The echoes of their footsteps reverberated off the stone walls as the pair ascended the tower. Eventually, they reached an ornate wooden door with the sigil of a goat.
Arthur opened the door and headed inside, gagging at what greeted him once he had entered.
The floor was a mess with limbs strewn about and blood pools collected in small ditches, there were mangled corpses collected in a corner with chunks of flesh missing, it seemed to be from being eaten.
Alex walked in and promptly headed out after seeing the scene and vomited behind the door.
They had almost forgotten the cruel reality of the game they were in now, no one could escape the grim fate of death in this world. Whatever kept them in the game made it even worse on top of that.
This was the fate of those that were taken from the village alive… Maybe Sorin could be in that pile too…?
Arthur blocked that thought from continuing as he searched through them, ignoring the morality of his actions.
[Obtained: Amulet of a lost child]
On one of the unrecognisable smaller bodies was an amulet with a picture stored inside, the innkeeper and his little boy had bright smiles on it.
“I found it,” Arthur said as he searched through the rest of the corpses, turning some of them over but Sorin was not found in the pile of the dead, if he was then he’d be one of the mangled corpses. But, that was unlikely since none of the corpses met his height except for the innkeeper’s child.
He had a small thought, why is the child here if he was taken in the invasion last night? Did those goblins come from here or did they just toss all the extra weight they carried after the invasion to their fellow goblin kind?
He wouldn’t be able to find out unless he was personally there with them so for now it remained a mystery.
Arthur stepped back and wiped the sweat off of his forehead, he was mentally exhausted from just looking at the corpses but touching them was another story.
“...Is he in there?” Alex said with a strange expression on his face.
“No.”
Alex seemed to feel relieved, perhaps there was hope.
“Let’s go, I don’t want to stay in here for too long. This place is disgusting,” Arthur uttered bitterly and turned his back to the pile of the dead.
“Yeah…”
***
The pair arrived at the starter village and met up with the innkeeper.
“Here, sorry we were too late…” Arthur looked down, there was sadness in his voice.
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The innkeeper received the amulet and gazed at the image of his son for a long while.
“Its… Alright, I thought something like this would happen. It's goblins after all.” His voice was shaky, he was on the verge of tears but he had to keep it in. He just found out his son was no longer with him after all.
He sniffled before rewarding Arthur for completing the quest.
[The innkeeper’s missing son:]
Rescue the innkeeper’s son at the goblin camp
[Failed: Find the innkeeper’s son 0/1] (Hidden: Obtained the son’s amulet 1/1)
[Reward:50 gold, travel supplies x3, Jack’s sword]
The innkeeper continued, “I planned to give this to my boy once he came of age… But I have no reason to keep it anymore. Please, take it.”
Arthur inspected the sword he was given and the weapon’s info was displayed.
[Jack’s sword]
Rarity: Uncommon
+1 dexterity
“And… did you find your brother?” The innkeeper asked.
Arthur wasn’t sure how to reply, either way, it would have made the innkeeper feel sad. But, he just couldn’t lie to the man.
“He might still be alive, but I don’t know where he is.”
The innkeeper smiled slightly, “I hope he is, be on your way hero. You have to find him.”
Arthur wasn’t sure how he should feel being called a hero, he only killed the minotaur… he didn’t save anyone, and it felt wrong.
“I will.” Arthur turned his back to the innkeeper and walked away, clenching his fist tightly.
The two were now back on the road and headed towards their original destination, the second town. It should have more clues of where Sorin might be and lots of quests for both Arthur and Alex to level up.
The two looked up at the sky as they were deep in their thoughts.
“I feel like shit,” Alex sighed.
“Yeah… So do I.”
***
The dirt road slowly turned into a gravelly path as they headed through the forest, they met several players on the path who were scouring through the forest for resources and monsters. Some of them were solo and others were in large groups.
The sun was now over the horizon and cast a deep orange glow over the forest, the wind rustled the leaves under their feet as they walked by, strangely the forest was pretty despite all the dangerous monsters that lived inside it.
An exit out of the forest was now in view and they headed toward it.
The two slowly exited the forest and saw a pretty town with many houses made of stone and brick, smoke coming out of the chimneys on the roofs and children running around as they played with each other. Players were gathered in groups as they discussed various topics, strategies and quests.
It all seemed so peaceful, were these the people that survived the invasion or were they people that came from another starter village? Maybe both.
“I need a bed.” Alex yawned as he stretched out his arms.
“You can go ahead and get a room for us at the inn, I have some things to do.”
Alex stared at him, “We just found the town and you’re already getting to work?”
Arthur was just as fatigued as Alex, maybe more. His constitution stat gave him more stamina but he already exhausted himself when he fought all those goblins.
“Besides, you can’t go around looking like that.” Alex pointed at Arthur, he was fully drenched in the blood of the goblins they had fought, the thought never crossed his mind that the stickiness he felt was from the blood, he was too distracted by his own thoughts.
“Yeah you’re right, people might think I'm some lunatic.” Arthur agreed as he looked at his clothing and armour which were stained red and had the disgusting smell of iron.
He really needed that bath now.
Arthur was welcomed and stepped through the town gates.
[Entered: Easthallow Shire]