eFate: An MMO Story Chapter 56: Cause for Concern

Making their way towards the northern gate, Eric and Griffin began to interrogate Mark about his attitude inside the chapel.

"What was that about selflessness and not caring about the material world? Since when did you become so generous?" Eric asked him, his brow arched high in disbelief.

"You've gotta sweet talk the NPCs. Tell them what they want to hear. This isn't like other games where you can just kinda ignore them and do whatever. How you interact with NPCs directly influences your reputation with them and the rewards and quests they're willing to give you. I was really hoping Maria might discount the idol or teach me an extra spell there but I guess I'll just have to keep increasing my rep with her," Mark explained.

"So you're not suddenly super selfless?"

"Nope."

"And you didn't get the necklace because we have a bunch of suicidal fighters who love to dive in on our team?" Griffin added.

"I thought he wanted it because it looks good with his dress," Eric snickered.

"You're just jealous that I look awesome and I'm liked by the cute priestess chick while you've got a blacksmith's apprentice that wants your bones in a basket," Mark responded.

"Touche," Eric conceded, "Anyways, what's the plan? Just grind for a few hours to earn some coin while we wait for Rob and his tank friend to get here?" said Eric, changing the subject.

"Yeah, Mark was saying something about elites on the way here though," said Griffin.

Mark nodded, "Yeah I wanted to see if we could hunt down some more elites. Griffin and I have killed two, and they're way better in terms of drops and skill levels than anything else. We haven't gotten a skillbook like you did yet. But I got a pretty sweet quest from an item in the elite wolf we killed. And Griffin got his sword from an elite spider."

Eric's face contorted slightly, "An elite spider?"

"Yeah. There was a whole nest of them that we found. After we killed the smaller ones a big one the size of a small horse came out," said Mark. Griffin shuddered slightly as he recalled the fight, "So. Many. Legs," he muttered.

Seeing Eric's reaction, Mark laughed, "Oh right you hate spiders, don't you?"

"Yeah. Creepy bastards. Four legs is my limit for calling something cute. Six is already too many. Eight needs to be killed with fire."

"Oh so you know how we dealt with it," Mark replied with a laugh. Eric shot him a questioning look at this to which he responded by miming the casting of a Flame Strike. Giving an understanding nod, Eric shot him a thumbs up, "That's what I like to hear. Burn em all! Anyways back to the topic at hand. Elites. How do you guys want to go about hunting them? I can think of a few monster dens that I've passed in the forest so far but I'm not sure how to encounter elites specifically."

"On the forums, they're saying that elites tend to reside in monster dens or in places with a heavy concentration of monsters. Griffin and I found the spider den inside a cave, and the elite wolf was alone on top of a small mountain inhabited by other wolves," said Mark.

"Yeah. So far our strategy has been to look for places that stand out, big hills, caves, ravines, anywhere where monsters congregate," Griffin added.

"Sounds good, shall we get going?" Eric asked. By now the party had arrived at the northern gate. Waving to the sleepy guardsman on duty, Eric received a half-hearted nod in return as the three exited Tonbura village, heading towards Stillwood Forest.

Making their way through the forest, the trio made small talk as they occasionally killed off monsters they encountered. For the most part, only demonic rabbits and red-maned wolves came charging out of the undergrowth towards the trio, however, for the first time since he'd arrived, Eric also began to notice other monsters appearing.

An enormous hawk swooped down, its claws ready to tear at their exposed flesh, various animals leapt from the undergrowth, foxes, hares, giant rats, and other northern species. Some attacked the group, saliva dripping from their mouths, their gaunt forms showing a lack of nutrition, while others simply passed on by, giving the group frightened looks as they charged southwards.

Watching a deer stampede through the brush, ignoring the group as it sped blithely onwards, Eric spoke up, "There are far more animals and monsters in here than there were when I last entered the forest. Did you guys see this many creatures over near your village?"

Griffin shook his head, "Nope. We fought giant rats and giant spiders. But apart from that we've mostly dealt with demonic rabbits and wolves. The occasional goblin, but mostly just the normal monsters."

Mark nodded, "I haven't seen this many animals before. And none of them approached us either. I saw a deer once but it turned and fled the moment it saw us."

"There was also that other one," Griffin began.

"Which one?"

"The one with the elite wolf."

"Oh right, yeah that one was super dead. I'm not counting that," Mark said with a chuckle.

"Still it's concerning. All of these creatures seem to be running away from something. They're all heading south, and most of them have heavier coats than the ones I've seen up until now," said Eric. As if to prove his point, a red-maned wolf came flying out of the forest towards him. Unsheathing his sword, he activated Dashing Cut, his blade slicing through the wolfs open mouth, eviscerating it and draining the poor monster's health bar in a single strike.

Bending down over the dead monster, Eric pointed to its pelt, "See? Unlike the normal wolves in the forest, this one has a much thicker pelt. It's almost like a Husky's fur, rather than the thinner, denser fur of the red-maned wolves I've killed before."

"Weird," said Griffin, bending down to get a better look at the monster, "Still. Do you think they're fleeing something? Or are they just looking for more food. This guy is practically just skin and bones, his pelt is mangy and it looks like he hasn't eaten in a while," he observed.

"Maybe it's part of the main plot. Remember that quest we did earlier Griffin? The one where we had to report the gnoll encampment we found?" asked Mark, looking at his companion.

"The stealth mission? Yeah, how could I forget, that's how I got my shield," Griffin replied.

"Well Captain Melvin said something about how it sounded like they were a tribe that should be way further north. It sounded like they'd been forced to come further south. He didn't say why, but I'm willing to bet they were forced to come south, fleeing something happening in the north."

"Captain Alistair said something similar now that I think about it," said Eric, furrowing his brow as he looted the wolf and stood up, "He said that many monsters had been forced to flee by unrest in the north. Including monsters far stronger than what should be here. There was also something about a war and forcing back the goblins, but he didn't elaborate."

"Well no matter what, it just means more loot and exp for us," Mark said with a grin, pushing past Griffin as they started walking once more.

"I suppose. But we should probably be careful. I don't want to lose any of my gear because we died a stupid death," muttered Griffin.

"No need to worry about that. At least not yet," Eric told him with a grin, taking the lead from Mark as he lead them deeper into Stillwood Forest.

Chapter end