NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: // The Request of a Knight
After the great battle from the day before, Cho Jae-Hwa had rested and was back again on the grass fields of the second domain.
Although she was eager to battle again, however, she couldn't possibly do that right away since there was some necessary preparation to do.
While in Carsenia, after her morning routine, she paid the inn's rent and headed to Regg' Dob's Warhouse to ask him some questions. Considering the name of his store and that he probably had more experience, it was something that not only he could answer but he was also the only one to allow her to bother.
She even thought about asking Christine, but she would most likely not enjoy such conversation.
Between their exchange of words, she was able to obtain some important information.
Firstly, each enemy belongs to a certain identifiable category. For example, slimes are
Each of these categories has their weaknesses, although there can be exceptions.
While slimes are weak to fire and slash attacks from swords, other monsters may not be the same, where the only thing that is certain is that they would be weak to an element and a physical attack.
Undead monsters are weak to fire and sacred elements, thus receiving more damage since her halberd's attacks are imbued with the latter.
The reason for the throwing knives and her new skill
Lastly, just like some enemies she has been encountering until now, both equipment and foes have a rarity on them. Most are of
Through her own deductions and experience, the rarer the monster also seemed to have greater rewards in experience and items, although that was only an assumption.
"Apparently, even rare equipment is hard to come by and here I am..."
As Jae-Hwa sighs walking north, she wonders with her gaze about her most recent weapon.
From the battle against the
One of them is a pair of earrings that enhance her hearing, an accessory with a tiny golden chain that supported a white tear-like jewel, named Wisp Earrings.
The other, however, was a weapon that she had no idea how to use.
—RARE WEAPON INFORMATION———
NAME: Ignis Fatuus
LEVEL REQUIRED: LVL 6
DAMAGE: +15
DESCRIPTION: A black recurve bow with the grip, recurves and bow string white with a ghostly air. Due to it being made mostly of Rinan, it is said to be unbreakable.
TEMPORARY SKILL: Fire Lance
Due to her passive skill, Jae-Hwa was able to become proficient with polearms immediately and is progressively mastering it, however, Ignis Fatuus offered nothing of the sort so she was a complete beginner with it.
Although it offered a way to cover the distance with her enemy, she wasn't skilled enough to shoot accurately if the arrow went beyond one meter and the strength needed to pull the string strained her arm too much, causing it to become numb for some seconds after five arrows.
The skill it offered was only available after equipping the bow, being removed if she changed weapons, and although it was more accurate, her current skills were stronger than it. The only upside it contained was that it caused the status ailment
Regardless of her new unusable weapon, the halberdier kept heading north towards the dead-looking village covered in what seemed to be ashes, consuming a revitalizer that she had bought before leaving Carsenia, one of the many other restorative items she had bought from a pharmacy in the south.
Even if Reggie didn't know where the Ruler was, the only place left for her to search was this desolate area that seemed devoid of humans.
As soon as her foot stepped onto a patch of the gray vegetation, the system made its presence known to reveal the name of this area: Withering Village.
Beyond her sight was complete destruction. What should have been greenery has since long been dead, where even such blades of gray material that were crunched into powder by her leather boots had given up on life.
Wandering the air were countless ashes that endlessly formed without there being a fire, not even the scant smell of something burning was present in the distance.
In the distance were multiple houses abandoned, windows crushed along with their wooden frames, walls of cobblestone crumbled into chunks that blocked the path made of fine gravel stained with mud and blood. To make matters worse, most doors were thrown down, some being scrapped by what could only be fingernails and others decorated with guts and inner remains.
"It's at times like these that I remember I'm not in my world anymore..."
After some minutes as Jae-Hwa slowly scouts the destroyed buildings, the sky starts to progressively darken due to several clouds covering the sun.
Although the housing is quite old, the damage done on them seemed recent, similar to how a war can change a landscape from day to night.
After wandering around, a house in the distance picks her interest, a building that is equal to the others but so different that it is mostly intact. The wooden frame window to the right was broken in the middle as if someone jumped out of it while a fresh trail of blood dripped down from the untouched entrance towards the cobblestone stairs that led to it.
"The destruction stopped here for some reason... Going from one house to the other just to end in this one at the end of the road... It doesn't make sense."
Something inside of the small building rattles and falls to the floor with a metallic sound, dragging around as something else grunts.
Normally she would not be capable of listening to such things but her hearing enhancement earrings came in a clutch.
Jae-Hwa takes out her halberd, keeping it close to her chest to defend against the inevitable, while slowly tip toeing towards the building.
With a slight push of her hand, the old door creaks in a slow and creepy way to expose a moldy room with rotten woodboards. The kitchen and bedroom were on the same compartment, a house so small that it could barely fit comfort.
On the floor that triggered a reaction from her at each step, rolling down with gravity was a lead mug dripping with dirty water.
"Hello...? Sorry for the intrusion..."
As the scared halberdier moved forward, a grunt echoed somewhere. Then, as a couple of seconds pass, something hits the floor and drags itself forward, brushing the ends of her white long hair and closing its act by tugging her leather boot with tremendous strength.
As she swiftly glances behind her, aiming the pointy head of her armament at what was grabbing her, she found blood splattered over her armor and a hand twitching with struggle as veins nearly popped out of it.
Laying on the wooden floor with a massive wound on his back that seemed to go through his torso, a man struggled to lift his head, not even bothering to arrange his golden strands of hair that encumbered his eyes.
Considering the amount of muscle his body shows, it seems impossible for someone like him to be in such condition, but the situation in front of her did not lie.
If her vision was the only trustworthy source, the tiny cuts in his dried lips and the several dark bruises all over his bruises, it was enough to understand the man before her was the one in pain and the one that was most likely why there was so much destruction.
"Wa...ter..."
"Ah— Alright, just— just wait a moment."
Looking around, Cho Jae-Hwa quickly stores her weapon back to the inventory and picks up the mug from the floor, going to fill it with any water she could muster from the dirty sink's faucet.
Slowly, she raises the head of the dying man with a pained look on her face and pours the water down his throat.
"Drink slowly..."
"Thank you... Even if it will not save me... It will be enough to tell you..."
The man painfully drags his body with Jae-Hwa's help until he is able to sit somewhat straight.
His heavy breaths are somewhat unsettling, causing her skin to crawl upon feeling the cold dying body that refuses to let go.
Now that I think about it, I believe I have a water bottle in my inventory, but if it isn't enough, then...
"What do you mean it's not enough!? I have some medicine with me, I'm sure it will help your wounds." She asks as she takes one of the few
In his waist was a broken sword which he held tightly, most likely part of his pride as warrior or knight.
"I'm too far gone, no cure will heal me from this agony. Instead, I want you to take revenge— no, I want you discipline my mistress."
"Your mistress? As in... Your boss? Or your... Um... Second lover?"
The men lets out a faint giggle, making his smile vanish to pure hatred in a matter of seconds, gripping the handle of his weapon with the same sentiment.
"That wretched woman is surely my boss in some ways, although she tried to seduce me once to obtain some advantages in the knight order... Hear me well, young lady, for I am Augustus Sinaire, captain of the knight order belonging to the Holy Kingdom Solusreich."
Augustus raises his armament with difficulty, bringing it close to his chest to perform something similar to a salute, and then continues his speech after some sickly coughs.
"One day, the prince brings home a woman from a land he was meant to conquer. Not only he seemed too bewitched by her, he also did his task mercilessly and left no life to rule, even the innocent were killed, all because of that witch's advices."
Why is he telling me all of this? I understand he wants me to beat that prince's girlfriend, but the information he's giving me seems too much. He could have just said to me where she is and I would've gone there, but he's continuing the story.
"Not long after, she even managed to sway the king himself — although it would be more appropriate to say she used the prince to do it. Eventually, she asked for the greatest guard the kingdom could offer and I was chosen to protect her... Medea Traditor."
The halberdier took out a bottle with clear water and slowly gave it to the esteemed soldier. Despite offering him some time to rest, he kept going, ranting about the wretched lady.
"I appreciate the effort, but please let me finish."
"Alright." Jae-Hwa answered, still trying to figure out what this was all about.
"...After seeing her powers and intelligence, I did not have doubts she was good enough at her job, however, the fact her advices were always completely right and that weird smile of hers always put me off.
For long years I took the weight of overlooking it until my own homeland was occupied by foreign troops and through her words, she cleared the population... Be it innocent or guilty, everyone was rid of their lives."
"Then, you probably didn't stay quiet."
What is the point to his story? Medea Traditor... Besides his name, there is no reason to tell me hers when the prince should have been more important.
Augustus nods to her question, coughing with a dry smile as he knew his feats were recognizable even to a stranger.
"I was overwhelmed with madness, inner rage that had boiled inside me overtime. Then, that witch told me that it was my fault... I was the one who killed them..."
He places his almost torned arm on top of his eyes, covering the tears that were meaning to escape.
"I didn't realize it for so long..! Medea would do something to me, confine my mind in a place where I would not be conscious and then use me like a puppet. I never noticed because she didn't use commands, just her words and even then, she made it so I would have fabricated memories."
Even if the situation was different, it was close to what had happened before.
She had no right to take his burden and clearly had no words to ease his pain, as after witnessing Marni being controlled into a blank slate that will never find peace or eternal love, she learned that no words of consolation would help any of them.
Instead, she just remained silent and kept listening to the words of a dying old man.
"She moved her lips and smiled— Brought my family that somehow had survived and controlled my body while this time I was watching everything against my will. She made me slaughter them! That wench made me kill my wife! My three year old son! In cold blood! And I couldn't move a finger to stop myself..."
Amidst his crazed laugh, Sinaire's tears did not stop and he only further increased his wounds and pool of blood under his corpse.
"Say, young lady... Have you ever... killed someone?"
"No, I— I don't kill humans."
A giggle escapes his mouth after sighing from looking at the halberdier's expression. He places his hand slowly into a chest pocket that somehow remains intact.
"Don't be that idealistic. There will eventually come a time where you will think someone is so vile that your instincts will not see that person as human, and you will kill them, sooner or later.
That was what I wished too, but the tables turned on me and I had to escape before I could eviscerate that woman."
Without noticing, the sky had become so dark and filled with clouds that rain started pouring.
From Augustus Sinaire's eyes, she used to be a young girl seconds ago, similar to her niece that had passed away young with illness, however, the light in her eyes had turned them pale and revealed the eyes of an aspiring warrior that already had considered such situation happening.
She was not playing or having fun killing monsters like the many Forgotten Ones he had encountered before, instead, she was serious, like her life depended on it.
Her words after only confirmed it further.
"If that time ever comes, I will just have to deal with it and bear the consequences, like I've been doing until now. But let's forget that for now. They chased you to this village, didn't they? That's why everything is destroyed."
"...Yes. But also not just because of that. When I was fleeing, I was able to meet the king and thankfully his trust for me was stronger than her grasp. Right about now, Medea must also be fleeing from the kingdom."
"Tell me where I can find her, at least I can try to avenge you." Cho Jae-Hwa whispers to him.
"But I thought you didn't kill humans?"
Even if what the knight says is right, her mind processed it differently.
The importance she has must mean something, so if my hunch is right, Medea right now is an enemy or a monster even...
"This is different. Just tell me."
The man takes a key from the pocket, golden with some rust already on the handle decorated with carved clovers, and places it on Jae-Hwa's open palm.
"This key is so ancient that only another one exists, no one uses these anymore. North from here, there is a cemetery. Beyond that is the Hidden Sea where she will most likely try to escape... If you can't end her existence, at least take the documents I hid in a chest, buried in one of the graves. You will know when you see it."
"Then I only need this to open it right? Understood."
Some rattle echoes outside, followed by splashes in the puddles formed in mud and rain.
"They found me!" The man states, startled by what was bound to happen. "You can't just open with one key, you need it's pair. I left it to the witch's adoptive sister... She must have taken her and the prince in her escape, but in their mutual hatred, Medea must've taken her to the Haunted Woods to kill her sister. Still, it's better if you go look for it, now go!"
"W-Wait, calm down a second! I'm sure you're just being paranoid from the pain, it must be some animal or something like that."
Despite her efforts, the man widened his eyes, forcefully wiped his tears and pushed Jae-Hwa's body away, jamming his blade in the creaking floor to get up.
From the window in front of him, a skeleton warrior similar to Eirdan jumped inside, stopping halfway as it becomes stuck with the armor.
"So she already turned them... Poor bastards."
With his back turned to her, despite most of his body being torn and wounded, not to mention the immense pain he felt, Augustus Sinaire still found some breath to speak.
"I told you no medicine would heal me right? Well, I apologize, but I was lying... I'm sure I would be back in shape, but... I'm tired of it all. Despite everything, I appreciate you hearing my story, no matter how confusing it must have been for you."
He raises his left hand high up, letting glowing particles of energy gather in it before turning his head back to her with a smile.
"Thank you, but now I really need you to leave. It's dangerous."
Breathing in, he shouts with all the might left in his soul.
"Command...
As energy gathers in his fist, it is seconds later expelled forcefully in a yellow explosive ripple that sends Jae-Hwa out of the abandoned house, towards the gravel several meters away from it.
The three skeletons in front of the building and those surrounding it all vanish into nothingness. Thanks to her earrings, she is able to listen the knight's loud thud as he falls lifeless to the ground.
As energy gathers in his fist, it is seconds later expelled forcefully in a yellow explosive ripple that sends Jae-Hwa out of the abandoned house, towards the gravel several meters away from it.
The three skeletons in front of the building and those surrounding it all vanish into nothingness. Thanks to her earrings, she is able to listen the knight's loud thud as he falls lifeless to the ground.
Rain continued to pour heavily, soaking her body as she doesn't have any safe protection against it.
As the halberd user is still trying to process everything, a notice panel appears in front of her.
—MAIN QUEST————————————
QUEST NAME: A Disease Called Love
DESCRIPTION: Medea Traditor is said to be a witch that ruins the lives of those around her. Avenge those who she has made suffer or make others learn about her evil.
OBJECTIVE(S):
1. Obtain the Second Key
2. Open the chest and read its contents
REWARD(S):
1. Information about the Domain Ruler
"Huh? All of that, for information?"
The system couldn't be more obvious. Although she refused to listen to Marni, the last main quest and the one she just obtained all lead to the same conclusion: information about the domain ruler.
In a sense, by putting two and two together, she reached the fact that a main quest, contrary to a side quest, is a story that the 'player' follows to obtain advantage over the final battle in the current domain they are in. The only problem so far is that it only has been tragedy and it doesn't seem to end any better.
From the moment she stepped foot in the village, it was strange how there were no enemies around, but the condition of it being like that due to a quest makes it more obvious.
"Then, if Medea is the villain of the story, she must be the ruler."
Cho Jae-Hwa started running towards the forest on the south, not caring about whether she would fall or not because of the rain, knowing that the next step was sure to be there because of this quest.
However, in front of her, or rather below her, a bony hand ruptures the soil and catches her foot. Followed by it, another skeleton behind her already fully armed to battle rises from the ground.
"What the—! That's too much surprise foot grabbing for today! Is it because I started the quest!? The enemies of this area must be starting to appear, but from the ground!? That's not fair!"
Two armored skeletons, one holding a sword proving to be a warrior and another holding a bow and a quiver as an archer, threaten her to battle in a field full of disadvantages.
—CURRENT STATS——————————
PLAYER NAME: CHO JAE-HWA // LEVEL: 8 <31/360 EXP>
BLESSING: Phantasmagoria
TITLE: Giant Slayer
HEALTH: 176/180
DAMAGE: 49 (+28) // DEFENSE: 41 (+15) // ENERGY: 55/55
WEAPON: Ceremonial Nanite Halberd
ARMOR: Reinforced Hunter's Garb
ACTIVE SKILLS:
PASSIVE SKILLS:
CREDITS: 97