《The Heart of Adventure》 Chapter 1 Eofe¡¯s frantic packing was interrupted by the sound of distant, merry laughter up in the boughs. She cursed whoever decided to revel until dawn tonight of all nights and risk waking Mother. It was probably Wynnin and Taron celebrating their father¡¯s sudden departure. She would have prayed to the Greenwarden for quiet and mercy, but she didn¡¯t want to attract the Goddess¡¯ attention just yet. She hadn¡¯t even planned on leaving tonight, but she had learned earlier in the day that Warden Orin had been sent on a task outside the village. That meant her Aunt Maeve would be taking up his post. If she didn¡¯t go now, she would have to wait a whole season for another chance. And by then Father might be back from fighting the Wildmen in the east and she really didn¡¯t like her odds of escaping from under both her parents¡¯ gazes. Eofe quietly gathered the rest of her things into an increasingly bulging pack. Her already cramped room was looking especially disordered as she scrounged for all the things she thought she might need for her journey. Thankfully she had been in the habit of squirreling away dried meats and berries for weeks, so she had enough provisions to last for a few days at least. The rest of the pack was stuffed with basic survival tools and cooking utensils and padded with whatever spare clothing she could fit into the small space. With the pack full to bursting, she threw on a dark green cloak over her hide armor; composed of a breastplate and vambraces, and strapped a sheathed long knife to her belt. She dragged the pack over to the window, cringing at the muffled rattle it made with every step. Mother was sleeping just on the other side of the wall and every slight sound spurred Eofe to imagine the woman waking up and dragging her daughter back to bed, this time with locked doors and boarded windows, so she really would be stuck at home for the rest of her life. Finally, she went to retrieve her most valuable possessions. Mounted above the dresser was a short recurve bow of wood so dark it was nearly black. The darkwood bow was second in value only to the bowstring that glittered with silvery light and thrummed with pent up magic. Eofe looped her bow over her shoulder and grabbed a small quiver of arrows. It wouldn¡¯t be enough ammunition for her journey¡ªprobably not even enough to leave the forest¡ªbut her aunt had once forced her to train five levels in [Fletcher], so she could manage. Now that she had everything she needed, she opened the wooden window into the quiet Elven village of Fal Tiren, home to the people who called themselves the Surag. Fal Tiren lay near the western edge of the Wildwood, an ancient forest of wild growth and massive trees that was but one part of the greater wildlands known as the Green, all part of the domain belonging to the [Goddess of the Wild]: the Greenwarden herself. Trickles of moonlight pierced a canopy of giant trees from hundreds of yards above, dotting the forest floor with pale, shifting lights. Each tree was as wide around and tall as a [Wizard]¡¯s tower, not that Eofe had ever seen one of those. The only [Wizard] she knew was a former Aedwyn Elf who had taken the Greenwarden¡¯s bargain to join the Surag, and he knew better than to build anything so grand in the Green. Homes like her own ringed each of the great trees, surrounding the trunks in wooden bands all the way from the forest floor up to the lower branches. Most of the buildings were dark, but a few warm lights glowed from the villagers¡¯ abodes and lit the swaying bridges and walkways connecting the upper structures. The silence of the night was interrupted only by the distant cries the forest¡¯s natural inhabitants and the muted murmurs of those two idiots up in the boughs. Eofe¡¯s home was on ground level, which meant that it was several feet above ground with the only means of descent being ladders or massive roots that acted as ramps. Eofe¡¯s window opened onto one such root, so that she gently lowered her pack onto its surface before climbing out the window herself. She looked back to her home for what might be the last time. Eofe felt guilty. She almost left a letter, but she didn¡¯t want Mother to immediately begin chasing her down. So Eofe whispered a quiet apology and goodbye then followed the root down to the forest floor. From there, she cast two of her Skills: [Light Step] and [Leave No Trace]. She had only recently reached level 20 in the [Scout] class, finally giving her the Skills she felt she needed to escape and survive on her own. Each Skill felt like it had opened a hole deep inside her chest to drain something vital out of her. As a simple [Scout], she did not much mana, but she could sustain the two skills together for hours. [Light Step] made her step softly, like walking on clouds, each movement so subtle even she could hardly hear the brush of her own footsteps against the forest floor. And wherever she stepped, [Leave No Trace] erased the marks of her passing. Footprints melded back into the earth, and broken twigs and crushed leaves were scattered or repaired, leaving no trace of her path. With her Skills guiding her steps, Eofe struck out over the detritus of the forest floor, avoiding the worn paths between the ground-level homes. It took minutes of slinking through the shadows, winding her way between quiet and darkened homes before she left the muffled sounds of the village completely behind. When the last lights of the village finally faded from sight, Eofe cast [Owl Eyes]. The nightscape ignited in a burst of color. Suddenly she could see the kaleidoscope of flora inhabiting the wild forest; patches of bushes budding with blues and yellows, thorny red vines twisting around the ancient trees, dripping with blood from fresh kills, and the vibrant green moss that infested many trunks, pulsing with magical energy. With all three Skills active, she felt the well of mana within her draining rapidly. She had maybe an hour before she would be forced to deactivate some of her skills, but hopefully that would be enough time to cover her trail and make it a difficult task to track her. As she drew further from the haven of her home, the calls of the wild grew louder. She heard chitters and squeaks, hoots and hollers, and the distant roars of feral predators. The voice of the wild Green was familiar to Eofe, but that did not mean it was safe. She watched her step as she traversed the forest, wary of the ever-present dangers of the wild, listening for the telltale signs of a threat. She had left the village far behind, but she wasn¡¯t free yet¡­ Her new Skills might get her past sleeping villagers, but for a Warden on the watch¡ª ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going, little bird?¡± Eofe stopped. From the shadows stepped a [Warden of the Green]. Tall, graceful, clad in brown hide armor and a dark green cloak, the dusky-skinned Elf leaned on a darkwood bow nearly as long as she was tall, strung with a bowstring like Eofe¡¯s own that glimmered in the moonlight. Eofe had once sprained her muscles trying to draw that bow. The woman possessed the type of Elven beauty the mayflies wrote poems about, with silky chestnut hair looped in a braid over her shoulder, eyes like spring, and a wry smile that teased lifetimes of experience. Her Mark of the Wild¡ªthe sign of the Greenwarden¡¯s blessing¡ªcame in the form of patches of bark-like skin on her cheeks and temples that creeped down her neckline. Eofe knew from her own stories that this woman had left a trail of broken and bleeding hearts halfway across the world in the distant past.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Eofe felt entirely inadequate in her presence. She was short, with hair more like flax whose tips settled just over her shoulders, skin a shade paler, and a face that still bore the signs of adolescence. Her own Mark of the Wild emerged as a pair of stubby antlers poking out of her hair. But she had the same eyes as her aunt, of which Eofe had always been quite proud. Never in her lifetime could Eofe imagine escaping a [Warden of the Green]. But Eofe had other plans for this encounter. She dropped to her knees and begged her aunt for mercy. ¡°Please, Aunt Maeve! Please let me go. I¡¯ll come back in... fifty years! I promise!¡± The Warden looked down at the young (for an Elf) girl whose head barely reached her chest even when standing. Then she stepped forward and patted the girl on the head. Eofe tried to swat her arm away, but her aunt¡¯s arm blurred and her swing hit only air. ¡°Stop it, I¡¯m not a child,¡± Eofe complained. ¡°You¡¯re not even fifty,¡± Maeve teased. ¡°I¡¯m old enough to leave the Green,¡± Eofe said. ¡°No. You¡¯re not.¡± Eofe deflated. Maeve was the one who had trained her to be a [Scout] when her own mother saw little point to it. It was Maeve who chaperoned her training excursions deep into the Wildwood where feral things lived, then abandoned her to learn the hard lessons of survival on her own. Maeve taught her how to shoot a bow, how to fight with a knife, and everything else she had asked of her. If Maeve didn¡¯t think she was ready¡­ ¡°But we¡¯ve little choice now, do we?¡± Maeve added and Eofe looked up hopefully. ¡°By the time you¡¯re old enough to go, your¡­ condition will prevent you from doing anything at all,¡± Maeve¡¯s eyes drifted to Eofe¡¯s heart. The young Elf instinctively rubbed her chest, wherein lied the source of all her troubles. ¡°I did not teach you everything you know just so you could waste away under my overprotective little sister¡¯s roof. So tell me, where do you plan to go?¡± Eofe stood up and brushed off her legs. ¡°I¡¯m going to Orith to become an adventurer,¡± something like real hope for the future took root in Eofe¡¯s chest for the first time in many years. Maeve¡¯s smile grew. ¡°Orith? That takes me back.¡± Eofe had truthfully been inspired by her Aunt Maeve¡¯s tales of her past, the sort that [Bards] still sang of even hundreds of years later. ¡°How¡¯s your Orithian?¡± she asked. ¡°I speak good the Orithian.¡± ¡°Good enough. Do you have money for a ship?¡± Eofe procured a bag of Aedwyn coin and jingled it before her aunt. Maeve laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you where you got that.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± It had been difficult considering most of the Surag had no coin at all, but she knew which ones regularly traded with the Aedwyn. They were perhaps a bit too complacent with how they stored their coin, but then again who would steal something they had little use for in the Green? Maeve looked to the west contemplatively, where Eofe would be traveling for some time, then offered her niece a warning. ¡°Be wary, Eofe,¡± she said. ¡°I know how to survive the Wildwood,¡± Eofe pouted. ¡°I know you do. I taught you everything you know, after all. It¡¯s the people outside the Green that concern me. I wish I could have taught you more about people. But some lessons you must learn on your own.¡± Eofe had only ever known her fellow Surag, besides the few Aedwyn who had taken the Mark to join them. But they were all Elves in the end. The only other people in the Green were the Wildmen, and they lived far to the east, beyond the Wildwood. No other outsiders were allowed in the Green. If the wilds didn¡¯t get them, the Wardens would. ¡°It will only get worse for you out there as the Bloom approaches,¡± Maeve added. ¡°The whole world will be distrustful of the Surag at this time¡ªand for good reason. Especially our Aedwyn cousins.¡± Eofe took the warning to heart, but there wasn¡¯t much she could do about it. She could pass for Aedwyn with her hood up, but on first sight of her antlers, people would recognize her Mark and know she was Surag. Maybe she would get a hat. But all of that would be moot if her greatest concern proved true, the one fear that had nagged at her ever since she first got the idea to flee the Green. ¡°Will she let me go?¡± Eofe asked. Maeve raised an eyebrow. ¡°I am no [Priest] to know the will of the Goddess.¡± The woman glanced back to the east, deep into the heart of the Green, where the Greenwarden sat upon a twisted throne and ruled over all the wild places in the world. ¡°The Goddess doesn¡¯t normally care what we do or where we go. But you¡¯re a special case, aren¡¯t you?¡± Eofe¡¯s heart beat nervously. ¡°However, I have lived in her domain most my life, so I think I know something of her character. You may not have her blessing, but neither will you have her curse.¡± She winced and looked regretfully at Eofe¡¯s heart. ¡°Not any more than you already have,¡± she added. ¡°She is the [Goddess of the Wild]. Nature does as nature wills, and what are we but a small part of a greater cycle?¡± Eofe felt relieved, but she couldn¡¯t help but imagine the Goddess watching her journey, waiting for the moment to punish one of her wayward followers. ¡°You better hurry,¡± Maeve said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell your mother I sent you away for some training, but she¡¯ll wise up after a few days. You may have half the Fal on your trail after that.¡± Eofe approached her Aunt Maeve and kissed her knuckles goodbye. Maeve¡¯s expression never wavered from her casual smile that could steal a thousand hearts and had probably buried even more. But her tone was gentle and her words made the young Elf still. ¡°Go on, Eofe. Show those mayflies who you are,¡± Maeve said as she returned the gesture. Eofe flushed with warmth, before the next words doused her with bitter cold. ¡°Show them who you could have been.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Aunt Maeve.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Eofe.¡± Eofe turned around and continued west into the night, hoping that Maeve¡¯s deception would buy her the time she needed. Hoping that by the time the villagers caught on, she would be on a ship to Orith, far to the west. To the lands of the mayflies, whose lives were so short they were hardly worth mentioning. Humans. Dwarves. Goblins. Orcs. And so many more. And likely the lands where she would die. Chapter 2 Eofe traveled as quickly as she dared, which was not nearly as quick as she would have liked. Away from the protection of a Warden, the Green was safe for no one, not even the Surag who bore the Mark of the Wild. The further she traveled from the Fal, the louder and more decadent the sounds of the wild became. Predators stalked this forest, many of whom would not think twice about devouring a solitary young Elf. Level 20 was far too low to battle most of the beasts that roamed at night. But Eofe was a [Scout] and her class was made for stealth and perception rather than for the violence of combat. She scurried from shadow to shadow, avoiding places that were unnaturally dark or shifted in her sight. She stepped around burrows filled with unspeakable things, avoided the twisting roots and grasping vines, and when the forest trembled, she buried herself under the detritus to escape notice of the tyrants of the Green. The colors of the Wildwood grew more vibrant deeper into the wild, a sure sign of the impending Bloom. Eofe could feel it in her heart, the seed of something beginning to blossom, even though the bimillennial event was still years away. It was as if the entirety of the Green was holding its breath for some great exhalation. The forest was just beginning to lighten with the first rays of dawn before Eofe finally slowed down. She had consumed half her rations of dried foods in a single-minded rush to put as much distance between herself and the Fal as she could, refilling her waterskin each time she came across a clear pond or spring. It wasn¡¯t until she tripped over a writhing root that looped around her ankle, forcing her to hack it off and scurry out of sight, that Eofe realized she would need to rest before she got herself killed. She found a spot where the canopy was thick and the forest would remain dark despite the burgeoning daylight. She carefully checked under a giant root that arched over the forest floor to ensure nothing treacherous was hiding within before she unrolled a sad stretch of bedding and laid down for a rest. The early excitement of the journey gradually waned, replaced with the cold reality of her desperation. Eofe tried not to cry, but she failed at that just as she worried she would fail at whatever else was to come. It wasn¡¯t fair. It wasn¡¯t fair that she had to leave. It wasn¡¯t fair that she had to go alone. But she was one of the Surag, born into the Greenwarden¡¯s domain, the [Goddess of the Wild]. There was no space in the wild for mercy or pity. The Surag had been taught this from the first days they settled into the Green and learned that just because the Goddess had granted them leave to inhabit her lands did not mean she would award them her protection. Eofe ignored her own tears and waited for sleep to take her. When it finally did, she slept briefly and restlessly, waking only a few hours later to the midday light peering down through the trees above. She gathered up her things and continued her journey in silence.
Eofe settled into a routine as she traveled for the next three days. She scavenged for food as she hiked, picking berries and digging up tubers that she recognized, while ignoring anything she did not. She crafted snares for small game at night and more often than not woke to find a squirming creature to add to her breakfast. She slept better with each passing night even as she worried over how much time she had before Fal Tiren was rallied to drag her back home. It was on the third day that Eofe encountered something new. While she may have lived in the Green her entire life, she had only experienced a small part of the Wildwood, which was itself a fraction of the Green. And with the Bloom approaching, even the familiar life of the forest would begin to change. Her first instinct on seeing the unknown was to duck and hide, the most valid and natural response when encountering the unknown in the Green and the first thing taught to Surag children. Ahead of her, a dense white fog had settled on the ground, rising to the height of her chest. A sickly-sweet scent assaulted Eofe¡¯s nostrils as she drew closer and she tasted something like honey in the air. She did not even dare entertain the thought of entering the fog. The enticing smell and taste were enough to convince her it was a trap. She turned south instead to skirt the edge of the mist. If she had been a little cleverer, she might have guessed that just because something created the fog did not necessarily mean that the thing was inside the fog. As it was, she was so intent on watching the fog for danger that she only just heard the rustling and felt the displaced air before the attack came. She threw herself to side the so the attack grazed her cloak instead of flesh, then she tumbled to her feet and turned to face a creature that was unmistakably and unfortunately new. It looked as if a pitcher plant had grown as large as a person before sprouting ten vines out of its base, each serrated with inch-long thorns. It opened a gaping maw that Eofe feared was large enough to swallow her whole. The plant was rooted to the side of a tree twenty yards from where Eofe stood, at a height just over her head. She realized it was one of those vine limbs that had just missed her as she watched them trail down from the plant and writhe across the forest floor. Eofe¡¯s first thought was to flee¡ªthere was no sense in unnecessary fights in the wild¡ªbut as she looked around, she noticed that some of the vines were long enough to enclose an area around the base of the tree to which the creature was latched. She was caged in and she had no idea if the creature could detach itself from the tree and follow her. Even worse, a heavy white mist started to pour out of its open mouth, pooling on the forest floor. How long would it take before the mist reached her nose and mouth? Would it affect her even if it just touched her skin? Eofe spent a small amount of mana to cast her [Assess] skill to evaluate the creature. The skill placed the creature at level 28, which meant it was certainly a winnable fight even being eight levels above her own. The skill could only estimate what a creature¡¯s level would be, since ordinary monsters and animals had none. However, it did not account for strategy or favorable matchups. Plant-based monsters were rarely intelligent, acting primarily on sense and instinct, so Eofe favored her odds. She shrugged off her pack to prepare for the fight, then immediately ducked as a vine whipped through the air above her head. The creature had no sensory organs that Eofe could see, but it still detected her movement somehow. She watched one of the vines slither over to her fallen pack and constrict it, piercing the fabric with its thorns. She eyed the remaining vines that continued to writhe across the forest floor like a nest of snakes, but none of them appeared to be targeting her. She hoped it couldn¡¯t detect her so long as she didn¡¯t move. Eofe subtly drew her bow and nocked an arrow, all while keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground. In addition to having no sensory organs, the creature also had no identifiable weak points, being effectively a cylindrical plant with an open mouth. She aimed for center mass and loosed the arrow. It pierced straight through the creature¡¯s body and thunked into the tree behind it. The vines went wild, whipping across the ground. One whacked into Eofe¡¯s boot and immediately curled around it. Eofe cursed and drew another arrow even as the vine tightened, and she felt pricks where the thorns tried to pierce her thick boot. Her first arrow appeared to have done little damage besides triggering the frantic response. A small amount of some white liquid dripped from the wound, but Eofe had no way of knowing how many such wounds it would take for the creature to die. But she noticed how easily the arrow pierced its frail plant-flesh, and realized that multiple weaker attacks would be more effective than a single strong one. She had a Skill for that, but she needed to get closer for it to be effective. She tried to walk forward, but the vine that was latched onto her boot held her fast. She awkwardly shifted her bow and arrow to one hand, drew her knife, and executed her only knife Skill. The [Quick Strike] consumed a moderate amount of mana to accelerate her swing faster than she could with only her own muscles, easily severing the vine. The other vines immediately ceased their random thrashing and targeted her position, but Eofe had already dashed forward, taking leaping steps to stymie the creature¡¯s detection. When she was within ten yards, she dropped her knife and lined up her shot. She focused her mana through the shimmering bowstring and into the arrow, draining a hefty portion of her reserves to cast [Scattershot] on the arrow. The moment the fletching cleared her grip, the arrow exploded into dozens of sharp fragments that continued forward in a cone to shred the pitcher plant¡¯s body. White liquid splashed the tree behind the plant and rained down on the forest floor. Eofe enjoyed a brief moment of exultation before a vine lashed at her midsection. Her heart leapt out of her chest as the vine wrapped around her torso and drove her to the ground, its thorns thankfully failing to penetrate her hide armor. However, the pool of white fog that had poured from the plant¡¯s mouth lay just ahead of where she landed with her face in the dirt, slowly creeping forward with its sweet scent and honeyed taste. Eofe¡¯s arms were free, but she had dropped her knife to take her final shot, so she had no way of freeing herself from the vine without bloodying her hands on its thorns. She pushed herself to her knees and looked around the clearing, where half the vines thrashed about like beheaded serpents while the other half had turned still. The plant had pitched forward, still rooted to the tree, now dripping white liquid out of its hanging mouth. It seemed it really was dead, with its limbs flailing about in its final death throes. Even as Eofe searched the ground for her knife, the vine that had wrapped around her torso loosened, so that when she finally found her blade it was a simple matter to sever its limp pieces, along with the bit that was still latched to her boot. Eofe looked around the clearing, seeing that the small pool of white fog excreted by the creature was dissipating. She greedily eyed the liquid still dripping from its dead body and went to gather up what she could in a spare flask. The Green may be a cruel place, but no one had ever said it was stingy with its bounties.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She noticed that the thick wall of fog that she had initially tried to avoid had not moved or dimmed in the slightest. Whether this was the sole creature responsible for the cloud or there was a garden full of them in there, Eofe did not want to find out. It hadn¡¯t taken much mana to defeat the monster, but a few more fights like that and she would risk running low. She applied a conservative amount of sticky healing salve to her cuts before picking up her pack and setting out directly away from the fog, deciding it was worth the delay to avoid another encounter.
The dangers of the Green lessened near its borders, as it drew further from the center where the Goddess resided. It was the Greenwarden¡¯s touch that untamed the very land and drove the mad evolution of its flora and fauna. It was from her nurturing embrace that beasts unknown to the world outside were born to wander the wild places. It was from her gardens that greenery as valuable as it was deadly blossomed. Eofe noticed these changes over three more days and nights of travel. The sounds of monstrous beasts dwindled along with many of the ever-present threats to her safety to which she had grown accustomed. Even the colors faded as the more exotic plants of the Green found little succor so far from the Greewarden¡¯s influence. She also felt her next level approach as she neared the end of the Green. The feeling bubbled up over several days as a growing certainty in the back of her mind, a slight nagging sensation that she had something important to do. When the feeling reached its peak, Eofe found a safe place to hide and began her meditation. Within moments, she entered the Sanctum. Her consciousness was drawn into a place outside of her own mind and body, where she found herself standing in a placid meadow of soft grass and little flowers that was surrounded by the great trees of the Wildwood. One fruit tree occupied the center of the clearing, its branches laden with a wild assortment of unripe fruits of every shape and color. But she was not alone in this space. ¡°Congratulations!¡± the Benefactor walked out from under the tree¡¯s branches. It looked like a tall Elven woman with olive skin and golden hair interleaved with vines of ivy, her warm brown eyes lit with a radiant smile. The Benefactor, and the Sanctum in which it resided, appeared different for everyone. For most, it took the form of a beloved elder or parental figure. For others, it was a disembodied voice providing guidance from beyond. Aunt Maeve claimed the Benefactor appeared to her as herself. Eofe looked at the face of her own mother, knowing it couldn¡¯t be her real mother because she actually looked proud of her. ¡°I leveled up,¡± Eofe said. ¡°You did! After all that hiding, sneaking around, [Assess]ing, and fighting that horrid creature, you¡¯ve done enough [Scout] things to earn it.¡± ¡°What did I get?¡± Eofe asked. ¡°Just a level for now, dear. But twenty-one! That¡¯s quite impressive for your age, you know. For an Elf, that is.¡± ¡°No new Skills?¡± ¡°Not today, sorry! But you¡¯re close, Eofe! Keep it up and you¡¯ll soon be rewarded.¡± Eofe looked to the tree, where a variety of immature fruits continued to ripen. ¡°Are there more fruits than there were last time?¡± Eofe had leveled to 20 only recently and the tree had not been nearly so full then. ¡°You¡¯re doing new things, Eofe. Leaving the safety of your home, traveling the Green all by yourself. You¡¯re going to see many more Skills and Classes become available to you in the future.¡± Eofe stood under the tree and looked at all the hanging fruits. There were dozens of them, with only a few appearing close to ripening. Eofe always liked to play a game when she came here, ever since she was a child, to try and guess what each fruit contained. She pointed to one at random, a blue fruit with white spots in a geometric shape Eofe could not even begin to describe. ¡°What¡¯s that one for?¡± ¡°Hmm, I wonder,¡± the Benefactor said coyly. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait for it to ripen to find out!¡± The Benefactor was not known to be very forthcoming with information. Most of the Skills and Classes represented in the fruits would be things Eofe had never even heard of, earned through some esoteric requirement that someone somewhere might have figured out at one point and written into a book on the other side of the world. The only Skill she recognized for certain was a long, banana-like fruit that curled in a spiral, its skin a vibrant green with white stripes. It was very nearly ripe. Aunt Maeve had started her on training for that Skill over a year ago. She really had been neglecting that part of her training lately... ¡°There is one other, teensy little thing, however,¡± the Benefactor said, walking around the back of the tree. She plucked a fruit from a branch that had been out of Eofe¡¯s line of sight and brought it around to her. The fruit she held out was fully ripe. Its skin was brown and rough, textured almost like wood. It smelled unmistakably like home. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°[Wildwood Scout].¡± Eofe was shocked. ¡°But¡­ I thought I had to be level thirty in [Scout] to unlock it.¡± ¡°How interesting you thought that,¡± the Benefactor said. ¡°Perhaps some of your people¡¯s records should be updated?¡± she added innocently. The Benefactor could be infuriating at times, but in this case Eofe would forgive her. The [Wildwood Scout] was an evolution on the basic [Scout] class only available to the Surag who braved the Wildwood itself. Eofe had given up on ever achieving it before she left the Green and the Wildwood behind. ¡°But you must make the choice now, before you leave the Wildwood. To either remain an ordinary [Scout] or¡ªoh,¡± Eofe had snatched the fruit out of the Benefactor¡¯s hand and taken a huge bite. It was fortunate this place wasn¡¯t real, or she may have choked to death as she took bite after bite of the fruit. It tasted like bark and victory, and Eofe couldn¡¯t get enough of it. Within moments, the fruit was gone and Eofe was wiping juices off her chin. ¡°Well, that was somewhat uncouth, but I shall forgive you.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Eofe wrapped her arms around the waist of the woman who was not her mother. ¡°You have nothing to thank me for, Eofe,¡± the Benefactor said as she patted Eofe on the back. ¡°The rules are the rules, whether you know them or not. You followed the path and satisfied the requirements. That is all.¡± Eofe let go and looked down in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°It is no matter. Now, how do you feel?¡± Eofe almost forgot the most important part. She focused in on herself, on the feel of her body, and what she perceived through each of her senses. The smell of the woods was stronger than ever, and she could even pick out the scents of individual plants and trees. She looked to the forest beyond the clearing and her vision reduced the darkest places beneath the trees to mere shadows. She shifted her feet and could feel the woods even through her boots, like the Wildwood itself was speaking to her. It was everything she had imagined it would be and more. ¡°You won¡¯t be quite as effective outside the Wildwood, but I think you¡¯ll find your new abilities still superior to an ordinary [Scout]. And there are enough lesser wilds in the world where your [Wildwood Scout] abilities will serve you well.¡± Each of Eofe¡¯s previous levels in [Scout] had granted her increased perception, notably with her vision, and improved speed and agility. [Wildwood Scout] offered much of the same, but with a better awareness of the natural world, especially that of the Wildwood and similar environments. Eofe was a little sad that she would not be able to experience the full potential of her new class now that she was leaving the Wildwood behind, but it would be foolish to turn back now. She wanted to do so much more with her life than what was laid out for her back home. ¡°Is that it, then? Any more surprises?¡± Eofe asked, peeking around the tree hopefully. ¡°That¡¯s all for now. And it¡¯s about time for you to get back to your journey. I really am excited to see where your story goes.¡± ¡°You say that to everyone.¡± ¡°I do!¡± The Benefactor famously took no sides. It loved everyone equally, from the lowest [Crook] to the highest [God]. And yet, the Benefactor leaned in and whispered to Eofe, as if it actually had anything to hide or anyone to hide it from. ¡°But we both know your story is going to be big.¡± Before Eofe could protest that she didn¡¯t want her story to be big, she was suddenly roused from her meditation to find herself back in the real Wildwood, which now appeared more vibrant than ever. She put the Benefactor¡¯s words out of her mind and picked up her things to continue her journey, this time with a smile on her face.
It was on the seventh day of her journey, with the morning sun warming her back through an increasingly sparse forest¡ªthough tree line had grown thinner, the trees themselves had not become any shorter¡ªthat Eofe came upon a fresh and marvelous sight. A swathe of gold peeked between the bland shades of brown and green that had become all that was left of the Wildwood. Eofe took a moment to comprehend the sight, for the color seemed to consume the land all the way to the horizon where it met clear blue skies. She continued forward cautiously, until for the first time in her life, the young Elf stepped out of the Green. Before her emerged a seemingly endless plain of yellow grass, stretched over little hills and valleys, and interspersed with the barest amount of greenery. She sat down at the edge of the Green, where the grass met the forest. She watched the countless strands sway in a slight breeze, lit to a golden glow beneath a sun Eofe had rarely seen so bright and a sky she had never known could be so blue. She wiped away a tear before she stepped into the plains. She didn¡¯t look back. She didn¡¯t need to. Not with the feeling of a pair of ancient eyes watching her every step, peering into her broken heart. Eofe felt the Greenwarden watch her leave her domain, and since she had not been struck down by the Goddess¡¯ fury, she believed that Aunt Maeve had been right. The Goddess would let her go. Chapter 3 Eofe marched into the plains until her home became just a stretch of green peeking over the hills at her back. She knew very little about the lands outside the Green, but she had carefully studied maps of the island of Ilthera that the Elves called home, so she knew she merely had to travel west until she reached a river. From there, she would follow its winding path to the southwest until the river poured into the sea. At that inlet lay an Aedwyn coastal city. Once she reached the city, it should be a simple matter to charter a ship to cross the Opal Sea to the nation of Orith. It was long past dawn, the sun was halfway from its apex to the horizon, when Eofe crested a hill and came upon a sudden splotch of color marring the yellow fields in the distance. There she was faced with one of her greatest fears. Strangers. Even worse, Aedwyn strangers. Eofe crouched in the grass and spied on what appeared to be a small camp of travelers. They had erected five bright tents in a circle near a pasture where a handful of tame beasts grazed on the golden grass. They gathered in a clearing between these tents, six brightly clothed and merry folk talking and laughing in a circle. Among them, a fiddler played a lively tune which Eofe had never heard in Fal Tiren, while a grey-haired matron stirred a large pot to the side. Oh, they were certainly Elves. But these were no Surag. They were the Aedwyn. And Eofe had no idea what they were doing within half a day¡¯s walk of the Green. The camp was set up near the bank of the river Eofe needed to follow, surrounded by a flat plain on all sides. Unless she wanted to backtrack and add several more hours to her journey, or wait until night, she would end up traveling well within their line of sight. Impatience and a dash of curiosity settled the matter for her. Eofe put up her hood and steadied herself. With her eyes on the ground and the camp in the corner of her vision, she stepped down the hill and set on a path far from the travelers. She hoped they either wouldn¡¯t notice or wouldn¡¯t care about her presence. ¡°Oi there!¡± a voice cried out and dashed Eofe¡¯s hopes against a rock. Eofe ignored the voice and continued walking, warily eying the camp in her peripheral where a brightly dressed man stepped away from the tents. Eofe made the mistake of looking directly his way and made eye contact with the beaming Aedwyn waving his arms in the air. Was it too late to pretend she hadn¡¯t noticed him? Would they think she was suspicious if she just walked away? Eofe was suddenly reminded of Aunt Maeve¡¯s warning of the oncoming Bloom and the wariness of outsiders as it approached. Would they chase her down if she fled, thinking she was a spy? The man ignored Eofe¡¯s internal turmoil and continued beckoning. Her desire to avoid an awkward encounter warred with fear for what would happen if she ignored them. In the end, the fear of danger won over the fear of socialization. Eofe put down her head and sulked over to the man like a guilty child. His smile grew wider as she approached. She saw that he was a full head taller than her (most people were) and wore a bright tunic of vibrant green and a jaunty cap in some foreign style on his head. She disliked him immediately. ¡°A real Surag in our midst! And a child at that!¡± he said, waving at her as if she were some rare specimen. ¡°I¡¯m not a child.¡± ¡°What was that? Anyway, come have dinner with us! It has been so long since we have entertained one of our wayward kin!¡± The man spoke with a lilting accent accentuated by unusually high notes. His mannerisms put Eofe in mind of a strutting bird. Every statement was too loud and accompanied by some grand gesture, so that Eofe found herself stepping back for fear of being swatted by a stray hand. ¡°I¡¯m Ludwin by the way. What¡¯s your name, girl?¡± he asked while leading her towards the camp. ¡°Eofe,¡± she said as they passed the beasts grazing in the pasture. They were of a species Eofe did not recognize: bulky, four-legged things, each with two massive horns and standing five to six feet tall at the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the aurochs,¡± her guide said. ¡°They¡¯re completely harmless. Ilya is a [Beastmaster] who takes care of them for us.¡± Eofe figured it would be rude to keep her hood up, so she pulled it down and straightened her hair. ¡°And here we are,¡± they stopped in the center of the camp where Eofe met the curious looks of the rest of the Aedwyn. Two men and two women were sitting in a circle in the open space, each adorned with tunics in brighter colors than anyone would dare to wear in the Green, with one more woman stirring a pot just outside the circle. The Elves came in a range of ages, though each appeared to be at least a century older than Eofe, who was still in the middle of a decades-long adolescence. The oldest was a grey-haired matron with a motherly smile who must have been thousands of years old, who looked to be preparing their dinner. ¡°Look everyone, I caught a Surag!¡± her guide said. Eofe¡¯s stomach tightened in a brief bout of paranoia. But the travelers laughed at the joke, so she convinced herself he meant nothing by it. They each introduced themselves, but every name went in one ear and out the other, and Eofe nodded mechanically at each of the introductions. She had assumed Ludwin¡¯s atrocious accent was an anomaly until the others spoke up. Now she remembered how often she heard the villagers at home mocking their distant kin¡¯s manner of speech. She had apparently never spent enough time with the few Aedwyn expatriates-turned-Surag in Fal Tiren to notice it. The circle of Elves shifted to open up a space for her to sit, which Eofe reluctantly took, settling in like a weed among flowers. Ludwin sat across from her and took up a fiddle and started idly strumming a tune. ¡°Ludwin¡¯s a [Bard],¡± Ferin or Ferlin explained¡ªEofe already forgot her name. ¡°He¡¯s actually quite famous, if you¡¯d believe it. I¡¯m not sure I do myself, what with the randy tales he¡¯s been telling since he joined us.¡± Ludwin laughed at the barb. ¡°Oh, Feralin. I would tell more respectable stories, but I do so love to see you blush.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Feralin flashed him a coy smile, then Eofe¡¯s attention was grabbed by a young woman who looked close to two hundred and whose name could have been anything from Alayna to Eryn. ¡°I love your antlers!¡± she said, so that Eofe self-consciously touched the two short protrusions emerging from her hair. They were small for now, but would grow with age until she had to worry about bumping them into doorframes and narrow hallways. She knew one man who had antlers so large he had forgone his house completely and lived in the wild. Eofe had yet to decide whether she would begin to trim hers before she reached that point. ¡°I considered taking the bargain once, you know¡± the woman added. There were a handful of Surag who had done that, though no one Eofe knew closely. Every now and then, an Aedwyn dissatisfied with their life or their God would walk into the Green and pray to take the Greenwarden¡¯s bargain, whereupon the Goddess would bless them with the Mark of the Wild and welcome them into her domain. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?¡± Eofe asked. ¡°It was mostly a childish fancy. In the end, I couldn¡¯t give up my family or my faith,¡± she said, holding out a pendant bearing a silver emblem with a four-pointed star set within a circle. It was the symbol of the Highgod Aedolin, the self-proclaimed [God of Elves]. It was his ascension to godhood ten thousand years ago that drove the split between the Elves of Ilthera. Many of the Elves at the time were unsatisfied with their once king, now God. The unfaithful scattered across seas to make new homes in foreign lands, or fled to the Green where the nascent [Goddess of the Wild] welcomed them into her domain. Eofe herself was not interested in following any Highgod, much less a prig like Aedolin. She had no desire to consign her soul to a Highgod''s Heaven after her death. The Greenwarden and the other Earthgods made no such demands. She was not entirely sure what would happen to her soul after she died, but the unknown still sounded better to her than serving in some Heaven until the end of the world. Or, more likely, until someone finally put down the upstart God. ¡°What¡¯s it like, living in the Green?¡± Eofe¡¯s conversation partner interrupted her thoughts and leaned forward eagerly. At this, the other travelers stopped their own conversations and listened quietly. Eofe did not know how to answer. How could she explain to these strangers about everything that was her people and her life? The Green was everything to the Surag. It was their home, the center of their faith, as well as their infliction. It was a wild place that handed out blessings alongside curses, whose bounty was as abundant as its perils. ¡°It¡¯s home,¡± Eofe shrugged, and if the travelers were disappointed by her simple response they didn¡¯t show it. ¡°I¡¯m curious, Eofe,¡± Ludwin said while idly strumming a simple tune. ¡°What is a child as young as you doing outside the Green? What is your story?¡± Eofe glanced away so she missed the hungry look in the [Bard]¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯m going to Orith to be an adventurer,¡± she said. It was the truth even if it wasn¡¯t the full story. Ludwin seemed to understand so he smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve spent a lot of time in Orith, myself,¡± Ludwin said. ¡°It¡¯s an excellent place for a budding adventurer. I hope to hear tales of your adventures should we meet again.¡± Now it was Eofe¡¯s turn to ask the question that has been burning in her mind since she spied this camp. ¡°What are you all doing here?¡± she asked. Why are you so close to the Green when the Bloom is coming, she didn¡¯t say. What Eofe knew of the Aedwyn was that they primarily lived in walled fortress-cities, and none dared live close to the Green, especially with the oncoming Bloom. ¡°For the Bloom, of course!¡± Ludwin said, and Eofe¡¯s jaw gaped open. ¡°Do not worry, child. We are not soldiers,¡± the old woman added, now ladling soup into wooden bowls out of the large metal pot. ¡°We aim to learn more about the Bloom by observing it in its infancy. Our people have always been so eager to go to war against the Bloom¡ªand the Surag¡ªthat we never stopped to try and understand it. We have learned very little from each of the four Blooms. We hope to learn at least something from the fifth. We are not mad though; we will flee to the cities before the dangers grow too great.¡± Eofe thought they were mad. She took her serving from the smiling matron, who surely would have lived through the last Bloom and the wars that followed. She might have even seen the Bloom before that. Of course, Eofe had never experienced the event herself since the last one was over two thousand years ago, but the Surag knew more of its nature than anyone. When the Bloom started, the Green would expand. It began with seeds and spores cast out of the wild on unnatural winds, from which sprouted rampant growths that grew like weeds to overtake the natural flora of the land. Trees would sprout from nothing and grow by yards every day, while creepers emerged from beneath the earth, writhing across the tamed lands with wild frenzy. Flowers as beautiful as they were deadly would blossom from parasitic vines that sapped the life from mundane trees to fuel their own growth. The surviving flora of the occupied lands would evolve, mutated by the Greenwarden¡¯s wild magic. Benign plants would often become deadly as they were drawn into the Greenwarden¡¯s embrace. Then came the beasts. Monsters out of nightmares, savage and feral, stalking new lands for new prey. Creatures the likes of which the outside world only sees once every two thousand years. Worst of all would be the tyrants of the Wildwood, suddenly roaming free. Finally, the Surag and the Wildmen would follow; those that bore the Mark of the Wild, fulfilling their part of the Greenwarden¡¯s bargain to defend the Green. For a time, the natural order would be upended. Predator and prey together would fall upon tamed lands to claim more territory for the Green. The world would fight back. The Bloom would end after a full year of rampant growth, each season given its turn. Most of the Green¡¯s gains would be burned and poisoned, the land left desolate for generations to follow. But it always kept some of what it took. Cycle after cycle, the Green expanded. Eofe ate her soup in silence and listened to the travelers explain their mission in greater detail. Ilya the [Beastmaster], the woman who had once considered taking the Mark, had joined the group to study the beasts that came out of the Green and the mutations of the land¡¯s natural fauna that followed. The old matron, Alana, was a [Historian]. It turned out she had lived through the Fourth Bloom in the safety of an Aedwyn fortress-city and was too young to remember the third. She wanted to see the real Bloom in person just once, from outside the shelter of the fortress walls. Agon was a [Hunter] and Ilya¡¯s husband, who would act as a guard and help to gather rare specimens. Feralin was an [Alchemist] and [Herbalist] whose passion for the craft drove her to want to be the first to gather the novel reagents created by the Bloom and experiment with whatever concoctions she could make of them. Ethriel was a [Priest] of Aedolin who saw their quest as a holy mission. He gave her such a patronizing look whenever their eyes met that she opted to avoid his attention altogether. Finally, there was Ludwin, who gathered stories like a squirrel hoarded nuts. He claimed he happened upon the group by following a peculiar thread, whatever that meant. Eofe understood that his purpose was to chronicle the people and their stories rather than the Bloom. The sun dipped below the horizon and dusk turned to night as Eofe listened to their conversations. Eofe couldn¡¯t help but compare them to her own people. They weren¡¯t all that different, really, besides the bright clothing and silly accents. They were less wary than they ought to be, but maybe that was fine in a place where the greatest threat appeared to be tame aurochs. And when the real dangers showed up, they would behind their city walls the same way the Surag hid behind their Wardens. Eofe waited awkwardly while they slowly trickled off to bed, until Ludwin took mercy on her and offered her his tent. ¡°It is good to sleep under the stars now and then,¡± he said. Eofe laid her bedroll down in his tent and pretended to sleep. She waited until the camp had settled down and she could no longer hear anyone whispering or shuffling about. Then she quietly gathered her things and left. She cast [Light Step] and [Leave No Trace] to help her exit the camp. The moon and stars provided enough light to guide her path, reflecting off the gentle river that wound its way to the Southwest. Eofe followed the river partially through the night until she came across a small hillock not far from the bank. She laid her bedding on the south side of the hill, opposite from the camp she fled. There she slept alone until dawn. Chapter 4 Eofe followed the winding river for three more days, scavenging what food her instincts told her was safe, and filling the rest of her diet with birds and critters who were so easy to hunt that she resorted to throwing stones at them to create some sort of a challenge. She slept in the open each night and was glad for the clear summer weather. She also marveled at how different the plains were to her home. Once when she bathed in the river, suspiciously [Assess]ing each fish that swam past, Eofe came to understand that there really was little danger in the plains. The complete lack of any threat was unsettling, so much so that Eofe remained on edge throughout the journey and hardly benefited at all from the continued peace. She knew she was nearing the city on the coast when she started to see signs of civilization. It began with a flock of strange animals being herded by some Aedwyn that Eofe spied in the distance. They were useless-looking things covered in white fleece and bleating like children. She could not imagine anything like that surviving in the Green. She avoided them and the few other small groups of people she saw and did not meet another person for the whole three days until she finally sighted the walls of Anar Fyndel, and finally came to understand the true scale of an Aedwyn fortress-city. What must be understood about Eofe¡ªand really most of the Surag in general¡ªwas that they lived in the wild. As a rule, civilization could not thrive in the Green, so they made do with the closest thing to civilization they could manage without drawing the ire of the wild''s Goddess. This meant their idea of architecture was seeing how far out of the way they could get from nature while still having a roof and optionally a door. So, while an ordinary person such as a farmer from out in the country who had never seen the ¡°big city¡± might gawp at the high walls of an Aedwyn fortress-city and say something plebeian like ¡°Wow! They''re so big!¡±, a girl who hadn''t ever seen more than two rocks stacked on top of each other might be forgiven for being struck dumb by the sight of them. The white stone walls stood over a hundred feet tall, enclosing the inlet that poured into the sea. They were inlaid with whirling gold patterns whose meaning Eofe could not decipher, but accurately guessed were in some sort of arcane language to power the walls¡¯ enchantments. Seven tall towers rose from the walls in even intervals, each topped with a ballista loaded with cruel looking bolts. Small specks of guards could also be seen patrolling the walls, their steel armor glittering in the light, each bearing spears and shields or longbows. The river passed through a metal grate on the north side of the city, with the only entrance from land being the eastern gate, where a straight road paved with white bricks led further into Aedwyn lands. The city was far larger than Eofe expected and it took an excruciating walk through the plains to reach the eastern road from the river. Every step was plagued with anxiety as she felt the guards'' gazes upon her. Had she already committed some crime she wasn''t aware of? Was she not supposed to walk so close to the walls? Maybe they would just shoot her with one of those ballistae, at least then she wouldn''t have anything to worry about anymore. She [Assess]ed the guards as she neared the wall, finding them all above level 40 and each with the [Anarin Guard] class. Eofe stopped when she finally sighted the road. There were hundreds of people on it. They came as individuals, in groups, some driving wagons or leading hand-pulled carts, many accompanied by an assortment of pack or draft animals, only some of which were of a species she recognized. She was also introduced for the first time to the stratifying social gap between the aristocracy and the commons as a gilded carriage rolled past the long queue waiting at the gates to secure a place at the head of the line.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Eofe trudged to the back of the common line for foot traffic heading towards a small side gate. She made sure to keep her head down after catching the suspicious eyes of the first few travelers. While it can often be said that the feeling of being stared at in a public place is unfounded and grounded in paranoid delusions, this was certainly not the case for the Elf fresh out of the Green. Her [Wildwood Scout] instincts screamed at her that she was being watched, and she wasn''t finding the warning the least bit helpful at the moment. Neither did it help her self-esteem when curious children were yanked back by their parents with a warning to stay away from the ¡°wild creature,¡± followed by a quite stereotypical ¡°don''t you know they steal children,¡± which Eofe found especially hurtful as she didn''t like children at all. It should be said that had Eofe come to this very same road just a hundred years before, she would have received a much warmer welcome. Meaning that she would have been dutifully ignored and treated like a common peasant, which was still several marked steps above being regarded as a wild animal. But she lived in a time when the Bloom was a threat just over the horizon, and the Aedwyn had begun to see the signs. Already, the occasional seed blew out of the Green to taint cultivated fields and gardens with its wild growth. And the few communities who dared to live close to parts of the Green had reported sightings of unknown beasts that seemed drawn from their very nightmares. The tentative peace between the Aedwyn and the Surag would hold for now, but the moment the Bloom was in full swing, the Aedwyn would retreat to their fortress-cities even as their fields were overrun with wild magic and further trampled by their distant cousins. So long as the Aedwyn did not contest the wild growth, the Surag would leave them in peace behind their walls, and they could wait a year until the Bloom had run its course to take back their lands. This was a valuable lesson they had learned after the brutal wars of the first Blooms. Eofe pulled up her hood in a sad attempt to hide her identify, but her clothing and the darkwood bow peeking over her shoulder betrayed her lineage just as surely as the antlers on her head would have. She kept her eyes on the ground and tried to ignore the whispers. An eternity and an hour later, she finally came to find herself looking up into the suspicious eyes of a pair of [Anarin Guard]s. They each wore a tabard bearing Aedolin¡¯s mark over a full suit of polished metal armor. Metal! There wasn''t much mining in the Green, so the Surag traded for what they used, mostly for weapons and tools. The idea of making a whole suit of armor out of it seemed excessively wasteful. Their pointed helmets also looked a bit silly, but Eofe wisely kept that opinion to herself. ¡°What¡¯s your business in Anar Fyndel, Surag?¡± asked one of the guards, placing such an emphasis on the final word that Eofe couldn¡¯t help but feel offended. ¡°I¡¯m going to Orith to be an adventurer¡­¡± ¡°What was that? Speak up, girl.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to Orith!¡± Eofe said a bit loudly. ¡°Hmph,¡± the guard frowned. ¡°It¡¯s five crowns for a Surag to enter the city.¡± Eofe couldn¡¯t tell if she was being fleeced, and there wasn¡¯t anything she could do about it anyways, so she decided to pretend everything was fine. She pulled five coins out of her pouch and tried to hand them to the guard, who had such a look of disappointment on his face on seeing the coins that Eofe could immediately tell she had done something wrong. ¡°I said crowns, girl,¡± he spat. ¡°Don¡¯t you know the difference?¡± Eofe looked at the coins in her hand, which came in an assortment of different colors that Eofe had initially assumed to be decorative. Upon closer examination, she noticed that the silver coins bore the face of regal Elf wearing a crown, while the copper coins showed that same Elf wielding a sword. Her single gold coin showed only the four-pointed star within a circle, the symbol of the Highgod Aedolin. A flush crept up Eofe¡¯s neck as she picked through her pouch for five silver crowns, praying her assumption was correct, and trying to ignore the snickers coming from the people behind her. By the time she handed five silver coins to the guard and was waved through the gate, her face was bright red and she kept her eyes glued the ground. So it was, her first introduction to the city was to its excellently cobbled streets. Chapter 5 Eofe was fortunate that the thoroughfare led straight from the gate to the harbor, or she might have gotten lost in the city. As it was, she gawked at the sights with every step even as the crowd suffocated her with her first experience of true civilization and the cacophony of voices that accompanied it. The Aedwyn eye for order and beauty was on full display in the city, with nearly every building being made of the same white stone as the walls and topped with bronze tiled roofs. It created a wondrous sight as the sun glinted off the rooftops that sloped down from the gate to the sea. The streets were clean and orderly, with the thoroughfare clearly divided into sections for horses and wagons, and another for foot traffic, so that even a newcomer like Eofe knew where to walk. The symbol of Aedolin was ever-present within the city, displayed on pennants flying above the shining roofs and on banners hanging beside buildings of import. Even many citizens bore the star of Aedolin, presenting it on a necklace, scarf, or some other adornment. Eofe was also surprised by the amount the greenery in the city. There were trees and little gardens in every corner, with many homes and storefronts decorated with hanging ivy and potted plants. Eofe passed small parks where Elves lounged on trim grass under perfectly manicured trees. The Aedwyn city was a fascinating inversion of a Surag Fal, where in Eofe¡¯s home it was nature that thrived and the small slices of civilization were placed to the side. It took Eofe a long while to reach the harbor, with the sky having already fallen to dusk by the time she could taste the salt in the air, and the sea was lit with an orange glow all the way to the horizon. Dozens of masts grew out of the water like a copse of trees, and the ships were packed so tightly together that Eofe couldn¡¯t imagine how any them could get in and out of the harbor. Now that she was finally there, Eofe suddenly realized she had no idea what to do. She had a vague plan to buy passage on a ship leading to Orith, but there were a number of ships docked in the harbor and there was no way to tell where any of them were going. She did notice some marked differences in design between some of the ships. The Elven ships were obvious and the most numerous, each bearing Elvish writing on a sleek hull with high quality craftmanship, and flying a flag with the star of Aedolin on the tallest mast. The other ships came in a variety of styles that indicated some origin Eofe could not decipher. She asked a random passerby where she could go to buy passage on a ship and was directed to a tavern just off the dock where the ships¡¯ crews gathered. She found herself standing outside the door of The Light of Fyndel as the sun dipped below the horizon and the warm glow and raucous laughter from within the tavern assaulted her senses. She took a deep breath, offered a prayer to the Greenwarden for strength, and stepped inside. It should be said that while dockside taverns were nearly universally places of filth and ill-repute, where the dregs and outcasts of society gathered (namely [Drunk]s and [Sailor]s, with the chief difference between the two being that one had a job at sea), the Aedwyn variety was a step above the rest. But only just. The floors were clean and the furniture sturdy and whole. The ale was rarely watered down and the food fresh and thoroughly cooked. The people, however, the Aedwyn could do little about. While most of the denizens were Elves, the port of Anar Fyndel was open to the world, and the consequences of that were most clear at the tables of The Light of Fyndel. It was at this moment that Eofe came face to face with the ugly truth of the world. Up until this moment, she had only ever been in the company of her fellow Elves, be it Surag or Aedwyn. In the murky interior of a dockside tavern, Eofe encountered the first members of another species. And now she was finally confronted with the undeniable truth she had been warned of her entire life¡­ Elves were just better looking than everyone else. Of course, Eofe had been told all about Elven superiority growing up. But she was a clever girl and knew when to suspect her elders were filling her head with nonsense. In this case, however, every word they had spoken was the truth. The other species were ugly. She couldn''t believe her eyes. It was so easy to distinguish the Humans from the Elves. Besides the rounded ears, there was something about their faces that just wasn''t right, as if they had all been dropped on their heads one too many times as a child. The men were worst of all¡ªsome even had hair on their faces!¡ªbut even the women occupying the tavern were lacking in some innate quality that Eofe had taken for granted all her life. The more unusual races were better in a way. A red-scaled Drake sat in the corner, and though Eofe would never call the man handsome, she could appreciate his appearance in the same way one might find a salamander beautiful. Contrast that with the Humans, who Eofe couldn¡¯t help but to pity in some small way. It certainly didn''t help matters that her first exposure to foreign species was in a dockside tavern, a place that wasn¡¯t known to host the most attractive of folk to begin with. Partly due to mild revulsion, and also a general fear of strangers and the unknown, Eofe chose to approach the Elven captains and crew first. She picked out a table hosting a handful of Aedwyn who looked a step more refined than the rest of the tavern, meaning that they looked like they only got into a brawl once every other week. But on asking if they were headed to Orith, the captain took one look at Eofe¡¯s antlers and spat on the floor¡ªearning him a smack on the head from a passing barmaid¡ªbefore answering, ¡°No room for a Surag on board.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Eofe shambled around the room, speaking to other Elven captains and crew, but received much of the same welcome from each one. Once again Eofe found herself in the company of Aedwyn at the most inopportune time to be doing so for a Surag. One of the Elves finally took pity on her and directed her to a table in the back where a Human captain sat with some of his crew, and Eofe conceded that she would have to forgo the familiar company of Elves for this journey. She approached the table, around which sat the Human captain and several other Humans, but included one squat and bearded man that Eofe assumed to be a Dwarf. ¡°Are you going to Orith?¡± she asked. ¡°Why, yes I am, little lady. What''s it to you?¡± Eofe disliked him immediately, but beggars can''t be choosers. ¡°I¡¯m going to Orith. I need passage on a ship.¡± ¡°We''ve got room for a handful of passengers, sure. The rate''s five gold stars, or equivalent currency.¡± ¡°I... don''t have that much.¡± Eofe had counted all her coins after entering the city, to avoid another embarrassing encounter. She had only one gold star and a handful of copper swords left. She had given all of her crowns to the guard at the gate. ¡°Ah, well, truthfully that''s a low rate. You''ll have a hard time finding anything for less than that. Best of luck to ya, darling.¡± Eofe thanked him anyways and continued asking around about other non-Elven ships, only to find that his warning rang true. One ship was willing to let her on for four stars, but the rest asked for even more than the first captain. After exhausting all her options in the tavern, a dejected Eofe walked out into the cold night air. The sun had fallen completely while she had been inside, and now the city was lit by blue and white magic lights, like thousands of fireflies floating in the dark. She wasn''t in the mood to appreciate the view, however, and trudged over to the pier where a handful of ships were still docked, their crews loading or unloading goods. She sat on the ground and idly watched the process while she gathered her thoughts. She had no idea how to get more money, and getting more money seemed to be the only way to get to Orith. She assumed she would need to get a job, but she had no idea how to do that. Would anyone in the city even hire a Surag? And if she did get a job, how long would it take to earn at least three more gold stars? There is a moment in every would-be hero¡¯s journey when the promising hero falls to their lowest point. When all hope is lost and the future looks most bleak, they are faced with a crossroads. The choice they make at this time would determine the rest of their adventure; whether to abandon the hero¡¯s journey and return home, or to rise above the occasion and find the inspiration to reach new heights. Eofe did neither of those things. Rather, she did what most people did when one path led backwards and the other path looked too hard. She did something stupid. One of ships she was watching was the Penitent Scamp, a three-masted cargo ship whose first mate had asked for six gold stars to take Eofe to Orith. The crew seemed to have finished with their tasks and drifted past Eofe in the direction of the tavern. She spied only a couple of men left on the deck, presumably to watch over the goods. So Eofe was struck with perhaps the worst idea she had ever had in her short (for an Elf) life. She surveyed the area to make sure no one was watching, then pulled up her hood and tucked her bow under her cloak to hide the shimmer of the bowstring. She cast [Light Step], so that even with her pack weighing her down, she stepped softly on the planking of the pier, and she stuck to the shadows as she crept up to the gangway leading to the Penitent Scamp. The men on duty were engaged in conversation, not even paying attention to the deck. They were probably more concerned about someone stealing off with some of the cargo, which would have been hard to miss, than with a solitary Elf girl sneaking onto their ship. She found the hatch through which the cargo had been placed, which was still open, and slipped through while the two men were distracted by their conversation and the city lights. The interior was dark, but [Owl Eyes] allowed her to find a space in the corner behind barrels and crates that had been lashed to the floor and walls. She set her pack and bow on the floor and sat behind them, pulling her knees up to her chest. She didn¡¯t have enough room the lie down, but she had slept in worse conditions before. She ate some jerky out of her pack and drained the last of her waterskin, while trying not to think about what tomorrow would bring. By some miracle¡ªor misfortune, who could say¡ªEofe slept through the night, even as the noisy crew of the Penitent Scamp boarded the ship. She slept through the lines being untied and the ship setting off from port. She slept through the sails unfurling in the morning sun and the wind carrying the ship out to sea. She didn¡¯t wake up until well into the morning, when a sudden noise broke her out of a dream where the Wildwood had grown out of the streets of Anar Fyndel, and wild beasts of the Green roamed the city. Eofe opened her eyes to meet the bewildered gaze of a bearded Human man leaning over one of the barrels behind which she had hidden. ¡°Well,¡± the man said in Orithian. ¡°This is a problem.¡± Chapter 6 Eofe wisely complied when the sailor beckoned her forward and led her up to the main deck. ¡°Come on, girl,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s see what the captain wants to do with you.¡± He brought her out into clear morning skies, where the overpowering smell and taste of the sea assaulted Eofe¡¯s senses. The Opal Sea extended in every direction for as far as she could see. She looked back to the east and cast [Eagle Eyes], but even then, the coast of Ilthera was just a thin line on the horizon. She took a deep breath of fresh air as she realized that she had really done it. She had escaped the Green and left Ilthera behind. It was just the start of her journey, but it was a start she had feared would never come to pass. A murmur of voices interrupted Eofe¡¯s thoughts and she turned to find a gaggle of sailors of various races eying her curiously, mostly Human, but with some Dwarves and what Eofe assumed to either be a Halfling or a child. Towering over her at the center of the group was a figure out of Eofe¡¯s nightmares. He was taller than almost anyone she had ever met, with bulging muscles that were certainly larger than any she had seen before, and skin a green nearly as dark as her cloak. Two short tusks jutted up from his lower lip. If she had known the captain was an Orc, she would have picked literally any other ship to board. ¡°Please don''t eat me!¡± she begged in Orithian. The captain growled as the crew laughed. ¡°Aye, Cap''n. Don''t eat the poor girl, she''s just a child!¡± someone said. ¡°She''s an Elf, you nitwit,¡± he said in a gravelly voice that did nothing to assuage Eofe''s fears. ¡°She''s prolly old enough to be yer grandma.¡± She wasn''t even fifty! Eofe wanted to complain that she wasn''t old enough to have children, much less grandchildren, but one look at the captain''s dark expression and she smartly kept her mouth shut. ¡°I don''t know whether to say it was fortune or misfortune that blessed you this day, seeing as I was so distracted this morning, I failed to notice an extra soul aboard my ship,¡± he said while grinding his teeth. ¡°So tell me, Grandma. What are you doing on my ship?¡± Eofe found the planking on the deck to be entirely too fascinating as she tried to think of a response that wouldn''t get her thrown overboard, or worse, served to the captain for dinner. She ended up settling for the truth. ¡°I wanted to go to Orith, but the guards took most of my money so I didn''t have enough to pay for a ship, and I saw your ship last night and knew it was going to Orith, and no one was really watching it, so I snuck onboard,¡± Eofe finished, out of breath, with her heart hammering in her chest. ¡°No one was watching it, eh?¡± The captain looked over to a pair of sailors who each turned red-faced at the accusation. ¡°We was watchin'', captain! She must be a [Thief] or [Rogue] or sumfin, she snuck right past us!¡± ¡°What''s yer class, Grandma?¡± the captain asked. ¡°And don''t you dare lie to me.¡± Eofe didn''t dare lie. ¡°[Wildwood Scout]. And a bit of [Fletcher].¡± ¡°[Wildwood Scout], you say?¡± The captain looked at her more closely, only now noticing the antlers peeking out of her hair. ¡°So you''re a Wood Elf, eh? You''re lucky I know better than to dump a Wood Elf into the sea. Yer people get a right bit offended by that sorta thing. What were you doin'' in a High Elf city anyways? Don''t you people have your own ships?¡± Eofe was greatly offended by his terminology, but once again wisely chose not to correct him. Her people did in fact have their own ships, all the way on the Coral Coast in northern Ilthera where the Green plunged into the sea to invigorate marine life with its wild nature. But she couldn''t take one of their ships, because they would have just packed her up and sent her right back home. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t take me,¡± Eofe said, which was close enough to the truth. ¡°So I had to find another way.¡± ¡°Well, your business is your own. But we''ll have you pay for passage one way or another,¡± he said, and Eofe gulped. ¡°Bring out her stuff.¡± Her pack and bow were brought out, the bowstring glimmering in the sunlight and catching the greedy eyes of every sailor. Eofe paled. ¡°Now that''s something for sure,¡± he said, eying the bow. ¡°But that''s far too valuable and I ain''t no [Thief]. What else you got?¡± He opened her coin pouch and poured the coins into his hand. ¡°Weren''t lying about being poor, it seems.¡± A couple of sailors continued pulling items out of her pack, dumping spare clothing, bits of dried food, and wooden tools and utensils onto the deck. Besides the bow, all of her possessions and coin together would not have been nearly enough to pay the six gold star fee for passage. Then one of the sailors picked up her spare waterskin and opened the top. The sweet scent of the pitcher plant¡¯s extract wafted over the deck and drew the attention of every sailor nearby. The man holding the flask seemed about to taste it before Eofe interrupted him. ¡°Don¡¯t drink that!¡± she cried out. ¡°Why not?¡± the captain asked, taking the waterskin from the sailor and sniffing the extract. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Eofe said, before adding quickly. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know what it does.¡± She briefly recounted her encounter with the pitcher plant, its mysterious white fog, and the extract she gathered from its corpse. ¡°A bounty from the Green,¡± the captain said reverently. ¡°I¡¯m sure an alchemist will pay a pretty penny for this. You¡¯re in luck, Grandma. You can pay for passage with whatever this is, as well as with your labor.¡± ¡°My what?¡± ¡°Bawdric!¡± the captain yelled, and Eofe flinched. A gangly red-headed boy appeared, who couldn''t have been more than sixteen, and who Eofe guessed might be close to fifty. ¡°You''ll be the Elf''s minder. Have her share a bunk with Lera, and teach her cleaning and maintenance and whatever else she looks like she can manage.¡± ¡°Aye, aye... Captain...¡± The boy''s voice trailed off as he took his first good look at Eofe, revealing an expression that could be found on just about every teenage boy''s face when confronted with any girl who was even the least bit charming. The captain noticed immediately. ¡°Lord, have mercy,¡± the captain said. ¡°She''s far too old for you, boy.¡± But Bawdric either didn''t hear or didn''t care, and continued to gawp at the young (for an Elf) girl. ¡°Ah, to the Hells with it. It''ll be a good lesson for ya,¡± and the captain walked away, leaving the two alone. ¡°What''s your name? I''m Bawdric, by the way,¡± the boy said as he held out his hand in Eofe''s direction. Eofe looked at his hand warily before deciding to ignore it. ¡°I''m Eofe.¡± ¡°Eefuh? That''s a beautiful name,¡± he said a bit shyly and with such awful pronunciation that Eofe decided it wasn''t worth trying to correct him. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll show you where you¡¯ll sleep,¡± Bawdric said. Eofe stopped to gather up her things into her pack, which were still mostly scattered on the deck. Bawdric tried to help, but he turned red-faced on touching one of her spare shirts, which wasn¡¯t even part of her underclothes, then stammered that he¡¯d just wait for her to finish and stood awkwardly to the side. Once she was finished, she picked up her pack and bow and followed the boy below deck. The ship wasn¡¯t terribly large and outfitted primarily for speed and cargo, housing only a couple dozen sailors in total. The crew¡¯s quarters were small because of this, leaving most of the space for cargo. So Eofe was incredibly disappointed when Bawdric led her into a cramped bunkroom that was absolutely infested with hammocks, some of which were even occupied by sleeping sailors.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯ll share this one with Lera,¡± he said, guiding her to a hammock in the corner where a woman even shorter than her was sleeping. ¡°She¡¯s on night shift, so it won¡¯t be a problem. We all sleep in here, but the girls have claimed this corner, so you won¡¯t have to worry about being too close to anyone of¡­ the, er¡­ any boys, that is,¡± he finished dumbly. Bawdric showed her a few ropes she could use to lash her things to the ship. Efa had noticed that all of the sailors wore light clothing, and many were barefoot, and decided that if she was going to be doing their work, she may as well dress the part. She removed her armor and boots in front of a red-faced Bawdric, who had turned away for some reason, and stashed everything in her pack before securing it with the ropes. That left her barefoot, wearing just her tunic and breeches, before a teenage boy who had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He really was a lost cause. He managed to regain his composure and led her back up to the deck, where he showed her what duties she would perform for the remainder of the journey. It was mainly limited to swabbing the deck and cleaning the interior. They wouldn¡¯t let an inexperienced girl, who didn¡¯t even have a [Sailor] class, touch any of the rigging or sails. It would be at least three weeks sailing across the Opal Sea to reach Calan, the continent which housed the nation of Orith. The ship would dock at Tarog¡¯s Landing, an Orithian port city that seemed just as good as any other to the girl whose plan didn¡¯t go any further than ¡°go to Orith to become an adventurer.¡± Eofe spent her first day aboard the Penitent Scamp trailing Bawdric and following his careful instructions. They alternated back and forth between swabbing the deck and cleaning the interior, with only short breaks to eat whatever slop the [Cook] served up. Eofe¡¯s muscles ached in places she hadn¡¯t even known existed. She certainly wasn¡¯t out of shape, so her stamina held up just fine, but she found that sneaking around, knife fighting, and shooting bows taxed an entirely different set of muscles than did mopping a ship¡¯s deck or bending down to clean dirty corners. Eofe also found the mopping to be quite pointless seeing as they were already on the water. Why did they need to get the ship even more wet? Bawdric explained something about needing to keep the wood wet so water wouldn¡¯t get in, which made even less sense to Eofe. She decided to just accept that all sailors were mad, which was still the truth even if she got there the wrong way around. Her tasks grew more challenging as the ship hit rougher seas later in the day, and Eofe began to have trouble staying upright. It was made even worse when every time she slipped or fell, one of the sailors would shout something like, ¡°Grandma fell down again! Someone help the old bones up,¡± drawing hoots from their fellows. When the sun was finally close to setting, the crew rotated, giving Eofe a chance to bed down in her new bunk, now empty of its previous occupant. She fell asleep almost immediately. She dreamed of the ship being attacked by sea monsters and pirates, with Eofe fighting them off all on her own to save the ship, earning her the respect of the captain and crew, so that the captain forgave her debt so she could enjoy the remainder of the journey in peace. She couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed when she woke the next day to find that none of that had happened.
The next several days were a monotonous repeat of the first, without the added excitement of being caught as a stowaway. Only a couple of interesting things happened. The first was a conversation Eofe overheard between the captain and the ship [Priest] on the second day of the journey. Eofe had used [Assess] on most of the crew by then and knew something of their levels. The captain was a level 46 [Swiftship Captain], while most of the sailors were between levels 20 and 30, having a variety of classes such as [Deckhand], [Helmsman], [Navigator], and the general-purpose [Sailor]. Only a few of the crew were above or below that range, including Bawdric who was only a level 12 [Deckhand]. The one odd exception was a level 32 [Priest of Sea and Storm], the same bearded Human man who discovered her in the hold. He dressed identically to other sailors and even seemed to perform similar duties to a [Deckhand] for most of the day. It was as Eofe was swabbing the upper deck around the [Helmsman] that she overheard the priest muttering a prayer. ¡°Lord, bless the journey of this vessel dedicated in your name, that the winds may be swift and the seas calm. Amen.¡± "Who are you praying to?" she asked. The man blinked in surprise, then seemed to notice Eofe standing beside him. ¡°Ah, the stowaway,¡± he said without a hint of reproach. ¡°I am praying to the only God who matters on the sea. The [Lord of Sea and Storm] himself.¡± Efa knew a little of the [Lord of Sea and Storm], seeing as he was worshipped by the Surag along the Coral Coast (the Greenwarden was not a jealous Goddess, so long as her followers kept the bargain). He was one of the few Old Gods to have survived the Reckoning ten thousand years ago, and likely one of the highest-level Gods still around. It was at this moment that the captain appeared and Eofe dipped her head and quietly returned to mopping. He always looked like he was ready to bite someone¡¯s head off, and she didn¡¯t know if that was just an Orc thing or if he was that much of a dour man. Either way, she decided it was best to avoid his attention. ¡°How''s your allotment today, priest?¡± the captain asked. ¡°Good for a bit of wind and taming a rogue wave or two. Insufficient should we hit a real storm. Though the skies look clear, so I expect we shall be safe for the day.¡± ¡°We could use more than a bit of wind. We¡¯re running late as is,¡± the Orc complained. ¡°Too bad the Lord''s a fickle master.¡± ¡°He provides as he sees fit. It is not our place to judge.¡± The captain grunted in response. Eofe had heard about godly allotments, but had never encountered its limitations before. As she understood it, most gods parceled out their power to their followers each day, providing a limited ¡°allotment¡± of divine mana for those with certain classes. These faith-based classes primarily drew on this divine mana instead of their personal mana in order to perform miracles beyond their own capabilities. The Greenwarden was not so generous, instead saving most of her strength for the Bloom. Being a [Priest] of the Greenwarden was a mostly thankless job, and it was a wonder there were actually any of them around. Eofe returned to her duties in silence and solitude for the next few days, with the exception of Bawdric occasionally interrupting her to ask questions about her home or the Elves in general, or to talk about his own mundane life. She learned far more about the boy than she wanted to, including that he was an orphan who had never met his parents and had been handpicked by the captain to be trained as a [Sailor]. She would have found it more annoying than she did if he wasn¡¯t the only to call her by something resembling her name. The rest of the crew continued to call her Grandma regardless of how many times she corrected them. It was two days after her encounter with the priest that Eofe was first introduced to the concept of seasickness. She woke in the morning to find the ship tense, with both night and day shifts active, everyone working on some preparations Eofe couldn¡¯t discern. Only the priest seemed inactive, standing on the bow and staring ahead at the horizon while whispering a silent prayer to his God. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Eofe asked him. ¡°I¡¯ve received an unusually high allotment today,¡± the priest said, still watching the horizon. ¡°And there are hints of a storm ahead. I fear the Lord has blessed me with such power because we would not survive otherwise.¡± Eofe¡¯s stomach sank at the revelation, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her duties were dismissed for the day so she wouldn¡¯t get in the way of the crowded deck, so she went back to her bunk and laid down to wait. Other sailors trickled in over the course of the morning, including Bawdric. Eofe asked him what was going on and he explained that most of the crew would remain below deck during the storm. Seeing as the storms of the Opal Sea could sometimes last for days, the crew would regularly rotate to manage the ship. The [Captain] and [Priest] had Skills that would allow them to sail into the storm, even against the wind, so everyone else would be working overtime to keep the ship intact through the storm. Eofe waited in apprehension, unsure about what was coming, but having to trust in the competency of the captain and crew. It was just after noon when the storm finally hit. The first sign of the storm was rougher seas. Eofe felt her stomach lurch with every dip and rise, and finally realized the breadth of difference between calm and stormy waters. The other sailors lounged casually in the room, some even playing games, while Eofe crawled onto the floor and lashed a rope around her wrist to hold tight. The second sign was a pattering of rain that soon turned into a deluge. It wasn¡¯t long before water poured down to the lower deck and Eofe panicked as it pooled around her feet. But the sailors ignored it, with some running past her out of the lower hold with buckets of water to dump back into the sea. Lastly, came the thunder. Great booms shook the ship like the drumbeats of an ancient war. Flashes of lightning pierced the gaps between every plank, illuminating the weary sailors waiting below. The dips and rises of the ship grew even steeper, spurring Eofe to grab a bucket that was fortuitously nearby and spew her breakfast into it. She finally grasped what poets meant when they described the sea in a storm as a raging beast. The ship tipped up and Eofe held tight to her rope to stop from falling back. Then it dipped down and she was pressed against the forward wall even as she felt the weightlessness of falling. The worst was when the ship heaved to either side, and Eofe feared that it would tip over and her journey would end in the middle of the Opal Sea. What Eofe did not see, cowering below decks as she was and muttering prayers to a Goddess who had no power to help her, was the managed chaos of the crew braving the storm. She did not hear the captain shout commands from the helm that all his crew could hear despite the roaring thunder and tempest winds. Nor did she see when a sailor lost his footing and went over the side, only for the captain to make a gesture and for the man to bounce back onto the ship as if yanked by an invisible line. She did not see the [Priest of Sea and Storm] standing on the bow, enduring a torrent of wind and rain, pointing to waves as tall as the walls of Anar Fyndel and shouting divine incantations provided by the very God who called the storm into being. Waves that would have shattered the ship instead parted around it or collapsed into the sea. And even as the storm winds blew in every which direction, a single forward wind pierced the storm like a blade and the sails billowed to the west. Bawdric took Eofe¡¯s bucket at one point, which upset her at first seeing as she still needed to puke, but he brought it back in time, empty and ready to be refilled. Eofe grudgingly admitted her thanks. The storm thrashed the ship for what Eofe felt must have been days, but was really only until the next morning. Then the thunder stopped, the downpour was reduced to a drizzle before ceasing altogether, and the waves diminished with every moment until Eofe felt nothing but the mild sways of a ship at sea. The unconscious priest was carried to his bunk, having collapsed once the storm finally broke. The captain walked into the bunkroom, spied Eofe and the other sailors lounging around, then clapped his hands. ¡°Back to work,¡± he said. Chapter 7 Even as the crew returned to a regular schedule under clear skies, they broke out the booze to celebrate their conquest of the storm and the rewards that followed. Apparently braving one of the Lord¡¯s storms was good for levels. Many of the crew leveled up, with Bawdric even gaining two for whatever he was doing while not emptying Eofe¡¯s sick bucket. He excitedly boasted to the Elf that he also got the [Surefooted] Skill. ¡°He pinned the medal on my chest, with all my other Skills,¡± he said, talking about the Benefactor. ¡°He looks like my Da, even though I never met him. How does yours work, Eefuh?¡± ¡°She looks like my mother and gives me fruit,¡± Eofe said. Eofe had gained nothing from the storm. Unsurprisingly, cowering below decks and retching into a bucket was not enough to award a level, or even a [Sailor] class. The crew still offered her some of the booze, which Eofe took one sniff of and promptly rejected. Though that meant she had to soberly endure a ship full of drunk sailors for the remainder of the day. She was astounded to discover that most of the experienced sailors had the [Working Drunk] Skill, allowing them to perform their duties regardless of their sobriety. She dreaded to image what feats it took to unlock such a Skill. Following that ordeal, Eofe finally settled into her routine aboard the Penitent Scamp. The next two weeks passed in a blur. She got to know the crew a little better over that time, though everyone except Bawdric continued to call her ¡°Grandma.¡± She finally met her bunkmate Lera, a coarse Halfling woman who gave new meaning to the term ¡°swear like a sailor,¡± and who tried to encourage Eofe to make Bawdric ¡°into a man,¡± whatever that meant. Eofe was glad Lera was on night shift and opted to avoid her during the few hours they were both awake. She learned the priest¡¯s name was Joffrey, though everyone referred to him as the ¡°Priest.¡± He had been with the captain ever since the Orc purchased the Penitent Scamp years ago. He spent his early years as a common [Sailor] until a shipwreck saw him stranded at sea. He prayed for salvation and the Lord delivered, so he dedicated the remainder of his life to the Lord¡¯s service. Eofe also finally learned what the ship was transporting. The hold was full of a mix of Aedwyn artisan crafts, as well as perishable foods only found on Ilthera, which were kept fresh by one of the captain¡¯s Skills. She was given a peek at some of the Aedwyn art and found the gold-engraved pottery and silver sculptures entirely too pretentious for her taste. It was as the sun rose a full three weeks into the voyage that the lookout finally shouted the words that Eofe felt she had waited her entire life to hear. ¡°Land ahoy!¡± Eofe scampered up to the bow and cast [Eagle Eyes] for a better view. There wasn¡¯t much to see, with the coastline of Calan just a blurry stretch along the horizon, but it was somehow one of the most beautiful things the young Elf had ever seen. Eofe felt like she had just sighted home. She spent the rest of the day in a haze, occasionally stopping her work to stare at the horizon, only to be scolded by the captain or first mate to get back to work. It was midday when Tarog¡¯s Landing finally came into view, so named for the Orc who had conquered half of Calan in an age past. Eofe couldn¡¯t hold in her excitement anymore at this point and dropped all pretense of trying to work. She stood on the bow and studied the city as it grew on the horizon. Bawdric joined her and explained everything he knew about the city, which wasn¡¯t much seeing as he had only been there twice, and never once left the harbor district. His one piece of pertinent information was that there was an Adventurer¡¯s Guild hall somewhere in the city, which wasn¡¯t all that useful seeing as just about every city and town in Orith had one. When the ship finally pulled into port, Eofe dashed to her bunk to collect her things. She donned her armor for the first time in weeks and threw on her cloak. It was strange to feel the weight of her cloak and armor after having gone so long without wearing them, but it felt good to return to herself. The ship was fully docked and the gangway lowered by the time she returned to the deck, where the crew was already beginning to pull cargo up from the hold. Eofe said her goodbyes to the handful of crew members whose names she knew. Bawdric started crying for some reason after saying goodbye, so she patted him on the shoulder and decided that was someone else¡¯s problem to deal with. Her final goodbye was to the captain, whose name she still didn¡¯t know. He was overseeing the unloading of the cargo when Eofe approached him. ¡°Thank you for not throwing me overboard. Or eating me,¡± Eofe said. The captain growled and gave Eofe a look that she had come to understand meant anything from apathy to extreme displeasure. ¡°Did you get a [Sailor] class?¡± he asked. Eofe shook her head. ¡°Good,¡± he grunted. ¡°You¡¯d make a shit sailor, Grandma.¡± He went back to watching the cargo being unloaded while Eofe unceremoniously disembarked, finally free of the Penitent Scamp for good.
Eofe¡¯s first thoughts on navigating through the harbor district and entering the city proper was how different it was from Anar Fyndel. Where the Aedwyn fortress-city was orderly and conforming, the buildings and streets of Tarog¡¯s Landing were chaotic and divergent. Structures could be made of wood, stone blocks, or bricks, having roofs of wooden tile or thatch, all in completely different architectural styles with no logical reason for the decision that Eofe could discern. One section of the city might be constructed entirely of finely crafted wood, while the next looked as if massive blocks had been dragged from a mountain and the buildings hewn directly from the stone. If Eofe had known about the history of the city then she might have been more sympathetic to its architectural woes. Repeated conquest, razing, and rebuilding would make any city look like a mishmash of every culture to have ever taken the torch and hammer to its walls. Even after being a part of the nation of Orith for centuries, the city¡¯s origins could not be so easily forgotten. The streets were also disorganized, with pedestrians weaving between horse and carriage, whose drivers were perpetually shouting for everyone to make way. There was no main thoroughfare to follow. Instead, the streets converged on a number of market squares where sellers attempted to coerce Eofe into buying anything from cheap leather bracelets to priceless artifacts. Some alleyways were wide open and heavily trafficked, while others were so dark and narrow that even a girl as backwoods as they come could recognize the danger of walking them alone. Then of course there were the people. The city was mostly Human, the same as the nation of Orith, but being a prime trade center, it played host to nearly every species Eofe knew of. Dwarves were fairly common, along with Halflings and even Goblins. Eofe ducked into an alley to avoid a pack of Orcs crowding the road, even though the rest of the city paid them no mind. There were hardly any Elves, and all of them were very apparently Aedwyn, wearing finely crafted robes and carrying themselves with such a haughty air in a city they didn¡¯t own that Eofe noticed the grimaces of distaste on passersby who spied her arrogant cousins. That was at least one sentiment she shared with the people of Tarog¡¯s Landing. The variety between species was also astounding, especially among Humans. She saw men and women wearing bright silks and glittering with jewels, who walked beside pale, scarred men adorned with furs and wielding crude weapons made of bone. She passed dark skinned Humans dressed in airy robes and bright turbans who glowed with magic. She was coming to understand why Orith was known as the adventuring capital of the world. Besides the continent of Calan as a whole being absolutely infested with ancient ruins and magical ecosystems, the nation of Orith was also welcoming to just about anyone. The extreme diversity of the place made her feel more at home in a way. Here, she was just another of many foreigners to grace Orith¡¯s shores. Eofe¡¯s brief exploration of the city was not the byproduct of aimless wandering, however. She had asked multiple strangers where to find the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and received such conflicting and nonsensical directions that it took her nearly until dusk to find it. When she finally stood before the edifice of stone and wood that made up the Guildhall, she found the place was so crowded inside that Eofe nearly lost all heart in becoming an adventurer. The main room was massive, housing over twenty tables that were each packed with adventurers, with even more idling in the open spaces. Eofe was curious, so she ended up using nearly half her mana to cast [Assess] on random adventurers. She was surprised to discover that almost everyone was above level 30. One impressive looking group of three in the corner was even over 50. Eofe noticed that the other adventurers seemed to be paying some amount of deference to this group. Eofe finally spied what appeared to be a windowed reception area to the side and started to squeeze her way through the crowd to get there. She overheard a number of interesting conversations on the way. ¡°¡­they¡¯re coming further down the mountains¡­¡± ¡°¡­the Righteous Blades claimed to have slain one that was assessed at level sixty¡­¡± ¡°¡­if it gets any worse, they¡¯ll call in the army, and there goes our rewards¡­¡± ¡°¡­he¡¯s been dead ten years, why are we still cleaning up this mess...¡± When she finally reached the reception counter, she had gotten the sense that there was something very wrong going on outside the city, but had no idea what it actually was. Her focus was then redirected to the woman behind the counter, who was plain and plump, and could have been a Human, Dwarf, or a very large Halfling for all she knew, seeing as only her top half was in view. A quick [Assess] revealed the woman was a level 27 [Receptionist]. ¡°How can I help you?¡± the woman asked. ¡°I, uh, want to sign up. To be an adventurer,¡± Eofe said. The woman pulled out some sort of monocle from below the counter and looked at Eofe through it. ¡°Level twenty-one [Wildwood Scout]¡­ and level five [Fletcher]. I assume you would like to register under your [Wildwood Scout] Class?¡± ¡°Uh, yes.¡± The receptionist returned the monocle and produced a piece of paper that was filled with writing. ¡°Are you joining as a part of a team?¡± She looked behind Eofe, as if to see if there was anyone else there.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°No,¡± Eofe said. The receptionist wrote something on the paper. ¡°Are you familiar with the Guild ranking system?¡± ¡°Um. There¡¯s a diamond?¡± Aunt Maeve had once proudly showed off her diamond badge to a captivated young Eofe, but that was all the Elf knew about adventurer ranks. ¡°Diamond is the highest rank. It starts at Iron, followed by Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and finally Diamond. Your rank is determined entirely by your highest relevant Class level. So there¡¯s no use complaining that you¡¯re better than a Gold when you¡¯re not yet level forty. We don¡¯t have the resources to evaluate every adventurer, so if you want to rank up then increase your level and get a new badge once you¡¯ve passed the milestone. You¡¯re level twenty-one, so you¡¯ll start at Copper. You¡¯ll rank up after every ten-level milestone, so your next rank up will be Silver at level thirty.¡± Eofe nodded along. ¡°The Guild¡¯s rules are simple. Firstly, no stealing from or assaulting fellow Guild members. Severe or repeat offenses will see your membership revoked. Or one of the Rankers might just save us the trouble and put you in the ground,¡± Eofe gulped. ¡°Keep your badge on you at all times while adventuring. We¡¯ll use it to identify your corpse. And if you find any bodies of your fellow Guild members, you¡¯re expected to collect their badges and return them to the nearest Guildhall. They would do the same for you.¡± Eofe liked to think she would never have to worry about someone having to take her badge off her corpse, which was exactly the kind of thinking that would lead to that sort of thing happening in the first place. ¡°And finally, heed the call. Every once in a while, the Guild will call upon members above a certain rank to deal with special threats. It¡¯s not often, but every available member is expected to show up if they can. The last major call was about ten years ago, when we finally put down the Flesh Shaper,¡± at the mention of that name, the woman shuddered. ¡°We¡¯re still dealing with the fallout from that madness.¡± The woman slid the paper to Eofe, which appeared to be some sort of contract that listed the information she had just been given. It also indicated her rank and team affiliation, which were listed as ¡°Copper¡± and ¡°None¡±. ¡°If you accept the terms of your registration, then write your name on the bottom line,¡± she handed Eofe a pure white stylus of some sort. The pen didn¡¯t have any ink and Eofe did not see an inkpot nearby, but she pressed it to the paper anyways and felt some of her mana bleed through the device. It drained a small amount of mana as she wrote, and she noticed that the ink of her signature glowed with unnatural light. The receptionist took the paper and squinted at the signature. ¡°Is that Elvish?¡± ¡°Yes. Is that a problem?¡± The truth was Eofe did not even know how to spell her own name in Orithian. That alphabet had far too many letters in her opinion. ¡°No. I just didn¡¯t notice you were an Elf,¡± the woman was suddenly scrutinizing Eofe a bit too closely for her liking. ¡°We don¡¯t get a lot of Elves here. Did you come from the Conclaves, or from Ilthera?¡± ¡°Ilthera.¡± Eofe had never even heard of the Conclaves. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you sign up in Ilthera instead? I hear they¡¯ve got a lot going on over there.¡± Because the Aedwyn hate the Surag and we¡¯ll soon be at war. ¡°I wanted to go somewhere new,¡± Eofe replied. The woman grunted. ¡°I can understand that.¡± She deposited the paper somewhere below the counter and returned with a small copper disk, not much larger than a coin, hanging on a leather cord. ¡°This will be your badge. Press your finger right here, please.¡± Eofe did as instructed, pressing her finger against the engraving of a sword above an open book on the copper badge. After a few seconds, it briefly warmed under her touch before cooling back down. The badge didn¡¯t appear any different afterwards. ¡°It¡¯s recorded your mana signature. This way anyone will know who it belongs to.¡± Eofe placed the cord over her neck and spent a moment to admire the badge. The emblem of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡ªa vertical sword hanging over an open book¡ªwas engraved on both sides. Small words were carved in some arcane language around the edge. Eofe didn¡¯t know what they meant, but she assumed they were related to the magic that held her mana signature within the disk. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you¡¯re not starting out as a Chit,¡± the receptionist interrupted her inspection. Eofe wasn¡¯t the most fluent in Orithian, but she was quite certain that she should be offended. ¡°Ex-excuse me?¡± she said. The receptionist laughed. ¡°An Iron Chit. It¡¯s just what we call the low-level adventurers that do all the dirty work. Cleaning out sewers, exterminating pests; the drudge work. The interesting jobs don¡¯t start until you¡¯re a Copper at least. And nearly all the dungeons and ruins around Orith are ranked at over level twenty.¡± Eofe was more relieved that she wouldn¡¯t have to endure being called by such a vulgar title. ¡°Oh, I should also ask if you want to pay the registration up front. You can take it on debt if you don¡¯t have the coin, but you better pay it off before the next annual period. The cost will also go up with your rank, but that¡¯s no reason not to rank up. You¡¯ll have access to much better paying jobs if you do.¡± Eofe brought out her coin pouch and dumped the coins on the counter. The receptionist picked through them for a moment before sighing. ¡°You¡¯ll want to get these changed to Orithian coin. I can do that for you right now, it¡¯ll just cost you a copper.¡± Eofe agreed, and it was at this moment that she was introduced to the absurdity of currency exchange rates. The receptionist hopped down from whatever she had been sitting on. Her head barely cleared the counter, so Eofe was convinced she must either be a Dwarf or a very wide Halfling. She took all of Eofe¡¯s coin into a back room, a single gold star and a handful of copper swords, and returned with five gold, seven silver, and four copper coins. Eofe thought she must have made a mistake, but chose not to say anything and felt a little guilty about it afterwards. ¡°I¡¯ve already removed the cost of the registration. You¡¯ll need to pay another Orithian gold in a year¡¯s time.¡± Eofe inspected the coins before brushing them into her pouch. Each of them was stamped with various buildings that she assumed must be somehow important in Orith. At least she wouldn¡¯t have to look at Aedolin¡¯s face any longer. ¡°How much are each of these worth?¡± she asked. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s your first time in Orith. It''s real simple. Ten coppers to a silver, ten silvers to a gold. Nothing like that mad system the High Elves use. No offense intended.¡± Eofe couldn''t take offense since she had no idea what the Aedwyn system even was. It had nothing to do with the Surag, anyways. ¡°Well, you¡¯re all set. But a bit of advice before you go,¡± the stout woman leaned forward over the counter, and Eofe leaned in to match her. ¡°Get out of town.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°This place is no good for a little Copper just starting out. A lot of the Rankers are here, clearing out the mountains and looking for the Flesh Shaper''s laboratory. There''s even a few Silvers pushing their luck.¡± At Eofe''s confused expression, the woman further clarified. ¡°Rankers are what we call those at Gold-rank and above. The rest of you are the Rabble. Anyway, the city is crowded with adventurers and may be for years. They''re even taking up all the low rank jobs.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s the Flesh Shaper?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s¡ª¡± the receptionist¡¯s mouth gaped for a moment before catching herself. ¡°Right¡­ You¡¯ve just come from Ilthera. The Flesh Shaper terrorized these parts for near twenty years with his creations. He was an [Alchemist] or [Wizard] of some sort. He was over level eighty when Gentle Repose finally put him down.¡± Eofe went wide-eyed at that. Achieving level 80 was a legendary feat. A person with that amount of power was a threat to entire nations. There were probably less than a hundred people at such a level in the entire world. She knew of only two among all the Surag. ¡°But then his minions went mad after he died,¡± the woman continued. ¡°And now ten years later we¡¯re still having to deal with his monsters coming down the mountains to terrorize the local towns and villages. There''s a huge reward for anyone who finds his laboratory in the mountains to the north. They think it¡¯s still making monsters out there somehow. No other way to explain how new ones keep popping up. Unless he had an apprentice or something, but that man hated people.¡± That was all a bit much for Eofe, who still didn¡¯t know what to do next. ¡°Where should I go?¡± she asked. The receptionist put on a thoughtful expression and tapped her finger on the counter. ¡°I would recommend going to Parth. It¡¯s a couple weeks west by wagon, more than far enough from the Flesh Shaper¡¯s influence. The city¡¯s been nearly emptied of Rankers coming here instead. Much less competition for the Rabble like yourself. They¡¯re always finding new ruins in the area, as well. Apparently, it used to be some prime fertile land, way back in the day. Now it¡¯s just dead civilization buried on top of dead civilization. There¡¯s also the Gloomwood out there, which should be blooming any year now. You¡¯ll want to reach Silver before that happens, but it''s a good place to get rich and gain some levels.¡± Ancient ruins and mysterious forests sounded like the perfect adventure to Eofe¡¯s ears. ¡°I¡¯ll go to Parth, then. Thank you for your help.¡± ¡°Nothing to it. Oh, and make sure you take a guarded caravan to Parth. It¡¯ll set you down a couple gold, but you won¡¯t regret it. The roads around the Landing aren¡¯t safe for the Rabble these days. Good luck.¡± Eofe left the Guildhall with a spring in her step. She was a little disappointed she had even further to go, but she was also somewhat relieved about the idea of putting even more distance between herself and Ilthera. She was still slightly paranoid that Mother might show up one day and drag her back home. But she was finally an official adventurer! It had been a secret goal for half her life. She just needed time to gain enough levels to make the dream come true. Now it was as if her life had finally started in earnest, and everything before now was just preparation. There was still more to do before her first adventure, however. Eofe asked around for where to find a caravan headed to Parth, and was directed to the merchant¡¯s quarter. She was a bit nervous about her funds and worried about the practicality of stowing away in a wagon, but the receptionist¡¯s assessment proved true. It would only cost two gold coins to join a caravan that would be leaving in the morning. It was even being escorted by a team of Gold-rank adventurers. It was nearly night by the time Eofe had secured her passage, so she wandered the city for a bit until she found a dilapidated park with half-dead trees and rotting grass. There were a handful of dirty and smelly people already bedding down in the dirt, so Eofe decided to join them. She rolled out her bedroll and quickly fell asleep. She only woke up twice during the night to scare away some urchins who tried to get into her things. When the sun finally peeked over the eastern sea in the morning, Eofe scampered over to western gate and found her caravan waiting to depart. The caravan she had joined consisted of three merchants leading five loaded wagons between them, along with an extra covered wagon for Eofe and a handful of other passengers. It was being escorted by a team of Gold-rank adventurers known as Ulreth¡¯s Pack. Eofe joined the other passengers in the back of the wagon and set her pack between her legs. She waited with excitement until the caravan set off, passing through the western gate and onto the open road. Six wagons in total set out from Tarog¡¯s Landing that morning. Only one would make it to Parth. Chapter 8 Eofe was bored. She hadn¡¯t imagined that anything could be worse than slaving away on a ship for weeks on end, but that just goes to show what little imagination she possessed. It had only been half a day on the caravan and already she was missing the open sea, the fresh air, and even her chores, which at least keep her busy, and¡ªGoddess save her¡ªeven Bawdric¡¯s ramblings. She couldn¡¯t believe that an orphaned sailor boy was better company all four of her traveling companions. Granted, one of them was a child, but the others had no excuse. She had found herself in a cramped and stuffy wagon, covered over with a canvas that kept out the sun while simultaneously smothering Eofe¡¯s senses. She had never felt so confined in her entire life. In addition, she was surrounded by who she thought must be the dullest companions in the world. A Human man sat across from her, a pale and scrawny thing who looked like he had never been outside a day in his life. He had his head buried in a book, with another bag full of books set on the bench to his side. He was a [Scribe], which seemed about the most boring thing Eofe could imagine. They didn¡¯t have many books in the Green; they preferred learning by deed and word of mouth instead, which was far more reasonable than sitting still and reading for hours on end. That wasn¡¯t to say that Eofe didn¡¯t know how to read¡ªshe just didn¡¯t like it. The next two were a Human woman and her young son. She was a [Mother], which Eofe didn¡¯t even know was a Class. She felt a bit bitter knowing her own mother had not been devoted enough to be rewarded a Class for her efforts. Eofe didn¡¯t even try to guess the Human child¡¯s age. He could have been anywhere from five to twenty for all she knew. Worst of all, sitting right beside her, was a small Goblin man. She knew she wasn¡¯t alone in her prejudice from the looks the [Scribe] gave the little man, though the woman and her son at least seemed to be at ease in his company. Of course, Eofe had never actually met a Goblin until now, but she had heard the stories, so she kept her things close and her pack shut tight. The Goblin was an [Artificer], something that Eofe had never heard of. She assumed he was some kind of artist. They had spent the first several minutes in each other¡¯s company on brief introductions, meaning that Eofe had already forgotten each of their names. They were headed to Parth for different reasons: the [Scribe] and [Artificer] for work, and the [Mother] and her child to ¡°get away from the city,¡± as she had put it lightly with a spurious laugh. The woman kept glancing furtively down the road, as if expecting something to appear, so Eofe wondered if she was traveling with some sort of criminal. The woman and the Goblin had begun to engage in some inane chatter about their dull lives immediately after the introductions, and had been at it for several hours now. The caravan had passed out of the sparse woodlands surrounding Tarog¡¯s Landing by midday, and now all that was left beside the road was dirt and scrubland. Two more wagons pulled up the rear of the caravan, the first driven by a [Traveling Trader], followed by an [Apprentice Merchant]. The trader looked like a sailor who had given up a life at sea to trade on land instead. Her braided her was woven through with scraps of fabric, and she even wore a cutlass on her belt. Eofe was certain the woman and her apprentice would have been better company, but then she would have to get out of the wagon and approach them on her own, so she immediately discarded that thought. What she really wanted to do was to join the adventurers. Unfortunately, they were busy doing their jobs, keeping on high alert for any monsters, beasts, or bandits roaming the road. She had felt a little embarrassed about having to be guarded when she was a full-fledged adventurer herself (she had only just joined up yesterday, but she still felt like that warranted some regard), though when she offered to help the Gold-rank team with their job, the captain¡ªa level 45 [Ranger] carrying a longbow and a sword¡ªtold her that she would just get in the way. ¡°It¡¯ll be dangerous as we get closer to the mountains,¡± he had said, stroking his short black beard while Eofe grimaced (she still found facial hair to be somewhat unsavory). She could spy the aforementioned mountains in the distance, an edifice of earth and stone to the northwest that pierced the clouds and continued west for as far as she could see. ¡°There¡¯s many a beast rated over forty in the area. Some even over fifty. Leave the monster killing to us, you just sit in the wagon and enjoy the ride.¡± She wasn¡¯t enjoying anything at the moment. The woman and the Goblin had somehow moved on to even duller topics, discussing politics, the Senate, and other things Eofe had no understanding of or interest in. Even worse, the child kept staring at her, then pointing and whispering something to his mother, who would interrupt her conversation with the Goblin to whisper something back, and Eofe just imagined all the terrible things they were saying about her. It felt a bit unfair they were picking on her when there was a Goblin right there, but she supposed Goblins were much more common than Elves in these parts. The mother seemed to have caught on to Eofe¡¯s discomfort, because she put on a placating smile and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we¡¯ve just never met a High Elf before,¡± she said. Eofe cringed. ¡°I¡¯m not a High Elf,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m a¡ª¡± bile crawled up her throat as the words rose to the tip of her tongue, ¡°¡ªa Wood Elf.¡± Goddess forgive my blasphemous words. The [Scribe] perked up at this revelation, and even the [Artificer] lifted his bushy Goblin eyebrows. ¡°Really?¡± the [Scribe] asked. ¡°I thought you people weren¡¯t allowed out of your forests.¡± Eofe¡¯s distaste for the man grew with every word. ¡°I¡¯m here, aren¡¯t I?¡± she said curtly. He ignored her tone. ¡°What brings a Wood Elf to Orith? Are you on a quest? Some mission for your people? Or have you come seeking a husband?¡± Gross. ¡°Oh! Are you perhaps on a spiritual journey? I hear the Orc shamans have such practices.¡± She supposed it was something like that, though that¡¯s not how she answered. ¡°I¡¯ve been exiled,¡± she lied. She didn¡¯t know why she said it. In a way, she was the opposite of an exile, seeing as her mother and most of the Fal would have done anything to keep her from leaving the Green. But something about the man rubbed her the wrong way, and she hoped her statement might shut him up. Her fatal error was that she greatly misunderstood the rabid curiosity of scholars and their ilk. Instead of being embarrassed or appalled, the man¡¯s eyes lit up at the lie. ¡°One moment, please,¡± he said, digging into the bag at his side. He pulled out a book with mostly blank pages, as well as some sort of pen. ¡°Please, continue. Why were you cast out of your forest?¡± She had no idea where this was going, but she had already dug her hole, so she figured she may as well keep digging. She considered all the reasons that might see a Surag exiled from the Green and stripped of the Mark of the Wild. There weren¡¯t many; the punishment for so severe a crime was usually death. So, she chose something else instead. ¡°Excessive cannibalism,¡± she said. He scribbled nearly as fast as she could speak, and she noticed the pen dripped with ink even though he had never dipped it in an inkpot. Some benefits of the [Scribe] class, she assumed. He stopped and stared blankly at the page for a moment after he finished writing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ did you say excessive cannibalism?¡± Eofe nodded. ¡°A little bit is fine. I ate too much,¡± she patted her stomach. The [Scribe] looked a mix of enthralled and aghast, while the mother maintained a blank smile on her face and pulled her son close. The Goblin was shaking with contained laughter that he covered with a cough. ¡°Pardon me,¡± he said. The [Scribe] finally managed to gather his wits before continuing. ¡°Incredible,¡± he said. ¡°Your people so rarely leave the forests. I must be the first outsider to have heard of this practice.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. He wasn¡¯t wrong on either count. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Eofe regaling the man with tales of her people, most of which she pilfered from stories she had been told about Orcs or even the Wildmen. She wasn¡¯t sure if any of them were true, but that didn¡¯t matter at all. The picture she painted was of a savage place where naked Elves performed blood rituals, mated with beasts, and sacrificed their children to the Greenwarden. The Goblin had occasional coughing fits during the telling, earning him a withering glare from the [Scribe]. The mother also caught on at some point, rolling her eyes at the more outlandish tales. Eofe decided she was finished when the sun began to dip below the horizon and the caravan finally stopped for the day, pulling off the road into flat plain cleared of brush. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t say any more,¡± she said apologetically. ¡°I¡¯ll get in trouble, or something.¡± The man nodded and continued writing his notes and muttering something about finally getting ¡°published¡± and becoming a [Scholar]. Eofe didn¡¯t really understand, and she was about to wish him the best of luck before she remembered she didn¡¯t like him at all. So, she hopped out of the wagon and left him to it. At least that aside had alleviated her boredom for part of the day. The six wagons had been parked in a circle in the clearing. The place must have been a well-used resting spot, as the dirt was ground to a soft powder in a rough circle that had been cleared of the brush that occupied most of the surrounding land. Each pair of horses was detached and hitched to a wooden post driven into the ground. Eofe felt a bit of pity for the creatures. She didn¡¯t detect a hint of the Greenwarden¡¯s blessing upon them. The Goddess¡¯ domain was only for wild beasts¡ªthere was no place in her heart for tamed or domesticated creatures. The [Ranger] was already preparing a fire in the center of the circle, where he had placed a bundle of sticks in a pit. He whispered some words and the wood ignited into flames. Eofe didn¡¯t know if the magic was the result of a Skill or his own talents, but it looked mighty convenient either way. The only magic she was capable of was that which was granted by the Benefactor and engraved into her body and mind as a Skill. She had utterly failed whenever she tried to cast even the most basic spells on her own. Eofe found a spot on the ground away from the fire as the rest of the caravanners gathered around the pit. The three merchants and the other three drivers clustered together, chatting amongst themselves. The mother brought her son out to sit beside the fire, who clung to her skirts and whispered what Eofe assumed to be inane questions to his mother. Then there was Ulreth¡¯s Pack, the four-person Gold-rank adventuring team. Besides the stern [Ranger], the party also included a [Cleric of Abundant Faith] with an easy smile and a [Stormcast Sorcerer] who was far too loud. They were both Human men and clothed in practical and well-worn traveling gear. The sorcerer was completely hairless and held a copper staff tipped with a pale yellow stone. The cleric on the other hand had a head of auburn hair longer than Eofe¡¯s own that was tied into a knot, and carried a flanged mace that hung off his belt. The fourth and final member, who Eofe was glad to see wasn¡¯t around at the moment, was a heavily armored [Vanguard]. A loud whistle pierced the dusk and all eyes turned to the captain of Ulreth¡¯s Pack. ¡°Gather ¡®round, we¡¯ve got some matters to discuss before we head out tomorrow.¡± The Goblin and the [Scholar] came out of their wagon to join the group. The Goblin sat too close to Eofe and she scooted away, earning her a disappointed look from the little man. ¡°Now, since you¡¯re all a bunch of fools who decided to take the short northern road to Parth instead swinging around south, I¡¯ve got to prepare you for what¡¯s to come.¡± Eofe didn¡¯t know that was an option. ¡°We¡¯ll be in the shadow of the Stonewall Mountains within a couple of days. And we will encounter threats on the road, I promise you. The Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters have been ranging further afield of late. If we don¡¯t run into any of them, we¡¯ll at least see whatever beasts they¡¯ve run out of their own territory. So, you understand how important it is that you stay in your wagons,¡± he looked pointedly at Eofe and her wagon-mates. ¡°I wish I didn¡¯t have to say this every time, but there¡¯s always some damned fool who gets frightened and runs off the road. These wagons have protections,¡± he walked over to the covered wagon and pointed to a series of dimly glowing stones that were seemingly buried into the wood on the side. ¡°These will shield the wagon from harm. Which means that if you also want to be shielded, you must remain inside. Your [Driver] will be responsible for activating them on our orders, or when he feels is appropriate. They won¡¯t last forever, so we must use them sparingly. I trust the merchants to manage their own protections, they¡¯ve all been on this road before.¡± He looked around at the gathered travelers. ¡°Is everyone understood?¡± He was rewarded with nods before he turned to his companions. ¡°Anything to add?¡± ¡°You forgot to tell them that if they¡¯re not inside when the wards go up, they¡¯re not getting inside at all,¡± a gruff female voice added. The fourth and final member of Ulreth¡¯s Pack walked into the circle from wherever she had been. The woman was over six feet tall and bedecked in worn gray plate armor up to the neck. A full helmet with a visor hung off her belt, leaving her head exposed for the moment. A single braid of dark hair fell down her back, where the hilt of a massive warhammer peeked over her shoulder. Most distressingly, her skin was green and she had a pair of sharp tusks jutting from her lower lip. Eofe looked away when their eyes met. The Orc had been giving Eofe a hostile look since she first saw her. She must have something against Elves, which Eofe thought was incredibly unfair. ¡°Good reminder, Kana,¡± the captain said. ¡°These wards are simple, but strong. They don¡¯t discriminate and they won¡¯t let anything through while they¡¯re active. Not even you.¡± At this point, the cleric brought out a pot and set it over the fire. ¡°That¡¯s enough doom and gloom for the night, I think,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s have some porridge.¡± Eofe waited alone while the meal was prepared and the cleric went around delivering bowls. She watched him idly while he did so. The cleric¡¯s Class was curious. She had no idea what a [Cleric of Abundant Faith] was or which God he might serve. When he finally brought her a bowl, she asked him what it meant. ¡°Ah, you saw my Class? You must have an assessment Skill.¡± Eofe nodded. The priest held out a necklace on which hung five different emblems she did not recognize. ¡°It means I serve many Gods. This is Ragnar the Hunter,¡± he pointed to a symbol on one side, then counted his way down the chain. ¡°Holth of Honor and War. Helena of Triumph. Joha, Purveyor of Fortune. And¡­¡± the man coughed and looked suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Andiri, Patron of Excess.¡± Eofe hadn¡¯t heard of most of those Gods, though she knew of Ragnar. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for Surag to send the occasional prayer to the Hunter. That last one also sounded vaguely familiar¡­ ¡°Excess?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes. I joined her in my youth. She does not have much to offer an adventurer, but I still can¡¯t bring myself to leave her service.¡± He still looked fairly young to her, even for a Human. ¡°And of all the Hellgods, Andiri is often the most tolerable to outsiders.¡± Ah, now Eofe remembered. The Goddess of the Hell of Excess, patron to gamblers, drunks, and harlots. She wondered which of those Eathan had been in his younger days, but thought it imprudent to ask. She was also surprised to find a man who served both Highgods and Hellgods, even if Excess was one of the more tolerable Hells. He looked closely at Eofe, taking in her pointed ears and her stubby antlers. ¡°What about you? Where does your faith lie?¡± ¡°Only in the Greenwarden.¡± She had never really considered following any other Gods, even though Greenwarden would allow it. The idea had always felt blasphemous to the Elf. Especially with how much of a personal interest the Goddess took in Eofe¡¯s own future. ¡°So, you are a Wood Elf.¡± Eofe sighed and resigned herself to the moniker. ¡°Kana said you might be.¡± Eofe felt uncomfortable knowing the Orc had been talking about her, and wondered just what that attention meant. ¡°I¡¯m Eathan, by the way. I should have introduced myself sooner.¡± ¡°Eofe.¡± He held out his hand and Eofe looked at it curiously. Eathan laughed. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to shake it. It¡¯s how people greet each other in Orith. And many other places around Calan.¡± Eofe shook his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t mind Kana too much, by the way. She¡¯s a prickly one. Though I don¡¯t know what she has against Wood Elves,¡± he rubbed his chin. ¡°Have your people had any conflict with the Orcs?¡± ¡°Not for a long time,¡± Eofe said. ¡°That may not matter. The Orcs have a longer memory than most. Especially those from the Tribes. And they do love their grudges.¡± Eathan shrugged. ¡°Well, try not to let her get under your skin. Let me know if she bothers you, but I expect the worst you¡¯ll get out of her is a cold shoulder.¡± The cleric moved on, delivering food to the rest of the caravan. Eofe watched the Orc [Vanguard] across the fire. The woman sneered at her once, then returned to eating her porridge. Eofe finished her food in silence, slightly concerned over having earned the ire of a level forty-something adventurer. And an Orc at that. It was just after she had finished eating and was wondering where to sleep that captain stood up for another announcement and answered the question for her. ¡°We¡¯ll be bedding down in a moment. There¡¯s only so much room in the passenger wagon, so we¡¯ll give it to the women and children for the night.¡± He nodded to the mother and to Eofe. She narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to discern into which category he placed her. She strolled up to the wagon, pointedly took out her things, and set up her bedroll near the fire. ¡°I¡¯ll sleep outside. The [Scribe] can have my place.¡± The man brightened up and thanked her, and for a moment she regretted her hasty decision for giving the man the sense that she liked him. She fell asleep soon after, worried about having to endure two more weeks of monotonous days. Chapter 9 Eofe had the foresight to better prepare for the second day. She had gathered some sticks from a small copse of trees a ways off the road before they set out. She figured she may as well work on getting another level in [Fletcher]. She didn¡¯t have any feathers or arrowheads, and the quality of the wood left much to be desired, but the practice would still help her inch closer to another level. Eofe whittled down the sticks to something resembling an arrow using a small carving knife as the wagon rolled on. The [Scribe] complained once about wood chips getting in the wagon, but Eofe gave him a look and he quietly returned to reading his books. She was nearly through all of her sticks before the caravan suddenly ground to a halt. ¡°Hold!¡± Eofe jerked upright and scampered over the Goblin and the child to look over the driver¡¯s shoulder at the front of the wagon. Any change to the caravan¡¯s rote motions must mean something exciting. The cleric of Ulreth¡¯s Pack was coming down the road, stopping to say something to each of the wagons ahead of them in turn. Eofe listened in when he reached theirs. ¡°Hamish found a suspicious pile of rocks beside the road that he¡¯s certain is sentient. We¡¯ll want to take care of it before moving on.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Hamish?¡± Eofe asked. Eathan blinked. ¡°The captain. I thought you two had been introduced.¡± ¡°I thought his name was Ulreth.¡± Eathan laughed. ¡°No, Ulreth was long gone before even Hamish joined the team. We¡¯ve just kept his name. It¡¯s sort of a tradition, I suppose.¡± He continued on to warn the last two wagons in the line. Eofe watched ahead where the rest of Ulreth¡¯s Pack had gathered. Hamish the [Ranger] and Kana the [Vanguard] were conferring together a few dozen yards past the head wagon. The Orc had donned her helmet and held her massive hammer in a two-handed grip. They stood a short distance from a mound of rocks that must have been the creature¡¯s body. Eofe tried to [Assess] the rocks, but got nothing in return. The creature was too camouflaged as well as too foreign to her experience for the Skill to be of any use. The [Stormcast Sorcerer] stood on a rise on the opposite side of the mound of rocks from his team, closer to the caravan. The man had no hair on his head or face, and was largely plain and unadorned except for some kind of markings or tattoos glittering blue on his neck and chin. He held a long copper staff tipped with a pale yellow stone. A voice cried out up ahead and bubbles of warped air appeared around each of the wagons, looking as if a haze of heat surrounded them. Her own [Driver] activated their protections by reaching a hand under his seat. Eofe felt the wagon vibrate beneath her boots as the magic reverberated through the wagon, and the same haze of magic surrounded them. Once all the shields were up, Kana roared and charged forward, bringing her hammer down in heavy blow that pulverized a stone at the edge of the mound. A great rumbling shook the earth and up rose a hill made out of stone. It took Eofe a moment to recognize what appeared to be a head rising over a dozen feet in the air, though it lacked anything resembling eyes or a mouth. Dozens of rocks were attached to each other by some invisible arcane mechanism, many as wide around as Eofe was tall, forming a figure vaguely resembling a man. The golem rose to an impressive height, standing up from the earth to loom over the adventurers. Its every movement grinded stones together, sounding like boulders crashing into each other. Eofe idly wondered how many arrows it would take to chip even the smallest stone of its body. Her question was answered with a crack as an arrow snapped into the golem¡¯s head, blowing out a chunk of stone. Hamish drew another arrow as the golem stumbled back and threw out an arm to right itself. A boulder flew off its arm and Eofe panicked as it tumbled in the air towards the front wagon. A flash of light intercepted it where it met the barrier, shattering the rock and spraying chips of stone over the road. The vehicle was unharmed. The golem righted itself and brought a fist down in a lumbering swing against the [Vanguard] at its feet. The Orc twirled her hammer around to meet its punch, deflecting the blow of a limb that was larger than she was into the ground. She replied with a strike of her own, cracking one of the stones that made up the creature¡¯s leg. Hamish sent arrows into the golem at a steady pace, scouring small chunks of rock out of the creature with every shot. He must have been empowering his shots with a Skill, because there was no way an ordinary arrow could do so much damage. Eofe had a [Power Shot] Skill that could impart magical strength into her arrows, but she suspected that even at maximum strength she would not be able to do any more than chip the stone. Kana continued to draw the creature¡¯s attention with curses and yells and powerful strikes to its shins, each of which cracked and shattered even more stones. The golem¡¯s lumbering swings were too slow to catch the armored warrior, who dodged what she could and deflected the rest. ¡°The storm calls!¡± Eofe¡¯s attention was drawn to the sorcerer, who pointed his staff at the golem. The yellow crystal glowed with pale light, and even from this distance Eofe felt her skin prickle and her hair rise on end. His shout must have been a signal, as Kana leapt back from the golem and held her hammer up in a defensive posture. ¡°Oh, best keep your head down,¡± the driver said to her side, then closed his eyes and buried his head in his lap. ¡°Why?¡± Eofe asked. ¡°What¡¯s¡ª¡± Lightning flashed and a thundercrack blasted her eardrums. Eofe shut her eyes and covered her ears in a futile gesture that was a second too late. After the streaks of light faded from her vision and the ringing in her ears ceases, Eofe looked back to the battle. The golem still stood, but with a gaping cavity in its chest with numerous cracks radiating from the wound. It remained standing for a brief moment before whatever magic held it together finally failed and it toppled over like a rockslide as dozens of boulders crashed into the earth. The sorcerer¡¯s staff crackled with spent energy, steam curling off its point while the smell of burnt oxygen assaulted Eofe¡¯s nostrils. The man looked invigorated more than tired from the display of power and he turned to the onlookers. ¡°Ha! Did you see that?¡± he yelled. ¡°One shot! Right to the chest!¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Excellent work, Eriden,¡± Eathan joined his companion. Eofe wondered where he had been during the fight. Maybe he stayed in the back in case things turned south. ¡°Did that really require so much power, though?¡± ¡°Best not take any chances,¡± Eriden replied. ¡°Besides, doesn¡¯t it make your heart all aflutter, seeing all that power?¡± ¡°You know it does not.¡± It was Eofe¡¯s first time seeing a professional team of adventurers at work, and it was an impressive sight. She couldn¡¯t wait until she was at the [Ranger]¡¯s level and could break stone with her own arrows. She returned to her seat, leaving the two adventurers to their bickering, and soon the caravan started ambling forward once more. ¡°Is everything all right?¡± the mother was holding her son tight with a worried look on her face. Eofe nodded. ¡°It¡¯s dead. It was some kind of rock golem.¡± Eofe looked out the back of the wagon as they passed the pile of rocks that had once been a living creature. Or so she thought. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure about the natural philosophy of whether a bunch of rocks animated by ambient magic was truly alive or not. The clang of metal on stone reverberated through the air as the [Vanguard] continued to pulverize inanimate stones with her mighty hammer. The din faded into the background as the caravan moved on, and it was over an hour later that the sweaty and tired Orc caught up, covered in dust. The caravan pulled off the road just before the sun set, setting up once again in a rough circle with a fire at the center. There were no announcements this time, though Eathan prepared another simple meal and handed it out to each of the travelers as everyone gathered around the fire. ¡°What was she doing to the rocks?¡± Eofe asked as he approached. ¡°Making sure the golem wouldn¡¯t get up and bother the road again,¡± Eathan said. ¡°It can be difficult to tell if stone golems are really dead¡ªif they were even alive in the first place. Sometimes, the stones will just reanimate if you leave them alone for long enough.¡± ¡°Can we expect to see more monsters like that on the road?¡± the mother asked aloud. ¡°That¡¯ll be the least of it, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Hamish answered. ¡°We¡¯ll be at the edge of the Stonewall tomorrow. Most of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s beasts come out much further east, but you should all be prepared for another encounter within the next two days. This road has been getting more and more dangerous each year of late. Once we cross the Anvers River, we¡¯ll swing down to join the southern road and we should have a smooth journey from there.¡± ¡°¡¯s not the beasts that concern me,¡± the Orc [Vanguard] added from across the fire. ¡°They¡¯re always out and about. But I just can¡¯t help but wonder what a Woodie is doin¡¯ way out here, so far from the forest.¡± It took Eofe a moment to realize the Orc was talking about her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Kana,¡± the captain warned. Kana laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just asking, captain,¡± she said before turning to Eofe. ¡°The shamans have warned us of you lot. They say the Bloom¡¯s comin¡¯ around, and we¡¯ll soon be up to our ears in trees and Elves.¡± Eofe shrank under the attention of all the eyes on her. The other travelers gathered around the fire had sensed the budding drama and leaned in to see what would happen next. ¡°So, is it true, Elfie? Will you and I be at war soon?¡± Eofe didn¡¯t want to be at war with anyone, especially¡ªshe eyed Kana¡¯s tusks warily¡ªnot an Orc over twice her size. But she couldn¡¯t deny the kernel of truth of the woman¡¯s words.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Eofe said. ¡°How long do Orcs live for?¡± The Orc grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few decades left before I croak with grey hairs on my head. So maybe half that if I keep adventurin¡¯.¡± Eofe shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, then. Not even the Goddess knows when it will be time.¡± Which was mostly the truth. ¡°What¡¯s the Bloom?¡± the [Scribe] asked. The Orc guffawed. ¡°What¡¯s the Bloom, he says!¡± she bent over and slapped her knees, then wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. ¡°This is why you city boys need to stop reading so many books.¡± The [Scribe] bristled, but the Orc carried on. ¡°The shamans remember what¡¯s important, and they tell us when it¡¯s time to know. I¡¯m sure your libraries are full of books all about the Bloom, but they¡¯re thousands of years old by now. Nobody¡¯s been reading them, so you¡¯ve all forgot.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it either,¡± Eathan said. ¡°You¡¯re a simple farm boy, cleric. I don¡¯t expect you to have heard of anything.¡± Eathan gave her a long-suffering look. The Orc sighed. ¡°All right, then. Gather around for story time, children. I¡¯ll tell you what the shamans told us all about the Woodies and the Bloom.¡± Kana¡¯s entire demeanor changed in a moment. She sat up straight, her eyes gaining a far-off look as she prepared to repeat the story. Eofe was suddenly put in mind of the few [Minstrels] and [Bards] who occasionally swept through Fal Tiren, bringing stories of far away lands and strange peoples. She used to beg her mother to take her to the tellings, to hear about all the places she would never see. Though she still preferred her aunt¡¯s tales of her own adventures. ¡°I take it you¡¯ve all heard of the Green?¡± Kana started. Most of the travelers gathered around the fire nodded, except for the child who shook his head. The Orc gave him a gentle smile that Eofe thought looked out of place on her savage face. ¡°It¡¯s the place the Woodies come from, far away on an island where only Elves and wild men live. It¡¯s owned by the Greenwarden, the [Goddess of the Wild]. No civilization is allowed in the Green. You see, it''s a wild place for wild things. But once every two thousand years or so, that callous cur of a Goddess¡ª¡± Eofe squeezed her eyes shut and silently prayed for forgiveness for allowing such blasphemy to touch her ears ¡°¡ªdecides it¡¯s time for the Green to grow. That time is called the Bloom.¡± ¡°The First Bloom began about eight thousand years ago¡ªlong before Orith was even a dream, when the world was still recovering from the Old Gods¡¯ wars and the Reckoning that brought them low. It was a problem for the High Elves at first, who share the island with their Woodie cousins. The Green shook out its seeds and spores like a mighty beast shedding its fur and it covered the whole island with it. Trees grew out of Elven streets and wild beasts hunted their roads. The First Bloom bloodied their nose a bit, and the rest of the world had a good laugh about it. ¡®Those silly Elves, fightin¡¯ over trees,¡¯ we said. We forgot about it for a time. Then about two thousand years later, the Second Bloom came and the Elves had a proper war over it. None of the rest of us know what really happened during the Second Bloom, it being so far away and so long ago. But it must have been a real mess, because it was right after that war that the High Elves built their walls and turned their cities into fortresses. So when it was time for the next Bloom, they fled to their cities and let the wild run all over their lands. Now the Bloom had strength to spare.¡± The Orc shot Eofe a dark look. ¡°The Third Bloom crossed the sea. The Woodies carried its seeds on ships as big as castles and dropped it on Calan¡¯s shores. Forests sprouted out of coastal sand and beasts grew on these wild trees like fruits. It didn¡¯t get far that first time, but it sure was a surprise. Whatever kingdoms ruled the coasts in those days pushed the invasion back before it could taint the land. At least now we knew it wasn¡¯t just a problem for the Elves anymore.¡± The Orc¡¯s grin faded, her jovial tone hardened. ¡°If you¡¯ve been paying attention, you woulda noticed that each Bloom¡¯s been worse than the last. The Gods level just like us, and there¡¯s nothing like waging war on the whole world to give you a level or two.¡± She spat on the ground. ¡°The Fourth Bloom was a desecration. There¡¯s fleets at the bottom of the Opal Sea where foolish men tried to stop the Woodies from coming over on their ships the second time. But the Woodies had been preparing for two thousand years, and the rest of the world had only just remembered. The Elves live long lives, you see, and they always remember what the rest of us forget. So there wasn¡¯t anybody ready to fight them when the time came. Not enough to stop their ships from landing and planting their seeds in Calan soil once again.¡± ¡°Now, you might be wonderin¡¯ what¡¯s so bad about the Bloom. It¡¯s just a bunch of trees and beasts, right? But the Bloom changes the land. Wasn¡¯t long before trees started growing out of the desert and swamps drowned the plains. Then the forests we already had turned dark and all your little farms stopped growing what they were supposed to, and started growing wild things instead.¡± ¡°And of course there were the beasts,¡± Kana growled, a deep-throated rumbling that put Eofe on edge. ¡°There are monsters in the wild, the kind that we civilized folk have never dreamed of.¡± A creature appeared in Eofe¡¯s mind, a tyrant of tooth and claw, who shook the Wildwood with every step. ¡°And I include myself in that,¡± Kana continued. ¡°I may be from the Tribes, but we also have our herds and our camps. Even that much is too civilized for the [Goddess of the Wild]. Remember, the purpose of the Bloom is to grow the Green, and the Green is a place of the wild. It hates nothing more than civilization. So these monsters out of the wild attacked your walls, broke up your roads, killed our herds, and tore down camps. All to conquer this tamed land for the wild.¡± Silence descended on the camp as the travelers¡¯ minds filled with images of their homes being overrun by wild nature and wild Elves. ¡°They say it even touched the Deep,¡± Kana said, and some of the travelers¡¯ eyes filled with wonder at the mention of that dark and unknowable place beneath the earth. ¡°The Underking was mighty mad about it at the time. So mad, they say, he dug a tunnel from below Calan all the way to that island of the Elves, right under the sea. Of course, none of us surface folk know what goes on down there, so who¡¯s to say what really happened.¡± It didn¡¯t work. If what Eofe was told was true, the bones of the old Underking lay somewhere in the dark tunnels below Ilthera, miles beneath the surface. It took the Dwarves and their vassals over a hundred years to navigate their way to Ilthera in the bowels of the earth. In the end, their mistake was assuming the Green had not already conquered the Deep beneath its roots long ago. ¡°We fought back in time,¡± Kana continued. ¡°For all its terrible power, the Bloom only lasts for a year. We burned the forests, drained the swamps, and killed a whole lotta Elves,¡± she sneered at Eofe. The others looked at the Elf, who chose to stare into the fire instead of meeting their gazes. ¡°The Fourth Bloom left its mark on this land. You can still find it, if you look real close. Some strange trees growing in the desert where nothing should grow at all. Flowers that bloom out of season. A dark forest with wild plants and tameless beasts.¡± The [Ranger] perked up at that final statement. ¡°Ah,¡± he said, coming to some revelation of his own. ¡°And now the Fifth Bloom is coming. It¡¯s been near about two thousand years since the last one. It could start any day now, give or take a hundred years or so.¡± They had a few years yet, of that much Eofe was certain. Though whether the Bloom would begin in full in five years or fifty, she couldn¡¯t say. Not even the Goddess knew for certain. ¡°Why does she do it?¡± all eyes turned to the little boy, who immediately cowered in his mother¡¯s lap. The Orc smiled and looked to Eofe. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Why does she do it?¡± Eofe did not have a mother to hide behind when attention shifted to her. She couldn¡¯t weave a tale as well as the Orc, but this was an old story, told to every child of the Surag. She drew herself up and met the Orc¡¯s eyes, no matter how fast it made her heart beat. ¡°It¡¯s a promise,¡± she said. ¡°And a warning.¡± She remembered sitting in her mother¡¯s lap, listening to her recite the story of their people, of the history of the Green and each of its Blooms. She repeated the words her mother had told her so many years ago. ¡°There wasn¡¯t much left after the Old Gods¡¯ wars. Civilizations may have died, but the wild suffered most of all. Forests as old as the world were burned to ash. Ancient lineages of beasts were ended with senseless violence. Countless species were lost forever. After the Reckoning¡­ when most of the Old Gods had been slain, the Greenwarden ascended with a promise. Never again. Never again would the sanctity of the wild be subject to the whims of mad Gods and greedy civilizations. And she offered this warning to go with it. Beware the wild, for it has a warden.¡± Eofe looked over the travelers, each of them a child of civilization, bound to its rules and laws, and subjugating the wild with their very existence. ¡°The purpose of the Bloom isn¡¯t to harm. Nobody ever has to get hurt, if you just let the wild be.¡± Kana scoffed. Eofe glared at her, and the Orc smirked back. ¡°You can hide behind your walls and wait the year out for the Bloom to end,¡± Eofe continued. ¡°No one will be harmed who lets the Bloom pass in peace. Just remember the Greenwarden¡¯s promise and her warning.¡± The camp remained quiet as each person absorbed those words. Many of them would likely live to see the next Bloom, to be forced to fight against the invasion of the wild and the Surag, or retreat to safety behind city walls and pray to their own Gods for mercy. The adventurers especially may feel responsible for defending the land against the wild. Some of them may not make it through to the end. ¡°Well, that¡¯s bleak as shit,¡± Eriden piped up. Kana laughed. ¡°The Bloom may not be the only world-ending threat, but it is the only one on a schedule.¡± ¡°Hear, hear!¡± Eriden said. ¡°We¡¯ve still got the Wight Lords down south, who could unite any day now to try to take over the world. Again. The Underking might just decide that he and his armies are tired of living in the dark and would like to see the sun. And the Dragons are always up to something.¡± The Orc grinned. ¡°And maybe we¡¯ll get another Chieftain Tarog someday soon. I hear he did a number on the Green back in the day. Isn¡¯t that right, Elfie?¡± It was true. Tarog and his horde had pushed further into the Green than anyone ever had, before or since. He even sacked two Aedwyn fortress-cities on the way, which had been long thought to be impenetrable. He was largely the reason the Surag held such disdain for the Orcs even after all these years. He still faltered before the end though, just like every other invader would. But Eofe didn¡¯t want to give the Orc the satisfaction of an answer, so she merely shrugged. ¡°You never answered my question, by the way,¡± Kana said. ¡°What are you doing here anyway, so far from your forest?¡± Eofe felt she shouldn¡¯t have to defend herself, but her answer was simple and true. ¡°I came to Orith to be an adventurer.¡± She lifted the copper badge she had just received the other day. It didn¡¯t compare to the golden token dangling from the neck of each member of Ulreth¡¯s Pack, but it still filled her with a small amount of pride. ¡°The Guild¡¯s on your little island as well. Why¡¯d you have to come all the way over here?¡± Eofe shifted awkwardly as she considered her answer. ¡°My mother wouldn¡¯t let me. I ran away from home.¡± Kana unleashed a full-bellied laugh that startled her neighbors. ¡°That, I can believe! Sometimes you gotta run far from home to find your own place in the world.¡± Eathan offered Kana an affectionate smile, while Eriden slapped her on her armored back¡ªbefore cursing and shaking out his hand. The group¡¯s attention finally shifted away from the Elf and the rest of the night settled down into more mundane conversations. Eofe ate her food in solitude, trying to ignore the wary glances aimed her way. She also couldn¡¯t help but notice the [Scribe] adding to his notes off to the side. He had been writing in a mad frenzy from the moment Kana began to speak. There was a lot the Orc¡¯s story was missing, however. The shamans only remembered what happened to Calan, after all. They didn¡¯t know about the ships that carried the Bloom to the northern lands, or the Wildmen who took it to the far east. It hadn¡¯t reached all the way around the world yet. Maybe the Fifth Bloom finally would. Still, many peoples had suffered through the Fourth Bloom. And no matter what Kana said, many of them surely remembered. Eofe thought they would be much better prepared this time. But one thing Kana had said rang true in her ears¡­ The Greenwarden had leveled. The Benefactor rewards momentous deeds and extraordinary skill, and there really was nothing like waging war on the whole world to reap those rewards. Eofe didn¡¯t know what level the Goddess was now, or how she compared to the other Gods. Only her few clergy might know. The one thing she knew for certain was that the Fifth Bloom would be an event for the whole world to remember. Chapter 10 The third day of the journey began in strained silence. The [Mother] refused to look at Eofe, distracting her son with questions and little games whenever his curious attention strayed to the Elf. Even the [Scribe] was especially engrossed in his books that morning. At least the Goblin appeared as unconcerned as ever. Eofe tried not to let it get to her. She told herself that these weren¡¯t her people; that it didn¡¯t matter what they thought of her. She didn¡¯t even like most of them. Her self-affirmation was sabotaged by the fact that they were the only people around. She was alone out here, far from home and the wild, trapped behind the walls of civilization. Even in a wagon in the middle of nowhere, away from any city, she still felt its confines. She had come by choice, but she didn¡¯t think she had much of one to begin with. It was either run away, or languish in the Fal until¡ª She immediately pushed that unfinished thought out of her mind and buried it in a deep hole. Eofe¡¯s mood soured throughout the day, exacerbated by continued boredom and a spiral of dark thoughts and nagging doubts. The surroundings outside did nothing to improve her mood. They had passed out of the scrublands at some point and had entered into the rocky hills that led up to the base of the Stonewall, where the least of the mountains loomed over the path ahead. The terrain was barren of all but a few meagre greens. Reprieve for her thoughts finally came at midday, though it proved to be an unpleasant distraction. It started with a dead animal on the side of the road. Hamish was squatting over the carcass as the wagon passed, grimly inspecting its wounds. Curiosity, isolation, and a budding rebellious streak spurred Eofe to ignore his warning to stay inside the wagon. She made sure her copper badge was neatly displayed on her chest before she walked up to him. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to stay in the wagon,¡± he chided anyways, immediately after she sidled up to his side. Eofe ignored him and leaned over to get a better look at the carcass. The creature was unidentifiable, its body so desiccated she couldn¡¯t even tell its species. Little more than skin and bones remained. It could have been a deer or a cow for all she knew. The only apparent wounds were a series of circular pucker marks marring its side and gaping holes in its belly, each as big around as Eofe¡¯s fist. ¡°What did that?¡± she asked. Hamish shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. Which can only mean one thing around these parts.¡± He stood up and gave Eofe a critical look. ¡°You best stay in the wagon. I¡¯m afraid this will be a busy day.¡± His words proved true not an hour later. While Eofe¡¯s thoughts were still distracted by the mystery carcass, a bright light flashed ahead of the caravan, followed by a thundercrack echoing across the rocky hills. The sky was clear, so it was surely the sorcerer¡¯s work. They soon came across the charred heap of flesh of some unrecognizable creature beside the road. Eofe attempted to study it as they passed, though by the time it had faded into the distance she still hadn¡¯t the slightest idea what it was. Her curiosity was sated soon after when they encountered another beside this road, this one riddled with arrows and in much better condition. It appeared to have mostly pale skin, with a sparse covering of mangy bristles, and leaked black blood from its wounds. It was a bit larger than the Elf, close to the size of a small pony. It was difficult to discern much about its shape, as the creature¡¯s limbs had twisted in on itself in its final moments, and its head was either missing or obscured. Eofe could not accurately count how many limbs it had, but she was certain there were more than four. A foul, acrid stench wafted off the monster¡¯s corpse, and each of the passengers grimaced in disgust. ¡°That¡¯ll be one of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s,¡± the Goblin said with a grim expression. ¡°What is it?¡± Eofe asked, eager to engage with the only person willing to speak with her. Even if it was a Goblin. The little man shrugged. ¡°They stopped bothering to name his creations a long time ago. He made too many of them, and few are alike.¡± Eofe wondered at the power of a man who could create such a creature, not just once, but enough to threaten much of Orith. So much that even a decade after his death, the shadow of his madness still hung over the region. ¡°Was he Human?¡± she asked. ¡°At first,¡± the Goblin replied. ¡°Don¡¯t know what he was by the end of it.¡± It was especially impressive for a Human to reach that level, who didn¡¯t have thousands of years to build levels and strength. She suddenly had a terrible thought. ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s dead alright,¡± the Goblin chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no coming back from what those adventurers did to him; not that any God would bring him back anyway. I hear there weren¡¯t any pieces left large enough for an ant to choke on. And before you ask, it was his real body for sure. It wasn¡¯t a doppelganger, or a clone, or a simulacrum. They used every Skill in the book to confirm it. He¡¯s dead as dead gets.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Eofe frowned. ¡°Then where are the monsters coming from?¡± ¡°Nobody knows. Some think he set up his laboratory to run on its own after his death. Or maybe he had a secret apprentice. Believe it or not, the monsters we see these days are not nearly as bad as what we saw ten years ago,¡± the Goblin shuddered at whatever memory had just been dredged up. ¡°Whoever or whatever is crafting in his place is not nearly at the same level he was.¡± Eofe mulled over the Goblin¡¯s words as the day wore on. Further lightning strikes shook the hills in the distance and more of the dead creatures were seen scattered about the rocky terrain. Some were blackened and charred, others stuck with arrows, and a few had been smashed into a disgusting fleshy pulp. The occasional odd trumpeting could be heard between the sounds of fighting, an eerie cry that put Eofe on edge. It had to be said that Ulreth¡¯s Pack was doing a good job taking care of the menace, since the rest of them had yet to see a live one. Still, Eofe gripped her bow tight and kept an arrow in hand. Her eyes darted between the road ahead and behind, and she cursed the canvas that covered the wagon and cut off her line of sight to either side. Her stress hadn¡¯t abated in the slightest when the sky faded to a burnt orange on the horizon and the caravan finally stopped for the day. It all seemed worth it though when Eofe stepped out of the wagon and was blessed with the most beautiful sight she had seen in weeks. A forest. And not one of the tamed and cultivated woods that surrounded the cities, but a real place of the wild. It was nothing compared to her home, where the trees rose like towers and civilization was a distant dream, but it was a blessing nonetheless. Its pinewood greens drew the Elf in with its tantalizing scent and she longed to sleep under its boughs. The caravan had settled into a ring in a circle of packed earth just outside the edge of the woods. The horses had been fed and watered before being tied off to the trees. They were close enough that Eofe could wander over to the tree line and listen to the pines rustling in a slight wind and the forest dwellers chirping and skittering within its borders. The road was sandwiched between the forest to the south and the hills leading up to the mountains to the north, so it looked like they would be skirting its edge when they continued their travels the next day. It was while she was gazing longingly into the trees, enjoying the scent of the wild and the feel of leaves and grass beneath her feet, that she detected a whiff of something terrible and familiar. She tried to sniff out the direction it came from. The odor grew stronger with every breath, until she took a deep breath and nearly choked on the stench. She immediately slapped a hand over her nose and mouth, then heard the footsteps coming up behind her. ¡°Remind you of home?¡± Eofe whipped around to see Eathan looking as if he had just emerged from the one of the Hells. His face and clothes were splattered with black blood, still wet in places, and his mace dripped inky drops onto the ground. He held a friendly smile that looked out of place on such a hell-cast visage. ¡°O¡¯ owy,¡± she mumbled through her hand. Eathan blinked. ¡°Come again?¡± Eofe removed her hand and coughed after inhaling another breath of the putrid smell. ¡°Go away. You stink.¡± The cleric looked down at his stained clothes, seeming to take in his state for the first time. He at least had the good sense to look abashed at his presentation. ¡°Ah, I apologize. I suppose I have become accustomed to the smell after enduring it all day. I had forgotten how terrible it was at first.¡± He bowed his head and retreated, moving to join his team by the wagons. Eofe watched him go with an expression of mild disgust, until she finally saw the state of the rest of the adventurers and upgraded it to outright horror. They looked absolutely vile. Hamish had a few of his own splatters of the black blood coating his clothing, though not nearly as much as Eathan. Kana looked the worst of the lot. Her dull grey armor had been stained a sticky black and her hammer¡¯s head was so dark with the vile blood it looked as if it were made of obsidian. Only Eriden was clean. He actually looked exuberant and even wore a broad grin on his face. Eofe avoided the adventurers as the day faded to night and the group prepared for bed. The members of Ulreth¡¯s Pack tactfully avoided the caravanners as well until they had each trickled off one by one to a nearby spring and returned somewhat clean. The stars were bright and the moon full that night, which was fortunate since Hamish refused to build a fire, citing the number of monsters they had encountered during the day. ¡°Sleep close to the wagons,¡± he announced as the group was about to bed down for the night. ¡°It¡¯s rare to find so many of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters on this road. And we haven¡¯t been very quiet in our approach.¡± He shot Eriden a reproachful look, though the sorcerer looked entirely unapologetic. ¡°We are also far from the part of the Stonewall where most of his monsters emerge. For so many to have migrated this far, and still be in such numbers¡­ I fear we may have a breeder.¡± Someone groaned. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Eofe asked. ¡°The Flesh Shaper made his monsters in batches,¡± Hamish answered, ¡°and he never repeated the same experiment twice. You usually won¡¯t ever find more than a few dozen of the same type. The exceptions are the breeders.¡± ¡°Most of his monsters are sterile,¡± Eathan added to the side. ¡°It¡¯s the few that can breed that pose the greatest threat. There¡¯s no telling how many of them there might be.¡± The group ate simple meals of dried meats and fruits before trickling off to bed. Eofe laid down in her armor, with her bow close and her knife in hand. She slept by the edge of the woods, near enough to enjoy the natural scent and the sound of the wild. The night quickly grew cold, a sign that the summer days may be ending soon. Eofe wrapped a scarf around her neck to stave off the chill. She miraculously drifted off to sleep despite the cold air and a sinking apprehension in her gut she just couldn¡¯t push away. Chapter 11 Eofe woke with a start. The night was still young, the moon and stars bright against the void sky. She didn¡¯t know what had roused her, yet an uneasiness gripped her, and her heart hammered in her chest as she rose and equipped her bow. She cast [Owl Eyes], her pupils growing several sizes to take in the meagre light, and the dimly lit night turned nearly as bright as day. The camp was quiet and the other travelers were still asleep. She saw and heard nothing amiss. Even the forest was still, as if all the nocturnal critters had fled into the night. She was about to creep out of the camp to see what had triggered her unease when she heard footsteps and Hamish appeared as if out of thin air. I didn¡¯t sense him at all. He placed two fingers in his mouth and a shrill whistle pierced the quiet night. His team immediately shot to their feet from where they were resting. Kana had also slept in her armor, fully prepared for something to go down in the night. Eathan knelt on the ground and whispered quiet prayers. The rest of the camp was slower to rise, and Hamish himself went around and shoved the deepest sleepers awake with a foot. ¡°Up, and into the wagons. Quick,¡± he commanded. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± one of the merchants asked, even as he climbed onto his seat. ¡°There¡¯s a pack of monsters that will be on us soon.¡± ¡°Are you certain they¡¯re coming for us?¡± the nervous merchant asked. ¡°Yes. I should have considered they¡¯d track us,¡± Hamish chastised himself. ¡°I think they used their own blood as a marker. They must have an excellent sense of smell.¡± ¡°What about the horses?¡± the [Traveling Trader] shouted from where she stood atop her wagon, cutlass in hand. The horses were still tied off to the trees at the edge of the woods. There was very little chance the monsters would just leave them alone. ¡°Damn it all to the Hells,¡± Hamish cursed as he stomped over to the idle beasts. He severed each of ropes holding them with a swing of his sword before walking away. The animals grew antsy, inching closer to the woods as they caught the scent of something foul on the wind. ¡°They¡¯ll make a good distraction, at least. Let¡¯s hope some of them survive.¡± The travelers had each boarded their wagons, the merchants and drivers ready to turn on their shields at the adventurer¡¯s command. Only Eofe lingered, unsure of what to do. ¡°I can help,¡± Eofe said to the adventurer team¡¯s captain. Hamish appraised her for only a moment before shaking his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s too dangerous. You might be able to handle a few of the little ones, but there are far too many.¡± ¡°The little ones?¡± her voice rose in pitch. Hamish nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a big one coming.¡± Eofe internally protested a creature larger than her being referred to as ¡°little.¡± Even more, she worried about what that meant for the size of the big one. Regardless, she obediently climbed into the back of the wagon, but clutched her bow tight and held an arrow at the ready. The other passengers already waited inside. ¡°Shh, shh,¡± the [Mother] shushed the boy, who was crying in her lap. She kissed the top of his head even as her own quiet tears streaked down her face. The Goblin [Artificer] sat still with a bag on his lap and a deep look of concentration on his face. The [Scribe] balled his fists in a white-knuckled grip and stared at his feet. ¡°It¡­ it¡¯ll be alright,¡± he said. ¡°The adventurers will protect us.¡± Eofe didn¡¯t know if he was speaking to the others or to himself. She didn¡¯t blame him either way. The passenger wagon lay on the opposite side of the clearing from the rocky hills, sitting closer to the forest and furthest from the source of the trouble. That put them in the safest place for the moment; a minor consolation in the face of the looming threat. Eofe struggled to reconcile the small feeling of safety with the sense of duty she felt as an adventurer¡ªeven an untested one¡ªto aid against monstrous threats. Wasn¡¯t it her responsibility to stand outside and fight the monsters, even at the risk of her own life? How could she sit in safety under someone else¡¯s protection? None of the stories of her aunt¡¯s adventures included her hiding away while others fought. A far away trumpet interrupted her thoughts. The passengers froze at the first clarion call of the manufactured beasts that had dogged their steps the previous day. Eofe leaned out of the back of the wagon and tried to spy the monsters. Her [Owl Eyes] let her see far in the night, but the hills blocked her sight of the coming threat. ¡°Keep your head in, girl,¡± the [Driver] ordered from his perch. The man was shaking like a leaf, with one hand reached below his seat, itching to activate the shield. ¡°You don¡¯t want any of you to be out there when the shield goes up.¡± Eofe pulled her head back in and tried to calm herself. She feared it was going to be a long night.
Ulreth¡¯s Pack gathered on a hill. The road was at their back, and past that the circle of wagons where their charges waited like pigs in a pen. Hamish wished he could say this was even the worst night he¡¯d had in recent years. ¡°I hate this damned road.¡± They had been running this circuit for the past two years, taking odd jobs around Parth and the Landing between trips. So it was with experience that Hamish could say there was always something on this road. Whether it was the Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters, wild beasts, or the weather itself turning on them as if it had a personal vendetta. They just couldn¡¯t catch a break. At least they hadn¡¯t ever seen any bandits. No one was foolish enough to even bother. The route was dull at the best of times. And at the worst¡­ ¡°How¡¯s it look?¡± Eathan asked. The [Cleric of Abundant Faith] rested his mace on his shoulder, a casual expression on his face that belied the grim nature of the task at hand. Hamish was once again reminded of how fortunate it was that his team had Eathan and Eriden¡¯s positive nature to balance out his and Kana¡¯s dourness. Otherwise, there¡¯d nary a smile to be seen among Ulreth¡¯s Pack. ¡°Joha disfavors us tonight,¡± Hamish replied. ¡°The big one¡¯s over fifty.¡± His [Darkvision] and [Farsight] granted him a clear picture of the oncoming horde. And it truly was a horde. He lost count of the creatures as they swarmed over the hills, numbering in the dozens at the very least. Even that much wouldn¡¯t normally have been a cause for concern¡ªhe trusted his team to handle many more such monsters, each rated below level 30¡ªif it weren¡¯t for the big one towering over its kin. It was easily the size of ten of them together. His [Assess] had estimated it to be level 57¡ªa full milestone above his entire team. Hamish had no idea how so many of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters had gathered in this region unnoticed¡ªhis team weren¡¯t the only ones to traverse this road, and he hadn¡¯t heard any rumors of something like this. If he had, he never would have allowed this caravan to form. The monsters¡¯ numbers had also grown since he first spied them gathering earlier that night. Their constant trumpeting must not have been in vain, instead calling their brethren from miles away. He worried that his team had made a mistake in seeking out and eliminating the creatures near the road the previous day. It might have only served to draw attention to themselves. While most of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters were no more intelligent than common beasts, there were others with cruel and clever natures. Hamish feared these were the latter. ¡°Balls,¡± Eriden said. ¡°Think we can take it?¡± ¡°While defending the caravan?¡± Hamish left the question unanswered while he took a moment to consider their options. ¡°Eathan, you stay with the wagons. Kana, draw the big one off. Keep it busy.¡± He didn¡¯t want the big one anywhere near the wagons. The shields would hold up for a time against weaker attacks, but that monster would slice through them like butter. Eathan¡¯s unique Class and the blessings it granted made him the most suitable for defending the caravan against the stragglers while the rest of the team focused on the big one and the bulk of the swarm. Kana grunted. ¡°This¡¯ll hurt, won¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Hamish replied. ¡°It will.¡± ¡°Any weaknesses?¡± At his level, the [Assess] Skill granted more than just an estimation of the target¡¯s level, also granting an awareness of its strengths and vulnerabilities. ¡°Same as the little ones. The belly is a soft target, the rest is covered in thicker skin. Damaging the trunk will impair its senses. The brain rests behind the base of the trunk, but good luck reaching it.¡± Kana grunted her affirmation, then Eathan stepped forward and placed a hand on Hamish¡¯s shoulder. The [Ranger] returned the gesture, then Kana and Eriden joined the huddle. Eathan began to pray. ¡°Joha, your fickle fate may have set these monsters upon us this night, yet we ask for your blessing nonetheless. Tip the scales in our favor, and let our enemies be bereft of your gift. Joha, grant us Fortune.¡± The cleric¡¯s voice reverberated with divine power. Silver light played across Eathan¡¯s fingertips and traveled across his companions¡¯ backs, filling each of the adventurers with Joha¡¯s divine blessing. Hamish felt a lightness in his heart, a certainty that when the Scales of Fortune tipped, they would do so in his favor. The cleric continued. ¡°Helena, we are set upon by a foe mightier and more numerous than ourselves. Still, we will not yield. Still, we seek victory. We dedicate this future victory to your name. Helena, grant us Triumph.¡± Helena¡¯s blessing was heavier. Hamish¡¯s muscles bulged under his clothing, all hint of fatigue from the restless night fled him, and every nagging doubt and distracting thought clouding his mind cleared away. He felt as if he could fight all night long and well into the next day. Yet the power of the [Goddess of Triumph] always came with a cost. Should fail to attain victory after receiving her aid, a curse would befall them even more potent than her blessing. But when the price of defeat was already death, it seemed an inconsequential risk to take. Hamish felt better with the power of two Heavens coursing through him. He would have preferred more, but Eathan needed to conserve the rest of his strength for his own task. The cleric left the group, retreating down the hill to take his place by the wagons. Soon, the clarion calls of the oncoming horde grew in number and volume, and the first hints of their pale flesh defiling distant hills reflected in the moonlight. Hamish readied his bow. He couldn¡¯t see Kana¡¯s expression behind her helmet, but he was certain it was grim. Eriden, on the other hand¡­ ¡°Happy about something, Eriden?¡± ¡°Oh yes,¡± the sorcerer turned to his captain. Electricity played across the gem at the tip of his staff, and his silver eyes glowed with arcane light. His lips twisted into a feral grin. ¡°They¡¯ve just come in range.¡±
Eathan stood before the circle of wagons. His heart beat steadily, but the pace drummed faster with every passing moment. He could hear the whimpers and mutters of the merchants behind him, a quiet contrast to the chorus of trumpets that sounded in the distance. Eleven. He had counted his charges, each person he had been tasked with defending on the journey. Merchants, travelers, artisans, an adventurer, and even a child. He would count them again when the night ended. A flash of light briefly heralded the dawn before a boom shook the earth. A gentle breeze brushed over the hills to tousle Eathan¡¯s hair and scatter the dust at his feet. That was a big one. He idly wondered how much mana had been channeled into that spell, and how many of the monsters the sorcerer had killed in the blast. Not enough. The wild trumpeting of the Flesh Shaper¡¯s monsters grew in tempo after the first salvo of the battle. More lightning strikes followed, a steady bass that drowned out the enemy¡¯s horns and brightened the night for fleeting moments. Brrr! Brrr! Boom! Brrr! Brrr! Boom! Eathan found it to be a beautifully discordant symphony they were making this night. Finally, the trumpet calls were joined by the skittering of hard nails on the rocky earth. The first of the enemies of pale flesh and many legs crested a near hill, now descending unimpeded towards the caravan. ¡°Shields up!¡± Eathan shouted. The thrum of magic vibrated the air at his back, signaling that the barriers had been activated. They would guarantee at least some momentary protection. It was Eathan¡¯s job to ensure that protection lasted until the last of the monsters was dead. It would take all the power of his Class bring that victory to light. To this cause, the cleric raised up his left hand and prayed for strength. ¡°Honor is my shield.¡± Streams of golden light poured out of his open palm like honeyed rivers, traveling down his arm to coalesce into a round shield of auric light. He grasped the armament in a steady grip, the radiance it cast banishing the darkness at his feet. ¡°War is my weapon.¡± He raised his mace into the air, the same golden light streaming out of his right hand where he gripped its hilt, enveloping the weapon in a sheath of divine power. Drumbeats of an ancient war pulsed in his mind, from the days of old when Man first raised his spear against the monsters in the dark. For his final prayer, the cleric pointed his shining weapon at the foul beasts nearing in his vision. They glowed in his sight, their every weakness laid bare before the eyes of the Hunter, his own eyes shining with predatory light. ¡°Now, we Hunt.¡±
Eofe¡¯s blood pounded in her ears, her heart refusing to quell since the first boom had signaled the start of the battle. She had vainly hoped that the sorcerer¡¯s immense destructive power would be enough to settle the fight before it began, but the repeated booms in the distance had dashed her hopes. Now, the infrequent thunderclaps were joined by the skittering of feet on the earth and the nearby blaring of trumpets, along with what was surely Eathan¡¯s shouts and grunts and the insensate cries of the merchants. She had heard the horses whinny and bolt into the woods after the first explosion, soon followed by the skittering of unnatural beats. Eofe could only pray that some of the horses survived the night. The canvas cover still blocked her line of sight to the battle and Eofe couldn¡¯t help but wonder¡­ Just what are these creatures? ¡°No, no, no, no,¡± the [Driver] muttered from his seat. He had taken one look at the battle before he buried his head in his lap, as if dulling his senses could dull reality as well. Eofe couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She drew her knife and slashed a hole through the canvas, earning a cry of disapproval from the [Scribe], but finally giving her a clear view of the battle and the monsters they faced.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. She almost wished she hadn''t. One of the monsters had found its way alone into the center of the circle of wagons, giving Eofe an unimpeded view of their foe. It was even more horrible than she had imagined. Its torso was a bulbous mass of white flesh, its body so sparsely covered with dark bristles that the hair seemed an afterthought by its creator. Her first impression was that it was some kind of spider, but it had only six legs. Four were bent outward like an arachnid¡¯s and ended in hoof-like nails, while the two forelegs were oriented forward and tipped with wicked spikes, reminding Eofe of a mantis. She estimated it weighed at least twice as much as she did and stood higher than her waist. It had no ears or eyes. The only sensory organ she could identify was a long trunk-like proboscis that emerged from the front of its torso. She glimpsed a hint of white fangs in its snout and realized it was more like a leech. The trunk was raised above its body, where it swayed and twisted and audibly sniffed at the air. Eofe felt a fleeting temptation to retreat and cover her head like the [Driver] had done. Such a vile, unnatural creature did not belong in this world. The rest of the scene outside was chaos. Eathan was glowing with holy light, his mace rising and falling in rhythmic motions as pale flesh buckled beneath every swing and black blood splattered across the earth. Every other swing felled a monster, but there were so many it seemed as if he wasn¡¯t making any progress in thinning their numbers. At least he was being aided by the caravan¡¯s shields. Every time a monster¡¯s limb strayed into one of the domes of protection, a flash of light would knock it back. It wasn¡¯t enough to severely damage the monsters, but it served a suitable distraction. They weren¡¯t intelligent enough to realize that they couldn¡¯t get past the shields, and that the one potential prey outside the barriers was vulnerable. While their numbers were split between targeting Eathan and futilely striking at the shields, the cleric had an easier time rounding the circle and putting them down with efficient strikes. The rest of Ulreth¡¯s Pack was nowhere to be seen, but flashes of lightning and booming thunder beyond a far hill signaled that they had their own problems to deal with. Brrr! Eofe¡¯s attention shot back to the monster in the clearing. Its snout was pointed right at her wagon and blaring its intent. She realized it must have sniffed out the sanctuary with the most prey. The creature skittered closer until it strayed too close and a burst of light and magic slapped its trunk away. The creature blared its agitation, yet it was undeterred. It rounded the wagon, probing the shield with its spiked forelegs as it moved, earning a blast of magical retaliation each time, until it had reached the rear. Now the others could see it. The [Scribe] shut his eyes tight and whimpered, while the [Mother] moaned and turned away, her son¡¯s face already buried in her chest. The Goblin [Artificer] reached into his bag. Eofe drew an arrow and shot at the creature¡ªwhich proved to be a mistake. She quickly learned that the shield worked both ways as a flash of light shattered the arrow into splinters. Eofe threw up an arm to cover her eyes as the splinters rained down and the errant arrowhead buried itself into the side of the wagon. She could only count her blessings that she hadn¡¯t just accidentally maimed herself or one of her companions. She remained standing, bow in hand and arrow at the ready, lamenting her helplessness as the monster stood just outside of the barrier, seemingly taunting her inability to do anything. All she could now was wait.
Hamish drew back his bowstring, steadied his aim, and channeled mana into [Piercing Shot]. The arrow shivered with suffused magic. He released, the thwack of the bowstring vibrating in his ear as his arrow sailed true into the giant monster¡¯s side. The creature didn¡¯t even respond to the hit. The arrow joined a scattering of other holes penetrating the monster¡¯s side, each leaking black fluid. Hamish could only hope he was doing more damage than it appeared. Kana roared at its feet. The monstrosity towered over her, twice the gargantuan Orc¡¯s height. She swung her hammer with a speed that belied its incredible weight, crashing into its leg with a mighty crack. The leg briefly buckled under the blow. The creature was already limping on its two middle legs where the [Vanguard] had shattered its bones, while its trunk hung limp, riddled with arrows and scorch marks. It raised its forelegs and punched down at the Orc with more speed than precision. She deftly dodged the strike, which penetrated the earth by her side, and counterattacked with a swing of her own that chipped its sharp spike. They were fortunate the big one¡¯s attacks were so inaccurate. Hamish couldn¡¯t fathom why the creature didn¡¯t have any eyes, but he gave up long ago in trying to decipher the mind of whoever was making the monsters these days. When the Flesh Shaper was alive, a monster like this would have had a dozen eyes, twice as many legs, and maybe even a pair of wings. Still, it was a powerful beast. Kana dodged and deflected what hits she could, but the gashes in her armor and the blood dripping down her body warned of the consequence of a single misstep. ¡°The storm calls!¡± Hamish averted his eyes just as a lightning bolt scored another jagged streak across its torso. The creature¡¯s limp trunk blared weakly to signal its pain. He turned back to see the monster swaying lazily, nearing to collapse. Eriden himself was breathing heavily, his wild grin having disappeared a while ago. Trails of electricity arced all over his body and lashed out against any creature that approached too close. Twitching bodies and scorched corpses surrounded the sorcerer, evidence as to the effectiveness of his defenses. A handful of the lesser monsters lay scattered about Hamish¡¯s own feet, felled by his blade as much as his bow. The last one he killed still has his sword sheathed in its flesh. A skittering approached from behind. Hamish drew his sword out of the dead monster and turned to face his newest victim. It leaped at him, and he neatly sidestepped before swinging down in a clean cut, opening a long gash in its side that spilled black bile. The creature stumbled and blared its trumpet weakly before Hamish finished it off with a final strike to its torso. The little ones weren¡¯t worth spending any mana on. He was about to prepare to take another shot at the big one when a bone chilling sound came from the direction of the caravan. Brrr! The trumpet was deeper and louder than that of the little ones. Hamish turned back to the caravan and was greeted with a hellish sight. Gods above. A familiar form of towering pale flesh had cleared the hills, another wave of little ones at its feet. It wasn¡¯t quite as large as the first big one, and his [Assess] identified it as only level 48. He didn¡¯t know whether to thank Joha for delaying its arrival or to blame the [God of Fortune] for the misfortune of having it appear at all. He¡¯d consult Eathan on that theological quandary after the battle, if they both managed to survive. It might not have been so bad if he had detected it sooner, but already the second wave was nearly upon the caravan. Hamish had no way of drawing its attention away, and Kana and Eriden were still busy finishing off the first big one. Eathan would be exhausted, his own mana running low, divine or otherwise, and the wagons¡¯ shields would be near to failing after the constant assault they had suffered so far. Hamish had never considered himself to be a religious man. He hadn¡¯t received all that much divine aid throughout his life; besides the gifts his cleric gave him of course, but he didn¡¯t count those. Ultimately, the Gods demanded more faith than he was willing to give. Despite this, he always held one prayer in reserve, for when circumstances grew most dire. He aimed at the new monster and channeled an unhealthy amount of mana into a [Piercing Shot]. ¡°Helena, grant us triumph.¡±
Eofe¡¯s staredown with the monster continued for what felt like hours, but what must have been mere minutes. It was a futile gesture on her part¡ªthe creature didn¡¯t even have any eyes. Regardless, neither one of them could touch the other. It ineffectually poked at the shield, confused as to why it couldn¡¯t reach its prey, while Eofe waited impatiently, ready to strike if the barrier failed. In the midst of this staring match, the shouts of the merchants outside suddenly grew even more panicked. Eofe leaned back to look through the gap she had made in the canvas to see what new horrors awaited them. The Elf blanched. A towering monster was nearly at the edge of the ring, the merchants pointing at it and shouting fruitlessly. Eathan stood before it, drenched in black blood and breathing heavily, holding up his shining shield as if that could ward against a creature so many times his size. Eofe watched in helpless terror as the giant punched down with a spiked foreleg, grazing Eathan¡¯s shield and knocking him to the ground. It stepped over him and Eofe lost sight of the cleric beneath a swarm of the little ones. ¡°No!¡± she cried out. The big one continued on to raise its foreleg over the nearest wagon. The merchant at its helm cowered beneath the attack as it descended, where it was met with a blinding flash of magic. The leg was stuck, half in and half out of the barrier, surrounded by white sparks and a piercing wail as the barrier tried to repel the limb. Time seemed to still and Eofe watched with bated breath as the two forces struggled against each other, until with a sudden pop the barrier collapsed. The leg crashed into the wagon, splintering it into two and sending the merchant howling into the waiting swarm below, where his screams were mercifully cut short. The monster stepped over the wreckage and into the center of the circle, where it raised its trunk into the air. Then, with most horrid sound Eofe had ever heard, it sniffed. Eofe¡¯s eyes widened in realization of what was coming. Every heartbeat like a ticking clock, she watched in terror as the monster stepped towards her wagon, its trunk leading the body like a leash guiding a hound. Every breath was one closer to her last as it raised its leg into the air. She pulled back as the strike descended and a shrill scream and sparking light signaled the barrier¡¯s attempt to repulse the attack. But Eofe knew it would be futile. The wagon vibrated under the contest of strength between magic and monster, eliciting cries of terror from the passengers. In a flash of clarity, Eofe grabbed the Goblin and yanked him to the side just as the shield popped. The spiked foreleg ripped through the canvas and shattered the side of the wagon where he had just been sitting. The entire vehicle buckled under the force of the attack, and Eofe¡¯s momentum from pulling the Goblin tumbled them both out of the back and onto the hard earth. Before she could roll to her feet, a smaller spiked leg nearly took out her eye. She tilted her head just in time to turn it into a graze on her cheek, but a second spike pierced her shoulder. Her old staring partner loomed over her, pinning her to the ground. Its fleshy trunk slapped against her chest and she was forced to watch in horrid fascination as its lips peeled back to reveal a ring of serrated teeth that scraped against her hide cuirass. Equal parts fear and revulsion roiled in her gut. She reached for the knife belted to her hip, drew and slashed with a [Quick Strike], opening up the creature¡¯s belly and spilling black blood over her hand and chest. The monster honked its distress and backed away, releasing her from its grip. It took a handful of wobbly steps before it collapsed to the ground, twitching. Her skin itched where the blood made contact and the horrid smell assaulted her nose. She could only pray it wasn¡¯t toxic. Eofe jumped to her feet and took in the scene around her. The first thing she noticed was the Goblin, who was looking at the wagon with an expression of bewilderment. Eofe soon joined him. In a stroke of fortune, the giant monster¡¯s leg had gotten tangled up in the canvas. The creature repeatedly attempted to yank its leg free, only to drag the broken wagon with it. Past where their wagon once lay, Eofe spied the [Traveling Trader] standing atop her own vehicle, cutlass in hand, the steel blade glistening with black blood. ¡°Over here!¡± the woman called out. Eofe noticed with relief that the child now sat on her wagon, his mother lying by his side, bloodied but breathing. The merchant must have briefly let her barrier down to bring them inside. The [Driver] and the [Scribe] were nowhere to be seen. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Eofe said, grabbing the Goblin and pulling him towards the merchant¡¯s wagon. She could worry about the others after she got him to safety. ¡°Wait!¡± the man said. He tore out of her grip and sprinted towards his bag, which had fallen in the dirt. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Eofe yelled. ¡°It¡¯s not worth it!¡± She chased after him. Already, some of the little ones had entered through the gap in the circle of wagons, sniffing their way to the pair. Then fortune turned to misfortune in a moment as the big one finally tore its leg free of the impromptu trap. It immediately sniffed out the two nearest prey, neither of whom was blessed with safety behind a magical shield. ¡°I swear to the Goddess, if I get killed because of a Goblin¡ª¡± Eofe cut her complaint short as the Goblin dove into his pack and pulled out a thick metal tube, bigger around than both of his arms put together and nearly as long. It was covered with etchings in some arcane language Eofe couldn¡¯t have ever hoped to decipher. How is that worth the both of us dying?! She was prepared to drag him by force to the only island of safety, but then the arcane sigils started glowing. Eofe wasn¡¯t particularly attuned to the touch of magic, but even she could sense that there was a lot of it suddenly leaking out of that object in a distressingly short period of time. A lot more than she had felt from any spell in her entire life. The Goblin pointed one end of the tube at the monster with a manic gleam in his eye. ¡°Hey,¡± Eofe said nervously, as the magic continued to grow in strength and contaminate the air. ¡°Maybe this isn¡¯t¡ª¡± The world turned upside down in a cacophony of sound and light. Eofe¡¯s skull rattled as she cartwheeled across the ground. Her ears rang with such intensity that she prematurely lost all hope of hearing anything ever again, and stars of every color danced in her vision. All the breath had been knocked out of her lungs, and she groaned as she felt new bruises forming by the second. Miraculously, nothing seemed to have been broken. It was only with the adrenaline coursing through her veins and the knowledge that there were still monsters out there that she managed pull herself together, stand up, and survey her surroundings. To her dismay, the big one was still standing. To her delight, one of its forelegs had been severed completely and there was a gaping hole through its torso, out which poured a river of black blood. Unfortunately, Eofe knew with experience that something that big usually took several such holes before it fell down permanently. At least it looked a bit wobbly at the moment. All the little ones had also scattered from the source off the blast. It was fortunate they appeared to at least have some sense of self-preservation. Eofe looked around and found the Goblin lying unconscious several yards past where she had landed. The metal tube lay by his side with one end flared out with twisted metal. She¡¯d consider it a miracle if he was still alive, considering how much she had suffered even being at the peripheral of the blast. He was holding that thing in his hands! For the moment, they had a clear path to the [Traveling Trader] and her wagon, and Eofe wasted no time taking advantage of it. She sprinted over to the Goblin and heaved the man onto her back, glad that he was so light. She pointedly stepped over the tube and left it in the dirt. It was probably broken anyways. The merchant was staring dumbfounded at the grievously wounded monster when Eofe arrived, so she had to yell and wave at the woman to get her attention. She snapped out of it in a blink, checked the periphery of the wagon to make sure none of the little ones were currently scrabbling at its shield, then briefly disabled it to allow Eofe and the Goblin through. The woman hauled the little man up from Eofe¡¯s back and set him down on a stack of crates before Eofe climbed up to join the others in the fleeting bubble of safety. She took a moment to gather her breath and survey the battle. It wasn¡¯t looking good. There were still dozens of monsters testing the four remaining wagons¡¯ defenses. The flashes magic pushing back the attackers looked noticeably dimmer than at the start of the battle. While the [Driver] and [Scribe] were still missing, the covered wagon had flipped on its side after being dragged by the large monster, and Eofe could only hope they were somewhere inside. A great weight lifted off Eofe¡¯s chest when she saw Eathan standing outside the circle, bloodied and weary, but alive. She couldn¡¯t imagine what stroke of fortune it had taken for him to get out of the mess he had fallen into. It didn¡¯t look like his luck would hold out for much longer, however. More of the little ones were peeling off their futile attacks at the barriers to target the isolated adventurer. The big one had also recovered its senses enough to start waving its trunk in search of new prey, and Eofe feared it would once again sniff out the source with the greatest number of victims. The rest of the adventurers were nowhere to be seen, and Eofe realized it had been some time since she had heard the telltale thunder of the sorcerer¡¯s lightning. Someone would have to do something. Her hands were shaking, and her heart hadn¡¯t ceased its drumming since the battle began. She checked her quiver, only to realize with dismay that it was half empty. She hadn¡¯t even noticed the other half of her arrows scattered about the ground. Between being thrown from the wagon and tumbled by the backblast from the [Artificer]¡¯s weapon, it was a wonder she had any left at all. Eofe approached the edge of the wagon, searching for the best path forward. She would have to round the circle of wagons to reach Eathan¡­ and then what? Hamish¡¯s assertion before the battle had been correct. She could handle a few of the little ones, but there were far too many. And there was nothing she could do against the big one. Not at her level. ¡°Let me out.¡± Eofe¡¯s voice was so quiet she wasn¡¯t entirely sure she had actually said anything. ¡°Wait,¡± the merchant placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m an adventurer. I need to help,¡± Eofe turned back to the woman with steel in her gaze. The woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°I know. But you should take these with you.¡± She peeled off the lid of a crate to reveal rows of pristine arrows, each arrowhead carefully etched with arcane sigils. ¡°It¡¯s just a sharpness enchantment, but it¡¯s better than¡ª¡± she gestured to Eofe¡¯s half-empty quiver ¡°¡ªthat.¡± Despite the dire situation, Eofe still managed to flush in embarrassment. ¡°Thanks,¡± she mumbled as she grabbed handfuls of arrows and stuffed them into her quiver. ¡°Ready?¡± the woman asked. Eofe nodded, and a moment later the haze of magic comprising the barrier dispersed. She leaped out and landed in a crouch, the barrier pulsing into being at her back. Her movement didn¡¯t go unnoticed. Immediately, one of the monsters peeled away from its fruitless attempt at breaching a neighboring wagon¡¯s barrier and scuttled towards her. Eofe drew and shot on reflex, following a rote motion as if she were still under the boughs of the Wildwood, practicing archery under Aunt Maeve¡¯s direction. She understood now why she had been forced to shoot a thousand arrows a day. The enchanted arrow easily pierced the monster¡¯s hide and lodged into its torso just above the base of the trunk. She must have hit something vital, because the creature tumbled over in its sprint and collapsed into a heap. It didn¡¯t get back up. A quick glance at the chaos and Eofe considered her options. Eathan was being hounded and looked on the verge of being overwhelmed. Dead monsters were piled in inky heaps at his feet, though there were still many harassing the wagons. Their barriers could fail at any moment. Worst of all, the big one started inching towards the center of the clearing. She could relieve the pressure on the cleric, but one of the wagons would surely fall in the meantime. Should she help Eathan before he¡¯s overwhelmed? Or would it be better to distract the big monster before it breached another wagon¡¯s shield? Saving Eathan would open him up to lend further aid in defending the caravan, but could she sacrifice one of the merchants just for the possibility of saving more? Her fretting turned out to be for naught as the choice was suddenly taken out of her hands. A primal roar echoed down the hills, and for a moment the battlefield stilled. Eofe¡¯s vision turned red, her blood pumping with a level of animosity she had never felt before. She felt an overwhelming urge to charge up the hill and unleash her anger on the source of the cry. She took two steps towards the hill before the feeling abruptly faded, as if a bucket had been filled with all her rage before being summarily upended. What was that? She wasn¡¯t alone in this feeling. The big monster trumpeted its own fury and tore across the clearing, crashing through the discarded remains of the wagon it had destroyed and up the hill towards the source of its ire, a handful of the little ones following in its wake. At the top of the hill stood the [Vanguard] in scuffed and bloodied armor, holding her massive hammer at the ready. Eofe belatedly realized she must have been caught in the periphery of a taunt Skill targeting the big one. She would have to thank the Orc later, no matter how much it hurt her pride to do so. The situation around the wagons still wasn¡¯t great, but it had just become a lot more manageable. Eathan was still being pressured by a crowd of the little ones and taking glancing blows, and she figured their best chance was to relieve some of that pressure on the cleric. Eofe dashed away from the action and set herself up at an angle where she had a clear line of sight to a crowd of over a dozen monsters. They were nearly piling on each other trying to get at the wagons or the cleric, who was backpedaling and pushing them away with his dimming shield. Eofe drew an arrow, aimed, prayed for guidance, and let loose a [Scattershot] into the crowd. The damage was minimal¡ªlittle more than shallow scratches that leaked tears of black blood¡ªbut the effect was immediate. A number of the monsters turned around and caught the scent of the lone Elf standing far away from safety; a number Eofe was too afraid to count. They trumpeted in response and even more turned to face her. She turned and ran. The skittering of many feet and the blaring of trumpets followed close behind. She ran away from the wagons, to the only place she knew well. A place where she would have the edge over these unnatural beasts. A place where she belonged and they did not. One step ground dirt and rocks into the hard earth, then the next crunched on twigs and dried pines. The full scent of the wild forest finally entered her nose, the air feeling fresher and more vibrant than any she had breathed in far too long. And for the first time since she had stepped out of the Wildwood weeks ago, despite the dire situation and the monsters at her heels, Eofe felt at home.