The Greedy Frog
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DC: The Sorcerer System Chapter 12
🕑 Added 2023-03-21 14:37:27 +0000 UTCChapter 12: Kobold Hunt and Quest Completion
[[Lucien Lemuel Morningstar]]
In my head, it was a fair trade.
I heal her and she shows me the way.
"Pardon me for not giving an introduction." Extending my hand towards her now healed arm, I greeted. "My name is Lemuel Morningstar. A… well you can consider me a human. And someone that walked into this place without a map."
Her expression was funny. She looked at me like I was some clown and maybe I was. I walked into another dimension without any information and I might pay the price with my life for that.
Hopefully this system had ways to make me strong enough without having to die.
And just as she was about to reply, I heard a sound inside my head.
{{First Quest: Get Eila to safety.}}
{{Additional Quest: Make her trust you, even if a little.}}
{{Reward: +1 stat points in all slots, 1× Engraved Dagger (Rare), 1× Mana Boost Potion (Small), 1500 GP}}
{{Additional Reward: Hellish Rebuke (1st Level Evocation Spell)}}
{{Accept Quest?}}
Those… were some exceptionally good rewards and that also for a first quest.
Accept!
{{Quest Accepted.}}
"I am Eila." She introduced, with her anxiousness seemingly vanishing. "And as you can see, I am a half-drow."
She pointed at her pointy ears. I have read about elves and dark elves and have heard about their long ears. However, the ears of this girl were far smaller than those of an elf. Don't get me wrong though, they were still bigger than human ears
"So, how did you get that arrow stuck to your thigh?"
Maybe not the best approach but I wasn't too curious to begin with.
She seemed hesitant.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Just guide me to a safe spot."
She grabbed her arm and didn't seem sure. "Alright." She was hesitant, I could feel it.
Not a good thing if I wanted that additional reward. But I was bad with interactions and thus I didn't have high hopes for it.
"Follow me." Her voice was a bit stern, maybe that was her true personality. After all, people do tend to return to their habitual tone once they are calm.
I did as told but not without looking around me. The place was interesting. From trees to the puddles on the ground and even the fog that surrounded the place.
"This place is a branch of the Forest of Mir, but far less dangerous than the actual forest." Eila finally decided to talk. "I won't ask how a human managed to find the Forest of Mir but I would suggest you to stay away from this place. It is not kind to inferior races."
That hurt. I wanted to tell her that I was not a human but I wasn't sure if it was the smart choice. Who knows, maybe revealing myself as a half-devil might land me in some hellish plane of existence.
And I think I lost a few trust points already.
"The world is quite interesting. It brings weird people to weird places." I said, staring at the swaying hips of the dark-skinned woman.
"A normal human wouldn't dare to walk into here even by mistake. So you are one who has abilities." She casually deduced. "You are well built but also have a mana presence… So, you are not a physical fighter. And you are quite brusque so being a saint or a magic paladin is out of the equation."
Did this woman call me impudent?
"So, what are you?" She slowed down but didn't stop. "A warlock, a wizard or a sorcerer?"
She was smart and I didn't like smart women. Unless they were my subordinates.
"It's considered rude to ask without telling others about yourself." I shrugged. "I am a sorcerer though."
"Oh."
A simple 'Oh' and nothing else.
"And I gu—"
"Stop." He said, raising a hand to stop me in my tracks. "There is danger ahead."
And she was right.
There was danger ahead.
{{Hostile Mob Detected.}}
[[Name: Kobold]]
[[Type: Small Humanoid]]
[[Alignment: Lawful Evil]]
[[Armor Class: 12]]
[[Hit Points: 5 ]]
[[Speed: 30 ft]]
[[STR: 7 (-2)]]
[[DEX: 15 (+2)]]
[[CON: 9 (-1)]]
[[INT: 8 (-1)]]
[[WIS: 7 (-2)]]
[[CHA: 8 (-1)]]
[[Senses: Darkvision: 60 feet, Passive Perception: 8]]
Great…
…
…
This was bad.
Very bad.
Eila groaned in anxiousness.
The human, Lemuel… managed to heal her wounds but her strength wasn't fully back. And while kobolds were easy to kill they dealt a lot of damage.
"Their hit points are pretty low…" Lucien mumbled from behind.
"What?" Her question made him pause.
"It's nothing. They look weak."
She would have agreed under normal circumstances but currently… She was not in the condition to call them weak.
"They are easy to kill but they deal a lot of damage." She informed the guy however he didn't seem fazed. He instead stared at them intently.
'Does he have an analysis skill?' She wondered.
"However their armour class is high…'
She couldn't hear what he mumbled but he sounded a bit annoyed in her opinion.
"Can you fight?" He asked and she wasn't sure. She could hold them off and maybe take down a few but there were at least seven. And she couldn't take them all down.
Sorcerers were good damage dealers but it was over for them if the enemy managed to get in close proximity to them. And she knew that she wasn't in the condition to stop if such a situation arose.
"I am still weak. I cannot promise you." She answered truthfully.
"It's fine as long as you can distract them." He didn't seem bothered by her revelation. "I will handle them."
She didn't trust him. At least not fully.
She was still suspicious of his motives for healing her and she didn't know how strong he was.
"Do not take their weak bodies for granted. They are easy to kill but they can kill you just as easily."
She tried to warn him but he already seemed aware.
'Not like I have any other choice.' She was worried but she had to take the risk.
"I will do whatever I can, do not die." She said which made him smile.
"Alright."
She immediately took out her daggers. They were dark and had a shiny green coating at the edges. Lucien wondered if they were glazed with poison but he didn't have to ask.
Eila zoomed towards one of the kobolds and before it could attack, she slashed him with the dagger. The wound was not deep enough but it didn't have to be.
Lucien smirked a little as he saw the kobold shiver violently before dropping down on the ground, foaming from its mouth.
"Poison, huh? Quite devious."
She didn't answer and jumped back. "There is nothing devious about saving your life. I cannot keep fighting like this, I am still not back to full strength."
"Just distract them." Saying this, Lucien got his cantrip ready. He wanted to try out his shape water skill but couldn't as he lacked any water body nearby.
"Fur is inflammable, right?"
"Huh?"
<<Fire Bolt>>
He didn't wait for Eila to answer and hurled a flaming bolt towards the kobolds. And just as he expected, the kobolds' fur caught onto fire.
His speed was higher than the kobolds which allowed the shot to connect immediately.
[[Name: Kobold]]
[[Hitpoints: ⅕]]
{{Enemy inflicted with fire damaged}}
{{You have defeated a kobold.}}
{{Gained 40 EXP}}
{{Gained 32 GP}}
Eila was impressed. She knew that the guy had to be at least capable of taking care of himself but he was better than she expected.
Despite it being a basic cantrip, she was impressed by the way he used it. Cantrips were tricks that were used to confuse the enemies, but the guy before her managed to take down an entire kobold with it.
"Get back."
Unknown to her, Lucien had found a combo that he was loving.
<<Gust>>
The small flame turned massive as it engulfed the other five kobolds as well. They screeched in pain however Lucien seemed to be enjoying it.
"Now!" He said, signalling her to finish them off.
She nodded and using her agility, rushed towards the mobs. And in a moment, slashed them off their remaining health.
{{Enemy Kobold Defeated.}}
{{Enemy Kobold Defeated.}}
{{Enemy Kobold Defeated.}}
{{Enemy Kobold Defeated.}}
{{Enemy Kobold Defeated.}}
{{Gained 75 EXP}}
{{Gained 160 GP}}
{{Note: Host received less experience for not having the last hit.}}
…
…
[[Eila]]
This guy was not normal.
At first, she thought he was weird but now he was dangerous as well. Thankfully he was on her side.
'Hopefully.' She thought. 'Maybe I can trust him a little since he helped me?'
But there was something else that she was more interested in at that moment.
Quickly walking towards the corpses of the kobolds, she took out a dagger that was clean from poison. This little action intrigued Lucien, who in turn asked—
"And what might you be doing there?"
He found it fascinating that a beautiful woman gouged out the nails of corpses, uncaring that she or her clothes might get dirty.
'She is different from humans.' He wondered. 'Are all drows similar to her?'
"Kobold nails can be used in crafting weapons and they are also used in making charms." She explained, making him smile.
'She is interesting.' He thought.
"You can have some. Since you were the reason we are alive."
Lucien shook his head. "No. It's alright, you can have them."
"Are you sure?" She didn't want him to be without any profit but he seemed satisfied with the outcome.
"I am."
She shrugged at his answer and went back to collecting the nails. This left Lucien on his own to enjoy the scenery.
It was dark, it was musky and it was scary yet it had a charm of its own. Maybe it was the devil in him that enjoyed the dark theme of the place or maybe he was just weird.
But he knew that this place was something that he wanted to explore.
After collecting the nails, the two of them decided to continue their walk. She sensed more enemies on the road and Lucien seemed aware of it as well, however instead of engaging they decided to avoid the danger and made their way without being noticed by any of the monsters.
It took them quite a while, but finally saw light as the deep dark forest seemed to end near the edge of a hill.
"Finally." She took a breath of relief, taking in the cleaner air that didn't reek of blood and monsters.
"It's…"
Purple lights shone from afar with the cold clean air hitting their faces —filling them with a new energy. And a quietened music filled the air that weirdly made Lucien relax.
"Beautiful."
It was a city, built away from the forest and below the hill. A city that reminded him of structures of the middle ages.
It was a city that wasn't built by humans.
"Welcome to Russlow." She smiled. "The city of rejects."
