Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

686  Consumed Village (Part 1)

From the moment Kaizen and the other players managed to escape safely from the mysterious creature and actually enter the Kingdom of Mibothen, they received a mission and this was the first time Kaizen had received a mission like this.

[Mission Name: Destroyed Kingdom

You have entered the Kingdom of Mibothen, which was recently mysteriously destroyed. Now, there are countless points of interest available throughout this place, consequently unique quests and other activities, but the biggest mystery still hangs in the air: what happened in this place?

Quest objective: to find out what happened to the Kingdom of Mibothen.

Possible rewards for completing this Mission:

- 10000 Fame

- +50 Class Points].

Kaizen and others were shocked to receive this quest and so finally understood why all the players were so keen to go to Mibothen, although many still don't know about this quest.

There aren't many rewards, but getting 10,000 fame and 50 Class Points is motivation enough for any kind of player to want to be there.

"By the way, it's been so long since I heard about it that I've practically forgotten... I have Class Points to use." Kaizen thinks aloud as he sits on the roof of the carriage and opens the window of the tree after several weeks without doing so.

[This is your Class Skill Tree. In this place, you can unlock Class Skills with Class Points].

The branches of the Skill Tree are almost untouched compared to when Kaizen started, but the skill <Telekinesis> has been crossed out and a branch called <Psychokinesis> has appeared next to it. In addition, just below it are two other very shiny skills, which are the <Analyzing Eye> and <Skill Apograph> skills. Finally, there's only one skill available that hasn't been released, and it's called <Sidereal Casting>.

[Class Skill: Sidereal Smelting.

Casting and transforming is the main Skill of a Blacksmith, but Psykers do more than cast iron or gold, Psykers cast bonds and destinies.

You'll be able to fuse Items and Skills according to your level.

Do you want to unlock <Sidereal Fusion> for 10 Class Points YES/NO].

"Oh!" Kaizen is pleasantly surprised. "Why the hell didn't I think of that? Maybe I'm not as cautious as I thought."

[You used 10 Class Points to learn the Skill <Analyzing Eye>. You have 15 Class Points left to use].

"If I can combine the skills <Skill Map> with <Sidereal Foundry>, I'll be able to create new skills or evolve the ones I have... That's interesting." He says, smiling, and then looks at the path the carriage is following and sees something in the distance, so he asks Jayaa to turn right onto the road.

Further on, after a winding turn to the right, Kaizen and his group spotted a village. The sight was breathtaking and, at the same time, unnerving. The houses, which had probably once been beautiful wooden constructions, were now in ruins, with crumbling walls and partially missing roofs.

Jayaa stopped the carriage at the entrance to the village, noticing the presence of the purple lichen again. Kaizen and the others disembarked, looking around wistfully.

"This is unbelievable," muttered Kaizen, observing all the destruction. "This place used to be so vibrant."

Xisrith agreed. "It looks like an impact wave swept everything away."

Their mission was not only to find out what happened to the Kingdom of Mibothen, but also to understand and collect clues about what happened to the players who were here when the catastrophe struck, and the ruined village seemed like a good place to start.

"All right, pay attention. It could be dangerous to enter this village and we can't leave the carriage and the Black Cloud unprotected, so only one person can come with me." Kaizen said.

"I'm fine staying here," said Alina, smoothing Black Cloud's mane. "I don't think I'd be much use in a battle in such a cramped place."

Jayaa agreed, with her arms crossed. "And I'm going to stay here to... you know, observe the surroundings and make sure there's nothing dangerous approaching."

At that moment, Xisrith took a deep breath and said:

"If none of the supports go, I think it's best if I stay here too, so they have someone to protect them. Is everything all right with you, Andrew?"

Andrew nodded. "I was just about to ask for that. I need to stretch my muscles a bit after sitting for so long."

"Right, then come with me, Andrew."

So they went through the destroyed iron gate at the entrance to the village and started walking down the short, small main street. The wooden houses were simple, in fact, everything seemed very modest, but well made to withstand the snow, which made it all the more impressive that they were partially destroyed. Kaizen approached one of the houses, the walls of which were covered in a thin layer of Corruption. With a wave of his hand, he activated his Analyzing Eye and examined the structure, but was unable to see anything paranormal.

"It doesn't seem to have been caused by an ordinary impact wave," commented Andrew.

"Indeed, but it wasn't anything supernatural either."

As they advanced, they found houses with locked doors, as if the inhabitants had tried to protect themselves from whatever had attacked them. Inside one of them, they discovered a diary that had been partially consumed by the Corruption, but which, with the light of a lantern, had fallen away. Kaizen took the diary and began to read aloud:

"Day 1 of the Summer Season: With each passing day, it seems that the volume of snow seems to increase and the sky is getting darker. Dark clouds are coming from the north, but what is there to the north, apart from the capital? Nothing. In other words, we don't know where they're coming from. We can't leave the village anymore, the church won't let us. The doors and windows don't protect us from the cold and I feel that something is watching us...

Day 12: For some reason, many people have disappeared. Even though summer has arrived, every day it snows more. Food is running out. They say that other residents have disappeared because they've gone to the Capital, but we can't trust anyone. Some people have become hostile, mad...

Day 20: We're still resisting, we seem to be doing well. The aggressive residents were killed by the Mayor. That's better, that's better. I even ate three times yesterday. It was good, and I hope..."

times yesterday. It was good, and I hope..."

Silence fell over the room as Kaizen closed the diary.

"What? How does it end?" Andrew asked.

"It doesn't. There's a big ink stain and a big jar of dried ink. The person who was writing it couldn't finish it."

"Shit... What could have caused all this? They've been suffering all this time and nobody knew?"

Kaizen shook his head. "Mibothen's winter has always been known, we just never knew how severe it was. Anyway, now we have a clue: things have gotten worse in the last few days."

Andrew nodded in agreement. "It looks like we need more information. Maybe we can find more clues in the main building at the end of the street."

So the pair made their way towards the village's main building, whose tower towered imposingly over the town. On the façade was written: Town Hall. As they approached, they noticed that the two large doors of the town hall were ajar. Without hesitating for a second, Andrew slowly pushed it open, revealing a gloomy darkness inside.

Kaizen raised the lantern to illuminate the interior of the town hall. The ground was covered in snow and a little light was coming in through a hole in the ceiling. They entered the building cautiously, the floor creaking under their feet. The interior of the town hall was bleak. The wooden benches were overturned, as if a fight had taken place inside. Fragments of broken glass littered the floor, indicating that the windows had been smashed, although the wooden boards that closed them were intact.

However, standing out among all this chaos, on one part of the floor there were stains of a dark, sticky liquid.

Andrew pointed to the floor. "Those stains... could they be blood?"

Kaizen moved closer to examine the stains more closely. "It's hard to say for sure, but it's possible. And that mess on the benches... it looks like there was a fight here."

As they investigated the town hall, they found some small rooms, cupboards, all with lots of papers, records, some random items, but nothing really valuable. However, Andrew noticed something peculiar in the corner. In one of the rooms, there was a staircase that led down to a kind of basement. He looked at it and said:

"Hey, Kaizen, come take a look at this."

Kaizen, who was in the same corridor, immediately turned his neck towards him and when he saw the staircase, he nodded. Determined to investigate the basement of the town hall, Kaizen led the way for Andrew with his flashlight, illuminating the dark and dusty staircase. They descended slowly, reaching an underground room.

In the basement, they found something they hadn't expected to find. There was a cell, with rusty chains hanging from the walls. The first thing the torchlight illuminated were the walls of the cell, where there were countless written texts, seemingly unordered words scribbled frantically.

Jayaa read aloud the first sentence she could make out in this morass of words:

"They're coming... eyes in the dark... we can't escape..."

At the same time, Kaizen came closer to the cell with his flashlight, illuminating a man who was writing all this on the wall in the blood of his cellmate's corpse.