VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 330: Deal with the Fae

The agreement with the Dryad was relatively simple, although it took a slightly extensive and overly cautious process to get to the end agreement, as both Valerie and Elise were incredibly insistent on the wording of their agreement.

Trivian couldn’t understand the reasoning behind that, but they kept insisting that ’When you deals with the fae, Phrasing matters most of all.’

In the end, they landed on a deal that the Dryad would watch over and guard the portal against any otherworldly threats and deter anyone that was not part of the force that helped eliminate the Abomination here and now.

In exchange, Trivian would complete the process of cleansing the poison from this quarry, allowing the strange new meadow to thrive, as well as take and plant something else in his own garden. That ’something else’ was a seed that the Dryad pulled from its own chest, and almost made them think that it was its heart.

Whatever it was, the moment it was placed in his hands, Trivian’s entire demeanour entirely changed. He grew incredibly serious, and also slightly giddy at the same time, as he cupped the strange seed in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. Even refusing to open them to let the others see it. So it was safe to say that he was not going to let it go either.

The words ’cursed item’ briefly crossed their minds, but they would have to wait until they were back home to see if Jason could deal with that, if it was the case. After all, it would be beyond rude to try removing a curse in front of the person who gave you an item. Especially if the item in question wasn’t actually cursed.

It was like accusing someone of poisoning you or cheating on you. It made you look insanely guilty and was not an accusation you could simply take back.

Regardless, the verbal sparring (albeit a spar that was heavily one sided) against the Dryad last long enough that it gave Jason and Lucy enough time to finish their, ahem, business as well as time for Ren to figure out how to harvest his seed from the strange, rotten flesh trees.

Once he removed it, he took a few samples of the fruit and allowed the tree to rapidly shrivel up like a raisin eating a sour candy, until all that was left was a dried up, completely dead husk. Which he then burned to cinders and kicked the ashes of, for good measure.

With all of them seeded and satisfied in their own special ways, Elise took a few minutes to set up the Perception Field, which finally concluded all of the business they had here.

Valerie stored all of the monster corpses in her [Eternal Companion] to be processed at home before they bid the Dryad farewell. The Dryad gave them a strange send off, by way of a blowing wind that smelled of cinnamon and the sound of rustling leaves, before its wood woven body unravelled itself and retreated back underneath the beautiful and vibrant grass, to wait like a true predator.

The party clambered out of the quarry slowly but surely, then gradually made their way back to the brick in silence. Even Ren, who had his ride already with him, kept silent and walked alongside them.

When they returned to the brick, the silence persisted as they clambered inside and took off, activating the auto pilot immediately. The moment the rumbling of the take off engines subsided, and they were officially on their way away from the Black Hills, the entire group’s posture completely melted away.

Their silence broke into a chorus of sighs, exhausted groans and one or two slight weeps at what they had just experienced. They felt like veterans on their way back from the war, or at least what they imagined that to be like.

It was nothing like Dawd. Nothing that they could have possibly prepared themselves for, no matter how serious they previously took it.

Although they were no longer silent, none of them actually talked on the long ride home. Simply deciding to keep to themselves and process their own massive increase of baggage alone, bar for the couple in front who were silently holding hands and rubbing their fingers over their engagement rings.

Perhaps, they thought, moving their wedding up might not be so bad of an idea.

***

Within the world of Dawd, an exhausted leader stood by the window of his grand palace and stared up at the twinkling lights above him with a heavy sigh.

Although it was indeed night time, these were not the stars that he was staring at, for no where in his kingdom was the sky visible. Not even the slightest sliver, through the mountain of rock that stood between his kingdom and a cool evening breeze.

To find this kingdom one would need to delve into a labyrinthine forest that was known to never allow anyone to leave alive ever again. If you were somehow able to navigate this forest, and find your way to a long cave in a small hillside, you would have to delve deep into that cave and traverse a twisting maze of dead ends and an illogical network of corridors until you eventually came to one particular dead end.

It was a dead end marked by a wall of black crystal, like obsidian, that would create a distorted reflection if cast in the light.

If one were to look at that reflection from the right angle, you might notice a grand castle behind you that did not exist in the real world. If you were to then walk into your reflection, directly towards this castle, then one would finally find themselves inside the Kingdom of Light. A name coated in irony and misery.

It was within this particular kingdom, and within that exact castle, that this King stood and gazed wistfully out the window at the fake night sky painted onto the ceiling of the cave. The illusion of stars created by a particular type of glowing worm that naturally bred within these caves, before being domesticated thousands of years ago.

It was a kingdom that was impossible to find, by purposeful design, and which not even time itself should have remembered. Yet this king, a muscular and well built man with eyes of a hunter and a fur cloak draped over his bare and scarred shoulders, let out another sigh as he felt the presence appear behind him.

"I don’t remember inviting you to my chambers, Matriarch."