The partnered adventurers had used plenty of their resources for the day, though at this point Logan’s attacks could deal with brown wolves easy enough. With the sun hitting the midpoint of the sky, Logan and Marcus agreed they would hunt the wolves in the forest that was only a half-hour away, similar to their first meeting, at least to a point where their packs were full of components or their resources dipped any lower.

Walking the rather short distance, as Logan’s legs became more and more accustomed to cross country traversal, Marcus used Healer’s Caress three more times to bring Logan back to his maximum HP of 68/68. Memories tried to floor Logan’s mind, several seemingly able to break through the magical fog that still shielded his mind as if it were growing weaker. Logan remembered the times he spent at charity runs to raise money for causes he had believed in, a smile appearing across his face as his mind drifted to simpler times.

Reaching the outskirts of the forest Logan gave a final look over his small party, seeing he had 1 Flame spell left for the day and Marcus with 2/7 MP remaining. With two uses of Healer’s Caress in the back pocket, the Spellthief was confident in their remaining hunting for the day if nothing unexpected was to occur. Stretching, using Clean, and organising their tactics for the forest the two quick friends started their final clearing.

Aided by Stealth, Logan snuck onto three unsuspecting wolves and dove his dagger deep into the closest one’s back, dealing 14 damage with a Backstab, a quick following swipe with his off-hand dagger dealing a smaller 6 damage but enough to bring the first wolf down. Harrowing bolt fire from Marcus dealt 4 damage to the furthest wolf, angering the remaining duo.

Lunging at the Spellthief, the wolf’s attack was stunted by a quick Force to the stomach as Logan dropped Tara’s dagger, pushing the lupine into a forward roll which opened up its back to another stab from Logan, dealing 8 Force and 10 Backstab damage, felling the second foe.

Bolts continued to whistle through the air, hitting the last wolf for 4 damage but not impeding its pouncing manoeuver against Logan, who took 4, 4, and 5 damage from a flurry of claws and a bite. Combining a Force and another slash, for 8 and 11 damage respectively, the final wolf fell to the floor.

It was a quick fight without too much in the way of loss, Logan received three lots of 229 XP with Marcus gaining three lots of 30 XP. Logan was healed with Healer’s Caress twice, and twice more during the skinning process of the wolves that took a total of 15 minutes, bringing him back to 67/68 HP. Gathering up 3 common wolf pelts and 6 shoddy fangs Logan saw the higher chances playing into his favour.

Moving onto their next encounter, the duo found a larger pack of wolves surrounding a feast of newly felled adventurers, a total of 7 wolves unawares to their predators watching from the treeline. “Damn, those adventurers didn’t stand much of a chance against 7 wolves, I can only see 3 corpses. If I were heartless I’d say it was their own fault, but from what I gathered in town the wolves like to prey on humans more than rabbits, the recent hunting was to lower their attacks on travellers”, Logan’s emotions flared at the sight of dead men and women, that fog over his mind failing to keep them at bay.

Giving a nod to Marcus, the two started their preparations by climbing two nearby trees. When at a high enough vantage point the allied barrage begun, whistling bolts, balls of magical energy, ranged attacks pelted at the huddle of lupines. The wolves darted around as their fellows were attacked, a unified attack against the furthest wolf taking it down easily, followed up by the next closest wolf being blasted with bolt and Force alike.

Letting out a loud howl, the wolves darted off into different directions, leaping and bounding across the grassy plains as well as against tree trunks. A direct hit of Force caused a leaping wolf to fall to the floor, a quick rain of bolts making sure it was unable to move ever again. Showing a form of intelligence alongside pack instincts, the wolves bashed into the trees that provided Logan with an easy marksman’s perch. His protective base started to shake violently, the combined efforts of the wolves dealing hearty blows to the tree.

With the last of the four remaining wolf’s slam hitting against the tree, Logan’s footing was taken from him as he was flung from his branch platform. Landing on his back with a loud thud, Logan rolled with his arm to get to a crouching position. The wolves rearranged themselves, showing signs of wounds from the assault against the tree.

Bolts sang past Logan into the cluster of fur, hitting a few more times than they had before, allowing Logan to back up to a standing position and start his backwards stepping retreat. His foes charged after him, one making a daring lunge at the Spellthief who ducked to the right and brought down Fangtooth into the wolf’s eye “Backstab” a window affirmed, followed with an Identification update of 13 damage which caused the lupine to go limp and slide off the blade.

Another wolf followed with its own lunge, which Logan avoided by rolling underneath the wolf towards the two behind it. Grabbing at the neck of another open-mawed wolf, Logan shouted “Flame Grasp!” igniting the wolf in a glory of flames for 33 fire damage, turning the brown wolf black. Tossing the wolf behind him, it collided with the one that had previously lunged, piling on top of it as it fell to the floor from the weight.

Logan was still not fast enough to dodge all the attacks from his foes, at least these brown wolves, as the final wolf in the queue was able to dart to the Spellthief’s side clawing and biting at him for 3, 5, and 5 damage each. Spinning Fangtooth around, Logan brought it down into the top of the wolf’s spine for 12 Backstab damage, the ranged assistance of Marcus leading this to be a death blow.

Looking back to the final wolf that had a crispy ally tossed onto it, the Spellthief was happy to see that his Devout ally had filled it with enough bolts to bring it to the floor for the last time. Marcus descended the tree as Logan looked over their XP rewards, gaining a total of 1,603 XP and Marcus gaining 210 XP. With his last prepared spell of the day spent, Logan activated his periapt of mana to grant him a temporary 2 MP, luckily it seemed like it would last for an hour after activation.

Before they started their Harvesting routine, the two adventurers approached the fallen allies. “Identify”, Logan commanded in his head. Thankfully, or possibly not so, the corpses were intact enough to get a good enough Identification.

“Joshua Warn: Fighter 1, X/14 HP, X MP. An adventurer that did not survive the 7-day death timer of adventurers, previously working for the hall at Tinte.”

“Cust: Fighter 2, X/26 HP, X MP. Once a wall guard, this woman became an adventurer after needing a better income.”

“Lunin May: Devout 3, X/28 HP, X/6 MP. Employed by the church, this Devout would often be hired as a mercenary to aid in adventurer parties.”

“Fuck, I had my assessment the same time as this man”, Logan said, deflated, his victory high was short-lived as he saw the corpse of a fellow, a situation he could have found himself in if things were different.

The disgusting sight of it all, faces with lifeless eyes, blood-drenched clothing and bodies, stomachs and limbs gnawed at to get to their meaty centres. Logan was unable to handle it, the last time he had seen corpses in this world they were unrecognisable aside from giblets. Flashes of memories flew in Logan’s mind, tearing apart the magical mist. One prevalent thought was at the forefront, his hand gripping onto another lifeless hand, the same dead eyes staring back at him.

Marcus saw the tensing up of his ally’s shoulders and his shaking, placing a hand on Logan’s left shoulder he tried to console his friend, “We avenged their deaths, the only thing we can do now is bring their signets back to the hall.”

Logan let out a long sigh, the adrenaline from combat being replaced with more sombre feelings. “Yeah, I suppose that is all we can do. Though thinking on it, I remember mention about revival magic, how much does that cost?”

“Several golds, at least. Aside from the cost, I don’t think we have a Devout with the ability to cast revival magic.”

“Could you handle their corpses? I don’t think I can look at them anymore”, Logan asked, turning away from the fallen adventurers. Marcus gave an affirmative nod.

The next 35 minutes were taken up by Logan Harvesting the 7 wolves and Marcus giving the adventures a more dignified burial spot though rather shallow. Taking the loose items and signets, Marcus put them away to hand back to the hall later. During their downtime, Logan was healed back to full health by Marcus who came over every so often to check on him. The magical fog that once clouded Logan’s mind grew thinner which each passing minute and experience.

Not even checking, Logan threw the 3 shoddy pelts, 4 common pelts, 4 shoddy fangs, and 10 common fangs into the communal bag which was full at this point, the leftovers being tied to or placed inside of their normal backpacks. A sort of mental and emotional fatigue took over Logan, hitting what seemed to be his first low moment since coming to Avanar. Swiping away a window that explained he had reached tier 2 in Stealth, the two decided it would be best to rest atop the trees for a while, much higher than before.

Getting close to the canopy, Logan and Marcus locked themselves to a thick arm of a tree with the rope that Logan bought some time ago, far above the eyesight of the denizens of the forest. Marcus could see that the sight of the adventurers weighed heavy on his friend’s mind.

“Hey, Logan, you alright? Want to talk about what we saw down there?”

Logan stared at his hand, a droplet landing on his glove. “It just brought back an old memory. Up until now, all I have seen were the corpses of monsters, bandits who aimed to kill others, or indescribable remains. This was the first time I saw a corpse of someone who probably didn’t deserve it, but aside from that”, turning his head, Logan rubbed his face.

Looking up to his friend, Logan continued, “My head has been clouded with thoughts of survival recently, a one-track mind on progressing to stay alive. But seeing them, reminded me of my mother.”

“I’m sorry it brought up such a memory, Logan.”

“It’s fine. I think it may even be good. I don’t think I’ve thought about her in a long time. The only memory I have in my head right now is the last time I held her hand.”

“We can stay here a while if you need to.”

“Yeah, thanks, I think I will.”

“What was she like?”

“She was… kind of like you actually, she helped to heal people.”

The two talked, they talked and talked, Logan parsing his Earth terminology into Avanar terms. He explained how his mother was a hard-working nurse most of her life, the times they had spent together or trips out. The thin, wispy barrier around his mind continued to dull and evaporate but persisted in a manner. Adding in memories of his father, Marcus got a good picture of his friend’s immediate family.

Hoping to add to the sharing moment, Marcus made mention about how he was an orphan gifted to the church at a young age. His parents were villagers far in the south but apparently couldn’t house another person. He moved between churches until he landed at Tinte, hoping that one day he would find a deific sign to move on.

Reaching a new point in their friendship, Logan and Marcus laughed and teared up with one another. Ending in smiles on both sides, it seemed the chat did wonders for each of them.

The light of the shifting sun alerted the two to the time they had spent, nearing 3pm if they had watches or sundials. Removing their locked ropes, the duo agreed that they would return to Tinte for the day to round off their last hours with reading and crafting. With the use of Stealth, Logan and Marcus were easily able to leave the forest, which wolf population was slowly dwindling with each visit. A precautious 2 MP was left with Logan, but he had no plans for it.

Another half-hour passed as the pair arrived back at Tinte, a ruckus being seen towards the adventurers’ hall. “I guess our plan went through already”, Logan thought to himself, remembering the deal he made with Rubené. Entering the hall, the partners saw it was in chaos, plentiful adventurers could be seen with several contract negotiations taking place, a large event had occurred.

Getting in line behind 3 others, Logan and Marcus finally reached Rubené at the counter to which she announced, “Sorry, but a group of goblins invaded the hall and some nearby buildings, our storage rooms were ransacked and a lot of documents were taken. We can’t help you right now.”

“Putting on a good show”, Logan thought to himself. “That’s ok, I have the contract in hand, I can deliver the item to the client and get payment from them if needed”, he said as he showed his contract for the bastarn eye.

“That is fine”, Ru replied, a knowing smile adorning her face.

There wasn’t really any attack, the plan was to make it look like the goblins had done some infiltration and it was easy to fake, at least this time. It seemed a few of the villagers that Logan had aided previously were also in on the plan, the local bathhouse having reports of goblins in their establishment. A final farewell present to the man who had helped many here.

Handing the high-quality bastarn eye to Marcus, Logan went to the local markets to buy up some crafting materials to pass the final hours of the day away. Marcus went about handing over the dead adventurers’ effects to Ru. Spending 15 silver on supplies Logan headed back to the Dogslop Inn, giving a wave and a stack of 7 coppers to Coach for his room 6 key. Heading to the usual room Logan set out to work for the next few hours.

Spending the next 6 hours hard at work, Logan had crafted 2 shoddy wolf fang rings, 1 high-quality ring, 1 pristine ring, 1 shoddy bastarn eye earring, and 1 common earring. It was his first time crafting something of pristine tier which was one tier below the highest. The use of all common materials certainly helped with the chances of better quality trinkets, either that or a placebo effect had worked its magic on Logan who was felt joy in his accomplishment.

Marcus came back during the crafting time, handing 3 silver to Logan as his share of the quest reward. Logan swapped out his high-quality wolf fang ring for the pristine ring which increased his Agility by 1 more point, giving his hand-me-down to Marcus. The Devout was also treated to a slightly better earring.

The crafting helped to ease Logan’s mind, moving his thoughts away from the events of the day. With a round of Clean the Spellthief made himself presentable before heading off to Rubené’s house, giving the room to the devout who had been reading during Logan’s crafting session and would continue to do so when he left.

Giving a triple knock to the wooden door, Logan was greeted by a wide-smiling receptionist, wearing a long flowing green and yellow dress with designs of dandelions blowing in the wind. Skipping up to a hug, Ru’s embrace was returned by Logan who could do with the companionship.

“How did your day fare? Mine was rather hectic”, she asked, giving a peck to Logan’s cheek.

“It was a long one to be sure, plenty of monster hunting as usual. Did Marcus tell you about that group we found?” Logan replied, closing the door behind him as he entered the home.

“Oh, yeah he did. I am sorry you had to go through that, though I am sad to say it happens every once in a while”, Ru continued, bringing over two small mugs and a larger clay pot of a boiled liquid.

Sitting at the table Logan felt a weight off his shoulders, either from Ru’s comforting presence, the craftsmanship of the chair, or sitting within a calming house. The two lovers discussed their days, though Logan left out many details from his. Rubené explained that all of Logan’s documents were burnt and the only thing remaining was his signet, so he was fine to remove it as he saw fit, he was free to leave at any point.

Along with Logan’s documentation, Ru had removed several other older documents that would not cause many issues if they were to be found missing. All villagers involved also had no qualms about keeping Logan a secret if asked.

“So, you’ll be leaving tomorrow?”

“Yeah, me and Marcus will be doing some early trading before we set off for Gauntlet.”

“I know you’ll not have plans to return, the dangers of an adventurer are many and constant. I will not wait for you, just as I hope you will not wait for me”, Rubené put forth, a hint of sadness in her words.

“Probably for the best, if I can leave Avanar I’d probably take it, I don’t like the idea of the Magi’s Tower hunting me down”, he thought to himself. “Thanks for being so forward with me, that’s more than likely the better option for us. If I do make it back in any time soon and we’re both available I wouldn’t mind spending more time together.”

“As would I, but with the accounts of all the fallen adventurers that come my way, I don’t want that wish hanging over me.”

Placing a reassuring hand over Ru’s, Logan smiled at the receptionist and was met with a kinder one in return. Eating, drinking, passing the time with meaningful conversation, the final night in Tinte was coming to a close. Retiring to the bedroom, the two spent their last night together.

A horrid wind brewed outside of Rubené’s home, buckling at the wooden panelled windows. While it was a colder night, Logan’s body could not help but sweat as a sort of metamorphosis was being undertaken by the once-Earth dweller. An effect he had not known about until this very moment was ending, something guiding his path to a point of safety but came hand-in-hand with a magical fog that was finally dispersed in his mind. A large window appeared above the bed as Logan darted upwards from his rest.

“What! Where? Oh right, Ru’s place”, Logan was confused, as if he had woken from a tertiary dream within the nightmare he found himself in. Looking around the room Logan found it to be incredibly dark, obviously waking up way before his natural timer. Staring at the window in front of him he saw it was hiding another window behind it.

“Vokka’s Mind Protection? What is… wait”, Logan’s mind was both clear and fuzzy, the fog had made a new normal for him and its removal left him hazy in his thinking. As if the past 7 days were catching up with him, memories of his adventuring life blurred with his life back on Earth. His mother, father, friends, all rushed to the front of his mind.

“What have I been doing? I’ve killed so many creatures, so many people”, wracked with guilt the Spellthief placed his face into his hands. “How did I do it all so easily? I had doubts sure, but I kept going and going.”

Visions of his mother and father passed through his thoughts, both tall at 6’ and 6’5”, his mother dressed in the blue outfit of nurses with his father wearing mechanic overalls. The long and lush brunette hair of his mother hugging her slender yet muscular frame, glowing blue eyes marking her off in the distance. His father’s shorter ashen hair matched well with his bulkier frame that showed he enjoyed home meals had just a bit more muscle than his wife, dull brown eyes fading into the background.

“Was this protection meant to help me? Anything that makes me forget my family isn’t help! Who the hell decided this?” aside from his anger, Logan’s curiosity was still piqued. Standing from the bed, he walked over to the window to lock it properly against the banging of the winds. As by routine, he moved to use his mick to remove the sweat from his body and realised it wasn’t a normal thing to do.

“I’ve become so accustomed to this world, does whatever this Vokka thing is want me to stay? Is this just a game to a voiceless creature? System! Tell me!” he commanded in his head.

“We do not understand your query, would you like to check your history for Vokka’s Mind Protection?” a window replied.

“Yes, System, tell me what the bloody hell that is”, Logan replied through his mind.

“Vokka’s Mind Protection - 7 Day Duration: This status effect is granted to all of Vokka’s sponsored beings. As a benefactor, they grant the following effects to the sponsored being for the first 7 days after arrival:

General fighting styles and temperament. Minor resistance to fear and guilt Minor memory block Drive to improve Quick acceptance of the situation Several secondary effects.”

“A benefactor? How is any of this beneficial to anyone? It turned me into just another grinding gamer in a roleplaying game.”

With a better grasp on what had occurred over the past week, it seemed that Logan was definitely abducted for a reason, though all he could guess was that he was in some sort of game for onlookers. Since he was given a “beneficial” status effect from Vokka he hazarded a guess that they were on his side somewhat. Thinking it to possibly be an OAB that were described briefly to him by Marcus, Logan planned to ask his ally later on.

Logan was furious, sad, and had an ever-growing sense of entrapment. He had been toyed with for so long without his total acknowledgement. His body shook in rage as an insidious acid sat in the pit of his stomach.

“I’ll have to play their game, for now, I guess. I can’t leave on my own and I can’t find a way to contact this Vokka, the System isn’t exactly helping there. My destination is still the same, the capital. At least one good thing has come out of having that status, even though it is gone I still feel as if I have grown accustomed to murdering monsters. My fighting skills are also still intact, possibly ingrained into me through my many fights.”

Accepting his fate, Logan resided to prepare himself for the day ahead, using Clean to remove the stains of the night and grabbing his gear even if it was early. He would beat this game, or whatever it was, and either in the process or along the way he would find a path home. Hands guiding his travels from up on high or deep below, Logan wasn’t going to be a pawn for long. Logan began to check the other window that had appeared below the warning.

“Quest - Survive, has been completed. You achieved 3 additional objectives during the mission and as such your rewards will be increased. Distributing rewards…”

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