by John Nest
The village's circular stone wall had a land area five times the size of Nanahuatl. The village consisted mostly of wooden houses but had three pristine marble towers spread around the village which formed into a triangle.
In between the houses, animal pens of cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens scattered throughout the entire village.
Rudel pointed to where they should land. The Volataur's white wings folded neatly on his sides. Smoke watched as he swooped down at an alarming speed. As he reached the five-meters from the ground Rudel's wings expanded, and gave him a soft landing.
Smoke grinned at Rudel's landing. It was extremely similar to how he landed except that when Smoke landed he could stun the enemies near his landing area.
Earlier, Smoke thought about his Stunning Landing ability and improved it. He thought he would show off a little and used it here.
With Igniz orbiting around him rapidly, his body was engulfed in dark purple flames. He became like a crashing comet and landed hard on the ground.
THUD
Molten rocks flew everywhere. He called this new ability, Comet Crush.
He saw Rudel reflexively turn around after he landed. Rudel looked at his landing site. His Comet Crush ability startled the Volataur.
"Do you always land like that?" Rudel asked.
"No, not really. I just wanted to give a great first impression to Pferde's residents." Smoke smiled broadly.
As they stepped inside Pferde village, The Volataur asked Smoke a question.
"Wouldn't your men feel better if they joined us? Instead of lurking from the shadows?"
"My men?" Smoke asked. To his surprise, Rudel casually pointed to his men's hiding spot.
Ichaival and Espion maintained a distance of one kilometer from Smoke. Yet, the Volataur still sensed their hidden presence, in a patch of forest east of Pferde village.
"Alright, you got me. I didn't mean anything bad by it, but I prefer if they stayed out of the village for now."
Rudel nodded his head in affirmation.
"I understand and respect that. There's no harm in being extra careful. Which is why I'm asking you to undergo a casting circle of truth test for me."
"Sure, go ahead. I've got nothing to hide."
As he stepped inside the village, a notification message popped up.
+ Entered The Centaur Village of Pferde
Wysteria Continent's most populated Centaur community. It has existed for over 2,000 years.
Pferde survived through many tragic events. This village currently has a population of 4,102.
[STATUS: Plagued 100%]
After Smoke read the notification message, he became aware that he became the village attraction. Most of the Villagers have never seen a DarkElf. The Centaur children looked pale and sickly. They hid behind their parents and pointed at him with curiosity and fear.
Smoke tried his best to put on a pleasant face. He endured the urge to cover his face with the specialized gas mask. The strong stench troubled him, but he wanted them to see his good intentions and that he was not a threat to them.
Some of the frail Centaur children smiled back, but the healthier kids only held onto their parents more tightly. His forced smile crept them out.
Smoke and Rudel walked on the muddy roads towards Deropa's house. The children's frightened faces made him realize that his Comet Crush stunt earlier frightened them. He hit his face with his palm and followed after Rudel.
As they traveled across the village, Smoke carefully studied the village. The filth from the various animal pens flowed out to the main roads of Pferde.
'The road's so muddy from all the excrement, and they even take the mud into their homes with their hooves. They should build proper canals for their animal pens and stone roads that could handle their hard hooves.'
Next, Smoke noticed the Centaur's garbage and waste carelessly scattered beside their houses. He even spotted some that also reached the main roads.
The Centaur's garbage stank the village so much that Smoke thought they should change their village name to junked instead of Pferde.
He also noticed that there were few combatants in Pferde. He wondered where the rest of Pferde's Centaur Warriors were. He was about to ask Rudel when he caught the Volataur watching him with a strange expression.
"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Rudel asked.
Smoke thought it best to keep his observations to himself and answered with, "I'm just not used to all this attention."
After a few more steps, and Smoke's curiosity got to him. He couldn't help but ask his question.
"By the way, I noticed that there were only a few guards at the entrance and I don't see anyone that looks like a fighter in the village."
"You're wondering where our military are, right?" Rudel answered. "I'd like you to know that we are mainly Herders. So, we have little military power. But to be honest, I don't know myself. Out of our 300 military forces, we scattered 100 Centaurs to search for a remedy for our village, but none of them have returned..."
Smoke thought about the mutated Centaurs and the ones that had met with the Condortlian scouts. He wondered if he should tell Rudel about them.
For the next twenty minutes, they walked on silently until they finally reached the biggest wooden establishment in all of Pferde, home of Elder Deropa.
Before he could enter the house a notification window popped up.
+ Your High Poison Resistance has protected you from getting Plagued.
Although it was his first time seeing the message, he pushed it aside as Rudel walked in the house and called him to follow.
As they waited inside, an elderly brown Volataur came out from one of the rooms. He walked with a long staff to support his weight. His entire horse half including his feathered wings had a brown color. Yet, Deropa's hair and his beard turned white with old age.
Smoke watched Deropa walking slowly with his cane towards him. The elderly Volataur then said. "So, this is the DarkElf that has caught my grandson's attention."
"Nice to meet you, Elder Deropa. I've come to your village as a friend and hope to leave as your blood brother."
"Bold words for such a young man. Very well. Kindly step into the casting circle of truth."
Deropa asked Smoke with only one question.
"Will you sacrifice a friend if it means that you get to kill your enemy?"
Smoke stood in a daze when he heard the elderly Volataur's question. Inside the casting circle of truth, he knew that he couldn't lie.
When Smoke heard Deropa's question, he reflexively thought of Tristan as the enemy. However, he knew that if he told the truth, the Centaurs would want nothing to do with him.
Troubled, Smoke thought of Seth and Donny as the friends that he would need to sacrifice. After he finalized his mental image, Smoke answered. "No!"
To his relief, the casting circle of truth lit up with a green light. Rudel walked over to Smoke and congratulated him. Deropa then called for the DarkElf.
"Smoke, your answer has impressed me. I think you truly are the person I've been looking for."
Smoke bowed down. With his face concealed, he made a victorious grin. He faced Deropa and said.
"If it's within my power, then I'd be glad to help. What seems to be troubling you?"
The old Volataur spread his brown feathered wings, but it couldn't reach its maximum wingspan.
"My body doesn't respond to me anymore. It was only when my health declined that I noticed how unhealthy Pferde has become."
With his staff as support, Deropa slowly walked over to his table which held stacks of books, pieces of precious gems and unidentifiable animal bones.
"I know that you must think we're stupid. Letting all of this garbage surround us." Deropa said as he went through his stacks of books.
He picked out a brown leather book entitled 'Ancient History of the Pferde Centaurs by Ineptus' and gave it to Smoke.
"Here, read this. It was written by a Simiavulg. I deteste
d its contents, but over the years I finally accepted them as truth."
A blue progress bar went up as Smoke acquired the book's knowledge.
+ Ancient History of the Pferde Centaurs by Ineptus
The Centaurs of Pferde were originally Nomads and cared nothing for nature. They used to move herds of sheep around the Weiden plains and allowed them to graze anywhere, but it got harder to move around as their people increased their numbers.
A Volataur named Albern decided that they would stop being Nomads and created Pferde Village. His intentions were good, but he didn't think about Pferde's future generations.
They continued on as before and carelessly threw their garbage anywhere in their village. The children grew up and thought that this was normal.
I fear for Pferde's future...
"It's tactless, but it's the truth. We grew up with such filth around us that we didn't know any better." Deropa said. "I'm a failure as a leader. I don't know what to do to save this village."
Rudel interjected. "But you did send out our troops to search for a remedy."
"Ha! What good did that do? I should have followed the signs and waited."
Smoke watched as Deropa took the precious gems and animal bones and them all into a bowl and breathed into it.
"Just like before. I had asked the oracle of Verlassene for guidance, and it told me that a stranger would come and help Pferde of its afflictions. Will you be Pferde's savior?"
+ Quest: Improve Pferde Village
Improvement Quest
Level: C
With its expanded population, Pferde has become sickly and filthy. Improve the resident's health and the Pferde itself.
Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]
The inner Smoke jumped up and down. 'Yes! This is what I was hoping for.' He smiled and replied. "Yes."
Smoke wondered about the quest's C level. He thought it should have been higher, but he pushed the idea to the back of his mind when another notification message popped up.
+ Intimacy with Deropa and Rudel has risen to 'Trusted Friend'
You have gained the Volataurs' trust by agreeing to help their village.
You can expect that Deropa and Rudel will help you out, occasionally.
After he read the notification message. He knew that he could safely call Ichaival and Espion to join him inside Pferde. He needed the two of them to help out with his Pferde rehabilitation plan.
As he walked out of Deropa's hut, Smoke thought of three steps for his Pferde Rehabilitation plan.
Step one involved creating closed canals, proper roads and putting some nature back into the village. Step two involved clearing out the waste and garbage littered all over Pferde. Finally, step three involved creating a proper disposal system for the village.
While waiting for his allies, he thought he could start step one on his own. He used his Earth Manipulation ability to try and harden the muddy roads.
However, the ground did not respond to Smoke's will.
- Cannot control this Earth with your current level of your Earth Manipulation ability.
- Cannot control this Earth with your current level of Earth Affinity.
'Not again! The land around Margome must be really old.'
"If you're trying to use Earth Manipulation here, then forget about it." Rudel said. "Even Deropa can't control the lands around Pferde."
"Uh huh, I see." said Smoke and nodded.
Smoke remembered that Laernea and Gandiva trained their Beast Tamer ability to Advance Level 1 just recently. So, he used his Knowledge Bank's ability and searched for a specific monster to help him with step two.
'I need a monster that has enormous strength, susceptible to taming, and has the Coprohagus ability, the ability to eat waste.'
Search Filters:
* Ability: Coprohagus
* Susceptibility: Taming
* Location: Wysteria Continent, Margome Mountain Range.
Search Results: [3] Matches Found!
Durcules Beetle
- A heavy armored monster with a body length of two and a half meters.
Life: Average
Strength: Great
Horsei Fly
- A fast and dangerous monster with a body length of half a meter.
Life: Low
Strength:Low
Madus Bull
- A powerful bovine monster with a body length of four meters.
Life: High
Strength: Excellent
Smoke smirked. It took him months to acquire all the knowledge of the book series entitled 'Known Monsters on Wysteria'. It comprised a total of 126 volumes.
With his choices, he couldn't decide between the Durcules Beetle and the Madus Bull. The Horsei Fly was out of the question, given its small size and strength.
Smoke and Rudel headed outside of the village to greet Ichaival and Espion. An idea came to his mind as they waited besides the rustic wooden poles of the village entrance.
"You must need to practice Earth Manipulation, right? Where do you practice that exactly?" Smoke asked.
"Well, it's near the foot of Mount Yunggo. The mountain that divides Pferde and the Simiavulg village of Saruras."
Smoke opened his map window and showed it to Rudel.
"Can you update my map for me? I'd like to visit that place."
"Sure, no problem."
Minutes later, Ichaival and Espion arrived. Smoke noticed their apprehensive faces as they watched Rudel.
"Guys, it's okay. We're all friends here." Smoke said convincingly.
"Okay, if you say so." Ichaival replied with a hesitant voice.
Their pleasant reunion took a strange turn when Smoke got caught off guard by Espion's question.
"And I'm guessing you told them about your hidden Job as well?" Espion asked.
Smoke realized that Espion wanted to test his integrity. A process to check if he was under a spell or an ability. He told them to follow this procedure if one of them gets taken in by the enemy, but he never thought Espion would use it on him.
He hurriedly rushed towards the young Spy and held his hands over Espion's mouth.
"Espion, buddy. No, need to go there. That topic didn't come up and I don't think Rudel would be interested in it."
"I am interested, but I don't want to force you if you don't want to tell me." Rudel replied.
"Alright, now about that quest. Ichaival, Espion, we've got a long walk ahead of us. So, we better get going now. Thanks again, Rudel."
Smoke hurriedly pulled Ichaival and Espion towards Mount Yunggo. Igniz orbited around Rudel and bade him goodbye. The two of them bonded since their flight to Pferde.
* * * * * *
They walked for an hour from Pferde and waited for Laernea to arrive with Smoke's requested supplies. It would have taken them a week if they walked the entire way to Mount Yunggo.
As soon as Laernea arrived, she jumped off her carriage and threw her arms around Smoke. However, she grabbed nothing but air.
Using his high Agility and Dodge Rate, Smoke easily evaded Laernea's hug attack.
"Omf. Hey, why didn't you stand still?" The Lioumerean grumbled.
Smoke helped her up.
"Stop joking around, Laernea. We've got to hurry..." Smoke stopped mid sentence when he noticed Adder sitting behind Laernea's carriage.
"Hey, how are you? You look good. How's the new arm?"
He watched as Adder raised his left arm. It looked completely normal.
"I've been training hard for the last three days, and I've got no complaints so far." Replied the Condortlian.
A large green and black tower shield caught Smoke's attention. Its thick, blunt edges and a protruded, rounded, black sphere as its center made it look heavy.
"Hmm, is this new?" Smoked picked up the tower shield but couldn't lift it.
- Cannot use this Tower Shield with your current Strength.
After Smoke read the notification message, he settled with merely examining its attributes inst
ead.
Condortl's Emerald Tower Shield
A legendary shield from the treasury of Condortl. It is made with two materials, emerald and obsidian. An emblem of a griffon was embossed on the shield
+5000 Defense
+100 Vitality