Lightning Collecting Stone
Caravans and travelers rarely used the path through the Barkhu Mountains and if they dared to follow the difficult transition, they tried to pass through as quickly as possible, making only brief stops.
The only regular visitors were the rangers from the Kingdom of Rosenheim.
-"Lets travel at a normal pace. At this rate we will reach our destination in one or two more days."
-"Wasn't easy. We almost died:", Lewis laughed.
-"If not for you, nothing would have happened."
-"You could have said it straight! If I didn't kill that guy."
Helmen, Lewis, Marcus and Gran. Four infamous murderers from the United Kingdom of Great Britain. A group of people getting by trough murders, massacres and stealing items from other players.
The infamous Quartet was better known under the name - Dvici.
About a month ago, they thoughtlessly attacked several members of Cloud Guild. One of the ten largest guilds with more than 6000 players and an immense influence in the Kingdom of Britain.
Which means, that even for a group, such as the Dvici, it got dangerous to stay in UK. With other words they had to flee.
All four of them got onto the list with the most wanted people, because they killed a member of Cloud Guild.
-"Get going, guys. This is my hunting ground.", said the player.
-"Who are you?"
-"The hell, did you say?"
The Quartet came to have some fun. To remove the red color of their nick, pointing them out as PK's(player-killer), either a large donation to a temple or a long, monotonous monster hunt was required.
Naturally, none of the four, planned to do either one.
The player saw the nicks, but still tried to explain that he was the first there, not noticing the futility of his efforts. The guys laughed for a while and jokingly argued with him. Lewis got tired of the 'fun' first.
He exploded.
-"That's it! He's dead!"
-"How do you think you're talking to me! I want a dual - one on one!", the player shouted back.
Ordinary people would have never become participants in such a situation. It was much better to simply share a meal around a campfire, chat or walk off to hunt elsewhere, hunting grounds were present in abundance.
But the Dvici were killers.
The four simultaneously laid their arms bare and rushed to attack. And while their level was considerably lower than the player, the Dvici attacked together. The player had no chance against the coordinated sudden attacks. He died. The killers looted him and found a map.
> The Forgotten Grave of a Dwarf: Durability 1/1
A place, where the old dwarf put himself to rest. In the middle of two canyons, under the roots of an old tree - a sound rings out. A narrow road leads there. Look for a sound, that does not sound.
Author: Ranger Hans R. Berg
-"What's that?"
The laughter died down. They found a treasure map, an unique object.
Since then, they got hunted by the Cloud. The Quartet had to kill several guild members that had encountered them.
-"Damn! You idiot, you just had to go and mess with a member of the Cloud Guild."
-"Well, I asume it's not an option to simply return the loot."
-"Everyone makes a mistake once!"
-"Okay, seems we will have to go into hiding guys."
For about two weeks, the Dvici hid in the outskirts, avoiding locations with a large number of players.
Nevertheless the guild did not stop their attempts to find them. They narrowly escaped death several times.
The four players with a level above 220, got tired of the chase, they had to do something, they had to find some way out.
Helmen spoke up:
-"This is odd."
-"What are you talking about?"
-"Because we snuff out one guy, a whole guild is chasing us."
-"Yup. We noticed."
-"Wait, what if it's because of the map we have found?"
-"The Forgotten Grave of the Dwarf..."
-"Yes, the map was clearly not an ordinary one. These bastard may race after her."
-"Gee-Gee."
-"It means we will have to find the treasure first."
Since then, the Dvici have been trying to decipher the secret of the map. They visited other kingdoms, explored ancient books, manuscripts and maps. As a result of these extensive searches, the Quartet arrived at Mount Barkhu.
-"We only thing left is entering the Tomb."
-"Yeah, but who will take the risk? There are no adventurers among us and it's possible there are traps laid out."
-"Hmmm..."
-"We need to come to a division."
-"The one without risk. walks, even if the others die. So who of us shall go?"
No one wanted to. The Dvici, who killed other players without remorse, valued their own skins highly and didn't want to die in some grave.
Then Gran, holding back a smile, said:
-"Here's the one who walks in front."
-"Who?"
-"Where are you pointing at?"
Grans finger neither pointed at the other nor at himself. Gran pointed toward the base of the mountains.
In a distance, screeching, rolled the cart with Weed and Mapan.
The four quickly caught up with them.
-"Oh, we didn't expect to meet other players here. Hi, my name is Mapan."
-"I am Gran and those are - Lewis, Helmen and Marcus."
-"Nice to meet you."
The Dvici looked at the two travelers with smiles plastered over their faces.
-"You know, Mount Barkhu is not a place where people usually travel, so what has brought you here?", Gran inquired.
-"Well, we wish to trade.", Mapan answered for two.
-"Trade? Then the two of you are merchants, right?"
-"Almost, I am a merchant, while Weed is a sculptor.", he pointed towards his companion.
-"Oh, how unexpected!"
Grans wide smile became even bigger. Helmen, Marcus and Lewis went to the back, struggling, trying to contain their laughter.
< Sculptor Class. How much of an idiot does one have to be, to choose this profession in the game? > , every Dvici thought the same.
But all the same, the Quartet remained extremely polite, talking to Mapan and Weed. Because of the issue, which was left to be resolved.
Of the four, it was Gran asking questions, as he was the 'brain' of the squad and a better talker. After many attacks, the other long noticed that he was the best negotiator among them.
-"Strange choice, but oh well. We had some collisions with the monsters around here, the mountain just swarms with them. With you professions, how have you coped with them?"
-"Well, when Weed ran into them...", Mapan was ready to spill when someone yanked his sleeve.
-"Weed?"
He broke Mapans story off. Weed had noticed that the travelers were suspicious, something was wrong with the laughing eyes of Gran.
-"Don't be embarrassed and feel free to talk. Or is it a secret?", Gran asked.
But internally a feeling didn't allow Weed to relax. On the vast expanses of the Continent of Bersa, ignoring all the players, the territories with monsters differed. And they had never met anyone in the mountains during the whole trip.
Additionally, as a rule, if people met in such remote areas, they shared a meal and traveled together if their destinations happened to overlap. But the foursome was unnaturally happy. And after learning their classes they seemed overjoyed.
Weed also took note of their outfits, their relative position to each other and attitudes.
< Bandits. >
If you believe that monsters - are the only in Royal Road, you are gravely mistaken. Clashes with other players are much more dangerous.
As natural as possible, he replied:
-"I am a sculptor and I have an unique technique."
-"What technique?", Gran followed up.
-"Roar. Upon hearing it monsters run away. Wanna see?"
-"Yes, I'm curious."
Weed checked how much mana he had and used Lions Roar.
-"Kha-Ah-jaaa!"
At the first sound the home-schooled Mapan shut his ears with his hands. On the other hand the Dvici did not expect anything like it and were taken by surprise.
-"Damn!", one of them cursed and stumbled.
-"What the - it's the voice of...!", shouted another.
Gran calmed his pissed companions, turned around and winked at Weed smiling broadly.
-"What a ROAR! Hmm, it reminds me of something. Do you mean to say that after hearing it, monsters simply run away?"
Unfortunately, the Dvici were not in a group and therefore the ability was greatly weakened. The only heard a loud cry.
-"Yes. Monsters hesitate upon hearing my roar and we use that moment to get away.", Weed answered under the laughter of the Quartet.
< He's just a clown. >
< An excellent bait for traps. Test rabbits. >
< One would be enough... >
< Why not. We can loot the merchant after death and the other is no expense. >
< Yes, time to act. >, ended the mind dialogue between the bandits. Gran, already without a smile, turned to face Mapan and Weed and said:
-"Until now the ability may have helped but the Barkhu mountains swarm with monsters and sooner or later the ability will not be able to help you along. Today fortune is on your side, meeting us, you caught luck by its tail, because we will go with you. The road we travel is dangerous and there is no reason for you to refuse. It's no trouble for us to escort you, ha-ha."
-"Ha-ha, that's really great and noble of you.", Mapan said laughing along with the bandits. As a feeble merchant it didn't strike him as a bad idea to gain four more strong companions.
-"Looking forward to working with you.", Weed calmly agreed. He saw their dialogue even though he didn't understand most of it. Ultimately he had to monitor the situation and be on his guard.
Adventures, exploring distant and unknown lands, meeting interesting people - all of this attracted people to Royal Road.
Hunting together with a stranger, you can share your contacts and become friends in the future. Weed recently realized that he liked to hunt with other players. Because he played all the time, staying alone seemed unreasonable, when there are plenty of other players around.
However, all of this did not apply to the four escorting them.
The Dvici split up around the wagon, two in front and two in the back and took on the responsibility of fighting the monsters. But even during those clashes Weed saw that they were still watching the wagon out of the corner of their eyes.
< Strange guy. >
< Is he really a sculptor? >
< Yeah, a sculptor, but a weird one. >
The Dvici accompanied the cart all day long and built a more detailed opinion of the dealers. It is then that Weed pulled out one of the precious stones out his pocket. Lewis noticed and drew the attention of his teammates asking:
-"Ha! Is this a hidden gem?"
Seeing their curiosity Mapan replied with a smile:
-"Yes, Weed will now cut the gem."
-"You're a jeweler too?"
-"No."
-"Wow, check it out... it's huge!", the eyes of Marcus were filled with greed.
< What a scoop! >
< I will take it, it will be mine... >
Weed picked up Zahab's engraving knife and started to engrave the stone. Unfortunately, the stone was not enough to force the Quartet to act.
< Apparently it makes no sense to attack because of a simple jewel, they expect to get something bigger. >
Weed tricked the robbers by presenting themselves as simpletons. Now he only needed to wait for them to act, pretending to be cheated!
-"It's time to stop and take a snack."
-"Thanks for the suggestion guys... but the food is chilled."
-"It's fine. Just wait a little."
The bandit moved away and returned with loot.
-"I know this stuff and meat of the monsters here is not of high quality. But since we're traveling together, lets share the loot of dead monsters equally."
-"Here, that's your share."
Mapan smiled happily. Weed received another proof of their 'strange' intentions.
< Generosity for no reason... does not happen in life. If they aren't going to attack us, then what do they want? >
As a rule, anyone who donates something does so to a good friend or as promotion. This was neither the one or the other, therefore the gift was somehow wrong, perverted.
Mapan however happily took the gift and unlike Weed believed that their new acquaintances were nice people and could be trusted.
They reached the Canyon a day later. Its width exceeded a few tens of meters and its depth was concealed by a thick white fog.
On top a bridge was build, but due to lack of maintenance it didn't look very reliable.
-"It's much tougher then it looks.", Mapan said after a close inspection.
When Mapan got into his cart, planning on crossing the bridge, Gran stopped him and said:
-"Gentlemen, would you like to participate in a adventure?"
-"What?"
-"Viewing these wonderful premises, I noticed a way down. It's wide enough for carts. You may be interested to go that way for some time. What do you think?"
After Grans words, Mapan started to doubt. The lands in the Continent of Bersa were very structured. You can go into a forest and climb a mountain. There was no need to go down the Canyon. Common Sense said that going on top was much faster than going downstairs.
Even the gullible Mapan began to thing the proposal was a bit odd.
-"Well, if it's really necessary..."
The Dvici thought that the merchant would refuse for sure. Any merchant would prefer security over obscurity. But the Quartet still needed the merchants.
Helmen, Lewis and Marcus put their hands on their blades, while waiting for a response. Weed and Mapan were trapped.
A merchant and a sculptor. There was no reason to expect much resistance, but the Quartet was ready.
So when all were expecting rejection, Weed picked up and agreed.
-"Lets go. It seems fun."
Gran endorsed the words of the sculptor.
-"Haha. I knew you would agree. It will be fun, I promise."
The tree killers took their hands from their blades. Helmen was smiling.
Weed and Mapan rolled down the road with the Quartet leading them. The incline of the Canyon was pretty steep, so the wheel got stuck a couple of times. Without the aid of the squad they would have had a difficult time getting out, but in such cases Gran and Helmen pulled in the front and Lewis and Marcus pushed from behind, so they overcame the road.
-"Sorry for all the inconvenience.", Mapan said.
-"Haha. Don't worry about it and besides we were the ones who suggested taking this road."
Gran and Helmen acted as if the card belonged to them. They considered it an accomplished fact, so the game quietly ended in sincerity.
-"Oh, there seems to be a trail there...", said Gran walking in front. He paced back and forth and back again.
-"That road seems better and the scenery is simply exquisite. Lets us go there." He himself went to check out the other direction.
While Gran ran around, Weed jumped off the wagon and started to peer at the earth.
-"Stop. Here's a red medical herb and there I can see a blue Ceylon...!"
Rumors circled around that medical herbs grew in the Barkhu mountains. But he never came across those during his travel. And here in the lowlands, the more light allowed the herbs to grow comfortably. Weed eagerly pulled out his bag and quickly began to collect the plants found.
-"What are you doing?"
-"What do you think? I'm digging out herbs."
The happily gathering herbs Weed, greatly slowed down the movement of the group.
-"Damn it!"
-"I will kill him with my bare hands!"
The veins on the foreheads of every assassination squad member pulsed in anger. Even Mapan, after several hours of herb gathering, was wondering what to expect from the strangers.
-"Hey Gran! Do you remember the location?"
-"Do we need to ho further ahead?"
-"Wait a minute, I will quickly distract these suckers. That Weed is an idiot, but that merchant is fuming, monitoring all our actions. A minute."
-"Come on! Hurry up!"
Marcus came up to the cart:
-"Hey Mapan! I'm kind of interested in sculpture. Do you know how Weed will react if I ask him to cut something for me?"
Marcus excitedly showed Mapan something in the opposite direction of the squad. Seeing this Gran calmly pulled out the map and controlled the location of the grave.
-"Damn, we're close, simply walked by a little to the side!"
-"Need to go that way."
Quartet and cart moved along the new route that led them to bushes and trees. Bypassing the obstacles they finally found that they were looking for - a monument and a tomb. And an entrance near the monument.
After such a long tiring path, only one of the four found the strength to smile.
-"Ha? So the grave is a whole dungeon?"
-"The grave of the dwarf?"
-"Move aside! How fortunate we are to have found her. We should go in, standing around here we won't know what's inside."
-"Mapan! Weed! Care to go in first?"
The only regular visitors were the rangers from the Kingdom of Rosenheim.
-"Lets travel at a normal pace. At this rate we will reach our destination in one or two more days."
-"Wasn't easy. We almost died:", Lewis laughed.
-"If not for you, nothing would have happened."
-"You could have said it straight! If I didn't kill that guy."
Helmen, Lewis, Marcus and Gran. Four infamous murderers from the United Kingdom of Great Britain. A group of people getting by trough murders, massacres and stealing items from other players.
The infamous Quartet was better known under the name - Dvici.
About a month ago, they thoughtlessly attacked several members of Cloud Guild. One of the ten largest guilds with more than 6000 players and an immense influence in the Kingdom of Britain.
Which means, that even for a group, such as the Dvici, it got dangerous to stay in UK. With other words they had to flee.
All four of them got onto the list with the most wanted people, because they killed a member of Cloud Guild.
-"Get going, guys. This is my hunting ground.", said the player.
-"Who are you?"
-"The hell, did you say?"
The Quartet came to have some fun. To remove the red color of their nick, pointing them out as PK's(player-killer), either a large donation to a temple or a long, monotonous monster hunt was required.
Naturally, none of the four, planned to do either one.
The player saw the nicks, but still tried to explain that he was the first there, not noticing the futility of his efforts. The guys laughed for a while and jokingly argued with him. Lewis got tired of the 'fun' first.
He exploded.
-"That's it! He's dead!"
-"How do you think you're talking to me! I want a dual - one on one!", the player shouted back.
Ordinary people would have never become participants in such a situation. It was much better to simply share a meal around a campfire, chat or walk off to hunt elsewhere, hunting grounds were present in abundance.
But the Dvici were killers.
The four simultaneously laid their arms bare and rushed to attack. And while their level was considerably lower than the player, the Dvici attacked together. The player had no chance against the coordinated sudden attacks. He died. The killers looted him and found a map.
> The Forgotten Grave of a Dwarf: Durability 1/1
A place, where the old dwarf put himself to rest. In the middle of two canyons, under the roots of an old tree - a sound rings out. A narrow road leads there. Look for a sound, that does not sound.
Author: Ranger Hans R. Berg
-"What's that?"
The laughter died down. They found a treasure map, an unique object.
Since then, they got hunted by the Cloud. The Quartet had to kill several guild members that had encountered them.
-"Damn! You idiot, you just had to go and mess with a member of the Cloud Guild."
-"Well, I asume it's not an option to simply return the loot."
-"Everyone makes a mistake once!"
-"Okay, seems we will have to go into hiding guys."
For about two weeks, the Dvici hid in the outskirts, avoiding locations with a large number of players.
Nevertheless the guild did not stop their attempts to find them. They narrowly escaped death several times.
The four players with a level above 220, got tired of the chase, they had to do something, they had to find some way out.
Helmen spoke up:
-"This is odd."
-"What are you talking about?"
-"Because we snuff out one guy, a whole guild is chasing us."
-"Yup. We noticed."
-"Wait, what if it's because of the map we have found?"
-"The Forgotten Grave of the Dwarf..."
-"Yes, the map was clearly not an ordinary one. These bastard may race after her."
-"Gee-Gee."
-"It means we will have to find the treasure first."
Since then, the Dvici have been trying to decipher the secret of the map. They visited other kingdoms, explored ancient books, manuscripts and maps. As a result of these extensive searches, the Quartet arrived at Mount Barkhu.
-"We only thing left is entering the Tomb."
-"Yeah, but who will take the risk? There are no adventurers among us and it's possible there are traps laid out."
-"Hmmm..."
-"We need to come to a division."
-"The one without risk. walks, even if the others die. So who of us shall go?"
No one wanted to. The Dvici, who killed other players without remorse, valued their own skins highly and didn't want to die in some grave.
Then Gran, holding back a smile, said:
-"Here's the one who walks in front."
-"Who?"
-"Where are you pointing at?"
Grans finger neither pointed at the other nor at himself. Gran pointed toward the base of the mountains.
In a distance, screeching, rolled the cart with Weed and Mapan.
The four quickly caught up with them.
-"Oh, we didn't expect to meet other players here. Hi, my name is Mapan."
-"I am Gran and those are - Lewis, Helmen and Marcus."
-"Nice to meet you."
The Dvici looked at the two travelers with smiles plastered over their faces.
-"You know, Mount Barkhu is not a place where people usually travel, so what has brought you here?", Gran inquired.
-"Well, we wish to trade.", Mapan answered for two.
-"Trade? Then the two of you are merchants, right?"
-"Almost, I am a merchant, while Weed is a sculptor.", he pointed towards his companion.
-"Oh, how unexpected!"
Grans wide smile became even bigger. Helmen, Marcus and Lewis went to the back, struggling, trying to contain their laughter.
< Sculptor Class. How much of an idiot does one have to be, to choose this profession in the game? > , every Dvici thought the same.
But all the same, the Quartet remained extremely polite, talking to Mapan and Weed. Because of the issue, which was left to be resolved.
Of the four, it was Gran asking questions, as he was the 'brain' of the squad and a better talker. After many attacks, the other long noticed that he was the best negotiator among them.
-"Strange choice, but oh well. We had some collisions with the monsters around here, the mountain just swarms with them. With you professions, how have you coped with them?"
-"Well, when Weed ran into them...", Mapan was ready to spill when someone yanked his sleeve.
-"Weed?"
He broke Mapans story off. Weed had noticed that the travelers were suspicious, something was wrong with the laughing eyes of Gran.
-"Don't be embarrassed and feel free to talk. Or is it a secret?", Gran asked.
But internally a feeling didn't allow Weed to relax. On the vast expanses of the Continent of Bersa, ignoring all the players, the territories with monsters differed. And they had never met anyone in the mountains during the whole trip.
Additionally, as a rule, if people met in such remote areas, they shared a meal and traveled together if their destinations happened to overlap. But the foursome was unnaturally happy. And after learning their classes they seemed overjoyed.
Weed also took note of their outfits, their relative position to each other and attitudes.
< Bandits. >
If you believe that monsters - are the only in Royal Road, you are gravely mistaken. Clashes with other players are much more dangerous.
As natural as possible, he replied:
-"I am a sculptor and I have an unique technique."
-"What technique?", Gran followed up.
-"Roar. Upon hearing it monsters run away. Wanna see?"
-"Yes, I'm curious."
Weed checked how much mana he had and used Lions Roar.
-"Kha-Ah-jaaa!"
At the first sound the home-schooled Mapan shut his ears with his hands. On the other hand the Dvici did not expect anything like it and were taken by surprise.
-"Damn!", one of them cursed and stumbled.
-"What the - it's the voice of...!", shouted another.
Gran calmed his pissed companions, turned around and winked at Weed smiling broadly.
-"What a ROAR! Hmm, it reminds me of something. Do you mean to say that after hearing it, monsters simply run away?"
Unfortunately, the Dvici were not in a group and therefore the ability was greatly weakened. The only heard a loud cry.
-"Yes. Monsters hesitate upon hearing my roar and we use that moment to get away.", Weed answered under the laughter of the Quartet.
< He's just a clown. >
< An excellent bait for traps. Test rabbits. >
< One would be enough... >
< Why not. We can loot the merchant after death and the other is no expense. >
< Yes, time to act. >, ended the mind dialogue between the bandits. Gran, already without a smile, turned to face Mapan and Weed and said:
-"Until now the ability may have helped but the Barkhu mountains swarm with monsters and sooner or later the ability will not be able to help you along. Today fortune is on your side, meeting us, you caught luck by its tail, because we will go with you. The road we travel is dangerous and there is no reason for you to refuse. It's no trouble for us to escort you, ha-ha."
-"Ha-ha, that's really great and noble of you.", Mapan said laughing along with the bandits. As a feeble merchant it didn't strike him as a bad idea to gain four more strong companions.
-"Looking forward to working with you.", Weed calmly agreed. He saw their dialogue even though he didn't understand most of it. Ultimately he had to monitor the situation and be on his guard.
Adventures, exploring distant and unknown lands, meeting interesting people - all of this attracted people to Royal Road.
Hunting together with a stranger, you can share your contacts and become friends in the future. Weed recently realized that he liked to hunt with other players. Because he played all the time, staying alone seemed unreasonable, when there are plenty of other players around.
However, all of this did not apply to the four escorting them.
The Dvici split up around the wagon, two in front and two in the back and took on the responsibility of fighting the monsters. But even during those clashes Weed saw that they were still watching the wagon out of the corner of their eyes.
< Strange guy. >
< Is he really a sculptor? >
< Yeah, a sculptor, but a weird one. >
The Dvici accompanied the cart all day long and built a more detailed opinion of the dealers. It is then that Weed pulled out one of the precious stones out his pocket. Lewis noticed and drew the attention of his teammates asking:
-"Ha! Is this a hidden gem?"
Seeing their curiosity Mapan replied with a smile:
-"Yes, Weed will now cut the gem."
-"You're a jeweler too?"
-"No."
-"Wow, check it out... it's huge!", the eyes of Marcus were filled with greed.
< What a scoop! >
< I will take it, it will be mine... >
Weed picked up Zahab's engraving knife and started to engrave the stone. Unfortunately, the stone was not enough to force the Quartet to act.
< Apparently it makes no sense to attack because of a simple jewel, they expect to get something bigger. >
Weed tricked the robbers by presenting themselves as simpletons. Now he only needed to wait for them to act, pretending to be cheated!
-"It's time to stop and take a snack."
-"Thanks for the suggestion guys... but the food is chilled."
-"It's fine. Just wait a little."
The bandit moved away and returned with loot.
-"I know this stuff and meat of the monsters here is not of high quality. But since we're traveling together, lets share the loot of dead monsters equally."
-"Here, that's your share."
Mapan smiled happily. Weed received another proof of their 'strange' intentions.
< Generosity for no reason... does not happen in life. If they aren't going to attack us, then what do they want? >
As a rule, anyone who donates something does so to a good friend or as promotion. This was neither the one or the other, therefore the gift was somehow wrong, perverted.
Mapan however happily took the gift and unlike Weed believed that their new acquaintances were nice people and could be trusted.
They reached the Canyon a day later. Its width exceeded a few tens of meters and its depth was concealed by a thick white fog.
On top a bridge was build, but due to lack of maintenance it didn't look very reliable.
-"It's much tougher then it looks.", Mapan said after a close inspection.
When Mapan got into his cart, planning on crossing the bridge, Gran stopped him and said:
-"Gentlemen, would you like to participate in a adventure?"
-"What?"
-"Viewing these wonderful premises, I noticed a way down. It's wide enough for carts. You may be interested to go that way for some time. What do you think?"
After Grans words, Mapan started to doubt. The lands in the Continent of Bersa were very structured. You can go into a forest and climb a mountain. There was no need to go down the Canyon. Common Sense said that going on top was much faster than going downstairs.
Even the gullible Mapan began to thing the proposal was a bit odd.
-"Well, if it's really necessary..."
The Dvici thought that the merchant would refuse for sure. Any merchant would prefer security over obscurity. But the Quartet still needed the merchants.
Helmen, Lewis and Marcus put their hands on their blades, while waiting for a response. Weed and Mapan were trapped.
A merchant and a sculptor. There was no reason to expect much resistance, but the Quartet was ready.
So when all were expecting rejection, Weed picked up and agreed.
-"Lets go. It seems fun."
Gran endorsed the words of the sculptor.
-"Haha. I knew you would agree. It will be fun, I promise."
The tree killers took their hands from their blades. Helmen was smiling.
Weed and Mapan rolled down the road with the Quartet leading them. The incline of the Canyon was pretty steep, so the wheel got stuck a couple of times. Without the aid of the squad they would have had a difficult time getting out, but in such cases Gran and Helmen pulled in the front and Lewis and Marcus pushed from behind, so they overcame the road.
-"Sorry for all the inconvenience.", Mapan said.
-"Haha. Don't worry about it and besides we were the ones who suggested taking this road."
Gran and Helmen acted as if the card belonged to them. They considered it an accomplished fact, so the game quietly ended in sincerity.
-"Oh, there seems to be a trail there...", said Gran walking in front. He paced back and forth and back again.
-"That road seems better and the scenery is simply exquisite. Lets us go there." He himself went to check out the other direction.
While Gran ran around, Weed jumped off the wagon and started to peer at the earth.
-"Stop. Here's a red medical herb and there I can see a blue Ceylon...!"
Rumors circled around that medical herbs grew in the Barkhu mountains. But he never came across those during his travel. And here in the lowlands, the more light allowed the herbs to grow comfortably. Weed eagerly pulled out his bag and quickly began to collect the plants found.
-"What are you doing?"
-"What do you think? I'm digging out herbs."
The happily gathering herbs Weed, greatly slowed down the movement of the group.
-"Damn it!"
-"I will kill him with my bare hands!"
The veins on the foreheads of every assassination squad member pulsed in anger. Even Mapan, after several hours of herb gathering, was wondering what to expect from the strangers.
-"Hey Gran! Do you remember the location?"
-"Do we need to ho further ahead?"
-"Wait a minute, I will quickly distract these suckers. That Weed is an idiot, but that merchant is fuming, monitoring all our actions. A minute."
-"Come on! Hurry up!"
Marcus came up to the cart:
-"Hey Mapan! I'm kind of interested in sculpture. Do you know how Weed will react if I ask him to cut something for me?"
Marcus excitedly showed Mapan something in the opposite direction of the squad. Seeing this Gran calmly pulled out the map and controlled the location of the grave.
-"Damn, we're close, simply walked by a little to the side!"
-"Need to go that way."
Quartet and cart moved along the new route that led them to bushes and trees. Bypassing the obstacles they finally found that they were looking for - a monument and a tomb. And an entrance near the monument.
After such a long tiring path, only one of the four found the strength to smile.
-"Ha? So the grave is a whole dungeon?"
-"The grave of the dwarf?"
-"Move aside! How fortunate we are to have found her. We should go in, standing around here we won't know what's inside."
-"Mapan! Weed! Care to go in first?"
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