After resting up for a bit, I took stock of the situation. Judging by the fact that I didn’t seem to get any loot or experience from anything I’d killed yet, I didn’t think anything in the tutorial had drops. Maybe the boss would, but upgrading my gear before then was a no-go other than opportunities the quest itself presented me. Armor would have been a godsend, but I’d have to do without. Other than that, I’d taken care of three Demons, so another ten remained. I was pretty sure they’d all be split into patrols of two each, but I wasn’t sure if they’d have the same split of one Succubus and one Devil.

I picked up the dagger I’d thrown before heading in the direction of their camp. Maybe I’d find something there that could direct me to them, or maybe I’d just have to wait for them to come back to camp and ambush them one at a time. Either way, the camp was the only option I had that didn’t involve mindlessly wandering the forest and hoping I got the jump on them rather than the other way around. I preferred the strategy that left me with the initiative, so camp it was.

I took it slowly, both because I was cautious of running into other patrols and because I felt it was a good idea to practice moving stealthily. That last fight taught me that I couldn’t just rely on my skills for stealth. I had to use every tool at my disposal, including basic techniques like moving quietly and concealing myself. It would probably be a different case entirely once I got out of this damned tutorial and started raiding dungeons, but there would likely be similar quests in the future.

Eventually, I made it back to their camp. It looked the same as the last time I was here, but I was more thorough in my search. I wasn’t as limited for time as my first ‘visit’. Still, my exploration of the tents came up just as empty-handed as before, so I ultimately came back to the chest. As if reading my thoughts, the system killed my hopes and dreams. The armor that I’d hidden with before was missing. I really wish I’d grabbed it back then, but I’d been in a bit of a rush. Cut me some slack.

There was something else in the chest, though. Rolled up at the bottom, likely covered by the armor previously, was a roll of old parchment. I tried not to get my hopes up, since the lack of armor made me feel like the game was removing things as I thought of them just to mess with me. Not that my thought process made much sense, considering my plans had ultimately worked out so far. Regardless, I unrolled the parchment with intentionally low expectations. It looked like a map of the forest, with a few locations marked with red dots and loops.

Quest Updated – Escape!

You’ve located a map of the area kept by the Demons. On it, they’ve marked the locations of the Demonic Watchers with red dots and mapped out their patrol routes. This should prove very useful in carrying out Methuselah’s vengeance.

Quest Objectives:

-Kill the Heart of the Forest.

-OPTIONAL: Use your mini-map to locate and kill all Demons in the area (3/13).

-Quest failed upon death.

Mini-map? What was-… oh. The instant I thought about it, a radar appeared in the upper-right corner of my vision. I guess I should have expected that by now, but I was a bit distracted. I guess it’s not like it was necessary before since the life energy had shown me where I was headed up until quite recently. It could have been useful for marking the Demonic Watchers, but just glancing at the map in front of me had apparently marked my mini-map with all of the relevant information. The Demonic Watchers were probably a moot point with the Succubus dead, but the patrol routes were definitely helpful.

Following my mini-map, I made my way to the closest patrol route marked, making sure to be cautious as I approached. The map hadn’t displayed the direction they would traverse the loop, so I figured the best decision would be to sit and wait. That probably matched my skillset better, anyway, so I got comfortable up in another tree. I was really starting to make a habit of that.

About five minutes later, the patrol approached my current location. This patrol consisted of two Devils, but only one of them wore plate armor. The other wore leather armor and had a bow strapped to his back. I let them pass as I considered my options for an ambush. I could try the same strategy I’d used against the previous patrol, but without the spell providing a distraction, I didn’t think I could kill the first Devil before I got double-teamed. On the other hand, maybe I could plan an ambush somewhere the Ranger couldn’t get a clear shot at me, then take out the Knight, hopefully without nearly dying like my past two attempts.

I got down from my tree and slowly followed them, ensuring I wouldn’t run into them in my search. I assessed the terrain around me as I walked, searching for the part of the route that was densest with trees. I made a full loop of their route before I decided on a spot, and by god was I getting impatient. I had to fight down that impulse, however, and maybe the memory of the pain of the previous fights helped with that. I needed to plan my fights out carefully until I got better gear, especially as a Rogue.

Since I knew their exact route, I was able to perfectly place the location of my ambush, climbing another tree and lying in wait. After a few more minutes, my new targets approached. Tensing with anticipation, I waited until the Knight was just under my branch before throwing a rock into the distance, hoping to distract the Ranger. At the same time, I dropped down behind the Knight and stabbed him in the neck. Twisting Fangs!

Landing must have made more noise than I’d hoped, since the Ranger immediately turned around and looked at me, so I ran. The Knight followed me quickly, but the Ranger had to line up a clear shot before he could come to his ally’s aid. I dodged the Knight’s first swing easily, since he’d tried to hit me while barely in range, and swiped at him a few times in quick succession. I wanted to get my Poison stacks ticking as soon as possible. As soon as it looked like the Ranger had a clear shot, I hit the Knight with a Kidney Shot to keep him in place and positioned him between the Ranger and myself.

After two seconds, the Stun ended, and I ran away again. I needed to keep moving to stop it from devolving into a straight-up 1v2. While I ran, the Knight’s health slowly ticked down from my debuffs. By the time my Bleed and Poison had run out, he only had 5% of his health remaining. The Demon knew no fear, though, and kept chasing me, right up until my dagger punched into his chest. I’d quickly turned past a tree before stabbing at him again. I activated Shadowmeld, blending into the darkness before the Ranger even saw his compatriot go down.

The instant the other Devil turned the corner and saw the Knight’s vanishing body, I struck. My Twisting Fangs plunged right into his back before he could react. I got another swipe in before he brought his bow back up. I dashed behind a tree to block his line of sight, but he didn’t follow me. Peeking back at him, I saw his arrow lighting up with a pale-yellow glow as he charged a skill. Oh shit!

I dove away from the tree as the arrow punched straight through the tree trunk, passing through where I’d been moments before. I got to my feet as the Ranger drew a short sword and approached melee range. I guess his attack pattern changed once I killed his buddy. Kidney Shot still had ten seconds left before it came off cooldown, and the Ranger still had 60% of his health remaining. I could probably take him on, but I really didn’t want to get stabbed again. Even if it was just a game, that shit hurt!

I tried to run, hoping to buy time for my cooldowns, but the Ranger was faster than the Knight, instantly catching up to me. He swung his short sword at me, and I ducked behind a nearby tree to avoid it. His sword got stuck in the bark, so I hit it to try to lodge it deeper into the wood.

Racial Skill Unlocked!

Barkshaping

Channeled – No Cost – No Cooldown

Commune with a nearby tree to make it adjust its bark to your will. Allows you to change bark you are touching into a variety of shapes.

Without even reading past the name of the skill, I willed the bark to cover his weapon, locking it in place. When he noticed, he gave up on pulling it out and brought his bow back out, but it was too late. I was on him instantly, stabbing him before he could get a firm grip. Before long, he too fell to the forest floor.

***

I sat down to rest. Even with a pretty thorough strategy, eliminating all thirteen Demons had taken a lot out of me. Hopefully, it had been worth it. As I thought so, Methuselah’s Core began trembling in my hands. Slowly, the wood darkened, growing hard, and a serrated edge appeared on the blade. Simultaneously, another window popped up to show me the changes to its stats.

Methuselah’s Core

Rarity: Growth

Type: Dagger

Damage: 10-20

+10 Agility

+6 Strength

+10% Damage to Demonic foes

15% chance to apply a Bleeding debuff to foe for 5 seconds on hit.

The Treant Methuselah offered his core to you to help you accomplish the task he passed on to you. After helping him accomplish his vengeance, you’ve revealed its true potential.

Cannot be traded.

The quest update this time was short.

Quest Updated – Escape!

With the Demons all dead, killing the Heart of the Forest is the only task that remains.

Quest Objectives:

-Kill the Heart of the Forest.

-Quest failed upon death.