NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11 - The Root and Seeds of the Problem
I recently banned the kids from doing one-off quests. That statement's truth hinged on their focus and completion of the new legendary quest, Root and Seeds of the Problem. We had to do this to get a leg up in the game.
The thought of the intense clashes and the potential danger from this quest sent a shiver down my spine, making me eager to dive deeper.
Naiad was still catching her breath and shook off the last dam rodent from her knife as she stood up to say, "What is with this announcement?"
I was also guilty of ignoring my order about looking at the notifications. This would be the perfect quest to do together. Triangle sat on the ground, hugging his pet at Naiad's feet, surrounded by multiple mobs. No more showed up, and we were safe.
"Let's look," I said. "It's titled Root and Seeds of the Problem. It's for a Jaguar of Chiliam class quest that unlocks a pouncing and fighting class from the looks of it."
"I can read that." Naiad complained back. "What does it mean? We've never gotten a quest with this big of a timer. "
"Let's read the whole thing and figure it out." I explained before diving into the massive text. "You have enraged and slain a forest guardian. The guardian, Lady Branchelot, was not any regular defender of the woods. It was the messenger of all the other forests, and at times, for the gods themselves. Your act of destruction will not go unnoticed, for better or worse. Defeating a guardian has proven your worth and the god Chiliam has granted those in your party a chance to prove yourself to him. Lady Branchelot had its own secrets, ones that it weaved in intricate lines throughout the earth. Follow these lines and learn what they are. There is a specific one Chiliam wants to learn more about. Find out who created the spores to be here, and stop them from spreading it. But be wary of every secret that hides in the forest. It might be best to leave some alone."
I got to the serious part. "Punishment for failing the quest: You cannot start this quest over. You will lose favor with the gods and/or demons if balance is not restored. Any allies who help with this quest will receive a blessing or a curse depending how appeased the gods and/or demons are with your actions. But only one person can be the Jaguar of Chiliam."
"Can we go?" Triangle gripped Goldy in his arms. The poor thing gulped at the air, its large bulbous eyes begging for water. Triangle whispered down at it and said, "I want to be in town."
His reaction boggled my mind. We'd just triumphed over a legendary boss, the spoils of victory surrounding us, but he wanted to leave without claiming his share of the incredible reward. I opened my mouth and paused, remembering that he was new to the gaming situation.
I explained the plan. "Let me loot Lady Branchelot's body first. Did you loot all the other mobs? We're going to make a lot of coins for today!" I hoped the thought of money got him excited.
Instead, he looked down and grabbed at Naiad's hand, trying to team up two against one on me. She squeezed it tight and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said, it got him to free up his hands by putting the fish away and start looting.
I gave her a nod of approval at being a great sister as I made my way to the grand prize. It was a plant base creature, with antlers and interesting healing abilities. Maybe the pouncing and fighting was a siphoning skill? I was curious to find out what was in it.
Looting the boss yielded some grand prizes, and a lot of what I didn't even know its purpose.
>>><<<
[(Gear unique) Chekhov's Ring: Created by Ravennites and his chaotic ingenuity and with enough friction and resistance will create a spark of something new. These two rings spin round and round until they click into each other to start a small static spark to create a change.]
[(Item epic) Bark of Resilience: This scratchy material will only splinter off instead of breaking into chunks. If it sticks, it protects. Quantity x 4]
[(Item unique) Antlers of Eight Points: Should've waited another season before hunting to see if you got a ten pointer. These antlers were sharp and a secondary weapon of Lady Branchelot, though not their favorite one.]
[(Item rare) Leaves of the Fallen: These aren't leaves, but moss that once covered and fed Lady Branchelot to keep her alive and going. These are now older and decaying with their reddish color, typically green when thriving. Quantity x 7]
[(Guild item, common) Keys: Keys to upgrade and run the guild hall. Quantity x 3].
[Gold: 434]
>>><<<
With how I could harvest the antlers, I had hoped to collect the claws, but they were too brittle and snapped the moment I poked her. There was nothing else I could loot, but the body didn't instantly vanish. With my axe, I chopped off the naked remaining limbs, and they joined my inventory as unique wood, something that we could easily sell to make money.
The body vanished pixel by pixel, leaving only the head on the ground.
"Huh, maybe this is tied to the quest if we can loot it." I said aloud, hoping the game would give me a hint.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
It wasn't a generous game.
Putting a monster's head in my inventory system was odd because we never collected the heads of the rats before. Definitely not the Rat King's head. With its black eye sockets and the back of the skull smashed in, it looked creepy. I picked up leaves on the ground and covered that part up and took the head over to the kids.
"Want to hang it in the guild hall?" I asked.
"No!" Naiad's eyes got all large, and she waved her hands in front of her.
Triangle closed his eyes and shook his head, keeping quiet.
"Oh, come on, it's a prize trophy to mount." I shook the head a bit as the leaves fell off. "I'll fix it and put it up."
"You wasted time asking us," Naiad said as she reached down to loot one more mob.
"Hey, I was curious about your thoughts." I pointed out as I put the monster away.
"You skip our own thoughts, like we were NPCs just now. Right Triangle?" She tried getting him to team up against me.
To prove her wrong, I kept my mouth shut and smiled down at my son, waiting for him to reply. He cracked an eye open and looked at me with his gray eyes, tears around the edge.
"Don't push yourself, bud." I said, changing the subject. "With the mobs looted, let's get across the dam."
"They probably won't like us doing that." Naiad pointed to two more level 6 chittering rodents that swam up from the lake. One growled and then together they charged straight toward us.
I had no weapons beyond my fist and my health had not fully returned. But I was their father, and I had to keep my kids safe. "Get behind me!"
"Spray them." Triangle peeped by me.
Before I could act, Triangle holding his pet fish had it blow out a geyser of water at the beavers, pushing a rodent back. Naiad ran forward, past me, screaming with a knife out, ready to stab at a dam rodent.
Her knife didn't reach it because the creature wisely jumped into the water, tail slapping to make a splash back at us and his ally. The now alone and wet rodent dug its claws into the mud to get away, but Naiad and I pivot on it and hit it over and over. All three of us were screaming and annoyed to be attacked after having finished the boss. I wanted nothing to threaten my kids again. We barely got out of the last fight together.
Even after the rodent's death, Triangle still screamed. I let Naiad loot it while I went back to check on Triangle. The fish was now gulping air, completely out of water to spray, while its owner was looking at a dam rodent's body vanishing away pixel by pixel.
I put a hand on his shoulder gently and told him, "It's done. The monsters are gone. You're safe."
The kid still had tears. I didn't want us to stay here in case the guardian could respawn like the other mobs. But Triangle stayed rooted to the spot, reminding me of when I found him in the middle of the night, after a nightmare. Scared and hugging the closest thing for comfort. A living fish was an odd comfort, and it looked like it was gasping and even though it was now level five.
"Why don't you put your pet away?" I suggested.
"He named it Goldy!" interrupted Naiad, showing off her knowledge again.
"Put the Goldy fish away." I repeated calmy, but too soft that Naiad didn't hear me.
"If you look at the properties, it says Goldy is an Archerfish." Naiad followed up.
I took a deep breath to ignore Naiad. Her emotions were high and spouting facts was how she felt in control. Triangle's emotions were at a breaking point. Mine could not go higher and lose control, not because of a video game. Not because a legendary fighting class, Jaguar of Chiliam, showed up for me.
Triangle listened and put Goldy away, and instantly his arms went out, begging to be hugged. Instead, I turned around and showed him my back. "Why don't I carry you back to town so we can get there sooner?"
With a small hiccup and snot that thankfully would not carry over to the outside of the game, he jumped on. Standing up, we finished walking across the wooden dam. A part of me wished I could stay and grind out the new zone. The greater the risk with these higher monsters meant a better power up in level. But that was an idiot part of me. I had to think of a plan that would keep all three of us alive, and one where I was always prepared for the spontaneous of this game, and random impulses of Triangle and Naiad. I had to do better for them.
We would be back tomorrow. Right now, it was evening in real life and too late to keep the kids up. Which meant the moment they went to bed, I could return to town and turn in my tank quest with Mrs. Crockery.
With this last fight, would I even need to be the tank anymore? I now had access to a legendary fighter class and between Triangle, Naiad, and me, I was the best pick for it. A fighter didn't tank, and if I had more damage, bosses like Lady Branchelot wouldn't even be an issue. We wouldn't need to rely on Triangle's bombs for damage. It could be Naiad and I.
This team wasn't only me, and I wasn't the only one with a class quest keeping us stuck here in a newbie town. We needed fewer distractions like my quest with Mrs. Crockery and Naiad's class quest, then we can completely focus on this grand adventure, and to stay together. I told everyone my plan, "Let's stay up a little late today and make sure we turn in our quests. I want to avoid getting stuck here in Fanamel with my tank quest."
Naiad gave a pout face, pointed to my back like I was missing the obvious and said, "Triangle is fine."
Her goal to confuse me worked, but I was determined to stay focused and not do Olympic level of mental gymnastics on the conversation. I pushed my question again. "What about your quest?"
"It's not finished." Her answer was full of snark and she stopped walking. "I think we are done with the game. I'm logging out."
"Done?!" I gasped, adjusting Triangle's weight on my back and listed off the possibilities. "This is only the beginning. I haven't even looked at the achievements we got from the fight. You wanted to go outside of the city more, and here is our chance! The world is ours. We can go back to the forest you liked tomorrow to inspect it for clues on the new quest."
She glanced across at the Gamstable River, gripping her bow on her shoulder, and trailed off, "It was pretty. But we can try my quest another time."
Again, Naiad was dodging answers. Was I ever this evasive as a kid? This has to be a trait from Beth. It was a talent required for skilled lawyers, but even lawyers didn't lie this much. As her dad, it felt horrible she didn't trust me to tell me what was actually going on. I preferred the straightforward honesty of small kids like Triangle.
The young boy's breathing was calming down on my back, but the realistic sensors of the game let me know Triangle was still crying and needed more time. Time I could give by focusing on Naiad right now.
I pleaded, "You can tell me anything."
"Yeah? Then I can also do this quest." She declared.
"Yes, that's the right attitude." I agreed with her. It wasn't like I was blocking her from getting the blessing from us completing the quest. "This class is new to me. Did you see anyone with it last week?"
She shook her head, and I heard Triangle mumble 'no' behind me before burying his head into my back.
"Hmm," I pondered, "everyone, look at your achievements for any hints."