“Phew… They don’t call it a secret passage for nothing,” Jarrl let out a surprised whistle.

“Yeah, we’ve passed through this area before and couldn’t see it,” Garret added.

“We simply weren’t looking,” Virghel scoffed.

“That’s because you were so impatient and went to aggro another Lesser Trent, Virghel,” Jarrl made fun of her.

“Shut up, numbskull,” Virghel growled.

“But it was true,” Jarrl laughed out loud.

Jarrl was right about the secret passage, however. If you didn’t know there was a secret passage here, you wouldn’t notice it easily. The stone wall was uneven, with rocks and boulders sticking out in a confusing way, covering one over the other. If you looked at it from a distance, the view would make an impression it was just an extension of the stone wall, shrug it off and pass by. You’d have to come very close to inspect it if you wanted to find the passage.

“Hey, Rockin, did you say there are Carnabbits, Halluspiders and Lesser Trents inside the Secret Area?” Garret asked, walking almost next to me. I was leading the way and the passage could barely fit two people walking next to each other. Garret was what they called a Tank, so he was walking up front.

“Yeah, but there’d be only Carnabbits on our way to the safe area,” I told him.

“You seem to know that area pretty well,” he commented.

“I lived there for quite a while,” I said without thinking.

“You lived there?” I could hear the intensity in Garret’s words.

“Aah…” I almost slapped myself for blurting it out but I didn’t. “Well… when I… ended up at the Secret Area I… decided to stay and explore it before anyone else found it.”

“Oh, I see. Yes, finding a Secret Area is a big deal. And going to town and back for supplies would’ve taken a lot of time. Some other group would’ve found it sooner or later and if they killed the rare monsters before you, your efforts would’ve been wasted,” Garret summarized what I probably would’ve had trouble coming up with.

“Yeah, that…” I was glad he saved me with his own reasoning.

“But what were you eating? And you needed water too,” but Garret wasn’t done with the questions yet.

“There’s drinkable water at the Guardian Tree and the area is full of monster rabbits too, so,” I shrugged.

“A Guardian Tree?” Garret raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, sorry. That’s how I decided to call it, since the area was safe and had no monsters near it,” I still had to come up with an explanation.

“Makes sense,” Garret accepted it. “But then, eating Carnabbit meat must’ve been tough.”

“Ah, yeah…” I made it sound like it really was.

“Woohoo, we’re finally out,” Jarrl exclaimed when we stepped out in the open. He seemed to be the most excitable from the whole group.

“It’s this way. We’ll probably encounter some Carnabbits on the way,” I warned them.

“Let us take care of them, Rockin. It’s the least we can do for you showing us the way,” Garret offered, to which I had no objections to.

It was dark now, but with five of them, the group had no trouble dispatching the monster rabbits that got in our way. The party didn’t need Carnabbit meat, so I took the few pieces that dropped, but Garret’s group collected the monster rabbit fur which they said they will sell to some merchant at the city. I didn’t mind. I knew I could farm for the fur if I wanted to.

“Woah, now I understand why you called it the Guardian Tree,” Garret gasped when we finally arrived.

“Now that’s a big tree if I ever saw one. Huh? Eek! What are… these?” Jarrl freaked out when he saw the decorations all over the place.

“Ah… hah… I was a little bored at one point, so I… decorated the place…” I had completely forgotten about those.

“You did this, Rockin? Cool,” Jarrl’s freaked out facial expression change to the amused one.

“It’s just a huge tree,” Virghel pretended she wasn’t impressed, but she was glancing at the decorations with a curious look on her face.

“The water runs out of the tree itself. Amazing…” Sorren had finally said something. He and Salis were very quiet while we walked.

“Is the water drinkable?” Salis asked, probably feeling thirsty.

“Yes. It has healing properties too. Ahm… I’d advice… not to contaminate it if you plan to stick around for longer or come back here later,” I knew the water would become clean of any impurities in no time, but I had to come up with an excuse to have them think it will go bad. I had a deep respect for this place and I didn’t want another incident like the one with that peeing guy who I beheaded to happen.

“Huh? Rockin’s right. I can feel my body being rejuvenated,” Sorren told everyone after drinking some.

Huh? Was he injured? I wondered.

“Hey, I’m thirsty too,” Jarrl leaned down to drink some too. “Aaah… that hits the spot. Hey, how about some food now?”

It was pretty late, considering how long it took us to get here. I was feeling hungry myself as well.

“Just have a cold bite of whatever you have with you, Jarrl. Looking for wood and starting a fire would be a hassle right now,” Garret told him.

“But I wanted to have some of Salis’s soup again,” Jarrl looked like a child who’s about to cry.

“Hmph…” Salis chuckled, hearing him say that.

“She can’t prepare food in the dark, you moron,” Virghel scoffed at Jarrl.

They are a funny bunch. I half-laughed to myself, watching them interact.

“Let me help you with that,” I offered, walking closer to where my old campfire used to burn. “Campfire.”

“Woooah!” I sort of expected to see a surprised reaction, but their reaction was a little too much.

“Wow, you have the Campfire skill. That’s… very useful,” Garret managed to mumble out, trying to contain his amazement.

“Salis can prepare food now, can’t she, Virghel?” Jarrl felt like teasing her.

“You dumbass, I’ll pluck your eyes out,” she didn’t take his joke lightly.

Are they a couple or something? Anyway, that’s none of my business. I thought I’d stay out of it.

“Let me get it ready,” Salis stepped closer to the campfire.

“Let us treat you to a late dinner, Rockin,” Garret offered.

“Sure,” I was to take out some monster rabbit meat to roast for myself, but having something else to eat was a welcome offer.

“You said you were living here for a while, Rockin. Could you tell us more about this place while we wait for food?” Garret was curious to know.

“Hmph, ok,” we had some time to spare and I didn’t mind.

I’ve told them about the Spooky Spider Forest and the Rotten Logs Farm zones. Although, I didn’t call them that when I spoke about it. I also mentioned the place where I fought the lizardman creature and about the impenetrable thorny thicket to the southeast. The food was prepared in the meantime and I a light meal was all I needed before going to sleep. The soup Salis prepared was good, but it didn’t fill me up much. It didn’t matter. I thought I’ll be grateful and not sully their hospitality. I’ll have some monster rabbit meat tomorrow morning, I thought.

“Huh? You’re gonna climb up the tree to sleep?” Garret asked me in surprise when everyone was getting ready to sleep.

“Ah, yeah. I had a bed made for myself up there during the time I lived here. Thank you for the meal and good night,” I told them and quickly jumped up.

“He’s good. I wish I could climb trees like that,” I heard Jarrl comment below.

“A slowpoke like you? Better start grinding levels then,” Virghel grunted sarcastically.

“Care to join me?” Jarrl wasn’t affected by her sarcasm.

“In your dreams, moron,” Virghel scoffed, annoyed her taunt didn’t work the way she hoped it would.

“Enough fighting you two, let’s get some sleep. Rockin said there are no rare monsters left in this area, but who knows, we might be lucky to find something if we search properly,” Garret said, interrupting the flaring word fight amongst his teammates.

“Humph… I’ll take the first watch,” Virghel declared.

Watch? But I told them the area around the Guardian Tree is safe. Ah, well, they can do whatever they want. I was ear dropping on their conversation for a while, but then it became quiet. I made myself more comfortable inside my hammock and fell asleep fast.

The next morning I was woken up by a not so loud hustle at the bottom of the tree. I heard Garret and someone else talking, so I slid out of my hammock and jumped down to say hello.

“Good morning,” I greeted Garret and Salis. The other three of their party members were nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning, Rockin,” Garret said. “Jarrl, Sorren and Virghel are out scouting. Salis, is there anything left in the pot?”

“Sorry Garret, I forgot about Rockin and cooked just enough food for only five of us,” Salis told him, feeling embarrassed.

“That’s ok. Don’t worry about it. I’ll cook some meat for myself,” I didn’t mind. I took out a piece of monster rabbit meat from my Item Storage Box and put it to roast on the fire.

“I’m back,” my meat was halfway done when I heard Virghel’s voice from behind the bushes. “Hey, something smells nice. What are you cooking, Salis?”

“Sorry, but it is Rockin who’s preparing his breakfast,” she responded.

“Rockin, oh…” Virghel turned to me and saw me roasting meat on the fire. She quickly averted her gaze away when I noticed her staring at the meat.

“I can roast another piece for you too if you want?” I asked her.

“Huh? Nah, I wasn’t… I’m not… Well… if it’s not too much trouble… please,” Virghel tried to decline my offer, but the smell of the meat roasting and the drool in her mouth won in the end.

I took out another piece and put it to cook as well. When the first piece finished cooking, I gave it to Virghel and stayed near the fire to finish roasting the second one.

“You should eat first,” she was hesitant to accept it.

“It’s fine. I still need to stay and look after the other meat. You go ahead,” I encouraged her.

“Thanks,” Virghel said politely. With how coarse she was yesterday, I didn’t expect her to be so courteous with me. Of course, it was Jarrl who was getting on her nerves all the time.

It wasn’t long till the second piece of meat finished roasting and I went to sit further away from the fire to eat it.

Damn, this brings back memories. The taste of the meat brought back some memories from when I was living here on my own. A mild shiver ran down my spine. Brrr… I’m so glad Emmy’s group somehow found this place or else I’d still be stuck in here.

“Thanks… for the meat…” Virghel came to sit closer to me. She was almost done with her piece.

“You’re welcome. I’m not much of a cook, but it fills my belly.” I said before taking another bite of my own piece of meat.

“We’re back. Rockin was right. There’s a thorny thicket to the southeast but no monsters.” Jarrl and Sorren finally showed up. “Ooh, that smells nice. What’s cooking, Salis?”

“Sigh… It’s not me. Rockin was cooking his breakfast,” Salis shook her head.

“Rockin? Huh? Wait, what’s Virghel doing sitting next to him?” Jarrl asked, face full of surprise.

“Rockin cooked some meat for Virghel as well and now they are eating together,” Salis told him.

“What? They are eating together? Virghel never wanted to eat together with me,” Jarrl exclaimed, his jaw dropping almost to the ground.

“That’s because you annoy her to no end,” Sorren laughed at him.

“Do you think Rockin would be willing to cook some meat for me as well?” Jarrl was about to go ask.

“Leave them be, Jarrl. Unless you want Virghel to really get pissed at you?” Sorren stopped him.

“No fair…” Jarrl looked like he was about to cry.

“Come on, Jarrl, tell me what you and Sorren have found,” Garret told him.

I finished my food, not exactly talking much to Virghel who for whatever reason kept me company until I was done. I licked my fingers before going to the pond to wash my hands and drink some water. At the same time, Virghel joined up with her group to have a meeting. She thanked me again for the meat before going, of course. I left them be and climbed up the tree to collect my hammock which I placed inside my Item Storage Box. I had a handful, eight in total, monster rabbit fur pieces up on the tree as well which I decided to take with me as well. With my belly full and all my items collected, I was ready to move out to look for the entrance to the fourth floor of the dungeon. I stopped to say goodbye to the group.

“Thank you again for showing us this place, Rockin,” Garret thanked me.

“No problem. Be careful out there,” I said, ready to go.

“Thanks for the meat, Rockin,” I was about to leave when Virghel appeared next to me. “Next time we meet at Hirvant it’s my treat.”

“Ahm… ok, thanks,” I said, a little perplexed. “I’ll be going now. Bye.”

“Hey, Virghel, will you treat me as well?” I heard Jarrl’s voice as I was leaving.

“I can treat you a punch in the face,” Virghel shot back at him.

“What? That’s so cruel of you, Virghel,” Jarrl exclaimed.

“Shut up, idiot,” Virghel raised her voice.

Hah, they do sound like a married couple. I laughed to myself. I was keeping my guard up all the time around them, but they turned out to be decent people in the end. I was glad there were adventurers like them around.

Good thing the Monster Rabbit Garden was on the way to leave the Secret Area, because I wanted to stack up on some monster rabbit meat. Thanks to the Item Storage Box I was able to carry meat with me. And now that I could carry my hammock with me wherever I went, I could spend the night at the top of some tree without worrying of being attacked. I still had to find the entrance to go down to the fourth floor of the dungeon, but once I did, I planned to farm those Rhaki monsters for a few days. Tasting Rhaki’s meat at Savirei’s place made a lasting impression on me and I wanted to eat more of it.