Yvlena and her party followed the path until they stopped at the Miasmic barrier that had blocked off the area.

Peering at it Yvlena could make out a new area through the blurry surface of the Miasma.

"There's something on the other side, the spiders perhaps?" Yvlena said to herself. Taking a second Ever Bloom out of her inventory she allowed the game to guide her.

[The Ever Bloom wants to guide]

A mysterious force jerked her forward, pulling her until she stopped at the center of the Miasma. The force caused her to halt, signifying the plant wanted to act on its own.

Yvlena placed the plant down and watched as the Ever Bloom's petals open again and began to Siphon the darkness into itself.

She waited and watched as the clouds of Miasma were once again swallowed by the small flower leaving the road clear for and her party to pass.

"Huh, I thought it would open a portal," Yvlena said, picking the plant up again. She gazed at the bare forest of dead trees, already Yvlena could feel the treachery lying just out of sight.

How long had the Verdant Woods been covered by darkness, she did not know. But no doubt its inhabitants would have been twisted by dark forces.

"Risel would have seen this clear up by now wouldn't she?" Yvlena muttered to herself. Sprite and Rabbit Knight stood behind her, hesitant to walk forward.

[Sub Class Quest Unlocked]

[Quest: Investigated The Verdant Woods (1)

The tainted Miasma from the Verdant Woods seems to be stronger than Bloom Haven's Depths, it's been around for a long time blocking off the Western Path(also known as the green path) to the next town.

This Miasma comes with many layers, you will need the aid of your skills as a Harvest Guardian to Conquer it.

***

Rewards

????

????

***

Moon Points x500

Moon Gems x100

EXP x700]

[Do You Accept]

[Yes/No]

Yvlena hit yes, already knowing this was a task for the Harvest Guardian, no one else could do it especially since Rael had mysteriously vanished all those years ago.

"It's a multi-part quest,” she said as she read through the story line again. The Verdant Woods seemed to be her major quest as the Harvest Guardian, with the Bloom Haven Depths only being a tutorial.

Yvlena gulped as her heart pounded in her chest.

"It's scary, I know," Yvlena said as she took her first steps, slotting the Ever Bloom back into her inventory for later use.

The next barrier would be further up ahead, just as the depths were. 

Already, the girl anticipated something waiting for her, a titan stronger than Viseli.

The sound of dead leaves under her foot was loud, Yvlena hoped it would not attract any of the creatures that dwelled within the horrid place.

The trees oozed a dark tar like liquid on the surface of it barks, she inched closer to one of the trees. It was a twisted horribly blackened wooden figure, its branches naked and curled in strange shapes dripping black liquid.

Taking one of her empty bottles she let the substance drip into it until the small bottle was full.

[Yvlena Acquired

***

Mysterious Liquid x1]

"I wonder if Risel will know what this is," Yvlena said. The alchemist elf knew more than Yvlena could and would probably be able to guess what this substance was.

"It might be a poison from the Miasma," Yvlena said, putting the bottle into her inventory and moving on.

"The trees are sick," Sprite said after a while.

"I can tell," Yvlena said, turning her head, and around her the trees grew darker and more stained. They bent away from the sun as if accepting the Miasma that now bled through their roots.

She stood at a fork in the road, one path went straight ahead, whilst another curved deeper into the Verdant Woods.

A sign stood in the middle of the fork, the wood long since rotted and the words faded into memory.

"One of these must lead to the next town," Yvlena said, "The question is which one will take me out of this forest and which one gets me into more trouble," 

She stood thinking until a growl resounded behind her. Yvlena had heard that growl once before, on the first floor of the manor. Without turning around she knew it was a lesser Miasmic beast.

[You have encountered: Lesser Miasmic Beast]

Rabbit Knight surged forward already leaping to attack the beast it had fought before.

Sprite followed closely behind flinging balls of light at the creature that attacked them. The beast roared, bowing its head and analyzing the situation before dodging the Rabbit and Fairy to head straight for Yvlena.

The elf wasted no time heaving her sword and slashing to release her skill.

[Yvlena Cast Carrot Beam (20MP)]

The beast is pushed back, skidding away but clawing the ground to slow the force of the attack.

The lesser Miasmic Beast swiped it's claws in her direction, retaliating with a beam of darkness

[Lesser Miasmic Beast Cast Shadow Claw]

Yvlena swiftly dodged, running up to the beast and stabbing its side as it recovered from casting its magical attack.

A high pitched yelp left the beast's mouth as it felt the sharp end of a sword. With a huff it raked its claws against Yvlena's arm, forcing her back and clutching her side in mild pain.

[Sprite Cast Cure (05MP)]

“Thanks,”

[Rabbit Knight Cast Rabbit Volley (05)]

Together the party slashed at the beast, backing it into a tree dripping with the mysterious Liquid. A hiss could be heard as the substance dripped down a dead branch and unto the skin of the Miasmatic Beast.

"It's...poison?!" Yvlena gasped watching the creature leap away from the tree as if burned. A red patch appeared growing along the beast's back.

[Lesser Miasmic Beast is inflicted with Burn]

"Burn?" Yvlena said she retrieved the mysterious Liquid from her inventory and, while the beast was howling in agony, hurled it directly at its face.

The bottle exploded in the shards, smearing the dark burning liquid onto the Lesser Miasmic Beast.

The cat clawed at its face, roaring as the substance burned at its skin leaving angry red patches on its midnight fur.

"Don't let the black liquid touch you," Yvlena said to her summons who nodded before attacking the distracted creature.

[Yvlena Cast Carrot Burst (50)]

With a final wail the Lesser Miasmic Beast perished from the combined forces of Yvlena and her summons.

[Yvlena Acquired

EXP: 1375/1300

***

Shadow Essence x2

Shadow Fang x2

Beast Claw x1

***

Moon Points x500]

[Yvlena is now level 12]

"Phew, that was tough," Yvlena said, panting. She looked at the sign again, deciding to go straight ahead.

She could always come back to explore the other path if she was wrong, the Verdant Woods would be a long path forward and she wondered if she was prepared for what she might face.

"Leveling up is getting easier with all the enemies I keep facing,"

She downed a bowl of Rabbit Meat Soup, feeling the effects of the food wash over her.

[+5 HP

+Temporary [AGI] Boost]

"Ah, it doesn't taste good at all but it surprisingly hits the spot, I need to find time to make some tea too," Yvlena said to herself.

Before they got moving she urged Sprite to use Cure on herself and Rabbit Knight, the fairy obliged, spamming the skill until they were back to full health.

"Ah one more thing!" Yvlena said, taking a few vials out of her inventory.

She walked up to one of the dead trees and held the vial until the liquid filled the small containers.

[Subclass Skill: Alchemy Leveled Up]

[Subclass Skill: Herblore Leveled Up]

[Yvlena Acquired

***

Miasmic Sap x3]

"Miasmic sap?" Yvlena said. With her Alchemy skill and her Herblore skills leveled up, she could identify what the liquid was.

"It must be some kind of concentrated version of the Miasma, if this got in a water supply like a lake or something that could be disastrous," Yvlena said. 

----------

The path straight ahead led to a barren meadow devoid of the tall trees within the previous path.

Up ahead was a lake and just as Yvlena had guessed it was rotten.

The wide body of water was blacked from the Miasma, the lake bed itself black and crawling with squirming roots that reminded her of the battle at the outpost.

These vines were a deep purple pulsating with life as they slipped in and out of the murky lake water. Yvlena grimaced at the sight of it, willing herself not to throw up.

"Poisoned," Sprite hissed from her side, Rabbit Knight shifted from foot to foot seemingly uncomfortable at the sight of the lake.

"Let's keep walking up," Yvlena said to her summons.

In her mind, Yvlena wondered if there was a way to clear up the lake, if there was a Miasmic Entity living within it that had blackened the waters so much.

A notification window stopped her.

[Sub Class Quest Unlocked]

[Quest: Within the Lake

The Verdant Lake was once the resting point for many travelers on the green path, now its waters are blackened and murky.

An entity dwells beneath the lake's surface but an Alchemist may be able to fish it out.

Drive and defeat the Minor Miasmic Entity that dwells within the Verdant Lake to weaken the hold of the Miasma on this path.

***

Rewards

????

????

***

Moon Points x1500

Moon Gems x200

EXP x700]

[Do You Accept]

[Yes/No]

Yvlena accepted and stared at the open lake, her Alchemy skill had only just hit level four and she didn't know if that would be enough to brew the potion that would help the lake.

"If it'll weaken the hold the Miasma has, on the Verdant Woods. I will need to go back to Bloom Haven and ask for a recipe or even see if Rael had one," Yvlena said with a sigh.

"What am I going to do?”