Part 1 – Haunted Forest
“Why did you guys leave me behind........”
I was sulking while we were walking. After the 'incident' that involved me running around trying to find the other two, we 'somehow' managed to get separated.....well I did apparently. By the time I reached the place with the sign where those two said they would be, they were already gone and I had to find them which was very difficult with wolves and other beasts attacking me at night.
“You can't complain Eden, we did leave for our safety” justified Alexandra.
“The night is scary....” muttered Viv.
I can't believe these two......they literally abandoned me and I had no idea which way they went and trying to guess which way was the correct way without confirmation was an easy way to get lost!
“But seriously....where the hell were you guys during the night?” I asked.
The two stopped and thought about it. Viv blushed a bit......and Alexandra was silent.
“Well you can say we were...watching” said Alexandra in an indifferent tone.
I frowned. There was no way these two could watch me from far away enough that I didn't sense them at all. Well maybe.....considering that I was ambushed by a lot of beasts at once. I may have stopped tracking the ones far away. But there were not hills and cliffs or trees that were tall enough to get a good view of me that night.
“I don't believe you” I blankly stated out.
“Fine we were waiting for you at a campfire eating delicious food” retorted Alexandra.
I thought about it for a bit and said, “That sounds more believable...except that a fire would attract the attention of everything in the vicinity as well as me. And what was Viv doing since he was obviously not having a meal at night?”
I shot a glare at Viv out of nowhere and he was startled. Viv looked away from the embarrassment but I couldn't tell the reason why.
“Well it doesn't really matter. By the way, what's with this huge forest in front of us?” I asked while looking at it.
From as far as I could see from the left and right, the forest stretched out that far. I had no idea how big this damn forest is but I have a feeling that we have to cross into it if things don't go right. As we got closer to it, we saw a couple of houses pop up from the landscape. It was a small village of probably no more than a hundred. The lowest rank a place can get without getting labelled as uninhabited by others. The place had some farmland on it with crops and some animals gazing around which acted as the food supple, a well for water and a slightly bigger building that acts as the main hub for the place.
“Hey...we should split here for a bit.” I said under my breath.
I had a particularly bad feeling of what could happen if the three of us were together in this place.
“Why? There's no reason why we should split up.” countered Alexandra.
And so I was forced to walk with the other two as we approached the village.
The place was smaller than I thought but despite this, there were a large number of merchants around which I could see gathered on either side of the village to not disturb them. There were also a large number of players as well that were buying supplies. While I would want to stay hidden as much as possible due to the three of us having a bounty on our heads right now and I don't like attracting attention that much, we were......attention grabbers no matter what we did.....Viv had her witch costume which fortunately covered her face else it would attract more attention, I had my looks and Alexandra also had her looks and her over glamorous armour that stand more out than even the high levelled players around combined with her already distinctive long blond hair and face that would command a bunch of men to her command.
Whisper
Whisper
Whisper
People were talking about us behind our backs. This is why I wanted to separate in the village....not that Alexandra would know. Viv understood my sentiments since he was shy and didn't like attention as well but with this one who attracts more attention then even those high level players, it was hopeless. I sighed at this damn situation we were in.
I looked around the place and found that there may be some worth in looking at the stuff the merchants had to sell, which of course were all overpriced. However I could at least gather some good information while I'm at it.
“I'm going to look at some stuff. Contact me if you need something.” I told the other two.
With that I headed off to the merchant area which was more like one of those down town market place where everything and anything was sold. As I was browsing the different stuff the Merchants were selling, I was making some small conversation with them. It was a simple trick but effective since they want to keep your attention and will say almost anything that they believe wasn't a secret.
“Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah something about product Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah Bah” said the merchant talking to me.
“By the way, what's the deal with the forest?” I asked suddenly.
The merchant was taken back at the sudden change in the conversation. Nevertheless he he picked himself up cleanly by explaining it to me while of course advertising his products.
“The forest you see is know by many names. The most common is “Haunted Forest” since everyone who went in died one way or another. The forest itself is huge. It spans several city lengths in all directions and thanks to that, the Kingdom of Davion and the Kingdom of Clearwater, are unable to attack each other and instead built up their relationship. This allowed merchants to trade freely at points on such items like this fabulous sword that deals double damage against spirits. Both paths from the left and right side of the forest are filled with beasts and as such many mercenaries are hired to guard merchants as they cross. Well there is a path directly through but it cuts off after a while.”
“If the forest is in the way, why doesn't both Kingdom cut it down?” I asked.
The merchant made a couple of faces and then proceeded, “They tried that once...I think. The lumberjacks hired to do so disappeared so they stopped....and all the armies sent in their also disappeared. Well both Kingdoms have other things to worry about so they stayed clear of the forest as much as possible. I heard the the Kingdom of Clearwater was having trouble with their food supplies due to the increasing citizen count and the lack of space to farm and there's the increase monster activity in that area as well. Also I have some cheap food if you want to buy since it would be difficult to get some cheaply in the Kingdom of Clearwater.”
Details have been recorded. You can review the information at your soul room
“I see...thanks, I need to meet up with my friends”
I turned around to walk away.
Zing~
Eh? A sword next to my neck?
“Unfortunately I can't let you do that” said the very same merchant.
Several people from the crowd came out with their weapons drawn. Many of them were swordsmen but there was a couple of mages, archers and thieves that were pretty low levelled. All of them were glaring at me like I was their prey. There was no more than 10 in total, all of them were under level 50.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked the merchant behind me.
“Well you see, you have a fine bounty on your head. My friends will take out the other two soon enough and frankly I could take you by myself. Heard you were a mage. Mages are useless at close range.”
I sighed then quickly drew my sword from my waist and cut off the merchant's arm in one go.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The merchant and several other people looking on screamed at the same time. Blood poured out of the merchant which I presume isn't an actual merchant but rather someone disguised as one. Before the others could move in to attack me I spun around of 'merchant' and place my sword next to his neck just like he did to me. Instantly the others froze from the fact that they didn't know what to do in this situation. The clearly most evil way, is to attack knowing that your comrade will die but you can take on the target. Other than that, you can use archers or thieves but have less success. This fools kept their morales and therefore are in this kind of situation. Well this is good for me. This one is bleeding quite well and is going to die soon so I have to take action now!
“First Seal Release...” I muttered under my breath.
Releasing the First Seal gives the following benefits:
- Spell Damage Increases by 100%
- Spell Range Increase by 60%
- Mana Absorption is Activated
- Strength is Increased by 20%
- Agility in Increased by 40%
- Movement Speed Increases by 15%
- Defence Increases by 20%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 15%
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 20%
Time Limit: 3 Hours
My skin burnt from the unsealing but it quickly healed leaving only the original tattoo on my body as the single difference. The others were taken back by it but I didn't care, they can't comprehend what I just did and they're going to die either way......but having the murderer mark is kinda annoying so what do I do? Well I can trap them or something. Maybe call the guards but they won't listen to me since I AM taking a hostage here.
“SWORD WAVE!”
A wave coming out of Alexandra's sword came at my direction.
“Fuck.”
I let go of the 'merchant' and stepped back leaving him to be killed by the move.....
I looked at the remains of him with pity.
“Alexandra that was cruel....” I said to this beast of a woman.
My pitiful opinion enraged her.
“Oh? I believe I saw you take him hostage. Care to explain why?” retorted Alexandra with the clear intention of attacking me again if I gave the wrong answer.
I looked at the several people that were intending to attack me and pointed at them.
“The merchant and those guys are so called bounty hunters. They attacked first but then decided to take me as a hostage while explaining how they'll take you and Viv out. Frankly if a bounty was really on my head, there would be a swarm of players chasing after me but this didn't happen so I suppose someone that hates me and has a lot of money put a hit on me through some shady contacts.” I explained.
Alexandra eyed at the bounty hunters.
“So they're illegal bounty hunters eh? I believe they're on the same line as assassins but have a very good backer. Eden do you know who would want to kill you besides everyone you've crossed?” said Alexandra while diverting her attention to me.
I thought back to everything I did in this game.
“A few.......maybe a couple.......not that much.” I answered.
“SWORD...”
Seeing how she was aiming at me I panicked.
“Wa-wait!”
“WAVE!”
Alexandra swung her blade at the bounty hunters that weren't moving at all. I swear she was aiming at me. Those bounty hunters naturally died at once since they were all low levels players.
“MURDERER!”
“RUN”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
The crowd started running away from the sight of players being killed. I seriously wonder why people start screaming and running away when someone is killed. I mean, these people know that this is a game right? Nothing is wrong with killing others if you want. People killed defenceless animals went they started off right? So why the hell do they complain when something else gets killed. And besides Alexandra can't get the murderer mark either way so its all fine.
I looked at Alexandra with disinterest since I half expected this to happen.
“What?”
She started to glare at me.
“So did you finish off the ones that were tracking you?” I asked.
Viv suddenly looked frightened and Alexandra was a bit shocked. I face palmed at what I realised what will happen soon.
“So we have......unknown people chasing us and we don't even know who they are and they will take advantage of this situation to attack us.....”
I sighed. Why did these kinds of things only happen to me?
“And that leaves...?”
Alexandra was curious of my answer though she probably knows what we have to do either way.
“Frankly we have to go into the cursed forest.”
I looked at the immense forest that seemed more dangerous than before now.
[If you wish to run, now would be the best time. They're coming for you]
“Damn.......no choice. Let's go!” I commanded the other two to follow me as I ran into the forest that left no others alive.
Part 2 – Pity
We we running like our lives were on the line. We WERE running because our lives were on the line. I looked behind me for a split second to see that Alexandra and Viv were having trouble keeping pace with me. Well Alexandra was wearing her heavy armour and Viv was someone with low stamina.
“Damn, how far does this damn forest stretch?” I cursed under my breath.
“Who the hell knows! What bright mind lead us in here again?” muttered Alexandra as she was trying to catch her breath after running for hours.
“Well I'm SORRY! Would you rather face enemies that we can't see? Enemies that could attack from anywhere and everywhere? This was the only choice that would allow us to escape them even for a moment!” I retorted.
It was truly the only choice if we were to avoid countless battles with these so called bounty hunters. They weren't really bounty hunters since every bounty hunter in the area no matter who would attack us without mercy but there were too little of them which means the bounty is real but isn't approved by the Kingdoms in this area. And besides they were too weak to be able to kill us and the fact that they were mainly low levelled players meant that someone with quite a bit of power were using them as fodder for the real ones. Well all of this is speculation and I hope I'm wrong about this.
First Seal activated due to hitting the Time Limit
When that message appeared my breath suddenly became heavier than it was a second ago. My body ached and my muscles stopped functioning as normal. My skin burnt as the seal redid itself. In this state I stripped over a root of a tree and fell down on the leafy ground, sliding a couple of metres.
You have taken 22 damage
The act of sliding in such a way has granted you the skill “Face Slide”
The fuck......what the hell is this skill?!
“Show information on Face Slide!”
Ding
Face Slide Beginner Level 1
The ability to do what no other man has done before. Slide with your face.
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When active this skill grants the following:
- Increases the distance for sliding on your face
- Reduces damage while sliding
- Reduce friction between the ground and your face
- Increase movement speed as your slide
“...”
“Hey....Eden. What's wrong?” asked Viv as he patted my shoulder wondering what was happening.
[Eden.......the Gods understand you well]
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!”
God dammit, why does this have to happen to me?! I bet no other player managed to get such an stupid skill before!
“DELETE SKILL “FACE SLIDE”!!!!!!”
Are you sure. This skill will disappear until you reach the generation conditions
“OF COURSE YOU DAMN GAME. WHO THE FUCK WANTS A SKILL LIKE THIS?!”
Skill “Face Slide” has been deleted
Huff Huff Huff Huff Huff
I tried to calm myself by breathing deeply in and out.....in and out.....in and out....
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA” laughed Alexandra.
…...in and out.......in and out........in and out......
“I can't believe you got such a skill?! HAHAHAHAHHA. This is too funny to be true!” she continued.
“Pfft”
Even Viv was laughing at me...
…...in and out.......in and out........in and out......
[In all my years...I've never seen such a skill. Perhaps this one was unique to you. It was a waste to just get rid of it like that]
…...in and out.......in and out........in and out......
“Eden hurry up and face slide again. Hahahaha. I want to see the skill in action. Pfft. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”
…...in and out.......in and out........in and out......fuck it. I'm going to burn this place down.
Fire Formation ? Wave Form ? Spread Factor ? Fire Wave
“DISAPPEAR!!!”
Heat gradually and quickly gathered in my body and exploded outwards consuming everything around me in flames. The ground covered in leaves and the thick ancient trees burnt a bright red as the flames used them as fuel to grow stronger.
Ding
You have earned the wraith of the God of the Forest
- Earth Affinity drops to zero
- Movement speed is reduced by 50%
- All stats decrease by 30% when walking
- You will only gain half the experience when hunting in this area
“Ha......ha.......ha.............I just want to die right now......”
Ding
The God of the Forest feels pity for you and thus undid its curse on you
“...”
“...”
[…]
I looked at the two that were teasing me and mentally stared down llyfr whom also played along.
“What?”
The two diverted their eyes from mine.
“Sorry...” muttered Alexandra under her breath.
“....that was wrong of us....” said Viv while observing the flames growing bigger.
We were all silent for a while and the smoke from the flames were becoming thicker by the second.
[I don't want to interfere or anything but shouldn't you put out the flames? Before, someone gets angry at you or you die of suffocating]
“Right......”
Ice Formation ? Wave Form ? Spread Factor ? Ice Wave
“Ice Wave...”
I aimed at the thickest flames first since they were the most trouble. After a couple of minutes of trying to get rid of the flames I finally finished to see that the place around me was pitch black now.
“Anyway.....due to....that......commotion.....the bounty hunters will find us sooner or later. Best for us to keep on moving.....” I said before walking away.
Part 3 – Land of Fairies
In the middle of the night I saw a couple of....well lights flying around the forest. My eyes must be playing jokes on me again....well one is getting closer to me.....closer to my face........closer to my eye......
“OW!”
CRITICAL HIT!
You have taken 587 damage
You are blinded in your left eye. You will no see out of it until it heals
Blood was dripping from my eye and it made its way down my cheek.
“DAMNIT!!!” I shouted out loud enough to wake up Alexandra and Viv from their sleep.
“WHAT IS IT NOW EDEN!,” Alexandra then looked at me face and said, “Holy....what happened to your eye?!”
She quickly got some bandages out and started covering my left eye which was no longer there.
As she was wrapping Viv was trying to search for what did it to my eye.
“Some creature that glowed came up and stabbed me out of nowhere.....” I said.
“You mean those one?” asked Viv.
He pointed at the growing number of little creatures that attacked me out of nowhere. In the dark you can't even see their body but when there's so many of them and are gathered I could see the outline of their body. They were......fairies.....that stabbed my eye! I'm going to burn them!
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Expand Factor
WHACK
“OW!”
You took 30 damage
Alexandra whacked the back of my head seeing that I was about to cast a spell at them.
“What the hell are you doing?! They're fairies. They're harmless” she retorted.
“HARMLESS?! One of them STABBED MY EYE!!!” I retorted back.
I pointed at my bloody left eye that was no longer there to make my point. I watched the fairies with a bit of killing intent which in turn made most of them shatter like the wind. Eventually only a few were left and they came to us.
“Human!” one shouted to the others.
“Yay Humans!” another responded to the call.
They circled around Alexandra and Viv whom did not had any intention of killing them unlike me. The fairies then stopped and looked at me.
“Not human!” one shouted.
“Bad Not Human!”
“Scary!”
They were insulting me........can I burn them now?
[Don't.....not yet. Fairies may look innocent but wield....unusual magic. They are frighten of your existence like the Gods. Play along for now and they may heal your eye]
I did what llyfr recommend for me and tried to stop thinking of grilling them and eating them for lunch. Eventually they stopped calling me names and started mentioning my injured left eye.
“Injured!”
“No left Eye!”
“Help Heal!”
The fairies started gathering again and made the place light up as they guided to where they would 'heal' me. Well if they can, I'll allow them to then I'll slaughter them. We passed through so many different turns that I lost count where we were going. The fairies were still going on about my eye but I tried to ignore them. Eventually we arrived at a place that looked like.....a miniature city....On the edge of trees and leaves there were small buildings and there was what I would call of pond in the centre that looked man made.
“Heal over there!” one of the fairies pointed out and started pushing me to it.
I walked quickly to the pond but I felt a sudden pain in my body while Alexandra and Viv did not. My blood.....was boiling! My thirst desired the the death of other......my body ached as I resisted the urges as much as possible. My eyes burned, especially my left one though it was not there again. The bandages fell off and....I could see through my left eye again. However the pain it not disappeared yet. My sight blurred and adjusted many times before it stopped.
Ding
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Eyes of the Condemned”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Wings of the Flightless”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Tattoos of the Exiled”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Arms of the Powerless”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Legs of the Crippled”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Hands of the Betrayer”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Fangs of Blood-lust”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Feet of the Helpless”
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Hair of Foreignness"
The Basin of Truth has cause you awaken the “Body of the Destroyer”
The Basin of Truth has allowed you to gain the Skill “Body Transformation”
“What the.....”
The pain was still in my body but I continued to walk towards the pond. Neither Viv, Alexandra or the fairies stopped me. What I saw in the reflection.....was no human. My eyes originally blue were now gold. Not exactly gold but a mixture of a golden colour and blood red. The tattoos on my face and body glowed some same golden red as well. My hair turned into a silvery white and my teeth turned into fangs. I looked at my arms to see that my nails were sharper than before and my skin hardened into some sort of scales. The same happened to my legs as well. There were also wings on my back as well though I have no idea how to move them since they use different muscles and such. I have no plan to experiment right now.
“What the hell is this? Show skill window.”
A window appeared in from of me and what I noticed immediately was there was some new skill called “Body Transformation” in there as well.
“Show more information on Body Transformation”
Ding
Body Transformation Beginner Level 1
The ability to transform or rather in this case to restore your body to your natural state. As this skill level up, you are able to transform more of your body at once. There are 10 transformations in total. Transforming your body cost mana according to your skill level and multiple transformation are possible but cost more mana. However there is also the risk that you will lose control of your body in the progress of mastering this skill.
Every time this skill levels up in the Beginner levels, you are able to use one more transformation.
Current Transformations available: 1/10
Currently able to transform Eyes
- You can see more details from the menu “Eyes of the Condemned”
- Mana Cost per Second: 5 Mana
“Show information on Eyes of the Condemned”
Ding
Eyes of the Condemned
Eyes that glows in the night a golden red colour that are neither Human nor Demon. These eyes are said to once able to see the truth of this world and see into the domain of Gods. Thus people who possess these eyes are condemned by Gods as they see what no mortal should. As the skill “Body Transformation” grows, more abilities will be unlocked for the eyes.
When active the following will occur:
- Able to see more clearly at night
- Blindness effect will be less effective
- Eyes will glow in the dark
“What the hell is this?” I muttered out of shock.
“That is your true form....well part of it. It is the point just before you lose yourself” said a voice.
I looked behind me to see there was a female human.....no, there are wing so it can't be human. However her grace was apparent and the forest and fairies seemed to follow her presence as she moves.
“Are you the Fairy Queen?” I asked out loud.
The person closed her eyes preparing herself for something and opened them to address me.
“Yes I am,” The Fairy Queen took a deep breath before continuing, “Host of his own kindred. Eden the Destroyer of Sovereigns.”
There was a dead silent from everything living and dead at the moment.
Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext
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Author's Notes:
- 4500~ words
- Well this is the start of the arc that will involve this forest. Also this volume goes to chapter 11 so there are 5 more chapters left in this volume.
- As for the last part....well I wrote this in one go and went to the next chapter immediately so there may be parts that do not make much sense. Well things are meant to be explained bit by bit.
- Do you like the face slide skill? I just made it up on the spot for fun~