Today was more uneventful than the day before. They continued hiking deeper into the forest for hours, yet never encountered any more monsters.

They didn't talk much to each other either. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, unable to stop thinking about what had happened last night.

They secretly glanced at Nazel, who remained calm and aloof, as he usually did. He didn't seem to know or care that the others were acting differently toward him.

Soon enough, they saw walls behind the trees.

"Is that the first town?" Mar asked, looking at the gate that had appeared before them.

"Yes," Alexey said. "Welcome to the Sunlight Town, Luminaria."

Alexey walked toward two guards standing on each side of the gate. He talked with them for a while, then flashed his Guide license. After checking it, they gave him permission to enter.

"Anyway, how can there be a town across the line like this?" Mar asked. "I thought this place was all about danger."

"There are some areas that monsters ignore or avoid," Leol said. "This is one of them. People use them to build towns like this. We still don't know for sure why that is, but think of it like the eye of a storm or something."

"A safe place where we can rest for a bit," Nazel said. "But don't count on it too much. Sometimes, monsters still attack these places. That's why they put up walls and have guards."

Mar nodded, slowly beginning to understand how things worked.

In front of them, Alexey finished talking with the guards. After giving them a sign, Nazel and the others followed him inside the town.

There was nothing particularly special about the town. People were busy with their work, and the streets were filled with activity.

The only thing a little odd was a group of kids playing in a field farther away, catching balls of light with bottles.

"Well, my job is done. I guess this is where we say goodbye," Alexey said, turning to his clients with a smile. "It was a short but interesting encounter, all things considered. Maybe we'll meet again someday? Who knows. I just hope you guys don't die too soon."

"Way to ruin the mood, Guide!" Leol said.

Alexey laughed. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "Anyway, good luck with your journey. I hope you all reach your respective goals. I mean it."

With that, the veteran fighter left them, leaving behind a mood of uncertainty.

"What now?" Mar asked, voicing their feelings.

"Let's sell our harvest first," Leol said. Without hesitation, he approached one of the townspeople. "Excuse me, where is the market area?"

Soon, they arrived at the market. Like a skilled merchant, Leol was able to sell their harvest easily. As Leol predicted, the six-legged tiger was sold for a considerable sum of money.

After receiving their share, the muscular guy group left without a word. A little rude, but not surprising. Still, Leol could tell that this time they weren’t acting out of arrogance. From their eyes, he could see that they were a little scared of Nazel and didn’t want to stick around him too long.

That was understandable. They had been disrespectful toward him this whole time. If Nazel wanted to, he could turn them into paste in no time.

Putting that thought aside, Leol handed Nazel his share.

"All of it?" Nazel said, a little surprised. "Are you sure? You did all the work."

"It's fine, it's fine," Leol said, laughing. "Well, instead of money, I actually have a favor to ask. Is that okay?"

Nazel raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Erm... I was wondering if I could follow you?" Leol asked carefully. "What I mean is, I want to be your companion. I promise I'll be useful!"

Nazel blinked. Silence filled the space for a moment.

Leol couldn't help but hold his breath.

Then Nazel shrugged. "Sure," he said easily, making all the worries Leol had felt before seem unnecessary and stupid.

Leol sighed in relief. Still, he was satisfied that his effort hadn’t been for nothing.

Taking advantage of the moment, Mar raised her hand.

"Um, is it fine if I come along too?" she asked.

Nazel and Leol glanced at each other and smiled.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Nazel said.

And with that, a new group was born.

"Since we're in the market area, let's buy more supplies for our next journey," Leol said. "Leave it to me to get the best price."

"That's a good idea, but I'll warn you now," Nazel said. "After this, we won't be hiring any Guides anymore, so be prepared."

"We won't?" Mar asked, surprised.

"I only did it because it's a rule to do so at the beginning," Nazel said. "If I could, I wouldn’t have used one before either."

Leol and Mar looked at each other. Considering how strong he was, that wasn’t surprising.

"But isn't it safer and faster to hire a Guide?" Leol asked, confused.

"Yes, but that's not always a good thing," Nazel said. "The deeper we go, the more dangerous things will get. What's the chance that you'll be able to survive then? Skipping dangerous encounters now just means you won't grow and won't be ready for even greater dangers later."

"True," Leol said, deep in thought.

Mar nodded. "That makes sense," she said. "But then why are we required to use a Guide in the first place?"

"At the beginning, there was no rule about using Guides," Nazel said. "Anyone could cross the line however they wanted. But you can guess what happened."

Leol nodded. "As you saw before, people are reckless. They think too highly of themselves. People ended up dying left and right."

"Soon enough, stricter rules were made," Nazel said. "Only people with a certain level of strength could cross the line. But that wasn’t good either, because most people failed the test and decided to cross illegally anyway. The number of deaths remained high."

"So, the rule that required you to use a Guide the first time you crossed the Line was the best of both worlds," Nazel continued. "The death rate dropped significantly. Maybe there’s a better system, but who knows?"

Mar nodded in understanding. "Fascinating," she said.

They continued walking. As they bought food, drinks, and all kinds of supplies for their journey, Mar's eyes caught something interesting.

A shop filled with Light in the Bottles.

***