Saga of Astral Mysteries

"You are thinking too much of yourself, Ashe... or you are becoming increasingly paranoid in these past years adventuring in the Painted Mountains..."

Valkorion said as she then put down the bow and arrow she was aiming at him, a clear signal that there wouldn't be a fight between them. That was the last thing that he wanted because he knew that Ashe was rather strong. 

Not only was she extremely skilled with the bow and arrow, but he knew that she was also a powerful Beyonder, probably in Sequence 6 if he had to guess, but he wasn't aware of her Pathway. 

"Ts... these days are becoming dangerous, and lately, there has been an increased rate of disappeared adventurers in the Painted Mountains, not only due to the monsters dwelling in this place."

He immediately knew what she was talking about because it seemed that there were some people fishing on the adventurers. It wasn't that much of a surprise because with the increasing activity of the monsters in the Painted Mountains when monsters were practically everywhere, some people wanted to take advantage of that. 

In the end, Beyonder Characteristics were selling too well, and the potential belongings of some adventures were rather decent and tempting for many people. 

They often said that the thing one needed to be most cautious of when hunting for the monsters in such regions were not the Extraordinary Creatures themselves but rather the other adventurers, cultists, and other questionable individuals that were lurking in the shadows. 

It reminded Valkorion Chinese saying, "Mantis stalking cicada, unaware of Oriole behind"... it was perfect to describe the regions like the Painted Mountains.

"So... how have you been?"

His attempts to start the conversation with the cold archer had been awkward, but Ashe and Valkorion knew each other for some time already, so he knew that any talk with her was rather hard. 

She was a silent person, usually keeping to herself with a strong distrust of other people, which was logical. Valkorion wasn't stupid to trust adventurers because, in his view, they were people without much honor or loyalty.

"Still using this small talk?"

Ashe looked at the Valkorion who was approaching her as she took out her dagger and started cutting out several parts from the killed goblins for their parts. Like Valkorion, she spent most of her time in the Painted Mountains, and among the adventurers of the Cartharys, she was the one with the highest kill rate. 

"It's called having manners, Ashe... but whatever... are you going deeper or remaining in the outskirts?"

Outskirts of the Painted Mountains was the area of the Painted Mountains where most of the weaker adventurers were usually going because only those ones who were Beyonders dared to enter the inner areas of the Painted Mountains to try their luck, but even for them, it could easily spell their doom.

"Deeper."

She said just one word as Valkorion patiently waited until she finished her work on the goblins and put away several parts of the goblins into her backpack. 

"Are you coming too?"

Ashe then looked at Valkorion, who nodded in agreement. They already ventured several times into the inner area of the Painted Mountains together, because often it was dangerous to go alone to such a hazardous place...

"Searching for something concrete?"

Valkorion knew that Ashe wouldn't go into the inner areas of the Painted Mountains if there was no need for such a thing.

She was very smart, and when the rumors of the overpopulation of the goblinoids started circulating in the entire region of Cartharys, she was one of the few who stopped venturing into the inner areas.

Even though she was strong, Ashe was aware of her limits and knew that even the strongest could be put down with sheer numbers. Though that rule didn't apply to the most powerful Beyonders, for the Low Sequence Beyonders and Mid Sequence Beyonders, it stood out as a severe warning.

"Ingredient, deep in the mountains... we can go together to Green Peak, and from there, each of us will go a separate way."

Hearing her words, Valkorion didn't have much problem with this as this was a good agreement. Green Peak was rather far from here, and from there, he would need to walk another few hours until he arrived at the place where the Tomb he was searching for was supposedly lay. 

"Then we have agreement."

If he could, then he also wouldn't have ventured into this place alone because it carried too high risk, and he wasn't keen on dying once again. But he needed to advance to Sequence 6 and gather more wealth for his plans. 

So, in the end, he needed to undertake the risks because the time was ticking. 

When Ashe completed what she wanted, they started walking to their target, which was the Green Peak. One of the notable points in the Painted Mountains, because it was considered an entrance to the true inner regions of the Painted Mountains. 

It was swarming there with goblins and hobgoblins, thus the name of the Green Peak. Aside from that, Valkorion remembered that around a hundred years ago, it was the place where one of the last Goblin Kings rallied his forces against the Valyria and attempted to raid the lands below.

Only to be slayed by the Valyrian Beyonders, his armies were turned to ash by the Valyrian dragons, which turned the entire region into a scorching inferno of flames, which was burning even several days after the battle.

***

Painted Mountains, several hours later

"Stop..."

They were walking for several hours straingth, climbing some rocks and walking through narrow pathways between the mountains, when Ashe stopped out of nowhere when she looked at the ground.

"What is it?"

He knew that she wouldn't stop without a reason. During that time, they were talking, but mostly about the monsters and Extraordinary Creatures of the Painted Mountains and their weaknesses.

"There are footsteps here... not of goblins; these are bigger and more robust. Judging by their size and shape, they should belong to the Bugbears, several tens of whom are rather fresh."

Bugbears resembled hairy, feral goblins standing around 2.1 meters tall. They took their name from their noses and claws, which were similar to those of bears. Their claws were often not long and sharp enough to be used as weapons, so Bugbears usually armored and armed themselves with a variety of purloined gear, which was ordinarily second-rate and in poor repair.

Still, they were excellent scavengers, and they often found really good pieces of weapons or armor if they were lucky.

For the more powerful Bugbears, they were even more dangerous than the ordinary ones, because their claws became much stronger and sharper, and in a moment of surprise, they could use them to stab their opponents. Not to mention, they were physically rather strong, far stronger than goblins, and they were also a bit smarter. 

Bugbears, like other goblinoids, had a reputation for being dim-witted and brutish. This claim was not unfounded, and like their kin, bugbears had easily provoked tempers and were prone to rages.

When Bugbear entered the enraged state, he was several times stronger than usual, and they cared only for the death of their foes, not even caring about their very own well-being or state, often fighting to death even at the price of grievous injuries that they sustained or death itself.

***

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