Salis kicked the Sorrowling's nose as hard as he could, feeling incredibly satisfied when he felt the bone snap. The snake was thrown a few meters away from the impact, splashing murky water everywhere. The moon elf frowned when he saw the damn creature hiss in his direction and not hesitate to follow them even with a broken skull. Rare creatures were tough, and this particular species could regenerate such injuries in a matter of hours.
The long snake chased them for a few minutes, but the enchanted boat was faster now that the creature was hurt, and it quickly left the furious monster behind.
Salis really didn't want to meet its parents without stable ground under his feet. When fully mature, those things were huge and rather dangerous.
He swept his eyes everywhere in case they were swimming around, but the heavy and muddy rain made everything a fuzzy shape after a few meters.
Just to be sure, the silver-haired elf activated his Danger Sense Skill again, his mana dropping slightly every second. When he felt no more threats around the craft, he deactivated it and took a seat near the halfling. "How long until we reach the conflux?" He sighed.
The halfling's eyes never left the magical compass he was tinkering with as he answered. "Should be a few days. I will need a month to set up the space gate, though. If there are no setbacks."
"Damn." The elf didn't know if he could endure another day like the past ones, much less another month. His patience was razor-thin after four months on the boat. How the halfling could stay so relaxed was a mystery.
As if acknowledging his thoughts, loud shouts came from the cabin, and a glass vial smashed through a window, shattering far away as it hit the murky water. A plume of toxic smoke rushed outward, instantly killing every plant and insect in a five-meter radius. Fishes and other creatures floated around the impact as the fumes spread within the waters. The boat's enchantment activated and repaired the broken window within few seconds.
Salis groaned and pressed his thumbs on his eyes. "I am going to murder them in their sleep."
"Please, don't."
Salis paused in his motion. The answer surprised him; there was no way the wizard really cared about their life. The experts from the Tower were all vicious bastards, and the halfling was as ruthless as they could come. "Because the Guild would skin us?"
"No. They are useful as a distraction if we meet a monster we have to run away from," the deadpan answer came within seconds.
The elf groaned. "Of course."
He didn't know if he should be terrified or pleased by the halfling thoughts. At least the wizard was still on his side after all these months.
Since his family had some connections within the Tower, the halfling could be considered a natural ally. Unfortunately, they had some beef with the Adventurer's Guild instead, or he wouldn't be stuck in this tiring situation.
Salis heard another series of shouts, and a second vial was tossed overboard. This time it exploded not too far away, throwing tainted water and destroyed plants everywhere, some even splashing inside the boat. The enchantments carved within the boat prevented the constant muddy rain from drenching everyone and flooding the craft, but they couldn't do anything about larger quantities of water like this, not without a bigger mana source.
The now soaked elf took a deep breath and used his cloak to clean his face, his hand trembling in barely suppressed rage. "That's it. I am going to kill them."
Leaving the indifferent halfling behind, he power walked to the cabin and slowly pushed the wooden door open, the people inside not even noticing he was inside the room now. The elf observed his companions before deciding if this was the day he freed himself of their presence.
The whole Guild's team was inside the first room.
The human alchemist was grinding toxic plants she harvested from the marsh on the enchanted workbench, while the small white rabbit-kin annoyed her, as always. He was half the blonde's size, but the height difference didn't hinder him in any form from trying to bed her. The last member of the group was following the beast-kin with lust in her eyes, the scene of a green orc sitting in the shadows stroking her sword and licking her protruding yellow tusks with her elongated tongue sending shivers down the dauntless silver-haired elf's spine.
"Ah, yes! Winterbone, Grave Root, and Ghost Weed are a fabulous mixture for a slow and painful poison. Terrific choice, beautiful rose." The rabbit-kin said while twitching his nose near the alchemist, his hand closing in on her behind.
The elf's understanding of human women wasn't exceptional, but even he could see the murder in the alchemist's body language. He didn't even blame her, the rogue was a pesky lustful little thing that didn't leave her side for the four months they had been on the journey.
Salis just wished she would finally murder the rabbit-kin and be done with it. He would even report it as a monster incident. The world would be better for it.
However, instead of doing everyone a favor, the crazy bitch kept using the rogue as an excuse to throw untested concoctions near them to study their effects. Sadly, even that behavior didn't put the alchemist in the top ten most insane humans the elf met in his short life; the entire race was touched in the head, in his opinion. Some were even worse than the beast-kins.
Seeing the unfolding situation, the moon blessed took a deep breath to calm himself down before he really killed all of them. Even if the team didn't care, he nominally was in charge of this expedition inside the Ranked Zone. It would reflect badly on his family if he murdered the Adventurer's Guild appointed representatives, no matter how trying they were on his nerves. And the wizard was right; they could be rather competent in a fight when motivated.
"How about we try a mixture of Sleepy Dindle and Dancing Silkweed tonight? I have some excellent quality Flux Root as well. Oh, the fun we could have together with a pinch of Flux Root!" The rogue said in what he surely thought was a sultry voice. It came out as squeaky and obnoxious in the elf's ears.
"I can give you all the fun you want. Anytime you want." The orc murmured.
Both the rabbit-kin and the elf jumped at her gruff voice.
She didn't talk much, but every time she did was to say something crude in their regards. Salis shivered as he saw the hunger in the berserker eyes and body language. All orcs constantly fooled around and had one of the highest libidos between the Federation's race, nor did they discriminate between whom they slept with. And four months of abstinence were clearly too much for the lecherous orc.
The rogue had a similar reaction as the elf, a disgusted expression on his face. "No! No! Green thing! Ugly thing! I would not fuck you even if my life was on the line!"
"We can do that as well..." The orc woman replied, unfazed by the insults. She even began to lick her fangs faster.
Feeling the bile rise inside his throat at the display, and seeing the damn human about to throw another vial in the rabbit-kin's direction, the elf interrupted the idiots he was stuck with for another month.
"Olivia, I swear to the Sacred Moon, you throw another mixture inside the boat, I will dump you within the marsh and leave you there! And you two clowns, outside! At least make yourself useful and watch out for monsters."
The three dungeon divers jumped when he spoke. He could have killed all of them before they even noticed he was inside the room, and he only used a few stealth and silencing Skills to keep his presence hidden. There was a good reason everyone feared moon elves and dark elves so much.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Between the three, the little shit was the one who regained his wits faster. "You don't have any authority over me, moon elf! I am appointed by the Guild!" He said with a sneer on his snout.
That was the last straw after a long series of last straws.
'Fuck it', the elf thought. It was this or truly murdering the thing.
With a quick leap and heavy mana use, Salis had his short sword on the rogue's throat before the rabbit-kin could blink. He reached down to whisper near the long drooping white ear, the musky scent of the Guild's member almost making him gag instead. "I don't care. Animal. Comply or die. I tire of your stupid games."
He squinted his eyes in the human and orc's direction when his Danger Sense automatically activated, and both of them reluctantly put away the vial and sword. At least the other two had a brain.
The elf had to stare in the rabbit-kin red eyes for a few more seconds before the thing received the message he was truly done with his shit. The rabbit-kin finally put his hands in the air and said, "Tz, alright, alright, pointy-ears. I'm going."
As he walked outside the room, Salis heard him say, "I am so going to report this."
Salis rolled his eyes and glanced at the orc. He forcibly prevented his body from shuddering as she slowly licked her yellowed fangs in his direction and followed the rabbit, her hips swaying left and right.
Giving a last look to the silent alchemist, who was already working on her concoctions and ignoring him, the elf stepped outside the cabin and closed the door behind his back. He allowed himself a deep breath and praised himself for not having murdered the little shit. The paperwork would be even worse.
Sali reached the deck just in time to hear the rabbit-kin talk. "Oi, creepy footed. Wasn't this whole Ranked Zone a giant forest before the Azure Scorching? I understand the fire and all, but why is a marsh now? This area is huge."
'Please, Sacred Moon, convince Emmon to throw a fireball at the damn thing's face.' If a member of the Tower killed the rabbit-kin, it would be their mess to clean. Of course, it wasn't the first time the obnoxious rabbit-kin asked the same question to the halfling, nor the second or third either. Salis knew the little shit did it just to get some kind of hostile reaction out of the distracted wizard. Sadly, he failed every time. Wizards from the Tower and emotions were often incompatible.
Salis sighed as he heard the halfling answering calmly this time as well, his prayer going unanswered. He knew that in a few days the rabbit-kin would start to be a pain again if the wizard didn't roast him once and for all.
"This is a sealed Ranked Zone. There is a natural environmental mana barrier around the whole area. When the Scorching reaches this Zone, it burns everything so quickly all the water evaporates for thousands of kilometers. It constantly rains every time for a few years after the fires, generating a giant marsh. It has been 3 years, 5 months, and 24 days since the Scorching here. The rain will stop before long, and the water will eventually drain underground." The wizard said distractedly.
Salis reached the group before the stupid idiot could keep trying to get himself killed. He had to force himself to not kick the furred member outside the boat when he saw the rabbit-kin was putting his face between the wizard and the compass. "Sacred Moon, help me. I said keep an eye for monsters, you suicidal idiot, not annoy the only person who knows where we are going."
The little shit just smirked in his direction and took position on the other side of the boat, as far away from the orc as possible. At least she was doing her job. Salis internally nodded when he saw the berserker smack away another young Sorrowling who tried to jump on board. With a second one trying to get on board, their nest was probably near. Luckily, the snakes were famous for being ambush predators and not going out of their way to hunt for prey.
"Do you finally have any idea where the conflux is?" He asked, taking a seat near the wizard and watching the rabbit-kin like a hawk.
They had been blindly following the compass for months since their departure from the Federation. Even the older wizards from the Tower only had a general idea of where the ley-line confluence was inside this specific Ranked Zone. It was one of the most dangerous ones near the Federation lands, and their predecessors failed to keep control of it after the last millennial dungeon cleansing.
After every Azure Scorching, the newly broken Zones would see dungeons spawning like mushrooms. Everyone in the Federation knew they couldn't leave a dungeon to develop unhindered, but everyone had their opinion on how to slow their growth. After ages of stability, the cleansing of a newly Scorched Zone was more of a political affair than a serious mission, or he wouldn't be shackled with the three idiots, nor would the expedition have taken so long to start.
Both the Adventurer's Guild and the Tower would be happy if the mission took a few more years instead of months to let the new dungeons grow as much as possible. The Adventurers' Guild's entire existence was based on harvesting dungeons, and the Tower benefitted from the more powerful magical reagents that could be found inside the unnatural caverns. Only the elves truly knew how dangerous non-sealed dungeons could become and did everything to bind or directly destroy them as they were born. The millennia spent fighting against the Hollows' spawns taught them a hard lesson about those caves.
"Ever heard of Aaravum?" The wizard asked instead with a solemn tone.
Salis's ears twitched. "The Tree from the Chronicles of Soul Fires? The one who kept Egan the Fireblessed prisoner for years before letting him go. Why?" Elves might prefer writing their own sagas, but this one was well-known even to them.
Salis noticed the rabbit-kin and orc were doing a bad job in hiding the fact they were eavesdropping on their conversation, but he let them do whatever they wanted. These weren't classified secrets of the Tower or elves but common knowledge in the Federation.
The halfling nodded a few times under the dark hood. "Yeah. That one. The conflux is within his grove. We are already inside since a few days ago."
"Wait, wait! Is that bastard even real? Inside this Zone? Oi, you rats! No one said anything about a Legendary creature! This is crazy!" The rabbit-kin screamed in their direction, not even hiding the fact he was listening to them.
Even Salis felt a shudder run down his spine. He was confident he could fight and even kill a mature Epic creature, but he would have to run away from an Ancient one, not even talking about a Legend. The expedition was doomed from the start with only them against a monster like that.
"Emmon. We have no chance against a Legend." The elf said in the end, his voice dark.
"Ah. No. Aaravum is dead. We know even Mythical creatures cannot survive against the Scorching, and the tree couldn't move." The halfling raised his head to watch the elf, his deep golden eyes glowing inside the hood, "Do you know this Zone had the weakest monster tide after the Scorching this millennium?"
The elf scratched his ear, thinking.
The millennial Scorching of the Ranked Zones had many negative effects on the Federation. And while the elves would declare that the dungeons were the worst, all the other races and associations were convinced the monster tides were the main danger.
The creatures that could survive the fire hiding underground would emerge to see their homes burned down, and afraid another wave of blue fire would arrive sooner than later, would run away as far as possible, most of the time invading the Federation border en masse.
Yet, the halfling was claiming that this specific Zone had the weakest monster tide this millennium, even if it should have been one of the most dangerous ones.
Unfortunately, the elves' realms were on the opposite side of the Federation. Salis had tried to get his hand on as much knowledge as possible on this specific Zone before the mission, but the Adventurer's Guild did everything they could to hinder him. Even the Tower, while allegedly allied with his family, would not give more information than necessary.
"No," Salis said after thinking for a few seconds about the possible answer but coming up short. The near monsters' Tides statistics were a fraction of the information that the Tower and Guild kept to themselves when he was chosen for this mission.
"Aaravum attracted the most powerful creatures in the Zone's heart, but an expedition wasn't called for to cut him all these years. The monster itself didn't do anything for all this time even if someone went inside the grove, and only the monsters near its body were a problem. In the end, it even helped us. All the more powerful creatures stayed near it, and after the Scorching passed by, they were too far to escape inside the Federation's lands in panic as monsters did everywhere else." The wizard explained.
Salis froze, a terrible suspicion in his mind. "It wasn't deliberate by the Tower, was it?"
To let a Legendary creature freely develop when it was so near their lands was insane. It was something he would have expected from the Guild, not the Tower. The wizards were vicious psychopaths, not crazy fools.
The halfling shook his head, "As far as I know, no. The bastard grew way faster than our predecessors thought possible for a tree, and when it reached the Legendary rank, it was too much trouble since it didn't do anything anyway. We knew it would die sooner rather than later. Why risk it?"
The elf pressed his thumbs on his eyes, at least they didn't have to sneak past a Legendary monster. He stiffened immediately after realizing the truth the wizard was hinting about.
"If the stronger creatures didn't join the monster tide and stayed inside the Ranked Zone, where are they right now?" He asked to himself aloud.
Salis saw the halfling smirk under the dark hood, and he had to force himself to not strangle his only ally on this cursed expedition.
This was why the Tower wasn't afraid they could complete the mission in mere months and didn't try to hinder him in any way. The damn wizards probably knew the conflux location since the start, and they even had guard dogs ready to delay the expedition as much as possible to let the dungeons grow while they were delayed by the monsters. Ruthless bastards indeed.
The mission was turning worse and worse. Salis almost wished to be back home to fight against the Hollows' spawns instead.