Silas stood in silence before Finn, mulling over what had just been told to him.
"Hey!" Finn's voice jolted him from his thoughts.
"Oh, sorry about that." Silas glanced behind him, then gestured toward his room. "Do you want to come in?"
'So, it could be anyone? As long as it matched the feature of the sacrifice needed for the ritual,' Silas thought as he crossed his room. The sound of appearing boxes resonated in his ear. It was the new quest he had been waiting for.
[New quest is available!]
[Quest II: The Caverns of Flesh]
[Description: A girl was found dead underneath a bridge. Visit the place and search for clues to know what had happened to her.]
[Clues found 0/3]
[Rewards: +400 Destiny XP, [Normal Weapon Smithcore]x6, [Normal Armor Smithcore]x6, [Empty Bottles]x10, [Large Health Potions]x10, [Small Energy Potion]x10, [Novice Mage Robe]x1 & +6000 Shields]
Silas read through the quest details once more before closing the box. "Can you take me to where it happened?" he asked Finn.
Finn agreed, though his suspicion was evident in his eyes.
"Thank you. Please wait for me in the hotel lobby," Silas said.
Finn shrugged and left the room. Silas felt anxious about the sudden turn of events. He had to ensure he could use everything in his arsenal to defeat the dangers lurking in this quest. 'And if pure power isn't enough, I'll need to outsmart them,' he thought.
He opened the [Enhancement Interface]. The wizard had several [Smithcore] available for use. 'The most ideal thing to do is to save them and wait for your first violet equipment. Upgrading anything lower than [Very Rare] is considered a loss. But since the game difficulty is harder than I know, I'm going to break that rule.' He sighed and began upgrading his weapons.
----
[Spider Queen Stave] → [Spider Queen Stave +3]
Attack: 30 → 66
Curs Hit Rate: 1.00% → 2.2%
Additional Stats:
Energy +15
Skill Penetration +2.00% [NEW]
----
----
[Spider King Orb] → [Spider King Orb +3]
Attack: 10 → 22
Energy: 20 → 44
Additional Stats:
Energy +15
Energy Regen Rate +2.00% [NEW]
----
He sighed as soon as he finished upgrading his equipment. Silas went to the lobby to meet Finn. He spotted Finn in a corner, frowning at an article he was reading.
"Let's go," Silas said, clearing his throat.
Finn nodded and folded the paper before putting it in the pocket of his trousers. They walked in silence, passing through narrow and dirty alleys surrounded every imaginable trash he could think of. They crossed streets and eventually plunged into a sea of people in the plaza.
"We're here," Finn declared as soon as they arrived to a cobbled pathway leading to a stone bridge. Even from a glance, Silas could see the stark difference between these two sides of the city.
He didn't have time to absorb the sight before him, as a sudden piercing cry broke his attention away from the torn and old houses. He ran to the bridge and saw a crowd of people gathered underneath it. Each of them was trying to see the dead girl lying on the ground. Among them, a woman in a wool dress and with unruly brown hair was being restrained by three Peacekeepers in dark blue uniforms. She thrashed and screamed, trying to reach her child.
"Ma'am, please, the inspector needs to see the body first," a Peacekeeper said.
"What's there to investigate? My daughter is dead! Killed! I just want to touch her!" she cried.
Silas's hand tightened on the stone railing.
"Let's go," Finn said
"Where?"
"Aren't you interested too?"
Silas thought for a moment before nodding. Finn's presence made it easier to navigate through the crowd until they reached the front. Silas noticed the girl had only one arm—just like Kara. She lay with her eyes open and mouth agape, as if she had died watching her murderers. He pulled back from the crowd, the sight and noise made him feel sick.
'I don't have to look at it for long. I'm here for the quest,' he reminded himself. When he felt slightly better, Silas began searching for clues. He looked around in search for the bright yellow light that help him in locating clues.
The spotted the first one, on the other side of the bridge.
Climbing the stairs and crossing the bridge, he found a small, worn red sandal. He didn't need to investigate further to know it belonged to the dead girl. Silas didn't have the guts to picked it up. He didn't need to investigate further to know that it was owned by the dead girl. But where was the other piece?
Suddenly A scene played in his mind: a lightless, empty street, a girl shouting desperately for help as she ran from her pursuers. He closed his eyes to calm himself.
"Are you okay? You look pale," Finn said.
"Just tired," Silas replied, but Finn's eyes remained suspicious. Silas avoided his gaze and continued looking for the next clue. He noticed a glint on a nearby lamppost. At first, he thought that the glint he saw was from the sun only when he stepped backwards did, he realized that the next clue was hanging in a nearby lamppost.
"What are you looking at?" Finn asked.
Silas pointed. Without hesitation, Finn climbed the lamppost and retrieved the object. Finn did it efficiently except that he had almost lost his footing as he made his way back.
"Why's this thing doing here?" He asked as he show Silas what he had found.
He shivered as soon as he recognized the red pendant of the necklace. He reached out, but Finn closed his hand and pulled it away.
"Give me that," Silas said firmly.
"You are seriously pale now," he said, as he checked on. "I'll give this back, if you answer some of my questions… tell me everything that happen last night. Tell me who you are. And what are you doing at that place… and don't try lying at me, I know Kara was lying to me when I asked her to recount yesterday's event. But I must hear it from you. I must know if you're someone whom I can trust." Finn mouthed the word 'Wise One'.
The worst possible scenarios flashed through his mind. Silas maintained his composure, hoping that his fear and nervousness didn't show on his face.
"Do you know a place where we could talk in silence?" Silas said.
Finn chuckled. "I don't trust you, Eris, if that's even your real name. Being alone with you out of sight is the last thing I want right now."
Silas reddened. "How about we sit there and talk?"
Finn nodded and led the way to a wooden bench. Silas sighed in exasperation but began his story with as little fabrication as possible. He explained he was investigating the happenings in Tirash and that he was a wizard. Saving Finn's sister had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Finn listened quietly, then revealed the necklace with its red pendant. "You think it's a message for you?"
"I think they realized I'm following them. They hung the tracking device to let me know."
"What are you going to do now?" Finn asked, looking intently at Silas.
"I'll continue," Silas said.
He had no choice but to do so, unless he wanted to get stuck in this place. Finishing this quest was his only option to unlock the route to Maglem.
"I'll lend you a hand," Finn declared, handing him the necklace. "I have my reasons to see this through to the end."
Silas nodded and spoke no more. He glanced around them, until he saw the last clue. The flickering light led him to a plant pot beside a restaurant. "I think we have our next clue."
He found an amber bottle inside. He showed it to Finn, who looked suspicious but dismissed it as part of Silas's wizard powers. They uncapped the bottle and found a small roll of parchment made of skin, with erratic runes similar to those on [Pillar Stones].
"What is this?" Silas asked.
Finn's eyes widened in recognition. "I think I've seen this somewhere before."
"Do you mean the Pillar Stone?"
"No, they might have looked the same but the patterns are different. This script has more intricate tails on its letters unlike those used in Pillar Stones."
Silas frowned. "Why are you well-versed in this?"
"I have something like this at home. It belonged to my father," Finn said. "I want to show you something."
Before Silas could respond, a commotion caught their attention. A new group of Peacekeepers arrived with Inspector Thaddeus. He approached the grieving mother and bowed to her. But the woman would not have any of his apologies. The crowd's sentiment appeared to be the same, for they kept shooting looks of dagger at Thaddeus' direction.
"Many of us have already died because of this!" the woman screamed. "Why aren't you doing anything?"
Thaddeus stood firm, showing no emotion as he gestured for the guards to take the woman away.
"Are you curious about him?" Finn asked. "That's Thaddeus, a man from Indel. I heard he used to live in the slums, though I'm not sure if there's truth to it."
"What do you think about him?"
Finn sneered. "A dog of the nobility. I bet he only came here to show off. Come, you ought to know something about these letters."
Silas wanted to defend Thaddeus, remembering the man's claim that the incidents in Tirash were connected to what happened in Gearsmith. But he held his tongue. His alliance with Finn had just begun, and he didn't want to argue with him so soon.
"Where are we going? And what are you showing me?" Silas asked, following Finn.
Finn's silence only deepened Silas's curiosity.