The Realm Between: A LitRPG Saga (Books 7 - 10), page 21
“What kind of monsters are in Elderberry Woods?” he asked.
“All kinds,” the merchant replied with a grunt, watching Azure pile his trailer up with Alchemy Components. “I’ve never ventured in there myself. Haven’t had a need to, but from my understanding, you don’t have to go too far in to find them. Children are warned to stay out of the forest.”
“Sounds spooky,” Azure said sarcastically before pulling one of the Large Leather Cloaks from his bag and looking for a place to set it down on the trailer.
“It’s not, really.” The gnome had missed the inflection in Azure’s voice. “Just a forest, same as most others. The only difference is it’s been whittled down so much that the creatures within are now densely populated in a small area.”
Princess Zadori hummed for a moment. “I would still like to see it.” She stepped in to wrap her arm around Azure’s, causing him to pause. “Thanks to my husband’s past as an Adventurer, we’re not too worried about monsters.” The princess smiled at him with all the confidence of an amazing actress.
“Well, that’s up to you guys. Just be careful,” the gnome warned before getting busy assessing everything that Azure had to sell.
In the end, Azure managed to rake in 14 gold and 9 silver for his Alchemy components. Beyond that, he sold four of his Large Leather Cloaks for 36 additional gold. The price of them made him feel that it was worthwhile to continue practicing Tanning and Leatherworking.
Just when Azure was about to conclude the transaction, Princess Zadori picked up a small silver bracelet inlaid with turquoise stones from the merchant’s cart. “Look, hun. Isn’t this beautiful? Why don’t you buy it for me…as recompense for all the valuable information this man has given us?” She eyed Azure in a way that spoke volumes about it being an order and not an option.
“How much is it?” Azure asked hesitantly, hoping it wasn’t more than he could afford. There wasn’t much jewelry on the gnome’s cart.
The merchant walked past him to take the bracelet from the princess. “This would look absolutely lovely on your wrist, madam. And since you and your husband have been such good conversationalists, I can give it to you for 6 gold, 8 silver.”
Azure inwardly sighed in relief as he fingered through the coins in his palm for the payment.
The princess promptly slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, beaming with appreciation. “Thank you, sir, and may you have a blessed day.”
And with that, they walked away with Azure leading the way back across the road toward Modest Prairie Inn.
“Does that thing give you any stat boosts?” He kept his voice low as he glanced at Princess Zadori’s wrist.
The bracelet was obscured by her cloak, making it a pointless purchase if she had meant to show it off.
“A 2% resistance to cold,” she informed him. “Though I’m not sure why. The metal itself is cold on my wrist.”
They returned to their room and got busy crafting while they waited for the rest of their party to show up. About two hours later, Jin walked through the door.
Upon his arrival, the princess immediately set down the embroidery she’d been working on. “Welcome back.” She smiled at him as if his presence lit up the whole room.
“Thanks,” he replied, his eyes moving from her to Azure. “Has Uden dropped by yet?”
“Of course not.” Azure fought to roll his eyes. “You know he’ll likely be out all night.”
“Maybe we’ll find him at the tavern downstairs.” The elf sounded hopeful. “Speaking of which, have you guys eaten yet?”
Azure’s stomach grumbled at the mention of food. Princess Zadori had insisted that they wait to eat until Jin returned.
They went to the tavern attached to the inn for dinner, but Uden wasn’t there. Not bothering to wait for him, the three revealed their findings to one another. It seemed they had come up with much the same information. The elf’s, however, was missing the part about there being a lot of monsters in Elderberry Woods.
“We’ll do what we have to do,” he said, not sounding the least bit apprehensive about tackling the threat. “I think the best course of action is to find the animalkin village tomorrow. Unless Uden comes back with some more promising information,” Jin quickly added.
No one disagreed, and so their plan was set.
The half-imp rolled into their room sometime in the middle of the night, drunk off his ass. Forgetting that he had his own bed, he flopped down on top of Azure, waking him.
“Get off me. You reek!” Azure complained, pushing him onto the floor.
Uden crawled the two feet to his bed, then passed out beside it. Not surprisingly, when they woke him the next morning, he had one hell of a hangover.
“Did you find out anything?” Jin asked him.
“The people here really like to drink, and gnomes can hold a lot of booze for their size.” The half-imp rubbed his temples.
Jin made a circular gesture with his hand. “Something actually useful?”
“About the werewolves,” Uden said as if suddenly remembering his quest. He shook his head briefly. “No. Nothing.”
“Then, we leave for Elderberry Woods.”
GOD OF LAND
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE REALM – DAY 404
They headed toward Elderberry Woods, weaving around the various buildings, vendor carts, and the hoard of dwarves and gnomes on their way to the quarry to start work for the day. It was not hard to find where the grassland gave way to the forest because the switch was so abrupt. Where the prairie ended, the trees seemed to have formed a thick wall, their trunks growing so closely together that Azure’s group had to search the outside perimeter for a way in.
“Well, this is unusual,” Uden noted, staring up at the large mountain ash hindering their progression into the forest.
“It’s practically nature’s Keep Out sign.” Princess Zadori mirrored his sentiment.
Azure peered through one of the gaps in the trees, though it was too small for a body to fit. On the other side, the foliage was much less dense.
“I think we can get in through here.” Jin pointed several yards ahead.
The rest of his party quickly gathered at a break between two of the trees that was barely large enough for a gnome.
“Not sure I’m going to make it with all this armor.” Azure assessed the gap.
“Then you’d better start stripping,” the elf said before getting down on his hands and knees to crawl through the hole.
Azure scowled and grumbled, trying to figure out some way to make it through the space without having to disrobe. It took him at least ten minutes just to get the full suit on, and some pieces had to come off in a specific order.
Watching Jin barely squeeze through the hole didn’t give Azure much hope, but he still decided to try when it was his turn. Working on sliding in sideways—the only way he could have possibly fit—it was a fail.
Twenty minutes later, Azure was successfully on the other side and suited back up.
“Do you have any idea where the animalkin are?” he asked the elf as they walked further into the forest.
“It’s not a very big forest. If we keep going straight, we should find them.”
But it was further than they thought.
Though not as densely packed as the perimeter, there were still plenty of trees to navigate around. As they traveled deeper into the forest, elderberry bushes grew en masse, limiting the number of paths they could take. Their purple berries and white flowers painted the forest in color.
After a half hour of walking, they finally came upon an area where the trees gave way to a small clearing. Almost as soon as the party had crossed into it, they heard a rustling coming from one of the elderberry bushes across the way.
Jin immediately threw his hands out to his sides to stop his party. “Be on guard,” he warned before reaching for his bow.
Everyone went on the defensive, drawing their weapons in preparation to face whatever emerged from the forest. Even Princess Zadori pulled her violin out of her bag.
A hissing sound that ended in a strange squawk and chittering emitted from the bush before the head of a rooster poked out. With a red beak and crest, and hunter green feathers, it could have been a normal barnyard rooster. Except its eyes were milky white with no pupils and, what appeared to be, cracks running through them. Azure’s gaze was immediately drawn to them.
And then it looked at him.
You have been petrified. You will be unable to move for the next 15 seconds.
Every inch of Azure’s body hardened into stone. His eyes were frozen in place, staring at the creature that had inflicted the status effect on him, which appeared as a white statue in his peripheral vision. Coldness engulfed Azure, as if his very blood had frozen in his veins.
Now fully revealed, he could see that the creature was half rooster and half dragon. The crest on its head extended all the way down its back to the tip of its tail, taking on a jagged appearance. The feathers on the monster's body rounded its chest but stopped halfway down its back where scales took over. Olive-colored wings, like a bats, extended from both sides of it, though there were still some feathers beneath. Aside from the creature's legs, which were that of a rooster but with the powerful talons of a hawk, the rest was decidedly reptilian, the tail about twice as long as the body, with a red tint to the scales on top but the same olive color as the wings on the underside.
Since Azure could do nothing else, he analyzed the monster.
Level 16 Cockatrice.
The cockatrice was not shy at all. Launching into full attack mode, it flew directly at Uden while deftly avoiding Jin’s arrows, promptly attaching itself to his face and pecking him on top of the head while digging into his flesh with its talons.
“Oh Gods, get it off!” the half-imp screamed just a moment before the creature looked him dead in the eyes and petrified him.
Uden was already off-balance, so the second he turned to stone, he began to tip over. Princess Zadori dropped her violin to catch him, unable to even get a single note in. Stone weighs more than flesh, and she could not support his weight. A cry of pain erupted from her throat as she was crushed beneath him.
By that time, the petrification status effect had worn off of Azure. The elf had managed to get his arms around the cockatrice, wrenching it from Uden’s face at the same time as he had toppled over. Azure wasn’t really sure what to do. With his friend entangled with the monster, swinging at it with his sword could be a huge risk.
The cockatrice squawked in defiance, beating its wings against Jin in an attempt to escape. Its head moved from side to side, searching for anyone it could make eye contact with. Azure would not make the same mistake twice, though killing the cockatrice would be difficult when he had to avoid its gaze.
“Try to cut off its head,” the elf yelled, clearly losing his grip.
“I’m worried I’ll cut off your head,” Azure called back, even as he readied his sword for the attack.
He definitely didn’t feel confident about this, but there was no telling what the cockatrice would do next if it managed to get loose. Whether he wanted to or not, Azure had to take the chance.
Almost blindly, he lifted his sword. Keeping one eye closed, as if that would help him any, Azure swung it in the general direction of the cockatrice’s neck, hoping his aim was far enough away from Jin. The blade met momentary resistance. Then, Azure saw the cockatrice’s head fall away, and blood spray out onto the ground. Still, its decapitated body fought against the elf.
Critical hit! Defeated Level 16 Cockatrice. 96XP rewarded.
Azure placed his boot on top of the cockatrice’s head to shield his party from its dead gaze, in case it could still cause harm. Jin dropped its body to the floor, and it continued to run around haphazardly, despite the notification that it had been defeated.
Princess Zadori remained trapped beneath Uden until he reanimated. He rolled off her, his gaze torn between the princess and the cockatrice’s headless walking body.
Meanwhile, Princess Zadori moaned as she clutched her knee. Her violin lay in pieces a few feet away.
“I think I sprained it.” She tried to draw her knee closer to her chest and then hissed in pain.
“Can you stand?” Jin offered her his hand.
Azure was equally transfixed by the beheaded half-bird half-dragon, and he was apprehensive about lifting his foot. If the body was still alive, then the head could probably still impose the status effect on whoever was unwise enough to look at it.
“Should I stab it?” he asked only a moment before the headless cockatrice finally toppled over onto its side. The feet were still kicking as if trying to find purchase in the earth.
Jin made a humming sound as if he was unsure. “Might be for the best.”
Reaching as far as he could without taking his foot off the head, Azure slashed down at the body, but it spasmed out of the way.
Uden huffed. “I’ll do it,” he said before stabbing the body with both of his daggers.
The cockatrice’s chest fell as if exhaling a breath. It kicked its right foot out one last time, one of its wings twitched, and then it stilled, succumbing to true death.
“Well, that was exciting,” the half-imp muttered, reaching up a hand to trace one of the deep gashes that the cockatrice’s talons had left across his cheek.
Princess Zadori cried out as she stood, then immediately fell against the elf. If she hadn’t been in so much pain, she might have blushed, but now was not the time for romantic feelings.
“Are you going to be able to walk?” Jin’s voice was full of concern.
“I think hobble would be the more appropriate word.” She glanced back at the violin and frowned.
“It was small, but it was nasty,” Azure said his parting words to the dead cockatrice.
“Indeed. You know,” Uden looked at Azure’s foot, “you’re going to have to take your foot off it eventually. I wonder…was it moving while the body was wriggling about?”
“I’m not sure. I was putting all of my weight on it,” Azure confessed.
“I bet the head is where the value is.” The half-imp continued to stare at Azure’s foot.
“If you want it, be my guest.” Azure began lifting his toes.
“Nah.” Uden quickly looked away. “It’s probably ruined now anyway.”
“We should proceed with caution.” Jin kept his gaze ahead, his arm wrapped around the princess for support. “We don’t know how many more of those are in the forest.”
“Cockatrice usually wander alone, so I don’t think there should be many more nearby,” Princess Zadori informed them.
“You never know.” The half-imp stood and dusted himself off.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Jin agreed.
They continued on, though at a much slower pace now that the princess was limping. Azure thought it would probably be better to turn around and take her back to the inn, but he knew that the elf would not have their party split up.
The elderberry bushes slowly grew sparser, and trees filled in to take their place. Azure couldn’t outstretch his arms without touching two trees at once. There was other vegetation now, too. Vines crawled up the trees’ trunks and hung from their branches, looking unnaturally tropical, and large cacti and fungi sprung up in random places. It was an odd mix of foliage that was typically regional in Azure’s world. Seeing it all in the same place was a bit unsettling.
“This forest is weird,” he commented as they passed by one of the cacti that was easily as tall as he was.
As if responding to the insult, Azure heard a drumming sound in rapid succession followed by a painful stinging in his back.
Critical Hit! Level 19 Barbed Cactus delivers 115 damage.
“Gah!” Azure lurched forward as if he had just been shot.
The entire party turned to see that the cactus they had just passed had come after them. It moved silently on roots that had clods of dirt attached to them, slithering over the ground like dozens of snakes. Plantlike in all other aspects, the only additional monster quality that the sentient cactus possessed was two orange horizontal slanted slits that were its eyes.
This particular cactus was tall and lean, with four arms coming off it in various places. It emitted a strange sound as it tried to move its arms, like balloons rubbing against each other, though their mobility was greatly limited. There was no way the cactus could thrash them to death, so what movement it did have in its limbs seemed a bit pointless.
With Jin busy supporting Princess Zadori, he was out of the fight.
Uden was the first to spring into action, pulling two daggers from his belt. He knew better than to get too close. The spines of the cactus were clearly dangerous. Though it couldn’t move its arms much, it was evident that it could shoot the spines from somewhere on its body.
Both daggers hit their mark, sticking into the cactus’ body with the sound that a knife makes when slicing through a watermelon. Clear liquid leaked from the wounds, and the forest filled with the scent of water. If the cactus was in pain, it could not vocalize nor express it.
Azure drew his sword, taking a more close-quarters approach to combat, even though he feared he might get blasted by the spines again. If Uden’s daggers hadn’t taken the cactus down, then it probably needed to be cut in half. Clearly, it possessed the ability to process thought, so if he severed its head from the rest of its body, it should die.
With surprising agility, the top of the cactus bent back like a kid doing the limbo to avoid Azure’s attack. His sword sailed over the sentient plant’s head, the momentum momentarily throwing him off balance. The cactus’ head ricocheted back, but Azure stumbled to the side just in time to avoid being hit.
Uden sidestepped and threw two more daggers into the cactus’ side, making no more leeway than before. It seemed that aside from causing it to bleed, piercing the cactus did little damage. At least, none that was discernable by its behavior.
