Jordan opened his eyes as the alarm on his viewing stone blared, the familiar noise crushing his soul a bit more upon each listen. As he put on his glasses and stopped his alarm, he checked to make sure his stats hadn’t changed from the day before.

10/28/1 6:00 am

Name: Jordan Hamilton

Race: Half-Elf

Class: Ranger

Level: 8

Guild Score: 2050

Skills

Adventurer’s Boon

Sense Weakness

Swift Hand

Animal Spirit

Nature’s Credit (Increased Limit)

Environmental Symbiosis

Peculiar Skill

Sword of the Lost One

It was strange to see new skills pop up with the guild score not changing, but the payout structure of Journey Quests were different. Since they were essentially doing one large job over the course of several weeks, adventurers on Journey Quests received experience once a week instead of when the job is done. Jordan stared at the peculiar skill for an extra beat before gathering his equipment together. He was still annoyed he had never pursued investigating it further since the previous incident, but it couldn’t be helped.

After gathering all of his equipment, he made his way to the lobby where Bryn was already waiting for him. He looked up from the book he was reading, examining Jordan for slightly too long as he made his way down the stairs. It had been 2 days since the incident at Dreg Draughts, and Bryn still clearly had his concerns. Maive assured the both of them that Jordan’s exposure to the Toad Slime in the pink potion had caused the hallucinations, while his and Bryn’s tolerance to alchemical fumes had spared them from a similar experience.

After patching up his wounds, Jordan had taken 2 days to rest while Bryn helped Maive work on a version of the pink potion that requires consuming less than 32 oz to be effective. Though he had felt fine for the past day, Jordan could still feel Bryn examining his every move.

“While your subtlety is world class, I’d appreciate it if you could chill on the studious looks” Jordan said, Bryn snapping out of his hyper focused state upon hearing his comment.

“Sorry man, it’s just… you freaked me out and i wanted to make sure you’re ok” Bryn said, his eyes attempting to portray a deep sadness.

Jordan raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “You just wanted to know how it felt to trip off that stuff. I can see you looking at me like a lab rat, trying to see if there’s any leftover weirdness. You’re a sick nerd freak, my friend” he said, pointing his finger at Bryn.

“But… it’s just such a fascinating process. A toad can you make you believe you’re some sort of cactus god, it’s insane! How would I not want to know everything about it?” He said, his feigned sympathy dropping away completely.

“I guess you’ll just have to deal with not knowing stuff, Bryn. I don’t know most things, and I’m very happy and incredibly flexible, watch” Jordan said, touching his toes with ease as he spoke. Bryn knew not to push the issue any further, and was also slightly distracted at how flexible Jordan indeed was. The pair left the inn, waving goodbye to Regina as they left.

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“Kill all those monsters boys, leave no survivors ok?” She said, her sweet tone belying her intense advice. They both nodded awkwardly and waved again, the pair having already realized that it would be better to get on Regina’s good side if at all possible. Exiting through the creaky door, the two of them made their way to the town center, passing the fountain that was still stained with the elf barbarian’s blood.

Dregmoor’s Main Street was home to most of the businesses in town, but 3 blocks west was the town center. This area housed the local government buildings, and was the town’s geographical center. Jordan stopped in front of town hall, and began preparing to cast Nature’s Credit. Bryn stood to the side, organizing several bottles of pink and blue potions.

Though they hadn’t discussed the details beforehand, Jordan assumed that Bryn hadn’t had issues obtaining the potions they were showed at Dreg Draught’s. That assumption appeared to be correct, and Jordan began feeling the den flow through his body as his skill took hold.

Since the last time he had used it in the desert dungeon, his Nature’s Credit Skill had been upgraded to an increased limit. The range of it had been more than quadrupled, with Jordan absorbing the knowledge of the environment within a mile of where he stood. He could feel the presence of both the toads and the rapidly growing plant life, fortunately though they were on different paths that led out of town in opposite directions, so they could handle the threats one at a time.

“What’s the plan for the plants again? I can feel it continuing to grow and it’s worse than Vince or Reggie said it was” Jordan said as stood up from the ground, the roots his spell had created being left behind.

Bryn grimaced before he looked up from his book. “ I have no clue, I figured we could deal with the toads and bandits while I tried to figure it out, any ideas nature boy?” He asked sarcastically.

“You know I prefer environmental lad, and no. The plant life itself isn’t dangerous, so if the villagers keep on top of its maintenance it won’t get out of control. But I was able to track the source to about 3/4 of a mile to the northeast, so we’ll have to get rid of whatever’s up there I assume.” Jordan said. The pair walked around the perimeter of the town, doing their daily security checks. The toads and bandits had relatively consistent patterns of attacking the town, and Bryn had begun leaving Convergence Circles at the paths leading in from the marshlands.

While not being able to use skills while Nature’s Credit cooled down was an obstacle Jordan had to deal with, the hour long wait time wasn’t the end of the world. After finishing the perimeter checks, the pair made their way to the southwest, where Jordan had felt the presence of the toads from. The town being as small as it was, they had gotten to the dirt road leading to the marshlands within a few minutes.

While the town itself was gloomy and dark, it was nothing compared to the area outside, with a layer of fog giving the environment an ominous aura. The dirt path quickly turned to a muddy slop, and the slightly sweet smell of rotting vegetation filled Bryn’s beak as he followed behind Jordan.

“How many did you sense?” He asked as he attempted to ignore the smell that was becoming increasingly distracting.

“15 in total, so we won’t be able to take out the whole pack today.” Jordan said, scanning the environment in front of him. While he had a feel for the area already, Nature’s Credit gave him a snapshot of the environment upon the usage of the skill. Any change to the environment afterwards would not be known to Jordan, and he kept this in mind as they moved forward.

“Sounds like we’ll just scout the area and see where the best trap spots are then?” Bryn asked, but was met with Jordan raising his hand to indicate for them to stop. As he paused, Bryn heard a sound that indicated why they stopped: croaking, a lot of croaking.

Jordan moved back towards Bryn, pulling him off to the side of the dirt path. As he stared forward silently at the small marsh they were about to cross, Bryn took the hint that he should also remain silent. After a moment, 3 dark figures emerged from behind the rotting trees further down the path. These trip toads were horse sized, and dripped with a viscus yellow fluid. Their green skin was splotched with purple, and the bulging eyes in their skulls appeared to be looking in every direction at once.

As the creatures approached, their humongous webbed feet squelched in the mud, and their croaks sounded strangely melodious. Jordan reached his hand over to Bryn, who had already pulled out a pink potion to hand to him. After removing the top and chugging the contents of the bottle, Jordan grimaced at the bizzare texture as he handed the empty glass back to Bryn.

“I think this is as good a time as any for a test run” Jordan said, his eyes looking at Bryn with hope. Though he hesitated for a moment, Bryn acknowledged that Jordan needed real life practice with this skill. “Just don’t let it get below 50%” he said, with Jordan smiling widely as Bryn handed over the two swords he had been carrying.

The steel blades were well crafted, and had been the last big purchase Jordan had made before leaving Zyphtal. Rangers were known to duel wield on occasion, and Jordan loved the aesthetic of the style, though the reality of it was impractical for someone with his skills. That is, until recently.

However as he held a sword in each hand and walked out onto the dirt road, he felt an excitement he hadn’t felt in a while for combat. The toads took note of him and began hopping toward him, the distance of each hop covering at least 10 feet. As they approached, Jordan activated his newest skill: Environmental Symbiosis.

Normally there was a slight breeze in Dregmoor, but as Jordan felt the den flow through his body, the air around him was completely still. Suddenly, stream of fog began pouring from Jordan’s mouth and nose. First his arms, then his legs, and eventually his entire body became covered in a cloak of thick, grey fog. His mouth and nose became covered as well, until the only part of his body exposed were his piercing green eyes. As the fog enveloped the swords as well, Jordan could feel the power of Dregmoor flowing through his muscles. In the right corner of his vision he saw what Bryn had mentioned before.

99%

Jordan took note of the number and once again looks ahead at the approaching amphibians, a smile breaking out under the fog his skill had created. A sword raised in each hand, Jordan charged forward with unnatural speed.