Chapter 45. Ale Village (2)
Whoosh!
With a whooshing sound, a horse was running along with the wind. The hair on the horse's body was fluttering with the wind.
Someone was sitting on the horse. He was wearing leather armor, and he was controlling the horse like he was a trained horseman.
Ian smiled when he got that message. It has already been 5 days since he left Arth, and he was quite close to the Ale village.
As there were no transportation portals in Ark like the other games, players had to usually walk up to a destination.
They usually traveled through merchant carriages, or most of them learned the riding skill.
It was also not like there were really no transportation portals. There was a transportation portal in the Morgues magic tower.
But it could only be used by the high ranking mages and archmages. Ordinary players couldn't use it even if they wanted to.
'I will be able to finish the quest in time.'
Ian thought as he looked at the quest again.
* * *
The current Count Ravenstein's father and the former Count, Slavenstein, is affected by the poison of the Venomous python.
The only cure is the antidote made by an old alchemist who lives in the Ale village. Go to the Ale village and get the remedy.
If you don't hurry, the former Count will die.
-Difficulty: C
-Time limit: 15 days left
-Conditions: A person who knows about the condition of the Count and someone who has talked to the Count.
-Rewards: Unknown
* * *
The original E level quest had turned into a C level quest, and the time limit was 15 days.
If Ian didn't return to the Count's estate with the antidote in 15 days, the former Count, Slavenstein, would fall to his death.
'It won't be very challenging.'
Ian was quite close to the Ale village already, and returning to Arth from the Ale village would take at most 7 days.
There was no time to hurry, but Ian still wanted to hurry. It was because the quest difficulty was C, and there was no way it would be a simple quest as it was connected to the Count.
Quests above D rank are not easy at all. A and B rank quests were even called to be scarce, and not many people would be able to complete them.
Far from completing them, just getting a quest above C rank was hard.
Ian was quite lucky, or he could even say that he was unlucky that he already had two unknown level quests.
'What's going on there?'
Ian suddenly stopped the horse by pulling on his reins. It was because he saw a shocking sight in front of him.
Endless unfurled grassy plains were in front of him, and hundreds of Goblins were marching on the grassy plains.
All of them had weapons like blades and bows in their hands.
Although they were far away, Ian could feel a ferocious intent from their bodies and facial expressions.
'Are they planning on attacking the village?'
Ian bit his lower lip and thought.
In the distance, he could also see the faint sight of a village. It was also his destination and the place where the old alchemist lived, Ale village.
Monsters attacking villages or small towns were not unheard of in Ark. Players would usually post videos like this.
If one searched 'Monsters attacking villages' on the A.L.F community, there would be various posts and videos.
Although monsters attacked villages, it was normal for the monsters to get annihilated by the guards in the village or the players.
Players would call these types of quests 'The village saving quest'. It was a rare type of quest that would instantly make a player's reputation high in the village he had saved.
That's why players covered them, but monsters attacking villages was a rare thing.
It didn't happen every day.
Monsters would only attack villages when they were looking for food. That was the primary reason behind the monster's attacks.
It was the same in the fantasy world.
Towns or villages getting attacked and even destroyed by monsters were a piece of ordinary news.
'Elsa's village was also attacked…'
Ian suddenly remembered one of his comrades.
He recalled her sobbing while she was telling him her story. It had already been a long time since Ian had seen her.
'Are you happy in heaven?'
Ian looked towards the sky as he asked that, but there was no answer. He also knew that he would never get a response.
That's why Ian stopped thinking about it and looked at the Goblins marching towards the Ale village.
"It is strange."
Goblins attacking the village was not strange, but the sheer number of the Goblins was weird.
Everyone knew that there would only be 20-30 monsters attacking the village during a village saving quest.
But the number of Goblins marching towards the Ale village was well over 100. No, it was a lot more than 100.
That was definitely strange!
'If they attacked the Ale village with this number, then it will be destroyed.'
Ian was not sure as there could be players in Ale village who could fight against the Goblins, but Ian had not seen any player in the area.
Ale village was also just a small village, and players would get no benefits from there.
Players usually ignored these types of villages, and if there were really no players there, then the village would surely be trampled on by the Goblins.
'Although Ale village should have vigilance guards …..'
Every village and town had a team of vigilance guards that would protect the village from monsters and bandits.
But the monsters were more than 100, and there was no way a small village vigilance guard could fight that much goblins.
At the slightest slipup, the guards would collapse, and the village would be annihilated, which meant that his quest would fail.
It was quite a dangerous situation. Ian didn't think anymore. He didn't have the time to think more about the situation.
Tat!
He pulled the reins of his horse and charged through the grassy plains. He was following the back of the Goblins.
'I have to protect the village.'
Pass!
Behind Ian's back, a hot wind blew, and whistling sounds came from the grass.
* * *
Ale village was a relatively small village, and there were not many people living there. Most of the people are farmers.
There were also more older people than younger people. Because of that, it was hard to survive when monsters attacked the village.
But Ale village was still upon the ground, and monsters were never able to trample over the village.
It was because of a single person, and that was the vigilance guards ledger, Tacan.
He was a former soldier, and after retiring, he took up the post of the vigilance guards in this small village called Ale.
Aside from the monster attacks, everything was peaceful. Tacan thought that he would be able to live the rest of his life peacefully.
He was already married, and getting old with his wife sounded like a good dream.
But today, he was contemplating whether or not he would be able to even reach that old age. It was because of one reason- Goblins.
"Damn! Block them! Don't let them cross the fence!"
Whoosh! Swish!
Tacan stood at the watchtower and kept firing arrows in succession. His arrows precisely struck the Goblins in their heads and chest.
"Cheeww!!"
The cries of the goblins hit his ears, but he kept firing arrows, but the situation was getting worse every second.
Beyond the fence that was built with several layers, around 200 goblins were charging through.
It was not a number that they could fight with, especially when most of the people from the vigilance guards were missing.
Because of that, many farmers were also firing arrows.
Whoosh!
The farmers pulled on the bow and quickly fired the arrows, but the farmer's skills weren't that outstanding.
Puk! Puk!
Most of the arrows hit the ground and not the goblins.
'Damn! That's why I told you to practice firing arrows even when you are busy with farming!'
Tacan thought in his head as he fired another arrow. He, who was the head of the vigilance guards of Ale village, showed cool skills and fought alone.
"Cheww!!"
One arrow pierced the head of a goblin.
'I wondered why they were so calm nowadays...'
The goblins of the region typically grouped in tens and attacked big and small villages.
But recently, something strange has happened with the Goblins. They had become more ferocious and violent.
It was embarrassing, but the Goblins had even captured many girls from their village and nearby villages.
Some of the vigilance guards had gone to save the young girls, but after that, there was no news.
Tacan didn't even know if they were alive or not.
The situation was calm for the last week as no Goblin attack had happened, but…
'Those bastards took us by surprise.'
When Tacan and the others were slightly relaxing.Suddenly, an amazing number of goblins they hadn't faced until now appeared.
'Damn. Will we be able to block them?'
There was doubt and fear in his eyes. Fear of death was slowly crawling up in his heart. It was even more now because they were at a disadvantage.
The number of guards was around 30. Adding the farmers who had some experience, they amounted to 100.
Although they were at a disadvantage with numbers, taking into account that their enemies were goblins, it wasn't that pessimistic of a situation.
However.
'How do you want us to fight with pickaxes!'
Only 30 people were holding things that could be called weapons.
Most of the farmers had forgotten weapon maintenance. So, most of the farmers had pickaxes, sickles, and hoes.
'Damn. It's kill or be killed!'
They did send some guards to the other villages and towns. Still, they had almost no probability of holding until they arrived.
They would be killed before the backup arrived.
"Cheww!!"
As Tacan thought that, the goblins came near the fence.
Bang! Smash!
They smashed the fence with their bodies or tried to jump over it. Fortunately, as they were short, they couldn't cross it in one go.
"Die!"
"Dirty goblin bastards!"
The vigilance guards and the farmers stuck to the fences and stabbed them with their spears.
Stab!
"Kyaaak!"
"Cheww!"
The goblins trying to get inside the village without fear were stabbed with the spear and lost their lives.
"Throw rocks!"
"Fire arrows!"
They started to throw rocks and arrows from the watchtower at the goblins that were gathered in the fence.
The number of goblins that started to fall increased.
"Cheww!!"
As it turned out like this, they could have retreated, but instead, they charged more fiercely.
The goblins climbed over the corpses of their dead allies and started to cross the fence.
Kill!
All the corpses that piled up over the other bodies. In an instant, a solid foothold was made outside the fence.
"Cheww!!"
The biggest goblin that seemed to be the leader shook his hand and cried.
"Cheww!!"
The goblins started to run towards the fence while holding their blades.
Jump!
They stepped on the corpses of their allies and jumped over.
"Huh?! Block them! Don't let them enter the village."
Tacan, who was looking at the situation getting worse, yelled with all his might. It was the cry filled with fear and anxiety.
Only then did the guards and the farmers raise their blades, spears, hoes, and sickles.
"Block them!"
"Kill!"
"If this gets broken through, our families will be in danger!"
They put their lives on the line for their loved ones.
Clash! Kkang!
As the blade of the goblins clashed with the weapon of the farmers, sparks flew off.
The guards and the men of the village ground their teeth and held on, but they started to slowly get pushed back because of their lack of experience and weapons.
'Damn. We will be annihilated this way.'
Tacan bit his lower lip tightly. He was now even able to see death roaming around him.
The 100 plus Goblins had already started to climb the fence in turns. They would soon enter the village, and no one could save them then.
At that moment, Tacan suddenly heard a whooshing sound and a cry. It was the cry of a Goblin who was about to kill a farmer.
Whoosh!
'What is it?'
Tacan turned his head to the place where the sound was heard. He saw a dead Goblin, and a green spear plunged into his head.
"Just what is..."
The people that were on the fence and the Goblins who were trying to cross over the fence had surprised faces and looked towards the place where the spear came flying from.
"Huh?"
"Cheww?"
A youth was running along with the west wind. There was calmness on his face, but his eyes were filled with killing intent.
His hair was fluttering in the air, and his handsome face and sturdy body were making him look like a hero.
The youth was Ian.