"I'm still a bit confused about what we are searching for here."
Aiden said while following Jax, who was sniffing the air and tracking what he claimed was a strange smell.
"Look, here is the quest paper if you want to take a look."
Jax's words came out muffled as he held a small square of paper in his mouth. He had reached around and pulled it from his satchel, which seemed designed for easy grabbing with his head's range of motion.
Aiden unfolded the paper and began to read.
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 damage 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
By the time Aiden finished reading the page aloud, he had to duck under a branch that barely missed his face and made him adjust his glasses.
"It's a starting quest so I can get my license and become a full adventurer once it's done."
Jax explained this while easily hopping down a small slope.
Aiden grabbed onto a tree and carefully slid down the slight incline that Jax seemed to have no trouble with.
"First off, where are we even going? And second, you just need a plate to be an adventurer?"
Jax sat on top of a small hill while Aiden tried to climb up behind him, albeit slowly.
"I'm currently following what I hope is the decaying smell of an animal's body to where the fog or smoke or whatever might be. Though there is a chance it may have been the lunch of a feral bear or something. As for the adventuring license, you need three things."
Jax sat up on his hind legs, holding up his two front paws while his tail twisted to the side a bit, so all three stood up in a slight line.
"The first is to complete a plate quest, which is what we're doing right now. The second is that you must be level 5. Finally, you need a team of at least three but no more than eight people to be considered a full-fledged adventurer and take on quests."
When Aiden finally climbed his way to the top, he dusted himself off and looked around the clearing.
There was nothing really out of the ordinary. The trees were tall and leafy, their leaves turning brown as the fall season slowly started to break for winter.
The two of them began walking across the clearing, but Jax suddenly stopped, his body tensing like he was trying to stay completely still.
Aiden stopped as well and started to glance around, looking for whatever Jax had noticed.
It quickly became apparent.
From the edge of the woods, an inky black smoke started to leak from the treeline followed by a sharp smell like charcoal and soot.
A floating humanoid figure slowly came out, its body looking as if it were made of swirling flakes of black, with an amber glow burning in its eyes.
It moved in an unnatural way, floating as if it was unaffected by gravity or the world around it. In many ways it was like a ghost you would hear about in stories told around a campfire.
Aiden took a step back while Misty hid behind his head, chittering in worry.
"That doesn't seem very natural, at this rate Ill be an adventurer in no time!"
Jax yelled before charging forward.
Aiden was a bit taken aback by Jax's gung-ho attitude toward taking this enemy head-on.
He had been planning to run before Jax charged in, but he guessed confidence in things like this came from being a martial class.
Aiden quickly started searching through his bag and pulled out his small vial of blinding powder. Made from Ironsplit and Golcorone, its effects were self-explanatory.
He had no idea what he could possibly do to help, but he at least wanted to look helpful.
The figure rushed forward, both to Aiden's and Jax's surprise, as it shot toward Jax. Jax tried to skid to a stop, but the creature was already above him, stabbing down with sharp, raking fingers.
It slashed.
Five scorching lines were left down Jax's flank, and Jax let 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.
However, he was clearly in pain.
From behind Aiden's head, Misty threw her little arms forward. A small shower of morning dew gathered around Jax, and the blistering wound hissed as the water cooled it down. Jax's gritted expression relaxed, if only slightly, but the wound seemed to have embers actively burning inside it. The water did not extinguish them.
Jax lunged forward, ready to strike out with a kick, but the embers on his injury flared up. He cried out in pain but charged anyway, 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.
Jax landed and yelled,
"I don't think I did much."
He was right.
This thing had landed one attack that would have probably killed a bear, and it had left Jax covered in a large burn and a deep bleeding wound that seemed to be flaking off a strange white essence. By contrast Jax's own attack hit, but seemed ineffective at best
"We need to run!"
Aiden yelled as he threw the vial of blinding powder.
It flew toward the creature, which slashed at the bottle. Its contents hit the creature in the face, and the reaction made a sudden flash of bright light that faded just as fast as it ignited.
The creature suddenly seemed to writhe in the air. It started slashing around wildly, tearing large, smoldering gashes into the ground around it as it let out a strange noise like someone blowing a bellows over burning coals and hearing them pop.
Jax and Aiden turned to run, diving down the small incline while 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."
Aiden cried out a bit as he ran right into a small branch, fell backward, landed on his back, and scrambled to his feet.
"No, I meant that vial."
Jax called as they rounded another bend, both running for another minute or so before coming to a gradual stop.
Jax looked like he had just gone on an easy stroll down the road, while Aiden looked like a fish that had been dragged out of a lake and told to run across the mountain.
He gasped and panted, leaning forward as he tried to catch his breath.
Aiden looked over at Jax and, a bit to his surprise, saw that aside from the several burns covering his side, the slash from before was gone.
Jax seemed to notice too.
"System."
After pulling it up, he spun the window around so Aiden 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 when dodging and can be more perceptive when avoiding 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 is particularly effective against mages and aura users.
Martial Arts (E)
Passive
Your unarmed attacks do increased damage and have 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 flare-up of fire caught me by surprise. Any idea what that was?"
Aiden shrugged as he rummaged through his satchel.
"I can't help your current Ki, but I can see about helping those burns."
He grabbed a healing potion and opened the bottle, splashing a little bit onto Jax's body before having him drink the rest.
As Jax's burned fur started to fill back in with healed skin and fur, Aiden watched Jax's system as his HP rose from 5 back to 11.
Jax went ridged, tense with pain as the healing potion mended his wounds, but wasn't a painless process.
"You sure are convenient to have around, Hallowcreek."
Aiden tried to hide it, but he did blush a bit, unused to compliments as he mumbled,
"It's no problem."
Once he finally finished catching his breath, a small system window appeared.
Escape from a deadly situation +250 Experience
Aiden turned to Jax, who grinned at him.
"Looks like we got some XP out of that at least."
Aiden blinked a few times at the XP screen and even opened his own system to double-check.
Five years ago, he remembered making a new potion right on the first try and being awarded 50 XP.
Seeing that simply experiencing and surviving that encounter had given him five times as much made his heart race as excitement bubbled through his body.
"So, what should we do now? We saw it at least, but we have no idea how to take it down or what it even is."
Jax said this while scratching behind his head with his back leg.
"We know where it is. Let's see if we can study it. Maybe we can find a weakness or something. But right now, I need to lie down. I'm not used to almost dying."
Aiden said this as he started down the path back toward the cabin, hoping his shaking knees were hidden well enough.