Active quest

"It's quite... deserted," Damien muttered, his voice echoing slightly in the eerie stillness.

As he stepped into this unfamiliar land, he scanned his surroundings, taking it all in. The desolation was hard to miss.

"This place looks almost like a wasteland," he said to himself. "The plants are small and sparse, and even the ground feels dry beneath my feet."

Damien tapped the cracked road with his boot, surprised it was still holding together. "This road... it's ancient, probably built centuries ago."

To his right, a few brown mountains rose in the distance, rugged and barren. To his left, the scene was starkly different: a thick forest, its trees towering high with dense foliage. The contrast between the two landscapes was unsettling.

"Just as I thought—the barren lands of the forgotten city," Damien noted. "The forest further north is dense, but the land to the south gets worse, turning into a full-blown desert wasteland."

From the diary he'd studied, he knew this was the place. One of the locations for unique weapons, according to the information he'd found. Though the diary didn't give details on how to acquire the weapons, it did offer their locations and identities.

He was after one in particular.

'The Dual Spears of Forechester.'

The legendary weapons once wielded by Clifford Forechester, the first young master of the Forechester family who had ruled this city before its fall.

After becoming a soul weapon, the spears had earned a new, fearsome name:

'The Foes of Life.'

Damien could only speculate on how they'd gained such a title, but he knew he couldn't let anyone else claim them before he did. Shaking the thought from his mind, he pressed on toward the village.

*******

As he approached the village, its full form became clearer. A tall gate, around six to seven meters high, loomed ahead, coated with dust and sand that clung to its surface. Damien couldn't quite tell what it was made of—perhaps some form of metal?

The walls, equally as tall, were built from a mixture of enormous stone blocks and thick wooden stakes. The craftsmanship looked crude, yet solid, with hardly a dent in sight. It had a rugged charm—shabby, yet strangely resilient.

From his vantage point, Damien could see several tall buildings inside the village. Standing in front of the gate were two guards, their stoic figures nearly blending in with the dusty environment. They wore simple armour, but their calm demeanour under the blazing sun was impressive.

"Hm?" One of the guards spotted Damien, nudging the other to get his attention.

They exchanged a few words before one of them reached for the large bow on his back.

Damien's eyes widened. "What are they—"

*FWUSH!* 

*BAM!*

"URG!" 

He barely managed to dodge as an arrow crashed into the ground near him, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"What the hell?!"

Damien's heart pounded. 'That force... I wouldn't die, but still...'

The guard scratched his head awkwardly after seeing Damien's reaction, looking to his companion for guidance. The other guard just shrugged, waving at Damien as if nothing had happened.

'Are they seriously expecting me to walk up to them after that?' Damien thought in disbelief.

*******

For several minutes, Damien and the guards stood at a distance, simply staring at one another. Neither side seemed sure of what to do next.

"Kid, how long are you going to stand there in the middle of the road?"

Startled, Damien instinctively rolled forward, drawing his sword. He whipped around to face the voice.

It was an elderly woman with a warm, amused smile. She carried a basket covered with a white cloth and leaned heavily on a wooden cane, her back slightly hunched.

"Did I scare you? Oh my, that wasn't my intention," she said, her smile widening as she planted her cane firmly in the ground.

"... Who are—" Damien began, but she cut him off.

"You must be from far away, judging by how confused you look. Let me explain," she said, gesturing toward the guards. "They shot at you because outsiders are incredibly rare around here. Just look around—there's nothing for miles in either direction."

She pointed to the forest and the dry wasteland. "To the south, it's a desert. To the north, an impenetrable forest filled with dangerous beasts."

She chuckled. "It's hard to say which is worse. So, you see, visitors are... unexpected. In fact, 9 times out of 10, someone coming this way is actually a ghost."

"A ghost?" Damien frowned, feeling both intrigued and wary.

"Yes," she continued. "A terrible creature that prowls these lands. Not often seen, but far more common than a living traveller like you."

As she began to walk past him, Damien muttered, "But they aimed at my head..."

The woman ignored his comment. "Come, it's hot, and there's sand in my sandals. We can talk on the way."

Without another word, she walked off at a surprising pace for someone her age, leaving Damien to wonder if she even needed that cane at all.

*******

When they reached the village gates, one of the guards greeted her with a bow. "Welcome back, Miss Edna."

She nodded, offering them something from her basket. The guard turned to Damien, his tone flat and unapologetic. "Normally, we wouldn't let an outsider in. You're only here because of Miss Edna."

Damien clenched his jaw. 'I know that, but was there really a need to say it like that?'

Keeping his cool, he followed Edna into the village, noting how the houses were elevated about two meters off the ground, supported by wooden beams. The structures looked solid but had a certain grimness to them that Damien couldn't quite place.

Seeing him lost in thought, Edna commented, "Don't worry too much. You'll get used to it."

Damien gave a small nod, still feeling out of place. As they reached the village centre, Edna stopped and turned to him.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I am Edna... Just Edna, one of the elders of Gleyma."

Damien nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm Damien Morningstar... I came from—"

"Very far away, I can tell," she interrupted, eyeing him with curiosity. "Your voice, your stance... even your strength."

She suddenly jabbed his leg with her cane, almost causing him to stumble.

"You've got quite the sturdy body for an 18-year-old. Did you train a lot?"

Damien winced but managed to reply, "I did. I built a business and found solace in training to unwind from work."

Edna smiled knowingly. "That explains a lot."