C40: Local Hunter sets fire to forest, states, "Oopsy Daisy" as Reasoning.
2/10/26
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[+1 madmans knowledge]
I collect the item off of the corpse I just destroyed as I go down the stairs. It seems there was a layer below this one that had broken as the stairs all but continued down until the bottom where the rubble of the missing layer remains.
Going out the exit here, I am welcomed to a vast forest, though said forest is below me as im at the top of a long winding hill. As I look around, I find an item by a tree just to the right of where I came from.
[+1 thick coldblood (6) ]
[Main Quest 2 completed: Enter Forbidden forest.
Step 1: Defeat Vicar Amelia (complete)
Step 2: obtain the password (-- crossed out)(complete)
Step 2: Enter the forest that guards Bygenwerth (complete)
Rewards: 9x skills shards.
+1 random skill level]
"Oh, I completely forgot I even had quests, lemme look at them real quick. I see, the first main quest was to find and obtain the pale blood, the second was Byrgenwerth which I half accomplished before even fighting the boss in the cathedral ward as I guessed the password. There is also the mission to keep Gascoigne's daughter safe ... .which I think is working but im not sure about later on.
[+1 to Chaos Step]
"Noo, why…I barely understand it at level one and your making it stronger?" I curse out but for once the system responds.
[the skill was randomly chosen upon giving a number to all skills and then randomly rolling. The result was a three which linked up with Chaos Steps]
"...I guess that's fair and in line with the randomness of the reward. Who knows, it could be super hard to level up the skill so getting a free level like this is actually good for me.
[Initiating the leveling sequence]
"The What-now? GAH HUU WHOOOOOO ECH" My body trembles as the knowledge of how to use chaos steps more efficiently flows into my head. During the process, it felt as though my organs were stabbed with needles, like that one sensation where your arm or leg falls asleep and you try to use it anyways. But on the inside.
It sucked, you're not supposed to feel your organs in pain unless there is a major problem. The proclaimed problem here was the fact that my lungs temporarily turned into blackholes, making me suffocate as it tried to tear apart my other organs but they had also undergone changes. My liver was made of lava, my stomach into an insect's stomach, it retained its original size but its nature changed. My ass was also frozen solid for a good few minutes until everything reverted back to how it was.
[Follow-up to Main Quest 2: Reach Byrgenwerth and Slay the Hidden Spider within
Step 1: Pass the Forbidden Forest and Reach Byrgenwerth
Step 2: Find the Hidden Spider
Step 3: Slay the Hidden Spider
Rewards:
1- 5x greater skill shards
2- Continuation to Quest 2
3- +2 x2 random skills
4- 10x greater skill shards (Challenge mode- ng+10 or higher only)
5- Divine Runic Shard x 1 (Challenge mode- ng+30 or higher only)
]
"Well…that's nice" I soullessly remark but I do gradually get energetic again as I read through the reward list and think of the possibilities. The first thing I notice is the showcasing of greater skill shards which I assume is the higher tier version of the plentiful I have right now. There is the factor of the divine rune. I know this likely refers to Rom and…it's not a hard fight, at most just a bit tedious but it should be doable even with a higher tier giving it up to three unknown abilities.
Shaking myself of unnecessary thoughts as I put Rom's fight behind me for now, and begin my trek down. Going below one area I have a clearer sight of what is below me. A bridge with a large gap underneath with one or two items in view. I could probably cross the gap to reach the item by the bridge, especially since I had leveled up my jumping skill a few times during my recent hunt as I had the crazed idea of taming the pig by trying to ride it like a fucking Bucking Bronco.
It did not work. So I killed it and tried again with another. I completed this a few times which is how I accumulated the exp for two whole levels.
"Wait, is that a lamp in the distance?" I question and take out my monocle to get a better look but it barely helps since my vision is perfect. I can only continue on my path but first a small diversion.
I spot an item 'straight' ahead of where I'm going down from. It leads back up but only to a dead end with a twin bloodstone shard x1. I then properly continue down only to dodge some random villager throwing a bottle at me. It smells like an oil pot as it shatters on the ground. I dash up with a quick hop and take him down after three hits. Collecting two pebbles off his body but not pots.
…was it just a shit covered rock that it threw at me?
Thinking this, I stomp on the slowly fading head of the pathetic villager a few times to vent my annoyance as with my new physique, my senses grow stronger, including my sense of disgust at smelling all the actual shit on these guys. Practically covered in it with how bad they smell.
I spot a path up behind the villager which I trace which has a few random campsites with what looks like cooking pots but I could be wrong. I continue until a larger campfire and an Executioner is here.
I misjudged the distance and got hit once and then a second time but I fired at the same time which let me dash forward to get the riposte. I try to tear out his soul but fail and instead heal from the injuries I got from him but a small piece doesnt heal since it's spirit damage.
I summon my halo to heal it for a second before turning it off again once I've 'recovered' from the damages but unless i waste a vial for that bit of health, ill just leave it. I collect the next set of items which a few corpses behind the executioner had on them.
[+1 Adept blood gemstone(2) & madmans knowledge x1]
"Hmmmhmm" I hum in approval before trekking backwards to the confusing crossroads of this land, specifically where I stomped the previous villager. Along the way of my return, I find a beastman Hunters is charging at me. I slap its attack away before taking it down in three hits and getting two vials in return.
I then arrive at the aforementioned lamp and light it. I find two birds near the building here, I take them down and get 312 echoes each before finding three antidotes around the corner of this building on a corpse.
I also easily unlock the building even though it's locked on my end by sticking my hand through the gap and moving the lock. I open it but I have no interest in going inside since I remember that there is a shortcut to an area ill get to later and a convenent master inside which was related to multiplayer. I have no interest in either at the moment so I'm skipping them.
I cross the bridge and take down the two huntsmen which give 2 bullets and 764 echoes each. I then head to the edge where I saw an item from up above earlier. It was
[twin blood stone shard x1]. I pocket the item and return to the main road.
I then head further down the main path and find myself properly in the forbidden forest. Looking at the path leading down. I collect the next item, [thick coldblood (8)]. I then spot a bunch of villagers and huntsmen so I head back up and take care of the large huntsman up here that doesnt seem to be blocking anything except a side way to pass. I collect its 1101 echoes and the blood stone shard off its body before returning to the main path. I take in all the threats here.
First is the set of two huntsmen with their backs to me, watching the fires. If I take them out then there will be a set of two dogs and possibly two villagers throwing shit stained pots of oil at me.
To reduce the danger, I dash in and out, taking out the first two possible threats, one with a shield and the other with a hand saw. Which each nets me 764 each and then I use the side path with the large huntsman to drop down and get the literal drop on the villager which opens up the other as well before Dashing in and taking out the two dogs.
It is at this point that I notice another two huntsmen which I clear out normally as the shield one doesnt do anything while the other went down in two hits.
"How the hell are supposedly seasoned huntsmen weaker than a random untrained villager throwing an oil pot?" I lampoon as I complain about how it takes two hits for a huntsman while it's three for a villager.
Regardless, I turn back and collect all the already present items as well as the few drops from the enemies which are mostly more pebbles and vials. There is also one twin blood stone but it's pretty much worthless at this point as all the weapons I care about are already max rank or cant use anything lower than a bloodstone chunk.
As I'm walking away, one of the hunters' bodies which hadn't faded away right away catches fire from the nearby campfires and leftover embers of burning bodies that now begins to spread to the nearby grass and from there the trees. With this being a forest, it slowly but surely begins to spread to trees, moss, vines, even some animals who, mutated by the moon and blood, lack the necessary survival instincts and now become temporary carriers of flame, spreading it far and wide.
Continuing on, I spot a fork in the path. Technically three ways forward. One is to go back and up the hill to jump across the gap behind the large huntsman, the second is to go straight to who knows where and the third is to take the left path which likely leads to the second.
Now that I think about it, that seems the most pleasing to me so I choose the third but I maybe do all three in due time just to make sure I haven't missed anything.
I continue up the hill and to the third path which leads me to a broken down building where another tall huntsman comes out and attacks only to get smacked in the face, stunning it as i take care of it with a riposte.
I then find [+3 Beast blood pellet ] and pocket them away before finding that this path actually continues forwards and get thick coldblood (6) from the nearby gravestone piled up here.
I find a gate leading to a decrepit village with villagers and huntsmen scattered around. I take down the closest to me that i can immediately see and track. It's a villager that was sitting down against a building on the left side. Taking off his head, I am ambushed by another villager with a pitchfork but dash away in time to get around to break their neck too.
PEW
I tilt my back in time to dodge a gunshot at me from the opposite house where a gunman is guarded by a half-baked patrolling huntsman. I take care of them both and collect [+4 pungent blood cocktails] off a random corpse inside this house.
Then there is the loot off their bodies which amounts to a few vials and bullets. I then take care of another huntsman that was patrolling around the major center where i can clearly see a giant hole that was covered in random planks nailed together, though it might not even be nailed down.
I firstly take care of the patrolling guy who nets me 2 more vials before looking around a bit and finding a building with another door with a latch on the other side. I don't get to it yet as a large huntsman comes running at me but gets stuck on a piece of wood hanging out from the the building next to the one im in.
The beast huntsman keeps bumping it head against the low roof of this building as well as stubbing it's foot…I relieve the autistic wolf of it's remaining fragile brain cells by disconnecting it's head from it's shoulders with an extended dash via Soliloquy of Power.
Having killed this guy, I find a villager with molotovs is coming after me, I think he might have spotted me when I killed the previous patrolling huntsman. It was throwing molotovs but they just kept missing since I never stopped moving until I got cornered in this house by the large huntsman.
I find a happy surprise that these guys drop molotov cocktails. If I can find a few more, I can essentially get an infinite number of them to beat the whole scenario. [+1 molotov cocktail] off the villagers corpse and I then collect the item inside the house [+3x pungent blood cocktails] with a locked door nearby.
I unlock this door and find that there is the entrance from around the other side with what looks and smells like an isolated swamp. I hate it already. Thankfully, I'm already wearing my knee-high boots so I shouldn't be getting any more socks wet right now.
I turn back, leaving the two glowing items here as I plan to come back in a few moments from the proper direction. My sense of pride unallowing me to simply shortcut my way to free loot…with the sole exception that it's absurdly troublesome to reach a place with said loot without the shortcut. Then ill just take it but that isn't the case here.
I take down the last huntsman in this village center area before taking a look at the big pit they have here for no reason. Through tracking, I take note of three crows at the bottom along with one corpse with loot. That seems like a reasonable deal. As such, I break the planks with a kick and it all collapses while I use the ladder to slide down.
With a few dashes the crows are done for with them just dropping a few pebbles but the corpse has a few more antidotes. I then climb back up and remember that there was a side path at the gates when I first traveled through this route.
I begin to make my way back as it should look around back to this area since the only way forward is into the swampy area. As I travel back to the gates, I notice something on the horizon.
FIRE
I rub my chin in contemplation over how a fire might have started before quickly understanding that I'm the odd element out in this equation.
"Ah Shit, ma bad"
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Word Count = 2732
Back on track and Exploring Forbidden Forest ….with a few side effects, nothing to worry about.
Enjoy
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