And it arrives from my proofreader. :D

Also people, don't hate :).

They did not exactly find the grove as much as spotted it from afar. In fact, they would not have seen it at all had it not been for the archer’s sharp eyesight. On the eleventh day, while navigating one of the tributaries leading to the main stream, they chanced upon a non-descript dirt path leading up off into the side. Thinking that it could possibly lead them back to a trail of sorts, Beast wasted no time in embarking on the path despite its steep incline and being covered with untrodden dust.

They realized their mistake a tad too late when they found themselves entering a rock clearing full of stone obelisks and ledges, all of which were topped by a mess of twigs and dried leaves.

Beast froze, as did Aveye.

The brown feathers strewn about on the ground, and the white of egg shells occasionally littered in between held only a single conclusion.

A harpy nest.

And yet, they had not been attacked at the slightest. It was out of the ordinary given the harpies’ territorial nature, unless the harpies in Ages Online are different from the games he played before.

Beast fished out the ecology book he had borrowed from Rydelin’s Library.

[Ecology of Splinter Mountains]

Page 32

The Harpies and the Matriarch

One of the most ferocious creatures that inhabit the Splinter Mountain range is the half-man-half-bird brown feathered harpy. They travel in packs and attack creatures weaker or smaller than itself for sustenance. Their sharp claws and beak form part of their arsenal of weapons against their enemies and the more intelligent of them, the Harpy Magus, are reported to be able to cast wind magic with relative ease.

The harpy is also very territorial, behaving aggressively against any potential threats towards its nest and young. A typical harpy colony can contain up to as many as fifty nests, and they all attack in tandem at anyone who encroaches on their land.

It is worthy to note that a harpy colony may also be large or old enough to be ruled by a Harpy Matriarch but this phenomenon is extremely rare. Twice the size of a normal harpy, it is well-versed in advanced wind magic, proving it to be a very dangerous foe. One can also identify the Harpy Matriarch by the Matriarch feather on the crown of her head or by the golden egg that it lays to birth the next queen.

Legends speak of the Harpy Matriarch as the familiar of the wind goddess Aptenia who had participated in the fabled war of the gods in its mistress’s name. As part of its reward, the goddess bequeathed it the mountains to rule, causing mountains where there are sightings of matriarches to be worshipped by those devoted to the goddess. Regardless, it is recommended that one refrain from entering or attacking any harpy nests for their own safety.

Useless. The book did affirm the territorial nature of the harpies, but provided nothing as to an explanation for their current situation. By all means, they should have been set upon by the harpies way before they entered, but this colony was eerily empty.

Beast could feel his curiosity peaking.

“I am going to check it out.” He whispered to Aveye.

“You serious? This is a nest!” The archer hissed back. “You are suicidal.”

“If anything happen, just run. I will be right behind you.”

Stepping on the feathers and eggshells, Beast cautiously toured around the area. It was then that several things became clear. The changing weathers in the mountains may have erased them partially but the signs of battle were strikingly obvious. Collapsed pillars, boulders scarred by wind magic; all the eggs in the nests have been broken, spewing sticky yellow stuff into the twigs and giving off the smell of something rotten.

Somebody had trashed the place and in the process, wiped out all of the harpies in the colony. Whichever party that did so must have been pretty skilled.

“All clear!” He hollered back to the waiting archer.

In that instance, something caught Beast’s eye. A tiny glint of gold shone under the afternoon sun, prompting his path towards one of the biggest nest that was situated right at the part of the cliff that leads to open air. There, in the middle, he found the smashed remains of what used to be a golden egg and was immediately reminded of the passage in the book.

A matriarch.

“Wow.” He unconsciously breathed.

Whoever wrecked the place also killed a Harpy Matriarch. He had to give this party more credit than he had originally. Could it have been Lortan and his gang? Had they came down to the valley? Are they even good enough to accomplish such a feat?

While Beast pondered, Aveye had joined him and was looking out into the distance at the view from the edge of the nest. A sharp cry soon interrupted his train of thoughts.

“Beast, look.” Her finger pointed towards one of the spindly peaks of Splinter Mountains, attracting his attention. “Over there.”

“Where?” Beast blinked to clear his vision, finally seeing what Aveye saw; a cluster of what resembled trees proudly standing atop a ridge. The major difference between those trees and the ones in the valley is that those appeared to be so much taller, such that it could be seen from a great distance.

Beast flipped the book in his hands. He had read about something like this before.

[Ecology of Splinter Mountains]

Page 75

Forests of Splinter Mountains

The Splinter Mountains is mainly home to the Pinaceae tree family. They are usually found at the slopes of the mountain range and along some of the established trails in moderate density. Some can be sparsely scattered at the valley, a result of cone distribution by various dispersal methods. Brambles and vines form the undergrowth of the forest layer, but these are admittedly rifer at the valleys in between the mountain peaks.

Rarely, people have reported the presence of towering large trees known as sequoias within the mountain range. These coniferous trees known as redwoods can grow up to as much as a hundred meters tall and ten meters wide and are some of the oldest trees within the mountain. Due to their nature, items made from them are rumored to have powerful earthen properties.

While it is possible that sequoias exist within the Splinter Mountains, such claims are still contested within much of the geological communities of Agaia mainly because of the difficulty in collecting substantial samples and eyewitnesses’ accounts from the hostile terrain. For now, experts at the Cartographic Landers have called it the Marisa Grove of Grand Sequoias after a famous character known for her curiosity.

“Marisa Grove of Grand Sequoias.” He muttered under his breath.

The name is a mouthful but it is most probably modelled after a real place.

It also sounds like an awesome place to visit. If the book is correct about the earthen properties, he would definitely want some of that wood for his own use.

Beast briefly wondered if Lortan and his guild had already reached the grove and solved its mysteries. No, considering how he had taken the journal with him, they had no clue that they were supposed to look out for the grove specifically. Even then, they might not even make the connection between the morning snow and the source spring.

Good, there is still hope for the quest.

“Let’s go. This place is dead.”

And they left the desolated colony behind.

The journey to the grove was not easy. First, they had to hike back down to the main stream and then up another tributary that leads towards the grove’s general direction. After all, it lays hundreds of meters above in elevation that only became apparent as the duo drew closer to the ridge. Thankfully, the dried tributary they were following contained plenty of footholds for them to slowly make their way towards their goal.

That was until the path ended with a vertical cliff face with a small pool of clear water at its feet. There appeared to be no way around.

“A dead end?” Aveye huffed, not used to the intensity of exercise within the short period of an hour.

“No…” Beast held out his hand to touch the cliff and was rewarded with the feel of damp soil. “This was a waterfall. The path continues above us.”

He raised his head towards the cliff ledge and gauged it to be about twenty meters high. That would translate to an approximately five-story building they had to scale. Add on the fact that it was not exactly vertical but concave inwards due to the erosion of soil by water, it was a tricky feat.

But not impossible.

Aveye must have noticed the glint in Beast’s eyes.

“Are we going to climb this?”

Beast shot her a look that said the obvious.

“Don’t worry, I will head up first and drop a vine or something.”

Grabbing a foothold on the side, Beast kicked himself up and began to ascend. A rock outcropping here, a ledge there, he quickly found himself midway to the top.

Ding!

You have received a new skill: Climb!

Climb (Basic 1)

Increase wall climb speed by 1%

“See it isn’t that ba-“

Kek!

The rock hold he was grabbing on detached itself from the cliff face and the subsequent loss of grip flung Beast backwards into empty space.

Crap.

Splash!

Water assaulted Beast’s mouth and nose, threatening to rush in to fill his lungs. Gathering his wits about him in a second, Beast righted himself and propelled himself up, emerging from the small pool.

“You alright?”

Beast coughed. “Yea, the water broke the fall somewhat.”

“Which means that I can keep trying until I get it.”

The second attempt progressed much faster, until the same point which had caused Beast to fall earlier. There, he took more time in charting out his path and testing the footholds for stability, but unbeknownst to him it was at the cost of his stamina. The toll on his strength became significant when he had progressed up to two-thirds of the way only to find that he could not pull himself upwards.

Splash!

Similarly, the inclined part of the wall proved to be difficult to overcome due to the need for constant arm and grip power. It was always at that last part before the end that he fails, having lost his strength due to previous exertions.

Splash!

He slipped on one of the rocks.

Splash!

Not enough reach.

Splash!

Just like that, Beast continued to try again and again, each time climbing faster and smarter, until he eventually hoisted himself over the ledge and his climbing skill reached Basic 4. Standing up on his weakened legs, Beast took the time to bask in his victorious conquest of the wall. He never felt so empowered before, and with the sunlight shining down upon him like a spotlight of attention, he felt that he could take on the world.

It was a nice feeling.

Surveying the area for something long and usable, Beast severed a nearby vine using Blatta and wrapped it around his waist. He lowered the other end down for Aveye at the bottom.

“Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Hold tight!”

Beast pulled. A sharp pain flared in his back at the unexpected strain.

“Goddamnit woman, you are really heavy.”

“Excuse me?” An indignant voice came from below. “I follow a strict diet okay?”

“Whatever diet it is, it didn’t work!” Instead of him pulling the archer up, Beast felt as though Aveye was dragging him down instead. If he fell over, he would have to climb back up all over again. Gritting his teeth, Beast dug down and began the painful process of pulling the archer up. It was after a while that he successfully hauled Aveye over the ledge before collapsing into an exhausted wreck.

“Umm, Beast?”

“Not now. I need to catch my breath.”

“A b-bear.”

“A what?” Beast swiveled to where Aveye had pointed, and was promptly greeted by a 2 meter tall grizzly bear at their front. A level 82 label above its head tagged its name as Brown Grizzly, who probably wandered close after hearing the commotion by the waterfall. “Oh crap.”

Every bit as imposing as its real life counterpart, the only saving grace was that the grizzly did not appear to be hostile, yet. It was eyeing them curiously, as though deciding whether they are food or otherwise until finally settling on a decision in its ursine mind.

It barred its fangs.

If that is how it wanted to go down, it was fine by him. Beast flourished his weapons in response. Blatta in one hand and Burfrest in another, he was not about to back down from this fight, even if he had undergone much physical exertion earlier.

Breaking into a charge, Beast lunged towards the grizzly bear in a stabbing maneuver. A bear is large and heavy and thus slow, or so he had thought. Shock wrote itself on Beast’s face when the bear suddenly jumped out of the way in a dexterity he had thought impossible, but not for long. It was complete with a swatting motion that slammed on the back of Beast’s head as the grizzly mauled him onto the dirt floor.

-655HP

You are disorientated!

Beast recovered his bearings just in time to roll out of the way as the bear went for a stomp on where he was lying moments prior. In retaliation, he slashed wildly with his weapons, lacerating its leg and drawing whimpers of pain from the beast. Whines turned to furious growls soon enough. Now fully angry at the pesky human before him, it reared up to its full height and looked to pounce on Beast had something else not happened first.

Double arrows lodged themselves into the bear’s chest, drawing blood and momentarily its attention. Grabbing that opportunity to scramble back onto his feet, Beast flashed Aveye a thumbs up, only to see the bear get down on all fours facing the archer.

Then it charged.

“Use your strongest attack now!”

“V-Vulcan arrow!”

In a rapid-fire motion, Aveye nocked and released projectile after projectile towards the incoming ursa. Despite the latter’s constant pelting of arrows and inflicting what seemed like heavy damage, the lumbering bear did not appear to be slowing down at all.

“Prime: Bloodline aura!” Even with his aura-enhanced speed, it was still not enough for him to outrun the bear to reach the archer in time. Aveye had nowhere to dodge but off the edge. At this rate, she would be slammed back down below and he was not about to haul her heavy ass up again.

So Beast made a gamble; He aimed and threw Blatta.

The audible sounds of air being cut echoed in Beast’s ears. Within the span of an instance, the knife covered the distance and impaled itself on the bear’s hind leg. As its balance was disrupted by the sudden excruciating pain, it swerved off its original path and down the cliff’s edge in its unstoppable momentum, missing Aveye by a hair’s breadth.

A second later, a heavy thud resounded, signaling the end of the encounter.

Your Throwing Mastery skill has increased to Intermediate 1!

+10% to weapon base damage when throwing equipped item.

Dexterity +5

You have leveled up!

Beast collapsed onto the ground as the adrenaline washed out of his system. Having spent all of his energy in the climb and the subsequent fight, all he wanted was to lie down, even as he had much to do - namely, retrieving Blatta from the bear’s carcass. If only he had a skill that automatically returns items into his hands, he would gladly pay money for that.

“Hey,” It was Aveye. “Um…Thank you.”

“Not a problem. Just let me rest for a while.”

“If there is anything I could do to help, just let me know.”

Beast eyed the archer, an idea popping into his head.

“I do have something you can do.”

…………

Getting down was faster than expected, having Aveye lower him using a vine instead of scaling the cliff face again.

“Don’t move away okay? I will signal for you to pull me up!”

“This,” Aveye’s distant voice sounded out of breath “is crazy.”

Ignoring the archer in favor of searching for his dagger, Beast went around the pool. The dead animal was easy enough to sight, having hit the ground off to the side of the pool. That lunge off the edge head first probably did nothing to protect its cranium against the hard landing but Beast was more interested in the wound on its hind leg.

Blatta was not there.

Beast’s heart skipped a beat. He blinked and looked again, but the wound remained as it was, bloody, and blade-less.

It could have dropped nearby.

He scanned the surroundings.

It must have dropped somewhere.

He searched the surroundings again to no avail.

It was simply gone.

Gone.

Did his throwing skill consume the weapon?

After all that effort and resources spent on the dagger, he will be damned if it did. Beast was pretty sure that the throwing system in Ages Online does not work that way. Multiple times in the past, he could pick up his spears to use them again. This should not be any different, much less the fact that Blatta should have been more durable than those spears.

So why is it not here?

“Are you done yet?” Aveye’s voice came again.

Beast disregarded her.

Had he been late in retrieving it? The carcass usually disappears after a while, taking everything with it. Therefore, Blatta might have…

No, the carcass is still here.

He did not know when he had left the body of the bear and walked back towards the cliff face. He did not even seemed to realize that he had grabbed the vine and tugged. The improvised rope becomes taut and Beast pulled himself upwards, all the while in a blank stupor.

Had he not thrown his dagger in an attempt to save the archer’s life, nothing like this would have happened. On hindsight, why had he done that?

This is a game; she could always respawn again.

But there will only be one Blatta.

“Did you find it?”

“No.” It came out harsh, for he saw her shrink back as though pricked by the sudden hostility.

But she deserved it, doesn’t she? After all he had done for her, she could take it. How dare she act like the victim?

It is all her fault.

Yes, this is all her fault.

Her fault.

No.

Stop. Don’t overthink.

Or it will only be like last time.

Beast shook his head. He had almost descended into a spiral of dark thoughts.

Putting on a forced smile, Beast shrugged in a failing attempt to appear nonchalant. “It wasn’t on the body.”

“I…” Aveye looked stunned, realizing the implication of the sentence as well as the reason for the sudden change in attitude all at once. “I’m sorry. If I had died instead, then you wouldn’t have lost…”

Silence answered her faltering voice as Beast plodded past like a cold wash of rain. A couple of steps later, he stopped and spoke in a dead tone that cut off Aveye’s apology.

“It is okay. I chose to throw it to save you. And I never ever regret what I have done.” A finality in his tone told Aveye to drop the matter. Anymore and the dam might burst open in a torrent that could not be reined in.

The remaining journey to the Marisa Grove of Grand Sequoia was made in a somber mood.