As the trio travelled through the caverns, it became readily apparent that the cave had been used as a wolf den for many years. Small tufts of red fur could be seen lying in many of the nooks and crannies in the rock, while claw marks adorned the stones roughly around Eric"s chest height, at the same height as a red-maned wolf standing on its hind legs.
Other smaller scratch marks could also be seen on the cave floor, and the rock itself seemed to have been worn away in many of the smaller rooms they pa.s.sed through on their journey through the caverns.
Entering one such chamber, Eric sighed as they saw yet another dead wolf. Unlike many of the others they"d found, this wolfs corpse was all in one piece, with only a chunk of flesh missing from its neck to indicate how it had died.
The wolf"s legs were sprawled out in a manner that suggested it had been running when it had met its untimely demise. Small claw marks in the stone in front of the corpse also gave weight to this suggestion. It appeared as if the wolf had been attempting to flee deeper inside the cave when its killer had caught up, pinned it to the ground, and dispatched it in a single blow.
Bending down to loot the corpse, a strange look came over Marks face as he stood up.
"What?" Griffin asked, noting the look of concern upon his friend"s face.
"I just got a quest," said Mark, his expression troubled.
"Can you share it with us?" Eric asked, moving over to the wolf"s corpse and attempting to loot it himself.
[Red-maned Wolf"s body has already been looted. However, the signs point to a troubled death. Discover what killed this wolf.]
As Eric stared at the system message, another system message appeared, replacing the previous one.
[Quest received: Red-maned Killer]
The red-maned wolves of this den have all been killed by a mysterious a.s.sailant. One particular wolf died full of grievances. Discover its killer and resolve the grievances of the wolf"s spirit.
Reward: The red-maned wolf"s spirit will grant you a reward if you can fulfill its wish. However, its wish may not be as simple as merely killing the attacker.
Dismissing the quest notification, Eric looked up at Mark.
"Did you get it too?" Mark asked.
"Yup," Eric replied.
Turning to Griffin, Eric pointed at the corpse, "Loot it. There"s a quest," he said simply.
Nodding, Griffin looted the wolf as well, the change in his expression as he looked at his system messages indicating that he had been successful in obtaining the quest.
"Why do you think we got this quest now?" Griffin wondered out loud as they left the wolf"s body behind, continuing deeper into the cavern.
"And not when we found the entire group of wolves? No clue. Maybe it"s because some people would bail when they found the first group?" Eric suggested.
"That"s possible. Remember that quest we got earlier Griffin? The one where we had to hunt down that elite wolf?" said Mark.
"Oh yeah. We only got that because we followed the trail and found the girl hiding, didn"t we?"
"Yeah. I feel there are quite a few quests that are hidden a little below the surface in Fate. That you need to do a little work in order to get them if that makes sense," Mark explained.
"That makes sense. My magic teacher only agreed to take me on as a student because I met her conditions. No one advertised her either; the militia captain only mentioned her after I had a run in with her. So it definitely seems like Fate"s a game that rewards the thorough," Eric added, looking pensive.
"That"s what I"m thinking. Quite a few people would probably see the carnage in the first room and a.s.sume that everything in here had already been killed. Or maybe run away rather than go deeper, so it"s possible that this quest is only triggered by heading deeper into the cave to investigate," Mark theorized, getting nods from Eric and Griffin.
"Makes sense I guess. I just hope that whatever it is that killed them isn"t still here," Griffin said with a heavy tone.
"Or that it"s just players, although that"s looking a little unlikely," Mark said softly, leading them towards a new section of the cave.
Continuing onwards, the group attempted to make small talk, but the somber atmosphere of the cave seemed to prevent lighthearted conversation. After a few fruitless attempts to start a discussion, the three grew silent, simply following the path deeper into the cave.
As they pa.s.sed through a narrow section in the rock, a sound from up ahead p.r.i.c.ked Eric"s ears, barely audible even in the still air of the cave.
"What was that?" Mark whispered, halting their advance.
"It sounded like a cry for help. We should move quickly," Eric urged, thinking back to the last time he"d opted for the stealthy approach on a quest.
Squeezing past Mark, Eric sc.r.a.ped against the rocky walls of the cave as he took the lead, dashing in the direction of the cry.
Exchanging looks, Griffin and Mark charged after him. As the three sprinted through the cave with reckless abandon, harsh swearing began to fill the previously silent caverns as the trio slammed into the cave walls in the darkness, stubbing toes, noses, and other parts that would remain unnamed into the unyielding rock face.
As Eric sprinted through the cave, the cries began to come more and more frequently. Unfortunately, the intensity of the cries was also increasing at a similar pace - clearly, whatever was making the noise was in trouble.
Speeding up, Eric pushed his speed to the limits, his stamina dropping quickly as he focused on not slamming into the walls at a speed fast enough to put him into a coma in real life. Even if this wasn"t real life, it was likely that his healthbar would drop by a significant amount if he tripped right now.
Behind him, Mark and Griffin began to fall behind, stumbling occasionally as they attempted to follow their friend who was pulling further and further ahead.
Bursting into a new chamber, Eric"s eyes opened wide. Without even thinking, he brought his hand up, drawing the runes for Wind Dart and firing directly at the enormous cat which was advancing slowly upon a whimpering wolf pup, stuck in a crack in the rock. Behind the cat lay another pair of dead wolves, their blood still fresh as it pooled onto the cave floor. Its sanguine surface reflected in the glow of the dim crystal lighting that illuminated the cave.
As the Wind Dart coalesced, streaking towards the giant cat, its head whipped up, glaring at Eric as it abandoned the wolf pup. Looking at the oncoming Wind Dart, the cat opened its jaws wide, revealing a mouth full of fangs, each one more than an inch long.
With a crunching motion, the cat destroyed the Wind Dart, the mana dissipating harmlessly as the cats teeth struck it, destroying the mana structure and turning the spell into harmless motes of light.
Glaring at Eric, the beast started to advance slowly upon his position, sizing up the half-elf as it paced softly on paws the size of dinner plates.
[Quest Updated: Red-maned Killer]
You"ve discovered the killer of the red-maned wolves, an enormous Swordclaw Lynx. A trapped red-maned wolf pup"s fate rests in your hands. Defeat or drive off the Swordclaw Lynx in order to figure out the will of the red-maned wolf.
Warning: This enemy is beyond your capabilities. It is advised that you engage it in a party of five or more adventurers (Level 20+)
Reward: The red-maned wolf"s spirit will grant you a reward if you can fulfill its wish. However, be reminded that its wish may not be as simple as merely killing the Swordclaw Lynx.
Seeing the quest notification, Eric paled. The last time he"d ignored the recommended party size advised by the system he"d been toyed with by a hobgoblin. While he had no wish to either die or abandon the quest, he had to admit that it definitely did not look good for his party at the moment.
With a panting sound, Mark burst through the cave entrance into the chamber behind him, followed closely by Griffin. Seeing the Swordclaw Lynx, both their eyes went wide, scrabbling to draw their weapons as they took fighting stances.
The arrival of the two newcomers made the Swordclaw Lynx pause for a moment, its tail swishing softly against the cave floor. The wolf pup had gone silent, its whimpers no longer resounding throughout the cavern. Now, the only sound was the laboured breathing of Griffin and Mark, fighting to regain their stamina as they tried to take stock of the situation.
"We"re f.u.c.ked," Griffin said simply, staring at the quest notification briefly before bringing up his shield.
"There"s a good chance that yes," Eric admitted, readying a Wind Dart as he continued to lock eyes with the Swordclaw Lynx.
"We might be able to do it. But it"s going to be tough. I"m not sure if this cave will work to our benefit or not, but I think it"s pretty clear we"re not gonna be able to run," said Mark, casting his own spell as he retreated behind Griffin.
"Do we want to try and have Griffin hold the cave entrance while we bombard it with spells?" Eric proposed, watching the Swordclaw nervously as it eyed them with interest.
"No. I don"t think Griffin can hold off against it alone. We"re going to need to fight it inside the cavern itself."
"Yeah I can"t hold that thing off solo. We need to kite it between ourselves," Griffin said grimly as the Swordclaw began to pace forward once more, having clearly finished with its evaluation of the three.
"Whatever we decide let"s hurry it up. That thing has the same look in its eyes as Jeyna does when I bring home barbeque chicken which means that it thinks we"re delivery," Eric informed them.
Mark nodded, "Alright. Eric, you and Griffin take a side each. I"ll take the front. We need to surround it and force it to attack one person at a time. Whoever"s being attacked, just focus on defense. Don"t try to play the hero. The other two will attack while it"s distracted. Got it?"
Whatever response Eric was about to give would have to wait, as the Swordclaw suddenly pounced forward, its enormous paws parting to reveal claws the size of steak knives ready to tear them to pieces.
Diving to the side, Eric rolled roughly on the stone floor of the cave. Rolling to his feet, he fired the Wind Dart at the Swordclaw, this time landing a solid hit on its pelt. On the other side of the cat, Mark landed his own spell, causing the cat to roar in pain as it whipped its head from side to side, gazing balefully at its two attackers.
As the closest person to the Swordclaw, Griffin had been unable to dodge to the side, but forced instead to throw himself backwards, barely avoiding the ma.s.sive paw swipe that followed the pounce. Taking advantage of the distracted Swordclaw, he hauled himself to his feet, clanging his sword against his shield to regain the beasts aggro as Mark and Eric prepared new spells.
Baring its fangs, the Swordclaw bit at Griffin, its powerful jaws nearly ripping the shield out of his hands as he desperately hung onto his best defensive item.
Taking advantage of the Swordclaw"s attack, Mark and Eric launched a new salvo of attacks, Mark landing a spell on its right flank while Eric"s smashed into its left. Drawing his sword, Eric also activated Dashing Cut, slashing his sword diagonally across the Swordclaws side.
With a painful howl, the Swordclaw abandoned its attempts to rip Griffin"s shield from his arm and turned towards Eric, an enormous paw swinging towards him at an insane speed.
Still recovering from the momentum of using Dashing Cut, Eric was unable to fully avoid the Swordclaw"s attack. With a small cry he was sent flying backwards, forming a crater in the stone as he crashed heavily into the wall of the cavern.
Falling to the ground below in a crumpled heap, blood began to gush from the deep cuts in his leather armour, forming a pool beneath him as he lay unmoving on the cave floor.