Cyrus felt the warm embrace of happiness.
It didn’t happen often. He was often smiling and giving off the impression that he was happy, but it was rare that he actually felt joy. But, here, in the offices of a Guild Master who’d long since lost any right to call himself so, he was happy.
Things had slowly been spiraling beyond his control. The mountains to the north were experiencing more monster attacks lately and the upcoming summer meant monsoons and heavy rainfall. Underground dungeons had the possibility of flooding which would increase the chances that people would get caught in them or that the dungeons themselves would become damaged. And with the Society’s resources so stretched, dungeon upkeep had become difficult.
Not to mention the Phoenix. The rumors about hidden quests and the potential rewards they offered had driven the community into a frenzy. Things were so carefully balanced as it is, Jinyoung’s mess had only upset the meticulously balanced player economy.
The onion knight, they called him.
He smiled. Cyrus could only imagine how much that must bother Jinyoung.
“Sir?” He turned slowly to face a young squire. “We’re ready for you.”
“Of course, of course. And what of my wife?”
The teenager visibly squirmed. “She sent notice. Uh… but there was an issue to the north she needed to address and… sir, she won’t be able to make it today.”
Inside, Cyrus was no longer smiling. “Of course,” he heard himself say. “The Director has many responsibilities. What’s good for the Society is good for society.”
He let himself be led from the Guild Master’s offices to a stage erected at the edge of the Seorak forest. The mountains stretched up to the heavens a few kilometers out and blocked out the sun. Cyrus approached the stage quietly, still angry from the news the young knight-in-waiting had delivered.
But he had been taught well. He held the anger in and looked out, across the podium, at the thousands gathered in front of him. Slowly, he let himself return to the moment. There were so few like this. Flags flapped in the wind and he recognized more than a few, but one banner stood out in particular.
The Phoenix, he thought. I’ll have to seek them out in the field.
In the crowd he saw more than a few familiar faces, but he let his eyes unfocus and looked at the mass as a whole. He slowly raised a hand up and then pumped his fist into the air. A wave of cheers and roaring washed over him and he felt good again. He felt happy again.
***
It was hard not to feel nervous along with a host of other emotions. Excitement was certainly chief among them, but Willow also felt anxious, worried and, above all, nauseous. So she was glad when Hana made the decision to skip the opening ceremony. The idea of being crammed into a sea of people just heightened her anxiety. And the further they got from the quest base, the better she felt.
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The forests of Seorak had grown and stretched up to cover the sky under a canopy of pines and evergreens. The same trees that blocked out the sun kept the air from circulating properly at the ground level. It left the air hot and heavy, even during the early summer months. Humid. Perfect for the monsters that made their way above ground.
Unlike their last time together, Hana led the party and they never got more than 12 feet away from each other at any given time. A party of 3 meant there was no spotter and they couldn’t take on as wide a formation as they would have preferred.
Hana tested the air. [Battle Senses] gave her heightened senses and a stronger mental state in a fight. But it kicked in if any of her senses unconsciously noticed a monster nearby. Even without a tracker or hunter, she might be able to “see” a monster nearby before it saw them. The wind shifted and she felt it. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she felt the rush as adrenaline pumped into her bloodstream.
Jinyoung saw Hana raise a hand and knelt down silently. She was looking around, trying to get eyes on something. He took a breath and then felt a telltale twinge as the MP left his body. An invisible and imperceptible pulse left his body as [scan+] read his surroundings. The system fed him the information and Jinyoung jumped to his feet.
“Ambush!”
The warning pulled Willow from her thoughts and she counted five- No, six lizardmen dropped from the trees overhead. Three more revealed themselves from the surroundings, but they were still 30 meters away. Nine monsters in total. She drew her crossbow and unloaded six bolts. Three found their marks hitting one in the leg and shoulder while another took a bolt to the head before dropping down dead.
Jinyoung turned his focus on a pair that had stumbled on the roots of a tree and were trying to regain their footing. He swung hard and the sword caught one just below the elbow while the other dodged. The one missing most of his arm started to scream before Jinyoung took his head immediately after.
A few feet away, Hana shouted loudly, casting [taunt] and immediately drawing the attention of the remaining monsters to her. The shout reverberated through the forest and shook the trees. The remaining four lizardmen stood, momentarily stunned. They regained their faculties but not before Willow cut one down with a short sword and Hana cleaved through another.
Seeing so many of their brethren cut down so quickly was a shock. Two turned to flee while the three the other three in the distance simply melted back into the backdrop of the forest.
“Willow! You’re up!”
The new scholar raised her hand and closed her eyes. It took a second to focus the magical energy and cast a spell, especially for newbies. The [arcane shot] flew out from her hand and flew forward before burying itself in the head of a fleeing lizardman.
Jinyoung watched as the remaining monster quickly fled out of sight. “What about the last one?”
Hana held up her shield and scanned the horizon. A trick her father had taught her when she was young.
“It left a clear trail and it’ll regroup with the others that ran off. Once we find it, we’ll find the others.”
***
She was right. About half a kilometer away, they found the four lizardmen huddled together and cut them down quickly and quietly. As the day went on, they found five other groups of monsters bringing their total to 21 lizardmen. By the time they returned to the encampment, word of the onion knight’s success was on everyone’s lips.
QUEST: OUTBREAK at Seorak
OBJECTIVE: Kill 20,000 monsters in the Seorak QUEST Area within one week
Progress: 4,583 / 20,000
REWARD: 2,000,000 GOLD (each party will receive a portion of the reward)
FAILURE: The Seorak region will no longer be safe for humans