Boran placed his hand on Boney's shoulder. "We need to clear the entire village. I need to kill more Walkers to complete these quests."
Boran readied his shield and after completely clearing the cemetery, he began to move toward other parts of the village. The sky was still dark, but Boran was now moving with more confidence.
His first stop was the old church area. About ten Walkers were wandering aimlessly there. When Boran approached them, the zombies turned to face him, moving as if they were a single body.
"Come on then," Boran muttered.
The confrontation in the church courtyard was quick and efficient. Boran had found his rhythm now. Using his Vigilant Wall ability most effectively, he was destroying each group of Walkers with their own attacks.
Boran quickly cleared the entire area around the church and collected seven more Lesser Essence of Decay.
"Let's go to the village center now," he said to Boney.
When they reached the village square, they saw it was more crowded. About fifteen Walkers had gathered around an old fountain. Boran's eyes lit up.
"Perfect," he said excitedly. "The more Walkers there are, the more effective Vigilant Wall becomes. This time I'll clear them all at once!"
And he did just that. Boran moved toward the center of the square to draw all the Walkers to himself. When they all turned toward him, he performed perfect blocks one after another, activating Vigilant Wall and using his Taunt ability. When the golden dome formed, all fifteen Walkers were inside it. Each one was preparing their own death as they attacked Boran. With a single move, all threats in the square were eliminated. His shield was glowing with the power of destroying a large group at once, vibrating as if it was enjoying its power.
When another group of Walkers fell, Boran collected the loot. He had obtained a total of eleven Lesser Essence of Decay from the village square.
"We've handled almost half, Boney," he said while catching his breath. "Now let's move to the eastern part of the village."
The eastern part of the village was an area with abandoned houses and small workshops. Here, Walkers were wandering in a more scattered way, which was both an advantage and a challenge for Boran.
"I'll need to handle them one by one. I could use Crashing Bulwark, but..." he thought. "But let me get some more practice with Vigilant Wall."
Boran began hunting the Walkers one by one. Each time he encountered one, he displayed a perfect defense with his shield and destroyed them by activating Vigilant Wall. He collected eight more Lesser Essence of Decay from this area.
Finally, he headed to an old farm in the northern part of the village. There were ten more Walkers waiting around a barn there.
"Last group," said Boran, in a slightly tired but still energetic voice. "Let's finish this job."
The confrontation at the farm was a bit more challenging than the others. The Walkers seemed more aggressive, and Boran struggled at one point. A Walker's claw grazed his shoulder, but this only made him focus more.
When the last Walker fell, Boran took a deep breath and looked around. The entire village was now cleared of Walkers. Collecting the Lesser Essence of Decay from the final group, he brought his total loot to 39.
"That's it, Boney," he said proudly. "Let's check that quest."
[Kill Rotting Walker: 50/100]
"We've completed half! We'll finish this quest by tomorrow."
Boran turned to Boney, tired but satisfied. "I think we should rest a bit. It was amazing to see what I can do with this new ability. But I still have a lot to learn. The next feature I'll try will be Crashing Bulwark."
As Boran gently set his shield down, a notification suddenly appeared before his eyes. A quest written in magical characters, suspended in the air.
[Sub Quest – Forgotten Relics]
Objective:
Recover 3 Relic Shards from abandoned structures in Bloodveil Crossing. (0/3)
Reward:
+5000 Experience
[Unknown Key] (Quest Item)
Boran raised his eyebrows. He turned to Boney. "It looks like we'll need to go deeper into this village we've cleared, my friend. There are hidden treasures in abandoned structures," he said and pressed the "Follow" button. Three different blue traces appeared on the ground, each going in a separate direction.
Two of them led into the village, while one led into the forest."I have bad feelings about that forest. Let's check the ones in the village first."
Boran headed toward the western part of the village. The blue trace led him through half-collapsed buildings to a sunken blacksmith's workshop adjacent to a stone foundry.
"I hadn't noticed this place before," said Boran as he approached the collapsed door of the workshop. On the worn wooden sign above the door was writing too faded to read, but underneath there was still a discernible anvil symbol.
Boran carefully stepped inside. The workshop must have once been a lively and busy place, but now it had turned to ruins. Half the roof had collapsed, and the beam of moonlight from above illuminated the dust particles in the room, like tiny stars dancing in the air.
Broken shields leaning against the walls, charred weapon handles scattered on the floor, and most notably, a pair of swords embedded in the wall as if thrown in a moment of rage.
"A great struggle took place here," Boran murmured as he approached the swords.
As he moved through the workshop, Boran noticed a warm ash smell reaching his nostrils. It was as if this place, despite years having passed since the disaster, still retained a warmth within. This warmth was strange — different from the remnants of a normal fire, more... alive.
As Boran moved toward the center of the room, he suddenly noticed small particles of ember-like orange-red light suspended in the air. At first, he thought they were just dust particles, but when the lights began to merge and take specific shapes, he realized the situation was different.
Three bright balls of light suddenly transformed into small sword and axe-shaped objects. Each was about the size of a hand and hung suspended in the air, with bright ember pieces constantly falling from around them.
[Quest Threat; Living Embers!]
Before Boran could think further, three Living Embers suddenly lunged at him. The first hit him, scattering sparks in the air. The collision created a small explosion and slightly burned Boran's arm.
[You took 138 damage]
"Ow!" he shouted, pulling back. "They may be small, but their burns are real!" He quickly activated both of his shields, transforming them into Scorched Metal Shields. I'll use my Taunt ability to draw them all to me, Boney! You finish them off from behind."
When the Living Ember lunged at him, Boran activated his Taunt ability.
Boney quickly positioned himself and drew his bow.The Living Embers were now fully focused on Boran. They were circling around him, looking for his weak spot. But Boran was well hidden behind his shields, giving no openings.
Boney fired his first arrow.
When the arrow hit the first Living Ember, it exploded with a violent blast. The explosion engulfed the other two Living Embers as well. The other two also exploded with the effect of the blast. However, the flames scattered by the explosion also reached Boran.
[You took 497 damage]
When silence prevailed in the room, Boran took a deep breath.
"That hurt... They must have low health but high damage. Something like suicide bombers, I guess," he said to Boney. "If we encounter them again, you should destroy them before they reach me, Boney.
"Boney nodded as if to say "Of course."
In the middle part of the workshop, there was a large anvil that was still intact. Various blacksmithing tools lay scattered around and on top of it. Next to the anvil, the water vessel once used to cool glowing hot metals now contained only a dark, dirty puddle of water.
As Boran walked around the room, he noticed an almost completely collapsed shelf in the corner. Under the shelf stood a small iron chest that gave the impression of once having stored valuable items.
He carefully approached the chest. It was covered with rust and mold, but the lock was still intact. Boran tried to break the lock using the edge of his shield. After several attempts, the lock finally opened with a "click" sound.
When he lifted the lid of the chest, he saw various metal pieces and unfinished jewels inside. However, the most striking was a strange-shaped piece that was glowing at the bottom of the chest.
Boran carefully picked up this piece and examined it. It was a broken stone fragment the size of a palm, with strange symbols engraved on it, glowing with a faint blue light.
"This must be it," said Boran as he held the piece up.
Just then, the stone fragment flashed more brightly, and a system notification appeared in front of Boran:[
Relic Shard (1/3) collected]
"Great!" said Boran as he placed the piece in his inventory. "We need to find two more. Let's go, Boney," he said. "We need to find the other pieces too."