The Cursed Pond

Chase's latest quest was to cleanse a pond rumored to be cursed and restore its natural purity. As he approached the pond, he couldn't help but notice its pristine and clear blue waters, "What cursed pond? That looks perfectly clean..." He raised an eyebrow, puzzled as to why this seemingly ordinary pond was labeled as cursed.

At the corner of his eye, he spotted a large, full black-feathered goose lying near the water's edge, staring at him with bright blue eyes, lying near the water's edge staring at him.

Taking a closer look at the goose he notice it has a look of dying, Chase's keen senses, enhanced by a vampire bloodline, allowed him to detect the slow heartbeat of the goose, its heartbeat slowing with every passing moment.

'A goose? What could be causing its suffering?' Chase wondered, noticing the goose's distressed expression. It became apparent that the real trouble lay with a mother goose in distress, Nearby, a small black-feathered gosling struggled to stay afloat in the water.

Approaching the pond, Chase examined it with a sense of curiosity. The village rumors of a cursed pond lingered, but he remained undeterred.

"There's nothing odd about this place," Chase murmured to himself, wondering why the villages would say this pond is cursed.

As he drew closer, the large goose locked eyes with him, its gaze filled with pain and desperation.

Kneeling beside the goose, Chase spoke in a calm tone, "You're not cursed. You're just hurt."

The mother goose weakly honked in response, seemingly pleading for help.

"I'll help you, but I need to move you away from the water," Chase said gently to the mother goose.

With careful movements, he lifted the heavy but fluffy, dying mother goose away from the pond, setting her down gently on the grass.

"Thank you," the mother goose weakly uttered.

Chase was taken aback, surprised that the goose could talk"Y-You can talk" he said.

"Yes, I'm no ordinary goose," the mother goose replied weakly.

"Well...You're welcome. Now, let's take care of your little one," Chase said, smiling slightly.

He approached the gosling in the water, the dark-black eyes of the little creature looking up at him with fear.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you," Chase reassured the gosling, his voice soft and soothing.

Carefully, he scooped up the gosling, holding it in front of his face for a moment, captivated by its cuteness, while the cute gosling looked back at him.' Your so cute' He thought wanting to hold the gosling tighter.

Chase brought the gosling back to its mother, who nuzzled it affectionately.

"Thank you for saving my child," the mother goose expressed her gratitude. "As you probably heard, I am dying."

Chase nodded" Your welcome, I can tell but can you tell me why?" he inquired, also thinking how did the mother goose know that I can tell she dying? but he's also curious about the reason behind her suffering.

The mother goose looked down at her gosling. "I can't tell you, but I was only trying to protect my baby," she said with sadness.

As the mother goose and her gosling found comfort in each other, Chase watched, touched by their bond, remembering his bond with Ava hoping she is taking care of herself.

"I want you to take care of my baby. When I die, she won't be able to fend for herself in this dangerous world, and I have a feeling she will be in good hands with you," the mother goose suddenly said.

Chase was taken aback by the request, but he immediately understood that the mother goose wouldn't survive to see her gosling grow up and she can't just give it to anyone.

"Okay, I promise I will take care of your baby," Chase said truthfully.

The mother goose opened her wing that was blocking her baby, for Chase to take, Chase took out the sleeping gosling gently rubbing its wing gently.

The mother goose started to breathe slowly"I love you, baby, I hope everything goes well with you..." Whispering her thanks before passing away peacefully.

Chase looked at the lifeless body of the mother goose, feeling a pang of sadness that she had to die before her gosling grew up.

Chase placed down the gosling and used his spear to dig a grave for the mother goose and bury her.

Chase looked at the goose in his hand"I promise on my life I will protect you from now on and have you grown up to become a powerful goose." he said.

After tenderly burying the mother goose, Chase returned to Ethelia and then went to The Guild of Enchanters with the gosling.

Some of the adventure that was there before when Chase took the quest was still in the guild

"

"He's back!" one of the adventurers exclaimed in surprise.

"Look, he doesn't seem hurt. I wonder if he managed to complete his quest," another adventurer speculated.

"Don't be an idiot! How can he take on any beast with just one arm?" a third adventurer chimed in, displaying skepticism.

The elf clerk, Emily, greeted Chase with a bright smile as she observed the sleeping gosling in his arms. "You're back! Nice baby gosling," she said warmly.

Chase simply nodded in acknowledgment and used his storage ring to take out all the materials he had gathered during his quest. The sight of the materials from the dead beasts left everyone in the guild in shock.

Emily looked at the quest plank and materials in astonishment. "Mmm," she mumbled before putting away the planks and scales.

Curious about what to feed the gosling, Chase asked Emily in a calm tone" Do you know anything that I can feed this gosling?" he said, But for some reason, Emily just stared at him like she was in a trance.

Rasing his brows"Emily" Chase called out, wondering what happening to her.

Shaking her head, Emily regained her senses. "You can give her Moonlight Berries; they help provide nourishment... We sell them here. I can give you some," she said.

Chase nodded and requested five Moonlight Berries from her.

"Since one costs 3 bronze coins, I will take out the quest bronze earned coins, "Emily said taking the moonlight berries that are, covered in pale silver skin.

Chase took the 5 Moonlight Berrie putting them in his storage ring.

After Emily took out 85 bronze coins and 10 silver coins handing them to Chase."See you next time" she said, gazing at Chase back on his way out of the guild once the door closed she stopped gazing.

'What should I do now' he thought thinking of his next plan how to continue leveling up.

Hey!" a man's voice called out.

Chase turned to see a bald-headed man with a sword on his back coming toward him. "Hey, man, wait up," the man called again, seeming eager to talk to Chase.

Raising an eyebrow, Chase asked calmly, "What?"

The man beamed at Chase. "Thanks for stopping," he said appreciatively.

"Just tell me what you want," Chase replied, slightly annoyed by the interruption.

"Ok, Ok, we have a d rank quest we need to do but we are one member short I was wondering if you're willing to join us, "The man said with hope in his voice.

"I can't. I'm still an E-ranked adventurer," Chase responded, in his mind wondering why would there ask him out of all the other adventures.

"Don't worry; once the leader of the group is of a higher rank, a lower rank can join," the man assured nonchalantly.

Chase considered the offer thoughtfully. If it was a D-ranked quest, there would likely be higher-level monsters, offering significant experience points. However, he also knew he had to be cautious since he wasn't familiar with the group and its potential dangers.

"What's the quest?" Chase inquired.

The man smiled, "It's about clearing out spiders in a cave."

Chase smirked, realizing that dealing with spiders meant facing them in groups, promising a considerable amount of experience points.

"Okay, I will join," he agreed confidently.

The man looked excited and thanked Chase before walking away with a smirk.

The man looked excited"Ok thanks Meet back in front of the guild tomorrow morning" he said before walking away with a smirk.

After renting a tavern room for two silver coins, Chase put the baby gosling on his bed. As she woke up and stared at him, Chase wondered why she was no longer scared like she had been near the cursed pond.

"Are you no longer scared?"Chase asked but she just kept looking at him

'I Wonder, what I should name you' Chase thought, as all pets must have a name and he can't keep saying gosling and her.

"How about I name you Vex" Chase said, as the gosling shook her head.

"No" Chase was taken aback by the gosling understanding him like her mother as denying her name.

"What about Iris"Chase said again, and again the gosling shook her head.

"Jett," He said again, but the baby gosling again shook her head.

"Zara"

Chase suggested several names, but Gosling kept shaking her head in refusal. Finally, after trying several names, she nodded when he said "Luna," indicating that she approved of the name that matched her dark color.

"Ok from now on I will call you Luna Vesper, Vesper is to match your dark color,"Chase said.

Handing her some Moonlight Berries, Luna Vesper gobbled them up hungrily before growing sleepy

"All right let go sleep," Chase said softly though, as a vampire, he didn't require sleep, he believed it was best to get some rest for the upcoming quest.

Laying down on the bed with Luna resting on his chest, Chase fell into a peaceful slumber, anticipating the adventure that awaited them tomorrow.