Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 22: The Birth of Darkness, Part Two

When the other group had said that they’d be going in first, that they’d only be there for a short time, Lianna didn’t think that meant they’d be in there for half an hour.

And yet, that was precisely how long Lianna, Enverna, and Instructor Vera had been waiting. Knowing that things were set to go horribly wrong today meant that every second that passed, Lianna’s dread continued to mount on top of itself.

Arms crossed, Lianna tapped on her arm. Glancing at Enverna from the corner of her eye, she wondered:

[Maybe it would be better just to stay out here.]

Enverna was clearly not thinking along the same line, though.

"Has something happened, maybe?"

"Perhaps..." Instructor Vera muttered.

"Is there any way we could make sure? I-I mean, I feel that there’s a chance these people may need our help."

"Sure, but... The way I see it, this could also be a trap," Instructor Vera stated.

"A trap?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Players killing other Players is, unfortunately, something that happens from time to time. It can occur for a myriad of different reasons. To solve a dispute, to steal valuable items, to eliminate a potential threat to one’s position in a Guild. Given that the three of us are here, I’d say two of those conditions are being met."

"What do you mean?" Enverna asked.

"You are the 3rd ranked recruit of the Watchful. A Player many in Telvan have their eyes on, even if you have not noticed. That means there is a target on your back."

Enverna seemed shocked by this information. Lianna was as well, though for a different reason.

[Are people really that scummy?]

"Some will want you gone so that you don’t threaten their position above you. Some will want you gone so that they can rise up from below you. I would not be shocked at all if that group that went into the forest had been waiting to ambush us this whole time."

Instructor Vera lowered her head, a dark expression coming over her.

"The other possibility is that they came to take this." She then produced a blue orb from thin air. It was bright and brilliant, like a floating piece of mana. "This is my catalyst. In case you don’t know, mages like myself can cast spells with our hands but catalysts like this give us special bonuses, making our spells stronger. I found this one in an A-rank Encounter Zone. To my knowledge, it’s the only one of its kind. And, already, people have tried to kill me over it."

Lianna had spent many nights wishing that she could join the world of the Players, but this was one side of it that she’d never considered before. A side of it she couldn’t have imagined.

"But... The letter they gave you," Enverna added. "You said it was official."

"It was," Vera replied. "But, even if the Guild’s intentions are pure, perhaps those Players’ intentions are not."

"So, what should we do?" Lianna asked.

[Please, just say that we’ll leave and do this some other day. Please, just...]

"We’ll head in," Vera stated. "Regardless of the more nefarious possibilities, we should see if they need some assistance. I do not recognize them anyway, which means they should be quite weak. Even if they are planning something, I should be able to protect you."

She walked to the space where the trees parted, giving way to a natural path.

"Keep that in mind, though... You might have to see a human life taken today. Unfortunately, that is also a part of the Player experience."

Vara stopped, allowing the full gravity of her words to sink in.

Enverna looked shaken. On Lianna’s end, though, she was just worried for her partner.

"Are you both prepared?" Vara asked. "We should head in immediately, in case they did actually just run into trouble."

"I am," Enverna declared. "Let’s go."

At that moment, with a gleam in her eye and a fierce expression, Enverna looked so determined to potentially go save some lives, she truly did feel like the hero The Lover told her she’d become later.

The sight made Lianna’s heart skip a beat.

"Lianna?" Vara asked. "What do you think?"

With Enverna’s eyes on her, Lianna’s response came easily. As much as she would have rather just leave, with it being clear that Lianna’s preferred outcome was just not happening, she replied:

"Yeah. Let’s do this."

---

The instant that Lianna walked into the forest, a couple of messages popped up.

Encounter Zone: Haunted Forest

Average Fiend tier: D-

[Okay, so this is really a beginner zone. Though, it says "average". Doesn’t that mean that stronger enemies could just appear suddenly, out of nowhere? Other people wouldn’t even be able to see that since they don’t have my Instinct. It’s probably happened before that someone sees an enemy here, thinks it’s weak, and walks up just to get hurt.]

"So, uh, how often do stronger enemies appear here?" Lianna asked as they half-walked, half-jogged through the forest.

"Not too often. It is always possible, though. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing what is and is not stronger until a fight starts. That is why it is important to stay alert at all times. Never fight below your ability."

[I wish I could stick to that lesson today.]

"By the way, have you both begun to think about what Class you’ll be?" Vara asked.

"I have, yeah," Lianna replied.

"Good. And, what about you, Enverna?"

"Um... What do you mean by class? I-I was never informed of such a thing in Garriden."

"Truly? Well, Instructor Walker and I were going to cover this next week, but I suppose I could give you the gist of it now. All Spells and Techniques fall into particular Class categories. These classes pertain to three different paths, the Warrior Path, the Mage Path, and the Thief’s Path. Each path has its own subsection of classes, which determines what kind of weapons, Spells, and Techniques one can use. These classes range from Priestess to Archer to Tank and so on, with each class having a dedicated purpose on or off the battlefield."

"When do we have to decide this?" Enverna asked.

"Whenever you buy Spells or Techniques or use weapons. See, the way this works, the more Spells or Techniques you use from one specific Class, the stronger you grow within that Class. You choose what Class you are, therefore, through your actions."

"Can you change classes?"

"Not after a certain point, no. The System will let you know when you are getting close to that point. Until then, feel free to experiment," Vara said. "Oh, and by the way, upon killing your first Fiend, you will be given access to an Inventory that allows you to store system-made objects. So, I’d like to-"

A scream rang out throughout the forest.

All three ladies stopped where they stood on the dirt path. It was distant, but they’d heard it loud and clear.

"We may be too late," Instructor Vara muttered, before running forward.

Lianna and Enverna followed after her. The mist in between the thick, dark trees almost funneled them in the direction of the screams.

As they reached the source, Vara stopped, holding her hands out to signal to Lianna and Enverna that they needed to stop as well.

Up ahead was that boy from earlier, surrounded by the corpses of his allies.

A purple glint in his eyes glowed as he turned toward the three of them, energy siphoning into his body from his victims.

Once again, that reminder popped back up.

{Quest: Protect Enverna during the Birth of Darkness on August 20, 239 2E}

Reward: Lover’s Intuition (Spell)