He loosened his grip on the gale stone. He noticed that gripping it too hard hurt his hand.
Either way, he had to gather his focus—gather his mind.
The air around him seemed to change as his greaves landed on a bed of soft, emerald blades. His legs bent as they absorbed the impact of the short fall—the soft soil having been disturbed by his coming.
He fell into the shadow of a canopy's embrace. Darkened, it gave him shade from the heavy light of the sun—though now, it was obstructed by dark clouds that promised rain. His skin felt like dozens of ants crawled beneath it—wriggling and writhing. He had spent much too long exposed to the direct light of the sun, and soon, his skin would start the process of shedding its outer layer. Sunburn, to put it concisely.
Still, despite the uneasy sensations—made even worse by the black, heat absorbing fabric of his armor—he was glad to be under some shade.
He had made it.
But, he still had a long way to go.
'Man…'
This was the place which the adventurers had told him about. It was the region of Upper Erisia which that duke's manor was, supposedly, located. Though, from here, he didn't really know where to go…
He looked around his surroundings, looking for anything—anything—that could help him.
'Of course the Duke isn't going to leave 'hidden' marks which show where his manor is. Though, it would be nice if he left arrows carved into the rocks around here…'
Of course, the scenery around him was truly gorgeous. The trees, the grass—it created an air of peace and tranquility.
As he continued to walk further into the forest, he noticed a… rather odd landmark,
Earlier, he could hear the sound of water flowing, even from afar. Now, he knew where that sound came from. In front of him was a tranquil river—but not a large one. Its breadth was wide enough so that one could not easily cross it, but not wide enough to completely separate the region into two. It ran parallel to his gaze, winding through and between roots and branches of differing sizes—splitting stones and grazing their edges. The flow of the water wasb't rapid, but it also wasn't stagnant. That wasn't what caught his eye, though.
It was the fact that the water in the river—if it could even be called water—was of a toxic green color.
It wasn't the sharp, emerald jade of the leaves and grass, but a piercing lime that stood out. It was then that he noticed that the air around the river—when viewed from afar—tremled and looked uneasy, similar to the air that clung to the stone pathways of Etris on a hot summer's day. Something about the river… was not right.
A drop fell.
Quies saw land on one of the emerald blades of grass. It had that same piercing green hue of the river—sizzling as it rolled down the feathered edges of the imperturbable blade.
Then another one fell.
'Rain? But…'
More drops fell around him. Then, a growing flurry of droplets started to pour down.
When one of those droplets fell on him, it became immediately clear why the river and the rain held their unique properties.
The droplet sizzled and bubbled aggressively as it bit into the sun-seared fabric of his light-armor. His skin beneath began to burn as the fabric melted away from the touch of the acidic droplet. He hissed as he focused on the area with blood enhancement.
'Crap, is it raining acid? Acid rain, falling up here of all places?!'
His eyes glanced around with rushed hesitancy. He needed to find cover—a solid roof unlike the spotted canopy above him.
No wonder the trees and fauna here looked tougher than the ones below—they had to evolve to survive literal acid falling on their leaves and branches! That was why they had also grown impervious to the turn of the seasons, as well—unlike the trees below which shed their leaves this coming fall.
He put all of his focus in his legs, feeling a surge of strength with each stride he took forward.
'Where, where, where… there!'
Fortunately, he was able to spot cover. It was under one of the wide roots of the great trees. It sat elevated—on a raised stone platform—and its roots jutted from the cracked rock and sipped from the piercing stream.
The rain poured harder, each drop like a falling spindle.
His fabric melted at the touch of its acidic grasp.
His skin burned like red hot fire as he sprinted—stride by stride—towards cover. It felt like thousands of pins stabbed into his soft flesh, each reach of the arm hurting more and more.
His breath weakened and grew duller—stride by stride. The once welcoming air turned damp in the piercing rain. The grass rustled in the coming winds of the drizzle; they buckled under his step.
The scorched and the fair. Stone sizzled and burned in the cascade of falling death. It was as if the very soul of the rocks—the land—cried out with despair with no orifice for words. Quies ran across the Burning Stone Garden as feverous as he could.
Then, shade.
His vision adjusted to these slightly darker conditions. It wasn't as dark as, say, a cave, but the clouds overhead and the root of a great tree above his head was a great contrast to the bright sun he had experienced a few minutes… no, hours ago.
'That… means… The sun should be close to setting now…'
He caught his breath quickly with the help of blood enhancement. A cold tranquility washed down his body as he leaned on the rock face from which the root had long erupted from. The acid rain was still pouring with great intensity around him—hopefully only for a short while.
as spread his reach—arms wide and out to the side—his skin seared with pain.
'FFf….'
He quickly recoiled back.
He looked around his body. Fabrics everywhere—but mostly his upper body—had been completely melted away by the acid. Gaping holes revealed the skin beneath, a tender pink; the outer layers had been burned off too.
He took a deep, deep breath.
It seemed like this torrent of rain was merely a quick burst—a short downpour. He could hear the impacts of the droplets begin to thin, and the burning rocks of the garden began to grow quiet.
Drop, drop…
Piercing green acid grasped the edges of the root that sheltered him, clinging to its hardened bark. Any other tree would have been severely damaged even by this momentary drizzle.
Quies pondered to take his mind away from the pain.
Perhaps the bark—tough as it was—could be used for unique purposes. Purposes which suited its remarkable properties. Maybe it was used to build houses that stood stronger than most, and impervious to most weather circumstances. The leaves… they, too, could have a purpose.
He looked out to the side again. There were still raindrops falling here and there. He could hear their hiss as they landed and disintegrated on the grass. Blaze-hot pillars of sun began to break through the parting clouds—slicing nearly parallel to the ground.
If the rays were nearly horizontal, that meant…
'Its sunset…'
darkness was coming.