"First boss kill ! Ain't I awesome ?"
Sandrine wanted to strike a victorious pose, with her foot on the bear's body, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Those creatures corrupted by the black fog were way too disgusting, and this greasy mucus-filled fur was now stained with blood. She didn't want to dirty her riding boots.
Just as she was celebrating with a happy dance, Paquerette calmly walked towards her from the direction of the gigantic tree.
"Oh, bestie ! Did you both find the chest ?"
The mare didn't answer immediately, silently glaring at her human and judging her ridiculous dance. Eventually, she rolled her eyes and turned to the side, revealing Gribouille on her back as well as a wooden chest. The puppy was wagging his tail wildly, barking and bobbing his head in the direction of the big tree, as if trying to say something.
Sandrine, an expert dog mom, immediately understood.
"You found something else over there ? Is it the golden chest ? Oh my, my baby is so clever ! Such a good boy !"
She took the wooden chest in her inventory, it wouldn't contain anything important anyway, it was just for the rankings, and hugged Gribouille tightly, repeatedly kissing his head under Paquerette's judgmental gaze.
The group headed towards the big tree, so relaxed that Sandrine was casually taking out a few stems of lily of the valley to attach to the pets' armors for good luck. After all, the boss was gone, so they didn't have much to fear.
While walking and talking about what they would eat tonight for their Labour Day feast, they arrived in front of the enormous tree. Did she think that it was as tall as the Eiffel tower ? No, when she was directly underneath, it seemed even taller than the Pyrénées mountains !
It was so gigantic that Sandrine could barely distinguish the foliage. As for the higher branches ? They disappeared in the clouds.
It was a bit intimidating because of the lack of luminosity, it was as if standing in front of a giant that could crush you anytime. In the shadows, the whole forest seemed alive and ready to devour the group.
Sandrine looked at Gribouille, who was still in her arms.
"Where is it ?"
The puppy barked and looked towards the trunk of the big tree. Straining her eyes, Sandrine finally distinguished a darker spot on the bark, approximately 15 meters from the ground.
"Is it… A tree hole ? Is the golden chest inside ?"
This forest offroad event was really annoying, with so many enemies and traps, they still had to hide the chests so well ! If someone didn't have any means of detection, their chest harvest would be ridiculously poor.
"I have a feeling I'll easily end up on the rankings this time !"
If she wasn't in first place, it meant that someone had an even bigger cheat than her, and she couldn't imagine such a thing ! Her pets were the best !
Sandrine put Gribouille on Paquerette's back and approached the tree, putting her hand on the trunk. The bark seemed very solid, with irregular patterns that could be used as footing. It would be harder to climb than if she used branches, but there weren't any so close to the ground.
She took a deep breath and curled her fingers to grab a crack in the bark, pulling on her arms to climb higher, and stuck the tip of her shoe in the pattern of the bark. She wasn't secure at all and would fall easily, but even if she did, as long as she was alive she could use her splinters, so it wasn't a big deal.
Sandrine continued to climb slowly, almost falling a few times because her rubber riding shoes were a bit slippery. A few times, all her weight was held only by her fingertips, and she felt as if they were broken. Thankfully, just as the joints in her hand were starting to stiffen because of the strain, she finally reached the treehole. She took her manual lamp out of her backpack and shone it inside.
This tree was so big that the treehole felt like an independent universe, with plants, rocks, and mini trees. There was proof that it had been inhabited, like a bedding made out of leaves, hair, and feathers, as well as several puddles of black slimy liquid. It should be the habitat of the bear boss.
Sandrine jumped inside and slid along the wooden wall to reach the ground. It was indeed a treehole, but it looked more like a secret cave, with dirt having been brought inside, maybe voluntarily, or maybe by the wind, forming its own ecosystem.
She had to search a bit without Gribouille's nose, but she eventually found the golden chest, half buried near the bedding. She immediately took it inside her inventory and was about to leave when she noticed a strange glass bead buried in the bedding, almost hidden by the hair and leaves.
Sandrine used her rubber shoes to push aside the mucus-filled bedding, and took out her thick farrier gloves to take the glass bead. It looked very unnatural, shining like thousands of stars trapped in a marble.
"So cute…"
She didn't know what it was, but she had a feeling she needed it.
Sandrine put it inside her backpack and went out of the treehole. She had to use every last bit of self control she had not to jump directly off the tree. It looked very fun, but it was 15 meters above the ground, so she would surely break a bone or two and then would have to be nagged and judged by Paquerette while being covered in splinters.
Which could also be very fun.
No, she shouldn't.
Sandrine finished her silent battle against herself and decided to be almost reasonable. She half climbed down and half slid along the trunk, sometimes letting herself fall for a meter or two and then stopping by sliding her fingers and feet in the cracks of the bark.
When she reached the ground, she looked very happy, even if her fingers were in a bloody state. At least she had been somewhat moderate and the rest of her body was safe.
"Let's open everything later, we should take advantage of the forest as much as we can !"
It was already around noon now, and Sandrine didn't forget that they still had some mileage to do today. They should slowly start to go back, and eat their lunch in the safety of the infinite road.
The group first went towards the clearing where the boss battle had taken place, and Sandrine didn't hesitate a second to take out the crafting table on the 'disassemble' tab, and poured inside every knocked down tree and fragments of bark, making the most out of what the bear had wrecked to try and make her wood stock go up.
She got around 300 units of wood, which was a lot, but not much compared to the 50,000 needed to craft the barn.
"Seems like I won't get it soon…"
She had already anticipated it, but something as broken as an independent space wouldn't be easy to get.
The group slowly made its way through the forest, and after some time, Gribouille guided them towards the place where they had found the first chest. The corpse of the weasel had already been sent to AlphaWolf, but the puddle of blood was still there, staining the trunk and the green moss.
Sandrine felt like throwing up.
She slapped herself to change her focus and looked towards the blackberry bush. As she got closer, she could hear soft clucking sounds. They had already retrieved the traps Sandrine had set up earlier, one of them was empty, and one was covered in blood and wrecked, showing signs that her prey had been snatched by something bigger.
But those two traps near the bush, it looked like they had worked beautifully.
Sandrine slowly dismantled them and obtained two plump pheasants ! They were truly beautiful, one with a green head and a brown body, long tail feathers brushing against the ground, and the other a greyish brown covered in tiny black spots. Without a doubt, it was a male and a female.
On one hand, Sandrine would have preferred two females, in order to lay more eggs, but on another hand, with a male and a female she could have babies which meant more pheasants and more eggs !
As for killing them immediately ? She wasn't that crazy !
At this moment, Sandrine really regretted that she didn't have the barn yet. Leaving those two in the barn and going inside once every night to grab the eggs, how good would it be ?
Anyway, as of now she didn't have the barn and could only do with what she had.
First, she grabbed both birds by the neck. They were too dumb to engage in discussion and be convinced, if she wanted to bring down their mental walls to tame them, fear would work just as well.
As she had wanted, both animals immediately appeared in her pet list, and their panels shone in front of her eyes.
[Name : None (can be modified)
Species : Earthen aves
Lvl : 1
Favorability : 0
Health : 96
Fatigue : 12
Strength : 1
Constitution : 1
Agility : 2]
"Woah…"
Was it really possible for something in this death game to be so… weak ? Sandrine was almost impressed.
Not in a good way.
"Anyway, I have Gribouille and Paquerette to assist me, those two are purely for eating purposes."
If she had eggs, she could cook so many good things ! She could make crêpes again !
Sandrine smiled dumbly, drool almost flowing down her chin just thinking about every recipe she knew that needed eggs. Eventually, she stopped herself and filled in the names for the two new additions in her family. She didn't know if it would change something for her job, so just in case she showed a bit of sincerity.
She named the male Garou and the female Céline. After all, they were birds that didn't fly, they were quite literally 'Under the wind' !
Haha.
Ha.
Maybe it was just her imagination that Paquerette was judging her pretty harshly for her bad humour. Sandrine felt a slight chill.
Anyway, she now had two new pets. Sandrine thought quickly about what to do with them. They were too slow to walk with her, and too clumsy to stay on her shoulder. If she rode Paquerette, they were guaranteed to fall because of the wind, she would have to hold them in her arms. But how could she, when she already had to take care of Gribouille ?
Sandrine definitely needed a solution.
She searched through the trade tab and found exactly what she wanted : A cage that she could attach to Paquerette's baskets. It would be a bit annoying for the mare to have something clanky on her side, and the two birds inside will get a bit shaken along the way, but Sandrine didn't have a better idea for now.
She really needed the barn as soon as possible.
She installed the two birds in the cage and finally exited the forest with Paquerette and Gribouille. She let herself fall on her butt, sighing as she stretched her legs.
"What a morning ! We got a few things but it was so tiring !"
She wished that she could rest, but also she wished that every day was like this. It was a bit contradictory, but she had killed a boss alone ! Wasn't that awesome !
Sandrine smiled and started taking out her pets' feed for a good lunch. Even the two pheasants got a bowl of grain, and Sandrine casually wiped up a salad for herself, with a mix of her jar stock and a few wild vegetables she had gathered today. The dandelion leaves were especially suitable to use as lettuce, and with a few sun dried tomatoes, pickles, and capers, it made for some delicious salad if you added a bit of ham and cheese.
When everyone had their belly full, they continued walking the road. The announcement said that there would be more double roads, but Sandrine seemed to be quite lucky today, she didn't encounter a single one. However, this was not the case for the other players on the server. Among those who didn't participate in the offroad event and stayed on the infinite road, the outcome was tragic.
[Server chat (4,762/10,000)
MostBeautifulCashier : Please help me, I just want a bit of food ! There's nothing in the road chests !
BratataCanon : Ha ! Not even participating in the event and still asking for food ?
MostBeautifulCashier : I don't have to participate in the event, it's not an obligation ! Why are you angry ? Trying to curse people out ? Want people to die ?
PandiPanda : I think we should all calm down. This death game is trying to tear us apart, we should stay united
JusticeBoy56 : Yes, we should stay united ! Everyone is hungry, what is wrong about sharing a bit of bread ?
IamSn00t : don't be selfish, some people don't have the ability to go offroad
BratataCanon : You're asking us to provide for the weak ? Why should we slave away for people who don't deserve it ?
BigBelly123 : Exchanging bread for blueprints or 200 upgrade materials. Check out the trade tab
MostBeautifulCashier : This fucking guy again… What's so hard about sending a bit of bread ? Why should we give so many things just to stay alive ????
65Gontran65 : havphufrvfaz[Picture]
PandiPanda : Oh my gosh, is that a murder ?!
Destructor : Are people still killing each other on the double roads ?
ILoveSocks : They are all psychopaths ! I'm so scared wuwuwuwu
PandiPanda : Numbers keep going down, we already lost 200 people since this morning…
FeetQueen : I'm so scared, can a big strong man send me something to protect myself ? :c
ILoveSocks : Oh naw, the slut is still there D:
FeetQueen : Shut up you disgusting stinky man ! Talking like a teenager is disgusting at your age !
Croissaaant : Eh, did you notice that our local big shot has once again exchanged food for useless stuff ?
n1Underling : Whatwhatwhat ????
Croissaaant : A cage I think. Too kind hearted for this world
FeetQueen : I sent him messages but he didn't answer wuwuwuwu T-T
ILoveSocks : Me neither wuwuwu T-T
FeetQueen : Maybe he doesn't like disgusting old men
ILoveSocks : He doesn't seem to like sluts either :)
La4LdeMichel : Some asshole just attacked me ! It's the second time today ! I don't care, I was prepared and filmed everything this time, here : [Video]
PandiPanda : omg it's the one that attacked me a few days ago !!!! He stole everything and took both metal chests !!!!]
Sandrine casually read the chat. It looked like the day hadn't been easy for everyone. As usual, she also checked on her friends. MomImThristy hadn't participated in the offroad event and was fine, but AlphaWolf didn't answer. His profile wasn't grey, so it meant he was still alive. Sandrine wasn't worried, there was a big chance that he was running around killing things in the forest, or preparing meat in his truck. That guy wouldn't be killed easily.
When night came, Sandrine traded for another dog bed that she gave the pheasants as a nest, and finally opened the golden chest.