Explorer of Edregon

In the end, it ended up taking them the better half of the day to search through the crystal-covered fragment and find the blue fur clan. They stumbled upon a few signs here and there that indicated the clan was nomadic, and Vin got to flex his Tracking skill for what felt like the first time in ages as he worked on tracking the clan's movements across the crystalline sand from one site to the next. After a few tiring hours where they had to fend off a shocking number of monster attacks, Vin managed to level up his Tracking three more times, and they finally found the blue fur clan.

Or what was left of them anyway.

The five of them stood there, looking around in somber silence at the remains of what had to be Neurol's people. From what Vin could see, it appeared as though the blue fur clan's camp had been overrun by the same type of monster they'd been dealing with all day. There were small structures somehow built out of crystals themselves that had been smashed in, heavily decayed and ravaged corpses with pulverized bones that indicated they'd been trampled to death, and blood-soaked crystalline-sand all over the place.

"Gods above," Scule muttered, taking in the scene of desolation from atop Vin's shoulder. "How did this even happen?"

"Neurol himself told us he was the future hope of his clan," Shia said, frowning at the nearby corpses as if wondering what might have been if Neurol hadn't abandoned his people. "I suppose after he left they just didn't have what it took to defend themselves."

"The insane number of monsters should have been heavily reduced during the formation of Edregon," Vin argued. "I don't know why this fragment seems to have so many monsters compared to all the others, but even with the Great Reset, they should have stood a fighting chance without him!"

"I don't know, Vin, think of the difference in monster," Alka pointed out, picking up one of the nearby crystals and tapping it with her warpick. "Even low leveled warriors can group up and take down a flesh and blood monster with enough teamwork. But the monsters of this fragment aren't quite so simple. You saw their crystal armor. Can you imagine a level 1 warrior getting through that? Or even a dozen?"

Vin thought back to the sight of the monsters shrugging off his regular Stone Shot, and some of them even needing two or three smashes from Shia's Living Giant before they finally went down. Alka was absolutely right, even a small handful of these monsters would have been enough to utterly annihilate the entirety of the Earthers' first wave if they had spawned on his fragment.

"On the plus side, that means it doesn't matter that Neurol left everyone, right?" Scule asked. "Sounds like he would have just died like all the rest if he'd stayed after all."

"There's no way to know for sure," Alka shrugged, walking into camp and motioning for them to follow her. "Regardless, we should at least give it a once over. Vin, can you check for survivors? I doubt we'll find any, but no sense in not looking."

"Yeah. Good idea." Looking around at all the death and destruction that had to be months old at this point, Vin wasn't exactly feeling hopeful. Nonetheless, he adjusted his Sense Life spell and fired it out as a pulse, careful to make sure he reached the entire camp.

Unsurprisingly, other than him and his friends, his spell didn't get any hits.

Just to be safe, he also fired off a Sense Magic in the slim chance there was some sort of magical saferoom similar to what Shia's master had used to hide her staff, but he had no luck there either.

"No life and no magic," he said, wandering around the camp and wondering how he should break the news to Neurol. Obviously, they'd have to tell him what they found, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to the conversation.

"Any chance you can tell which one was the leader?" Shia asked, walking over to Alka. "Maybe if we could at least give him closure regarding his father…"

"These people died months ago. There's no telling one body apart from the next," Alka said, nudging what was little more than a pile of bones with her foot. She stood there without moving, staring down at the bones as if locked in place. After a few seconds, she cursed, turning and kicking up some of the crystal sand. "Damn it! Why couldn't these people's warriors hold off the monsters and allow the rest to run away? It looks like they all died here together!"

"Maybe they were all supposed to be warriors," Vin said, stepping up and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sorry Alka, I know seeing stuff like this is hard for you. We don't need to stick around."

"I'm not going anywhere until we bury what's left of everyone at least," Alka said, her momentary weakness gone in a literal flash as her eyes blazed.

"And then I'm personally going to kill every one of these monsters I can find on our way out of here."

It took Vin and his companions another few hours to gather up as many of the bones as they could find. Unfortunately, despite his wide variety of spells, Vin didn't have any way to speed up their hunt, and they had to do things the old-fashioned way.

Many of the blue fur clan's warriors had died on top of one another, meaning the bones were already all mixed together from the start. Not to mention plenty of them had been either completely pulverized or eaten by monsters. Because of that, rather than try and fruitlessly sort the bones into different bodies, they ended up just digging one mass grave and gingerly placing the clan's remains inside.

After filling the pit in with crystal sand once more, the group stood there for a good couple of minutes, each member lost in their own silent thoughts. Finally, Alka turned and walked away without saying a word, and the rest of them followed.

True to her promise, Alka personally destroyed another dozen monsters on their way back to Pendet. Shia went to help her at one point, but Vin stopped her with a slight shake of his head. It seemed there was no end to the crystalline beasts, and Alka appeared truly determined to personally destroy each and every one of them herself.

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By the time the sun had begun to set, they finally made it back to the fragment border, and the team quickly made their way back down Kark's path once again. Despite everything they'd been through today, other than Alka, none of them wanted to be wandering through the spooky forest after dark, path or no path.

Kark must have detected them with his vibration magic, because the merider popped out of the woods as they neared the village, offering them all a wide grin.

"My, I didn't expect to see you all back so soon! I don't suppose any of you changed your minds about joining Pendet?"

"Sorry Kark, still not going through with a merger," Vin said, returning the merider's grin with a feeble one of his own. "Actually, we need to speak with Neurol. We've got some bad news we need to tell him about. Regarding his clan."

"Well, I suppose a quick visit would be fine," Kark smiled, motioning for them to follow him. "I will say as much as I do enjoy your company, seeing as none of you are in mortal peril or considering going through with a merger, technically, you're not supposed to spend the night in the village again. Apologies, but rules are rules!"

"We'll be on our way after we talk with Neurol," Vin promised, figuring they could just use the meriders' dungeon to make a quick trip back to camp before night fell. Alka had warned them that this dungeon was particularly deadly, but he had a feeling she'd happily agree to any plan that involved her killing monsters at the moment.

Following their guide back to Pendet, Vin asked Kark to wait a moment when the merider offered him his back, turning instead to look at Alka and Scule.

"I think Shia and I should be the ones to tell him," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Reginald. Carefully placing the rat on Alka's shoulder, he continued. "Neither of you met with him yesterday, and I doubt he'll want an audience when we tell him about his clan's fate. Do you guys mind waiting down here for a few minutes?"

"Not at all," Scule said, giving him a weak smile. "Do what you have to do, we're not going anywhere. Just… Maybe come back before dark?"

Nodding, Vin jumped on Kark's back and rode the merider up to the village. As soon as Kark brought Shia up, they thanked him once again and made a beeline straight for Neurol's nest.

"Oh, I hate this part," Shia whispered, her knuckles whitening as she gripped her staff. "It always reminds me of when I got the news about my own parents' deaths."

"Crap… Sorry Shia, I didn't even think of that," Vin admitted, slapping his forehead. He'd been so worried about breaking the news to Neurol he'd totally forgotten that Shia's master had all but adopted her because her parents had died fighting monsters when she was little. "You don't have to come do this with me if you don't want to."

"Someone has to do it, and you shouldn't have to do it alone," she said, taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve. "Besides, I'm not a kid anymore. This is just how the world works. Monsters are a part of life, Edregon hasn't changed that."

Not for the first time, Vin wondered if magic was truly worth the consequences. Monsters only existed as a byproduct of magic, which was why Earth wasn't plagued with them. He loved magic more than just about anyone, but it was hard to try and justify the cost to himself after witnessing things like the blue fur clan's demise at the hands of monsters.

Before he could go too far down that rabbit hole, they reached Neurol's nest. Preparing himself, Vin knocked on the door, looking up at the familiar merider that opened it almost instantly.

"Vin? Shia? Can't say I expected you both back so soon," Neurol chuckled, opening the door wider and inviting them inside. "Kark's not going to be happy you've returned to Pendet already if you're not planning on doing a merger. What's up?"

"We're not staying long, we just needed to talk to you," Vin said, not bothering to conjure up a seat as he and Shia stood there awkwardly. "It's about your clan, Neurol. We just got back from your fragment."

"You found them already?" Neurol asked, sounding surprised. His six, beady black eyes couldn't exactly widen, but his voice was a dead giveaway. "That's impressive! The clan moves around frequently, and tracking through the crystal sands is no easy feat!"

"It definitely took us a while," Vin nodded, scratching the back of his neck. "Neurol… We found your clan, but…" Vin paused, struggling to find the right words.

Monsters found them first?

There was nobody left?

They'd been dead for months?

While he tried to figure out what to say, Shia spoke up, offering the confused merider a sad smile. "Your clan had already fallen in battle to the monsters. Based on what we could tell, it seemed as if they went down fighting. We're sorry."

Neurol stared at them, not able to blink, but looking startled nonetheless. His near constant smile flickered for a moment as he watched them. "…Are you sure? All of them had fallen?"

"We don't know how many people exactly, but there definitely weren't any survivors nearby," Shia nodded. "We checked with magic as well. There's always a chance some people fled, but we assumed everyone fought to the death together."

"Yes, that is most likely what happened… The blue fur clan would never leave a member behind…" Neurol said, his voice wavering as he spoke. He stood there in silence for a few seconds, before startling Vin and Shia with a loud laugh. "You know what the worst part of this is? The two of you came all this way to tell me my clan is dead, and I still feel happy! Everyone I grew up with, everyone I knew my entire life, is gone, and yet I'm not upset!" Laughing, the merider turned and walked away, slamming his hands down on his dining table and shaking his head. "Logically, I know I should be upset, but I'm just not. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Your new biology doesn't make you a bad person," Shia said, looking concerned for the laughing merider. "Not to mention, everyone grieves in their own ways. In fact, I actually knew a man that had been told his son had died fighting monsters, and rather than cry, he spent the next few minutes laughing so hard he could barely breathe. And he didn't have your merider body as an excuse."

"Here," Vin said, reaching into his pack and handing the merider back the message he'd asked them to deliver to his father. "I thought about leaving it with them… We buried your people and everything… But I wasn't sure what you'd prefer."

"Thank you!" Neurol said, taking the message back with a pained smile. "Now, if you wouldn't mind. I'd like to have some time alone!"

Nodding their understanding, the two of them left the merider to his grieving, wincing as his door slammed shut behind them. Letting out a heavy sigh, Vin turned to glance at his companion. "That probably could have gone better…"

"There's no good way to tell someone their loved ones are dead and gone," Shia said bluntly, shaking her head. "That was a lot rougher than telling the Stoneshaker's father about his sons. You did good."

"I know, but I hope I don't have to do it a third time," Vin admitted, unable to get the mental image of Neurol's pained smile out of his mind. The poor man's internal struggle had been written all over his face.

"Come on…" Vin said, motioning for her to follow as he headed toward the edge of the web. "Let's head back to camp. I know I was eager to get away, but after all that, I think I need to take a day off from exploring."