There is a forest not far away from Elder known for being a dark and confusing trap for the inexperienced traveler. Tall and wide trees blocked the sun with their thick canopy while hungry spirits and dangerous predators roamed the woods in search of their next snack. Traveling through here was not recommended to anyone but the bravest of explorers, and even then there would be those bold enough that would want to see the legends from themselves. Witch houses, ghosts, monsters and other myths were quite common in this place.

But none of this would be a problem for the El Search Party. Having scouted the forest already in the past, the team marched today through the woods in a petit comite. Elsword and Aisha lead the way, already knowing the forest and its tricks, while Eve and Chung follow them not far away. They were summoned to assist one of the few inhabitants of the woods. A request to hunt a dangerous wild boar. Although it was a task way below the heros, there wasn't anyone willing to take it, and so they decided to invest a little of their free time in this.

Still, they knew nothing about people living in this forest, and the map they were given to reach their home was way too vague. What was supposed to take them a few hours extended until sunset. They could hardly believe it when, after crossing a river, saw an old cabin in the middle of the woods. Surrounded by an old road and protected with the remnants of a cobblestone wall, a large wooden house stood in the middle of the forest. The walls had lost its color with the passing of the years, and the wheat roof had started to come off already, but they could see light from the windows and a steady stream of smoke coming out of the chimney that bathed the surroundings in the scent of food.

They hurried to knock on the door and it opened itself with a long creaking sound. A short figure lurched in the shadows of the hallway to their way before finally being illuminated by the sunset filtering through the door. An old woman walking with her back bend and her face covered in a black veil welcomed them. She gestured for them to come inside and greeted them with a dry and labored voice.

"Oh… you must be the huntsmen that my husband requested…" She said as she walked in front of the group. They looked at each other before following the lady inside "He's out right now, we weren't expecting anyone to take this job after all this time…"

"It's fine, we can get to work right away," Aisha said, trying to get the rest of the group to say something as well. But the faces she got were quite off the mark. Elsword was looking like a famelic dog, his mouth already opened as they approached the back of the house. Eve was too focused on keeping her beautiful white dress from bruising against the mold and dust that covered everything in this house and Chung seemed distracted checking out his pistols.

"Don't worry, don't worry! We already accounted for guests when we asked for help. He'll be back tomorrow so why don't you rest until then?" The old lady suggested. She pointed to the stairs on the corridor and said "There's a few empty rooms above, please make yourself comfortable and then come down for dinner."

Aisha sighed. She was hoping to be done with this quest in a few hours and it was starting to turn into a huge time sink. They had no other choice but to obey the old woman and head upstairs. The place looked like it used to be an inn or something. The second floor was just a corridor with different rooms behind each door, all of them with their own bathroom and all. It even looked way bigger from the inside than the outside and, to their relief, these rooms seemed to be in a much better state than the rest of the house, excluding the scent of secluded space and the thin film of dust covering everything.

"I don't think this is an inn. This is probably a farm house that used to house the many laborers that the terrains surrounding this place needed, before the forest claimed it all to itself," Eve said, following Aisha to one of the rooms. The two girls took one room at the end of the hallway while Elsword and Chung settled for the one right next to the stairs. Chung told Elsword to go down first, while he prepared his cannon and weapons for tomorrow's hunt. Elsword teased him a bit about eating everything and leaving nothing to him, but Chung didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes seeing as he was already immersed in his gears. The journey here was really long enough to kill anyone's mood after all.

Walking down the stairs, Elsword followed the light of the only lit room. It was a big dining room, with long tables set to eat already, although there were only two other people in there. Eve and Aisha already took their seat. Without much of a word they waited. They were hungry already but the wait felt specially long due to the intense silence of the room. Even the sounds of the forest seemed to have quiet down. Without anything to talk about, the team just waited there.

The old lady finally entered the room, carrying a huge pot on a cart that still bubbled with boiling water.

"Sorry for the wait my dears, this old lady can't do stuff as fast anymore…" the woman said with a light laugh. She served the three of them whatever it was that she cooked. It was a dark colored stock with a few bones on each spoonful. It smelled more of vegetables than meat, and the texture was more solid than liquid. Still, being as hungry as they were, the three of them dug in.

Despite the ugly looks it had, the food tasted actually good. Elsword really enjoyed it, but looking around he saw Eve and Aisha looking at each other with a skeptical look. Finally, Aisha leaned near Elsword to whisper into his ear.

"I know that she's an old lady and all, but you really don't have to pretend to enjoy this…"

"What are you talking about? The food is good?" Elsword answered.

They finished eating. Elsword had to help the two girls after all, and retired to their rooms. Elsword felt quite sleepy after eating that much. He barged into his room and looked around. It looks like Chung wasn't there. Maybe he was taking a bath or something, but Elsword was too tired right now to check. He dropped in his bed and immediately fell asleep.

When Elsword woke up, Chung wasn't in the room. He didn't hear the bird chirping or the chickens singing, rather he was awoken when the sunlight shone on his face. It was already late in the morning and Elsword couldn't believe that not only had he slept over, but also Chung didn't wake him up. He hurried to get ready and exited his room.

Despite looking everywhere, he couldn't find Chung. Elsword scratched his head wondering where that dude could be. His train of thought was interrupted when the old lady appeared from one of the rooms, carrying a huge wooden spoon with her.

"Ah… you're awake. My husband is pretty late, but don't worry. Go tell your friends to come down already, lunch will be ready in a few minutes."

With that, the old lady left and Elsword headed back upstairs. He knocked on Aisha's door and was able to hear her on the other side, screaming in a rush.

"Wait! I'm coming!" She said. Elsword could hear the sound of something dropping on the ground as well as some hurried steps towards the door. Aisha half-opened it, peeking from behind with her hair slightly wet and covering herself with a bathrobe "What?"

"Hum… Is everything ok?" Elsword asked. Seeing her he most likely interrupted her bath, but her face was quite red and her hair was totally messed up. She just nodded and kept hanging on the other side of the door, covering the inside of the room with her body "Do you know where Chung is? He wasn't in the room when I woke up."

"No… I haven't come out of my room in the entire morning," Aisha answered quite fast.

"I see… And where's Eve? Maybe she knows…" Elsword asked. He saw Aisha hesitate for a moment before answering.

"I don't know. Maybe they went out together?"

Aisha's vage way to answer his questions felt a bit extrange, but Elsword let it go. He told Aisha about lunchtime and headed downstairs. He wondered if Chung really left. His cannon and weapons were still in his room, it would be weird for him to leave without these. Today's menu was more of what they had yesterday. While Elsword was quite happy about it, Aisha seemed to be even more let down than last night. He could see her mood drop as the dense grub was put in front of her. She still thanked the old lady and forced herself to eat that thing.

Elsword was still wondering where his friends were, and now he also worried about Aisha's weird behaviour. Maybe eating something that she disliked so much was making her feel sick. Whatever it was, it started to fade away, as Elsword felt quite sleepy already. He couldn't help it but to rest his face on his arms and take a nap on the very same table they were eating.

Elsword finally opened his eyes when the sound of a plate near him woke him up. The old lady had served him another helping of stock. He looked around, there was nobody in the dining room and it was already dark outside.

"What time is it?" Elsword asked, already grabbing the spoon to eat.

"Ah… it's dinner time."

"Where is everyone?" He asked. Eating the same thing three times in a row was already starting to feel stale, but he wouldn't complain. It was better than to be hungry, although he should eat less otherwise he would just fall asleep again.

"Oh, you mean the people that arrived with you?" The lady asked, coming back from the kitchen "They left earlier."

"To where?" Elsword questioned.

"I don't know. This forest is quite big, and it has been years since I dared to venture outside the house myself," the lady answered with a high pitched laugh.

"This forest is quite big and dangerous. If you wander around, you could end in some very dangerous situations…" she kept on rumbling "Chased by spirits, lost in the woods, even in the pot of a witch!"

Elsword stopped eating and listened to that woman's laugh. Were his friends in danger?

"But you would know if they were in danger right? You know them well enough? They even say that people have their own taste. Well, you're the only one who could eat my food so I guess it's true huh?"

Elsword was about to stand up and go to the kitchen himself, but a hand touching his shoulder made him jump with a girly yelp.

"Elsword? What's wrong with you?" Eve asked. Elsword winked twice before finally realizing that his friends were all staring at him. They were with an old man that was missing an eye and carried a huge boar on his shoulder like it was nothing. He laughed at the boy when he saw Elsword scared like that.

"So this is the kid that could eat that old hag food? I'm sorry for you kid, but my wife's hands are so shaky she ends up adding way more than she should to the food. No wonder you were knocked out instantly," He said, before letting out a loud laugh.

"Oh, don't mind that stupid old man, just enjoy the food kid," the lady said, coming out of the kitchen to hit her husband with the oversized spoon.

"Elsword, you look pale. Are you feeling ok?" Eve asked again "If you're ok, we're done with our quest. You really just spend the day eating and sleeping?"

"Humm… I guess," He said, feeling a bit dizzy after the surprise "I thought that… actually, nevermind. Let's get out of this forest already."