With night soon approaching, Alex asked Varis to search for a safe place. Varis, flying a few hundred meters above the sky, searched for an area without many beasts. Soon the little Bluebird found an empty cave at the foot of a small hill. It was at the edge of Great bear territory.

Alex checked the cave, which was not inhabited for a long time, and was satisfied. They made themselves comfortable and ate their dinner.

After finishing the meal, Varis surveyed the surroundings through the air while Alex recorded the details of his journey in his Red notebook. He drew a rough map of the Beast territories he encountered on his way.

As he was about to get ready for the night, he heard the bad news from Varis.

[Alex, we have uninvited guests. They are coming towards the hill.]

Alex immediately jumped up. He slung his compound bow and machete while holding the gun in his hand.

"Who is it? How many are there?" asked Alex.

[Humans. There are five of them.]

Humans? Alex did not calm down but became more vigilant. He walked to the entrance and saw vague silhouettes in the dense forest walking towards him.

'They probably are as strong as the three guys who crashed into the Howling crater.' thought Alex frowning.

Alex guessed they were here to camp, not to bother him. After all, he was new here and had no enemies who will track him and hunt him down.

"Varis, are there any other safe places in the surroundings?" Alex asked through his mind.

[Nope]

No other options mean this may become troublesome. If the other party were unreasonable, Alex did not know what to do.

However, he cannot give up the cave just cause of fear. That's not how he was raised. When their family went camping, and if anyone steals their camping spot. Uncle Jack will treat it as war.

He walked out of the cave to determine their attitude and threat level. He also carried his bags just in case he had to run. Soon, with his eagle eyes, he clearly saw the five members. 

In the front was a valiant young woman in sleek black armor with her green hair tied in a ponytail. However, her valiance was slightly dampened by her round face and kind green eyes.

She was flanked by two knights in heavy armor. The cold steel of their armor gleamed under the twilight. The two knights were equipped with a kite-shaped shield and a great sword. They look like steel pillars.

Behind them was a wizard in black robes with a magic staff. His face was hidden under the hood, covered in the darkness, looking mysterious. Even Alex's eagle vision cannot penetrate the veil. 

The last is the young man with messy black hair in green leather armor with a bow in his right hand. He was riding a great grey wolf and looked pretty arrogant.

All five of them looked worn out as if braved a long distance.

As Alex was assessing them, the other side was also evaluating him. A young man with shabby clothes and low strength. Not a threat.

Soon they were only a few meters dividing both sides. Alex guessed they are not hostile, but he still clutched his gun, waiting for the other party to talk. One of the knights walked in front of the group as he removed his steel helmet, showing a sharp old face.

"Good Evening, Young man, I am Tom Smith, an Elite knight of Elmore family. May we know who you are?" asked the middle-aged knight politely, while his eyes were slightly squinted.

"My name is Alex Ryder," said Alex.

After hearing the unfamiliar family name - Ryder, the group was a little thrown off.

"Mr. Raider, are you from an aristocrat family," asked Tom, the knight.

"Not anymore," said Alex truthfully.  Alex had a blurry memory of his grandpa telling him they used to be aristocrats. He was a child and was not sure if that was true.

Looking at the shining armor and the aristocratic demeanor, Alex immediately understood their puzzlement.

In medieval times peasants can only take surnames that indicated their occupation or Birthplace, like Smith, Fisher, Cobbler, Baker...etc. They presumed he was from a noble family, yet he was wearing jeans, a black T-shirt, and a shabby camouflage jacket.

"Mr. Ryder, may we know where you are from?"

"I came from a very far place, and I don't want to talk about it."

Everyone frowned.

"Judging by his ragged attire, there is no way he is an aristocrat. He must be a scammer. Let's kick him out." said the young man on the wolf. Alex became tense. But then the valiant woman with round face walked to the front and asked.

"My name is Rose Elmore, daughter of Viscount Elmore. Mr. Ryder, may I know why you cant disclose your family details?"

Alex ignored the titles and focused on her name. Alex immediately thought of the trio who broke into the Howling crater yesterday. They were looking for 'Rose.'

But soon, Alex returned to the situation at hand. In the end, he decided to tell the truth. After all, lies can be easily verified.

"Miss Elmore, I left my family due to some circumstances. So strictly speaking, I am not an aristocrat."

The whole group was silent. Just as they were thinking about their follow-up action, Alex continued.

"Miss Elmore, I saw three people yelling your name in the Howling crater yesterday," said Alex.

"What? Who?" asked Rose, a little dubious.

"I saw them from afar, so I don't know their names. There was a young knight with red hair. a young archer, and  an old Ice mage..."

Alex described the situation, about how the three people dared to fight the demonic wolves in search of her.

"Those guys." said rose while smiling. Tom, the knight, looked thoughtful.

"Miss, it must be Raymond's group. They may have received some of our mission details and came to help us," said Tom.

"But Miss Rose, how do we know this guy was not making things up," said the archer. Alex was getting irritated by this guy's speech and actions.

"It's easy. Nobody in the free city Tyros would call Gordon as old. If he knew somebody was making fun of him, he would hunt him down." said Rose.

Alex was puzzled. The guy with a long white beard was not old? The archer starts to bad-mouth again.

"But this kid is just a Rookie level. How can he enter and exit the Howling crater at his level."

Once again, everyone gazed at Alex. Alex was now feeling more and more like a criminal who was investigated. Just as he was about to show his attitude. He heard Varis speak:

[Alex, there is an emergency of level 4. A pack of crazy hyenas is coming towards you. You have less than 5 min.]

Alex's face changed.  But as he saw the five people standing in front of him, he calmed down.

"I can survive in this treacherous jungle because I have a companion who can fly," said Alex as he pointed to a tree.

Everyone saw the graceful Bluebird wave at them from the treetop.

"Thanks to Varis there, I can determine the danger and safe path in advance. Just now, I received some bad news. There are a bunch of beasts rushing towards here. We should prepare to fight." said Alex seriously while hoping they would believe him.