In the end, neither Elcrid nor Setra returned. I found myself alone, once again.
("How am I supposed to deal with this ss?") [Solace]
I had attempted fixing the cabin with my diocre skills, but it was a far cry to its original splendor. I knew what to do to fix it thanks to asking the Spirit Guide, which ant it was just my terrible craftsmanship holding back.
("That... should do for now.") [Solace]
With the hole in the wall closed by replacing sections with new logs, I finally found ti to rest and gather my thoughts. I sat on Elcrid’s personal chair considering he no longer needed it, and found it more comfortable than expected.
("Now... What do I do from here?") [Solace]
My adjustnt to |Unbound Mortal| is basically completed, yet I can’t really consider leaving due to being cursed by the gods. Though I could call up Nakros for advice, I felt like I wasn’t ready for sothing like that.
("Do I risk leaving the Misty Forest to find a way to remove the curse?") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After a week of pondering, I remained in the forest. I sohow felt like waiting for Elcrid to return. However, I assud based off of Setra’s reaction that Elcrid would not be making a reappearance. Instead, I spent my ti reading whatever was inside the cabin. There were still books Elcrid had laid out for to read out of boredom, I just didn’t touch them yet.
("They’re each about five hundred to eight hundred pages each. Might last a bit.") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
As a matter of fact, I didn’t have much ti to read at all. Turns out, the barrier around the cabin had an effect of obscurent along with the ability to keep out the mist. Sounds great until you realize Setra tore through it to get here. Sure, I found out how to repair it thanks to the Spirit Guide, but my lack of skills were unable to fix the enchantnt of obscurity.
("Maybe that’s alright. I think it was only ant for hiding from Setra anyway.") [Solace]
Boy was I wrong. Once in a while, a monster or two would approach so I had to deal with them myself. They weren’t very strong, it’s just that they were pretty grotesque. Well, it was a good ti killer though.
("This monster’s shell is pretty hard. Maybe I can make sothing with it?") [Solace]
Eventually, I started to encounter other people. My first eting was a group of people at the edge of the barrier, seemingly looking for sothing. Thinking they were lost, I called out to them.
"Hey! Are you guys lost?" [Solace]
The mont they noticed , one of them pointed at .
"There he is! Kill him!" [???]
"In the na of the goddess!" [???]
They charged at , leaving no choice other than to knock them out. Thanks to their rather low level, around sixty to ninety, it was pretty easy.
("What the fuck was that...?") [Solace]
I used threaded stems from dead plants to make so rope, a simple process if you have enough dexterity and strength. I then tied up my attackers before questioning them.
"Why did you attack ?" [Solace]
One of them spat at . Luckily, I was able to dodge it.
"Okay, let’s take a different approach." [Solace]
Obviously, I had to take rougher asures to get them to talk. Don’t bla for hitting them since they were the ones who attacked first.
"You’re an enemy of the goddess!" [???]
"Okay, cool. Is that all?" [Solace]
It was then that I learned nearly every country had placed a bounty on my head. Demons wanted dead for harming one of their civilizations. Humans wanted dead for heresy against the divine. Beastn wanted dead for killing a divine beast. Ridiculous.
"And how much is the bounty?" [Solace]
From their specific land, it was about twenty million l. Combined with the bounties across the world. Fifty billion l.
"For real?" [Solace]
Maybe I should turn myself in for that money.
"Don’t think you’re safe! Everyone knows you’re here! It’s only a matter of ti until the Templars co for you!" [???]
"Uh-huh." [Solace]
At so point they just started naming off groups that would co for , so I knocked them out again.
("Now, what to do with these guys?") [Solace]
I had two choices, throw them out and probably let them co back for revenge, or finish them off right now.
("Logically, killing them here would be better...") [Solace]
Even so, it felt like I’d lose sothing about myself. Maybe I’d be losing a bit of my humanity, or so of my morality. I ended up sitting there in a dilemma, letting out a long sigh before deciding.
("I’ll give them a second chance. I’ll throw them out. If they co back for revenge, then that’ll be their final choice.") [Solace]
I dragged them out, untied them, and hid them in a place safe from monsters before returning to the cabin.
("So let’s get this straight. The obscurent enchantnt interfered with the goddess’ curse so that people wouldn’t really know where I was. Now that it’s gone, I’m getting hunted.") [Solace]
Sounds ridiculous, but that’s my life now.
("...I should prepare.") [Solace]
I spent most of my ti going in and out of the barrier, placing makeshift traps here and there.
("Everything’s set up. All I have to do is wait for my next victim.") [Solace]
The next few days, I spent my ti lurking in the forest. I hid behind shrubbery, remained in the trees, and tracked people hunting . Honestly, it was way more fun than reading books. There was this particular group of five I liked watching. They fell for nearly every trap, causing to stifle my laughter lest I get caught.
"Agh! My foot!" [???]
One of them had stepped over my small spike pit. I designed it specifically to puncture the target’s foot to prevent them from walking.
"Ellie, we need a heal over here." [???]
Within this group of five, they each played specific roles. One tank, one mage, one swordsman, one healer, and a rogue. It kind of reminded of my journey with the Hero’s party.
("A well balanced party.") [Solace]
It appeared that the mage was the party leader, taking command in the back. Anyway, the rogue’s foot was injured and the healer was moving forward.
"Let take a look." [Healer]
As the healer applied their magic, the tank made a joke.
"You’d think that a rogue would be able to handle a few traps." [Tank]
The rogue made an annoyed expression.
"These traps aren’t like any other. Crude, but effective. It’s undetectable too because it was made without magic." [Rogue]
I couldn’t tell if that was a complint or not.
"Sothing like this isn’t even worth ntioning. I’ll go first." [Tank]
Stepping forward, he triggered another one of my chanisms. A flexible branch I found swung out, whipping the tank’s face. Luckily for that tank, his helt snapped the branch in half.
"See?" [Tank]
The rogue grumbled in response.
"Let’s continue." [Mage]
Overconfident, the tank marched forward. It wasn’t until long that he fell into one of my pits.
"Wha-?!" [Tank]
I didn’t make it very deep, leaving the tank stuck waist deep in the hole. The funniest part about it was that he couldn’t get out due to his bulky armor.
"Let’s wrap so rope around him and pull him out." [Mage]
It was funny to see their entire party pulling at a rope in an attempt to pull the tank out. Oh, right. Did I ntion that I filled the hole with mud? The mud acted sowhat like a suction cup, making it more difficult to take the tank out.
"Would it kill you to lose so weight?!" [Swordsman]
"It’s the armor!" [Tank]
Eventually, they did pull him out.
"Okay, enough with this. I’ll go first." [Swordsman]
Famous last words. Not too far he stepped on a makeshift rake where it would swing up and strike his face.
"Ack!" [Swordsman]
He stumbled back, furious once he realized what happened.
"Alt! This treacherous scoundrel! Making these accursed traps! When I get my hands on him, I’m gonna-!" [Swordsman]
"Calm down. These traps were clearly designed to exhaust us." [Mage]
Not exactly. I just did it for fun. There’s not a lot to do out here.
"Let’s move cautiously. Toss stones on leaf piles and have our sturdiest up front." [Mage]
In the end, they mostly triggered my traps with rocks. There were a few extra tis I got them, but it was the string trip based ones. Those ones take a bit of work to set up so I didn’t put many of them. After many adversities, they arrived at the cabin where I awaited them.
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