Chapter 11
When I woke up
I needed to know—where the hell was I?
Looking around, trees surrounded me, towering high over my head. A dense
fog loomed thickly a few inches off the ground, filling the air with nearly
palpable moisture.
Trees and an unnaturally thick fog…
I sank back on my butt, crestfallen. This could only mean one thing.
I was in the Forest of Elf
A disheartened sigh escaped from my mouth as I picked myself up.
I didn't have any sort of provisions other than the clothes on my back, and
sword. This cursed fog limited my
vision to a few yards in any direction. Reinforcing my eyes with mana helped
quite a bit, but it didn't solve the even bigger problem, which was how to get out of this place.
I reinforced my body and enabled mana rotation, which had become second
nature to me by now. Right now, I could only absorb roughly twenty percent
of what I could while just meditating, but I couldn't complain.
The only downside to mana rotation was that it wasn't a replacement for
strengthening the mana core. In order to purify my mana core and get to the
next stage, I would need to focus solely on gathering mana, from both my
body and the surrounding atmosphere, and use that to get rid of the impurities
little by little. After getting my mana core to the dark red level, I did notice
that the amount of mana I could store increased significantly. Although the
core does not grow in size, I assumed a higher purity allowed more mana to
be stored.
I climbed up the nearest tree, and once I got high enough, I focused mana into
only my eyes, enhancing my vision even further I wasn't looking for a way out, but rather for any signs of people.
After about ten minutes of searching, jumping from tree to tree, I found what
I was looking for.
I hopped a few more trees, feeling quite proud of my primate nimbleness, and
stopped at a branch closer to what I'd found. A group of humans were
gathered near a carriage. I'd wanted to jump down and greet them in hopes
that they'd take me back to my home, but some inexplicable urge told me not
to. Studying their expressions and the way they moved told me something
was off.
I hid myself completely behind the trunk and listened intently.
[Ding. New Quest available]
[Ding. save the elf ]
[Difficulty : A rank]
[Ding. Do you wish to accept? Y/N]
[Ding. Quest Rewards: 20System points+1000exp ]
When I see another quest ...and reward I have huge grin on my face...
I quickly accepted quest
"Yes"
.
.
.
"No! Help! Someone please help! Mommy! Daddy! Nooo!"
"Someone shut her up. She's going to attract attention."
There was the sound of a thud, then another voice spoke.
"Put her in the back of the carriage, and make it quick. Still a few days until
we get to the safety of the mountain range. We can't slow down now. We
have to keep moving."
"Hey, boss, how much y'reckon she'll sell for? Elf girls go for a lot, don't
they? And as young as she is, she's probably a virgin at that. I bet she'll fetch
a lot, huh?"
Slave traders.
I carefully took a peek, spotting the small carriage, just big enough to carry
five or six adults if they were crammed in tightly. Just then, a middle-aged
man came into view, hauling a little girl to the back of the carriage. She
looked to be around six or seven, with the silvery hue in her hair and the
pointed ears that elves were famous for.
What do I do?
How were they even able to kidnap an elf in the first place? The Elf
Forest's magical fog was supposed to disorient the senses of even the most
capable mage.
After a few more seconds of observing, I found my answer.
Attached to leashes were mana beasts, creatures that looked like a mix
between a deer and a dog. They had large, branching antlers, looking like a
complicated antenna. These creatures had been mentioned in the
encyclopedia I had always carried with me. The forest hounds were native to
the Forest of Elf, and could navigate even better than the elves
themselves. How these brutes had acquired forest hounds, I had no idea, but I
needed to think of a plan.
Option one: Steal one of the forest hounds and have it lead me out of the
forest.
Option two: Kidnap the kidnapped elf girl and have her lead me out of the
forest.
Option three: Kill all the slave traders and set the elf girl free, then take the
forest hounds and have them lead me out of the forest.
Option four: Ignore all the things and try another way to get out of the forest
After some time
I let out another deep breath. I seemed to be sighing a lot these days.
Option three it is.
Deciding to trail them and actually following through with it were two
different matters. The forest hounds were already warily sniffing in my
direction, sensing that someone was near. I had to follow them at quite a
distance, constantly using mana to keep up with their carriage from far
enough back that I could still track them, but they wouldn't notice me. But
through constant mana usage, with the help of mana rotation, I managed to
keep them in my sights.
Less than an hour before nightfall, they had stopped and set up camp,
allowing me to quietly observe them until I had learned enough about them to
confidently make a move. I waited until it was completely dark, then moved
carefully to a branch directly above the carriage and prepared to put my plan
into action. First I stirred up the forest hounds with a carefully thrown rock.
Despite their bumbling appearance, the slave traders were surprisingly
vigilant; they never built a fire and kept two people on guard at all times....
Status
Name: Ren Carter ]
[Age: 10 years]
[Race: Human ]
[Occupation : None]
[LVL:4]
[Exp : 80/400]
[HP: 78/80]
[STR: 30]
[Mana: 104]
[AGL: 50]
[VIT: 27]
[STM: 72]
[DEF: 26]
[System points : 0]
[Skills:(Fireball)(water ball)(blink)(water bullet) (swordmanship [LVL. 2)(Focus)
Author note
Thank you for all support