Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Even after being said all that, Miser still held onto his flattering face but internally he was quite shaken; after all, his life and death depends on whether he is useful or not.

As long as he displayed his worth, he won't be killed that easily. Miser wasn't lying when he said that there was a Royal Spirit amidst the Forest Spring Spirits.

MIser was an adventurer by profession. A month back when he and his group were trying to hunt the monsters on the Ghastly Winding Forest, they were chased around and accidentally stumbled upon the territory of the Ancient Treants. Completely outclassed, they were completely wiped out.

Miser was the only one who survived, at that time he thought that he would die from those severe injuries, but who would have expected that he would meet someone on the brink of his death as he desperately pleaded the person to save his life.

After he became conscious, he found himself bandaged and lying on top of a bed. Looking around, Miser saw that he was currently inside a simple bamboo house and sighed in relief after he knew that he had survived.

He got up and looked out of the window and was mesmerized by the beautiful and mysterious view outside.

Plants and trees shining with an unusual light were dancing along with the wind. Speckles of light rose from the ground and circled the flower garden as they bloomed mysteriously. Miser was dazed by the marvelling scene and it was only when he heard a knock and the footsteps of a person entering that he came to his senses.

Turning around, he saw the person who had entered and became absent-minded once again. The man had dark green hair, a chiselled face, and looked quite handsome. However, what stole his attention was the man's features.

A pair of fairy-like wings, dark green hair, and bringing along a fragrance of plants and trees with him. It couldn't be said that Miser was a knowledgable man but even he could identify the species of the man from the rumours and records he heard from his fellow adventurers.

His eyes trembled fiercely as he tried to restrain the excitement and his wildly beating heart. His mouth twitched and at this moment he wanted to laugh out loud 'I FOUND A TREASURE'. The man who entered looked at Miser smiled gently and said "So you are fine. You were in quite a serious condition when you were found, but it seems that you have mostly recovered from your injuries. Ah, pardon my rudeness I am Cedar the patriarch of this clan".

Coming from his trance, Miser quickly realized that he was injured badly and had yet to recover his full strength. Understanding that trying to take any action right now would be foolish as he now, he calmed his mind and tried to gather as much information as he could.

"I am Miser, thank you for saving me" he gave his best smile and tried to appear as innocent as he could. He looked behind cedar for an instant before asking "Forgive me asking this even though you have saved my life, but would you happen to see any wand near me when you brought my unconscious body here?".

Miser was trying to find his wand because without a weapon, there was no way he a Wizard would be able to snatch the person's spirit orb from him.

"Hmmm, a wand you say?" Cedar Creased his brows and pondered for some time.

Thinking that Cedar was alerted due to his abrupt question, he hurriedly tried to explain and lower his guard "Umm you see that is very precious to me. It was given to me by a very precious person and if I could I wouldn't want to lose it at any cost as it holds a lot of memories and sentiments".

Of course, whatever he spouted was bullshit and a lie whatsoever which he came up with just now.

The wand was just a tool that he bought from the market at a cheap price and didn't hold any such sentiments to him. However, Cedar did not know that and fell for his trap "I see, it must be a very precious wand to you I assume. I think I heard them mention a small wand that they found near, I'll get somebody to deliver it to you. You must not lose it again".

Giving a smile, Miser thanked Cedar once again. In his mind, he was laughing at the naivety and foolishness of Cedar for believing him so willy-nilly.

What Miser did not know was that the Forest Spring Spirit clan secluded themselves from the outside world since the ancient times due to their indiscriminate hunting. And due to living in seclusion for so long, their interaction with people outside of their clan was very limited and hence they fell more easily to deception and trickery.

Seeing that Miser was glancing outside a few times, Cedar thought that Miser wanted to go out and check on his team members. He said with a painful expression "I am truly sorry to tell you that we couldn't save the other members as they were already dead even before we could save them".

Miser became absent-minded for a while before he realized that Cedar had misunderstood that he wanted to check on his teammates when in truth he wanted to check and gather more information on their clan. He could only imagine the wealth he could amass from their spirit orbs.

Miser made a painful expression as he said "I am a failure of a human, I couldn't even protect the lives of my teammates. Do you know where the bodies of my teammates are? At the very least I want to give them a proper burial".

Cedar couldn't see his face as he bowed deeply towards him but if he could, he would see a mocking grin flash on Miser's face. Cedar thought for a while before nodding his head. To him, Miser looked like a pitiful human who had lost all his companions on his journey and giving them a proper burial portrayed him as a justified and rightful person.

"Alright, we did bring the bodies of your teammates. Follow me they are on the north end of the village" Cedar said as he led Miser outside. Seeing that his plan had succeeded, a wide smile appeared on Miser's sly face.

He followed behind Cedar as he took him out of the Bamboo house. Outside the house, he was amazed to see hundreds of Forest Spring Spirits. The adults did their daily jobs while the children played around running and laughing.

"So the rumours were true, there are still some ancient races remaining that are hiding themselves" Miser mused as he observed the village with greed filled eyes.

He couldn't help but look at the far end of the village which was protected by a thick white mist that surrounded the village like a dome.. He didn't know where this place was but he was quite sure that the thick mist prevented the outsiders from finding the location of the village.