Chapter 13: Red Alraune Queen

The little rodents were Mandragoras, a level 8-10 monster. For my level and Elly’s, this was a piece of cake. I had no trouble of killing them as their attack were easy to read. They were fast but gangly despite their short stature. The thin and frail wooden arms were throwing weird attacks that came at random. Both uncoordinated and without precision, these were easy to spot and avoid. The night buffs made no differences other than just giving us extra EXPs. Our proficiencies had already surpassed this area’s limit.

“Elly, don’t mob the whole lot to yourself! Use the skill only as necessary.”

“Alright, Ghost!” She answered to me enthusiastically. I had to rein in her excitement a little because of her previous experience with another small and seemingly harmless foe. However, this time around, she followed what I said to a tee. I could never have wished for a better ally than her. Seeing her attacking, avoiding and defending like I had taught her brought tears to my eyes as I struck another hapless Mandragora down.

These little folks had nowhere else to run, being surrounded by the wall of flames around the farm and I was guarding the only exit. Elly was running around and disposed of all the Mandragoras around while I was tasked to handle those that wanted to escape. Well, she insisted that much in the beginning and I just obliged. The situation was overkilled a little, but I loved it nonetheless. I gave out a smirk as I killed yet another of those little creature.

Finally, all but one was left. As I cornered the shivering and hapless fellow into the flame wall, suddenly it spoke to me.

“H-Human… p-please… s-spare me…”

“Oh? You can talk?” I was quite surprised. Until today, I had not yet met any monster that could talk.

“Ghost, please don’t spare them. They had been nothing but troubles for us!” Bill and Martha came out after we were nearly done. Seeing that they had the upper hand now, I was sure they wanted their revenge in one way or another. However, I have another thing in my mind. A talking Mandragora would sure fetch me a lot of money if I sell it in the market.

“A-All… of… us can speak… a little of Human’s language.”

“Good, now I’ll give you two choices. One, I will kill you here right now and finishes off the quest or two, I will sell you in the market as a talking ginseng. Choose your fate.”

He was shaking in fear. He knew that I was not joking with either of my choices. To my surprise, yet again, he pleaded for mercy.

“W-We d-don’t mean to attack your farm, humans. W-We are just hungry.”

“So?” Not impressed. I shook my head at the little Mandragora and it squirmed.

“Our Q-Queen had banished all of us from our land. A-and our home has been ravaged by plague. W-We had no choice.”

“So?” My feet stepped on him as I raised my sickle up, on the verge of giving him my final blow.

“P-Please help us… human.”

Suddenly, a message screen popped up. I held my stance for a few seconds while I checked the new message.

The Red Alraune

Our beloved Queen, Red Alraune had lost her mind. We don’t know what made her that way, but now our lives are in ruins. We lost our homes and many of our saplings died. Without food, water and home, we had nowhere else to go.

(Be wary, human. The Mandragoras are mischievous creatures and would have no problem mislead you with their lies just to save themselves. Tread carefully.)

Quest Rank: Special

Completion Requirements:

Find the Red Alraune and kill her.

*Warning: If you accept this quest, the Quest: Save Our Farm (1) would be forfeited. You will not gain the rewards from your quest giver.

Quest Reward:

Unspecified.

A special quest with unspecified reward? Now, what should I do?

There was only one enemy left and killing it would end this quest and gained whatever rewards that I might get. I closed the window and looked at the three other people around me. I explained to them what happened. Bill and Martha were adamant that I finished this Mandragora off once and for all. I must account the warning that the quest had given me earlier too.

“So, if I kill this little guy here, this quest is completed and all of us would then go our own ways after that, right?” The couple nodded. “That’s the best. We would be free from these rodents.”

But I was seeing it a little differently. “But, what if you are not? That these folks would return and destroy your farm yet again. Will you wait that long for help to come to you? You heard this little guy’s story, right?”

“But what if he lies?” Bill tried to forewarn me, but I knew better than to listen to one side of a story. I was quite curious myself too seeing that these Mandragoras came out and put themselves in danger by being near to humans. These wood folks were known to be elusive and unsociable to other species or races. For them to go these extremes and hunt for their foods at a human farm, something was not right.

“And he will die, right at that moment. But what if he speaks the truth?” I reasoned out to the couples.

“B-But what should we do?” Martha slumped her shoulder.

“If you let me decide, I’ll end this once and for all.”

“Ghost? Are you saying…” Elly spoke next as she too wanted to know what I was about to do.

“Yes, Elly. I think I would accept this Mandragora’s quest. I’m going to sever the root of the problems, once and for all.” I removed my feet and then lifted him up.

“Because of you, I had lost one quest. Though the rewards are unspecified, I’m pissed if you lie to me.”

“I-I’m not lying, human. Please…”

“Shut up and show me the way. If I think you are trying to mislead me, I will end your life right that instant. Get that?”

The Mandragora weakly nodded.

*****

In front of us laid the Red Alraune, Queen of the Mandragora. She was much taller than the rest of her normal minions and the crimson bulb on her head and long vines of thorns acting as her arms made her quite formidable. If it was not because of the mixture that I brought with me from the farm, the battle would be a little tougher than I would like.

“Elly, watch out for her thorn whip!!” My warning was just on time as the Red Alraune lashed out a couple of thorny whips towards my ally. Though she managed to avoid it, nonetheless she dropped her sword.

“What a clumsy girl.” I ran towards her but not before I was stopped by a couple of her minions. I had cleared a dozen of them, with dozens more waiting outside, cut-off by a flame wall. I had barricaded the only way in toward this small area where the Queen made her home with a wall of fire. And because of that too, I had no other way of escape.

With the sickle in my hand, I made a quick work of the two before rushing towards Elly’s aide. She was surrounded by a few more Mandragoras and was taking the Red Alraune’s aggro. Tumbling forward, I grabbed the sword that was lying on the ground and killed the one with the lowest HP that was attacking her. Followed by another two more.

“Are you alright, Elly?” She tried to stand up, but I told her to stay low. Her HP was less than half. Her Stamina and MP was depleted. Fortunately, I could now clear this mob with my current condition and I wanted her to stay out of the incoming battle.

“B-But… Ghost.” She was adamant to help me, but I told her off. “No, you shall stay behind me and rest for a while. Recover your stamina and MP before you take on the rest. Leave the Queen to me.” I continued to slash the remaining Mandragoras that kept coming. These little creatures, if left alive, would make for more trouble than they were actually worth.

I went and disposed of the few remaining Mandragoras while avoiding the attack from the Red Alraune. A couple of minutes later, all that was left was the Queen versus the two of us. Effectively, it was a solo battle, since Elly too was out of commission.

Now, let me check out her attack patterns before I went all in. I rushed forwards, taking a little swipe at the Queen. And not to my surprise, it used the thorny vines to whip at me from a distance. I dodged easily a couple of those attacks but as soon as I came within a sword reach, the Queen let out an attack from the red bulb that was on her head. Some kind of gaseous cloud was formed as I barely avoided the area of effect and failed to land a clean hit on it.

The Queen had both a medium and close range attack. In this small area, it would prove fatal if the battle was prolonged. The gaseous cloud continued to expand itself and I was sure before long, it would cover the whole place. And it looked ominous too. The shit just got real.

A level 20 monster, the Queen was not a pushover. Fighting at night made it even worse. I needed to find its weaknesses fast or else it would be game over. Looking around, I saw nothing that I could use to my advantage. Just roots of giant trees that pierced through the top of the tunnel and a few mounds of flowers and grasses surrounded by bioluminescent moss which covered the underground walls. Oddly enough, the Queen was never far from the initial area we found her at, near what looked like her wooden throne.

Now, what should I do? With her HP keep regenerating, this would be a long battle. I was not sure how much damage I would do and if it was too low, it would be negligible. Or at the very best, a laughable attempt at hurting it. I needed something that could damage her constantly without having me to actively hit her. This called for Damage over Time or DoT techniques. I did not have the skills yet, but I was sure to have an item that might just do the trick.

Checking my pocket, I still have a few more pile of the flammable mixture that I took from the farmer earlier. Smearing a little over the sword, I hoped it would work as I planned. The Queen was hesitant to engage me as I did not accumulate enough hate for it to seek me out. Rather, it stood quite far away, observing our battles with its minion earlier and would only attack from time to time. And judging by Elly’s injuries, I was sure those thorny vines would be poisonous too.

“Hmm… if I cannot get close to her, then I needed something else to attack continuously on my behalf.” I ran around the perimeter of my quarry, just outside the gaseous cloud. It stopped expanding, though I was sure that if I get any closer, it would be otherwise. I ran a few circles around the Queen as both of us were at an impasse with our attacks.

Suddenly, another couple of thorny whips lashed at me. Perhaps tired of me running around in circles without being an attacking threat, it could not wait any longer. I dodged the attack easily enough and tried to return one of my own on her. I slashed the vines away, but it instantly grew back. Heh. Talk about regenerating. This was cheating. But I knew better than to complain as I now had it where I wanted. Not moving was its downfall.

As I flicked my sword on the ground, it immediately caught flame. And it spread fast enough to encircle the enemy without it realizing what happened. I was not a fool to run around within her attack reach without a reason. I was marking the area with the mixture and satisfied with the amount, all I needed to do was to assure that the Queen did not move outside of it.

The attack earlier just now confirmed its location and gleefully, I would now take my chances. As I play the role of an arsonist, I now had my DoT in place and ultimately the upper hand. Red Alraune, be prepared to meet your doom!

*****

“Ghost! Are you alright?!” Elly was quick enough to block me with her body from hitting the underground wall. I was blown away by the Queen’s last and suicidal attack and it took 95% of my HP at one go.

“Barely…” I was bleeding profusely. With 5% of HP left and being poisoned was no joke.

Having thought I had finally the upper hand, I rushed and attacked it relentlessly as the fire that surrounded the monster kept it occupied. I found out that the Mandragoras were weak against fire including the Queen. In fact, the fire worked a little too well.

But I did not expect it to have this much effect. Not only the poisonous cloud that was formed earlier exploded and took the Queen’s damage by a large number, the specks of small fireballs dispersed throughout the whole room and caught the enemy with full force. I received a little damage in return but that was not enough for me to even hesitate. Frantically waving its thorny vines to extinguish the fire, it gave me all the time in the world to attack her. I was confident that I could get it down now.

But alas, the Queen had one final trick up its sleeve. Or rather, the crimson bulb on its head. It suddenly bloomed and with its petal spread open, a couple of vines grabbed me at point-blank range as I was delivering the final few blows on the Red Alraune.

I was pulled forward and I did not want to wait and find out why. Just looking at the petal gave me goosebumps as the gnawing teeth appeared coupled with a glowing red bulb from the inside of the petals. I twisted my body and turned away from the range as fast as I could. And it was not a moment too soon when the Queen exploded.

A suicidal attack. I was lucky not to get caught directly by the explosion or else I would be dead. Turning myself away in time was the key and because of that, I managed to survive. My 5% HP had now become 2.5% as I was poisoned in return.

“You are too reckless!!” Elly scolded me for my behaviour. The student now reprimanded the master. I could not but to let out a bittersweet smile as I groaned a little. The pain system in NPO was quite effective and it felt real.

“Sorry if I worry you, Elly.” She was not listening to my apologies. Instead, she checked upon my body to see the extent of my injuries. Well, going into a Boss battle like this without proper equip was unbecoming of my style. I was overconfident about defeating the Queen with what I currently had. This was not LIXXO when I maxed my character. I was a newbie in NPO and I better take more precaution from now on. Besides, looking at Elly’s pained expression hurt me a little. Though she was an NPC nonetheless, I should stop making others worry about me like this.

We sat down taking our respite. Once we defeated the Queen, all the other Mandragoras returned to their normal self; running away, avoiding or hid as soon as they saw us. It gave us a breather as we tried to let the time passed to heal ourselves. We brought no healing items with us, being a poor sod and all. My HP kept dropping due to the poison effect and I was now at 0.5% HP. Looking at the numbers, my HP was in a single digit now.

Feck. Was I going to die like this?

However, to my pleasant surprise, my HP stopped dropping further. I could not be relieved just yet in case the Mandragoras decided to play hostile all of a sudden. Elly was at her maximum alertness as her eyes scanned the whole room while in the ready position. All the flame had died and the underground tunnel was once more dimly lighted with burning embers amidst the hollow green light illuminated by some sort of grass.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

Ohh… I did not realize I had a system message. Usually, I would open it up as soon as it appeared, but because I was a little winded and busy, I totally forgot about it. So, what kind of Boss’ loots could I get? Done with my first Boss fight, I was excited about the outcome.

The Red Alraune Special Quest Completed!

Congratulations on defeating the crazed Queen of the Mandragoras; the Red Alraune. You had brought peace and calmness once more for the little folk and their homes. For them, you are their hero.

Rewards:

Affinity with the Kingdom of Asgard’s Mandragoras. They are now your friends and would be willing to help you. Please check your menu for more details.

+ 5000 EXPs

+ 10 Fame

Special Affinity Link: The Mandragoras.

Please talk to Bill and Martha to receive your other rewards.

“Huh?!” I could not help but to express my annoyance.

Was that all? What happened to the loots and such? Feck me sideways. This was absurd. Though both of us levelled up immediately, the reward could be better. I mean, where was the sword, the equips or even the drop items that one usually gets when beating a Boss monster. Should I kill it 10 times over? Judging by the quest, I guess I just missed my chances. Pathetic.

I spat on the ground in disgust. Elly was dumbfounded by my reaction but I couldn’t care less for now. I was pissed. Bloody hell. And what was the other fecking rewards from the poor farmer might I get? A couple of cow manure bags?

I sighed deeply and regretted a little.

“Are you alright, Ghost?” I turned and looked at Elly. She was quite worried about me. Perhaps I should cool down a little and explore this place for anything useful I could find. Maybe a sack of gold or something. Boss monsters usually kept their treasure hordes somewhere.

“Let us find something more useful than a couple bags of shits we might get?” I stood up and searched the area. With my low HP, I was being very careful not to spring any traps or get attacked by weird monsters lurking in the shadows.

“Hmm… I don’t understand.” Elly followed suit and helped me search around.

*****

The two middle-aged couple were beaming with happiness when we came back and told them of our success in defeating the Red Alraune. We were here for the sole reason of getting our other ‘rewards’ from the quest. However, I did not hold my hopes high as the game had been trolling me for a while now.

“Do you know what is this?” I asked Bill as I revealed him the only item that I found at the Red Alraune’s place. An unidentifiable sapling.

“Hmm… a sapling.” Bill answered nonchalantly. I should just kick his nuts. I knew what the feck was this without having him to tell me.

“But it’s not just any sapling.” He then added much to my surprise. It looked like a usual tree sapling one would always find growing on the ground. I had Elly took it with us as it was the only thing we could found after searching for hours inside that desolate place. A sapling found from the remains of the Red Alraune.

“What do you mean?” I wanted to know more.

“Legend has it that if you defeated any of the Mandragora’s Throne and in your case the Queen, you could find yourself a sapling that contains all the wisdom and strengths of the defeated foe,” Bill explained to me, but instead I had more questions than answers now.

“You mean this little sprout?” Elly too was curious. She could not believe this sapling was any more unusual. Like how I felt earlier.

“It might be a sprout to you for now since you had not actually awakened it.”

“Tell us more, then.”

“I wish I could, but I’m not the right person who could tell you much. I’m just a farmer and my specialty is growing vegetables. For something like this, find a botanist within the city’s wall and she will tell you everything you need to know.” Bill ended his explanations. Long but useless. I gained nothing more from him.

Ah well, this sapling was as pathetic as it was right now. Perhaps I could see some use in it if I could find the botanist. I could not even throw it away even if I wanted to since the system never allowed it.

“Since we are talking about legends, are you interested in one more?” Would this be one of Bill’s another long but useless information? Feeling irritated, I just nod my head. Nothing could do my head for now. He could yap all the way he wanted and I’d just doze off somewhere.

“Since I had come this far, just tell me anything you know.”

“I won’t be telling you. Here are all the notes from my grandfather had about the legend and more. Never knew how to read those since I was a kid.” Bill passed me a couple of books that he took out from a shelf. I knew that this middle-aged man, for all his niceties and whatnot, was a dumb and illiterate one.

His wife was no better at all. “Bill’s grandfather used to be a botanist and a part-time archaeologist when he first arrived here. This was all his notes. Those scribbles looked like worms in heart.” And that all she said.

Received the books Legend of High Asgardia and Memoir of an Old God.

I opened up the book and read the content.

Legend of High Asgardia, Part 1.

Thousands of years ago, there was an ancient civilization that once flourished within the peak of Mount Velanheim. To reach the place, the wisdom of old and the strength of new must be gathered before the gate could be found. However, the exact location and the method to open the gate was left undiscovered until now. It was up to you to, if you want, to find the Legend and relive the glory of yesteryears.

I read everything and gained nothing. Typical. Next was the memoir.

Memoir of an Old God, Part 1.

“Hahaha!!” The Allfodr laughed heartily. He was in the state of euphoria as his son, Thor came back home and brought him a gift that befitted his status.

“Father, this is a gift I had found in Midgard!” He said as he thumped Mjolnir towards the sky. The gift lay beside him, all wrapped in rags. However, the value was never to be questioned as Odin himself was excited.

“Good, my son. I am proud of you.” The Wise God King unwrapped his gift and out came…

And that was all I could read. Man, this was not good either. I just wasted my time reading some children fairy-tales or old wives’ stories. But somehow, I knew better than to just dismissed it straight away. Perhaps in future, I might have some use for it. Sell it to a library perhaps? For now, I needed to get back to the city. I was broke, naked, and really, really in need of new skills.

I bid farewell to the couple who surprisingly gave me a bag containing silver coins. Counting them up, it was 150 silvers. I thought those folks were poor to begin with. However, I was thankful enough that I could now purchase better equips or perhaps buy myself some much needed healing items. I had some loots that I could sell off too. And once I finished my shopping, I needed to learn new skills. I had a few in my minds that I wanted to learn first.

With that purpose, Elly and I set off back to the City of Asgardia.