"Who dares enter my domain?!"
Sprite and Rabbit Knight braced themselves for an attack before Yvlena jumped in, trying to prevent a battle before it could occur.
"Wait!" Yvlena said "I'm the new Harvest Guardian, Yvlena, I'm not here to fight you,"
The voice in the shadows chuckled with relish. Yvlena could make out something shifting in the darkness as the figure of a hunched over woman moved closer to her.
"Passed the mantle on has he? goddess knows what happened to Rael," the voice said.
"You knew Rael?"
"Hold yourself, I'll be asking the question here," the voice said.
Yvlena's mouth snapped shut. She watched the figure come into the dim light of the hearth.
"I am Bavga, Witch of Bone and you are in my domain, the Avaresh Swamp. What business do you have here?" She hissed.
[NAME: Bavga
RACE: Swamp Hag
OCC: Bone Witch]
Yvlena heard the clacking of Bavga's staff as it hit the ground whilst the old witch dragged herself forward. It was a long crudely carved wooden staff topped with the skull of a bird fitted with two shining yellow orbs, a ring of beads and some feathers.
The orbs within the skull's eyes glowed maliciously, and led Yvlena to assume they were the source of the witch's power.
The hag was a hunched over old woman with sallow skin and a hard creased face lined with wrinkles and folds, from all her time living within the Avaresh Swamp alone.
Her hair was the same thick swamp grass used on the outside of the house, obscuring half her face and only allowing a single glowing eye to bulge out from the woman's water swollen face.
The smell of rotten fish and wet herbs accompanied Bavga as she strode forward.
"Before I answer any questions of yours you will have to pass my test, if you are a true Harvest Guardian just as Rael and those before you,"
Bavga looked Yvlena up and down, inspecting the elven girl and her summons.
This Yvlena recalled from her mother's tale, she knew what the old hag would say next.
"You are nothing but a child," Bavga said. She slammed the edge of her staff unto the wooden floor, lighting the room with magic.
[Quest Complete:
A Figure In The Swamp
Avaresh Swamp has been taken over by the Miasma but a friendly face might dwell yet within it.
Investigate the figure in the window, it may be a boon to your journey.
***
Rewards
Swamp Seed x5
Water Resistant Elixir (Recipe)
***
Moon Points x2000
Moon Gems x50
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
EXP x500]
[Yvlena Acquired
EXP: 585/1590]
'The quest is complete,' Yvlena thought, Bavga found her way to a rocking chair carved out of old animal bones with a cushion crafted from pelts.
She rested her back against it with a sigh, rocking back and forth as she stared grimly at Yvlena, appraising her again. After a moment of silence the witch smirked, then a slow grin spread across her face showing yellow, misshapen teeth crawling with little critters.
Yvlena grimaced.
"If you really are the Harvest Guardian as you say you are, these tasks will be no trouble for you," Bavga said.
'Here come the three trials,' Yvlena thought, predicting the story. She knew the NPC would not deviate much from the source material. It wasn't hard to guess Bavga would put her through an identity test.
After all, Viseli too had questioned Yvlena's identity as the current Harvest Guardian.
Bavga coughed, a deep and raspy gurgle of her throat as if she was trying to clear something stuck. She snorted and spat a glob of black into the fireplace.
The flames roared, fueled by the wad of thick spit.
“Well?" Bavga said impatiently. Yvlena nodded.
[Bavga the witch aims to test your mettle]
[Subclass Quest Unlocked]
Bavga lifted her hand and began chanting something in an ancient language, a pile of bones in the corner rattled ominously in the swamp's wind. The room shuddered as Bavga chanted.
The bones began piling on top of one another, affixing to joins and forming a body, until they had arranged themselves into a monstrous dog-like creature.
Yvlena noticed the glowing center in its chest, the same yellow as Bavga's staff shined through the bony ribs cage of the Bone Beast
Bavga cackled as the bone beast began rising, the dog-like entity growled at Yvlena and her summons then turned to its master and lowered itself waiting for the witch to give the command.
[Quest: Defeat Bavga's Bone Beast
Bavga the bone witch wants to test your strength as the Harvest Guardian. Defeat the Bone Beast to begin the quest series and obtain your first task.
***
Rewards
???
***
Moon Points x500
EXP x300]
[Do You Accept?]
[Yes/No]
Yvlena gulped, looking into the bone beast's empty eye sockets, the thing was already sizing her up, ready to end her.
Yvlena had not yet allowed her HP to fall to zero and she did not intend to do so here. She hit yes, allowing the bone beast to lunge towards her and start the battle.
"Sprite cast bind!" Yvlena ordered her summon, with a strategy on her mind she shouted the first command as she set her plan into action.
The forest fairy obliged, tendrils of wet, slimy swamp grass burst forth from the floor boards controlled by Sprite's fairy magic. They wound around the bone beast's leg holding it in place.
Yvlena felt as if she was back in the manor again fighting the Lower Miasmic Beast in the narrow corridor. She didn't know why the bone witch would allow such a battle to take place in her abode but who was Yvlena to question it.
"Keep it busy," Yvlena said to her summons, they nod and jump into battle with the terrible creature.
Yvlena noticed Bavga watching her intensely, judging her every move. Yvlena summoned her cauldron and began crafting a potion that would help her in the battle.
A brief expression of surprise crossed Bavga's face at the sight of the cauldron. The witch seemed impressed.
Yvlena bottled an Entanglia potion and hurled it at the beast allowing the conjured vines to hold the creature steady in place.
Or so she thought.
Before she knew it the vines began to snap, the poor quality of the potion was no match for the creature it sought to bind.
The bone beast wrestled against it's bindings and ripped the magical vines up before the time was up. Rabbit Knight leaped in tackling the beast head on.
[Rabbit Knight Cast Slash (03MP)]
[Sprite cast Sting (01 MP)]
Her summons went toe to toe with the beast unafraid as Yvlena brewed more potions. She bottled a freeze potion and slammed it against the bone beast's head.
The creature fell with a thud, weighed down by the block of ice encasing it's skull. Yvlena ran forward heaving her sword and bringing it down swiftly on the creatures ribcage.
It's shattered with the force of the blade, a small yellow or rolled out of the broken side. Yvlena dove for it, grabbing it in one had as the ice from the freeze Potion shattered.
The bone beast rose again, opening it's toothy maw to bite down on Rabbit Knight.
Without knowing what it was, Yvlena crushed the orb in her hand, cracking the glassy surface and shattering it with her strength.
The bone beast shook, rattling loudly as it crumpled into a pile of bones.
[Quest: Defeat Bavga's Bone Beast
Bavga the bone witch wants to test your strength as the Harvest Guardian. Defeat the Bone Beast to begin the quest series and obtain your first task.
***
Rewards
Animation Core x1
***
Moon Points x500
EXP x300]
[Yvlena Acquired
EXP: 885/1590]
"Seems I underestimated you," Bavga reluctantly admitted. She rested her back against the chair, her single yellow eye watching intently.
[Bavga is slightly impressed by your efforts]
[Affinity with Bavga increased+1]
Yvlena relaxed, glaring at the woman. Sprite Cast Cure on Rabbit Knight who read the room and waited for another attack.
Yvlena hadn't won over the bone witch just yet and this could be another ruse to get her to let her guard down.
"You seem prepared enough for the first task,”