This is the first quest that Sage would likely be in the forest alone at night. Lieutenant Marwin has requested you to check on reports about the undead inside the the forest. At first Sage thought that this was a joke and a silly matter, he thought that the Lieutenant was joking. But no, the guards who reported it seemed like they have seen death itself. The quest should be done at night, as the guards found it at night, so Sage rested in a hotel and almost slept for the whole day. At dusk, he had his early dinner and head towards the forest. While walking, Sage felt a little scared at first, he was afraid that he would be ambushed by the undead and get killed, the reports also stated that the undead was gathering at a specific place, which was very weird as the undead can't organize or even think about something like that. As Sage entered the forest, he felt different, he felt his body become stronger and he doesn't feel scared anymore but he felt brave and he felt like he could take on anything, he felt like energy was surging through his body when he stepped into the forest. In the light of the moon, he searched for strange activity or strange creatures inside the forest. He regretted for not bringing a torchlight along with him, but thank goodness it was a full moon tonight, its light is the only thing that helped Sage. Sage searched for every corner of the forest, searching for the walking dead that the guards saw on their last shift, when Sage has covered almost half of the forest, he felt like the guards are just paranoid at that time at saw things that they shouldn't plus who want to raise the dead again, Sage thought. He then thought of how evil people summoned an army of the undead, or fictional stories about zombies that infects other people by biting them. For the second time, Sage sighed, he decided to head back to Era and crash on to his bed and sleep for the rest of the night. Then he heard a twig cracked, Sage stopped in his track and his hand ready to cast a spell. He looked around and saw a deer, for the third time of the night, Sage sighed but he felt relieved as he was not facing an enemy but a friendly deer, "Hello there, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Sage said to the deer like he met the deer everyday, talking to animals aren't normal, in his village, people said that Sage was crazy for talking to animals. He approached the deer like he was approaching a friend, the deer didnt flinch nor run. Sage stroke the deer's head and pat it. The deer gets closer to Sage and let him pat him more. Sage grinned that the deer want more.

WC: 500

Then when Sage raised his head, he saw a slightly bright orange light, and he heard flickers. He could tell that they were torches. Sage grew curious and the deer ran away. Something is happening, Sage thought, he could feel it. He head to the place where the torch were but in the same time he hid inside a bush. Nobody was there so he kept looking for someone or something near the place where he found the torch, then he heard people, not one but many chanting something, still hiding in a bush, he saw people doing some ritual in front of a statue which resembles a pagan god, or was it a goddess, Sage don't know but he was sure that the statue is a pagan god, and the worse part is that countless undead were being resurrected, Sage didn't know what to do. Maybe he should ambush them and stop them? or maybe he should keep quiet and head back to Lieutenant Marwin and confirmed the reports he received before? Sage don't know which what he must decide. Then after a couple of debating in his mind, he decided to just leave quietly and report to Lieutenant Marwin about this with a conclusion of an army of the living versus the army of the undead is better than only one of him versus an army of the undead. He withdraw slowly, trying not to make any noise, even the noise of a twig cracking. Then he walk carefully too as he can't see what he was stepping on, hopefully not a twig, when he reached far enough from the people, the undead, and the pagan god statue, he ran quickly, very fast that he could feel the wind gushing towards his face and the leaves around him flew due to the high speed. Sage could feel his leg telling him that he must slow down, and there is nothing he should be worried about as there is nothing that is going to chase him, Sage slowed down and caught his breath, puffing and huffing. When he finally recovered his breath, Sage continued his journey to get out of the forest quickly to tell the Lieutenant what he found and warn the guards about the undead. He walk this time, enjoying his time in the forest, he love the forest and he still don't know what is his attachment to it. When he finally reach the end of the forest, he felt like his strength is gone and he felt sleepy and very weak. He head to the Lieutenant while yawning and told him that the reports are true and he saw some people doing ritual in front of a statue, when the Lieutenant said thank you to Sage and gave him the reward, Sage yawned and said good luck to them and left the scene, heading towards his hotel awaiting the comfort of his bed and the blanket keeping him warm, Sage was very sleepy at that time.

WC: 506