Once the aftertaste of battle had faded, Yanaki truly felt her companion's fatigue. Elara's form had become considerably fainter, almost blending into the air. The covenant allowed Yanaki to feel her exhaustion, like a candle about to burn out.
"Are you alright, Elara?" Yanaki asked worriedly through their link. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Elara shook her head weakly. She transmitted a simple concept: Rest. Memory. Sorrow.
Yanaki understood. Elara didn't need mana or recovery potions. Her energy came from the very essence of this land. She needed to be near places that held memories, even sorrowful ones, to slowly recover. This also meant that Elara's protective ability was not limitless. Yanaki had to learn to manage her companion's energy just as she managed her own MP bar.
"Alright, we'll be very careful," Yanaki decided.
They entered the main road leading into the city of Erathos. The scene inside was even more desolate than she had imagined. Skeletons in guard's armor lay slumped against shattered gates, their poses still trying to fight off an unseen enemy. An overturned merchant cart, its pottery shattered beside the skeleton of its owner. Everything was like a giant 3D diorama, recreating the final moment of a civilization.
The silence here was terrifying. It was broken only by the wind howling through empty window frames and the crunch of gravel under Yanaki's feet. She felt like the only living creature in a world of the dead, and that every soul here was watching her every step.
After walking for a while, Elara suddenly tugged lightly on Yanaki's sleeve, signaling her to stop. A moment later, the sound of loud chatter echoed from an intersecting street up ahead. Other players.
Yanaki immediately pulled Elara, and they both hid in the shadow of a crumbled wall. Elara, with her ethereal body, was nearly invisible in the darkness.
Three players appeared. Leading them was a burly man in iron armor, carrying a giant battle-axe. Following him was a female mage in a red robe, sparks crackling at her fingertips. Bringing up the rear was an agile-looking man with a pair of daggers, constantly glancing around nervously.
"Damn it, this godforsaken place is creepy!" the Warrior complained. "There aren't any decent monsters to farm EXP from, just a bunch of ghosts you can't even hit. So frustrating!"
The female Mage snapped, "The quest says we have to go to the citadel to find some Knight-Commander. Why don't we just head straight there and get it over with?"
Fwoosh! A small fireball flew from her hand and slammed into a suspicious shadow near where Yanaki was hiding, creating a small explosion. Yanaki flinched, her heart skipping a beat. The fireball had been only a few meters away.
"Watch it, Rina!" the Rogue said, his voice laced with stress. "Are you trying to attract every Wraith in the city? My daggers are useless against them! We should have found a Priest with holy magic to come with us."
They argued for a few more moments before quickly heading towards the ancient citadel in the city center.
Yanaki breathed a sigh of relief once they were gone. The brief encounter had given her a lot of information. First, other players were also on the main quest, but they had chosen a different objective: the [Shard of Courage]. Second, conventional classes like Warriors and Rogues struggled immensely with the spiritual enemies here. This inadvertently turned her unique solution into a massive advantage. And finally, other players were also a potential threat.
After making sure it was safe, Yanaki and Elara continued on. They turned into an area with smaller stone houses of simpler architecture. This was the residential district. Weeds had grown between the stone-paved paths, creating a scene that was both peaceful and eerie.
[Side Quest: [The Pieces of Alia] has been updated!]
New Objective: Find Elara's home.
But Elara's memory was too fragmented. She could only vaguely sense that her home was somewhere around here. She pointed towards a street, her eyes filled with fragile hope.
Yanaki nodded. She began her patient search, entering each collapsed house. Most were empty inside, their furniture decayed to dust. After searching nearly ten houses, in one with a wall still relatively intact, she found something.
A child's drawing, made with charcoal. The lines were naive but full of life. It depicted three people—a man, a woman, and a little girl holding hands. Behind them was a massive willow tree, its branches shading a small stream.
Elara floated to Yanaki's side. When she saw the drawing, her body trembled violently. An intense emotion of love, happiness, and infinite longing was transmitted to Yanaki.
This drawing was the first piece of the puzzle. Their home was near a willow tree and a stream.
Yanaki carefully memorized the image. In the cold, dead city, the simple drawing was like a warm beacon, showing them the way forward. Their journey was no longer one of aimless survival; it had become an investigation, a search for forgotten traces of happiness.