The wind picked up, scattering crimson embers throughout their camp as Vala tended to the fire.

Shuddering, Drake turned his coat’s collar. Glowing a faint blue, his eyes beheld Mia, following the faint traces of her mana as she sat cross-legged in front of him, deep in meditation. It had taken their healer a couple of tries, but her mana had finally begun to circulate. The large density of mana within her center lessened as it spread itself out towards her extremities.

Next to him, the taur simply watched in silence as she fed the flames a bit more kindling, the fire cracking in appreciation. This quiet reprieve, however, turned out to be short-lived as Bane and Lilly returned from their little hunting trip.

“Still at it?” Lilly asked, distracting Mia and causing her mana to coalesce back to its original state.

You have deactivated Xelian Meditation.

“Yes,” Drake sighed, the glow in his eyes vanishing as well. “What about you? Any luck?”

“Nothing,” Bane shrugged, taking a seat near the fire. “Guess there just aren’t any critters roaming about the forest at dawn.”

“Yeah,” mocked Lilly, “it definitely didn’t have anything to do with the half-wolf, lumbering around and snapping every branch around him. And I really was in the mood for some rabbit,” she sighed, before turning her attention towards their healer. “So, how’s it going?”

“I think I finally understand,” Mia smiled. “I can kind of feel my own mana now.”

“Yup,” Drake nodded approvingly. “You’re starting to get the hang of it.”

“Still,” said Lilly, “who plays a game just so that they can stand there and meditate…?”

Drake grinned. “People with a shred of patience and an attention span that’s actually bigger than that of a goldfish?”

“Hah, very funny.”

“Yet ultimately true,” he chuckled.

“Still…” Lilly groaned, “there goes my dream of a warm meal.”

“Not to worry!” Bane smirked, glancing expectantly at Drake and looking as if he’d soon start to drool. “What’s on the menu today, chef?”

“Skewered wolf,” he grinned back as he unsheathed an inch of his sword, the smile on the lycan’s face fading. Retrieving a pot from his inventory, Drake got up. He then made his way to the stream next to which they had set up camp, taking in the water’s whispers. And for a moment, he stopped. He didn’t know what, but something felt… off.

He sat still as his eyes glowed blue, darting around in search of whatever it was that had given him that feeling. The feeling of something gnawing at the back of his mind. However, he didn’t see anything.

“Zeph, can you hear anything?”

“You mean besides your friend back at the camp going on and on about how good your cooking is? He’s almost making me wish I could have a taste…”

He chuckled, prompting the spirit to do the same. Drake then took another look around him, slightly less on edge. He had grown accustomed to the central park, a rare escape from the constant electrical droning that permeated every other facet of his life in the city. But even that didn’t compare to the stillness and the cool, refreshing chill of the Ironsea forest. And then it hit him. ‘It’s… so quiet here.’

Even if a monster had attacked him right then and there, Drake would have probably still chosen to spend a morning here rather than in the city’s sweltering streets.

“Is it really that bad, boss? Your world I mean.”

The only answer he could muster to Zeph’s question was a resigned sigh as he grabbed the pot and went back to the camp. There, more faces greeted him simultaneously than had ever done so in reality. Drake smiled and placed the pot over the fire, taking out some of the supplies he had bought with Roy the first time they set out.

“It’s not that bad,” he finally replied, sensing that his spirit’s attention had switched back to him. “For most, it’s probably pretty great… you don’t have to do much, it’s safe. But for me, it’s always been a bit… lonely.”

Zeph grew silent as Drake continued to follow his master’s recipe. It didn’t take long for him to finish, the swirling, golden soup tempting him and everyone around them with its smell.

Your Cooking skill has reached level 2!

“Alright,” he said, handing out wooden bowls filled to the brim, “dig in.”

Lilly eyed the soup suspiciously, hesitating for a moment while she brought the wooden spoon up to her lips. Frowning, she ate a spoonful, her expression rapidly changing to one of surprise as she raised an eyebrow at him. “This actually is better than I expected. I’m kind of shocked that Bane wasn’t just blowing smoke up our asses.”

“It really is nice,” Mia chimed in.

Drake smiled and said nothing, focusing on his own bowl as Vala already grabbed the ladle, pouring herself and Bane another bowlful of soup. Guarded by the ember’s fading light, they soon finished eating. A warm, reinvigorating sensation flowed through Drake, relieving his tension as the system brought up another notification in front of him.

Well Fed

You have eaten a hearty Jerky & Forest Shroom Stew.

Strength +6

Health Regeneration: +5,5%

Duration: 6 Hours

“Oh?” Vala exclaimed. “So, food that we make can also raise our stats?”

Nodding, Drake set his bowl down. “Whether or not you’ve got Cooking as a skill probably has something to do with it.”

“Speaking of skills,” said Lilly, “how many do you guys actually have?”

“I’ve got five,” Vala answered, checking her menu as a small list soon appeared in front of Drake. “Two active and three passive.”

Skills Window (Valara)

Shield Proficiency (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 4 Shield Strike (Active) - Apprentice, Level 3 Shield Bash (Active) - Apprentice, Level 2 Mace Proficiency (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 2 Sharpshooter (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 1

“Four here,” said Bane, taking the white, leather-bound book out of his inventory. “Hoping to get a few more once I finish reading this.”

Skills Window (Banefang)

Dagger Proficiency (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 3 Backstab (Active) - Apprentice, Level 2 Darkness Affinity (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 1 Dark Burden (Active) - Apprentice, Level 1

Mia flipped through her tome, stopping at a few entries as she counted using her fingers. “If I manage to learn Mana Manipulation from Drake, I’ll have four. Five once I reach level 12.”

Skills Window (Mia)

Mending Light (Spell) - Apprentice, Level 4 Radiant Vigor (Spell) - Apprentice, Level 2 Blinding Flash (Spell) - Apprentice, Level 1

“Seriously…?” Lilly said dejectedly while her eyes darted around her interface. “That’s so unfair… I mean, look. I’ve only gotten this one Marksmanship skill.”

Marksmanship (Passive Skill)

Rank:ApprenticeLevel: 1 (32.6%)

Your skill with firearms helps you deal increased damage to your foes when using Spellguns.

Bonus Spellgun Damage: +5.0%

“Oh, this one’s similar to the one I got,” Vala remarked.

“Yeah… it’s worse,” Lilly snapped before turning her eyes towards Drake. “Well? How about you?”

He shrunk back a bit under the woman’s questioning glare, his eyes glancing at the Skills window he had just opened. “I’ve got seven…teen,” he muttered.

Skills Window (Drake)

Xelian Meditation (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 6 Sword Proficiency (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 5 Manabolt (Spell) - Apprentice, Level 5 (Variants: Spell Piercer) Vigor (Passive) – Apprentice, Level 4 Spiritual Resonance (Passive) – Apprentice, Level 3 Tempest (Spell) – Apprentice, Level 3 Wind Strike (Passive) – Apprentice, Level 2 Spellblade (Spell) – Apprentice, Level 2 (Variants: Spellcleaver) Rune Scribe (Profession) – Apprentice, level 2 Cooking (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 2 Xelian Trance (Active) - Apprentice, Level 1 Mana Manipulation (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 1 Spirit Sight (Passive) - Apprentice, Level 1 Spiritual Pact – Apprentice, Level 1

Equipped Items Skills:

Manashield (Active) – Runed Brass Bracers (Wrists) Atonement of the Errant Knight (Passive) – Zane’s Redemption (Neck) Stranger’s Guise (Active) – Mark of the Stranger (Ring)

Blinking rapidly a few times, Lilly then lowered her head and groaned into her palms. “How the hell is any of this fair?”

Bane whistled. “She’s not wrong, dude. The Guild’s showered you with enough blatant favoritism,” he grinned. “I think it’s time you started paying it forward.”

“You know that’s what I’m trying to do, right…?”

“I know,” the lycan chuckled. “But it’s still fun to tease you about it.”

“If that’s the case,” Vala said, heaving herself up and cracking her knuckles, “then how about we turn this trip into a little bit of a training session as well?”

“I’m listening…” Lilly grumbled.

“We’ll have Drake working with Bane and Mia on spells,” the taur explained, “and I’ll show you all a thing or two about close quarters and ranged combat.”

“If I may,” Drake interjected, raising his hand, “I got some of my skills by just doing stuff. Like, I got Vigor when the master made me run pretty much the entire length of a marathon in one go. And I got Cooking just from watching him do it.”

“The former makes sense,” said Lilly, tapping her fingers against her knee, “but we all just watched you cook and I didn’t get anything.”

Drake scratched his head. “Fair point. Hmm… do you also cook outside of Prism?”

“I just order in,” she grinned, cueing nods from both Bane and Vala.

“And I just eat the meals they prepare in the clinic,” said Mia.

“Then that’s probably why,” Drake noted. “Real life skills probably translate to you learning in-game skills faster. Like with me learning Xelian Meditation.”

“So,” Lilly grinned, “you don’t only waste time meditating in-game, you also do it outside?”

“Well,” he said, “options are slightly limited when you don’t really have access to regular VR. And apart from the movies and shows that Bane’s made me watch, I haven’t really seen that many.”

With the teasing apparently at an end, Drake continued. “I can also give Bane a few pointers about handling a sword,” his gaze wandering back to his Skills, as he then took Roy’s guide on runes out of his inventory. “And I’m gonna want to borrow some of your equipment, like Vala’s and Bane’s weapons.”

“Oh?” the lycan grinned, “you got something in mind?”

“Well,” said Drake, the spiral patterns on his bracers lighting up, “I do need to practice on something, right?”

“Ruin my axe and I’ll kill you,” Vala smiled, sending a shiver down his spine.

****

With Mia meditating, and Vala coaching Lilly further away, Bane leaned back against the smooth trunk of an ironwood tree. He stared at the runes that Drake had carved at the base of his short swords, doing his best to ignore the splitting headache that had started to set in.

Ruin & Claw

An extremely lightweight pair of short swords, made by the dwarven blacksmith Loke. Made out of gravisteel, the balance of these named weapons is nearly perfect.

Taking advantage of the gravisteel’s high reactivity to weight-altering enchantments and spell effects, Drake has etched a Vario rune onto the spines of the blades. By injecting your mana into them, you can greatly reduce or increase the weight of Ruin and Claw.

Vario: Reduces weapon weight by up to 90%, or increases it up to a maximum of 400% of the original weight.

-10% ~ -90% Reduction: 0.1 ~ 1 mana/sec

+10% ~ +400% Increase: 0.1 ~ 2 mana/sec

Equipment Slot:One-handed WeaponsEncumbrance:0.5

Durability:60/60Base Damage:8-10

Bane groaned, waiting for his limited mana pool to replenish itself as he closed his eyes and focused again, the image of marking the pommel of his short sword burned vividly into his mind.

When he took another look at the weapon in his hand, and noticed a faint, purple aura swirling around it. He felt the blade’s handle vibrate, akin to the feeling of forcing two magnets of the same pole next to one another.

“Ready to try again?” Drake asked, eyes glowing a vivid shade of blue.

He just nodded, afraid to lose the image in his head as he raised his hand and aimed his blade at a log. The purple aura flared, ripping the handle out of his grasp as the sword shot towards the log. With a thunk, the tip embedded itself in the hard, ashen bark.

Grunting, Bane then tried to open his palm, the deep purple aura coalescing into a single point. He pulled, the sword shaking itself out before racing towards him, pommel-first. He flinched, suppressing his urge to step out of the way as he reached out to grab the handle.

“Yes!” he heard Drake yell, as he let out a relieved sigh, staring at the sword resting snuggly in his hand.

You have learned Mark of Will (Spell)!

Mark of Will (Spell)

Rank:ApprenticeLevel:1 (1.25%)

Magic School:Darkness

You have learned how to apply a mark of darkness. This allows you to exert your will and either push against or pull towards marked objects.

Effective Range: ~10m (~33ft)

Mana Cost: 1 * Object Weight(Encumbrance)

Mark Duration: 10sec

Maximum Mark Count: 3

Base Mana Cost:10

Base Cast Time:0.1s

“Holy…” he mumbled, grinning from ear to ear. “I did it! I really did it!”

“What?” Lilly called out, hurrying towards them with Vala in tow. “What did you do?”

With the smuggest of smiles, Bane took his short sword and pushed it in Lilly’s general direction, causing her to scream as it darted past her and into a nearby tree, before pulling it back towards himself.

“Y-you ass!” she managed before a laugh burst forth. “Do it again!”

“A bit later,” Bane said, sheathing his blade. “I’m low on mana and my head’s killing me.”

“So, what’s next?” Vala asked.

“We’re not that sure,” replied Drake as he summoned the book that Grace had lent them. “Trying to figure spells out of these passages isn’t exactly the most clear-cut thing. Here, listen to this: He plunged the Seed of Chaos into darkness, blinking out of existence as he brought the maddened tyrant to his knees. I mean, you can take this at least a couple different ways.”

“What about you two?” Bane asked as he eyed Lilly’s bolter.

“Making good progress,” the taur nodded as Drake suddenly walked past them, heading towards their healer.

Stopping a few steps away from her, he spoke. “Mia, can you see me?”

With her eyes still closed, the blonde woman smiled. “I can kind of see your outline.”

“Perfect,” Drake grinned. “By the time we reach the border tomorrow, you should have it down pat.”

****

Drake sidestepped, allowing the horse-drawn cart to pass them by. He coughed and squinted, shielding himself from the dust as he stole a glance at the men, women and children huddled in the cart’s back. They didn’t seem to have any sort of luggage with them, apart from the dirty and tattered clothes they wore, whose dreary appearance was only matched by their sullen expressions and sunken eyes.

“That’s the fifth one already,” said Zeph, airing the question that was already on Drake’s mind.

“Hey, Vala, what’s up ahead?” he asked, his gaze still lingering on the ever-smaller dot behind them.

A folded piece of parchment appeared in the taur’s hand as she quickly checked the map. “By the looks of it, we’re really close to a small village named Elten. It’s pretty close to the Trorian border.”

“Then we better get a move on,” said Lilly, her attention also on the cart that had just gone by. “Unless they’re running away from something, there wouldn’t be that many carts.”

They increased their pace and, an hour later, they had arrived. A merciless, yet familiar shiver raced up Drake’s spine. Seeing the barren street, he felt the hair on his arms and neck stand on end. The fresh streaks of blood marring the wooden doors and walls around them didn’t bold well for whoever had called this place home.

Next to him, Vala summoned her shield and gestured towards him and the other three to follow. He nodded. Unsheathing his sword, Drake activated Xelian Meditation, the surrounding mana particles blooming into view. Most of the houses they had checked along the village’s main street showed no sign of being ransacked. A few things strewn across the floor, and open doors swaying in the wind.

Some, however, told a different story.

Vala knelt down next to the entrance of a house whose door had been bashed in. “Tracks,” she said, pointing towards a pair of tracks leading away and to the west. A few houses down the road, they found a similar sight. The taur stared at the half a dozen tracks converging towards the forest. “Whoever, or whatever did this wanted the stragglers alive.”

“For the most part,” said a raspy voice, coming from behind.

They all whirled around, weapons at the ready, only to see a tall, old man standing before them. Faded brown eyes stared back at them from amidst a sea of white hair, the man’s beard reaching down almost to the point where his thin, leathery fingers clutched a gnarled staff. And despite its apparent age, his long, brown robes somehow also seemed… pristine.

“Now, now,” he chuckled, his lips curling into a faint smile as he stopped to observe each of them in turn. “This old man means you no harm.”

Knitting his brow, Drake lowered the tip of his sword, but not completely. “Sneaking up on people that already have their weapons drawn isn’t the wisest of choices.” He then turned his attention towards the others and his spirit, his eyes never leaving those of the man in front of them. “Did any of you hear him coming?”

“No, boss… it’s like he just appeared out of thin air.”

“I didn’t hear anything either,” said Bane.

A resigned laugh left the old man as he spoke again. “Ah, it would seem that I’m forgetting my manners. I am Harwi, the village elder. Or rather,” he sighed, the light in his eyes wilting as they scanned the deserted street, “I was Elten’s elder.”

“Sorry to hear that,” said the taur, relaxing her stance. “The name’s Vala, leader of Solace. We’re a small adventurer’s guild, just passing through. But we decided to investigate when we saw several carts drive by from this direction, and I’m glad we did. Could you maybe tell us what happened?”

“Gnolls attacked us,” said Harwi, lowering his gaze. “I was lucky enough that they ignored my hut at the edge of town. I told them… I told them to leave! But they didn’t listen…”

“You knew the village would be attacked?” Lilly asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. “I had my concerns. You see, two of our men went out hunting. But only one of them came back a couple of days ago… He said that they were attacked by gnolls. But we’ve never seen them come this close to the village before. They always kept to themselves over by the ruins to the west… And if they bothered to venture this far out of their territory, something must have forced them to do so… That’s when I told the others to make a request to the Adventurer’s Hall, to have them check it out. However, they chose to not heed my advice.”

“But what about your guards?” Bane asked. “How many gnolls were there?”

“Elten is a small village,” Harwi sighed. “Just a few men can’t really do much against a horde of gnolls. Just the ones that I saw from a distance numbered over two dozen at the least. Please, adventurers, I know that this is none of your business… we can’t even pay you for the trouble. But could you please try to save those that were taken?”

Shadows of the Eight

Following a gnoll attack, some of the villagers of Elten have been abducted.

Venture into the western ruins, clear out the den of gnolls and ascertain the fate of the captured villagers.

Quest Difficulty: B

Do you accept this quest?

YESNO

Taking a step back, Vala looked at each of them in turn. As she met their gazes, Drake and the others nodded. “Alright,” she said, facing the old man, “we accept your request. We’ll do our best to try and find your people.”

“Thank you,” he said through raspy breaths as he clutched and leaned on his staff. “But do be careful… those abominations have already claimed enough lives. And the ruins stretch on for miles underneath the surface.”

Smiling, Mia approached Harwi, gently patting his shoulder. “Don’t worry about us,” she said. A warm, yellow aura enveloped the healer’s hand for a moment. “We’ll be fine.”

The light faded and the old man sighed, an inkling of relief washing over his face. His breath steadying itself as the bags beneath his eyes faded slightly. “Thank you, miss,” he said, bowing his head. “Thank you all…”

With that, they took their leave, putting the village behind them as they headed west, into the forest. The further they travelled into the Ironsea, the taller the blue-leafed trees loomed above them, blotting everything out until little more than a pale shadow remained of the bright, midday light.

A couple of hours later, they stopped to check their map again when a deep, guttural chortle reverberated throughout the woods. They all tensed, scrambling to hide as Drake and Vala peeked out from behind the cover of a massive, ironwood tree. After a few moments, the sound’s origin became apparent: two hunched, hyena-like humanoids with dusky, spotted fur shambled into view.

Short, stubby muzzles parted as they snickered and snarled at one another, revealing rows of sharp, stained fangs. With their scent carried eastward by the wind, the gnolls walked right past them, dragging crude, blood-stained clubs behind them.

Keeping their distance, Vala gestured for the others to follow. And after half an hour, they reached the lip of a small valley, overlooking what seemed to be the overgrown ruins of a small, ancient city. From up there, they watched as the two gnolls entered the city, disappearing inside of a collapsed temple at the very edge of the city.

They made their way down, with Drake and Zeph constantly on the lookout for more gnolls as they approached the temple’s cracked archway. While the topside was completely inaccessible, with cracked and shattered columns littering the dusty, marble stairs, one of the side entrances was still in good shape.

Their steps echoed throughout the torchlit tunnel that they found themselves in, stopping as a system notification broke the relative silence surrounding them.

You have entered the hidden dungeon The Elemental Sanctum.

“Alright,” said Vala, her hushed tone barely carrying over, “let’s do this.”