The mist (2)

Baerys down, Ourin and Willem looked at each other. In this unfamiliar territory, they only had each other to trust. With his experience, Willem immediately cast [Eye of Darkness], to get a better grasp over the situation.

Sighing in a mix of relief and apprehension, Willem spoke: "There is only one enemy...It's a murloc. It has level 2 arcane waves, but his spiritual force scares me...It is wild and refined, unlike the regular murloc shaman we are used to encounter. It must have detected our spiritual force wavelength, and deemed us as a threat to his village..."

Ourin cursed: "What is a shaman of this level doing in such a small tribe?"

Ourin picked up Baerys and started to sprint out of the fight, not waiting for Willem to make the decision. The middle aged man quickly followed suit, not willing to risk his life against the murloc. 

Unfortunately, after a couple of minutes, Ourin realized that they had still not escaped the bone forest, and a strange mit had gathered around them. At some point, Ourin could not see Willem anymore, but still heard his steps. At some point, Ourin stopped and realized that he could not hear his companion anymore.

"What is happening?", Ourin asked

However, Willem did not answer him. 

His first reflex was to scan his body.

[Scan Complete! Ourin | Strength: 3.9, Agility: 3.1, Vitality: 4.3, Spirit: 3.1, Status: Healthy]

Seeing that his biochip reacted, and his status were clear, it seemed like he was not hallucinating or anything. However, this also meant that he was trapped in a place he should have never entered in the first place. He remembered that there were stories of acolytes encountering strange phenomenon recently, and investigation missions were multiplying in the mission hall. 

'Wait...A level 2 murloc shaman with high spiritual force, almost as strong as that of a level 3 murloc shaman...Alone...A bone forest with no animal whatsoever...This can only mean one thing'

Ourin quickly came to the conclusion that he was trapped in a magical phenomenon, one that killed any regular species, yet at the same time, allowed a murloc shaman to survive. Since it was trapped too, this probably meant that as an acolyte, the odds of surviving were small, but not zero.

Taking a look at Baerys, he sighed. He had somehow ended with a dead weight.

Walking in the same direction, Ourin continued moving, this time at a much slower pace. Since the murloc shaman seemed to have grown to the peak of the level 2 realm, he must have survived in the natural phenomenon for a long time. After a couple of hours walking in the forest, Ourin realized the origin of his situation after stumbling upon a whirlpool of mist.

[The mist of the Bone Forest

Bone trees do not grow like regular trees from absorbing sunlight. They use necrogenesis, absorbing the life force of animals that die on the soil. However, killing all animals in a region to grow would result in a one-time-meal. Hence, the bone forest would only trap beings periodically. Eventually, the creatures trapped would die and the rest would be released. Duration and size of the mist depends on the elder bone trees, which are level 2 plant beings. They are very difficult to find, and possess various offensive spells, making them tough to deal with.

There are two ways to break through the mist of the Bone forest: either destroy the spell that entrapped you, or survive long enough for the bone forest elder trees to be satiated.]

Ourin, Baerys and Willem were not the only creatures trapped in there. There was the murloc shaman, as well as many other murloc. Perhaps the whole small-sized tribe had been entrapped in the mist too, which would explain why it was so isolated from the rest of the murloc tribes in the first place. Unfortunately, it was even more frightening, since a murloc tribe would be united to some extent, especially if led by the murloc shaman he had seen. On the other hand, he had a poisoned woman on his back, and his party leader had vanished without a trace, lost in the mist.

"What a great start for a gloomy day...", Ourin sighed, trying to stay calm and composed.