The young boy did his best to keep the tears from rolling down his face while listening to the little granny. She was a bit shorter than him, but he couldn’t deny that she was much more energetic than him.

Instead of going outside and searching for his mom, he relied on a kind stranger for help. As the story went on and on, he felt even more guilty. In the end, in a voice cracking in high pitched notes, he asked the granny to go outside and leave him to recollect his thoughts.

If only that day he had stopped her from going to the ruins, all of this wouldn’t have happened.

“Mom…”

I told you. They were the ones that did it.

Kirio frowned and covered his ears with both of his hands. It never shut up. It was always there, giving the boy a piece of its mind. And like usual, his act of ignoring it didn’t stop the words from drilling inside his head.

She didn’t even get a nice end. Oh, my baby~ she cried while her body was breaking down, just like that fool back then...

“SHUT UP!” he couldn’t take its incessant rambling anymore. No matter what he did, it would always be talking whenever it pleased.

The voice stopped speaking. However, if its face could be seen, it would be grinning from ear to ear.

Don’t you think they should pay for what they’ve done?

Kirio bit his lips. Mom always told him that he should not trust the words of a demon. They were beings that fed on the rage and greed of other living beings.

However… his mother was dead. Murdered, by those unscrupulous people. Why, WHY did she have to die!? They ran all the way here to escape from those crazy people, but it still wasn’t enough?

They just wanted to live in peace. Tears started falling to the ground, clouding his sight. They didn’t do anything bad, but those horrible people refused to leave them alone. Why them!? What did they do to deserve all of this?

Just trust me. I can give them what they deserve.

The boy’s conviction faltered sightly. Wasn’t it fine? Mother was already gone. There was no other reason to keep going. Even if his soul would be eaten by a demon, if he could make them pay then…

“Alright…”

I heard you, child of the Ashen Tree. The pact is now sealed.

Suddenly he gripped his chest, as it flamed in pain. His lungs felt like they were on fire. With a scream, he dropped to the ground.

“AAAAAH!”

He coughed and coughed again, however this caused only his throat to hurt. As he gathered enough strenght to get on all fours, the feeling of throwing up rushed at him like a bull.

Despite him not having eaten anything since the night before, he kept throwing out a sap-like substance, of crystal clear color. His eyes filled with tears could barely see the sap moving on its own, converging into a round-like object.

Pain coursed through his body once more, now unbereable. In reflex he closed his eyes, hoping that this pain was all worth it. That mom was going to be at peace, even if he was not.

ᴥᴥᴥ ≈ ° ≈ ᴥᴥᴥ

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A sharp scream pierced the air. Without thinking about it twice, Tacha rushed inside the store. The scene she found inside was quite disturbing.

For a moment she doubted her eyes. Just a few minutes ago the little kid was still alive and well, but now…

In front of her was the figure of the boy, half-facing her. However he didn’t look right. Scratch marks were all over his neck, his eyes marked red by excessive crying. His clothes too were dirtier and ripped in a few places.

He wasn’t paying her any attention, looking instead to the pretty gem in his fingers with keen interest. He raised it high up, so that the light coming from outside would make it shine like a real gem.

Then he turned towards her. His gaze was unfocused, then it became clear and sharp. He smiled at her. A grin from ear to ear “Thank you grandma. I feel much better now” the boy clenched the gem tightly in his palm.

Tacha felt a shiver run down her spine. She felt it instinctively. Whoever she was facing now, it wasn’t the little Kirio that she knew anymore.

He walked towards her, the grin still plastered on his face.

Then the surroundings caught on fire and swords rained from above. Tacha instinctively retreated, but there was no ground behind her and she fell into the pit of flames. As she fell, the granny caught a glimpse of the boy. He was looking at her falling down, a thin golden circlet on his head.

She blinked and everything disappeared. Not even Kirio was there anymore. The granny looked around warily, but it seemed truly that he had left. She wasn’t completely sure why, Tacha was sure that she felt an hostile pressure coming from the boy.

Only the ringing of notifications woke her up from her thinking. By instinct, she checked on them before chasing after the boy.

The pressure of ‘Scales of Retribution’ is exterting influence over you.

Wisdom check failed.

Insight check failed.

You are under the influence of the illusion.

You are out of range of ‘Scales of Retribution’

Effects dispelled.

The first few notifications were all about

However the rest were about the two new quests.

Coils of Amber

It was said that the various ruins across the continent held a secret dangerous enough to destroy countries and topple kingdoms.

Various factions were eager to get their hands on it, no matter what it took. However, for one reason or another they all failed.

The secret however was nothing that could be wielded like a weapon.

It was simply a ward to stop the calamity of the world beyond.

After centuries of inactivity the Gate of the City of Amber has been opened and you have no choice but to face the consequences.

???

An Event quest has been started.

Everyone in the area will be considered a partecipant.

It was the first time for her to see an event quest. She had read about it before in the online forum. In short, they were quest where multiple people in a specific area could partecipate in.

But it seemed like this one specifically forced everyone in the area to partecipate...

Buried in Amber

Up until now, demons were considered to be mere tales to scare children at night.

However with the apperance of Berith in this little village, both you and its inhabitants have no choice but to believe that the stories are true.

Defeat the demon, and bring back the peace that Rosecott village has always known!

Rewards: Exp rewarded according to contribution.

1st place: Platinum chest

2nd place: Golden chest

3rd place: Silver chest

4th and 5th place: Bronze chest

Chests are rewards granted to a player as a ranking reward in public quests and events.

They contain an assortiment of items from a different rarity pool for each type of chest. The higher the rating of the chest, the higher the rarity of the rewards in it.

Bronze: Common 75%, Uncommon 25%

Silver: Uncommon 70%, Rare 30%

Gold: Rare 50%, Legendary 49%, Mythic 1%

Platinum: Legendary 60%, Mythic 39.05%, Unique 0.05%

The rewards were looking to be quite nice, particularly for the top two places. However she was worried about the flavour text. The demon Berith? Why did it sound like the kind of boss that cannot be defeated when you’re just starting the game?