The tiger went in the opposite direction of Sora, disappearing into the leaves on the tree. Sora started to follow its path but lost it due to the leaves obscuring his vision. Sora wasn’t able to fight the creature but its appearance did give him some clues as to what might have caused the little elf girl her sickness. He started to head higher into the trees, becoming unable to see the ground after climbing for a while.
After blindly pushing through the leaves and walking up the branches he finally saw another corrupted creature. This time it was a bird that looked like a hawk except it was pure black with a razor sharp red beak. This time it was flying directly toward Sora, he hid within the foliage and waited for the hawk to come close. As it flew over him he used [Purge with Silver] followed by [Slash] to do bonus damage to the corrupt creature. The corrupted hawk awkwardly spiraled down onto the tree branch as the area where its wing meets its body was cut, dealing a large amount of damage thanks to his [Purge with Silver]. The hawk let out a high pitched cawing noise that disoriented Sora for a second. The debuff didn’t last long but it was just long enough for the hawk to use its razor sharp talons to attack Sora.
The shield Sora had obtained from his set bonus helped mitigate a lot of damage from the crow but it still hurt more than the white tigers he was used to fighting. The hawk tried for another attack but he was able to parry it this time since he wasn’t debuffed. Sora focused on defense, parrying every attack that the hawk threw out. It didn’t take long for [Vanquish the Weak] to reach max stacks just as his [Purge with Silver] had ended. A large streak of silver light pierced into the hawk. It took 400% damage thanks to the fact that it was corrupted, plus the damage was increased by 100% thanks to his [Vanquish the Weak]. The poor hawk was pretty much one shot as it fell down from the tree, plummeting past the foliage and creating a small thud.
Sora had only tried out the combo since it wasn’t normally a practical strategy. The damage was insane but it required too much focus on defense and only really worked when fighting a single enemy. If he were to be tanking for a party then he would have lost aggro extremely fast and end up making his teammates pay for it. He was simply curious as to how high he could hit and felt satisfied by the ridiculous amount of damage that was dealt. Sora continued to make his way through the branches, seeing more corrupted creatures as he climbed higher. It wasn’t until just before the top of the trees that he finally saw what he was looking for.
Level 52 -Corrupted Death Viper-
A black snake with bright green spots could be seen coiling around one of the massive branches. Its body length allowed it to coil around the fat branch a few times and still had the ability to move its head freely. The fangs were as long as Sora’s hand and dripped a dark purple liquid every now and then. Sora had a theory that this snake was the thing that poisoned Desakor’s daughter. He carefully made his way through the maze of branches, finding an adjacent branch that connected with the one the snake was on. Sora needed to test the snake's poison but wasn’t too fond of the idea since it would put the snake at an advantage when they start fighting. He decided to try and wait until the very end to get hit, if he can avoid being poisoned until just before the snake dies then he would have nothing to fear.
Sora was hiding within the foliage just outside of the snakes aggro range, he wanted to drain its health as fast as possible so he started by using [Purge with Silver], waiting for twenty seconds to start his attack. [Relentless Pursuit] was activated so he could close the gap with the snake before it could attack. Just as the creature tried to attack Sora used [Concuss] to interrupt it followed by a [Slash] that dealt a good chunk of damage. He dodged another attack as he waited for his abilities to come off cooldown, narrowly avoiding the poisoned fangs that dripped with the purple fluid. Another [Concuss] interrupted the snake right before [Purge with Silver] activated again, dealing a huge chunk of damage to the snake. The snake suddenly stopped as it’s skin started to crack in various places before shattering. The snake regenerated its health back to full, causing Sora to accidentally let out a curse word as he began attacking once again. The snake was able to land an attack on Sora after regenerating his health, making his health slowly drop thanks to the poison. His mana stopped regenerating and even slowly started to drop. Sora was glad that he could confirm that this was the right poison but was in a dire situation and couldn’t let out even the tiniest smile.
The snake took a [Slash] after Sora reactivated his [Purge with Silver]. Thanks to the poison he had hit rock bottom in terms of mana and his health wasn’t looking good either. A health potion helped relieve some of the pressure as Sora avoided the incoming attacks at all costs. He kept dodging and parrying as a silver flash of light penetrated the snake, dealing a critical hit and killing its target. The snake corroded away and dropped some coins along with a small vial of purple liquid.
[x1 Corrupted Death Viper Venom obtained]
Sora put the vial away and looked around one more time, just as he was about to leave he heard a loud roar behind him. He only saw it for a second but it was an unforgettable sight. A giant green beast flew through the forest, blending in perfectly with the leaves that surrounded it. Its scales seemed to be covered in moss and ivy that trailed behind him as he flew through the trees. Branches would snap as they came into contact with the beast creating a cracking noise that could still be heard from far away as the beast continued flying through. Sora breathed in, not daring to move just in case it would find him. He only dared to move after the sound of snapping wood was gone.
Level 350 -Verasor, Forgotten Dragon of Nature-
Sora felt his heart skip a beat as he remembered the name of the creature. It was an extremely rare boss that would randomly appear in forested areas. If Sora were to have accidentally aggroed it then he would have definitely been killed in a mere second. He felt a chill run down his back as he rushed to leave this place just in case it came back.
Sora was able to go down the tree easily since all of the animals seemed to have been scared off by the dragon. Even the ground was lacking in white tigers, showing just how fearful the animals were of the legendary beast. He quickly went back to the elf village on top of Luna, not bothering with any animals that had been in his path.
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After a short ride Sora found himself back at the large tree. He was about to knock on the trunk but was interrupted by the appearance of an elf that had dropped behind him. It looked to be the same elf that he had originally handed Desakor’s daughter to.
“Why have you returned?”
“I brought something that might be able to help Desakor’s daughter. Please let him know that I am here.”
“No need, we will visit him together.”
“Are you sure that’s alright?”
“Desakor was right, although we may not take kindly to strangers we will still not show a blind eye to the kindness shown to us. Even your effort alone is enough to earn my respect.”
“Then I will have to thank you for giving me a chance.”
The elf walked up to the tree and placed his hand on the trunk, a green light spread out and opened a path that leads to a spiral staircase. Sora stepped in and began climbing the stairs with the elf. When he looked up he could see that the center of the tree was hollowed out with the stairs being carved out of the wood that used to be here. It was a long walk up the staircase, with nothing to look at but the walls of the tree and the occasional elf that was passed. Sora decided to gather a little more information on Desakor as he climbed.
“Who is Desakor exactly?”
“...He is the whole reason we are alive today. Every elf looks up to him, respect him, obey him, and some even fear him. Even our chief does not dare to act above him.”
“That amazing?”
“Indeed. As you know, the demons started to take over every territory on the continent. We had ignored it for so long… always saying that they would never make it this far. Always believing that we would be able to fight back, to hold our ground and protect our homeland… there was only one person who truly grasped the severity of the situation at the time.”
“I’m guessing it was Desakor?”
“Exactly. He spent many days draining his energy to make this tree our home. Sometimes he would even be found passed out from the amount of energy he drained every day… We laughed at him you know? We ignored his warnings, we watched every day as he pulled himself back to the village worn out. We told him that we did not want him to do this, that we would not follow him… Yet everyday he would do the same thing. Eventually we got tired of telling him and simply ignored him, nobody would help him recover and eventually his daughter was the only person who cared anymore. That’s why she knows healing magic, she learned so that she could help her father.”
“Then what happened?”
“The demons came. They destroyed everything we held dear, massacred half of our people. Some had even become tainted by an evil energy and turned on their brethren. We were on the run from them, watching in despair as our homes collapsed. We were drowning in hopelessness until Desakor led us here, where we were able to hide from the demons. Eventually their massacre stopped but we do not dare to try and reclaim our land alone.”
“I can see why he is so respected.”
“Not only respected, he is loved by everyone. Even the ones who fear his strength have come to love him dearly. That is why we hope you can cure his daughter, otherwise Desakor will be the one to suffer the burden once again while we watch with no way to help… We are here.”
The final stair led to a smaller branch that only had one house. It was a simple house made from warping the wood into a basic cube shape. It had windows, a balcony, and even a small garden on the side. Sora walked in with the other elf, immediately seeing Desakor sitting beside a small bed that had a little elf girl within. Her skin had started to turn purple, replacing her celestial look with a tainted appearance. A small amount of blood could be seen coming from her mouth but her chest was still slowly moving up and down. Desakor was clenching his fists as he looked at her, fighting back tears that wanted to escape. He only noticed the two walk in after the elf that Sora had been talking to cleared his throat.
“Our new friend here said he may have found something to help your daughter.”
Desakor jumped up to his feet as he grabbed onto Sora’s shoulders. His eyes seemed to contain a sense of madness as he looked directly at Sora. He noticed his behavior and released his grip before saying anything, returning to a tranquil appearance.
“I...I’m sorry. If you have anything that can help then please do not hesitate.”
“It’s fine, it must be hard for you. I was able to find a snake that had a poison that was very similar to what your daughter is afflicted by. I killed it and brought back some of the venom to make an antidote with.”
Sora handed the vial to Desakor, who carefully recieved it. He was shaking a bit but made sure to keep a grip on the vial. His hands glowed for a second before returning to normal. Desakor ran out to the garden on the side of his house, picking a couple plants before coming back inside. He poured the vial of venom into a small bowl before pulling out a mortar and pestle. The plants he had plucked from the garden were ground into a fine dust before being applied to the venom. After mixing it for a while the color started to fade, transforming into a translucent liquid that looked like water mixed with purple dye. The strong smell of the poison became gentle as he kept adding the ground up plants. After mixing for five minutes, he stopped and looked at the mix he had created. The color was still slightly purple so Desakor used the same ability he had used earlier to inspect the liquid. His eyebrows creased, making a difficult expression as he looked at the liquid. A sigh was let out as his quiet voice broke the tense atmosphere.
“It’s no good… there is still an evil energy within the liquid that I can’t seem to get out.”
“Sir, there has to be a wa-”
“Enough, Avourel, it is the same energy that belongs to the demons. You know what happened to our people when invaded with this energy.”
“...I’m sorry.”
Sora had a look of confusion on his face, would the game truly make this quest impossible to complete? He started to think hard as Desakor slowly started packing up the materials he had pulled out. Sora closed his eyes to concentrate, thinking that there must be a way to do it. A sudden idea popped into his head, it was a bit far fetched but it just might work.
“Desakor, you said it was the same energy as the demons?”
“Precisely, do you have an idea? Anything will help, as long as it is an idea we can try it!”
“Do you have anything that can store foreign energy?”
Desakor hesitated for a second before pulling his necklace off. It had a clear crystal within the center and a beautiful looking wood frame. The string was made from woven plants and it gave off a small glow. The other elf, apparently named Avourel, looked at Desakor with shock before being awoken by the sound of the little elf girl coughing. He looked at Desakor with a serious look.
“Are you sure about this, Desakor?”
“Yes Avourel, my daughter is more important than any piece of jewelry. Adventurer, this necklace has the ability to absorb energy.”
“Alright, please hold it out for 30 seconds. When the necklace absorbs my attack you should immediately put it into the solution you made.”
Sora activated [Purge with Silver] and waited. Desakor looked to be praying as he held the necklace out. Avourel had also closed his eyes and elven words could be heard coming from his mouth. A long silence persisted until Sora used his sword to attack Desakor. He had to register him as a target or else [Purge with Silver] wouldn’t activate on him. Immediately after the attack, a silver streak flew at Desakor, striking him and making him stumble back a bit. He ignored the pain as he put the necklace within the solution. The crystal in the center had a thread of silver that had been absorbed. The silver energy slowly dispersed out of the necklace, flowing through the liquid and eradicating the rest of the purple color. Desakor immediately checked the liquid once again before feeding it to his daughter. She had begun choking on it at first but eventually managed to swallow it all. Her skin slowly returned to a fair look that was nearly translucent. Her hair turned into a beautiful blonde color that matched her father's, her face becoming more tranquil. Desakor used some sort of ability once again to check on his daughter. After a full inspection, the man couldn’t hold his tears in anymore as he smiled and stroked his daughter's hair. After he finally pulled himself back together he turned to Sora, once again bowing his head to him.
“Thank you adventur- No, thank you brother, for saving my little girl!”