Cosmic Peak

After Lorain told Aren that they were done with their things, four of them met outside.

Quinn's mother, Hemila, didn't want to enter the Wild expanse right after the invasion of the giants as she didn't feel well and had decided to rest. But once Quinn, Aren, Lorain, and Luna met outside and checked up on Quinn's mother, she also buckled up and said that she had enough rest as five of them entered the Duchy of Heigan together.

The first thing they did was to register Lorain, Hemila, and Quinn at the Guild and do their assessment.

Hemila had yet to reach level 10, so they couldn't do her assessment.

The result of the black crystal's assessment had a surprising result as it turned out that none of them had a similar grade of divine path.

Lorain's Divine path grade turned out to be Discursive, while Quinn's Divine path grade turned out to be Extreme.

But, as Donnie said, the grades of the Divine path really didn't matter in the long term.

After they finished registering, five of them also registered their company in the Guild with Aren as the leader.

Aren decided the company's name as Luminous Blade. He thought of this name since he wanted to cut through the incoming darkness and despair. Hence, the company name, Luminous Blade. They are the blade that will cut through darkness and despair.

...

"Aren, what about Quinn's grandfather and her other family members? Did any of them contact you yet?" Lorain spoke as her eyebrows creased slightly.

Quinn and Hemila flinched slightly, but Hemila said with a hesitating expression, "Father would definitely contact Aren once they found two spirit stones and two fields of red berries according to the plan, but I can't say the same for my brother and his family."

Quinn nodded and said, "The bodyguards should have contacted grandpa if they met the quota and must have met up with him."

Hearing them, Aren smiled wryly and said, "Alright, I'll contact them myself and see what situation they are facing. You all also send him a request of spiritual, so he can accept all calls, and you can directly hear about the situation as well."

...

Somewhere in the Wild expanse, near a pond...

Borus, Jason, Jason's wife, and all other bodyguards were standing with a serious and worried expressions.

All of them were present except Julian.

Suddenly, Borus received consecutive spiritual call requests.

<You received a spiritual call from Hemila; do you want to accept or not?>

<You received a spiritual call from...>

<You received a spiritual call from...>

...

Borus frowned and sighed before accepting all of their calls.

Hemia--"Father, did you meet the quota yet or not? Or did you encounter some trouble?"

Quinn--"Grandpa..."

Borus released a deep sigh that Aren and others heard and they instantly concluded that something was wrong on their side.

Indeed...

Borus--"There is trouble. Julian suddenly separated from Jason and also called us, saying that...he also knows what to do now and how to survive and get strong. So...sigh, we are trying to find him now."

Aren and others became silent before Quinn cursed, "That idiot!"

Aren--"Did he bring spirit stone and red berries with him?"

Borus sighed and said in a tone that revealed slight pleading, "I know it was your idea and-"

Before Borus could finish, Aren interrupted with a speechless expression and tone, "Please stop. I didn't ask that with such an intention, and I told you about that thing to benefit everyone in the first place.

Aren then spoke in a thoughtful tone, "I asked if he brought red berries and a spirit stone with him to confirm his survivability rate. After all, If he has red berries and spirit stone, his chance of survival will increase and also your chance of finding him."

Borus--"Only if he could see the big picture like you...sigh. Anyway, since you called me, then I'll speak the decision that Jason and I were thinking about."

Hemila--"Father? What decision? Although I can't ask Aren, Lorain, Luna but Quinn, and I can come there to search for Julian." Her tone worried.

Borus--"No!" His voice was resolute, "Daughter, after leaving, You have stayed with them more time, and my little Quinn...anyway, because of Julian's reckless decision, I will not allow you to waste your time and halt your growth."

Quinn--"Grandpa..."

Borus--"From now on, you five will move together while we will search for Julian and move on our own until we find him. After all, regardless of his recklessness, he is still my grandson."

Aren sighed and said, "Grandpa Borus, you must have a rough idea on how to move and get strong. Don't let go of any chance to get strong while you search for Julian."

Borus--"I understand."

Aren--"Good luck. I hope Julian is fine and you find him as soon as possible."

After saying that, Aren left the spiritual call while Hemila and Quinn talked for a bit more before they also hanged up.

"So, what do we do now, Aren?"

Aren smiled and said, "I found a place where we could trigger a quest. Let's see if it works or not. If not, then we will go to the Guild and accept some quests there. Although they are more like chore quests since we have to start our company as Newbie rank and can only such low-rank quests."

There were ranks of the company, and as they increase their rank by completing the quest and proving their power, their rank will increase, and they can accept better quests.

...

Aren remembered the path as they walked for a while and arrived at the pavilion-like house.

The elder was still sitting on the rocking chair with a listless expression.

"I'll go and talk to him," Aren said as he walked towards the gates of the house.

"Grandpa, can I come in?" Aren asked as he stood outside.

A man in his late twenties walking by stopped seeing Aren's action and said, "Hey, little brother. Don't bother that elder."

Aren looked at him as he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why? What happened to him?"

The man sighed and said, "His two sons haven't returned yet, and even after posting a quest to find them four days ago, there's no news of them."

"How many days passed since his sons went out?" Aren asked.

"Ten days. They would usually return after four-five days, but since ten days passed, there's a high chance that-"

"SHUT UP! My sons are not dead. They will return for sure." The elder burst out as he spoke angrily.

Aren looked at the elder and said with a serious expression, "Where did they go, elder? If we can, then we will definitely help you."

The elder looked at Aren before he sighed, "They went to Blood-Spring Valley to get some Viter Blood Ginger for me, and even though it's a bit far from here, they should have returned by now. Also...sigh, I went to check the quest I posted, but no one had accepted the quest yet."

The man in his late-twenties thought with disdain, 'With such low quest rewards, why would they go to Blood-Spring valley?'

Pausing there, the elder looked at Aren with a pleading expression, "Can you please go and search for them? Today, I was going to increase the quest reward, so I might as well tell you the reward. If you can bring my sons back, then I'll give you all of my gold coin savings, which is 10,000 gold coins, and our family heirloom, which is a pendent with exotic crystal."

Hearing the new reward, the man gulped and said, "Elder, that's quite a long jump from your previous reward."

But Aren actually frowned after hearing the reward as he deeply looked at the elder.

'The quest will trigger as soon as I nod my head and say that we will help you find your son. But...'

"Do we accept the quest or not?" Lorain asked.

Aren thought for one whole minute of many possibilities before he smiled and nodded, " Alright, we accept your quest."

[Quest, Find the lost sons has been accepted.]

<Objective>

-->Fine the elder's two sons who didn't return home after going to Blood-Spring valley.

<Reward>

-->5000 exp.

-->10,000 gold.

-->Family heirloom of Fulas family.

Seeing the last reward, Aren thought of something and asked, "Grandpa, what are your son's names? oh, and your family name as well."

The elder sighed, but before he could speak, the man said, "His two sons are called Tojis or Lojis. This family of three arrived in this town two years ago. As for their family name..."

The man looked at the elder with a clueless expression, "If I remember correctly, Your family name is Hedarth, right?"

The elder sighed and nodded.

Aren raised his eyebrows at that before he looked at his mother, Quinn, and others and moved his eyes left and right as if he was signaling them something.

They understood and stayed silent since they also received the quest.

"Alright, we will move right away and try our best to find your sons," Aren said with a smile, "In turn, don't go to the Guild since if you raise your quest's reward, there will be competition."

The elder thought for a moment and went inside the house as he took out two posters that had his son's face drawn. He gave the posters to Aren before saying, "If I get no news from you after three days, then I will go and raise the rewards at the Guild."

"Haha, sure," Aren said with a laugh as he took the posters before he turned around, "Let's go."

...

"But Aren, exit is there," Quinn said as she pointed at the gates of the town.

"Not yet. We will first buy a map and then visit the Alchemy area of this town," Aren said as he led them to another place in town. Gin had already shown them the majority of the stores and areas of the town.. He also wanted to ask about the information on blood spring valley.