I remember the day he ruined my life.

A tall man approached me. He wore a simple brown tunic with muddy green pants, and beaten leather boots that have seen better days. He carried no weapons on him from what I could see, but appearances can be deceiving. Travelers always had aces up their sleeves.

His long flaxen hair was tousled by the wind and I caught a glimpse of his pointy ears alluding to his race. His green eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, and he had high cheekbones with thin lips; the most common characteristics of elves. When he got close enough to me, the maker prompted me to greet him.

"Greetings, traveler! Welcome to my humble abode. How might I be of assistance?"

"I have finished collecting the elfroot you asked for." The elf presented his hand to me and summoned an object that was quite obviously not elfroot.

In his hand was a small, dark, silvery blue orb that immediately filled me with a sense of unease. Just looking at that thing felt foreboding, and being in its presence was uncomfortable. Nothing about this object seemed to be organic (much less a plant), but the maker urged me to take the item and reward the adventurer for completing the quest.

Despite the fact that the maker hadn't led me wrong thus far, I was hesitant.

"Aren't you going to take this elfroot? You said that you needed this to make your potions." At his words, the maker urged me to take the item.

"Ah, yes! Many thanks, traveler. Now I shall be able to brew those potions..." I reached out to grab the orb and when I made contact, I nearly dropped it in shock.

Contrary to belief, the orb was very warm and let off soft vibrations. The hints of silver and navy blue began to swirl around and a dull glow began to radiate from it. It was hypnotizing and alluring. A voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to let go, but I was entranced.

After what felt like minutes, I noticed that the elf was still there. Normally, when a traveler completed his quest, they'd leave immediately but he just stood there watching me contentedly with an eerie smile on his face.

"Aren't you going to put that in your inventory?"

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"W-what?" It wasn't until I spoke that I realized my body was wracked with shivers. My teeth were chattering so much that they ached and felt as if I'd collapse if I tried to take a step. Despite all this, I felt quite warm.

"The elf root. You said you needed it to make potions." He gestured to my hand, and I glanced down at the orb still held firmly in my grasp.

"Ah, y-yes. The... elfroot." I stared at orb dubiously, but eventually willed it away into my inventory. The shivers seemed to get worse almost immediately. My teeth were chattering so hard that I thought they would crack and I began to have muscle spasms that seemed to get worse with every second that passed.

The last thing I saw before I collapsed to the ground was the elf's expression of triumph.

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"Whats wrong with her?"

"It's probably just a glitch or something. The game just launched not too long ago. They're probably just working out the kinks."

"Thats one hell of a glitch, man. Normally they just repeat lines or get stuck on something. Shes just staring off into the void no matter what I do."

"Eh, It doesn't matter. It's not as if we need to do her quest anyways. Let's just go"