Soul Art Online

- Arthas -

The road towards Lannisport was cleared two days after our hunt of the Rhino.

While we couldn't hunt two bosses as we had predicted earlier, the Rhino fetched us more than we had expected, especially with the bounties so we were not lacking in money. In fact, we had far more than we were initially expecting.

In total, we had collected nine hundred thousand gold coins even with the gold we had traded off to Gareth's team.

Apart from this, we had three Skill Books, several equipment and accessories and many Greater Healing Pills for sale when we got there.

Overall, our assets should be around eight hundred thousand gold coins. With this, we were expecting to buy something good in the auction house.

"So, here's the plan." Shiroe, as usual, laid down his map in front of us.

"Where do you always get maps from?" I asked, surprised.

"I buy some and make some myself."

"You make them?"

"Cartographer class can be accessed after Scribe." He answered as a matter of fact. "You just have to take classes in the academy for three days and have a Writing Skill at Level 15 or above."

"Ah. Makes sense."

"Our journey to Lannisport is going to take around three days. From there, we will have to go by a Ship to the Sabaody Archipelago island. This part will take two more days. Taking in the time we stay in those places, we would need around two weeks to return. We need to pack all necessities today. We set out early tomorrow morning. On the way, there are several places we can hunt. Most of them are T4 Bosses and one T5 Boss."

"I have taken care of the Guild matters. We will be keeping contact with them using Guild Chat till we get back." Veena added.

"Great. Then we leave tomorrow. Let's see what our trip brings us."

- Venelana -

She used Ice Wall to block the retreat of the bandits and Arthas cut them down with his next attack, finishing all the enemies and ending the battle.

Two days had passed since they set off for Lannisport.

Until now, their journey had been pleasant.

It reminded her of her youth.

Despite all the faults of this game, it was simply undeniable that it did excite her.

The Devil Race was created to fight against the forces of Heaven. Fighting is in their very being, an inseparable instinct for her and while she was a human here, she has lived with her instincts for too long for them to change now.

The fights in this game gave her the thrill which she had lost in the last five hundred years since her son became the new Lucifer.

It was not just her but every devil. They all had this instinct. But with changing times, they were changing themselves to adapt. Some engaged in Rating Games while older ones like her took on hobbies to engage in to take their minds off these instincts.

Zeoticus took on Politics while she had dedicated herself to managing the Gremory house all these years.

Rias and later Milicas being born did serve as a fresh breath after such a long and monotonous life.

It also made both her and Zeoticus realise that it was time to let go rather than live in the monotony.

Still, she never expected a change to come in this way.

Looking at Arthas who returned after finishing the fight, a smile formed on her face.

He was a good boy….no, calling him a boy would not do him justice anymore. He was becoming more of a man with each passing day.

She would know after all, being the one who helped him climb those stairs. And she hadn't regretted it once since then.

While he was not as experienced, he could always learn over time. It was his enthusiasm that made her fall for him even more. The enthusiasm of a young man was simply different from what she was used to feeling all this time.

It made her feel young again. But most of all, it helped her shake off depressing thoughts and worries.

The news which Elaine had revealed had shaken her more than she had shown anyone.

The Game Master, someone stronger than even the Infinity, Dream and Creation, taking them as his lovers….it was straight out of stories used to scare children.

Not to mention, Creation, the Dragon Goddess Tiamat was said to have passed away before the Devil Race was even created. Her children being the ones who betrayed their parents for power, killed their father and later fought their mother over centuries, before finally overcoming her and ripping her apart to establish their pantheon from her corpse itself.

She remembered it because it was completely opposite of their own situation in which Lucifer was driven to the Underworld and fought against his father.

Then how in the world did she walk the world again? And from what Elaine said, she seemed stronger than before. All of them seemed stronger than before.

They were already the strongest beings in the world. What would an even stronger version of them be?

No wonder they had been able to do nothing to stop this game.

But for the life of her, she couldn't understand the reason why they, beings who never involved themselves with the world, would do such a thing?

And above all, who exactly was this Game Master?

How was this kind of existence hidden all this time from the world?

And if he was, then why did he come out?

Could it be that he was someone who had been behind Infinity, Dream and Creation all this time?

So many questions and no way to gain any answers.

All these questions did was to increase her worries, not that knowing who he was would change anything. They were just too far beyond his power.

Right now all she could do was try to find her family members and keep them safe until this game was over.

As for the people who were sent to save them….she had serious doubts about them since she heard that there were several criminals mixed among them.

The Satans didn't know about the workings of the game and had gambled but she could see many ways the plans would fail due to the structure of the game.

While the plan could have been good if the game could be finished in a short period of time, it was anything but that simple of a case.

It could take several decades for the game to finish and there will be high casualties without a doubt.

Over time, this world….is going to become a real world for everyone and not just a game. And what would these criminals do in a new world, especially against the family members of those who had put them beyond the bars?

Not to mention, criminals like them would have no hesitation in taking advantage of the system of the game to gather others and with the ability to get stronger as long as they were not killed, they could become a major problem down the line.

Sigh….

"Are you alright?" She was awakened from her thoughts by Arthas who was standing in front of her, looking worried.

She nodded at him with a smile. "Just thinking about something. Don't worry."

He nodded and she went ahead with the rest to collect the drops before continuing on their journey.