Liam left Therim’s tower, putting his shadow cloak ba. Traveling through the city he received a few suspicious looks, but it was still better than showing his identity.

  The shadow cloak allowed Liam to leave the city peacefully, following the road towards the void-corrupted forest. He made a turn -ign the low-leveled boars attag him on the way - and reached the first vilge.

  It was a gathering of a few poor-looking houses. Being this close to the void-corrupted forest, fear could still be seen on the vilgers’ faces. The surrounding luscious fields had obviously taken some damage and mage apprentices were w hard to keep the void energy at bay.

  Liam would love to help the vilgers but there was currently no way to do so. He could only focus on his quest t judgement to the culprit.

  When Liam stepped on the vilge’s small market square, he took a look around, searg for the NPCs marked by his quest. He quickly found the first one, a stout grandpa with defiant eyes.

  Liam approached the man sitting on a crate with his questions:

  “Old man, I ask you something?”

  “Adventurer! Sure, sure. Go ahead.”

  “Thank you. I would like to know if you have seen strangers pass through the vilge over the st month.”

  “Ha! Searg for those b*stards corrupting our forest, hm? It’s about time!”

  Suddenly the old man spit to the side, prompting Liam to take a step back.

  “Why do you think someone is responsible for the corruption?”

  “Youngster, I have lived long and seen much. The biggest problems for our vilge were always manmade! Wars. Famine caused by a stupid king. Bad weather because the priest pocketed the sacrifice for the gods. It’s always the same.

  The worst natural disaster we experienced was a starving bear!”

  “This sounds…”

  Liam struggled to find the right word, causing the old man to take over:

  “Don’t fret it. That’s life. The corruption of our forest is just another catastrophe. However, I did indeed see something strange. On the day after that beast was sin, I noticed a tattered, dark green coat hanging from a tree.”

  “Great, did you keep it?”

  “Youngster, did you not listen? It hung from a tree. In the corrupted area! I couldn’t get it. And when I looked again a few hours ter it was gone.”

  “Alright. This is still a great help. Thank you. Anything else?”

  “No that’s it. I hope you find the b*stard who did this!”

  “Of course.”

  Liam nodded early before saying goodbye and looking for more clues. Another ered his eyes, a young mother selling apples with her daughter pying nearby.

  “Adventurer, are you here to buy something?”

  Hearing the woman’s weak voice, Liam felt some pity, speaking with a gentle smile:

  “Yes. Give me five apples.”

  “Five? Of course. Here, this makes ten bronze.”

  “Thank you.”

  Liam put the goods into his iory, taking out a silver and ying it on the woman’s stall.

  “What? Advehis is too much! Too much! I ’t take it.”

  “If you feel like that’s too much, how about answering my question to earn this ?”

  The womaated, looking at Liam wearily. He didn’t wait for her answer, askily:

  “Have you seen anything stra month? Especially before the void corruption appeared?”

  “I…”

  The woman looked flicted, hesitating. But suddenly her daughter stood o her, holding a white boar’s tusk in her hand.

  “Here, I found this.”, stated the young girl, her big eyes transfixed on the silver , causing her mother to scold her anxiously:

  “Mary! I told you not to show this to anyone!”

  “But mommy…”

  “You…”

  The woman wao push her daughter away, but seeieary eyes she couldn’t act against her instincts. She hugged her daughter, pg her:

  “Ok, ok. Mommy knows you meant well. Don’t cry.”

  Liam quickly chimed in:

  “Mary, you sell this tusk to big brother?”

  Seeing the young girl’s mood ge on the spot, Liam almost felt cheated, but he took out another silver , exging it for the tusk.

  The mother let out a light sigh before expining to Liam:

  “A few days ago, Mary went out to py. When she came back, she had this tusk in her hands. I immediately uood that she went to the forest.

  But my daughter is NOT corrupted! I slease don’t tell anyone, adventurer!”

  “Don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

  “Thank you.”

  Speaking till here, the woman advised her daughter some more, prompting Liam to leave. When she looked back, her eyes suddenly opened wide:

  “Adventurer, you fot your ! Adventurer!”

  Liam didn’t turn back, leaving the vilge with a light smile on his lips. Although helping such minor NPCs wouldn’t grant him any be, such acts still gave one a good feeling due to the immersive world where every NPC looked extremely lifelike.

  In a good mood Liam followed the path to another vilge. As he didn’t dare to cross the void-corrupted forest, he was forced to take a detour costing him a few extra minutes.

  On his way he even watched a group of pyers ehe forest in search of adventure. But they soon noticed their HP decreasing rapidly. Realizing that they couldn’t survive they hastily left the forest.

  But the situation didn’t get much better. Their HP still fell dramatically until everyo their tank succumbed to the void energy.

  Liam pitied them but he was certain their group wasn’t the only orying their luck. Only when the army gave out anti-void items could pyers explore the forest again.

  To Liam’s knowledge however, the forest didn’t hold any more secrets. Thus, he wasn’t curious, speeding up to soon reach the sed vilge.

  Walking down the main street it didn’t take him long to find the first relevant NPC. It was a middle-aged man huddled against the er of a building, his face painted with distress.

  Liam approached him carefully to ask his questions:

  “Sir. I bother you for a moment?”

  “Ah! Who are you?! I don’t reize you! Stay away!”

  “Sir, I’m an adventurer iigating the void. I have a few questions.”

  “Void? Demon! Demon!”, cried the man, horror refleg in his eyes.

  “Sir, please. What demon are you talking about?”

  “Benareg!”

  The man shivered, crawling into the shadows, his skin paling by the sed. Luckily a gentle-looking peared, putting a cloak around the man’s shoulders and speaking to him quietly.

  After the man had calmed down, she turowards Liam:

  “My apologies, adventurer. My husband hasn’t been the same since he saw something in the forest.”

  “ you tell me what he saw?”

  “Benareg! At least that’s what he says…”

  “Do you have any idea what Benareg is?”

  “Yes. Benareg is a demoo scare kids. It has a human body and a boar head, ing out of the forest at night.”

  “Could it be that your husband saw this demon around the time the void corruption occurred?”

  The ondered for a sed before nodding slowly.

  “Yes. This seems abht.”

  “Thank you. You helped me a lot.”

  The woman smiled politely while leading her shivering husband away.

  A picture formed in Liam’s mind, but he couldn’t tihe quest without talking to the st NPC. Thus, he walked towards a man knog heavily on a door, a deep frown on his face.

  “M, Sir. I ask you a question?”

  “Hm? Adventurer? e back ter, I’m not in the mood.”

  “Sorry, but ut you in such a sour mood?”

  “Hmpf. Still here? ’t you see it? Sam isn’t opening the door! Must be drunk again. Lazy b*stard!

  Hey! Sam! You promised to help me on the field today! Open the door!”

  “This alone makes you so uled?”

  “Well, it’s not the first time this week! Odo promised me some meat, but that idiot didn’t open the door either!”

  “Odo is…?”

  “How ’t you know Odo? The hunter?! No? Ah, whatever!”

  The man grunted angrily, threw o poisonous g the house before turning and leaving.

  Liam looked at the man’s back while his quest updated. His brows furrowed as he resented with multiple options of whom to ask for more clues. Liam shook his head ahe vilge towards a hut outside.

  It was closer to the forest, half hidden behind some shrubbery. When Liam approached, he noticed a faint fog in the air, giving the hut an eerie appearance.

  The view around the er came into sight. Suddenly Liam froze in pce. He drew a sharp breath. o the hut id a dead boar missing one of its tusks, its empty eyes causing everyone approag to shiver.

  Not expeg it, even Liam was startled before he adjusted his mind and walked towards the door. He khree times, the sound reverberating through the surroundings.

  A few seds of sileer, the door opened slowly with a grating noise. A pale faced, quiet young man with a stubbly beard peeked through the gap.

  “Who?!”