Dave

Fallen Jungle

57th of Cycle 2, 1015

My legs were on the verge of giving out when we arrived at a large rock formation. The gremlin reached into its pouch and retrieved a short stick adorned with vibrant jewels and golden bells. It made jingling noises as it moved side to side, and a part of the rock formation faded away, revealing a dark cave.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” I asked.

The gremlin snorted derisively, then motioned for me to enter the cave.

“Well, fuck you too, Grey.” The gremlin gave me a confused look. “That’s what I’m gonna call you from now on. Gremlin bastard might be more fitting, but it's a mouthful.” Grey didn’t seem to care too much, so I walked into the cave and stopped abruptly when a rancid stench washed over my face. Grey jingled his staff around again, and a ball of light illuminated the space, revealing about a dozen gremlins hiding behind rocks within the cavern.

The smell didn’t seem to bother Grey too much, and he made a few “Kii” noises to his fellow gremlins. I set down the horse on my back, and his goblin friends started inspecting me with utmost scrutiny.

After a short and uneventful inspection, Grey shook his staff, and a sequence of illusions appeared in front of me.

It depicted a group of people taking shelter in a castle on a rainy day and shrinking in size as they slept. Then, the illusion shifted to a man carrying a horse on his back with the sun shining brightly behind him. Finally, it displayed the group growing back to their original sizes and praising the man for his wonderful services.

I feel like this slideshow is missing a very important step.

Grey gave me an expectant look. “What?” I asked. “You can’t seriously expect me to just wave my hands around and save your tribe, can you?”

Grey shook his head, pulled a suspicious ring out of his sack, and started chanting. His chant consisted of high and low pitched “Kii” noises, and after a few seconds, the ring glowed bright orange. When he handed it to me, a message popped up.

NOTICE

Placing this ring onto your finger will activate the quest ‘Cursed.’ Would you like to view the details?

How did that even work? The only quest I’d ever received was given to me by a god, so why could a gremlin give me one?

I decided there was no harm in checking the description. “Yes.”

Quest: Cursed - A curse emanates from a desolate castle. Find the cause of the curse and lift it.

Rewards: Curse of the Fallen(Unique).

“That’s a hell of a lot of details you’re giving me, Mr. Screen. Are you sure you want to give away that much of the quest?”

Was that sarcasm, scout?

“Maybe,” I said as I focused on the skill.

Curse of the Fallen(Unique)

The Fallen were angels who descended upon this world and wreaked havoc for centuries. While they are mostly extinct now, many still use their deadly curses to crush their enemy’s spirits.

Attack the very soul of your target, disorienting them, and crippling their mobility.

Targets that are affected by the curse take 50% increased damage from all sources.

Duration: Ten minutes.

Cooldown: One day.

That seemed like it would be insanely useful, especially against the silver panther, but the quest itself was ridiculous. The skill wouldn't be of any use to me if I ended up as a gremlin too.

“I don’t think I can help you, sorry.” I tried to hand the ring back to Grey, but in response, he snapped his fingers. A couple of gremlins dragged a white sack to me and opened it, revealing a set of light black hunting gear. “The reward isn’t the issue, Grey. The problem is that I have no leads on how to lift your curse.”

Grey waved his staff, and another illusion appeared. This time, it depicted me having an epic battle in a castle against some obscure being on a horse.

“Okay, I guess I know how to lift your curse now, but I don’t think I can beat whatever is riding that horse.” Grey got onto his knees and begged me like he did earlier today, but I wasn’t going to let my conscience get me any further into trouble.

I turned around to leave the cave and heard a few sad “Kii” noises resound from behind me. I felt a little guilty but didn’t have any plans to go back on my decision.

As I took the first step out of the cave, I stopped.

If I ran away from this, how would I ever manage to kill the silver panther? Highly trained elves were terrified of its existence, and I couldn’t hope to reach their level by being a coward. This quest was my one and only chance to gain a powerful single-target skill like that.

I steeled my nerves and turned back into the cave to the surprise and joy of Grey and his gremlin gang.

“Don’t get your hopes up yet, you creepy bastards.” I turned to Grey. “I don’t know what you expect from me, but I’ll agree to try and help you under one condition.”

He motioned for me to continue. “I need training before I can even hope to face whatever monster was in that illusion, so I want you to train me. I don’t think a random group of travelers would end up in this jungle, so you at least have to have some idea of how to fight.”

He tilted his head at me as if he was expecting a far greater demand, so I took the opportunity to add another condition. “That thing you do with your staff, that’s magic, right?” He nodded. “Can I learn it?”

Grey scratched his chin before giving me an uncertain “Kii.”

The possibility of learning magic was all I needed to finalize my decision, and I snatched the ring back from his hand. I felt a shock permeate throughout my body as I slipped it onto my finger.

NOTICE

Quest ‘Cursed’ has been accepted. Would you like to view the details again?

“No.”

Happy hunting, scout.

A grin crept its way onto my face. “Thank you.”