"That man is crazy. I think my father would've told me if the monsters were getting stronger," Nil said.
"No, I don't think he was lying," I replied. "If there's one thing Orin would never do, it's lie in the name of his mentor. I also don't think the monsters are getting stronger—but think about that goblin prince. That's a C-rank monster in a low-rank area. In the Adventurer's Guild training course, the teacher said monsters get stronger the closer you get to the city center—roughly every 25 miles or so. So, if they're not getting stronger, then something's pushing monsters away from the center."
"Well, that doesn't matter," Nil said. "Let's leave that for the S-rankers. Even if it's true, there's nothing we can do." She changed the subject. "Earlier I said we should go treasure hunting in the Infinite City tomorrow. Well... I want to go now."
"That's fine with me. Should we take a quest too—get a little extra reward to recoup what we just spent—or just hunt whatever we find?"
"If there's a good quest, we'll take it. If not, killing monsters is good enough."
We went to the quest board outside the city gate. There were only two posted quests:
Quest: Lost Locket Retrieval
A distraught merchant lost a family heirloom—an old bronze locket—somewhere in a collapsed supply cart along the Outer Path. Must navigate waist-deep mud and avoid aggressive crows.
Reward: 4 copper pieces and a thank-you note.
Quest: Sewer Sludge Sample Collection
The Alchemist's Guild needs fresh samples of sewer muck from drainage channels near the ruins. Must avoid nausea, parasites, and angry cleaners.
Reward: 6 copper pieces and a half-used vial of antidote.
"Neither of these are worth the effort. Where did all the good quests go?" Nil asked.
"Some guy and his team took ten quests at once," said the guild rep nearby. "But after that goblin prince died, there's no leadership among the goblins. We're paying 2 copper pieces per goblin head, and 8 for any hobgoblin knights. If you bring in five of any kind, you get a bonus steel piece. The team that claims the most goblins by the end of the week gets a silver coin. Plus, you get to keep whatever loot they drop."
"Well, we can hunt goblins and treasure," Nil said.
"Then head to the supply depot and grab rations for your trip," the rep said.
We paid 56 copper for a fortnight's worth of food. We were only planning to stay a week, but it was standard to bring twice as much—you never know when you'll get lost or trapped.
Once inside the city, we wandered. Nil had a Pathfinder Pendant, a D-rank magical item. It didn't draw maps, but it did remember where we'd been—like "100 paces north, 30 paces east"—so getting lost wasn't a concern.
"What the hell is that symbol on that abandoned church?" I asked. There was a cracked coin etched above the door, bearing the face of a woman with gems pushing out of her skin and black ichor dripping from her eyes.
"Vaelith, the Gilded Wound," Nil said. "Goddess of chaos and treasure. She tests intelligent races with monsters but rewards them with treasure."
"Oh, right... I've just never seen that version of her symbol before."
"That's because only the cult of Vaelith uses it," Nil said. "The church is for everyday folks praying they find an essence core instead of a monster in their backyard. The cult uses ritual magic for... well, things outsiders aren't meant to know."
"The world was grand in elder days..." a drunk orc slurred, half-singing.
He saw us. "You're trespassing on the Mother's domain!" he shouted and charged.
Nil loosed an arrow—it hit the orc in the chest where his heart should be.
"Stupid trespasser," the orc wheezed. "We orcs have two hearts. One arrow's not enough."
I threw my axe. It hit his throat.
"Do orcs have two throats, too?" I muttered to no one in particular.
Nil glared at me.
"I regretted it while I was saying it."
She shook her head. I used my harvest power and reserved a tanned orc hide.
"What the hell?" Nil said. "I thought your harvest power only worked on monster magic stones. I didn't know it could harvest material resources."
"I didn't either," I said. "There's this instinctive understanding about how intrinsic magic powers work—but I don't know everything about it. It's kind of a surprise, but it also feels like something I've always kind of known."
"Well, orc hide sells for a decent amount, at least compared to other materials."
"So, should we check the church?" I asked. "There might be treasure... or the goddess might spawn monsters on top of us."
"No. That orc was a warning. Let's keep moving," Nil said. "Put the hide in your storage and get out of here before she sends something worse."
We continued on and found a magical ingredient: Sparkvine Tendril—a half-pound bundle, the standard for bulk selling. It was worth 95 copper pieces.
Up ahead, a dozen goblins were on the road. They hadn't seen us yet.
"Do you want to fight them or ignore them?" I asked.
"Let's fight. I want to see what your loot power produces," Nil said.
"Okay."
I walked toward the goblins, drawing my sword. They screamed and charged. Six of them fell before they reached me—Nil's arrows were lethal.
I killed the first one by cleaving from its shoulder to mid-chest. My sword stopped. I heard a crack—then a blast of force threw me backwards.
Pain. My ribs cracked. My lung collapsed—I could feel it. Breathing was suddenly hard.
I heard my sword clatter to the ground. It was half-melted and bent.
"Don't move, Tern! I think there was a magic stone explosion!" Nil yelled.
She stood over me, loosing arrows like harp strings plucked by angels. She dropped her bow, grabbed a vial from her belt, and poured it down my throat.
Then—
Darkness.