If nothing else, the third feeding of the Soul Prison managed to stoke a fire in the elven realm. While we, in the field, didn’t notice all of it, mostly increased patrols and magical activity sweeping through the forest, the forum gave me additional insights that I wouldn’t normally have. From what I could see there, and in a few of the elven Travellers who streamed their gameplay openly, it was bedlam.

The elves didn’t know who it was they hated but hating they did with a burning passion that rivalled the sun. On a few streams, I could see groups of elves near the gates of their cities, staring at the incoming travellers with eyes that promised a slow and brutal death if the person was suspected and there even was a thread that talked about a lynching. No evidence of wrongdoing, simply a person suspected of being in cahoots with ‘dark powers’, whatever that meant, who was tried and hanged by a mob. That a person powerful enough to cause that much damage wouldn’t just let themselves be hanged never entered their mind.

In addition, the few Travellers currently based in the Forest of Dusk had started a discussion, wondering what sort of large-scale event was going on there. It had taken a day or two but they had noticed that they all, despite being in different locations within the Forest of Dusk, had received near-identical quests. They were either tasked to ‘find the Dark Force that is destroying the Forest’ or to ‘stop the Dark Force that is destroying the Forest’

Furthermore, other elven Travellers, those who had started in the primary Forest of the Elven Empire, south of the mountains, were getting quests to travel north, into the Forest of Dusk, to prevent a calamity.

I was somewhat amused when I read that, wondering if I, alone, was enough to earn the title of ‘Dark Force’ or if it was only thanks to Nidhogg and the Soul Prison. The calamity most certainly was due to it, otherwise, I was far too weak. After the events in Hatterion, I had a relatively good idea of how much damage I could inflict on something like a society and while I could call myself a disaster, I wasn’t yet at the level of a calamity.

What the posts from various elven Travellers managed to do, was make me wonder why the elven reaction was so extreme. Sure, I had destroyed eleven trees and killed an elf but just for that, it felt too much. Far too much.

If the quests would mention Nidhogg directly, or go into deeper detail, I would understand why the elves were so agitated, but none of them did. In addition, the quests were all rated somewhere between medium and hard difficulty, nothing above, even if the Traveller accepting it was only in the high eighties, the lowest I had seen thus far. That would make sense for a quest that just sent people through the Forest of Dusk, but if someone at that level wanted to challenge our party? Deadly didn’t even begin to describe it and that was without the potential that the Soul Prison would somehow react to a quest designed to stop us.

And then there was the curious capitalisation of ‘the Forest’ in the quest texts I had seen, making me think that my actions weren’t just destroying those trees. It didn’t matter too much, but I wanted to understand, so I made plans to talk with Adra about it, as she was the resident expert in all things Forest.

When I returned to Mundus after yet another strenuous session with Mrs Wu, I was once again treated to the sensation of soaring through the sky within Lenore’s Hallow. If there was one thing I would likely never get enough of, it was this. Sure, the magic was awesome and I loved tinkering with it, finding out more and experiencing the ultimate joy of completion, when I managed to crack some tough magical riddle but compared to flying?

I had never known just how wonderful that feeling of ultimate freedom was. Nothing holding you down, even gravity having to relinquish its claim, it was uplifting. If not for the connection my Avatar shared with Sigmir, I would consider picking a Valkyr when the game officially launched. But that was a question future-me had to answer. Present me was just enjoying the second-hand sensation of living rent-free in Lenore’s mind.

“There was some trouble,” Lenore warned me, washing away my leisurely mood.

“What sort of trouble?” I asked, already concerned.

“An elven patrol, Rai didn’t manage to keep up the concealment and they were noticed. The elves were suspicious and asked some questions but didn’t press the issue, they simply decided to stick with the others, claiming that they were travelling in the same direction,” she explained and I wondered if it might have been a boon that I hadn’t been present. Sure, my presence might have prevented detection in the first place but at the same time, if I was detected, the secrets on my body might be discovered, from the mostly mundane like my Ruthless-trait to the troubling, like my Mortal Hubris or even the ultimate condemnation of the Soul Prison or my Maleficar-title. Those last two would see me hang, or whatever method the elves preferred to send their most vicious criminals to the next life.

“What now?” I wondered, not really expecting an answer. We either had to kill them or hope that they’d lose interest in the others before the repeated magical scrying of the Dryads managed to detect me. For now, Lenore was concealed by Adra’s ongoing magic, while I was hidden in my Hallow but that wouldn’t last. Approaching them and trying to convince them I was no threat, joining the others with some innocent excuse was possible, but not for me. Such an act would require excellent acting and deception skills, alongside a good personal charisma, none of which I had. So, killing it was.

The few images Lenore had shared made me quite certain that I wouldn’t manage alone but given that the others were only being ‘escorted’ and under careful watch, probably due to our levels, they would most certainly join the fight the moment it started. Maybe even beforehand, given my connection to Sigmir and Ylva.

For the next few hours, we deliberately shadowed the small elven patrol that just happened to travel in the same direction and at the same speed as Sigmir and the others. It was probably the easiest way for them to avoid offending high-levelled and thus dangerous Adventurers while also making sure that those Adventurers weren’t the cause for the damage done to the forest. In addition, there was Adra’s presence and given Phraan’s reaction to her, back in the White Mountains, I was quite certain that the local elves would treat any Dryad with a certain amount of respect.

There were seven of them, all mounted on those feline mounts they used, making it even more obvious that they were slowing down intentionally. Otherwise, their mounts would easily be able to move ahead, especially because Sigmir and the others were moving at a comfortably slow pace. I wasn’t able to get close enough to Observe them, not without risking discovery, so I could only estimate their levels somewhere around level hundred. Unless these guards were complete incompetents, they’d certainly be a match for us, unless I managed to catch them by surprise and even the odds before the actual fight started.

“We’ll strike when night falls,” I decided after considering the time for a moment. Hopefully, I wouldn’t get detected beforehand, or things would get really messy. For now, Lenore and I continued to shadow the others, while slowly trying to estimate their abilities and personalities. At the same time, I tried to come up with the best way to strike at them and we studied their magical defences, looking for weak points. From what we could see, the elves were simple rangers, using relatively short spears for close combat and shortbows, for the longer range. They didn’t look bulky or strong, making me think they would be finesse fighters, using the reach of their spears alongside their innate, elven agility to fight. Their bows most likely would never enter the equation, they were probably their primary tool for ambushes and traps. Hunting probably as well. We couldn’t tell if any of them were mages, but none had a truly powerful aura of magic, their leader being the most remarkable, but just getting to roughly the level of Rai, likely a fighter who enhanced her combat-ability with some magical tricks.

If nothing else, we were quite impressed, while the normal guards had just their basic gear, well-made but not imbued with overly powerful magic, their leader actually had magically enhanced armour. Or maybe it was another part of her gear, either way, something was infusing her skin with quite a bit of Astral Power, making her glow in Lenore’s sight. It was difficult to estimate what that would do, but after watching for a while and looking at the way the magic was flowing within her and the armour, we came up with the idea that it gave her skin the toughness of wood while retaining its elasticity. In addition, it looked as if the magic would distribute the force of every hit across a larger area, making it so that she would get pushed but not actually harmed.

She would have to be the first to die.