Zalindra the Forgotten had been born into a world inhabited by powerful beings known as the Great Ones. These ancient creatures possessed immense power and abilities that exceeded the imagination of most mortals. Zalindra's parents were among the most respected and feared companions of the Great Ones, and their power and prestige were unparalleled. As a young Grurenderer, Zalindra was trained in the ways of the Great Ones, learning to understand spoken words despite her inability to speak and how to use her magical abilities to hunt.
However, something changed before she was old enough to bond with a Great One. Zalindra's parents and the Great Ones disappeared. A servant had mentioned they might have gone to explore new realms or conquer new territories, but no one knew for sure. The remaining servants eventually left as well when the forest grew wild and dangerous without the Great Ones' presence. Zalindra was left behind, alone and confused, without guidance or support. For years, she waited, hoping that her parents and the Great Ones would return, but they never did.
As time passed, Zalindra grew increasingly isolated. She hibernated for long periods, waking only to hunt for food or fend off intruders in her home. She felt herself losing touch with the world around her. Despite everything, she clung to a glimmer of hope that her parents and the Great Ones would return, and she continued to wait.
But today, she awoke to find a Cowled One. He was different from the others she had encountered and despised. He offered her food, spoke kindly to her, and left her numerous presents to play with and eat. His aura felt comforting. At that moment, Zalindra made her first decision in a very long time: she would seek out this Cowled One so they could bond, and she would no longer be alone. She finished eating the gift beneath her paw, pushed open the door, walked into the courtyard, and gazed up at the last present high in the canopy. She wasn't fond of the taste of the green-skinned creatures, but a present was a present. After sniffing the trunk of the giant mushroom, Zalindra decided she didn't want to climb today. The air around her shimmered as her large, furred form vanished from sight, and she quietly set off to find her new Cowled One.
***
G ran for several minutes before slowing down and resuming a stealthy pace. He knew he had pushed his luck in that building and needed to start playing it safer. Tocai had already lectured him on not having a proper plan. It was strange how his AI, now transformed into a familiar, seemed even smarter than before. He remembered finding that shop in Chinatown, San Francisco, where he had purchased the chips to create Tocai. Most of the chips had turned out to be faulty or were wrecked with G's poor soldering skills, but he had managed to get some of them working. Although he suspected they had come from stolen crates off a boat in the harbor, the proprietor, who also sold his own watercolor paintings of eastern dragons, claimed to have bought them from someone else. G had haggled with the older Chinese man for nearly an hour before making the purchase. That box of electronic components had become the foundation for his AI goggles. It felt like a lifetime ago, and he couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming as he wandered the forest.
A distant howl echoed through the forest, a Screaming Mauler hunting something. G couldn't pinpoint the direction amidst the underbrush and giant mushroom trunks. Crewton paused for a moment, then continued forward as the noise faded. They made good progress; the paths were less congested on this side of the forest. He hoped to find a suitable place to rest for the night, like another tree trunk or similar shelter, but his find shelter skill wasn't helping because there was nothing nearby, or it simply wasn't working.
They came across a couple of massive stalactites, several meters thick, and initially mistook them for the cave wall. In reality, they were enormous stone columns supporting the cavern ceiling. G climbed up one for a few meters and saw the forest stretching out before him, with the far wall not too distant, perhaps a few kilometers away if he could fly, which he couldn't. He didn't trust the mushroom tops to bear his weight, or else he would have used them to traverse the forest. Also, the prospect of fighting a Mauler up there wasn't appealing.
Feeling relatively safe on the small hidden ledge under a giant mushroom, G decided to open the new prompts he had received during and after the fight.
Experience gained
One moss crocodile 80 exp
Two goblin archers 60 exp
Two goblin archers 30 exp
The next prompt made him smile.
Congratulations!
You have gained a level. You are level 4.
You have gained 1 stat point.
You have gained 1 druid spell.
You have gained 1 wizard spell.
G studied the two available druid spells. Nature's skin would enhance his defense, while Soundless Passage would make him harder to detect. Given his proficiency in stealth, the latter seemed like an excellent choice to improve his chances of avoiding detection. At the moment, that was exactly what he needed, and it also reduced the range of finding spells. That would, hopefully, with Ryan's ability to sense him. He hesitated for a moment, considering the benefits of extra defense, but ultimately sighed and chose:
Soundless Passage, 100 Mana - This spell allows the caster and companions to move silently for one hour within 5 meters of the caster. They cannot be heard or tracked by normal means and leave no tracks. This spell reduces all magical Spells of Finding's range.
He assumed "normal" meant non-magical means. He would need to test it; he could still be seen, so stealth was still necessary, but he could move quickly if needed, and perhaps those goblins wouldn't find him. G noticed that the Goblin Ranger he had wounded hadn't shown up in his experience count. Finding spell range? Was that something Ryan was using or one of the Queen's court magicians? Spells of Finding sounded like it helped counter multiple spells. It didn't say spell of finding, which would be singular.
G examined the wizard spell list, with only two of the three spells available for selection. He received a new spell list at every other level. Although he could still pick a lower-level spell, he was now more interested in the higher-level ones. His options were Silence and See Invisible. He had nearly died to Ryan and Grurenderer because they had some sort of invisibility that wasn't skill-based.
Silence would create a sphere of silence on a single point, preventing people from making noise or, hopefully, casting spells that required verbal components. This was always a useful spell to have; would Ryan be able to cast that shocking spell if silence was on him?
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The other spell, See Invisible, would be crucial if more creatures down here had that ability, as he could be killed before knowing they were there. The spell mentioned magical invisibility, so camouflage and stealth-like skills probably wouldn't be detected by it.
He chose:
See Invisible, 100 Mana - When cast, it allows the caster to see through magical invisibility, revealing creatures or objects that are magically hidden from sight.
He also noted that he received experience credit for the goblins he had trapped with Briar Patch and the one he injured on his way out, and did not receive any exp for the one goblin scout by the door whom he hadn't touched. Intriguing – he might be able to exploit that with a gas cloud or large area-effect spell even if he didn't do the killing blow. As long as it died, he did get exp for it.
G noted some useful skill advancements.
Skill advancement:
+1 Stealth
+1 Mana bolt
The damage on the Mana Bolt spell now read 5-29. The skill point added 1 damage to the spell. Nice.
Two remaining prompts awaited his attention.
You have entered into a magical pact. Failing to fulfill the requirements of this pact could have devastating consequences.
That must have been G's promise to Riclos to return his ring. The old man could have it. G didn't mind feeling good about every idea that popped into his head, but that voice in the back of his mind screaming every time he agreed to something was bothersome.
He placed the one skill point in endurance; his mana was sufficient for now. He had almost died coming down the river, so having more hitpoints was a priority. That one stat point gave him an additional 2 hit points. Health gains were always tied to levels and stat points in every game he had played, and occasionally gear would also contribute. He didn't have any gear, if it even existed, to provide such benefits. With his new level and endurance points at 17, he now had 46 hit points. The Goblin Ranger had 44 hit points and was not even five feet tall. However, it was progress, and he appreciated progress. His total mana and regen rate had also increased.
The last prompt surprised him:
Achievement:
You have discovered a location of power. Controlling this location either directly by inhabiting it or through a group that has sworn allegiance to you can grant you the powers of this location. Explore further to uncover its hidden abilities.
Well, damn, there were locations of power? He had heard about the Mana lines, but what was this place of power aspect? He had no intention of going back there, at least not for now. This entire forest was getting on his nerves, and unless he had a death wish, he wouldn't return to explore more. With that thought, he paused to cast See Invisible and Soundless Passage on himself. He would try to keep these spells active full-time as he traveled here.
They followed a path that led to a rough cavern wall, with pieces of stone jutting out here and there and moss hanging from them. The moss glistened as it captured moisture from the air, forming small droplets on its long strands of green foliage, which emitted a dim light. G wanted to see above the canopy, which meant he needed to climb up several meters.
"Crewton, stay," said G, and then he started climbing the wall. He had once gone to an indoor rock climbing gym back in college. It was fun, and he couldn't afford to do it often, but he and his friends at the time had enjoyed it. He expected this to be harder since the handholds were less apparent. Oddly, he was able to climb fairly easily for several yards. He paused a moment and looked at his skills again. He had to look under titles, but he found it.
Title: Man without a Plan!
Skill: Gum on Your Shoe -
Description:
This skill gives you a 20% better chance in all climbing activities.
That had to be helping. Perhaps elves were natural climbers; he didn't know, but he made it up to a small ledge where he could hang onto a stone and look out across the forest.
He saw plenty of giant mushroom trees; from here, they looked like an alien landscape where the floor was made out of differently colored, round, glowing marshmallows. He was searching for a way up—hopefully, a cliff to climb or some stairs—something. If there had been beings living down here, there had to be something. Then he saw it. At first, he thought it was just one of the many giant stalactites that dotted the forest here and there, but this one had carvings on i. It was a long way off, but he was certain those shapes at its base were unnatural. They were square and octagonal in shape, reminding him of the dark pathways and their many columns, but much bigger. The forest stretched off into the distance beyond it, and he couldn't see the other side of the cavern from there. It was vast, but this pillar or stalactite, whatever it was, was near this wall. All he had to do was follow the wall until he got there. He looked down at Crewton, still sitting in the same spot, and climbed down to his companion. As he descended, he noticed a new skill appear.
Climbing +1
G traveled for another few hours, growing increasingly exhausted. He had to climb the wall a few more times as they wound their way along this side of the forest until they were near the tower carved from a stalactite. Then, he turned towards the forest once again. He cast his See Invisible and Soundless Passage spells for a total of 200 mana. With his regeneration now at 5.04 per minute, he would have the mana back in about 40 minutes. He hoped to find this tower or whatever it was right around that time. G moved stealthily, making his way into the winding paths between the clumps of mushrooms once again.
It took a little longer than fifty minutes to find the base of the stalactite, which had a large entrance carved into it, leading further into the stone. The oddest thing was the smoke coming from a window a few meters above the ground. Someone or something was in there, cooking food which he could smell from here. G paused to study the structure, similar to the pillars and other carvings on the dark pathway roads.
"Tocai, do you think dwarves made that?" asked G.
"Yes, it's an almost exact match of the style we saw earlier," said Tocai.
G couldn't imagine that if dwarves were digging all over this area, they could miss anything as large as the mushroom forest. They might have carved this tower as an entrance or stairway they could close or guard. G wondered if they used to trade or perhaps grow food here.
"Tocai, what do you think? Do we just go up and knock on the door or sit here and observe?" asked G. Crewton, lying on the ground next to him, resting, tongue hanging out, panting. They needed to find someplace to sleep soon.
"I recommend we observe the tower until we know what manner of creature lives here," said Tocai.
There was a noise of something moving through the forest behind them, and G turned to look, hoping whatever it was wouldn't sense them with his stealth and spell active. The noise stopped, and G saw nothing moving. He turned back towards the tower and saw something that made him cringe. He clicked to call Crewton to him, but the dog was up by the tower, scratching with one paw at the door as if he wanted in.
A voice that sounded like it belonged to an old woman who had smoked two packs a day for her entire life came from the tower window, "Hold on, deary, I'll be right with you." As the voice trailed off, an old dark elf woman opened the door, revealing a small, dimly lit room cluttered with ancient tomes, potion bottles, and various arcane instruments.
The old dark elf woman who had just opened the door to her tower had striking features that were impossible to ignore. Her hair was a shock of pure white, tightly curled and cropped close to her head, framing her face in a halo of curls. Her skin was a deep, rich shade of purple, almost black, with a hint of blue undertones that gave it an otherworldly quality.
Despite her advanced age, the old woman carried herself with regal bearing, standing tall with only a slight hunch in her back. Her eyes were a deep, dark brown, almost black, and they glinted with a mischievous spark that belied her aged appearance. Her face was sharp and angular, with high cheekbones and a prominent nose that gave her an almost birdlike quality.
The woman was dressed in a flowing robe of deep purple, trimmed with gold and embroidered with intricate sigils and runes. The fabric was soft and velvety to the touch, and it draped over her thin frame in graceful folds.
As she moved about her cluttered tower, the old woman's movements were graceful and fluid, despite her advanced age. She walked with a slight limp, but her steps were sure and deliberate, and she seemed to know exactly where everything was in the apparent chaos of the room. Despite her slightly intimidating appearance, there was a warmth and kindness to her voice that suggested she was more than willing to help those in need, even if it meant disrupting her long-kept solitude.
She stared right at G, who was still hiding behind some dense brush and mushrooms. "Are you going to come in, young elf, or are you going to stare at my home some more?"