It was my day off today, so I decided to help Mary with her plan of breaking out of prison. Unfortunately, I did not realize that her plan involved spending a ton of coins.
“From my estimation, those tomes will be about 3 months’ worth of wages down the drain,” I said as I sighed.
Why does she want to bother to learn magic anyways? It’s not like those spells are worth the literal headache that comes with learning them. That little girl really is something else, isn’t she Charles?
I looked at the sky. The blue color was as bright as the seas. Meanwhile, the clouds were as white as sheep who were newly cleaned. The air around me was warm. I closed my eyes, and I took a whiff of the air, which smelled like freshly growing grass.
“At least it's a nice day to enjoy a walk to the Greenriver.”
The roads to Greenriver were poorly paved but at least were made of stone. The stones that the paved road was made out, were poorly carved and unrefined. Their texture was rough to the touch and uneven. The roads were also poorly maintained as weeds would grow in the open “cracks” of the pavement.
“Whoever commissioned and made these roads surely were either inexperienced or stupid, maybe a combination of both.” I scoffed to myself.
After 15 minutes, I arrived at the fork of the road, which is between the village and the prison camp. The fork in the road has a sign which points to both Northeast and Northwest. Greenriver was towards the Northwest direction and was properly marked on the sign. To the Northeast was the town of Greenwood, which is the domain of the village of Greenriver is a part of.
I continued towards the direction of the village when I began to hear yelling in the distance and ran towards it. As I approached the location where the yells were coming from, I saw two people on the ground and between them a Dark Elf wearing a lavish outfit. In front of him were 2 people wearing a strange black outfit with red accents that nearly covered their faces.
I crouched and slowly moved into the nearby bushes to listen in on their conversation.
“Face it, Otto, there’s no escaping and there’s no help on the way.” said one of the strange people.
“It seems like I have run into a predicament… but I have escaped situations like this before.”
“Tsk.”
“But have you ever escaped a Brotherhood assassination?” said the other figure in the strange outfit.
“I have never, but there’s always a first for everything,” he said as his smile widened, and his eyes turned yellow.
The Dark Elf suddenly started growing bigger and fur began appearing on his body. His face became disfigured but formed into a wolf. A tail appeared on his back as his boots ripped for the sheer size.
“So, you are actually a werewolf, huh? That explains how you keep on escaping these assassination attempts.”
“What do we do sister? The request never mentioned that he was a werewolf.”
“Isn’t it obvious brother? We finish this request anyway, after all, we don’t want to anger the boss.” said the figure as she conjured a bow.
“Understood sister.” said the other figure as he conjured a battleaxe.
This is something I shouldn’t get wrapped up in, after all, if I get killed, I won’t be able to keep my promise to him.
As I managed to slip past to battle, I heard an intense battle underway behind me as I ran as quickly as I could into the village.
When I arrived at Greenwood the village was as peaceful as ever, unaware of the battle happening 20 minutes away. The village guards were standing around the gate half-asleep. I entered the village without any hitches nor with any discussions with the guards.
As I looked around the village, the roads were cleared and made of dirt. The buildings were made of wood with enchanted torches attached near the doors. Meanwhile, the rivers nearby had mossy rocks that provided a makeshift dam. The trees around the village seemed like they grew sparsely.
I looked up to see if the buildings had signs handing over them to tell what kind of shops were around. There was a blacksmith, a tavern, a general store, and a potion shop. These were typical storefronts in small towns like these… excluding the potion shop.
Let’s investigate the potion shop, after all, why would a tiny village in the middle of nowhere have a potion shop?
As I entered the shop it smelt like dead rats. The inside of the shop itself looked like the wood was beginning to rot on the inside, but there wasn’t any mold nor cobwebs anywhere. I took a step forward and the floor was creaking. As I approached the counter, I saw behind was a small girl laying on the floor. She looked about the same age and height as Mary. She wore a strange outfit with a large hat and pointed shoes.
I moved to the side and entered into the other side the counter and stood above her. I crouched down and began poking her cheek.
“Uhh, excuse me.”
“ZZZzz… huh…”
*Poke* Poke*
“Oh… huh…?” she said as she opened her eyes. “Oh a customer,” she said lazily.
She stood up as I began to move back from her to give her space, I am a gentleman, after all. As I looked closely at her skin was pale white, her pupils looked strange, and her eyes were a bright orange color.
When she fully stood up, she rubbed her eyes.
“Welcome to Emilia’s Potion Emporium.”
“Emporium?”
“You know as a large store.”
“This store doesn’t seem…”
“I know…” she said as she yawned.
“I see… I guess you don’t get many customers, huh?”
“Perhaps,” she said with a smug face as she crossed her arms.
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I don’t think that’s something that you should be proud of.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Hmm… well actually I’m thinking about buying some basic spell tomes.”
“Spell tomes, you do know you’re asking a potion shopkeeper right?”
“Yes, but you look like a capable mage, perhaps you can provide me with the basic tomes that I need. After all…” I said as I pulled a pouch of coins out of my satchel.
“How much in the pouch?”
“About 1000 coins.”
“1000 coins, huh? I mean I guess I can help you. So what can I get for you?”
“I need a Lesser Heal Tome, an Oakflesh Tome, an Ironflesh Tome, a Candlelight Tome, and a Detect Life Tome.”
“Hmmm… the only one I can’t get you is that Ironflesh Tome, but you might be able to get that from the general store shopkeeper.”
“Well, I guess that settles it th-”
“I didn’t say I would accept that deal, after all, you didn’t think you could scam me, could you?” she said with a smug face.
I gulped, “so what do you want me to do?”
“Just something simple.”
“Define simple.”
“I just need you to get a Heart of a Druid.”
“Accepted.”
“I knew you would say that ther- wait, what?”
“If you want a Heart of a Druid, then I will get it for you.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY?! A HEART OF A DRUID IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET?”
“All I need to know that it’s possible to get.”
“Are you insane? Even if you know how to extract a Heart of a Druid, the Druid itself is SR6.”
“Just tell me where to find one.”
“Ugh… fine whatever, you’ve made up your mind… there’s a Druidwood tree if you swim across the twin rivers.”
“The twin rivers?”
“You know the rivers past the lumber mill by that abandoned burned down house?”
“I see, thank you.”
“Wh-whatever… just get that heart for me.”
“I’ll get you more than,” I said with a grin.
“Sh-shut up! Idiot, hurry up and get it for me!”
“Gotcha,” I said as I exited the shop.
Well, I guess it is time to return to my day as an adventurer…
| Name: Gordon | Race: Human | Sub-race: N/A |
| Level: 35 | HP: 200 | MP: 150 | SP: 300 | IS: 300 |
| Branches: 0 | Dragon Tongue: No |
Skills:
Alteration: 50 | Light Armor: 50 | Archery: 50
Conjuration: 50 | Lock Picking: 50 |Heavy Armor: 100
Destruction: 50 | Manipulation: 50 | One-handed: 100
Illusion: 50 | Stealth: 55 | Smithing: 50
Restoration: 60 | Speechcraft: 60 | Two-handed: 300
Alchemy: 50 | Blocking: 100 | Enchanting: 55
Abilities:
| Flame | Lesser Heal | Prince of Shields | Saint of Two-Handed Weapons | Luck | Highlander’s Birthright | Prince of Heavy Armor | Heal | Prince of One-Handed | Barbarian (5) |
| Champion’s Stance | Warmaster | Weaponsmaster (5) | Adventurer’s Curse |
“Looks like nothing has changed after all these years… guess one more quest or two won’t hurt.” I scoffed at myself.
I approached the lumber mill, I saw that there was moss growing on the timber. The river itself was flowing quite heavily as it crashed onto the nearby rocks, making a loud splashing sound consistently.
When I approached the water, it was as clear as a mirror, as it reflected the blue sky above it. I saw my reflection, I saw my wrinkles, I saw my tired eyes, and most of all, I saw my dirty face…
As I slowly placed my body in the water, I felt my body feeling heavy. I felt my armor sinking. But I strengthened my resolve and focused on preparing to swim. As I continued to walk, one foot, after another, I felt my body getting heavier from the water. My heavy armor was forcing me to sink the bottom, but I strengthened my resolve further.
“Damn this heavy armor.”
When the water reached my chest, suddenly everything felt light. I closed my eyes and moved in the water. I stretched my hands further and stretched my legs back and began to move them. I kept a rhythm of me moving them for 5 minutes until my hands reached a piece of land. When I opened my eyes, I saw that they reached a sandbar between the rivers.
“Only one more river to get through.”
I repeated the process and swam for another 10 minutes and reached the piece of land on the other side of the sandbar.
There it was past the bushes and hidden in a thicket of trees, a Druidwood tree. The tree was a dark brown color with a hollow opening within it. The roots were sparsely above ground but would dig deep into the ground at the ends. The leaves of the tree were a bright dark green color.
As I approached the tree the sky around me turned green. The air around me felt cold and the aroma changed from the smell of flowers to the smell of rotten meat. I came closer to the tree and the wind began to blow faster and from the hollow core of the tree, a yellow orb appeared.
The orb then turned red then light green and eventually formed into a humanoid figure. The figure then exited the hollow core of the Druidwood tree. It had dark green skin and brown leaves acting as clothes. The hair was dark green with red flowers growing on it. It had red lips and hazy blue eyes.
“An Evergreen Druid huh…” I said as I pulled my battleaxe from my shoulder.
“EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” It screeched.
“Well hello there to you too,” I said as I charged towards it.
The Evergreen Druid lifted its hand and green particles started appearing from the palm of its hand. The green particles then started to form an orb. The orb went from green to yellow and then sparks started to appear from it.
Shit… I have to hurry up and close the gap.
As I was barely a meter from it, the orb then shot from its hand hitting me. I felt a tingly feeling all over my body as the orb struck my body. My body felt hot and was burning all over. Moreover, my heartfelt immense pain as the tingly feeling traveled across my body.
I momentarily collapsed on the ground as I saw my skin was turning black and red from the burning sensation.
The druid then approached me, and I saw it turn its arm into a makeshift wooden sword. It lifted its arm and was about to cut my head clean off. I saw my life flashing before my eyes as I breathed my last breath.
“I got you where I wanted you, you bastard,” I mumbled.
I quickly rolled on the ground as it slashed its sword at me, dodging the attack. I then swept my feet at its shin, causing the Druid to lose balance momentarily. I then ran behind it and gave it a chokehold with one arm while my other arm was trying to find a beating sensation coming from its body.
Thump. Thump.
I felt from its back.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I felt it getting faster.
Found it, you bastard… it's over. I then used my hand and gripped onto its rough skin. As my finger began to pierce through the Druid’s skin, sticky fluids started coming out of it.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!” it screeched into my ears.
I forced my fingers through harder until I was able to put my entire hand into its skin. My fingers wrapped themselves around its beating “heart.” I then started pulling on its heart as the Druid screeched louder.
“Goodnight, love,” I whispered into its ears as I ripped out its still-beating heart out of its back.
The world around me then started to return to normal as the Druid collapsed onto the ground. The sky returned blue, the aroma changed back to its normal fragrance of the grass, and the wind returned to its normal state.
I then sat on the ground gripping onto the still-beating heart of the druid.
“So, this is a Heart of a Druid, still looks the same from what I can remember from my adventuring days…” I said as I breathed heavily. “Time to return the favor you little witch,” I said as I grinned before I collapsed.
When I came to, I saw that I was laying on a bed, Emilia was sleeping beside me on a stool. Her face showed signs of distress and her face was red.
“Where am I?”
Emilia then suddenly opened her eyes, “you are alive idiot.”
“Heh, guess I didn’t breathe my last breath after all.”
“Don’t scare me like that.”
“Scare you? But we barely just met?”
“I know that, but it would be my fault if you died, after all, I sent you on that quest,” she said with an embarrassed expression.
“Well… I am alive, so that’s all that matters.” I said as I sat up.
“I got the tomes that you wanted me to, including the Ironflesh Tome.”
“But didn’t you say that you couldn’t get that?”
“I bought it while you were unconscious, you dunce.”
“Alright,” I said as I crawled out of bed.
“Wait… slow down you just regained your consciousness.”
“Well… I have something else to do now.”
“Can’t you at least stay for a little while longer? I-I made you some porridge.” She said blushing.
“W-well if you insist…” I said as I sat down on my bed.