Exiting the portal through the Waypoint, the Necromancer was almost pushed from behind by the incoming visitors.
No matter how he looked at it since it was already 5 p.m., it made little sense for this many people to teleport to Jirandai for no reason.
After a slight conversation, it appears that the area around the city was filled with Side Quests, Temporary Dungeons, and Stronghold Events.
Mentally saluting the Wanderers planning to work overtime, Michael rechecked the MAP and saw the three Quest Markers, deciding to first hand in the strange purse filled with coins he had found.
Calmly walking while avoiding the incoming 'traffic,' he soon reached the Quest area and patiently waited while Gesur was finishing his prayer.
In the meantime, Michael observed the Yinsuk Tree with great curiosity.
It wasn't tall, probably only around three meters from the ground. Its crown was sparse, and its branches looked ancient, hinting at its old age.
There were no fruits it was growing, but there were plenty of flowers blooming. Their red autumn color present in the newly minted spring season created an odd feeling of dyscromia.
[ Yinsuk Tree
Preserved long ago by the builders of Jirandai, this tree stands at the center of the Yinsuk Shrine. The prayer candles burn day and night, lit by travelers and merchants alike. ]
The more he looked at the old tree, the more he understood why the locals treated it as sacred.
[Young traveler, you're here again.](Gesur)
"I'm sorry to bother you again, sir. I found this purse full of strange coins. It's not just one type of currency, but many, most of which I don't recognize."
[I see. Let's take a look, shall we? Hoh? There are so many different coins here. Perhaps they belonged to a trader from Ked Bardu. I'll give them a place of honor in memory of this fallen traveler.](Gesur)
Patiently waiting as Gesur placed the purse on the altar, Michael curiously asked him why he was here praying so often.
Apparently, the man has four children. Two are merchants traveling around the Steppes, while the other two are City Guards usually tasked with clearing monsters on specific routes between cities.
Therefore, with a shrine created to bless and protect travelers, he often prays for his children's safety. Since it has worked so far, he is not willing to bet on luck, so he comes to pray at least four to five times daily.
[ Quest complete - Currencies from Afar
Reward 1: 16,896 experience points
Reward 2: 2,080 gold coins
Reward 3: Salvage Cache. ]
Since he was close to the new Quest-giver, he decided to head there first before handing the Spider Queen's heart to Sorga.
[ Side Quest: Salt Begets Salt (Level 50+)
Description: Insatiable greed leads to ill-fated deeds. ]
Approaching the location, he found a middle-aged man pacing back and forth anxiously.
The distress was quite evident since even his neighbors looked at him with pity.
He broke the ice by using the standard 'Give me a Quest' line.
"Excuse me, is something wrong?"
[Yes! Gan! That thriving sty-squatter ran off with my precious Tuji.](?)
'A kidnapping? Either his child or his lover?'
[That goat was like a son to me. He had a smile to melt all troubles.](?)
"...I see."
[Now Gan's taken him to Qara Yisu, beyond my reach. I, Jargal, will never forgive that bastard! Oh, Tuji...](Jargal)
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try to look for your go... Tuji."
[Thank you, Wanderer! May the Sanctuary bless you!](Jargal)
He didn't judge or look down on the man. Even back on Earth, due to various social, political, and economic factors, most people prefer to raise pets rather than children.
Leaving the costs of doing so aside, once they do, they become strangely attached to them, to the point where they suffer from severe heartbreak if something happens to them.
As someone who was handed over a tomcat to care for 'for only a week,' then decided to adopt it instead when black-furred Prowler fell from the 8th floor and subsequently died as a result, even with his facade, he was still strongly affected.
It wasn't emotional at first, but the small habits created while cohabiting with the small animal, like it reacting to any sound that might have anything related to food at all and then producing the same sounds after its passing and expecting to see it come running from the other room, left a bad taste in his mouth.
[ Side Quest issued - Salt Begets Salt
Objective: Search for Tuji in the Ruins of Qara-Yisu
Description: Jargal says a jealous merchant stole his beloved goat, Tuji. The merchant was heading towards Qara-Yisu.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
You should see if you can find the thief and Tuji among the ruins. ]
With the insensitive Sanctuary interrupting his reminiscing of the past, Michael bade farewell to the distressed Jargal and headed to the local inn where Sorga's Quest Marker was showing.
He found the woman sitting alone at a table, looking troubled.
Seeing the Necromancer approach, her face brightened considerably. Michae could've sworn he saw her breathing out in relief, confusing him greatly.
"Miss Sorga. I have killed the Spider Queen. Here is her heart as proof."
[Thank you, Wanderer. I should not have sent you there. Forgive my anger and recklessness. However, perhaps no one else will die there now, thanks to your benevolence.](Sorga)
Taking the bloodied heart into her hands, she looked at it with sorrow and eventually threw it in the trash can near the table.
It was true that revenge couldn't bring back the dead. Furthermore, she looked even emptier than before.
But this was Sanctuary. Here, life moved forward even if you didn't want it to. One had to adapt or perish.
Weakness meant a smaller survival chance, and most people learn from a young age not to show any signs of it.
[ Side Quest complete - Blistered Heart
Reward 1: 16,896 experience points
Reward 2: 2,080 gold coins
Reward 3: Leather Cache. ]
After parting with the grateful mother, he left the inn and checked on the MAP the location of his newly accepted Quest.
When it came to find-and-rescues, the faster one moved, the higher the chances of a successful rescue.
Opening the MAP, he saw a small blue circle covering an area hidden by fog.
'This means that I have yet to explore that location. Since I lack the time, I can travel there directly on horseback. There should be a road since the merchant 'fled' there while even bringing livestock like this Tuji goat. It also means that the general safety of the road is somewhat guaranteed, especially now that Wanderers are much more active in the Wilderness than before.'
Setting a marker on the MAP and checking his suggested route, the Necromancer nodded with satisfaction when he saw that it overlapped with the road leading east of Jirandai.
Resummoning his horse, he patted the beautiful creature on its mane, obtaining a snort in response.
It seems that his being out of commission for two weeks and letting the poor horse remain stuffed in the contract subspace made the animal feel stifled.
"I'll treat you to some more R&R soon, so please be patient. I still need your help in the following days."
*SNORT*
"I get it, I get it."
Mounting without any further conversation, the man-horse duo began rushing in the direction the Quest Marker was pointing him.
From the vast Desolation's Reach area into The Barren Steeps and finally reaching the Ruins of Qara-Yisu, the Necromancer took in the incredible scenery.
Unlike Kyovashad and Scosglen, which were much closer to a European-type of climate and flora, the Dry Steppes were similar to the wild feeling old western movies gave.
Riding a horse through the steppes while barely seeing trees for miles, yet there was still enough vegetation around the plains to give one a feeling of moving freely through the plains; it was a strange feeling Michael had never experienced before.
Unfortunately, his enjoyment was cut short as he received a strange message notifying him about joining a Stronghold Event.
Puzzled, the Necromancer looked around and was still on the outskirts of Qara-Yisu. This meant that the ruins themselves had become a bastion for the monsters.
Sighing, he dismounted and sent his horse back to the subspace to avoid hurting it - and having to pay lots of gold coins to get it back - while also opening his inventory with a sigh.
Seeing the interface that showed his Elixirs, annoyance washed over him again.
[ Expertise Elixir (x2)
Elixir
-----------
This Elixir has no power left. Using it will drop materials for crafting a new batch. ]
And it wasn't just the two Expertise Elixirs. A total of five from his collection of wonderful potions were turned useless after the weird interaction with the statue during the Keeping the Old Traditions Quest.
While he wasn't exactly sure what the reason was, he followed the instructions and used all five potions to see what would happen.
Just like in the case of opening a Cache, upon using an Elixir, bundles of herbs and a separate Angelbreath appeared on the ground at his feet.
Curious about the item identified as 'Bundle of Herbs,' Michael picked it up and stored it in his inventory.
Once he did, he was shocked to see that most of his materials had disappeared, making his heart almost stop.
When it came to alchemy materials, his previous inventory looked like this:
-47 Blightshade
-57 Lifesbane
-83 Gallowvine
-89 Biteberry
-50 Reddamine
-55 Howler Moss
-195 Grave Dust
-182 Demon Hearts
-230 Crushed Beast Bones
-33 Angelbreath
Now, after 'opening' the expired Elixirs, it turned into:
-120 Bundled Herbs
-182 Demon Hearts
-230 Crushed Beast Bones
-38 Angelbreath
With the system suddenly deciding to save space by mashing together six materials and calling it a 'bundle,' he wondered what Aunty Veroka would feel about this when he later went to ask for her help in crafting some new Elixirs.
Still, with the situation at hand being somewhat inconvenient, he took another Elixir of Poison Resistance - since poison had become a slight trauma for the Necromancer after his spider encounter - and called forth his minions to raid Qara-Yisu.
Mental preparations were done, minions were summoned, and Elixir drank; he was as ready as he could be.
So he approached the road between the hills, which descended into Qara-Yisu, prepared to face the worst.
However, what he saw was... definitely above his expectations.
"What in the Sodom and Gomorrah happened here!?"
Once he approached the hillside and stepped on the road, not even ten steps ahead, he saw figures of people fully encased in salt.
"Encased in salt... they were trying to flee... What the!?"
[Run-run! We are damned! RUN!](?)
When he was less than two meters away from one of the salt figurines, a disembodied voice echoed through the silent surroundings, sending shivers down the Necromancer's spine.
Cracks began forming on the crust, covering their bodies, and demonized humans began rushing at the surprised Wanderer.
[ Cursed Yisuni (Minion) - Level 51 ]
[ Cursed Yisuni (Elite) - Level 51
*Multishot: All ranged attacks are mirrored by two more attacks dealing 140% of the initial damage.
*Explosive: Explosions send shockwaves around the creature afflicted with this modifier, dealing 750 damage to its surroundings. ]
The previously powerless dead turned into powerful demons that attacked without giving the Necromancer any time to gather his bearings.
Even stranger, the disembodied voices continued shouting things like 'Away!' and 'Run!' making him believe that except for their strong will manifested by the tortured souls when they were probably encased in salt, the bodies were now fully demonic.
As for trying to save them and turn them back into humans... Sanctuary wasn't a place kind enough to offer such a possibility.
While using Evade and then Blood Mist to distance himself from the creatures while also ordering his minions to engage the enemy, Michael frowned after noticing the level of the mobs.
'That's odd... Ever since I returned, the levels of the monsters remained at the same level as myself, rather than the +5-10 range I was more accustomed to. As a result, it's much easier to deal with them, but the experience gained decreased dramatically.'
Making another mental note to ask Helen tonight if he is the only one experiencing this change, the Necromancer focused on the odd burnt salt 'structure' behind the Cursed Yisuni.
[ World Stronghold Event updated - The Ruins of Qara-Yisu
Objective: Find and destroy the Infernal Spires (0/3). ]
Realizing that the weird structure should be one of these Infernal Spires, Michael ordered his minions to push the enemies closer to the structures while fighting them.
That way, once the enemies were slain and their Corpses would appear, he could use Corpse Explosion to damage both monsters and the Infernal Spire itself.
To his surprise, once the Spire fell, a loud voice boomed throughout the surroundings, almost deafening him.
[WORMS! They begged me for my power! I made them strong!](?)
With the angered shout still echoing in the valley between the hills, a giant behemoth that Michael could only describe as a Balrog rose from the demolished Infernal Spire.
[ Mazrahn Nightfist (Elite) - Level 51
*Shadow Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 400 Shadow damage.
*Supressor: Create a 25-meter range force field that blocks the use of spells and prevents ranged attacks. ]