More Alchemic Experimentations

Nearly half a dozen adventurers had burst into clouds of poisonous gas. While there were definitely a lot of panicking people in the area, this was also where the remaining top 12 teams from the competition were gathered to enter the forest. That meant there were dozens of A and B rank adventurers to counter the suicide attacks.

Those who could put up barriers or control the poisonous mist with magic, did so. A few whirlwinds sucked the poison high into the air and thinned it out to the point of it being ineffective. Those who couldn't use magical means, used their above human physical abilities to pull people away. The quick actions of the adventurers limited those affected, but even then dozens were poisoned by the attack.

Those that had general antitoxins on them, were administering them to their companions as soon as they could. Meanwhile, Witches and Followers of the Holy Light moved among those that were affected, curing the poison as best they could.

I quickly found my team doing what they could. Lariss was pouring a vial of liquid down Kay's throat. He was extremely pale and a few major arteries were bulged out and had a brownish color to them. Adalgard was kneeling over Sundri mumbling a prayer, as a purple light fell on him from her hands.

Thelora was off to the side with a small jar filled that contained the yellowish green poisonous mist. Her eyes had a dark purple glow to them as tendrils of shadow caressed the jar.

"How bad is it?" I asked Thelora.

"Not too terrible. It won't require any special counter agents, a general antitoxin will do. But those affected will take days to regain their strength even with healing. It seems to be more designed to weaken than kill." She said.

"If that's the case, then that means their likely goal is to keep people from entering the forest." I replied.

"Why though? The Duchess is here and it's not like the Gylltaine Stag will be any easier to catch with less hunters in the forest." She said.

As I looked to the now heavily fortified VIP pavilion, I realized there was someone missing.

An hour later my suspicions were confirmed when us and the remaining top 12 A and B ranked teams were summoned to the pavilion. The other rank C teams weren't invited.

The Duchess sat on her ornate chair radiating authority and tremendous anger. Her two husbands sat on each side of her with guards surrounding them. In front of her stood Union Master Alfarund who soon addressed us.

"By the authority of Duchess Togeir, all of you have been conscripted for a special mission. Lord Erlandr Togeir is currently with the Guardians of Ice. We have unfortunately been unable to contact them. While it is possible that this is due to the presence of the Gylltaine Stag, it could be the work of the rebels.

"Your task is simple. Find the Guardians of Ice and deliver letters prepared and sealed by the Duchess. While you may encounter other guilds in the forest, it is advised that you keep what happened here today quiet. It is unknown who else might be involved."

"Sir, they're some of the top guilds. Their officers are even out there, shouldn't we ask for their help?" Someone asked.

"From those that we've been able to identify among the attackers, there are members of all the top guilds excluding the Guardians of Ice. To be frank, we don't fully trust any of you either. But we don't have many options." Master Alfarund said.

This caused immediate grumbling and dark looks to pass among everyone gathered. Fear and mistrust had the potential to spread faster and do more harm than that poisonous gas.

"At the same time, we have no reason to doubt any of you. Your job is just to get to the Guardians of Ice and pass on the letter. After that you can go about the Hunt. The only other person you can talk to about this matter is former Union Master Ragna. She went in with her disciples this morning." He continued

"What about everyone else that's waiting to enter the forest? It could turn into a shit show once the whole Union is trapezing around in there." A taller bald adventure said.

"Only those here will be allowed to enter the forest from now on. I know it's going to cause a lot of problems but this is the decision the Duchess and the Eldest of the witches came up with. If the forests weren't so big or if the presence of a greater spirit wasn't negatively affecting our ability to track where the young lord is, none of you would be going in. Right now you're the best option." The Union Master responded.

His announcement that we would be the only ones entering the forest was a surprise to a lot of people. It would no doubt cause a lot of grumbling among the rest of the Union, but those gathered here were happy that they made the cut off.

"Now if there aren't any important questions, we'll send you all off." He continued.

Without any other questions, senior Union representatives started handing out the letters with the Duchess's seal. They also assigned specific directions that each team was supposed to start searching in. This caused a bit of grumbling since many teams had already planned out search patterns for the Hunt. But it wouldn't do much good if everyone headed out in the same direction looking for the young lord.

"Thelora can you tell if all or how many of the ingredients that were on that list were used in this suicidal mist?" I asked as we walked to the arch where the Hunt begins near the forest.

"It would take me a few hours if not a day or two to figure that out. My best guess is that this new poisonous mist could be made with what's on that list. But I'd never be able to recreate it. There were spells included in its creation that I couldn't hope to replicate." She replied.

"What are you thinking Wilmaer?" Adalgard asked.

"That enhanced manticore we fought and now this… There has to be a powerful alchemist behind them, one that doesn't mind elaborate experimentation in the open." I said.

"Are you thinking of the trolls? That noble used the Ice Thresher also." Thelora said.

"Care to fill me in?" Adalgard said.

We were close to the arch by now and I waited until we passed the gathered crowd near there to fill her in on our recent quest.

"There's enough there to connect these two incidents." I finished.

"Hmmm, I agree with you. Have you told anyone about what happened?" Adalgard said.

"We told a few people but with our current standing we didn't think anyone would listen if we accused a nobleman. So I gave the information to a friend that could spread it to the right people. That same friend has been supplying me with information about our current situation." I said.

"What a close and reliable friend you have." Thelora teased. She of course knew all about my friend.

"So what do we do about any of this?" Lariss asked.

"Right now, we just focus on finding Lord Togeir. If we can find the Gylltaine Stag afterward, that would be a bonus. Everything else can wait until we get back to Torinheim." I answered.

Without much else to discuss we traveled in our assigned direction for a few hours. As night approached we heard a noise coming from ahead of us. We altered our course and soon found a jordr bear eating a deer. I signaled for us to keep going but Lariss didn't move.

"I think Wilmaer should kill it." She said.

"What? There's no need to do that. Also, why am I the only one that needs to kill it." I quietly said.

"To lighten the mood. Watching you fight is rather entertaining." She replied with a smile.

"That's ridiculous. Let's move out." I said.

"Actually, I'd like to see you fight it as well. There's nothing like seeing a strong man in the heat of battle." Thelora said with a similar smile.

"No, we have a quest to complete and that doesn't include fighting random monsters." I looked towards Adalgard for support.

"There's no need to be scared. While it's a C ranked monster I think you can take it. The Elder Watchers will be with you." She said.

I was completely baffled. Where did this come from all of the sudden? At the same time an animalistic urge started to awaken within me. They had just indicated that killing this monster by myself would impress them. Floriana's trick to make me think that I had a threesome with Lariss and Thelora had put my feelings for them front and center in my mind. I had been trying to think of a way to pursue them all at once and an opportunity just presented itself.

With my lower mind in complete control I started to circulate my auras, while rotating motes for my Cloaking, Speed, and Sturdy spell. Slowly I made my way towards the unaware, feasting earth bear. A quick strike to a vital area wouldn't make for a thrilling fight but it would be efficient.

Of course the ladies weren't going to let me have it easy.

A rock came from their hiding spot, hitting the monster directly on the head. Sensing danger it stood up with its snout covered in blood, flesh hanging from its teeth, and roared in my direction. Unexpectedly, the force of the roar caused my Cloaking spell to falter enough for it to notice me.

It reared back and stomped its front paws on the ground causing the ground to ripple violently. My Sturdy spell kept me from fully falling but it took it to its limits. As the ground continued to move under my feet, the bear swiped its paw right above the dirt and projectiles were launched in my direction. This wasn't an ability that we'd seen during the competition.

I was already starting to have my suspicions when it charged and they were confirmed by the power behind it's strike. This monster had been mutated in the same way that the manticore we fought had been.

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Sorry for the delay in chapters. The new job took a lot more out of me than I expected and then writers block hit. Hopefully I'll be back to writing more consistently. Thank you for those that have kept with me.