It was the morning when Elliot found himself in his bed. He was confused as to what had happened. Once again, he blanked out.
There was also a notification in his Console saying that the Supreme Dragon Immunity Crest was activated. This meant that his life was threatened while he was sleeping.
He stretched his fingers, trying to see if he could still control them. When he could, he immediately tried to lift his legs. He was trying to see if he was somehow paralyzed in his sleep. He had heard about the Adventurer system malfunctioning and would inflict undesirable effects on its user.
Although the effects are reversible and cannot cause actual harm, the thought of it would haunt any Adventurer. Though a lot of veteran Adventurers would say that this was a hoax, the threat may still be there.
After all, if something is functioning, the chances of it to malfunction is not completely zero.
Elliot slapped his hands on his cheeks, "What the hell am I thinking?"
"Sleep paralysis demon?" Connor asked when Elliot got to the guild house. "You're being attacked?"
"I think so," Elliot groaned. "It's been like this for some nights now. I would find myself sleeping and, sure I have a vague idea of how I got to bed, but then it seemed surreal. Like I'm only imagining it, or it was like it didn't actually happen."
"That's odd," Lance frowned. "That's not how sleep paralysis demons work though."
Elliot tilted his head to the side, "It's not?"
"Enough about sleep," Ed said. "I barely had any last night. I don't need to remember what I lost."
Connor leaned over to Elliot with his hand in front of his mouth to whisper, "His room is beside Minos's."
"And?" Elliot whispered back. "Was he singing"
"He brought his girlfriend to his room," Connor cut Elliot off that made the latter gasp.
"But we aren't allowed to bring girls over," Elliot said, his voice a bit higher this time.
From beside their table, sitting behind him, was a man with red hair. He leaned in to Elliot and whispered, "Minos might hear you both. He's gonna come after you if that happens. Good luck with that."
The man went back to his seat and laughed with his group. Elliot pursed his lips and rolled his eyes to point at the man, asking him who it was.
"Who's that?" he mouthed at his friends.
"That's Nathan," Ed said, groaning after Hope got behind him and started massaging his temples. "Ethan's younger brother. He's part of the Aquarius Party Campaign."
"You do know your thing," Elliot said. "How cool would it be to be old and wise?"
Ed raised his hand and formed into a fist. "Wanna die?"
"No, thanks," Elliot chuckled awkwardly and leaned back to Connor. "So, what happened to Minos"
"Fool!" Frederick's loud yell shook the guild. Four wind casters had to stop the roof from falling apart. They repaired the roof back and went back to their seats, waiting for the next scenes to unfold.
When the silence followed the loud yell, everyone inside the hall crept to the guild master's office door and listened to the voices inside.
"Hey, hey," Nathan said and walked forward. Elliot thought he was going to stop them. Instead, he sat on his legs in front of them and extended his hands forward. "Voice Magic, Amplify."
This was Nathan's magic. It was similar to Luck's, but he needed to use actual voice instead of using the vibrations and the air around him. Nathan could also command things through his voice magic when he uses a specific skill.
"You know it's against the rules," Frederick said, their voices from the inside were now being heard from the outside. "How do you plan on asking for forgiveness?"
"Publicly apologizing, sir," Minos said, his voice was stern yet they could hear the shakiness in them.
Connor tugged Elliot's sleeve and pointed at Ed who was intently listening. "Look at that guy with the headache. It seemed like gossip could cure headaches now."
Elliot chuckled and shook his head, returning his attention on the people inside.
"Okay," Frederick said after a long moment of silence. "Start by clearing up the people outside the door. They get so annoying sometimes."
"Sh*t," Nathan cursed and deactivated his skill. They all ran back to their seats before the guild master's door opened. Minos walked outside and looked around, pouting when he saw no one there.
"That was close," Nathan said to his friends. They still sat on the table beside Elliot, so he could hear their voice. "I bet Minos would do it again. Who wants to bet on it?"
Ed returned to their seat with his hand on his forehead. He was groaning all the time so Hope continued the massage on his temples.
"What?" Lance said suddenly. He stood and walked away for a moment. He stood on the corner where it looked like he was arguing with someone through a call. His forehead was knitted and his expression held anger and confusion in them.
Not long after, the call was dropped and Lance returned to his seat. He took a deep sigh, internalizing everything.
"Is everything okay?" Elliot asked. "You seem pissed for some reason."
"Lilith retired," Lance said. "It's so sudden, but there were also reports that their old home was burned to the ground. Luckily, no one was harmed."
"What about her younger siblings?" Elliot asked. "Adam and Eve, weren't they? Are they okay?"
"It seemed like Lilith has disappeared with them," Lance said. "There was no trace of anything or anyone in the house that was burned. The only evidence left was the previous Weapon Gem that Lilith used."
"Can't they trace that?" Ed asked. "A lot of Adventurers are good tracers. Take Beatriz for example."
"They can't," Lance replied. "The gem was burned beyond repair that only the engraving of L was visible. All the magic to be used to trace them was gone."
"What in the hell happened to them?" Elliot cupped his mouth, feeling his heart race in worry. "I hope they weren't attacked. Cain is What about Cain? Do you have any idea of his whereabouts?"
"Cain was the one who reported to me," Lance said. "He's so lost right now. I'm going to go to him. All of you, stay here and wait."
"No," Elliot said. "I'll come with you. There was something that Adam was going to say to me before but he never got the chance to do so."
"He said that?" Lance asked, eyes slightly widening. "He said that to you?"
"Well," Elliot smiled awkwardly. "Not exactly, but he kept staring at me and I know he's going to say something."
"O-Okay," Lance said. "Let's go. He's at the Wild Duck Club."
"W-Wild Duck Club?" Elliot gulped. "Why a club?"