After hearing the tale of Risel and her brother the vision vanished but left Yvlena with a deeper understanding of why the quest was so important to Risel, Freude was her only living relative. Yvlena found herself relating to the elf.

  “I’m sure he doesn’t think you abandoned him, you were visiting him before the barrier went up so I know for sure he doesn’t think that. He was probably trying to contact you himself.” Yvlena said with certainty.

  A sad face didn’t suit Risel at all, Yvlena hated to see the other elf with a face so down.

  “You’re right, Freude always had a kind heart, he’d never blame me. I guess mostly I just blame myself.” Risel said.

  “Here’s your breakfast!” A cheerful voice called from the kitchen where Ivory had been preparing their meal. The innkeeper strolled out with a plate in each hand smiling brightly from where she walked towards them not knowing she had interrupted a moment between the two elves.

  Risel quickly put on a smile as the meal of Eggs, bacon and bread slices was laid in front of her and Yvlena.

  [Yvlena Acquired

  ***

  Corr’s Inn Special x1]

  “Thank you Ivory, this looks delicious.” Yvlena said, starting with the eggs. A meal like this would definitely give her the strength to proceed with the task at hand.

  Yvlena took it as her cue to take a bite of the succulent bacon, her eyes widened with the intensity of the flavor, as she bit into the savory meat.

  “This is so good!” Yvlena said, eating up the bacon with relish and going for the eggs next, it was almost as good as Mars’s cooking and she could only wonder how the game was able to replicate the taste and texture of the food in her mouth, before she knew it, she had polished off the whole plate.

  ‘My avatar must have been hungrier than I thought, then again who could blame here with the stuff I’ve been cooking.’ Yvlena thought in amusement.

  [+ Temporary HP Boost

  + Temporary STR Boost

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  +Resistance to Poison]

  “Resistance to poison?” Yvlena muttered, she paled realizing that there were probably more venomous beings up ahead that she would have to fight.

  “How is it?” Ivory asked.

  “Delicious!” Risel who had stuffed her mouth full of eggs replied. Yvlena was relived to see she had finally found a more enthusiastic eater than herself.

  “I can’t thank you enough for killing that beast, even old Bill’s gone off to see the path you cleared up.” Ivory said.

  “It’s the least I could do, we need to open up the roads, it’s crazy to think you’ve been here all this while by yourselves.” Yvlena said.

  “I thought I would go crazy from the isolation but now maybe I could see my aunt who lives there.” Ivory said.

  “Oh? Who’s your aunt?” Yvlena asked curiously, she might know an NPC related to the innkeeper, she always seemed to be stumbling into families whenever she found someone.

  “She’s a tailor, Madame Pratt.”

  “I know her, business is really good in Bloom Haven too. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you. Maybe on our way back we could escort you.” Yvlena offered.

  Ivory nodded enthusiastically.

  “And don’t worry about paying. For you, it’s on the house.” She said resting her hands on her waist.

  “Yay!” Risel cheered from where she sat, clapping enthusiastically at the news. A good breakfast like that would have only cost a handful of Moon Points but Yvlena appreciated the gesture.

  “Thank you, Ivory. I really appreciate the morale boost.” The elf said.

  Ivory nodded and walked away to begin tending to the kitchen and the rest of the rooms within the in. It wouldn’t be long before they had to set out again towards the path to the Verdant Vale.

  ----------

  After bidding farewell to Ivory, the elves gathered their belongings and began leaving the inn, Yvlena saw the grouchy old man tilling the soil behind the inn where he had planted a bunch of vegetables but that wasn’t all.

  The sound of bleating and mooing caught her attention, Yvlena stopped to look at the cute farm animals the inn kept as a source of food. It suddenly made sense to her how they were able to survive all those years alone.

  As she and Risel walked, she also saw the makings of a makeshift cemetery walled off from the rest of the inn.

  ‘Damn.’ Yvlena thought in sympathy. Ivory’s parents and the rest of the Corr family must have been resting there, unable to leave the area for fear of their lives. Asides from Jack who had been dead for an uncertain amount of time.

  She wondered who Jack was and if he had been a brother or a husband to Ivory. Yvlena shook the thoughts away, it was time to focus on the path ahead of them, they should be closer to the next town now and even closer to Risel’s brother.

  The next area was a denser forest than the Verdant Woods, from the information the game gave her, Yvlena understood it was the Verdant Vale Outskirts, similar to Bloom Haven’s own outskirts that led to the outpost.

  The two elves passed a faded sign pointing towards the Inn and in another direction Yvlena assumed was the next town.

  A brief thought crossed her mind, now that the Miasma had been driven away, did that mean they would send people to manage the area?

  The smell of Miasma was thicker here, worse off than it was in the Spider Forest. Yvlena bid Risel to stay close to her. Now was a good time to call on her summons.

  Now fully rested, Sprite, Rabbit Knight and Kuti looked towards their summoner and then looked around the forest they had been called to.

  Without further prompting they already knew what to do. Yvlena nodded to each of them, while Kuti once again found herself being hugged by Risel, not that she minded.

  “Something tells me another fight is up ahead. Are you ready?” Yvlena asked, turning to face Risel who nodded nervously at the thought of another large beast attacking them.

  But if it was what she had to do to see her brother once more she would do it.

  “I’m ready.”

  The pat to the Verdant Vale was steeped in Miasmic sap, it dripped from every tree, hitting the ground with a hiss. Yvlena, Risel and her summons watched their steps, helping each other through the large puddles of the black liquid that covered the ground.

  “This is the worst of it I’ve ever seen.” Yvlena said.

  “I know, it’s like the whole path’s been eaten away by something.” Risel said leaping over another small pool of dark liquid.

  ‘Or someone.’ Yvlena thought, her mind flashed back to Enis the pollutant goddess. If she had done this, then there was a high chance she would be around her. The group continued walking through the blighted forest until a familiar message caught Yvlena’s attention, much to her relief.

  [The Everbloom wants to guide]

  Read ahead here!!!