The fox wastes no time leaping at Yvelna, sensing her to be the leader of the party. She dodges, swinging her sword upright to slash the beast from the belly up.
A pain filled howl erupts from the fox much like the corrupted wolf when she fought it.
"The Miasma isn't supposed to have reached Bloom Forest." Yvelna says. She and Sprite attack not giving the creature any room to breathe. With a swing of her sword, she unleashes her carrot strike.
[Yvlena Cast Carrot Strike (10MP)]
The blast flies across the area hitting the corrupted fox and knocking it a few feet away. The creature shakes it off, setting its eyes on another member of the party.
The fox lunges, barring its teeth and biting down on one of Rabbit Knight's ears, the knight kicks hard, eventually spearing the fox through the nose with his rapier.
The fox lets go, yelping loudly at the sting of the blade. Rabbit Knight lands, skidding across the forest floor. He releases an attack of his own in retaliation.
[Rabbit Knight Cast Slash (03MP)]
The fox takes the hit, smacking its body across a tree and dealing additional damage to itself. It gets up, stumbling as it tries to regain balance.
Yvlena and her party watch it growl, bowing its head and moving stealthily towards them.
She and Rabbit Knight go on guard, with Sprite having nothing to worry about since she's too small and fast for the fox.
As they suspect the fox runs towards them but Yvlena is ready with a well-aimed Carrot Strike.
[Yvlena Cast Carrot Strike (10MP)]
The fox dissolves upon impact leaving the team to catch their breaths.
"Good job." Yvlena says, taking a moment to rest herself against a tree. "Much harder than I thought."
[Yvlena Acquired
EXP: 280/730
***
Shadow essence x2
Dark Fox Pelt x1
Fire Stone (Low Grade) x1
***
Moon Points: 250]
"What's corrupted Fox doing so close to Bloom Haven though?" Yvlena asks.
[Sub Class Quest Unlocked]
[Quest: Investigate the Corrupted Fox
The tainted Miasma from the Verdant Woods seems to be leaking into other areas of Bloom Haven. As the Harvest Guardian, discover the origins of the creature came from and what to do about it.
***
Rewards
????
***
Moon Points x500
Moon Gems x100
EXP x300]
[Do You Accept]
[Yes/No]
Yvelana accepts instantly, looking forward to the prospect of another mysterious reward. That was, after all, how she got her title of Harvest guardian.
"Looks like we're heading deeper into Bloom Forest." she says to her summon, The two nod following behind her as she walks through a thicket of trees and into the second level of the Bloom Forest.
----------
The second Level is just as she remembers, with darker trees and lower light but it doesn't deter her from moving forward.
But something is different her second time around, within the shadows of the trees, yellow eyes stare, watching her from beyond the darkness. A shiver runs up her spine. Sprite flies closer to the elf, staying out of the whispering shadows.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Who knew what could be lurking around at any moment?
"I didn't think Bloom Forest would get creepier, is this because of the Miasma?" Yvlena asks.
"It could be." Sprite replies, Yvlena pauses, realizing she wasn't just talking to herself anymore like she usually did. Sprite or Rabbit Knight would give some indication they acknowledged what she was saying.
"R-Right!" Yvlena stutters carrying on through the forest with her companions beside her.
----------
The party arrives at another Meadow beside a gently flowing river. Yvlena looks over the lush greenery and the beautiful spread of wild flowers and herbs in every direction.
The spicy scent of the herbs wafts through the air, accompanying the sweet, soft scents of the flowers.
'This would be a good place to forage.' she thinks, after the quest is done she would come back and forage more herbs for recipes.
Turning her head to the side, she notices the river.
The large body of water flows with a light current through the meadow and beyond the horizon. She walks towards it, expecting to find some clue about the miasma within the clear waters.
Rabbit Knight stops to drink from it before she can stop him. She watches her companion lift the water to his mouth with little white paws and lap at it. Sprite does the same, scooping up a bead of river water to drink from.
Yvlena sits on her knees beside the river, hesitantly cupping her hands and drinking in the cool, clear water. In real life, this would probably be a bad idea but this was all fiction, right?
She couldn't catch anything from drinking river water in the game right?
After the first sip calmness washes over her much like the gently flowing water from the river. She sighs, as the refreshing liquid slides down her throat. She didn't even know one could get thirsty within this game.
[The Lake Rejuvenates You, Full Health To Party]
Yvlena notices her HP go up after the drink and wonders if she could store some of the lake water in something, if only she had glass vials from the apothecary, Maybe Risel would be able to part with some for a price.
"Maybe I could even sell it on the auction house." she says getting up and dusting her knees.
----------
Heading back into the woods, the party continued their journey toward the edge of the forest, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed like the origin of the dark miasma.
They encounter two more regular horned rabbits and dispatch them quickly, walking forward Yvlena and the party is once again met with a Corrupted wolf.
Rabbit Knight stops the party from attacking blindly, drawing attention to the wolf's odd coloring.
"You're right, I think it's at a higher level." Yvlena says to him, Rabbit knight sets his eyes forward in a determined glare.
The creature howls signaling it is ready for a battle.
"I have a feeling the fights going to be a lot tougher this time around." Yvlena says brandishing the carrot sword.
"If we beat it before, we can beat it again."
The wolf leaps forward, and without wasting any time she delivers her recently learned move, carrot strike.
[Yvlena Cast Carrot Strike (10MP)]
The wolf barely seems to feel it, shrugging off the hit like it was nothing, it attacks, swiping at Yvlena with its tainted claws.
The wolf misses allowing Sprite to string the creature, Yvlena watches the ball of light fly from the sprite's fingertips, striking the wolf.
[Sprite cast Sting (01 MP)]
[Skill: Sting leveled up]
"Wow, it's even better in person!"
"Yvlena watch out!" Sprite's tiny voice cries out, warning the human. The elf girl couldn't doge in time for the wolf to rake its claws across her arm. She yells, swinging her sword and bringing it down hard on the wolf's head.
The creature gives a startled cry, pulling back to circle the party.
Yvlena clutches her hurt arm, clenching her teeth in pain. She didn't expect the hit to land quite as painfully as it did.
[Yvlena is afflicted with bleed -1 HP Per turn]
"That's not good!" Aya says reading the notification, she pales. The small fairy summon flies over to her arm quickly casting the only other spell she knows
[Sprite cast Cure (05 MP)]
A cool feeling covers the area, and Yvlena is overcome with relief as the digital wound begins to heal.
"Thank you Sprite."
While Sprite is busy healing Yvlena, Rabbit Knight is ruthlessly defending against the corrupted wolf. The rabbit leaps about effortlessly slashing the confused wolf who can barely keep up.
[Battle Skill Unlocked: Rabbit Barrage Combo]
The wolf howls, weakly trying to catch the small but agile creature.
Yvlena jumps in launching a fierce attack on the unsuspecting wolf.
[Yvlena Cast Carrot Strike (10MP)]
Sprite and Rabbit Knight attack, using a combo of their own, the wolf is promptly blasted with a furry of stings and slashes.
[Battle Skill: Rabbit Sting Combo]
With a final howl of defeat, the wolf falls limply to the ground, dissolving in a beam of bright light.
"That was a tough battle." Yvlena says leaning against a tree. Rabbit Knight sheathes his sword, cleaning his whiskers as Sprite lands on Yvlena's head.
[Yvlena Acquired
EXP: 319/730
***
Shadow essence x1
Wolf Fang x1
***
Moon Points: 300]
"That's the second corrupted create we've come across in Bloom Forest, whatever the source of the miasma here, it must be small." Yvlena deduces. She puts a hand to her mouth in thought. "I do think we're heading in the right direction."
'The only thing I'm worried about is encountering the forest boss or perhaps another hidden boss.' she thinks, she recalls her difficulty fighting the Horned Rabbit Queen, even if she came out victorious in the end it was a lot to tackle by herself.
'Well I'm not alone anymore so if she shows up again, I think I'll be fine.'
----------
After a short break, the journey continues deeper into Bloom Forest, the thick trees part, and soon the party is staring at a narrow grassy path. An ill wind blows through, ruffling Yvlena's short hair and Rabbit Knight's well kept fur.
Yvlena sees the dark patch of land first before her summons do. The grass surrounding the area is dead much like the land in the Verdant Woods a clear sign that something is amiss.
"The miasma." she gasps, now that she stands within the game she notices the thin dark wisps floating off the ground.
"It's changing the land." Sprite says, Yvlena hears the hint of sadness in her voice.
"I'm sure we'll figure this out." Yvlena says to comfort her, Rabbit Knight inches closer toward them, staring out into the dark horizon.
Yvlena gulps, taking a tentative step forward down into the path. The breeze blows past them again, carrying with it a foul scent.
"Ugh, smells like something died here." Yvlena says. Like the scent of a dead mouse she'd found in her home days after it had died, this was the stench of rot.
"There's something rotting in these woods." Sprite murmurs. The small summons stays close to Yvlena as she walks down the path into the rotten road.