Chapter 138: Tuugal

Not far from the acidic river, Aegis had set up a small stone altar beside the statue of the strange creature that they’d recovered from the water. His party had cleared out a small area around them of moss, constructing a campfire to keep Snowflake and Darkwing warm in the cold underrealm air.

Atop his stone altar, which was more or less just a large stone with a flat top, he’d neatly laid out a collection of flowers, herbs, and fungi that he’d managed to collect from the surrounding ecosystem over the previous hour he’d spent seeking them out.

“So, any clue which ones can be used to cure petrification?” Pyri asked as she looked over Aegis' shoulder. He was staring down intently at the rows of alchemy ingredients.

“Each has a unique property, when I mix them with others, they bring out varying effects. Some mixtures produce nothing. There’s no limit in the amount I can add, or other ingredients, but a lot of it just negates the power of the elixirs.” Aegis explained.

“So you could even just throw in the Soilstone? Or the poison glands?” Darkshot asked as he moved to stand on the other side of Aegis and looked over his shoulder as well.

“Hm.” Aegis replied, quickly going into his interface and plopping down a Mosstrapper Poison gland alongside the other ingredients. He then added a chunk of the Fisher meat. The moment he plopped down the Fisher meat, Snowflake began licking his beak and walking forward towards it, though. “Nope, not for eating.” Aegis commanded the hungry looking gryphon, much to his disappointment.

“This could take awhile…” Aegis said as he took out a mortar and pestle, a few vials and various other mixing utensils, placing them nearest to him on the flat rock before dropping to his knees to prepare to work. “Not the most ideal environment, but… here goes nothing.”

“I’ll try to find more ingredients for you to work with.” Lina said as Aegis got started.

“Ok, but, be careful.” Aegis said with concern.

“I will, don’t worry. I’m sneaky!” She replied with an excited smile, and a moment later she shadowstepped away from the party.

“I’ll keep practicing with the echo.” Rakkan shrugged as he summoned his two copies and started making them fight each other.

“Guess I should work on my multishot control.” Darkshot joined in as Pyri watched the two boys begin practicing. “You don’t need to practice controlling your spells, Pyri?” He asked curiously, turning to see her watching Aegis.

“Oh, me? Uhm… Sure, I guess I should practice controlling them too.” Pyri replied awkwardly. “Four cinderbolts is really hard to control, after all.” She nodded at him as she began snapping her cinderbolts into existence. Darkshot continued to watch her move them around for a bit.

“Just a tip, you can control them just by bending your finger joints. Look,” Darkshot stepped to Pyri and shot an arrow past her, then demonstrated himself wiggling his fingers to redirect it repeatedly, so that it flew in circles around them. “See? Pretty cool, right?” Darkshot smiled proudly at her.

“Yup, that is really cool.” Pyri forced a smile. “I’ll try that.” She added as she forcefully imitated his movements and shifted her cinderbolts around herself. Darkshot continued to watch her a bit before giving her a nod of approval, then went back to practicing his own spell control.

Two hours of work went into creating a series of mixtures in vials that Aegis set down before him on the flat stone. He hadn’t run out of ingredients, as Lina had repeatedly returned with some that she’d gathered as she shadowstepped around the cavern. But he was running out of ideas and possible combinations.

“Man.” Aegis sighed in frustration as he leaned back, getting the others' attention. They all stopped what they were doing to walk over and see Aegis had three filled vials in front of him. One was filled with red liquid, one clear, and one green.

“How’s it going?” Pyri asked.

“This, it’s a variation of a healing potion. Not very strong, but I think if I mix it with a basic healing potion recipe, it’ll become really potent. Right now it just heals 250 health.” Aegis tapped the red vial to add it to his inventory.

“This one…” Aegis tapped the green vial.

“It’s poison, right?” Darkshot said as he looked at it.

“No, it improves crop yields if you mix it with soil and spread it on a field or garden.” Aegis sighed as he tapped it and added it to his inventory.

“And what’s the clear one?” Rakkan asked.

“That one is poison. Only works if you ingest it though, no good for weapon coating.” Aegis tapped it and added it to his inventory as well. “It doesn’t do enough damage yet to bother with using, but I’m pretty sure I can add other ingredients to improve its potency.” He said as he leaned back, and just then Lina arrived with a few more mushrooms and herbs, setting them on the stone for Aegis.

“I got these ones. Running out of things to gather nearby, though.” Lina said as she set them down. “How’s it going?” She asked, seeing the frustrated look on Aegis’ face.

“None of this stuff works to get rid of petrification. But the way this game works, it always has the solution nearby, right?” Aegis asked, looking between the others, and got a few shrugs. As he was looking up at them, his eyes caught a glimpse of a snail in the process of dropping down from the cavern roof onto the top of one of the large yellow glowing mushrooms.

“Ahah!” He suddenly shouted as he pointed up at the snail. “We didn’t try them.” Aegis motioned up to the snail excitedly.

“The snails? You mean we need to kill one?” Pyri asked with a sad face.

“No.” Aegis replied, but paused. “Well, maybe, but first.” Aegis pointed more towards the yellow glowing mushroom it was landing on. “Look, the Fishers are only hiding in the undersides of the mushrooms with yellow glows.” Aegis pointed out that there was indeed a Fisher hiding in the underside of the very mushroom that the Snail had dropped down onto.

“So?” Darkshot replied confused.

“Everything that Fisher touched with its stingers turned to stone. My shield, my shoes, the moss, and presumably this guy.” Aegis motioned to the petrified statue beside the campfire. “But, they sit up in that mushroom all day, and it never turns to stone. Also, the snails have stone shells, and they only want to eat that mushroom. The key has got to be that big yellow mushroom.” Aegis declared as he started walking around and casting bless on everyone, giving them a good idea of what he was planning.

“Aura of beauty.” He cast, erupting in a burst of light as he walked barefoot towards the nearest yellow mushroom stalk. “Come on, let's kill that Fisher so I can chop it down.” Aegis said, and the others followed behind him, drawing out their weapons.

It took a few minutes of work, but now that Aegis had a sense of how they attacked, he was able to avoid getting struck by the Fisher while keeping its attention using challenging roars. Once it died and fell to the cavern floor, he used creature harvesting and tossed some of the meat to Snowflake before pulling out his iron axe, and got to work on chopping the stalk of the yellow mushroom.

“Just be careful, I’ve never really chopped a mushroom before. Don’t let it fall on you.” Aegis called to the others, prompting them all to back away as he took a few swings at the thick stalk of the mushroom. It was a lot thicker and harder to cut through than he was expecting, but after 30 or so chops, its structural integrity gave way and it began to teeter, much to the dismay of the snail snacking on top of it.

From there, it tilted to the side and crashed down onto the cavern floor, sending up the green mist and fog alongside puffs of dust. The top of mushroom broke apart into spongy slices as it impacted, sending the snail atop it rolling away as it quickly retreated its slug body into its shell.

“Oh, spores!” Aegis excitedly pulled out a bottle and ran towards the settling mist that had exploded out of the broken mushroom fragments, mixing in with the everpresent green mist of the forest. He took a swipe at the air with the bottle open, attempting to capture some of the spores inside. Once was sure he had some, he sealed the bottle.

“What do you need spores for?” Darkshot asked.

“Aren’t those dangerous? You shouldn’t breathe them in.” Pyri commented. She, as well as the rest of Aegis’ party and Snowflake were sure to stand far back from the dusty, misty cloud as it settled around the point of impact.

“It’ll be fine. If this really is the cure to petrification, we’ll want some spores so we can grow them ourselves.” Aegis explained as he put the bottle in his inventory. “I think this stalk can be used as a tier 2 wood material. Kinda cool. That means it's possible to build mushroom houses.” Aegis said as he looked at the stalk he’d chopped curiously.

“Building a house out of fungus?” Darkshot stared at Aegis disapprovingly.

“I’m not saying it’s a good idea, just, it’s possible.” He shrugged. He waited a few moments for the mist to finish settling before he approached the broken fragments of the mushroom’s head.

“You better hurry, I think you rang the dinner bell.” Rakkan said as he pointed out several snails excitedly slinking their way across the mossy cavern floor towards the broken mushroom.

“Yeah.” Aegis nodded as he used his axe to break off a few pieces, then lugged it away from the rest of the mushroom towards their campfire. By the time he had, 4 snails had already arrived and began munching on the mushroom. Aegis watched carefully at how the snails were only eating the top of the mushroom, and avoided eating the stem or the underside of the mushroom head.

With this in mind, he used his creature harvesting knife to slice off several pieces of the mushroom, prioritizing the yellow glowing portions that were quickly dulling.

“I’ve got a feeling that once it stops glowing, whatever useful properties it has will be gone.” Aegis said as he began to work quickly on the flat stone top, mixing in the ingredients with several variations into different vials. He’d managed to complete 5 combinations over the next 10 minutes as the others watched, after which point the yellow glow had completely faded from the mushroom.

“Got it.” Aegis shouted excitedly as he pumped his fist into the air. He read the item card on the vial of one of the mixtures, combining the yellow glowing mushroom top with two other grinded up herbs, and a small bit of acid from the river.

Name: [De-Petrification Oil]

Type: Consumable

Quality: 17%

Duration: 5m

Effect: Applying this oil to any creature or object that has been petrified will remove the petrification effect.

Description: The petrified object must have a significant amount of the oil applied relative to its size over the course of 5 minutes in order for the oil to take effect. Failure to apply enough of the oil in time will cause the de-petrification process to fail, possibly resulting in creature death, or object destruction.

“Hm.” Aegis read the item card on the vial, then took out his petrified shoes and placed them on the stone altar. He quickly popped the vial open and smeared it all over the shoes, making sure not to miss a spot, then waited. “Says it takes 5 minutes.” Aegis crossed his arms when he’d finished, leaning back and staring at the shoes alongside the others. Sure enough, once the five minutes were up, his shoes became de-petrified.

“Finally!” Aegis cheered as he grabbed and re-equipped them. “This spongy moss floor was really starting to weird me out."

“Good job.” Lina smiled at him encouragingly.

“Not enough for your shield, or this guy, though.” Rakkan pointed out.

“Nope, which means…” Aegis scanned their surroundings until he’d spotted another yellow-topped mushroom. “We’ve got some farming to do.” He cracked his neck before stomping towards the mushroom with determination, his party in tow.

Over the next few hours Aegis and his party worked on decimating the Fisher population in the area. They’d accidentally set off a few Mosstrappers in the process but were able to take them out without much difficulty. The bigger issue was how aware the snails had become of what they were doing.

While the snails remained friendly and never attacked, Aegis was starting to get annoyed by how quickly they reached the mushrooms when they were felled, and how fast they began munching on them and stealing his resources.

He wanted to not only harvest enough to make oil for the creature they’d found in the river, but also to have plenty to spare for themselves in case anything went wrong in the future. The time limit between once the mushroom had been felled to when he had to make it into an oil was making it difficult, though.

Eventually, he’d filled nearly all of the vials that he’d brought with him for their underrealm adventure with the de-petrification oil.

“Ok, that should be enough.” Aegis stood up from his flat stone altar, turning to the statue of the strange creature. “Let’s put out the campfire before we de-petrify this guy. He looks planty, he probably doesn't like fire.” Aegis suggested as he motioned to the campfire and Rakkan quickly stomped it out. Aegis then handed out a vial of oil to each of his party members.

“We need to cover him completely in this oil in under 5 minutes, or it won’t work. When I say go, everyone get to oiling.” Aegis said as they all positioned themselves around the statue, hands at the ready. “Ready. Set. Go.” Aegis called out, and immediately they popped the vials open and began spreading it on the creature. Lina and Pyri went for the legs, Darkshot and Aegis went for the arms, and Rakkan got his head. It took awhile to make sure they got every spot, and Aegis had to resupply everyone with more vials, but after about three minutes, they’d all met in the middle at his torso.

“I think we got it all.” Pyri said as she took a step back.

“Wait! The underside of his feet!” Lina thought as she was about to step back as well. Rakkan quickly lifted the statue up and Lina was fast with her hands, spreading oil to the bottom of his soles. “Ok, got it.” She nodded as she stepped back with the others.

“Okay. Everyone, be extra friendly if it works.” Aegis said to the others and they all nodded, including Snowflake.

“What if it attacks us?” Darkshot asked, and Aegis looked at him hesitantly.

“What if it’s a really high level, too?” Rakkan added.

“Bless…” Aegis began buffing everyone, and as he did, they all drew out their weapons. Darkshot nocked an arrow and pointed it at the creatures head from mere centimeters away, while Pyri hovered four cinderbolts around it. Rakkan created his echoes, Lina drew out her daggers, and Aegis held his shield up in front of it.

In these positions, they all waited patiently, counting down the time for the oil to take effect.

“What if… it’s really just a statue.” Pyri suggested. They all awkwardly glanced at each other as they considered this possibility, and the longer the time went on, the more plausible it seemed. Luckily, though, around the five minute mark, the stone began to thin out and melt away under the oil, slowly bringing color to the creatures body.

Over the course of 15 seconds they watched as the top branches and bark on its head turned dark brown, the skin on it’s chin went pale blue, and the leather armor it was wearing turned an odd orange. It’s eyes opened to reveal bright white pupils in the otherwise black eyes, and the color of its stumpy mushroom fingertips turned dark green.

The first thing it saw was Aegis, and it quickly opened its mouth while raising its hands up in the air.

“Please do not hurt me!” the young boy called out, looking terrified, [Tuugal(Elite) - Level 15] appeared above his head. The others all looked to Aegis hesitantly, and he gave a nod to lower their weapons.

“He’s only level 15. What are you doing here? How’d you end up in that river?” Aegis asked him as Darkshot put his arrow back in his quiver, Pyri removed her cinderbolts and Lina sheathed her daggers.

“The Fishers cannot swim. One of them tried to attack me, so I dove into the river for safety. Unfortunately, it got me with a stinger as I jumped. I was too careless.” He explained, speaking with an odd accent that resembled Russian in Aegis’ mind.

“You weren’t worried about the acid in the river?” Aegis raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, the river acid does not affect me.” Tuugal replied with a shrug.

“Really?” Darkshot replied apprehensively.

“Yes. It is what we drink.” Tuugal explained, but he saw them still looking doubtful, so he walked over to the nearby river, scooped it up with his hand and drank it. “See?” He smiled.

“Weird.” Pyri commented.

“You said ‘we’. There are more of you?” Aegis asked him, and as he had, Tuugal looked as though he had a sudden realization.

“Yes! My family, they must be worried! How long was I petrified for?” He asked worriedly.

“Uh. No idea, pretty long I guess, you had moss growing on you.” Aegis shrugged.

“Please, you must help me return to my village. I left to seek help, they are in danger.” Tuugal pleaded as he stepped forward and clasped Aegis’ hands in his own.

Quest: Escort Tuugal back to his family in the hidden village of Pakro’Vielle

Objective: 0/1 Tuugal Escorted

Quest Giver: Tuugal, Pakro’Vielle, Kalmoore

Reward: 100,000 Experience, 100 Favor with Pakro’Vielle

Difficulty: Medium

Restrictions: Tuugal must survive.

The quest notification appeared for everyone in the group and they all quickly hit accept.

“We’ll take you back, but you’ve got to lead the way.” Aegis shrugged, and Tuugal bowed gratefully.

“The forest looks a bit different than I remember it, but I still remember the way. Come,” He motioned them to follow as he took the lead, walking away from the river, but almost immediately walked towards a Mosstrapper.

“Ah!” Darkshot quickly grabbed Tuugal’s shoulder and pulled him back. “How about you let me lead, and just point us in the right direction.” Darkshot suggested as they all anxiously noticed the blue pupils of the Mosstrapper staring excitedly at them, despite the rest of its body remaining completely still as it camouflaged with the mossy floor of the cavern.

“Yes, perhaps that is best.” Tuugal nodded back awkwardly.

With that, the group headed deeper into the Reltrak forest. They walked on for several hours, without seeing the walls of the cavern even once during their journey.

Often times it felt like Tuugal was lost, but then he’d point out a landmark on the roof of the cavern and used it to re-oriented himself. He was clumsy, almost walking under Fishers, or stepping on Mosstrappers, to the point where Aegis and the others were amazed he’d manage to make it all the way to the river before being petrified, given how far of a journey they were making.

Aegis did his best to take note of the landmarks Tuugal was using at first, in the hopes that he’d be able to make his way back to Rene if they needed to, but after a while he’d given up. The size of the Reltrak forest was well beyond what he’d imagined.

They spotted a few other unique, peaceful beasts moving about. One such creature was a large blue frog with glowing yellow spots on its back that hopped away from them when it spotted them. It was named [Reltrak Irthofrog - Level 120]. Another was a very tall creature with four needle-legs and a head on its back that it used to nibble on the edges of the non-glowing mushrooms. The strangest thing about that creature was its many tendrils hanging off the sides of its body, and the frilly mushroom web growths around its joints. It was named [Reltrak Strider - Level 95].

Tuugal assured them that the creatures wouldn’t bother them as long as they left them alone, but Aegis was still curious what he’d be able to creature harvest from them, so he put it on his mental to-do list to hunt them at some point. Eventually, though, after walking for what felt like close to a day, they arrived at the wall of the cavern.

“There, it is here!” Tuugal called out excitedly, pointing at a plain rocky cavern wall where the moss grew up slightly, and started running towards it excitedly.

“That’s just a wall, right?” Darkshot mumbled to Aegis as they all approached.

“The entrance to Pakro’Vielle, my home, is here. It is hidden.” He said as he moved to the wall and started feeling around it as the others watched. Eventually, much to their surprise, Tuugal touched a portion of the cavern wall that allowed his hand to pass into it, and the wall began flowing down around his arm like dark liquid sand. “Yes! This is it.” Tuugal cheered as he pulled his hand back and smiled at the others, but his smile suddenly faded.

“I should warn you… Plashrim’s are not used to outsiders. Especially other-worlders. They may not give a warm welcome.” Tuugal explained apprehensively. Aegis glanced between his party members, who all looked back at him hesitantly.

“I’ll do the talking. I’m a priest of Eirene, NPCs love that.” Aegis nodded reassuringly to the others.

“Pretty sure they’d like Aphrodite more.” Darkshot smirked.

“What’s a Plashrim?” Pyri asked Lina in a whisper.

“No idea.” Lina shrugged.

“Lead the way.” Aegis motioned Tuugal to continue forward, and Tuugal nodded. He then turned to the cavern wall where his hand had gone in, and he stepped forward confidently, walking through the thick sandy liquid-like wall. The moment he vanished into it the wall returned to normal, being indistinguishable from the rest of the cavern walls around it.

“No way anyone would ever find this place without being led there.” Rakkan said with wide eyes of excitement as he walked forward towards it. Rakkan was the first to step through, followed by Darkshot with Darkwing bowing his head down and nuzzling it into Darkshot’s neck as they did. Then, Pyri went through, followed by Lina, and Aegis ushered Snowflake in before going in last.

It was an odd, sucking sensation as the mucky wall moved around him - like walking through a wall made of jello, but none of it stuck to his armor, and a second later he appeared out the other side.

His eyes were immediately hit with a pale blue, bright blinding light that took him a second to adjust to. Once it had, he spotted a row of 20 guards forming a half circle around Aegis, Tuugal, and his party. All of them had long spears drawn and pointed at their necks.

“Ok Aegis, time for you to do some talking.” Darkshot replied with a nervous laugh as he, as well as the others all held their hands up above their heads.