~‌ ‌1.17 ‌-‌ Euphoria Upon Crushing ~‌

 

Noto’s East Forest

2nd Darkday of The Full Moon

Flea found himself at the home of the Dryads within an hour of setting out into the forest. The cluster of trees they formed into their homes wasn’t far from The Tower. Flea realized he might have been the first outsider to see these homes in decades. Niseph led Flea through the group of the now staring Dryads, most of whom seemed more interested in her armor and the bag hanging from her waist, than a Gnome visitor. Arriving at a massive center tree, he found the first Dryad he met. Niseph’s mother seemed to have been waiting for them.

 

“Welcome back, my daughter, why is it you wear their…” She stopped talking as she glanced at the bag on Niseph’s waist.

 

“What has happened since this morning that The Guild would allow a new one of the Dryad back into its ranks?”

 

Niseph told her tale to her mother, and the gathered Dryad, over the next hour. Flea chimed in a few times to correct parts of the story, but mostly kept his silence. After Nispeh finished her tale, The Queen got up and left without saying a word. Niseph didn’t seem to be put off by the behavior, so Flea didn’t pay much mind. They kept chatting with the other Dryads when her Mother returned with a wooden box in her hands.

 

Upon seeing the box in their Queens’ hands, the audience of Dryads got up, bowed to Niseph, and left them. Flea didn’t know what was going on, but he could see Niseph was visibly excited and maybe upset?

 

“Am I to be the one to leave The Grove, mother?”

 

“Yes, my child, you are now no longer bound to our pact. It must be you who carries our burden forward.” 

 

The Queen handed the box to Niseph, who didn’t open it. Instead, she put it into her magic bag. Taking out a handful of the pink candies, she gave them to her mother. The Queen laughed and hugged her daughter.

 

“We will send half of the sisters to fight the Abominations tomorrow. The rest of us will guard The Tower from anyone who may approach. Once we defeat them once more, you shall leave the island to carry out your quest.”

 

“I will, mother, I will,” Niseph said as she started crying, causing her mother to cry as well.

 

“Take this. It will be of great use to you on your journey.”

 

The Queen pulled out a dark blue cloth bag and handed it to Niseph. Taking the bag, she opened it, pulling out a pure white marble. The core was slightly bigger than the cores Flea had seen before. It took only a moment to realize this was the first Skill Core he had ever seen. 

 

“This is a Skill Core of Healing, one of our Fae cousins had gifted it to us long ago. Now that we have one of our own back in The Games, I wish you to have it. Use it well, and may you heal our race from our past failures.”

 

Niseph held the white marble in her hand for a few moments, staring at it. Then in an instant, she closed her hand hard, and her entire body started to glow the purest sky blue color. The Dryad had a barrier of light radiating around her body, as if it hovered a mere inch off her skin. As fast as it started, the light was gone.

 

Niseph blinked a few times, then she smiled, and hugged her mother. 

 

“Thank you, mother. This [Heal] skill will be a huge help on my journey. We have such little time. I wish to remain and say my farewells to the rest of The Grove, but we must prepare for tomorrow. I hope we can speak again before I depart.”

 

Flea waited for Niseph to leave her mother’s side before asking what was in the box. She would only shake her head, refusing to answer. Deciding his curiosity wasn’t going to be satisfied, the Gnome pressed her no further on the subject. He kept silent as they started their journey back to town.

 

Stopping at The Drunken Ogre first, Flea found his package from Sveny waiting for him with Dross. Running up to his room, the Gnome got out of his starter clothes and put on his new Quill Leather armor set. He chose not to soulbind them this time, in hopes of selling it once he got his hands on the Scale Leather set Sveny was going to make for him.

 

Entering the Adventurers’ Guild, over twenty players standing around greeted them. Nuelelth and Elder Whoden, along with Khorwin and Martina, were already sitting at a table near the bar. Walking over to the group and taking a seat, Elder Whoden nodded a greeting, then began speaking.

 

“We were able to get the remaining twenty-seven adventurers on the island here tonight. The three players we have blacklisted, Ren, Frustrated, and Grel’ek, have not been seen after the harbor incident. With the schooner being in the harbor still, we fear they are still on the island, and may be working for The Master.”

 

“The entire island only has thirty players on it? Are you sure we don’t have anyone else who can help?”

 

“If players are what youuu call the adventurers’ from your Earth, then yes. Mea dictates only thirty per territory when a new race joins The Games. There are millions of islands, juuust like Noto, around Mea. We get new adventurers every couple of decades, some stay here with uuus like some of the Dwarfs, but most move on to the mainlands of Mea.”

 

The way the developers are handling the knowledge of us coming from Earth is beyond incredible. I’m curious if they will introduce new races through the expansion packs as new players come into Mea. I’m so looking forward to learning more about the lore of this world.

 

“I’ve come up with the teams the three of youuu will lead into the mines tomorrow. I’ve taken into consideration everyone’s fighting styles. Each team will comprise nine adventurers and will each have two squads from the town guard with youuu. The Dryads will join each group as they see fit. We are going to need their help getting past the illusion magic as we head deeper into the mountain.” Elder Whoden kept explaining.

 

After speaking with the Elder for what seemed like hours, the four introduced themselves to the rest of the waiting players. These players seemed excited to be getting points towards their guild rank ups for participating in this raid. Everyone agreed to meet up at the North Gate an hour after the morning’s sunrise bells. Leaving the Adventurers’ Guild, they all parted ways. Niseph and Flea headed back to his room at the inn.

 

Finally, being able to stop and take a breath, Flea pulled up his status screen to see his changes. 

 

 

His status screen showed he was now allowed to upgrade his attributes again. There was also a new section for Mana Gates, with one showing open. Thinking about the Skill Core token in his inventory, he turned to Nispeh.

 

“I’m going to run back to the Adventurers’ Guild. I forgot about my skill token, so I’m going to go get my first Skill Core. You can stay here in my room if you want. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

 

“That’s fine. I wanted to get caught up on some sleep anyway. Today has been one of the most emotionally draining days I’ve ever had. I could sleep for days. I’ll be here when you get back.”

 

She then proceeded to crawl onto the bed, lay out on the far end, and promptly fall asleep. Flea left the room, locking the door behind him, then took off running back to the Adventurers’ Guild. 

 

“Forget something, Flea?” Nuelelth asked as he walked back into the hall.

 

“I would like to use this,” Flea said as he raised the purple token up.

 

“Oh! Congrats. I had heard we promoted some new Tins. Give me a moment while I go notify Elder Whoden.”

 

Twenty minutes later, Nuelelth returned with Elder Whoden in tow. Flea presented the coin to him. He was then led to one of the back doors and down a set of stairs into the basement. Flea followed along to a large metal door that looked like a bank’s vault. The Elder took out a sizable green key from his bag and opened the vault. 

 

Peering into the vault, Flea couldn’t see much inside. Stone shelves were built into the wall, wrapping around the entire room. Walking inside, Flea found the shelves came up to his nose. On top of the shelves were various wooden and metal chests lining them.

 

“Youuu may choose one Skill Core, Flea. Once youuu have decided, place youuur token near the chest, and the Skill Core will release to youuu. Youuu must uuuse the core within this room. I will not allow youuu to leave with an uunuuused core. Please take youuur time to read each card in front of the chests. It will give youuu its name and the ability the Skill Core will grant youuu. If youuu decide none of these cores suit youuur needs, youuu may hold onto youuur token, or we could repurchase it for fifty Clear Cores,” Elder Whoden explained.

 

Flea nodded to the Elder and walked further into the room. By his count, there were only 26 chests within the room. Turning to the Elder, Flea asked him a question.

 

“Have Martina and Khorwin already come to select theirs?”

 

“Martina was here not less than an houuur ago to select his.”

 

“What core did he pick?”

 

“Youuu may ask him youuurself. I will not disclose his choice.”

 

Again Flea’s curiosity hadn’t been sated. That was twice today, and it was starting to get to him. The Gnome began looking through the Skill Cores, reviewing all of their place cards. Flea narrowed his choices down to two of them within ten minutes.

 

 

“Elder Whoden, what are the max levels of a Skill Core?” 

 

“Tier 1 Skill Cores can be leveled to a max of 20, Flea. Higher skills can reach higher levels, but are scarce finds.”

 

“The symbol under the name represents its level then I take it?”

 

“Youuu are correct, Flea.”

 

I think [Shadow Toss] would help me level faster with sneak attacks, but [Shadow Meld] is a must if I’m going to do any type of rogue work in the future. It’s an agonizing choice: utility or attack?

 

Flea walked up to the Skill Core chest he decided on and placed his token next to the box. The token slid towards the box and clinked against the side of it, then was absorbed into the chest. The five metal prongs holding onto the core then vanished. Flea, on his tippy toes, then reached into the trunk and picked up the dark purple marble. Before having a chance to regret his choice, he crushed it in his palm. The feeling was unlike absorbing regular cores. It felt almost euphoric. His entire body felt like silken sheets and feathers were caressing it. He could see a dark purple shell surround him in the same way Niseph’s had, and then the glow vanished. He pulled up his status to find out what had changed.

 

 

Flea immediately leveled [Shadow Meld] to 5 with the available Energy he had. He was notified that [Shadow Meld] now had a cooldown of 12:30. 

 

“Thank you, Elder Whoden, for the Skill Core. I will put it to good use.”

 

Before the Elder could respond, loud dongs could be heard in the distance. 

 

“That doesn’t sound like the bells coming from the clocktower,” Flea said.

 

“It’s the alarm at the North Gate. Let’s hooope it’s not the Abominations attacking uuus first. We muuust huuurry!” Shouted the Elder as he practically flew up the basement stairs.

 

Making his way up to the first floor, Flea could see a couple of women with children starting to come into the large hall. A few of the players in the lobby looked around in bewilderment, and one of the players began shouting above the chaos.

 

“What the hell is going on?”

 

“The North Gate is being attacked by Abominations. My son heard some odd noises behind the wall of The Pit and told me about them. When we got on top of the palisade to look over, a large group of these massive creatures was making their way towards the North Gate. We ran as fast as we could to the North Gate and let the guards know. They closed the gates in time and started ringing the alarm. I came here as fast as my short legs could move to warn The Guild,” Gronky said.

 

“Damnitt, I hope most of the adventurers are in town and not outside the gates farming. They’re going to get steamrolled by a group of Abominations,” Flea said.

 

More of the town’s citizens were now coming through the doors of the hall. The men went into one of the back rooms and came out with spears, swords, and shields. They then headed back outside.

 

“I’m going to go grab Niseph and head to the North Gate. Have any other adventurers meet us there if they come here first,” Flea said.

 

Just then, a player came running through the door shouting at the top of his lungs.

 

“Large horned rabbits are spawning in the fields. They killed everyone farming down there within minutes. There were at least fifteen of us out there, and we got obliterated. I just respawned. It was my first death, so I think I’m the first one back.”

 

“How big are they?” Elder Whoden asked.

 

“I’d say they came up to my waist. I didn’t get a close enough look. One of the bastards ran me through from behind.”

 

“If they attack ouuur town at the same time as the Abominations, we are in dire trooouuuble,” said Elder Whoden.

 

He sent a runner to find Lieutenant Brunick and report what was happening at the North Gate.

 

“Airthiel! Get youuur father to gather the dwarfs and start building barricades around The Crystal. If The Crystal falls, families are going to be broken apart, and we’ll looose the island.”

 

The Dwarf took off like a bat out of hell, shouting at Gronky and his son Kevin to notify others as well; then they also took off. Seeing everyone was going about their tasks, Flea decided to leave the hall and go grab Niseph.

 

Running down the road towards The Drunken Ogre, Flea could see the chaos spreading throughout the town. Families were running towards the Adventurers’ Guild, while others were running towards the square with Flea. Arriving at the square, the Gnome could see people were raising earthen pillars around The Crystal. Others were building wooden palisades between the risen earth posts. 

 

They must have a manual or do drills for what to do in emergencies. They’re building those defenses incredibly fast. 

 

Arriving at the Inn, Flea found Niseph with Dross and Racine. 

 

“How bad is it, Flea?” Dross asked.

 

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s pretty bad. I’m here to grab Niseph and head to the North Gate now.”

 

“Go, the adventurers need to be on the front lines. I’m going to bring my family to The Guild’s hall, and then I’ll meet you at the gate.”

 

The duo left the inn and sprinted to the North Gate, finding them still holding strong.

 

“Where’s the lieutenant and the rest of the guards?” Flea asked Flynn as soon as they arrived.

 

“The lieutenant and his two personal squads of the guard have been gone for hours. It’s been reported they left the town shortly after the meeting with the Elders.”

 

“Why would they leave the town before tomorrow? Something doesn’t seem right with the timeline of these events,” Flea responded.

 

BANG! BANG! BANG! CRACK!

 

The trio turned towards the gates. Something on the other side was making progress on tearing it down. Flea ran towards the stairs to get up onto the palisade. Arriving at the top, Flea found guards and players shooting volleys down onto the Abominations and the gigantic rabbits. A guard near Flea suddenly took an arrow to her arm, spinning her around and falling off the palisade.

 

“Niseph, start healing if you can! What in the hell is shooting arrows back at us?!” Flea yelled.

 

Looking out past the beasts, Flea spotted a couple of figures down the path. He recognized the Dark Elf Ren right away as he pulled back his bow and fired it towards the guards. He also noticed Grel’ek next to two other cloaked figures standing near Ren. Abominations stood guard on either side of the two cloaked figures. Flea ran back down towards Flynn.

 

“I think The Master or Masters of The Tower are outside the town right now. They appear to have the members of Lethality in their service as well. You need to let the guards know if they kill the Lethality members, they could resurrect at the Crystal. That group could do harm within the town’s walls. The third member, Frustrated, seems to be missing and may already be up to something in town. Have the guards be on the lookout for him as well.”

 

Flea gave Flynn a description of Frustrated, as best he could, considering the circumstances. An ear-piercing shriek came from within the town as the Gnome finished speaking to Flynn.

 

“Oh, that’s so not good,” said Flea.