297 Too Soon (Part 2)
Exile watched the sun set over the horizon after a day out in the wilderness hunting monsters. It was getting to be late at night by now, but he didn’t mind. Even though his body was already exhausted from the last couple of days spent travelling through The Great Forest, The Ruins, and The Southern Hills. ‘It’s good there are no other players out here. I could’ve flown, but it’s a good idea to get a sense of what mobs are in this direction.’ Exile chuckled as he reviewed his loot. ‘But still, this inheritance seems a bit far. Even with my speed, it’s been two whole game days to get this far.’
A sudden chill ran down Exile’s back as he realized something. ‘Why does it seem like I can sense the environment better now? Although I’ve felt cold before, I thought it would go away with higher stats. Maybe it’s a feature of this zone?’
He scanned the sky quickly before turning on one of his staff’s runes. Within moments, flames crackled around him as warm air escaped into the surrounding area. Once satisfied, he placed all his belongings inside his inventory, and once everything was ready, Exile began making his way southward again.
ROOAR!
Exile grunted as a troll wielding a club barged through the blanket of darkness at him. ‘Firefly.’ Exile sighed as he continued walking, paying no attention to the monster attempting to attack him. His divine spell made short work of the monstrous creature when it came too close.
As the smell of burning flesh, and the sound of the troll’s death throes filled the air, Exile wondered if there was anything in the area that could challenge him. ‘This would be quite a nice area for the Tier 1 players to level up.’ He nodded his head, covered by his hood, as twigs snapped beneath his feet.
‘It shouldn’t be much further, I wonder what I’ll find waiting for me inside.’ Exile chuckled to himself as he continued his lonely journey. ‘There!’ Exile muttered as he noticed several shadowy figures hiding among the trees ahead. “Foolish creatures.” he mused as he glanced at his staff. Divine energy flooded another rune as he pointed toward the monsters waiting to ambush him. Flames belched from the tip of his staff and blanketed the area before him. Horrendous screeches filled the cold, night air as Exile reduced them to ash. He could only shake his head at their folly. ‘Why aren’t they using their brains? They should be able to sense I’m more powerful than them.’
Exile stroked his beard as he made his way over to where they had been. There were a few items of little note on the ground, but he still added them to his inventory before peering into the darkness. ‘This is most unusual. The mobs around these parts happily attack me. But anywhere else where they’ve been of a lower level, they’ve fled.’
A distant roar echoed throughout the forest moments later and soon after, two giant bears appeared around him and started attacking with their claws. Their teeth bared as red eyes glared into Exile’s own.
‘Not again…’ Exile’s hands wrapped around his staff as flames engulfed one of the beasts. The second bear gave up its chase once it realized there was no hope. However, Exile would not let it get away so easily. He kicked off the ground reaching an incredible speed as he slammed his staff on the bear’s head!
The mighty beast collapsed to the ground from the force of the blow, before Exile jabbed its skull with the base of his staff. Motes of light flickered as the mob died under the blow, leaving behind a dark pelt. ‘Ok, this is more than unusual now.’ Exile frowned as he collected the materials from both bears.
The mobs in the forest seemed to know his location and kept coming at him. However, they were no match for him in any way as he continued his slaughter. ‘Something else must be going on here. I could understand it if were because of a player’s spell. But nobody I know of has bothered scouting this area yet.’
Exile grumbled as the sound of running water could be heard through the deathly silence of the forest. ‘Finally! That’ll be the river. Which means I’m close.’ Just thinking about that brought a new possibility to the forefront of his mind.
‘Is it possible the inheritance is influencing the mobs in this area?’ The idea had merit since it was possible the old god’s authority could be leaking out of the inheritance. If they had an authority that could influence creatures, then it was a reasonable assumption.
Exile prepared another Firefly spell as he crept through the darkness. He wouldn’t let his guard down just because he had not met anything that could threaten him. After all, it was an inheritance he was talking about! There was no telling what the owner’s personality would be like, or what they were capable of. However, despite that, Exile felt his heartbeat quickening at the idea of getting his hands on something valuable. A nearby tree groaned and swayed above Exile’s head as the wind began to pick up strength. Soon after, several branches fell onto the ground around where he stood. ‘That can’t have been a coincidence!’ His eyes narrowed as he gazed into the surrounding area as quickly as possible. ‘Are you trying to hide from me? I doubt any group of monsters around here could survive my Firefly spell.’
A moment later, a deep voice rumbled throughout the woods. “So, you’re Exile?”
The sudden sound of another voice took Exile by surprise, but that moment of shock was all that was needed! ‘Ugh!’ Exile groaned as an arrow made of greenish liquid struck his chest! ‘What the hell?’ There was no damage done, but Exile felt off. He couldn’t place his finger on it, but his body no longer felt right. His eyes scanned the darkness once again, seeking the mysterious owner of the voice. “I almost feel sorry for you,” The voice whispered from his right. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” It chuckled from his left just as he turned to look at its previous location.
Exile felt a cold sweat run down his back. His Firefly spell wasn’t reacting to the enemy’s presence. ‘What does that mean? Is it an illusion?’ His brow creased as he activated several of his staff’s runes at once.
Flames roared all around Exile as they spread through the darkness, chasing it away with their ferocious light. Exile expected to hear screaming, or cursing from the mysterious assailant, but nothing came. His mind and body grew tense as he scanned the area for any sign of an opponent. His flames licked at the thick trunks all around him.
‘There’s… nothing there.’ Exile hesitated to lower his guard. Although he had taken no damage before, that didn’t mean the liquid arrow had done nothing to him. “Quite the cautious one, aren’t you?” The voice laughed from just beyond the light of Exile’s fire.
Exile gritted his teeth as his instincts screamed at him. He activated a darkness-infused barrier rune between himself and the voice, and a moment later, another strange arrow struck it. ‘I made the right… Ugh!’ He moaned as he felt another three projectiles strike his back.
The sinking sensation of something affecting him spread throughout his body as he analysed the situation. ‘This is bad. I need to retreat so I can think about what’s going on here with a clear head.’
“You’re like a child, aren’t you? Look at you. All those gears turning in your head.” The voice whispered from behind Exile’s back. However, there was nothing to see when he turned. “What will you do now when your strength is failing you? When you find yourself in a situation you’re powerless to deal with?”
‘What the hell is this? It’s got to be the will of the inheritance, right? Or is it a monster that can communicate? But how does it know who I am? It can’t be a player. There’s nobody in Valheim near my level.’ Exile snarled as he unleashed a second wave of flames!
‘I’ve got to move!’ He took off, hoping to break through whatever his assailant was doing to surround him. However, a few steps were all it took for Exile to realise what was feeling off with his body. ‘I’m not as fast as I should be!’
Crack, crack, crack!
Three more liquid arrows hit him on various points. He let out a loud curse as he came to a halt and projected another barrier to cover himself from all sides. ‘This is bad.’ He clenched his jaw as he risked taking a look at his stats.
‘This… damn!’ Although he had taken no damage yet, his stat screen had revealed that his stats had been rebuffed! He was losing strength every time he was struck with one of those strange arrows! ‘What authority is this? If I knew, I could figure out a way to fight back!’
“Now, now, Exile. Only defending will get you nowhere.” The dark voice chuckled from somewhere above him. “Can you really afford to spend all your energy on this? I just need to wait you out. What do you think will happen then?”
The voice cackled as it moved swiftly through the darkness. ‘What should I do? Maybe I should recall Skovi? But what if that’s not enough? What if this ‘thing’ kills him?’