Ken summoned Lux to help him listen for any potential enemies. While Jericho's lullaby worked wonders and they had the new title to lessen the amount of hostile enemies, he didn't want to be careless as they walked back through the woods.
"What pretty ears with little tuffs of fur on the tips!" Princess exclaimed after getting a better look at Lux. She crouched down and petted the feline.
The cat purred happily. (This feels nice. Ken, you should pet me too sometimes.)
(Focus, Lux. We have to get out of this forest.)
Jericho, who could only hear animal sounds from Ken's response, sighed. "So this is what it was like when I was talking to the elementals and they couldn't understand me."
They made their way through the forest with only the sounds of Jericho's improving lullaby skill.
As they reached the edge of the forest, Jericho noticed something unusual. Ever since he equipped the rabbit's foot, the amount of targets his lullaby affected lessened. "Luck seems to have a more important role on my past success than I thought." He quietly observed.
The three people and one feline walked up to the crowded gate. The guards looked up at them. "You three, step forward." One of the guards shouted to them.
Jericho, the cat and the two pre-teens did so. "Greetings, we have come with a package for Cirith from her father." He showed them the token they had received from Lilith's grandfather.
The guard nodded. "Go down the road and turn left at the tree. You can't miss it."
They walked into the lush village filled with plant life.
The shouts of jealous players echoed. "How did you get permission to go in?"
Ken turned around. "Grilled fish." He replied with a laugh.
Jericho looked around at the enclosed green and brown village. "Wow, there are a lot of trees here." He muttered.
Princess frowned. "Then which tree are we supposed to turn left at?"
The two men paused and thought about it for a bit. "I'll go ask." Ken replied.
He ran back towards the gates, got clear directions from the guards and returned. "Follow me."
The siblings followed the hunter to a tree with a bulbous trunk. A door was build into it.
Jericho knocked.
The door creaked open a crack. "Who are you and what do you want?" The voice replied suspiciously.
"We are looking for Cirith. We have a package for her from her father." Jericho explained.
The elf at the door stared at them for a moment before closing the door in their face.
"Umm…" Kenneth started to say. "Maybe I got the wrong house?"
"There are a lot of trees to turn left at. Maybe it is that house?" Princess pointed to the neighboring building.
Just as they were about to turn and leave the door opened once more. "I'm Cirith. You have a package for me?"
Jericho nodded and pulled out the enchanted container. "Your father asked that we deliver this to you."
The elf took the package. "Thank you." She hastily slammed her door shut.
[You have completed the quest Delivery! You have gained 100Exp. You are now able to enter and leave the wood elf village freely.]
"That was, abrupt." Princess hesitantly said.
Ken nodded. "Yeah, for some reason they don't seem very friendly. Quite the opposite of that young elf we met before. Since we are here, should we look around for some quests?"
Jericho looked at the clock. "Let's eat breakfast first."
The three logged off, had food, and returned.
Jericho nodded when they were all gathered again. "Now we can go look for quests. You have the most experience out of the three of us Ken, lead the way."
The boy smirked thinking how now was the best time to show off how cool and knowledgeable he was.
[Resonance with Lux obtained. Both of you desire to give off the best impression to others. Lux has boosted your charisma by a small amount.]
[A cursed effect has been added. Your intelligence has dropped by a small amount. Curse will end when resonance ends.]
Ken, whose features looked a tiny bit cooler, took them to the fanciest tree-house they could find.
A middle aged elf was quietly tending to a sapling fruit tree.
"That should be the village leader." Ken replied before approaching the elf hoping the boosted charisma would help. "Greetings."
The elf ignored him.
"I'm Huntsman Ken, these are my comrades, Dancing Princess and Jericho the Bard. We were wondering if you had any work we could assist with while we are in town."
The elf continued to ignore the hunter.
Ken sighed and turned around. "Jericho, you give it a try. people seem to like you better."
The bard approached. "Esteemed sir, sorry to bother you,"
The elf snapped a glare at the man. "If you were sorry, you would have left already."
Jericho nodded. "I understand, do you know…"
"I heard your friend the first time. This is why I hate outsiders; they don't know how to get a hint, they lack etiquette, and they are always repeating themselves." The elf grumbled.
The three stood silently.
"What are you all standing around for? I thought you were leaving."
The bard sighed. "Farewell then. Good luck with your tree." They left the elf behind. "Now what Ken?" He asked.
The hunter hung his head. "We could try their market place."
They wandered to the center of town where stalls made from strangely grown trees lined the street.
Jericho, Princess, and Ken explored the bazaar and asked the shopkeepers if they had any quests the three of them could help with.
While some of the answers varied, they mostly received the reply: "If you aren't here to buy something, leave. I hate outsiders; they try to waste our time with such useless things."
Jericho spotted a long hole littered wooden pole with leather and carvings tied to it. He stopped. "How much for the flute?" He asked the stall owner.
"Oh? You know what this is? For you, the asking price is 5 gold." The elf smiled.
The bard frowned since he was only carrying two gold on him. He had given the extra gold they had earned to Princess a while back. "I understand." The man turned and started to leave. He didn't want to 'waste the shopkeeper's time' by haggling.
The shop owner was speechless. "Young human," He called out. "Why are you leaving?"
Jericho continued to walk away, following their silent traditions.
"4 gold!" The elf shouted to try and bring him back.
Jericho continued to walk away.
"2 gold!"
The bard hesitated before leaving.
The elf started to sweat, the human was fast. "1 Gold." He hollered.
Jericho let out a smile. "So that is how you deal with them." He turned around and pulled out a gold coin.
The elf sighed in relief as they exchanged the item for the money.
The bard was curious. "Why did you lower the price?"
"I see you are not a believer in the Goddess Harian otherwise you would have known." The elf replied smugly. "Feel free to visit my stall again." The elf waved Jericho off.
The bard left. "Goddess Harian?"
{Ah yes, mortals tend to believe in beings more powerful then themselves. This Goddess Harian is one of them. I never cared much for mortal beliefs but I have been slain a few times because mortals claimed their higher beings demanded it.} Glaw replied. {I am sure the mortals have records somewhere if you are interested.}
{I see, thanks Glaw. I guess I don't know too much about these powerful beings either.}
{It's okay, you're an elemental. It is only natural for you to fill disconnected from these entities mortals call gods and goddesses.}
The trio sat down at the fountain. Other than Jericho, who obtained a new instrument, the group was feeling dejected from all the rejection.
Seeing their sad faces, Jericho started to play a calming simple melody with his new wooden flute.
The two pre-teens voiced their feelings. "This is so frustrating! Why isn't anyone willing to give us a quest?" Ken let out an exasperated breath.
"This is boring, can we go someplace else?" Princess added her complaints.
"Ah, such a pretty melody!" A young girl's voice cried out before getting even more exited. "What a beautiful creature!"
The three looked up to see a young elf carrying a small basket. "Hi Lillith!" Princess called out.
"It's the nice people who helped me out with my flowers! What are you doing in town? Where did you befriend a lynx?" Lillith approached.
Jericho finished a small piece of the composition and put down his flute. "We came to drop off something to Cirith and were looking for a new adventure to have. Nobody seems to have one for us though. The lynx's name is Lux."
Lillith frowned as she studied the cat. "He has been cursed."
Kenneth nodded. "Yeah; he was cursed before we became friends."
"Since grandpa send you to bring something for my mom, let me take you to my aunt's place. She and her apprentice Purai know how to get rid of curses. Follow me!"
Ken smiled. "A way to break his curses? A potential quest? I'm in."
The three people and cat followed the young elf to an area tucked away from sight. The smell of herbs assaulted their noses.
Shouting could be heard from the nearby tree-building.
The door swung open and a teenage girl ran out in tears.
"Oh yes, run away again you useless apprentice!" The woman in the building shouted and continued to rant.
Lillith turned to her friends. "Umm, it looks like now is a bad time, my aunt Trina seems to be angry. I'm sorry. When my aunt is angry she doesn't see customers. She says it is hard to heal others when you are angry." She fidgeted.
Jericho crouched down to be eye level with the young elf. "It is okay, I understand. Emotions are very powerful and affect the things around us."
Lillith started to tear up. "I'm sorry I really wanted to help your cat."
"We can come back another time." Jericho comforted. "We can heal the lynx of his curses later."
Lillith paused. "Um…" She sniffed. "Do you think you could go find and help Purai? I want her to know that I hope she is okay. She's that nice apprentice that just ran off. If you can help her, she will likely help you too. She also knows how to use my aunts healing techniques to break curses and is very kind. If she can't then you can come back and my aunt can help."
[Lillith has asked you to go find and help the young apothecary apprentice Purai. She is likely on her way out of the village. Reward: Unknown. Note: Purai may be able to help removed curses from Lux.]
Jericho nodded. "We will find her."
Kenneth started thinking about how to track the woman that had run off. (Lux I need your help to track her down.)
(Okay!) The beast replied happily.
The boy regretted asking as his nose twitched.
[Resonance obtained…]
© J Eranoth