The beginning of the quest wasn’t far from the west gate, but since they had left from another gate and taken some distance to lose the players following them, they took a while to make it back to their quest.
Once they made it there, they were already inside the forest they needed to inspect. Since they skipped the part where they could have talked to the locals to get clues, they had to search blindly.
The only good news was that with Genie amongst them, the party had access to an excellent tracker. Genie went to work as soon as they arrived, sniffing the air and the ground.
She soon found tracks for the smaller monsters that had left the forest, and from there, they backtracked further into it. They followed the tracks further and further into the forest until the canopy was thick enough to block out almost all the daylight.
Astaroth was already on high alert, since they could get trampled by smaller beasts fleeing at any moment. Phoenix was being more mindful of the tracks themselves, as Violette just rode Genie like they were taking a walk.
Genie then suddenly stopped advancing. Her stance lowered as she growled at the trees before her.
Astaroth immediately pulled out his sword and shield. Since they had no tank with them, he would have to be frontline.
He sent a pulse of mana forward, trying to detect any hidden enemies, but he failed to do so. Astaroth frowned at the result.
He knew Genie wasn’t growling without reason, but he couldn’t find any creatures nearby. His mana senses couldn’t even detect bugs.
It was eerily empty all around them. And that was worse than just monsters.
Anything that could make even the bugs flee had to be extremely dangerous, since bugs had virtually no sense of danger to start with. That’s when he felt it.
A pulse of mana came back in their direction, but it wasn’t his. The mana had an almost feral feeling to it, and it sent shivers down all three of their spines.
Genie’s growling doubled as she took a slight step back.
Astaroth jumped in front of the wolf and its rider, raising his shield. Just in time, too, as a large ball of fire came crashing into him.
The flames licked off his shield, spreading around them as they dispersed. The heat emanating from these flames was not any weaker than Phoenix’s own flames, and that worried Astaroth.
A low rumbling growl came from all around them, shaking the trees and the air itself.
*Ding*
*Mind Over Body activated. Draconic Aura of Fear resisted.*
“I think I know what enemy we are facing,” Astaroth said, gulping.
But when he turned around, he noticed Genie, Phoenix, and Violette were all shivering in fear. Seemed he had been lucky that his passive kicked in, because if all three were affected, that meant the chances were high.
“Hey! Snap out of it! We need to face it, so there is no time to be afraid.”
Phoenix shook her head, controlling her emotions again, but her shivering never completely stopped. Violette nodded, trying to fight through the fear, even though it wasn’t leaving her.
As for Genie, Astaroth sent a wave of calmness through their mental link, allowing her to break free from the fear effect. Astaroth nodded at them, before lifting his shield again and walking forward.
From the direction of the fireball, he could guess where they needed to head. Occasionally, other fireballs flew at him, which he blocked with his shield and the help of Violette’s water spells.
Another growl resounded, this one sounding more viscous, as it washed over the group again. Violette was the only one affected this time, since she hadn’t completely snapped out of the previous effect.
“I think we should give this quest up. Leave to more powerful adventurers.”
Astaroth and Phoenix looked at her incredulously. It was the first time either of them heard Violette talking like she wanted to quit.
Even in the dungeon, the week prior, against the very much overpowered bosses, she had fought without complaint. This went to show how powerful a fear effect could be.
“Violette, we are fine. This is the fear effect speaking for you. Just focus on calming down for now. We are almost at the monster’s location. I can already start feeling its aura.”
Violette nodded her head, shaking like a leaf in the wind. They kept walking, reaching a hill that had been hidden from them because the canopy was so thick.
The hill wasn’t particularly big, but they still had to tilt their heads upwards to see the top. Close to the top, a large hole could be seen.
It was easy to guess that the monster would be up there, and that it wasn’t small. They could see large footprints on the ground all around them.
When Astaroth bent down to inspect them, he found the shape to be familiar. The prints looked reptilian in nature, which he only knew since a friend of his had an iguana in the past.
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
Then, with the draconic aura of fear confirming it, he already knew what their opponent would be. Astaroth didn’t want to fight a draconic creature in its nest though, so he stopped to think of a plan.
They needed to flush it out of its lair, or they would never have a chance at winning. He knew from previous games that dragons and their kin were almost always stronger in their lairs.
He shared his thoughts with the two girls, and Phoenix came up with a good idea.
“What if you melded with White, and used your Alpha’s Howl skill? Wouldn’t that pull it out of its cavern?”
Astaroth thought about it, and it made sense. Dragons were always known to be territorial, which was also the reason all life had evacuated the surroundings.
If he challenged its dominion, then it would most likely charge out at him to crush the contender. He consulted White about it.
‘I have no qualms about showing my superiority to a dragon. Lizards should always grovel to wolves, anyway.’
White’s cocky answer made Astaroth chuckle. Since that was settled, he wasted no time.
Astaroth melded with White Death and howled as loud as he could, activating his skill.
*AAWWWOOOOOO!!!!!!*