Sprigfield town was as quiet as usual, a little too quiet perhaps. As soon as Jack entered it, a few NPCs recognized him.
"Hello, mister Big Boss from the tavern, haha! How about a giant frog skewer? Very fresh!" A street seller hollered.
"Oh, it's Big Boss! Please give my regards to that stingy old bastard for me!"
"Big Boss, my roasted boar dicks would be a perfect fit for the tavern!"
They playfully called him Bog Boss, for he had been ordering the Tavern Owner around while planning for the future. As far as they were concerned, he was a business adviser.
Well, he had used the opportunity to gather a LOT of information too. By now, he was pretty familiar with the inner workings of the city and renown.
As usual, paparazzi (spies) hung around in the shadows, watching his every move akin to soulless vampires. He had dealt with them so much recently that he now had a sneak skill.
He promptly left them behind, making his way toward a seemingly empty courtyard devoid of any redeeming features, and waited.
It didn't take long for them to reach him: the stench of death announcing their arrival. A mime came out from a bush, a nightmarish grin on its white-painted face.
Since the macabre incident, they had become his stalking 'fans'. They had been trying to figure him out, worried he seemed 'too good to be true', well bad in this case. Had his recent killings changed their mind?
As the creature spoke, Jack couldn't help but be surprised. It had fixed its voice? It had to be a magical item…
"Hello there, Sir, we've—"
"I know, you've been stalking me as if a blushing schoolgirl with her first crush. I take it you're finally ready to cooperate?"
"H-how did you— I guess it's to be expected of a man we deemed worthy of associating with." The ghoul sighed.
"Go on. I'm listening." Jack simply stated. The mimed hesitated for a second but then started briefing him.
"As you know, this place is an exploitation town with a few associations. There are—"
"I'm aware of them all.
FF: Farming + Fishing belonging to the Calm-Water Conglomerate
WC: Woodcutting + Construction from the Golden Axis
MTG: Miners + Tenacious Gatherers from Ascending
Then there's the reading pavilion, the adventurer's guild, the repair camp, the militia, and I guess now the Bloody Chains are in town too. What about it?"
"There used to be another one, the Royal Imperial Party. Actually, they were the reason Sprigfield was built in the first place. The factions were all created to support them in one way or another."
"When was that?"
"They've disappeared about 300 years ago, simply gone. They've long been forgotten, but there are still (few) records of their last known mission. They disappeared inside a Magical Land of darkness."
"Your point?"
"Hehe, in their final moments they encountered a powerful Necromancer, most probably a lich." The ghoul's smile was wide enough to show the sharp razor-like teeth.
It was very likely for a lich to have survived that long, especially if (un)life-prolonging magic had been used. Akin to bears, liches could hibernate if they so desired.
Jack finally understood their motives. A true lich would be an incredible boon for their faction. Even if it didn't want to help The Ghoulish Church, just waking it up would put tremendous pressure on their enemies.
This would be an incredibly worthy endeavor were it to succeed.
"You said Magical Land of Darkness?"
"That's all we know, but it's here somewhere for sure…."
[Find the Whereabouts of the Rumored Lich!]
[Quest Location: A Magical Land of Darkness!]
Thanks for nothing, system! Then again, even this meager information was enough to give him an inkling of where he had to search.
The Greenwood Forest, the Sprigfield Meadow, and the Very Wet Lake could likely be excluded.
This left three areas to search: the Deep Rock Canyon, the Eternal Mines, and the Wet Swamp. Seriously, whoever named the swamp and the lake had to be the same guy!
"I understand, but that still leaves one question. How will you deal with the Holy Light Church paladins?" Jack asked.
"T-that….we don't know yet…." The ghoul awkwardly scratched his head, his meaning clear. That's where Jack would come in.
"Sigh, fine. I'll see what I can do." He knew how annoying it could be to deal with the bastards, for he had been one of them before.
Kill a lowly priest, and the high priest comes running. Kill the high priest, and the Bishop freaking appears! Kill the bishop, and then you're already deemed a mortal enemy. Then it's a catwalk of all the killers the church controls. (Directly or indirectly)
The only way to make it stop is to either uproot the entire Church or fake your own death. Still, it's so damn troublesome!
"One last thing. We only work with ghouls: you'll have to participate in the Dark Feast and—"
"Nope. We both know the current transformation ritual is flawed: the best I can do is this…." Jack quickly performed a Life Vow. He'd treat them well as long as they cooperated with him.
The mime sighed once again. Had it been anyone else, he would have slaughtered them for the insult, but this human truly had incredible potential.
Why settle for a forceful transformation when becoming a lich was possible?
"It was worth a try. Still, no exceptions: we only cooperate with ghouls." The mime reiterated.
Just when Jack thought the negotiations had broken down, the ghoul threw him a brooch before running away in a hurry. What was up with that tsundere attitude?
It had a claw shape with a small skull engraved on it. But as he observed the item, he couldn't help but gasp in shock.
DAFUQ?!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Cursed Epic Ghoulish Brooch! ☠
Rank E+
IF Allied with TGC
ELSE – 10 All Stats
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[Attribute] +4 INT +10 HP
[Trait] +Ghoulish Abilities Buff
[Active] Temporary Ghoulish Aspect (?/?)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Epic?!
Five levels worth of HP, a level worth of INT, but most importantly, an incredible transformation ability?! Was this for real?!
It felt like a treasure chest spawned straight out of heaven. This little brooch was probably worth more than most player factions.
This thing was THE SHIT!
But as he checked the requirements, he finally understood. It appeared too good to be true because this was a leash. His fate would forever be tied with The Ghoulish Church if he accepted it.
The -10 to all stats was a massive penalty. This was for his level too: some curses tended to grow stronger along with their wearer.
It was akin to a parasite feeding on one's heart, growing stronger and stronger until it reached the point where it replaced it entirely.
Was it worth it? One had to know that many heroes had perished while trying to get rid of a single curse. It would only be more challenging now, given the early stage of the game.
All his previous knowledge of the game told him one thing: only a fool would equip that thing! Then again, only a fool would want to dominate an MMO…
He clipped the thing on his chest, wearing it proudly…under his armor. He wasn't about to advertise this new alliance to the world.
[Detected Cursed Item!]
[Do You Want to Equip It? Y/N]
[*PS: The Consequences May be Dire!]
"Yep, let me feel how a ghoul feels, haha." He happily replied.
[Equipped Ghoulish Brooch!]
[Congratulations! You're Cursed!]
[First Cursed Item In Infinite! Wow!]
[Acquired Title: The Naive Fool And His Shiny Brooch!]
"…." Really?
That's when a refreshing sensation filled his entire body. His vitality going up was akin to heartwarming vodka on a cold, gloomy day.
For a few seconds, he let himself go, running in the courtyard like a hyperactive kid having eaten cocaine-laced chocolate until a voice came out.
"Mommy, what's that strange man doing?"
"Don't look, Timmy, just keep walking."
The two random NPCs were enough to bring him back to his senses. Right, he still had many things to deal with.
– Possible Internal trouble with FF?
– Players angry at him for some reason
– The annoying Bloody Chains eying his people.
– The Holy Church and other potential enemies of the ghouls.
This could easily become one incredibly huge shitshow if he wasn't careful. His only consolation was that the Farm was relatively well protected.
Still, he couldn't get complacent. Any strong power from the nearest Timber City or the Empire's Capital could destroy them all with a casual wave of their hand…or whatever body part really.
He needed more allies, far more allies. He took a decisive step toward the nearest militia camp. Luckily he already had a man on the inside, a very naive one.
This would be the time for him to shine. His smile became more innocent and genuine with every step closer, akin to a hero of legends…
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[A/N] Bit more info about the Town. ^_^v
Did you guys see the novel with the library feature? Invading all libraries hehe 😈