Lore/Story For The Wynn, A Wynncraft Story (10)

Spoiler: Slumbering Secrets (part 1)

'Welcome back, sis.' Reygina slapped her friend's back when she finally saw her eyes open. Krisstal let out a groan and looked around the familiar white room, her friend alive and well next to her.


'Where are the boys?' She asked weakly, noticing them missing. 'Are they...'


'They're fine. Skywalker was up and running before we knew it, he said he wanted to find out more about the new sword you two found in the sewers...' Reygina said, but stopped when she saw Krisstal's eyes snapped wide open.


'That idiot is going to get himself injured again... I've got to...' Krisstal tried to get up from the bed, but a surge of pain began radiating down her body.


'Hah! Hah!' Krisstal screamed in pain while clutching at herself. She could feel her open wounds rubbing against the bandages. She recalled that one electrified arrow that injured her leg, she looked down to see layers of bloody bandages wrapped around the site of injury.


'No, you won't. Hearolie is with him. He bought a dozen health potions for us to make sure we would be in tip-top condition during our recovery.' Reygina replied. “Speaking of which, Jenprest came to check on you two while you two passed out due to the medication. She gave Hearolie a dungeon key and three unidentified 'Thoracic' to us.”


She looked at her bandaged friend from head to toe. 'Strange how even though Skywalker got more wounds than you, he was the faster one to recover. I mean he is injured, shielding you from that spell attack in particular from what he said, so shouldn't he be more seriously injured? Doctors said they're confused as well. Tests and assessments showed that he's fine now, apart from a few flesh wounds, but other than that nothing as bad as you. They say it's a miracle.'


'It will be a miracle if they come back unharmed.' Krisstal groaned. The pain subsided a bit as she laid back down. Deciding to change the topic, Krisstal asked Reygina about her thoughts on the clothes and cosmetics in Ragni. There were some playful touches and laughter during the conversation.

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'You know? You always get a new wound every time we go out.' Hearolie said. 'I know you're stupid and weird, but getting yourself injured like that? There's no amount of healing potions that could heal your intelligence.'


Skywalker rolled his eyes. He hated hearing his insults. 'Yeah? Well, no amount of healing potions can heal your disease of making poor jokes.' He smirked, deciding to attack his proud friend's ego.


The two like to argue and burn each other persistently when they are alone, but this time they attracted the nearby corrupts. The groans from the zombies and spiders were finally loud enough to silence the two boys. The two gave each other a death stare, mentally blaming the other for their current mess.


With the sword attached to his back, Skywalker could only manage to sidestep the enemies instead of performing his usual jumps and flips. Hearolie, however, decided to be more acrobatic on this occasion. A kick here, a punch there, he chained his physical attacks alongside his archery. He always preferred to be a sniper, but with them being in the open, he couldn't find himself an optimal position to snipe the corrupt.


'Skywalker, deflect this.' Hearolie shouted, seeing Skywalker was in his line of sight. The arrow he shot soared through the air. Skywalker heard the cue and knew what to do. He tilted one of his daggers at just the right angle, the arrow got deflected and hit a weak zombie. The zombie fell to the ground and was defeated. Its body disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. The two managed to clear the monsters that had spawned near Katoa Ranch in no time.


'We've been here for quite some time, finished your investigation yet?' Hearolie asked. He was growing impatient with each passing second.


'Well... I guess there is nothing here that tells us anything about this sword,' Skywalker pointed to the shore in front of them. 'Let's head further north. If there is nothing, we go back then.'


'Whatever.' Hearolie muttered. 'I would have been in that dungeon fighting mobs if it wasn't Reygina ordering me to babysit you.'


'I'm not a little boy...' Skywalker walked down the path that leads the shoreline. The dirt path guided them down a slope, further away from the dungeon and Katoa Ranch. Wooden fences were placed to act as a barrier to separate the grass and the dirt road.


'You are younger than me, so technically you are.. under my definition that is.' The taller human replied as they passed through a small stone bridge. Water from the sewers flowed under the bridge and connected with the wastewater from the ranch.


'The smell isn't as bad as the putrid smell coming from the hole in the wall back in the mines.' Hearolie thought. A flashback of the Zombified Warriors suddenly hit him. The red clothing and giant spears the Zombified Warriors had reminded him of the numerous Warrior Zombies they had just fought at the North Entrance once again. He remembered how their charging spell attacks proved a bit difficult to handle at first, especially while they were going to find Therck. But with some tips from Enzan, they managed to learn how to time their dodges and attacks. Fighting them became a breeze, just like the Zombie Raiders. They were just zombies with stone swords and a full set of leather armour, but they weren't much of a threat even from the very beginning.


'Hey... What's this?' Skywalker's voice had made Hearolie snapped from his trance. He was about to complain about him asking stupid questions when he saw why he had stopped them.


On the dirt path, slightly behind a large oak tree, were some bones scattered on the ground. The bones were white with a black outline. They could immediately tell these bones aren't the remains of the average skeleton corrupt, at least not the skeletons they had encountered so far.


'Looks like this isn't a waste of time after all.' Hearolie said. 'We should... Don't touch it! We don't know what kind of magic we're dealing with.' He snapped when he saw his friend about to take one of the bones for a closer look. Skywalker instantly backed off from the bones.


'Let's wait... Oh for salted's sake!' Hearolie said. He drew his bow and shot a Weak Zombie that was too close for comfort. The zombie died with one shot.


'Wow! Usually, it takes a few shots for me to kill them. Awesome!' Hearolie smiled. However, the death of the corrupt had once again attracted the attention of another wave of monsters.


'You'll need to snipe the ones further away from us so they won't keep coming when we finish off the ones closest to us. I'll slice the ones close to us.' He pointed to a tree next to them. 'See this short tree next to us? That's your sniping position. Get climbing.'


'What about you?' His companion asked as he began ascending the trunk. 'Your daggers have been used for quite a while. In fact, you used the same weapons since you got here. I mean both got toothy edges now instead of the original polished edges.'


'Yeah, I know... But I'm still going to use it till it breaks.' Skywalker said. He held his daggers in reverse grip, one held in front of him horizontally, the other held vertically at his side.


With his battle stance ready, he slashed at an incoming Zombie. The daggers' toothy edges couldn't make smooth cuts but instead, rip the corrupted flesh out of the zombies. However, he had more difficulty pulling his blades out with each attack.


'Dude, that's enough. Your weapons are no good .' Hearolie shouted, seeing Skywalker in hot water. He shot 'Arrow Storm' in front of the mobs that are about to punch his friend.


Knowing what his pal said was true, he put his self made dagger in his pocket and threw the now useless Birch Wood Shears at a Zombie Grook.


'Guess I have no choice...' Skywalker said, his hands grabbing hold of the steel sword attached behind his back. 'Here goes nothing...' His closed his eyes, hearing the same voices surrounding him when he first found the sword. '...Berserker.' He felt a surge of power flowing from the weapon and into him, unlike anything before. With one mighty swing, a few zombies were knocked back and defeated instantly. Their bodies immediately disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


'Oh dang...' Hearolie stared in awe. He was not expecting the sword to wield such power.


None of them touched the sword when he and Reygina carried Skywalker back to the city. All of them don't like to interact with things that are out of their environmental bubble. Skywalker was the exception.


Skywalker never felt better. One by one, he cleaved the zombies. He felt his strength, speed and reflexes heightened at a state like never before, and he enjoyed it. Everything seemed so easy and fun all of a sudden.


'Sky, don't get too distracted! We still have to investigate the bones.' Hearolie reminded his friend, sniping a normal grook far away from them.


Skywalker snapped back to his senses. He looked around to see all the corrupts near him have been killed off during his trance. Shaking his head, he went on ahead to check out the bones in more detail this time. He could feel corruption emanating in those remains, a sense of cold and dread washed over him. The bones led him to a small area of stone ruins slightly above the hill. He climbed up the slope while Hearolie remained at his spot to kill monsters that posed a danger to them.


Inside the ruins, several skeletons laid dormant on the stone brick floor. Skywalker carefully moved around the skeletons, tiptoeing and leaping through them, the last thing he wanted was the skeletons sudden sprang to life and killed him then and there. He carefully inspected every part of the ruins, pushing away the overgrown plants and dusting the stone bricks to see if there will be anything hidden. When he found nothing, he decided to see if the skeletons were the ones hiding something. Taking a deep breath, he moved the skeleton at the side of the wall next to him. The skeleton crumbled into dust and fell into pieces once Skywalker touched it. He coughed as the dust cleared and searched what remains of the pile of bones, but there was nothing underneath it. He moved on to the skull nearby but found nothing. Next, he searched a skeleton with just its upper body but couldn't find anything useful. He moved on to the last one, a skeleton holding an emerald in its hand while looking down. Like the previous carcass, only the upper part of its body remained. He was about to search it when a green light caught his eye. He looked at the source and found an emerald block hidden deep inside the wall, the sunlight had reflected off the block, explaining the green light. The emerald block contained a stone button.


'Well, well... What do we have here.' Skywalker wondered. He pressed the button and waited. The ground suddenly began to shake and a section of the wall opened, revealing a small room in the ruins that was lit up with some candles. In the middle of the room, a skeleton stood there, it turned and looked at a shocked Skywalker.


'What the...' He murmured to himself. The skeleton however suddenly sprang to life and rushed out of the ruins, it ran past him and headed towards the dirt road. Skywalker hesitated for a moment before deciding to run after it.


Hearolie was busy keeping watch, so he didn't notice what had happened in the ruins. He turned to check on Skywalker, only to see him was running up the hill and went inside a sewer pipe after a skeleton. He jumped down from the tree, hoping to catch up to his friend and comprehend what was going on. He shouted for him to stop but got no response. He made it to the pipe but suddenly iron bars sealed the entrance, effectively putting a halt to his pursue. He desperately fired his spell at the bars as he did with the cobwebs in Nivla Woods. The arrows however merely deflected off the iron bars, not a single scratch was made. He cursed Skywalker under his breath and kicked the bars in rage. 'Now what am I going to do...' He thought to himself.

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'Not again...' Skywalker groaned, seeing himself about to land in sewer water yet again. Just now, the skeleton came to a stop and Skywalker was about to catch up to it when the floor underneath him suddenly gave way and he found himself falling.


'Splash.' Skywalker made contact with the foul water. As he swam to the surface, the same voice he heard from the sword and in the sewers spoke to him again. 'In the year 854 AP (After Portal), a massive horde of undead led by Bak'al attacked Ragni. The people of the city sought refuge in the sewer, the only safe place left.' When he surfaced, he looked around but saw no one near him.


'Am I going to hear voices in my head for the rest of my life?' He thought as he looked at his surroundings. 'Who is this Bak'al anyways.'


The entire room was lit up with redstone lamps and candles. Leaves and vines have overgrown and claimed the area as its own. Stone pebbles were everything on what little solid ground there was. Skywalker looked at his side and noticed a pipe next to him. However, it had been blocked by rubble and debris, possibly for a long time. The original way out had been sealed shut.


'Guess I need to find another way out.' He thought. He saw some stone stairs that led up to the top.


'Wonder where this leads.' He thought as he jumped onto a stone stair but accidentally slipped, his butt landed hard on the cold surface. Patting his butt, he tired again. This time he steadied himself first before hopping on to the next one, the whole parkour got smoother now. He stopped at one of the stone slabs and looked up to see how high up he will be near the end. He prayed his acrophobia won't get the best of him.

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Hearolie was contemplating what his next move should be. Should he tell the girls? Maybe? With Krisstal's condition, however, he knew this wouldn't be the best choice. Krisstal would toughen herself up and would go out of her way to save her friends, just like a mother would do anything to protect her child. Skywalker had told him about how she took care of Angel and Creed and he knew how protective she is.


'You better not make us worry Skywalker.' He looked at the still sealed pipe, unconsciously repeatedly rubbing his face. 'Be careful...'

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'Oh S...' Skywalker screamed. He had slipped and missed the landing, feeling the water catching his fall once again. Every time he landed in the water, he knew he had to do the parkour all over again.


Knowing that fact, he took a deep breath and tried again. 'At least I got all the time in the world to do this.'

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Hearolie sat on the tree once again after he climbed it, shooting down monsters as he saw fit. He saw a Decrepit Sewers Key Guardian in the distance. With a few well-placed shots and a spell attack, he killed all four stages the guardian had to offer. As the mob died, he saw his bow glowed the same blue colour when he identified it. Letters began to appear and form a word on his bow, each glowing blue as they appeared. Reygina had taught him a bit about this strange language while Skywalker and Krisstal were recovering.


"Let's see. This reads as... 'E''S''C''A''P''E'. Escape." Hearolie looked at the glowing inscriptions. He then saw the instructions on how to perform the spell appearing on the bow.


'Left-Left-Left'? Like this?' He did the hand signs for the new spell as instructed. As soon as he completed the hand signs, an unseen force launched him into the air.


'Woah! What the hell?' Adrenaline filled his entire body, his heart racing. 'This is awesome!' After reaching a certain height, he slowly descended back to the tree.


His breathing was still rapid from the excitement. 'This spell is my favourite now.' He did the spell again, feeling his skin tingle as he was airborne again. He was having the best fun he ever had in his life. He soon stopped to recharge his stamina back when an idea came to mind. Once ready, he began jumping around and over the monsters. The mobs had no method to reach him, so they merely followed him around. Hearolie taunted and mocked them while doing so.

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'Finally! For Salt's sake.' Skywalker panted as he landed on the final platform. He wrapped his arms around it tightly to stabilise himself. He murmured to himself to not look down again as he got up.


Seeing the pipe stretched far ahead into the distance, he decided to walk inside the pipe to see where it leads. He used 'Whirlwind' on some pesky Contaminated Rats to scare them away along the way. The hallway's redstone lamps and the candles at the end shone on something strange.


'A gravestone?' Skywalker whispered to himself, wondering why would a tomb be built here of all places. On the tombstone was some inscription of some sort engraved on it.


'May the woman who died here in tonight's raid rest in peace. Though we did not know her name, her memory will live on through her son.' He read it out. Gears began turning inside his head, questions with no answers began to form in his mind.


He took a closer look at the tombstone and a gasp slipped from his mouth. The tomb was opened, either someone from the outside pulled it open or something inside the tomb pushed it. Neither option mattered, what’s inside the tomb is now gone, for whatever reason. Taking a closer look at the surroundings, red and dark blocks of netherrack were present, some of the surrounding plants that were on the netherrack have wilted, such as the nearby grass turned white, drained of life. Skywalker knew if there is netherrack, then there is corruption. Reygina's encounter at the farmhouse and Krisstal's adventure at Katoa Ranch told him that.


'Corruption can affect the dead.' Skywalker said to himself, remembering what Reygina had told them before their journey in the sewers.


'Corruption can affect living or non-living things in many ways some consider to be unnatural.' Reygina's warning echoed in his mind.


The voice of Otium came next. 'The corruption… can affect the minds of individuals as well. The Corruption can also bring the dead back to life or infect the living.'


'Don't want to touch these...' He thought as he saw metallic spikes rose from the ground, he pondered whether the corruption caused these as well. Burned and charred stone blocks, the colour of coal, were scattered across the room. Obsidian started near the tombstone and spread to the surrounding stone floor. All of these blocks and conditions being present were signs of corruption. There is no doubt about it.


His eyes then met something peculiar in the room other than the opened tomb. There were black bones on the ground, with corruption emitting from them in the form of black particles. They lead to the back of the room where a passageway is. The sound and smell of fresh air was the only hint he needed to know where this dark path leads. He knew he had to tell the others about this strange discovery, a secret slumbering all this time.


Even though he was excited to get out and get back to the surface, his mind couldn't put down on why those bones looked strange yet familiar.


'A skeleton... who has black bones... No way.' He dropped his dagger unintentionally when he pieced everything together. A mental image of Witherhead manifested in his mind. She was what came out of the tombstone because of corruption. She was the mother of a well known man in the city, or else she wouldn't be remembered through him in the first place.


A question began to linger in his mind, one that seemed to have no leads or answers, at least for now.


'Who was the son?' He asked the air around him. The only reply was dead silence. The first rays of sunlight greeted him as he made it to the end.

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Krisstal was sleeping after the exhausting long conversation she had with Reygina. Her mind lingered on what clothes she wanted to buy when she got better as she dozed off, the surrounding ambience growing more muffled and faint as her body went to 'rest and digest' mode.


Reygina was looking at the distance from the window, admiring the urban scenery.


'This couldn't get any better.' Her gaze focused on the architecture of the buildings and the recruits below. She saw Therck leading his squad of soldiers to patrol the city.


Suddenly, in the distance, she thought she saw Hearolie leaping from building to building. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She opened her eyes again to see Hearolie nowhere to be seen.


'I knew it was an illusion...' She let out a huge breath. She was about to close the window when a loud crash was heard. Something landed on the roof, footsteps grew louder as if heading towards them.


Reygina grabbed her wand and aimed right for the window. She hoped that it wasn't a monster that was coming towards them.


She lowered her guard when she saw Hearolie climbed down and landed on the window. 'Oh, it's just him.' She thought to herself.


'May I come in?' He asked while entering the room through the window.


'You're already in so why ask?' Reygina laughed. 'Where's Sky?'


'Downstairs by now. Parkour is fun.' Her friend casually replied.


Footsteps were heard from the wooden stairs behind them. Skywalker emerged from the stairs, catching his breath as he entered.


'Hey... She's not up yet?' Skywalker asked. He inched closer towards his resting friend. She looked so peaceful and void of pain now.


'While you two were out, I found Enzan and told him I wanted to buy this book. He said technically I can, and I paid a hefty fee for it.' She took out Ragni's Records from her bag. 'I will further expand, add, delete and update everything we know and record it in this book.'


'Sounds like a journal?' Skywalker raised an eyebrow. 'Speaking of which, I have something to share with you two...'


He told them everything about the sewers, the gravestone and the corruption. Reygina listened carefully and began writing notes.


'So I guess that's it...' Skywalker said. 'Nothing else worth noting.'


'Does this strange weapon have any side effects you're feeling? We basically know nothing about it except it's powerful.' Hearolie asked.


Skywalker remembered how he felt. Stronger. Faster. Better. However, he brushed them off, believing he was just in the moment. 'No... You can try to use it if you want. I need to find some new daggers though.' He showed his rough-edged Oak Wood Shears to the others. 'Maybe on tougher missions, I'll bring the sword, since carrying it around hinders my mobility.'


'No thanks.' His friends responded.


'I don't think prolong exposure to that thing is good, we really don't know anything about it. Could be corruption or some magical forces for all we know.' Reygina added.


'Well... I'll let you know if I find or feel anything unusual.' Skywalker shrugged.


'I wonder if those towers we saw in Nivla Woods are something worth exploring further as well.' Hearolie wondered. 'If we are going there, we might as well add our powders to our weapons. Reygina and I found a lot of loot and emeralds during our stop at Nivla Woods, while you two were fighting the dungeon. It was getting late so we didn't identify anything, it was a good move, however.' He pointed at Krisstal. 'We'll take her spear, might as well.'


'If even the sewers had so much background and discoveries, maybe everything is worth taking a closer look. I say let's go there.' Skywalker said. Exploring is his forte after all.


'We'll be back before we know it. You guys go downstairs first, I'll write and leave a note for Krisstal to inform her of our whereabouts.'


Skywalker tore a piece of paper from his notebook and began writing. 'I'll also put away this sword, so give me a few minutes.'


'Sure.' Reygina said. 'I've put the unidentified armour, accessories and dagger in my bag.' Her hands holding onto her wand and the unidentified one. She walked down the stairs with the heavy bag on her back. Hearolie was right behind her, he had strapped his bow and the unidentified bow to his back.


When he was certain they were gone, Skywalker inched closer to Krisstal. 'I'm sorry...' He began. 'I wasn't strong enough to protect you from Witherhead. But I know I will be one day. For you, for them, for me...' He hugged her and left the note at her hand. He placed the sword under the bed, pocketed his old dagger and took the unidentified spear. Casting one more look at her before walking down to meet up with Reygina and Hearolie.


'Ready?' He asked, to which his friends nodded. White clouds began to gather in the sky.


'Parkour time.' Hearolie shouted. He cast 'Escape', leaping onto a nearby building and began sprinting on the rooftops.


'And there he goes. Let's hurry.' Reygina said, running through the streets and exited the East Gate. Skywalker followed and kicked a Zombie Raider when he exited, the kick knocked the zombie into the attack range of a golem.


They sped through Emerald Trail until they reached the Item Identifier. With Reygina's silver tongue, they got the most out of their loot and emeralds. During the identification, the unidentified dagger morphed into a claw whereas the unidentified bow transformed into a crossbow. The new wand had shortened in length as the three weapons glowed diminished.


'Let's see here what we got here.' Reygina looked at the glowing inscriptions of each item. "We have a 'The Queen's Tiara', a 'Drale's Hide', one 'Helmet of Intelligence'..."


'Sky, you need that one!' Hearolie interrupted, laughing at his mockery.


'Shut up...' The reply came.


'Continuing on...' Reygina continued reading through the inscriptions. "A 'Padded Leather Cap'. Moving on to the chestplates, we have a 'Runner's Vest', a 'Tarod's Parka', a 'Leaf Tunic' and the three 'Thoracic' from Jenprest."


She gave the identified leggings and boots to Hearolie. 'Your turn. You need to practice this new language too.'


'But...'


'Please?' She gave the items to Hearolie and acted cute in front of him. Skywalker looked away momentarily and saw the sky full of dark clouds now, the sunlight now obstructed from view.


'Argh... Fine.' Hearolie groaned with a pinched expression. 'Let's see... We have a...'


He stuttered and struggled a bit, unlike Reygina who seemed to master it within a week. Skywalker thought it was no surprise. Sometimes when he went out for a morning walk or to get a drink, he saw Reygina in the other building reading books, learning the language bit by bit each day.


"An 'Opulenity', an 'Arcane Greaves' and... an 'Iron Incrusted Pants'. For the boots, we have... a pair of 'Kickers'..., 'Featherweight', 'Plated Boots' and finally... 'Slippery Boots'.


'Good, now you teach Skywalker how to read and translate these.' Reygina said. She took the weapons and accessories they have found and hand them to Skywalker.


Hearolie rolled his eyes. 'Teach him? I'll be dead before he could say his first word.'


'Pretty please?' Reygina asked with puppy eyes.


Hearolie swore under his breath. 'Ok! Here's how it works.' He took a deep breath and started what seemed to be his worst nightmare, teaching Skywalker which symbol is which alphabet.


Skywalker struggled a bit, but eventually, he managed to get them right. "Right. So this is... 'Therck's Irritation', this is... 'Enzan's Lucky Charm', this is a "Ring of Strength", a ring called "Concentration" and this necklace is... 'Travel Charm'. You happy now, Sir?"


'No. You'll probably forget it the next day.' Hearolie grunted.


'I'll finish the weapons.' Reygina said. "We have here a 'Bolt', a 'Detlas' Stick', a 'Crackshot', and a 'Dern's Shadow'. That's everything, with only a few more emeralds left. Let's take what we want and suit up."


'Agreed!' Skywalker said as he took 'Drale's Hide', 'Thoracic' and 'Featherweight'. He then wore 'Enzan's Lucky Charm' and 'Therck's Irritation' on each of his wrists. He ran a few steps around to test out the new gear and attacked a nearby zombie. He found himself faster and stronger than when using his old set. The zombie was shocked and burned by the attacks, as a result of the perks the new gear gave him.


'Hmm, a crossbow? It's going to take some time getting used to it, a welcome change though.' Hearolie said as he picked up the crossbow 'Crackshot'.


Out of the corner of his eye, a zombie was heading towards the trio. He pulled the string to where the lock is. Once the string was in place, an arrow appeared on the crossbow's body. Hearolie aimed his crossbow at the zombie and pulled the trigger. The lock is disengaged, and the bow is released. The arrow whizzed past the air and hit its target. The force was so great that after the arrow penetrated the head, it ripped the head from the body. The zombie's head was nailed to the ground as its body slumped to the ground. The arrow and the zombie then disappeared in the same fashion.


'It takes forever to reload this, but the damage is insane. Perfect for me to snipe enemies.' Hearolie chuckled. He took the 'Travel Charm', 'Padded Leather Cap', the second 'Thoracic', 'Padded Leather Cap', 'Opulenity' and finally 'Slippery Boots'.


Reygina was the last to equip gear. She took 'Plated Boots', 'Concentration', 'Helmet of Intelligence', 'Tarod's Parka', and 'Arcane Greaves'. To finish her set, she took 'Detlas' Stick'.


'Nice, we can let Krisstal choose the remaining gear. We could also inspect the status and stats of each item in detail later tonight.' Skywalker looked at each of them in their new armour and gear. ' What should we do with the old gear?'


'We can either sell them to some type of merchant, or we could store them in the bank. At least, from what I heard.' Reygina replied. 'We are low on emeralds so we could sell some gear we won't be using anymore.'


'Then let's pack everything up and head to the towers, we still have to get to the Powder Master.' Hearolie said. He strapped the unnecessary wands, spears and bows to his back and carried the heavy bag over his shoulder.


'Well... We better get started.' Skywalker clapped his hands. Reygina nodded and followed behind the boys.


'If I recall, the first tower is just up ahead. Right before the entrance of the woods.' Hearolie said. 'Wonder if Therck is there.'


Skywalker shrugged and looked back. Reygina was walking quietly behind them. 'Reygina? Come on ahead, no need to be alone.'


'Thank you, but... I'm fine with this.' Reygina smiled at the kind offer.


'Alright, don't hesitate to speak if you want to, we can hear you.' Hearolie replied. "I think I like to use 'Aldorei's Training Bow' when I'm on the run and 'Crackshot' when I'm sniping.'


'I've got a claw instead of a dagger, this would be interesting.' Skywalker replied while looking at the weapon he equipped. 'Certainly, I can't throw this at something.'


"Honestly... I think you will. Still think you should have worn that 'Helmet of Intelligence'." Hearolie smirked.


'Not this again.' The ninja rolled his eyes yet again.


Reygina was in earshot of their conversation. She inspected her new wand with deep interest. 'This wand has such a short handle...' She whispered to herself.


Reygina was so focused on her wand that she didn't notice her friends had stopped in front of her. She bumped into them and was about to ask why they had stopped. However, the groans of zombies on their right provided her with the reason.


'Wow. That wasn't here the last time we pass by.' Hearolie whispered.


'No, it wasn't. Those Rotten Zombies weren't here before either.' Skywalker pointed out. Hordes of Rotten Zombies concentrated at the stone ruins below the tower. Dried blood was visible at the site of their exposed skull. Their ribs visible through their exposed green-skinned chest. They held spears to pierce their next victims. The entire sight was gruesome.


'The first tower is there. We just need to climb it to see if there is anything.' Hearolie said, his eyes focused on their goal.


'Easier said than done.' The ninja replied. We can use the ruins as cover, but I'm not sure if all three of us can go in at once.


'We don't need to. We can go in one by one.' Hearolie said. 'Ready?'


His two friends nodded. With a shot from his 'Aldorei's Training Bow' and Reygina's 'Detlas's Stick', a Rotten Zombie was shot down. The other Rotten Zombies were altered to their presence and began to move in to attack. The trio engaged them, Skywalker slashing the zombies one by one. He grabbed hold of one the zombie's spears to hold the zombie in place and punched the zombie square in the face. The zombie felt a surge of electricity spiked through its body, the wound burning hot. Its face was easily torn wide open by the ninja with a few more slashes. Reygina found herself using her healing spell quicker than before. She also realised each of her attacks was weaker, but at the same time, she could deploy attacks faster.


When the Rotten Zombie's number was low enough, the mage and the ninja nodded to the archer. Hearolie rushed inside the tower and climbed the wooden stairs. The tower's interior had a tall wood pillar that leads to the top, with dark coloured stairs spiral upwards. Candles were lit and placed along the way. Through gaps in the walls, sunlight entered the tower, shining onto the moss and fungus that had grown inside. Bloodstains painted some of the stairs red, but he paid no attention to them. Higher and higher he climbed, the walls made from smooth stone now became stone bricks. Finally, he reached the top. Hearing his friends fighting below, he wasted no time to look around. He almost fell off the tower when he saw a levitating skeleton grinning at him. It's lower half body was gone, with part of its brain stuck at the exposed skull. It carried a sword behind its back and wore a grey leather chestplate.


'A ninja of the past?' Hearolie thought. All of a sudden, black particles surrounded the entire top of the tower. The three candles lit on the smaller pillars began to waver. The wind suddenly howled as the voice of the past echoed on the wind.


886 AP


"Sir, they've breached Nivla!" The voice of a terrified soldier spoke.


"All the outer checkpoints have been overrun!" Another one spoke.


"He's there sir, I see him." Hearolie found himself looking over the woods as if the whole scene was happening right now.


"Bak'al, sir. He's.. leading thousands." Fear audible in every word.


"This could mark the fall of Ragni."


"We've held this forest for years. There is no one left to save us." All hope seemed lost for them.


'Woah... What was that all about.' Hearolie took a deep breath. He had unknowingly held his breath due to the intensity of the illusion. Everything seemed to have quieted down and returned to normal now. He looked ahead and saw two other towers like the one he is standing on just ahead. He knew that is where they would be going next.


'Umm... What's going on?' Hearolie blinked and rushed to the edge, hearing Skywalker shouting. His weapon started glowing, just like Hearolie's bow from earlier. Reygina had just finished attacking another enemy when sudden her wand also started glowing the same blue colour.


'You two have unlocked a new spell, hurry up and figure out what they are.' Hearolie used an 'Escape' spell to launch himself in the air, proceeding to use 'Arrow Storm' on the Rotten Zombies as his friends quickly decipher their new spells.


'Shadow Clone.' Skywalker said out loud. He looked at a zombie to get its attention. It charged towards him as he did the hand signs. His entire figure decolourised and vanished, turning invisible while leaving a clone where he used the spell. The zombie was struck the clone, causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke immediately. The zombie was puzzled at this realisation, confused as it looked around to find the real ninja. Suddenly, it felt claws scratched its side, leaving three ugly wounds. It roared and swiped its spear around but hit nothing but air. Skywalker suddenly appeared right in front of him, catching the zombie off guard as he punched forward with all his might. The attacks had disfigured the zombie gravely as it perished.


'Teleport.' Reygina did her hand signs for her new spell as two Rotten Zombies charged at her. She targeted at some nearby stones and disappeared. All she saw as she teleported in that instant, was light elongated and stretched into thin, shiny lines around her. She appeared at the stones instantly, leaving a trail of embers behind.


'Fun's over guys. Let's go to the next one after you went inside this tower.' Hearolie shouted.


Skywalker and Reygina entered the tower as Hearolie guarded the exit. They experienced the same voices and sensations as Hearolie, each looking shocked and confused about what had happened.


'I'm glad I wasn't with them...' Reygina said, but it came out more as a whisper. Her eyes widened with terror.


'Bak'al... Didn't the voices from the sewers mention him before? Who is this Bak'al seriously.' Skywalker thought to himself. 'He seemed someone or something of great significance.'


'I saw the second tower just ahead, the spiders won't be a threat to us this time.' Hearolie shouted as he led them inside the familiar woods.

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(to be continued)


I know in the game you could only wear one bracelet, but I think it’s logical that everyone could wear two bracelets, I mean normally we have two arms, so in this story, this detail is changed.

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Spoiler: Slumbering Secrets (part 2)

He was right. No matter if they were fighting Forest Spiders or Nesting Spiders, they proved to be easy monsters to defeat, thought their numbers were an irritation rather than a threat. Sooner than they expected, they had reached the second tower, located left of the main road.


Skywalker rushed inside the tower first this time, and he climbed up the stairs. This tower was slightly taller and seemed to be more well built than the previous one. Torches were placed instead of candles, the interior is a bit more spacious than the last one. He soon reached a section near the top where goods and crates were stored. Books about jokes and pranks were there, perhaps used by the soldiers to lighten the tense mood and atmosphere. Strategies written on paper were laid on the floor, collecting dust as it was left there for decades. He saw the last steps end with a ladder that led to the top. The stone floor was stained with blood, leaves had grown over the edges.


The wind suddenly howled again, the voice of the past echoed on the wind. Skywalker prepared himself as black particles surrounded the area.


884 AP


"The forward defences have fallen." A soldier cried.


"They have taken the forest. The last barrier between them and Ragni is us."


"We must fortify. Put those fires out!" Skywalker began to see the woods burning in front of him. The trees consumed by illusionary fires.


"If we lose tree cover, we lose the war." Branches began falling as the flames crackled, but it wasn't enough to muffle the sounds of soldiers murdered by the corrupt.


"Oh no.. It's him." Everything slowly went back to normal as the visions and voices end.


Skywalker was still focusing on the woods when a black bone next to the skeleton caught his attention. The same type of bone was found at the tombstone he had just been, and that could mean Witherhead had been here, though it was just a speculation nonetheless. Skywalker climbed down and looked around the storage area to make sure there was nothing else that needs further investigation. Once he was done, he exited the tower to allow the others to enter, while he defended them from the spiders and zombies alone. The zombies here have golden helmets and boots to accompany their leather chestplates, leggings and stone swords. With the new 'Shadow Clone' spell, however, there weren't too hard for Skywalker to defeat. They were all easily fooled by the clone.

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'To help people,' Krisstal thought, 'Is there more to this I wonder.' Sure, she could give emeralds to the poor, give health potions to the sick or give some positive speeches to long faces... But, is helping people just about that?


Her eyes glued to the ceiling. She could start to move a bit easier with the help of healing potions, but far from walking. Doctors gave her bed rest for a day or two, so the wounds won't open up again prematurely.


'I dreamt of helping people... but what have I done to achieve it?' She had helped defeated the undead and unclog the sewers of Ragni. Hardly the type of help she expected to give someone. 'What will that do in the long run...' She's not Bob, she's not someone special. What could she do to help people? She helped kill the undead, but they kept appearing and spawning all over the place. There was no permanent solution yet. She, like all the other recruits, is keeping control of the undead population in check through killing them, but far from winning the war. The bed squeaked under her as she tried to roll to her side. Her limbs are getting numb, being in the same position for quite a while. She had read the note Skywalker had written to her, she could only hope he wouldn't do anything stupid. Through giving his track record, she knew he wouldn't come back without at least a scratch.


'Is helping others really my purpose?' She asked herself. Why doubt herself? She had told others about her purpose, and now she is changing her mind again? She doesn't want to be a burden to others, but she felt... lost.


Her thoughts were disturbed when Creed and Angel arrived. The two children were happily shouting her name as they gave her some gifts.


'Kriss!' Angel shouted with a smile on her face.


'Tal.' Creed finished his sister's pronunciation.


'Hey, Krisstal.' Vade said as he entered the room. 'You feeling better?'


Krisstal smiled at the company she now had.

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883 AP


"Sir, they have started burning the trees." Illusions of smoke began to rise at the front of the trees.


"We have no coverage."


"Men, retreat to the forest boundaries!" The leader of the group said in a sulking tone.


"This position is lost." It came out more like a whisper than an order.


The wind had howled again for the third time for the trio. The voice of the past had once again, echoed on the wind.


'I think I see the last tower ahead, right at the eastern edge of the forest.' Hearolie said. The three of them walked over the boxes and carpets before climbing down. Since there was a door to prevent the monsters from getting in, the trio was able to enter the tower together.


The third tower, the one they are inside now, was sturdier than the second tower. They checked the first level of storage but found nothing but empty chests and boxes. The second area had a grinning skull at the corner and a drawer. Inside was a note, possibly the last words written by a soldier who was stationed here. Bloodstained carpets were around them, giving out a foul smell. They finally reached the lowest level, but neither the chests or crates had anything of use inside.


The door continued banging as the spiders and zombies tried to force the door down and swarm the heroes. Reygina told the boys to combine their spell attacks. They obeyed and did the hand signs, Reygina opened the door and quickly hid behind the boys. The mobs swarmed inside, but all they saw were red particles surrounding them and fire arrows heading their way. The monsters tried to escape from the combined attacks, but the narrow corridor trapped them like rats. The 'Whirlwind' and 'Arrow Storm' fired off, killing all of them. Reygina used her wand to finish off the remainder hostiles.


'We found loot chests in that cave actually,' Hearolie pointed to a cave beside them, spiders infested the entire underground cave. 'Rey and I have gone inside, have parkour to do, quite fun.'


'That stone building next to us?' Reygina pointed to the stone bricked building. 'I don't know if it's a shrine or monument or whatever it is. There seems to have no way of opening it, so don't bother exploring that on your own later.'


'We better get going. It won't be long before they attack us again.' The archer led the group back to the main road.


Several Resurrected Ragni Soldiers were advancing towards them. Their iron helmets and chestplates banging against each other. They held their spears in an unorthodox way, holding the end of the weapon and raise it like a flag. Hearolie and Reygina jumped to the side to dodge their attacks while Skywalker simply front-flipped over the resurrected soldiers to avoid them, their movements were too slow to attack him while he was above them. He landed on his feet and ran behind the archer and the mage.


'Powder Master's hut ahead.' Reygina shouted while looking back to check on the ninja. Her friend nodded, indicating he heard her loud and clear.


Two Hired Mercenaries came out of the hut and aid the heroes in defeating the monsters. The Resurrected Ragni Soldiers and spiders retreated back into the forest. Skywalker took his helmet off and wiped the sweat trapped in his helmet, while the others took a sip of water from their bottles. The Powder Master isn't very pleased to meet Reygina again, he knew what was coming for him, but it was better than no emeralds earned. He reluctantly greeted his customers as Reygina smiled and approached him.


'Hello there!'

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'Vade?' Krisstal looked at the superior while lying on the bed. 'Why do you want to be a soldier?'


Vade had pulled a chair to sit beside the bedridden patient. Creed and Angel were having fun with Wolfred, who always liked to be the centre of attention. Doing his usual stunts to surprise and entertain the kids, the kids clapped and cheered Wolfred to do another one.


'Why?' Vade stared at the ceiling, giving thought to the question. 'My commander asked me this when I was a recruit. I replied to her that I wanted to help people.'


'And why be a soldier?' Krisstal asked. 'There are lots of jobs out there. You can be a farmer, you can be a miner, you can be a cook. So why a soldier?'


Vade remembered the interview he had with his superior at that time. She had asked Vade the very same question Krisstal did.


'Because I want to help others?' Vade replied to his superior.


'A farmer can help by planting and harvesting food.' His commander looked at him sternly. 'A miner can help by mining ores for trade and construction. A cook can help by cooking and feeding the citizens. What evidence do you have to prove to me you won't suddenly quit being a soldier at times like these?'


Vade was speechless, he couldn't think of an answer to why he chose this path.


'Fear not young one, this question is a challenge even for the eldest soldiers to answer.' The commander eased up and patted the young man. 'Ask yourself this: What is your purpose in joining the army. What are your goals and dreams in life? You don't need to answer me, you just need to answer yourself. I've completed the paperwork, take this to the king to sign. See you tomorrow on your shift, it's written in the papers.'


She opened the door to motion Vade to leave and be on his way. Vade silently left the room without a word, his mind echoing the questions she asked him. Questions he didn't know how to answer.


'And then what? How did you find your answer?' Krisstal asked. The reply is her guide now.


'I want to help people because I care about them. Sometimes it's hard to use words to describe what you want in your mind, but perhaps that would be the closest and best way to put it. I thought the answer would come to me soon, so I observed and thought, as I waited for a sign to tell me what the answer is. It did, five years later, in the form of a woman. She has quite the personality I must say. She gave me two precious children and my answer to why I want to help people as a soldier. That is because I want to be in the front lines and personally defend my home, and most of all, I love and yearn to take care of her.'


'Unfortunately, shortly after Creed was born.' Vade whispered in Krisstal's ear. 'She was bitten by a corrupt while saving someone in Nivla Woods. She didn't want to see her husband and children fighting her, nor did she want to hurt her own family. With an act of self-sacrifice and love, she jumped from the bridge where you met Enzan. She broke her back and legs during her suicide, therefore wouldn't be able to walk or move if she reanimated into a corrupt. I told the kids the truth, and we all have a moment together, supported by my squad, Kathy, Wrock, Enzan, Morris, Vago and Therck. Basically everyone. Although I don't believe in ghosts, sometimes when the kids say mommy is playing with them, it puts a smile on my face. Because it gives me this feeling that she’s still alive, in our hearts and memories of course, never forgotten.'


Krisstal wanted to pat his shoulder, but Vade refused it politely. 'No, thank you, not in your condition. Besides, I have Angel and Creed to look after me. In death, she gave me another reason to be a soldier. To protect my kids. They're the only living things that resembled her after all. Do I know what your goals, dreams and purposes are or when will you know what they are? No, everyone is different. Perhaps your answer will come at a time when you least expected. In any case, I do have one suggestion for you. Travel and observe the world around you, that's a way to help you broaden your view, literally and figuratively. Sometimes, helping others is a way to help yourself.'


'Daddy? I'm hungry.' Creed shouted suddenly. Angel was patting a yawning Wolfred while rubbing her face in his white fur. Creed was yanking Vade out of his seat with all his might.


'Hungry?' He looked at the clock in the room. 'Oh salted, look at the time, and I still haven't prepared dinner. I'll buy you some snacks at the bakery first before we go home.'


'I want chocolate cake.' Angel cried.


'I want cookies.' Creed yelled.


'Sure, but what do you need to say?' Vade asked them.


'Please?' The children said.


'Ha... Certainly. We better go now, let Krisstal rest.' Vade picked the kids up and led them down the spiralling staircase. 'You need anything Krisstal?'


'No thank you. I don't have any problems or concerns. Your company was very appreciated. Thank you.' Krisstal shook her head. The kids waved goodbye to her as Wolfred jumped onto her bed and dozed off on her lap. She closed her eyes as she felt sleepy after the chat. Soon, the room was filled with her snores.

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‘That would be one hundred emeralds, Miss.’ The Powder Master tried to reduce his losses any further.


'The Powder Master in Detlas told me it only costs ninety emeralds. You sure you can't go any lower?' Reygina asked in her most innocent voice.


'Yes.' The tone was firm.


'Ninety five emeralds. Take it or leave it.' Reygina said with confidence. She took out exactly ninety five emeralds and placed it on the counter. She then crossed her arms, indicating she wouldn't back down from her offer.


The Powder Master looked at the shiny emeralds, resisting the urge to take the green gems.


'Fine... You win. Deal.' He took the emeralds and immediately used the enchantment table to add the powders to their weapons.


'The wand has now got water powder, the crossbow now has fire powder, the claw contains air powder and the spear is infused with earth powder. Thank you.'


The Powder Master returned the weapons and the trio bid farewell him. Once they are out of sight, the Powder Master let out an angry grunt.


'It's okay,' he thought, 'I could get five, no ten emeralds back easily with the next patch of customers.'


Meanwhile, the three humans had almost reached the edge of the woods. The final tower was there, abandoned and empty, but not for long. Red and Brown fungal parasites emerged from the woods and crawled around the surrounding area. Both mushroom monsters have four strangle stubby legs that they use to crawl.


'They only two differences between the two subspecies is that red fungal parasites have red and white mushroom caps and can shoot spores at us while the brown fungal parasites have brown mushroom caps and can only attack us by tackling.' Reygina whispered. The monsters were small ones, barely taller than a chest.


'Skywalker. Can you... Where did you go?' Hearolie looked around to see his friend sneaking through the unsuspecting mobs and hid behind a stone pillar.


He motioned Hrarolie to do a combined attack together, allowing Reygina to pick off the rest. Hearolie smiled slyly and nodded. Red particles and red hot arrows annihilated the monsters before they could even react. Embers, small flashes of electricity and light air currents surrounded the mobs when the attacks hit their mark. The heroes had caught them off guard completely. Reygina teleported around and found the entrance. She was about to enter the door when she heard a swooshing sound, growing louder with each second. She moved to the side but the axe still managed to cut through the leather plating, leaving a wound at her arm. She grabbed her arm in pain as she dropped her wand. Through the tears, she saw blood dripping through an opening of her skin. Seeing her vulnerable, Hearolie defended her as she gathered her strength to pick up her wand. Skywalker saw a second axe thrown at the duo and heard a zombie groaning in the distance. He knew who their attacker is. He used 'Vanish' and walked around the trees nearby, seeing a Dead Lumberjack ready to throw another axe at them. The clone he left was the perfect distraction, as the Dead Lumberjack aimed for the clone instead of his distracted friends. A big mistake. Skywalker slashed at the attacker's arm hard while still invisible. The zombie howled in rage as the limb was cut off, alongside the sleeve of its leather armour. He tried to attack the ninja, but a quick use of 'Whirlwind' destroyed it.


'Heal.' The wound on her arm stopped bleeding. Their bruises and wounds have mostly healed after a few more healing spells were applied.


'Let's get inside before more trouble arrives...' Hearolie opened the door for them as they hurried inside, the archer shut the door when he got in.


'This tower is the most well-constructed of all.' Skywalker observed, noticing little to no gaps in between the walls in this tower. 'Wonder what year will our vision be?'


'As we go deeper into the woods, each tower is more well-constructed and taller. The year the vision happened is also earlier the further east we go, so I would estimate that this vision would either be in the same year but occurred on an earlier month, or years ahead.'


The storage areas on each floor had collected dust for decades. Crates and chests stored expired goods that held no value. A cobweb covered skull was grinning at them as they climbed the stairs. Slimy and mushy watermelons were placed opposite to the grinning skull. On the final floor, a zombie's decapitated head was impaled on a fence post. Some sealed jars were left on a stone platform, the red, blue and yellow liquid inside each of the glass jars reflected the candle lights in the surroundings. The books were covered in dust, paper fibres peeling from the pages. Wines were overgrown and dangled dangerously close to some of the candles' flames. The first parts of the short ladder greeted them as they reached the end.


'Well... Here we go!' Skywalker said as he climbed up the old and rotten wood, followed by Reygina and finally Hearolie.


The black particles once again surrounded them as Hearolie reached to the top. Their vision began to blur, their ears began ringing. The wind picked up as the black particles faded.


882 AP


"Sir! The corrupt are crossing the river!" The sound of waters slashing on the shore suddenly became audible, even though there is no water near them.


"They act with instruction!"


"I can't see who is sending them."


"We must reinforce the river and bridge, if they get past that they'll be on our soil."


'From the watch towers set up across the province, scouts were able to spot an incoming horde from miles away, helping to prepare for countless battles.' Skywalker knew that voice all too well, it was the same god-like voice when he first picked up the sword. Reygina and Hearolie however, never heard of this strange voice before. They scanned the surrounding area, hoping to find the source of the voice but in vain. The sounds of the wind, the trees, the zombies and the spiders were all that enveloped them.


'I guess that's the mystery of the watch towers. There's nothing else to explore to the east.' Hearolie said as they began their descent.


'What makes you so sure?' Reygina curiously asked as they left the tower, walking back onto the main road.


'What do you mean?' Hearolie asked the mage. He was sure the map showed nothing more than the Nivla Woods at the east. 'The map ends here. We have walked the eastmost end.' Hearolie said, taking the map out. Sure enough, the map ends at the edge of the woods, showing small bits of a river in some areas.


I'll explain when we leave the woods.' She teleported along the main path. The three of them didn't waste their energy on the mobs anymore. They hurried to the end of the road, avoiding the attacks from a certain lumberjack and the parasites. Spiders and zombies gave chase but couldn't catch up, most of them eventually gave up and returned to the woods after some time.


They had reached a small clearing soon, a shoreline to be exact. The river was calm and quiet, fish could be seen swimming through the crystal clear water. Some even jumped and made powerful, self-propelled leaps out of the water. An abandoned caravan was left on the side of the road. Its black and grey hemp stringed ceiling barely attached to its wooden frames as the wind wavered it.


'Hey, if this is really the end, then why is there land across the river?' Hearolie confusingly looked up and saw that Skywalker was right. Across the body of water is a land that stretches as far as the Nivla woods shoreline and more, they could even see the outline of a castle on the horizon. The road they were on connected with a stone bridge over the river, built from the Nivla Woods to a land beyond the map.


'Based on my observation and what people had told us, this shouldn't be a surprise.' Reygina answered. The two boys looked at her in shock.


'See here? While we are clearly at the edge of the map and there are still the north ends and south ends we haven't explored, don't forget the fact that Enzan and Therck mentioned that the loot chests might have come from someplace called Mage Island.' She opened the map Ragni's King gave them. Her finger pointed to some small pixels at the edge of the paper, barely visible if not for a small ray of sunlight pierced through the dark clouds hanging above them.


'Well, there isn't an island on the map. Meaning if it exits, it might be out there somewhere, somewhere where this map doesn't show. Besides...' She opened the map Ragni's King gave them. Her finger pointed to some small pixels at the edge of the paper, barely visible if not for a small ray of sunlight pierced through the dark clouds hanging above them.


'It seems as the map had abruptly stopped here, rather than this being the end of this land.' Skywalker realised what Reygina was alluding to. 'You're right! There is more to what this map shows.'


'So the king cheated and lied to us!' Hearolie exploded, his rage resounded across the woods.


'Calm down, Hearolie. I'm sure there's a reason to why...' Skywalker motioned Hearolie to take a deep breath.


'I don't think the king's intention is bad, not at all.' Reygina said, after waiting for her friend to cool down. 'I do believe from his attitude on how he treated us and what he said gave me the idea of his true intentions.'


'That is?' The archer scoffed.


'Remember back when we first met him, he said we might want to train a little more beforehand since many lives are lost every day. Well, we also witness first hand how three zombies easily killed that human mage with their seemingly coordinated attacks? I think he was trying to protect and prevent recruits who didn't have any actual plans to leave Ragni or fresh recruits with little to no knowledge of the monsters and landscape in Wynn. This map was probably made to change their minds by giving them a false sense and knowledge of the actual size of the land around us, or, it could be a hint to tell the recruits to familiarize with Ragni and the areas around the city first as to gain some basic understanding of how things work here before going beyond the map. Another explanation could be to give them a sense of fear to prevent them from going beyond the map, I mean normally recruits won't know what lies ahead and would think twice to go places where they aren't familiar. Don't forget, it's not like he's imprisoning everyone here to stay only in Ragni. Therck and Enzan might have gone to other places other than Ragni, I mean Enzan's bow might be from somewhere, and that 'somewhere' may not be Ragni. I'm sure we're well trained enough to go beyond the map now, seeing how we have got our second spell, and I'm confident Krisstal isn't far behind from hers.' Reygina explained in great detail of her thought process.


'By the way, I also recalled Ope, you know, the person bit by a spider and you have to go inside a spider cave to get the plants?' She looked at Hearolie. 'Well, he told us to take the money he gave us and head to Detlas to buy some better clothing. If he mentions this, I'm sure Detlas isn't far from where we are now. Perhaps maybe just a bit ahead, across the river that is.'


Hearolie eyes widen at their group's genius. She had a natural gift in analysing and perceiving things. She truly is the brains of the group. Skywalker just smiled at her, knowing full well if there is a question that needs solving, Reygina is the best candidate, second to none.


'For me, as someone who likes exploring around no matter the terrain, thinks that earning the next map piece gives me a sense of progress and accomplishment, as a reward for the courage I had for daring to explore the unknown and beyond.' Skywalker added.


'So... what's next?' Hearolie asked. The red in his face had faded after hearing their analysis. 'Even so... I still have this feeling he's hiding something... I don't know what it is, but I have a strong gut feeling.'


'Well no point making conclusions with just assumptions and no evidence to support it.' Reygina replied. She healed everyone one last time for good measure.


'The bridge will make us disappear on the Ragni map. Whatever lies ahead is basically unknown. Are we ready?' Skywalker asked them. The two of them nodded. The wind picked up and the first droplets of rain began to fall. Drip drop, drip drop. The rain pelted the river, the fish seemingly enjoy the change in weather. White birch trees were on the other side instead of the usual brown oak tree they kept seeing. Reygina excused herself and put a mark on a nearby birch tree. One only she and her friend know.


The stone bridge they were on was built with cobblestone and stone bricks, decorating and reinforcing the main wooden towers at the centre of each side. The foundations were almost visible beneath the waters were if not the rain kept forming ripples on the water surface. On top of each wooden tower, a fire that seemed to burn forever was lit despite the rain. Some vines were hanging between the towers with flowers blossoming within. The deck made cracking and popping sounds as the recruits were walking to the other side. It was a five-minute walk when they finally reached the other shore.


'Well... We better be hurry before the rain gets worse, but be careful here, we are in unknown territory right now.' Hearolie warned. As if on cue, the raindrops were now bigger and heavier.


The first things that greeted them at the Detlas Far Suburbs were no doubt, the zombies. They welcomed the heroes with their full sets of leathered armour and stone swords. The newcomers, however, raised their weapons at them. The humans retaliated and obliterated them with ease.


'Wonder if Detlas will be the place to give us more map pieces.' The ninja asked, looking at his Ragni map.


'We'll know when we reach Detlas.' Reygina answered as she killed a mob in her way. They cleared the path and sped on ahead, some large trees and ruins were on both sides of the road.


'These look like houses...' Hearolie pointed out. It began to drizzle no sooner they went inside one of the ruins for shelter.


'They seemed to have collapsed and were left in disrepair after some accident.' Skywalker remarked.


'Theses houses... seemed to have been burned down or something related to fire.' Reygina added, noticing some charred wood and stone inside.


'I'm glad no one died in the accident. I don't see any skeletons or corpses.' Hearolie observed.


'Either everyone got away, everyone was buried in the ground or...' Reygina stopped when she heard bones clanging against each other around the corner.


Skywalker and Hearolie heard the peculiar noises too. All three of them stared at a corner of the ruined house as the crunching sound of bones got louder. The sudden emergence of a skeleton arm from a nearby window startled them. A skeleton wearing leather armour and boots suddenly climbed inside the ruins and got up. It's sadistic and sinister smile sent shivers down their spine. What surprised them more is its walk speed, it was running at them. The three of them exited the ruins quickly, ignoring the rain outside.


'The corpses have been corrupted.' Reygina finished. They looked around to see more of the same white skeletons emerging from the ruins. A black variant, wearing the same armour pieces, joined the fray as they all charged at the three recruits.


'What are they?' Skywalker asked. He slashed at one of the black skeletons while running away from some of the attackers.


'Don't know. There's no mention of them in Ragni's Records.' Reygina replied. 'Makes sense, we aren't in Ragni, but maybe the townspeople here will know more.'


'I can suddenly see why the King only gave us such a small piece of the entire map.' Hearolie jumped up a nearby tree and began shooting the skeletons down with 'Crackshot'. The super slow attack speed of his crossbow meant he had to make his shots count. He didn't know what they were up against, so he preferred to use his strongest weapon.


'Look out!' Reygina shouted, seeing a black skeleton about to hit her friend. She used her basic attacks on it, water particles surrounded her shots. The skeleton hissed in pain and turned to attack the mage instead.


Skywalker seemed to notice the effectiveness of the mage's attack. 'Reygina, I think they are weak to water. Your basic attacks now deal water damage as well, and I think it's hurting it more than my basic attacks.' Reygina nodded and began to target the black skeletons as a priority.


'I think we need to move. There's no end to this.' Hearolie called to them from above the tree. Embers enveloped the arrows he shot, dealing extra fire damage to the skeletons. More skeletons kept appearing from the ruins and the surrounding suburbs. Furthermore, zombies had arrived to join the fight, making the odds against them even more.


'Agreed.' Reygina replied. She rolled to the side and blasted the unfamiliar black skeleton. 'Let's follow the road.'


'Skywalker, move.' Hearolie shouted to the ninja. He used 'Escape' to leap high up into the air and fired 'Arrow Storm' from above. His friend heard the warning and backflipped away, out of the archer's range of attack. He kicked a nearby skeleton and slashed it, sending sparks, embers and tiny air pockets at the hostile.


The three of them regrouped and ran ahead. Two large buildings were constructed at each side of the road. A few Guard Golems stood guard as the workmen shouted and hustled, ordering and moving the materials around. Skywalker's impulsive urge to explore caused him to almost ran towards them instead of following his friends.


'Don't get distracted, please.' Hearolie reminded Skywalker to follow them. There were strange machines inside the buildings. Skywalker wondered what they are as he gave a final look.


They passed through an exposed cave full of copper ores and a magnificent tree farm surrounded by stone walls. The tall and broad trees gave them a little bit of shelter against the rain. There were lots of different trees on the farm, from apple trees to orange trees and pear trees, to name a few. Some trees have already ripened and were ready to be harvested. Orchard Farmers thought they were thieves and threw apples at them. Skywalker managed to kick one of the apples at a nearby zombie and stunned it.


They passed through some more farmhouses and farmlands located in the Detlas Close Suburbs. The wheat plants were growing nicely while some sheep baaed at the recruits.


'Hey! There's a city ahead.' Hearolie said as he leapt into the air again. Through the rain, the light given off from a nearby lamp post showed the outline of a massive city, the entrance alone towered over them. They headed right for the entrance. The Detlas Guard Golems knocked the zombies that were behind them far away.


They came to a stop at the entrance, looking around the new city that was beyond the map.


'This is...' Hearolie looked around the city from the entrance.


'Detlas!' Skywalker exclaimed.

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Our heroes have finally reached Detlas. Finally after taking me more than a year to write them leaving Ragni, they have reached a new and unfamiliar setting. What mysteries and discoveries will they discover? Who knows. I do! Krisstal’s experience of feeling lost, I’m sure some people had experienced or is experiencing that. It’s a stage in life where it seems like you don’t know what you want in your life, a topic which I planned Krisstal to focus heavily on as a character development. I hope her interaction with Vade was well written, as that would be the starting point of Krisstal’s arc in conjunction with the overall story progression. Thank you for making through both parts and trust me, even the story is going on unfamiliar territory soon. Like I said before, I’m not copying everything the game, I would like to expand upon it by adding my own elements into it. Stay tuned for the Detlas arc.


Thank you every officer, admin, builder and others who created and developed Wynncraft. Do share important information about Wynncraft, such as easter eggs and timelines or even 'wynn'consistencies. As the information will help me improve my story greatly. Thank you once again for reading until the end. I do not own anything except this story. If you are interested, I could add your player characters as characters in my story, just send me your name and a screenshot of your character (with or without gear) in wynncraft, preferably your front, side and back. It would be a bonus if you can list out the names of your gear and mount. Feel free to talk to me about things not related to Wynncraft as well, I would never mind changing topic anyways. Thank you all and may the force be with you.


Other sources:

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/699806539-for-the-wynn-king%27s-recruit-part-1

Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12951945/1/For-The-Wynn

Archives of our own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14778395/chapters/42299039