Leaving the chasm, which was mostly the same as when I entered, the outside was…a bit off.
At least to me.
Though it was night, it felt like the forest was more…alive than when I left it.
Instead of owls hooting or crickets cricketing, I was hearing…human…screams…?
Huh?
Am I hearing things clearly?
Bumping up the master volume from the settings to 120% (provided generously by the Mods), I took a long second to just hear the noise, and it was, indeed, humie screaming.
Haaah…just came out of a boss fight, and now I have to do a rescue mission.
What a troublesome life, really.
Just as I was about to charge into the dark of the night like a certain caped crusader, a quest pop-up appeared, encouraging me even further to do my heroic activities.
-Side Quest Received-
▣Orc-casional Hero (I, II, and III)▣
Instructions: Find and save the 21 people scattered around Quietus Forest.
Rewards: 5+ Stat Bonus, Mods Unlocked, Martial Art Unlocked.
I was planning on helping out, anyway, but this is a more than welcome added incentive.
…
…
…
"HEEEEEELP! HEEEEELP ME~!"
In the middle of the dark, dangerous forest, a girl laid with her ankle torn on the cool grass.
She screamed for someone—anyone, to help her, her voices getting more and more strained and desperate as a wolf beast circled her.
Emboldened by the cries of the girl, the wolf beast pounced at the girl, fangs bared.
*Crack!*
But instead of biting down on tender skin, it felt something like hard stone instead.
As it tried to take its teeth out from the stone-like thing, a large shadow loomed over it.
Something big, green, and monstrous.
The thing lifted its huge arm, caving the head of the wolf.
And that was the end of the wolf's short, albeit lively life.
…
…
…
Eugh…Icky.
I should've killed it with my axe, but I acted a bit impulsively after seeing the wolf about to lunge at the girl.
Speaking of her….
I turned around and witnessed the girl looking as pale as an angel's robe.
Like she saw a ghost.
It would appear my appearance looks very scary to her.
Can't blame her, I am very scary.
But I didn't have time to ease her terror; there were other humies in danger.
Thus—
"H-hieek…D-d-d-don't ki—kill m—e…"
Sorry for giving you the scare of your life.
Makeshift Fortress activated.
Making a hasty tent around her, I covered her from the nose and eyes and ears of any potential predators, using certain features and aroma that warded them off from the place.
"W–what is this…?"
"Shhh. Here. Stay. Wait."
Stay quiet and don't move, girl.
I'll come back for you after I sort out the rest.
The next rescue mission was, by the looks of it, a family of merchants or nobles.
They were beside a broken-down carriage, with the driver and guards incapacitated and unable to fight.
It was a family of three; a father, mother, and their son.
The father was in front of the other two, sword in hand, he wielded it quite amateurishly; hands shaking, grip too tight, and worse of all, having a bad posture.
The enemy this time wasn't a wolf, but a group of bandits.
What were people doing out here in the Quietus Forest, anyway?
Anyway, clearing my head of unnecessary thoughts, I quickly dealt with the bandits and faced the family.
After some mild coercion, I got them to hop back into their carriage, along with several tied up and gagged unconscious people, consisting of the driver, guards, and bandits.
Sure, they might be cramped inside, but unless they want some random beasts to appear, then they should start making themselves nice and cozy inside.
After that, I kept going to all sorts of locations, saving people and building hidey-holes for them until I eventually reached the last ones.
"Mel! Cast blindness on them!"
"I'm already casting something else, stupid!"
"You're supposed to wait for my signal! Ayleen—"
"Busy right now! Can't you see I'm literally guiding half of the monsters away from us?!"
"Bundo! Get your ass back here and protect me, damn it!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
These ones were clearly different—they were actually putting up a fight against whatever it was they're fighting.
Still, they were being overwhelmed by…I have no idea what that is.
Their enemies were a group of short, lumpy, yellow things that looked like pumpkins.
They didn't look like anything I'd ever seen in Quietus Forest before.
Not in the original vanilla game, and not even in my current time spent here.
I think they're from a creature pack I added, but that was just a guess.
Y'know what?
Who cares?
XP is XP.
When I moved, they didn't even see me coming.
It all ended in a span of just a minute.
Damn, having a class just felt different.
With the added stats and traits like Cleave which dealt AOE damage to enemies, they all fell like flies to a swatter.
Their pumpkin-like bodies exploded into itty-bitty pieces under my axe.
Some even got near my mouth!
A taste wouldn't hurt, right?
*Mlem*
…It really does taste like pumpkin…
After having a bit of dead pumpkin, I finally shifted my attention to the group of adventurers.
Unlike their boisterous clamoring before, they had gone silent.
The group was huddled together in a standard party formation, with the archer and mage at the back, and the fighter and berserker at the front.
They were staring at me, their faces filled with shock and a healthy dose of fear and alarm.
Time to put my linguistics to good use again.
*Ahem-ahem!*
"Mok-ra—"
Damn it, wrong language.
Ah, screw it, just keep pushing.
"I, Grul."
Pointing at myself, I told them my name.
I then pointed at them.
"You, name?"
At first, they didn't respond or even react.
Like as if their brains short-circuited.
Realizing I wasn't getting anywhere with this approach, I instead changed my tactics.
"You, follow. I, safe."
I told them—almost forcefully—to follow me.
After a few more seconds of stunned silence, a burst of frantic whispering then happened among them.
"It…It spoke."
Said the lady with a bow and arrow.
"I've never heard about common beasts speaking before!"
And then the mage girl.
"'Common beast'? Does that looks like a common beast to you?!"
And then the barbarian guy.
"Shhhhhh!"
Their leader hushed them, and looked at me cautiously.
Looks like he's willing to talk, fortunately.
He stepped half a foot outside their defensive diamond, still keeping his sword pointed in my direction.
"Greetings to you…Grul. I am Tyler McCormick, leader of this adventuring party. We're grateful for your assistance before, but please allow us a moment to discuss with ourselves."
I nodded my head.
I didn't mind it.
If they weren't the last batch I needed to help, then maybe I would, but they were.
Going over a distant tree, I chopped it down and proceeded to sit on its stump, taking out a branch of it and carving it.
Why did I do that, you may ask?
Just felt like it.
No particular reason whatsoever.
Definitely wasn't because I wanted to look cool in front of them.
Nope.
As I carved something out, the party of humies started talking to each other.
Their whispering was not quite faint enough for me to hear what they were saying.
To summarize it, they were basically saying 'Can we trust it?' 'We're lost; do you have any other suggestions?' '…No.' and also a lot of compliments about my prowess which I felt was unnecessary, but grateful to anyways, ahaha.
After about three minutes of nervous deliberation, the leader, Tyler, stepped forward again.
He still looked nervous, but his voice was firm.
"Please lead the way, Grul."
Good choice, humie.
With a grunt, I stood up from the stump and started walking, retracing my steps using Trailblazer.
The adventurer party's expression along the way was funny to see.
At first, they were highly alert, looking at both the surroundings and me, just waiting to see if there's anything afoot.
But then it changed to befuddlement, and then shock, and then finally acceptance.
I had amassed an entire convoy at this point of 28 people; a bit larger than the 21 mark the quest gave me, since I brought the bandits along, too.
It was a chaotic, shuffling mess.
The merchants I rescued complained about the pace, the bandits, still tied and gagged, made muffled noises of distress, the noble family was surprisingly quiet alongside the villager-looking people, and the adventurers, led by Tyler, mostly just looked around with a mixture of disbelief and growing resignation.
But with the power I wielded, most of the unrest caused by them was quietly settled with a glance from me.
Of course, I led at the front, with Natasha resting on my shoulder.
I was basically just taking an overdue stroll around the forest.
After a very long walk, we finally arrived at the settlement.