"I'm still a bit confused on what we are searching for here."
I said, following Jax as he sniffed the air and followed what he says was a strange smell.
"Look, here is the quest paper if you want to take a look."
Jax said muffled trough the small square of paper he had in his mouth that he reached around and pulled from his satchel that seemed designed for ease or grabbing for his heads range of motion. I unfolded the paper to read the quest.
Identify the source of the mist (E)
On the mountain range outside of Hopestone there have been sightings of a smoke that seems to wither nearby plant life and is damaging the ecology of the mountain. Your mission is to find and stop the source of the smoke to prevent further damage to the mountain.
Reward - Porcelain adventuring plates and 500 Gold
Failure penalty - 500 gold
As I finish reading the page aloud, I just barely ducked under a branch that made me have to adjust my glasses.
"It's a starting quest so I can get my license and become a full adventurer."
Jax explained as he easily hopped down a small slope. I held onto a tree to slid down the slight incline that Jax seemed to have no troubles on.
"First thing, where are we even going, and second, you just need a plate to be an adventurer?"
Jax sat on top of a small hill as I tried to climb up, albeit slowly behind him.
"I'm currently following what I hope is the decaying smell of an animals' body to where the fog might be, or it may have been the lunch of a feral bear or something. As for the adventuring license you need 3 things."
Jax sat up on his hind legs as he said this holding up his two front paws and his tail twisting to the side a bit so all 3 stood up in a slight line.
"The first is to complete a plate quest, what we're doing right now, the second is that you must be level 5, and finally you need a team of at least 3 but no more than 8 people to be considered a full-fledged adventurer and take on quests."
As I climbed my way up and got to the top, I dusted myself off a bit and looked around the clearing. There was nothing really out of the ordinary as we both walked across. The trees were tall and leafy, the leaves turning brown as the fall season started to slowly break for winter. However, as we walked Jax suddenly stopped, his body tensing like he was trying to remain still. Stopping I started to glance around, looking for what Jax was talking about. However, it quickly became apparent as from the edge of the woods an inky black smoke started to leak from the treeline.
Slowly a floating humanoid figure came out, their body looking to almost be made of swirling flakes of black with an amber glow to its eyes. It moved in an unnatural way, floating as if unaffected by gravity or the world, almost like a ghost in some ways.
"I think we found what we were looking for."
I said taking a step back as Misty hid behind my head chittering in worry.
"Perfect, then lets complete this quest!"
Jax yelled charging forwards. I was a bit taken aback by Jax's gung-ho nature to taking this enemy head on, I had been planning to run before he charges in, but I guess confidence in things like this come from the fact that he is a martial class. I quickly started searching trough my bag and pulled out my small vial of blinding powder. Made from Ironsplit and Golcorone, its effects were self explanatory. I had no Idea what I could possibly do to help, but I at least wanted to look helpful. The figure rushed forward, both to my and Jax's surprise as it rushed at jax. He tried to skid to a stop but it was above him stabbing down with sharp, raking fingers and it slashed, leaving a set of 5 scorching lines down Jax's flank with Jax letting out a yelp of pain. It was the kind of attack that could have easily taken down a tree, and yet somehow Jax was still standing, but he was clearly in pain. Misty from behind my head threw her little arms forward and a small shower of morning dew gathered around Jax, the blistering wound hissed as it cooled down from the water, Jax's gritted expression relaxed, if only slightly, but the wound seemed to actively have embers in it that the water didn't extinguish. As Jax lunged forward ready to strike out with a kick the embers on his injury flared up, he cried out in pain, but charged anyways, jumping up and kicking his back paw out as he struck the creature's shoulder. It drifted back like a paper doll hit by a gust of wind as Jax landed and yelled,
"I don't think I did much."
He was right. This thing in a single attack that would have probably killed a bear just covered Jax in several burns, and a deep bleeding wound that seemed to be flaking off a strange white essence.
"We need to run!"
I yelled as I throwed the vial of blinding powder. It flew at the creature that slashed at the bottle, its contents hitting it in the face as the reaction made a sudden flash of bright light that faded just as fast as it ignited. The creature seemed to suddenly writhe in the air and started slashing around it wildly, tearing large, smoldering gashes into the ground around it. Jax and I turned to run, diving down the small incline as Jax asked in a tone that seemed to mix panic and amazement,
"What was that!?"
"I don't know, but I don't think we stand much of a chance at the moment"
I said, crying out a bit as I ran right into a small branch that made me fall back as I landed on my back and scrambled to my feet.
"No, I meant that vial."
Jax called as we started to come to a stop after another minute or so of running, looking back to ensure it wasn't following. Jax looked like he has just had an easy stroll down the road, while I looked like a fish that had been dragged out of a lake and told to run across the mountain as I gasped and panted.
I looked over at Jax, and a bit to my surprise, aside from the several burns that covered his side, the slash from before was gone. Jax seemed to notice as he said
"System.
After pulling it up he spun the window around so I could see it.
Jax "Wildfang" Stormcaller
Age: 19
Race: Fullblood Beastman (Wolf)
Class: Pugilist - LV. 4
XP: 3,100/7,000
HP: 5/11
Ki: 33/56
Stats:
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 4
Soul Skill:
Feral Instinct (D)
Passive
Your natural instincts sharpen in combat, allowing you to sense movements and attacks just before they happen. You gain a bonus to Dexterity to dodge and can be more Perseptive to avoid ambushes, even when distracted.
Skills:
Lifeforce Control (E)
Passive
you can tap into your Ki instead of HP when taking damage, allowing you to withstand attacks without tiring as quickly. This gives you a unique edge in prolonged battles where endurance is key.
Ki Disruption (E)
10 Ki
you deliver a precise strike that can disrupt your opponent's energy flow. The target must have a high enough level of Constitution or be unable to use energy-based abilities until the start of their next turn. It's particularly effective against mages and aura users.
Martial Arts (E)
Passive
Your unarmed attacks do increased damage with a higher chance of hitting. Your natural combat style is fierce and unrelenting, favoring fast and powerful strikes.
"My skill lifeforce control lets me take damage using my Ki instead of my HP, but that sudden flareup of fire caught me by surprise, any idea what that was?"
I shrugged as I rummaged through my satchel,
"I can't help your current Ki, but I can see about helping those burns."
I grabbed a healing potion and opening the bottle I splashed a little bit on Jax's body before having him drink the rest. As his burned fur started to get filled in with healed skin and fur I watched on Jax's system as his HP rose from 5 back to 11.
"You sure are convenient to have around Hallowcreek."
While I tried to hide it, I did blush a bit as I mumbled out a it's no problem. As I finished catching my breath a small system window appeared.
Escape from a deadly situation +250 Experience
I turned to Jax who grinned at me, looks like we got some XP out of that at least. I had to blink a few times at the XP screen and even opened my own system to double check. 5 years ago I remember I made a new potion right on the first try and was awarded 50 XP points. Seeing that just experiencing and surviving that gave me 5 times as much made my heart race as my body bubbled with excitement.
"So, what should we do now, we saw it at least, but we have both no idea how to take it down, or what it even is,"
Jax said scratching behind his head with his back leg.
"We know where it is, let's see if we can study it, maybe we can see a weakness or something, but right now, I need to lay down, not used to almost dying."
I said as I started down the path back towards the cabin, hoping my shaking knees were hidden enough.