Chapter 15: Return?

“How the hell did I end up here?”
“Well, while defending Ami at the terminal last night you were attacked by two void wolfs and took a fair amount of damage to the ankles, but the more important part is that those attacks triggered an elemental overload within you. So, we carried you back here for Evie to take a look at you and she succeeded in saving you, though it took most of the day to do so, but the overload has been settled but it does mean that you’re now a dual element mage with void being that second one. Which according to Evie means that while you can use void element spells now it can and will cause further corruption to your body because of the effect void energy has on living things that ingest it or have it enter their blood. It also means that any time you spend within the void’s from now on will also accelerate the corruption because of those same reasons.”
“Right, so that explains why I’m here and feel kinda weak. But what about the information you had Ami? Did you manage to get all of it?”
“I did, but I’ve forgotten what it was because of the sudden attack. Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault they attacked when they did, just means we have to go back to that terminal right?”
“About that, we kinda don’t remember where it is anymore. Because we left in quite the hurry.”
“Ah, sorry Ami. I did get careless when they attacked. So, what now?”
“We were thinking about going back to Daphnie to link up with Lekly to fill her in on what we found out and managed to remember and write down. After that, we’re not too sure.”
“I see, well that’s better than nothing Ilev so when are we leaving?”
“Whenever your dumbass is better.”
“Hey, you didn’t do anything to stop me or get rid of the monster did you?”
“Enough fighting you two, it’s not productive. Never has been, never will be. But yeah, the plan is to move out whenever you feel up to walking back to Daphnie, Lexa.”
“Cool, well I think I’m fine now.”

Lexa attempts to stand and once she’s on her own two feet unsupported she wobbles a bit then collapses to the ground in a heap.

“I guess not, eh?”

Lexa tries to stand again and while she’s able to remain upright for longer this time the end result is the same her sitting in a heap on the floor of Evie’s room. So reluctantly she agrees to rest up the rest of the day and they’d head back to Daphnie in the morning after she’s had more time to recover from having both ankles broken and a brush with death within this new world, they find themselves in. At some point Evie stops by to go over some of the more intricate details about her new status as a dark mage because of the addition of the void element to her arsenal and that for normal spells like the ones she had been taught already and any subsequent that do not interact with the void element that nothing would change, however if any spell she learnt did have a significant interaction with the void element or any spells belonging to that tree she may end up learning it will automatically fuse the two meaning that she runs the risk of furthering the void energy corruption that has taken root within her. Something she’d have to manage with a new spell from the nature core element, something Evie would teach Lexa just before Shin’ya left to re-group with their sixth member back in the Owlin village of Daphnie. The walk back to the village was helpfully uneventful considering recent events, once safely back in the village the group went straight to the house they had been allowed to use before, finding Lekly inside they filled her in on what was happening with the void zones, the void beasts and that the game was in play mode so completing the game or finding some other way to force it out of play mode should allow them to get home. Then came the bad news that they didn’t find Suieol within the forest void and Isla never joined up with them after they parted ways. Once all the news was broken, they also mentioned that right now they didn’t have much of a plan on how to go forward as the merchant guild was exhausted of useful information already, same with the people of Daphnie. As they thought about their current situation the idea of moving past the forest into new lands was floated about, so was returning to the forest void for a second look, even trying to hire a local hunter to see if the alpha void wolf had left any tracks for them to follow was brought up. But none of those ideas were any use without concrete evidence that they’d be the best step going forward as while Suieol’s wounds were healed there’s no guarantee that they hadn’t opened back up in the abduction and that she was suffering something similar to what Lexa had when they were running back through the void. It was then that Ami mentioned potentially going back to Isla’s place to see if she found out anything new while everyone else was out trying to accomplish what they planned on doing when they parted ways, after a discussion the six members present decided that it was the best course of action but due to how late it was and how eventful the nights they had spent traveling had been they decided that spending the night inside the village would be the best call to make. Early the next morning as the forest began to light up the six present members of Shin’ya began the short journey back to Isla’s in the hopes that she had found something out about the alpha void wolf and the last Shin’ya members location in the few days they hadn’t seen her. Before departing Daphnie, Eule gave the six some old camping gear that was collecting dust in her house as her family never used it, since the void had appeared with that parting gift the party set off towards Isla’s place hoping she’d have some intel on the location of the alpha void wolf. Once they reached Isla’s shack the sun was fully overhead, they knocked at the entrance way and waited a short while before entering the one roomed shack only to notice it empty but for a lone paper note left on the table that read.

‘Hey,

You remember me talking about the alpha void wolf, well it appeared again unfortunately it didn’t have your friend with it. But I managed to track it down and follow it to its den. Once again, its unfortunate news the den of this monster doesn’t seem to be within the forest. I have returned here to collect my gear and leave you this note.

Your friend will not be found in the forest, instead I’m heading to the valley after the monster. If you see this note before you encounter me, please follow these instructions on the reverse side on how to get to where I last saw the monster. It should appear nearby that location with regularity as it seems like it is a territorial edge, I will hunt down this wolf and attempt to rescue your friend while you are occupied with your other goals.

I hope this information helps you find myself or your friend,

Isla.’

Ilev turns the page over and reads the detailed instructions that Isla had left for them. Then turns to the five waiting within the room, announcing that they’re going after Isla and that their first direction is to head past the Merchant’s Guild out of the forest as close to due north as they can get.