Chapter 6: Encounter

The Desolate Forest was a massive biome that spanned over nearly half of the Eastern Region of the Divine Continent. Scattered within the seemingly endless sea of trees were various mountains and clearings. These particular areas varied between a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers, allowing most villages and cities to establish themselves on the open land.

For generations, Spiritualists lived in cities and towns developed in the middle of this gigantic forest. Their choice to inhabit the Desolate Forest was due to the sheer abundance of resources scattered throughout the woodland biome. In the clearings, the soil was undeniably lush, perfect for farming. Many rare herbs, medicinal plants, and ingredients littered the woods. The mountains revealed endless veins of ore. There were just too many opportunities to let go to waste!

However, the Desolate Forest was home to many ferocious and territorial Spirit Beasts.

In one tiny clearing, less than a kilometer wide within the vast woodland, the day had lazily shifted from morning to afternoon, and the tranquil sounds of life filled the open ground. All manner of Spirit Beasts grazed in the rays of sunlight that shone through trees so incredibly tall; they looked as if they shot up to the sky. The vast heights of these ancient evergreens sheltered the forest's inhabitants from the afternoon heat.

The small clearing also revealed a crystal clear freshwater spring. The running water spilled into a creek that stretched towards the forest's mouth, a few kilometers away from Exeter City. Several Spirit Beasts lazed about in the open area along the creek, taking advantage of the warm morning sun cascading down onto the land.

BOOM

"What the hell are you doing?! Hit the Spirit Beast, not me, you moron!"

"Haha, sorry! Couldn't tell the difference there for a second."

"What was that? You! You're courting death!"

"Oh my god, girls! Shut up! It's getting away!!"

Peace in the forest was abruptly disturbed after a loud explosion went off near the spring. As the smoke began to clear, a group of rabbit-like Spirit Beasts, small in size, darted through the area. They skittishly followed the creek back into the cover of the trees, escaping the commotion. They were soon followed by a hunting party of four, frantically chasing after the Spirit Beasts.

"Mellow, can you still see at least one of the boulder hares?" One of the hunters called out.

"Yeah! One is still nearby." Mellow replied as she continued to give chase. She had round violet eyes, which almost glowed in contrast to her cream-colored skin. Her silky, coffee-colored hair was neck-length and worn up in a trendy style. A lean build and athletic muscles filled the thin pieces of leather that protected her. She held a worn-out bow, and fastened to her hip was an equally ragged quiver of arrows.

The group eventually closed in on the only boulder hare they could keep up with. Trapped between them, the Spirit Beast darted from one player to another, desperately maneuvering to escape. As it ran between them, the four hunters each took turns trying to land attacks on the agile creature, only to miss again and again.

The Spirit Beast was just too quick for the group! Hansel attempted to whack the Spirit Beast with his staff, but he missed and fell forward onto his face. His staff wasn't made for physical damage anyway. During their visit to the Battle Pavillion, Hansel had chosen an Elementalist Spirit. This Battle Spirit allowed the user to unleash terrible and awesome elemental spells. But, while the Spiritualist had a low Cultivation rank, and the Spirit was low-tier, the Spiritualist could only use one element.

Hansel chose the fire element, which utilized high damage spells but required long cast times. However, friendly fire was inevitable with his party members so close together like this. Being new to the game, all he could think to do was stand in the way of the Spirit Beast and help contain it.

Another Spiritualist in their party tried swinging her greataxe down on the boulder hare. Yet, it instinctively sensed the incoming danger and escaped the blow of the oversized weapon.

"Wow, you're terrible. Maybe you should have chosen a different Spirit." Mellow gave a wicked grin as she kept unleashing arrows at the Spirit Beast.

The young girl wielding the greataxe stomped her foot in frustration, snapping back, "You be quiet! Call yourself an archer? How many shots have you made all day? Two?"

"Hmph! Just watch the professional at work~" Mellow replied, aiming once more, "Celene! Combo me, baby!"

"I got you!" called out the third female member of the party. Flowing golden hair fell down her shoulders and back, and her azure eyes shimmered in the sunlight. A small blue jewel affixed to the top of her staff began to glow. When she unleashed her spell, an inscribed pentagram appeared and hovered near the top of her staff.

She jabbed her weapon into the ground, and the magical shape spun as it traveled down the length of the staff. The instant the pentagram reached the dirt, it expanded and spread around the whole party before dissipating.

The boulder hare that had been scrambling between the four hunters now froze in place so unnaturally, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button on a television remote. Opportunity at hand, Mellow released an arrow from her bow. It flew through the air and went straight through the Spirit Beast.

'Critical Hit!'

Just as the arrow pierced the boulder hare's body, a small notification appeared above the Spirit Beast. The damage inflicted seemed to be enough to slay the little creature as it let out a whimper before collapsing onto the forest ground, dead.

Everyone except for Mellow let out a sigh of relief while she excitedly jumped up and down, hands in the air: "Did you see that?"

She yelled, pointing at the Boulder Hare's carcass, "Critical hit! One-hit KO~ Omae wa mo shi-"

"Please don't bring up those ancient jokes," Celene interrupted, "They weren't even that funny."

"Heh. No taste." Mellow pouted, sitting down on a nearby rock to catch her breath.

"Yes! We only need to farm two more, and I'll have enough of the eyes!" shouted the petite ax-wielder as she hurried over to the Spirit Beast's carcass. Though when she knelt down and pulled out a small carving knife, she gulped at the thought of what had to be done.

The petite girl was tan skinned with an oval face, a narrow nose, thin lips, and a pair of large red eyes. Her black hair was short, curly, and featured elaborately shaved patterns on one side. She also wore armor that seemed odd for her short stature. A rusted set of scaled armor covered her thin torso, slim waist, and short legs. Her miniature size emphasized the bulkiness of the great-ax she wielded, which dwarfed her even further.

"The materials to upgrade berzerker armor are so annoying to get. I don't think I can chase another one of these things." Mellow complained as she dropped her bow to the ground. She grumbled while rummaging through her bag, "Why did you have to choose a class that was so annoying?"

The archer wore leather fashioned armor, complemented with small metal pauldrons on her shoulders. The pauldrons clanked as she pulled out a flask from her bag's inventory and drank from it.

"Annoying?!" The tiny berserker yelled, "We both needed these materials! It's only taking so long because of you. I could've had what I needed by now if you hadn't taken them for yourself first!"

"Mellow, stop teasing Wolfie. We're all going to help each other get materials." Celene chimed in. Her voice's tone suggested that this was not the first time she's had to say something to halt the constant bickering.

With a wave of her hand, she summoned an assortment of equipment from a ring she wore. In seconds, a table with chairs appeared. Soon after, a complete set of cookware accompanied by a bundle of firewood emerged from her ring's inventory space. After getting everything in place, she started a fire and prepped her cooking utensils.

-SNAP!-

The sound of a branch breaking apart echoed in the distance.

"Ugh," Mellow groaned, squinting her eyes as she screened the woods around them, "I really hope we lost those other Spirit Beasts we ran into a few days ago. They were way too strong! How are we supposed to deal with something like that? The game is too unforgiving."

"It's not so bad," Hansel interrupted. He stood over six feet tall and so towered over the rest of his group. The fair-skinned youth had a plain-looking outfit made out of cloth. His face was broad and gentle, with a bulbous nose, large lips, and light green eyes. The man wielded a staff, but unlike Celene's, his was made from a pale-colored wood with no jewel crowning the top of it.

"There are just a lot of territorial Spirit Beasts in this area. It's not surprising to hear so much activity in the distance," he said before looking over to the team's berzerker, "Wolfie, did you get what you needed from the boulder hare?"

"Jeez! Give me a second, Hansel. Harvesting takes a while..." Wolfie replied. She had been hesitating until now to plunge the carving knife into the boulder hare.

Mellow cringed and looked away from the Spirit Beast: "I hate how we actually have to cut the parts off of them. It's so gross! All the blood and nasty crap I have to look at. Bleh!"

"We? What we? I've been the only one carving them all day!" Wolfie's eyes flashed with annoyance.

The party burst out laughing and rested while Wolfie finished looting the usable parts from the Spirit Beast. In roughly the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, the little berserker had procured what she could from the carcass. Celene had also finished cooking, just in time.

Wolfie placed the items in the middle of the table for everyone to see:

-- 2x [Boulder Hare Eye]

-- 3x [Lean Meat]

-- 1x [Boulder Hare Foot]

-- 1x [Essence Orb]

"This is pretty lame." Mellow sighed.

"Hmph! If it weren't for you, we'd be done by now! We've been out in this forest for days, and most of the materials went to you!" Wolfie hissed.

Mellow rolled her eyes, taking the plate of grilled meat and charcoal steamed potatoes that was handed to her, "Celene, let's not bring this little girl next time."

"Okay, but then you have to carve everything," Celene smiled.

Mellow's eyes widened as she choked on a mouthful of food.

Celene cleared her throat and muttered, "We could just have Hansel do it..."

With a bewildered expression on his face, Hansel pointed at the girls, "Hey! Do I look like free labor?"

"Yes!" All three girls replied in unison.

Hansel shook his head with a defeated look and walked to a tree stump away from them, muttering under his breath. The girls couldn't hear most of his quiet ramblings, but the word shameless was definitely mentioned a few times. After sitting down, he opened a satchel that had a strap going across his torso.

As soon as he opened it, a menu interface appeared before his eyes. What Hansel carried was a standard storage item. With this commonly crafted item, all a Spiritualist had to do was open it, and they would be able to store a large but limited amount of items. Hansel's satchel was a low-tier storage item; therefore, it only had 15 inventory slots and had a 25-kilogram weight limit.

The higher the tier of the storage item, the more inventory slots it had, and the more weight it could carry. Of course, high-tier inventory management was an expensive luxury.

"So who gets the [Essence Orb] this time?" Wolfie asked.

Mellow shrugged, "Let's just split them all up at the end. That way, it's pretty even. It'd be a waste to use them now while we're not safe."

Wolfie didn't understand, "A waste? Not safe? What?"

"Ugh! Weren't you listening when that Military Academy whats-his-face told us this? To level up our Cultivation, we have to absorb the Spirit Essence in those orbs! But once you start the process, it takes a while and can't be interrupted. If you stop before the process is complete, the orb will shatter!" Mellow recited.

Celene nodded, "So it's important only to use them in safe areas to avoid wasting them."

Hansel finished organizing his inventory and walked back over to the girls: "Let's wrap up this hunt. It's almost evening iRL(*), and we should probably eat something. There should be some boulder hares back at the creek, right?"

"Yeah, probably. We've had the best luck with that spot so far." Celene responded as she retrieved her objects back into her interspatial ring. As she did so, Mellow eyed the trinket, inspecting it as she inched closer.

The ring looked to be made of copper and had ten empty gem slots located around the band. Anyone who looked at it would immediately know it was a [Tier 1 | Copper Interspatial Ring]. A common treasure that new players could easily obtain.

"How much can you fit in there again?" Mellow asked, staring greedily at Celene's hand.

A smirk formed from Celene's lips as she returned Mellow's question with a raised eyebrow: "Oh my! It's just so convenient. SO glad I listened to Hansel and did the quest for it. What a lifesaver this little thing is~."

Interspatial rings utilized an inventory system separate from typical storage items. The rings had less space and higher weight limitations than items like Hansel's satchel. However, interspatial rings were vastly more important due to one single reason. When a Spiritualist dies, the inventory they had stored in conventional storage items was lootable. After death, the Spiritualist's body will linger in the world with no one to stop their things from being plundered.

Unlike conventional storage items, the inventory space that interspatial rings provided was safe. After binding the treasure to themselves, a Spiritualist would generally keep their most important things in it.

Unable to keep her eyes from rolling at Celene's smug attitude, Mellow huffed and headed back towards Wolfie to sulk and deliver more of her complaints. But suddenly-

~OOOOOOOOOM~

The group shot straight up onto their feet and looked towards the direction of the dark, low-pitched noise blasting through the forest. The concerning sound filled the area with an unwitting sense of danger, putting everyone on edge.

"Is that a horn? Like a war horn or something?" Wolfie asked aloud.

Mellow looked at Wolfie with a solemn face, "No way! How could that thing be here..."

"What thing? What is it?"

Her stark expression lingering, Mellow stepped lightly towards Wolfie, her voice even softer as she spoke, "I know this sound…."

"Just tell us already!" Wolfie demanded. The air between them felt more dense and uncomfortable with every cautious step Mellow took.

"It's the sound of my dad's Buick! He's here to pick us up….."

"Y-You! Don't blame me for being impolite!" Wolfie shrieked, ax raised as she started to chase Mellow with killing intent. She would take a wild swing every so often, which Mellow barely managed to evade by taking cover behind Hansel.

~OOOOOOOOOM~

The low-pitched sound of a horn reached them again, and Celene shouted at the girls, trying to get their attention, "It's probably some other Spiritualists hunting. It'd be weird if we're the only ones out here, right?"

Hansel, looking pitiful with a large ax being swung around his head, nodded in agreement. His voice was dry as he replied, "Yeah, that makes sense. The fields outside the city had so many people competing over Spirit Beasts. After these few days, some of them must have had the same idea as us. Come on, let's go already."

With the two girls screaming and running in circles around him, Hansel could only sigh in exhaustion. The greataxe nearly gave him a concussion every time Wolfie swung it.

Soon, Wolfie slowed to a halt, still fuming at the archer who had managed to stay alive, "Hmph! See how you treat me? Don't think of sitting next to me in class tomorrow!"

"Mmm… I guess you won't be needing to copy my notes then. I can see it now! The super famous idol of our university, failing all her classes," Mellow's expression turned into one of shock, "What would your mother say?!"

"Tsk." The sound of Wolfie clicking her tongue echoed as she turned and stomped away, following Celene, who had already begun to make her way through the forest.

♦♦♦

A few hours passed after the party had continued with their hunt. At this time, the afternoon sun had begun to set, resting behind the horizon. A myriad of red and golden rays of light swept between the trees, and darkness began to settle in the corners of the Desolate Forest.

After working hard, the group had hunted enough Spirit Beasts to stuff their bags full of materials. Their success had Wolfie humming a tune as they all made their way back to Exeter. Her party members could only smile and be affected by their cute junior's good mood. So they took their time, leisurely walking the paths through the forest. That is until a familiar noise rang through the trees.

~OOOOOOOOOM~

This time around, the sound of the horn that blasted through the forest was significantly closer. The four players looked at each other, half expecting to see another party turn up. Instead, they were greeted with something else.

Suddenly, their heads jerked towards a voice shouting in the distance: "HELP!! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!"

All four of them froze in place, looking at one another and then back towards the voice's direction.

A young man emerged abruptly from the depths of the forest, sprinting desperately through the trees. His breathing was course and frantic, and he was dripping with sweat. So much so that it had doused his clothes. One look at the guy, and it was clear that he had been running for his life.

Wolfie turned to her party, who shared the same look of surprise on their faces. Yet, before anyone could question the situation before them, the reason for the young man's desperation came rustling out from the forest, chasing him.

"Ew! What are those?!"

"Gross!"

Four humanoid creatures ran after the boy. They had green skin, long arms, and scraggly legs. Their yellow eyes gleamed and accented their crooked noses that pointed downwards. They wore clothes made out of what looked like animal pelts, and they trampled the ground below them as they gave chase with wooden clubs in their hands.

Celene and Hansel were taken by surprise, and they stood quietly until Hansel finally spoke: "I'm pretty sure those are goblins. I mean, at least I think so. They look similar to ones from other games.

"That's weird, isn't it? I thought this region of the game was supposed to have an eastern influence." Celene asked, intrigued.

"Surreal Studios said that SSO would sample from a lot of different cultures. I mean, they couldn't only have eastern influences. It would cut down on the audience that might take an interest in the game, I guess." Hansel replied.

They all watched the tiny posse of goblins chase down the young man, who was still shouting for help at the top of his lungs.

Mellow couldn't help but laugh. "The poor guy has got some stamina. I think he's circled us twice already. Those goblins are so dumb; I would have caught him by now."

"Heartless! We should go help him!" Wolfie snapped.

"Ugh! No way! Why should we bother?" Mellow groaned.

Celene shook her head, "Let's do it. Maybe it's a hidden quest, and we'll be rewarded?"

A twinkle in Mellow's eye appeared as she took a heroic pose, "We must help this man at all costs."

Wolfie rolled her eyes and set off first, the rest of the party following after her, running to intercept the goblins. Just as they set foot in the goblin's path, the young man happened to look back to see his rescuers, slowing down just enough to cry out: "Please… please help me!".

Without a backward glance, the party formed a wall between him and the goblins that gave chase.

"Keeeuk! More humans!"

"More food for us, kekeke."

"Female humans! Tasty~"

The eyes of each goblin lit up with excitement and appetite, but before any of them could advance…

Woosh!

An arrow flew through the air and struck one goblin square in the chest.

The other monsters blinked and stared at their kin, watching as it gasped painfully before collapsing to the ground with a thud. Immediately after, heavy footsteps ensued, rushing towards the rest of the goblins.

One of the creatures turned its head around, only to see the fleeting blur of a large greataxe coming toward its head. With a single swing and a glint of steel, the only thing the goblin saw afterward was the sight of a tiny female berserker looking down at its decapitated head.

As both goblins died, their chests began to glow. The party of four immediately understood that this is where they could find the [Essence Orbs].

"Ha! They're so weak!" Wolfie laughed, eyeing her potential loot.

"I got a critical hit! Hah, Another one-hit KO! Maybe your face gives off a debuff?" Mellow shouted, a few paces behind the front line.

Wolfie was steaming red as she turned and pointed her iron greataxe at Mellow, "You! You're courting death!"

Just as the two girls started bickering again, the remaining goblins descended upon Wolfie. Noticing at the last second, she sucked in a breath of cold air. Luckily, she was able to react in time, blocking one of the creature's attacks.

However, her maneuver wasn't enough to stop the other enemy that flanked her.

The goblin saw its chance and swung its wooden club at her head. Before it landed, the creature was struck by a fireball, blasting it a few feet away and leaving only a charcoal corpse behind.

"Wolfie, get out of the way!" Hansel yelled out.

"You almost singed my eyebrows! Be more careful, stupid mage! Hmph." Wolfie yelled, stomping her foot.

The mage's attack had dealt minor damage when it passed by her. She fell back towards her party while Mellow covered her retreat, unleashing a few more arrows that took down the last goblin standing.

...

"Too easy!" Wolfie cheered, very pleased with herself. She ripped the essence orb from one of the slain goblin's bodies, "I bet we're the closest to rank 1. We haven't seen anyone else out here, and no way people are leveling fast at the fields near the city."

"Heh, I doubt it," Hansel chuckled, "The game is too massive. Like this entire forest only covers half of the Eastern Continent. And there are five major regions in total, each one spanning millions of kilometers! Besides, it's not like killing things for orbs is the only way to level up. Who knows what other people are up to?"

"Hmph! Such a downer." Wolfie pouted.

Hansel sighed, "I'm just saying. Even though hunting Spirit Beasts and other monsters out here is a great way to harvest [Essence Orbs], there might be like easy ways to level up in the city too."

He then turned to call over to Celene, "Is he okay?"

Celene had been in charge of healing the stranger while the rest of the party dealt with the goblins. Of course, if they needed her help, she would have joined in the fight.

"He's fine, but he has something to tell us," Celene yelled back, waiting for the party to form up.

The youth quickly rose to his feet as the group converged on him. Blood had been splattered across his clothes. It was evident that he had been through a terrible struggle and barely escaped: "Thanks for that! I didn't think they'd gang up on me so quickly. I thought I was for real going to die and have to start back at Exeter!" he said with a bright smile.

"Oh? So you're cursed like us?" Hansel asked.

"Cursed? Did the goblins do something? I don't think I was cursed," the youth responded, patting himself down and looking all over himself, checking to see if there was something on him that made Hansel ask such a weird question.

"No, I mean you're a player like us. Players in the game are called Cursed Spiritualists by the NPCs." Hansel explained.

Wolfie tilted her head confused, "I didn't know that!"

"Pft! That doesn't surprise me," Mellow sniggered.

Celene interrupted the two girls before they could even get started: "It's not like a status effect or anything like that. The NPCs in SSO call themselves 'Blessed Spiritualists'. At least, I think that's what I read."

Hansel nodded, "Yeah, that's right."

This time, Mellow was confused, "So then, why are we cursed? It seems to me that we're able to revive when we die. Isn't that better?"

"I think it has to do with SSO's lore," Hansel replied, "Apparently, not being included in the cycle of reincarnation is a big deal?"

Sovereign Spirit Online's terminology regarding players and NPCs had been deeply ingrained into the game's culture and lore. The cycle of reincarnation played a significant role in the NPCs' beliefs. Their reincarnation after true death was long considered to be the traditional and correct way that a soul could find peace and start over anew. Even though they lost their memories and proficiency in various skills, relearning those skills would be inherently easier. Also, the person they'd be reincarnated as would have a similar personality and temperament. They were definitely not the same exact person they had been in their previous life, but they weren't truly gone from the world of SSO.

The NPCs, or as they deemed themselves, 'ones who are blessed,' firmly believed in this process. Their faith in it was so powerful, no amount of debate or rationalization from anyone could ever shake their belief. When SSO was released, players flooded the Divine Continent, and NPCs were privy to a different way true death was experienced. A new wave of Spiritualists that didn't succumb to the cycle of reincarnation and seemed to be excluded by it entirely. This phenomenon was unnatural to the NPCs, so in response, they naturally came to believe that Spiritualists who did not experience true death, in the same way, were cursed.

Within the first few days of playing SSO, players noticed NPCs calling out to them as Cursed Spiritualists more and more often. Soon people were talking about it on forums. Those interested in the lore began to research another underlying cause or if the developers just used this to promote discourse between a small but powerful player base and an overwhelming NPC population. It was very soon after that; players also adopted this way to title NPCs. Referring to them as Blessed Spiritualists while calling themselves cursed swiftly became normal.

As Hansel's explained, the youth maintained an uninterested look on his face. "Well, not to be annoying, but seeing how you all are strong enough to take down this bunch of goblins, I have a favor to ask."

The brows of Celene, Mellow, and Hansel all raised. They all were thinking the same thing at this moment. 'Can we trust this guy?'

On the other hand, Wolfie immediately replied, "Yeah, I'm pretty much a badass. What do you need help with? Is it a quest?"

Her three comrades all groaned on the inside. What was she getting them into this time?

The youth smiled at Wolfie, "These's a village not too far from here. That's where I got the quest, but as you can probably tell, I wasn't able to complete it. It just so happened that the quest required me to clear out a goblin cave. But, as soon as I started checking out the cave, they ganged up on me and chased me for almost a full day! But, if we're able to slay them all, I'll share the quest rewards with you guys!"

The group all looked at each other. Hunting nonstop for the past few days had left their number of supplies dangerously low. Before they came out here, Hansel badgered all three girls into making sure they had enough healing items, food, and necessities. One member of the Fu Clan had told him about the dangers in the Desolate Forest, and Hansel liked to over-prepare.

"Well…. I'm not so sure," Hansel said. He looked at the girls again, trying to get them to back him up.

Mellow caught the hint, "Yeah, maybe some other-"

"Oh! One of the uh, blessed Spiritualists told me that goblin caves are full of treasures!" The youth was quick to mention.

"I've thought about it, and there is no way we upstanding members of society can let a fellow 'Cursed" person go out alone!" Mellow said. As she did so, Celene smirked as she noticed Mellow's sudden change of a heart and stars in her eyes.

Wolfie nodded, "Yeah! Let's all go! The goblins we just killed were super easy. There's no way we can't handle a couple more, especially now that we have another person on the team!"

Celene also agreed, "Five of us should be able to handle it, surely."

Hansel was utterly horrified. To go out on another quest and not even prepare? With a stranger no less? This was just too much for him to handle. He wasn't very good at adapting to situations like these, and making friends with random people was always difficult for him.

"I suppose we'll be able to do it. If everyone else thinks so."

The youth clapped his hands, "Awesome! Follow me! We'll go to the village first. That's where I picked up the quest! Perhaps we can get a clue to where the cave is too."

The five of them set out, traveling through the forest on foot. Along the way, the girls whispered amongst themselves about their new companion.

"He has fierce but gentle features, right? Not too bad…."

"I didn't know we could choose a hair color like that. It stands out so much!"

"Forget the color. Look how long it is! My hair isn't even that long! Where were these character creation options?!"

The youth couldn't help but overhear their remarks but only smiled as they made their way to the village.

"Soon. We'll get there soon," he muttered.

****************************************************************

Author's Notes:

(*) iRL - abbreviation of "in real life."