Chương 7: Of Hollow Elks and Moths

We left Peace at the tavern and headed for the town hall.

"She's hiding something," Astarielle said the second we were out of earshot.

"Everyone's hiding something. She's hiding a lot of something."

"That crystal behind her was radiating more mana than everything else on this floor combined. And she read as blank." Astarielle glanced over her shoulder, as if Peace might be following us.

"That's super suspicious." I noticed that too. On Earth, no magical signature meant no talent for magic. Most people were like that, but most people didn't have powerful magical artifacts floating around them. That she had one suggested she either had magical power, just hid them impossibly well, or that she really didn't have any, and got that artifact in spite of that.

"But she was nice to Chris," Astarielle said.

"Who was also nice. So she might not be bad. Just secretive." Yeah, plus if she lived on this floor, we wouldn't meet her again after making it up. I left worrying about her to the next time we met, if that were to ever happen. The town hall sat at the north end of the square, a stone building with a slate roof and heavy wooden doors. Compared to everything else, it looked fortified. Thicker walls, iron-banded shutters, and a pair of guards flanking the entrance. The guards watched us approach.

One of them, a woman with a shortsword and a scar across her jaw, stepped forward.

"State your business."

"We're climbers," I said. Her expression didn't change, but her posture did. Shoulders squared, hand drifting toward her hilt. Not threatening, just ready.

"The chief's inside. He'll see you." We weren't the first climbers to come around. The interior was simple and functional. A central hall with a long table, maps pinned to the walls, a fire burning in a stone hearth. At the far end, a man sat behind a desk covered in papers and ledgers. He was old. In the late sixties, maybe. A thick grey beard, calloused hands, and tired eyes. He wore a simple vest over a cotton shirt, no jewelry, no ornamentation. He looked up as we entered, expression unimpressed.

"Climbers." No warmth in the voice.

"Sit." We sat.

"I am Aldric. I run this settlement." He leaned back in his chair.

"You want the waystone, I suppose." Obviously.

"We do."

"Everyone who comes from outside wants the waystone. It's in the vault inside the mountains. I can open it for you. But I'm not going to do it because you asked nicely." Ah, great. That was exactly what we needed. I checked the timer on the projection. Still about two-thirds left.

"What do you need?" He studied me for a moment.

"We haven't had climbers here in a while. The last ones burned half the eastern woodlands, which started a pest migration that took us three seasons to recover from." Oh, and it was going to get much worse if I had to fight my way to the waystone. Astarielle wasn't exactly a low-collateral-damage type of spellcaster. He leaned forward, fingers laced.

"So before I open anything, I need you to fix what's left of the mess the last set caused. There's an infestation in the eastern woods. We call them the hollow elk." I shrugged.

"Never heard of them."

"Wish we didn't either. Find what's creating them, solve it, and I'll take you to the waystone." An annoying side quest. But it was also an opportunity to catch souls in my lantern. These elk things just might have the types of souls that would lure some nice demons.

"We'll take care of it." Aldric grunted.

"Eastern woodlands. Follow the river upstream about two miles, then cut northeast when you hit the stone bridge. You'll know when you're in their territory. The grass dies first." We left the town hall and headed east.

"You know," Astarielle said the second we left town.

"You could have asked him for a mount."

"It's just a couple of miles."

"You could still walk. But I could really use a nice steed to ride on." I grunted. She would survive.

"Oh, come on, you were supposed to say that I could ride you all I want later. I served that for you." That got a snort out of me. We were going to see about that. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. A road led through the countryside, which helped quite a bit. For as long as Astarielle's heels were clapping on the stone, she didn't have much to complain about. The land around us slowly changed. Fields gave way to forest. So far so good.

But the forest started becoming bleaker. As if someone was slowly dialling down the saturation. About half an hour of walking later, everything around us looked different shades of grey. The natural sounds also gave way, our voices becoming louder as nothing else produced sound. No smell either, which felt weirdly unnatural. The trees looked worse up close. Not just faded, but drained. Bark peeling in dry sheets, sap crystallized in amber beads along the trunks. A bird sat on a branch above us, completely still.

I wasn't sure if it was alive at all. An elk walked into our path. Or at least, it had the shape of an elk. Most of it was white, some patches gray, it had a skull for the head and hollow eyes, with crystalline white antlers.

"Oh, hell no!" Astarielle shouted, stretched her hand, and fired a bolt of crimson flame. It hit the elk and detonated. The heat and shockwave licked my shields. The explosion tore the elk into shreds, demolishing a bunch of trees and ground. So much for diplomacy. The trees to our side rustled, two more hollow elk charging through. Astarielle waved her hand, and an arc of crimson light split one elk apart. The other hit me. My shields absorbed the impact, stopping the creature in its tracks.

Up close, the creature looked even more unnatural. The movement didn't really fit normal muscles. From the parts of the cut-up elk, massive moths swarmed out. Except that they each had a long stinger. Astarielle yelped. Fire exploded from her, burning the moths close to her. My shields absorbed it, and my body shielded the moths from my other side. They landed on my head and neck, trying to stab me. My shields shimmered, blocking everything. The elk tried to hit me with the antlers again.

"Take your time," I said.

"No rush." With an angry glare, Astarielle threw both of her arms up. A massive pillar of crimson flame landed straight on me. My shields withstood the impact. The moths burned, and so did the elk, together with the moths inside it. Shielding off Astarielle's spells cost about ten times more mana than warding off the attacks of the elk and moths. Great. I watched them burn to nothing around me.

"Let me guess," I said.

"Now that you've blasted me, you need more mana." She smirked.

"Unless you want to deal with the next wave yourself." I pushed more mana into her, replenishing her reserves.

"Don't you have more precise spells?" I headed into the forest where the elk came from.

"Do you want quick results or slow meticulous precision?" Astarielle asked back.

"Because you can't have both. Plus, the goal is to hit as many enemies per spell as possible. When they swarm all over you, you are the center, so your face is the optimal point to aim at." I grunted. That made sense, even though I didn't like it. A pop-up floated in front of me. [ENEMIES DEFEATED – HOLLOW ELK (3)] [Drops: Hollow Antler Fragment (common) (x3), Corrupted Hide (Common) (x7), 28 copper, Resonance Shard (Uncommon)] [ENEMIES DEFEATED – HOLLOW MOTH (15)] [Drops: Hollow Moth Wings (common) (x30)] Hmph.

I looked over the area for the resonance shard. The pile of loot appeared in the middle of the path, nicely arranged. A white crystal lay on top of it. I picked it up and stuffed it into my pocket. An uncommon drop was new. I summoned the Lantern of Endless Suffering, drawing the souls inward. A few teal flames pulled from the carcasses and spiraled into the lantern. The flame inside grew, dense and layered. These were stronger than the rats. Even the moths had a tiny soul to them.

I kicked a bit of one burning husk. The shell fell apart, revealing nothing. The moths were likely parasites that ate the elks from the inside, leaving just husks controlled with mana. We pushed on in the direction the elk came from. The trees slowed us down. But they gave way to a clearing. Fourteen elk loitered around. They all stopped the second we came into view. Ah, great. I pushed a touch more mana into Astarielle. She was already casting, crimson flame swirling around her arms and torso.

I really needed someone faster. The elk charged. Astarielle finished her spell. Dozens of crimson bolts swarmed from her. They hit the converging elk, tearing through them. Fire explosions tore through most of them, setting the entire clearing on fire. Three elk reached us. Two ran with their antlers into me. I only made sure my shield was topped off. They all stopped as if they ran into a wall, their horns cracking. One got to Astarielle. She jumped aside to dodge, only for another elk to hit her.

Her shields shimmered, but the hit threw her back. I pulled on the power that I had pushed into Astarielle. Detonate. Astarielle's form erupted into a massive explosion of crimson flame, shredding the elk around her. I instantly resummoned her. Astarielle started forming from crimson flame near me. Ah, right, I didn't have her on quick summon anymore. Five elk in total converged on me, together with over a dozen moths. I sighed, waiting for the summoning to finally finish. My shields now shone in a stable layer.

Everything that hit me got absorbed, making me feel nothing. Astarielle reformed, instantly aiming her palms at me. Two larger crimson bolts fired from her, hitting my sides. They exploded, straining my shields, obliterating the elks. The entire clearing burned. More souls for the lantern. I raised my hand, the lantern appearing. Light converged into it, drawing all the released souls.

[ENEMIES DEFEATED – HOLLOW ELK (14)] [Drops: Hollow Antler Fragment (common) (x11), Corrupted Hide (Common) (x14), 78 copper] [ENEMIES DEFEATED – HOLLOW MOTH (70)] [Drops: Hollow Moth Wings (common) (x140)] Really, no uncommon drops? The pile of antlers and hides and wings that appeared in the clearing made me smirk, though.

"Phew," Astarielle said.

"I haven't fought this much in a while." Me neither. Nor precisely, never. I didn't even realize how fast my heart was pumping. I was almost smirking, wasn't even sure why. I wiped my face clean, heading forward. This cost quite a bit of mana, actually. I've burned over two million mana already. Then again, the cornerstone of my strategy was that I had a ton of mana. Your brother would one-shot you. That line crept into my mind. How? That thought wiped the smirk off my face. I had to ask Cassandra about it later.

But I also had to bring her something. The forest changed. The trees turned into torn husks. Still, white flames covered many of the trees, as if frozen in time. We took a low descent. The trees devoured the sky, canopy too thick to let light through. We walked in. The darkness lit up in front of us. Eight purple eyes lit up the darkness ahead. The blackness itself moved. It had the shape of a spider, an absolute behemoth of one. Its chitin shell shook, lit up with a thousand white lights.

Eggs covered with fur, the light breaking out from within.

"Astarielle," I whispered.

"Drop a rock at it." As if it heard me, the spider bent its legs, tightening its stance. All the eggs on its back hatched. Moths swarmed out, many larger than the ones from the elk. I stepped forward. Come at me.