Yvlena nodded and waited for the witch to continue. Bavga coughed and spat something out of her mouth just out of sight.
"By now you should know there are two Minor Miasmic Entities within this area," Bavga said, "The Verdant Lake and The deeper swamp,"
"The deeper swamp?" Yvelna gasped, she paused, considering the witch's words. She hadn't seen anything strange within the deeper swamp but maybe she hadn't ventured deep enough.
"Your final task is to defeat the Minor Miasmic Entity within the deeper swamp. You've proved your resourcefulness, now prove your strength,” Bavga said.
[Quest: The Third Task
Within the deeper swamp lies a foul creature guilty of polluting the once harmonious waters of the Avaresh Swamp.
Once a creature of balance, the miasma has tainted and destroyed the being's true nature.
Find the Minor Miasmic Entity and destroy what was once a former guardian of the Avaresh Swamp.
***
Rewards
????
???
***
Moon Points x5000
EXP: 2000]
Yvlean nodded grimly.
At the sight of the girl's forlorn face, the hag spoke again.
"Fret not defeating another Miasmic entity will help with the creature in the Verdant Lake and your quest to uncover the secrets of the Harvest Guardian," she coughed again, though less severe than before.
"I must say I expected a poor balm out of you, but I am pleasantly surprised," Bavga said with a smirk.
Yvlena chuckled, resting her hand on her hip and shaking her head in disbelief at the woman's audacity.
In this short period, the hag had grown on her. Her quips, no longer as hurtful as when they first met. Yvlena now had a grudging respect for the hag especially since she used to be an acquaintance of her predecessor.
Yvlena wondered what Lilian saw in the old woman.
Was she so lonely after her banishment from noble society? Perhaps their loneliness mirrored each other.
And what was a dark summoner?
'Could I unlock that class, I don't even know what that is?' Yvlena thought.
"I'll be back, rest assured I will defeat the Minor Miasmic Entity," Yvlena said, she grew nervous, the rewards for the final task were huge almost as high as the one from Risel’s request.
Higher rewards meant harder quests and though those were few and far in Bloom Haven that didn’t make them any less difficult.
Yvlena left the hut with her summons determined to finish the task.
"If I have to head to the deeper swamp I'll need the Water Resistant Elixir again,"
"I still have ingredients left over from the first time I brewed it so it's not like I'm stuck," she said setting out her cauldron.
The black pot had served her well but she knew it would soon be time to upgrade.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I wonder if cauldrons affect the grade of the potion, I mean it has to right? My alchemy keeps leveling up but I'm making F grade potions," she said shaking her head as she added the ingredients to the bubbling pot one by one.
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Water Resistant Elixir x1]
"Here goes nothing," she said taking a swig of the potion, while it didn't taste as bad as the last brew Yvlena had a tough time swallowing. The potion slid down her throat with the consistency of a runny oatmeal, its bitterness did not help.
"Yuck!" she exclaimed wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I really need to start making the tea I'll drink after taking all these potions," she said stepping towards the docks.
"I'll be back in a bit," she said.
----------
Aya pulled the Revista off her head with a pop, she sighed deeply, laying it aside and getting off the bed to take her gaming break. The third task was finally ready but before she could get to it…
Her stomach rumbled, forcing Aya to shift her thoughts from the game to her real life hunger. She puffed her cheeks full of air and hopped off her mattress. Aya stretched her hands over her head, lifting her arms until she heard her back pop.
“I’ll make a sandwich or something, wait Mars and I have tons of snacks lying around,” Aya said, her face growing hot as she thought of her roommate.
With a heavy blush and an even heavier hunger, Aya headed to the living room and then the kitchen to find something to eat and maybe talk to Mars for a few moments before she needed to head back to the game.
The kitchen was empty when Aya stepped foot onto the cracked tile, she looked around finding no sign of her roommate, not even a note.
“I guess she’s not hungry,” Aya said reaching for the cupboard handle, she opened it to find snacks stacked together courtesy of her roommate. Aya took a bag of chips, down from the wooden shelf.
It was a big back, enough to fill a serving bowl, turning the bag around in her hands she read the brand and the flavor.
“Quays Barbecue Chips, hmm? Never had this flavor before,” Aya said ripping the top open. A savory scent wafted from the bag making her mouth water. Her stomach rumbled again, that was the only permission she needed to dig into her bag of snacks with relish.
“Having fun?” A voice said from behind Aya.
The girl spun around, nearly dropping her food in the process, Mars stood there smirking in amusement at the sight of Aya hunched over and devouring her meal.
“Oh Mars,” Aya said sheepishly. By now, half the bag of chips was gone, the remnants of course scattered across Aya’s cheeks and fingers.
Mars chuckled, shaking her head and stepping forward.
She stopped in front of Aya. Mars lifted Aya’s face, tilting it upwards so the brunette’s eyes met her own. Then, she began dusting the crumbs off Aya's shirt and cheeks.
“You’re going to have to sweep up all these crumbs, you know,” Mars said.
Aya caught a hint of endearment in her tone, while Mars tried her best to seem exasperated at the barbecue flavored crumbs that had landed on the tiles.
“I’m...sorry,” Aya said unable to lock eyes with Mars who was now intensely staring at her. Mars smirked again.
“You must have been hungry, I’ll make us some sandwiches,” She said stepping away from the brunette. “You know where the vacuum is, get to it,”
Aya grumbled and whined but walked towards the open closet to take out Mars’ vacuum.
----------
The girls sat at the table enjoying a lunch of bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches Mars whipped up while Aya cleaned.
Aya bit into her sandwich, squealing at the taste.
“I wish I could take your food into the game with me,” Aya said imagining the stat boost the sandwich would give her in the swamp.
Would it be possible to recreate real food in the game? The ingredients were basically the same thing, right?
“That’s the highest compliment I’ve ever gotten, thanks,” Mars said puffing out her chest in pride. Aya always seemed to compliment her cooking, it was more than she had gotten from her former teammates at Eos.
Mars pushed the thoughts out of her mind.
“How’s your potion making coming?” Mars asked as she bit into her own sandwich, by now Aya was working on her second piece, chewing enthusiastically as she tried to swallow quickly and answer.
“It’s going well actually. I’m about to end this quest series,” Aya said.
“Atta girl, I wonder what your reward will be,” Mars said.
“More information or a message from my mom I hope,” Aya said grinning. “I feel like I’m so close to answers but we’ll be moving soon and I don’t want to put my stuff in a box while I’m itching to know the end of this story,” Aya said.
“I feel you, I’m in the middle of something myself but I don’t know if I can tell you about it just yet,” Mars winked.
“No fair! I tell you all about my stuff!”
“That’s you volunteering information, my dear,” Mars laughed.
“Mars!”