Felix talked to Borrugra, got some paper from her to write down a message and told her to pass it on to the guards in an hour. Then he ran out of the tavern after Brask.
He found Brask half way out of the village with his spear in hand stumbling down the walkways. Felix tailed him easily, as he was very drunk.
I might have mixed those drinks a little to strong. It's hard when you don't drink yourself and you don't know how resistant their endurance makes them. Oh well, should work out fine.
Brask made it all the way to the spot Felix had pointed out on the map and proceeded to look around for the monster. After not managing to immediately find it, Brask sat down against a tree root and fell asleep within a few minutes.
Way too strong.
Felix only had to wait a half hour before, from the edge of jungle a massive quadruped beast made of shadow walked out. It resembled a panther but was bigger than the Parroukan and its body mutated itself and morphed as it moved, like a dark billowing cloud.
Ah, shit. It's an actual monster.
Felix concentrated on the beast as it walked over to Brask, looked down at him them looked around the area. After almost a minute of looking around, it picked him up in its maw then ran towards the village.
Uh, maybe not? Maybe I couldn't identify it because it's an illusion or something… I hope.
Felix ran after the beast, trying to be as stealthy as he could manage. He almost lost it a few times but luckily he could vaguely sense the mana radiating off of it. As they approached the village, the beast shrunk down as small as it could while still carrying Brask and become almost entirely translucent. He followed it back to the walkway leading into the village but it avoided it completely and instead, it ran around the walkway and into the chasm below the village.
As soon as it jumped down, Felix turned around and used Flame Thrower to write a quick message in the ground in front of the walkway, so that anyone leaving the village would see it.
He peered over the edge of the chasm and watched the beast dash down into a cave he wouldn't have otherwise noticed on the far side at the bottom. Felix waited a few minutes then pursued the beast into the chasm, using feather fall to make his way down slowly, far away from the cave. He made it to the bottom and crept along the wall towards the cave.
I should get some stealth and scouting skills, or spells. Ooh an invisibility spell would be nice.
He peered into the cave but saw nothing from the outside as the cave curved downwards and off to the side. Felix used Flame Thrower to char a massive arrow into the ground that pointed into the cave then crept inside. He paid particular attention to the ground, walls, ceiling and his mana senses and managed to detect a few magically triggered traps which he easily dismantled. They didn't contain any interesting spells, just Thunderclap to warn the occupants it seemed.
Coming around the bend Felix looked into the cave and saw essentially what he had expected. The cave opened up into a large open chamber. In the middle of the chamber was a large ritual circle drawn in chalk with candles placed around the outside. Brask was laying, still asleep, in the middle of the circle. On the far end of the circle stood the brilliantly scaled chromatic Drakene elder, Arzime. She appeared to be grinding something in a mortar and pestle facing away from the cave's entrance.
What a surprise… who ever could have seen this coming…
Felix backed up to make sure he wouldn't be seen then opened up the quest screen.
Quest Dungeon C
A Monster plagues the people of the Caregarr Forest, hunting them, at night, every 9 days or so. The monster has hunted the people for generations and rarely eats people from within the village, mostly hunting those that risk the outside. There is an unofficial curfew to keep people from being taken and most believe this keeps them safe.
(1/6) Gather information [Complete]
(2/6) Wait for the monster's next hunt [Complete]
(3/6) Find the monster yourself or using bait [Complete]
(4/6) Figure out where the people are being taken [Complete]
(5/6) Find out why the people are being taken [Complete]
(6/6) Solve the monster problem for the Drakene
Well, hopefully this ritual isn't ready right away. I just realized it's going to take forever for the guards to make it down here.
Felix ran back out the cave and into the chasm. The guards seem to have gotten some of his message as they were standing at the edge of the chasm. Felix quickly wrote a message into the ground with Flame Thrower.
Quiet. Jump.
The Guards looked at each-other but none of them jumped, a few of them even stepped back from the ledge. Suddenly, one of the Drakene jumped over the edge into the chasm. As they fell Felix recognized them as Alrik. He quickly caught him with a Feather Fall spell and lowered him to the ground as quietly as he could. Having seen Alrik survive, the others started jumping down as well.
Alrik approached Felix but he quickly shushed him and pointed towards the cave. Alrik's eyes widened then he steeled themselves before he nodded. Felix led the guards into the cave alongside Alrik. As they walked, Felix began to hear chanting coming from inside the cave. They turned the last corner and walked into the chamber where Brask was floating in the middle of a ritual circle as Arzime chanted with her arms in air.
Felix sensed a massive amount of mana pouring itself into the ritual and congregating in the middle into Brask. Much fainter, he sensed a trickle of mana and energy intertwined being sucked out of Brask and pouring itself into Arzime.
So that's how she's lived so long.
Alrik had clearly seen enough as he rushed in and charged Arzime with his shoulder. Felix walked forwards and manually tore the mana out of the ritual then dissipating it as much as he could so it didn't explode. The mana and energy Felix had felt stopped trickling out of Brask as he fell to the ground. The rest of the guard rushed in and two of them walked forwards to treat and then carry Brask away
Turning his head Felix saw Alrik punch Arzime then manacle her hands together. He approached them and Alrik turned to him, anger covering his face and a single tear leaking out.
"Can you identify the ritual? Do you know what it does?"
"I am not certain, but I am pretty sure it is transferring life force, making her live longer." Felix said solemnly.
Alrik lowered his head in a half nod, "Thank you."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Felix nodded.
At this point, Arzime recovered enough from her punch inflicted daze to begin screaming, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, IF YOU DON'T LET ME FINISH THE RITUAL, WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE."
"The hell are you talking about." Alrik growled into her face as he shook her roughly.
"THE RITUAL NEEDS TO BE PERFORMED REGULARLY, IT PROTECTS US. YOU THINK I WANTED TO DO THIS, I HAD TO DO IT."
Alrik looked back at Felix, a mix of confusion and anger written on his face, "She's telling the truth. Guard captain skill"
Felix walked forwards, "Arzime, what does the ritual do?"
"IT PROTECTS OUR VILLAGE."
"Who taught you the ritual? Who told you to perform it?"
"PLEASE JUST LET ME FINISH, I HAVE TO FINISH IT."
Alrik shook her again, "Answer the question."
"Rhuz, my beloved."
Alrik turned to Felix, face painted with more confusion than anger at this point. Preempting his questions Felix answered, "You ever hear that rumor that she was involved in a torrid affair with the elder of the previous tribe yours originally split from?" Alriks eyes widened slightly and Felix continued, "Just a guess, but he probably told her that, lied to her and never told her the truth. He died somehow and she's been carrying on the legacy ever since, casting the ritual but not knowing what it was actually doing."
Or it really does protect them and I just fucked them all over, guess I'll find out soon.
"So she has been sacrificing one of our people, every nine days, for millennia, because she believed a lie?"
Felix shrugged, "Love is a powerful drug, even beyond the grave."
Quest Dungeon C
A Monster plagues the people of the Caregarr Forest, hunting them, at night, every 9 days or so. The monster has hunted the people for generations and rarely eats people from within the village, mostly hunting those that risk the outside. There is an unofficial curfew to keep people from being taken and most believe this keeps them safe.
(1/6) Gather information [Complete]
(2/6) Wait for the monster's next hunt [Complete]
(3/6) Find the monster yourself or using bait [Complete]
(4/6) Figure out where the people are being taken [Complete]
(5/6) Find out why the people are being taken [Complete]
(6/6) Solve the monster problem for the Drakene [Complete]
(Bonus) Find a diplomatic solution. [Complete]
(Bonus) Discover the truth. [Complete]
(Bonus) Do not let any Drakene die. [Complete]
Thank god, or The System. That would have sucked if I was wrong and the ritual really was protecting the village.
Quest Dungeon C
You have completed the quest.
You have successfully achieved all normal and all 3 Bonus objectives.
Congratulations.
Quest Dungeon C
Calculating Rewards
Bonuses:
Diplomacy
Truth
Lives Lost
Reward Tier: Highest
Quest Dungeon C
Rewards
[E - Special] Gem of the Forest
[E - Special] Amulet of the Gems
[E - Special] Energy Wraps of Defence
[E - Rare] Parroukan Feather Enchanting Quill
[E - Rare] Jungle Wood Shield
[E - Uncommon] Jungle Dagger
[E - Uncommon] Jungle Spear
[E - Common] Steel Longsword
500,000 Tutorial Credits
Felix found himself in a familiar, evenly lit room with indistinct slate grey walls and a slight blue tint. In the center of the room there was a long table that held all of the loot that had just been listed to him.
First, he retrieved the Credits which were contained in a simple disc. The longsword was nothing special and he stowed that as well. The jungle spear and dagger were both made entirely of wood, with handles made of a vine wrap. They didn't hold any enchantments, but they appeared sharper than the longsword was despite their material.
The shield had a simple durability enchantment on it, nothing special.
A lot of this is essentially garbage to me. I guess I can sell them for some amount of money.
The first interesting item Felix identified was the familiar deep blue feather, the Enchanting Quill.
[E - Rare] Parroukan Feather Enchanting Quill
Though it provides no benefit towards enchanting whatsoever, a Parroukan feather is widely considered to be a rather beautiful shade. This feather has been modified to create an excellent enchanting quill.
This quill has [E - Rare] level precision and manographic ability.
I hope that's good, guess I'll find out eventually, hopefully I come across a puzzle dungeon soon.
Felix was tentatively excited about the quill, but didn't know enough about enchanting or quills to know how excited he should be.
The next item on the table was a big pile of white cloth strips.
[E - Rare] Energy Wraps of Defence
Cloth wraps, once the property of a powerful monk. After countless centuries of use, these simple strips of cloth have been imbued with their wielders abilities.
When energy is cycled through the wraps, they harden to be essentially indestructible within the E grade.
Felix picked up the cloth strips and wrapped them around his arms. He thought about wearing one or both of them around his torso, since they didn't seem to restrict where they were equipped, but they didn't cover enough for him to be satisfied. Around his arms, they covered from the base of his fingers to half way up his bicep, which was much more useful.
The last item on the table was a combination of the two listed items. Felix had suspected they worked together, but he didn't expect them to come together and essentially be a single item. The item was a simple thin silver colored chain with a circular silver pendant hanging off of it. The pendant had 3 slots in it, with one of them containing a brilliant green gem, reminiscent of an emerald, though Felix had no idea what it was made of.
[E - Special] Amulet of the Forest
A pendant with three slots intended to imbue the wielder with the effects of the gems slotted within.
Forest: While equipped, your maximum energy pool is increased by 50%.
Holy shit. I get to upgrade it with even more gems and it's already the best item I own, well… these boots are insanely comfortable.
Felix equipped the amulet and found that he didn't even feel it hanging off of his neck. The pendant seemed to hang, unnaturally, in such a way that it would never interfere or get caught on anything.
Quest Dungeon C
All Rewards Collected
Would you like to leave this room?
Warning: You may only remain in this room for a maximum of 15 minutes.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Felix found himself outside in the dead of night, though it was only about 10 pm he judged from the tutorial screen.
Tutorial Status
There are 82,927/100,000 people.
There are 84 days, 0 hours, 24 minutes remaining.
You have completed 3 dungeons.
You have helped kill 0 world bosses.
You have captured 1 fort.
Wow, there are a lot more people still alive then I thought there would be.
Felix almost took a single step to the south when he was stopped short by a System screen.
Congratulations
You have successfully completed three dungeons. You have completed one dungeon of each type.
The location of all dungeons will be marked on your map.
Oh shit, that's incredibly lucky. Doesn't really change my plans much, just makes it so I don't have to look really hard or pay for my map to be revealed.
Opening his map, Felix saw icons on each of the dungeons he had completed thus far. The combat dungeon icon was two swords crossed over each-other in red, the puzzle was a blue puzzle piece and the quest dungeon was a yellow question mark icon. Panning his map around, he counted six white cave symbols marking the rest of the dungeons.
Woah, that is useful, there is at least one dungeon in the middle of the ocean. I don't know how I would have found that one. Maybe that's why The System reveals them at all, cause some of them are really hard to find and if you are hunting them down it wants to reward you. Maybe it will do the same thing with world bosses, though it probably expects an entire fort or multiple teaming together to take them down. Maybe it just reveals their locations to everyone. Realistically, this shouldn't be set in stone though, it can probably just change things on the fly, hopefully. I don't want an announcement to cause people to rush and try to kill a world boss, either being too hasty and killing themselves or stealing my kills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .