Elaria hadn’t stayed in Lockmire for long. Meeting Marius Quill had been very interesting and eye opening, especially learning about her father’s secret life as an adventurer. The guildmaster had been very disappointed when she refused to use Firestorm again, but she didn’t think she would be able to escape the consequences a second time if she caused a disaster for another city. The first time had been an accident but she didn’t think Duke Grant would look kindly on her if she knocked over his home just to show off her fancy new skill.
Originally she’d wanted to just make a beeline for Cloudvale and get herself set up with the adventurer’s guild main branch in the Erlich Kingdom as well as start making some connections in the capital, but Marius had explained that if she just completed two more copper ranked missions, bringing her to a total of five, she would be able to get promoted to a copper rank adventurer once she arrived in Cloudvale. Doing so would give her a huge boost over other aspiring adventurers seeking their fortune, as any parties looking to cross the great wall into the Demonic Northern Wastes to subjugate monsters or raid dungeons would be extremely selective about picking new members and most novice adventurers would get overlooked for more talented youngsters.
The two missions she’d taken weren’t highly challenging, and she hoped to avoid another huge event like the goblin fortress raid, at least until she’d managed to get settled in Cloudvale. She’d planned to just continue taking things on by herself once she made it there, but Marius had explained that even the most powerful adventurers started out in a party. For lower levelled people, taking on the monsters beyond the great wall and in the dungeons was almost impossible, and having a balanced group working in different roles would make defeating large groups of monsters and levelling quickly much easier. Elaria had never really been good at working with others. Not that she was unsociable, just that she found working alone more peaceful.
Mission - A Slimy Infestation
Difficulty: Copper
Farrowhill, a small farming village located on the outskirts of the Grant Duchy has been experiencing a severe problem with slimes. The aggressive monsters have overrun the place, devouring crops and even killing a few of the locals. To prevent them from having to abandon their home, find the source of the infestation and destroy it, along with the hateful jellies.
Slimes defeated: 0/25
Source of the infestation destroyed: 0/?
Reward: 3 Silvers, 5 Coppers
Mission - The Troll of River Klarn
Difficulty: Copper
A troll has taken residence under a bridge over the River Klarn. This bridge is essential for local trade routes and the presence of the troll has prevented merchants and ordinary folk from journeying across the river. Defeat the foul monster and open up the path once more.
Troll defeated: 0/1
Reward: 6 Silvers, Copper Loot Chest
This time, the guild provided her with a map to both locations, since they were requests made for specific tasks rather than the general subjugation missions she’d undertaken previously. Defeating the slimes would be a breeze for Elaria, since she had experience with the little blobs of evil and knew exactly how to decimate them before they could destroy the livelihood of those poor villagers. The second mission would likely be more difficult. Trolls were notorious for their extremely tough hides and powerful regeneration abilities, and ridiculously aggressive once they’d found a home to defend. She enjoyed a challenge however, and felt confident in her combat abilities.
She’d purchased a rather ordinary steel sword in Lockmire to use for the time being, but it probably wouldn’t be as good as the one her father had given her. She planned to use the journey as an opportunity to practise her archery in order to make use of the new enchanted bow she’d received from the loot chest. Combined with the fact that the luck stat boosted the chance of critical damage, being a sniper might actually be a great decision for her. The unique properties of Heartwood also meant she might get an opportunity to practise her mana manipulation and learn some finer control compared to the outrageous destruction caused by Firestorm.
The other boon she’d received in Lockmire was the Any Stat Pill, which Marius had assured her was safe to take at any time, so following his advice she’d simply swallowed it right there in his office. As the name suggested, it provided a permanent +1 increase to any of your stats at random. She’d gotten a boost to her dexterity which was rather helpful since she’d been neglecting the stat. It wasn’t worse than the others, just that the benefits it provided hadn’t been what she needed on her journey thus far. If she planned to become a better spellcaster it would be essential however, as it allowed mages to cast spells much quicker. It also would help with archery and even crafting if she ever decided to dip her toes into artificing.
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She’d also received a greater healing potion from her last use of Lesser Call of the Treasury, which felt a bit lacking compared to her previous rewards but it was still a life saving trump card she’d keep in reserve for a desperate situation. Compared to the lesser variants she’d relied on to keep her fighting during the brutal battle in the goblin fortress, the greater healing potion gave an immediate restoration of 35 health points and provided a regeneration boost of 12 health points per hour for six hours. All in all it was a pretty good haul. She was looking forward to Call of the Treasury coming off cooldown so she could really see the benefits of her improved luck stat.
Travelling by wolfback was expeditiously quicker than her previously sedate walking pace, Luna’s powerful leg muscles able to take them soaring through the farmland and plains between Lockmire and the River Klarn. The wind raced through her hair and set Luna’s fur dancing as they tore across open land and Elaria found herself laughing into the sky at the joyous thrill the ride brought. The room at the Lockmire adventurer’s guild had been well furnished and the bed was extremely comfortable. After a warm bath with a plethora of scented soaps and oils that left her skin feeling soft as a baby's, she'd sunk into the mountain of blankets and pillows for a night of much deserved rest. Marius had said they’d meet again in the future, and assured her that if she ran into any problems in the Cloudvale branch of the guild to just mention his name.
It took most of the day to reach Farrowhill, a quaint farming village located just south of the River Klarn, coincidentally near to the bridge where her second mission was located. Elaria had taken the two together since they wouldn’t add too much time to her journey and give her the promotion to copper rank adventurer she sorely needed to compete with other talents in the capital. Not that she was too fussed if she didn’t make it into one of the popular adventuring parties; her explosive entrance into raiding back near Felspire had shown she had the skills and strength to take large groups of monsters down by herself, and she could always hunt down Jacob and the two of them could form their own little group.
The village, which had looked picturesque from a distance, beautiful little cottages and neatly kept farmlands which would have made it a top tier holiday destination back on Earth, was vastly different as she approached. Before she could even step over the boundary, a slime launched itself straight at her head, jumping over Luna much to the she-wolf’s chagrin. Quickly whipping out her new sword she carved a clean and well rehearsed arc through the air, cleaving the bright green blob of evil in twain. In the corner of her eye she saw a girl a few years younger than her, the only person visible in the streets, sprinting towards a nearby house while clutching something close to her chest. Her foot caught on a rock and she went flying to the ground and immediately two nearby slimes pounced on the vulnerable child.
Elaria urged Luna forward as fast as she could, unable to close the gap in time. In a stroke of genius, the wolf bucked on her front legs, lifting the back of her body up into the air and catapulting Elaria towards the child, allowing her to close the gap just as the slimes were about to reach, slicing the nearest one into quarters with rapid strokes of her sword and simply blocking the other with her arm, the minor damage from it’s acid not affecting her as much as the last time she encountered the hateful jellies thanks to her improved fortitude and vitality. She tossed the second slime up in the air before stabbing her sword through the quivering red mass and exploding it onto the ground.
“Are you okay? You shouldn’t take such risks with monsters if you haven’t been through the birthing ceremony,” Elaria said.
The little girl stood up with help from Elaria and brushed the dirt off her knees. The cloth bundle she’d been so desperately guarding was revealed as a few loaves of bread and some cheese. A pretty luxurious meal for farmers in a border village, although given that Duke Grant was apparently a noble and kind ruler, Elaria imagined the common folk in his lands experienced a better quality of life compared to back home in the Faust Barony. She had startlingly bright platinum hair and emerald green eyes. A few freckles dotted her face and she had a few tears in the corner of her eyes.
“Thank you for saving me, miss. I know it was stupid but it’s been a nightmare here with the slimes. My grandma can’t walk so well anymore and I had to go and get some food for us. Harry had been delivering food to lots of the villagers but he went to investigate the source of the slimes a few days ago and never came back. I didn’t want to starve,” she explained as tears started to flow down her cheeks.
It seemed the situation here might be even worse than Elaria had expected. Her first task would be to clear the village of slimes so the villagers could get back to their daily lives. It was strange though, even with the weakness that ordinary people had, those with access to the Chain should be able to beat ordinary monsters like slimes. The overwhelming numbers were a problem for sure, Elaria could literally see hundreds of the things oozing through the streets and down the walls of cottages, but something was definitely amiss.
“What’s your name?” She asked the little girl.
“It’s Jill,” she replied.
“Alright Jill, why don’t you show me where your house is so I can escort you home, then I’ll get rid of all these nasty buggers. I’m here from the adventurer’s guild,” she assured her.
“No way? You’re an adventurer? SO COOL! You don’t look that much older than me though,” Jill blurted out.
Elaria giggled before responding to the girl, whose mood had taken a complete u-turn after hearing help had arrived. “The birthing ceremony is powerful stuff Jill, I’m sure once you turn ten you’ll be able to achieve the same if that’s something you’re interested in.”
“Really? I can’t wait. I’ve always wanted to be a powerful knight in the royal army, slaying evil monsters beyond the great wall. My grandma always told me stories about the great heroes. George Erlich, Poe Lionsmane, Tessa Ryling, The Duskmoon Slaughterer! He’s my favourite, did you know he killed more monsters in a single day than the entire army does in a year?! A YEAR!”
Jill started to babble on about her idols and Elaria chuckled while fending off slimes. She recognised a few of the names from the tales of the village chief, but the last one eluded her. It was a pretty ominous sounding title, but clearly he was a good guy judging from how much Jill raved about his great and heroic deeds. It didn’t take long to reach the girl’s house, and she made sure to get her inside safely before she could deal with the infestation.
“Alright you dastardly globs of goo, let’s see what’s got you all riled up.”