Chapter 241
You have successfully completed Firetree Hollow!
500xp awarded for completion!
They'd barely had time to read the notifications that popped up before they were joined by a familiar face.
Their monitor had appeared just as they were discussing inspecting the treasure chest and handing out loot.
Jay wasn't sure if the older looking woman wearing the bright orange sash had been waiting for them outside or had been watching them during the boss fight. When she was invisible it was impossible to tell where she was, and she seemed to spend the majority of her time invisible.
She gave the group a considering once over as she visually inspected each of them before she nodded once to herself in satisfaction. Then she spoke in a clear and firm voice.
“You've completed one task but there are more still to go. Will you all be continuing to the next task? Are any of you interested in going back to the Guild? A nice hot bath? Warm dry clothes? Hot food? Anyone?” she asked.
She was standing between two of the benches and the group all looked over at her and shook their heads. Even Carly shook her head no, which surprised Jay. He'd thought that she would jump at the chance, but no.
The monitor waited, just to be sure. “Alright then. At this time Norri may open her envelope and the group may proceed to the next event.”
They still hadn't opened the treasure chest that sat on the pedestal in front of them. That was what they really wanted to open, but the monitor was quite insistent. She must have had a reason for making the group open the envelope first.
Norri reached in to her bag and withdrew the envelope that she had been given and pulled out a single sheet of folded paper. She read its contents out loud to the group.
“Congratulations on defeating the dungeon! If you are reading this then you have successfully beat the end boss of your assigned dungeon. In your rewards chest you should find a valuable item – retrieve that item. You'll know it when you see it. You are then to proceed to the village of Raintree which you will find roughly an hours journey north-east of your position. Once there you are to assist as you are able in an official Guild capacity.”
“Is that it?” Aiden had asked after Norri had stopped speaking.
Norri shrugged and handed him the paper, “That was it. Not a lot to go on.”
Aiden grinned, “NOW can we open the treasure chest?” he asked with a crooked smile.
The group attempted to turn and look at the monitor – but she had already disappeared.
“I really hate not being able to ask her questions.” M'redith groused.
Jay smiled, “We've done just fine without her answering questions so far but I agree. It'd be better if we could just get some more information. I feel like we're being given almost no information. For instance – WHERE ARE WE?” Jay asked and chuckled.
M'redith shook her head. “I've no idea. We're in a jungle, so its nowhere near K'tharkle. If I had to guess I'd say we're very far from the Guild – and I've never even heard of Raintree.”
“We're still being timed too,” Carly pointed out and everyone was surprised to hear her talk after she'd been quiet for so long. Her voice sounded strained and exhausted.
Jay nodded slowly at that. “True. Ok. What do you say we open the chest and then get moving? We've got at least an hour's journey ahead of us and I don't know about you but I'd rather get it over with before I run out of energy completely.”
M'redith nodded, “Agreed. Ok – Jay, check the chest for traps then we can pop it open and see what we've got to deal with.”
Carly groaned and everyone turned to look at her.
She looked up with wide eyes, “What? I'm sore! Can't Jay use his aura on us? I feel filthy.”
Aiden wrinkled his nose but smiled teasingly and pulled his head back, away from her, “You smell filthy too.”
Carly looked offended until Norri added, “We all do. I feel gross.”
M'redith nodded, “Ok. So a quick aura cleaning then first?”
Jay nodded and everyone smiled just as the Monitor cleared her throat.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards her. She had reappeared in between two benches, right where she had disappeared a moment ago.
Jay had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what she had to say this time, and he was right.
“Jay has already used his aura ability once. You are not to use it again until directed to do so. You will not always have Jay available to give you comfort. Deal with your filth just as any other group would. Also, you are still being timed,” she pointed out as her form began to vanish once again.
Norri watched the monitor disappear from view again with a frustrated look. “I hate it when she does that,” she said with narrowed eyebrows.
“Wait. So no aura cleanings at all now? Goddess, that was one of the best parts of being in this group!” Carly groused.
Jay wasn't thrilled at the thought of having to stay filthy either.
M'redith eyed Carly critically but kindly kept her thoughts to herself.
“So what do we do now?” Carly asked as she sat with her head in her hands, her elbows balanced on her thighs.
M'redith shrugged, “You heard the monitor, we just have to deal with our filth just as any other group would.”
“And how do those other groups deal with it?” Carly wondered aloud.
M'redith shook her head. “I think they just grin and bear it until they can find an inn or a bath house?”
The rain had been horrendous on their journey to the dungeon, and now that they had finished the dungeon there was little rain to be found. Standing in the stink of the group he wished the rain would return. They could all use a good wash.
“Enough belly-aching. Let's pull ourselves together. It's barely noon I'm guessing – we can't really see the sun from here so its tough to tell but I think I'm about right. We need to get moving. Let's go through the treasure then head out,” M'redith said firmly to the rest of the group.
M'redith reached for the treasure chest but Norri quickly pointed out, “What about the treasure goblin's sack?”
M'redith smiled, “I haven't forgotten, but remember, we're being timed. We can hold off on that until we get to the inn.”
Everyone made complaining noises except for Jay who just smiled slightly. He'd expected M'redith to say something like that. She was very task oriented.
“Let's just start with the chest and see how fast we get through it then, ok?” M'redith finally relented with a slight smile.
The others all broke out in to smiles and quieted down to wait for the treasure.
M'redith reached out and picked up the rust red colored chest. Using both hands she lifted it off the pedestal and sat it on the ground in front of her bench. She sat down and carefully opened the chest. No traps were triggered.
The chest was internally lit by a rosy red light that lit up M'redith's face from beneath and gave her a sinister appearance.
“First item is... patches!” M'redith said as she lifted out a a bundle of patches tied together with a line of twine.
“Yes!” Carly said excitedly. “I've love these! The others will be so jealous,” she said with a smile and for a moment it was like the good Carly was back.
Stolen novel; please report.
M'redith handed the patches to Carly who took them with a smile and untied the twine so that she could pick out one and pass the rest to Aiden who sat next to her. He did the same and so on.
The patches were ringed in ruby dust that glittered darkly in the light, almost a black-red. The top rocker of the patch read 'Firetree Hollow - 1st Place.' The bottom rocker had the current date. In the center of the patch was the tick from the boss fight, large as an elephant with its mouth parts stretched out obscenely. The four bands around its body gleamed brightly.
It was a good looking patch, fancy with very detailed stitching, not to mention the ruby dust and the gleaming bands that glowed with their own light.
M'redith didn't wait but pulled out the next item, a small wooden box with a hinge that opened in to two triangles.
“What is that?” Norri asked and a few seconds later Jay Identified the item. He read off the description to the others after M'redith had handed it to him.
Glofire Stove – rare – This small hinged wooden box opens to form a triangle and fits in the palm of the hand. It works as a stove and is activated when opened but should be set on the ground while in use. While opened an invisible flame will burn at the apex of the triangle. This flame will be smokeless but will still provide enough heat to cook with. Hardware to set cookware over the stove is not included.
“Oooo...” Aiden said with a smile.
“Ooo what?” Norri replied with a grin. “You don't cook, do you?”
Aiden shook his head. “Not yet – but I could with that!”
M'redith nodded. “I think everyone could use it, so anyone who wants in can roll.”
“I'll pass,” Jay said. “I don't cook much, or at all.”
“I'm in,” Aiden said to which M'redith rolled her eyes.
“Me too!” Norri said with a smile.
Carly shrugged, “I'll roll,” she said.
Jay frowned. If Carly didn't care about the item then she could have passed. She didn't have to, but it would have been polite.
“I'm in,” M'redith said and that was enough for the System to trigger a roll.
Item: Glofire Stove x 1
Carly: Random(100) = 09
Aiden: Random(100) = 75
Norri: Random(100) = 88
M'redith: Random(100) = 12
Glofire Stove x 1 awarded to Norri!
M'redith grinned and handed the item to Norri who took it in to the palm of her hand. She opened it in to a triangle and set it on the ground. She waved her hand over the tip and snatched it back.
“Oo, hot!” she said and laughed. The others shook their heads at her as she folded it back up and tossed it through the air at Aiden, who barely caught it before it hit the ground.
Aiden gave her a confused look.
Norri shrugged, “I just wanted to play with it first. You can have it.”
Aiden's eyes shined and he looked happy, “Really? Thanks Norri!” he said and gave her a side hug that she allowed with a smile.
“Yea, yea, let go of me. You stink,” she said but did so with a smile to take some sting out of the truth.
“Wait,” Carly said. “Can she just do that?”
“Sure,” M'redith said. “Why not? She won it fair and square.”
Carly went quiet but didn't looked entirely convinced. Thankfully she kept quiet after that.
Aiden grinned, “I'm definitely going to learn how to cook now.”
M'redith didn't wait for any more talk but reached in and pulled out an item.
“The last item,” M'redith said and the group looked disappointed. It had been a brutal dungeon run, one of their hardest. They'd almost lost Carly, they'd all gotten various injuries, it had been a tough fight. They had hoped for a lot of treasure as a reward. Two items and some patches didn't seem worth it somehow.
That was, until M'redith pulled out the last item.
The chest hadn't been gleaming – it had been the item, and it glowed a rosy red that sent shades of red streaking across the rest area they sat in like growing shadows.
Exalted Nail of Supreme Barriers – very rare – This nail has been enchanted with a powerful fire rune, a craft rarely practiced in Eden. This item is activated by driving it forcefully in to the body of the intended host. Once set, the item will generate a powerful flaming barrier, at will, that will only affect enemies of the host. Enemies are defined as any creature that the host sees as a threat. Once set, the nail may no longer be removed.
The barrier begins up to six feet away from the host's body, can cover up to an additional six feet, and any creature viewed as an enemy that attempts to cross the barrier is immolated. Any motes of light generated from enemy destruction are absorbed by the barrier and, in turn, will increase its strength.
If used on a person this will bestow on them a new ability, Firetree Hollow's Barrier, and will be treated as an at-will ability, separate from any Class Abilities gained. This ability does not use mana.
“I'm absolutely rolling on that,” Carly said with a serious look.
“No, you're not,” M'redith replied and Carly turned to argue.
“Look,” M'redith said before Carly could get going, “our task was to retrieve this item. Not to pass it out as loot or to use it for ourselves.”
Carly paused a moment to think about that before she frowned, “You don't know that! We might need that ability to survive wherever they send us to next!”
The nail was in a velvet pouch, and the portion that stuck out of the pouch was enough to generate a good deal of rosy red light.
“It said to retrieve the item – not to use it,” Norri pointed out. It had been her envelope that the note had come in and she felt fairly certain that it had wanted them to get something – not use it.
Aiden looked unconvinced, “Yea but...” he said as he made big eyes and wiggled his eyebrows at the glowing nail.
M'redith turned to glare at him and Aiden raised his hands defensively.
“I'm just saying! That item is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Imagine how powerful you would be with that ability!” Aiden insisted.
M'redith shook her head aggressively, “No, no, no. You'd be powerful, sure, but the Guild would blackball you for stealing an item you'd been sent to retrieve. You'd never work a Guild contract again.”
“No way they would just toss someone aside with an ability like that,” Carly said thoughtfully.
M'redith sighed. They were running out of time. Or had they already run out of time? Being timed was stressful when you didn't know what the cut off time was.
“The Guild would rather cut someone like that loose than have someone who can't follow basic directions working for them.” M'redith insisted.
Carly shrugged, “I don't know. I think I could live without the Guild if I had that kind of shield.”
“Sure, but the Guild is everywhere – and they'd spread the word about you. Your name would be mud pretty quickly. You'd be powerful, but alone,” Aiden pointed out.
M'redith shook her head, “It doesn't matter. We're not rolling on it,” she said and handed it to Jay. “Here, put it in one of your pouches, if you've got room,” she said with a smirk.
Jay was festooned with pouches, and had plenty of ones free. “Ha, ha,” he said but with a grin.
Carly folded her arms over her chest and frowned. She really wanted that item.
M'redith eyed her and turned back to Jay, “Do NOT let her hold it. Keep it put away.”
Carly rolled her eyes and huffed but it was clear that she had already been trying to work out how to get it away from Jay.
The chest had gone dark and a moment later went up in to a flurry of motes of light that rose in to the air.
“It's time to move,” M'redith said as she pulled something out of one of her pouches and checked it before putting it away. “This way,” she said.
The group quickly set out after M'redith. This time she hadn't waited for the group to form up, and everyone was forced to run to their assigned spots.
As they walked rain began to fall all around them once again.