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Chapter 21 - The Woods

Chapter 21 - The Woods

After learning a new enchantment, The Warlock was off to a great start in her new dungeon. At the start of the second day however, it was time to begin the mission. The base had been setup and they all had a good night's rest. It was time to hunt.

They woke. Not all three at once, but once one of them was up and moving, the others were soon to follow. They woke slowly at first, stretching and having some of the remaining meat from last night. After putting on what they called armor they looked at each other once more. The Fighter in comfortable clothes with some protection, two hand axes and some other bits and bobs.

The Sorcerer in pants and a shirt, no visible weapons and looking the most ragged. Finally, The Warlock in what looked like medieval cosplay, not full plate though, just a leather breastplate. She also had a hammer in a beltloop. They all had backpacks too and decided to bring them along. It would slow their travel and movements a little bit, but they decided it was worth it.

They unblocked the cave. They hadn't fully blocked it, but there was still effort in moving the rocks. Moving outside they took stock of the forest. They had a large area to search for an infection or corruption. The Warlock was the first to break the silence.

"Anyone have any idea on where to start?"

The silence that followed spoke volumes. As expected, none of them were rangers in their spare time. They had no experience searching the woods. The Warlock sometimes took walks during slow weekends and on one or two business trips. This led to some strange thoughts though. These quests seemed random, but what if they weren't? What if they were always something that was new to them? Why though? That was another giant question, why any of this? Why benefits from this? She had a lot of questions suddenly, but pushed them aside. This was not the time for them. Maybe once she built up some more influence she could trade with The Diviner again, they seemed to know a lot more about this whole thing. In the time she spent pondering, The Fighter had come up with a loose plan.

"I think we should split up, not much, but you both seem to have ranged spells so you could respond even at a distance. With me in the middle we could search a larger area."

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The Sorcerer was quick to respond. "I'll take the right flank then, please keep in sight; this forest is making me nervous."

"Do you feel something?" It was a long shot, but The Warlock considered that maybe as a Sorcerer she could have an extra sense.

"Not any direction or specific feeling, I think it's just normal anxiety."

"Oh.."

A silence descended once more and once The Warlock stepped forward to go left, they started to move forward. It wasn't easy to keep the others in sight during this walk. The Fighter was relatively easy, he was close by and even though she sometimes lost sight, it was mostly due to a thicker cluster of trees. The Sorcerer however, she only saw glimpses of. She hoped this wouldn't blow up their faces.

Splitting her focus was hard. Between looking for The Fighter and The Sorcerer, making sure she didn't trip and searching for some kind of corruption, it was a mentally taxing walk. She hadn't brought her watch, another thing to put on the list for next time, but she was sure it had been at least 20 minutes from the level or exercise she had done before. Being an office drone didn't leave much time for walking, not that she had put much effort into seeking that out anyway. It was then that she felt something. It was as if the humidity had suddenly spiked. She felt hotter and uncomfortable. Quickly she called for the others.

"Stop! I feel something weird here. Come check it out."

The Fighter and The Sorcerer were quick to come, even though no one had spoken both of them had also been getting bored and annoyed. Even if this was nothing it would at least be more interesting than walking forward looking for something they didn't even know how to find. They walked closer and were immediately assaulted by the same feeling The Warlock had felt. The Fighter felt the same heat and humidity and felt instantly uncomfortable. The Sorcerer however could place this feeling.

"I know what this is. During my initiation test I was infused with power. I had a choice between three and one of them felt just like this. I didn't choose it, but I remember that feeling. We need to be careful with spells here, we have just found an area of wild magic. This is a very bad sign."