Blinded by the light

Chapter 29

The dark elf was named Finhad. Their clan resided in the forest nearly a thousand years ago when the forest was still clean and filled with many magical creatures and natural riches, but when King Deryth Cererindur's ancestor established their dominance on the unclaimed land of Solnara, the greedy warlord gathered all of the ten war clans and forced all of them to swear allegiance to Halrod Cererindur with violence and fear. He waged war, ravaging the land and invading the forest and plundering the land, nearly destroying the forest.

The empire that was built near the gate was created from the foundation that came from the forest that was once called simply the Solnara forest, but the surviving Dark elf that escaped the Halrod Cererindur attack planted the toxic vegetation all over the place to protect the wounded protector of the forest; sadly, the protector could only last a few hundred years and eventually died from the wound it got from Halrod Cererindur's poisonous long spear that punctured its lungs while facing thousands of the warlord's army. But within those hundred years, the plants that the dark elf cultivated changed the landscape to be hazardous and toxic to humans and other creatures that were domesticated, but due to wild creatures carrying small amounts of mana, they gradually learned to adapt to the toxic spores released by the plants, but changing the place was renamed the cursed forest.

Many hunters and potion masters were killed entering the forest to gather toxic plants; a few were able to gain a profit from this forest, but at a high cost. The magic guild and the priest and high-ranking personnel working at the cathedral made small and controlled transactions with the dark elf clan that ruled this area for a thousand years.

This is why Finhad and all of his kind are self-righteous, prideful, and arrogant, due to their isolation and battle prowess; facing any warrior from the Solnara empire was no longer a threat to them. Due to their long life, they mastered the art of combat, but after many years, they too were complacent and were consumed with overconfidence and self-sufficiency. However, their interactions with the dark elf clan had instilled in them a sense of superiority that was difficult to shake, leading to a dangerous level of arrogance in their dealings with others. Despite their impressive combat skills, this hubris would eventually prove to be their downfall as they underestimated the strength and cunning of their enemies.

Dane knows this very well because he co-wrote their background; their personality and history was a well-crafted scenario he and another developer created to give meaning to why they were living inside the cursed forest. The players that venture inside and survive gain a lot of experience points. While it was still a virtual game, a few players dared to accept any mission to go there, as the Solnara Empire had more mission quests to provide, and guilds that post tasks entering the cursed forest are ignored entirely.

Dane's path was unconventional, to say the least. There would be no formal guild initiation for him; the mission would simply trigger the moment he escaped the chaotic onslaught of mimic insects and stepped into the open, where the moonlight bathed the land in its silvery glow. He'd envisioned a safer, less jarring approach, but the reality of being swarmed by those unsettling creatures was a far cry from the abstract scenario he'd planned.

Now, he was committed. The path ahead wasn't so clear, especially concerning Finhad. There were a number of ways to defeat him, but the most effective, though mortifying, method was the challenge of direct confrontation in a game of wits, a maneuver he usually wouldn't consider.

He could attempt to inflate Finhad's ego by pretending to seek arcane wisdom, but that would consume precious time he couldn't afford. The clock was ticking; the quest to eliminate the evolved Drake had already begun, adding a distinct urgency to his already dire situation.

Dane, while the creative force behind the virtual game's world and its inhabitants, was far from a seasoned gamer. His focus lay in the intricate details of the scenarios and the diverse creatures, not the minute-by-minute action of playing.

He had designed the kobolds and the mimic, but it was his teammate who meticulously crafted the gameplay mechanics, adjusting difficulty and ensuring a balanced experience, often based on Dane's conceptual recommendations. Stepping into the virtual world he had helped create was an entirely new experience for him. His success against the kobolds and the mimic stemmed not from innate gaming expertise but from a learned skill set established in his youth.

While possessing extensive knowledge of the game's creatures and scenarios, he readily admitted that battling formidable monsters was not his strength. His reliance on his team for gameplay feedback and fine-tuning was paramount, highlighting the collaborative nature of the project. Although he lacked practical experience in the gaming sphere, Dane's deep understanding of the game's lore and creatures was instrumental in designing a compelling and challenging virtual world.

So this was only a moment; his knowledge was getting used to benefiting his goal, but he couldn't go outside the scenario as he was also wary of the consequences the old gods might do if he strayed too far from the established lore. Despite his limited experience, Dane's dedication to maintaining the integrity of the game world ultimately led to a more immersive and cohesive gaming experience for players.

Without the event that led him to reawaken and be reborn to his younger years, he could never face the kobolds and kill those mimics if he wasn't physically fit; the training he gained was just one of the factors in surviving one of the numerous dangerous locations in the first floor.

Dane waited until he got the notification that Finhad had reached the location; Miko was on standby until the dark elf took arms as the mimic was now alerted by his presence.

"MIMIC IS NOW MOVING TOWARD THE TARGET, COMMENCING CALCULATION. PLEASE AWAIT INSTRUCTION."

"DISTANCE IS 52 METERS, POINT OF REFERENCE IS WHERE YOU ARE CURRENTLY STANDING, DIRECTION IS WEST 10 O'CLOCK."

"DARK ELF WILL GAIN CONTACT WITH ENEMY IN FIVE MINUTES."

Dane's fingers tightened around the cool metal of the flash grenade, the pin already pulled and discarded. He held his breath, adrenaline coursing through him, a symphony of anticipation and focus. Each muscle in his arm was attuned to the task, knowing he needed to factor in the subtle arc of the throw, the distance, and the critical timing. He listened intently for Miko's cue, his gaze fixed on the dark elf who was now drawing back the string of his bow, an arrow nocked and poised to pierce the air. The moment Miko's voice hissed, "Throw," Dane's arm moved in a fluid motion, sending the grenade sailing through the air. It landed with a soft clatter, only inches from the dark elf's feet, just as the elf's eyes locked onto his first intended victim, a moment frozen in time before the blinding flash erupted.

Finhad didn't know what just happened; he wasn't able to sense any spells in the area. His ability to see in the dark didn't help him at all; it even turned against him as the burst of light rendered him blind. The mimic was also affected, but it was able to quickly recover and launch a counterattack, catching Finhad off guard. The dark elf stumbled backward, disoriented and vulnerable, as the mimic closed in for the kill. But Finhad was able to stand up and dash away as he hit trees and stumbled on the ground. He took aim and used his arrow to strike the mimic, but it grazed its thick exoskeleton, and the arrow bounced off harmlessly.

When one imitation managed to stab his leg—not very deeply, but it was something he had never experienced before—his haughtiness vanished. It was now in doubt if they were among their clan's top hunters. He understood that he had to move quickly and utilize spells to stay alive. Unfortunately, when he punched the mimic who had stabbed him in the thigh, a blinding light burst into the area, affecting even the bug monster. Now that he was injured and hadn't even slain a single bug, the dark elf detested the tall, mantis-like insect.

He pursued these creatures merely for practice, and the sharp pincher that pierced his thigh was a terrible error. He was unable to comprehend what was occurring since the blinding light lacked mana, making it impossible for him to discern its source. If it was created from forge artifacts, there will still be a faint hint of mana on the surface of the blast area, but this light was different. It appeared to have been made using chemicals foreign to him. He prided himself on knowing much information about the land of Solnara, where their forest was located.

Time wasn't on his side. Finhad knew that the human that challenged him might be the one sabotaging his hunt, but he was sure the person wasn't carrying anything. Sadly, the dark elf wasn't able to see the instance where Dane's weapons vanished, as he saw Dane when he was lying on the ground within, but in his worn-out clothing., thinking that he might have strayed or have run away from his group and luckily ran toward the small clearing.

Finhad saw a lot of mimics and believed that no one person could have done this because of the dark elf's narrow-mindedness and arrogance. He can now only run and avoid; he can't even tell the difference between the landscape at his visit, which is completely useless. He even timed the blinding light burst in the hopes of escaping, but the intervals were random, and the dark elf even assumed that their mush would be a trigger to where these explosions would occur. Dane simply threw the flash grenade based on his own intuition, and Miko only mentioned the target's location.

"12 o'clock, 70 meters?"

"CORRECT MASTER!"

"That dark elf won't die that easily; their race is very prideful and resilient, and facing humiliation is their worst fear."

"Those extra grenades were worth duplicating."

"It's almost time; the moonshine is nearing the designated location. It's just a matter of minutes; a few more grenades will ensure my win."

After a few hours, the dark elf came back and saw the man seated in the same spot and looked like he never moved, as the grass on the ground remained undisturbed. Finhad had that look while dragging two dead mimics and tossed them on the ground and requested to have another challenge, but Dane rejected his request and said,

"I never expected that a noble dark elf would say such a thing and could not admit defeat."

"You have proven yourself to be a worthy opponent, but I must decline your request."

"You obviously lost the bet."

"How can I be sure you killed those mimics inside the forest?"

Dane gave out a heavy sigh and told the dark elf to wait at the same location as he proved him wrong.

"I will prove to you that I am not lying."

Dane suddenly dashed toward the forest and used his strength to kill four mimics within two minutes and came back even before Finhad washed his face in the small watering hole near the open patch. Dane casually walked back, dragging two mimics by each hand, and showed he punched the insects to death. Their abdomens were pierced and punctured. Finhad was not mad and furious; he spent hours roaming the area and could only kill two when the random blinding light stopped blasting. It was his loss; Finhad was still prideful, but he must honor his word and acknowledge he lost the bet, and now he must grant the human safe passage toward the cursed cave.

Finhad thought it tarnished his reputation if this human entered their village, but considering he wanted to enter the cursed cave, it only meant he wanted to obtain mithril ores, as they are truly valuable for a hunter. Finhad overthinks again and assumes this man is just one of the hunters party that entered the forest in search of the cursed cave filled with raw mithril ores. The problem was the location.

The cave owner still lives inside in the deepest part of the interconnected cave system, and the youngest daughter of their village chief is the only person who can tame one of the numerous monsters that took shelter near the cave entrance. So Fin had plan to kill him as soon as he approached the cave entrance.

With a smirk, Finhad nodded in understanding and left the designated location. His acting was obviously lacking, but Dane doesn't mind; he already knew all the details, and he just ignored everything as he finds it amusing, thinking if this being only knew that their entire existence was copied and created based on a game he designed.

He asked the dark elf about his condition. The dark-skinned elf was still annoyed, but the way he answered confirmed he wasn't in a mood to talk about how he lost. Finhad still can't get over how he lost, and he just can't figure out how those blinding lights came to be. It wasn't a spell; the caster could only activate those spells within range, and he was sure no device from beyond the gate could ever function inside the first floor.

Because their clan never lost the opportunity to gather intel on the merchants in the temporary town at the exit of the huge gate connecting their world to another realm.

Their clan wasn't isolated when it came to current events happening around them; they knew there were people called players who came from the other side, participating on paid quests in guilds on the entire floor. For reasons too hard to understand, even the current players still get confused about the manner in which the residents of the first floor can't address or answer certain questions about the upper floors. Indeed, they were breathing and living beings similar to humans, but they were prohibited from answering any question that was not part of the storyline scenario they were part of to a certain degree. Most residents were created to hold a small connecting link toward the main scenario, but without information on who those people are, it will consume a lot of time and effort.

Currently the only information available is those who reach the seventh floor when they play the virtual game. The news that made Finhad laugh: a frustration sets in: these so-called players had to do everything just to get to the other floors. And the person that won the wager against him, a dark elf, might also be a player. But he wasn't showing any signs of mana in his body; it was a very peculiar and intriguing situation. Finhad couldn't help but wonder how this person managed to enter the cursed forest with ease, as there are no signs of other adventurers in the area.

So killing him without ruining his reputation filled his head; if another dark elf saw him with a human, it would be his end. Accompanying a human to a location that only clan members can enter is a criminal act. Finhad was panicking as they were nearing the vicinity where most of his clan hunts.

Curse Forest was clearly an uncharted area; many players ignored this place as it was a challenging and dangerous location to explore. The eerie silence and uneven distribution of the toxic spore mixing with the fog were hard to ignore; many did try to explore; only a handful were able to reach the center, but it cost these people and guilds a lot of manpower, magical equipment, and resources to survive the treacherous journey. Despite the risks, many of the potions developed and created were based on the toxins found inside the forest.

That's why a few licensed potions and mage guilds delegated strict rules when entering the area, the dark elf that lives near the mountainous part of the cursed forest. Were their only connection with these resources, and because of the isolation from the other domain, the dark elf clan thrived inside the area and was able to gain immunity toward the toxins.

Finhad kept looking at the man that defeated him in the mimic challenge; he couldn't figure out where those items were coming from. The dark elf could not accept that this person might have a storage space, but he never once saw him use it. Summoning an item within the dimensional storage was considered a high-rank ability.

But the person walking beside him wasn't showing any signs of mana. Even the smallest creature in the tower has mana, and elves are known to be able to see mana energy naturally. So many things about this human were annoying to Finhad, but Dane just wanted to get inside the cave and increase his mana capacity. He was not showing any signs of distrust, as he was sure he could enter the cave and come out alive.

The scenario kept running around in his mind; this was something he never expected to happen. Sadly, Dane knew 3 ways on how to clear the cursed forest; the fastest was beating Finhad in a hunting game, opening the scenario where he could enter the cursed cave without resorting to conflict with the dark elf as they held a deep-seated grudge against those they perceived as enemies of their race.

They are nearing the cursed cave when Finhad notices a few of his kind are in the area. This makes him panic and decide to ditch the human and alarm his kind and make up a story that he was blindsided by the human's other teammate. As he turned around, like running, the human was no longer behind him; he just vanished. The pathway leading toward the cursed cave was created by the creature that lived inside the cave itself. The carve-out forest route was created and carved by a twenty-foot-tall old armored skin-horned black bear that lost its battle against the two-headed Ogre giant. That ruled the swamp connected with the cursed forest.

The small mountain was located near the toxic vegetation that the dark eft cultivated for thousands of years and made sure the spores that came out from these plants would never infect their hidden village. The armored skin-horned black bear was their guardian and protector, ensuring that no harm would come to their village. The only problem was they hadn't seen the monstrous creature for nearly ten years, believing it was still hibernating and was still recuperating from the wound it gained from battling the two-headed ogre. .

Finhad had wanted to alarm his clan, but he was sure this would create so many questions concerning why he didn't kill the intruder, knowing his race was far superior to human players in skill in hunting. Not seeing the human was a relief, but also a cause for concern, as it meant their clan was somewhat aware that something was wrong, but Fin no longer wanted to deal with this.

Retaining his honor and warrior pride was far more important to him than any human that stained his hunting skills. He wanted to kill him, but knowing that human wanted to enter the cursed cave, he would surely die inside like the other before him. He could finally relax and focus on his own affair..

As he walked near his fellow dark elf, he gave out an arrogant smile and continued on with his day as if nothing happened, not knowing Dane already took something from his belt bag. It was a handmade necklace with a small teardrop-sized blood emerald attached to it. that the chieftain's daughter created as a token for all the dark elves that passed. the initiation rites and became hunters.

This tear of blood emerald came from the blood of the armored skin-horned black bear they named Garrin, the white guardian. The twenty-foot-tall horned bear was intelligent and had evolved to a level that could rival a lesser dragon., but it was hunted down by brigand knights serving founding warlord King of Solnara. The horned bear nearly died but was able to escape and took refuge inside the cursed cave, where the chieftain's daughter nurtured it back to health. As a token of its gratitude, the blood spilled on the cave floor turned into crystals and was called blood emeralds and was given to Chasianna Carvaris.

These crystals were used as decorative ornaments for their clan's hunters. As smaller horned bears roamed the mountain, their leader made the cursed cave its temporary hibernation home. The cursed cave was actually an interconnected network of tunnels that led deep into the heart of the mountain, where ancient creatures were far stronger and more dangerous than Garrin.

The creatures that were hiding at the deepest part of it were not very territorial; they allowed other creatures to reside inside. However, they were fiercely protective of their chosen home; the cave opening was relatively small. It was just ten feet tall and twenty feet wide, but going further inside was different as the cave infrastructure was unnatural and seemed to have been shaped by something otherworldly.

The air grew colder, and the sound of dripping water echoed ominously through the tunnels, creating an eerie atmosphere that sent shivers down your spine. there are more openings inside the cave; each opening will lead to a different part of the cave system, some of which were rumored to be connected to underground rivers and hidden chambers. strange sightings and unexplained phenomena, adding to the mystery and allure of the ancient cursed cavern.

Garrin was near the cave opening as it took refuge in an opening that was just a few meters from the main entrance; it was spacious enough to accommodate Garrin's entire 40 clan, providing a temporary safe haven while they hibernate..

The problem is those who ventured inside the cave will have to face the Garrin family members as they protect the opening from those who are a threat to their home. Dark elves that have the necklace with the blood emerald attached to it as an ornament were granted access to pass them, so they can hunt inside the inner part of the cave, as it was known that there are more smaller openings known to them in the mountain where other creatures enter and seek refuge in the cave's protection.

The three other dark elves were discussing the plan to gather many mana stones and sell them to the nobles to gain some privilege to live on their land and leave the cursed forest forever as they grew tired of their isolation and felt they needed to experience fame and glory beyond the boundaries of their current home. They knew that the nobles were always in need of rare resources and were willing to pay a high price for them, making it the perfect opportunity for the dark elves to finally escape their secluded life.

Finhad heard this and was intrigued by the idea of leaving the cursed forest behind and seeking a new life among the nobles. He saw this as a chance to prove himself and make a name for his people outside of their current home. While this was happening, Dane reached the cave entrance without any problems; the necklace gave him access to go further inside. The horned bears instantly ignored him as the smell of their king's blood was so potent it emanated from the necklace.