9

“Grrrrrr”

The sound was familiar to the adventurers yet it terrified them like a sound that they’ve never heard before would. The hatchiyak sprung into the circle of the three adventurers and bared its fangs.

“Don’t move, hatchiyak are incredibly powerful but they are deaf and blind, in exchange, their sense of smell is so good, it’s been considered godlike.” Desna told the others.

“How do you know so much about this beast?” Siebold asked.

“My father was classed as an MH, or Monster Hunter, and made a name for himself as one. He was one of the best in the realm and was the pride and joy of my small village. He taught me a lot before he died.” Desna replied.

“Okay, so stand still and don’t make yourself smell, got it. But why can’t the hatchiyak smell us?” Cryo asked.

“I’m assuming it’s because of the fire. Since the hatchiyak is in such close vicinity to both the fire and us, even it’s godlike level of smell can’t distinguish the two. Or, alternatively, it could just be toying with us.” Desna replied.

“Well why don’t we take it out, it can’t be THAT powerful?” Siebold asked.

“Normally I’d agree with you, but what hatchiyak lack in sight and sound, they make up in raw power. They’re magical creatures as I’m sure you’ve gathered, and even the best spells and magic shields won’t help us much if it decides to strike.” Desna informed the others.

“So...the best thing to do is to wait for it to leave? It doesn’t look very happy, unless you’ve got a better course of action.” Cryo said nervously.

“Actually, I do.” Desna said.

“Sech al tuul, MA’AT JENZO YUTO!” Desna cried, a purple magic circle forming in front of the beast.

The magic circle extended to cover the beast’s length as the beast stood still, fangs still barred, and after what felt like 10 seconds or so, the blue flames in the hatchiyak’s eyes changed to a warm purple color, and the beast calmed down, walking over to Desna, who proceeded to pet the animal.

“Wh- what are you doing!? That thing can kill you!” Siebold exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, I tamed it. My father used to run into tons of these things and he taught me how to use magic to tame one instantly. Initially, it was more for his benefit, but I guess I just benefited from it too, haha.” Desna said calmly.

The beast let out a warm purring noise as Desna stroked it’s shadowy fur and seemed to be quite content where it was. Raising her staff once again, Desna once again casted a spell.

“Neb em tet’a, tet’a neb em.” Desna chanted.

The beast’s warm eyes changed to a bright yellow color and the beast swiveled it’s head, looking around frantically with its tail wagging violently.

“What did you do to it??” Cryo asked.

“I gave it sight and sound. While my father was an MH, my mother was a vet. In the village I come from, everyone has an animal companion, so many women chose to becoming vets to help out. My mother taught me some magic to heal wounded animals and to cure their ailments. I was a pretty valued resource as well considering my magic abilities that were hard to come by in our small village.” Desna informed her friends.

This is so interesting, it’s like this whole microcosm just existed under my nose while I played Ultima Online and it was completely different than my own world, yet I never knew it existed. I always imagined what it would be like to live in a parallel universe, so I guess I should take advantage of this opportunity. Cryo thought. Looking at the beast that had once scared the group, Cryo now realized they had been blessed with a new ally on their adventure. Looking back at the fire, Cryo finally decided that he was happy in this world.

“GrrrOWWL” the hatchiyak perked up.

“What is it buddy?” Siebold asked, as if the beast could answer him in plain english.

The hatchiyak stared into the black night and the trio turned to match his line of sight.

“Murrrgrrrrrrowwww”

“That’s the sound of a red ogre, but we eliminated them earlier!” Cryo said.

“We sure did, but that isn’t the sound of a red ogre, it’s the sound of a red ogre chief. Still odd though, considering we defeated one earlier…” Desna said.

Stepping into view, a massive red ogre walked into view, it looked exactly like the chief that the group had slain earlier that day, but it had magic runes on it and still carried the same scars from the trio’s strikes when they first fought it. The ogre raised a magic club it had in its fist and with lightning fast movement swung the club at hatchiyak.

“Purrooooo” hatchiyak purred, suddenly disappearing before the club reached it.

Hatchiyak appeared next to the swung club that had destroyed the circle that the trio was sitting in, luckily, Siebold had raised a magic shield to protect his teammates.

“Why is this thing alive again, I thought we already took care of it!” Cryo shouted.

“Beats me, looks like it was resurrected, but only a necromancer can do that, so it is a little odd for sure.” Desna said.

“Shadow slash of fire brother!” Cryo yelled, turning into a flaming shadow and quickly striking the ogre’s knee with lightning speed.

The ogre’s leg started to burn with a black fire and it stumbled backwards.

“Neru aun testa, holy judgment of archwitch fire!” Desna shouted, a massive white magic circle appearing over the stunned ogre.

A beautiful, radiant light glowed like sunshine on top of the ogre, and the glowing magic runes it once sported on its body went dark as it fell backwards into the white sand, devoid of life.

“Desna that was an incredibly strong spell!” Cryo shouted.

“Oh yeah, that was my most powerful one. It is a level 7 spell, so it is pretty powerful.” Desna said back.

“I see, you’re really talented…” A woman’s voice came from the darkness.

“Acci, light my way!” Desna said, her staff glowing to provide light to the trio.

In the glowing light, a woman dressed in black robes with the seal of an adventurer on them stared back with a smiling face.

“Who’re you?” Cryo asked.

“Haha, my name is Teswul, I’m a necromancer from Uo village, the village you three got the red ogre gang quest from. I was testing your skills because I believed you could handle this emergency quest I have with me.” the woman said.

“Emergency quest?” Cryo asked.

“A quest that can transcend QP requirement if it’s completion is of utmost importance. Do you accept?” Teswul said.

“What is the quest?” Siebold asked.

“The Legendary sword of the winds, Whisper, has shown itself.” Teswul said.

End of Chapter///