"May the light shine on you. How- oh Sebastian!"
The young priestess smiled, getting up from the small chair beside the altar.
"I did say I'd visit. Even brought some offerings for the shrine's guardian."
"Offe-"
That was when the smell of fresh pie, concealed under a thin rag in a small basket, finally reached the priestesses nose, causing her to involuntarily gulp.
"Oh! Erm, it's not customary… to give direct offerings to an apprentice. Offerings need to be p-presented to the senior priest first…"
Each subsequent word became fainter and fainter, and I could see her subtly gulping.
"Hmm… then I guess I won't be making an offering today. Now, I have all this meat pie, which has lost its purpose, and I'm completely full. If only I had a friend I could share it with…"
I said in a theatrical voice, watching her expression shift from disappointment, to guilt, and finally – acceptance.
"F-fine. I'll help you finish this pie, if you're gonna throw it anyway."
With a flick of my hand, the basket found itself in Amelia's hands, who swiftly made her way to a tiny side room, big enough for two people, that had two chairs and a tiny table. Amelia then clasped her hands and lowered her head.
"Thank you for the meal."
The first piece of the pie was completely erased from existence soon after, faster than I could imagine such a small mouth being capable of.
I smiled, although the smile turned bitter once the subject of the conversation came to my mind.
"Amelia…"
"Umm? Ah, yes! You said you wanted to ask some questions earlier."
Swallowing the final remains of the pie slice, Amelia's eyes turned serious, burning with righteous resolve, the flames of which were likely further fanned by the delicious meal.
"Yes. Well, I had two things, really."
I decided to start with the lighter issue.
"Can you tell me what Greater Geas is?"
Amelia furrowed her brows – the question clearly caught her by surprise.
"Greater Geas? W-why… why would you want to know about geases? And why 'Greater' specifically?"
"I… am affected by one."
Taking a deep breath, I decided to remain honest – if Amelia was to help me, she needed to have a clear picture of the problem.
Amelia gasped, putting one hand over her mouth, as I felt a chilly hand grip my insides.
"Is it.. that bad?"
Judging by her reaction, many terrible things started going through my head, but surprisingly, she took a few deep breaths, and returned to her composed expression.
"Well… it doesn't necessarily have to be. You don't know what a Geas is, right?"
I shook my head.
"A Geas refers to a type of curse. The essence of this curse is a compulsion bestowed upon the target, to perform an act or achieve a goal."
"There are countless variations of this curse, including its duration, the nature of its compulsion, and the penalties for resisting it, among others."
Amelia twisted a strand of her golden hair, deep in thought.
"Sebastian… tell me, how do you even know you are affected by a Greater Geas?"
"I instinctively feel it, beyond any doubt."
Technically, [The Self] was more than instinct, but I did trust it beyond any doubt, having felt its tangible results with the skills. I also decided to hold off on revealing it, at least for now.
"Hmm… do you also know what its compulsion is?"
"I… have a vague idea."
"Seb…"
The priestess took a deep breath, before continuing.
"Does this compulsion involve any acts of evil? Such as demon or devil worship, sacrifices, evil gods, or murder? Anything of the sort?"
I paused, unable to give a definitive refusal. I considered my next words carefully, before deciding to reveal more information.
"It's… revenge."
"Against who?"
"I don't exactly know. Some people from Luskar. Powerful people, I think - probably far from innocent."
The priestess returned to her contemplation, before letting out a small sigh of relief, and nodding.
"Alright. One more question. Do you feel any compulsion to go and enact that revenge right now?"
"No, not right now. If I tried, I'd probably die on the way there, not to mention accomplishing anything with my current skill."
"I see. Last question then – do you feel any different compulsion right now?"
"I…"
I paused, before looking Amelia in the eyes.
"I need to survive the second thing I came to talk about. And for that, I need to get stronger. I don't know if that has anything to do with this curse, though."
Amelia nodded.
"Alright. At the very least, the compulsion of this Geas is not rudimentary."
"Is that good or bad?"
"A bit of both. On one hand, if it was an extremely basic Geas, you might have begun charging head first through the swamps, or those tunnels you came from, back to Luskar. In that case, you'd probably be dead."
"On the other hand, the sheer intricacy of this curse, even more so if it's a Greater variant, means getting rid of it might be extremely difficult, if not impossible."
"...so what does this mean?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I've only read about this curse, but I'm just an apprentice. My master may know a way, though."
"The old priest?"
"No. My master is the high priest of the Sub Temple in Silverveil. He is the one who raised us… raised me, for most of my life."
I saw a glimmer of reminiscence in Amelia's eyes.
"I will actually be returning there when I finish my apprenticeship in two months. Would you…". Amelia suddenly grew flustered. "Would you like to come to the city with me? Ah, I mean, we could go see my master together!"
I thought about my answer for a moment. There was a part of me that wanted to simply agree, but…
"I… I'm not sure I can stay in the city this long." Seeing Amelia's eyes sink, I quickly added. "But that doesn't mean I won't be able to go to Silverveil. Actually, I will probably still be there two months from now."
Having asked Arthur, the inn keeper, about a potential route to Valor's End this morning, I knew the most frequent caravans (from this town) passed through Silverveil, and there was a good chance I'd stay there for a bit, if only to learn more about this world.
Amelia's expression brightened slightly.
"Alright. Then I will write him a letter tomorrow, explaining your situation. If it's delivered with the next caravan, it should be there in less than two weeks."
"Thank you."
Amelia just smiled.
"By the way, what was the second thing?"
"Do you… know anything about soul corrosion?"
"Soul… corrosion?"
Her eyes grew puzzled.
"Perhaps you mean soul corruption?"
"No. It's corrosion."
"Hmm… I've never heard this term before. I'll mention it in my letter if you'd like."
"Alright, thank you."
Amelia smiled once again.
"I guess you'll be going, then?"
"I will. But, I think I'll be coming to this nearby dining house a lot, and I might not be able to stop myself from buying too much pie again."
Amelia chuckled.
"Then I shall be ready to help a… friend in need."
I smiled.
"See you later, Amelia."
"See you, Sebastian."
***
I didn't have any particular plans for the rest of the day. However, that did not mean I would simply waste it.
I wanted to get back to sword training, but decided to wait until after dinner, as my body was still recovering from earlier.
Instead, I decided to head to the inn first.
Going up to my room, I sat on the bed, and took out my earlier purchase - the (local) 'monster guide', which was mainly a bestiary.
It was a small booklet, no more than 50 pages long.
Each page contained anywhere between one and four entries, which included an illustration and a general description, with some having extended information about their strengths, weaknesses, or valuable body parts.
I opened the animals category, which was first.
Over the next hour, I learned about quite a few poisonous snakes and spiders around the woods, as well as how to spot them, and a bit about harvesting valuable snake glands.
I also went over the dangerous animals, which, surprisingly, were not that numerous.
Apart from large brown bears, which were considered RCR 1 animals, the most dangerous ones have been the RCR 2 Giant wolves, as well as the occasional mutation - the RCR 1 Alpha variant.
It was also explicitly stated that one must not to confuse those wolves with Dire Wolves or Wargs, but neither of the two was native to this forest, so neither was listed beyond this casual mention.
When I got to the short monster section, the first illustration that welcomed me was that of a familiar, hideous green head.
[Goblin (Common)] - RCR 10
'The common goblins, also often referred to as "green rats" or "green pests", constitute the largest share of the monsters on the forest's outskirts.
Despite their humanoid appearance and role division, goblins are monsters, not a monstrous species.
They are weak individually, about as much as the average human teenager, while being slightly more agile.
However, the biggest threat presented by those vile creatures is their numbers, as well as their ability to use basic weapons, and sometimes lay simple traps.
Goblins sometimes roam the forest alone, but in most cases they will occupy a nest, often a cave or similar underground refuge, and send out hunting and raiding parties…'
The section occupied a whole page, going in depth about different habits, patterns, and signs.
[Goblin (Greater)] - CR 0.5~2
This entry talked about the goblin's bigger cousin.
This was a mutated variant, much bigger and stronger, that could also possess the intelligence of an older human child, which was above regular goblins.
A greater goblin could use bigger weapons, would sometimes use better equipment, and would always lead the goblin group, unless a different variant - the CR 2~5 [Goblin Shaman], which almost never appeared in the Red Pine Forest's history - was also part of it.
There was also a note urging not to confuse goblin variants with Hobgoblins, which were a monstrous species rather than regular monsters, and possessed size, strength and intelligence comparable to humans.
However, since Hobgoblins were never found in the forest, they were omitted as well.
I skimmed through a few pages of common undead monsters that could appear anywhere – Zombies, Skeleton's, and Ghosts.
In the latter's case, those without magical or divine means of inflicting damage were advised to run as fast as they could and notify the local priest. However, most undead were pretty manageable, even without exploiting their fire and radiant damage weaknesses – as long as one's main source of damage wasn't frost, that is.
Finally, came the miscellaneous creatures.
One such creature was called a Blight, a plant monster capable of disguising itself as a dead tree. I recalled the warnings about the dead trees in the swamp, concluding it was the same monster.
They were also only rarely found on the wood's outskirts that neighbored the swamps, which further solidified that conclusion.
There was also a mention of imps – chaotic creatures that sometimes found their way to the Material plane from the Abyssal one.
'So, there are many planes except this one. The one where demons reside is called the Abyss? I'll have to ask Amelia about this next time.'
As I finished reading, the sun was still a fair distance away from the horizon, so I had at least an hour left before dinner – and the subsequent continuation of my training arc.
I decided to run a few last errands in the meantime.
***
The first thing I did was go to the alchemy shop.
Behind the counter sat a middle-aged lady, slightly on the older side, with her dark hair tied in a ponytail behind her head, wearing moderately exquisite clothes and a pair of huge metal-rimmed glasses (the first one I've seen in this world).
"Greetings, dear. How may I help you?"
"I'm looking for a herb manual."
"You mean a full manual? Or the Adventurer's Plant Guide?"
"The latter, I think? I just want to know where and how to collect them."
The woman slowly scanned me from head to toe. Then, she reached under the counter, and took out a small booklet, half the size of the monster one.
"Here you go."
"Thanks… erm, how much?"
"Just take it". The woman waved her hand dismissively. "Consider this an investment. Just promise me you'll keep an eye out for the first five herbs and three mushrooms, as well as arcane moss of any quality. When you collect them, come back here – I'll take them off your hands."
"Oh.. thank you, then."
"No need to thank me. Most adventurers these days clearly don't bother too much – if they don't see anything valuable at first glance, they simply move on, not even deigning to check whether the surrounding conditions actually warrant a proper search. On to slay the closest goblin, the lot of them…"
She sighed, and looked at me.
"When is your next mission?"
"Three days from now."
"If you wish to thank me, read this guide well and come back in two days. If you answer my questions well, I'll give you a few tips about a few interesting spots, and tell you what to buy as your first set of equipment - storage is no less important than harvesting!"
A side quest? It seems I was offered to take a small verbal exam in two days for some additional plant harvesting experience.
"Thank you. I can't guarantee I can meet your standards in two days, but I'll try."
The woman just waved her hand dismissively once more.
"Trying is already better than what most of the useless lot in this town does. Now, is there anything else?"
"Nothing for now. Thank you again."
I took the booklet, putting it in the small sack I took beforehand, and made my way to the next target, which was only a few buildings away – Crimson Anvil, Pine Harbor's best (and only) smithy.
As I entered the shop, the counter was empty – only the sound of metal grinding against stone, coming from the back, indicated someone's presence in this smithy.
"Coming! Five more minutes!"
Goromir's booming voice came from the direction of his back room.
I took a look around in the meanwhile.
The shop was by no means large, but the racks on its sides were filled with various weapons and shields. Slightly above them hung a few sets of armor – some made of hardened leather, and a few chain and scale mails.
Farthest from the exit, above the counter, hang a polished set of composite armor – partially made of metal plates, connected via chains.
As I was admiring the merchandise, the man - half dwarf - himself exited the shop.
"Ah, Sebastian! Welcome to the Crimson Anvil. What can I do for you?"
"Greetings, Goromir. I was looking for a maintenance kit for my sword. As well as a few tips on how to properly use it."
"Of course! Wait a moment there."
The blacksmith went to his workshop, and quickly returned with a small leather sack.
The sack contained a sharpening stone, many thin fabric strips, and a few small vials that looked like oils.
"This will be 2 gold."
I paid without an argument, and the blacksmith began explaining the function and usage of every tool and liquid, before taking the sword for a demonstration.
However, as he began inspecting the sword, his expression changed.
"Oi, lad. Would you… mind if I took a look at this sword at the back? You can come, of course!"
Was there a problem with the sword? Well, it's not like we were complete strangers, and him being a friend of the dwarf only increased his trustworthiness.
Trying not to show my worries outwardly, I nodded, following the smith to his workshop.
Amidst various tools, bare blades, half finished shafts and hilts, some boxes, vials and papers thrown around, stood a large mechanical table with a few integrated tools, such as a press.
The smith put the sword on the table, before rummaging through the boxes and vials, picking a few.
Afterwards, he spent some time pouring drops of liquid on the sword, sometimes rubbing it with powders from the boxes, and watching the reactions, his face becoming more and more solemn with each trial.
Finally, he put the sword down and turned around.
"Lad, I have some good news and some bad news."