Rise of the Eromancer

The trickling of the fire reflected on Rhys's silver eyes as he just sat there alone in the night. Well, as much as he could be alone with the current situation — with a freshly killed gryphon in their hands, the village did not waste any time at all in marinating and roasting the entire thing for the duration of the entire day.

Rhys was just one of the many circling the fire with a piece of meat in his hand. Rhys really only had gryphon once or twice and never roasted. The juice was practically dripping from the leaf he was using as a plate.

It wasn't only him that was just staring at the fire. Everyone practically stopped working as they all just set up a feast right in the center of the village, with the entire gryphon still rotating on top of the large fire. Unlike the quiet and peaceful night he had last night, everyone was practically drunk; cheering and sometimes even screaming Rhys's name.

And perhaps the most drunk of them all was Agapia, who now currently had her son on a leash like he was some sort of dog — all the mothers in the village surrounded her as they all just laughed and kept retelling the story of how Rhys saved Mik.

The roasted gryphon was large enough to practically feed the entire small village and still had a lot of meat left on its bones. It could probably feed up to 400 people, and the population of the village is less than that.

"R… Rhys."

Rhys's solace was suddenly interrupted as a couple approached him, and with them their daughter. This was not the first family who approached him in the night, but it surely will be the most memorable one.

"We'd like to introduce you our daughter," the mother smiled as she presented her daughter, "I know she could cook properly, and most importantly, she'll be able to bear you lots of children."

"Ma'am…" Rhys could really force out a smile, "...That's a baby."

"She'll be an adult in several winters!" The father reasoned, "W—"

"Scram! Scram! Why are all of you bothering the hero!?"

And fortunately for Rhys, Mikkos came to his rescue while waving around a large sack, causing everyone that was near Rhys or hoping to approach him to just walk away in disappointment,

"I swear, I just leave you for a blink of an eye and then come the vultures. And why are you not drinking, Brother? This entire feast is only possible because of you, never seen someone just give away the entire gryphon like that, Brother — this entire thing would have made you a rich man until the Age of Zeus."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"It's fine," Rhys just shook his head as he took a bite of the roasted meat, "It attacked and destroyed a few of your houses, so…"

"Aye, but I secured you the gryphon's talons and beak," Mikkos then dropped the sack he was holding and placed it next to Rhys, "That should still set you up, Brother…

…I take it you're leaving first light?"

"Yes," Rhys nodded, "What I'm searching for isn't here."

"Searching for your father, huh?" Mikkos let out a sigh, "Well, if you actually want to travel with the day as your companion, you need to leave now, Brother."

"Hm?"

"There's nothing to explore on this island," Mikkos let out a small but very deep sigh as he looked toward the horizon, "You need to go to the mainland — we need to sail for several hours ."

"...But aren't you supposed to be here?" Rhys squinted his eyes.

"Brother, this feast will last until tomorrow night," Mikkos let out a hearty chuckle as he started shaking his head, "There will still be people drunk when I return — we should go while my wife is hammered. You don't need to say goodbye, they won't let you leave, Brother."

"Hm…" Rhys then stood up as he carried the sack, "...Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Brother, I am the heaviest drinker in the entire village," Mikkos gestured to Rhys to follow him to the dock,

"I can sail even better when drunk."

And true to Mikkos's words, the boat truly was traveling even smoother — Rhys could not even feel the waves as they traveled through the darkness. Perhaps the only downside was that Mikkos was also more talkative. He had not even stopped opening his mouth throughout the entire journey. And when he finished talking about a certain topic and had nothing else to say, he would start singing.

"You should get some sleep, Brother!" Mikkos said; his voice, as jolly and as high as it could be, "We will be there in a few hours! You know, if I was any younger, I would probably be joining you in your journey. Aye, but with my sweet wife and the little runt waiting at home, I can't just leave and…"

Of course, Rhys would not actually be able to fall asleep with all the noise that Mikkos was making — fortunately, he did not really need to sleep at all due to his [Arise] skill. And after a few hours, the sun was once again waving hello…

…and yet Mikkos still kept on talking even after they finally reached land.

"I guess this is it, Brother," Mikkos then started crying out of nowhere as he hugged Rhys as soon as their feet touched the ground. The alcohol was probably completely out of his system, and yet he was still pretending to be drunk, "We've only known each other for like a day, but I feel like you really are my brother."

"That's…" Rhys did not really know what to say.

"Continue walking in that direction, Brother — you see that mountain over there East of us?" Mikkos then pointed at a fairly large mountain, "Calydon should be somewhere near there, just follow it so you don't get lost."

"Thank you, Sir," Rhys nodded as he looked at the mountain.

"Good luck, Brother," Mikkos then grabbed Rhys's arm, "I hope you find what you're looking for — but if you don't, I want you to know that you are welcome in the village."

"Hm…" Rhys then nodded one final time as he started walking away. As for Mikkos, he did not really stay long at all and returned to his boat — after all, he still had to catch up before the others finished the entire gryphon.

"...What's this now?" But as soon as he got onto the boat, he noticed several talons there, "Brother, I think you left—"

"It's yours, Sir," Rhys just raised his hand and did not turn around at all and just continued walking, "It's my payment for letting me stay the night in your house!"

"Huh…" Mikkos smirked before shaking his head, "...I guess I won't have to work for a few days."

And with that, Mikkos once again sailed away.

As for Rhys, he made sure that Mikkos was already at considerable distance before he quickened his pace. He then looked around the to see if anyone was there — and as soon as he confirmed the place to be empty, he started to run.

"!!!"

Well, almost.

He was going to activate Olga's superspeed, but before he could do so, his senses suddenly went wild as he felt every inch of his skin crawl. He then very subtly turned to look at the direction of the two suns, as he felt the ominous feeling coming from that direction.

Rhys stood there for a few seconds before just deciding that it was perhaps best to just walk and jog normally. He almost forgot that he was in a completely different world — who knows who might be watching him. It was best to lay low as much as possible.

"...Maybe I should have just tamed the gryphon," Rhys whispered to himself. Fortunately, he did not need to rest at all and he reached the mountain in no time — even climbing deeper into it so he could get a better view to find the city that Mikkos mentioned.

And there, he saw smoke coming from a city in the distance. And unlike Ithaca, Calydon seems to be a wealthier city as all their houses were made with stone… and maybe even marble. The city was quickly visible from above since it had a peculiar shape.

"...I suppose that's my destination, then," Rhys let out a very long and deep sigh as he leaped down from the tree he was on, careful not to damage the sack that Mikkos gave him. He was about to head to the city, but then noticed the leaves and trees rustling in the distance.

"Hm?" Rhys blinked a couple of times as he saw some of the trees being pushed away, and very soon, the suspect revealed itself… and it revealed itself wildly, "What the…"

It was a boar, more specifically, a boar almost the size of an entire six-wheeler truck; its 4 tusks that were protruding from its face, all bigger than Rhys himself.

"There…sure are a lot of monsters in this place."