Touch of Fate

Chapter 149: Into the Forest

A chorus of insects and birds washed over Mike as he walked through the woods. Speckles of sunshine broke through the canopy of windblown leaves, causing dancing patterns of light on the lush undergrowth. It was peaceful, relaxing. He felt like he could breathe easily for the first time in a while.

[Maybe living as a hermit wouldn't be so bad]

He was so busy ruminating about potential life choices, he nearly stumbled when he the forest gave way to a cobblestone road. He'd apparently found the landmark he was looking for, and now just had to follow it in one of two directions.

Picturing the map in his mind, he started walking to the southeast. To keep himself occupied during the trip, he started scanning the nearby plant life with Appraise. The majority of it was mundane, but he found a few herbs that could be used as Alchemical Reagents, which he added the rest of his supply in the extradimensional sack.

This continued for close to an hour, and Mike was starting to wonder if he was going in the wrong direction, when his Appraise caught something unexpected.

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Mosswood Deer

Age: 5

Race: Mossowood Deer

Class: Mosswood Deer

Title: None

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This was slightly strange to him, since he had been trying to Appraise a mossy rock. Although, it was admittedly an odd one. The longer he stared at it, the more he felt it was out of place. Activating his stealth, he slowly approached it. Just to be on the safe side, he concentrated his mana into his right hand, and prepared to unleash a wind blade.

Once he was within a few meters, the rock exploded into motion, revealing itself as a graceful four legged animal with a mottled grey and green pelt. It stated running almost immediately and would have quickly distanced itself from Mike, if he hadn't been prepared for just this eventuality. An invisible blade of wind cut the air, neatly decapitating the elegant creature before it had a chance to go too far. The body continued for a few more steps before collapsing.

Mike felt a slight pang in his heart, but pushed it aside and began the process of dismantling the creature. The deer had been rather thin, but it still yielded several kilograms of meat. Recalling the advice from a few survival stories, he buried the entrails, once he'd appraised them and determined they had no value.

In fact, it seemed that the only body part of any real worth was the pelt itself.

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{Mosswood Deer Pelt}

Magic Material (Tier 1, Rank 3)

Taken from the Mosswood deer, these pelts are often used in the fabrication of leather items. Armor or clothing created from them provide a minor system correction to the effects of stealth in forested terrain.

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He packed it carefully and placed it in the sack along with the deer meat. Taking a few moments to clean up the area, he headed back to the road and continued on his way.

[Well, that's one request down. If I can just find this village]

Almost as if on cue, he walked around a bend and saw the wooden gates of some kind of settlement built into a clearing. A sign above the gate was inscribed with 'Kastvale.' It was currently open, and a young man armed with a quarterstaff was dozing in a chair next to it.

Mike walked up to the man and stopped. He was skinny and dressed in simple clothes. A wide-brimmed hat, pulled low, shaded his eyes from the sun.

[Is this place really in danger of being raided?]

A quick Appraise displayed the youth's information.

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Keith

Age: 17

Race: Human

Class: Ranger

Title: Unyielding

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Looking at the sleeping man, Mike couldn't help but acknowledge that the System had an odd sense of humor. Deciding that he was done waiting for this Keith to wake up on his own, he coughed loudly.

"AH! I'm awake!" The youth yelled while falling out of his chair. The hat slipped off his head, revealing a head of shaggy brown hair. Glancing around in confusion, his eyes finally fixed on Mike. "Um...hello?"

Suppressing a chuckle, Mike answered. "Hi, I'm here from the Adventurer's Guild. Can you point me in the direction of the village elder?"

Keith looked at him suspiciously, "How do I know you're from the Guild? For all I know, you could be a bandit in disguise."

[...Is he serious? Or rather, why is he in charge of security?]

Mike flashed his guild emblem. "Is that sufficient?"

Still looking suspicious, Keith nodded, "I suppose that works, but aren't you a little young to be doing quests by yourself?"

In response, Mike displayed his guild card, complete with his current rank.

"Alright, fine. I'll take you there. I suppose they're promoting anyone to Rank 4 these days." Keith relented finally, and led Mike to one of the larger houses near the center of the village. Along the way, he saw people peacefully going about their daily lives.

Men and women were casually working or talking. Groups of children were running happily. The sensation of peace and rural tranquility was omnipresent.

[Did I change genres? Or rather, are these people really in danger? They do have a wall set up, so maybe the goblins aren't threatening enough?]

Keith stopped in front a short fence that marked the boundaries of a well maintained garden. A riotous blend of flowers spread like a multi-colored carpet to either side of a cobblestone path, which led to the front door. "The old man should be in, so I'll leave you here." He muttered before walking back towards the gate, probably to resume his nap.

[So, despite his earlier line of questioning, he has no problem leaving me unsupervised in the center of town, next to their village elder's house. Seriously, what is up with these people?]

Shaking his head at the irresponsibility of civilians, he walked up to the door and knocked. After a few moments it opened. His vision was filled with a massive floral apron. Craning his neck upwards, he was able to meet the gaze of person built on a different scale. He used Appraise unconsciously while he figure out the strange sight in front of him.

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Robert

Age: 53

Race: Human

Class: Brewmaster

Title: Village Elder

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[This guy reminds me of that trio of muscle bound giants from the Wyrport Guild. What were their names again? Why do I feel like it had something to do with an iceberg?]

"Well hello there, young man. What can I do for you?" Robert rumbled in a friendly manner. He stood close to 2.5m tall and was built like a keg, nearly as wide as he was tall. A head full of tangled hair, and a bushy red beard, streaked with grey spilled out onto the floral apron which was still throwing Mike for a loop.

"Ah, yes. I'm actually here from the Adventurer's Guild. I accepted the request regarding the goblins." Mike said while handing over the documents.

"Oh, is that right?" The elder said with a smile. "Do please come in, I just so happen to have a pot of tea on the fire. It should be ready in a few minutes."

Mike acquiesced, and followed the boulder of a man into his spacious home. Now that he saw it up close, it was clear that the whole building had been constructed with the large man's specifications in mind. The corridors and doorways were wide, and all the furniture was reinforced to bear what could only be a monstrous level of weight.

Robert ushered him into a wide kitchen and had him sit at a simple wooden table that looked to be the same size and thickness as the village's gate. A tin cup full of a pleasant floral scented tea was placed in front of him. "Now then, did you have a safe journey to our little community?"

[Safe? Well....]

"It was pleasant. Anyway, I'm on something of a time crunch, do you mind if we get started? Could you tell me what you know about the goblins?" He asked, trying to dispense with the pleasantries.

The tea was delicious. It tasted a bit like chamomile, but Robert had evidently sweetened it with something.

"Oh, of course, of course. Well, lets see. The attacks started a few weeks ago. It wasn't much at first, you know. Just a handful of the wretched creatures harassing the woodsmen and hunters while they were working. However, their numbers kept getting larger, and they evidently ran across an abandon bandit camp or old battlefield, since it wasn't long before they were armed with some scavenged equipment."

"Do they have a lair that you know of?" Mike asked, starting to get a picture of what was going on.

"Yes, actually. A couple of the local boys caught sight of them coming out of a cave to the southwest of here. Judging from the scattered bones in front of the entrance, they thought the goblins must have been operating out of there for some time now." Robert replied with a thoughtful expression.

[I really need to ask.]

"By any chance, has anyone been killed by the goblins?"

"Not that I know of. Everyone whose run into them was pretty skilled. I'm sure you are aware of how dangerous these woods can get. The folks that make a living in them aren't the type to be done in by a few goblins with rusty daggers. Although, now that you mention it, there was a peddler that's been missing for awhile now. Maybe he ran afoul of the beasts."

[I suppose I should have expected as much from this world.]

"Could you get someone to show me to the cave? I'd like to take care of this request quickly."

"Sure thing. I believe Tom should be back from guiding the other group any moment now. I'll get him to take you over there."

Mike stopped the man as he went to rise. "Wait, what other group?"

"You didn't know?" Robert pushed the request notice back to him and pointed at a line of small print near the bottom. It read 'Open Request.'

"I....see..." Mike replied, not really understanding. Luckily, the large man seemed to notice his confusion.

"I may not look like it, but I was an Adventurer myself, back in the day. Never made it past Rank 5 though. Anyway, an Open Request is one where any adventurer may take it, and only the group that successfully completes it would get the reward. As this was an extermination request, each adventurer will get paid based on the number of goblins they kill. Which, according to this sheet is 5 copper per left ear. Hm, that seems a bit low."

[Why can't these things ever be simple?]

"Thanks for explaining that. I suppose I got to catch up to the other group. Hopefully they won't mind me jumping in as well."

"They'd probably appreciate the help, since it looked like the majority of them were pretty inexperienced. Although, there was a Rank 4 leading them, so I'm sure they be fine either way." Robert replied with rather disturbing confidence.

"Haha, yeah that's probably the case."

[A group of newbie adventurers take on a quest to kill goblins in a cave. This is exactly the kind of situation I was hoping to avoid.]

Sighing internally, Mike waited for this Tom to show up. He really hoped this wouldn't spoil the good mood he'd managed to cultivate over the course of the morning.