Victor sat in his office with his loyal subordinate Fred Barkley sitting directly opposite him. Fred's eyes darted around trying to process the information his boss had just given him.
All this time, the older man was being blackmailed and no one within the company knew, until now. The tired, blond man looked up at Mr. Sinclair with a question on his lips.
"How long has this been going on?"
"Two years now, an anonymous drop off, I've tried tailing them but somehow they always make the switch just in time for me to lose them," The man said with a glare. "Until now they had been the only ones who knew my niece's location but now, that isn't so, is it?"
Fred nodded, still thinking.
"I couldn't have done this without your help Fred, and I thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart," Victor said.
Fred rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, what would he say to the man who already got him out of the terrible situation he was previously in?
"No need for that sir. I'm just glad you've found her. You can contact her through the game. She's in Bloom Haven right now dealing with the Miasma,"
"As her mother intended,"
"You mean Mrs. Anastasia," Fred said, lowering his gaze. He remembered her, a writer working for the company, Moon Valley had been partly her brainchild.
He had met her during his work, a cheerful woman with a kind demeanor before she was subsequently taken by a rare terminal illness. Fred had worked closely with her to create parts of Moon Valley's story but the rest of her involvement remained a mystery to him.
"Yes,"
"No wonder," Fred said.
----------
Mars left to make some calls leaving Aya time to play Moon Valley, she no longer worried about the apartment downstairs as it was now clear of all her belongings.
Even if Lydia and Fido got through her locks, there would be nothing to find.
Aya lifted her hand over her head in a deep stretch and went back to her room, it was time to see what the second task would entail.
----------
"Are you ready for the second task?" The Swamp Witch asked the moment Yvlena returned.
Yvlena nodded, ready for anything the woman would throw at her, another fetch quest perhaps? Or would the witch ask her to fight something else this time?
Bavga coughed again, deep from her diaphragm. She rubbed her chest, groaning and wincing in pain.
"I've fallen ill as you can see, an illness caused by the Miasma,"
"What Viseli had," Yvlena asked.
"Oh, so you know of the Titan of the Eastern path, I had a feeling she would be taken by it though we had never met. Yes, it seems it is much the same," Bavga said. "Fortunately I've developed a recipe, a balm that will help relieve my pain until a cure can be made or until I turn,"
Bavga's face appeared downcast as she coughed once again.
"With Rael's disappearance, I'm doubtful a cure will even be found,".
Yvlena bristled, stung that Bavga didn't believe she could continue Rael's work as the Harvest Guardian.
"I'll need you to gather the ingredients and make the balm for me,"
[Quest: Second Task
Bavga's illness grows more severe with each passing moment, luckily a way to soothe her pain exists.
Collect the Swamp Balm's recipe and craft this healing balm for her.
***
Rewards
????
***
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Moon Points x1000
EXP: 700]
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Swamp Balm (Recipe)]
"You will find the ingredients in the deeper parts of the swamp," Bavga said.
Yvlena held back a groan, she hadn't wanted to head into the deeper parts of the Avaresh Swamp just yet, but it seemed she would have to.
"Right," she sighed, already beginning her ascent up the hut's stairs and back to the main area of the Avaresh Swamp.
Yvlena and her party stood once again on the rickety, hole ridden docks facing the path to the deeper swamp.
Moist air blew through the area, bringing with it the scent of stale air and rot. Yvlena looked into the dark water swarming with Swamp Fish sensing their prey.
She examined the docks, finding they didn't continue towards the path she needed to go, meaning she would need some way to stay above the water that encompassed the swamp.
"Let's take a look at this recipe,"
[Swamp Balm (Epic)
***
Type: Recipe
Created by the Bone witch of Avaresh Swamp to stave off and soothe the pain of her Miasma induced illness.
***
Swamp Jelly (Herb) x1
Fox Glove (Herb) x2
Avaresh Lotus Petals (Herb) x5
Spider Venom x2
***
Small Jar
Cauldron]
She exhaled, facing her summons to relay her plans.
"First we need to return to Bloom Haven and harvest the crops I've planted, then figure out a way to get the Swamp jelly from the deeper part of the swamp. I should have a Water Resistant Elixir,"
She reread the recipe for good measure, focusing on the final ingredient.
"Spider Venom!" Yvlena paled. The spiders were creatures she had put out of her mind despite needing them for their silk. Already she imagined their mandibles clenching and unclenching around her head. She whimpered.
"One thing at a time okay, Yvlena,"
----------
Yvlena returned to the Rose Manor exhausted. Traversing the swamp didn't seem to get easier, even with the right shoes.
"It's such a relief to be back here," she said, walking into the manor grounds. As she did, she heard the flap of wings and the faint 'caw caw' of a certain pest. Her eyes fell on her crop bed ready to be watered and some, harvested.
She ran towards it, locking her eyes on the dark cloud circling her crops.
The black birds had returned with a vengeance, diving toward her crop bed, ready to gobble up her seeds.
Yvlena upped her pace, pushing her legs as fast as her Agility stat could take her. She unsheathed her sword and swung.
"Back away!"
[Sprite Cast Sting (01MP)]
[Rabbit Knight Cast Slash (05MP)]
Following their summoner's lead, Sprite and Rabbit Knight jumped at the birds, cutting each one they could find, down until they disappeared.
While her summons dealt with the pests, Yvlena watered the Ever Blooms and fed the last of her Shadow Essence orbs to them.
"Now I really need to get more,"
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Ever Bloom (Herb) x7]
"Oh that's interesting, the game just calls it a herb now, I guess it's not really the ancient Ever Bloom anymore since I've been cultivating it," Yvlena noted. She tended to the rest of the plants, cutting down some trees to make room for more sunlight.
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Luna Orchid (Herb) x2
Fox Tail (Herb) x5
Fox Glove (Herb) x3
Star Root (Herb) x2]
"That's almost everything I've planted so far," Yvlena said. She went through her inventory and planted the rest of the wild seeds, then paid special attention to the crops that hadn't matured.
She watered their green buds and checked for anything that might have been damaged by the birds.
"Doesn't look like anything's wrong, I guess they just need some time. I hope I get some more Star Root from the next batch or I might have to go to Bloom Meadow again,"
She chopped down some more trees, totaling her wood count to a hundred pieces of wood.
[Subclass Skill: Herblore Leveled Up]
"Yes!" She cheered. "My Herblore and Alchemy are getting better, they're so reliant on herbs I'm pretty sure all the farming is doing something for them passively,"
She tried planting the swamp seeds she'd gotten into some space cleared for it, but was stopped by a notification from the game.
[Must be planted near water]
"Oh right," Yvlena said, nearly smacking her forehead. "Swamp seeds would need some kind of watery soil like a lake bed or a...swamp," she chuckled at her silliness.
Even logic had to apply sometimes.
"I'd have to create some sort of pond or something," she said. Her eyes gazed at the Manor's structure, at the dome that topped the Rose Manor's roof.
"That has to be a greenhouse right? But it's on the highest floor that'll take forever to renovate,"
Yvlena sat under a tree, watching her summons sleep after a long and exhausting adventure. They didn't have to go back for a bit so why not use the time to catch their breath?