Exiting the building, I look all around for foes, before turning towards the direction of my next destination, the Adventurer’s Guild. The dirt path splitting the town heads straight towards a bridge that crosses the body of water that Littlecreek most likely received its name from, and past that wooden bridge are two buildings larger than the others, the two-storied one being my current target. I'm not really interested in finding weapons or armor, since I managed to equip myself a decent amount already, but rather anything containing more useful information or other such supplies that could be helpful to my survival.
Starting to walk steadily towards the bridge while my head is on a swivel, I spot a lone skeleton hanging out between two hovels, but before it can even notice me, I drop my bag and dart forward to swiftly bring it down with a Tail Whip of Justice, my usual combo attack. I don't receive any notifications, most likely since I'm out in the open whilst still in the Domain of whoever or whatever Rusulka is. I don't mind too much though, since it wasn't really even a fight I probably didn't gain anything of note, but I might as well take them out when I see them to reduce the risk factor of being in town.
With the bridge only being a couple hundred feet from the barracks, I don't encounter any more skeletons as I approach it, but I slow down a bit remembering the anecdote about someone getting dragged into the river. I don't see any shadows or anything in the water from this distance, but to not take any chances, I go ahead and sprint across the small bridge to the other side, minimizing my time near the water.
Hopefully I can find another source to drink from, I really don't want to get close to it if I can help it.
Thankfully I manage to make it to the other end without incident, and head towards the building closest to my left. Whilst moseying over to the abandoned Adventurer’s Guild, I notice that the sun has started to get low and that night might hit in an hour or two, so I hasten my steps. Once I get close enough to make out details, I see how the part-wood, part-stone building is similar to the guard barracks in how it is in better condition than it should be.
I slowly open one of the double doors, being cautious to not make too much noise just in case anything is inside. The room I enter into seems to comprise most of the entire building, a large hall with round tables and wooden chairs strewn about, high ceiling throughout as stairways on both the left and right sides of the room lead up to a second floor balcony that overlooks the main floor. Below the balcony is a section divided by a long counter, with what looks like an open workspace with a few desks lined across the wall.
Making that workspace area my first destination, I head over to a set of swinging doors that lead behind the counter, going into the back area. Once inside, I can see that there is a door in the back right corner leading back outside, and a smaller room on the left end. When I arrive at the door, I'm pleasantly surprised that it's unlocked and swing it open to reveal… nothing. The entire room is filled with empty shelves built into the walls and nothing else.
Starting to get an unfortunate premonition, I leave the work area on the main floor to head up towards the balcony. Once I get up there, I find more tables set up just like those on the first floor, another room in the back right corner for me to check, as well as a large billboard on the wall in the back completely devoid of anything occupying it. As I start to head towards the room, I get the “Relative Safety” message and a message telling me that I destroyed a single skeleton, but nothing else.
Yes, just pile on the disappointment why don't you.
I know that Douglas wrote about the adventurers fleeing town, but I hoped that something would be left behind. This room being my last hope for anything of use, I enter to find an office with a desk and chair combo, and more empty shelves. I check the desk drawers and find nothing yet again. I let out a sigh of disappointment at the lack of loot, but in retrospect, it makes sense that people fleeing would take their stuff with them. The only reason there was still stuff in the barracks was because Douglas was still staying here as of his last entry.
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“Let’s just hope the inn isn't as much of a disappointment.”
I grumpily mutter to myself as I trudge back towards the exit, slamming the door open a bit louder than I probably should. The noise echoes out into the fairly silent town, and I get an idea that is probably not the smartest. Taking a deep breath, I yell out as loud as I can, “COME AND GET ME!”
Yes, while it would suck if another silver eyed bastard came, or worse yet a group of them, I feel confident enough that I can make a run for the church using the open dirt road if I really need to. But with this, I should be able to take out more skeletons and maybe get a level or two, and after a few more seconds, the first skeleton starts rushing out from a few buildings down to come towards me. [Eyes Of Aspirations] reveals it to be a normal {Skeleton}, and it goes down easily, but more start appearing, some humanoid and others consisting of various animals. Luckily all the ones that came lacked the signature silver eyes that I suspect is related to Rusalka and its Domain.
While a decent amount of skeletons taking various forms come, since they just blindly swarm at me, I take them out with little challenge as they all fall victim to [Tail Whip], [Light Of Justice], or both. I do make sure to use [Eyes Of Aspirations] on everything that approaches, but they all just say {Skeleton} no matter what type of skeleton they are. After a few minutes of skeletons trickling towards me, no more came, and I stood in the middle of the road surrounded by bones all around me. I began to giggle, then chuckle, before soon letting out full blown laughs. I mean, what I just did was crazy, so many things could've gone wrong, but I did it anyway. The feeling of being the one in control again, it's truly exhilarating. I think I needed that after my brush with death earlier, I just got the capability to fight back, but I was manhandled easily by that {Ice-forged Skeleton Construct}, and I don't like how it made me feel like I was back there for a moment.
Feeling a bit better now that I released the tension that I didn't know I had been feeling since the ambush in the barracks, I go over to check out the inn whilst checking out the messages that came about from my impromptu rampage.
[You Are Now In Relative Safety, Rewards From Combat Shall Now Be Distributed]
[You Have Destroyed (x9 Skeletons) And Have Been Granted Experience!]
[{Temiskyr Imp} Has Risen To Level 11! (+1 Recovery +2 Dexterity +1 Magic Power +2 Mana Control +2 Stat Points)]
[Skill [Tail Whip] Has Reached Level 10!]
[Skill [Eyes Of Aspirations] Has Reached Level 4!]
[Skill [Eyes Of Aspirations] Has Reached Level 5!]
[Skill [Eyes Of Aspirations] Has Reached Level 6!]
[Skill [Eyes Of Aspirations] Has Reached Level 7!]
[Skill [Enchantment Affinity] Has Reached Level 7!]
[Skill [Enchantment Affinity] Has Reached Level 8!]
[Skill [Temptation’s Tongue] Has Reached Level 2!]
[Skill [Temptation’s Tongue] Has Reached Level 3!]
[Skill [Temptation’s Tongue] Has Reached Level 4!]
[Skill [Temptation’s Tongue] Has Reached Level 5!]
[Skill [Temptation’s Tongue] Has Reached Level 6!]
[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 12!]
[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 13!]
[Skill [Holy Affinity] Has Reached Level 7!]
[Skill [Holy Affinity] Has Reached Level 8!]
[Skill [Holy Affinity] Has Reached Level 9!]
[Skill [Brawling] Has Reached Level 7!]
[Skill [Brawling] Has Reached Level 8!]
[Skill [Brawling] Has Reached Level 9!]
[Skill [Light Ability] Has Reached Level 3!]
Oops, I forgot that [Temptation’s Tongue] makes things pay more attention to me, maybe that's why they came instead of just the yell itself. Also it's nice to know that inspecting a bunch of different targets improves [Eyes Of Aspirations] quickly, even if they all show up with the same result. I put a point into each of Endurance and Strength as per usual as I step over bones to reach the inn across from the Adventurer’s Guild, finding yet another out of place near-pristine building to explore before nightfall comes.