As Asher wrestled with his thoughts, he suddenly saw a large tree that seemed to be leaning to the side, a few meters in front of him. A crazy idea suddenly came to his mind. What if he destroyed the roots of that plant by using his laser beam, it could kill all the bloodsucking monsters and possibly save them from the current scenario.
"I'm sure it will work. Now it's just a matter of time until this ship passes that big tree and I'll fire my laser beam." Asher nodded his head, his voice filled with determination.
He had originally planned to tell the two of them about his idea, but given the urgency of the situation, it was difficult. Moreover, if the two of them turned out to disagree with Asher's idea, it would result in a long debate that would lead to nothing.
'Time remaining 14:07'
Before long, the ship finally passed the tree. The moment Asher had been waiting for arrived, he immediately pointed his staff towards the tree and began to cast his laser light spell until light slowly emerged from the tip of his staff.
'Time remaining 13:25'
The sound of explosions echoed, but something was not right. Damn it. Asher's attack was supposed to hit the roots of the tree, but he missed it because Chronos quickly pushed his staff away. To make matters worse, his attack destroyed the roots of a group of trees not far from the ship's position, producing a huge wave of water.
"Oh, shit! Damn it! You're all holding on to something!" shouted Chronos while holding on to a nearby ship's mast, with a strained look on his face.
A wave of water instantly pushed against their ship, causing everything to be pushed away very quickly, destroying at least a quarter of the hull. The monstrous creatures chasing after them were instantly blown everywhere. Fortunately, Asher and Persea held on tightly to the ship's mast, so they were not thrown off the ship.
'Time remaining 10:03'
After a rough landing where the entire hull was destroyed, they all arrived at the Malana forest. Trauma and fear were still on their faces, as they knew that they were probably dead.
"Ash, you've gone mad." Persea knocked Asher's head repeatedly. "We almost died with that crazy idea of yours, you know?" Her voice sounded hoarse, and fear was evident on her face.
"Yeah, I know, but it wasn't supposed to be like that." Asher tried to reply to Persea's words. "I should have shot at the other trees, not that group of trees." He shook his head, a strained look on his face.
"Ugh, it turns out you two are just as weird." Persea rolled her eyes, irritation was evident in her expression. "But, never mind. Come on, we have to hurry to Malana's forest." She tugged at their hands, her face tense again.
'Time remaining 08:43'
Damn, while in the Malana forest, he saw nothing but tall shady trees in front of him. Strange, were Persea's words true, or was she also completely ignorant? Instantly doubts arose in Asher's mind, lest the Malana village did not exist.
'Time remaining 05:55'
"Okay, we've arrived." Persea breathed a sigh of relief, the tension in her shoulders slowly loosening.
"Huh? Persea you're not kidding, right? I didn't see anything but a tall tree trunk at all." Asher furrowed his brows, a puzzled look on his face.
Chronos laughed mockingly. "Ah, Persea is probably drunk."
Persea took a deep breath, trying to set her mood. "See, you really can't see the village because it's right above you."
Asher gently tilted his head upwards and instantly his expression tightened. What Persea said was indeed true. A small village was visible above his head with lights twinkling like fireflies. The sight seemed incredible. But how could there be a village on top of this huge tree? Strange, but that's what Asher and Chronos saw.
"Wait, but how do we get to the top?" Chronos scratched his head, a look of confusion on his face.
"By flying of course, but looks like both of you can't fly." Persea shook her head, frustration showing on her face.. "But, don't worry, I'll move you up, it'll be much faster." Persea nodded her head, her face showing no interest.
Persea circled Asher and Chronos for the second time, creating a blazing blue circle around them. It wasn't long before Persea cast her teleportation spell and they arrived at the front gate of Malana village.
'04:02 remaining'
They slowly opened the village door. In Asher's mind, they would probably encounter a group of elves walking in the center of the village square like in the village of Altaria, but it seemed that what he imagined was far from reality. Surprisingly, the only thing that greeted them was the silence and the skin-piercing cold.
There was no one here and it felt like a dead town. Where were all the fairies that inhabited this village? Had they all been captured by the orc king? Asher didn't know, but certainly, something was wrong with this village.
'02:15 remaining'
Several minutes passed, but they found no one there at all. A feeling of resignation and depression slowly crept into Asher's mind. He slowly paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, thinking that everything they did was in vain.
"Hey, Asher, what's wrong? Come on, we haven't searched this place yet." Persea tugged on Asher's sleeve, a tense look on her face.
"I don't know Persea, I feel like it's waste, we don't see anyone here but us." Asher sighed, his face resigned.
"Ash, but we can't let the fairy elders die. Remember, we have to keep trying, okay?" Chronos patted his shoulder, a smile on his face.
As they were walking around, Asher's vision suddenly blurred. He didn't know what happened to his body, but he saw an arrow stuck in his shoulder. Oh crap. He didn't know how long the arrow had been stuck in his body, but his body felt weak.
"Chronos, help me." Asher's voice sounded weak, his body immediately lying on the ground.
"Asher, what happened ...."
Suddenly without cause, Chronos fainted on the spot and fell to the ground. Damn it. Asher rounded his eyes, and as he looked towards Chronos' back, he saw the same arrow stuck in Chronos' body.
"Argh, damn it. My body can't move." Asher grumbled, a tense expression on his face.
"Asher, Chronos, I'll help you guys." Persea darted quickly towards the two of them, a tense expression on her face.
However, a black net shot straight at Persea, rendering her completely immobilized. Asher could hear Persea's screams in his ears, but he could not do anything. His body was too weak to move. This was a disaster. He couldn't help Persea at all and to make matters worse, his vision was getting blurry and finally, everything went dark.
'You have completed the quest: Rescue for the Altaria's chief.'
'Gained 2500 Exp.'
'You have obtained 600 gold coins, 2x elixir, 4x potions'