Chapter 7 – You Have No Power Here!
Pintel: “You're supposed to be dead!”
Jack Sparrow: “Am I not?”
– Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
– ***** –
Twenty days before breakdown, evening (IGT)
*weeeezzzsshhhrrrrrroar*
“Oh. No pitchforks then?”
The bleached inferno violently crashed onto the unmoving knight, who didn’t react in any way to protect himself. Blinding light engulfed him. Roaring flames avidly devoured their designated prey, and it seemed nothing could survive to their mindless voracity. Inside the immaculate conflagration, however, an unfazed Elric let out a derisive chuckle.
“Tssshehe.”
That’s cute.
Despite its impressive form, [Purity Blaze] was still merely a first tier holly spell. Furthermore, it was only effective against those “tainted” by darkness. Very useful in melee fights involving demonic monsters, or undead, since it virtually erased the risk of harmful friendly fire – no pun intended – while efficiently wiping enemies over a large area. However, against a Paladin – be it a freelance one – of the late second tier Light affinity, it really couldn’t achieve much. Even if Elric wouldn’t quite consider himself “pure”, the holly flare was only mildly annoying at most, because the brightness hurt his eyes, which he shut.
Muhahahaha! You can’t hurt me, puny holly mages! Feeeeeeaaaaar Meeee…*mental cough* Anyway.
“Heee… Excu-”
*weeeeeeeezzzz*
He was once again interrupted by the deafening whistle of a second cluster of cleansing flames, diving towards him, and closely followed by a third, then a fourth. It didn’t look like the villagers were eager to hear him out.
…This might take a while…
For several minutes, Elric endured the – totally ineffective and pointless – onslaught. Truth be told, the Solar Knight could easily have shielded himself, blasted the wooden doors away, and rendered his assailants powerless, all in a single move. Being his favourite spell, [Sun Guardian] – basically a mecha made of sunlight – would have done the trick nicely. However, his goal here was still peaceful interaction, not all-out, one-sided, war. The villagers weren’t entirely at fault either. On hindsight, perhaps approaching a woman while covered in patches of dried blood and various innards – brain matter? – stains was not the best way to get a favourable response. In fact, it already was a wonder why she simply ran away “quietly” and wasn’t screaming in horror all the way to the hamlet.
True, I was walking blind, and the day had been messy to say the least. BUT… that still was unbecomingly rude of me. Tss tss tss… I’m ashamed. Sorry Miss.
Given his gory appearance, it wouldn’t be surprising if Elric had been mistaken for some kind of [Death Knight] or [Vengeful Erring Armour] – Those really are a pain in the ass... Ah. Except you Alfy, you’re a bro. That would also explain why they insisted in showering him with holly magic. He did remove his helmet on the way to the hamlet, therefore exposing his – perfectly normal, human, and golden-haired – head for all to see, but fear was rarely a fodder for rational thinking. The Sage of the Wild didn’t hold it against them. Plus, their barrage was having an effect of sorts: his armour was now spotless, all the nastiness burnt away.
♪ Tired of dirty equipment after a merry day of slaughtering hordes of harassingly aggressive corpses? Well, fear no more! “Holly Magic” is there for you. “Holly magic”, because He doesn’t only wash away your sins. *wink* ♪ <1>
After a while, the interval in-between shots started to lengthen, until the assault eventually stopped, the spellcasters finally out of fuel – Well, [Purity Blaze] isn’t really what I’d call “mana-efficient”. The now glittering Silver Knight opened an eye, raising an inquiring eyebrow.
Is that it?
“Is it still there?”
A muffled voice echoed his mental question, raising from the other side of the wooden fence. Elric looked up, catching a glimpse of a villager peeking over, five metres above ground, before quickly ducking back down.
Levitation? No, probably just an observation platform.
“It is. It didn’t even looked hurt.” – Not the same voice.
There are at least two people in there. Three if I count Apples Woman.
Villager 1: “What?!”
A second head briefly rose up.
Villager 3: “It’s true!”
How many are they? This one sounds younger. Adolescent?
Villager 2: “Told you so.”
Villager 3: “W-W-What are we going to do? WAAAAH! Why did the s-s-spell fai-failed?”
Hoy. Calm down. I won’t bite… unless provoked.
Villager 1: “Think! How could something strong enough to pass through the [Misty Soul Barrier] be affected by a measly [Purity Blast]?”
Oh. This one seems vaguely smart. He is still a bit off the mark though, but that does confirm my hypothesis on Canary’s Foggy Fart. A barrier. How annoying. Wait… If they knew it wouldn’t work, why did they even try? And it’s [Purity Blaze], not “Blast”. Get it right, it’s embarrassing! Should I say something? They sound really frightened… Naaah. Let them talk. They’re funny.
Villager 1: “How did it look?”
Villager 3: “A giant! At least THREE METRES!! Covered in armour! It looked invincible!”
F-F-Flattery won’t g-get you a-a-anywhere. ~Baka!~
Villager 1: “A [Dullahan]?”
Villager 3: “No. I saw a head.”
If you saw it, can’t you tell I’m freakin’ ALIVE?! …Moron.
Villager 1: “An [Erring Armour]?”
Villager 3: “No helmet.”
Villager 1: “[Armoured Skelton]?”
Villager 3: “Didn’t seem that bony.”
LOOK BETTTER!!
Villager 1, slightly losing patience: “What was it then?!”
Villager 3: “Dunno.”
Villager 1: “AAAAARGH! Get down here, you dimwit. I’m going up!”
Villager 2: “Keep calm Melk. You know how Dennis is.”
Twooo!? You’re still there? Please take a look. Save me from these idiots.
Melk: “gnmbraindamagengrrrnidiotgemeniud…”
Dennis: “Heeee… That’s mean, bro.”
Bro?: “Shut up, Dennis. What it is doesn’t matter. It can’t get through the magic fence anyway.”
Magic uh? Good thing I didn’t try to smash it. If it’s stronger than the Candy Floss of Loopness, that wouldn’t have ended up well…
Bro: “But we can’t let it wander around indefinitely. Melk, you go back to your wife. Dennis, you stay here on watch. I’m counting on you. Don’t move! Don’t leave your post!! Don’t piss yourself… I’ll go wake up the Elder.”
Sorry, I misjudged you, Bro. You’re smarter than Melk… eeeh. WAIT!? Did you decide to NUKE me while the one in charge was taking a nap?! FUCK YOU, BRO!!!
After Nuke-First-Ask-Questions-Later “Bro” left, silence fell back, broken only by the faint clattering of teeth and what sounded like an uninterrupted murmured prayer. Standing in front of the gates, Elric waited some time, but Dimwit Incontinent Dennis didn’t dare to take another look.
Now what? Do I call out? I wonder... As far as I know, liches are the only undead that talk... as long as they come in human shape… although Grandiose McNutty did seem to attempt communication. Tsh. Probably something like “I’m freakin’ awesome!” or “Fear my mighty self! Mortal fool!” Liches are all so full of themselves. The whole “transcending death” thing and all… Anyway. What to do… What to do? I don’t want little Dennis to freak out on me. He really doesn’t strike me as Mister Courageous, nor Mister Brain for that matter… Ah. Let’s just wait for the Elder. The sun feels good out here anyway. Hope the old fellow will at least talk to me before trying to blast me into oblivion. If he’s the one behind this fence and the [Misty Soul Barrier], this might become “slightly” problematic.
The resigned knight sat down on the ground, leant his back against the wooden door – maybe looking inoffensive and bored would help – and waited.
– *** –
Elric must have dozed off at some point, because he was startled awake by a loud high-pitched female voice calling out to the cowardly guard.
“Hi Dennis! What’s up?”
That’s the Elder?
She sounded more like a curious little girl than a venerable matriarch. Not that that meant much. If travelling around – and animes – taught the Wandering Knight anything, it was “Never trust someone’s appearance in a world where magic is possible” – Rule 34. He once stumbled across one of the hidden dwellings of the Forest People, whose chief barely looked twelve, but was in fact over a thousand years old. Talking with the oddly wise-looking “kid” had enlightened the so-called Knowledgeable on so many things about the elven culture and nature in general, Elric had felt embarrassed about his undeserved title.
It’s actually amazing how deep this world was thought out.
Listening carefully to confirm the identity of the – supposedly – young newcomer, Elric was immediately reassured by the frightened idiot’s answer.
“Dorothy? What are you doing here?! Go back home. It’s dangerous. There’s an undead monster outside.”
Ah. Of course there was a Dorothy in Kansas. Whatever Inc. really is thorough, even in nonsense apparently. Although, shouldn’t she be a teenager? This one sounds no more than eight…
“Shut up! Don’t be a wuss Dennis. Move, let me see.”
…an easily angered, foul-mouthed, eight-years-old.
“Heee?! Dorothy… You ca- Ah!” The young man’s voice sounded pitiful. “Please... If something happens to you, Martha will kill me.”
“Nothing will happen if you keep your mouth shut. Or do you want me to tell Meg about that time?”
“Aaaaah… Do what you want. But be quick. And please don’t tell Meg…” He seemed about to cry.
“Tehe~ I’ll keep quiet if you do too-oo~” Now she sounded more impish than mad.
“Please…”
Dennis… you indeed are a wuss. Yielding to the blackmail of a little girl! Don’t you have any pride as a man? …Well… She did seem dreadful. Better make sure she never gets any dirt on me… Kids sure are scary these days. Ah! Isn’t this supposed to be a medieval setting? Guess that means kids are evil whatever time period they’re in. Scary…
“HEHOOO! Mister Undead? Are you asleep?!”
Right as his thoughts were starting to spiral in a nightmarish direction, “Mister Undead” was snapped out of his delirium by the loud call of the apparently fearless Dorothy, brimming with childish enthusiasm. He raised his eyes, and grinned at the sight of a twin-tailed girl barely managing to glance over the edge of the fence. He could easily picture her standing on the tip of her toes on the wooden platform, grabbing the spikes that topped the wall and extending her body, conjuring all her strength just to hold herself up and give him that innocent questioning stare.
“Dooroothyyyy!!! Don’t attract his attention!”
Shut up, Dennis!
“Shut up, Dennis!”
Good go Dorothy. But a young lady shouldn’t say things like “shut up”.
“HOY! Mister Undead? What are you doing there? Can you talk?”
“I can talk alright. And I’m no undead. I’m very much alive.” He answered her in a cheerful voice. “My name’s Elric. Elric Walker. Twenty-two. Knight. Presently single. As what I’m doing here? Not sure… Waiting for the Elder I suppose. This wussy guy’s brother said he was going to bring him back.”
“Hihihi.” She seemed to find funny that the strong-looking Elric called Dennis this wussy guy. Her giggle really was cute …even if the reason behind it was a bit worrisome. Then she added:
“Marcus?”
“Probably.”
“Then he should be back soon. Marcus is the fastest in the whooole village.”
“That’s good to know.” Not that there should be more than twenty inhabitants in your “village”, sweetie.
Dennis peeked over Dorothy’s head. Don’t spoil the angelic sight, you ugly cur!
“You’re not a monster?”
With his face twisted exaggeratedly in puzzlement, Elric looked over himself. He then suddenly glared back at the young guard, who let out a scared yelp, earning him a disdainful glance from Dorothy.
“Not that I know of.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“You threw fire at me.”
“…”
“…”
“S’ry ‘bout that.”
“…Yeah.”
“The Elder should be here soon.”
“……Yeah.”
“Please make yourself comfortable while waiting.”
“………Yeah.”
“…ahah… I’d better give bro some updates. He’s not going to be happy… I’ll be going then. Don’t do something suspicious while I’m gone!”
“…………Yeah. You do that.”
“I’m leaving then. You too Dorothy. I don’t want you to be here when bro comes back. And you don’t want that either.”
“Tsh….’kay.” She seemed really annoyed.
You’re quite something bro. No, Marcus. Getting the respect of this fierce creature. I might forgive you for the nukes. Maybe.
“Bye bye, Mister Not-Undead Single Elric Walker!” – Aaaaaaaw~ Cuteness overload!
The “single” really wasn’t necessary though…
Smiling, Elric waved back wordlessly, pondering once again about the wasteland that had become his love-life.
– *** –
Half an hour later, some explanations, a blushing woman offering profuse apologies, Elric apologising back, and Marcus punching Dennis in the face for jumping to conclusion after Ingrid – Apples Woman – came back scared as hell and started spouting confused gibberish about an armoured man, covered in blood and entrails, stumbling around near the entrance of the woods, the cleaned knight was standing in the middle of a small crowd, and was giving a rapid account of the circumstances that led to this unfortunate misunderstanding.
Well, a “rapid” account still took the unfocused Elric almost two hours, as he constantly trailed off to elaborate on some events, causing the villagers to grow more and more dumbfounded. By the time he finally reached the part about how he managed to cross the fog barrier, everybody was speechless, jaws dropped, exception made of two people. One was a captivated Dorothy, who during his speech had shown a surprisingly wide panel of intense emotions, and now wore a wide-eyed expression of revering awe. The other was a strange old man who, for a while already, had been rolling on the ground, splitting his sides laughing.
“Hohoho… and… you… were lost because… the squirrel… pfffft… HOHOHOHOHO… And you walked… through… eyOHOHOHO… CLOSED!!! Ho… HAHa… haha… Lad, I don’t know if you’re crazy, or brilliant! Hahaha!”
“… It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide...”
“Haha… Nicely said.” The old man commented as he got up, using the hem of his unclean shirt to wipe his tear-covered face, and reaching for his cane with his free hand.
“I got it from a pirate.”
“He seems like… hoho… a wise pirate.”
“Not sure about that… but could we stick to ripping off a single movie at a time, please?”
“Ha… What do you mean by that?”
*sigh* “Nothing… So, you’re the Elder?”
“Indeed I am, oh young crazy one. Hehehe…”
“So you decided to go with crazy.”
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“It’s my village.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
Elric took another look at the self-designated Elder.
This geriatric joker was rather special looking to say the least. He visibly used to be tall, probably as tall as Elric, but the years had caused him to become heavily stooped. The Elder wasn’t exactly hunchback, nor deformed in the usual sense, but oddly curved. He was forming a smooth arch as he leant on his cane, and his skully head hang well lower than his shoulders. His broad back and large frame betrayed a former burly man, but all his muscles had long since melted. The arms that extended out from his black, washed-out, sleeveless baggy shirt now mimicked those of the skeletons that roamed the rest of the country. Long diaphanous hairs, that may have one day been blond, left most of his scalp naked. Both his eyes had sunk into their sockets, and a thick scar above the right one forced the smirking elderly into a constant suspicious wink. Curiously, his smile exposed spotless white teeth, of which at least four were missing. Elric wouldn’t readily have accepted a red apple offered by the man.
After recovering from his laughing fit, the Elder raised a hand resembling a skinny claw, calling for the attention of his fellow citizens.
“Hoho…*cough* Now now. We all had our fun, but our first guest in… well, in forever… must be quite tired from his *cough* exploits *cough* and your flabbergast stares are probably making him uncomfortable. Go back to your evening activities. All of you. …and, Marcus, wake up your brother, or take him somewhere else. He can’t sleep in the middle of the square like that. Crazy One, follow me.”
“Elric.”
“Crazy Elric, if you insist.”
“…”
Elric followed the selfish old man, briefly glimpsing at the unconscious Dennis being dragged away. Marcus “Bro” had punched him quite hard earlier. Everyone else had already left, except from Dorothy who was trailing after them. A slender woman – probably the fearsome aforementioned “Martha” – had tried to call out to her, but was wilfully ignored. She quickly gave up, apparently thinking nothing could happen inside the hamlet.
It was one thing that Elric had noted. None of the villagers were wary about letting a suspicious man alone with their seemingly debilitated leader and a defenceless little girl. This strengthened the idea Elric had of the old man being some overpowered enchanter of sorts. That also maybe had to do with the fact their “guest” had nowhere to run, while every single inhabitant but Dorothy looked capable of wrestling a wyvern barehanded. Even Dennis, for all his cowardice and idiocy, was extremely well built for someone around sixteen. Not to forget someone here had been able to continuously fire [Purity Blaze] for several minutes. Even if several mages had joined their efforts, that still was nothing to laugh at.
…or Dorothy is actually a millennium-old necromancer who could kill by blinking too hard, but I still have my doubts about this hypothesis.
They walked past a few modest wooden houses. The “village” was made of about fifteen of those. During his “short” lecture earlier, Elric had also counted only nineteen villagers, including Marcus, Dennis, Martha, a middle-aged couple he identified as Melk and his wife, Ingird, the Elder and Dorothy, as well as a young woman he guessed was Meg, because she kept glancing at the passed-out Dennis with a mix of pity and annoyance.
While looking around, he asked a few questions to the old man ahead of him, who answered readily, but without looking back.
“Excuse me, Elder, do you have an altar around here?”
“An altar? I don’t remember seeing anything like that could be called that in Kansas, and I’ve been around long enough to know every speck of dust in this whole clearing.”
Damn. I knew it. It would have been waaaay to easy. Did you notice my sarcasm, oh me?
In Untold Tales, to be able to revive somewhere, a player had first to “register” at the altar of said place. Touching it would be enough actually. When logging back in, after minimum 24 real hours of ban, the adventurer would then reappear next to the registered altar which was closest to his point of death. Most safe zones had one, except from some special areas, which a hidden village like Kansas clearly counted as. Therefore, Elric’s nearest revive point still was the town of Ashen, weeks, woods and illusion barrier away to the east. That made the perspective of death very unappealing to the knight.
During the short walk, the Knowledgeable also learnt that the main source of food here was apples. He wasn’t such a fan of fruits in general, but, at this point, he probably would have eaten undead meat if he had to skip his next meal. Another discovery was that the villager’s clothes were made out of some kind of rough silk, produced by giant worms. A man named Lagerfeld was in charge of raising them in a ranch outside of the fence and of turning the humongous larvae’s secretion into usable fabric. Kansans worshiped the God of Order – Am I supposed to start a crusade or something? – like most of the Kingdom of Erwyn. A fact Elric had always found hugely ironic, because he never encountered a place with more dis-order than a fallen nation infested with undead, not to mention his recent misadventures. But maybe that was the whole point of praying? Anyway, they weren’t very practising, since there wasn’t any priest in Kansas. Similarly, there wasn’t any blacksmith, nor real tailor to speak of, and everyone made their own tools and garb. Finally, the Elder pretended not to have any other name than “Elder”. A suspicious statement, most likely a lie, which raised even more questions, but the patient Wandering Knight wasn’t one to push people for answers they weren’t willing, or ready, to give.
– *** –
After some time – saying the nameless Elder walked slowly was quite the euphemism – Elric’s guide eventually stopped at the base of the emerald mountain, a distance away from the constructions, but still inside the perimeter of the magical fence. The following Dorothy immediately came to a halt and hid behind a bush. Merely four metres behind them, she wasn’t exactly difficult to spot, but the mismatched pair pretended not to notice anything.
They were now facing a small but dense grove, leaning against a green stone cliff. Next to it stood a low log cabin, even humbler than the other habitations. The Elder laboriously sat down in front of the unpretentious abode, and wordlessly patted the ground next to him, inviting the standing knight to come and join him. Before doing so, Elric unequipped his heavy silver armour, replacing it by a more convenient, villager-styled casual wear.
The makers of the game, despite their apparent obsession with realism, had been forced to make a few concessions under the pressure of masses of infuriated players. The inventory function had been one of those updates. The ability of instantaneously changing garb – weapons worked differently – outside of combat was another, and even the most hard-core role-players like the Wandering Knight were glad to be exempt of the hassle of putting on and removing full-plate medieval armours.
At Elric’s action, a muffled gasp rose from a nearby suspect bush. He made a mental note to “materialize” a gift for the little girl later. Despite the lack of suitable materials in undead drops, the Sewing Knight still possessed one stuffed animal he had kept for some special occasion.
The Elder only chuckled.
“That’s a convenient trick you got there, young one.”
“I won’t deny it.”
“So… Back to the point. I’ll have to ask you. Do you have any plans in the near future?”
“Mmmh? Not really.”
The other nodded as if he expected the answer.
“Indeed. You don’t seem one to plan much beforehand.”
“Hey! I don- No. You’re probably right.” Elric admitted, incapable to honestly defend himself. “Well, I did intend to leave the country for a while, since undead tend to wear you out after a while, but since I found this safe and pleasant place... Do you mind if I stay here a bit?”
“This little hamlet of ours indeed is a pleasant haven… Undead, hu? That’s still going on? Young idiots playing with powers they believe they understand. Ah! Foolish. May the gods have pity on their immortal souls.” Frowning, the old man muttered, half-derisive, half-concerned, actually more to himself than to Elric. Then he seemed to remember his interlocutor. “Oh. But no… No, of course I don’t mind. Some divertiss… eeeh… new blood is always welcomed. In fact, there’s a little something that had been troubling me lately. Would you hear me out, young adventurer?”
So it’s “young adventurer” now, hum? I know that speech pattern… After your trigger-happy fellow citizens almost mistakenly burnt my-thankfully-immune-self to death, you old crook will shamelessly push on me some random task you can’t or won’t perform yourself. *mental sigh* NPCs…
It was the same wherever Elric went. But was the Reckless Imbecile one to shy away from a potential quest? No, of course.
“What is it?”
The Elder grinned broadly, flashing his toothpaste smile and its few stomps.
“I knew you weren’t one to turn down this powerless old man’s request.”
“…”
”Powerless” my ass.
Elric’s raised eyebrow must have been pretty showy, because the “inoffensive” grandpa immediately followed up by lifting a hand in appeasement, and added:
“It’s nothing difficult. Don’t worry… Not dangerous would be more accurate in fact.”
He glanced at a nearby snoring bush, and asked, in a lowered his voice:
“What do you think of Dorothy?”
“I’m not marrying a height-years-old.”
“…” There was a slight awkward pause. “Your thought pattern never ceases to fascinate me… I won’t ask you to marry her. I just want you to take care of her for some time.”
“Oh... Sorry. I jumped to conclusion.”
“No hard feelings. My poor choice of words was misleading.”
He made a curious face, as if recalling dark thoughts, and seemed to hesitate before adding:
“However… Heed my advice, young one. Wordplays might be inoffensive, but acting on a misunderstanding without careful considerations only leads to disaster and regret… I speak out of experience.”
Surprised by the sudden serious and bitter tone of the usually cheerful-looking old man, Elric could only nod gravely in acquiescence.
“Good.” He then switched back to his happy-go-lucky self, as if nothing happened. “So, as I said, I would be grateful if you could spend some time with the little one. A few days would suffice.”
“But, isn’t she already living with… eeeh… Martha?” It wasn’t a rebuttal, just an honest interrogation.
“Indeed she is. And Martha takes good care of her. However, they aren’t linked by blood. Dorothy’s parents died… some years ago, in an unfortunate accident. Martha took her in. She’s an intransigent woman, but a good person, although she isn’t that good with kids. It’s a wonder why she proposed herself for the task… and Dorothy never really looked sad or even unhappy. She’s quite expressive and wilful actually… but… I’ve yet to see this child smile earnestly. It breaks my old heart, or what’s left of it. Hehe. Martha’s not at fault here, really. I think Dorothy was traumatized by what happened to her parents. She doesn’t remember anything about the incident, or her parents for that matter, but I’m worried of the effects these repressed memories might have on her. She doesn’t have anyone around to play but boring adults either. I’m sure you noticed. The closest to her age is Dennis, but… Well, Dennis is Dennis. And Dorothy has too much of an empire on the poor fool for him to be of any use on that particular issue, not that he has much use in anything else… But I digress.”
“So you want me to make her earnestly smile again?”
“That would be the best I can hope for. Although I would be satisfied if you could simply keep her happy for a while. Will you do it?”
*ting*
New Quest: The little girl who couldn’t smile
The Elder of Kansas is concerned about the youngest member of his community. Dorothy was left orphaned after a traumatizing incident. She hasn’t earnestly smiled ever since. The Elder has sought your assistance in helping the young girl regain her lost happiness.
Difficulty D
Success Conditions:
- Dorothy honestly smiles again.
Failure Conditions:
- Dorothy smiles remain empty.
- Dorothy dies.
Consequences:
Upon Success:
- Raised intimacy with the inhabitants of Kansas.
- Intimacy with Dorothy raised to MAX.
Upon Failure:
- Varies on the results:
-- If Dorothy’s state remains the same, the villagers won’t hold it against you since none of them succeeded either.
-- If Dorothy’s state worsens, your intimacy with the villagers will drop.
----------------------------------------
- Do you accept? -
Tsh.
That was exactly why Elric disliked quest windows. All seemed so simple once put into terms of success, failure and quantifiable gain.
And, failure if “Dorothy dies”? No shit Sherlock. Does that counts as “her state worsens”? Why not add “Failure if Kansas explodes”?! *mental sigh of exasperation*
Low intimacy with NPCs could result in being thrown out of the settlement and banned from entry, but that wasn’t what bothered him. Summed up like that, all he had to do was apparently to make Dorothy smile. However, he knew it wasn’t that basic.
“Healing a mentally wounded child… That’s tough, Elder. I’m not a tactful guy. What makes you think I’m up to the task?”
“Well, you seem to have a… rather unique approach on life. Maybe you will succeed where all others failed.” His words seemed to carry some sort of hidden message, but Elric didn’t thought wise to dwell on it too much. Old people usually couldn’t open their mouth without adding at least twenty different meanings under each word. At least that was the case in MMORPGs.
“And…” The elderly chief continued, showing a joyful face. “Also… mostly… because I haven’t see Dorothy this lively in a long time. Look, she even collapsed from exhaustion out here, when she usually can’t fall asleep outside of her bed.”
The Sage of the Wild stare at the shrub for a few seconds, then let out a resigned sigh.
“I will try my best. I can’t guarantee you success, but I promise I won’t let her get worse.”
“I can’t ask for more. Thank you.”
You have accepted the quest “The little girl who couldn’t smile”.
– ***** –
<1> And for those among us not fortunate enough to have access to magic, I point you towards the wonderful Zom Be-Gone.
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A little note first: the title of this chapter might call out to most of you as a LotR reference, and of course, it works, but know that it is also part of a famous quote from the Wizard of Oz.
Soooo… This is the longest chapter to date. Happy Birthday! Nothing much to say. Comment. Like. Dislike. Suggest. Rate?
What do you think of the quest window? Clear enough? And do you prefer shorter chapters? I don’t really target a particular length actually, more like blocks of plot… Would you like more comedy? Is that enough? Does it feel forced?
Well, as always, thanks for reading, and see you next chapter.
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