It took me an entire hour to regenerate enough Energy Points to just be able to comfortably sit up from my downed position.
My body ached and protested in places I didn't even know it could, but with [Omphalos Mind], I was able to manage with only a few muttered curses and grimaces.
"What's the Hidden Quest, System?" I finally asked. I would have tried to find out earlier, but the System wouldn't let me know until I healed to an 'acceptable' level. Driven just a little by spite, I had bargained with it to make moving around be that acceptable level of recovery.
Of course, it wasn't just spite which had motivated me. I was actually dying to find out what the Hidden Quest entitled. My curiosity, and thirst for knowledge had always been a little…unquenchable.
[-][===][-]
|| [As you wish, stubborn user] ||
[-][===][-]
'It's definitely not happy with me.'
[-][===][-]
|| [Hidden Quest Completed!] ||
|| [Quest]: [That Which Hides in The Woods] ||
|| [Prompt]: [This forest is one of the many creations of Mighty Evergreen, a Celestial Spirit whose loneliness was grand. When the bowels of Tartarus opened, and the world was brought to collapse, the Mighty Evergreen used its creations as a way to defend its domains. Unfortunately, corruption is a putrid disease that takes even those created from the Gods. Your quest, is to bring peace and rest to one of the sixteen Leshy which inhabit this forest and once called it not a prison, but a home] ||
|| [Rewards]: ||
|| [Item]: [Ring of Mighty Evergreen] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Observe] ||
|| [EXP]: [+25,000] ||
|| [SP]: [+15] ||
|| [AP]: [+5] ||
|| [-][===][-]
|| [Rewards For Slaying]: [Level 42]-[Corrupted Leshy of The Dark Forest] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Secret Technique] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Dendrokinesis] ||
|| [Aspect]: [State of Anattā] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Wraith Soul] ||
|| [EXP]: [+63,000] ||
[-][===][-]
|| [Calculating [EXP] For Aspects…] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Pyrokinesis]-[Level 2 > Level 9]: [Progression: 67%] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Imperial Dawn]-[Level 4 > Level 11]: [Progression: 84%] ||
|| [Aspect]: [Incendiary]-[Level 5 > Level 10]: [Progression: 59%] ||
[-][===][-]
'So, that's a lot to unpack.' I thought, blinking at the four new screens before me.
Whilst the new Aspects—and Item—I had gained were certainly interesting, and the large rise of levels for both me and my already existing Aspects would need to be checked out, right now, my attention was focused entirely on the quest prompt.
More specifically…
'Celestial Spirit, Mighty Evergreen.' It was a term I had never heard before, nor a name I could place with any Gods I knew about. A God, which the System had insinuated this Mighty Evergreen was. 'It has a divine domain over nature it seems, or at the very least, forests.'
Really, it sounded more like a nature spirit which had ascended to divinity. But then, that left the obvious question to ask. Were divine beings even real?
'I want to say no, but…'
I had just fought and killed a Leshy, a forest spirit which was meant to be nothing more than a story and myth. That was also without mentioning my experience with the afterlife and…being torn apart by that thing which lurked within the never-ending darkness.
'There is one way to check' I mused in the privacy of my mind. Temptation tugged at me, and my burning need to satisfy my curiosity grew stronger for it.
It felt like a devil was currently sat on my shoulders, whispering for me to go through with it. I opened my mouth…and then shut it with a decisive click.
'Names have power.' I reminded myself, exhaling through my nose. 'And deities have always been described as being fickle.'
Even if the chances were slim of some divine existence hearing me—and actually responding to my call—did I really want to risk my life again? Unsurprisingly, the answer was a resounding no.
Especially when I was sat next to the still burning corpse of the Leshy. A creature, which the System had hinted at coming from the body of Mighty Evergreen itself.
Really, it may have been described as me putting the Leshy's soul to rest, but in truth, all it was, was murder done for the sake of survival.
I didn't feel guilty for doing it. I valued my life, my second chance, far too much, after all. This was just the natural cycle of the world. If you weren't strong enough, or smart enough to survive, then you'd be met with death.
It was a lesson I had been taught when living on the streets, and a lesson which was further reinforced with this fight.
Either way, I seriously doubted a God would wish to talk to me after I had just killed one of their creations. Then again, it was a deity, and it likely thought differently to me.
'I'm still not doing it.' I told myself, pushing the tempting thought away. The small chance of me living through an encounter with a divine being just wasn't worth it in my opinion.
Which brought me to the next part of the quest prompt which had caught my attention.
'The bowels of Tartarus opening, the world going through a collapse, and then, the corruption.'
My Intelligence stat may not be so high, but I wasn't blind to what the context clues meant.
In the three hundred years I had been asleep for, the world had gone through some cataclysmic event—at least, that's what I thought it meant—which was brought about by Tartarus itself, manifesting into the world and spreading corruption.
What corruption was, I could only guess.
But from the way the System had described it as a disease, it wasn't too much of a guess to make that it had something to do with twisting the mind of the Leshy, and likely every other creature which resided in the forest.
'Is it similar to a zombie infection?'
Realisation dawned on me at the thought.
"Wait, am I at risk of being corrupted?" I asked the System, remembering the various wounds which had been inflicted on my body. Luckily, the System did have an answer for me.
[-][===][-]
|| [As you previously thought, it is both alike, and entirely unlike a zombie infection. A body may harbour corruption, but it is only in death that it spreads to take over, reanimating the corpse as another creature for its legion] ||
[-][===][-]
"So as long as I don't die again, I'll be, okay. That's good to know." I muttered, feeling myself relax slightly. "Is there any Aspects that can deal with it?"
[-][===][-]
|| [Several. But you have a lot of progress to make before unlocking any of them] ||
[-][===][-]
"Typical." I rolled my eyes at the message, not even surprised at the message.
At the very least, I had gained some understanding of what exactly had transpired in my three-century long rest, from all of this. Though, I was sure I still had a long way to go before I knew everything there was about this new and changed world.
It was still a good starting point, I finally decided.
Feeling that my curiosity was satisfied for now, I finally looked upon the new Aspects, and singular Item, I had gained from the fight.