Chapter 134: Zamia's plan (1)

Zamia led Eldrian to the small fountain he had been shown before when she had shared her memories with him. Most of the creatures living in the forest were crowding around the pond it created.

Eldrian had made sure to pick Sabrea up before leaving, not wanting her to wake alone in the strange place surrounded by magical creatures. He had no idea what she would do and he wanted to be there so he could calm her as soon as she woke.

'Over here.' Zamia said, leading Eldrian past the others and right to the base of the fountain. This fountain was located on the far side of the glade, its source of water hidden between the trees up on some cliffs. The water flowed down these cliffs, producing wonderful waterfalls. This then led into a small pond that fitted nicely in the glade.

Eldrian followed Zamia as she led him to the back, where the cliff seemed to grown out of the forest. There someone was sleeping peacefully. Eldrian had no idea who it was, but he could clearly see that she had been through quite a bit.

'Who is she?' Eldrian asked as he looked at her. Her armor was broken but still holding up. She had no weapons on her and was clearly healed. The tears and rips in her armor told Eldrian that she had been in a tough battle.

With nearly half of her armor now revealing her skin, instead of covering it nicely. Eldrian found himself enjoying the sight, it was certainly enticing. He quickly scolded himself and placed his attention back on his conversation with Zamia.

'I do not know, she had stumbled into the forest. One of those on guard had found her. Agamemas wanted to simply let her die. But I could not agree with such an act. I felt she deserved to live and as such, I had healed her.'

'I had hoped you knew who she was,' Zamia mentally sighed as she looked at the woman. At this time the woman slowly turned to the side, waking up.

"Wh-where am I?" She asked as she looked into the open sky.

"Well, you are in a forest called Avgi," Eldrian answered, causing her to turn her head to see him. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Zamia standing next to Eldrian. "This is Zamia and she is the one who saved you. I am Haru."

The woman simply stared at them in bafflement for some time longer. Deep in shock at seeing a magical creature, one that was seemingly friendly at that. This was something quite rare. Finally, she spoke, softly. "I'm Margit."

"Nice to meet you Margit." Zamia spoke, using magic to form her words.

Eldrian looked at her weirdly, asking. 'Why are you talking like that?'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, why did I have to learn how to use telepathy?'

'Oh, you didn't really learn, and it is our normal way of communicating. So naturally, you needed to be able to do it, how else would we communicate properly?'

Eldrian took some time to form his next reply, during which Margit spoke.

"You too," Margit replied hastily, clearly scared of upsetting them. The only reason Eldrian and Zamia had already spoken with each other before her reply was that telepathy truly allowed one to say much more in less time.

"Do you remember what happened before you found this place?" Zamia asked, receiving a short nod from Margit.

Eldrian used the time where Margit was collecting her thoughts to continue his conversation with Zamia.

'What do you mean I have not learned how to do it? I am doing it!'

'You are, but only because I have created a line of communication. If I were to destroy it, you will be unable to make your own.'

Oh, so that's what she meant. Eldrian thought, agreeing that he would be unable to make his own connection. He did not know how they did it and had no clue if it was something humans knew about and could do. Eldrian wanted to ask if it was rare for people to be able to talk on a created line, but Margit speaking interrupted him.

"We, we were ambushed by something. I am not sure what or who they were, but they were really good. They had attacked us all of a sudden, killing half of the squad in mere seconds. I only escaped thanks to our captain's quick action."

"Do you think it could have been devils?" Eldrian asked, thinking back to the devil who had seemingly escaped.

"There is no way, how could devils be here." Margit quickly denied, but Eldrian did not bite.

"They certainly can be here, in fact, one had infiltrated Old Sword's division." Eldrian replied, telling her what he knew. He did not know who the devil was, yet. But he did tell her his suspicions, as well as why he came here.

"You came for Vivian? But last I saw her she was fighting against three of those who had ambushed us. How did she survive?" Margit asked in clear confusion, having expected to hear that Vivian had been found long dead. This completely blew over the surprise that a devil had infiltrated the division she had been part of.

"She must have come here in her retreat. But if she is not in the forest..." Eldrian mumbled, coming to a terrible answer. She is in the caves.

[Hidden quest clue discovered.]

[Find Vivian in the goblin-infested caves before she is killed.]

[Dungeon's first stage cleared. Suspicion on the player has been proven false. Player can now leave the dungeon if so wished.]

[Next dungeon stage optional]

[Clear the caves of goblins.]

[Talk with the Alicorns for a reward]

Eldrian was not happy about the last part, as this likely meant that Zamia would not help him clear the caves. Something which would have made finding Vivian far easier. Sighing he looked between Margit and Zamia.

"I believe Vivian is inside the caves." He said, hoping past hope that the system update was wrong and that she was in fact inside the forest.

"That is not good, those caves are infested by goblins. How did she survive until now? Are you sure she is there and alive?" Zamia replied, wondering how Eldrian could be so certain that Vivian was still alive.

"Yes, it sucks. But I am sure she is there and I need to help her." Eldrian replied as he looked at the hidden quest update, frustrated that it was stated so clearly that she was indeed in the caves. Else he would still have some hope that she was somewhere inside the forest.

He had no idea how he was supposed to find her in the caves, he had even less of an idea of how he was supposed to clear the caves. He had close to no help, Margit might be able to offer some. Sabrea was also a possibility, but Eldrian doubted if any of the creatures living in the forest would help.

This meant they would be severely outnumbered, to the tens of thousands. Eldrian did not think this was actually even possible to do. He also felt certain that there would be stronger goblins inside, like the goblin knights, maybe even shamans. He did not think they stood a chance against them.

Can't the quest be a bit more... Normal? Give me damn chance! Eldrian thought, wishing that the quest was simpler like was normal at the start of games. He certainly felt he was still in the start, but then again. The very first event certainly did not conform to these norms. Naturally, the following ones wouldn't either.

'I understand that you want to find her right away, but that would not be smart. You need to grow stronger first.' Zamia spoke through telepathy, 'We never cleared those cave since we never left the forest.'

'This will likely change now, but we still have no reason to clear the caves. Goblins are too weak to bother us, and they know it would only lead to their deaths.'

'We are also likely going to relocate, leaving only a few to protect the forest.' Zamia added after a slight paused, 'I have an idea.' Eldrian sighed, knowing that he was about to get a quest. Or rather the dungeon stage details.

'Cephaphyr is shunned by most due to the prophecy, but with you, he might be able to live a more comfortable life. He will also be able to see more of the world, as has always been his wish.'

'If he joined your group then you would no longer require a healer, the lady you brought seems to be good at close combat. And this one I had healed has a strong magical background.'

'You can all form a party to search for Vivian.'

'Isn't that extremely dangerous?' Eldrian asked, feeling that it would be far simpler if Zamia or someone nearly as strong joined them. Then the entire caves could easily be cleaned out.

'It is, but he won't be in much danger. No goblins would be able to kill him and I will also know when his life is truly in danger. But for the rest of you, it will certainly be very dangerous.'

Eldrian did not know how to reply to this. After the last sentence, he felt like he was simply being used, but he could not say no. He needed to find Vivian, not Zamia.

He did not like the idea that he was going to lead more people to their death. He did not think they would do well with just the four of them.

'What exactly is your plan?' Eldrian asked, feeling that there must be something more to it. He believed that there was no way she would simply send her son into danger with little to no training.