A hollow voice grating to the ears echoed in the room. It was aplished by an invisible wind causing the torches to flicker.
“Yes, Liberator Pontrakas. It would be my honor to aplish your task.”
“Very well then. I have requested an important artifact from my . But we lost tact with it somewhere within the bck blood forest.
Retrieve it for me and you will get your reward!”
“Thank you for the trust, mighty liberator.”
“Mhm.”
Pontrakas let out o aowledging sound before turning his head away. The fire in his eyes dimmed greatly until only a glimmer was left.
Liam khat the versation was over. A new quest appeared in his journal.
[
[Step oer the Bck Blood Forest and find the transport.]
A new area got marked on the map. Liam didn’t waste much time a off directly. He left the city behind, travelling along a barely funing road.
Since he was still ierritory Liam didn’t dare to be presumptuous. He kept his distance from pyers and NPCs alike, advang carefully.
At some point vibrations shook the ground. Liam gnced over his shoulder. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly as he observed a caravan of tall monsters with thick red skin, their bodies resembling ferocious elephants, ing closer.
These were Minor Fme Elephant Demons, a weak demon which had been subjugated long in the past and now served others for transportation. Liam gritted his teeth. He jumped to the right of the road, quickly hiding behind a rge boulder.
At this moment on a wooden ptform on top of one of the demons. A pale-skinned man in bck-red robe and with long dark red hair turned his head. He stared at the spot where Liam had been until just now.
Hm? I thought I noticed something…
“Brother Bones? Did you find something?”
The man waited for a moment longer before slowly shaking his head and turning away.
A few seds ter Liam came out of his hiding pce, staring at the leaving caravan.
Close call…
Although no one could see through Liam’s identity, if enough pyers gathered it was only normal for one or two of them to bee suspicious.
Thus, Liam behaved even more cautiously as he advanced. Luckily, he didn’t meet any additional threatening situations until he turned into a small path to the left.
Soon, he arrived before a dense forest. It was an eerie sight made up of tall trees with their lower halves deep bd their upper halves snow white. A lot of white leaves fell from the opies, f fasating patterns on the bck soil.
The entire forest was marked on Liam’s map. Usually, this quest would take quite some time but luckily Liam kly where to go.
He strolled through the forest, avoiding monsters along the way until he found a rather hidden path. The foliage opened up, revealing a se of destru.
Multiple bck wooden parts were scattered over the ground. It took some imagination to piece those together and reize them as parts e carts.
Liam stepped closer, taking a look at a quarter of a wheel. A strange liquid stuck to it, slowly eating into the material and dissolving it.
Suddenly he felt a movement close to his feet. Even the experienced pyer shivered faintly when he observed a bone digging itself out of the soil.
It moved over the ground, slowly advang towards a few other bones close by. When the bone almost touched the other, movement came into all the bones.
It took Liam a few moments to figure out why they bumped into each other. The bones seemingly tried to reattach to each other but a magigering on their joints made it impossible.
At this moment Liam’s quest updated.
[
[Step oer the Bck Blood Forest and find the transport.]
[Step two: Find a way to help the skeleton guards.]
[Hint: There should be something useful among the wares.]
Liam had already noticed the few cracked crates not far away. He approached them swiftly, taking of their cover and fishing out a few bottles of transparent liquid.
[Intermediate AntidoteCategory: Unon
Effect: Clear the user of poison up to intermediate strength.
A y wheuring the world. It is impossible to remember everything poisonous.]
With the antidote in hand Liam went back to the pile of bones. Although it was magic which prevehe skeleton form reassembling, it ted as poison, one specifically w on the dead.
Liam opened one of the bottles, spiling its tents. With a hissing sound the magic surrounding the bourned into a grey stream and dissipated into the air.
Liam hastily turned his head away and held his breath. He retty certain that the smoke couldn’t poision him but there was o risk it. On top of that it smelled like old cheese, far from pleasant.
“Finally! Thank you, adventurer!”
A rough voice prompted Liam to turn his head back. He looked into the ent eyes of a smaller skeleton, standing naked within the forest, wind blowing through its ribs. Even Liam couldn’t tell how the skeleton produced a voice.
“Don’t mention it. I was sent here by Liberator Pontrakas to retrieve an artifact.”
The blue fme burning in the skeleton’s eye sockets flickered, a hint of red mixing in. Anger could be heard in its voice:
“We lost the artifact! The Staff of Melvun! It was that damn witch! The gods take her!”
While pining angrily the skeleton began to walk around and burry more bones out of the ground. Soon a few more undead rebuilt their bodies.
“Where is that witow? you get the artifact back?”, asked Liam despite knowier.
“Oh nonono. Do you know what it feels like to be stopped from rebuilding your body? It’s horrifying!”
The skeleton recoiled from Liam’s question. Even without facial expression it was easy to tell that its fear for the witch was ingrained deeply in its bones.
“Weren’t you seo retrieve the staff?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I show you where the witch lives. But you have to fight her! Don’t worry about your body. You have already seen our antidote. If you are fast enough, maybe only ys will fall off. If this damned witch hadn’t ambushed us, we wouldn’t have been so miserable.”
Obviously, the skeleton sidered Liam one of them. But the veteran didn’t want to imagihe pain of having his legs falling off. He preemptively took a few more bottles of antidote away.
“Alright. Then lead me to the witch’s hideout.”
“You are quite brave.”
The skeleton s head before leaving the path and going deeper into the forest. Its panions watched Liam’s back, sending their silent dolences.
The veteran didn’t take them seriously. He calmed his mind, preparing for the uping fight. He khat it wouldn’t be easy. He looked forward to it.
Thus, the skeleton and the cloaked figure carefully advahrough the forest, staying silent until a rge clearing appeared before them.
When the skeleton stopped, not daring to walk further, Liam frowned. His ears twitched. He turned his head to the side.
“Adventurer? Did you listen?!”
Liam snapped out of his thoughts, fog ba the skeleton. He did not listen but there was o. Nodding calmly, he reassured the skeleton:
“Touch the mother tree and speak the code. I got it.”
“What mother tree?”, asked the skeleton in fusion.
But Liam didn’t care to expin, waving it off.
“Don’t worry. I will get the staff. You return now.”
“Sure…”
The skeleton shivered faintly. Somehow Liam gave it an eerie feeling. It hastily waved goodbye and vanished into the forest.
Liam shook his head, chug to himself before stepping into the clearing.
A t tree was at its ter, shielding the surroundings off wind and rain. Liam approached it carefully and reached out with his hand.
At this moment his instinct suddenly screamed in arm. Liam threw his body to the side.
Thud!
A low sound rang out as an arrow was suddenly stu the try at the height of Liam’s head. It vibrated for a long time, telling of its great power.
But Liam had no time to look for the archer as a person suddenly broke out of the foliage not far away.
They had cleverly draped a bd white cloth over their clothes. However, their name could still be seen above their head.
Liam grinned as two swords aimed for his neck.
With a twist of his body, he barely avoided the attack. His ons appeared in his hands, fshing through the air.
The oppo reacted slightly too slow. Liam’s first sword already cut into their armor when their speed suddenly increased, and they avoided the sed blow.
Liam just wao chase after his oppo when one more enemy broke out of the forest, quickly apanied by an arrow aimed at his chest.