[Event completed! Reward: The Golden beetle x1]
[Golden beetle: Use in the secret lair for a special reward.]
A special reward, you say… Theron pinched the squirming beetle, studying its appearance now that it rested a few inches away from him. It fitted all the descriptions of a regular beetle back on earth, save for the golden… well, golden everything. Even the membranes of its wings were made of gold. Satisfied, he kept the beetle in his satchel, then inclined his head to learn his whereabouts. His chase sent him to a spot closer to the canyon, surrounding the still statue.
One more hidden event awaited. He briefly considered combing the entire forest again, a rigorous task that would take at least five to six hours of his time. The time he certainly had—besides, he needed to find a few more monsters for both his common rank-2 aspects to reach their final level. However, as he neared the cliff face reaching the canyon, the unexpected—or perhaps, the fully expected—happened.
[A hidden event is nearby.]
The last hidden event was located down there.
Theron assumed the hidden event had something to do with the treasure map. Gazing upon the circular gulch below, Theron noted a rounding path leading toward a gentle slope, to which he could navigate alongside his active aspects. The treasure map said only to enter this place at night, so the odds of waking the giant stone sentry up by his passage alone during the day appeared unlikely.
Lux, can you scout ahead? He turned to his wolf. It heeded with haste, jumping and leaping its way down. Nothing reacted to its arrival except for the breeze and the occasional shake of leaves. The statue brooded as lifelessly as it always had been. Confident he would be safe, Theron trailed Lux’s path, shuffling his way down while watching Borys’ hesitant steps following his route. Berys, unfortunately, was too cumbersome to trail behind, so Theron had to unsummon it. They were close to the point where size would limit which aspect could be used in specific scenarios.
Of course, Theron could use his boots’ ability to cushion his landing. It wasn’t so impossibly low that the distance outranged its limitations, but he wished to learn which path to take if things went south—which would happen if he decided to take the giant statue on.
Theron traced his way all around the walls of dirt and stone cliffs walling this zone. Lux sniffed the floor while Borys absentmindedly followed while he brushed his hand against the walls, hoping he’d find the secret that way. The first clue happened when the message appeared once more.
[A hidden event is nearby.]
Strange… did I leave the search radius? Theron backtracked, then found the sweet spot where the message blared again. Then, his eyes trailed the furthest location within the canyon from where he stood, then found an awkwardly placed rock between three pillars of gray trees. He rushed toward the stone, then, with a heave, shoved that rock away with Borys’ help, unveiling a plinth carved out of a rock. It shook when the weight holding it down was released.
[Hidden event found! The cave of solitude.]
[Uncover the secrets of a cave hidden behind a wall of unbreakable stone.]
Following its release, A large square wall jerked as the plinth ascended from the ground, erecting itself a few inches up. Theron held on as the entire canyon shuddered, fearing he’d woken up the slumbering rock, but alas, only the wall moved. It slid aside with a glacial pace, rasping and grinding against the cliff as it forced its path. Cracks splintered along the walls as the brown gate jolted to a stop. Revealing a dark passage only lit by the sunbeams peering through the thicket of thin trees and the cliffs.
Theron skulked his way inside, his presence greeted by a gust of chilling wind. He basked under the cold space, vision shrouded by black emptiness, pausing, waiting until his irises adjusted to the darkness. Not much could be said about the contents of this queer chamber—save for the one spear poking through a plinth, jutting out from the center.
Shifting his feet, Theron’s eyes darted from side to side, wary of any sudden attacks threatening to rip his guts apart. Nothing of that sort happened, to his relief. He nudged the tail end of the spear for a bit, feeling its cold, rigid surface, bending slightly to allow a wiggle room. It felt well-made, despite Theron having close to no experience with these. In terms of appearance, its shaft and the other parts besides the blade were made of a coarse metal—perhaps iron or plain steel. The decor and embellishments felt familiar, but it hit that spot of familiarity, yet uncanny at the same time, as if an AI was forced to generate the emblazonments.
The blade, however, was completely alien to his eyes. Layered metal upon layered metal, Theron spied a piece of a glowing object covered within.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
With a tug and a yank, and a heave and call for Borys’ help later, the spear rested gently on the palm of his hand. Now that he had the necessary tool to perhaps deal some damage to the statue, he briefly considered tackling this task come midnight.
The spear shook, compressing and bending itself into a tinier form; a small, steel-shaded orb not larger than a pebble. His excitement died down after realizing the true purpose of the spear.
[The orb of malevolence. Use to lower the guardian’s defenses, allowing easier access to its core from the outside. It is recommended that you possess a rank three aspect before taking this challenge. Single use.]
It's not a weapon, but a single-use object.
[Hidden event completed!]
Oh… I’m meant to use this… spear… against the stone guardian. Did that mean the fight would be impossible otherwise? Theron pondered that possibility. The placement of the button wasn’t that difficult to find; in fact, most would knock that stone off by mistake during a battle.
With the final hidden quest found, all that was left for Theron to do was level up.
###
It turned out that clearing his own zone from monsters made finding more of them a complete pain in the ass. The scarcity of anything else but the trees existing within the forest could very well mean that monsters did not respawn—a thought sending chills deep within Theron’s core. Long gone was his plan to simply saunter in and kill things to level up; no, with the lack of encounters, he might have to peruse places he had never thought of entering or tackling before.
So, his remaining options hovered between the secret lair or the spiked, armored bear roaming the tutorial zone. Neither appeared to be easier than the other, but with three aspects and an elite close to reaching its full potential, Theron could see himself victorious. With the hidden event sensor, he could wrap the rest of the events up there and complete another quest.
But before that, All three of his aspects were this close to a level up. Lux was 710 experience points away from its max level, Borys crawled an inch further, 570 experience points shy of level 10, and Berys limbered only 240 experience points away from level 8. It would be preferable if they tackled the mighty beast at their fullest potential—hell, Theron even briefly entertained the notion of ranking up Borys before meeting up with his old foe, but he held on to that thought, opting to scour some parts of the secret lair before dipping his toe up there again. Sure, the boss awaiting within that mossy cavern might be too perilous for him to handle, but who was to say that only a boss-type monster existed in there? What about fodder monsters? All lairs had those in spades.
Theron scrambled upward and trailed his way back to his checkpoint, using it as a guide to navigate his way through the thick woods.
###
“Selena?” Selena’s figure stood behind the checkpoint upon Theron’s return, “What are you doing here?”
“Looks like you’ve taken care of most of the monsters here,” She remarked with a smile, scanning around the checkpoint, “—I don’t see a single monster on my way here.” Resting her hands on her waist, she raised her hand and pointed to another checkpoint shrouded by clouds in the east, “I came with Donald and Richard, but they had gone back since they wanted to grind more. We met a few friendly survivors and banded up. So far, everything is going swimmingly.”
“That’s… good to know… Glad to see you well,” Theron tilted his head, somewhat confused, “But why are you back? Surely, there are better things to do over there.”
“There is, but the three of us want to know if you’re okay. And judging from that monster over there,” her finger flicked toward Berys’ towering presence, “I can see that we don’t have to worry about you… and… Well, the whole summit lighting up like a firework gave us cause to see what the hell was going on too.”
“Ah… that.” She also wants to know about Kraven’s presence, I bet.“I met some of his guys, well, to be precise, Hubert’s men. They’re sleeping soundly somewhere beneath some of the bushes over there.” Theron shrugged, “Couldn’t say our talk went… great.” He grimaced, recalling the recent human kills he’d committed.
“I saw them.” Her eyes dimmed. “Do you know what it is about? The pillar of light?”
“It’s… How do I even explain it…” Theron ruffled his hair, searching for the right words to say, “There’s this stone…” The explanation took him a few minutes.
Selena’s sole response was a blank stare. “Okay… So you’re saying there are more like you? Also, you can relax, Kraven’s a shrewd man, sure, but he’s definitely not a teenager.”
“That’s one worry off my checklist…” Theron sat and yawned, “Hubert’s still away, I think. I want to visit him once I clear up the stuff in this zone.”
“That brings me to my proposition… we plan to strike once our group is ready. With you in the lead, of course.”
Theron’s eyes sparked awake. He needed help to beat his men. “Are you sure? It won’t be easy.”
“Since when have things been easy for us?” She sat across him, eyes searching the blank skies above, “You said it, you needed to unite those around you. All of us are in agreement.”
Theron could feel the fire in her eyes. Kraven’s done more to her than what I assumed, He surmised from the pain in her eyes. “How many of you are there?”
“I’m still searching. Right now, our number stands at ten. But… None are ready. Yet. There are still more lairs to clear and more events to complete. We’re all working to reach level 10. At our current state, we’re all sitting ducks if a real fight happens.”
We still have time. Theron wished to say that, but he himself couldn't give her certainty of Hubert's eventual return. Doubtless, he'd put most of his men there, so they should expect heavy resistance if they decided to go at it now.
“Give us at least two days.” She stood up and turned toward the eastern side of the checkpoint. “If they come sooner than you expected, you’re free to escape to our territory. We’ll welcome you with open arms.”
Sounds great. Theron thought, but a part of him was hesitant to involve others in this encroaching skirmish. He loathed having others dying under his watch, a trait he’d gained since he’d lost a lot of friends and allies in his past. “Okay. Looks like it’s a deal.” He ruffled the back of his, “I have somewhere else to go. Be careful on your way back.”
“Okay. Don’t die on us, although I don’t think you ever will.” She waved goodbye as her figure faded into the woods. “We’ll be stronger this time.”
Me too. I’ll be stronger.