The next day –
Zeno had awoken early as he normally does, he left the guild hall to visit the neighboring forest to stretch his legs and soak in the morning's grace. Just then a messenger hawk screeched from above before swooping down and perching itself on Zeno’s shoulders. A small sheet of paper with a four-leaf clover crest was attached to the bird's leg. It was an emergency message from the elders of Deep Green about how suspicious incidents were plaguing them and how unstable the mana flow was. “Looks like I got assigned a mission to check on the state of the deep green…fun. Go tell the others at the guild” Zeno whispers to the hawk before lifting his arm and letting the hawk fly off. With the livelihood of the forest in jeopardy, he rushed off to see what the problem was. He reached the forest around nightfall and was met with a shock wave that knocked him off balance mid-flight. After regaining his composure, he landed on the floor and fixed his hair. “Was that some sort of attack? I'm getting a reaaally bad feeling about this…sigh” Zeno sighs and shrugs his shoulders before walking into the bleak-looking entrance.
The once lush green earthly glow that filled the deep green was a thing of the past. The soil was dried up, and plants and flowers were all withered. The forest was indeed dying. Swift noises of multiple things brushing through the leaves of the trees overhead alerted Zeno, but before he could react and see what it was, they darted deeper into the darkness. What followed next was another shock wave. With it came a loud warping sound coming from what seemed like underneath his feet. The ground beneath Zeno suddenly started to rumble before splitting and sinking into itself, bringing down the surrounding trees and a large portion of the land, causing him to fall into the chasm. He pointed his fingers upward, summoning a magic circle in front of him, green vines burst forth from the seal entangling Zeno’s arms, flinging him out of the chasm onto the sturdy part of the land.“So–so much excitement and the night just started” he uttered after taking a deep breath and shaking his head while lying on the dirt.
WC 527