless with the signs of death everywhere within every inch of the forest. The pungent and musky smell of fungus and decomposition lingered within the border of the forest. Those of sane minds didn’t dare to step inside this forest, a forest known to many as Dunborke Woods.

Queen Qirien led Kevin by the hand, sprinting further into the eerie woods. They were still cloaked underneath the invisibility and had no intention of revealing themselves. 

Queen Qirien’s picked up a sound from afar, the sounds of trees cracking and splintering. They left the Devastator in the dust, yet it pursued without fail as it was born to do so.

They traveled deeper until Queen Qirien decided to stop. She looked up and jumped to the top bringing along Kevin with her. They stood on top of a large branch, with Qirien proceeding to sat on the branch, leaning her back over the dark bark.

Kevin was panting for his breath. It wasn’t because of his stamina, but the anxiety that still kept on making his heart beat faster. Again, he escaped another dangerous situation, and it wasn’t due to him. He paced around the sturdy tree branch leaving Qirien to the open world. Yet she wasn’t bothered by it as her mind itself was thinking deeply about this man.

Damn it! Why can’t that damn GingerStar make something common like in the game. Those golems were definitely not like those weak ones like back in the game. If that dude created a whole army of them, I can see why they can easily conquer this whole world.

Kevin grasped his hair by the hands, clenching it tight as it could feel the pain through his scalp. As the pain proved him to be alive, his eyes wandered back to Qirien. He noticed he was too far from her and realized she was exposed. He ran back and shrouded the cloak over her.

“Can you kill it?” Kevin asked.

She glanced at him with her mind full of thoughts.

“It is not a question of whether I can kill or not. If I expose myself, my strength and my abilities will be known. The golem will let its master know about my existence and my whereabouts,” said Queen Qirien. “And I cannot let that happen.”

“So you’re telling me you can?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Queen Qirien.

Kevin grimaced, and he didn’t have the decency to even covered it up.

Shit, she can kill it, but at the same time, she can’t. 

He should have known that a Queen wouldn’t be this weak when compared to a golem, but her responsibility shackled her down. His eyes went wild, wandering over the grim forest. But then he stopped.

Wait, I know this place.

“Is this Dunborke Forest?” he asked.

Her glance was longer than usual as every word from this man was like magic to her ears. He knew about things that he shouldn’t have.

“Yes, you are right,” said Queen Qirien. She kept her questions to herself as now wasn’t the time.

“Is there any town or settlement around the foot of a mountain range?” he asked.

“There is one close to this woods, Colheim Town, a human settlement known for their ore mines,” said Queen Qirien.

Kevin nodded his head as he remembered that town along with a specific location. 

“Come on, we’re heading to that town,” said Kevin.

“Why?” she asked.

“You said you can’t expose yourself right? So I’ve got a plan,” said Kevin with a sly smile on his face.

Queen Qirien was still skeptical. Although he had blown her mind time after time, yet his plan along with his pathetic level, wouldn’t do anything to the Devastator. She knew she was right since the disparity of levels couldn’t be overcome that easily. But seeing Kevin being so confident, she might as well believed at him.

“Very well, I will do as you wish,” said Queen Qirien.

But as they were about to run off, something just crossed Kevin’s mind.

“Oh yeah, would you mind telling me your level as well as that Devastator?” he asked.

“My level is 556 while the Devastator is around 230 to 240,” said Queen Qirien.

“What?” he stopped moving as he stared at her in a daze.  

She’s serious. No. She has no reason to mess around with me. Damn it, the level cap in the game is only at 275 but here…

Speechless was an understatement of what he felt right now. It seemed he was a bit short-sighted on his goals, but now those steps to the goal were becoming a bit longer than he anticipated and a lot more work.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“No. Everything’s fine,” said Kevin. 

Now I’m not so sure if the plan will work or not but assuming that thing’s level in this world is a few times more than what I know, then it might be possible… I hope.

The duo continued their journey through the woods heading further into north. 

“Are you sure it will follow us?” he asked.

“Within this speed, it might be able to see us through those blue eyes,” said Queen Qirien.

They ran at a slower pace giving time for the Devastator to caught on to them. While the scout golems were already flying above their heads, they went around covering a huge area as at times they flew above them and most of the time, away from them.

Then they reached the border of the woods. Both stopped on their tracks staring at the town from afar. 

“How is it?” he asked.

“I hear the trees. It's coming,” said Queen Qirien.

“Do you have another cloak? We need to be visible for the townspeople to see,” said Kevin.

“I have to disappoint you, but I do not have what you want,” said Queen Qirien.

“I guess we’ll be lending a few things from town then,” said Kevin.

They traveled to Colheim Town while still under the guise of the invisible cloak. A while later, Kevin found a tailor’s shop, and their short visit came with a haul. They picked a few clothes and cloaks matching with the townspeople or humans to be fair. Since their alvas clothing would attract too much unwanted attention. 

“You sure about buying this? I did say we’re just lending them,” said Kevin.

“Too much of a hassle and it only worth a few silver coins,” said Queen Qirien. 

Despite picking these clothes like a bunch of thieves, Queen Qirien dropped a few silver coins into the drawer, where the tailor kept his coins. She had her pride and dignity as a queen to protect.

They traveled a bit further away from town as they then uncloaked themselves from their invisibility. Queen Qirien stashed her dark green cloak into her special ring. A ring with an ability to opened a sub-space to store any of her items.

I’ve got to get one of those rings.

He had his desires but it has to wait in the future. Both Kevin and Queen Qirien adorned in simple garments similar to the townspeople. They pulled their hoods and covered their faces as they walked towards the town.

They went through the front gate guarded by two barely equipped guards. One of them blocked their path as covering their faces were already suspicious enough more so for strangers.

“What business do you have in Colheim, strangers?” said the guard with a long spear in his hand.

Kevin’s heart beat faster as he didn’t expect to be barred like this. The difference between the game and real-life was becoming more apparent. As he racked his brain trying to come up with an excuse, a husky mixed with a croaky voice came from his side.

“We seek for the jewelry and treasures of Colheim. They said the splendor Egrium ore is known throughout the kingdom,” said Queen Qirien.

She then handed something to the guard. A clinking pouch full of coins.

“A gift, for a man of your honorable status along for your friend,” said Queen Qirien.

The guard looked at each other, and the one holding the pouch opened it, resulting in his eyes and jaw wide open for the other guard to see.

“Where are my manners? Esteem sirs. Please, have a pleasant time in Colheim,” the guard stood aside as Queen Qirien dragged Kevin into town.

After a distance away from the front gate, he came closer to her with a pull as he whispered.

“How did you do that with your voice?”   

She glanced at him with confusion.

“I am a vocalist. I thought you knew?”