William didn't expect to hear about Aldric's encounter with Ariadne.
As an Oracle, Ariadne was blessed with the power to glimpse the future. Unlike Elliot's clairvoyance, the mysterious lady could activate her ability whenever she wished for it.
'My meeting with Aldric should be a coincidence, right?' William thought.
However, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling inside his head that the Oracle might have set things up for William to meet the Diabolical Hell Ape inside the Seventh Sanctum.
For the time being, William decided to ask subtle questions in order to verify his hunch.
"How did you meet her?" William inquired.
The Half-Elf knew that the Guardian of the Forest preferred to stay inside his Domain and not meddle with the outside world. Even when William came to ask for his help, the latter only said that he would help William if he could help him become a human.
"She came to my forest to look for me," Aldric replied. "She said that if I wanted to become Human, I should stop wasting my time in the Southern Continent and go to the Central Continent. I didn't know how she found out about my wish, but since a path has been opened up for me, I decided to take a leap of faith and come to the Central Continent with them."
"Wait!" William couldn't stop himself from stopping Aldric from continuing his explanation. "Ariadne and Eve are also here in the Central Continent?"
"Do you know them?" Aldric raised an eyebrow. "Yes. The three of us traveled together, but, we parted ways after she led me to this place. I've been here for two months, so that means that we arrived here in the Central Continent a month ago."
William sighed because of the missed opportunity. If only he had known that his little cousin, Eve, and Ariadne had arrived in the Central Continent, he might have gone to look for them.
After reigning in his emotions, William inquired if Aldric knew where Ariadne and Eve were headed. Unfortunately, the Diabolical Hell Ape didn't know, so the Half-Elf's lead ended then and there.
'No matter,' William thought. 'After I leave this place, I will inform gramps that Eve is also in the Central Continent.'
"What a small world," Aldric said with a smile. "I didn't know that Eve was your cousin. She's quite an adorable girl."
"That she is. I'm worried about her safety." William scratched his head. "Did she bring her ducklings and that white goose with her?"
"Yes," Aldric replied. "They are an interesting bunch. Always following her around like she was their mother or something."
William only smiled at Aldric's reply. Eve had raised the ducklings since they were chicks, so all of them treated her as their mom. As for the White Goose, it was her bodyguard.
Although a Millennial Beast was a powerful deterrent in the Southern Continent, the same couldn't be said in the Central Continent where countless Myriad Beasts could wander freely.
The Half-Elf could only hope that Ariadne would be strong enough to protect her cousin from Humans, as well as these dangerous vagabonds that would appear when one least expected them.
"Well then, I guess it's time to go," Aldric stood up. "You said that there is a chance that the Hall of Thunder is located in the north, right? Let's head there first."
William nodded as he followed the Diabolical Hell Ape outside the cave. With a powerful Beast to accompany him in his journey, the Half-Elf would have a higher chance in reaching his destination without falling prey to the Territorial Myriad Beasts that stood in their way.
—–
Two days after William and Aldric traveled to the north, a certain group of monsters were making their journey to the west.
Just like Aldric, these three monsters had failed in the all-out-war for the golden fruit. Two of their members had died in the free-for-all battle for supremacy.
In the end, the one who managed to snatch the fruit from their grasp was the Alpha Crimson Flame Wolf, who brought its entire pack to the battlefield.
The Alpha Wolf had been ruthless, not caring if the members of its pack sacrificed their lives in the process. The battle for the golden fruit lasted for an entire day, and the ground was littered with bodies of Myriad Beasts that died during this intense struggle.
After acquiring the Golden Fruit, the Alpha Crimson Flame Wolf returned with its pack to their den. No monster dared to pursue them because they held the absolute advantage in numbers.
All the monsters knew that after a few days, a new powerful overlord would be born inside the Seventh Sanctum. The Terror Rats knew that it would be futile to snatch the fruit back from the Ruthless Alpha Wolf.
Because of this, the Black-Striped Terror Rats decided to hunt down the culprit that was responsible for snatching the fruit, and attracting so many additional monsters along the way.
If only the battlefield had remained in the small clearing, the Terror Rats were confident that they would have won the skirmish against the dozens of Myriad Beasts that decided to try their luck.
They held a vendetta against the Diabolical Hell Ape for foiling their plans to obtain the Golden Fruit, and decided to hunt him down.
During the chase for the golden fruit, they had used their ability "Trace" on the Diabolical Hell Ape, to prevent him from escaping their grasp. For an entire month, they would be able to follow Aldric's tracks, even if the latter were to fly in the sky.
Several squeaks reverberated in the air as the three monsters communicated with the other Terror Rats in the vicinity. Soon, dozens of giant rats ran across the forest, forming an unstoppable force.
Because of this, no Myriad Beasts dared to block their path as they made their way towards the West.
"Squeak!" the leader of the Black-Striped Terror Rats raised its head as it continued to run to the West.
""Squeak!""
The other Terror Rats voiced out their support as they ran behind their leader.. They were out for vengeance, and they would not stop until the target of their hatred was ripped to shreds by their very own hands.
