The priest rested the children on a flat surface and held out his hand, chanting in a strange language under his breath.

"Lesser Heal!" The priest cried out as his silver colored energy appeared for a brief moment, merging with a pure white aura that shot towards the kids.

"Has something happened in the town? Why are they in such bad shape?" The priest asked curiously. 

The kids were in a state of extreme exhaustion, both mentally and physically drained.

"You ask me but who should I ask? They just showed up at the gates like this." The guard said with a pitying gaze.

"Poor things, probably escaped from bandits or something... Let's wait until they wake up before we jump to any conclusions." The priest said as he bowed his head to the man in gratitude.

"I thank you for bringing them to me." The guard gave him a weary look and walked back out before he got scolded for slacking on the job.

...

William and Noah stood in the empty room looking at the clerk and both Rick and Alfred.

"You mean to say that this 'thing' is an unknown?" William asked with a sneer while Noah just shot him a look.

"Indeed. I ran a few tests on it and realized that it shouldn't be from this area... or anywhere close to here really. There were trace amounts of a highly corrosive liquid that can't be found on the mainland." The clerk replied with a pensive look.

"So what? You mean to say is that it isn't supoosed to be here? Do you think that somehow a passage to another continent has opened somewhere in the Forest?" Noah asked with a bit of excitement.

"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? The other continents have been separated for decades, how can you expl-" William was cut off by the clerk.

"I mean what I said. This isn't from our continent. I've already sent pieces to the main branch to analyze it so we can figure out what it is." The clerk finished while Alfred and Rick looked on with blank eyes.

"Well, the credit for this find goes to Rick and Alfred, any objections?" Noah asked with a raised eyebrow, cutting off William before he could say anything.

With a gloomy face, William shook his head and left the room in a huff. Noah just sighed as he watched his aide leave angrily.

"Don't mind him, he just gets fussy sometimes. Good job with exploring, you give adventurers a good name." Noah clapped them on the back then turned to leave.

...

Christina felt something pressing down on her chest, and when her eyes opened, she saw a dark long skulled creature with metallic teeth and a gaping maw pressing her down!

"Ahh!" Waking up with a shout, Christina looked around and found no sign of the monster. The weight on her chest was Fred who was sleeping in her arms.

"You're awake?" The priest walked over and knelt next to the duo, Fred still snoring softly. His calm and gentle tone made tears appear in Christina's eyes.

"They died! They're all dead! It killed them!" Hearing her words, the priest nodded as he expected them to have no survivors based on the floor all over them.

"Was it bandits that assaulted your convoy? Where were you headed?" The priest walked over to a table and grabbed a wooden cup filled with tea and gave it to Christina.

"No, my village is gone! It killed everyone else! And the only Hunter escaped, leaving everyone else to die!" Christina whispered and the priest froze.

'A village? Something wiped out a village?! I need to inform the Guild Master to form a subjugation party or issue a hunting order.'

"What was the monster like?" Hearing the priest, Christina whimpered as she recalled the monsters features.

"It was black, with deadly claws and a tail that could be used as a sword. It's body looked like a skeleton and it could walk on two legs."

The priest tried to use the information to reference a monster, only to come up blank. While there were monsters he hadn't heard of, it was rare for him not to know one by the description.

"It's blood was green, and when it sprayed out on uncle Landon, he started to melt! His skin burned away and he died!" Christina buried her head in her brother's hair, trying to forget such an event.

"Alice, come here and watch over them. I'm going to visit the Guild Master." A woman wearing loose white robes with average features and a kind smile walked over and comforted the kids.