Merline made his way through the forest; each subsequent boar fight was smoother than the last.
I'm just lucky that they aren't together in groups.
While moving between locations, Merline allowed his mana to regenerate. Each time it got close to capping out, he'd practice infusing mana through his hands. The use of the skill made it easy to move the mana within his body. After a few tests, he found that he was able to pull the mana back toward his Core if he didn't push it outside of his body. Even though it was challenging to pull it back toward his Core, since he was switching from using the skill to infuse the mana to just using his own will and natural control over mana to pull it back in, it was great to not waste the mana each time he practiced. There was still a loss of mana overall, but it was better than letting it fully dissipate.
After killing the fifth boar, Merline decided to take a brief break. The sun was beginning to set and he put some thought into his timeline while in the Rift. He needed to meet with Mark and Sarah that evening, and he arrived at the entry location around 10:00am. But even though it was going to get dark in the Rift soon, he knew he'd only been in the forest for a few hours at most.
It was clear to him that time worked differently within this Rift.
I should leave in about 7 hours to make it to see Sarah and Mark. Red Beanie said that since it's an Uncommon Rift, time would be dilated by 2x, so maybe it would be closer to 14 hours?
Mentally, Merline thanked the packing list from the AG app. Included in the list were some camping rations, a tent, sleeping bag and fire starter.
I've never been camping before.
Do I even want to try to sleep in here? What if there are things more dangerous than the boars out here?
Merline shrugged and figured he might have an extra hour or two before it got dark enough for him to be concerned.
If I really don't want to spend the night in here, I can just walk back through the Rift and wait outside for a few hours.
He continued his way through the forest in search of his next boar but stopped a short time later when he came across something interesting.
"What the…" Merline trailed off.
From deeper within the forest, a purple and brown tendril seemed to snake its way along the ground, growing in the direction of the Rift entrance. Merline may not have noticed it at all, as it was beneath the large leaves and bushes of the forest floor, but there was a large round plant that grew out of the ground up to his head height.
Cautiously, Merline walked forward. Where he had begun to notice small sounds of life through the forest during his time there, now there were none at all. No bugs, no birds, nothing other than the sound of dripping rain.
The bulbous plant sat on a stem that seemed too small for it, keeping the majority of the plant off of the ground. It seemed like the roots of the plant had sucked all of the nearby life from the ground. No underbrush or greenery of any kind was within a five-foot radius of the gross-looking plant.
Merline followed the path of the tendril along the ground. To him, it looked like a large octopus tentacle reaching out across the forest floor.
He took a few minutes to study the surroundings and think of what he should do.
This must be the corruption that the quest mentioned. If I'm supposed to stop it from spreading, do I try to kill the plant?
Merline wanted to smirk. If he'd come into this Rift, like he had the first one, he wouldn't know what to do. This time was different though, now he was more prepared.
He pulled off his backpack and fished the hatchet back out before walking toward the corrupted plant.
Thinking that the radius around the plant might be a trap, he stopped just outside of its range and poked the ground with the hatchet to see if the roots might move or if the bulb might do something. His mind couldn't help but picture the worst-case scenario, where it might be like some sort of giant man-eating plant that would try to swallow him whole.
After several different tests, however, nothing changed.
Stepping forward, Merline avoided the roots the best he could. When he got to the stem, he began to chop at it.
He felt a sense of accomplishment as it spilled over on its side and felt the sudden need to yell 'Timber!' into the empty forest.
Pulling up his System window to check the quest, Merline was expecting to see a change in the Rift Quest, perhaps a percentage of his help or maybe a change in objectives. He stood, stretched, and wiped his brow as he looked at the window.
Huh, it's still the same.
His thoughts were interrupted as a strange sound came from the plant that now lay on its side.
A scratching sound could be heard, followed by a loud crack.
Merline scrambled back as three oversized purple centipedes came skittering out of the pod.
The ensuing fight was hectic and sloppy and after all three of the corrupted bugs were killed, Merline lay on his back with his chest heaving.
Fuck me.
The first centipede had died quickly, but the second had latched onto his leg, and its many sharp legs cut through his pants and scratched his right leg quite badly.
Even now, on his back, the leg was beginning to sting and feel warm, almost like the time it had been scratched by Sarah's cat.
You have slain Corrupted Centipede - Level 1
You have slain Corrupted Centipede - Level 1
You have slain Corrupted Centipede - Level 1
Blue lights floated into his chest, and he wondered if he was close to getting another level.
That would at least make this feel worth it.
Merline got himself up and assessed his leg before deciding it would be best if he began the trek back to the Rift exit. If there were corrupted monsters like this lurking in the woods, there was no way he'd trust the thin mesh tent to protect him through the nighttime.
He wasn't all that tired, considering his body thought it was still the middle of the afternoon, but there was no way he could continue to fight these sorts of beasts in the dark. He'd brought a headlamp with him, but unsurprisingly, just like his phone, it didn't work.
I guess I'll need to find an old-timey lamp or something.
As Merline approached the Rift exit, he saw two people setting up a fire near the large tear in space. Merline cautiously greeted the group, slightly worried that it might be some kind of ambush. Both of the individuals were friendly and older than Merline had thought.
The couple introduced themselves as Bill and Susan and they told Merline that they were camping inside the Rift to still capitalize on the time dilation, especially since it wasn't even nighttime out in the normal world. Merline saw some logic in this and asked if they minded if he joined them and that he brought his own gear and food.
They agreed easily and welcomed him to join.
Merline set up his tent, struggling through the pain in his leg until Bill came over and asked Merline if he was injured. The man was a doctor in his normal job and offered to take a look at it.
While the leg looked red and irritated, Bill told Merline he should do his best to wash and clean the scratches.
Susan offered to show him to the creek nearby and that they could boil some water to make sure that it was clean.
Merline agreed, wanting to return to the camp before it got much darker.
After cleaning the wounds and changing into his spare pair of pants, Merline had a pleasant few hours chatting with the strangers by the fire. Unsurprisingly, most of the conversations revolved around all of the changes in the world and how crazy things had become since Rifts began to appear.
Alright, that's the tenth boar.
Merline wiped his brow and looked down as the blue lights floated up from the boar and into his chest.
You have slain Forest Boar - Level 1
Congratulations Awakened. You have completed Personal Quest: Culling the Boars!
You have one Personal Quest Reward available.
Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up!
You have 3 Free Points to distribute.
Wow, that's so satisfying. Where was 'leveling up' all my life?
Without needing to put much thought into it, Merline put his three Free Points into Willpower and watched the stat climb up another nine numbers.
He directed his attention to the second window that appeared, curious how he would get his reward for the quest.
The System, as it seemed to so often do, responded to his intent.
Blue flecks of light appeared in front of him and slowly coalesced into a small, thin shape. As it solidified, Merline reached out and plucked it from the air before it could fall.
Excitement filled him as he looked at the small item in his hand.
Feeling like a giddy child, Merline lifted the stick and pointed it at a nearby tree while using [Mana Infusion] to push mana into the item.
With barely any resistance, his mana was pulled into it, followed by a whistling sound as a dart of blue mana flew off at speed. It smacked into the tree, and a few splinters flew off.
Oh, hell yeah!
Merline laughed out loud and couldn't help but raise his new wand into the air over his head and try to get a better look at it in the light streaming through the forest canopy.
"Now we're talking."
He glanced back at the notification that had expanded from the System.
Congratulations Awakened. You have completed Personal Quest: Culling the Boars!
You gain: 1x Uncommon E Rank Mana Dart Wand.
The System's item naming convention seemed to follow the same rules that the Rift naming did. It was Rarity, followed by Rank, followed by the item's name.
Feeling accomplished, Merline made his way back to the exit. He was running out of time and he felt like he'd done enough with both completing his Personal Quest and aiding in the Rift Quest. He'd made significant progress in the last few hours with the latter objective.
After brainstorming with his camping companions the previous night, they'd come up with the idea to set the small insectoid pods on fire. They were curious to see how the plant-like structure would respond. The only other solution, that didn't seem as plausible, was some sort of pesticide meant to target plants or insects but that would require leaving.
Merline tried the fire method and was happy when it worked spectacularly. The corrupted pods were extremely flammable and went up in a blaze so fast that it was similar to a propane explosion.
This led to Merline setting several pods on fire as he looked for more boars.
At first, he'd been worried that the surrounding forest might catch fire, but that had quickly proven to be a non-factor. The surrounding vegetation was too wet, and the fire burned too hot and quickly for the forest to catch fire.
He was confident that he'd receive at least some sort of reward whenever a group came along and finished the Rift Quest.
Upon exiting the portal, Merline hoped to see Red Beanie or Short Beard to show off his new item, but the group of four men was gone.
Must have gone into the Rift at some point.
With a growing sense of confidence, Merline began the short walk back to his car. His back was straighter, his strides more sure, and his pockets three Mana Stones heavier.