《Arduous New World》 Prologue Brave New World Prologue A bright glint followed the fishing bait as it flew through the air, in it the reflection of the sun and ocean glimmered in tandem as the bait spun in circles, the waves gently moved as the bait landed with a plop in the vast ocean. Edra had a satisfied and relaxed look on his face as he stood on his small rowboat that bopped slowly to one side and then to the other in coherence with the waves, a small radio was playing rockabilly with a scrunch because of a bad connection. Yet as soon as the bait plopped into the water the waves stopped rolling, and the radio turned off, no static noise, it simply turned off. Edra turned around in the boat carefully, so as not to fall out, the ocean was still. Not the usual calm waves kind of still, but still, as in there wasn¡¯t a wave! Edra felt like his heart went into his throat ¡®what sort¡¯a nonsense is this!¡¯ he thought, feeling a creepy panic encroaching. He gazed around once more, and looked up in the sky it was then that he noticed that the clouds had stopped moving too. He nervously dipped his finger in the water and lifted it up into the air, his heart beating harder and harder with each passing second; the wind too had stopped blowing. The small row-boat nearly toppled as Edra plunged down in a sitting position, he wasn¡¯t a religious man, but this was by far the most eerie experience he had experienced up until this point in his life. It was when his panic was at its highest that his thought process was interrupted. The voice thundered and sent Edra¡¯s mind rumbling with fear and unknown reverence. The voice now visibly different ¡°wha¡­¡± Edra whispered to himself in confusion, but he did not have time to consider further as the voice continued in a gentle almost artificial sounding female voice. Edra¡¯s mind was blank as he felt the hot sun warm his skin ¡®what the f*ck!¡¯ he thought. ¡°WHAT THE F*****CK!¡± he yelled as loud as he could his voice traversing out over the ocean, his only listener. Before the countdown made it to zero though, Edra¡¯s boat and he himself disappeared, leaving the calm ocean be as if he was never there. The ocean however was only calm for a few more seconds, before the converging began, and the clouds began roiling the tectonic plates split! Dark clouds spelled doomsday as lava cracked through the earth as the three parallel earths combined. . . . . Edra was just about to yell again, but before he could he realized that he was elsewhere, in an infinite black space with purple aurora borealis passing through in in several spots, serving as the only reminder that there was a sense of distance in this place ¡®wherever this place was¡¯ Edra thought to himself, first the voice, and now this? Was it all part of the plan, was every single human in a similar situation, and the boat was just hanging there? Edra was just about to put his leg over to see what would happen when his transistor radio turned back on, playing white noise, on every channel Edra found to his dismay. Regardless of the ridiculous situation he found himself in, it was difficult for his brain to accept, it all felt like he had taken some bad mushrooms and was in some sort of psychedelic dream.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Time passed by in the infinite looking space. Edra had realised that he didn¡¯t get hungry, or thirsty, even though he had no idea how long had passed, but he had at least slept, so it must¡¯ve been almost a day. Edra began yelling out to someone, anyone. But there was no answer, only the beautifully uncanny aurora borealis. It wasn¡¯t long after this that Edra put his foot over the edge again, in his mind he should be able to float the same way the boat did, so he put his foot over the edge and pressed it down, only to be met with nothingness, he could feel his heart stop, if he fell, would he fall for an eternity? He wasn¡¯t that desperate yet. Without knowledge of time or space Edra simply enjoyed the view¡­ the view was no longer mysterious and beautiful, it made him want to puke! he felt like he had been trapped on his rowboat for a month or more! It was in his frustration that he all of a sudden noticed that a tearin the space opened a short distance away, like a glimpse into the world, he could see clouds and hear birds. Edra ran to the front of the boat and made ready to jump when the hole was covered all of a sudden, with a large yellow eye with a deep black slit pupil, whatever it was it was looking in, straight at Edra. ¡°What sorcery is this man?¡± it rumbled like thunder crashing in Edra¡¯s mind the voice brash and ancient sounding. Edra could feel something happened in his head, but he felt no pain in this space, and so from his solitude he just went with it fearlessly; happy to finally have someone to speak with ¡°I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t know what is going on! Who are you? Where am I? can you get me out?¡± he yelled. ¡°I cannot enter this space in which you reside, man, and I do not have time to try and get you out, I must leave now, man¡± The eye blinked and disappeared from the rip. Edra just stood flabbergasted, and then the rip closed again. Edra began cursing the creature, and his vile existence, he had been too shocked at its dismissal to try and jump through. For the next while he simply kept turning around ready to jump. It wasn¡¯t long before another tear appeared in the space, this time further away, however Edra could see a desert area and a tree. It was too far away however, much too far too jump, Edra sat down exasperatedly ready to give up on this rip in space, but then he saw his saving grace, his trusty fishing pole! Could it work? Was he crazy? Edra didn¡¯t care, he swung the fishing pole with all the accuracy of an amateur angler, and on the fourth try his line went through, and caught onto the tree, looping around one of the dry branches, he began reeling in the line, in the process the boat moved in the direction of the rip. Edra was careful though, he wanted to hurry, but the angle was far above him so he could not jump there, and he was afraid that the line or the branch would break if he pulled too hard, the strangest thing of all was that he didn¡¯t feel any inertia pulling him downwards as he was reeling himself upwards. A scorching sun baked the cracked desert landscape, the air vibrating in the heat. Edra stood in his rowboat in front of the weary tree, he felt the burning sun and the uncomfortably hot wind, but he felt alive! He was only shocked for a moment before he began jumping around in joy! Yelling profanities and anything he felt like, he rolled on the hot ground like a pig in mud. However he quickly realised that his situation wasn¡¯t too good, at least in the infinite space he could not feel hungry, thirsty or tired, but here he almost instantly felt thirsty, however there was nothing, anywhere! ¡®What sort of luck is this!¡¯ before he could think more or curse more a transparent hud popped up in front of him in black with white writing.
Bug fixed: Calculating & solving
Chapter 1: Row Row Row my Boat Edra stared at the small screen with hollow soulless eyes ¡®what¡¯s going on?¡¯ it was a clear simple thought that had become his go to thought since he first heard the system voice ¡°WHAT IS GOING ON!!¡± he yelled desperately slamming his fist into the trunk of the withered tree, bruising his knuckles and leaving a fresh splatter of blood and skin on the trunk. [SOLVED ¨C Solution found] [Recalculating character ¨C Edra Walker ¨C 10% completion] Edra broke at this moment, he hadn¡¯t shed a tear in the desolation of the infinite space, he hadn¡¯t cracked then. However, now being out in the real world everything was dawning on him, and perhaps also his mortality as he looked at the endless desert around him, with his only companion being a transparent screen. He leaned powerlessly against the tree and slid down into a sitting position and wept, he wept because he did not know where his family was, he did not know where his friends were, he wept for a world broken and for himself for suffering so. He felt a nudge in his mind and looked at the screen. [Recalculating character ¨C Edra Walker ¨C complete] [Accept recalculation y/n ¨C will automatically initiate in 24h] Edra stared at the screen for hours, the sun setting in the distance colouring the landscape in hues of orange. [Accept recalculation y/n ¨C will automatically initiate in 16h] Eventually he pulled himself together and wiped his face with his shirt ¡®I¡¯d be damned if I die, I¡¯d be damned if I don¡¯t, but I sure as hell owe it to my folks to not just sit here passively, yes I accept the recalculation!¡¯ he though with a strong will permeating through his mind.
Recalculation initiated 1 ¨C Destroying any machines or machine made items or buildings on person Edra Walker. 2 ¨C System active for person Edra Walker. 3 ¨C Rewarding person Edra Walker for fixing system bug. 4 ¨C Demerits Edra Walker for being a system bug, regardless of intention.
Edra couldn¡¯t help but be flabbergasted at the shamelessness of the system, he was obviously just fishing, how could he be rewarded and receive a demerit for the same thing. Before he could think further a bunch of notifications popped up in front of him. [System active for Edra Walker] [Title gained ¨C One Who Traversed Time] [Title gained ¨C One Who Survived the Void] [Title gained ¨C Obstructer of the System] [Title gained ¨C One who communes with dragons] [Title gained ¨C Pest Control] [Conflict with titles Pest Control & Obstructer of the System ¨C calculating new title] [Title recalculated, title gained ¨C Conundrum] Still in a daze and not really sure about what was going on, or how to feel about it Edra simply got up and got ready to turn the rowboat over as he had read that the night in the desert was freezing, and he already started feeling the temperature drop. When he got up his clothes fell apart except his belt which was handmade, everything else turned to dust, the same happened with the transistor and several items in the rowboat, luckily the boat didn¡¯t break down as it was handmade in an old fashioned way. Naked and with nothing but a belt Edra crawled under the boat, just in time too as the wind kicked up and the sand started blowing everywhere. Luckily for Edra the desert didn¡¯t get as cold as the deserts he had read about in the old world. While he was lying under the boat going through the longest night of his life a new message popped up.
Quest initiated No lvl requirement Survive the desert and find a way out of the desert. Reward +1lvl or random desert related reward Accept Quest Y/N
What was he supposed to do, say no, what would that accomplish? So he accepted it, shivering and butt-naked as he was. The following day he crept out from underneath the rowboat, which turned out to be difficult with all the sand that had covered the boat during the night. Edra stretched his body and sneezed hard, he had gotten the sniffles from the previous night¡¯s temperatures. He looked in all directions, but none of them seemed like a particularly good one, so he decided to walk towards the direction where the sun was rising from, figuring it would be easier to walk towards the direction of where the sun set or rose. He took a few steps and looked back at the rowboat, it had served him good, not just in the void as he figured it was called after the notifications last night, but also during the night time and the storm, who knew what sort a creatures lurked in the desert. He remembered seeing a title called one who communes with dragons; it could only refer to the creature he had seen in the first tear in the void. To abandon the boat or not abandon it, what would increase his survival rate? It was a strange sight, seeing a naked man push a small rowboat in the desert. He didn¡¯t do it just because of the cover of the previous night, but because it was the only reminder he had of the world before all of this happened, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how much time had passed considering the one title he had gained - one who traversed time -. As the sun passed him by it became harder and harder to find his direction, and he felt more and more exhausted, the thirst was the worst part, for that reason he decided to continue during the evening and nighttime instead as it hadn¡¯t been nearly as cold as he had thought originally. After four days he was reaching his end, he was shivering from thirst and lack of food, his body was weak and he felt like he was dying. But he felt strength from somewhere to continue, it was a strange feeling that made him continue onwards on pure will, this lasted him another day and a half where he then collapsed into his boat looking up at the starry sky, at least his last view would be beautiful he thought as he looked at the extraordinarily bright stars, it was then that he saw clouds gathering everywhere from out of nowhere. When he heard the first lightning strike it brought him out of his dying trance, he still couldn¡¯t move, but he wasn¡¯t dead yet, then the rain fell, a little at first, but more and more fell, he opened his mouth and felt the life-giving water fill his dried up body with vitality! The rain was cool and wonderful As Edra lay there he screamed out a primal sound from the deepest part of his soul, it contained his frustration his anger his sorrow and his unquenchable will to live! [Title gained ¨C Denying Death initiate] [Skill gained ¨C Invigorating Roar 1/10] It was a strange feeling for Edra as he gained the title, he felt as if his body got a boost, as if that part of him that refused to give up got a little stronger. After an hour of drinking the rain he realized that too much was falling and his boat was getting flooded little by little, he didn¡¯t mind too much though, it was nice. He could hear thunder and the roiling of the clouds, but now he felt as if he could hear it from ground level too. Edra finally sat up in the half full boat and squinted his eyes towards the sound; it was like a dark blanket approaching him stretching from one side to the other behind him. ¡°Shit!¡± he yelled when he finally realized what it was, he quickly rolled out of the boat and somehow moved his weary body as he began to try and turn the boat onto the side so he could empty it for water, but his feet kept slipping, he began panicking yelling out the new skill he had gained but nothing happened, in a last desperate attempt he roared out and he felt a surge of newfound strength allowing him to keep steady just long enough to get the water out of the boat whereas he let go and it fell back down, he quickly jumped back into the boat grapping onto the seat the best he could. He dared only look up one last time, as he saw the earthbound wall of water tower over him as it collided with his small rowboat, the boat began squeaking as it was thrown around, turned around and almost sunk. Somehow or the other Edra kept the boat afloat, utilizing his new skill to the best of his ability! This wore him down more and more. Finally the boat was steadily floating on the makeshift desert ocean, and he grabbed the ores and began paddling with the current helping him forward. Eventually he collapsed from exhaustion and the stars and moon poked out from the clouds reflecting in the disappearing desert ocean in the most mesmerizing way, not that Edra could see it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. For so long he thought he would be happy regardless of who he met after his long isolation, he was convinced that no matter what he would be joyful, but what awoke him was a languid scream, if he had had any strength he would have yelled something back, but he was too lacking in strength at this point, all he heard was some female yelling pervert over and over, he couldn¡¯t even open his eyes. The next couple of days were hazy at best, every time he opened his eyes he would be somewhere else, inside a tent, around a bonfire, looking up into the open. It was one afternoon while rocking side to side on a wagon full of hay that he took that one breath that restored all of his functions, he could feel small random drops of water splish and splash his face, when he opened his eyes he saw a gray cloudy sky. He sat up slowly, his body was sore, but he felt strengthened, and not as if he had half a foot in the grave. There was a coarse blanket covering his body, however he could feel that he was wearing light linen clothes underneath. He looked around and saw fields of green and wheat covering the hilly landscape, with random trees and rocky outcroppings; it was a completely different landscape than where he had just been. The man next to him was riding on a brown horse with spots. ¡°Aye, you awake lad¡± the light-skinned man asked joyfully, he wore a blue linen shirt and brown trousers and had an impressive beer belly, his age around 50 or so Edra estimated. ¡°Ah, yes I just woke up, I have so many questions¡± he said hoarsely coughing in the process his voice dry and strained from all of the skill activation and screaming in the desert. ¡°Well son we sure have a few questions ourselves, you nearly frightened the misses off her horse when we found you naked like that¡± the elderly man grinned jovially ¡°now that would¡¯ve been a sight¡± he continued in a laughing matter slapping his round belly. ¡°I heard that!¡± the lady driving the wagon snapped looking back at her husband. Edra couldn¡¯t help but laugh joyfully at the banter, it was so, normal. By evening they set up a campfire and heated up a stew. The man introduced himself as Ben and his wife as Hilde. Hilde was very matronly looking Edra thought to himself, she had kind facial features and hay blonde hair with streaks of grey. ¡°So how in Asot¡¯s name did you end up in a boat at the edge of the endless desert?¡± Hilde asked curiously, all but forgotten their first meeting. Edra sat in contemplation for a while, he wasn¡¯t sure what he felt so nervous about, it wasn¡¯t like it could hurt him to tell them about him, so he did, he told them what had happened from beginning to end. He did notice that they both looked very shocked and they did withdraw a little from their previous open selves, but what was he supposed to do, he knew nothing. Soon after they began to ask questions about the world before, and Edra gladly expounded and explained, reminiscing brought him much joy and sorrow, it was bittersweet, and somewhere along the story telling his tears began to drop, he didn¡¯t notice it at first until Hilde and Ben moved close to him and comforted him. He didn¡¯t know if they believed him, and he didn¡¯t care. Edra felt refreshed after talking about the past; he looked up at the same starry sky, the only difference was that it was brighter ¡°How long has it been?¡± he asked nervously. Ben and Hilde looked at each other ¡°It is common knowledge that the three worlds united in times immemorial, from the carnage the gods rose, and the war of the worlds began, this god that you speak of that governs all I do not understand, however we do have access to the system, as should you young man. We are currently in the third Era of the lord Astair the 4¡¯th¡± Ben said surprisingly softly. ¡°No I didn¡¯t say god I said system and simulation¡± Edra spoke once more exasperatedly. ¡°Yes the gods provide us guidance through the system, we heard you lad¡± Ben spoke again more clearly. ¡°that¡¯s not¡­¡± then it dawned on him, millenniamust have passed, how was he communicating with these people, and why was it that they misheard everything he said about the system or the universe being a simulation, he tried a few more times but to no avail ¡°does everyone speak English?¡± he asked instead. ¡°English?¡± Hilde looked confused ¡°Boy we speak Brutsh as this is the Brutsh country, part of the Pahain continent¡± her answer only leaving Edra with more questions than answers. They were good people, they had saved his life, they had taken care of him and clothed him, there was no reason for them to lie or trick him here, then why did he understand what they were saying with such clarity? Ben broke his stream of thoughts with a question of his own ¡°Edra, you say that the system wasn¡¯t around before, do you perchance not know how to use it?¡± What was there to know, he had gotten titles and a skill what else was there to it? ¡°What do you mean, isn¡¯t it just automatic?¡± ¡°Whether you speak truth or not, you just made your story more believable¡± Hilde spoke pouring some hot stew into a wooden bowl for Edra and then Ben. They both savored the smell and when Edra took his first spoonful he felt more alive than he had felt for a long time, food was live! The fatty meat and strong soup livened him up. Hilde continued ¡°You have to activate your status screen to navigate your journal, skills, titles and attributes, this is basic knowledge, so either you are a simpleton or you speak the truth¡± Edra had never played games much, and especially not rpg¡¯s he was a retro platformer guy when he did play, so he didn¡¯t know too much. ¡°Okay I¡¯ll try¡± first he spoke out loud status screen, which earned him so warm laughter from the couple whereas they explained that he simply had to think it.
Basic Information Race: Human Class: Classless 0/0 Age: 23 Subclass: Locked Level: - Exp to next: - Active Title Set as None
Attributes Health: 21/21 Mana: 5/5 Stamina: 11/11 Vitality: 10 Endurance:1 Intelligence: 5 Magic: 5 Willpower: 10 Strength: 2 Dexterity: 1 Soul power: 50 Resistance Heat: 5% Soul: 35% Void: 50% Death: 10% Necromancy: 10% Chronomancy: 10%
Navigation Bar [Journal] [Titles] [Skills] Active Blessings None
Edra didn¡¯t really know what the stats meant, were they low? Were they high? His soul power seemed high but he certainly didn¡¯t know? He then navigated to his journal and saw that he had succeeded in his quest, and was prompted to take his quest reward. [Quest rewards denied ¨C Class required to gain levels] [Automatically initiating second reward] [Jackal¡¯s ring of defy faith : +100 luck, one time use, lasts 5 seconds] The ring automatically appeared in his hand, the couple didn¡¯t seem to care as if a magically appearing ring was the most normal thing in the world. Edra then navigated to his titles.
Active Inactive
Denying Death: Initiate
Special Titles One Who Survived the Void One Who Traversed Time One Who Communes with Dragons Conundrum Special Titles
By thinking of the titles individually Edra could see what they did. [Denying Death: Initiate ¨C You walked a fine line between living and dying, nothing but a novice still: (+10%) resistance to death, necromancy and spells and skills related to these, vitality +10] [One Who Survived the Void ¨C The endless void is mysterious and has claimed the lives of those far beyond yourself: (+10%) resistance to the void, magic +5] [One Who Traversed Time ¨C A man out of place, and out of time: (+10%) resistance to chronomancy, Willpower +10] [One Who Communes with Dragons ¨C A dragon gifted you with its language, it was miracle that you lived to tell the tale: Soul power +50, intelligence +5, learnt the language of the dragons and any dragon subspecies, mastering the language of the dragons is hard! Learnt all of the languages spoken by your race, and the dwarves whom have close connections with the Dragons] Well that explained some of the stats, but he didn¡¯t see where his soul resistance, endurance or heat resistance came from, so he went back to look at his journal, and saw an entry called past events. There were the titles gained upon arrival. But he saw an event even previously. [Survived a dragon gifting you its language to communicate with you +35% soul resistance] Looking through the events he also saw the remaining two. [Pushed yourself to the limit in the scorching desert +5% heat resistance] [Surpassed your physical boundaries in the throes of disaster +1 Endurance]
Active Skills Passive Skills
Invigorating Roar 2/10 Communes with Dragons
Already knowing what the communes with dragons skill provided Edra looked at the active skill. [Invigorating roar 2/10: Upon activation for 5s +5Strength +5Vitality +5Soul Power ¨C upon ending lose 5% maximum health. Cooldown 10minute] ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m looking at here¡± He said naively, and the couple said that he could show them his status screen if he joined their party. After clamoring about his strange titles the couple calmed down, they definitely believed the young man now, they also explained what the stats meant, Vitality was maximum health and health regen, endurance was a boon to maximum stamina and health as well as the regeneration to them, and was a somewhat difficult stat to acquire for most common-folk so the couple didn¡¯t know too much about it. Intelligence determined thought process and magic damage and affected the mana regeneration too, magic determined the mana-pool and mana regeneration. Dexterity was nimbleness, and they knew nothing about soul power, and albeit they had heard of will-power as a stat before, it was not something they had had any knowledge on. What was interesting to Edra was that the status screen would get more advanced the more you traversed, for example almost everyone would end up with a reputation bar. Overall they were very apologetic that they didn¡¯t know more, but they had simple lives and classes the wife a merchant and the husband a farmer, they didn¡¯t seek the level grinding, only each other and their kids. As night fell Edra was looking into the darkness of the shared tent listening to the snores of the couple, the heavy breathing of the horse, the gentle dying embers of the fire and the calm meadow wind passing by the tent, of course there were also all of the sounds of nature, crickets and other insects, the occasional flapping of wings. What Edra found most shocking was by how okay he was with everything, yes he had been sad and shocked, but he had sort of just accepted it now. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it was related to the stats, maybe the will power or the soul power stat. He knew that the stats were amazing, his scraped hand had healed already, and he had somehow survived his trip and been nursed back, something which should have killed him; it was obviously related to the stats. ¡®Truly a brave new world¡¯ was the final thought that crossed his mind before he fell into a deep comfy sleep. Chapter 2: Bandits Bane Sunlight broke through the overcast clouds colouring parts of the landscape in a golden yellow. Edra enjoyed the trip very much, he was relaxed, he had escaped an impossible ordeal and he was alive, not that he wasn¡¯t sad about his loss, but he was alive! He took in a deep breath and overviewed the area that he was passing through, it was well farmed and taken care of, with patches of different earthen colours depending on what was being farmed on the specific fields, the farm houses he did see looked very normal some with hay roofs some without, one small house in particular had a grass roof with tiny goats grassing on the top. Hilde didn¡¯t know entirely how to feel about their new travelling companion, or where to put him for that matter, for now they¡¯d just wait and see what he¡¯d want to do when he had better adjusted. The entire story was absolutely ridiculous she thought, and had she not seen his status screen herself she would¡¯ve probably not believed any of it, although she did believe in the sorrow he spoke of. ¡°By the way boy, do not show your status screen so casually another time¡± she said with a friendly smile whilst giving the horse a ¡°yip¡± with a light slap of the reins. The horse responded and increased its speed. ¡°Why not?¡± Edra asked with an inquisitive gaze? Before Hilde could continue Ben rode up next to Edra ¡°It is generally very personal, and many of the details shows your weakness and not just your strengths, not everyone is so kindhearted as the two of us¡± Ben finished with a slap on Edra¡¯s back almost making him tumble over, at that they all laughed. As the last rays of sun were about to disappear the group of three came across a small band of people standing in front a crossroad. ¡°Hail travelers¡± A man with a large scar across his cheek said amiably, he together with the rest of the group wore coarse leather clothes, but there were no weapons to be seen aside from a dagger or two by the belts of two of them. ¡°Hail to you too, what might we help you with?¡± Hilde asked loudly so that they could hear her properly. ¡°We were heading towards Loktath, but we seem to be have reached a crossroads in every literal sense, and our guide here¡± He said while giving a young man next to him a knock over the head, much to the man¡¯s dismay ¡°does not remember which path to take, so I imagine you see our problem, we¡¯ve been stuck here all day, thanks Soktar that we came across you¡± The man with the scar finished with a big smile. ¡°Of course, it is our duty as fellow travelers of the roads to help one another¡± Ben proclaimed in a friendly manner ¡°You will come to the main road towards Loktath if you take the road on the left, us however are heading to Baril so we are turning right here¡± This made Edra frown, wasn¡¯t the couple going to Loktath? They had told him during the day that they were going to town to sell some skins and crops, however just as he was about to speak Hilde put her hand on his leg and gave him a knowing look, which made him shut up. ¡°Thank you for that, we will be on our way before the sun completely sets, may Soktar be with you¡± The band of travelers turned to the road on the left and began walking. Hilde moved the horse into motion and they were soon on their way. No one said anything, Edra didn¡¯t know if he should speak or not, but he was very confused and after a minute or two he couldn¡¯t keep quiet anymore, but Hilde just put her hand on his mouth and beckoned for him to be quiet. She quickly let go of him and whispered ¡°they were bandits, and they are probably following us, the one with the hoodie in the back was a beast-woman and they have excellent hearing, if they know that we are unto them, they might spring into action¡± Hilde¡¯s face was contracted into a stressed and serious look. Edra didn¡¯t know how the couple knew, or how they had communicated it, but they had far more experience than he did with these sorts of things so he simply followed their lead. Night time was encroaching covering the landscape in darknessamazing Edra at how dark the night was when the clouds covered the sky. The horses were moving about a bit restlessly so Ben went over to calm them down while Hilda and Edra were setting up the campsite next to the road in the flickers of a lantern hanging off of a stick which Hilde had stuck into the ground. Hilde moved over to Edra to help him with the tent and some rope ¡°Be quiet and listen¡± She whispered seriously ¡°continue what you¡¯re doing! I do not have time to explain now, I will when it is over, we will prepare the tent as usual, but go directly to bed, without eating dinner, I will give you a short sword and when you hear the signal you stab whoever is in front of you, we have to be fast!¡± Edra didn¡¯t know what to say, but he felt his heart thumping violently, he barely had time to open his mouth when Hilde interrupted him ¡°You¡¯ll know the signal, just get the tent ready with me¡±. As such they continued to set up the camp in the dank temperature with overcast clouds allowing a glimpse of the moonlight to break free and give the previously calm landscape an eerie silver glow. With every rustle of a branch, with every movement of a leaf and with every shake in the canvas of the tent he felt his adrenaline circulate. When ben came inside he nearly jumped up, but somehow kept his body still, Ben greeted them both as if nothing was wrong and padded down a blanket at the entrance of the tent, after which he moved into his coverage and bid them both good night, once more as if nothing was wrong, Edra couldn¡¯t even detect a treble in his voice. Until this point he thought he had fully accepted his new reality, yet now he realized he truly hadn¡¯t, fear was evident and coursed through his body together with the adrenaline making his back drenched in a cold sweat. Time went by, and yet no one came, how long had it been since the camp had been set? His grip on the hilt of his sword was drenched in sweat; however he kept it in an iron grip unrelenting without loosening, his hands long since cramped stuck. It was just a vague moment, but he saw it! A shadow passing by in the lantern light outside the tent, he felt like puking, did he live only to die now? It was the last stray thought he had before everything lit up in a beautiful inferno in front of the tent, and a shard of glass ripped through the tent and landed next to Edra, he realised it was the lantern that had exploded, but how? Was not something he had time to contemplate because all hell broke loose, a myriad of curses broke out in front of the tent and a guy ran in from the entrance with a grim look on his face, that would be his last look as the carpet all of a sudden whipped up with a huge hook spiking the man, blood splattered from the back where he was penetrated through. Another bandit broke through the side of the tent with his sword, but was met with the muzzle of an old fashioned looking rifle that exploded in his face, it was Hilde who had crouched up on her knees in a steady position and fired of the gun. ¡°NOW!¡± she yelled and she and Ben ran out to face the intruders. Edra wasn¡¯t far behind, all of the adrenaline pushed his body into motion instantly, he flew out of the tent passing through the spiked man, when he passed him by it was as if in slow-motion, the flames from the front casting shadows on him making his death look even more grotesque and had Edra had time to think about the sight, had he been given a second or more he might¡¯ve covered and retreated. ¡°You..!¡± was the only word the beast-woman had time to utter before Edra sailed his blade into her face, it wouldn¡¯t penetrate? Why wouldn¡¯t it penetrate? so he stabbed again and again, until he was slapped to the side with unearthly strength, his body rolling over flames and shards of glass. The Beast-woman turned to the woman whose rifle was the only sound deafening out the bandits¡¯, who were screaming every time she pulled the trigger. She only got to take a step or two before she felt the blade sink into her back, it was that mosquito from earlier, she felt her vitality ebb a trickle with every unrelenting stab. The danger wasn¡¯t in the stab, but the distraction, and the distraction was deadly and at the flash of a muzzle her vitality hit zero and she passed away. It was easy pickings afterwards, the husband and wife duo cleaned out the bandits one at a time, eventually stabbing and shooting the guy who had broken through the tent and was stuck on the spike, apparently the spike had been laced in some special poison and paralyzed the man, luckily he had been one of the strongest fighters who had been paralyzed and not one of the pawns. In the end the couple sawed off the head of the paralyzed man and the beast-woman and put their heads in a small bag, then they took the valuables off of the bandits and threw it in some hemp bags as well and loaded up the wagon with it. At the end they gathered the bodies and debris and put it on fire. Meanwhile Edra was puking, his hands finally dropping the smeared blade, his body collapsing in a tremor ¡®oh my god, what have I done I killed her?! But if I didn¡¯t they would¡¯ve killed us, shit shit!¡¯ it was while he was wallowing in his self-pity that he felt a blanket cover him and two steady hands help him up, it was Hilde, she was speaking to him, but he heard none of her words, all he felt was a pressure on his ears and a small sound almost like a kettle boiling that kept increasing in volume. It wasn¡¯t until a while later while they were carefully making their way down the dark country highway that the sound reached its peak only to disappear at that very moment. ¡°¡­Lucky this time, but we might not be so next time¡± Ben finished his sentence while taking a long sip from a leather wine-pouch, he passed it on to Hilde, who took a gulp. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes bloodshot ¡°with risk comes reward, I gained almost a full level from those bandits, don¡¯t tell me that you didn¡¯t gain any experience, and the reward for catching the ring-leaders of the highway bandits are sure to bring us some coin, and possibly also some experience!¡± she took another swig of the pouch and passed it to Edra whereas she continued ¡°however I do agree husband, maybe we should settle in the city with our kids after this, if I hadn¡¯t had some artifacts from before I became a merchant this would¡¯ve been it for us¡± she shook her head in terror and grabbed the wine pouch out of Edra¡¯s hands before he could take a swig of his own and took a big gulp before returning the pouch to Edra ¡°take some boy, killing does not conform with me either, even after having been a hunter for a long time I still need a drink, be that man or animal¡± her eyes having clearly calmed down from the alcohol, her face Solemn in the rays of the rising sun. Edra took a big gulp and passed on the wine and just like that the three of them continued on in silence towards Loktath, the sun of dawn bringing new life with it.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. . . . . The remaining two days went by rather uneventfully, the closer to the city they made it, the more houses popped up, and the dusty dirt road, hilly landscapes and the accompanying fields changed to cobble and city outskirts composed of red clay brick and dark grey stone houses, with children playing and adults working and elderly playing chess or other board-games under shaded trees. The overcast weather had finally cleared up and bright rays of sunlight shone from a clear blue sky. Edra shaded his eyes as he looked up into the sky, the entire trip from his row-boat till now seemed like a passing dream, yet the evidence of the changes were stacked up around him. Looking around he couldn¡¯t help but wonder about the technology level of the world, and why it was so low, disregarding the other parallel worlds, at least his own should¡¯ve had people who could advance technology, so why was it that he didn¡¯t see any, but obviously some sort of guns existed, and even here in the outskirts of town he saw drainage and manholes, hinting at a more advanced infrastructure than he originally suspected from the farms and farmhouses he had seen on the way, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how long had passed? Hilde drove the carriage towards a small guard-house located not too far away from a short city wall that encircled a fairly large area, but considering the short stature of the wall it wouldn¡¯t appear that Loktath was a big or central city of any sort; Ben rode his horse over first and got a hold of some of the guard personnel. ¡°So you country folk caught yourself a bounty huh¡± a hard faced square-jawed man asked in a not so questioning manner. He wore a faded black leather jerkin, with a red upper garment that bore the mark of a fish on the left chest, he didn¡¯t wear a helmet showing an impressively bald head, it was evident though that the guards wore helmets as everyone else had a leather cap on with a feather stuck to the side; Edra noticed curiously. Hilde picked up the hemp bag with a buzz as it was surrounded by flies and handed it over to the guard officer. He took a quick look and compared the heads to a wanted poster he had been handed by a subordinate. ¡°Well done well done¡± He spoke and gave them a hard glance, his eyes resting a bit longer on Edra who was the odd one out ¡°I¡¯ll write you up a notice so you can pick up your reward at the magistrates office in town¡± He gave the bag to one of the younger guards who had a green face from seeing the contents, and turned back into the office whereas he wrote up the reward notice and stamped it. The whole process was surprisingly stream-lined there was no heavy corruption or dismissal of the reward, he felt slightly betrayed by popular media from his own time, but was mostly just grateful that the process was over with without a hassle, and personally he was happy to be rid of the heads as they had begun smelling through the bag. ¡°Does your kids live in Loktath?¡± It was a simple question, innocent in and by itself, but the reaction he got from Hilde was stiff and uncomfortable. She looked at Edra for a moment before she answered ¡°No¡­ ¡° She took a deep breath ¡°It is not a big secret or anything, so I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m being so silly about it¡± She laughed haggardly at herself, earning her a pitiful glance from Ben ¡°Before Ben, back when I was a hunter I had kids too with a rich merchant, he wasn¡¯t a good man, nor was he a bad man, however unbeknownst to me he got himself in debt, the debtors burned down our home on a day where I was out hunting for animal skins¡± she sighed sorrowfully, looking older than ever. Edra realizing the implication quickly put his arm around the woman¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I understand you don¡¯t need to say more¡± he spoke gently, squinting his eyes in the bright sun. Hilde grabbed his hand for a bit ¡°Thank you Edra, you are very kind¡± She slowed down the horse while passing through the city gates because of the inbound traffic ¡°After the incident I left for the countryside in Siktath, without a clear destination or path, it was then that I met Ben, he found me passed out drunk on his farm, apparently I had been conversing drunkenly with his scarecrow¡± she smiled to herself, life coming back to her eyes ¡°It was his kindness that gave me purpose again¡±. Ben laughed warmly as he rode up close to the wagon ¡°Look at you speaking like an old woman!¡± Edra couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, receiving a long stare from Hilde albeit only for a moment before she too began laughing. The city itself wasn¡¯t too different from the outskirts, although there were far more shops and bigger buildings which were a mix of pure wooden structures and brick and stone buildings, they all had a timber-frame though, reminding Edra of an old German town he had visited once. The town was lively and people were going about their daily business, the men wore linen garments some with shirts and a vest others with long or short sleeved shirts, there were women with similar clothes but most of the women wore dresses in various styles and colours. There were a lot of leather pants too for the first time Edra began dreading his future. Hilde rode the carriage over to one of the stagecoaches; Ben let his horse stay there. Apparently only the locals within the city could use horses in the city, and only the ones who got permission from the magistrate, so everyone who came with a horse left them at one of the many stagecoaches that were located at the entrances of Loktath. Edra was like a country-bumpkin in the big city for the first time, his eyes darted everywhere left and right up and down, once in a while he¡¯d see a beast-man which made his eyes marvel, much to the discontent of the beast-man. Remembering his one status update he couldn¡¯t help but ask ¡°Why aren¡¯t there any dwarves around here?¡± Hilde looked at him inquisitively ¡°I¡¯m still not sure I buy your story son, but every now and then you convince me a little more, Loktath is a town on the outskirts of the kingdom of Brutsch, because it is on the outskirts it is close to one of the borders of the beast-man kingdom of SharthSaith therefore there is a lot of trade between the two¡± Hilde explained patiently ¡°Where the dwarves reside I do not know, I¡¯ve spent my entire live in Loktath and Siktath and have never encountered one, nor have I sought one out¡± she finished as a matter of fact, Ben just nodded grudgingly. Edra was somewhat flabbergasted at the response; it was similar to some people living a short while from the ocean but went a life-time without seeing it! After a few more questions he realised that they had never really looked into the geography of Brutsch or knew anything about other races on the Pahain continent. It only took a short while for the group of three to arrive at the magistrate¡¯s office; it was clearly marked on the front of the building in silver writing on a blue faded wooden sign. People could apparently go there to lodge official complaints or suggestions, and the magistrate would handle or dismiss such cases. It didn¡¯t take long for the three of them to meet with one of the employees, a young woman with short hair greeted them, she as well as her colleagues all wore blue robes that went a little past the waist, and black linen pants underneath.
G-level Bounty Quest Completed: F Grade
Capture or kill the rogue high-way bandits who have been ravaging the country-side of Loktath, territory Siktath. Completion of quest 80% complete Killed two of the leaders of the Bastard Bandit¡¯s Bandit Troupe and a large amount of their subordinates.
Quest Reward: 5 exp points, unlocked Bandit¡¯s Bane title track, - Reward received deductions as you were not officially in a party with any of the largest quest contributors, as well as your lack of participation.
[Because Edra Walker has no class, Experience points will be turned into experience towards Bandit¡¯s Bane title track] Edra received a fifth of the gold from the bounty as Hilde explained very nicely that they had had to use up some of their last artifacts. Edra of course was very grateful as he felt that he received too much in a way, at least as far as he could see from his quest reward he shouldn¡¯t receive very much. Afterwards they walked over to a merchant who decided that he¡¯d go take a look on their wares. The entire process happened fairly quickly and Edra blindly followed along, absorbing a bit of the conversation during the process. After Hilde sealed the deal on what they were selling she turned to Ben and had a few quick words. ¡°Edra what do you want to do?¡± The day had been long and the sun would be setting soon, but where would he set his life? ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± he answered earnestly with an awkward smile ¡°The two of you saved me, and I would like to pay you back somehow, but I don¡¯t know how to do that¡± ¡°Silly boy!¡± Ben spoke clapping him on the shoulder ¡°You don¡¯t owe us anything, you could¡¯ve ran off the moment we struck danger, but you didn¡¯t, and neither did you cower, had it not been for your distraction that beast-woman might¡¯ve gotten the better of us!¡± Ben¡¯s face was serious and grateful ¡°Just tell us what you¡¯d want to do, if you would like you could come work at the farm, although I don¡¯t see you as much of a farm-hand boy¡±. Edra laughed itching the back of his head ¡°I suppose not¡­ I guess I would like to learn more about this world, so I guess I¡¯ll try my hand at getting a class and maybe a job in town somewhere, and who knows maybe go travelling¡± he didn¡¯t know why, but he got a bit shy speaking of his future ideas like that, but he wasn¡¯t met with derision or mockery instead he only saw the warm smiles of the only two people he knew in this world. Chapter 3: Too Little Information is a Dangerous Thing! The man reflected in the mirror had deep moss green eyes and was around his mid-twenties and somewhat haggard looking and with unhealthily skinny, he was around 180 tall his brown hair unkempt. His cheeks were slightly hollow, the reflection moved its hand uncertainly up to its face moving the hand over the scraggly chin. Edra blinked a few times and sat back down on a creaky wooden bed, swinging his legs up on the bed and looked up into the ceiling. He had just departed from Ben and Hilde, only now realizing that he never got their last name. They had shown him a cheap inn called The Barman¡¯s Bevy, when he had walked inside he had seen lots of animal skins on the floor and some trophies mounting the walls, mostly just boar and elk though. The atmosphere in the inn wasn¡¯t too lively, and in the dark of night the inn utilized wax candles on the tables and lanterns on the walls, only over the counter was there some sort of yellow stone fragments giving off a warm light. Walking in had instantly turned the heads of the locals, Edra had felt their stares weighing his worth deciding how they should feel about him stepping onto their territory. There hadn¡¯t been any trouble though and Edra had gotten himself a relatively cheap room, or at least he thought so, according to Ben and Hilde it was. The building itself was a wooden building all wooden on the inside with no paint; the outside at least had white painted in-between the timber-framework. It had cost a bit extra to get a room with a private bathroom, but it was a luxury that he felt he could afford, at least for one night. It was obvious that the desert had done its toll on him, was the troubling thought passing through his mind as he studied the wooden ceiling. Ben and Hilde had been nice, and maybe he should¡¯ve gone with them, but there was a strong feeling of adventure gnawing in his stomach, it was a very human feeling, at least where he came from, where man in the pursuit of exploration had gone into the great unknown, he too felt this primal urge, and because of that he couldn¡¯t even consider the thought of working for Ben and Hilde, although he appreciated their friendship. They had given him the short sword he had used earlier, a couple of white and blue linen shirts as well as some pants and a pair of well-worn brown leather pants, which at Hilde¡¯s persistence Ben had finally given to him, as she had put it ¡°it¡¯s been well past a full moon since you could fit those pants you stubborn ol¡¯ goat!¡± Edra chuckled at the memory. He had also gotten a few living necessities, a comb made out of bone a toothbrush of sorts made out of wood, some sort of strange cream that worked as toothpaste, a big fat soap and a bright red knitted sweater for when the weather got colder. It had already gotten a little colder, there by himself, he felt as he pulled the sweater on and crawled under his blanket, closing his eyes. The hubbub of a morning in the city woke up Edra, there was the sound of wagons being pulled over the cobble and people talking and yelling and birds chirping. He was tired, and it was as if all of the weariness had caught up with him after his first night of proper rest. It took him almost thirty minutes just to get out of the bed and he finally made it down to the inn-keeper, soon afterwards one of the workers filled up his bathtub with hot water. There he was soaking himself and scrubbing his body with the soap washing off the dirt and feeling like he was being reborn. Afterwards he combed his hair and shaved off the stubble. He might still look a little sickly but he certainly looked a whole lot better than previously, it was also now that he noticed that he was still tanned from his walk in the desert, was it the vitality that had removed the blisters of the sun? He had many questions, and he intended to solve at least some of them during the day. Ben and Hilde had proposed that Edra went and got himself one of the core classes first, the core classes were learnable from instructors or from the class stones which could be found in major cities, as in not in Loktath. However Edra had no such intentions, at least not until he educated himself some more on the topic, so his first order of the day was to visit a library. The bustling hubbub of a city met him as he opened the old door and stepped into the sunshine, only to walk back inside the inn. ¡°The library? Young man you don¡¯t look like much of a scholar to me¡± The barkeep said offhandedly whilst cleaning the counter. He was a stout man with short hair, big eyebrows and small eyes, all in all he looked very conspicuous. ¡°Regardless of my looks, I am looking for the library¡± Edra said exasperatedly, he couldn¡¯t help but jest internally, ¡®just when was it a crime to ask for the location of a library!¡¯ he threw his hands up in defeat, earning him an askew glance from the barkeep. ¡°Don¡¯t get smart with me young man¡± the barkeep spoke as he stopped cleaning the desk and leaned in close to Edra ¡°but I suppose I was somewhat to blame, what business of mine is it anyhow?¡± After receiving instructions as to how he could find the library Edra left joyfully, only to realise he still hadn¡¯t eaten any food, so much to his annoyance he returned one last time to the inn for breakfast before he finally left. It was a strange feeling for Edra to walk through the streets of Loktath, every time he thought that he had accepted his new reality he felt that he was met with more mystery or change that made him review, on one hand he felt like he was walking through a town in an old European country, on the other hand he saw men and women carrying huge logs with ease, strange birds fluttered around making strange sounds, he quickly realised that everything was strange to him. He enjoyed it, back in his old life he had owned a small private tourist company, in a way he didn¡¯t feel too different from going to a new location to scout, but on the other hand he felt truly alien whenever he saw something previously impossible now possible in front of his very eyes! He marveled at a street jester who used some sort of illusion magic to make himself appear in plural and reappear in all sorts of strange fashions, the entire show only got better when a chubby man pointed at him and accused him of stealing his pouch, unbeknownst to anyone the chubby man was apparently a magician and used his strange magic to form a small golem out of the cobble and soon the guards were involved in a fight that seemed as fantastical as unbelievable! Yet Edra noticed that he and the kids were the only ones with shining eyes, for everyone else it was commonplace. The commotion was quickly calmed down with the presence of the guard and everyone could leave the scene shortly thereafter. Although Edra had experienced much fear and desperation, he now felt much more at ease and saw a glimmer of purpose, which gave him an extra kick in his step as he went forward towards library. The librarian gave him a once over as he stepped inside the building, the man haggard and raggedly looking, wearing a worn scabbard with a worn sword, aside from his clean shaven face he looked rather sickly ¡°Excuse me sir but no steel in the library, you can leave it here in the reception¡± She looked very much uninterested in continuing a conversation with the recently arrived patron. Edra silently handed over his sword, he noticed the dispirited look he was given but ventured on regardless ¡°Could I bother you to tell me where the books about classes are located? As well as book about races and world history? Thank you¡± He said with his best smile plastered across his hollow face, making him look slightly unnerving. He could almost hear the librarian sigh inwardly, but she went ahead and showed him each section personally. The public library was fairly big, it had two floors and a high ceiling. It was a dome like building made with big slabs of cut rock. The windows each a different mosaic representing the section they were located in. The book-shelves were made of birch tree giving it a starch contrast to the cool stone slab building style. There were a few reading tables and reading lambs which held similar pieces of the same style of crystal which Edra had seen in the inn. Originally he hadn¡¯t thought too much about it, but now he realised that the ability he gained from his dragon title proved fruitful in reading too as he saw different languages written with different letters, and understood them, this also brought forth the fact that so far all of the writing on the buildings appeared to be the western alphabet of his own time. When he went to look at the classes books he noticed that there weren¡¯t too many. A quick glance revealed the books to be more detailed descriptions of the same thing, eventually he went with a smaller booklet with more general information. He sat down at a reading table and got comfortable, looking around he saw a lot of people in robes and fancier clothing, he now understood now why the inn-keeper and the librarian had given him such looks. The Small Guide to Understanding Your Class Written by Lady MariMar of the house of Vestiga. Third Era of the lord Astair the 4¡¯th, Year 182. Introductory information To whomever is reading this, students and adults alike, this guide is meant not as a descriptive guide of classes but more of a case study into how classes are obtained and the general merits and demerits of the major classes, keep in mind that there is endless possibilities of classes based on your own choices in life, these possibilities are more often than not expressed at your first class branching. Edra quickly browsed through some of the content that he wasn¡¯t looking for until he reached the section he was hoping to find. ¡­From this we can gather that classes can be earned, not just granted through an instructor or a class stone. A class can appear by obtaining titles and performing certain deeds, however this is often not replicable, which leads to the current theory being that a person willfully trying to replicate another¡¯s actions, often times won¡¯t succeed. For example many of the earned classes are possible to be replicated, however some require creating your own spell, in which case it is not enough to simply learn a spell or variation thereof, some require developing a battle move and not just being taught it, this doesn¡¯t mean that the spell or battle-move should be unique, but that the personage should come to these conclusion themselves, similar reasoning is applicable in regards to other professions be that alchemy or blacksmithing etc. NOTE: Current research points in this directions, but there is still singular examples pointing in different directions. The second alternative to the standard methods is attaining a class through a quest, the reward is not always specific upon the outset, and some of the interviewees have even been recorded saying that the class was not shown until after choosing it. This type of attaining a class is often time reliant on too many variables to replicate, at this point in time there is no known cases within the kingdom of Brutsch, and this author is not aware of any other cases of replicating a quest based class outside of Brutsch. In both cases of either earning through steps, or finishing a quest the class will often times be better than your regular class, this can often times be amended later on when the classes branches and depending on the persons achievements, quickly turning a standard class unique, or a unique class standard. Both options can replace your main class as easily as you would through a stone or an instructor. Quite interesting, although Edra realized that there were many difficulties in either of the two, and it was something he simply didn¡¯t have time or patience for, so he quickly skipped through the book again. ¡­The class stones have been the most traditional way of attaining a class since the unity of the three worlds according to historical records. They all allow the learning of one of four main classes, warrior, healer, mage and thief, it is believed that the classes granted by the gods were provided as a way to survive in the harsh nature, although this is widely discussed, and the lack of reliable records makes any conclusion impossible; regardless the classes are versatile in nature when the branching begins. ¡­The instructors are a bit of a special existence, it is a class that is generally granted as an option in only a select number of classes; albeit there are records of outliers. The accepted and well known instructor classes are the four main classes, almost any class that relates to a profession of work, such as blacksmith or farmer. It also includes more specialized versions of the four main classes, although the specialized versions often have certain conditions put on them, for example squire, court mage, magical engineer etc. The instructors are always well taken care of within any of the known kingdoms; they are a vital part of the backbone of the empire. Edra quickly went through the remainder of the booklet reading up on the four main classes, although he found that specialized classes seemed good, the recommendation at the end of the book was to choose one of the main four classes as they allowed the most amount of branching later on, the reasoning being that many people might end up disliking the class that they ended up with. ... At any one time a personage can only have one main class, and before ones first branching only one subclass. A subclass functions slightly differently than the main class, and there are two types of sub-classes. The first by achieving a high enough job-level within a main class, and upon replacing it can be moved into a subclass retaining some of its functions as well as allowing three skills from that class to be used, these skills can be changed at any time. The second option as a subclass is attaining a subclass specific, this can be achieved through various means and there has been no conclusive studies done on this! Albeit one thing is certain, and that is that all classes have the possibility of starting a subclass related quest. It is important to keep in mind, that when choosing a subclass that you¡¯d have to receive the most amount of benefit, for example a warrior class can utilize warrior related skills almost regardless of the class, unless restrictions applies, often times a warrior will chose their subclass based on skills they cannot learn otherwise, for example healer or mage, similar is true for other classes. To whoever read this study, Best of luck with your future choices, and may you be blessed by Oksop. With a light movement of his hand he closed the booklet; he now knew which class to choose, it could only be the mage! Who wouldn¡¯t want to wield magic, just like he had seen earlier between the jester and the chubby. Before long he had returned the book to its shelf and found a book on history, looking through it he found that there was too much specific information related to the greatness of Brutsch, and that he would have to find a more general book. After a lot of searching he found a book that went through the creation myth, this made Edra frown somewhat, as it seemed that some of the citizens apparently considered the unification of the three worlds for a myth. However there was a paragraph detailing it. ¡­ It has yet to be established whether there ever was a unification to speak of? Or if the people have misinterpreted the gods? Another belief is that the unification isn¡¯t about the world but rather about the unification of some of the major gods attaining an alliance. Very little is known since the last great war which devastated the known continents and left little to be salvaged. As far as the original believe that the unification between the world of gods, the world of magic and the non-magical world, well from this author¡¯s point of view there is little to claim as evidence towards this believe except age old faith based systems. Edra lifted an eyebrow, he couldn¡¯t be sure, but it seemed that the creatures of the world weren¡¯t a result of the system changing, but perhaps were residents of the other two worlds. He still lacked information as to what happened, and what was going on with the lack of technology. Before long he had gotten his hands on a book about non-magic inventions and sciences, most of it was about drainage, toilets, lightning rods, farming, it was in the chapter of experimental sciences that he found what he was looking for, at least to some extent. ¡­ A long lasting theory is that by utilizing electric power it should be possible to power machines, however any attempt at this has proven futile; it is surmised that the mana in the electricity somehow interrupts the flow of electricity in these processes, however other attempts at powering more advanced machinery has also proven futile, leading many scientists to believe in Anon¡¯s law of godly interference, that there is simply certain sciences that the gods deem forbidden, either because they could prove harmful, or that it is beyond man¡¯s comprehension. It is also to be noted that Anon¡¯s law is disputed widely in the scientific community, especially in the dwarven circles, where they have successfully operated steam machines via magic and non-magic contraptions. Was that it? Was it the system that stopped scientific progress? Why? Or was it one of these so called gods? Or was it the influence of mana that somehow kept things in check? As it was Edra was no man of science previously and he simply lacked the knowledge to begin making his own claims. He did remember that when he told Ben and Hilde about his life previously, he had only really noticed that when he mentioned the simulation it had been translated wrongly every time, even when he wrote it down it was different, but now that he thought about it they hadn¡¯t actually questioned any of the strange contraptions of which he spoken, this was very abnormal, perhaps they hadn¡¯t heard of anything strange except the passing of time, which in hindsight they had taken quite well, even if they didn¡¯t fully believe him. Edra could at this point draw some theories; one, that no one would be able to explain things from the past world to their counterparts? Or that when the unification had happened, possibly everyone forgot about the past? Was he the exception then? Edra felt a headache lurching, and stopped thinking too deeply about it, not only was there nothing to be gained by questioning these, he was also not in any position to actually investigate had he had more of an interest. Evening came faster than he thought, and he had to leave the rest of his research for the next day. He passed through the streets silently. It was overcast once more and small drops of water fell from the rumbling sky hinting at more to come. Edra hastened his step as he didn¡¯t wish to become soaked. In his haste he quickly got lost. Seeing a group of three taking cover from the rain in an alleyway he quickly jogged over ¡°Excuse me sirs, could you help me find the Barman¡¯s Bevy inn?¡± he wiped his wet forehead with his sleeve, the rain had gotten significantly worse, it was good to be in cover for a bit. ¡°You crazy!¡± one of the men turned around, quick as lightning, and slammed Edra against the wall and pushed a dagger against his throat, his face grim and crooked, with dirty hair and a stinky breath, the other two walked over, looking somehow worse than the first guy ¡°you think we¡¯d let you go after seeing what we did eh?¡± The man pushed his dagger towards his throat, he was being slow, playing with his prey. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Edra realized that he had somehow stumbled upon something that he had no clue about, but his biggest concern was the dagger that was spilling his blood drop by drop, desperation and fear, he wanted this scum away from him, he wasn¡¯t ready to die, he refused to die! He activated Invigorating roar out of reflex.
Additional abilities has been unlocked for skill: invigorating roar ¨C now also pushes back any enemies within a meter of the user pushing foes back 5 meters. Skill also inflicts fear and confusion in relation to user and target¡¯s level
The three men were pushed back and fell straight on the ground under the might of the reverberating roar. Edra fell to the ground gasping for his breath, he did notice that the men didn¡¯t look scared or confused, it was definitely because there was too big a gap in levels, after all he had none. Luckily for Edra he could hear the guards whistling from a distance making the three men scramble to their legs. But before they left one of them turned to Edra ¡°We¡¯ll get you boy!¡± and then he followed his friends into the rain.
Level G Quest initiated: Cat and Mouse
Having stumbled upon the machinations of some mysterious bandits you have found yourself in trouble. Get out of the trouble alive before the men kill you.
Reward: exp+item
The guards arrived moments after the bandits had run off. They questioned Edra, who then explained what had happened and how they looked like, when he was done explaining he was escorted back to his inn. While eating his food, he found that his appetite from earlier had largely disappeared, his face ghastly as he paid for his food in silence and went to his room, hanging up his wet clothes and wiping himself. The rain drummed against the window rhythmically while Edra was lying in his bed, wide awake grapping his short sword the same way he had done that night in the tent, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the men would intrude upon his room. Maybe it was because of a lack of proper sleep or because he had been so stressed lately, but eventually he fell asleep to the music of the rain. It was only by the knocking on the door that he eventually woke up, it was the guard from the day before, and apparently he too had been somewhat worried and came to check up on him. A rinse and a breakfast later he was on his way, walking speedily as close to the middle of the street as possible, until he finally made it to the library. The first book he grabbed was similar to the previous book about classes; it was a short introductory booklet. The Small Guide to Understanding the Main Races. Written by Lady MariMar of the house of Vestiga. Third Era of the lord Astair the 4¡¯th, Year 193. Of introductory words there is little to be mentioned, the assumption is that you have found this book after having read more books in my small guide series, if not I suggest you do, this is perhaps my shortest book yet with only a few pages and illustrations, however I find that the intricate details of history and culture of the different races are often times superfluous, outdated or misunderstood, so this is an attempt to simply overview the different races. Surprisingly it was by the same author as the previous book, he opened up the first section under the dim reading light. Beast-man: Native language SiiThar It is a race with close relations to man despite having numerous skirmishes over time there has always been a sort of friendly competition, if such a thing exists in war, rather than a blood-feud. The race is generally bold and brave, that isn¡¯t to say that they are all of the warrior category class. In fact after travelling to one of their kingdoms, SharthSaith, and interviewing several officials working at their class stone or instructors it was found that there is a relatively even split between Thief like professions and Warrior professions, a big difference perhaps was that a majority of SiiThar never properly choose a working profession, never gaining any experience as far as merchant work or farming goes. This is not entirely true though, they excel in two auxiliary classes masonry and alchemy, they largely rely on trade with their neighboring kingdoms for much of their needs. The desert kingdom of SharthSaith is a hostile environment and there is many myths and legends contradicting the ones known in Brutsch, as is the case with many of the kingdoms, this is important in terms of SiiThar as they have a trial, a set quest, that will appear when they reach the coming of age. Sadly after numerous attempts at interviewing Siithar of all walks of life, shady and non-shady characters alike, I have yet to find any information on what exactly the trial is or what the purpose is. This information is based on the kingdom of SharthSaith, not one any of their other known kingdoms, although they all have the same physical characteristic, often leading them to be within a physical class category. Final physical characteristic: The SiiThar are the pinnacle of animals, intelligent as man, but born with strong and lithe bodies providing them with stronger vitality, strength and dexterity than men, every level they will alternately gain +3 in any of these, however the tradeoff is that they only have +3 freely adjustable points per level. They also all have an innate skill that activates their beast blood heightening their strength and senses for a limited time, after which they will tire. Each kingdom of SiiThar has a majority population often fitting with the environmental area they reside, for example in SiiThar there are a lot of cat-folk, crocodile-folk, leopard-folk and jackal-folk, in contrary to the northern SiiThar¡¯s in the kingdom of Grindir who prefer to call themselves Bjarka, there there is a lot of wolf-folk, elk-folk and bear-folk. Dwarven: Native language impossible to be transcribed into common letters of the alphabet. The dwarven are restricted in their choice of living, for that reason alone there is only two known dwarven kingdoms, the BorDoYg mountain range kingdom of the west and the QhiTiYg mountain range of the north. They are physically strong and have a high dexterity and long lives, this is not augmented via stat boosts as it is with beast-men, but a small percent increase in their strength and dexterity, this percent plays a much larger role in later levels, their extended life is often around 220 years. The dwarven are highly skilled in auxiliary classes, and often find themselves with hybrid combat and auxiliary classes, for example [Gun & Anvil] class which is a hybrid class creating a strange synergy between guns and anvils. According to the interviewees, which were dwarven diplomats within Brutsch capital, the dwarven can better utilize these hybrid classes because of inborn talent and naturally long lifespans. They are often not involved in war externally, but have many internal skirmishes against themselves and that which dwells in the deep. Final physical characteristic: The dwarven are a stout small people race, the men are known to have big braided beards and hair, the difference between man and woman is often found only in a woman¡¯s lack of beard. They are known to be sly merchants but have honest and brash personalities. They have an innate gift for arcane energies, not to be misunderstood with magic. That was a new concept to Edra, arcane energy? Maybe if he had time he would look into it, for now it wasn¡¯t something that caught his interest, he looked at the illustration which looked very much like how he imagined a classical dwarven to look like, surprisingly the illustration of the woman was almost the same except for the lack of beard, ¡®lady MariMar was not kidding!¡¯. The Elven: Native Language L¨¢Yr¨® The elven kingdoms are located in the west, they have been relatively secluded since the last elven war against the human kingdom of Baril in the central part of the continent, and since then the elven withdrew their diplomats from almost all cities, and can now almost exclusively be found in the western reaches. In fact because of the lack of any interviewees this information will be based on outdate information, and because of the lack of accuracy the detail will be lowered. They are born with innate abilities similar to dwarven, they have high dexterity and affinity with magic as well as long lifespans around 300 years. Not much is known about their current choice of class, it used to be known that they had a similar split in combat and auxiliary classes as humans, and that they would focus on magic and thief related classes. Final physical characteristic: They are tall and slim, their skin hue ranging from light skinned to dark skinned, to bluish to greenish essentially a whole lot of spectrums depending on whether they are high, dark, wooden or sun elven; they often times look alien in comparison to human, it is one of the only known races to have intermixed relations with humans, however because human and elven cannot reproduce this is often looked down upon as counterproductive and against the intentions of the gods. The demon race: native language to vile to be written down. Their kingdoms residing within the east and south. There is little known information about the demon race, it is rumoured that elven once upon a time made a deal with the devils and were warped into the demon race, lowering their lifespan to little more than man, but granting them a strong affinity with arcane energies and magic. Natural enemy of man, elven and dwarven. Final physical characteristic: Vile in appearance with horns jutting from their heads, the eyes of a snake and skin either pale as snow or red like hot steel. Unnatural devil-worshippers, and sadly some men worship them too in the pursuit of power, there should only be one outcome for the demon race and that is a slow death. Edra looked at the illustration that depicted a fearsome demon and shuddered when he entertained that that was truly their appearance, he somehow doubted it though considering the bias that was in the words chosen by MariMar, it was however clear that there was a deep enmity between humans demons. The GoRc: Is just a mix of Goblin and Orc Although clearly two different races, they insist that they are of the same race, each kingdom consisting of the two; they have smaller kingdoms through the north, east and south, their unity is admirable, but their allegiance with the demon race makes them the enemy of man, albeit not outright. They often keep to themselves, but at times end up in skirmishes with their neighbors. Although an ally of demon-kind they have certain treaties and peaceful dealings with the beast-men and some human kingdoms resulting in a fragile balance, however I and many human,s consider them enemies of man. Final Physical characteristic: The goblin are dexterous, small and green with long noses and big ears, known to be intelligent and sly. The orcs are big and strong with small ears and wide noses, grey and green in appearance, known to be courageous brave and brash and misunderstood as dumb, yet their tactics during war has proven their strategic intelligence at the very least. That was an introduction of the major known races who rule the known kingdoms, noteworthy mentions are hobbits who live in the western reaches within the elven kingdoms as well as in the midlands in the human kingdoms. There is also dryads a mysteries race, of which little is known, and which is largely considered a myth, had some interviewees not insisted they are not so, I would not question the myth myself. There is also many smaller races spread throughout the kingdoms, but with no kingdom of their own, some beast-men scholars argue that the majority of these are in fact nomadic beast-men. Closing the book in contemplation, Edra simply sat for a while thinking about what he just read, he realised that the continent, or continents? were far bigger than he originally thought. He quickly got up and hurried back towards the inn before the sun would set. On the way he saw one of the men that had almost murdered him, he was bartering for some alcohol, he hadn¡¯t seen Edra, yet. Edra saw a guard not too far away, but he had no evidence, he had no proof, worst thing that could happen would be to put himself on their radar again. It was whilst he was sneaking past, that he felt his blood rush, a feeling of anger overriding the feeling of fear, why should he cower? Just because he was weak? Weren¡¯t there other solutions? The quest certainly suggested that. High on adrenaline Edra walked up to the man and wrapped his arm around his shoulders in a friendly manner. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for that good man¡± He said nonchalantly throwing some coin on the counter, while the alcohol merchant went to the back to get the alcohol, he whispered to the bandit who obviously had no idea as to what was happening ¡°I saw what you did and I want in, I have plenty of coin to smooth things over, meet me in front of the public library at midnight. He threw cold water in his face repeatedly when he came back to the inn, what was he thinking! Why¡¯d he provoke him, and that meeting, what could he possibly hope to accomplish? ¡®calm down pal, calm down, you¡¯ll think of something, alarm the guards, set up a sting operation and catch them in the act, easy¡­ but what if they don¡¯t have whatever it is they are willing to kill over? What if they don¡¯t come? I need certainty before I cry wolf. Good god what have I involved myself in¡­¡¯. On the way to the library Edra bought a grey hooded cloak, it gave him comfort that he could hide himself somewhat. When he arrived at the library steps he saw one of the three men. He tried to walk up to him as calmly as he could, he could feel his knees shivering though, he was now even more thankful that he bought the cloak. Edra simply stared at the man, who stared right back, eventually the man spoke ¡°I didn¡¯t notice when we grabbed you the other day, but ye¡¯re a creepy one aren¡¯t ye¡± Little did the man know that Edra was simply too scared to speak. The man realised he wasn¡¯t getting a response so he continued ¡°If ye want in then come with me¡± This was a different man than the one with the dagger, he looked as disheveled but he was bald and had several small scars on his throat; feeling goosebumps rising along his arms Edra followed the man down several alleyways until they finally made it to a small door, the man knocked three times and then two time, after which the door opened. Edra could see a glow from a light inside and followed the man in. The other two men from the previous evening were sitting around an old table, on it there were three glass vials with some sort of blue dust inside. They looked up when Edra entered, and beckoned for him to sit. ¡°Listen now, sorry for the other day¡± The man who had threatened Edra spoke without a hint of guild in his voice ¡°It¡¯s business, you know how it is¡± he said spreading out his arms apologetically. The other two quickly agreed with him, it would appear that he was the ring-leader. Edra knew he had to say something now, but he still didn¡¯t know what they were talking about so he improvised something simple, something general whilst attempting to make his voice as cranky as possible ¡°Business!¡± He said putting his arms out apologetically too, only to begin laughing, the three men seemed to like it and laughed too ¡°It is also because of business that I¡¯m here¡± he threw his remaining coin on the table in a small leather pouch, it made a significant clanking sound when it landed. The man with the scars on his throat took a quick look ¡°Where the rest at?¡± he asked crudely. Edra swallowed hard racking his brain desperately ¡°Unless I know the operation is solid I won¡¯t invest more than a small amount¡± he said with as a convincing a voice as he could muster. The three men began a private discussion for a while, eventually one of them spoke ¡°Okay you¡¯re in, you can see the operation take place in a few hours from now, be at the abandoned farm at the west entrance of Loktath¡± The man looked at a busted looking pocket-watch, it was only now that Edra noticed that he had seen several clocks already, but it wasn¡¯t until it was in the hands of a degenerate that he really knew that clocks were a thing.
Quest Cat and Mouse updated Now level F quest, risk increased rewards updated.
Five hours was all he had, it took him an hour just to find his way back; on the way he had time to think things through better. Either the men were testing him, or they were incredibly stupid, he leaned towards the latter. First he went back to the inn, he didn¡¯t know if they were following him, but he didn¡¯t want to risk anything, as soon as he got back he crawled out of his window and somehow made it to the ground safely, at which he bolted to the nearest guard post. At the pre-determined time Edra showed up at the abandoned farm, it had apparently been burnt down as there were only sotted parts of the framework left. The sun was rising slowly giving some colour to the landscape. A short while later the three men showed up, they explained that their contact would be there any time now. It didn¡¯t take long for a hooded man to show up, he beckoned silently for the three men to come near him and for Edra to stand back, it appeared that they were having a silent conversation, this didn¡¯t last long before Edra lifted a scroll up in front of him and yelled out ¡°Friria¡± and he scroll burnt to a crisp releasing a large cone of flame enveloping the three. Feeling his mana being drained and his adrenaline disappearing. He fell up against a sotted wooden beam, glad that it was finally over, he slid down the beam to a sitting position, and just in time as the man with the dark robe came out of the flames cutting at his previous position with a long sword. Edra quickly rolled to the side and used invigorating roar to give himself some space whereas he desperately pulled his sword up to guard himself just in the nick of time as the stranger¡¯s sword fell on him, he only had the strength to parry once before his sword was knocked flying! Luckily before the man could finish the job an arrow penetrated the hood, and soon more arrows fell, the hooded figure turned around, blood sputtering from all of the arrows, then he fell to the ground, dead. Edra had cooperated with the guards, at first they were distrustful, but they got serious as soon as he told them about the vials with powder. Apparently it was a sort of drug made from a mixture of magic crystals and some special plants, it was highly dangerous and highly addictive, mages used it to amplify their magic for short spurts of time, nobility used it for pleasure, and the poor to ruin themselves.
F-level Quest Complete: Grade C
Successfully completed Cat and Mouse quest, you are no longer pursued.
Quest reward: +50exp +leather gloves of reaction(increases reaction with +5)
+63exp for the Bandit¡¯s Bane title track for killing three notorious bandits and drug sellers.
Because Edra Walker has no class, Experience points will be turned into experience towards Bandit¡¯s Bane title track
It was a stat that he was unfamiliar with, but he still equipped the gloves, and instantly felt more alert. Most of all he was just relieved that it was over with. On the way back he looked at the hooded man whose face was now visible it was an older man with a grey beard, nondescript somehow, and very much dead. While Edra was leaving the scene and the guards were gathering the corpses, there was a figure in a nearby tree watching what had happened, she watched in anger as her dealers were burnt to death, and even more in anger as her smuggler was turned into a pin-cushion. She looked at Edra closely before she dropped down from the tree onto her horse and rode away from Loktath. After a number of hours of searching, Edra finally located the hideout of the three men and showed it to the guards, they found the evidence they needed and rewarded Edra, it wasn¡¯t a big reward, as the magic scroll had been quite expensive already. Some of the guards suggested a public bathhouse to release some stress, and Edra went there with them, the public bathhouse also had alcohol and it didn¡¯t take long for all of the merry-men to get drunk; it was in a sleepy drunken daze that he finally walked in through his door and fell on top of his bed. ¡°You barely have enough money to pay for an instructor to initiate the class quest, but you cannot afford the ingredients, I suggest that you wallow over to the warrior¡¯s guild they take just about anyone¡± The door of the mages guild slammed behind Edra as he was almost thrown out from there, he hadn¡¯t even considered the costs involved, spell books, tutors, wands and scrolls. He shook his head, nothing was meant to be easy for him, he grumbled on his way over to the warrior¡¯s guild.
Main Class Quest initiated: Warrior
Edra Walker has accepted a class quest from instructor L¨¹dwig. Complete the training given by the instructor.
Reward: Main Class Warrior
Chapter 4: Boulder Bear Thump! Thump! The dull sound of impact spread through the courtyard. Edra was sweating like a pig on a roast, together with a bunch of other men and women taking the Warrior quest. The sun was baking and the sweat was strong. The Warrior¡¯s guild was located on the east entrance of Loktath it had a large courtyard for exercising, with a lot of wooden poles for training. Each recruit beat the pole either with a long stick or a wooden sword. One of the instructors would walk around and slap the recruits with a cane when they lost their form. The people with the wooden swords were training to become squires, whereas the people with the wooden poles were training to become warriors, Edra was desperately exercising his wiry body sweat and blood dripping down from his hands, the salt in his eyes making his concentration falter, only to be slapped back into form by a cane. One week had passed since he had accepted the quest. Instructor L¨¹dwig was a tall elderly man with a grey ponytail a grey moustache and a bushy brow, he always wore worn leather pants with a white shirt tucked in and a brown leather vest, he spoke with a strange dialect Edra thought, it reminded him of Scottish. The first few days had been grueling, hitting the pole for hours on end, learning about anatomy and weak points, running every morning and evening and then to spar against each other and the instructors. At points he regretted his decision, but he couldn¡¯t deny that the results were favorable, a solid meal every day and his relatively high vitality and +1 in endurance allowed his body to quickly lose its sickly look. And just the other day he had gained a +1 in strength and endurance. In his excitement Edra had asked one of the instructors how high you could increase your stats without levelling. The instructor simply explained that each attribute had different scales for how easy it was to level through hard work, for example strength and endurance could rise to 10 through training relatively quickly, but after that it began scaling significantly, and after 25 it was very hard to do. And Vitality was almost unheard of and was mostly freak accidents when it did increase without levelling. The instructor did praise Edra for having already gained Endurance, it was not a stat that was usual to see amongst the classless, as he explained it was good to have unlocked now as it would then increase during basic training. The entire conversation made Edra realise that maybe he had rushed into his class quest a bit too hastily, as he still not had looked up any information about attributes. The noonday gong rang loudly instigating the recruits to hurry to lunch before the next lesson; it was a simple mess hall with long rows of wooden benches and tables, the recruits lined up in front of a big black pot where they picked up some chicken gruel and a white bun. There was very little banter in the mess hall as everyone was too tired. ¡°Which of the instructors do you think is the strongest?¡± a doe eyed girl asked whilst slurping her gruel. A black haired middle aged man took a big bite of his bun ¡°must be instructor Larsson, he has been training the squires for years, many of which have grown up famous in big cities such as Br¨¹n and Gjel, if only I was born a noble and could take the Squire class, I¡¯d eventually become a famous knight and marry a beautiful noble!¡± His eyes dreamy and his words sweet as honey, it was contradicting sight considering his age and facial features. ¡°Peter I thought you had a wife and four daughters?¡± one of the trainees said with a laugh. ¡°Well a man can dream right!¡± Peter laughed awkwardly instantly sending the table into a raucous laughter, earning them all some strange stares from around the hall. ¡°I don¡¯t know which instructor is the strongest, but I think that L¨¹dwig is the best instructor, his words are always on point and I learn much faster from him¡± Edra spoke after wiping up his last remnants of gruel with his bun. This comment instantly sparked up the conversation again, eventually a raven haired girl spoke up, she was one of the squires, which meant that she was a noble, usually the squires sat with the squires and the warriors with the warriors, she was an outlier ¡°Edra is right, I came specifically from Br¨¹n to get instructions from L¨¹dwig, anyone can pass the class quest, but the people who achieve basic spearmanship and swordsmanship is especially high from here, my uncle told me that L¨¹dwig was the reason and that he used to train beast-nobility in the north¡± Her eyes were sharp like her face, there was an intenseness there that didn¡¯t belong to a woman in her late teens. This was the first that Edra had heard of basic spear or swordsmanship, but judging by the reactions of the people around the table it seemed to be quite important, everyone was silent, they all knew that the raven haired girl Elisa was a noble based on her class quest, but they thought that she was just a minor noble of Loktath, and not from a big city like Br¨¹n. The doe eyed girl looked even more doe eyed as she asked silently ¡°Do you know royalty?¡± Edra was flabbergasted, and it seemed that Elisa was too, was this really the question to be asking at this time, but the consensus of the rest of the table seemed to agree with the doe eyed girl as they soon bombarded her with questions. Edra simply slipped out of the mess hall, he walked through the spacious corridors lined with paintings of warriors and epitaphs to live by, he soon reached the training hall and picked up a wooden pole and began his spear training again, silently and steadily he trained. Ever since the quest began he had been living in the guild¡¯s dormitory for new recruits and he always trained harder than the rest, he had felt helpless and useless too many times, so he intended to achieve at least some strength. He had already worked up quite a sweat by the time lunch was over. It was time to spar, there were no nobles or commoners during spars or training, everyone would line up against a random opponent and fight until one of them dropped, a local priest or nun would be present to heal any injuries, were any to occur. Edra lined up facing a tall stout man with brutish features; they both got into a fighting stance together with everyone else. ¡°Begin!¡± one of the instructors yelled. The man did not have much technique, but his height combined with his strength and weight made his swings maiming, Edra weaved in and out of range, unable to get a good thrust in, needless to say that Edra¡¯s skill was rough too. With no winner in sight the big man began to grow agitated, he had been a recruit for a while now and was almost ready to finish his class quest, he was the slowest of his batch, and the remaining people who had joined with him had already graduated as warriors or squires. Edra noticed the man¡¯s impatience, and prepared himself for an opening, after an especially wide swing Edra swayed out of range and moved his pole with frightening speed towards the abdomen of the tall man. A look of panic spread across his face, and all of a sudden his pole swung back dispersing its previous momentum and achieving a new speed and strength that had not been in the man¡¯s swings beforehand. Out of reflex Edra unleased an invigorating roar sending the man flying. ¡°We have only one rule during spars at this guild¡± L¨¹dwig drummed his fingers against a wooden table, Edra and the tall man whose name was Bardo were sitting in L¨¹dwig¡¯s office ¡°One rule! Edra, what is the rule?¡± he questioned harshly. Edra felt like a small child in front of the elderly instructor ¡°No skills¡± he responded honestly. ¡°There is another rule that applies to this guild here in Loktath, can you tell me what it is Bardo?¡± The instructor¡¯s eyes zoomed in on Bardo. The man looked beaten as he soullessly responded ¡°No bandits¡­¡± Edra turned his head with a lifted eyebrow. ¡°Yes, no bandits, am I correct in assuming that your current class is a bandit? And that the skill you used was power attack?¡± The timbre of his voice low, but that somehow made it more intense. ¡°Yes sir¡± Bardo got up from his chair slowly, a man defeated, he had been so close to changing his class, almost there, but not quite. ¡°Wait!¡± Edra stood up and grabbed Bardo¡¯s arm, Bardo hadn¡¯t tried anything underhanded, he had simply panicked while they had sparred, not to mention that Edra had seen him spar with the other recruits, and he was always friendly and helpful ¡°Instructor L¨¹dwig, let¡¯s hear him out, isn¡¯t the fact that he is here proof enough that he wants to change? Tell us Bardo what did you do as a bandit? Be honest now, because I suspect that our instructor will know¡± his words were hurried and a bit crude, but they earned him a glance from L¨¹dwig who then nodded in approval. As most people who end up in the banditry business, Bardo had a sad live, his parents had owned the very same farm that Edra had almost died at little more than a week ago. It had been a freak accident where lightning had struck a nearby tree, the embers from the tree had lit the farm on fire, Bardo had been thrown out of the window by his mother, who had then died in the flames with his dad. After that he had spent a long time as a farm-hand, but as a troubled young man he had taken to a life of stealing when he got older, when he turned 19 and could get his first main class he had accepted a class quest from a local bandit, as a young man who couldn¡¯t afford to pay for any of the main classes, and a mind clouded by doubt and confusion he had accepted and completed it, because of his large frame he mostly just worked as a thug and bouncer at illegal gambling houses, he did this for a number of years accruing money in the process. One day he had heard the bandits talking about doing highway robbery, Bardo had simply followed along. The first time they robbed a wagon was the first time that he saw someone get killed, it was then that he realised just what sort of path he had ended up on, and it was not for him. He could not simply leave though, so he decided to become the unofficial cook and hunter for the robbers, avoiding the actual robbing part, with every vile tale that he heard the more frightened he became, and the more powerless he felt. But then one day not too long ago the bandits didn¡¯t return, Bardo knew that one of the three leaders was on some sort of business deal so he didn¡¯t take anything from the hideout and simply left, he didn¡¯t go to town he didn¡¯t investigate, he went directly to the warriors guild, intent on changing his fate. L¨¹dwig had studied his face closely during the process, he had lived a long live, and he had been an instructor for large part of it, although people could still trick him, especially people well versed in subterfuge or lies such as nobles or tricksters, this man in front of him seemed like the honest type, like most criminals he had not intended to end up on the path that he did. The rapping of his fingers echoed through the room whilst he thought, eventually they stopped he leaned back in his cushioned chair ¡°Alright Bardo you have earned yourself some leniency thanks to your fellow trainee, we have rules here however, so you cannot speak of this to anyone, this means both of you!¡± he leaned in close to the two men ¡°do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± they responded in an instant, the intimidation real! Edra couldn¡¯t help but wonder if a skill was involved. The two men got up to leave. ¡°Just a moment lads, who said you could leave? Classic toilet cleaning duty, it was their punishment for using skills during practice, it didn¡¯t matter who the aggressor was as they had both been at fault. The punishment last until they finished their class quest. To L¨¹dwig¡¯s surprise the two accepted the duty without any issues and fulfilled their duties every morning and evening with no complaints. For Bardo it was a relief to get to stay, he was even extremely grateful to Edra, he had had no reason to support him, this made Bardo want to get to know him better, and despite cleaning toilets he did; it might have not been the best location for making acquaintances, but he succeeded nonetheless. Edra himself did not know why he had stood up for Bardo, maybe it was because his freedom was linked to Ben and Hilde¡¯s actions during the ambush? Maybe it was just out of the good of his heart, regardless, he had helped him out. Having cleaned toilets for a week¡¯s time now had let to him enjoying the company of the brutish looking Bardo, the man was surprisingly soft spoken and friendly, he had proven himself to be a good friend; something Edra had none of at the moment. Ben and Hilde were good friends too of course, but the fact of the matter was that they were not there now, and everyone can get lonely. . . . . A month had passed since he had received clean up duties, and he was ready for his final exam. He had grown quite well since the beginning of the quest.
Basic Information Race: Human Class: Classless 0/0 Age: 23 Subclass: Locked Level: - Exp to next: - Active Title Set as None
Attributes Health: 25/25 Mana: 5/5 Stamina: 25/25 Vitality: 10 Endurance:5 Intelligence: 5 Magic: 5 Willpower: 10 Strength: 6 Dexterity: 2 Soul power: 50 Resistance Heat: 5% Soul: 35% Void: 50% Death: 10% Necromancy: 10% Chronomancy: 10%
Navigation Bar [Journal] [Titles] [Skills] Active Blessings None
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Invigorating Roar 3/10 Communes with Dragons Basic Spearmanship 1/20
He had gained the passive skill basic spearmanship, it increased his speed with the spear by 1% and damage with spears by 1%, he had also gained a large increase in his stamina from increasing his dexterity and endurance, and his vitality had increased slightly from his endurance stat too. One thing that had bothered him was that he couldn¡¯t put any title as active, although it said that his one title was active in the title window; having consulted with one of the instructors he found that there was a difference, and that titles that can be active in the status screen, often times will have some special effect similar to a skill, and that only one could be active at a time and these titles could only be active in the status screen. He also found out that his invigorating roar hadn¡¯t increased from practicing, he couldn¡¯t be sure, but he began believing it could only advance in certain situations. The strange thing was that his +5 in reaction from his gloves didn¡¯t show as an attribute, L¨¹dwig had told him that artificial stat increases from equipment wouldn¡¯t activate hidden attributes, what that meant was that for example his titles that increased his attributes had activated that attribute, making it active and available for increase, and if he deactivated a title the attribute would still show, albeit it would appear as 0. A lot of thoughts went through his mind as he walked briskly towards the outside courtyard, it was time for the final exam, passing it would finish the warrior¡¯s quest, only half the trainees were ready to take it. Bardo had already passed his test the previous week. He had since then stayed at the local adventures guild to take up minor requests. He had made a deal to team up with Edra once he was done, then they¡¯d go to Br¨¹n together, Edra couldn¡¯t help but smile when thinking of his newfound friendship with Bardo. Edra walked up next to Elisa and Peter, they had both made it for this final exam, the doe eyed girl whose name was Mary had not improved quite enough yet. Edra felt comradery with the two, but he didn¡¯t know them all that well nor did he really consider himself their friend, more like a close acquaintance. While standing there next to them he came to the conclusion that he had become much more careful in creating new bonds, most likely because he had lost all his previous ones. Edra¡¯s smile turned slightly crooked from the thought. A light drizzle fell in Loktath making the visibility low, the warrior¡¯s guild courtyard grounds were covered in tiles, now dark from the rain, and a good ten people stood in there silently awaiting one of the instructors. Some were just of age to participate in the Warrior¡¯s exam, they mostly wore swords around their hips, there were many people in their 20-30 years range, they mostly wore spears, some looked nervous some confident, one thing was true for all of them and that was the excitement that was present in the mood surrounding the courtyard. It was the squire instructor Larsson that walked up in the rain; Edra had never liked the man much as he treated the squires better than the rest of the trainees. Aside from his arrogance he was professional and kept things polite overall. ¡°Listen up!¡± The middle aged man stood in full chainmail armor looking like a crusader, it wasn¡¯t the most expensive looking armor but it looked practical and worn from use, all of the trainees stood still instantly awaiting the next instructions ¡°You have three days to go to the White Cliffs to the north from here, there you will gather the tails of three wolfs each, be careful¡± he let his words sink in before he continued ¡°I know that for some of you it will be easier as you have already levelled up different classes, but regardless you will each team up in a party of three, you can go now!¡± The last part of the sentence was spoken with candor and it spread a feeling of strength through the participants. There were two teams of three and one of four. Edra, Elisa and Peter were in one team. Aside from speaking in the mess hall during breaks and the occasional chatter they really didn¡¯t know much about one another, so they simply walked along in silence following the map they had been given. The path towards the white cliffs was unmarked, each team would have to individually choose a path, from the map it was obvious that there were forest and cliff in-between them, the best scenario would be to use one day to get there, one day to get the wolves and then one day back. The recent rain had done well for the nature, the grass was lush and long, green and sturdy and the outdoor smell was refreshing ¡®some things don¡¯t change¡¯ Edra thought as he looked around in the drizzle and saw wet trees and misty grass. It took a while to find a natural cavern to hide in, the drizzle had gradually turned into a rainstorm, they were wet, their gear was wet and they had no fire. The cavern was murky and smelled slightly; perhaps a bear had used it for wintertime? They went to the back of the cavern and undressed, sleeping in wet clothes would only end up giving them conditions. Edra sat in his underwear warming himself with his arms, his increased strength, stamina and vitality helped him get warm soon, he noticed that Peter had gotten warm almost instantly, and that Elisa was still shaking a little but getting there. ¡°Do you have a class already peter?¡± Elisa asked while she warmed her skin up with her hands. Peter turned to Elisa, it was difficult to see if he was looking at her or not, the cave was now almost completely dark, it was like an isolated space with the rain covering up all other sounds than the constant splashing. Peter coughed lightly slightly embarrassed, happy that they couldn¡¯t see him, not only was he older, he also had levels and he still couldn¡¯t beat either of them in combat ¡°yes¡­¡± he said in a defeated voice ¡°It¡¯s nothing fancy though, I have hunter as my class currently, my job class is only at lvl 2 and my level at 3¡± his voice almost trailed off completely at the last part, then the Elisa and Edra heard him take a deep breath ¡°I was really no good at hunting, aiming at anything just doesn¡¯t work for me! So as soon as I saved up enough money I decided to come here, and afterwards I¡¯ll try my chance at becoming a guard somewhere, maybe you can hire me Elisa, you¡¯re a noble right?¡± he laughed. What Elisa thought about the suggestion, or what her facial expression was at that moment was unclear, but her answer came as a surprise to both of them ¡°Sure¡± she was always very serious and straight to the point, most of the trainees thought that she was too prideful, she spoke very little and for that reason most of the people thought her arrogant. The answer, her reaction to the seemingly joke question, Edra couldn¡¯t help but think that there was more to it than just so ¡°how is Br¨¹n like?¡± Edra asked curiously, it was his and Bardo¡¯s plan to go there when he had become a warrior too. Silence filled the cavern for a while before she spoke with a tired voice ¡°as a city it is lively, the people are similar to the people in Loktath, but more private, the nobles there keeps to their traditions and rules which is different than here in Loktath where the nobles treats the citizens like their neighbors, in Br¨¹n they treat them like they are beneath them, not all nobles of course¡± she interjected at the end, a hint of optimism at that last word ¡°Our clan and some of the other clans try to use our power to support and promote growth in the city for all the citizens, but it is an uphill battle¡­¡± her previous optimism lost once more. Edra remembered a famous quote from his time ¡°Power tends to corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely¡± it came out as a whisper, a memory given words, it was not something he thought about too deeply, but it still stunned the two sitting together with him in the cave. Elisa had a good impression of Peter, when he had asked to be a guard for her clan she had gladly agreed, she didn¡¯t have many friends because she was somewhat awkward socially, but the friends that she did make she treasured. As far as Edra was concerned, she didn¡¯t know anything about him, he had never spoken about his past or his motivations, he seemed friendly enough, but that was about all the impression she had of him. This sentence that he just said so casually however was not just profound; it could also be dangerous under the right circumstances! ¡°Edra! It is okay for you to utter such words here, and with regular people, perhaps in Loktath it doesn¡¯t matter, but if a noble or a powerful person had heard you, who knows, as you said yourself, power corrupts, that sentence alone challenges the people up high, imagine if it spread, the consequences are unknown, but you might be accused of rebelling!¡± her voice was serious and loud, it echoed through the cave for a while before Edra responded. ¡°Thank you Elisa, it was not something I had thought of, I will keep this in mind in the future¡± it was a strange response, albeit a right one, it sounded so genuine that Elisa wasn¡¯t sure if he was trying to mock her or not, she honestly couldn¡¯t tell in the dark. Edra was in fact very thankful for her advice, who knows if he had spoken similar words when he came to Br¨¹n, then his short live would just be cut a bit shorter! The conversation then turned to Peter¡¯s new guard job, and soon they all lied down and fell asleep. Blood flew in a fountain as Edra was hit by the paw of a big bear, its claws had ripped deeply into his arms and would have killed him, had he not barely woken up at the nasty breath of the bear and blocked the swipe just in time. He slammed into the rock wall with a sickening crash sound of of skin and bones meeting jutted rocks, he fell to the ground right afterwards, unmoving. The sound had woken up both Elisa and Peter, who were quick to roll over to their weapons and arm themselves, they stood in defensive postures glancing down at Edra. The entire scene of blood and death was contrasted by the birds singing and chirping right outside the cave, they could even see the grass glisten in the bright sunlight, but that sight might as well be on the moon, because in-between them there was a Boulder Bear, it was a type of bear that had fused with the natural energies of the earth over time and grown tumors made of rock, making the bear look like a boulder when it slept, it was only now they realised that the bear had properly been in the cave all night! ¡°This type of bear isn¡¯t supposed to live in such a peaceful area!¡± Peter whined with a scared voice, his hands shaking his spear in fear. Elisa looked over at Peter, she pitied him that he could not control his fear, was she scared herself? Of course she was! But letting her fear control her instead of her controlling it,would be a shortcut to a short-lived live ¡°Calm down Peter, lower your voice or you¡¯ll only agitate it more¡± she spoke with her calmest and most steady voice ¡°We intruded on its territory, if you can just go grab our stuff and Edra, then maybe we can circle our way out, okay?¡±. Her words calmed down Peter who backed up and grabbed everything, Edra was slung over his shoulder, their stuff was collected in one of their leather backpacks, and Edra¡¯s spear was used to keep Edra steady on his shoulder. The bear was observing them calmly, it had woken up to the snoring of those pesky humans, the first one was dealt with fairly easily, but before it could attack the rest they had drawn their weapons at it. The bear was not dumb, it had seen men hunt its family before; it knew that they could not be underestimated and for this reason alone it acted warily. It smelled the fear on both of them instantly though, but it could only see it on the tall one, the girl was impossible to read, was she fearful of it? Or fearful of what happened to her comrade? The humans started moving slowly to the right, the bear observed them with a constant sneer and growl, it knew that they tried to get out, but would it let them? Men had killed its family, but it did not hold a grudge, all animals lived and grew, yes, grew! Killing could make the bear stronger, it knew it, but killing men with weapons almost always improved its strength. The Bear observed them beginning to circle around it, what was it waiting for? they were pretty much naked! Their soft tender skin, its claws would pierce right through them as it had the first one. Elisa and Peter were circling the bear slowly, they couldn¡¯t believe that their plan was working so easily, the bear was simply looking at them while sneering and growling. No more than a momentary lapse of concentration on Elisa¡¯s part where she glanced to her side towards the entrance, and the bear moved! Faster than they could comprehend, faster than they could react to, its maw full of rocky teeth and its breath and spit landing on Elisa¡¯s face. Who would¡¯ve known that she, Elisa Greerholm would die in such an insignificant manner? The echo rumbled through the cave powerfully! It was the roar of a man taking his last stand on the battlefield, of a mountain-climber who finally reached the peak. It was Edra¡¯s invigorating roar, like an invisible force it pushed the boulder bear into the opposite cavern wall making the cave tremor at the impact. Elisa and Peter felt the invisible force bringing newfound power into their legs and arms and they instantly ran out of the cave at the highest speed they could muster, they knew that they were no match for the boulder bear, its speed just now proved it. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, they didn¡¯t look back, but they could hear the sound of the bear stomping it feet in the ground, and then they heard it run after them. Bright light blinded their eyes as they made it outside; they ran almost blindly into the forest, bushes and branches hitting them relentlessly as they dashed madly through the shrubbery. All of a sudden there was a clearing and in it the instructor stood, wearing the same crusader style outfit as the previous day, he just nodded at them, and then he flashed past them, inhumanly fast. They fell down at that moment and rolled along the ground. Elisa looked up and saw the instructor pierce his sword forward creating a fiery gale that slammed into the rushing boulder bear. Edra woke up not long after, he had been bandaged, and some herb paste had been applied to his wounds, it smelled terrible. In front of him the instructor was standing, seemingly waiting for him to wake up. ¡°Your comrades have continued towards the White Cliffs, will you return to tend your wounds? Or will you go?¡± His voice was strangely neutral, not hinting at what his own thoughts were. Sitting up Edra noticed a beautiful clearing in the middle of the forest; this tranquil area was only broken by a large line of burnt broken trees and a dead bear. If any thoughts of returning to tend his wounds had been on his mind they were not any longer ¡®was that the power of classes and levels? Inhuman¡¯ was the thought that struck his mind ¡°I¡¯ll continue!¡± he responded in a strained voice getting his soggy gear on, saluting the instructor ¡°which direction?¡± ¡°Follow that small natural path over there and you will be at the white cliffs¡± The instructor¡¯s voice noticeably warmer. His wounds were acting up, but he ran along the small path, dodging branches and whatnot, eventually he broke out of it and saw a valley below him consisting of several white cliff walls and natural caverns, he could see some of the other recruits, but it took him a while to locate Elisa and Peter, they were walking along carefully, from his position he could see a small pack of wolfs coming towards them from the top of one of the cliffs. Edra hurried! The wolves had come out of nowhere, but they defended well, compared to the boulder bear these wolves were simple, the issue was that they fought together and that they were organized, they were stuck in a stalemate, but it was obvious that the wolves had more stamina. The stalemate was broken as a roar sounded out from behind them, they felt the extra strength surge through their bodies, and they saw the wolves fall back, they immediately attacked, Edra following up too! . . . .
Main Class Quest completed: Warrior
Edra Walker has succeeded in his training in the way of the warrior.
Reward: Main Class Warrior
Instructor L¨¹dwig had finished checking the wolf tails when they came back. After the quest was finished there wasn¡¯t anything else happening, no fancy ceremony no nothing, it was all very normal, Edra noted somewhat disappointed. He parted ways with Elisa and Peter and went to meet up with Bardo at the Barman¡¯s Bevy Inn. Chapter 5: A Letter, a Journey and Two Drunks A crumpled paper landed softly in the trash, the office dimly lit, the candlelight casting shades onto the wall, lighting up filled bookshelves and paintings in succession. The candlelight flickered every time the man leaned in, and every time he leaned back, he was disgruntled, it shouldn¡¯t be that difficult to write a letter, it really shouldn¡¯t. . . . . ¡°So we can¡¯t just leave for Br¨¹n?¡± ¡°No, as I said we cannot, we need to prepare¡± ¡°But are you sure though? It can¡¯t be that far can it?¡± ¡°It is that far!¡± Bardo¡¯s voice sounded out loudly in the Barman¡¯s Bevy, his big hand shook the small wooden table making the other patrons give them some nasty stares, Bardo lowered his voice calming himself down ¡°We¡¯ve been over this four times today, we need to prepare a bit more, for two people to take the trip is too dangerous, the journey between Loktath and Br¨¹n is far, there aren¡¯t many villages in-between either, you¡¯re acting like some country boy from Siktath!¡± Bardo had met Edra joyously, they had gone to the Barman¡¯s Bevy and gotten very drunk very early, after which they had gone on a drunken eating adventure in town. When evening finally came they returned tired and exhausted, they ordered some food and beer. During the day Edra had insisted several times that they should leave in the morning, Bardo had had to relay the facts over and over, that Br¨¹n was far away and unless they could join a caravan or they were stronger, it would be too risky to make the journey on their own. Edra leaned back in his chair he could feel the alcohol still affecting him ¡°So we join a caravan that¡¯s leaving tomorrow?¡± his voice slightly shaky. ¡°Where¡¯d we find a caravan now? We also don¡¯t have any equipment or travel clothes, we need to do a few requests from the local adventurer¡¯s guild, earn some Vestir and levels¡± Bardo was exasperated, it was obvious that his new friend was drunk, in a way he enjoyed that he could let his guard down and speak his mind, he was used to being told to shut up. Edra lifted an eyebrow ¡°Vestir? What is Vestir?¡± ¡°What is Vestir? What is Vestir he asks¡­¡± Bardo¡¯s eyes were large as skillets, his shock incomprehensible ¡°tell me friend just where you hail from?¡± A contemplative look painted Edra¡¯s face, Bardo had asked partly in a joking manner, but also partly seriously; Edra never talked about his time before Loktath, he knew little of the customs in the area, and he didn¡¯t even know that Brutsch currency was called Vestir. His finger swiped the edge of his mug while he was looking at no one and nowhere, Bardo became even more intrigued at his reaction to his question. Then he dropped, his chair fell on the ground Edra with it, sleeping through the entire ordeal. Bardo quickly apologized and picked up Edra. He couldn¡¯t help but smile after he had dropped of Edra and went to his own room, it had been a long time since he had been so carefree, it was as if a burden had been lifted, and he now saw a way forward. . . . . ¡°We¡¯re leaving the day after tomorrow¡± His face solemn as he looked at his wife ¡°I know it is sudden, but this is a chance for us to have a better life, a brighter future for the kids¡± the emotions that was expressed across his face spoke volumes more than the words that left his mouth. It had come as a shock to her, she knew he was coming back one of these days, but that he would¡¯ve already gotten a job working as a guard for a noble was all very much an unexpected surprise, they would have to pack up everything, say goodbye to their families and go on a journey, that was sure to be tiring, she took a deep breath and smiled at her husband ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve always talked about moving to Br¨¹n, it was the plan anyway, it is just happening a little faster¡± the husband looked very relieved at his wife¡¯s reaction ¡°But Peter! You and that noble better not try something!¡± Peter coughed out the water he had just drunk spraying it in the face of the now disgruntled wife ¡°Are you nuts! She is almost half my age¡± he was fuming until he saw her sneaky grin ¡°You!¡± he rushed over and hugged her tightly ¡°I might not be the best man, I might not be the smartest man, but I¡¯ll always be yours¡± ¡°And I yours¡± the wife said with a kiss on his forehead. . . . . Elisa sat in front of big fireplace, the room lavish with blue walls and large fur skins lying in front of the fire, her chair large and ordinate it too covered in furs. She was casually reading a book passing the time slowly and comfortably, it wouldn¡¯t be long before she returned to the tumult of one of Brutsch¡¯s two sub-capitals. She lightly turned the page, her outward appearance not at all hinting of the inward turmoil and worries that she held for her future, for her family and for her city. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. An elderly lady walked up to her and passed her a cup of tea ¡°The servants are sleeping, and I¡¯d rather not disturb them at this hour¡± she chuckled ¡°dear, are you sure that you cannot stay any longer?¡± She saw her own reflection in the tea, blurred, it was funny how her great aunt was so much more noble than herself, would she have cared for the servant¡¯s sleep? She prided herself as being above the other nobles in the capital, that she cared, but when she went to visit Loktath and her great aunt, she learned a lesson in humility ¡°Yes aunt, we¡¯ll be leaving on the appointed day¡± she was reluctant to leave, in a way she wanted to stay, Loktath was simple, there might be crime and scheming, but it amounted to little more than a molehill, whereas Br¨¹n, Br¨¹n now that was a mountain. She closed her eyes and savored the warm tea flowing down her throat. . . . . Was headache the right word, maybe? something worse, migraine? Or something caught between the two? Edra wasn¡¯t entirely sure, and he couldn¡¯t think straight enough to figure it out, he had been certain that his strong vitality and stamina would allow him not to get drunk, when he did get drunk, after the first beer even, he had been certain that his strong vitality and stamina would cause him not to have a hangover or pass out, how wrong he had been! He slowly moved out of bed, wobbling his way to the bathroom, there might not be hot water in the taps, but they did have taps with cold water, which was just what he needed! Every second under the cold water brought him new life and memories of the previous day. What a fool he had been, of course they needed to prepare before they went to Br¨¹n. After getting dressed he went downstairs to meet up with Bardo, the stairs certainly was a challenge for him, there must be something other than just alcohol in those beers, he was convinced of it! Arriving downstairs with an apologizing grin he gave Bardo a clap on the shoulder, they got their breakfast while they chatted about the previous day. The food barely stayed within its borders as they made their way outside into the cloudy Loktath weather. It was his first time at the adventurers guild, it was a large building build out of birch tree logs, the inside was spacious and functioned partly as a tavern and a place of requests, it was loud it was rowdy, and it was everything that Edra had in mind when he thought of this type of establishment. Bardo led him to the G-rank adventurer¡¯s noticeboard, there were many simple requests of all types, and they picked a simple one of culling some wolves on a nearby farm. They walked up towards the personnel desk casually, when Bardo noticed a man conversing with one of the employees. ¡°Hey L¨¹dwig¡± Bardo greeted the elderly man warmly giving him a good firm handshake, L¨¹dwig seemed a bit taken aback, but he gave a firm handshake in return. ¡°What are you doing here instructor?¡± Edra asked quizzed. L¨¹dwig pulled out a letter from his chest-pocket ¡°Not instructor anymore, simply L¨¹dwig will do, and I¡¯m here on official business, I have a letter that I need delivered to Br¨¹n, so I was going to make it an official request here at the guild¡± he looked at the two new warrior¡¯s in front of him ¡°It isn¡¯t urgent or anything, so how about you take the request, a journey like that is a good way to grow, although I¡¯m not sure you are quite ready to leave yet, but what do you say lads?¡± Bardo and Edra looked at each other, it was obvious, and there was no need to hesitate. Edra had signed up as a G-rank adventurer and they had officially accepted L¨¹dwig¡¯s request with the guild. They were now walking around the marketplace to find some cheap armor and weapons. Bardo nudged Edra in his ribs ¡°Hey isn¡¯t that Peter and Elisa over there, you know them right?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ll be¡­¡± He and Bardo went over to greet them. The bustle was noisy and loud, so the group of four found a small tavern where they could converse. ¡°So you¡¯re going back to Br¨¹n tomorrow already?¡± Edra said surprised ¡°No offense to Peter here, but I¡¯m not sure he is quite ready to guard someone on such a long trip back¡± For some this may have been offensive, but they had risked each other¡¯s lives to save one another, although not close friends, there was a deep bond of trust between the three. ¡°Of course not!¡± Peter said proudly ¡°Elisa is a noble, she has her own guards escorting her, I¡¯m her first personal guard however¡± Bardo couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at his lack of shamelessness, the rest noticed and began laughing even Peter did. It was the second time that Bardo and Edra had looked at each other at the same time, well wasn¡¯t it obvious, what an opportunity to miss, of course there was no need to hesitate. The following day a small caravan of people were leaving behind Loktath from the north entrance, there were a few guards on horses, two carriages and some foot-folk, Edra and Bardo were walking together with the group. The sun rising from the east casting scintillating rays of warm light on the caravan, as if welcoming their journey to Br¨¹n. Chapter 6: The Sj?rn On the first day the caravan passed through differing landscapes. Edra noticed how fast the landscape changed from hilly greens and golden fields, to more forestry shrubbery, the hillsides turned to jutting rocks and small cliffs, it wasn¡¯t mountainous, but it was definitely rougher terrain than earlier, it only took the caravan a day of travelling toward Br¨¹n before the landscape looked completely different than earlier. The clouds blocked the stars as the caravan set up camp in a clearing next to the road, lit torches cascaded the camp in a warm ambiance, there was a one unique torch in the middle which gave off a small green light, the torch was long and made off of some strange wood with weird carvings on them, when he had asked he had been told it was a warning torch, it wouldn¡¯t provide much light, but if bloodthirst lurked it would turn a blood red and the flame would start crackling loudly as if someone were feeding its fire. Albeit the journey to Br¨¹n was relatively long and relatively dangerous for regular people, it wasn¡¯t without a road, and it wasn¡¯t something to be feared for a small caravan, but it was always good to have some precautionary measures. Bardo and Edra were sitting at a small bonfire in front of their tent, they were roasting some boar that they had caught together with the rest of the caravan. Usually caravans didn¡¯t carry fresh meats with them; on occasions a caravan might have some live animals with that would provide milk or which were to be butchered for food under dire circumstances. Some people could afford a freezing box, which was a magical device, it ran on magical crystals and kept food under zero degrees, but that wasn¡¯t always optimal obviously, and it was very expensive and so was the fuel for it. ¡°Is it just me or is that guy looking at us?¡± Edra said while nodding his head in the direction of another bonfire, which consisted of a few merchants and their guards, the man he referred to was a short skinny man with a lot of rings and necklaces, he was flaunting his wealth, which was a bit of a joke considering the head of the caravan was a noble who didn¡¯t. Bardo nodded slightly ¡°Yes I have noticed this too, I do not recognize the man¡± Bardo took a big bite of roasted meat as he glanced at the skinny merchant ¡°do you know of the man friend?¡± Edra too was digging into the roasted meat with glee as it was very delicious, but as far as knowing the merchant? How? From where? ¡°I cannot say that I do¡± he responded guardedly ¡°but I reckon that we keep an eye on him just in case, I do not like the look of him one bit¡± ¡°What would he do? We are in a caravan, led by a noble, whom happens to be our fellow trainee and a friend of yours, even if he has ill intentions he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to act¡± Bardo nodded towards the warning torch. Edra shot Bardo a stern look ¡°Caution friend, it never hurt anyone, let¡¯s just be cautious¡± Bardo looked Edra in the eyes for a while before he agreed. The next morning the caravan packed up and continued onwards calmly, silently, no one was really speaking allowing the sound of wheels squeaking, birds singing and grasshoppers chirping to be heard. Once in a while the clouds cleared a little allowing the sun to break through. ¡°If the rest of the journey is going to be like this it¡¯ll be a cinch!¡± Edra said whilst walking briskly onward. Bardo¡¯s jaw dropped for a second ¡°Are you serious?! We¡¯ve barely left, we¡¯re still within the Loktath territory, but within a week we¡¯ll reach the Sj?rn and the forests within, that is the real danger!¡± his voice stern and serious. ¡°The Sj?rn? What is that?¡± Edra asked curiously. Bardo nearly stumbled upon the question ¡°Friend where do you hail from! The Sj?rn is a large forestry territory, it borders into the Brutsch territory in-between Br¨¹n and Loktath, it is only a small outer stretch of the Sj?rn, the neighboring territory to the west is largely covered by it, the elves deal with it¡± The fear when Bardo spoke of the Sj?rn was heard in his voice, if only a little. Where did he hail? What was the point of explaining? Whenever he spoke of the past it would turn into some translation of sorts, and for all he knew he wasn¡¯t allowed to talk about it, would there be a punishment if he did? Edra didn¡¯t know, but now that he was more aware he chose to be quiet, nothing would come of it anyhow ¡°This Sj?rn, why is it so dangerous? Are there fierce beasts preying in the forest¡± Bardo walked a bit closer ¡°I only know what I¡¯ve heard in taverns here and there and from my parents when I was small¡± His eyes grew bigger as he continued his account ¡°From what I heard the creatures aren¡¯t the only dangerous thing there, I heard that weird races lives within, that witches and wizards who practice forbidden magic resides there too, and that the fog can split apart a party easily, that the forest can turn into a maze leaving people trapped! And that some of the plants can turn men crazy, thirsty for blood!¡± He hushed the last part to Edra, almost afraid to speak of it loudly; as if by putting words to the horrors of the forest, it would then truly awaken them. On one hand Edra considered it superstition, like the sailors of old that saw giant whales and squids, ghost ships and whatnot, on the other hand, he had seen a dragon, a flood in the dessert and magic, hadn¡¯t he just said that they should be careful? He took a deep breath ¡°Alright friend, I understand that it is dangerous, but if it is so dangerous, why can we pass through it? Is it because it is only a stretch?¡± Bardo nodded ¡°The stretch is like a finger stretching into Brutsch, it is generally not to be feared by people who have combat related classes as it is only the outskirts¡± he finished up by grabbing his water pouch and opening it up, taking a big gulp. Bardo passed it on to Edra, who took a swig too ¡°I understand it is dangerous, but wouldn¡¯t it be easier for the kingdom to just fell the trees and build a village as a halfway station between Br¨¹n and Loktath? It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult if it is only the outskirts, right?¡± Bardo stopped walking and grabbed Edra by the arms in a tight grip ¡°Listen Edra, do not speak of damaging the forest when we are in the Sj?rn!¡± Bardo waited for Edra to nod before he let go and picked up his pace again ¡°Attempts have been made long long ago, far before my time, according to the stories there once were settlers trying to cut the forest, but the forest retaliated, how? No one knows, none of the settlers returned¡± ¡°But surely someone returned to tell the story!¡± Edra exclaimed ¡°Isn¡¯t this just rumor and hearsay?¡± ¡°Not so friend, no more than a hundred years ago the ruler of Brutsch believed the same, and ordered the Sj?rn stretch to be cleared, disaster befell the workers, when the ruler sent an army to quell the forest, it too was annihilated, the survivors said that on the last day the forest spoke, warning them to never try and change the Sj?rn, and that whoever willfully did would face the curse of the forest!¡± ¡°A curse? What kind of curse can a forest cast?¡± Edra asked inquisitively. ¡°That is what the kingdom wondered too, but it was not long before the families of the army that was sent, except the children and elderly, all passed away, even the then king met his fate not long afterwards!¡± Bardo¡¯s face was ghastly as he narrated ¡°Although many don¡¯t know if the king died from the curse, or the fear that it would come for him one day¡­¡± It was obvious Bardo was somewhat excited about telling the story, as he trailed off the last part somewhat dramatically. It was all quite interesting to Edra, a mysterious forest with mysterious creatures, it was like the folklore of old, only real, and there was a certain sense of awe and anticipation mixed in with a healthy dose of fear. Aside from the occasional conversation Bardo and Edra walked silently forward with the rest of the troop, it was as if the Sj?rn already affected the caravan, what Edra previously thought had been the people relaxing and enjoying the landscapes, now turned out to be the ever lurking knowledge that they had to pass through the Sj?rn. Edra was practicing with his spear together with Bardo every evening after they set up camp, for the other guards they were simple low level amateurs that got a free ride because they knew the noble, not that Edra and Bardo minded. Honestly speaking it might¡¯ve been wiser to wait and grow in the smaller Loktath, but young men and women seeks adventure, so it was, so it had always been. They never trained too hard; they needed their stamina for the journey, and in case of emergencies. The following days passed by rather uneventfully, but it was clear that that there was a pressure on the party, they were unusually quiet, and to the point that only a sentence here or there would be spoken. At one point one of the merchants declared that he would return to Loktath, according to him he had done the journey many times before, but this was the first time he got such a spooky feeling! Many of the people who had done the journey before agreed, there was something different this time, as if the Sj?rn was watching their every move as if it had something in wait for them. Fear was a powerful emotion and another two merchants left with their guards. Elisa however reassured everyone that her personal guard would be plenty to protect against most dangers around Br¨¹n, not to mention the outskirts of the Sj?rn. . . . . In a small clearing in a densely packed forest, with large pine and aspen trees blocking the sun there was a small pond, reflecting what little sunlight could make it to the forest floor. It was towards the end of summer, so the aspen had slowly begun changing the colour of their leafs, making the majestic forest a colour of deep dark green of the pine, with slights of brown, yellow and red standing out. There was a young woman reflected in the pond, she was kneeling over drinking the water with her hands, she had no boots on, revealing her moss green feet, her pants went only slightly past her knees, and were made of a loose fitting black silk, on top she wore a simple auburn shirt, it too made of silk, the sleeves long, but tied up with black silk bandages up to her elbows Her hair Deep red, thick and wavy controlled only by a long braid that hung over her right shoulder. Her skin like her feet was moss green, upon closer examination part of her skin looked like bark, her face had fine feature, her eyes a deep set black with golden irises the pupils similarly black. After she had poured the water into her mouth she picked up an old gnarly staff which lied next to her, it was ashen, and made of a strange wood; it glistened despite there being no sun. She looked around the nearby forest floor with her strangely enthralling eyes. She moved low and took slow and steady, yet silent steps, observing the branches, the earth, the dirt, the mana fluctuations and how the trees swayed. Even to a Game Hunter class it would be difficult to track what she was tracking, an animal, a spirit, a part of the forest. She found what she was looking for, the trees swayed in strange twisting ways, the mana somehow a part of them, a normal person would¡¯ve been misled, regardless of what they were looking for, so was the nature of the creature which she was hunting, it bend the forest to its will, making it go unnoticed and unseen. She lifted her staff, and chanted a spell in an arcane language, a wind came from out of nowhere, it bolstered her, it tried desperately to lift her up, to push her forward wherever she wanted to go, and then she moved, like a ghost through the forest. The only sound she made was the eerie sound of the wind in the trees. . . . . ¡°Is it just me or have some of the people become more cold towards us?¡± Edra asked as he looked around the caravan. ¡°I would like to say it is the Sj?rn, but there might be something else at play¡± Bardo responded gravely. He opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped as soon as he turned a corner. In front of them lay the Sj?rn, it had taken approximately two weeks to get there. There was a large sign that read Entrance to the Sj?rn, pass through on your own volition Not that the sign was needed, in front of the caravan the dividing line was clear, from sparse tree lines of regular sized trees, they now faced trees twice, thrice the size, although the forest was not overly dense, the size of the tree alone made it seem as so. The road continued onwards, the path within the Sj?rn was a natural path, none of the trees had been touched, the road marked by big and small rocks on each side, a path now trodden so often that the flooring was hard and sturdy, easy for the wheels of the wagons to drive through without getting stuck. Yet there was something, something eerie about the forest, it sent a chill through the hearts of the caravan, it instantly made the merchants, guards and Elisa converse in separate groups, it was clear that something was out of the ordinary, that the Sj?rn, was not the way it usually was. As the caravan pulled through the entrance to the Sj?rn the animals began getting restless, not enough to lose their cool, but they began being jumpy, a feeling that quickly spread to the men and women with them. It didn¡¯t take long for someone to point out that there was none of the regular noises in the forest, no sounds of birds or insects; all but a whistling in the trees could be heard. With every creaking and squeaking of a branch or a tree, the people in the caravan would look around them; the fear was growing stronger in their hearts. It was an oppressing feeling to walk through the Sj?rn, Edra had a hard time coping with the fact that the journey was an entire month long, it would be difficult to maintain an amicable mood for such a long stretch of time, it was obvious that the rest of the caravan was affected too. Only the guards of Elisa seemed more collected their strength higher, their mentality better forged. . . . . Standing on a large ash tree branch the young woman¡¯s dark fiery braid fluttered in the wind ever so slightly, she had never imagined that the hunt would take her so far east, so far out of the Sj?rn. It wasn¡¯t an issue, in fact it would generally mean it would be an easier hunt, a safer one, but after travelling through the Sj?rn eastward for a month or so she came to an area afflicted, something was twisting the Sj?rn there, something unnatural, dangerous and ancient magic, it chilled her to her bones. She was looking into the Sj?rn, should she continue? Fixing the Sj?rn was not her responsibility, nor was it within her power; in fact this felt so much out of her power that the chances that it¡¯d affect her were minimal. Her decision made, she jumped from up high, towards the ground, her speed increasing with every meter! However just before she hit the ground, a single syllable, and she reappeared further ahead maintaining the velocity of the drop she had just had; if anyone had measured the length she fell, they¡¯d realize that was how far away she had appeared after she dispersed. . . . . It had been little more than a week of travelling through the Sj?rn, there was tension in the caravan, and it had become especially clear that the people together with the skinny merchant were treating Edra and Bardo coldly and with dismissal. The two walked in the back of the caravan so as to avoid confrontation with anyone. Elisa had talked with Edra about it, apparently the Skinny merchant had known of Bardo¡¯s criminal past, and spread it amongst the merchants and the guards, the specifics of what he had said wasn¡¯t clear, but it was clear that the attitude of everyone except Elisa, Peter and his family and their guards had changed, coupled with the oppressing chilling feeling of the Sj?rn it had only become worse. Edra had told Elisa that it would probably be best if they just followed behind the caravan from a short distance.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Bardo walked with his head low next to Edra, shame was clear in his face. It was obvious that he felt bad about the entire situation, he kept opening and closing his mouth, eventually he spoke up about how he felt ¡°Listen Edra, and let me finish, please¡­ we¡¯ve quickly become good friends, and that¡¯s important to me, but now this with everyone acting like so, and the uncomfortable feeling of the Sj?rn, I think it is better if I just head back to Loktath from here, and who knows maybe we¡¯ll meet in Br¨¹n someday? I just don¡¯t want anything to happen to you because of me¡± he stumbled over the words, it was a battle just to say it, and then he turned around, he was quickly grabbed on the shoulder by Edra. ¡°Now you listen to me, regardless of what people feel, or what might happen, I have no intention of making this journey to Br¨¹n alone, either we go back together or we venture onwards together, it is not that difficult¡± he said unabashedly with a huge smile ¡°hey don¡¯t get misty eyed on me now!¡± Bardo laughed rubbing his arm as Edra had just hit him there a moment ago ¡°Just a fly in the eye is all!¡± They both began laughing, their laughter breaking the spell of the Sj?rn, if only for a moment. . . . . A large drake walked through the forest floor, sniffing in the air with its tongue, its scales multifaceted, changing to different shades of brown, green and a dark yellow. The drake had smelled prey not long ago, it had moved with careless abandon to be first, under normal circumstances it would never have issues finding prey in its territory, but since the fear had set in, all of the animals had gone into hiding or left for the deeper parts of the Sj?rn. Deeper in the Sj?rn was not a place for territorial big creatures and animals, not unless they had the strength to be there, the drake did not, however in the outskirts it could hold its own quite well. It walked around recklessly, too hungry to think, the fear, the fear was strong it clouded its otherwise rational thoughts! Yet it found none, the smell of prey gone. Trees shook as the large drake bumped its heavy body into the trees out of rage, its eyes bloodshot and unfocused! The creature roared loudly in anger and resentment of the fear that clouded its heart and thoughts, but amidst its roar it smelled something in the wind. Its eyes focused into sharp slits, its powerful hind legs kicked off into a noisy sprint, where the creature would normally survey its prey carefully, it was now simply rushing headfirst in its direction, its mind long since lost. A tree burl flickered on one of the ash trees, revealing the young woman with golden eyes, she was not a hunter, nor did she know what had drawn the drake¡¯s attention, the sooner her hunt would be over, the sooner she could leave this accursed place. She left in almost the same direction as the drake, although her path diverged somewhat. . . . . Slivers of sunshine painted beams of light on the path through the forest, the trees swayed in the wind as the only sign of the forest not being dead. The mood in the caravan was depressive, everyone just sort of trudged forward day after day, the usually bustling dangerous forest had proven uneventful so far, and maybe something good did come from the oppressing feeling that marred the forest. The peace did not last long however, they could soon hear the sound of impact and the breaking of branches coming from far away, the sounds slowly coming nearer, before anyone could think about what it was a notification popped up in front of everyone.
Rank D hunt quest initiated: Wild drake breaks the mold
A wild drake, driven mad by the disease that plagues the forest, has seen itself hungry on your caravan. Defend the caravan and survive the assault.
Reward: Experience
Instantly the guard captain of Elisa¡¯s party yelled orders for the civilians to step back, whilst the combat classes got into formations, Edra and Bardo stood a bit behind the stronger guards, Elisa and Peter next to them, it was obvious that the oppressive feeling of the forest had left a dent in the morale of the warriors there, many were shivering from fear. The sound of the rampaging drake kept increasing, and then it stopped abruptly. Silence permeated the area; everyone looked at each other in fear, waiting, anticipating. Then it came, a cascade of green gooey rain. ¡°ACID!¡± the head guard yelled as he slammed a large shield into the ground in front of him, creating a half dome of fire, burning up the acid as it made contact, it still dripped through at some place though, one guard trashed his shield instantly after it got hit, as the acid just burned it all away, two other guards weren¡¯t so lucky, they didn¡¯t die, but they both received serious damage from the attack. No one looked their way though, everyone simply looked forward with strained eyes. Then they heard the rampaging running begin again. Edra marveled at the creature, its scales matt in luster, shifting in colour, its size that of two men, the creature looked like an overgrown komodovaran. It had three horns, two slick ones jutting from the side of its head pointing backwards completely yellow in colour, and a short but fat bony horn on the nose, its eyes slit and brown in colour. When it broke out of the forest it didn¡¯t come out and stop there to see who was waiting for it, it simply broke out of the forest and its nose horn instantly impaled an unprepared guard. Everyone stood still for a moment as the guard died, and then they moved, a few archers began shooting their strongest arrows, some exploded on impact, others froze or carried poison, the other guards with shield and sword attacked in a flurry. The first wave of guards were the strongest; the guard captain bashed the drake backwards a few meters with his shield, dazing it for a moment, whereas he chopped down with his sword in a fiery blaze leaving a large gash on the drake¡¯s side. ¡°ATTACK THE WOUND!¡± he yelled aggressively. It was the first real battle that Edra, Bardo, Peter and Elisa had participated in. People were injured or dying in front of them, they felt powerless! The creature was so strong, all of the attacks used on it was stronger than anything they could muster up, yet it had barely been scratched, only the guard captain had managed to break its scales. They simply stood there, awaiting the drake. ¡®So much prey! So much food! Stupid humans!¡¯ The drake thought as it thrashed about, slamming with its tail, impaling with its horn, biting with its teeth. It slid to the right slamming its large body into several of the fools that opposed it! It was about to release another acid breath when the annoying human who pushed it earlier began releasing ropes of flame that tied it up, constricting it. Did the man not know that it was futile to fight against it? Its yellow horns began humming and vibrating, on the horns there were tiny dot sized holes, from these holes a mist was released, the first human to be affected was some pesky fool that had been attacking its side, he slowed down, whereas he began yelling in a panic. The drake thought to itself ¡®You can¡¯t fight me!¡¯ then it roared out loudly as its poisonous mist spread. Had the creature been normal, had it not been affected by the forest it would¡¯ve thought more clearly, it would remember that its mist was highly flammable, as soon as the mist touched the fiery ropes it caught fire, a large explosion pushed back both the humans and the beast, but the spores still lingered, the caravan guards were still affected and paralyzed, only the guard captain could move a little, everyone looked at the bloody mess of a drake that was lying in a puddle of its own blood and broken trees. Several guards had died just now; there were not a lot left. Edra observed the drake together with everyone else, relief was evident in everyone¡¯s eyes, the drake appeared dead, yet no one was entirely sure, they were at their most vulnerable now. Edra was struck by a fear, what would have happened if the camouflaged drake had simply snuck up on them, used the mist at night and simply killed them one by one? The thought alone was terrifying. He didn¡¯t have much time to think as the drake slowly began moving, one of its horns had broken off, it was charred on several spots and it was limping with bone protruding from its left front leg, but it still moved, towards them! It bit the head off of the closest person to it, it was a terrifying sight. The powerlessness was worse than anything! that they couldn¡¯t move was a terrible feeling, if they could just move it wouldn¡¯t feel so bad! Edra roared out of anger and desperation!
Additional abilities has been unlocked for skill: invigorating roar ¨C lessens status effects on affected allies depending on each person¡¯s respective levels. No more abilities to unlock for invigorating roar.
His roar instantly released the guard captain who flew over like an arrow released! His sword collided with the initial injury of the drake, his sword poking right into its heart, and then he rolled back, his sword still inserted, the drake screaming in pain. The drake did not get its chance to retaliate however, as the sword began humming and vibrating the sounds of cracking metal could be heard, and then it exploded in a blaze caving in the side of the drake, killing it.
D-rank hunt Quest Complete: Grade -
Successfully completed the Wild drake breaks the mold quest. Based on the damage to the caravan and casualties and participation of the hunt by party Edra & Bardo, there will be no reward. Edra¡¯s invigorating roar had a defining effect, reward recalculated.
Quest reward: +200exp to each party member.
Everyone felt relieve as they received the notification of the quest ending. Some fell down, others began puking or mourning their fallen comrades. Edra and Bardo both gained a level, but they were too distracted to be concerned with it. Everyone just moved silently as they gathered up and began moving along. The effects of the diseased forest affected them, they didn¡¯t loot the corpse, they only made shallow graves for their comrades, and it was as if a shift had happened in the moment of the drake¡¯s death, the mourning people simply walked with tears streaming down their cheeks. It wasn¡¯t until nightfall when the fires warmed their bodies and their bellies were full that they realized that they had forgotten about the drake, not that anyone was about to return. Edra sat in front of the flickering bonfire, crackling as it was he looked over his status screen. He had gotten five skill points; he had used two points to increase his stamina with one point, apparently different attributes required different amounts of skill points. Some couldn¡¯t even be increased with skill points, for example his soul-power attribute and will-power attribute required physical actions to be increased, or something to happen to him, he only found out when he tried to increase them just now. The remaining three points he used on strength.
Basic Information Race: Human Class: Warrior 1/10 Age: 23 Subclass: none Level: 2 Exp to next: 5% Active Title Set as None
Attributes Health: 25/25 Mana: 5/5 Stamina: 35/35 Vitality: 10 Endurance:5 Intelligence: 5 Magic: 5 Willpower: 10 Strength: 9 Dexterity: 3 Soul power: 50 Resistance Heat: 5% Soul: 35% Void: 50% Death: 10% Necromancy: 10% Chronomancy: 10%
Navigation Bar [Journal] [Titles] [Skills] Active Blessings None
It was then that Elisa, the skinny merchant and the guard captain walked over to Edra. He instantly noticed that she wore a grim look on her face, and that the skinny merchant looked somewhat gleeful. ¡°Edra, you were invaluable in the last battle, but I¡¯m going to have to ask that Bardo leaves the caravan¡± Her words were spoken with pain. ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡± Bardo yelled ¡°what wrong have I committed?¡± His feelings were understandable, his anger too, but the guard captain still stepped forward with a stern expression, this wasn¡¯t training camp, and Bardo did not know Elisa the same way Edra or Peter did, therefore he shouldn¡¯t be speaking like so to a noble. He realized his mistake and took a step back looking at the scornful eyes targeting him. Edra grabbed his shoulders and smiled to him ¡°Elisa, if Bardo goes so do I! what is the meaning of this anyhow?¡± he beckoned. ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to question m¡¯lady, regardless of your personal relationship¡± The guard captain spoke without making a move, but the intent was obvious. Elisa was about to speak up when the skinny merchant beat her to it ¡°Meaning?¡± he questioned loudly with evil plastered all over his face, the flicker of the fire only making his facial expression more livid ¡°I know this Bardo, a thug he is, worked with some evil men, and the forest don¡¯t like it! That is why we feel like this that is why the swamp drake attacked us so far from the swamps!¡± he spat out every word with derision. It was clear that this was the reason for everyone acting weirdly the last couple of days, that is why they got such mean gazes and that there were whispers behind their backs. Elisa spoke up ¡°I don¡¯t know about this, but I do know that everything has been unnatural in the Sj?rn, and that the merchants and guards won¡¯t continue onwards unless we leave Bardo behind, whether he really is to blame or not, I do not know, but if he is! Then that is not a chance we can take¡± Her words logical, to some extent, albeit superstitious, yet it was clear, that had it not been for the mental influence of the Sj?rn she would never have made such a decision ¡°We ask that you keep camp here for two days if you still want to continue to Br¨¹n¡± the guard captain finished. Then the group left Edra and Bardo. The following morning Edra and Bardo left at dawn walking back towards Br¨¹n. Edra hadn¡¯t said his goodbyes to Elisa, he was angry, angry at everyone, and didn¡¯t the first message clearly say the Sj?rn was diseased, how was that Bardo¡¯s fault! He had tried to talk with people that night, but none had listened, was he the only sane one around there? Even Bardo was unusually quiet. They didn¡¯t walk long before they came to the previous day¡¯s battlefield. A large ray of sunlight broke through where the drake had crashed into a tree and cracked it. There was something solemn about standing there again, a peaceful feeling, they had lived after all. Edra went over to the drake¡¯s corpse and picked up the broken horn, then he desperately began cutting and pulling to get the remaining horns, Bardo too began working on the corpse, they weren¡¯t very successful, its body too tough, they got a few scales, but most of all they got rid of their frustration, in the end they were simply hacking at the creature until they tired. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Br¨¹n!¡± Edra exclaimed as they sat against a tree. ¡°We¡¯ll never succeed¡± Bardo said silently. ¡°That¡¯s the forest talking; shouldn¡¯t we take advantage of the silence of the forest? One creature in a week, it might¡¯ve been strong, but it is still one creature, normally we would never have made it this far without more attacks right?¡± Bardo¡¯s eyes turned slightly lively ¡°That¡¯s, that¡¯s true, so I¡¯m not cursed after all¡± he muttered. ¡°Of course you¡¯re not cursed!¡± Edra proclaimed ¡°we¡¯ll leave in in two days; I don¡¯t want to run into the bunch of idiots again!¡± Two days later they packed up and headed towards Br¨¹n once more. Chapter 7: Lord of Moss None of them had said it, but the moment they were left behind, their chances of death increased dramatically. There was still many days of travelling to get out of the forest towards Loktath, and even longer to go towards Br¨¹n. The danger was clear regardless of the direction they chose, as that was the case, why not gamble big. With what little rations they had they often had to venture into the forest to gather berries from the forest or water from streams. Their travelling was significantly slower than it had been previously. Luckily there was still fish to be found so that once in a while they could get something more sustaining. . . . . A mouse scurried out silently, its hunger too strong to make it stay underground. It ran along the forest floor carefully, alert, the morning dew cooling its brown fur. It found some wild berries growing low, it instantly began eating them, its hunger almost sated, but the sound of a twig breaking made it instantly return in a hurry towards its habitat. In its hurry back it rustled the plants making several droplets of dew drip down, the droplets reflected the leg of the creature which disturbed the mouse, it was visible for no more than a moment. It was a black hoof with stains of moss, its ankle covered in scales made of light brown bark, and then the creature was gone, as if it was never there. It was but moments later that the lady with golden eyes appeared; she noticed the twig that had broken. Not even the creature could escape the mental influence that the Sj?rn was giving off, it had gotten careless, and it was both good news and bad news to her. . . . . Four candle lanterns hung in each corner of the tent, giving off a warm light, casting the shadows of the people present onto the canvas of the tent as they moved their arms or shifted their positions. They sat on pillows on the ground, around a small low table. It was Elisa, Peter and the guard captain. Peter had a worried facial expression ¡°I just don¡¯t feel right about leaving Edra and Bardo behind¡± he spoke politely while glancing at the guard captain for a moment, before looking at Elisa ¡°even if we hadn¡¯t known them, leaving anyone who isn¡¯t at least level 10 in the middle of the Sj?rn forest is almost certain death! I do not want their deaths on my conscious¡± The guard captain kept silent, he was a middle aged man, clean shaven and he had a buzz-cut, his eyes light blue, it was obvious that he didn¡¯t care much for Peter¡¯s words, it was even more obvious that he wanted to scold him for speaking so casually to Elisa, but he kept quiet, it wasn¡¯t the first discussion in the tent, and he had been told off by Elisa before, so he kept quiet. She knit her brow together as she spoke up ¡°I share your concern friend, I¡¯m starting to feel that whatever is happening with the forest is affecting our minds and not just our moods¡± she sighed tiredly ¡°however it has already been a week¡¯s time since we left them¡± her expression and voice turned especially painful as she continued her sentence ¡°they have either made it out of the Sj?rn by now, or they have¡­ had an accident¡± She knew she was to blame if something happened to them, had she not guaranteed them a safe journey? would they not have rather stayed in Loktath had it not been for her? The guilt had plagued her every day since they left them behind. ¡°It is obvious it wasn¡¯t Bardo¡¯s fault¡± Peter said exasperatedly ¡°whatever relief the caravan got from leaving him behind, quickly turned back to the same old sour mood, that snake of a merchant Thomas!¡± he sneered the name in anger. The guard captain frowned, and finally opened his mouth ¡°regardless of the decision of leaving behind the two travelers, I do agree with Peter here, Thomas is not to be trusted, we should be careful around him, for whatever intentions he has, they are not clear¡± his voice spread through the tent as Elisa and Peter sat in contemplation of what the guard captain had said. Meanwhile Thomas sat in his tent, with only a small candle flickering in front of him. He pulled out a worn piece of parchment, and then he cut a line on his skinny finger and began writing. We are now more than halfway through the forest, something odd is going on, I will explain further when we arrive, the transport is unsuspected and I trust your delivery will be safe. Your trusted subject Thomas Siebling After he had finished writing, he made a cross over the parchment, whereby he made a circle around the cross, as the circle finished the blood writing disappeared, leaving the parchment blank once more. Thomas¡¯s twisted skinny face illuminated by the candle, a malevolent smile painted across his lips. . . . . Fear, what is fear? Is it when you are too scared to move? Or when you are on the precipice of losing everything, is it both? Or is it something else entirely? She was standing completely still; it wasn¡¯t that she couldn¡¯t move, but that she was afraid of what might happen if she did. She was so close, no more than a few meters away from her, there lay the creature which she had sought, in all of its natural splendor, had it only been alone! Sitting behind it lazily on a moss covered rock was an old man, as much a creature of the forest as the one she had been hunting, if not more so. He was playing a pan flute, once upon a time he would¡¯ve been known as a satyr, once upon a time that is. She surveyed how his skin had long since turned to wood, his horns to branches of the ash tree, his beard no more than leafs, his furry legs now covered in moss. The ones who made a deal with the Sj?rn might gain power, but was it power that was worth it? He had been playing since midday, the sun was now setting, cascading the trees and rocks around them in dark shadows and shades of orange. Eventually he stopped. ¡°Dryad, why do you seek this creature of the forest?¡± His voice archaic, yet it sounded like the water passing through a creek, like the rustling of branches he was unnatural and so was his voice. The woman smiled slightly and kneeled, he spoke the language of the forest, and she responded in kind ¡°Which lord of the forest might I be addressing?¡± she asked respectfully, her voice soft but sharp. The lord began chuckling lightly ¡°So there are still some young¡¯uns who learn of the old ways, eh?¡± his question not a question ¡°The mighty Sj?rn bestowed upon me lordship of moss, and the title of Lord of Moss¡± he looked joyful as he spoke reverently about the Sj?rn ¡°now that the pleasantries are out of the way, answer my question child¡± his ancient gaze peering deeply into the dryad¡¯s golden irises. . . . . The sound of flint scratching steel echoed out shortly, before the sound was drowned by the increasing winds from the east. The increase in wind quickly lit up the small bonfire which Bardo had set up. The sound of the branches catching fire gave a quick draft like sound followed by a soft crackling. Edra finished setting up the tent and sat down next to Bardo on a semi soft cover. They both just stared into the flame as it licked against a black iron pot which contained a simple fish stew. The last rays of light disappeared soon after leaving the bonfire as the only light-source, no stars covered the skies that night, nothing but clouds with a promise of rain were rumbling above. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll ever be able to wash off this smoky smell¡± Edra asked half joking half serious whilst he sniffed his arm, which had gotten a smoky after the repeated bonfires on the trip. Bardo laughed loudly ¡°It¡¯s the sign of adventure friend, the smell of smoke and battle that is the mark of men!¡± He proclaimed confidently. Edra looked at his friend with a smile, it was obvious that he was still affected by whatever afflicted the forest, but he had gotten a whole lot better since they left the prying judgmental gazes and whispers of the caravan, his smile quickly turned bitter when he thought of the journey ahead, and whether they could survive it or not. ¡°Alright so according to you the guys working at the smokehouses are real men too? How about the maids who set the fire? How about¡­¡± Bardo lifted up his hands in surrender interrupting Edra ¡°Okay okay I get it, I admit defeat! Let¡¯s just take some of that fish stew already, we¡¯ve barely been eating since we separated from the caravan¡± he moved his big hands towards the lid of the pot, only to have his hand slapped with a wooden ladle. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Patience friend, it needs a while more¡± Edra said calmly, sniffing in the smell of stew. ¡°Care to share with an old lady travelers?¡± an old voice broke the two¡¯s conversation from in front of them, where an old lady walked into view of the bonfire¡¯s light. Edra and bardo both jumped up grabbing for their spears when they heard the voice, but when they saw the lady they somewhat loosened their guard. They looked at one another, the confusion clear in each other¡¯s reflection. Edra thought quickly ¡°Please take a seat ma¡¯am, you can use our cover, I¡¯ll be right back I need to go take a whizz¡± He blinked with one eye at Bardo as he left. Bardo picked up on it ¡°Yeah me too, we¡¯ll be right back, don¡¯t eat the stew just yet, it needs to simmer¡± he spoke as he followed Edra. After a short walk to a nearby bush Bardo whispered to Edra ¡°suspicious! Very suspicious! The Sj?rn is not some place your regular grandma would come to, and even if there are almost no creatures because of this oppressing feeling, it should only warrant having people stay away from here¡± the concern in his voice was obvious. ¡°I concur! Regardless of who she is, we need to be careful, but who knows, maybe she is just passing through, looks can be deceiving after all, we should ask about her story, either way we are almost certainly weaker than her¡± a sense of powerlessness was emanated from Edra¡¯s voice as he finished speaking. The old lady sipped the hot soup from a small wooden bowl; her expression didn¡¯t betray whatever her thoughts about it were. Edra and Bardo sipped the soup too, silently looking at each other and at the elderly lady, they didn¡¯t really know what to say about the entire ordeal, eventually Bardo spoke up ¡°So what is an elderly lady, such as yourself doing out here in the Sj?rn, my apologies, but you do not seem like a mage or warrior?¡± he was impolitely slurping the last soup from his bowl while speaking, Edra couldn¡¯t help but smile at the man¡¯s straightforwardness. The elderly lady looked amused ¡°I live here¡± she spoke gently, almost as if it was the most normal thing in the world, the flame reflected in her playful eyes. ¡°Ah, so you live here¡± Edra responded calmly, only to realise what that meant a second later ¡°wait, you live here ma¡¯am? Isn¡¯t this forest a bit too dangerous for you?¡± his voice strained as he rushed the sentence. The elderly lady laughed joyfully ¡°why yes, it is dangerous, but you see birds in the trees, boars and mice on the ground, why can¡¯t I live here too? If you know where to go¡± and she looked into Edra¡¯s eyes, holding his gaze ¡°and more importantly, where not to go! Then it is a different matter entirely my young friend¡± she blinked, her gaze releasing Edra¡¯s, she looked back into the fire as she sipped some more soup. ¡°I¡¯m very impressed lady, I¡¯ve never heard of anyone living in the Sj?rn, I guess myself and my friend here are a couple of bumpkins¡± Bardo laughed awkwardly, it was clear from his voice and facial expression that he was impressed though ¡°speaking of, you wouldn¡¯t know what ails the forest? I personally feel the oppression every day, only in the evening around the campfire do I feel relieve, and even then I still feel a chill in my heart¡± he spoke candidly about his fears. The lady seemed to be in a good mood as she was smiling warmly ¡°the very reason that I¡¯m out and about is to investigate this, although I fear that with what little ability I do have I¡¯ll be better off leaving for Br¨¹n until the forest returns to its normal self¡± although still smiling, her eyes and brow was serious ¡°Enough about me, where do you hail from friends?¡± and so their conversation turned to other matters for the night. The following morning the elderly lady asked if she could come along to Br¨¹n, she feared the forest, and would rather seek refuge until it settled. The group travelled together for five days, until one morning the elderly lady was gone, and so was any memory of her. . . . . The lord of moss was still sitting on his moss covered rock playing his pan flute, the creature lying in front of him comfortably. A light drizzle could be heard from the treetops, but little rain made its way down to the forest floor. ¡°Tell me child, what you learned of the people passing through the forest?¡± he had put his flute on the side of the rock as he asked the dryad, who was kneeling in front of him. ¡°They were mostly humans¡± she spoke with indifference, her head low ¡°the forest affecting them, yet there was a clear difference¡± the last word spoken with a bit more emotion. ¡°Oho, very good child¡± the lord of moss clapped his hands jovially ¡°yes, yes that is true, they are different, regardless of the forest, tell me more¡± his mood changing from joyful to serious constantly. The dryad had met other lords before when she was with her master, then she had been young, whatever she remembered of them was little, what she did remember was what she was taught - Always keep traditions with the lords of the Sj?rn, they might not seem to care, but they may not hesitate to punish you if forget, and always remember that every lord is different, the rules of one, might not apply to another, be careful always! She heaved a breath slowly before she continued ¡°the first people I came across was a caravan coming from a place called Loktath heading towards the city of Br¨¹n, they were fearful, more so than the other group I met¡± she contemplated on the experience a bit more before she continued ¡°I suspect that the more people are present, the more their emotions are disturbed by whatever ails the forest¡± ¡°Very good, very good my child, this is true, well deduced, you¡¯ll be a great druid yet¡± the old man said amicably. What didn¡¯t the lord know? When he had set the trial for her she had complied, but it felt as if he had been watching her the entire time? She continued ¡°The caravan denied me entrance, they were too fearful, they warned me to stay away and shooed me off¡± her voice no longer indifferent, but it could be heard that she was bothered. ¡°And the second group?¡± the old man asked impatiently. ¡°The other group was suspicious too, they were very weak, so they feared that by not letting me stay I would bring harm to them¡± her bothered expression began changing as she spoke ¡°despite their fears they shared their meals and water with me, they showed trust in me, foolish as they were¡± despite of her words it was clear that she was not berating them, quite the contrary. ¡°You did well my child, you have passed the test, I shall take back my artifacts now, come lay them here¡± he pointed at the spot next to the pan flute on the rock. The dryad walked up next to the creature, so close, her heart beat faster as she stood next to it and placed the artifacts next to the flute. There was a necklace that allowed her to create illusions, and strange pinecones which when applied with a target¡¯s blood, and when burnt, would then make whoever smelled it forget about that person. The dryad had been surprised the most about the pinecones, she had never heard of such a strange artifact. ¡°Do you know why I wanted you to take this trial?¡± The lord¡¯s question stunned the dryad, there was a reason? Wasn¡¯t it just on a whim? She answered honestly ¡°no¡± He scratched his wooden tummy as he responded ¡°moss can only grow with water, and where there is no pollution, similarly with people, they cannot grow well where there is polluted, the caravan had pollution, it would not allow you to grow, so to speak, but the other group did¡± his ancient gaze held much wisdom as he looked at the dryad ¡°you look confused child? What I¡¯m saying is that you need water and a clean environment to grow, the people are water, their character is either polluted or not¡± it was as if the explaining was boring the lord as all of a sudden he shooed with his hand impatiently ¡°I¡¯m done now, take your reward and be gone, I have much to do here still¡± then he picked up his pan flute and began playing again. The dryad couldn¡¯t help but think about how eccentric the lord was, but his words still bore on her mind, she was used to doing everything by herself, ever since her master left. She was truly surprised at the insight of the lord as he seemed to know everything about her, but for now she had other concerns. She looked at the creature; she could finally absorb and contract its essence. She lifted her gnarly staff and began speaking in the druid¡¯s language; power flared in her eyes, her staff hummed as it was charging up for every word she spoke. The strangest thing was that the creature simply lay there, pacified by the lord of moss. Then she put her hand on the creature¡¯s head, it shook, a process that would normally be extremely painful, a process of killing. The live left the creature, its essence gone its once majestic and mystical body cracked to pieces. The dryad observed the broken husk, her golden eyes showed pity, but then they steeled she could feel the creature in her soul, she had succeeded where many had failed, a Forest Kirin was not a creature easily subdued, not to mention found. She summoned its essence, as a green, yellow and brown light shaped into the Forest Kirin; its scales of light brown bark, its mane and hair ephemerally green, its eyes shining yellow orbs, the dryad jumped onto the summon, she gave the flute playing lord of moss one last look before she rode away, her hunt over. . . . . Bardo and Edra walked out of the forest in relieve ¡°I cannot believe we made it through without any attacks!¡± Bardo exclaimed loudly, he turned to look back at the forest looming over him ¡°we should be no more than a couple of days away from Br¨¹n, let¡¯s hurry there, I have no mind to stay here any longer¡± his shoulders shook involuntarily thinking about the oppressing forest, a feeling which still lingered despite having exited already. Edra nodded in agreement, and the two headed towards Br¨¹n briskly, the drizzle increasing in strength cleansing them of their fears. Chapter 8: At the drop of a coin - Part 1 ¡°So it is your first time to Br¨¹n, eh?¡± a middle-aged man with a bushy beard asked whilst puffing on his pipe, the man was sitting in a padded rocking chair in front of a stone fireplace. Edra and Bardo sat around the fireplace too on a small couch; they were drinking warm tea. ¡°Yes sir, we somehow made it this far without injury, thankfully the Sj?rn is unwell resulting in us not running across anything too dangerous¡± Bardo explained cheerfully, he avoided speaking of the caravan or the swamp drake, little would come of it. The middle aged man puffed a few circles of smoke out of his mouth before he responded ¡°Yes, we live not far from the forest, and we have felt its effects too, the adventurer¡¯s guild has made a request, but so far none has taken it ¡± the man shook his head silently ¡°if it wasn¡¯t for that warning many years ago¡­ that damned forest!¡± he cursed loudly. Instantly his wife came from behind and slapped him over the head ¡°don¡¯t be a fool! What good has ever come from cursing the forest? You silly old man, stop complaining and come help me with the firewood¡± she said strictly, she had a matron like look and had been otherwise friendly when Edra and Bardo offered to do some work for a meal and a bed. ¡°Sit sit, please¡± Edra pleaded as he and Bardo got up ¡°let us help you out, you¡¯ve been more than kind¡± it took some arguing back and forth before Bardo and Edra convinced the couple that they could go chop some more fire wood. In the morning they helped out a bit more with chopping some firewood and other basic chores, the couple had been very helpful, and the wife had insisted on packing some food for them, the husband had given them both some tobacco and a pipe each, apparently he was a pipe craftsman, so for that reason alone he insisted that they took one each. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to give them food you know¡± the husband said while waving goodbye to the two travelers. The wife had a bittersweet smile as she responded ¡°neither did you need to give them a pipe each, that¡¯s a lot of coin¡± she too was waving to the two travelers, who if only for night had brought the couple memories of a time long since gone, back when they had had two young boys, they too eager for adventure, too eager. . . . . He should never have taken his coin. He should never have followed him. He should never have trusted his words. At this point it was too late, there was nothing left to do, there was nothing more he could say, he wanted to, oh how he wanted to curse the man who had brought death upon him, but he couldn¡¯t, all he could do was watch him leave the damp room, his skinny back burned into his mind in his final moments, the guard closed his eyes. What a fool he had been. Thomans Siebling left the damp room and quickly walked through intricate doorways and secret passageways, until he was standing in a back alley; he straightened his shirt and strolled out, pulling his pants up as if he had just relieved himself. He gave fake smiles and fake greetings as he passed through street after street until he made it to a large gate, he greeted the guard and showed him an emblem of entrance to this specific noble household, after which he entered nonchalantly. . . . . Peter had somewhat adjusted to his new position, he had been in Br¨¹n for about two weeks. He was returning from a subjugation request with Elisa, or the young miss, as he called her officially now. They went out to gain experience regularly with some of the mansion guards, it was a safe and secure way of achieving experience. It could be said that he had achieved the ideal! The big city, a secure job with great benefits for progressing, he should have no complaints. He sighed out loudly as he trotted along the streets of Br¨¹n, people looked at Elisa¡¯s entourage with respect and envy, he just couldn¡¯t forget Edra and Bardo, in many ways Peter was a cowardly man, but he had heart! He could¡¯ve sworn that he saw them just moments ago through a window, but it couldn¡¯t be them, if anything it was his guilt. Looking at Peter she knew, it gnawed on her too, it had been a rash and stupid mistake. Letting herself be goaded like that was unlike her, yet it had happened nonetheless, she had already promised Peter that she¡¯d send a messenger to Loktath to assure that Edra and Bardo made it back safely, however it would have to wait as the passage through the Sj?rn was temporarily closed for safety reasons, the kingdom had finally stepped in. She would never forget that passage, and that chilling feeling still haunted her, what sort of power could affect them so, twist and turn their minds without them realizing just how much! She shuddered at the thought as leaned over from her horse giving a small beggar some coins; she smiled brightly when the girl ran off somewhere else. This was what she was protecting, the common folk. The party was stopped upon trotting up to the entrance of the house of Edel, a young messenger handed over a message to Elisa and then left in a hurry before she had a chance to ask him any questions. She lifted her hand up to cover for the sun as she read the letter. Dear Elisa Edelgaard, Old friend, I have heard that you recently returned to Br¨¹n, I imagine that you have been far too busy to greet me, however I request your company right away, I am bored after all. Luna Somma. Elisa felt a headache coming, she had indeed neglected personal relationships since she returned home, there were many reasons for it, but regardless she would rather not meet with Luna if she could avoid doing so. ¡°Everyone can return to the Edel grounds, Peter, you¡¯re coming with me¡± she sighed tiredly, having just returned from a subjugation request, being tired and hungry, yet she could not delay, because it was Luna Somma. . . . . A small beggar girl received a large package at a side entrance to the Somma estate; she buckled under the weight of the package, whereupon she ran off as fast her tiny feet could manage. Sitting in an open outdoor pavilion was Luna Somma, she was playfully shifting a few coins in her hand; so far the plans of the master were coming along nicely, very nicely. She put the coins away when one of the estate servants came walking along a long pathway of white marble, the marble contrasted against the bright green trim grass on the sides. Elisa and Peter walked behind the servant, Elisa¡¯s eyes cold and emotionless, contrarily Peter was looking around everywhere, on the small manmade hills and lakes, on the white marble pavilion in which Luna was awaiting them. Luna scoffed silently ¡®a country bumpkin that one¡¯. Luna stood up in full splendor to greet Elisa; she wore clean white mage robes which fit nicely with her porcelain skin. In many ways she was the opposite of Elisa, which was even more obvious now, where Elisa had a tan from being outside and was wearing her still dirty leather armor, and her hair wild and unkempt, Luna was clean and her hair was a smooth silky black. Everything about her exuded beauty, excellence and her composed bearing only helped to certify that. Peter couldn¡¯t help but stare. Luna looked at Peter smilingly as she talked to Elisa ¡°Where does your dog think he is? Had he been mine, I would¡¯ve long since gotten rid of the mutt¡± for a moment Peter didn¡¯t know what dog she was talking about, that is until Elisa reprimanded him to go outside of the pavilion and wait. Elisa sat down on one of the straw chairs comfortably ¡°so here I am Luna, what do you want?¡± ¡°I told you, did I not? That I was bored, come now, tell me about your recent adventure! You must¡¯ve passed through the Sj?rn, I¡¯ve heard that it is experiencing change recently¡± she sounded genuinely interested and friendly, her attitude completely different than just a moment ago. How many times had she been at the whim of Luna Somma? At some point she had stopped counting, the Somma were powerful, more so than her own family, the families also had multiple business cooperatives, but these were not the reasons she hadn¡¯t postponed the meeting, she studied the smiling woman across from her ¡°Where is Foss?¡± it was only at that moment that Elisa noticed that Luna¡¯s regular manservant wasn¡¯t around, he was always around. Like a crack in a mirror Luna¡¯s smile faltered, she hesitated even, she never hesitated ¡°Foss decided to move to the countryside with his family she responded¡± but no matter how she tried to hide it, a hint of anger was clear as she spoke of the manservant. Elisa truly was surprised, it was a simple enough question, innocent even, but there seemed to be more to the story, not that it was her business to ask, not that she cared ¡°okay, well I wish him the best then¡± after which she went into details of her trip to Loktath. When the gates closed behind them Elisa released a breath of relieve ¡°I hate that woman!¡± she exclaimed to Peter. ¡°Well I didn¡¯t care much for being compared to a dog myself¡± he joked ¡°but couldn¡¯t you just not meet up with her?¡± Laughter erupted from Elisa, startling her horse slightly ¡°Not meet up with her!¡± she was still laughing, but not the funny sort of laughter ¡°the girl is crazy Peter! I once didn¡¯t meet up with her, and what happened? I was locked out of any gatherings, my friends wouldn¡¯t talk to me, I didn¡¯t get peace until I apologized privately¡± defeat was evident in her facial expression ¡°She is no more than a few years older than I, but she walks the circles of the nobles far steadier than I could ever hope to do¡± the horse got a small nudge with her ankle as it increased its speed towards the Edel estate. . . . . The two travelers were clearly from the country side; they earned many amused stares and not so hidden snickers as they marveled at the city around them. Design wise Br¨¹n was not too different from Loktath, most of the kingdom of Brutsch had a similar design aesthetically, the difference was evident in the size of the buildings and the streets. Where in Loktath the wall encompassed the city, this wasn¡¯t true here, there was a large wall, but it only covered until the noble estates, each estate had their own small village where the servants and their families lived, each estate had a small forest or workshop and so on. The noble estates were all located on the border of Br¨¹n to the west, this gave them a free and easy exit if anything were to happen. However that was only the outer part of Br¨¹n, the inner part was entirely encircled; anyone could enter with appropriate city passes. In the inner part the private houses of the nobles and aristocracy existed, and in the middle of everything the manor of the duke resided. Even with similar architecture, Edra noticed the difference in materials in the outer area of Br¨¹n compared to Loktath. They had also been told that there was a growing housing area leading towards the east, as there was no more space within Br¨¹n, the nobles occupied the west, the north was a fortified trade route, and no one wanted to live towards the Sj?rn, which essentially only left the east for expansion purposes. It had taken eight different tries before they found a pub with a somewhat decent price, and even then it wrung what little coin they had left. Regardless, they wanted to celebrate, they had done well, or at least they thought so. In the pub by buying a few beers to some locals they quickly found out about the cheaper establishments in the east, they would go to find an inn there later called the White Lady. ¡°I think we¡¯ve just about had enough¡± Bardo explained as he dragged Edra outside, they leaned against each other drunkenly, evening had not come yet, but they were happy and drunk regardless, which wasn¡¯t good because they quickly lost their way. ¡°We¡¯re lost¡± ¡°Very lost¡± ¡°So lost¡± And then they drunkenly collapsed into a deep slumber. . . . . ¡°I suggest you head to the adventurers guild in the eastside, they often times help out new adventurers such as yourself¡± The guard spoke very officially. The previous day they had been robbed while sleeping , it was all very embarrassing, when they had approached a guard, he simply dismissed it considering it was only a couple of coins they had lost, everything else had been left on them. ¡°Thank you very much¡± Edra said sarcastically, earning him a nasty glare from the guard, whereas the two left grumpily. ¡°I bet they pitied us, you know?¡± Bardo said jokingly, trying to make the best out of a bad situation ¡°they could¡¯ve taken our weapons or other valuables, but they didn¡¯t. Edra nodded in agreement, there was truth to his words, everything else had been left on them, even his ring, he looked at the ring once more, what a fool he had been, he had completely forgotten about the ring since he arrived in Loktath, so much had happened in such a short period of time. After a few hours they finally found their way to the East Br¨¹n Adventurer Guild, the building was way bigger than the Loktath one, and it was obviously busy as there was a steady stream of people walking in and out constantly. The two quickly entered, it took several tries before anyone took the time to help them out and tell them where to find the requests, rather than a request board, there was request ledgers, each request had a number, and taking the number an adventurer could then sign up for a request at one of the desks. ¡°Let me see your guild plates, and give me your guild booklets so I can officiate your new request¡± the clerk which was a young man took the guild plates to check the rank and authenticity, then he took the booklets, which recorded each request, he quickly wrote up the new request details and stamped it ¡°so you come from Loktath, huh, I can see here that you still have an unfinished request, the returning of a letter to one of the nobles here in Br¨¹n¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Bardo and Edra looked at each other, they had forgotten about the letter, Edra quickly checked his backpack and found the letter, luckily it hadn¡¯t been stolen ¡°EH! How did you know we hadn¡¯t returned the letter?¡± Edra asked mystified. The clerk simply smiled ¡°you new guys¡± he laughed ¡°every request written up in your booklet functions as a magical contract, and the stamp too is magical, so when the contract is finished the colour of the stamp will turn from black to red, it¡¯s really very simple, now get going, there is other people in line¡± the man hurried them off. ¡°We¡¯ve got two requests now, one is to return this letter to a noble, the other is to help clear out some fire badgers from a farm not too far away from here¡± Bardo said while looking at a simplistic map that they received from the guild free of charge. ¡°But which one to finish first? Had we had the coin we could simply look for the noble and probably find him in a few days, but there is no guarantee that we¡¯ll have an easy time¡± he rustled his hair in frustration ¡°It is our first request however, and it is from instructor L¨¹dwig¡­ how about we ask around a bit, and if we can¡¯t find the location before midday then we¡¯d better get going towards the farm¡± it obviously wasn¡¯t a perfect solution, they both felt that they owed their instructor, but reality was reality, they had no coin, they¡¯d be better off hunting their dinner and making their way towards the farm. A few rabbits were frying over an open bonfire, Edra and Bardo sat around the fire, their stomachs grumbling impatiently, it had been a while since they ate, and they had been walking all day on top of that. The stars shone strongly, and the moon was halfway visible, it was a wondrous night. ¡°Damn stars, I¡¯m not getting a wink of sleep tonight with all that light!¡± Bardo grumbled, obviously not in a good mood. ¡°Calm down friend, we did our best, when we return from the farm we can look more, and hopefully we¡¯ll find this sir Weiss next time¡± Edra stuffed his pipe, and began puffing on it, soon a sweet aroma of wood spread through the air ¡°for now let¡¯s just enjoy the stars, instead of condemning them¡± he smiled while turning his rabbit. Not long after the rabbit was eaten, and the two men were simply lying in the fresh grass gazing at the stars while smoking pipe, sometimes the simple things were better than fancy rooms and dining, it paled in comparison to this sort of living, Edra thought as he watched the bright stars. ¡°The reward isn¡¯t much so we weren¡¯t certain when we¡¯d receive some help¡± An old farmer spoke whilst chewing on a piece of straw ¡°we can¡¯t pay you much in Vestir, but we can provide you a meal and a bed until the problem has been taken care of¡± he nodded to himself. ¡°Come now boys, don¡¯t stand outside like that, we¡¯ve soup ready, join us for dinner, and we¡¯ll tell you where and what¡± the wife spoke up optimistically, finally they¡¯d receive some help. The old couple lived in a relatively small house, for a farmhouse that is, it was constructed of wood, and had a thatched roof, there was no ceiling so the wooden beams were visible when inside. The insides were filled with nitpicks and small homemade decorations, it was overall very homey. The soup was already on the table, and it was quite obvious that the two travelers had arrived during dinner time; they awkwardly apologized as they put down their travel gear and went to wash their hands, at the behest of the wife. Soon they were seated; the light of the candles hoisted onto the walls, and the other stearin lights brought a warm ambiance to the wooden home. ¡°The badgers are fairly big, mind you, so be careful¡± the farmer said seriously ¡°they generally won¡¯t attack unless provoked, but now that they are eating our crops we have no choice but to deal with them¡± he nodded self-approvingly. The wife poured some beer for everyone before she sat down herself ¡°They are called fire badgers for a reason, their claws when attacking turn extremely warm, and can rip through most average metals, and their breath is steaming, so be careful not to get scolded¡± she warned, while looking sharply at the two young men in front of her ¡°You should be able to take care of it, even if you are at a low level, and had we been young and energetic, we might¡¯ve tried our hands at them first, but we have old bones, and we only hire farmers for the harvest¡± Bardo smiled with all the friendliness he could muster, he used to be the son of a farmer, and the old couple reminded him vaguely of his parents ¡°don¡¯t you worry, we¡¯ll take care of your problem¡± he said while pointing his big thumb at himself confidently! The old man chortled ¡°that¡¯s good young man, that¡¯s very good¡± Soon the four were sitting on the veranda, listening to the sounds of the night; the old man pulled forward a long cornpipe and began stuffing it, Edra and Bardo too pulled out their pipes, the wife simply chuckled as she mumbled ¡°boys and their toys¡± then she continued knitting failing to realise the irony. The light from the two lanterns hanging at the back of the terrace illuminated the scene, just enough for the old man to notice the pipes that the two young men had pulled out, he saw the exquisite wood which refracted the light ever so lightly, light redwood carved in detail, he quickly slammed his hand on the table and grabbed the pipe of Edra who was the closest to him ¡°this, this is a Rhinefeldt pipe!¡± he caressed the pipe in his hands until he came across a marking ¡°what, you! You scratched your name on it?!¡± the old farmer was flabbergasted. ¡°A what now pipe?¡± Edra asked confused ¡°our pipes are quite similar so we scratched our names on them¡± he said with a very matter of fact tone of voice, Bardo nodded in agreement. The old farmer was shocked, what a waste ¡°this is a pipe produced by the legendary pipe maker, all pipe connoisseurs dream of owning one of his pipes, especially considering that he stopped producing pipes several years ago, and you marked it!¡± exasperated at the carelessness of the two youths he could only sigh out loudly. ¡°Well we just got it from a friendly man and his wife after helping them out a bit, he was a pipe maker himself, maybe he made a mistake when he gave them to us?¡± Bardo said with surprise in his voice. ¡°here you go lad, although I think it a bit of a waste, I still got to hold a Rhinefeldt, if I could¡± he coughed lightly, slightly embarrassed ¡°get a puff or two¡± the old farmer acting like a small kid made everyone laugh loudly, and so the evening passed quietly. The morning sun and a few lamb-clouds was all that accompanied Edra and Bardo as they made their way towards the edge of one of the fields, on the way they passed the golden winter wheat stalks, and green aromatic onion fields. The smell of fresh onions was very nice and cleared the minds of the two as they walked towards the area where the farmer had told them that they had issues with the fire badgers. At a corner of one of the onion fields they saw a large amount of the crops having been eaten and the soil being messy, there wasn¡¯t any sign of the badgers though, nonetheless they readied their spears and continued over to investigate. They found tracks leading into a nearby wooded area, past a broken fence, next to the fence there was a bunch of tools which had been knocked down. ¡°My dad showed me how to use that kind of hammer for knocking down the fence posts¡± Bardo said melancholically as he looked at a large blunt hammer lying carelessly next to the broken fence. The forestry area wasn¡¯t very dense and the tracks were easy to follow, it didn¡¯t take long for them to find a small burrow into the side of a hill. Edra stared at the hill in shock and awe, the hole to the burrow was big enough for a large dog, just what kind of badgers were they! ¡°Let¡¯s be smart about this¡± Edra put his hand in front of Bardo as he spoke ¡°how about we gather a bunch of wood and other stuff, and then we smoke them out? Afterwards we ambush them!¡± Bardo almost clapped his hands in applause of the genius plan, they were both very satisfied with the idea of an ambush. A fire quickly caught hold of the plethora of burnable materials at the entrance of the burrow, Edra and Bardo stood atop the hill looking down at the burrow beneath, their muscles were tense and their adrenaline was pumping, like springs they were ready to jump into action. Bardo had a drop of sweat crawling down his nose slowly, he could feel his breath being heavy, his hands were clammy, it was strange, they had battled wolfs, they had faced a swamp drake, but somehow he still wasn¡¯t used to this idea of battle. He was reassured when he looked at Edra and saw that he too carried similar worries, but before he could think deeper about his fears, he heard a fast movement of scratching steps, and then it erupted. They sprung down the moment they saw something exit the burrow, spears first, brains last. The spears barely penetrated the thick black hide of the fire badger, they quickly moved away as the badger hissed out loudly in response, releasing a scorching steam in the process. The steam completely stopped them from approaching the badger, but not the badger from approaching them, it jumped forth towards Bardo, he barely blocked the first two attacks before his spear broke. While Bardo dodged to the side, Edra came from the back of the badger, through the steam he released an invigorating roar, sending the badger into a tree, granting bonuses to the party, and conditions to the badger, Bardo grabbed the spear tip and together with Edra they began circling and stabbing it until it died. They both felt their hearts in their throats, what fear, what excitement! They approached the dead badger, it was lying there with several cuts and stab wounds, it wasn¡¯t an evil animal, in a way they were the ones who were evil, and they both knew it. All of a sudden they heard loud hissings coming from behind, they turned around and saw multiple fire badgers coming out from the burrow, their noses smelled the air, and that was enough to make them move, Edra¡¯s roar was on cooldown, Bardo¡¯s spear was broken, they looked at each other and then they ran in a frenzy. Two of the fire badgers followed them, they weren¡¯t fast, but they were still gaining on them. They were too young, too inexperienced, they had overestimated themselves and underestimated the fire badgers, and they were paying for that mistake now. They made it to the edge of the onion field again; unluckily Edra stumbled over the fence post tools that lay scattered, he fell hard into the field, he barely had time to turn around and throw off the fire badger that had jumped at him, the second one quickly took its place though. The only thing separating them was his spear, which was being cut through in seconds by the heated claws of the badger, its scorching steam breath scalding Edra who lay on the ground with his eyes squinted ¡®is this the end?¡¯. A muffled slam was heard and the badger was knocked flying, Edra opened his hurting eyes and saw Bardo standing there with a hammer, it was the fence post hammer, he had picked it up and slammed the badger off of him. Edra scrambled up with his spear, which was on the border of breaking, two men, two fire badgers, fear and anger evident in both. As nightfall came the old couple sat on the veranda, they couldn¡¯t help but worry somewhat about the two young men; soon they saw a silhouette breaking through the darkness towards them, it was the two travelers, leaning against each other, both bloody both banged up. ¡°We got three¡± Edra said while he was being bandaged by the old farmer, his wife taking care of Bardo ¡°they were much tougher than we expected¡± he laughed painfully. Bardo followed up the sentence ¡°We got three of them with little injuries, and we decided to try and get more, so we returned to the burrow, and planned another ambush, similar to the first one¡± Bardo shook his head in defeat ¡°they ambushed us instead from behind, they must¡¯ve dug a new exit, and they got us good, we were in a fighting escape all day, eventually we lost them, but then we were lost¡± he winced at the pain of some of the herbs the old lady put on his wounds. ¡°How many d¡¯you reckon there are?¡± the old man asked. ¡°Initially we thought that there might be three more, as that was how many more we saw aside from the three we killed¡± he heaved a sigh ¡°but after we were ambushed we both got a quest notification, a fire badger elder lives deep in the burrow, to save the fields we¡¯d have to kill him and his family¡± an unhappy expression marred Edra¡¯s face ¡°we already gained a level today so tomorrow we¡¯ll have to make up a new plan, personally I¡¯m not happy about an extermination, but we have a blood debt now, I fear the badgers will attack other humans on sight¡± The old couple stayed silent for a while, mulling over what they just heard ¡°we can¡¯t afford to pay for more adventurers¡± the wife answered truthfully ¡°but you can stay as long as you need, we are in your care then¡± the entire request would probably end up taking a lot longer than any of them expected. The following morning the two stood outside after breakfast, Edra brandished his spear, which had gotten a new iron shaft, and Bardo brandished the hammer he had taken. ¡°This hammer, it feels so much more natural for me¡± he said while trying to swing it in different motions ¡°you know I never got the basic spearmanship from warrior training camp¡± Edra was moving into different stances with his spear ¡°well you never fought too well with the spear, I always felt that it was unsuited for you, too light, too tricky¡± he yelled a loud sound as he moved into a different stance¡°I always thought that a more direct approach might suit you better, and apparently it did, but you need to practice with it before we go, so let¡¯s get some sparring done¡± Four days of intense sparring was all that they got before the first fire badger attacked from out of nowhere near the main house, luckily Bardo¡¯s power attack worked wonderfully with the heavy hammer and he dazed it long enough for them to pummel it to death. They looked around the farmhouse grounds all day that day to see if there were more fire badgers hidden, they knew it was time to venture back to the burrow! They approached the burrow carefully, before they could even see the burrow they saw a few fire badgers lying around. After a careful retreat they began laying their plans. ¡°We need something heavy that can crush them, maybe some pitfalls too!¡± Bardo and Edra were speaking of all sorts of nasty traps, one nastier than the other, and this was the beginning of a long guerilla warfare battle. . . . . Meanwhile in a hidden study, accessible only by hidden passages, connected to hidden rooms, a man sat comfortably in the light of a magic crystal, he kept turning a bunch of coins in his hand, before he poured them into a small smelter. ¡°Is it good enough, master?¡± It was Luna Somma ¡°can the coins be used? I did as you told me, although I don¡¯t see the point fully, why couldn¡¯t I just get some coins from Elisa normally?¡± her tone of voice completely different than when she spoke with Elisa, or the way she spoke with the other nobles, where she would usually be calm and collected, her words coming in a steady confident stream, they were now reverent and carefully chosen. The man wore a hoodie covering his face despite being inside, no more than the grey of his beard visible, his cold detached voice echoed out into the room ¡°intent, dear child, intent!¡± his voice like a sharp needle prickling on Luna¡¯s skull and brain ¡°magic rituals are different than skills and spells, they are more esoteric in nature, they require many different factors different intents and have different requirements!¡± the more he spoke the more excited he became, his hands moving in concert with his words ¡°the coins have the intent of giving, they carry empathy, care, they carry emotions, there is meaning in all of these¡± his hands opened up his palms facing upwards ¡°it is this emotion that we¡¯ll exploit, don¡¯t worry my child you¡¯ll get what you want, and so will I!¡± his hands slammed into the table out of excitement. Chapter 9: At the drop of a coin - Part 2 The setting sun slowly took away the daylight as the two young men dragged themselves back towards the farmhouse; they weren¡¯t only dragging their own bloodied selves, but also a large fire badger twice the size of any of the previous ones, its fur fiery red. With every step they left a red track, but they continued forward unrelentingly, their faces tired but smiley, happiness marred their faces. ¡°Two months¡­¡± Edra shook his head as he powered forth, his body now much stronger than it had been previously. Bardo had somehow gotten even more solid looking, his large frame even bigger ¡°but we did it, although that moment where your skill didn¡¯t affect the elder fire badger, I have to admit¡± he laughed loudly ¡°I almost shat myself¡± they both laughed hard at that, although they also both began coughing because of the pain from laughing, which only made them laugh harder, a vicious cycle of laughter. ¡°Thinking back on when we just arrived at Br¨¹n and we sold the few leftover materials from the swamp drake, I¡¯m fairly certain that the merchant gave us a bad price for it, not that it mattered after we got robbed, but nonetheless we should try and get a good price this time, maybe we can even get some armor out of this badger¡± They hadn¡¯t spoken a whole lot while walking back, but now that they were on the last stretch amongst the fields, they relaxed and begun speaking about different topics. ¡°I think the old man can help us skin the animals, although I wonder what happened to the majority of the corpses, but we should try and get as much materials from them as we can, there should still be more than fifty left¡± they both agreed to return with the old man, but they both shuddered at the thought of how many more corpses would be missing when they returned, something out there had been nabbing up the corpses without them ever finding out who or what did it, all they knew was that it had left them alone. . . . . Thomas Siebling shook the hand of Elisa, he wore a creepy smile, but that didn¡¯t seem to faze the young noble at all. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that we would get reacquainted through a mutual acquaintance, and that that person would be miss Somma¡± Siebling let go of her hand and retracted a document from his satchel, he put the document down onto a large beautifully carved table, rays of sun from a large glass windows lit up the oak surface ¡°this is the contract, as we have agreed upon¡± he quickly signed the document. Elisa nodded satisfied as she too signed the document, whereas she led Thomas outside of the conference room. Peter was standing in front of the room with a dissatisfied expression, he didn¡¯t know what had come over Elisa lately, and all he did know was that she had completely changed her attitude towards Luna Somma, and now her making a deal with Thomas Siebling, it was all very suspicious. It didn¡¯t matter how much he asked her about these matters, she wouldn¡¯t give him a clear answer, in fact her attitude towards him had deteriorated greatly within the last month and a half, he was beginning to doubt if he¡¯d still have his position by the end of the year. . . . . His wife yelled for him as he slammed the door and left out into the evening. It wasn¡¯t the first argument, it wouldn¡¯t be the last one, it was all Elisa¡¯s fault, her changes begun affecting him at home. Peter shook his head sadly as he wandered through the streets, eventually he came across a noisy bar and inn called the White Lady, he decided to go in for a drink, or two. The insides were lit up nicely by mage stones and candle lanterns, the room was rowdy, and people were singing, playing games, there was even a big man arm-wrestling another big guy with a crowd surrounding them, cheering them on. ¡°Give me something strong¡± Peter said tiredly, the bartender complied silently and picked up the coin from the table as he quickly filled a glass with whiskey and placed it in front of Peter. Amid all of the noise, Peter slowly got more and more intoxicated, it was as if he was simply a passenger in someone else¡¯s body, people yelled and played music, the rowdiness surrounded him, but he felt like he was inside a bubble, where none could enter, where none could help him solve his problems. It wasn¡¯t until one of the guys from the arm-wrestling group came over to the bar and ordered two beers that Peter began waking up from his state of mind ¡®wasn¡¯t that Edra just now?¡¯ he thought to himself as he lifted his head and followed him return with his eyes, and that big guy, was that Bardo? They both looked somewhat different from how he remembered them, or was he just too drunk? His wife didn¡¯t get it, she didn¡¯t know Elisa, and he didn¡¯t want to bring trouble home to his family, but Edra was different, they were friends, or they had been, but who else could he turn to? He quickly stumbled onto his legs and wobbled his way over to the group, he was so drunk that whatever happened next he wouldn¡¯t remember. . . . . Luna Somma lay reclined in a soft leather chair, viewing the south part of the Somma estate, the windows large from the floor up to the high ceiling, she was reading the contract of Thomas Siebling and Elisa Edelgaard. Her smile, pose and posture a painter¡¯s dream, she put down the contract softly on a small side table, her soft hands resting slightly on it as she stood up, she surveyed the room lazily, confidently, it was a rather simplistic room, almost entirely empty, and almost entirely made of glass with only one chair in it. She turned her gaze to the only other person who stood there humbly, a man who generally prided himself of his slyness, of his deviousness, yet in front of the lady Somma, he could not help but bow his head in genuine respect, admiration and fear. ¡°Everything is coming along according to the master¡¯s plans¡± a small drop of sweat fell from his forehead as he lifted his head back up ¡°Elisa is a puppet in your hands lady Somma¡± his skinny hands rubbing against each other. An eyebrow lifted, Luna smiled coldly ¡°what gave you the idea that you could refer to a noble by their first name?¡± she simply stood there with her hands behind her back, leisurely, calmly. Thomas instantly began sweating heavily, what a mistake to make ¡°my apologies lady Somma¡± He dropped to his right knee heavily ¡°I forgot myself in my excitement¡± She sat down askew on the chair her fingers drumming on the small table lightly ¡°had you not been a dog of the master, I¡¯d have had you punished, now be gone, I wish to be alone¡± She turned on the chair and laid back comfily in it again, she looked at the peaceful moonlit landscape outside before she closed her eyes. Siebling scuffled out of the door as discreetly as he could. . . . . Three guys sat around a small wooden table at the White Lady, they each had a baguette with pastry. They were quietly eating and drinking some tea, there was barely anyone there compared to the previous night. ¡°How you feeling there?¡± Bardo asked impolitely and in a broken language whilst chewing on his food. It was quite obvious that he wasn¡¯t entirely happy about seeing Peter again, but he tolerated it as he was Edra¡¯s friend. Peter painfully swallowed what he was chewing, coughed a little and took a quick swig of water ¡°I¡¯m fine thank you¡­¡± he trailed off, he didn¡¯t know what to say, sorry? What would that accomplish, it wasn¡¯t his fault to begin with, a clear confliction spread across his face as he took another bite of food to stall while he was thinking. ¡°How is Elisa doing?¡± the question innocent enough, but it made a Peter give Edra a panicked look, yet he didn¡¯t speak up ¡°well that does it doesn¡¯t it, have a nice one, and see you around Peter¡± he pushed back his chair and spoke to Bardo ¡°we¡¯d best be going we¡¯ve plenty of stuff to do today after all¡± Bardo got up to, and followed Edra towards the door, it all happened so fast that Peter barely had time to react before they were out. He had hesitated, he hadn¡¯t known what to say or do when faced with the two whom he felt that he had betrayed, he took his hands to his head as he sat there at the table in silence. Exiting the White Lady inn, the two didn¡¯t say much, they just walked towards the noble districts in silence, it was a gloomy day with light rain and overcast skies, they had been in a great mood ever since they returned successfully from their latest request, they had gained multiple levels and job levels, and Bardo had even gained basic hammer expertise passive skill, they had delivered and sold a huge amount of fire badger fur and claws, and bottles of blood to different merchants around town and earned a fair amount of coin, they had also delivered the elder fire badger materials to a blacksmith who promised to make something from it and that they could pick it up soon. Somehow though, meeting Peter was a starch reminder of being left for dead in the Sj?rn, the constant feeling of fear that permeated them during that period, and the betrayal when they had been left behind. They were not in a good mood, and so they simply passed along the different streets until they found themselves in the nicer part of town, with bigger buildings made of better materials. The big local noble houses had their estates, there weren¡¯t more than ten of those in Br¨¹n, and each of those ten had a merchant office close to the estates where people could make contact with them. The big and small nobles and noble houses who weren¡¯t local but stationed people in Br¨¹n, owned houses and mansions in the inner circle together with the minor aristocracy. Eventually they came to the entrance of the inner circle, they had previously asked around in the outer circle and in the ten noble merchant offices, with no luck, none seemed to know this Weiss character, on this day they decided to visit the inner circle, hopefully they could find him there. ¡°Now listen here¡± the town official said while straightening his glasses ¡°you don¡¯t have an entrance permit, at best you can apply for entry, and if everything checks out you can enter the inner circle in a day or two, I really don¡¯t understand what the rush is!¡± he finished in a loud tone of voice. Edra and Bardo had been very pushy about entering the inner circle, which eventually resulted in the town official losing his temper, Edra spoke up after that ¡°alright, alright we¡¯ll like to apply for permission¡± they both handed over their request booklet with the request description, the official quickly checked that everything was in order and then wrote their names and other information on a document. To the official¡¯s dismay Bardo turned around just as they were about to leave ¡°you shouldn¡¯t have information about this noble Weiss, and where he lives?¡± he asked politely. ¡°I have a ledger, just give me a moment¡± he quickly went to the back and rummaged around, finally he came out, he picked up a note and wrote down some information ¡°Here is the address of his previous living quarters, however I am afraid to say that he has moved a few years ago, if you¡¯re lucky the new owners knows more¡± the town official didn¡¯t dislike the two, they had just been a bit too pushy initially. They were both clearly shocked, but they thanked the official earnestly and left the office in a bit of a daze. . . . . The bishop finished his sermon to all the nobles and aristocrats who showed up, the church was splendid, constructed of large slabs of light sand coloured marble and ivory white marble, today¡¯s sermon was for the human god SonstHeir the god of trials and hardships, and how the nobles and aristocrats had to persevere in their duties for the common man. The bishop smiled at the congregation, he was an elderly man with a grey beard and clear clever eyes, he went the rounds of speaking with everyone politely before he left for his private quarters. In his room he undressed, changed into a charcoal coloured robe, he pulled a large hoody over his head and chanted two words in a whisper. He then proceeded to walk down a secret stairway that had appeared next to his bed, the stairway led to a tunnel that led to other tunnels that led to chambers and passageways, anyone who passed him by greeted him as master. Underneath his hood he wore a sickly smile of self-satisfaction; he was the master, and they his subjects, students and puppets. As he entered his private chamber his favourite student was standing there in waiting, she hadn¡¯t sat yet, and she wouldn¡¯t, not until he arrived. ¡°I assume everything is coming along nicely?¡± he asked as he sat down, his hood covering everything but the edge of his beard. ¡°Your humble student greets you, master¡± Luna responded as she sat down too ¡°the charm made of the coins has worked wonders, initially Elisa was reluctant to communicate with me, as she always is, but already now after just a month and a half she has begun listening to my advice as if we were close friends, the power of this ritual is truly scary¡± a fervent feverish glint was present in her eyes as she finished speaking. The master smiled underneath the hoodie ¡°Yes, the ritual is excellent, it is gradual, so it removes suspicions that one might have that something could be influencing the target, and even if people think that the person is acting differently, it is so gradual that it could simply be a change in character¡± He moved his hand forward ¡°I assume we got the contract signed, yes?¡± ¡°Of course master, everything went ahead without a hitch, you will have plenty of¡­ materials soon enough¡± she handed over the contract, her hand hovered slightly, she hesitated, before she let go of it ¡°I don¡¯t understand master, why not approach the duke, or some of the higher nobles, or the patriarch of the Edelgaard family? Wouldn¡¯t it be more effective that way?¡± He looked over the contract and put it in a drawer on the table ¡°you are very clever child, but you must learn to be more shrewd, there is several reasons for why I have not approached someone in a higher position¡± he got up from his chair and went to get a small ornate box ¡°this box holds several charms which beget me influence over multiple people, through the years I have come to realise that young people are more moldable, especially before they begin levelling up, the second reason is that young people generally go through a lot of change during childhood or their teenage years, this is the perfect cover for influencing someone, it is far more likely that the patriarch or matriarch of a family would become a target, and if someone discovered that they were under the influence, it would gradually lose its effects, if not that someone came to dispel the effects entirely¡± he put the box back slowly ¡°I tell this to you, my most treasured student, but you cannot tell anyone else. Luna was ecstatic, she was the most treasured student, she knew what others didn¡¯t, with a beaming smile she got up and bid her farewells. . . . . ¡°You¡¯re DISMISSED!¡± Elisa yelled at Peter, who quickly left in an agitated state. What had gotten into her? He had simply asked her about why she changed her attitude towards Luna Somma, but then she had lost her temper and scolded him for talking badly about Luna, didn¡¯t she use to trash talk her? Then why did she act differently now? So many questions, yet he had no answers. In his muddled thoughts he found himself in front of the White Lady¡¯s entrance once more, he needed someone, someone to share his worries with, even if they couldn¡¯t help, he opened the door reluctantly. Bardo sat leaning backwards in his chair, his big arms crossed, Edra leaned forward his elbows resting on the wooden table ¡°so what you¡¯re telling me is that you suspect that something has happened to Elisa? And this is based on her feelings towards this Luna Somma? And also that you¡¯re no longer allowed to call her Elisa in private?¡± he questioned, he hadn¡¯t been too happy about Peter awaiting them on their way back to the inn, but he had given him the benefit of the doubt and heard what he had to say, in a way, if Peter was right, then it was quite shocking information. Peter looked nervously towards the door and window, he had insisted that they talked in Edra¡¯s room, rather than the common room ¡°can you speak in a lower voice, please¡± he whispered nervously ¡°if there is some conspiracy then they might be listening!¡± it hadn¡¯t been until he put words to his worries that he truly began being paranoid, the more he spoke the more he had convinced himself. Edra took a deep breath ¡°alright Peter, listen, I somehow doubt that there is a conspiracy, but you did save my life once, and I won¡¯t forget that, so I¡¯ll take a look into this for you, as for Bardo, that is his choice¡± Edra looked towards Bardo who simply nodded his head strongly ¡°that settles it then, however we¡¯ll be in the inner circle in a few days, maybe if this Luna Somma works there we can try and do some investigation while we are at it, how¡¯s that sound?¡± he leaned forward and stood up from his chair and moved his hand onto Peter¡¯s shoulder ¡°we were friends at some point, and you have a family, so if anything let¡¯s get you some peace of mind¡± With moist eyes he almost cried, but he didn¡¯t, he stood up and put his hand on Edra¡¯s shoulder as well ¡°thank you, truly, both of you, I no we, do not deserve your help, thank you!¡± . . . . The permit hadn¡¯t been given yet, but the town official had promised the two that it would be there by the following morning, Edra told Bardo that he had wanted to check up on some matters at the library for a while so he left promptly. He had entered the largest public library in Br¨¹n, and it was indeed significantly larger than the one in Loktath. The building style was similar though, with a construction consisting of large slabs of rocks and small amounts of wood. When Edra inquired about this he was told that it was because it functioned as a safety against fire, and therefore it would minimize the loss of books and scrolls if one were to occur. What he found first was a small book, no more than a few pages; he had deliberately taken it though, as he had seen the authors name on the cover, Lady MariMar. The Small guide to understanding Attributes. Written by Lady MariMar of the house of Vestiga. Third Era of the lord Astair the 4¡¯th, Year 185. Dear reader welcome to reading another of this author¡¯s small guides, this guide will introduce the interested reader to attributes and how they are affected by attributes; this will also be shown in illustrations. This is by far one of the shortest guides of the series. There are numerous attributes that can be unlocked, some can only be unlocked for specific classes and races, whereas others become locked or removed entirely depending on your class and race. Some attributes are passive and have special requirements in terms of increasing them, for example the special attribute toughness increases a person¡¯s defences, it is a rather unique attribute and have special requirements to unlock which will not be described in this guide, regardless, to increase it one is required to self-mutilate ones body, again this is described in more detail in guides that describe the toughness attribute. The issue often is that some attributes have such hidden requirements or are so arbitrary or even individual, that they are difficult to try and attain or master. Each class has a job level, upon levelling up the job level each class will provide passive attribute increases, a warrior for example gain +2 strength +1 vitality and +1stamina, every single first main class will provide a bonus of +4 to one of the main attributes per job level, if the class is changed rather than branched, then these attributes will be lost. After reaching first branching, depending on the class the passive increase in attributes might be less than +4, but considering that some attributes gives large boosts to different perimeters, the classes that provide less than +4 often provide bonuses in the attributes that have higher attribute point requirements, resulting in a higher than +4 increase. Another find that is interesting is that some attributes mark a clear qualitative difference upon reaching certain levels, for example strength 100 is almost 50% stronger than strength 99, yet to increase the attribute from 99 to 100 requires 20 attribute points. Edra closed the book, it made sense, but it didn¡¯t give him the answer he sought, so he looked through a few more books in the same shelve, until he came across a book with descriptions of multiple attributes. ¡­ The luck attribute is one of the many strange and mystical attributes, there is no known race or class that provides any boons to the luck attribute, there is rumors of titles that increases the attribute, but none that can be confirmed, the effects of the luck attribute are also disputed. The luck attribute is best known as an attribute that show up on special equipment or scrolls, and it will always have limited uses. Some claim that it saved their lives, others claim that it didn¡¯t change the outcome at all, a disputed attribute. He spun the ring on his finger, could he rely on it? He quickly began flicking through the pages until he came across another entry. ... Soul power, few classes rely on this esoteric attribute, spiritually aligned classes or faith based classes are often the ones that provide bonuses in soul power, or need soul power to function. Soul power itself as implied, strengthens the soul of the person, it has similar effects to willpower in that it increases a person¡¯s resistance, however soul power also protects against mind attacks and mind and soul affecting conditions, magic or other. To some extent this could explain why he wasn¡¯t feeling the effects of the Sj?rn the same way everyone else was, it at least was a better explanation than he wasn¡¯t affected at all. After putting the book back in the shelf he went looking through different bookshelves in the same area until he found what he sought, a singular scroll with a few words written on it. The Small guide to understanding class branching. Written by Lady MariMar of the house of Vestiga. Third Era of the lord Astair the 4¡¯th, Year 191. Upon further reflection this author realised that certain matters in regards to class branching was taken for granted in the small guide of understanding classes, this scroll will cover these. As mentioned earlier in the small guide of understanding classes, an individual will attain different options upon branching, personages with specific main first classes will automatically unlock the option for certain advancements, and for example squire will automatically attain the possibility of knight. Many people seek out masters or trainers, although these cannot guarantee that you will attain their class, they can increase the possibility; it is important to note that they do not function as instructors, instructors provide a quest and guarantee class attainment upon completion, a master can teach you their skills or spells, but they cannot guarantee you attain the class you hope for. For now this author believes that is all that the reader should know, do not let yourself be fooled into paying sums of coin or other for unattainable classes.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. When Edra returned to the inn in the evening Bardo was nowhere to be seen, so he ate his food in solitude and returned to his room afterwards going to bed early. He didn¡¯t get the chance to sleep long though, as Bardo came barging into his room in a joyful mood. He had a big a big bundle and a hammer across his back, Edra sat up in his bed ready to jump out, but when he saw who it was he relaxed. Bardo too excited for pleasantries or apologies immediately began speaking ¡°IT is done my friend! And what fine products they are!¡± he laughed loudly, it was obvious he had had a few before barging in. ¡°Back up there friend, what products¡­¡± he glanced at the two handed hammer that was slung over his friend¡¯s back ¡°are you referring to our order at the armory?¡± Bardo put down the big bundle on the small table which nearly toppled from the weight ¡°of course I am!¡± he opened the bundle impatiently ¡°Look at these two coats!¡± he pulled up a large dark coloured fiery red coat and wore it, it went down to just above his knees, it had sleeves and a hood, the leather faced inwards and the rigid small hairs outwards, which was uncommon, but considering that the durability of the fire badger didn¡¯t come from its skin but its rigid hairs, it made sense, the front had several teeth functioning as buttons, Bardo made a few bunches and kicks to show that he could fight in it ¡°it is very comfy, and the buttons are made of the teeth, the string made of the tendons, so it is super durable and we should be able to move in it!¡± he threw a similar coat from the bundle over to Edra, it was smaller and fit him very nicely, Edra too was trying on the coat ¡°he also made us some gloves, these ones aren¡¯t going to ward off any physical damage though as the fur is inward, but they are quite skintight and similarly to the coat they have flame resistance of 5%!¡± he took on a pair of light brown finger-gloves. Edra wore his gloves too and they were nice and snug ¡°what about that hammer? How did it turn out? It looks quite different from what we turned over for repairs, and where is my spear?¡± he was excited too and spoke with a big grin. ¡°The hammer was too useless apparently, so he scrapped it completely, and made a new hammer for me, and because he was close to progressing in his passive weapon smithing skill he added some superior steel free of charge, he mixed it with the marrow and bone powder of the elder fire badger¡± he quickly wielded the hammer which had a dark silver cover with streaks of white, the head was larger than before and was square without any decorative patterns or runes, the shaft was steal too, but was wrapped in a dark leather material ¡°it has a high physical damage, and the more it is wielded in battle the warmer the head gets with its maximum heat being as hot as a fire badger¡¯s claw!¡± he handed the heavy hammer over to Edra, who visibly sunk in a bit when he got a hold of it, his strength lower than Bardo¡¯s. ¡°Very nice, very nice¡± he smiled gently ¡°but where is my spear?¡± his gentle smile turned cold. ¡°¡­¡± The big man simply stood there like a tree, unmoving and silent, Edra kept looking at him until he finally spoke up ¡°alright, alright, the blacksmith used all of the bone and marrow on my hammer, and he trashed your spear, and the reason he didn¡¯t fix or replace it was because he used superior steel on my hammer, so I suppose it wasn¡¯t entirely for free¡± he spoke faster and faster, so that the last part was barely audible. The loud sound of the hammer dropping to the floor echoed out in the small room for a fraction of a second ¡°he did what now!¡± he roared. ¡°It was a good deal though!¡± Bardo defended, looking painfully at his hammer lying on the floor, not knowing if he should pick it up or not, he bend down slightly. ¡°You better be itching your knee there friend, because you better not be picking up that hammer!¡± Edra slammed his hand on the table angrily. For a moment Bardo almost complied, for a moment he was the rational of the two, and then he wasn¡¯t. He bowed down once again, only to be met by an uppercut, which lifted his body up violently, but he soaked the punch and returned one of his own, which was blocked, although it still did damage. The punching match lasted all but a few second before they were on the floor bloody and swollen, both feeling equally stupid. ¡°Sorry, I might have overreacted, I just got a little envious I suppose¡± Edra was feeling up his sore jaw. ¡°A little?!¡± Bardo began laughing loudly, which quickly made Edra laugh. They stopped though, as an angry inn keeper came knocking on the door asking for some quiet. They agreed that they¡¯d go and buy a new spear after they visited the inner circle, so the day after the next. The next morning they left the inn early and in a good mood, leaving behind their equipment and wore light casual wear, they were still a bit bruised, despite their high vitality. When the town official saw the two men he decided not to ask questions and handed over the permits, after which they entered from one of the many entrances. ¡°Not until now, did I realise just how different this place is from Loktath¡± Bardo exclaimed silently. The buildings more detailed, more colourful, bigger, each with a large yard, there was parks everywhere, most of the houses had small property attached, creating spaces in-between the houses and mansions, the people who walked around were mostly wearing expensive clothes, or had official uniforms on, on occasion they would see an ordinary family, who like themselves were looking around with large eyes, according to the town official the locals outside of the inner circle could receive a passing permit for 4 visits a year if they owned their own residence and had a steady income. The inner district was far easier to navigate, and they quickly found themselves in front of an old fashioned mansion, it was painted in a light blue, and the roofing was a shiny emerald green, the front yard wasn¡¯t too big, but well taken care of, with the grass lush and green filled with small flowerbeds. They walked up to the door, somewhat intimidated by the fanciness of it all. Edra lifted the ornate bronze door hammer; he hesitated for a moment before he knocked on the door with it. A young girl came to the door, she was just about to speak when she was stumped by the young men in front of her, both had relatively long and dirty looking hair with stubby beards, they both wore worn and old clothes, and they both looked like they had just been in a brawl, what was it her mom called those kinds of people? Unsavory? Yes that was the word. She shut the door tightly, but it didn¡¯t take long before they knocked on it again, she peeked out of the small window next to the door and saw that it was obviously still the two men from before. ¡°Honey who is it?¡± a gentle voice called from the backyard. ¡°Two unsavory looking men¡± she yelled back ¡°I¡¯d rather not speak with them, I¡¯m going to my room!¡± and the girl ran up to her room, much to the dismay of her mother who had to come and open the door, their maid was ill so they had to take care of some of the smaller matters themselves. The door opened, and this time it was a chubby, albeit friendly looking blonde haired lady looking at the them ¡°and what can I help you with?¡± she asked icily, her friendly looks deceiving the two. ¡°So you have a letter for this mister Weiss who used to be the resident of this mansion, why how would I remember where he moved, he was only here to hand over the key and tell us some basic things, please be gone now¡± she finished and was about to close the door when the small girl yelled from upstairs, obviously eavesdropping. ¡°He moved to Estair city in the kingdom of Hagh, it is in the north, he told me I could build snowmen there!¡± The mom looked up the stairs and then back at the two men ¡°Well there you have it¡± she slammed the door in their faces. ¡°Well at least we have a clue now, although somewhat unreliable coming from a small girl¡± Bardo grimaced at the thought of leaving for a different kingdom all the way up north, only feel silly as only two fools would heed a child¡¯s words. They were sitting in a small park not too far away from the mansion they had just visited, the park was well taken care of and had many benches and a fountain in the middle with statuette fish spitting water up into a cascade. ¡°We¡¯ll sort it out with the guild, I imagine we¡¯d need a larger reward than the original one, regardless, we have a direction, whether we follow it, we can make that decision later¡± he got up and stretched his body ¡°for now we should find one of these Somma, and see what we can learn¡± It didn¡¯t take long to find the merchant building of the Somma, it was the third largest noble house in Br¨¹n. Bardo and Edra approached the large complex; it had several entrances, one for official business, one for private customers, the artisans, an attached inn and restaurant, and on the far right a fancy looking tavern. It all looked fancy though, with smooth whitewashed oak, simple yet elegant, somehow the building didn¡¯t seem to fit in, it was more like a building from a fairytale. ¡°So where do we go to get information?¡± Bardo looked at Edra with a grin, and they both headed to the tavern, and they came out as soon as they had entered, apparently there was a dress code in the restaurant and tavern, instead they headed to the merchant door for private customers. . . . . ¡°Miss there is a couple of men asking about you out front¡± a well-dressed merchant said while bowing his upper body lightly ¡°they look like street rats, however I dared not dismiss them before you had made your opinion known¡± Luna Somma looked up from a stack of documents with a curious look, someone was here asking about her, and they appeared to be common folk, now wasn¡¯t that interesting ¡°I¡¯ll go take a look, warn the other merchants not to reveal that it is me¡± ¡°Of course mistress¡± the merchant swiftly left the room. Soon a beautiful woman excited the backroom and entered the floor of the merchant hall, she wore a regular merchant outfit of the Somma store, and although she drew a few gazes, no one thought too much of it, when she saw the two men, she couldn¡¯t help but feel that she recognized the smaller one of them. She approached them slowly, and drew their gazes when she stood in front of them ¡°I hear that you are asking about the young misses, it is not a clever idea to try and interrogate the staff¡± ¡°My apologies, we¡¯re simply here on the request of a paranoid friend¡± Edra spoke candidly, he had promised to look into Luna Somma, but that didn¡¯t mean that he thought her the incarnation of evil ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, we¡¯d like to ask a few questions in private¡± She had been ready to dismiss them right then and there, but she was somehow drawn in by the words paranoid friend, it piqued her otherwise disinterested curiosity ¡°well¡± she faked looking around carefully ¡°how about I meet you out front, I know a good spot, I¡¯ll see you soon¡± she enjoyed the acting, although she despised having to deal with two commoners, they weren¡¯t worthy of her company nor her words. Luna came out shortly after they had exited, she made sure to act her part of a paranoid person herself, which led to Edra and Bardo acting carefully too which was seen when they whispered to her as she greeted them, then they followed her along different streets and alleys, they then entered a small door in the city wall, the room they came into was nondescript, and looked like an abandoned guards room. ¡°So how can I help you? I dare not speak of the lady in the presence of the other merchants, as her temper is foul¡± she lied, she was ecstatic her adrenaline was pumping, she didn¡¯t fear the two men, but the play, the act it was all too entertaining. ¡°Well my friend¡­¡± Edra almost revealed Peter¡¯s name and gender, but thought against it ¡°my friend works for a noble named Elisa Edelgaard, and apparently my friend believes her to be under the influence of this Luna Somma, according to him she had a deep dislike and hatred for the woman no more than two months ago, yet now they are close as can be¡± Luna stood silently for a bit, weighing her approach, then she asked innocently looking at Bardo, who had been otherwise silent ¡°and where did you know this friend from?¡± ¡°Loktath¡± Bardo answered without thinking, and then clamped his mouth, he realised he had over spoken, he had been so caught up in the conversation, that when she spoke to him he simply answered, what a fool he had been, he cursed her beautiful ice blue eyes in his mind, they had mesmerized him. Loktath! Loktath, she snapped her head to look at Edra again, it was him! The man who had caused the death of her loyal manservant Foss! Any thoughts about Elisa, or the charm left her mind, revenge was the only thing brewing there now, Foss had been with her since she was a child, and he was loyal regardless of what she got herself into, and it was the man in front of her who had caused his death! An uncanny silence permeated the small room, Edra couldn¡¯t help but feel a hint of dread, the woman in front of him had changed her attitude instantly, her nervous gestures disappeared, and instead he now faced a relaxed and confident woman, she leaned back against the wall her arms crossed. She smiled, a smile that sent shivers down their spines, she had made up her mind, her master could always need a soul or two, why else had he made the contract with Elisa, she noticed how the two men had begun tensing up, she admired their instincts, if only a little ¡°now now boys, not so fast¡± she spoke calmly ¡°you are right, Elisa is under a charm, it has made her suggestable to Luna, and Luna herself is working for the master, a man who wields unprecedented power he has charms and rituals in place to control countless of powerful people in Br¨¹n¡± ¡°What? Why are you?.. it can¡¯t be¡± Edra instantly turned to Bardo about to run, Bardo too understood at that moment, and began turning, but that was as much they got to do before they felt an icy cold chill them until they passed out. Luna walked over to the two, it was tempting, to kill the man and get instant gratification, but she wouldn¡¯t do it like that, she wanted his soul gone, destroyed. A light dripping sound could be heard with a few seconds interval, Luna was looking at the spot where a drop of water kept landing. The cells were damp and humid, she didn¡¯t enjoy being in the dungeon, she had never enjoyed being there. Foss dying had rattled her, profoundly, yet it was almost as if it hadn¡¯t affected her ever since she returned, not until now, not until that wretched man stepped in front of her! She was outside of her comfort zone; normally she would let matters rest, as long as she knew she got her revenge it would be fine, but here she was in the dark hidden dungeon only lit up by a few torches. She sat there on an old stool, her mind flicking through childhood memories of Foss, the man had been more of a father for her than any other, how she missed him, yet she had barely felt that yearning until faced with his executor. ¡°So you are awake, finally¡± her voice a whisper, yet it bore into the minds of Edra and Bardo ¡°I imagine you have already guessed who I am, and I imagine that you think you know why I captured you, but you are mistaken, it has nothing to do with Elisa or you knowing about my influence over her¡± she began laughing in a shrill tone, the two men shivered in her manic presence ¡°I won¡¯t tell you though, you¡¯ll die not knowing¡± then she got up and prepared to leave. How should they respond to that? They didn¡¯t know where they were, nor fully what they were involved in, yet Bardo couldn¡¯t help but ask ¡°are you under the influence of someone too?¡± he felt that the woman was so strange, that she just seemed off somehow, he couldn¡¯t really fathom the idea of someone being so inherently evil. She didn¡¯t respond, and even though none of the two men noticed it, she faltered slightly, but soon she had left the dungeon. Was she under the influence? Of who? Her? What nonsense! Yet like a chord that had been struck the words kept echoing in her mind. . . . . There was no noise to be heard in the dungeon; it appeared that the two men were the only ones there, after Luna left they simply sat on the hard bedrock floor for a while before Edra spoke up apologetically ¡°This is my fault, I got you into this mess, damn it!¡± he cursed angrily, Edra looked at Bardo, sorrow in his eyes ¡°Please say something, my guilt is eating at me with every passing second!¡± Bardo sat on the cold humid floor, with nothing but the flickers of the torches to light up the room, however he didn¡¯t look angry or sad, he simply smiled ¡°Friend, I do not blame you for anything, even though you might¡¯ve dragged me into this mess¡± he chose his next words carefully ¡°before when I was nothing but a thug, what kind of life was that?¡± he questioned loudly, to no one in particular ¡°how¡¯d my ma and pa respect me from the beyond if they knew what path I ended up on, when I went to achieve the warrior training I didn¡¯t have a goal, all I wanted was to leave my past behind, but you my friend, you brought me purpose, if not for you I might still be Loktath either thug or some other commonality¡± he looked into Edra¡¯s eyes ¡°the last few months of travelling and beating up and getting beaten up by fire badgers has been the best months of my life! I do not blame you for anything, I followed you of my own volition¡± he scratched his stubby chin ¡°people think I¡¯m simple minded, and often they won¡¯t listen to me, or give me the time of the day, you¡¯re the first one who actually listens, and sees me as someone more than just a regular thug, I consider you my friend, and also my brother, to die with you is not the worst thing in the world¡± even though he still smiled, it was a sorrowful smile, he moved his hand and arm forward. Instantly Edra grabbed him by the elbow in a solid grip ¡°brothers then!¡± he laughed ¡°of course you aren¡¯t simple minded, just a bit too na?ve sometimes, look at where that got you¡± he continued laughing albeit a few tears streamed down his cheeks ¡°ever since I came here, I have had no direction, I have had no purpose, I lost everything, so I decided to simply travel around and try and do some good where I could, there is no finer man that I could¡¯ve travelled with¡± his tone turned seriously, he touched the jackal¡¯s ring on his finger with his thumb, five seconds of luck would at best get them out of the cell, if at all, it wasn¡¯t the time to use it just yet ¡°listen friend, whoever of us gets the chance, we run, leave the city entirely, I do not know who to trust, hell even leave the kingdom if it is, we are nothing but a pair of low level adventurers, they might not bother with hunting us down, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they put a bounty on us¡± his facial expression hard and stern ¡°do you understand!¡± Bardo was surprised by the sudden declaration and change in tune, but he nodded ¡°Yes my friend I understand, although the chance is bleak at best¡± Not a lot of time passed before a man came, he wore a guard¡¯s uniform, but considering the location it was obvious that he too was corrupt ¡°come along now¡± he opened the cell, Bardo flew at him in a rage, but was subdued by a single punch in the gut, after all, they were both quite weak ¡°now now, you can¡¯t have me killing you, the master wouldn¡¯t like that¡± until he mentioned his master he spoke with derision in his voice, but the single word master was spoken with reverence. They were led through twisting tunnels and passages, many people passed them by on the way, but none seemed to pay them any heed, how long they walked, how far they walked, they did not know, all they knew was that it was far distance. . . . . ¡°Come take a seat¡± the master looked at his new materials that had just entered his chamber ¡°just hold onto that big fella while I take care of his friend first¡± he grabbed Edra in an iron grip and entered a small round room attached to the chamber, the room was full of strange runes and signs, a pentagram marred the floor, even though Edra tried to resist the master simply muttered a few syllables and Edra felt all power leave his body, he could look around, he could hear, but he couldn¡¯t speak or move his body, a feeling of terror spread through him. The master placed him in the middle of the circular room where there was a simple oak chair; the chair however had been carved by countless runes too. While Edra became powerless the master strapped him in the chair, and stepped outside of the pentagram himself. Bardo was looking at the entire process in fear, he was terrified, the guard behind him held him down with one arm, and shut his mouth with the other, it didn¡¯t matter how much he was squirming, he couldn¡¯t move. ¡°I could tell you why I am doing all of this, and sometimes I tell my materials why, just to watch them squirm¡± the master was cleaning out his nails with a small decorated dagger ¡°but my dear student had me promise that this time I would simply let you die!¡± he twisted the dagger and cut a long line in his palm, and then he made a fist dripping his own blood onto a rune that stretched out of the pentagram, but which was still attached. The entire circular room began humming, magical arcane energies began permeating the perimeter, but it was contained within the pentagram. Edra tried to move, he could not, he tried to scream when small blue flames began spouting out of the runes licking and burning his body, but he could not. They burned his legs to cinders, leaving nothing behind, as they moved upwards, all destroying ¡°do you feel that? It is burning away your soul, first your body then your soul¡± the master spoke casually as he watched the ritual take place. Edra¡¯s eyes darted around in sheer agony, his legs were gone, he saw how the flame slowly made its way up towards the rest of his body, yet the chair was strangely unburnt, and then he saw the ring, with no hesitation he thought strongly ¡®ACTIVATE!¡¯. In that moment a small pebble fell from the ceiling, just at the moment that the master took a step back, it made him lose his balance for all but a split second, which somehow made him drop his decorated dagger, the dagger penetrated his foot on just the right vein that a splutter connected with the rune connected to the pentagram, and then the blood like a constant stream was being sucked out fueling the pentagram and the runes. Edra¡¯s ring evaporated, and with the increase in flames so did Edra, but the power kept growing as the connection with the master was still there. The guard instantly flew over and tried to pull the master away, but he couldn¡¯t ¡°break the pentagram!¡± the master screamed desperately, the guard swung his sword in full force on the pentagram marred floor, breaking the circle and flooring, which released all of the magical energy in a large shockwave that rumbled the room and sent both the master and the guard flying into the walls, deafened by the shockwave was a wailing screech. The guard and the master lay unconsciously on the floor, Bardo nowhere to be seen. . . . . Before the explosion Luna Somma entered the private chamber of the master, this was not where he did his experiments or rituals. She went to the small box on the shelf where he had professed that he had charms of all of the people he had influence over, she was curious to see if there were people she knew. A charm consisted of two identical parts, for example Luna had a necklace made of the coins which Elisa had given the beggar girl, and she had given an identical necklace to Elisa. She was just curious, and the master wouldn¡¯t mind, she was his favourite student after all. It had nothing to do with the words of the brute in the dungeon; it had nothing to do with that. She opened the small box; in the ceiling of the lid was a glass tube pentagram with the master¡¯s blood running in it to keep the charms active. She saw many charms, rings and necklaces being the most common ¡®how funny that bracelet looks just like my childhood bracelet¡¯ was the stray thought that entered her mind as she picked up a thin golden bracelet, her heart began thumping heavily as she looked at her left wrist where an identical bracelet was hanging. She sat down on the nearest chair powerlessly dropping the box with charms on the floor. She had gotten that bracelet when she was a young girl, no more than ten years old, she had received it from the bishop, who had told her it was a powerful enchantment, and her parents had insisted that he made one for her, but did that mean that the bishop worked for the master? Her parents too? Like a crack in a dam, it kept spreading, many questions arose in her mind, but most of all, ¡®who am I?¡¯ she had seen the powerful effects on Elisa after just a few months, but she had been under his influence for years. Before she could think further she heard a loud explosion coming from the master¡¯s ritual room, it was clear that something had gone wrong. She rushed up ready to go to his assistance, but her feet didn¡¯t carry her further than the door, she stood there hesitating, and then she ran. The way back to the Somma estate had been the longest it had ever been, people kept running towards the ritual room, and at every moment she felt fearful that someone would realise that she wasn¡¯t under the influence of the master, that somehow they would know. When she came home she rushed to her room and changed into the most common travelling clothes she had, leather pants and boots and a black satin cloak, she packed up as many valuables as she could in a leather backpack, and then she left, she didn¡¯t tell anyone, for who could she trust? She chose a random horse from the stables and left Br¨¹n from the estate exit. Many times during the process she asked herself if it was really the right choice, if she wasn¡¯t overreacting, the master was the master after all, but the more she thought the more confused she got, and so she kept galloping away. . . . . With no direction he had ran along mindlessly, full of shame and sadness, he had seen his friend¡¯s last moments, he didn¡¯t know what had happened, but he suspected that Edra had done something, whatever that might¡¯ve been. When he finally came outside he was in the east district, the sun was out, the birds were singing, and it was at such contrast to the horrors he had just witnessed that his face grimaced sourly, he hurried along swiftly towards the White Lady, he grabbed his own stuff and wore his coat, then he went to Edra¡¯s room, he stood there silently for a while before he packed up his belongings and left, he paid for their stay and found out from the innkeeper that there was a coach leaving town not too far from the inn. He sat at the back of the coach, his hoody covering his face, the few other people in the wagon thought him asleep and simply conversed or had otherwise merry banter, but beneath the hood a constant stream of tears fell from his eyes, he was so weak! However he swore that one day he¡¯d get his revenge, no matter how long it would take. Chapter 10: The Death of Edra Walker Humiliation! Was the only feeling that the master felt, he walked through the secret passages towards his private chamber, his mind muddled with thoughts of what had happened just hours ago. To think that he, the master would suffer injury and defeat against a vermin with no strength, the very thought angered him to the core. At the very least the vermin had died, gone from this world in body and soul, he had already instructed the city official to send out a bounty on the man¡¯s companion, there was no need to trouble himself further than that. The first thing that met his eyes when he entered his private chambers was that his box of charms was lying open on the floor, its content tossed about. His eyes widened as he quickly fell to a knee gathering up the charms one at a time, noting which person it belonged to, by the time he was at the last few charms he noticed that one was missing, one that could not, should not, be missing. A deep humiliating anger welled through the man as his eyes turned bloodshot; a beastly roar left his lungs, unnatural as it was it echoed out through the secret passages ¡°LUNA SOMMA!!¡± Rage fueled his mind as he set up a command to several trusted subordinates that they were to hunt down and remove Luna Somma, he very well couldn¡¯t set out a bounty on her so he ordered his followers to be discreet. The master sat silently in his office, since when was he to be toyed with as such, he was the betrayer he was the trickster, yet this time he had been tricked and betrayed by his most trusted apprentice, he was convinced that the explosion had been related to her somehow! . . . . A splashy sound was heard in the autumn wind as a tired horse traversed ever onward at the relentless push of its owner. The mud marred its hooves as it moved slower and slower the cold wind tiring its rain soaked body, the rider kept pushing and telling it to move faster, at some point the voice began to lose its power, or was it that the horse began not hearing it? Eventually the horse fell to its front knees making the muddy ground splash all over, froth dripped from its mouth as it slowly keeled over and died. In the process of the horse falling over Luna stepped off, she watched the animal slump down onto the muddy path, she simply stood there and looked at it, whatever thoughts that went through her head they were not reflected in her dispirited eyes. She pulled out her now muddied backpack from the saddle of the horse; she nearly fell over when she finally got it out from underneath the horse. In Br¨¹n autumn wasn¡¯t very harsh, there were many amenities that kept it from getting too cold, and you were never too far away from home. Luna had come to realise that autumn outside of Br¨¹n was significantly colder than she had expected, her cloak was slightly soaked through from the previous day of rain, she was sniffling as she moved down a snaky path, she didn¡¯t have a destination in mind when she left, her mind too muddled to think of such matters, but now that she was lost somewhere in the wilderness a few days away from Br¨¹n she felt herself hungry, tired and scared, yet she kept walking forward in hopes of finding something at the end of the path. Wood crackling woke up Luna; she blinked a few times seeing the inside of a tent as she did. There was a small light coming from outside of the tent which gave a warm shimmer on the tent side, it was however otherwise dark in the tent. She sat up slowly, she could see two dark shades sitting in front of the fire from the shadows on the tent. Who were they? Had they been sent by the master?! Were they bandits? Who were they specifically? She soon noticed that she was wearing some light linen undergarments, but not her own, she had so many questions, how had she ended up the tent to begin with? Where was she? Who were the people in front of the fire? Regardless, even without her regular equipment, she had her magic. Two ladies sat in front of the fire on a wooden log with a small blanket put on top of it, they were engaging in a leisurely conversation quietly, they both wore thick cotton woven hooded capes. Without warning or notice one of them instantly pressed her palms together as she uttered a holy word which instantly activated a bright white ephemeral shield behind them, the shield was square with strange ice blue runes that kept moving around, as soon as the shield had materialized it blocked a fast moving icy mist. The other lady didn¡¯t seem disturbed by the sudden spell, she slowly stood up and turned around, she pulled her hood down and revealed a wrinkled stern face, her eyes light brown and her head bald. Her gaze was penetrating as she stared down Luna whom had just preemptively attacked them. Luna knew that she was out of her league, she was still stuck on her first class, she had long since reached the possibility for advancing, but had not been satisfied with any of her options so she had decided to wait till something better came along, the consequence was that she had difficulty fighting some 2¡¯nd classers. She felt her heart quench as the elderly lady stared at her with her clear eyes; a feeling of judgement rose up in her being. ¡°How about you stop staring and come share our meal¡± her face was still stern, but her words were kind enough, the sneak attack considered. ¡°I¡­¡± what could she say? She had just tried to kill them, even though it would seem they meant her no harm, but she didn¡¯t know that! She justified to herself, yet she failed to explain that she knew it wasn¡¯t a good enough reason to attack them so suddenly ¡°I¡­ thank you¡± in her lack of words she eventually just thanked them and walked over, the ephemeral shield turning more and more translucent until it disappeared. They didn¡¯t ask any questions of her, they didn¡¯t blame her for attacking them, they simply poured her some soup and gave her a flask of water, after which they continued their own conversation. From what Luna could hear they were nuns passing through Brutsch and then from the neighboring Bjarkstedt which bordered to the north of Br¨¹n where their final destination lay, she did not know yet. They were on their way back and small talked about their return trip, for what purpose they had come they did not mention. She had noticed that her clothes were drying on a low hanging branch close to the fire, there were scabs of mud on it. ¡°I apologize, and thank you very much for the meal, but why am I here? How did I end up here?¡± she asked, with that small part of herself that was always graceful, she realised when she spoke, that even how she speaks makes her uncertain and uncomfortable, is it the real her? or? The elderly nun spoke up first ¡°we found you near a crossroad collapsed; it appeared that fatigue had gotten the better of you¡± the other nun looked at Luna, her face revealed that she was middle aged, but her features were fine with a few wrinkles, and like a bell she spoke clearly and serenely ¡°as we found you it was our sacred duty to take care of you¡± where the elderly nun looked and spoke more normally, the younger one seemed off somehow to Luna, her eyes were violet and her hair bright white underneath her hood. ¡°You didn¡¯t even know who I was, I could¡¯ve been someone dangerous, I was someone dangerous!¡± she blurted out exasperatedly, her grace gone replaced with bewilderment ¡°helping me could only bring you detriments!¡± her eyes were desperate and confused. The middle aged nun simply spoke one sentence ¡°whether you had been good or evil, it was the right thing to do¡± she smiled at Luna and stood up then she kneeled down and looked into Luna¡¯s eyes ruminating for something, whatever she found made her grab the stunned Luna in a tight warm hug ¡°you can cry now¡± As if by an act at a theater, she began crying heavily her shoulders shaking, whatever intentions she had had in resisting the hug disappeared and she simply cried for a long time until it turned into a silent sob. . . . . It was while Bardo was shopping for supplies that he saw a change in the some of the guards around the marketplace at the small village he was at. They began looking around and some of them would glance at a small piece of paper before they looked around. Were they on the lookout for him, or someone else? It wasn¡¯t a question which he intended to find the answer to; he quickly slipped off to a back alley and was soon out of town.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Luckily he had bought some of supplies for the journey before he left, his backpack ready he took one step after the other down the dirty muddy road, although the day was dry and cold with the autumn wind billowing it had rained the previous days. The fire badger coat came in handy, it wasn¡¯t the warmest, but it was windproof and had a hood. In the evening he set up camp at the outskirt of the road, it was a quiet meal, a lonely meal, as he sat there staring into the fire with a saddened face. He looked at Edra¡¯s backpack which lay casually next to the fire, the pain was still there, in him, but he couldn¡¯t carry around two backpacks forever, he knew Edra would laugh at him for doing so. Bardo opened the backpack and looked through it, there wasn¡¯t much, he took the pipe and put it in his inner pocket, then he went through the rest of the stuff, it was then that he noticed the letter from L¨¹dwig, he had forgotten all about the letter in the turmoil, it was the first quest they took together, he¡¯d be damned if he didn¡¯t finish it! With a goal and destination in mind he went to sleep amongst the rattling branches and howling wind, it was a cold night. . . . . The eldest nun was named Aslaug, and the middle aged nun was named Asta they were returning to their home country after a long pilgrimage, they were still far from back to their nunnery, but who would¡¯ve thought they¡¯d stumble upon the young woman Luna. They had taken good care of her when they found her, and they hadn¡¯t said anything when she had followed them the following day, it had however now been four days, and the girl was still camping with them and walking with them. Asta thought of the young woman who was lost in more ways than one, in a way she reminded her of herself when she was young, maybe that was why she pitied her so, despite knowing nothing about her. Aslaug looked at the young woman, as usual the old nun¡¯s facial expressions revealed none of her inner thoughts or emotions. They had taken cover as the rain had begun drizzling again; they were sitting inside an abandoned hut, small drops of rain made it through the broken roof dripping lightly on the old floorboards. They had somehow gotten the old fireplace working and they were cooking a vegetable stew. ¡°Tell me, what do you want Miss Luna?¡± the old nun asked dryly whilst stirring the pot. Somewhat caught off guard Luna opened and closed her mouth at a loss for words, what did she want? She had blindly followed the nuns after she woke up, they proved a much needed reprieve from her thoughts of self and being, of the master and the evils she had committed, she had begun thinking differently, her conscious which had never felt guilty before had begun plaguing her ever so slightly ¡°I, don¡¯t know¡± she answered honestly, she didn¡¯t know, she couldn¡¯t go back though, that was something she was certain of. The old nun gazed at her with her clear eyes for a short while before she spoke up again ¡°you can of course come with us; however we have a long journey ahead as we are heading to Hagh, what say you?¡± Asta looked slightly surprised as she heard what Aslaug had said, but she didn¡¯t speak up she simply glanced at Luna out of the corner of her eye. Hagh, it was far away, Luna had had a good education, and although she didn¡¯t specialize in geography she did know that Hagh was not one of the neighboring kingdoms of Brutsch, she swallowed down hard ¡°I¡¯d be grateful to come with you, as for how long I¡¯ll be travelling with you I cannot tell you, but at least until we leave Brutsch¡± her voice grateful but uncertain ¡°what makes you offer this to me?¡± she asked silently looking down at the weatherworn floorboards ¡°you must¡¯ve noticed that I¡¯m running from something, for all you know I am a criminal or worse, why do you aid me so?¡± her last few words barely noticeable. For the first time the old nun smiled, a warm gentle smile ¡°it is not our place to know this, nor do we care, as a sister in the order of the Bountiful Wheat follower of Sigrdr¨ªfa, we seek to help other sisters¡± her smile turned slightly more serious ¡°we all have a past young one, that yours haunts you now, does not mean it will do so in years to come¡± Although Luna had never heard of this Bountiful Wheat or Sigrdr¨ªfa, she understood the sentiment ¡°if that is so, I thank you, and I apologize for any inconvenience that may come your way then¡± she bowed her head genuinely, it was the first time she had bowed her genuinely to anyone but the master, but had that ever truly been genuine? She shook her head, how long would he haunt her thoughts? Not many days later they came across a small village no more than a hundred or so houses with two farms connected to it, after asking around a bit they found the local inn, it was obvious it was a makeshift inn constructed out of a barn. It was quaint in its own way; there weren¡¯t too many people there, a few locals and a few passerby¡¯s, while the nuns went up to the inn keeper to book a room for the night one of the patrons got up and drunkenly walked towards the exit, right before he reached the door he drunkenly fell backwards one step putting him shoulder first towards the three ladies, and that was when he threw a small bomb! ¡°The master sends his greetings!¡± He yelled madly as the bomb was about to explode. Moments before that happened a white light gathered, and then it went off in a bright destructive chaos. A few days later Luna woke up with a splitting headache, she could feel that she was lying down covered in a thick blanket outside on the move. She could hear the crows cawing and she felt a brisk breeze enveloping her body blowing her hair onto her face, she instantly tried to move the hair out of reflex ¡®what is wrong with my arm?¡¯ was the thought that entered her mind, she could still feel it, but it wasn¡¯t moving, she tried again with no luck, could she really still move her arm? Her breathing became rapid, the wagon stopped and Asta came around to see what was going on with Luna. ¡°Calm down¡± she said calmingly ¡°you are still alive¡± ¡°Alive, what do you mean¡­¡± and then it dawned on her, the explosion, and the retribution from the master ¡°but, but my arm!¡± her hair was still in the way as she couldn¡¯t see anything from her left eye, she desperately and hysterically tried moved it with her left arm, but no matter how many times she tried moving the hair away from her eye she kept failing. Asta put her one hand on her left hand and moved it down, and she put the other hand on top of her forehead before she continued speaking gently, her face grimace telling Luna that anything that was going to be said next wasn¡¯t going to be good ¡°I tried to protect you the best I could, but you lost your right arm that you shielded your head with, and sadly your arm couldn¡¯t protect your entire face, you received a fragment of wood at your left eye, it doesn¡¯t look strange aside from a straight scar, however your eye had to be removed when we healed you¡± She stopped speaking for a moment, letting it all sink in, even if just a little ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for your loss¡± she concluded, her smile bitter and sad. Luna didn¡¯t know how to respond, there wasn¡¯t any hair blocking her vision, she didn¡¯t have an eye at all, she could still feel it though, the same way she could still feel her arm, yet knowing it was gone made the feeling all the more real, which in turn made her all the more lost, only one thought burned in her mind like a scorching undying flame ¡®revenge!¡¯. . . . . In Br¨¹n rumours of a strange spectre haunting the night had begun spreading, it was shapeless, jagged sometimes ephemeral other times, some claimed it had appeared as a man or a child, but it was all but rumours, no one ever confirmed anything. Edra¡¯s mind was split, broken as was his soul, his consciousness was at its last hair barely keeping the man once known as Edra Walker afloat, he was dead, nothing but a spectre. His ability to think had disappeared; he was mindlessly passing through the void. At times he would accidentally enter the living world, whenever there his emotions would rampage, his last emotions before dead were the strongest so they were the only emotions he retained. Without a sense of self, without a sense at all time passed by, until one day he felt a strong calling urging him to follow it, initially his mindless ghostly husk ignored it, but the calling grew stronger and stronger until it felt like it was right next to him. ¡°HEED ME GHOST OF THE NETHERWORLD! OBEY ME RESENTFUL SPECTRE! BE MINE! NOW!¡± The voice thundered through his very being, whatever that was left, before he disappeared. He didn¡¯t have a choice, he didn¡¯t have the power to resist, nor the will. An elderly shaman sat in a meditative position in a forest clearing, his runes were lit, and the bonfire in front of him changed colour from orange to a deep blood red, as the resentful spectre appeared he pulled out a rune carved bone of a powerful salamander, when he began chanting the shapeless spectre got pulled into the salamander bone, the runes then lit up in the same blood red colour as the bonfire had been just moments ago. He held the salamander bone in his hands with a wicked smile plastered on his tattooed face, he put the bone into a small bag which already held two other bones. He slowly stood up and left the campfire while he mumbled to himself ¡°three more¡± Chapter 11: Take My Breath Away ¡°DEFECT!¡± the shaman raged around a large tent, there were three more people present in the tent, two of whom sat next to a big bonfire, and the last a woman who was seated at the largest chair, the chair of the tribe leader, she didn¡¯t have any guards next to her, not that she needed any anyway. The shaman had returned after collecting another specter, and was eager to chow the tribal chief the success, it was still nighttime and as such it was the perfect time to show off his shamanic arts, his two disciples were sitting behind him attentively listening to what was being said and done, the shaman and his disciple wore raven feathered vests and trousers and shirts made of dark wolf skins. The disciples had yet to receive any tattoos. ¡°What ails you shaman?¡± the tribal chief finally uttered a sentence calmly, she was leaning forward her jaw resting on her hand, she had charcoal hair which was braided, her furs made of bear skins and several red tattoos on her face, her features were sharp and her scowl told more about her opinion than her innocent question to the shaman. The man finally stopped his raging as he felt the ice cold stare of his tribal chief; he turned his aged face towards her and went down on one knee in a practiced motion ¡°Chief I apologize for my outburst!¡± he yelled loudly before he continued in a normal tone of voice ¡°I have indeed gathered sadness and anger, I also successfully gathered resentment tonight¡­¡± he trailed off. ¡°But?¡± the tribal chief said icily. The old shaman drew in a large breath of air ¡°the specter is a defect¡± he lamented. With a creaking of her chair she leaned back and sat up straight her piercing grey eyes locking in on the shaman ¡°explain yourself¡± ¡°Of the six specters that I need to gather the easiest are anger and sadness, people die all the time and remain in our world because of these two emotions, two of the emotions are slightly more complicated as they are multifaceted and that is resentment and jealousy¡± ¡°Get on with it¡± the tribal chief sneered as she interrupted. The shaman visibly shivered but continued ¡°The specter of resentment is damaged somehow, it is as if part of the specter was injured heavily before death occur, most likely the result of an experiment gone wrong, and as I¡¯ve explained to you before the ritual needs the specters to be fresh, and as such I have no control over the specters I summon, I cannot check them in advance, the issue now is that the ritual cannot be interrupted, as we have gathered resentment, we simply cannot replace it with another¡± ¡°Are you telling me that the staff of wailing cannot be completed then?¡± her voice strangely silent and soft. A shiver ran through the shaman¡¯s spine setting off every single alarm bell in his body, he gulped as his brain went into overdrive, when he finally spoke it was slowly and deliberate ¡°not yet, it should be possible to repair the specter, but I will need ectoplasm, I will have to go to the Desolate Battlefield that place should have what I need¡± The shaman was still looking into the ground as he kneeled, he could hear that the chief stood up and walked towards him slowly, every step feeling like his last breath, finally she stopped in front of him. ¡°So be it, do not fail me shaman¡± then she continued out of the tent, every step confident and deliberate. Inside the tent the old shaman had finally collected himself as he stood solemnly watching the flames licking the firewood in the bonfire, his mind was in tumult, his heart was shook, would he live to see the next full moon? His plan was most likely going to fail. He let out his breath as he ordered his disciples to pack up for a trip. . . . . It took almost a month to reach the desolate battlefield; it was a mountainous area, with sparse tree-clusters. The closer the group came the more void of life it was, an eerie mist enveloped the battlefield, the outskirts somewhat visible, but the further in one travelled the denser the mist would become. The old shaman looked grimly into the mist, the battlefield was just how he remembered; the sound of wailing could be heard constantly, initially he had thought it was solely the wind passing through the mountainous passageways and large rocks, how wrong he had been. They left their horses behind as they continued into the mist, the two disciples gazed around the battlefield in wonder and fear, they saw large craters and rifts in the pitch black soil that marred the landscape, and there were blade scars on the mountain sides and random spots of dried magma in some places. They still had pretty good visibility around them; they silently followed their master until he reached a small cave opening, which they quickly entered. With a swoosh the old shaman lit a torch as he led the way for his disciples, the cave wasn¡¯t very deep and they soon made it to the end of the cavern, there they found the remnants of an ancient skeleton with strangely shaped blood red bones, it was obvious that it wasn¡¯t a human¡¯s remains. In front of the skeleton there were rocks placed as a makeshift altar, it was now covered in cobwebs. The shaman went over and brushed off the webs, he then pulled out a small fatty candle and placed it on the altar, whereas he lit it. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Bow down to your great-teacher¡± he spoke silently yet with authority emanating every word. The two disciples looked shocked but quickly bowed down to the skeleton and altar. After a short while the shaman spoke up again ¡°As I was a young man I was often reckless and daring, it wasn¡¯t until one day that I got into trouble and had to flee here that I calmed my youthful urges¡± his gaze distant as he reveled in nostalgia ¡°living is strange, and you never know what is up the road, when I was lost here I was lucky to survive, my pursuers perished in the mists, I still remember their pleads for mercy¡± he heaved heavily as he continued ¡°I fled into this cavern and found this skeleton here, together with the skeleton there was a half burnt book of spells clutched in his hand, that was how I walked down the path of a spirit shaman¡± the shaman¡¯s eyes cleared as his mind was brought back to the present, his past memories nothing more than that, memories. He had persevered here before, he had found hope where there had been none, who is to say it wouldn¡¯t happen twice, his weary eyes gazed out on the misty battlefield beyond the cave entrance ¡°Lok, Tok¡± the shaman addressed his disciples ¡°I have already taught you about what little we know of the dangers within the mists, do not lose your calm, and stay together¡± his voice stern and uncompromising. The two disciples answered in unison ¡°Yes master!¡± they trusted him blindly, they had been adopted by the man many years ago, and as he had treated them well and taken them under his tutelage, they too had responded in kind, their kinship that of parent and children. The shaman and his two disciples walked within the mist scanning the ground for anything they could find, most of the items in the outer area of the Desolate Battlefield had already been scavenged through the centuries so the group was forced to enter deeper within the mists, they could feel an unnatural chill freezing them to their cores, their sweat slowly turning into tiny ice crystals, luckily they soon found some remnants of a couple of skeletons in ragged armor pieces. The shaman and his disciples hurried to pick up the armor pieces and scurried back to the cave. The shaman drew up a ritual circle with strange arcane symbols, in it he placed one skeleton, afterwards he drew up another similar circle where he put the other skeleton, in-between the circles he placed the runic carved salamander bone, when that was done he connected the two circles via a half circle made up of strange symbols, from the middle of the half circle he placed tiny shimmering crystals in a straight line connecting the half circle to the top point of the triangle. ¡°The two of you will sit absolutely still when the ritual begins, now go your circles and start chanting¡± he issued the command confidently, although he felt anything but confident, the two disciples sat next to a circle each and began chanting a strange tongue in unison. The shaman too began chanting the same chant, initially there was no reaction, but eventually a cold wind started being pulled into the cave, more and more violently, the torch succumbed and icy crystals began forming everywhere, yet the three continued chanting in unison, they knew what was at stake, they could not fail now. Soon the two circles lit up each symbol glowing a bright green colour, within the circles the skeletons slowly began to become animated, moving in strange inhuman short movements as they rose bit by bit, their eyes glowing dangerously, however they were trapped and could not exit the circles. The shaman saw his cue and changed his chant, he could feel his eyebrows were frosty and that his eyes were dry from the increasing wind, then he slammed his hands onto the ground which instantly lit up the half circle in a green light too, it spread to the crystals and then finally to the triangle, lighting it up in a green light. It didn¡¯t take long for the skeletons to start wailing in pain as their soul was being drained from their very beings into the runic bone piece, the runes lit up in a blood red colour as the specter within blinked into being it too wailing in unspeakable pain as its broken soul was being repaired forcefully, each time it blinked into being it would be clearer and clearer, its previous shapeless form slowly began to take the shape of a young man, at some point the blinking stopped and its shape was simply writhing there . Exhaustion was evident on every single one of the people in the cave, the unrelenting wind kept gushing over them, they could barely see anything, but they kept chanting, until the point that the half circle began dimming, and eventually went dark. The skeletons in the circles fell to the ground lifelessly, as if the strings that moved them had been cut, the resentful specter disappeared back into the runic bone fragment. The shaman picked up the bone fragment powerlessly, his body strained and tired from the task, as for the skeletons in the circles? They were left behind. While the shaman and one of his disciples were leaving the cave, the final disciple had a flash of bloodlust in his eyes as he instantly and silently grabbed his fellow disciple and cut his throat with a strange and eerie looking dagger, the shaman turned around in a shock when he heard the gurgling and smelled the fresh blood, the moment he did he too was met with the dagger deep in his gut, over and over. He blankly looked into his disciples eyes as his own faded into obscurity, ¡®why?¡¯ was his final thought. Chapter 12: Where there is Smoke there is Fire The war meeting was silent as Alena walked into the tent, her every step confident and certain, she was unfazed by the ten men and women sitting on the floor, each and every one of them looking fiercer than the other, bright light lit up the tent from the upside giving Alena a large intangible shadow that grew shorter and more dense with every step she took towards the chieftains chair. As she sat down comfortably every single man and woman stood up in unison, none delaying, and they all yelled ¡°great chieftain! true chieftain! only chieftain!¡± whereas they sat down once more. ¡°How have the other tribes been moving?¡± she asked with a steely voice, she was a tall robust woman, with fierce features, her eyes sharp as a hawk as she glanced at a large bald man with a gruff beard, he wore a patched leather outfit. He stood up and picked up a wooden stick which was used to move the war pieces on the war board which was laid out in the middle of the room. There were several camps and tiny figures in different shapes and sizes planted on the large war board, however he only pointed at two different camps and pushed some of their figures onto different locations near a smaller camp ¡°The Crow and Swallow tribe have finally begun their movement, just as you predicted chieftain, they are slowly setting up an ambush of our returning messenger troop, they should not be aware that we know what they are up to¡± The man smiled viciously as his coarse deep voice went silent and he sat back down. The chieftain didn¡¯t speak this time but simply changed the direction of her gaze onto an older lady, she was small and wrinkly, her hair wild and her eyes deep as the oceans, she stood up agilely as if she was a young woman wearing a disguise ¡°The two tribes have finalized their alliance, and are secretly planning a wedding between the son of the chieftain of the Swallow tribe and the Daughter of the chieftain of the Crow tribe¡± she slowly began smiling viciously too, as she continued speaking her voice old and slow ¡°our previous tactics were excellent at exploiting their weaknesses, the two tribe¡¯s current chieftains have been lazy which was why we could take advantage of them, they now believe they are conquerors as they move to unite¡± the old lady began cackling ¡°how wrong they are!¡± her laugher stopped in an instant, her voice was sharp and clear ¡°our spies have long since infiltrated their ranks, we have long since mapped their trade routes and trade contracts, more than half of their farmers have been sending us a fifth of their grain, which has led to the so called famine that they are experiencing now, they are playing right into our hands¡± Alena had a satisfied smile as she opened her mouth and spoke, her voice as steely as ever ¡°I know that some of you had your misgivings at the beginning of our crusade to free ourselves from the Swallow¡¯s and the Crow¡¯s, I am aware that some of you had your doubts in me all those years ago when I succeeded my father, but you still supported me, you still trusted me, we have now been free from the tyranny of the two tribe¡¯s, but many of our common people are still subjugated to their blind greed and cruelty, I say no more!¡± her final words loud and clear, this resulted in an eruption amongst the different advisors and elders of the tribe whom stood up and began yelling ¡°No more!¡± ¡°No More!¡± even the old lady was yelling loudly, tears running down her wrinkly cheeks. After the advisors and elders had left the old lady stayed behind, she walked up to Alena and put her hand on her hand ¡°Your father would be proud¡± she said quietly. Alena had a rare sentimental expression as she looked at the old lady ¡°Thank you Bolis, had it not been for your help and guidance during and after my ascension as chieftain I don¡¯t know if I could¡¯ve saved our tribe from the Crow¡¯s and Swallow¡¯s corrupting influence¡± while engaged in the nostalgia of hardships her steely tone had become unusually soft, it was only with Bolis that she spoke in such a gentle manner, and only in private. ¡°I heard that the shaman went to the Desolate Battlefield to try and repair the broken specter?¡± Bolis spoke the sentence casually, yet it evoked a strong response in Alena. Her soft tone gone as she spoke steely again ¡°True, I know that a majority of the council are doubtful in regards to our research into the staff of negativity, however it could prove a mighty weapon once we¡¯ve rid ourselves of the Crow and Swallow tribe, at that point we¡¯ll need strong protection, a protection which the staff might bring us!¡± her voice did not allow room for questioning as she gave Bolis an intense glare. Bolis bowed her head lightly ¡°yes of course chieftain¡± she spoke subserviently whereas she left the tent in long strides. Alena looked her leave with a pang in her heart, a lot of resources had gone into studying the staff of negativity, a lot of manpower and time had gone into it, yet she had persisted, as such a weapon could prove the deterrent of the other tribes, it could be the ward that could keep her own tribe safe.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Bolis entered her tent in a rage, her wrinkly fists shaking out of frustration, the moment she entered the tent she called out ¡°Son!¡± Shortly after a middle aged man entered the tent from a side entrance, he smelled of booze and had an unkempt beard; overall, he looked lazy and ill-begotten. ¡°Yes mother?¡± he asked lazily, it was clear that he had just awoken. Seeing her son acting so left Bolis slightly dazed, she didn¡¯t yell at him, she didn¡¯t ask him to change, how could she expect him to after what he went through? She calmed down somewhat before she continued speaking ¡°Son, go towards the Desolate Battlefield, find the Shaman, and protect him, even if I disagree with Alena, I must still support her¡± She sat down powerlessly , her tired bones feeling more powerless than ever, her eyes weary and her breath weak. Whatever her son had wanted to say to rebut her, so that he could avoid leaving, was stopped halfway, seeing his mother being so fragile left him stunned. Within a short period of time he rode off towards the Desolate Battlefield, his desolate shadow stretching far in the last rays of sun . . . . A small trade caravan was settled for the night, a merchant, two guards, three peddlers and a chunky short-haired woman sat around a bonfire. She had friendly features and kept a light conversation with the merchant and the guards. The merchant was very polite, he was a skinny man with a large silver beard, and his black skin glistened in the dark as he kept conversing politely with the matron-like woman. He had picked her up in one of the villages that he had been visiting. Embers flew around lightly in the cool breeze, which made the bonfire crackle in a low hum. While the merchant took a sip of his cup his eyes turned sharp ¡°so what is the Crow¡¯s assault chief during all the way out here?¡± he asked the question lightly, neither his guards nor his peddlers reacted to his words and just continued talking and eating. However the woman felt an icy chill pass through her body, she shouldn¡¯t have had any tell-tale signs of who she was, so how had he known? She knew that denying it would be a fool¡¯s folly, the merchant was obviously not a normal man, was he a merchant at all? She thought to herself as she regained her calm, she smiled gently ¡°who do I have the honor of speaking with?¡± The man began laughing loudly as he placed his gaze upon her once more ¡°I¡¯ve have had enough of this charade¡± as his sentence finished the bonfire turned a deep shade of green as it instantly swallowed up the matron-like lady leaving no trace of her, it then quickly condensed into a small ball of flame that flew into the left eye of the merchant giving him two different coloured eyes, one purple and the other green. One of the guards got up and began packing together with the peddlers, the other guard turned towards the merchant ¡°Mahar, it was an unexpected gain for us to come across the assault chief, eventually you¡¯ll have your revenge, although I wonder what she was doing out here, were you perhaps too rash?¡± he asked inquisitively, it wasn¡¯t his revenge, but Mahar¡¯s, and he like everyone else, owed the man everything. Mahar took a deep breath, his feelings still vaguely unsettled, it was satisfying to see one of his enemies perish, although he did have to agree that he agreed with his subordinate, he had been too rash, regardless, a victory was a victory, he stood up briskly and clapped his hands, getting the attention of everyone around him ¡°Friends, you have all decided to follow me, we have loyalty, however I do not want this to bring you to your death, I want to give you one last chance to leave before we join up with the Owl tribe, as we¡¯ve gathered they should be planning some sort of big move soon, so hopefully we can join them before that, but this is my revenge, and largely has nothing to do with you¡± his eyes clear, his hands expressive, the moonlight lit up the scene of the charismatic man speaking with a deep timbre. No one responded, they all simply continued packing, leaving Mahar emotional, what had he done for these men to follow him? Truly? What had he done to deserve such loyalty? . . . . A week passed since the son of Bolis left, and on that day a ragged, bloodied and haggard young man dragged himself to the guards of the Owl tribe, they instantly recognized him as one of the shaman¡¯s disciples, however where were the shaman and his other disciple!? Soon the Chieftain Alena rushed over to infirmary where she quickly found the young man, had all hope of the staff been lost? Before she could give words to her worries the young man pulled out a small bag and spoke in a raspy voice, while coughing in between sentences ¡°¡­ Assaulted¡­ I was the only one who made it¡­ master gave me everything¡­ told me to finish the staff¡­ last will¡­¡± then the young man passed out, letting go of the bag, which landed in a rattle on the hard ground, the rune carved bones dropping out of it. Alena looked shocked, how much she had sacrificed for this staff! how much more she was willing to sacrifice! Chapter 13: Vengeance It was a bleak and cloudy morning when Mahar and his band of merchants arrived at the entrance of the Owl tribe, they were instantly met with suspicious glances from the guards, none of the men recognized them, but with the big operation underway, they couldn¡¯t be too cautious, but they also couldn¡¯t reveal that they were too cautious by capturing or interrogating them, so they simply had them wait at the entrance while someone went and consulted with the chieftain. Alena had received news of the caravan, and was silently contemplating what to do together with two of the elders of the tribe, under normal circumstances the guards would evaluate the threat level, under special circumstances they would send an elder, but this were unique circumstances! The assault was happening in just a few days, and the collection of specters had just finished, they only needed to build the staff now, for which they needed some unique ingredients, perhaps the merchant caravan had these ingredients, but what would that matter if they were spies. Words were said between the two elders, yet before they had finished their discussion Alena had stood tall, her large figure imposing as she stepped towards the exit of the tent, the elders watched her lonely shadow step outside. Mahar was casually sitting on the carriage conversing with one of his guards who was standing beside him, they were happily joking and cracking jokes, the mood of the caravan was a stark contrast to the Owl encampment where there was a serious and tense ambiance fitting with the bleak morning light. He looked up as he felt a pressure, his two coloured eyes met those of Alena, with every step she took her imposing manner brought pressure, the previous jokey mood disappeared as the men looked the chieftain approach them, Mahar lightly jumped down from the wagon, his friendly smile all the same as he walked towards Alena, when he stood in front of her he felt her towering over him, she wasn¡¯t much taller than him, but her physique was strong and robust, where his was lithe and thin, she wore thick leather skins, he wore blue pants, brown boots a sandy shirt and a dark brown open robe. Mahar wasn¡¯t easily intimidated, but even he could feel his smile faltering while facing the Chieftain of the Owl tribe, he felt a large drop of sweat run down his bald head into his beard when she smiled to him and stretched out her hand to greet him. Alena had intentionally revealed her Aura of a Chieftain as she had approached, it was one of her many leadership skills, yet the caravan hadn¡¯t been too fazed, especially the leader had kept smiling and looked her in the eye, he had even approached her, her mind was racing as the two got closer, when they stopped and stared at each other she realised, this was no ordinary man! So she did the unexpected, something that few in her tribe had seen her do in recent years, she smiled! Mahar sat silently in front of the chieftain¡¯s seat, he was sitting on a small bear-skin pillow, and the chieftain was simply sitting there patiently, waiting silently not saying a word to the man. Shortly afterwards a bald man with a large frame and a bushy beard entered the tent, followed by a short brisk walking old lady, and so it continued until all but three of the seats surrounding Mahar were filled, each of the men and women were imposing in different manners, Mahar was feeling more and more nervous, in hindsight maybe he could¡¯ve approached things differently, but he had always been straightforward! Alena drummed her fingers on her chair as she usually did while looking at the merchant in front of her, her mind recalling what had just transpired, while the two had shook hands he had delivered a message to her, she had glanced at it as she had escorted him to her tent, the words had been disturbing, but she had kept her calm and continued onwards, when she entered the tent she had asked the guard to turn on the bonfire in the tent with the ¡®special white thawed oak-wood¡¯ this type of tree had a special aroma, and functioned as one of the many ways to call an emergency meeting for the tribe¡¯s advisors and elders. ¡°Speak¡± That was all the chieftain said to Mahar who was sitting surrounded by powerful men and women, he took a deep breath and whatever worries he had had disappeared, his green and purple eyes steeled in resolved and he met the chieftain¡¯s iron stare with his own ¡°as you know from my message I¡¯m aware of the planned assault on the Sparrow¡¯s and Crow¡¯s, but I also know that if you cannot finish up a certain artifact in time, even with a successful ambush there¡¯ll be many losses for the Owl tribe, correct?¡± His words send a shiver through every single person in the room, how did he know so much? But no one spoke, their expressions betrayed nothing, only a slight hint passed through the eyes of the people present, Mahar was impressed. ¡°Correct¡± Alena spoke calmly. Mahar realised that this conversation wasn¡¯t optional and opened his mouth again while stroking his white curly beard, he wasn¡¯t much older than fifty or so, but he liked the beard, he felt it added a sense of wisdom ¡°My men and I wish to assist the Owl tribe in whichever way we can¡± The bald man with the bushy beard felt that this Mahar wasn¡¯t too bad, possibly because he too was bald with a big beard, so he spoke up amiably ¡°you have few men merchant, and you yourself does not seem fit for fighting, however your words are true, so what can you offer us? And perhaps more importantly what do you want?!¡± many mistook the man, whose name was Ragor for a brute, but he had a shrewd mind, and was a gifted strategist. Mahar nodded at the mind noting his glistening bald head, inwardly thinking ¡®thank you brother¡¯ the man had not asked suspicious questions, but had asked as if he already assumed he was to be trusted, Mahar knew that it wasn¡¯t that easy, but it was a gesture of goodwill between bald bearded men ¡°What I want is easy¡± Mahar spoke gesturing with his arm to the entire room, his smile devious sinking into an evil grin ¡°Revenge¡± his words went from light and charismatic with his deep voice, to a coarse rivet ¡°what I can offer? Aside from valuable supplies for your staff, and two strong guards of their third class and a wizard of the third class of the endless dunes, the green flame in his eye lit up brightly. Silence befell the room; it was Bolis who broke it with her old wizened voice ¡°vengeance for what?¡± it wasn¡¯t that Bolis was interested in the man¡¯s story, everyone had a story after all, no what interested her was how valid this vengeance was, vengeance could drive men mad, and would be a clear-cut reason for the man to join their ambush and take-over. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Mahar knew this of course and the flame in his eye dimmed as he began to speak of the past ¡°As you know the endless dunes are relatively far north from here, and as you can see from the colour of my skin I hail from there as well, however I didn¡¯t return to my homeland until I was 20 years of age¡± his clear eyes bathed in nostalgia as his voice captured the attention of the room, he truly was a charismatic man ¡°from a young age I had wandered the tribal lands as a merchant¡¯s son, we were never too far south however, but one day a valuable order came along from the Crow tribe of the Sinking Valley continental area, coincidentally he had just bought a large shipment and so we went there, the first shipment was successful, although the Crow tribe wasn¡¯t too satisfied with the price, but we decided to conduct business again in the future, and we did, and we were introduced to the Swallow tribe as well and so our business grew larger¡± Mahar¡¯s tone lowered and turned a tinge sad as he continued ¡°My mother always felt suspicious of the two tribes, but my father was blinded by greed, when the day came that an enormous shipment was ordered my dad blindly spent all of the company¡¯s resources, he trusted the them after having traded with them for years, yet on the night after having arrived a slaughter befell the caravan!¡± his voice was hardened as he looked Alena in the eyes ¡°my mother barely escaped with me and a guard, we returned to the endless dunes in the north , however she died shortly after our arrival¡­¡± he trailed off emotionally, and all of a sudden the green flame in his eye lit up brightly as he spoke with a voice laced with hatred ¡°that day I swore vengeance!¡± . . . . Emotionless eyes stared into a grey and black flame, in the middle part of a staff was suspended, it was constructed of six strange mystical rune-carved bones, he had gathered the remaining specters, and soon the staff would be finished, he just needed a few more ingredients to finish the ritual of the staff. The young man was the disciple returnee, the betrayer of his fellow disciple and master, his name was Cad. While he stared into the flame he was reliving the moment of killing his fellow disciple, that had been hard, difficult even, but killing his master had been easy, so very easy. Before his master had received his legacy at the Desolate Battlefield he had committed a sin, he had murdered the young man¡¯s parents in a fit of rage, the young man¡¯s dad hadn¡¯t been a good person and his mom had seduced the man, in the morning the couple had wanted to rob him, yet had been met with a dagger and a spell. The boy had hidden witnessed the entire ordeal, but had been spared by the shaman, afterwards the boy had ratted out the shaman to his grandfather who was a local gang leader, it was those men that had followed the shaman into the battlefield, only to meet their demise. Who would¡¯ve known that fate would play a cruel trick when the shaman had picked up the then young man as a disciple when he was out begging for coin. Years he had spent learning, he felt guilty for killing his fellow disciple, but that would pass, not only could he now gain power in the Owl tribe, he had even gotten his revenge. A creepy smile floated to his lips for moment, but only for a moment when he was interrupted by Alena who came to his tent with a strange looking black man, his clothes completely out of style of the tribal lands. . . . . The staff had been finished, now he needed to conduct a final ritual during twilight when the land of the death and living was closest. Cad stood alone in a forest clearing during the deep colours of orange and red in the twilight, the staff lay in the middle of a flaming circle with dark painted runes in blood forming a triangle within the circle, Cad began murmuring ancient words, the flames dimmed as the runic triangle began glowing, this was the final stage of fusing the six different negative emotive specters together to form the staff of negativity, cad had always thought that the name was highly anticlimactic, yet it described the functions of the staff perfectly, soon the flames had gone out completely and the runic triangle began losing its glow as the runes on the carved staff began lighting up brightly, this was a long and slow process. . . . . The master burned his flesh while he helplessly burned away, how he resented the man, of the entire plethora of emotions he felt at that moment he felt resentment the strongest, and then he was gone. Again the scene played out, yet this time the man lost some of his thoughts and emotions in the process of being burned away from his core. This continued on endlessly until there was nothing but resentment in the man¡¯s eyes as he felt his body and soul dissipate within the flames. He resented the man for taking his live away from him again, he resented him for taking his new live that he had fought for, he had been a simple man, he hadn¡¯t had any goals aside from living, seeing a strange new world and doing a little good while he was there, what was so wrong with that? Again the scene played out. The man felt his body and soul burn, again and again. All of a sudden the scene cracked like a mirror! The man¡¯s eyes still burned with resentment, but the reasoning behind why got buried by five other emotions as the pieces fell apart and the specter of resentment appeared in a pitch-black space and began fusing with these emotions anger, despair, sadness, envy and grief. All negative emotions, but where there should be an equilibrium, one emotion towered over the other as they began fusing, had its soul power been a little stronger it wouldn¡¯t have made a different, but it was much stronger, instead of the specters fusing and becoming a chain the specter of resentment began assimilating the other negative emotive specters, and with each specter assimilated the stronger it got, the more conscious it got, what are emotions if not memories! . . . . Had Cad been the shaman he would¡¯ve noticed that something was off, the staff was supposed have a six different colours blinking representing each emotive specter, yet it only held a deep shade of blood, soon all of the runes showed this same colour, although Cad thought it strange, he didn¡¯t think too much about it, the notes about the staff were old, and difficult to read for him, he mostly worked from the instructions the shaman had imparted onto him and his fellow disciple. Eventually the runic triangle lost its entire colour and the staff of negativity changed colour, all of the bones changed to a deep-set ash-grey and the runic carving stopped glowing brightly, but instead had a strong subdued blood-red glow. Cad went over to the staff and picked it up, he felt the power that it held, and his eyes flickered with madness as he whispered to himself ¡°success¡±. Chapter 14: Nothing but a Bad Memory The ambush had worked like a charm, at least the Crow and the Swallow tribe had thought so as their ambush parties had popped out of the forest to attack the Owl tribe¡¯s delegation, the rain had been falling heavily as several elders of the two tribes had ambushed the Owl tribe, their intel told them that the Owl tribe were transferring several magical & mystic artifacts to make alliances with some of the other tribes within the Sinking Valley continental area. At first they had covered the delegation with arrows and spears, afterwards they had walked over recklessly, there had been no resistance, how could the Owl tribe ever hope to stand against the combined forces of the Crow and Swallow, their arrogance had blinded them, they had severely underestimated the cunning of the Owl tribe. Pote a senior elder of the Crow tribe walked carelessly together with several other elders of the two tribes, then they ordered the regular tribal members to stand back and keep watch, it was obvious that before they delivered anything to their respective tribe¡¯s they would deliver a little something to their pockets, it wasn¡¯t the first time that the elders had conducted such business, and it wouldn¡¯t be the last time. The several did owl tribe members lay in pools of dark red blood being washed away by the heavy rain, Pote barely glanced as he and the elders walked over towards the covered carriages. Pote pulled the leather skin cover off one of the carriages, and the moment he did a short ¡®crack¡¯ sound was heard, Pote¡¯s face had a look of confusion as he looked at an ash-blue branch that had cracked when he opened the cover, the branch sprayed out a blue liquid that fell through a hole in the carriage, Pote was truly confused, he looked at the elder beside him who had a similarly confused facial expression, there were three carriages, and different elders were at each one, each carriage had held a branch, one was ash-blue. The other was ash-purple and the last one was simply black, they yelled their findings to one another, but they all seemed nonplussed. They all walked over to Pote who had been in charge of the intel and began discussing the peculiarity of the branches, it was not anything they had seen before. While the elders poke the fluids began moving, it was as if the ash coloured fluids were attracted to the black fluid as they made their way towards the middle, somehow the rain couldn¡¯t wash them out, nothing happened the ash-blue fluid connected with the black fluid under the wagons, and nothing happened when the ash-purple fluid connected with the black fluid, but it didn¡¯t stop there, like two hands reaching for each other the two coloured fluids drew closer, and the moment they touch they began spiraling creating a strange odorless gas, the process itself happened very quickly, and the gas was extremely thick. The elders of course noticed it and it quickly dawned on them, they had been led to a trap, but what kind of trap was it? . . . . Not long afterwards Mahar and Ragor walked down the slope towards the area where the ambush had taken place, what faced them was an absolute bloodbath, the regular tribe members and the elders were lying scattered all over the place, arrows and sword, axes and spears penetrated the different people lying dead, the gas long since dissipated. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you are on our side!¡± Ragor exclaimed as he saw the dead people lying all over, a hint of fear and admiration in his voice. Mahar smiled joyfully at the sight of the bloodbath ¡°three branches from the same tree during different periods of the year, when mixed they create a truly marvelous scene, don¡¯t they?¡± He laughed as he stood at the precipice of his own destruction. Ragor shuddered slightly ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re getting your revenge Mahar, but don¡¯t let it consume you¡± Mahar didn¡¯t answer and walked towards a man lying under a wagon, he pulled him out fiercely, surprisingly it was Pote, and he was still alive, rasping for breath while he was bleeding out. Pote¡¯s eyes flickered in confusion as he saw the man in strange foreign clothes and black skin; he was obviously not from the Sinking Valley, for a moment he felt a hint of hope ¡°Friend¡­¡± he coughed desperately ¡°help me!¡± Mahar didn¡¯t speak as he smiled gently and squatted down, then he pulled out a dagger ¡°to think that I would see you here old friend¡± he said calmly ¡°don¡¯t I look familiar to you?¡± he asked innocently as he slowly began pushing his dagger into Pote¡¯s leg, the dagger was laced with a slow acting poison, so even with Pote¡¯s high health pool and defense he still felt acute pain, not to mention that his health was already almost bottomed out. He rasped in agony as the poison entered his bloodstream, who was this man? Why did he hold such hatred for him? ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡± but then it dawned on him, so many years had passed, it couldn¡¯t be? But it had to be, the boy of the merchant from the Endless Dunes ¡°You, you¡­¡± fear maligned his face as his life finally ebbed out. All the while Ragor had been watching the process in the back, he didn¡¯t fear Mahar, he pitied him, he walked up to the man who sat there still pushing the dagger into Pote¡¯s leg, his face expressionless ¡°The mission is done, you have saved out Owl tribe a lot of lives, it appears that the Crow and Swallow tribes never realised that it was their own captured soldiers we had riding the horses, they are truly a careless bunch, yet this is only part of our thronged attack, let¡¯s see if they have any information on them, and then go reconvene at the war-tent¡± the two quickly searched the elders for letters or documents and were quickly on their way. . . . . ¡°SILENCE!¡± Alena¡¯s loud voice reverberated throughout the war-tent, quietening everyone present, Mahar and Ragor had returned as well and were standing with the rest of the elders and other small tribe leaders, each of them had fervor in their eyes, their battle-spirit was soaring, multiple ambushes and tricks and war tactics had been executed over the last couple of days, effectively bringing the Crow and the Swallow tribes onto the brink of annihilation. Alena surveyed the crowd, her stern expression easing as she smiled victoriously ¡°we have pushed the two tribes to the edge, all they need is a final nudge¡± the crowd almost began cheering when she lifted her hands calming them down once more ¡°although slow, the two tribes were not known to be the largest for nothing, we have destroyed large parts of their internal decision makers and their external infrastructure, yet from recent intel we¡¯ve been told that they have successfully joined together under one banner and are now marching towards our encampment, they hope to take us out with sheer manpower¡± her eyes glistened coldly as her smile deepened ¡°but they have been misinformed severely, thanks to the staff of negativity and Mahar¡¯s magic artifacts we¡¯ve barely had any casualties, tomorrow we meet them on the battlefield with our first advancement, Ragor show us your plan¡± she glanced at the elder not far from her. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Ragor smiled viciously as he began moving the pieces on the large war-board ¡°hopefully we can end it with the first advancement, as you can see here¡± he pointed the stick towards an area near a mountainside ¡°we plan to roll flaming tree-logs down the mountainside together with boulders, during this distraction we¡¯ll have Cad enchant the logs and boulders with negative emotions, this will demoralize the troop¡± Ragor nodded towards Cad, who smiled nonchalantly ¡°and if all goes according to plan the army will move into the forest away from the boulders and logs, this will be where Mahar sets fire to a special oil that we will spread throughout the forest leaving only a few select paths open, effectively guiding the fleeing army into a further ambush of arrows and spears, and whoever makes it further we¡¯ll meet with axes and swords¡± he finished grimly. That night the encampment was unusually quiet, there¡¯d be time for celebration when victory was grasped. . . . . Russa was just a regular member of the Crow tribe, yet today he was marching on the forefront of the army, he wasn¡¯t happy at all about the arrangement, usually someone like him who hadn¡¯t even reached their second class advancement would be in the back shooting arrows, he just had to sleep with his superiors wife, he shook his head restlessly as he continued onwards. Russa looked to his left where there was a large mountainous area, and on their right was a forest, they¡¯d be past the mountain soon enough, and from there they¡¯d be no more than an hour away from the Owl tribe. He sighed loudly as he marched onward towards his demise, the entire charade was stupid, Russa was clear that the Owl tribe had not only decimated the two tribes, but also made some alliances with smaller tribes, the right solution would¡¯ve been surrender, but the leaders were blinded by their ancestors previous glory, he glanced over at a fat large man in expensive furs riding a large bear. Russa was about to sigh once more upon the sight, but then he caught sight of something rolling down the mountainside, it was a flaming tree? Russa rubbed his eyes, ¡®ah yes I was wrong, it wasn¡¯t one flaming tree it was several¡¯ he thought as he began screaming, yelling and pointing at the mountainside, the army quickly reacted, but it was still too slow, and soon chaos erupted as the flaming trees bounced into the army creating havoc, soon they were followed by large boulders. Russa ducked and weaved, the sound of horses neighing, bears growling and men yelling drowned out any rational thoughts Russa might¡¯ve had, ash began clouding his vision, it was almost as if there was something wrong with the ash Russa began connecting the dots slowly, but then he began getting exceptionally sad, too sad to think or to move, then he was angry and ran in anger and punched whoever was in the way. Cad looked down at the chaos that was spreading below; he kept enchanting the trees and boulders from the mountainside. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the contrast of the chaos just below, and the amazing breathtaking view had had from where he stood, rivers and forests, mountains and valleys. His thinking was interrupted when he felt a light hand on his shoulder, it was Bolis. ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it Cad, I realise that the staff does most of the work here, but you¡¯re draining yourself, I can see it¡± Bolis¡¯s voice was concerned, yet it fell for deaf ears as Cad shrugged her hand off him. ¡®Look at me!¡¯ Cad thought ¡®Look at my power!¡¯ his eyes began to become bloodshot, his willpower draining, it was then that he felt a wisp of something in the staff; but he ignored it, it was nothing but his imagination, the final ritual had created a balance constraining each of the specters. Cad mindlessly continued casting enchantments, his staff covered in a blood-red light that kept increasing, as the light kept increasing, equally so did Cad¡¯s positive emotions decrease, Cad didn¡¯t realise that everyone around him had backed off and were staring at him fearfully, he was full of hatred, resentment, sadness, despair, envy and grief. His vision fell as he began collapsing, the staff slowly disintegrating into embers, in his final moment he had clarity as he viewed the picturesque landscape, with his death the staff turned into a blood-red ash that was swept off by the wind. . . . . As the blood-red dust whisked away in the way it passed the battlefield below, whatever the result, it would not know, nor would it care, it simply drifted off inauspiciously passing the landscapes below. Within the ash on a different plane of existence was the blob of negative emotions with a tiny dot in the middle consisting of what little Cad had of positive emotions. The blob was Edra¡¯s soul wrapped up in a raw ectoplasm of emotions, yet he wasn¡¯t conscious yet. His consciousness that had previously lost all but one emotion was now pulsing with different kinds of emotions, the negatives far outweighing the positives. . . . . Edra was standing at the doorstep to his wife¡¯s parents home, the rain fell in buckets as he nervously stood there his hand lifted ready to knock on the door, but he couldn¡¯t, how could he? The news he would have to relay would devastate them as much as they had him, if not more. He took a deep breath as his knuckle fell on the door with a loud knock. Grief permeated the small home as the mother and father held each other in tears, Edra himself cried helplessly as he told them what had happened, and that they would never see their little girl again. . . . . Edra stood in an endless desert looking at his status screen in, the reality of losing his entire world sinking in; sadness and despair welled up in throes. . . . . Edra¡¯s tiny child hands clenched into fists as the anger of seeing his friend being bullied build up, and he stepped in, even though he knew it was a losing battle. . . . . A cold hospital room, doctors speaking in low emphatic voices, yet Edra and his father heard none of it, all they knew was despair as they looked at the sleeping lady in the hospital, cancer was a terrible thing. . . . . And so Edra kept seeing one memory after the other, for every 100 negative memories he would see one positive. . . . . ¡°Yes of course I¡¯ll marry you¡± a young slightly chubby brunette answered joyfully, her cheeks blushing scarlet as she jumped up and down holding Edra¡¯s hands. . . . . ¡°A cheers for my dear wife who beat cancer!¡± a gentle looking middle-aged man said cheerfully as he lifted his glass, the small gather too lifted theirs and yelled ¡°hear hear!¡± . . . . As the memories piled up Edra¡¯s conscience grew stronger, the blood ash began condensing and sank downwards, the ash slowly formed to circles that grew smaller and smaller. Around the two circles a ghostly image of a young man began blinking into shape, the two circles clearly the pupils of the ghost, yet even as the ghost had formed into a misty red shape of a man, the pupils remained unfocused. And there in the middle of nowhere the ghost simply floated hunched over; it was then that a stray dog came over, all it did was bark once and the ghost jolted the pupils behind its eyelids contracted and then the eyes opened. Chapter 15: Incomplete When Edra opened his eyes the world appeared once more, everything appeared with a strange vague violet hue, all the colours were there, the grass was green the sky was blue, but it was as if there was a filter on giving everything slight shades of violet. His returning consciousness brought with it that one moment of clarity, where his miniscule amount of positive feelings were in balance with his negative ones, but this only lasted for second or two, when he saw his see through mist-like hand his negative emotions quickly spurred into motion anger the dominant of them all! The barking stray quickly cowered as fear was induced into it, its tail between its legs, yet too afraid to move, too afraid to do anything, it simply stood there ears down tail tugged away shaking, drool dripping from its tongue that hang out of its mouth. It was only then that Edra noticed the dark brown shepherd¡¯s dog in front of him, only then that he really took in the scene around him, he was on a small hill with a few oak trees, not far from him he could see a stone road with a wooden fence here and there encompassing it, in the sky he saw the blue sky and bright sun, once more a he was in balance, he took a deep breath, only to realise that there was no breath to be taken, the dog that had slowly backed off while Edra had calmed down, was once again met with fear, and was once more paralysed. This time however there was more reason within the hatred and anger of his demise, he had many questions and no answers, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how if he could still access the system, he willed it.
Basic Information
Race: Incomplete Ghost Class: Emotive Specter 1/2
Age: 24 Deceased Access to negative emotions 1/1 100%
Stage: Access to positive emotions 0/1 10%
Attributes Resistances Weaknesses
Soul Vitality 1500 Soul: 90% Lightning: 200%
Soul Power 150 Void: 50% Fire 110%
Death: 50% Raw Iron: 100%
Willpower 30 Necromancy: 50% Silver: 150%
Soul Power 100 Chronomancy: 50% Rare Metals: 50%
Physical Attacks 100% Mixed Metals: 50%
Ice: 75%
Wind: 50%Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Earth: 50%
Navigation Bar Active Blessings
Journal: Skills: Titles
Active Skills Passive Skills
Deafening screech 1/10 Communes With Dragons
Emotive emittance 6/12 Basic Spearmanship 7/10 68%
Death Breath 1/200 Intermediate Swordmanship 2/20 17%
Field of Sorrow Intermediate Arcane Magic 3/20 56%
Poltergeists Telkinesis 1/5 Basic Bowmanship 8/10 96%
Ectoplasm Renewal 1/10 Basic tracking 9/10 30%
Ghostly Physical Invulnerability
Emotive Disarray
Intangibility 1/10 1%
Floatation 1/500 2%
There was a bunch of new information to process in the status screen alone. Edra sighed loudly as he began to feel very sad and depressed, his ghostly form sinking into the ground as his thought process slowed down. His sadness seemed to be affecting the nearby area as the dog all of a sudden lay down in a depressed manner, it had given up on life, if it wasn¡¯t because it was so sad it would go jump into a nearby river and end its miserable existence, these feelings Edra read from its big wet eyes. It was almost comical to watch the dog¡¯s similar reactions and feelings to those of his own. An eerie laughter rang out into the area as Edra half inserted in the dirt rose up laughing madly at the comedy of the dog, and the tragedy of his situation, he looked back on his status screen and wondered what the locked meant, and where he got those passives from, although he could guess where his newly acquired passive skills came from. When he mentally tabbed the LOCKED of one of passives a box popped up.
LOCKED PASSIVE BASIC TRACKING: A part of your soul fused with Lockheart Eisrot, to unlock his passive you need to unlock his memory.
And that was all the information he got, the following passive boxes showed similar results, but with different names attached. At this information he tried to think of their memories, real hard at that, but nothing popped. As there was nothing to do about it at that moment he decided to continue on with the next step and look at his new active skills.
Active Skills
Deafening screech Emotive emittance Death Breath
Induce confusion for 1 second, Cone AOE 20m Induce any one of the six negative emotions in one target for 5-10 seconds depending on the negative emotion Deal soul & ice damage to targets, cone AOE 2m
Cost 2 soul power cost 10 soul power cost 30 soul power
Cooldown 60 minutes cooldown 10 minutes Cooldown 30 seconds
Field of Sorrow Poltergeists Telekinesis Ectoplasm Renewal
Create and AOE field inducing all six negative emotions to hostile and friendly targets Telekinetically control inanimate objects below 5kg Renew Soul Vitality by drawing in Ectoplasm from the nether.
Cost 100 soul power Cost 2 Soul Power per second Function 1: BUFF: recover 3% Soul vitality per minute for 10 minutes
Cooldown 24 hours Cost 50 soul power
cooldown on both functions 15 minutes
Function 2: INSTANT CAST: Recover 20% soul vitality
cost 60 soul power
cooldown on both functions 20minutes
A large majority of his skills were related to emotions, which gave him a bit of a clue in regards to himself, although he had no idea as to how effective the differing skills were, however judging by the reaction of the dog they might be quite strong under the right circumstances. It was while he was in the thought process that he realised just how different he had become, and it wasn¡¯t that he could simply blame it all on his current fractured emotional ghostly state, no it was more fundamental, his time travelling might¡¯ve been short, but it had matured and changed him in a way he didn¡¯t truly fathom until this point, and with these thoughts he recalled his pal Bardo, fury clouded his mind as he in tandem recalled the so called master who had destroyed him, and inflicted upon him unspeakable pain, and had Bardo been able to escape? Or had he met a similar fate to his own, his raging emotions calmed into a deep-set worry, although he knew that his emotional changes were a result of him lacking in certain emotions, he still couldn¡¯t change the fact that he felt the way that he was feeling. After his active skills he went through his titles, they remained the same, except the old one [Denying Death Initiate] had been deleted; albeit a fairly useless title as far as Edra was concerned had been created in its place.
Title: Ghost lvl 1 ¨C 0% progress
Increases spookiness in your immediate surroundings.
He was just about to access his journal, when he looked back at his status screen, somehow it had slipped his mind, or maybe the emotive dissonance had confused him while he passed it by, but his race was incomplete? What did that even mean? When he tabbed it mentally nothing happened, and instead of levels he had stages? Yet nothing appeared to be explained when he tried to access the two, After a while of floating around throwing a bit of a spectral tantrum he calmed down and accessed his journal, whereas a string of messages popped up in a chronological order.
DEATH
Edra Walker ¨C humanoid CHANGED TO Edra Walker ¨C Monster
Title Gained: Ghost lvl 1: Die and transform into a spectral form.
Survival Quest: Grade - -
Survive and escape the staff of Negativity.
Quest reward: Survival
Completed: Survival Quest: Grade - -
Successfully survived and escaped the staff of Negativity, and absorbed the remaining emotive specters in the process, new quest initiated.
Quest reward: Survival
Quest of the Lost Emotions: Grade A
Edra Walker has survived the staff of negativity and absorbed the remaining emotive specters; in this process he absorbed knowledge, race traits and negative emotions. Part 1: Successfully retrieve the remaining six positive emotions in full. Joy, Gratitude, Hope, Amusement, Inspiration, Love: 10% complete. Part 2: Successfully retrieve the memories of the specters which you absorbed.
Quest reward: Race Completion, ???
Edra realised that his conjecture was real, he was mostly just a bundle of negative feelings, the thought itself was depressing, but he kept on thinking about the information he had absorbed. He was no longer a humanoid, and he was incomplete too, yet he was very much aware of this, yet until this point he hadn¡¯t thought too deeply about the creatures, did they too have status screens? Or were certain monsters special? And how was he going to collect positive emotions? Did they appear at random? Or would they have to be gathered in a similar way to how he and the negative specters had been gathered? It was all very confusing to him. And while he contemplated the sun slowly set. After a long period of contemplation; Edra looked up at the starry sky and the bright moon, even with the slightly red hue it still looked magnificent, if only he could touch it, he lifted up his hand in a moment of folly, as he floated up into the sky slowly, unbeknownst to him, his positive emotions went from 10% to 10,5%. Chapter 16: Continental Crisis! The night was quiet and bedazzling, the stars shone so brightly and mysteriously that Edra could almost feel that they whispered to him of the wonders and secrets which they held. It was one of the few things he had found consistent since he ended up in the future, the beauty of the starry sky. It was no wonder to him why in his lifetime throughout the ages people had talked and theorized of visitors from other planets, recalling the system message he knew now that not only was there life, but that there was intelligent life. However all he could do was wonder about it while he admired the stars, they always made him feel insignificant. Maybe now more than ever did he really feel that he we part of some elaborate program, here he was as a ghost, no matter how much he could feel it, no matter how it felt real, that tidbit of information stayed with him, maybe he should care more, maybe he should find a way and exit the matrix so to speak, or become so powerful that he could force the system to send him back, revive his family, friends and wife, or redo everything but he knew that that was simply stupidity, this wasn¡¯t earth conquered, it was an entire universe under the control of its creators, how was it any different than a god? How would he go about achieving something like that, and hadn¡¯t he lived happily, hadn¡¯t his parents, why would it change anything? It hadn¡¯t been the first time he had questioned the big question of ¡®why are we here¡¯ the only difference was that now he knew, as far as the specific rules? He did not know, yet being a ghost he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the simulation simulated an afterlife too? How deep did it go? The more he thought the more melancholic he became, he simply lay on his back in the sky for hours, he wasn¡¯t very high up, about 20 meters which seemed to be his limit at that level. As the sun dawned Edra realised that morning had come, in all of its splendor and glory, his melancholic mood lightened as he slowly floated back down, he noticed that the dog from the other night was still there, peacefully sleeping. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to himself, the dog had been an unwilling participant in his unruly uncontrollable mood swings, eventually tiring it out. Clop, clop, clop¡­ The sound of hooves brought him out of his thoughts as he looked towards the road, there in the distance he saw a small horse riding to its full ability, it wasn¡¯t a pony but simply looked like a small grey horse, on top of it sat a small child, although Edra couldn¡¯t be sure as they were still a distance away. There weren¡¯t any pursuers however, which left the mad dash unexplained. As the horse drew closer Edra began to get a better look of the rider, it wasn¡¯t a child, but a small man with large feet with plenty of hair, even if Edra had lived in a shell all of his life he would recognize this race, it was obviously a hobbit, he looked quite young judging from his facial features, and as if he could feel someone looking the rider turned his head and for just a moment their gaze met. . . . . His name was Thadeus Satchet, a hobbit 2¡¯st rank Wild Sorcerer, he was a proud young hobbit who had begun to gather some renown in the region as he enjoyed helping his fellow folks. He had just arrived in Wilkfork fishing village when he had heard that a village not far from it was being surrounded and overrun by undead, he didn¡¯t know how much he could actually help, but he didn¡¯t care, he had always braved whatever danger was in his way, he couldn¡¯t have gotten a class like Wild Sorcerer if he didn¡¯t! As he whipped his horse in a reckless dash he began feeling slightly strange, almost as if someone was looking at him, as if someone was staring right at him, he hadn¡¯t noticed anything earlier, but out of reflex he turned his head to the right, and there his eyes met with deep blood red pupils of a ghostly man, the shock of the sudden undead was enough to throw his mind into tumult and him and his horse crashed heavily into the bushes. . . . . ¡®Oh my¡¯ Edra thought carelessly as he saw the small man on his small horse make a tiny, but fatal mistake as they crashed into a bush on the roadside. The shepherd dog awoke at the noise and got up lazily, it barely reacted to Edra as it stared at the crash site. Edra looked towards the dog and couldn¡¯t help but speak aloud ¡°let¡¯s go take a look¡± as soon as he spoke the sentence he noticed that his voice sounded like it was being echoed through a tunnel, eerie and scary, he could only helplessly shake his head as he hastily floated towards the horse-crash. . . . . When Thadeus finally came to, he was feeling awfully depressed and groggy, it was unlike his usual mood, yet he couldn¡¯t quite shake it, as he blinked his eyes he saw the night sky, he was lying underneath an oak tree close to the road, the very same oak tree where he had seen the ghostly distraction, leading to his current predicament, he had several conditions related to the crash currently, and whereas most would disperse by daylight, he couldn¡¯t help but feel as if all was lost with his delay, even though he knew this was not his regular mood, he couldn¡¯t help but feel the way he felt. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and with the brightness of the moonlight he soon saw the small pile of wood in front of him, although unlit it was clear that it was a bonfire, and opposite him was his horse, a gauge had been tightened around its front leg, it wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere anytime soon, he recognized the gauge as his own, yet he failed to see anyone else, except for a dirty stray shepherds dog lying next to the horse. ¡°Where¡¯s your owner?¡± he asked with a heavy accent, while he held his head which bumped with pain. ¡°Well I¡¯m not its owner, but I assume you are talking to me!¡± a voice erupted around him, almost as if it came from beyond, Thadeus was startled and quickly rolled away from where he was previously, he was clearly spooked, yet he still failed to see anything. ¡°Show yourself devil!¡± he sneered. ¡°My you sound almost Irish to my ears, although you won¡¯t know what that is, would you now¡­ oh my sorrow¡± the strange voice turned into a wail of sadness. Thadeus too felt this strange sadness, at least he knew where his change of mood came from, it was some sort of skill which the monster used ¡°Is it you, you vile ghost!? What have your kin done to the village of Rigsby Dale!? I swear on me last bottle of Hamped Fall Wine that I¡¯ll avenge the villagers¡± he spoke through gritted teeth as his willpower was fighting the sadness that enveloped him, had he not been affected by the ¡®groggy¡¯ and ¡®shook brain¡¯ conditions which both lowered his willpower and intelligence, he wouldn¡¯t be struggling so much, but the cards fell as they may, and he began racking his brain of which spell to chant. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°¡­¡± silence permeated the area as the sadness was lifted, instead a slight feeling of confusion spread ¡°Apologies, my kin has done what wrongs now? I¡¯m not entirely certain I understand what you¡¯re talking about¡± soon the confusion lifted, and rage began bubbling ever so lightly as the voice continued speaking ¡°do you know how much trouble it was to get that mutt and your tiny horse to drag you away from the road?! Do you know how much trouble it was for me to gather the firewood and bind the gauge on your horse when I have to do it all telepathically?! And what do you do? You insult me! And accuse me of crimes which I have not committed! You foul hobbit!¡± the rage kept increasing, but didn¡¯t quite reach a boiling point, yet for the already short-tempered Thadeus the increase in anger was enough for him to lose his reason, of course with the conditions he was under he was not of sound mind to begin with, his left hand lit up in a pentagram of fire, and his right hand in a circle of lightning, he pushed his palms together and an unprecedented power spread out forming a pentagram and a circle in a 20 square meter radius! The maddened hobbit laughed crazily ¡°I caught you know you foul ghost, no undead leaves this cage of flaming silence!¡± . . . . Edra¡¯s mood was fluctuating wildly, having contact with another person made his mood swing up and down, and before he knew it the mad hobbit had power pulsing in his hands and created a lightning and fire cage, knowing his own weaknesses he knew that he couldn¡¯t go touching the fiery walls that held him, nor the lightning outer wall that barred him, however he couldn¡¯t help but be confused by the small man¡¯s action ¡°But aren¡¯t you caught in the same cage?¡± he asked incredulously as he gazed at the maniacal laughing hobbit. His question got the hobbit to shut up in a heartbeat. ¡°Buggers!¡± the hobbit exclaimed as he sat back down on the floor grumpily. . . . . In his hotheadedness he had trapped himself inside his own restriction spell, and also his horse and the stray mutt. It was a very powerful restriction spell, it didn¡¯t actively destroy anyone unless you actually touched the fiery or thunderous parts, it was especially useful for the undead who usually had low intelligence and whom would mindlessly walk into the barriers, which was why Thadeus had prepared the spell the day before. As a Wild Sorcerer his spell casting functioned inherently differently, he would have to meditate or write down the formulae of the spell which he wished to use the next day, he had a current limit of 5 pre-prepared spells, and 2 active constantly useable spells, the constant spells could be toggled on and off the limitation was that they would have to cost 10-15% of his mana pool and have a casting time of 1-2 seconds, and the pre-prepared spells didn¡¯t cost any mana as that mana was already used in the preparation period, the bonus of having the limited spells were that they could be cast fast, they packed a heavier punch than normal and he could prepare spells that currently cost up to a maximum of 70% of his mana pool. The biggest advantage he found was to use the longest casting time spells with the highest conditions, although they took a long time to prepare, if he had a day of prep time he could have 5 exceedingly powerful trump cards. Thadeus cursed his own impulsiveness; the cage would last 1 hour in total, all he could do was stare towards the ghost that was barely visible in the flaming cage. What was it that it said? That it had helped him? That he had accused it of crimes of which it was innocent, it was quite a bit to take in, he had never conversed with a ghost before, he had never met a rational one, or at least semi rational? . . . . Edra couldn¡¯t see much of the hobbit through the fiery barriers, but he did see the outline, he had noticed earlier that he looked slightly older than him, but of course he didn¡¯t know the living age of hobbits, so he couldn¡¯t be sure, his clothing was what he¡¯d have expected of a hobbit with no shoes, brown trousers, a leather belt with a white shirt tucked in, with a vest covering his upper body and a woolen long coat, well long for a hobbit, his hair was strawberry blonde and neatly combed with some sort of grease, he had had masculine features and a stubby beard. While Edra was contemplating the encounter, and his current predicament, the hobbit spoke up unceremoniously with a thither in his voice, he was obviously uncomfortable with the entire situation ¡°So, eh, mr ghost?¡± he began lightly ¡°so you, erh, you aren¡¯t part of the assault on the village near here?¡± ¡°¡­ Sorry sir hobbit, but I don¡¯t know where I am, so how can I be part of an assault on this, what was it you called it? Rigsby Dale?¡± his voice echoed in an unnerving manner, Edra realised that this was not helping his cause, but there was little he could do about it, was it his race and class¡¯s doing? Or was it the title ¡®Ghost¡¯ that added spookiness? He tried turning it off, but he couldn¡¯t. ¡°Eh, ye don¡¯t know where ye are?¡± as the hobbit got more comfortable, his grammar fell slightly out of sync, and he shortened some of his words ¡°well tell me lad, where do ye come from then?¡± Memories passed through Edra¡¯s head, some his own, some not ¡°I guess you could say that I¡¯m from Br¨¹tsch kingdom¡± he sighed melancholically. ¡°Brr¡­Kingdom, never heard of it lad, do you know any neighboring kingdom¡¯s? this here is DuniiGan country, and we¡¯re in the South Hold of the Left Minister¡¯s land holdings¡± Edra tried to remember if he had read anything like it, but he didn¡¯t remember anything at all regarding this DuniiGan country ¡°I know that the endless desert is in the south and that the snowy kingdom of Hagh is in the north¡± ¡°What are ye talkin¡¯ ¡®bout lad, the Endless Dunes are in the north, and the only snowy kingdoms are in the mountains in the west, and none of them are called Hagh¡­¡± Thadeus trailed off as a realization hit him, he could hardly believe the thought that struck his mind at this point ¡°did ye say that the Endless Dunes are in the south lad?¡± Edra too began to connect the dots ¡°The Endless Desert¡± he corrected ¡°I¡¯d be darned¡± he whispered at first ¡°I¡¯d be darned!¡± he yelled loudly, I¡¯m on a different continent entirely!!!¡± he yelled in despair. The mood instantly sank for everyone present, the poor shepherd whimpered, and so did the horse. Thadeus felt the despair, but his mind was too excited about what he had heard, so there was civilization on the other side of the dunes ¡°Are, are all ye ghosts on the northern continent like ye-self?¡± he asked politely. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just died, I think?¡± Edra said slightly confused at the prospect of being far away from Bardo, and from his murderer. . . . . The hour soon passed, and Thadeus gathered some more fireworks and soon he was sitting around a bonfire together with a shepherd dog and his injured horse, having a conversation with a ghost floating and flickering next to him, it was all very odd he thought. After Thadeus explained his situation Edra readily agreed to come with him, albeit he wasn¡¯t sure as to whether he could be of help or not. The following morning Thadeus left hastily, a blood-red mist floating above him, and injured horse halting next to him and a stray mutt following behind them all. ¡®I¡¯m going to die wee mother!¡¯ he thought to himself as he staunchly continued onwards towards the infested village of Rigsby Dale. Chapter 17 – Rigsby Dale part 1: Betrayal in the dark, a lark sang & three died Rigsby Dale a village consisting of layered stone roads and 1-2 story brick houses ranging in the colours of green blue and yellow, normally a light lively village with grass growing on the edges of the streets and otherwise plenty of trees and bushes within the village, this peaceful village was closed up, the small walls surrounding the small village had received make-shift fences on top, and there were guards constantly watching, they weren¡¯t scouting, there was no need to scout the enemy was right below them endlessly smashing their carcasses against the walls, skeletons and zombies, so far there hadn¡¯t been anything too bad, yet the villagers couldn¡¯t safely leave the village either. The initial death rate had been quite high, but the soldiers and adventures had acted quickly and sealed up the villages, fortifying the walls, and although there hadn¡¯t been any ghosts yet, they had laid out a small layer of salt following the inner outline of the village. Fear was evident in the villagers eyes as they sat in groups around bonfires, none wished to seek the comfort of their homes, for who knew what lurked in within! ¡®Fools, fools, all of them!¡¯ he thought lightly as he walked between the villagers and adventurers ¡®soon you¡¯ll be no more, you should¡¯ve left, haha, fools, fools all of them¡¯ he thought as he bowed down and patted a small girl¡¯s head comforting her, telling her that everything would be okay. . . . . Thadeus, Edra, the small horse and the shepherd dog soon came across the first undead, it was obviously lost, and even dumber than your regular skeleton; it simply wavered back and forth on the road. Before anyone could do anything it attacked viciously! The clouds passed by the sun sending rays of light down upon the earth, one ray illuminated the horrifying scene that was the skeleton, its mangled bones and stench of death was in full view and smell of the group. However before the skeleton could do anything the shepherd dog had grabbed its thigh bone, making it lose its balance. The dog wrestled with the bone trying to get it loose, it was hungry, it hadn¡¯t eaten for almost two days, who knew that a walking meal would appear in front of it. The rest of the group watched the rabid dog speechlessly. Thadeus finally closed his gaping mouth and then opened it again ¡°Under normal circumstances the dog would¡¯a been minced meat fighting against such a weak skeleton, which means that the skeleton was summoned and not naturally occurring¡± he moved his hand to his hand towards his lightly bearded jaw ¡°what in god¡¯s name is a necromancer doing assaulting a small village in the middle of nowhere?¡± His pupils dilated slightly as he began thinking deeper about it. At Thadeus words Edra¡¯s mood sank, a necromancer? Was that was he was¡­ the Master? As his rage and depression sank in, so did it for everyone else, except Thadeus who had almost recovered fully and therefore wasn¡¯t very affected by the low level of Edra. ¡°Calm down will ye!¡± Thadeus reprimanded as he noticed Edra¡¯s mood changing ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s bothering ye lad, but there ain¡¯t nothing to do about it right here right now!¡± The hobbit¡¯s voice shook lightly in the surrounding space, his powerful mana spreading out as his emotions ran high. Edra slowly calmed down, and when the shepherd dog finally defeated its foe he too had defeated his foe that was his fluctuating mood, at least for now. Soon the four were on their way again, this time the shepherd dog had a big thighbone hanging loosely in its mouth. As nightfall fell the group approached Rigsby Dale, step by step they made it closer, and the closer they got the more skeletons appeared. Initially Thadeus would dispatch of them quickly, but soon enough under a grove of trees, in the bleak of darkness the group found themselves surrounded by several strong looking skeleton warriors and a couple of zombies. They were clearly more aware and intelligent than the previous skeletons as they had waited patiently for backup before approaching and circling the group. ¡°I¡¯d be darned!¡± Thadeus cursed ¡°I¡¯m not wasting one of me stored up spells her¡¯e!¡± He looked at Edra with a wild look ¡°Can¡¯t ye talk to them, undead to undead ye know?!¡± In the glimmer of his flickering staff his eyes shimmered dangerously, despite of his complaining his adrenaline was running amok, he didn¡¯t earn the class Wild Sorcerer for nothing. Edra looked stunned, and then he sort¡¯a floated over towards the zombie that appeared to be the leader ¡°eh, can we kind¡¯a just pass through?¡± he said from a short distance, and for a moment the zombie stopped grunting, it gave him a strange sort of look, and then it threw a rock at deafening speed towards Edra, the rock however sailed right through him and smashed into a skeleton on the other side, blowing it to smithereens ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not working!¡± Edra said depressed while floating back to the group, his depression instantly spread towards everyone around him, the skeletons seemed to slow down, but the zombies appeared largely unaffected. ¡°Well ain¡¯t that useful!¡± Thadeus exclaimed as he hurled a ball of fire at the lead zombie ¡°Here we go!¡± he yelled madly as he prepared another fireball. All hell broke loose the moment the fireball hit the zombie. The skeletons brandished their make-shift weapons and charged in, the stone throwing zombie was still fazed, as Thadues kept barraging him with fireballs. A spear pierced through Edra, he felt the pain of the rusty iron, barely, but it was still there, he watched a few percent of his health drop in his status screen. That wasn¡¯t too bad he thought, but that feeling only lasted for a short while more, when suddenly another spear appeared, and a skeleton started hacking at him, although it was terrible weapons, of terrible quality mixed iron, it quickly cut his health down by 15% and it kept dropping, for some reason the undead were targeting Edra. Meanwhile Thadeus had defeated the first leader zombie, and was actively dodging and firing at the second one that wielded no weapon except its big sturdy arms, the zombie wasn¡¯t overly slow, but it was clunky in its movements, allowing Thadeus who didn¡¯t have a physical class to dodge and shoot at it, but it appeared to have a significantly higher constitution than the previous leader zombie. Thadeus was sweating as he observed his small horse and the Shepherd dog put up a brave and successful fight against two skeletons, kicking and biting in mad frenzies, their adrenaline overriding the now fearful emotions that Edra released, however the dead did not have adrenaline, and the low level skeletons clearly slowed down and began hesitating in their movements. Under normal circumstances a skeleton wouldn¡¯t be affected by emotions, but Edra¡¯s passive functioned as a condition, and therefore the usually fearless skeletons reacted to him. Edra¡¯s health dropped rapidly, he was afterall only a level 1, if not for his abnormal health pool he would¡¯ve passed already, his fear of death began to change to unadulterated rage! He finally snapped out of his fear and depression and slowly floated upwards, his ghostly form flickering, his face turned ugly as he turned his mouth downward and released a deafening scream on the onslaught of skeletons below, shortly followed by his death breath, although it did little damage to the skeletons, it still slowed them down even more in their confusion. Then he activated his ectoplasm renewal making the air conform as strange mystic blood-red streams broke through the fabric of space and flowed into him, then he turned towards the zombie battling Thadeus, and he released his emotive emittance on it, its effect negligible, but still enough to confuse the zombie for a split second. To finish off he released his field of sorrow, significantly affecting the skeletons around him. Soon they began fighting each other, as a last effort he began moving the dirt around, just within his 5kg limit to make confuse the skeletons even more. It was the first time that Edra had actually fought since his transformation, yet it all came natural in his rage-fueled mood. His eyes shone a bright blood red under the moonlit sky, as he stared down at the carnage he caused. . . . . Inside the village of Rigsby Dale a sense of restlessness had begun to spread, for some reason the local militia had yet to arrive, and as they waited, their food supply grew less and less. ¡°Pete!¡± an elderly man with a slightly tattered blue coat yelled hoarsely, his whisky beard trembling at the sound of his own voice. Up on one of the palisades a sandy-haired hobbit boy, barely a man, turned his head in embarrassment as the other people standing guard began chuckling lightly, with a red face he answered with a voice that was still breaking in ¡°Grandpa, what is it now?!¡± he demanded, which only made the chuckling increase. ¡°Your sister needs you!¡± the old man harrumphed as he turned around and went in the direction of the city square, ignoring the remaining questions coming from Pete. After failing to get more out of the old man, Pete turned to one of the sentries next to him with a pleading look ¡°Sir I¡­¡± The middle aged man whom Pete was looking at was one of the local adventurers, he wasn¡¯t a hobbit, but a human, he was well liked and trusted in the village as he spend a large amount of time within Rigsby Dale solving their problems ¡°go to your sister Pete, you need not stay here any longer, take a day or two off, your sister has been needing more and more help lately¡± The man walked over and clapped Pete emphatically on the back ¡°go now boy, next I see you, you best be well rested!¡±. Pete nodded and thanked the man, his graciousness evident, as he hurried down the palisade and into the small town. Pete jogged lightly through the small streets, politely helloing people on the way. Living had never been easy for Pete and his sister Alice, their parents had passed away in a mugwartworm attack a number of years ago, and since then they had had to stay with their mother¡¯s estranged father, he had taken good care of them, but his personality had always been eccentric and secretive. As Pete jogged through the familiar streets and passageways he remembered his first day in Rigsby Dale with his sister. They had arrived in a small cart pulled by a small black goat, their grandpa driving the cart. Although Rigsby Dale was a small village, they had lived their lives at a farm in the countryside, for them the town had first appeared large and intimidating, noisy and boisterous, that first evening of slowly driving through the town, where the shadows had fell on every nook and cranny had initially scared the children witless. They didn¡¯t know their grandpa¡¯s name, the villagers used to call him old man, after Pete and Alice moved in they called him old man Pete, which Pete had initially found very annoying, however his sister found it very amusing. It hadn¡¯t taken long for them to settle down in their small house, with a shared bedroom, their grandpa was harsh in some ways, he insisted on schooling them every morning, and he insisted that they went into town to find professions that suited them and become apprentices at those locations, the workload had been a bit much as at first as they weren¡¯t used to working, but they adapted quickly, his sister had become an apprentice at a local pharmacy, and Pete himself had jumped from apprentice spot to apprentice spot until the undead waves, where he had sought apprenticeship with the guards, he was a little too young under normal circumstances, but these were anything but normal circumstances. Pete arrived at a small farming field that was fenced in with faded yet delicate blue coloured oak, he saw his sister fighting off a bunch of large crows with a rake while she was trying to harvest different herbs, albeit the process appeared very unsuccessful from what Pete could see. . . . . ¡°LaGerfield!¡± An elderly hobbit with a stump leg, but otherwise robust body yelled aggressively as he passed through the village gate, he was covered in dirt and grime, his face grim as if cut from granite, his imperial moustache vibrating vigorously from his anger. A nervous looking fat human turned his head away from his compatriots towards the hobbit that was moving towards him like a raging storm. When he turned his head back he realised that the group had dispersed, and before he could react he felt the world turn upside down, and then everything went blank. . . . . Pete was sitting inside the pharmacy drinking a hot brew of herbal tea, he was quietly watching his sister assist a young looking hobbit woman, she wore beige hemp shorts and her feet were bare, and aside from that she wore a sleeveless hemp shirt, her hair was tied up with a red ribbon, and she was slowly stirring and adding ingredients into a large pot, its aroma filled the small store, and the heat increased significantly over time, everyone in the store were sweating and glistening. Alice likewise wore a similar hemp outfit as she was cutting and prepping the ingredients. A certain tranquil ambiance permeated the store as the young girl and the woman worked in unison and harmony, Pete simply sat there enjoying his tea. However soon the door was kicked off its hinges as an elderly hobbit with an imperial moustache came barging in loudly. ¡°How dare you sell dud products Imara! You wench!¡± the elderly hobbit was raging as he barged into the room, drawing a crude axe from his back and soon he splintered the table that Pete was sitting at into several pieces from one cut. His actions and words all happened in a split second; nobody really had time to react until the man had broken the table into pieces. ¡°SovnsField!! You old fool!!¡± Imara the pharmacist turned around swiftly and pointed her palm forward, and then she was gone from her position, her palm now holding onto SonvsField¡¯s head releasing some sort of energy, and then the man was blown out of the building, Imara walked out of the pharmacy in a regular pace, as if she was going to the market, her voice however was anything but regular as she spoke dangerously ¡°You were a reckless fool then, and you are a reckless fool now¡± her pace stopped a few feet away from the hobbit who was slowly getting up, while rubbing his head that now had a large red mark of a palm on it, he was just about to speak up when he was interrupted ¡°fool or no fool¡± Imara spoke resolutely, her voice building in tone, as it culminated in her final sentence ¡°NOBODY BARGES INTO MY STORE!¡± her voice activating some sort of skill as the hobbit was blown into the opposite building, cracks spreading from the location that he had catapulted into.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The on-looking hobbits and humans had stepped far away, but close enough that they could still observe what was happening between the two. Some of them had a facial expression that seemed to say ¡®not again¡¯ as they quickly left the location, not interested in seeing the same old same old. This time the old hobbit got onto his feet without any interruptions, his imperial moustache in a mess as he angrily glared at the woman in front of him, for a moment he was about to explode, but he quickly thought differently as he for once carefully weighed his words ¡°Wen¡­ Imara, I was on the battlefield today, and I had four potions that were duds, and LaGerfield told me that he bought them from you, what are you if not a wench, when you sell dud products, eh?¡± he spoke loudly so that everyone could hear, the surrounding crowd were soon murmuring, it was a taboo to sell dud potions, as it could mean the difference between life and death in the heat of battle. A dangerous glint passed Imara¡¯s eyes as she heard what the old hobbit said ¡°Have you gone dement with old age?! How long have you reluctantly bought my potions? How many of them have been duds?¡± her voice equally loud, the people watching turning silent as her gaze passed them by. Sovnfield opened his mouth to respond, but then he closed it again, this process occurred a number of times before a single sentence escaped his lips almost inaudibly ¡°never¡­¡± his face slushing slightly from the embarrassment. ¡°LOUDER!¡± Imara said, with a stare that could cut granite and shit bricks. ¡°NEVER!¡± the old hobbit yelled ¡°You¡¯ve never sold me duds, you happy you wench!¡± Sovnfield picked up his axe and sheathed it on his back as he began leaving. ¡°Where might you be going, old friend?¡± Imara asked calmly with a smile. Sovnfield shuddered when he saw her smile, he had been thrown around by her the moment he barged into her store, but this was the first time that he felt afraid of her, he had seen that smile before, and last time he hadn¡¯t heeded the danger that lurked behind it. ¡°I was going to fix your store of course¡­¡± he responded dispiritedly, to the crowd¡¯s amusement, they soon began laughing and left the scene after that. . . . . ¡°Duds!?¡± LaGerfield said bewildered while he was standing in a small alleyway, night had fallen so it was very dark, he was speaking with cloaked figure who had the height of either a tall hobbit, or a small man, this was LaGerfield¡¯s real supplier ¡°you sold me duds, this is not good for business!¡± he continued, and then rubbed his now casted arm ¡°nor me¡­¡± he finished in a low tone. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that there might be duds in the shipment? Didn¡¯t I warn you of this before we went into partnership? Didn¡¯t you happily accept anyway as my price was unbeatable?¡± The voice was hoarse and old sounding, yet LaGerfield dared not draw any assumptions about the man. He spoke the truth, he had been warned that there might be some duds, but that overall the potions were effective, but he had always assumed that the people using the duds would die in the process, so that no word would come of it, who could¡¯ve known that Sovnfield was so resilient! ¡°I covered for you!¡± LaGerfield responded desperately, in an attempt to justify him calling the meeting, aside from his own cowardice. The cloaked man laughed eerily and calmly ¡°who cares!¡± he responded leisurely ¡°my employer don¡¯t fear no trifling hobbit¡± he hissed ¡°now be-gone, you can pick up the next shipment the same place as usual¡± and then the cloaked man disappeared in a dust cloud, leaving the nervous and baffled LaGerfield desperate and alone in the alleyway. . . . . Back in the pharmacy an awkward dinner was taking place, the two siblings were seated across from each other, and next to each one of them sat Imara and Sovnsfield respectively glaring at each other while they ate their soup. Pete had been very surprised to see Imara¡¯s prowess, he had always thought her to be a regular young woman, but now based on the conversation between Sovnsfield and her earlier, he could now assume that she was older than he had initially thought, but by how much? And who was she to wield such strength? He had seen Sovnfield from the palisades, he was quite famous around town as a strong local, but he realised that he didn¡¯t know much about the man himself. ¡°Alright Imara I fixed up your door and table, and I paid reparations for the wall damage, which I¡¯ll remind you, you caused¡± he harrumphed moodily before taking another sip of his soup. ¡°I caused? I caused? How can I have caused the damage to the building when it was your body imprint that was on the wall?¡± she asked innocently. Pete almost choked on his soup when he heard her, his sister dropped her spoon and Sovnfield¡¯s granite-like face showed a rare moment of emotion, pure flabbergast ¡°you¡¯re more thick-skinned than me¡± he said while shaking his head still surprised. Imara simply smiled at this and finished her soup in a large gulp while holding the small wooden bowl, she was still wearing her hemp clothes that smelled of herbs, her oat-coloured hair was still tied up, and there were herbal splatters on her face, however Sovnfield found her as enchanting as ever, he always had since they were children and played together in wheat fields of Rigsby Dale, his mind wandered as he remembered their parting when she had left to become a pharmacist, and how they had shared their first kiss back then, and he still remembered that when she came back twenty years later, he was angry and sad that she still looked to be in her thirties, and that he had grown old from battle and worry. She had wanted to see if maybe they could still go together, but their personalities had grown too stubborn in their old age, their emotional scars had grown too deep, and their differences had grown too big, the result had been a growing resentment. However Sovnfield always bought his potions from Imara, and Imara always made her requests to Sovnfield directly, and once in a while they¡¯d get into a spat. Sovnfield blinked his weary eyes as he refocused on Imara ¡°I¡­¡± he said, with deep emotion portrayed in his eyes. The change in emotion wasn¡¯t missed by Imara, her facial expression softened, her mouth opened slightly, and for a silent unspoken moment, it was as if years of words were exchanged in a flash, but they still both sat in front of one another, silently. . . . . The mayor walked into the local tavern with a weary smile painted across his face ¡°Laura, I¡¯d like some a mug of honeyed beer¡± he spoke despondently. He greeted some of the locals sitting in the tavern, how different the mood of the place was compared to just a few weeks ago, that¡¯s what disaster does to a place, he thought strongly as he found his regular table, the chief of the sentries was already sitting there together with the head physician. They both had gotten a lot of authority since the crisis had begun, and the mayor relied heavily on the two, luckily for him none of them had been power hungry or misused their position, he had initially been wary about the human guard chief, although he had helped the village many times, he was still an outsider, but he had proven himself very useful and loyal in times of danger. The candle flickered lightly as the mayor sat down heavily, the burden he carried was clear to everyone present. ¡°Still no word from the left minister¡¯s garrison?¡± Rodbearth asked with a heavy note to his voice, he might be human and he might not be a local, but he had fallen in love with Rigsby Dale and its innocent and carefree citizens, yes it had its problems, but which town and county didn¡¯t. The mayor lightly shook his head as he took a big swig of his beer. ¡°DARNED BASTARDS!!¡± The physician cursed angrily ¡°What does he think will happen next? The undead will simply stop moving?¡± he spat angrily on the floor as he continued ¡°The minister¡¯s a real piece a¡¯ work I tell you! The coward!¡± he was just about to spit again when the barkeep Laura came over and slapped him in the back of the head and asked him ¡®politely¡¯ to clean up his previous mess, the small exchange between the two let to some lighthearted laughter in the tavern, but it quickly died out again, replaced once more with solemnity. As the night passed on the tavern emptied out one by one, before he knew it the mayor was the only one left, he got up drunkenly and moved his large hobbit feet towards the exit whilst waving a shaky goodbye to Laura. Although the sun would rise soon, it was still pitch black, the silence of the night was plagued by the sound of the undead wailing outside the palisades, however the mayor was too drunk and too numb to be affected by it, he simply sauntered towards his home. At some point he realised that he must¡¯ve gotten lost as he stumbled upon an unfamiliar alleyway, there he saw someone he noticed, it was Rodbearth speaking in hushed tones with another human, the other man was unfamiliar to the mayor, but he didn¡¯t care, he was just about to notify them of his position, when he heard one sentence that sent a shiver down his spine. ¡°The mayor?¡± Rodbearth asked incredulously, his voice vicious ¡°I¡¯ve got him just where I want him, that old fool¡± Even though he was drunk and confused, the wheels began spinning rapidly ¡®I¡®ve to get away!¡¯ was the single penetrating thought that made the mayor quickly return from whence he came and quickly disappear into the night lost, scared, but most of all, angry! . . . . The following morning Pete woke up in an unfamiliar makeshift blanket bed, surrounded was he by the smell of herbs and charcoal, he was at Imara¡¯s place, she had insisted that the two siblings stayed after the dinner, after Sovnfield had gone home, Pete wasn¡¯t blind, he could see that the pharmacist didn¡¯t want to be alone that night, and although Pete was very much intrigued by the background story of the two, he refrained from asking. He quietly cleaned up the bedding on the floor and put it in a corner, neatly folded, he had awoken earlier than usual, and his sister was still sleeping on the small guest bed that had been pulled out of the basement. He opened the backdoor towards Imara¡¯s private garden to allow in some fresh air. It was funny how the small garden looked so peaceful and beautiful considering the state of things in the small village. Pete took a deep breath of fresh air and stretched, then he went to the chicken coop, he had been there before and knew where things were. ¡®The old stubborn fool!¡¯ Imara thought to herself with a small smile across her mouth as she walked down the staircase, she was met with a whiff of fried egg and bread. The two siblings were peacefully eating their breakfast while bantering lightly, as soon as they saw her they said good morning, Pete was quick to explain that he had taken some of her eggs, but Imara simply waved it off as she too sat down to eat. ¡®Maybe ten years older or so¡¯ was the thought that passed through her head as she was quietly observing the two siblings washing the dishes in the outside wooden bucket. Imara was comfortably sitting in a rocking chair on her porch while she puffed on a short stubby pipe. She was wearing a yellow wool dress with a green shawl over her shoulders, her hair gently flowing loosely in the wind, her memories too flowing with every gust. What could¡¯ve been, had she not left, what could¡¯ve been had she returned earlier, a small tear drifted down her cheek as she sat there reminiscing with a bitter-sweet smile. . . . . In a lavishly decorated room the merchant LaGerfield paced back and forth restlessly, his back hunched to avoid hitting his head on the low hobbit ceiling, he had heard from his man about what had happened between Sovnfield and Imara, it seemed that the pharmacist was no pushover! To all of the newcomer¡¯s surprises, she was even suspected to best Sovnfield if they had gone all out. He was almost certain that Sovnfield or Imara would come for him anytime now, as his frustration grew, so did his pacing, in a fit he knocked down his wardrobe, and in the process straightened his back a bit too much, hitting his head hard into the supporting beam, he instantly fell unconsciously to the ground bleeding from the back of his head. . . . . The mayor had consulted his wife the moment he got home at dawn, stinking of alcohol and sweat, she had not been pleased, and insisted that he took a shower before they even began speaking. At first his wife had sat there in her nightgown nodding her head calmly while her husband narrated the encounter, then she had questioned him, considering his drunken state, who knows if he had misunderstood or fabricated the event? The mayor had insisted that he hadn¡¯t and then gone to bed to recover, so that he could deal with the traitorous Rodbearth as soon as possible. On the edge of his bed the mayor realised that he wasn¡¯t so sure of the previous night¡¯s events, sure he had seen and heard Rodbearth, he didn¡¯t have any doubt about that, but could he have misunderstood something? What was the conversation about anyhow? There were too many questions and too little evidence, he very well couldn¡¯t go and demoralize the villagers by arresting Rodbearth, and weakening the village¡¯s defences in such dire times, he held his head with both of his hands as he collected his thoughts. . . . . The village was in an uproar! Apparently the mayor had found Sovnfield crouched over LaGerfields injured body, the man upon awakening, had instantly pointed out Sovnfield as his attacker. The mayor felt that he would never get rid of his current headaches. He had been on his way to LaGerfield to covertly ask him questions about Rodbearth, somehow the mayor figured that the two most prominent humans in town must know each other, who would¡¯ve guessed that he¡¯d find such a scene! Everyone knew of what had transpired the previous day, so it wasn¡¯t much of a stretch to arrest Sovnfield. It was while the mayor was walking towards the granary to check on the food supply that he was ambushed by Rodbearth, catching everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°D¡¯you think that slime of a merchant would¡¯ve lived if Sovnfield attacked him!¡± Rodbearth growled as he towered over the mayor and his personal guard, with him was several of the sentries from the palisades and a couple of adventurers. Under normal circumstances the mayor would¡¯ve weighed Rodbearth¡¯s words more, but currently, he suspected him of wrongdoings, a wrongdoer helping another wrongdoer? The answer was simple ¡°Stand down Rodbearth, you¡¯re nothing but a human parading around here, step back now before you do something else which you¡¯d regret!¡± the mayor sneered fearlessly. ¡°Racism, that¡¯s where you are? What happened with you man!¡± Rodbearth yelled angrily, it had been just yesterday when they clanked their mugs and drowned their sorrows and fears together. While the tension grew the two simply stared at one another, and before anyone had noticed several hobbits had lined up behind the mayor, some smelled of magic, others of steel, regardless, the situation was grim. . . . . Clouds covered her as she soared up on a warm air-drift, her tiny beady eyes blinked in the brisk weather, as she soared back down, the landscape reflected in her glassy eyes, fields and moors, valleys and forests, creatures and villages. She flew low when she saw a tree to rest in, the people standing beneath it she cared little about. Perched upon a branch, while scratching her feathers with her tiny claws she let out a serene sound. When the lark began to sing, the moment it opened its mouth, it was as if a spark was lit, and the tension exploded in one big chaos of violence. The lark had seen much in its short life, so it continued singing, only louder, trying to overcome the noise from below the tree. Its song marked a strange contrast of beauty and violence. . . . . A light drizzle hazed up the now muddy area, flashes of steel and magic were seen, while others were fighting with their fists and legs. Imara sighed heavily when she hastily walked onto the scene, fools all of them! She cursed mentally as she took a deep breath. ¡°FOOLS!¡± her voice deafened the make-shift battlefield, the fighting ceased, if but for a moment, but soon it continued ¡°DID YOU NOT HEAR ME!¡± her voice louder, ebbing of power and the arcane, her hands spread out into two clawing motions as she moved them above her head, her fingers began humming like tuning forks pacifying the men and women fighting, calming them down. As sanity reached the two groups once more, they came to realise the fatal blunder they had made, were there not enough casualties as it were? Although no one had gone all out or purposely tried to kill anyone, there was still three dead, two hobbits and one man, the mayor and Rodbearth shared a look of pain as they gathered up their people to try and come to some peace. Imara walked over to the corpses sorrowfully, and put them on fire, as was the solution, it was one of many ways to avoid them turning into undead. . . . . ¡®I didn¡¯t even have to do anything, and those fools are murdering each other¡¯ he cackled mutedly in an alleyway, the people passing thought he was crying, maybe he had known one of the victims. Chapter 18: Rigsby Dale Part 2: Conspiracies Afoul An unnerving tension and quiet spread through Rigsby Dale, as the families of the deceased grieved, the town fell into a strange state of strained function. The mayor and Rodbearth had continued their regular work and cooperation, yet none of them spoke with one another, they simply kept doing their duties, the wounds still too fresh, however to Rodbearth¡¯s chagrin Sovnfield still stayed in the penitentiary, by choice, for some reason the hobbit had been surprisingly quiet about the whole thing, which was more disturbing to the mayor than had he made a big deal out of it, or tried to escape, instead he simply sat in the cell quietly, unresponsive to any of the mayor¡¯s interrogation. Impatience was evident in the mayor¡¯s facial expression as he sat down wearily in his comfy reading chair stretching his feet with a cracking sound, massaging his temple lightly. ¡°She came again¡­¡± he spoke loudly, so that his wife could hear him, she was just about to go tend to the injured when she heard her husband lamenting. She walked into the living room from behind him and began massaging his tensed up shoulders, she weighed her words before she responded ¡°we should be happy that that¡¯s all she has done¡± she said calmly, her eyes flickered lightly as she remembered the scene of Imara quietening the scene ¡°if she wanted to, we probably couldn¡¯t stop her¡­¡± her sentence paused slightly before she began talking again, each word carefully spoken ¡°neither could we him, are you sure of what you saw that day in the alleyway? It is very hard to believe that Sovnfield would be conspiring¡± His tired eyes opened halfway at his wife¡¯s words, truth be told he had been having similar thoughts lately, however that scene and the words spoken were clear as day in his mind, even now days after the event, and why would LaGerfield lie to him about what happened? Was it really related to the defect potion that Sovnfield had bought off of him? ¡°I remember what happened that day very clearly still, but¡­ maybe I should speak with LaGerfield some more¡± . . . . LaGerfield had been planning his escape from the doomed town ever since Imara¡¯s presentation of power, she had been quiet for now, but he knew that it was only a matter of town before she approached him, he should never have listened to that voice! While he paced back and forth he reminisced that day that he had passed out, upon awaking he had seen Sovnfield standing in front of him menacingly, and before he could say anything the mayor had walked in. LaGerfield had been just about to say that there was no need to worry he had simply hit his head, but in that moment a whisper had snaked its way into his ear ¡°blame Sovnfield, rid yourself of him before he get to YOU¡± a split second decision had resulted in LaGerfield pointing out Sovnfield as the culprit, and everything had worked out great, Sovnfield had been taken aback, but for some reason accepted the accusation and quietly followed the mayor and his men, everything had been fine, until Imara showcased her prowess, ever since their last encounter it was clear that she and Sovnfield had a history, and it was even more clear now that she had some sort of strange class, and a high level at that. Needless to say, LaGerfield had had little to no sleep the last couple of days. All of a sudden a gust of wind from outside blew the candlelight out, LaGerfield cursed as he fumbled over to the window and closed it. He pulled out his flint-light and relit the candle, to his surprise across from him sat a cloaked figure comfortably with his legs on the very table of where the candle was, his arms resting across his stomach, LaGerfield fell straight on his ass as he quickly sprawled up from the floor, ready to yell and scream.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Calm down fatso, and sit!¡± the cloaked figure spoke in a hoarse voice that demanded authority, at his words LaGerfield stopped in his tracks, and faced his intruder, sweat poured down from his fat face as he slowly pulled out another chair and sat down, his hands shaking, his every instinct screamed at him to get out and away from the cloaked figure, yet there he was, sitting opposite him, trembling in fear. In the flicker of the candlelight the cloaked figured appeared leisurely, in the same position that he arrived in ¡°you should be thanking me fatso, instead you¡¯re soiling your pants, I must admit I don¡¯t care much for your hosting abilities¡± he spoke amusedly ¡°didn¡¯t I get rid of Sovnfield for you? And how do you repay me? You don¡¯t even come buy my potions, I¡¯m very disappointed, fatso¡± the amusement from his voice gone, replaced by a menacing tone. LaGerfield gulped heavily as he reevaluated his situation, he was a merchant at heart, and he had soon calculated that he was safe for now, as they not only had a mutually beneficiary relationship with the potions, but also that whoever this group of people were had helped him out, if they wanted him dead they could have done so much earlier, his trembling stopped slightly as he opened his mouth nervously ¡°I¡¯m your only supplier yes?¡± he asked, wetting his dry lips with his tongue. ¡°Yes¡± the cloaked figure simply responded. LaGerfield waited for a while more, but there was no response coming from the man, his thoughts raced as he grew bolder, ¡®he! Was their only supplier¡¯ ¡®he! Was their only connection¡¯ and so his thoughts began to build connections that weren¡¯t there, as his trembling stopped completely, his confidence returned to his eyes as he spoke to the man once again ¡°you brought a lot of trouble to me! Didn¡¯t you see Imara?! If she turns her attention to me how¡¯d I escape? I¡¯ll spill everything about our meetings!¡± he declared confidently. The cloaked figure simply sat there unresponsive, his features hidden, so it was impossible for LaGerfield to tell what his reaction had been, the longer the quiet lasted, the more he felt that he had just gambled his life away, all of his machinations that had been building up fell apart to the silence. Finally the cloaked figure spoke up, obviously amused once more ¡°you¡¯re sitting there in your own soil, stinking, and then you go and grow a pair of balls¡± the figure began laughing loudly as he took his feet down from the table and slowly placed his elbows on the table leaning in close to the candle, the flickering of the light revealing what was hiding under the hood, a black wooden lacquered mask shimmering gently in the candlelight ¡°now, take your balls, and push them back up¡± he spoke in a terrifying voice, that send LaGerfield rasping for air ¡°Imara, we¡¯ll take care of her, just be at the spot next time, and if you decide to grow a pair again¡­¡± the cloaked figure blew out the candlelight, and then he was gone. LaGerfield slammed his fist into the table as he began crying; there he sat in his own filth, wailing like a broken toy. . . . . Sovnfield sat in his cell quietly, he was still wondering about the quest that he had received the moment LaGerfield had accused him, the restrictions of the quest were heavy, however this meant that the potential reward was very high. It was while he was sitting in his contemplation that a head popped up from the ground, covered in a murky red mist, no Sovnfield realised, its head was red, the ghost kept rising, it looked strained and tired, but it soon came to its senses. ¡°Uh, where am I? ¡° it asked incredulously its see-through hand scratching its ghostly neck. ¡°You''re asking me!?¡± Sovnfield couldn¡¯t help but exclaim at the strangeness of the situation, realizing in that moment, that he probably just lost that golden quest. Chapter 19: Rigsby Dale Part 3: Backup A couple of days earlier, before Edra showed up in Sovnfield¡¯s holding-cell, he and his make-shift companion had set up camp within a mossy rock-cropping on top of a hill overlooking Rigsby Dale from afar.
Basic Information
Race: Incomplete Ghost Class: Emotive Specter 1/2
Age: 24 Deceased Access to negative emotions 1/1 100%
Stage: -- Access to positive emotions 0/1 20%
Attributes Resistances Weaknesses
Soul Vitality 1500 Soul: 90% Lightning: 200%
Soul Power 150 Void: 50% Fire 110%
Death: 50% Raw Iron: 100%
Willpower 30 Necromancy: 50% Silver: 150%
Soul Power 100 Chronomancy: 50% Rare Metals: 50%
Physical Attacks 100% Mixed Metals: 50%
Ice: 75%
Wind: 50%
Earth: 50%
Navigation Bar Journal? Titles Skills Active Blessings
Active Skills Passive Skills
Deafening screech 5/10 LVL6 Communes With Dragons
Emotive emittance 1/12 LVL5 Basic Spearmanship 7/10 68%
Death Breath 60/200 LVL3 LOCKED Intermediate Swordmanship 2/20 17%
LOCKED Intermediate Arcane Magic 3/20 56%
LOCKED Basic Bowmanship 8/10 96%
Field of Sorrow LOCKED Basic tracking 9/10 30%
Poltergeists Telekinesis 3/5 LVL9 Ghostly Physical Invulnerability
Ectoplastic Renewal 1/10 LVL9 Emotive Disarray
Intangibility LVL4 6/10 46%
Floatation LVL4 200/500 44%
Edra floated restlessly near the campfire looking over his status screen, they had been in a number of small skirmishes on the way, and finally the intensity of the undead patrols had become too much, at which they had to find a place to set camp, Edra had quickly scouted and located the rock cropping. He hadn¡¯t gained any levels, or his ¡®state¡¯ hadn¡¯t changed, and there had been no notification that the experience would go to any of his titles, was it because he was considered ¡®incomplete¡¯? He pondered silently. He had also noticed that his passive skills had slowed down significantly at level 4, and similarly so with his active skills at level 9, possibly something would change with the skill at level 5 and 10 respectively? He wondered. The biggest surprise to him was that his positive emotions had increased to 20%, it seemed as if they would increase passively as he experienced different emotions, he hadn¡¯t thought about it until now, but his outbursts of emotion had decreased quite a bit, even though they were still there. Thadeus was leaning up against a rock whilst puffing on a long corn pipe, the bonfire flickered gently in the creating an unharmonious shadow theater from the rock cropping¡¯s, it was a dark night, with clouds covering the skies. Thadeus took a deep long puff and as he blew out the smoke it came out in one short small round cloud, and the second one as a long thin snake like cloud, he observed the long cloud devour the smaller one as he opened his mouth lazily ¡°Edra I¡¯d appreciate it if you could keep an eye out on things, not like ye¡¯ll be sleeping anyhow¡± he took another short puff from the pipe, he was feeling slightly melancholic, his eyes moved to Edra who was staring aimlessly into the bonfire, he was obviously affected by his passive skill, not that he minded, a little melancholy was good for the temperament sometimes. Edra¡¯s eyes focused on Thadeus, a gentle look was in his eyes as he looked at the hobbit, his careless and reckless attitude, might be exactly what made him accept Edra as quickly as he did ¡°sure¡± Edra answered curtly, a short while passed in silence, with nothing but the whooshing of the wind between the rock cropping¡¯s as accompaniment ¡°I have an idea as to how to get into the city¡± he said ¡°I think it might be useful to get some information before you make your way there, and maybe see if there is a more secure entrance, than from the front gates¡± Thadeus almost choked on the tobacco smoke when he heard Edra, however Edra didn¡¯t say anything else, he was just looking at Thadeus with an expectant look in his eyes ¡°well speak ghost, speak!¡± Thadeus exclaimed. Edra laughed delightfully at the hobbit, his laughter sounding eerily in the wind, the horse that lay nearby winced at the sound, but didn¡¯t flee, it was a battle-worn horse, and it had been in the presence of the ghost for a while now ¡°well I have been practicing my intangibility lately, as you might have noticed¡± he said while demonstrating himself sinking into the ground halfway ¡°and I think that I can avoid arousing the town¡¯s defenses if I simply stay underground for the majority of the journey¡± he said his head resting on his hands, his elbows on the ground. Thadeus stared in disbelief at the ghost, the plan was certainly good, the small town probably didn¡¯t sacrosanct the earth as the only attackers they had seen had been physical, his fingers twirled the pip around as his thoughts did the same ¡°okay¡­¡± he said as he stopped swirling the pipe ¡°let¡¯s say you get into town, what¡¯d ye look for? I don¡¯t think the towns-people will listen to ye, considering their current situation¡± Edra was about to speak more, but Thadeus lifted his hand indicating that he wasn¡¯t done talking ¡°and even if they do listen, they most certainly won¡¯t trust you, no matter how well-mannered ye are, to reiterate, they are undergoing an attack by the undead, and even if the regular townsperson doesn¡¯t know, the ones in control must have certainly noticed that the undead are being summoned and controlled, which means they might suspect ye of being the instigator, or working with the instigator¡± Thadeus wild eyes bore in on Edra, he didn¡¯t yet understand why the ghost had followed him, what was his motivations? He had heard his story, he pitied him even, and he believed him, but, what drove him? Why follow him? Why go towards a city of potentially undead killing mechanisms? He blinked his eyes and shook his head, regardless, he appreciated his new companion, he usually travelled alone, ever since that dreadful day¡­ While the hobbit drifted off into his own thoughts, Edra was left pondering, one possible scenario after the other popped up in his head, however none seemed overly feasible ¡°regardless!¡± Edra declared ¡°this is something that I must do¡± The hobbit aroused from his thoughts, yet he didn¡¯t see Edra anywhere, and then he heard the eerie voice of his companion ring like a rusty chains from afar ¡°I¡¯ll return in a week, if not¡­it was a pleasure to meet you Mr Satchet¡± Thadeus instantly got up and yelled out ¡°Curse ye ghost!¡± but it was long since too late, Edra had made up his mind, he had gone into the bleak of night ¡°ye best return ghost¡­¡± Thadeus whispered to himself as he clutched his corn pipe tightly. . . . . Edra floated high in the sky towards Rigsby dale. He could soon see the zombies and skeletons marching towards the small township, his sight worked at night just fine, maybe a factor of his current state, it was as if he could see everything like normal, but it still appeared dark to him, he his head and cleared his mind from the distracting thoughts he had and looked at the town that grew bigger in his sight the closer he came. At some point he could see the undead hacking away at a faintly yellow barrier, every time they struck it shook slightly, once in a while a rune blinked in the barrier and it cracked open, at that point a bunch of undead would sift through. Edra stopped in the sky while he observed the barrier, and how it rebuilds itself once in a while. He was incredibly close to the city palisades, he could even make out the sentries watching the undead and shooting arrows and magic at them, and on the ground there were several fighters fighting against the undead, although It was an easy victory to them this time, it was clear to Edra that they were tired as there was no celebration at the defunct victory, they knew as well as Edra, that the strength of the undead didn¡¯t come from their individual prowess, but their relentless numbers and their unending energy. He began trying to measure how far he¡¯d have to stay underground to make it into town unnoticed, he had tried calculating during his practice how far he¡¯d move at top speed underground, it varied somewhat depending on the terrain, so it wasn¡¯t overly precise, and he also couldn¡¯t fly high enough to look into get a good look of the town, it¡¯d be best if he dived deep, and popped up in a basement somewhere. As he made up his mind the first rays of dawn began shining from behind him as he slowly sank downwards through the air, and for a moment his eyes caught the eyes of a sentry hobbit, a teen, barely a man looked him straight in the eye, not out of a lack of vigilance, but purely by accident, the colour of Edra must have caught his eye, and astonishment passed through over his face as he turned his head around and began yelling something, but that fell on deaf ears for Edra as he had already entered the cold ground at that point. . . . . Maybe because he was nervous, maybe because this was the longest he had stayed underground, regardless of why, Edra was certain that his count had gone awry, he could feel that he was pushing his intangibility to its limits, what a joke if a ghost died in the ground, no tombstone or nothing Edra thought morbidly, as he began surfacing, his mind confused and strained as he finally came out of the ground, even worse was that the first thing that he saw was a hobbit, a hobbit that gave off a sense of being far stronger than Edra, but in his confused state Edra simply stated a question ¡°Uh, where am I? ¡° he asked in a confused manner scratching his neck. ¡°You¡¯re asking me!?¡± Sovnfield exclaimed, right afterwards he shook his head, the idea of losing the quest was painful, but worse was that it seemed that it was the ghost that had affected him, it wasn¡¯t like him to react in such a manner, he knew he had a low soul power so soul attacks affected him greatly, his face turned grave as he drew towards the ghost in an instant, his powerful hand swooshing through the ghost dispersing it into endless myriads of red sparkly, the gravity of seeing the ghost made Sovnfield instantly yell out for the guard, if there were ghosts entering the city, then they might as well give up, they didn¡¯t have the manpower to defend against that. However the guard didn¡¯t respond, Sovnfield yelled again, louder, however there was still no response. ¡°Damn it all!¡± Sovnfield growled as he was about to break out of the prison with brute force, and just as he gathered his power he was interrupted from behind him. ¡°Sorry for surprising you, but I¡¯m not evil¡± Edra spoke loudly behind Sovnfield. With raging eyes he turned around ¡°if I had iron on me right now ghost!¡± he spat, realizing that he couldn¡¯t hurt the ghost in his current condition. ¡°That¡¯s great and all¡­¡± Edra looked around where he was ¡°Mr. prisoner? but I speak the truth, I¡¯m not with the undead force laying siege to this town¡± he tried his best at smiling, and making his voice less spooky. ¡°Bollocks!¡± Sovnfield retorted instantly ¡°you expect me to believe that? And right after you break in here and use a spell on me? Interrupting my quest¡± his voice turning dry thinking about the quest ¡°the gall!¡± he hissed angrily. For a moment Edra became befuddled at the accusations, but he soon realised that his mood had affected the hobbit ¡°apologies, but I have a passive that affects my surroundings with my own current mood at the time, and as for your quest, I don¡¯t know anything about it, regardless I¡¯m not your enemy¡± Sovnfield glared at the ghost while his mind went through the situation since the ghost arrived ¡°You¡¯re undead, and we¡¯re being attacked by undead, fact no?¡± he spoke grumpily ¡°and my quest!¡± he quickly willed the quest screen to pop up. Surprisingly it hadn¡¯t been interrupted, even though it stated that no man nor monster of intelligence were allowed to be in communication with him, this struck him heavily, his anger deflated as he looked at the ghost in front of him, really looked. A red transparent hue, tussled hair, deep dark red eyes, normal pants and a shirt, although slightly unclear in his ghostly image ¡°what are you?¡± . . . . Edra hadn¡¯t wasted the question given to him by the hobbit, and he had in a roundabout way explained his situation with Thadeus, and why he was there. ¡°That¡¯s great and all¡± Sovnfield growled impatiently, he had listened to the entire story from beginning to end, and still couldn¡¯t understand why his quest hadn¡¯t been interrupted, he even began to sweat a bit thinking about how he had yelled out to the guards, if they had been there¡­ ¡°you still didn¡¯t answer my question, my quest should be failed upon anyone hearing my voice, any intelligent man, best or monster, you clearly classify as a monster, no?¡± his left foot began tapping the floor up and down as he stood there, every word he spoke he would check his quest, he couldn¡¯t help but think that he shouldn¡¯t take any chances, but he needed to know, and if the ghost was on their side, then he¡¯d be able to communicate with the town, with Imara¡­ The question dumbfounded Edra, was he not a ghost, and undead, a monster so to speak? He lay down in the air as he began thinking, his concentration rising, Sovnfield in contrast could feel his own concentration rising slightly, was the ghost pulling an elaborate stunt to get him to believe him, or? After a while Edra looked at Sovnfield ¡°I¡¯m considered incomplete currently, this might be why I didn¡¯t affect your quest?¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Incomplete, what does that even mean?¡± ¡°Well you see I¡± a painful look flashed across Edra¡¯s eyes as he spoke ¡°my soul was hurt, bad, I died even, as you might¡¯ve noticed¡± he said spreading his arms out ¡°and although it is a long story, I somehow collected myself again, but I was broke, I¡¯m missing certain parts to be able to be whole, until then, I¡¯m incomplete¡± The pain that expressed in Edra¡¯s incorporeal face, and the fluctuating emotions being emitted was enough for Sovnfield to believe him, Sovnfield wasn¡¯t a man who thought with his head, what moved him was his heart and his gut feelings, he was convinced by Edra, he didn¡¯t see any falsehoods in the ghost in front of him. ¡°Alright so you have a companion, who wishes to help, but you don¡¯t know how he can come into the city safely?¡± Sovnfield sat on his bed pondering over the question and the information Edra had provided him ¡°your friend has pretty much netted the reasoning that we have come to as well; someone or something is controlling the undead mob and for what purpose, we have yet to understand? and honestly, if you came here speaking like that asking for a safe entry, you¡¯d be a goner in a flash¡± his eyes sharp as he finished his sentence. ¡°Thadeus said the same thing¡± Edra laughed lightly ¡°you remind me of him, your temperament¡± ¡°A sorcerer! Don¡¯t insult me kid!¡± Sovnfield spoke loudly, quickly lowering his voice, remembering that nobody was allowed to hear his voice ¡°alright Edra, I¡¯ll help you, if you do something for me¡± he gazed straight into Edra¡¯s eyes with a piercingly sharp look. Edra gulped his nonexistent spit and nodded. ¡°Okay, first of, try and find out why and where the guard is, you can turn invisible right?¡± before Edra could speak he was onto his next sentence ¡°secondly I need you to bring a message to the local pharmacist, I¡¯ll draw you a map¡­¡± he took out a piece of parchment and a pen, but hesitated when he was about to put down the ink on the paper ¡°she might kill you though¡­ when you get into her house speak my name, and call her chicken thief, that should buy you some speaking time, I can¡¯t write a letter to her, that will break my quest, but it appears that I might be able to use you as a messenger, say that LaGerfield set me up, and that one of the mayor¡¯s guards are either working for, with or pulling LaGerfield¡¯s strings, and also tell her that about my quest so she understands why I¡¯ve been silent¡± at the end of his sentence, he finished up his make-shift map ¡°got it?¡± Edra was certain that his head would¡¯ve fallen off from all the nodding if he wasn¡¯t a ghost. . . . . Pete had worked a night shift the previous night, and had had a busy day after he saw the ghost and reported it, although at first it had brought about all of the alarm bells in the town, there had been no other observations, and people had quickly chalked it up to youthful imagination, much to his chagrin, he was certain of what he had seen though, and after having woken up from his midday sleep he had rushed to the pharmacist and his sister to tell them that it wasn¡¯t his imagination, the three were sitting around the small dinner table the candles lighting up the small wooden house. Imara had been greatly alarmed by the ghostly sighting as well, but there had been no real signs of a ghostly invasion force so she had dismissed it as well. Yet hearing what Pete had seen made her think differently, the ghost had sunk into the ground? Was it intelligent? Had it infiltrated the town to spy? Or was it the true mastermind? Several questions came to mind while she sat there drinking her herbal drink. Just as Pete was about to speak more a light rapping was heard on the door, Imara got up from her chair and walked towards the door. Halfway there she felt her heart quench, something was wrong! In an instant she turned around her thumb and middle finger connected creating ripple that send her hair rolling, and out of thin air a cloaked figure appeared being smashed into the living room table! Pete quickly grabbed for his sister, but was too late, the cloaked figure moved silently and motionlessly. Like a shadow he was standing on the staircase holding the young girl, who was crying relentlessly from pain and fear ¡°hand over your life, and I guarantee you that the girl¡­¡± ¡°SOVNFIELD! IMARA YOU¡¯RE A CHICKEN THIEF¡± The voice was loud and spooky, it came from every corner of the house at once. The cloaked figure had been interrupted, but more importantly he had flinched, hesitation, a lapse of concentration, it was all Imara needed! The very move she had used on Sovnfield activated once more, and before the cloaked figure knew it his forehead was grasped by the female hobbit, he dropped the girl as he tried to push the hand and arm away from him, but to no avail. Imara¡¯s eyes flashed with green lightning as her fingers stretched out ready to pierce the figure in her grasp. In a last ditch move the figure activated some kind of device that pushed Imara off of the staircase, after which he disappeared up the stair and out of the hallway window in a bang. Pete ran towards his sister who was crying helplessly on the staircase, but all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks frozen stiff. Imara slowly got up from the floor, she noticed Pete¡¯s strange reaction and swiftly looked towards the small girl who had stopped crying, the girl was watching a candlelight floating around her slowly. Before anyone could think about it the same eerie voice that had interrupted the cloaked figure broke the silence ¡°there there little girl, you¡¯re alright, your family is alright, just calm down¡± when the girl heard the voice and saw the ghost that appeared in front of her she fainted in an instant. ¡°Restless spirit you had best begone!¡± Imara sneered angrily, her previous failure left her much anger ¡°had you not been of service just now, I would not be hesitating to exorcise you!¡± Edra looked confused at Imara ¡°he said It would work, you¡¯re a chicken thief, Sovnfield, can I speak now?¡± The utter look of confusion and disregard of her threats cooled down the female hobbit, and when she properly heard the words of the ghost she calmed down even more, that was not a sentence that anyone should know, except of course¡­ ¡°Tell me why you¡¯re here ghost¡± . . . . Edra quickly recounted what had happened, meanwhile Pete¡¯s sister had awoken, and the two youngsters were sitting quietly observing Imara and the blood-red ghost converse calmly, at first Pete had been pointing at the ghost telling Imara that that was the ghost he had seen, she had quickly told him to calm down and shut up while she talked with the ghost. She had noticed several points that pointed towards the ghost speaking the truth. For one, it was intelligent, but also rational, she had far more experience with the supernatural than most people, and although she had met intelligent ghosts before, they all had something off about them, few ghosts were well-intentioned, even if they were good people before they passed away, the reasoning was that ghosts stayed behind because of unfulfilled feelings, if people died without regret they would pass on, it was mostly only strong negative regrets that made ghosts claw to the world of the living. The second point was what Sovnfield had told the ghost, there would be no point in a weak ghost coming to speak with her, and interrupting the cloaked assassin¡¯s plans if it was not friendly towards her. ¡°Your friend is only of his second job class, what makes you think that he can help the village?¡± she was smoking a pipe made out of thin ebony spider¡¯s leg, smooth and hollow, perfect for tobacco. ¡°Whether he can help or not, I can¡¯t answer, but that he wishes to help, this is true¡± Edra spoke truthfully. Imara tabbed her tobacco into a small ashtray while she was thinking, the mayor¡¯s office had been infiltrated, was that related to the assassin or the attack on the town, or both? Something was going on in the town, and maybe it was about time that she flexed her muscle, in the end there was really only one person that she feared of the villagers, and that was the two kid¡¯s grandpa, she tussled the small girl¡¯s hair as she smiled ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you and your friend out, I can come with you, create a pathway two thirds of the way, so if your friend can make it the rest of the way then we can make sure he enters the village. Edra smiled widely ¡°okay!¡± he responded and was quickly sinking into the ground again, but before he could get all the way down, he was grabbed in his collar by Imara, the veins on her hand pumping an eerie green ¡°now listen here ghost, if you are not truthful I will end you, understood?¡± her lazy eyes held a glimmer that could cut steel like butter, Edra nodded ardently ¡°secondly, you¡¯ll have to wait, if what Sovnfield said was true, then I could need someone of your¡­ stealth, I want you to go to this LaGerfield and keep an eye on him, and if he meets this cloaked figure or anyone else whom you deem related to this, then you had best follow them¡± her voice steely ¡°I understand you told your friend you¡¯d be back in a week, this gives you a couple of days, I¡¯d like you to go to LaGerfield and keep an eye on him for five days, on the fifth day at the main gate in the evening, I¡¯ll clear a path for your friend¡­ tell me you understand¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am I understand¡± Edra responded somewhat nervously, it was strange to be held onto, contact, it felt like it had been years. . . . . ¡®Edra Walker, supernatural, international spy, from a long thought lost continent¡¯ how exciting it all sounded Edra thought amusedly as he hovered over the sleeping LaGerfield. It had been two days since his new mission, and it had been far more uneventful than he had thought, this LaGerfield was a human, and he had been holed up in his apartment nervously sleeping eating and drinking, needless to say that it had been unbearably boring, but he kept at it, he stayed invisible the best he could, and watched the man from the shadows, luckily for Edra he was a merchant and didn¡¯t have very keen sense, otherwise Edra was certain that he¡¯d have been found out. He did notice however that the fat man had been getting more and more paranoid and nervous, yelling out into the room, at first Edra thought that he had been noticed, but he realised that it was just the fatty¡¯s paranoia, a paranoia that was intensifying, was this an effect of his ¡®spookiness?¡¯ most likely Edra concluded, and while he was hovering there nodding to himself, a light rapping sounded on the door, and then it stopped, Edra quickly hid himself, wasn¡¯t that kind of door knocking similar to what he had heard at Imara¡¯s? Edra hid in the shadow of night as the fat man sprung up shakily, he shambled to a candle a lit it, with his candle lighting the way he moved towards the door where a note had been passed through, he picked it up and read it, then he burnt the note and got dressed. Edra watched the merchant move very cautiously, finally something was happening, he followed the fat man from under the ground, resurfacing once in a while the darkest shadows, observing the man walking complicated routes to get to his destination, it was all very amusing to Edra, which in turn lightened LaGerfield¡¯s mood, it calmed him down and made him think something was funny. This of course only amused Edra more. LaGerfield walked up to the usual spot where he would be trading with the cloaked figure, he soon saw the man he was waiting walk on over from within the shadows. The transaction was completed in a heartbeat, and then he was on his way back again, sweat running down his back in the bucketload. Meanwhile Edra followed the cloaked figure from underground, only part of his face poking up looking at the man walk away stealthily. The cloaked figure migth¡¯ve appeared to be walking normally in the dead of night, but he was severely injured from the previous night¡¯s failure, had he not been, he would¡¯ve certainly noticed the ghost following behind him, regardless, he couldn¡¯t afford to not make the transaction, as even he had superiors he had to abide to. Like LaGerfield he walked a complicated path to get to his destination, the only difference was that he threw Edra off of his track on several occasions luckily Edra could pass through buildings and would then catch up again. His destination was a small unassuming house at the east end of the village; Edra quickly noted the location and left hastily. . . . . When he reported to Imara, she could confirm that she had no idea as to who lived there, but that she would certainly investigate carefully, there was no reason to show all of her cards just yet. ¡°Go to Sovnfield that old goat, tell him what you found, and tell him¡­¡± her gaze became distant as she thought of the only man who ever held her heart ¡°tell him that I¡¯ll take care of things, he should just finish up his quest, afterwards you can go to your friend, I¡¯ll see you in a couple of days then¡± . . . . Thadeus was reading an ancient spell-book when Edra came into a blurry view in the midday sunlight, the Hobbit smiled brightly at his safe return ¡°tell me everything ye foolish ghost!¡± The story was not long, but neither was it short, and by the time he finished evening had come ¡°anyhow, what we need to do now is to prepare to meet her in a couple of days, but it largely depends on whether you can break through part of the undead mob by yourself?¡± Edra questioned Thadeus grinned wickedly ¡°don¡¯t ye worry about me¡± he pulled out several pieces of parchment and began drawing and writing symbols, once in a while he would laugh sneakily like a crazed person. And that is how the following days passed. . . . . Imara had been observing the small house ever since Edra had been there, and she had learnt much, she was almost ready to deal with the perpetrator, but it would have to wait till she fulfilled her part of the bargain with the ghost Edra. She walked down the street in the early evening, people were greeting her the way they normally did, and she greeted them back, however when she neared the palisades people began to wonder what she was doing there, although her prowess was talked about, she never shown an interest in joining the effort, and many considered her more important in the pharmacy than on the frontlines. When she neared the gate she simply waved off the guards and sentries who were approaching her, it was obvious why she was there, and so they opened the gate for her. Outside the palisades there were a few sentries and adventurers cleaning up the riff raff that made it through the barrier, however Imara cared little about them as she kept walking forward, soon she was face to face with the barrier and the ugliness behind. She lifted her hands that turned greener and greener, soon lightning began to drop from her hand like droplets of water, then she clenched her hands into fists, her mouth muttering words in a strange language as she punched her fists into the ground! A shockwave followed in a straight line, electrocuting many skeletons and zombies on the way, lightning was the bane of the undead, and it kept the straight line clear as it buzzed with green electricity. Imara got up and began walking again, straight through the barrier on the straight line that she made, she began muttering in a strange language again her hands forming claws, and then she simply lifted her hands up into the air in a strange and eerie way. This instantly created green gaseous thunder clouds that began bombarding the undead in the area, soon there was a big empty spot available. The sentries on the wall were flabbergasted, who would¡¯ve known that she wielded such power, but why hadn¡¯t she revealed it yet? And what was she waiting for, she was simply standing there. A deafening boom! Sounded through Rigsby dale, the air buzzed as beams of white light fell from the sky, divine light that shook the ground it touched, and expelled the undead that marred its way! Imara was truly shocked at the sight, didn¡¯t the ghost say that his friend was only at his second job class? Yet this destructive power! And wasn¡¯t this the magic of a holy class, sorcery was not holy or divine, questions quickly entered her mind, but she had little time to think about it, as she soon saw a hobbit on a small horse come riding through the cleared path, his eyes wild, his grin wide, his hair whisking in the wind, he was laughing as he passed Imara by with a loud ¡°thanks!¡± and then he was through the barrier. He reminded her of Sovnfield that old goat, just much younger, maybe this man could make a difference, and be useful to her own devices as well, she turned back around following in the steps of the hobbit who was now surrounded by a platoon of adventurers and guards. . . . . Thadeus held his arms out in a gesture of his non-violent intentions, his bright eyes glimmered wildly in the shimmers of the evening sun, and while the guards insisted that he followed them, they didn¡¯t get to insist long because Imara was there shortly afterwards there was clearly a relation between the two. ¡°He¡¯s coming with me¡± she said lazily as she kept walking closer and closer. This provoked Rodbearth¡¯s pride ¡°Now listen here lady!¡± he said as a matter of fact, he couldn¡¯t very well back down in front of his men. However one glance from the hobbit silenced him ¡°NOW!¡± she finished, with no room for discussion, her usual chatty and warm self nowhere to be found. The guards opened up a path for them, and when they were almost at the gate Rodbearth yelled ¡°we¡¯ll talk about this later!¡± . . . . . That night the town was abuzz, not only had Imara demonstrated signicant power, but her new companion had done so too, whispers of escaping the town were being heard all over town. Within a tavern that was unusually full and boisterous, sat a man, a well-liked man, a kind man, just a regular man. He was smiling and conversing, and sharing the newfound joy that everyone had about the possibilities of escape or survival, but within his mind he was in disarray and anger, seething ¡®that bitch! Why is someone of her power here?! And who came who arrived? I cannot let my plans be interrupted midway!¡¯