The next morning, the trio rose with the dawn, taking flight on their dragon flies as soon as it was light enough. While they flew, Jared tried to strike up a conversation with Eleisa, but the rush of the wind and the drone of the dragon flies’ wings made it impossible.
They took a short break around midday, allowing the dragon flies time to rest and eat, during which Jared approached Eleisa.
“So… about what happened a couple nights ago, while I was dismantling the corpse of the skorvok. You started glowing and there was some weird music. What was going on?”
“When I took the rejuvenation draught, I examined how it interacted with my biology. Then, I tried to copy its effects using mana. My attempts were successful, resulting in a new Skill for me: Ecliptic Regeneration. It allows me to speed up my natural healing significantly, and though it is not as powerful as a true healing Skill, I am sure it will be very useful. The downside is that I must meditate to activate it, and I cannot do anything else, otherwise the Skill will fail.”
“That’s great! I imagine a Skill like that will save your life any number of times.” He frowned. “But that does bring up a point; We need a healer. Even with that Skill, you could be knocked out or otherwise incapacitated, and it only works on yourself. In the last battle, I was lucky enough to only get hurt due to my own actions, and my Auxiliary class Ascended right then, so I was mostly fine. But we can’t assume things are always going to go perfectly.”
Eleisa nodded. “A fourth member of our party would make sense. We currently do not have the ideal balance for hunting or delving.”
Jared quirked an eyebrow. “Ideal balance?”
“In order to be prepared for most potential opponents, a group of hunters or delvers should have a balanced makeup. This usually consists of someone to distract foes and take their strikes, someone to weaken and harry the foes, someone to deal the killing blows, and someone to aid in recovery during or after battles.”
That made sense. Jared mentally inventoried their current strengths and weaknesses.
“We need somebody who can act as a tank and a healer. I deal enough damage as is, and that will likely only improve. You can help distract, but you’re relatively fragile and can’t take many hits. Mimi is my gun and can’t do much else currently. That may change, but right now, we need at least one more person.”
“Once we arrive in Panstrum, I suggest we part ways for a time to cover more ground. If you begin searching for a new party member, I will inquire about the so called ‘infestation.’ Are you amenable to this division of labor?”
Jared snorted. “Yeah, sounds good. Speaking of which, it’s about time we get going again.” He had caught sight of their mounts returning from a short hunt, indicating it was time to go. They mounted up and were off again, heading steadily closer to Panstrum.
It took them two days after that to arrive at the city. As the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon behind them, Jared caught sight of it. The first thing he noticed was the wall. It was several meters tall, at least a meter thick, and made of sturdy-looking reddish stone. Within the wall, a sprawling cityscape took shape.
As they flew closer, more details revealed themselves, and Jared whistled. The city was much larger than he had originally estimated. Most of the buildings were made of the same reddish stone as the wall, and from a distance they had blended together. Now that he was drawing closer, Jared could make out the individual buildings. There was an infinite variety of styles, and it looked like no two buildings had the same design.
There were small houses, massive, buttressed cathedrals, and even blocky structures reminiscent of office buildings back on Earth.
The dragon flies circled the city once, then landed next to a pond a few hundred meters away, where others of their kind made their home. Jared and Eleisa dismounted and removed the saddles. Before leaving, Jared patted his dragon fly on the neck. “Thanks for the ride, Tia. I hope I get to fly with you again.”
She seemed pleased, and gave Jared a playful nip before flying off over the pond.
Then, Jared and Eleisa made their way to the nearest gate. As they approached, they found a small stream of people going in and out. Joining the line, they soon passed through the gates and into Panstrum itself.
On the ground, the city was much more chaotic than it seemed from above, full of the sights, sounds, and smells of a bustling population center. Vendors all along the main thoroughfare shouted at the crowds, trying to persuade people to stop and purchase what they had to offer.
Another thing that made an impression on Jared was the variety of people. He still saw many humans and ipotanes, but other, less familiar peoples were represented as well. One vendor was reptilian, with scales, slitted eyes, and a forked tongue, but otherwise human features. He seemed to be selling glass jars and urns. On the other side of the street, a woman who looked like the lovechild of a peacock and a platypus was bartering for some jewelry-like accessories. Everywhere Jared looked, he found more such people, each more exotic-looking than the last.
He turned to Eleisa, almost having to shout over the hubbub of the busy street.
“Let’s find the Hunters’ Guild and get ourselves some rooms. We can split up and start our tasks in the morning.”
She nodded and they started looking for the familiar signs of the Guilds. After several minutes of fruitless searching, Jared approached a pair of guards who were patrolling the street.
“Excuse me, where can I find the Hunters’ Guild?”
Both guardsmen sighed, and one answered. “Follow this road until you get to a square with a fountain, then turn left and it’ll be on the right.”
Jared thanked them and he and Eleisa followed the directions. It took about ten minutes of walking to get to the square, both because of distance and because there was a constant flow of people through the streets. The fountain in the square was simple, unadorned, and had an unceasing stream spouting from the top.
They turned left, as instructed, and found the Hunters’ Guild: an unobtrusive single-story building along the right side of the street. They entered and found a small waiting area with some seating, and the reception desk. They approached the desk, which was manned by a scholarly looking human man. He was either in his late thirties or had terrible genetics, as he had lost a good portion of his hair, and he wore glasses. He looked up as they approached.
“Good evening, how may I help the both of you?”
“Hi. Can we get a couple of rooms here? We just got into town.”
The man frowned. “Unfortunately, our rooms are currently all taken. But if you’d like, I can give you a few recommendations for inns nearby.”
“That’ll work.”
He listed a couple options and gave them directions. It took longer than expected to get a room, though. The first two inns they tried were full as well. Finally, they found one that had space, a decent establishment called The Raven’s Rest. The sign out front depicted a large, fluffy bed, with a black bird laying on it. They paid for their rooms and decided to turn in for the night, figuring they would have some busy days ahead of them.
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The next morning saw Eleisa back at the Hunters’ Guild. The same human man was at the desk when she entered, and she wasted no time in walking up and stating her business.
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“My party was sent here from Fangsguard. The town officials there communicated that there was a summons sent out from the Guilds here in Panstrum regarding an infestation. Might I inquire as to the nature of the infestation?”
The man nodded. “I expected as much. That summons is why there’s no room here. Honestly, I think the branch leader went overboard with it, but what do I know?” He reached into a drawer built into the desk and pulled out a document, handing it to her. “Here’s the official job created by the Guild.”
Eleisa looked it over, then blinked as the GEAS repeated most of the information to her.
New Regional GEAS quest: Panstrum Extermination
Req. Level: 15
The city of Panstrum is facing an infestation of epic proportions, located in the sewers. In response, the Guilds have summoned people from all over the region to help deal with it. Rewards will be given to all that help complete this quest, depending on participation.
Accept/Refuse
She accepted, then refocused on the man.
“This does not answer my question. What manner of infestation does the city face? What are the creatures that are infesting it? Where in the sewers is this infestation located?”
The man shrugged helplessly. “Nobody knows for certain, since it changes almost daily. One day it’ll be rats, the next, spider-cats will have taken over. One day they will be under the market square, the next, they’ll be at the other end of town. Some people have theories as to why, but none have been provable.”
“Do the changes in location correspond to changes in creatures?”
The man shook his head. “That’s what we thought at first, too. But there have been reports of each type of creature at each location.” Eleisa frowned. Perhaps Jared should have been the one to investigate this. He seemed to have an instinctive ability to work out this type of problem.
She thanked the man and turned to leave, and almost ran into someone ducking through the entrance. As she took a step back and got a good look at the person, her wings went slack in shock.
Aren’t the Groveborn nearly extinct? What is one doing here?
Just to be sure, she identified the being.
[Arborial Bastion {Groveborn}](lvl 19)
He was so tall that Eleisa only came up to the of where a ribcage would be, if he were a human. his gray skin was cragged and ridged like bark. On top of his head, instead of hair, a few thick, bare branches sprouted, ending in vicious points and covered in thorns. But Eleisa barely saw all this, as she almost instantly captivated by its eyes. They were large, luminous orbs of purest emerald, with a seed of pitch at the center.
He wore a suit of immaculate wooden plate armor, polished to a shine, and carried a large wooden axe. Despite the fact that even the blade was made of the same, medium gray wood, Eleisa had no doubt it could easily cleave her in two.
The arborial didn’t even glance at her as he approached the counter. his voice was deep, yet soft.
“I have come to aid with the extermination but find myself alone unsuited for the task. Are there any capable parties that are looking for an addition?”
The man at the desk just stared up at the towering being before him, jaw slack. In that moment, Eleisa registered what the tree-man had said. Turning back to face the arborial fully, she bowed. “Honored Groveborn, might I intrude?”
A large wooden hand waved. “Stand and speak.”
She straightened. “I am Eleisa, of the Kyrien Eclipse. It is truly fortuitous that we met. My party is in need of another member, one with such Skills as I am certain you possess. Might you be willing to meet with us and discuss the possibility?”
Two emerald pools regarded her placidly for a moment, before the arborial nodded. “I, Bonlanu of the Ironthorn Grove, greet you Eleisa, daughter of the Eclipse. I am not opposed to speaking with your party. My time will shortly be occupied, as I am sure yours will. Name a time and place, and I will be there.”
“My party has lodgings at an inn called The Raven’s Rest. Are you free of commitments at sunset?”
He nodded. “I will meet with you and your party at that time. Farewell for now, daughter of the Eclipse.” He turned and left, once again ducking to fit through the floor. Eleisa couldn’t help but smile at the fortuitous encounter as she left to continue her research.
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Jared felt about ready to tear his hair out. Despite the sheer number of hunters and delvers in the city, which was far more than he would have expected based on what he had seen of the region, he couldn’t find a single person that needed a party.
He had started early with going to the inns they had been turned away from, but that had quickly turned fruitless.
From there, he went to post a notice at the Guild offices, but was told it was against guild policy. It made sense, even if he didn’t like it. If they allowed one person to do it, they’d have to allow everyone to do it, and soon every scrap of wall space would be taken up by party requests and the like.
Not knowing what else to do, he went to the main market square and started looking for people that seemed like they were by themselves. He would approach them to see if they already had a party. They almost always did, and the ones who didn’t indicated they preferred going solo. He did learn some interesting tidbits, though. Occasionally, someone would mention having seen or heard of a certain monster type appearing in one part of the city.
After this happened three times, Jared knew he was going to have trouble keeping everything straight in his head, so he retrieved one of his few precious items from earth: a notepad. When he heard someone mention something about the infestation, he wrote down all the information that person had on the subject.
About midday, he noticed a small commotion in the crowd, and it wasn’t hard to see its cause. Walking down the street was a massive tree man wearing wooden armor and carrying a massive wood axe. Everyone who caught sight of him began to murmur, and his path was always clear, no matter how thick the press of people was. Jared hear the word Groveborn muttered several times, but had no idea what it meant. Seeing that he seemed to be alone, Jared took the chance to approach him.
“Ho there! I’m currently looking for someone to join my party, and it looks like you might fit the bill. What do you say?”
The tree man regarded Jared with his large emerald eyes, then bowed slightly. “I must give apology, I cannot accede to your request. Just this morning, I met a charming woman who gave me a similar offer, which I am considering. I would like to make a decision regarding her party before I consider any other offers. Now, I have business to which I must attend. I bid you farewell.”
He gave another polite bow, then resumed his journey through the street.
“Damn. The first person who seems to fit, and someone else snatched him up this morning. What are the chances?”
Jared shook his head, continuing his search, but he didn’t have much hope of finding someone.
Jared and Eleisa reconvened in the common room of The Raven’s Rest over dinner to discuss their progress. Jared had just taken his seat, holding his loaf of bread and hearty stew, when Eleisa practically bounced through the door. She looked around the common room, and hastened over to Jared when she spotted him.
“Hey, El! I take it you were successful?”
She nodded, taking a seat next to him. “I managed to gather some information about the infestation, but that is of little consequence. I believe I found us our fourth party member.”
Jared shoveled a spoon of stew into his mouth, raising an eyebrow as he spoke with his mouth half full. “Really? That’s great, ‘cause I wasn’t able to find anybody. Who is this person?”
“He is one of the Groveborn.”
Jared paused at the last word, his next spoonful halfway to his mouth.
No, it can’t be…
“Tree-looking dude, about two and a half meters tall? Big axe?”
Eleisa blinked, taken aback. “Yes, exactly. How do you know?”
Jared slapped his hand over his eyes, chuckling. “Because I met him in the market square. He said someone else had already invited him to her party this morning. I take it that was you?”
Eleisa nodded. “Indeed, I asked him to meet us here at sunset to discuss the possibility of his joining us. What a coincidence that we both met him today.”
“Yeah, I guess so. What’s all this ‘Groveborn’ stuff about, anyway?”
Eleisa blinked at him again. “I forgot, you are not from here, and so would not know of the Groveborn. They are a legendary race, favored of the Nexus. They are renowned for their strength and innate healing abilities. Due to their perceived superiority, several hundred years ago many of the other races banded together to try to destroy their nation. They almost succeeded, and the few survivors retreated into seclusion. I heard that one of their kind has not been seen outside their heartlands in decades.”
“Sixty-eight years, to be exact.”
Jared and Eleisa spun at the voice, finding the massive tree man approaching their table. He bowed to both of them, addressing them in turn. “Eleisa, daughter of the Eclipse, I greet you. Forgive my intrusion. Companion of Eleisa, I, Bonlanu of the Ironthorn Grove greet you.” He then noticed Mimi, who Jared had placed across his lap, still in her gun form. Bonlanu bowed again. “And I greet you, Ever-Changing One.” Having greeted the party, he took the final seat at the table.
Jared, who had frozen at his acknowledgement of Mimi, leaned forward, speaking just above a whisper. “How did you know about Naomi?”
The Arborial just smiled. “There is little that can hide from the sight of the Groveborn. May I have the name of the son of a distant star?” His emerald globes seemed to glint mischievously.
“Jared Moore.” He turned to Eleisa. “Where did you say you found this guy? This is the second legendary being that has somehow able to tell that I’m not from around here.”
Bonlanu laughed, a booming sound that reverberated through the room. “Anyone with decent sight can spot the lingering traces of another realm on you.” He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “But do not worry too much. Not many have decent sight.”
He leaned back again, regaining his original tone. “Well, Jared Moore, it seems fate has decreed that we are to join forces.”
[Arborial Bastion {Groveborn}](lvl 19) has invited you to join his party.
Accept/Refuse
“Wait, what?”