Return of the Woodcutter

The next morning, George invited Aito and the siblings to eat breakfast with his own team composed of three other challengers. 

Jean-Paul, who was a brunette woman despite her name which was usually destined for men. She was apparently a warrior and a good one, according to George. 

Fritz, a young man barely out of his teen years with blonde hair, was an archer. 

Abdul, a man in his forties with Arabic facial traits who was a battle surgeon. 

Surprisingly, George was this team's mage. Appearances can be deceiving, some say. That quote applied even more in George's case. 

He was a rare mage class that apparently could manipulate the water attribute spells. Spells were technically skills, but people used this terminology to qualify mage skills. 

George was special in the sense that he was a level 2 challenger but would also, unlike many mages, fight close quarters. With his absurd strength, club, and water magic, he made for quite a tough opponent to deal with. 

Aito eyed weirdly their breakfast, a roasted hobgoblin leg. George invited them to try.

Disgusted by its humanoid shape, Aito stuck to his own rations. Ogoro did the same. However, Sheyla was surprisingly willing to try a piece before spitting it out and change her breakfast to indigos. 

Challengers on the fifth floor sometimes stayed there for a few days in a row to stock up on soul cores and absorb those that weren't destined for selling. 

To save up TP, challengers just like George and his team ate hobgoblins to satiate their hunger. Hobgoblins weren't very tasty, but at least they filled stomachs. 

Challengers on the fifth floor would only return to the second floor after a while to sell their hard-earned gains—if they survived their stay, that is. 

Although there was a lower death rate than before, at least one or two challengers still died every day. Most of the time, those were newcomers. 

Battle-hardened veterans like George who had at least fought on this floor for a month, rarely ever died. Knowing the ins and outs of the place had benefits. 

Apparently, George had even survived a Bloody Eclipse, not in the most glorious way, though. He had covered himself in hobgoblin blood and guts, then hid in a small room. With the stench masking his smell and a hell of a lot of luck, he had managed to make it out alive somehow. 

"A grim experience I'm telling you," George said, munching on a piece of hobgoblin meat, "A red dark eclipse shone on the city. Hobs everywhere. Thousands of them with blood-red eyes. A real sea of monstrosities craving for human flesh. My teammates and I were unfortunate that day. We were too far from the cathedral to retreat to the fourth floor." 

"Unfortunate? Them yes. You, though, were fortunate since you survived," Fritz commented dryly, with a pragmatic tone. 

"Hahaha, indeed. I wouldn't have met you guys if I hadn't," George said with a toothy smile. "Anyway, Bloody Eclipses only happened and will happen a few times. Also, it can only occur during the daytime. So, we just have to stay close enough to the cathedral in case a Bloody Eclipse appears out of nowhere. With that method, only daring challengers who go too far, or newcomers, died during the recent Bloody Eclipse. But don't worry, there was one recently, less than a week ago, so there won't be another one for a while since they don't appear that often." 

After finishing their breakfast, Aito and his teammates thanked George for the invitation, then headed to their rendez-vous point. 

Rey, who had been nowhere to be seen during the night, stood in front of the statues. Aito had previously briefed the siblings about the old man so they weren't surprised. 

"Good morning, newcomers. You all set up and ready to go?" Rey said with a beaming smile. 

Aito shook his head internally at the moderator's acting and replied, "'Morning Rey." 

"So you are our guide for today?" Ogoro said, examining the old man from head to toe, appearing to doubt his physical abilities, "You sure you'll be able to keep up with us?" 

Sheyla stayed silent but seemed to approve of her brother's words. 

"Haha, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Rey replied, "I may not look like much, but I'm quite the veteran, haha." 

"Sure, you are," Aito said. "Anyway, enough chitchat. Lead the way." 

"With pleasure." 

Like Aito's team, challengers that had slept in the cathedral left the building to start yet another hunt. 

Rey led Aito's team eastward, following the main street leading to the edge of the city. Tall medieval-style buildings, averaging four stories, were perfectly aligned and glued to each other most of the time. 

Sometimes, there were small streets on the sides.

Less than five minutes after leaving the cathedral, there were still no hobgoblins in sight. 

"It's too calm," Aito said. 

"Quite normal, hobs avoid approaching the cathedral," Rey replied. "Well, we are now far enough to see a few of them, though. Prepare yourselves. They usually hide in houses, apartments, rooftops, rooms. Pretty much anywhere they can. Oh, I'd advise you to keep a lookout for aerial att—" 

Thanks to the habit of looking up from time to time, developed by training with Gwen, Aito spotted something jumping from a rooftop with what looked like two daggers in hands. 

Blinded by the fake sun, Aito could barely make out its shape. However, its intention was definitely obvious. 

"Ambush!" 

With no time to lose, he lengthened his ax and pointed its pike side upward. Unable to change its trajectory in midair, the creature impaled itself on the pike, spitting dark green blood. 

At that moment, two windows opened on each side of the street. Arrows passed by those openings, flying towards Aito's team. 

The siblings swiftly dodged the first volley. Sheyla took out her morpho bow in short mode and returned the enemy shots. 

Two painful growls followed by two others resounded, confirming her hits. 

"BU SU GLAAA!"

Meanwhile, four grey creatures jumped out from balconies, intending to make aerial attacks. 

Ogoro grabbed two of them midair, using his binding string and steel wires, then smashed both creatures onto the ground headfirst. 

Aito took care of the other two, with his repeater and a vicious ax slash. 

Rey, standing on the side unharmed, clapped his hands. "Oho! Nicely done!" 

"You could have warned us beforehand that could happen, old man!" Ogoro exclaimed, seemingly unpleased. 

"Don't be angry old lad, I did try to warn you guys just before it happened," Rey said, misunderstanding Ogoro's grey hair for an old man's. 

Ogoro's brows twitched. He was the oldest of the team, but he wasn't THAT old. Thirty years old wasn't old, right? 

"Poison arrows," Sheyla said, examining an arrowhead coated with transparent liquid. 

"And poison daggers too," Aito said, a dagger in hand. 

"Yeah, be wary of those," Rey said. "Compared to the goblins of the fourth floor, all their weapons are coated with paralysis poison. It's just as strong as goblins' and will leave you unable to move for a while. You see hobgoblins, or hobs for short, like to keep their female preys alive to toy with them. Males, however, would be disposed of as soon as possible so that they can be ready for supper or they might just keep them alive somewhere to prevent their meat from rotting."