Ren followed the crowd west. Enough players had reacted to the Redjaw bounty that the western road out of Aldern looked like someone had announced free money at its end.
Parties formed while walking.
"Need healer!"
"Level five Guardian looking for group!"
"You’re level three."
"Then invite me twice."
A Ranger climbed onto the low stone wall beside the road and shouted that he had seen Redjaw personally.
Three people immediately asked where. A fourth asked how much.
Information already has a price.
The fields thinned beyond Aldern.
Trees took over gradually, first scattered along the road, then close enough that their branches crossed overhead.
Briarwash Wood was wetter than the fields around Aldern.
Dark trunks rose from moss-covered ground. Thorny vines wrapped around some of them in thick spirals. Old charcoal paths cut away from the main road, narrow enough that two players could barely walk side by side.
The crowd split almost immediately. Every path had a theory attached to it.
"West."
"No, someone died north."
"Redjaw’s den is definitely near the creek."
"You made that up."
"I read it."
"Where?"
"A forum."
"Then someone else made it up."
Ren slowed near the first fork.
A group in green tabards stood around a player holding a hand-drawn map.
Orchid Company.
The man with the map pointed deeper into the woods.
"Two attacks here. One here. Last confirmed sighting was farther north."
"Confirmed by who?"
"Someone who died."
"Very reliable witness."
"They posted the clip."
That was better.
Ren continued past them. He was Level Three. Redjaw was Level Thirteen and Rare. There was curiosity, and then there was volunteering to become another witness on the forum.
The main charcoal path stayed crowded. Players checked every broken branch and patch of mud. One man crouched beside a footprint as if he’d just found the murder weapon.
"Found something."
His party gathered around.
Ren looked as he passed.
Boot print. Probably human. Nobody seemed concerned.
Ren left the path and moved deeper between the trees. The trees were close enough that he could still hear people arguing behind him. If hundreds of players searched the same road, the road would stop having useful information very quickly.
The mud gave way to fallen leaves and patches of low grass. He walked for another minute before something ahead caught his attention. A section of grass had been crushed flat between two trees.
Ren slowed and moved closer.
A dead boar lay between two roots. Its side had been torn open.
Ren raised his spear and listened for a moment. Nothing moved nearby. He approached.
The corpse was large enough that he would not have enjoyed fighting it. Several deep claw marks crossed its flank. The flesh around them had darkened and thin black thorns protruded from two of the wounds.
Broken brush and a smear of blood trailed several steps south of the corpse.
Ren crouched. One thorn was almost as long as his finger. A faint red line ran through its center.
A notification appeared when he touched it.
Unusual Hunting Sign Detected
Another window opened.
Hidden Quest Discovered
The Briar Crown - Rare
Redjaw, the Briar King, has begun hunting outside its usual territory.
Find evidence of its current hunting route.
Fresh Signs Located: 1/3
Warning: Direct engagement is not required.
Ren read the warning twice.
"Excellent design."
For once, the game had explicitly told him not to attack something.
He removed the thorn from the corpse.
Quest Item Acquired: Blooded Briar
Voices carried through the trees.
"Over here!"
Ren looked back.
Three players had left the charcoal path.
Not toward him yet, but they were searching the same patch of woods.
Ren stored the thorn and moved deeper. He did not need to be the strongest person hunting Redjaw. He only needed to notice things before everyone else did.
The next sign took longer.
He found scratches on a tree first.
Wrong.
Too low.
Then blood on a fern.
Also wrong.
A few drops led toward a player corpse lying face down beside a stump. The body was already beginning to fade. A broken sword lay nearby, ownership text greyed out.
Someone had died recently. The man’s armor had four punctures through the back.
Ren looked around. No thorns. No torn plants.
Probably not Redjaw.
He kept moving.
Behind him, someone shouted.
"There’s a body over here!"
Another voice answered.
"Check for loot."
Ren looked back once, then continued.
The second real sign was farther north.
A strip of grey fur clung to a thorn bush. Drops of blood crossed the ground beyond it. Whatever had lost it had kept running.
The trail ended at a shallow ditch.
Something had landed hard enough to collapse one side. Several black thorns were buried in the mud.
The same red line ran through them.
Fresh Signs Located: 2/3
Ren crouched beside the ditch.
Both signs pointed north. That matched the crowd’s theory.
Almost.
The boar had fled south before collapsing. The second animal had fled south too. So Redjaw was somewhere north of both. That part was obvious.
What bothered him was the distance between the attacks. They were too far apart for a creature hunting around its den.
So the den theory was wrong.
A branch snapped ahead.
Ren froze.
Not a player.
Too heavy.
Something pushed through the brush.
Ren brought up his spear.
A wolf stepped between the trees. Then another. Ordinary animals at first glance, until the first one turned sideways.
Thorns grew along its shoulders and spine.
Thornback Wolf
Level 6 - Common
HP: 186/186
The second was Level Five.
Two wolves. Higher level. No quest requirement to kill them.
Ren backed away.
The Level Six wolf lowered its head. Its fangs were out.
Ren stopped. Running would probably settle the question badly. He shifted his spear forward.
The wolf lunged.
Ren moved aside and struck at the ribs. The spear scraped across hide.
-19 HP
No Keen Bite.
The second wolf came from his left.
Ren kicked away from the first and barely dodged its jaws.
The Level Six turned. Fast. Much faster than the rams.
Ren retreated toward a narrow gap between two trees. That stopped them from coming from both sides.
The first wolf charged through.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
Its mouth opened.
Now.
He thrust into the throat.
Critical Hit
Keen Bite F activated.
-61 HP
The wolf crashed into him anyway.
Ren hit the ground.
Pain slammed through his back.
-22 HP
Vagrant - HP: 93/115
The second wolf tried to squeeze past the first. Ren rolled sideways, got one knee under himself and jammed the spear shaft across its jaws.
Teeth snapped inches from his hand.
His arms shook under the pressure.
"Not ideal."
The first wolf recovered. Ren was still on the ground. Two monsters at once were already bad. Two monsters above his level were worse.
One. I’ll take one down with me. Fuck. Of course I die right after finding a rare quest.
Then both animals stopped. Their ears flattened, the pressure on his spear vanished, and the wolf backed away.
Ren did not understand why.
Then he heard a low growl somewhere deeper in the woods.
It wasn’t loud. It did not need to be for both Thornback Wolves to turn and scramble away.
Another growl rolled between the trees.
Closer.
Players shouted somewhere to the south.
"What was that?"
"Redjaw!"
"Where?"
Branches broke ahead.
Ren got to his feet and moved behind the nearest tree. He crouched there and looked through the brush.
A huge thornback wolf crossed between the trunks. Red fur. Thorns along its back caught the weak light beneath the canopy.
For a moment, he could inspect it.
Redjaw, Briar King
Level 13 - Rare
HP: ???
Then Redjaw disappeared behind the trees.
Ren didn’t follow. He was curious. He was not stupid.
A notification appeared.
Fresh Signs Located: 3/3
Objective Complete
Ren stared at it. Apparently seeing the actual monster counted as a sign.
Fair enough.
Another window replaced it.
The Briar Crown - Stage I Updated
Redjaw is not holding a fixed territory.
Its hunting route is shifting toward Aldern’s western charcoal roads.
Return with your findings to a local hunter.
Reward: Unknown
Shouting erupted behind him.
Players crashed through the brush.
"Which way?"
"Did you see it?"
"Where’d it go?"
Ren stepped away from the tree.
Five players appeared.
One wore an Orchid Company tabard. His eyes went immediately to Ren.
"You saw it?"
"Briefly."
"Which direction?"
Ren looked toward the trees Redjaw had crossed. Then at the growing number of players arriving behind them.
Someone farther back shouted that they would pay ten silver for a confirmed location. Another voice offered twelve.
Ren looked at the Orchid player.
"Apparently that information has a market value now."
The man’s expression changed.
Ren smiled.
A notification appeared at the edge of his vision.
Session Reminder
Pantheon Time: 9 hours, 36 minutes
Earth Time Elapsed: 4 hours, 48 minutes
Ren read it.
He’d meant to stay for an hour or two to see if he could make rent money as Theo had claimed. Pantheon had somehow turned that into nearly five. With the musty smell of the forest, the shade beneath the canopy and even the cold sweat on his skin, full-dive made it dangerously easy to lose track of time.
But he couldn’t miss a shift. Not until he secured better income.
Ren looked at the Orchid player.
"We’ll talk later."
Then he moved to the edge of the forest and opened the logout menu.