Chapter 310

Over the past two weeks, the grueling pace of the Ashfall Region had only solidified their dynamic. Viper wasn't a combatant, but he wasn't dead weight either. He kept their inventories perfectly organized, pointed out rare herbs they would have walked right past, and never once complained about the miserable weather. Red and Haster had already promised to protect their guildmate back in Stormbreak, but out here in the ash, that promise naturally shifted into something closer to brothers. 

Red walked over, wiping dark blood off his blade while exhaling another cloud of white steam.

"This zone is completely ridiculous," Red laughed, looking around at the ruined trees. "Monsters over level three hundred just wandering around in packs. If we didn't have the Boss's meat pies giving us that triple-stacked health regeneration and stat boosts, this place would be a miserable nightmare. We'd have died on day one."

"Instead, it's the best hunting ground on the continent," Haster agreed. "The experience we are getting here is staggering. We can stay out here as long as the food lasts."

Viper checked the rolled-up map he had copied from Fenner's shop. He pointed through the thick, falling ash toward a steep, gray hill in the distance. It was the only elevated piece of ground they had seen for days.

"That should be it," Viper said. "The center of old Velmere."

They climbed the hill slowly. The loose ash made the footing terrible, and Haster kept his spear raised, expecting a boss monster to jump out from behind the shattered stone blocks littering the slope. But nothing attacked them. The top of the hill was completely dead.

At the peak sat a lone, weathered gravestone. The name carved into the rock had been worn away by centuries of grit.

Resting on top of the stone was a long, unusually clean piece of gray cloth. Even though the air was stagnant and heavy, the cloth flapped wildly, snapping back and forth like it was caught in a hurricane.

"That's creepy," Red muttered, exhaling a sharp breath. He stepped slightly in front of Viper, putting his body between the tailor and the grave. "Don't touch that. It screams trap." 

"It's the quest marker," Viper said gently, stepping around the duelist.

Viper reached into his inventory and pulled out the tarnished silver medallion Fenner had given him. He held the metal out toward the grave.

The flapping cloth suddenly stopped. It hung completely still in the air for a single second.

Then, the fabric shot forward.

Before Red or Haster could swing their weapons, the cloth expanded and wrapped itself violently around Viper. It bound his arms, his chest, and his legs, pulling tight like a mummy.

SWALLOW!!

Viper didn't even have time to shout. The cloth shrank inward, collapsing into a blinding point of gray light. There was a sharp popping sound, and the light vanished.

SWOOSH!!

The grave was empty. Viper was gone.

Haster dropped into a low stance instantly. He swept his spear in a wide arc, his eyes scanning the ash for whatever had just snatched their guildmate.

"Where did he go?" Haster demanded, his voice tight. "Did it pull him underground?" 

Red stood completely still for a moment. He stared at the empty patch of dirt where the tailor had been standing. A brief, sharp spike of actual panic hit his chest. If the tailor died, the quest failed, and the massive payout of Guild Credits vanished. 

Red quickly pushed the panic down. Freaking out wouldn't help Viper, and keeping a cool head was the only way to figure out what to do next. And besides, watching Haster tense up like a coiled spring gave him a much better idea, he let out a loud, exaggerated sigh and leaned casually on one of his rapiers.

"Well," Red said, shaking his head. "You let the tailor get eaten by a haunted blanket, old man. That's on you. I'm telling the Boss you fell asleep on the job."

Haster glared at him over his shoulder, his grip white-knuckled on his spear and sword. "I was standing right next to you! The cloth bypassed my reaction time completely. Don't try to pin this on me."

"I don't know," Red drawled, examining his fingernails. "I was on perimeter duty. You were on close-guard. Looks like a serious failure of responsibility to me."

"Stop talking and help me lock down the area," Haster snapped, prodding the dirt around the gravestone with the butt of his weapon. "He couldn't have gone far. It has to be a localized instance."

Red watched him poke the dirt. The younger player smirked. Viper was probably stuck in a solo quest room. There was nothing they could do but wait until he popped back out.

Red looked down the hill. A few large ash-trolls were wandering near the tree line.

If they were stuck waiting here anyway, he might as well get some more experience points. And if he accidentally pulled five or six angry trolls up the hill at the same time, Haster would have to scramble to fight them off while defending the empty grave. That sounded highly entertaining.

"I'll go check the perimeter," Red announced, wandering down the slope toward the trolls.

"Don't go too far!" Haster yelled after him.

. ….. . . .  .. . . . . .

[You have entered the ‘Kruger’s Trial Hall’!]

[You are the first player to discover the 'Kruger’s Trial Hall'!] 

[As the first discoverer, you will receive the following benefits for the next 2 weeks within this dungeon:] 

[- Skill experience acquisition rate for tailoring skill is increased by 50% for 2 weeks.

- Dexterity + 100.]

Viper stopped, the golden text reflecting in his eyes.

"Hundred points," Viper whispered.

He had been the first player to discover hidden workshops and caves before, but the system had never given him this many stat points for a simple discovery. In fact, he had only ever received a hundred-point jump in Dexterity once before, and that was the reward for a very long, difficult quest chain. For a production class, getting that much power instantly just for walking into a room saved him weeks of grinding at a loom.

He closed the window, feeling a quiet thrill of excitement, and finally looked around.