Ball of Nothing

At breakfast, Zero didn't even flinch when the barrier activated after some new dark faes tried to ambush them. The buzzing sound in the background simply reminded Zero of his agenda today.

"Are you sure there is a dark fae boss in the area?" he asked, and Truen nodded.

"According to Cleo and Fae King Vivian, there should be a powerful dark fae commanding all the weaker faes. It's not a king or a great sprite yet, but we can assume it isn't going to be easy to locate. This entire wilderness is its territory."

Bob took a look at the mini-map. There were way too many enemies in the vicinity. It reminded him of an ant nest. If you killed one, the whole swarm would appear, and there would be no end to their numbers.

The magic beasts Zero and Bob hunted yesterday tasted nowhere as good as the ones from Endow Hill. Could it be the difference in mana quality in the air that affected their taste? Zero was curious but finding the leader of the dark faes took precedence. Thus, they finished up quickly and cleaned up the campsite before heading off to the border closest to Mystic meadow.

"Is there a way we can take them all down in one go?" Zero asked.

They had been going for an hour, but progress was painfully slow. He didn't want to burn the forest up or harm the environment, so they were stuck to using regular attacks. The party was attacked and ambushed at almost every turn while searching for tracks. So far, nobody found signs of Pocky's hideout or the leader of the dark faes. At most, Bob would smell a mana beast in the vicinity, but they ignored them. These mana beasts were less ferocious than the dark faes.

"There's no end to them," Bob g.r.o.a.n.e.d when they took a break.

Truen and Zero set up a temporary defence array after the dark faes grew bolder. These creatures didn't pose a huge threat to them, but they were numerous and extremely annoying. Eventually, they would run out of stamina searching for Pocky aimlessly.

With Mii and Wii's help, Zero hosted an emergency strategy meeting. Cleo and Fae King Vivian didn't have much information about this wilderness zone, and Zero wondered if shipwright Pocky was dead. The sea otter beast folks did not have a lot of mana. Even if Pocky was a talented builder, he wouldn't be able to defend against the ferocious dark faes for so many years.

The party was currently trapped in the wilderness zone between the other side of Magnus Hilda's mountain ranges and Mystic Meadow. Zero didn't know if the sea otter beastman was dead or alive. They couldn't track his location down accurately with the swarm of dark faes, and Zero sighed. He looked at the globe and frowned. If he were shipwright Pocky on a journey to discover the truth about this world's shape, why would he be trapped in this border wilderness that isn't close to the sea?

"Do we have a version of the map from a few decades ago?" Zero asked.

Truen searched their shared inventory. Buying the maps from the merchant they met at Little Stone Town was a good investment, and Zero rejoiced.

By Comparing the latest version of the map and the map from a few decades ago, Zero and Truen quickly realised something. If shipwright Pocky was travelling along coastlines, he should have made it back to his village by now. However, as the map that he received many years ago wasn't updated during his years of travel, the poor shipwright must have gotten lost.

"This location used to be part of the ocean. Magnus Hilda's other side used to be a sea!"

Excited by the discovery, Zero and Truen looked at each other. Monoman claimed that many years ago, the shipwright settled at their village and travelled out to observe the sea frequently. Pocky stayed with them for a while before leaving to continue his journey. If Pocky followed the coast indicated in his outdated map, it would explain why Pocky was trapped here and why he never reached Mystic Meadows.

"Let's search around the coastal lines from the old map," Zero traced it out and drew on the copy of his new map. Mii noted it quickly and updated the markings on the mini-map. With this new guide, Truen, Bob and Zero spread out to cover more grounds. If Pocky was still alive somehow, they would be able to find some hints to his location.

Over the years, the mountainous cliff of Magnus Hilda transformed into a swampy land. Pocky would have difficulty navigating through a swamp filled with monsters. If he was smart, the shipwright would try to find a safe place to hide it out. However, in doing so, Pocky trapped himself. The faes from Mystic Meadows migrated from King Vivian's territory. They settled down in the swamplands, transforming it into a fertile forest. The mana in the air transformed the swampland monsters into mana beasts. Over the years, the increasingly dense mana in the air and barren land gave birth to a new powerful fae who absorbed Pocky's despair, turning into a dark fae. As a result, shipwright Pocky found himself helplessly trapped within the wilderness, unable to leave or call for help.

"Location clear, no sight of Pocky."

"Location full of mana beasts, but nothing stands out," Bob reported, and Zero sighed. It was up to him now.

"Update," Truen's voice sounded serious. "Boss of the wilderness located. Would you like me to take it down?"

Curious, Zero wanted to know what sort of fae that was. The wood elf sounded like he was struggling a little over the party call.

"A Tree Ent! Dark Tree Ent!" Truen hissed as he dodged.

Normally, Tree Ents were not frightening faes to deal with. They have simply wisened trees with intelligence and magic abilities. These Tree Ents were cousins of spriggans. The difference between a tree ent and a spriggan was the ability to own a body. Tree ents fuse with a tree and usually stay rooted in the location they chose to settle in. Spriggans are bound to the tree they were destined to protect. As such, tree ents were more dangerous when angered as they were able to uproot themselves and cause disaster wherever they went.

Zero wasn't done searching his area and frowned. "Retreat for now," he told Truen.

They had to regroup to understand more about the tree ent. From the corner of his eye, Zero caught a sparkle and looked over. Something shiny was hidden in the ground, and Zero ran over to dig it up.

When the dirt was loosened, a glass bottle came loose, and Zero stared at it. Inside the bottle, there was a written note. Curious, Zero smashed the bottle and read the aged note with glee.

The author of this note was no other than the shipwright they were looking for.