The Stained Slopes

After unmasking the fallen figure we found that it was a gray skinned man with tattoos all over his head. The tattoos seemed to be magical in nature but I was unsure as to exactly what they did. And while I could have deciphered them it would have taken way too long as they were in unfamiliar characters and were above my current level. "That was actually pretty fun," Kevin muttered. "Do you think he was working by himself?" he then asked. "I do not know, it is possible but doubtful," I replied. "Well, let's turn him in for our reward and untie these people," I said motioning to the lost persons that were bound in the back which I had almost forgotten about. The ropes had faint purple lines running in their fibers and seemed to be keeping the adventurers asleep. I figured that it would be good to keep one so I tied it around my waist. In addition to having a good rope handy, it would also help my new or reset body form resistances to certain things, in this case sleep spells. Fighting consciously against a spell for longer periods of time helps get your mind adjusted to them. So in the future they will be easier to fend off. I will also just build a natural immunity to them eventually. I also tied one around the man to ensure a smooth walk back to the guild.

We looked around for a while to see if we could find anything that may be a clue as to what the man was doing, and only found the tip of an unknown creature's horn. After that, we went back to the guild.

"Back so soon?!" The receptionist was clearly surprised that we had managed to go to the area and rescue them and get back in around a 5 hour timeframe. "We got lucky," Kevin said from behind me. "I see, well if you would come to the back we will get you your reward." The receptionist said as she walked towards a door in the back. Kevin and I followed. After going through a couple of doors we came to a room that held a single pedestal in which the receptionist placed the completed request upon. After a second, light flooded out of the pedestal and a green check mark appeared in the air for a couple of seconds. 5 dim lights flew into my chest and everything went back to normal. I checked my book really fast and sure enough my level had risen to 9, and I was halfway to level 10. "Do I get anything?" Kevin asked. "Given that you were not the one who accepted the request then no, but if you feel like forming a formal party through the guild, then you will each receive awards in the future" the receptionist replied. Kevin glanced at me. "Want to do it?" I asked "Sure".

Back at the front desk, the receptionist whose name I now noticed was Stacy, from a name tag on her shirt, gave us a piece of paper with some stuff on it. "If each of you sign this then you will be recorded as a party in the guilds system." "Cool," I said. Glancing over it we both signed it. The book in my pocket moved a bit, so I noted to check it later. Kevin decided to call it quits for the day and went back to the inn, So I followed.

Back at the inn I opened my book and saw that a new page had been filled in. It said Party: unnamed, Members: Winter, Kevin. Interesting. Kevin also seemed to be looking at something surprising. I don't know what is so interesting about empty space though. Now that I had some time to myself I also remembered to check and see if I had gotten any new skills. Earlier when I was fighting the kidnapper I managed to make a crude blade with art and figured that a skill had likely been added as a result of that. I was not disappointed when I saw that a new skill named 'bad artist' had appeared, and it was level 2 already. I decided to practice in the corner a bit because it was fun. I decided to go to sleep after the sky grew dark.

When I was woken up it was almost night again. The reason for this being that rope I tied on myself, and the only reason I woke up was because Kevin noticed and untied it. A slight oversight on my part. Kevin had gone out for the day and done some goblin slaying, and upon seeing that I was still asleep even after the whole day had passed he remembered the rope that I had tied on my waist and woke me up. After thanking him Kevin dropped into bed and fell asleep pretty fast. Having slept the whole day I was in no mood for more, so I went to the Brotherhood building in search of a challenge. The Brotherhood did not disappoint as there was a quest for defeating kobolds which upon some research turned out to be monsters that were almost twice as strong as goblins and tended to travel in small groups, but could sometimes be seen in large packs. I took one of the requests and left for the forest.

I walked for a while until I came to the area where there were sightings and waited, trying my best not to move. *Crack* a branch snapped in the distance. I slowly got up and went to see what it was, and from the looks of it I had found my prey. There was a group of 4 kobolds traipsing through the woods. Realizing I had not made myself a weapon yet, I crafted one quickly while making sure not to lose sight of them. My blade was a long and skinny thing that was not too sharp but it held some power. Even for me, at my current level a 4 on 1 was too much, so I decided to attempt to land a lethal blow on one of them from behind. Leaping out from the bushes I somehow managed to spear one through their heart and watched as they dissolved, unlike when killing goblins however, a small extremely dim orb was left that flew into me. Just like those 5 at the guild I thought. The rest turned towards quickly, now on high alert and brandished crude weapons. One lunged and knocked them to the left while I lunged at the one standing farthest right, landing a blow on their side, with the kobold barely reacting in time. I quickly distanced myself and lunged at the one I injured once more. The two other ones quickly defended him and parried my blow off to the side. Catching myself immediately I lopped off one of their heads and they evaporated instantly. Now being a two on one I had a relatively easy time taking them out. Each kill awarded 15 EXP and the spear bearer dropped their spear, which I left on the ground. After wandering around a few more hours and having 10 total kills to show for it, I went back to town, grabbed my money for the request at the guild and went back to the inn to practice some art and wait for Kevin to wake up.

In the morning Kevin and I went back to the guild and leveled up a bit, same with the next day, with nothing eventful happening. The 3rd day however, I woke up to the leather book floating above my face, open to a new page. It was titled worlds, and there were two titled images on the page. The first one was named the Heartwood forest, and next to it it said current position. The other image was titled the Stained Slopes.

At the guild, I asked one of the receptionists if they knew what the Stained slopes were. "They are the next island or world that you can visit, it's recommended that you are level 15 to go there. Oh if you want to go there should be a ship waiting at the far east side of the island for people wanting to travel to the Stained Slopes." "Thanks!"

"Kevin, have you heard of a place called the Stained Slopes?" "I heard some people discussing them the other day why?" "I heard that there was a place that would take you to them on the east side of this island, also the recommended level is 15, and we both got there last night" "I guess we could check it out." walking to the east we found that there was already a good trail that seemed to lead to the other side of the island. After walking for the endless expanse of trees finally started to dwindle, and the Island filled sky was revealed. In an open space there was a large wooden dock that extended off of the island, next to the dock there was a small ship floating in the air with a man sitting in a chair next to it. This man was large and muscular with the head and claws of a lion. "Is this your ship?" I asked as I walked over. "Yes" he replied gruffly, "if you are looking for a ride to the Stained Slopes then that will be 1000 coins per person." We handed him the coins and boarded. The man walked over to the stern of the boat and it started moving towards the Stained slopes, hopefully.