Markus scanned his badge at the city gates, heading back in to wait for the rest of the group.
Markus stood by the south-western gates, the cold wind of the Illinois border tugging at his cloak.
Several adventurers and civilians were trading credits and goods by the roadside.
The capitalistic nature of humans is on full display.
Potions, Weapons, utilities, all on sale at 20-50% above market fair value.
Markus casually looked through the goods displayed on the ground and on makeshift counters.
[Solemn Bracelet]
[Element: Light]
[Attribute Bonus: +10 Intelligence]
[Effect: Healing effect +30%, Duration of buffs +20%]
[Description: Bracelet one belonging to a nun devoted to the goddess of light.]
"How much is this bracelet going for?" Markus inquired.
"200 Credits," the storekeeper mumbled.
"100 Credits, 200 is daylight robbery," Markus haggled.
"150 credits, take it or leave it," the storekeeper replied, annoyed at Markus's haggling.
In the distance, he could feel the jagged, discordant mana signatures of the Bloodhound crew approaching.
"Thanks for your time. 100 is the best I can do," Markus turned around, walking away to the other vendors.
"FINE FINE, 100 credits and it's yours," Markus scanned his student badge and transferred 100 credits for the bracelet.
(Rosanne's going to love this.)
"Hey, Markus, did you get anything?" Bloodhound waved as he approached Markus, window shopping.
"Yeah, something for my sister, everything here is a complete ripoff," Markus replied.
"Definitely, these guys don't have a soul in them. Anything for some credits, you'll be surprised what they're willing to sell around here," Bloodhound grinned, his eyes telling a different story.
"Let's head over to the forest to do some recon," Bloodhound waved his team over, leading the way past the vendors towards the gate exit.
Markus followed quietly behind, watching his surroundings, checking if they brought any extra backup.
(Seems like there's no one else tailing us; they probably want to split the reward amongst the four of them. Any extra members means a smaller payday.)
Markus scanned his student badge through the revolving gates again, making eye contact with a security trooper stationed there.
Markus brought his finger to his lips, gesturing towards the knowing personnel, throwing a mana stone over.
**
The forest welcomed him home, its treeline rustling in the wind.
(Somehow, I feel at home whenever I return to the forbidden forest; there's a connection between me and this living entity.)
Markus deployed his spatial perception, paying close attention to the movements of his teammates.
The afternoon heat was permeating through the damp atmosphere.
Humidity was at an all-time high, causing forest inhabitants to seek lower ground.
Predator activity was at an all-time high, hunting whilst weaker beasts were foraging for food and seeking water sources.
Shadow Monkeys descended from the understory layer, targeting the 2 ladies within the group.
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 41
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 42
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 41
Agatha's grimoire flipped open, casting an area of effect curse on the Shadow Monkeys.
[Curse: Lethargy]
[Effect: Causes slowness for the next 30 seconds]
The Shadow Monkey's movements slowed to a crawl before they realised they had been inflicted with a status debuff. Markus sent 6 arrows, striking and killing them.
[Starlight Bow]
6 Arrows condensed of starlight struck their brains and hearts, inflicting critical damage.
-1,200 Mana
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 41 Slain
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 42 Slain
[Tier 4 Shadow Monkey] Level 41 Slain
[Level Up]
Agatha nodded towards Markus, thanking him for the quick assist.
Markus kept his eyes trained on the treeline, making sure a second wave of beasts was not attracted by the disturbance they caused.
Markus waved his hand over two Shadow Monkeys, claiming them as his spoils.
"One belongs to you, Madam Agatha," Markus went back into position, keeping his bow drawn.
"Thanks, Markus," Agatha flicked her wrist, storing the spoils into her storage ring.
They spent several hours moving deeper into the red demarcated regions of the forest, sharing spoils and taking small breaks in between.
They avoided a crystal blue lake, a clear trap inhabited by Tier 4 Hydroxis Boas camouflaging along the shoreline.
They spotted several hybrid tree frogs swallowed whole by the hydroxis boas and decided to search for an alternative water source.
"We'll head back to the city to resupply if we have to," Bloodhound whispered, getting approval from his team members through their silent nods.
They took a detour around a leaf-cutter ant hill, avoiding combat against thousands of tier 2 leaf-cutter ants.
(I could probably use Spatial Detonation to nudge them west towards the spider colony.)
[Spatial Detonation]
A pocket of space exploded within the ant hive, towards the group of 5.
A massive wave of soldier ants emerged from the underground tunnels, searching for their attackers.
"RUN, NOW!" Bloodhound shouted as the army of leaf-cutter ants surged towards them.
Bloodhound brandished his mace, clearing the path forward as they ran without looking back.
[Spatial Domain]
As they approached the domain belonging to the purple recluse spiders, Markus leaped into the foliage, deploying his spatial domain, erasing his existence from the surrounding beasts.
Bloodhound was the first to run into the array of webs interwoven around the densely packed trees.
The others, unaware of the webbing ahead of them, fell into the same predicament.
"What is this? Why am I stuck in open air!" Bloodhound exclaimed in desperation.
From the safety of the trees, Markus watched the struggle through the distorted lens of his Spatial Domain.
Bloodhound's mace swung wildly, tearing through the air but only tangling him further in the shimmering, invisible silk.
The vibrations from the four members trapped in the illusion webs stirred the purple recluse spiders that were burrowed underground awake.
"Oh no, Oh no," despair crept across Agatha's face, "We ran into the domain of the purple recluse spiders."
Markus felt no pity. His Fate's Eye saw the red murderous aura around them fading into the pale white of pure terror.
Their silk is shrouded in illusory elements that perfectly camouflage it against its surroundings, trapping unsuspecting prey.
The leaf-cutter ant army that was chasing after them stood by the edges of their domain, clearly aware of the purple recluse spiders' territory before them.
Seeing that their prey was out of their reach, they returned to their hive to rebuild and protect its fragile infrastructure from their enemies.