CHAPTER 11 - Brumdn Cove

DURING MY BLIND SPRINT EAST, I encounter three dilemmas. The worst of their kind. 1) The heat 2) The heat and 3) The unbearably hot heat.

Screw my Grade D boots. They barely hold anything and by the time I am halfway across the empty Gaal's Grove, the soles melt away. With nothing else to cover them, I tear my shirt open, and tie them to both of my feet, hoping they'd serve till I'm out of here.

"Did I not tell you this was stupid?" Foras screams at me as he and his moth wings try to keep up with me. For once, I keep my genius mouth shut.

The System is beyond restless as she prowls around my mind. But thankfully, she doesn't join in with her pal Foras so there is at least some peace. The Grade D 'armour' AKA my shirt does hold on till the outskirts of the forest but there's only so much a beginner kit can do. It withers away as the first hints of sun hits me.

Countless hours in the obsidian canopy with nothing but burning fire for light, I almost weep in happiness when the rays hit my skin, bounding off of the hair in my hand. The ground is still too hot for me to stand and sightsee but enough damage has already been done. Holding my breath, I turn around to take one last look at Gaal's Grove.

Almost all of it is gone, except for the frontier on the other side where the fire could not reach. Even from the distance, the rows of Stygian fir look daunting, rising against the sky like an iron fortress. It is blatantly ironic to know a mere torch fire took it down.

"Hyung, move!" Foras yells at me. "You don't want to lose your feet, remember?"

I only remember the pain after Foras dearly reminds me so I take off again.

After a while of more running, the sun peaks brightly from the sky and I somehow know that I'm out of that place of doom. I look up at it, finally catching my breath. My legs scream in protest, both from fatigue and the burn but I swallow the pain. Cannot stumble yet.

Fluffy pink clouds, the colour of cotton candy, welcome me. The sunlight doesn't hurt my eyes as I stare at them.

"Don't you think the sun is, I don't know, a tad bit small . . ?" I ask Foras.

Foras looks up from wiping the soot on his face. "What's a sun? That is the Narvi."

"Narvi?"

"It is like the moon from your world." Instead of Foras, it is the System who replies. I scowl, huffing through the exasperation and unbearable pain.

"Oh, now you decide to grace me with answers?"

She chuckles. Actually, chuckles. Almost a snigger. The audacity.

"This has nothing to do with the quest. Of course, I did."

My scowl deepens. Look who learnt to work around loopholes. I humph at her and march further east.

It is only when I'm out of the obvious danger does it hit me that my current state isn't the best. Since I had to use my shirt as a makeshift sandal, my bare torso is full of heat blisters from the stray smouldering ash. The adrenaline which had masked the pang has long run dry and I don't dare look down at my feet in fear I might actually pass out. But my torso hurts so much that I'm guessing they are pretty bad. My feet are another league of horrible. Each step sends a bolt of pain up my entire being and it takes everything in me not to succumb. With a parched throat and dry heaves making everything worse, this could easily be my most gut-wrenching experience ever.

Not to be a brat or anything but all my life, I was blessed with the convenience of being taken care of by people around me. So suddenly boomerang-ed to own my own mess? Ten out of ten, do not recommend.

Out of Gaal's Grove, a never changing green plain extends before us. The plants are waist high and I honestly wouldn't know if anything was lurking in it but with the ache in my body and Foras urging me to keep walking, I somehow hold on.

Suddenly to my right, something flutters from the hidden safety of the dense leaves. I yelp, reflexively moving back. A big, red creature jumps up from the shadows, cocking its head to me. Damn, those are some huge eyes, is my first thought.

The creature has a humongous crooked beak, like it has been badly punched by something repeatedly for the entirety of its lifetime. It matches with its mammoth body. Red plumage covers every part of it, kinda like a bird. I don't see any wings though.

I can't bring myself to move on from its eyes. They are the size of coconuts, shiny like a mini disco ball. I see my petrified, bloody body reflected in its dark eyes. It cocks its head again like it is confused. I don't dare move a muscle.

"It is harmless," Foras whispers in my ears and I almost jump out of my skin, startled. How could I forget that another gory creature was floating around me?

The red wingless bird turns away from me, cocking its head at something else. A clicking sound accompanies it and it takes me an extra moment to make out that the bird was actually making the sound. The sound is similar to the exasperated clicking sound humans do but I doubt the bird was exasperated at me.

More clicking sounds and cocking heads later, it probably decides that whatever it was looking for at the distance isn't worth its time. Raising its hackles in a swift motion, it bends its fat neck back, to make a loud clicking noise. Tiny wings spurt from the chubby folds of its body and absolutely proving science wrong, it takes off into the sky. So much for wingless.

A stray feather flutters down as its huge body takes flight. Baseless impulse grips me and I reach out to catch it. The feather isn't anything exotic either but I bag it in my physical inventory before continuing on my way.

Though I craved the sun in the never-ending Gaal's Grove, the Narvi isn't any better either, eternally lighting everything. By the end of it, it is simply delirium masked under motivation that makes me trudge forward.

After what I'm not sure are mere hours or full days, finally, like a mirage, a faint trail of silhouette infiltrates my vision.

Though my muscles mass protest, I push them forward as I fervently move towards it. Foras excitedly circles me, sneakily patting my head in passing. Before long, the hazy silhouette materialises into actual walls– stone walls, the kind that run the perimeter of old castles and their town centres. Tall, wooden gates stand majestically in the front guarded on both sides by a dozen guards.

The leftmost guard sees me first. His eyes make quick work of my hagged look.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The last bit of energy in me flies away like empty fumes and I stumble to the ground. It's a worrying habit but as I close my tired eyes, I see two guards rushing to me in alarm. The last words I hear before passing out are the System's.

"Unlocked: Brumdn Cove. Congratulations on completing your first quest, hero.