Dragon Nest: Small Towns Volume One

Chapter VI: Carriage Tracks (Angelica)

     Who needs maps when you remember the way back to Mana Ridge? I’m kind of out of money right now… hopefully I can do some board quests to gain some. I wonder how they are doing back there. It’s been a while since I haven’t checked them out and I still have the necklace where a key is attached given by Master Sorceress Cynthia. This is my only remembrance of my joyful memories in Mana Ridge… I can already feel the freezing breeze coming from Mana Ridge as I go there. But something caught my eyes as I go towards Mana Ridge.

Chapter VI: Carriage Tracks (Angelica)

Track marks and footsteps going straight to Mana Ridge. Normally… there aren’t any carriage going to Mana Ridge, in fact there were hardly any carriages comes here. I looked at my doll.
     “So what do you think?” I said.

     “From the looks of it, it looks like Templar Knights Boots.” My doll said. “They seemed to have come from Saint Haven. Let’s go check it out!”

     “Check it out? With the guys that sorceress hates so much? Have you even read the histories between Sorceress and Clerics?”

     “I know about you guys… but when I said check it out… I mean… check… it… out.”

     Sometimes I don’t get my doll. It’s either controlled by a bad or a good conscience. But he does have a good idea of so called *Checking it out*. “If we got in trouble… I’m so blaming you.” I said.

     “Don’t worry, I’ve been with you since the day you were born… wasn’t I?” My doll started to move its limbs fast “Now let’s go!” Excited, my doll started to pull me and I have no idea how that is even possible… I mean where is it getting something to pull at to pull me? Then there is only one possibility… magic! After a long walk, we see a carriage still at the middle of the road.

     “Is that it?” my doll said.

     “Only one way to find out…” Some people normally do detective stuff where they start tumbling and hiding to check that thing out. I don’t see the problem if I just walk by it. The awkward part was that the clerics were just sleeping there, lazy bums. I went nearer as my curiosity emerged. I started to hear cute growls sounded like 10 year old boys making it. “Looks like there’s some children wonderi-… Woah!” I found a man lying down on a ground with three ice goblins around him.

     “He-e-elp… me” His eye was swelling red and part of his hair was ripped. I see a goblin holding a piece of blonde hair and the three of them holding knives.

     It’s time to me to grab my staff and my doll from behind. A goblin charged at me as I swung my doll and a dark apparition upper-cut the goblin up. Two goblins charged… “Glacial Spike!” I casted and a small slow blue-white orb froze the both of them. “Flame Worm!” I casted and a fiery orange flame scourged from the bottom finishing the both of them. When I thought it was over, the frozen trees started to shake and six more showed up surrounding us. All of them growling and wearing only loincloths. Someone jumped behind me with a cracking sound and as I turned around I saw a cleric used his shield to push the goblin that was about to attack me. It was the handsome fellow back at the airship. Goblins started attacking as I cast spells and use my doll while the cleric was using combo attacks to the enemies.

     It was a short fight and we have managed to save the other clerics. I started to help the others until I found a chest lying on the ground. “Is that what I think it is?” I said.

     “Yes… take it! It’s the least they can do for saving them.”

     “I don’t know… it is a bad influence… but taking their loot… sounds good to me. It’s the least I can do for them for saving them.” I took the chest without hesitate but I can’t seem to open it. I just went to a good place to hide it… dug it under a snow just outside of town and viola… no one will ever suspect. I’ll just find some time to open it but right now… I want to visit Mana Ridge. I want to see Master Cynthia’s smiling face… or rather her frowning face. Somehow I got a feeling that this was a bad idea.

     “Well if it isn’t the sorceress who forgot her duties…” Master Cynthia said. “You’ve gambled your way to Saint Haven and then gambled back your way here. It has been five years already and you still have got guts coming back after you didn’t finish your task.”

     “Erm… hehehe” Now I remember… but I forgot the task that was given to me. “Bu-but I came all this way just to see you.”

     “Make me happy?! Really?” Her voice was alluring as it is always was unless she… “How about you check the damages that YOU COST FROM THE CARRAIGE!!!”… Unless she screams.

     I forgot that I’m not that very good at aiming stuff… “Bu-but it was also that Cleric’s fault! He also was not looking at stuff!” I said as her frown darkens. “I mean… I’ll get to it!”

     “Uggh… I hope that you are better than the other sorceress.”

     Oh my gosh… everything I knew about her… was wrong! Well specifically about her being nice and sh*t. I’m just going to check out what the clerics are up to now. So there’s that guy again who I just saved earlier… just outside of the tent at frost wind. His eye was patched but he still doesn’t look good.

     “Hello adventurer…” he said “Thank you for saving me.” He started to cough at his cloth.

     “My master just wants to ask about what happened?”

     “Uggh… I- it was an ambush. The goblins, the orcs, they came out of the trees like snowflakes and got us all. We were lucky that you and the other cleric, who is treating the others inside the tent, saved us. We are truly grateful.”

     “Yes well…” I crossed my arm.  “… Saving you costs something you know. And why were you guys even there?”

     “We… we were transferring a package from Calderock Village three days ago. The Archbishop said that it was important that we give it to Master Cleric Leonard. But… the chest… was stolen and the others can’t find it.”

     “Wait… did you say chest?”

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