"Of course, what should we do? Report a murder? Right now?"
"I mean... you said ghosts are real, right? So wouldn't it feel a grudge toward us for not helping solve its murder?" Clearly nervous, Sam didn't avert his gaze from the entrance. Despite it being so dark, he was trying to still see the greenhouse from here.
"... Probably not?"
"Probably?! That's not exactly calming, man," Sam pointed out, but Ashton just sighed.
"Listen. First, I'm not sure if ghosts existed here. It's just a fact that we didn't have a lot of magic. Maybe a little bit here and there, I don't know. Enough to sustain a grudge, but probably not to sustain a full consciousness. It's most likely not anything to worry about," Ashton explained, which seemed to calm Sam down a lot, "And most importantly. We're surrounded by thousands and thousands of dead bodies right now, man. It's kind of stupid to be scared of some murder victim's ghost right now."
Sam let out a slight, calmed breath, "You're right. I don't need to worry, we're not going to have to deal with ghosts."
"... Well, I wouldn't say that exactly," Ashton sat down on a bench at the side of the road to take a short break. He got out the notebook and some ink, and asked Poppy back out of his vessel again. While the pixie's voice rang out quietly, clearly sad about her fellow pixies that had died within the greenhouse, the pen started writing the myconid necromancer's info. Since it was getting dark, Ashton figured they might also need more light than the lesser wisp could provide, so he also re-summoned the Salamander. Ashton also wanted to make some potions later when they were back at Calibur, so he had to summon them in a bit anyway.
Now that the lesser salamander provided some light from its lantern, Ashton could see Sam's distorted grimace.
"What are you doing?"
Before Ashton could even finish the sentence, Sam yelled out, "You can't just say stuff like that and expect me to be chill about it! Are we going to have to deal with ghosts, or not?!"
Letting out a long sigh, Ashton got out another cigarette and lit it up using the salamander's flames, "Listen. Whether or not they existed before, ghosts are a lot more real now. And we're in the middle of a city, it's starting to turn night, there's tons of dead people around... Honestly, it's pretty likely that we'd run across a ghost sooner or later."
"... Ash? You didn't bring us out here so late so that we could run into ghosts on the way back, did you?"
Staring at his friend for a few moments, Ashton just smiled unwaveringly. "No?"
"You fucking prick," Sam dropped down onto the bench, burying his face in his hands, "You know I don't do well with this stuff."
"Calm down, I'm kidding," Ashton laughed, "Ghosts aren't something that are easily formed. The veil still isn't perfectly formed over this world right now. Enough for me to call out to elementals and constructs, and for my voice to reach the spirit world or whatever, but not necessarily for things like that to easily form. We might see some flashes of light. Some cameras might pick up on supernatural phenomena or something, I don't fucking know. But it's still going to take a while for it to be anything that can be counted as a 'monster'."
This time, very clear and distinct relief came over Sam, "Thank god. So... do you have any idea when we would see the first ghosts?"
Ashton thought for a moment, "That's a good question. I'm not super sure, but I figure it should be around the same time as when elementals start showing up."
"Elementals?"
"Yeah. Hold on," Ashton said, slightly looking up, "Observer, Executor, does that sound about right?"
[[Observer in the Veil] explains that Elementals should show up within two weeks]
[[Executor of the End] adds that it should be the same with true Ghosts]
"Okay, those two say that it should be within the next two weeks."
"Oh, fuck off..." Sam groaned loudly.
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] wonders why you didn't ask them]
Ashton smiled wryly, "Well, no
offense, but those two are experts. If I have any questions about demons I'll ask you."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] nods, agreeing that this is reasonable]
[[Observer in the Veil] laughs at the Daughter's childish jealousy]
[[Executor of the End] snickers quietly]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] scowls at the Observer and Executor]
[[Observer in the Veil] rolls their eyes and...]
[[Executor of the End] sighs before...]
Since it seemed like those guys were already off in their own conversation again, Ashton moved the window to the side to keep ignoring it.
"Is it normal to talk to constellations like that?" Sam asked. Ashton wondered for a moment, but in the end, he just shrugged.
"Nah, probably not."
"Huh," Sam leaned back on the bench and took some deep breaths of fresh air, "So... What now? Do I just keep going and keep levelling up?"
"Basically."
"And following the quests... and levelling up more?"
"... Yeah."
"That fucking sucks," Sam groaned.
"Yeah."
Ashton looked over at his friend, smiling, "But at least we're not completely on our own through it all."
With a laugh, Sam nodded his head, "Yeah, you're right... Man, I fucking hope mum's okay."
Ashton raised his brows. That was the first time Sam had brought her up. Rather, it was probably the first time he had said that out loud since all this shit started.
"... Where was she when this all started?"
"Somewhere in southern Wales. Her and my step dad were doing this whole thing. Basically visiting his parents, and then they were gonna take a flight to Nigeria to visit my grandparents' graves. My mum wanted to show my step dad where she grew up anyway." Sam laughed, "Listen, my step dad's a good guy. Extremely corny, but a good guy. But I still can't imagine the whiplash they'll feel going from Cardiff to Lagos."
Ashton wondered about something for a while, though he really could not remember, "Have I met your step dad?"
"Uh... I'm pretty sure, yeah? I mean, my mum and him got together after you moved out, but I'm pretty sure you came over for dinner or tea a couple times and met him then," Sam pointed out.
"I swear to god, I cannot remember him. But do you think your mum and him would do fine in a situation like this?"
Sam clearly wasn't sure what to say, "Maybe? Honestly, I don't... I don't know. I hope so. You said that quests are different per region, right? What would it be over there?"
"They're different based on the environment, but up to this point, it should be the same. But where we, and other people in cities, are going to get some more cooperative quests, in places with less people, it would be more focused on individual survival. But your mum's a strong woman. That's one thing I'd never fucking forget."
"That's for sure," Sam laughed, glancing over at the notebook that the Pen of Insight had been writing in since a while ago. "What did it write down?"
"Oh," Ashton looked down at the notebook. He had been flipping the page over whenever necessary, "I learned that I can have the pen inspect things without having it write it down immediately. So, now I tagged everything in sight in the greenhouse, and now I'm letting it write it down. Ah, that reminds me, I was curious about what kind of mushroom species the necromancer was."
Ashton briefly flipped over the pages to the front of this note-taking session, reading through the info curiously.
Myconid Necromancer (Hidden Boss)
Species - Common Stinkhorn (Phallus Impudicus)
Reward - 150 Coins, Uncommon Botany Selection Box
An extremely rare species of Myconid that is known for their foul odour. They are capable of resurrecting fellow tribesmen. This particular specimen is enhanced due to being a boss, making its magic much more potent. Consumption in their current stage is not recommended.
"Alright, that name sure explains the fucking smell, then," Ashton scoffed, and Sam stared at the text with a frown.
"Wait, what? I only got 50 coins, why does it say all the rest for the reward?"
"Right, I should have explained. So, when you fight against an enemy with a group, things are split up based on contribution. So basically, because I took out the necromancer directly, I got the majority of the reward. I can give you the 100 coins I got, but I'd like to keep the botany selection box."
Sam seemed to think about it for a moment, but soon shook his head, "No, it's all good. But what's this 'selection box' thing about?"
"Hm? Oh," Ashton tapped on the screen to accept the reward, and a small box appeared on his palm. While the ones that Ashton got before were white, this one was a soft green, the colour signifying the 'uncommon' grade. "It's this. You know the item selection from the first two quests? It's similar to that, just packaged differently. Plus, these item selection boxes have a much, much greater selection of items."
He pressed onto the side of the box and the system message popped up. It had a bunch of different seeds, saplings, and other crops to plant, as well as some tools that would make caring for these things easier.
There were even a few mundane seeds and items that were offered as large variety packs. You could basically get everything you needed to at least get started.
Ashton made the system window visible to Sam and continued going through everything.
"Hm, that seems... neat, I guess."
"You don't sound exactly convinced," Ashton pointed out, and Sam just shrugged.
"None of that seems exactly useful. I mean, who has the leisure to plant a fern right now?"
Ashton looked at his friend with a sigh, "First of all, ferns are extremely, extremely useful plants. They have medicinal uses, you can eat them, and they make the soil cleaner," he said, crossing his legs. "There's plenty of crops in here that are vital for survival. They're magical plants that most likely grow faster, get bigger, and carry more nutrients than what people can grow themselves. I might give this box to Market Street; they might have better uses for it than me."
"Wait, Market Street? You mean the other group of survivors you met? Why wouldn't you give that to us at Calibur?"
"Because they have people that can actually use this properly. Hell, there's probably people that will get the gardener or farmer classes."
"... That's fair, but what are we supposed to do?"
Ashton thought for a moment, "Short-term? Grab as much food you can get from houses or shops. Long term? Link up with Market Street and any other groups of survivors and secure the entire city centre together."
"What does long-term mean?"
A bit hesitant, Ashton sighed, "If we're on the path I think we are, then Quest 4. But you have to make sure that you're separate camps by the time quest 3 starts."
Sam looked at Ashton. It was clear that he was hiding something about the next few quests. He had explained that those quests were related to raising up a 'camp', but nothing much beyond that, like the details of those quests.
When the Pen of Insight finished writing everything down, Ashton got up from the bench, "Let's go back to Calibur for now. Who knows, the constellations might be wrong. For all we know, ghosts will start popping up right away."
Sam stood up with a groan. The paralysis poison, not fully detoxified, was making his arms and legs feel extremely heavy, "I know you're joking, but... yeah, let's hurry up. Just in case."
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