While the party rested in the cave, despite the smell, they found a few things of interest. One was an Owlbear egg, which was supposed to sell for quite a lot, and a statue of Selune.
Most of the party did not recognize it at first, but upon seeing it, Shadowheart made a disgusted expression, rasping, "A statue of Selune. It's abandoned. Good."
Astarion's attention was on something else, however, as he asked, "Is it me, or is that chest glowing?"
Seeing him approach it, Eden advised, "I'd advise against touching it, if you don't want to get smitten."
Astarion stopped, pouting his lips.
That did not stop Eden himself however as he placed his hand right next to it, and tried to feel it with his Talent.
He did feel something, but it was just a mass of radiant energy. So, he looked around, and quickly found a small parchment, on which a prayer was written. Returning to the chest, he read it out loud, and the chest stopped shining.
As it did, Shadowheart warned, "You should leave it, or even destroy it. This is an offering to Selune, for all we know, it might be cursed."
Eden glanced at her, and reasoned, "We might have uses for what's inside. Besides, I'm impervious to curses."
He grabbed the chest, and opening it, found an amulet, along with some precious stones and gold pieces. Next to the chest were also other offerings, such as potions of healing, one of Animal Communication and a magical scroll.
The Potion of Animal Speaking could allow him to converse for any animals during 24 hours, while the magical scroll was an interesting one. It was a Second Level Detect Thoughts, which allowed one to read someone's surface thoughts.
It was not extremely powerful, but again, it was a good foundation. Eden took the remaining of their rest to learn it. Lastly, Eden thought about turning the Owlbear he had not killed into an Undead Servant, but that would be a little too conspicuous, so he decided against it.
Exiting the cave, they returned to the bridge, which then led them to their destination, Moonhaven.
What had once been a calm, thriving, peaceful village had been ruined, the buildings as if torn into by giant beasts, the mud paths blackened by the tons of dried blood. The only signs of activity were the windmill on the other side of the village, which they could see was active, as well as the goblins waiting in ambush.
The walls protecting the village had chunks taken out of them, likely damaged by siege weapons and powerful spells. This was not a village that had been evacuated, or which inhabitants' had fled. This was a village that had been slaughtered.
As they approached the gate to the village, Astarion whispered, "There are about a dozen goblins waiting in there, probably ready to attack anyone who approaches. Do we really want to go in there?"
The group stopped, and Wyll said, "Moonhaven used to be a trading hub for the whole region, because it connected to the whole region. The goblins may be evil, they are not stupid. They must have placed a considerable force here, and facing them head on would be ill advised."
Shadowheart huffed, "We are talking about goblins, not Flaming Fists."
Wyll looked at her, and refuted calmly, "Goblins, yes. Often accompanied by Worgs, Ogres, and led by Hobgoblins and Bugbears. There have also been reports of Drows bolstering the goblins' ranks."
Gale slightly moved back from the nearby gate, and said, "Be that as it may, we do need to get through Moonhaven, one way or another. And the longer Halsin is in that goblin camp, the lower our chances of finding him still breathing."
Sylfine looked at Ergon, then Eden, and said, "We could try to convince our way through."
Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows, some looking disdainful (Lae'zel), and others intrigued, like Astarion. Sylfine traced her finger around her eye, and said, "Back with those two Absolute Cultists, they called us True Souls. I also felt like I could force my will on them, if I wanted to."
She looked back at the camp, and added, "That bard said he heard the goblins worshiped a new deity, the Absolute. Maybe that if we pretended to be True Souls, we could not only go through Moonhaven, but even infiltrate the goblin camp."
The party's interest in the idea grew with every word, but as they started nodding along, Astarion said, "What about Ozymandias? If they can sense tadpoles, then they can sense the absence of it. I doubt they would be very understanding of our goblin slayer friend."
They looked troubled, but Eden simply said, "That's actually a good idea. As for me, all you have to do is pretend I am your prisoner, and that you are bringing me to the goblin camp to turn me or judge me or something."
Sylfine asked, "But didn't you say another one of us was nearby? Shouldn't we get there first?"
"That's why I will escape from my bounds once we're in there, and you have earned their trust. They will probably ask to inspect me, and once they do, accept. I'll escape, you will blame the goblins for their incompetence, and chase after me. Then, when we come back, you could say you managed to catch me again."
The rest of the party looked at each other, and when they found no objections, decided to go with this. Taking some rope to bind Eden's hands, they confidently strode into the blighted village.
They only took a few steps in before a screechy voice called out, "You there! Stop!"
Sylfine, who was holding Eden by his bound wrists, slightly tightened her grip, nervous. However, her voice betrayed none of that as she spoke with confidence, "Is this how you speak to a True Soul?"
The goblin made a strangled sound before calling for her allies, and waddled over to the party. A few more goblins also came over, examining the party overtly, yet showing fear at the same time. They acted like they were looking at saints.
Sylfine huffed at the approaching goblins, "I do not have time to waste with the likes of you. We are transporting a highly dangerous prisoner, and any time lost is an opportunity for this heretic to escape."
The goblin in the front fumbled a little at these words, and apologized, "We're sorry, we were told about posers who might act like True Souls, and it was said they would be accompanied by someone who looks like your prisoner."
Eden could not help but smile a little, while Wyll chuckled, "Yes, they were dealt with. Why do you think he is our prisoner?"
The goblin smiled uneasily, "Yes, of course!"
However, the party could clearly see the surrounding buildings quickly filling up, and the streets becoming rowdier. The entire village was converging to their location.
Sylfine frowned, and warned with a cold voice, "Do you think this is the time to test us? This man could wipe out this entire village by himself, and only by bringing him to the Absolute could we deal with him permanently!"
The goblin looked torn between decisions, and before she could make one, Eden felt his danger sense tingle as time slowed down.
He clearly saw the bullet flying towards him at a high speed, moving faster than sound. He could dodge it, although it would then probably hit Sylfine behind him. Not that he needed to.
What would have not so long ago spelled certain death for Eden no longer felt so threatening to him, his danger sense telling him that even if he did nothing, this would not be enough to kill him.
So, Eden reinforced his forehead, and allowed the bullet to smash into it. He felt it dig into his skin, and crumple against his skull, merely giving him a headache.
Meanwhile, everyone was alerted by the booming sound that followed the gunshot, and clearly saw the blood eject from Eden's forehead.
Eden's eyes followed the trajectory of the shot as his blood trickled down his face to his mouth, and giving it a lick, he gave a satisfied moan, breaking out of his bounds as he said, "Thank you, for freeing me. Your reward shall be a swift death."
Immediately picking up on what he meant, Shadowheart ruthlessly stabbed her spear towards Eden's back, shouting, "Attack!"
Eden dodged the lance with an effortless grace that made even Shadowheart vexed, and kicked Sylfine in her gut, sending her flying back, before pouncing at the goblins. He did not even take out his weapons, preferring to slap his hands against them instead as he repeatedly used Cleave.
This allowed him to use just the right amount of Cursed Energy as he cleaved them in half, freeing up the space as he leapt at the origin of the bullet. He easily burst through the wooden facade, and saw a Player running away.
Smart, he thought. But not enough.
A single use of Analysis told him this was probably a new Tier I as a single one of his stats was above twenty. This Player was a man, with a pair of daggers attached to his thighs and a gun in hand.
Eden fired a Dismantle, and the Player did not even realize an attack was coming as he was bisected.
Ignoring the kill notification, Eden took out the Rosa Estrellada, and instead of leaving, started rampaging through the village, swiftly eliminating all the Players present.
While the rest of the party was discussing their plans, Eden had his four undead harpies patrolling the sky, searching for any humans present in the village. And ever since they had entered the village itself, he had Ergon use his potent eyes to scan for any as well.
As Eden rampaged through the village, the goblins present tried to stop him, but he easily dispatched them. They even had some ogres and others, but all were Tier 0.
There were a total of five Players within Moonhaven, and the moment they saw him, they tried to run. Not a single one of them managed to escape.
It took Eden less than ten minutes to wipe them all out, along with half of the goblin forces in the village. The party tried to stop him, some more genuine in their attempts than the others, but they were likewise helpless.
By the time Eden decided to leave, none of the goblins even tried to stop him anymore, and that was without him using his Omen of Death title.
From there, the initial plan had been to stop at the destroyed bridge connecting Moonhaven to the mountainside, which bridged over the Chiontar, but as he arrived there, Eden found himself unable to stop.
The members of the party were nice, and were quite a novel experience for Eden, who was usually a loner. They also had great potential, but for now, he felt like a… babysitter. He was standing back at every encounter for a reason, he wanted them to not only grow in power, but also with each other, to become a real party.
But while it may be done for a good reason, it felt unbelievably stifling to Eden, who had already gotten used to do whatever he pleased, especially when he knew he had the power to wipe out the entire area.
So, Eden did not stop, and followed along the Chiontar at top speed, each of his steps leaving a deep imprint into the ground. He encountered a few hyenas and hidden Gnolls, but he killed them before they could even move.
What would have taken the party hours, Eden reached in only a few minutes.
The Toll House looked like it had recently been under siege, with all entrances and windows barricaded. There were also a couple dozen Gnoll corpses strewn around, along a few human ones. Players.
Perhaps more striking though were the clear burn marks on some of the place.
As he approached it, Eden also felt his connection to the contract resonate. One of the targets was nearby.
Eden did not go for the Toll House itself, but instead downstream, where he felt the resonance. He quickly arrived at a small creak, where a red skinned, female Tiefling was currently fighting off a group of five.
Eden was not particularly silent as he ran, each of his steps like a mammoth's as he leapt at them. They all turned to look at him, and three of them widened their eyes dramatically.
The other two, NPCs, were oblivious to his identity, but they did not need that to figure he was not someone they should take lightly.
One of the two held up his hand, and said, "Sir, you must be careful! This is an agent of the Hells. She must be terminated as quick as possible!"
Eden ignored him, glancing at the flaming Tiefling instead. She looked ready to fight against the whole wide world if need be, but that was only to hide the weariness she felt. She was looking at him cautiously, her battle-axe at the ready, and even though she knew her chances were low, she would be damned if she did not fight to the bitter end.
[Name: Karlach]
[Title: Fury of Avernus]
[Talent: ?]
[HP: 199/260]
[MP: 180/180]
[Strength: 33]
[Agility: 22]
[Physique: 26]
[Intelligence: 18]
[Wisdom: 21]
Eden shifted his eyes away from her, and to one of the Players. The one his contract was resonating with. He looked at Eden like he was unicorn, his eyes shot wide open as he muttered, "T-this is impossible. You should be dead!"
Eden snorted, and activated Omen of Death. The Players and NPCs did not quite freeze, probably because they were all Tier I, but they were low in the Tier, so they immediately tensed, their skin littered with goosebumps. Eden looked at the Player and said, "Were you not warned? Did you truly believe that would be enough to deal with me? Devils, really? Don't you know who I am?"
The Player tried to open his mouth to protest, but Eden took a step, arriving in front of a Player and one of the two NPCs, the one who had spoken. He did not even take out his sword, slapping his hands on their chests instead.
They tried to dodge and attack, but they found their body sluggish and slow to respond under Eden's aura, allowing him to hit them both, and activate Cleave.
To reach max output, Eden, like any other Sorcerer, needed to concentrate all the Cursed Energy he could into one action. This meant that Eden could not empower his body with Cursed Energy and activate a Maximum Output Dismantle or Cleave. Of course, he could use half of his maximum output on one and the other half on a second.
So, while activating Cleave on two targets at the same time, Eden expected both to be hit with a Cleave powered by half of his maximum output. However, he discovered that his understanding of his Innate Technique was slightly erroneous as he felt the Cursed Energy pour into his Innate Technique.
He had always treated all of his attacks with Dismantle or Cleave as a single attack, a single slash powered by his Cursed Energy. This turned out not to be the case, or rather a limitation he had unknowingly set on himself, as it should not be seen in this way.
For Eden to use Dismantle or Cleave, he had to activate his Innate Technique, Shrine, with Cursed Energy, and decide what to do with it. And when he was in contact with multiple targets, his Innate Technique did not actually consider them to be multiple targets, but a single one instead.
This was an interesting discovery, and although Eden could only be in contact with so many targets at the same time, any advances in his understanding of his Cursed Energy and Innate Technique meant becoming stronger.
Back to the situation at hand, the NPC had a rather low Physique, and the Player's was below 20, so neither of them could resist the attack as they were both split in half.
Karlach, although she did not know whether he was friend, enemy, or something else entirely, understood this was her best shot, and immediately cleaved her axe onto the second Player's back, the weapon burying itself into his flesh.
Eden took another step, and slapped the second NPC in the face, as well as the Player injured by Karlach, killing them both, and leaving only his target.
The last Player, stuck between Eden and Karlach, did not even try to fight, the constant pressure of Eden's aura of death, which got ever so slightly stronger with these four kills, broke his psyche as the Player fell to his knees.
Eden looked down at him coldly, and said, "You're such a bore."
That was the last thing he heard before his head was severed by a Dismantle.
His target's spirit was turned into an Evil Spirit, as they always were, but as it was about to attach itself to Eden, it was suddenly attracted in a different direction, before fizzling out with a burst of red light.
A Cambion appeared, causing Karlach to tense even as Eden retrieved his aura, but she was ignored as the Cambion asked, "What will it be?"
Eden frowned, something clearly bothering him, but he still clearly replied, "True Sight."
The Cambion nodded, and disappeared in a burst of red sparks.
But even as three Soul Coins and a scroll appeared in Eden's hands, his frown did not disappear.