Drake, pressed onward from the vicinity of Stonebridge Crossing, leaving the immediate aftermath of the bandit camp raid behind him. The [Rare Bandit Chieftain's Blade] felt good in his hand, a significant upgrade, and the [Alvari Tuning Stone] was tucked securely away with the Hilt and Artifact disc – more pieces to a puzzle he couldn't yet solve. His current focus remained the long journey north towards Silverhaven and Elder Jian.
He traveled through the rest of the Whispering Plains, the terrain gradually becoming rockier and more arid as he moved into the adjacent zone, marked on his map as the 'Stonetalon Foothills'. This region was characterized by sparse vegetation clinging to stony hills, sharp ridges, and deep gullies carved by ancient water flows. The mobs reflected the harsher environment – Level 13 Scrabbling Rock Lizards that blended with the terrain, and Level 14 Crag Stalkers, nimble predators that used the rocks for ambushes.
His combat effectiveness remained high. The Level 13-14 mobs posed little threat individually. His 100% SCR [Basic Slash], empowered by [Relentless Assault] and his significantly improved gear (Rare Sword, Buckler, Bracer + Epic Ring), cut through them quickly. [Defend] at 100% SCR negated any hits that got through his proactive offense. He even started experimenting cautiously with his new skill, [Ground Stomp], using it when 2-3 mobs clustered too close. The activation timing felt awkward initially, resulting in mediocre SCRs (<< Skill Success! SCR 75%! Minor Damage + Stagger! >>), but [Eidetic Execution] locked the baseline, ensuring it was at least functional. He knew it needed dedicated practice later.
Throughout his journey, Drake kept [Relic Hunter] constantly active, the minor stamina drain a worthwhile cost for the potential discoveries. His eyes constantly scanned the environment, aided by the skill's subtle highlighting of inconsistencies or points of interest. Mostly, it revealed common resource nodes – veins of [Iron Ore] embedded in rock faces, clusters of hardy [Mountain Root] herbs – which he diligently gathered, but nothing truly significant.
After traveling for most of the day, as the virtual sun began its descent towards the western peaks, he spotted a structure breaking the monotony of the rocky foothills. Perched atop a prominent, windswept bluff stood the crumbling silhouette of an old stone watchtower. It looked ancient, clearly pre-dating Oakhaven, likely a relic from before the Shattering or the early chaotic years after. It wasn't marked as a major landmark on his map, just part of the landscape.
"An old watchtower... Usually picked clean by time or scavengers, but always worth a look with Relic Hunter active. Never know what might have been missed."
He altered his course, carefully making his way up the steep slope towards the tower. The stonework was heavily eroded, sections of the wall collapsed inwards, and the upper levels were entirely gone, leaving only the sturdy base and perhaps half of the first floor intact. He circled the exterior first, [Relic Hunter] active. It highlighted some loose stones near the base that might conceal minor caches, but no strong energy signatures or hidden mechanisms.
He entered through the crumbling main archway. The interior was filled with debris – fallen stones, rotted wood beams, layers of dust and sand blown in by the wind. A few bats fluttered nervously in the shadowed corners. He scanned the ground floor. A collapsed fireplace, remnants of crude wooden furniture, perhaps a broken weapons rack. Nothing of obvious value remained.
He moved carefully through the debris, his boots crunching on loose gravel. [Relic Hunter] continued its subtle work. It highlighted the structural weaknesses in the remaining ceiling beams, warning him away from unstable areas. It pointed out a few more common resource spawns – [Bat Guano] (useful for some Alchemy, apparently), more [Iron Ore] where the foundation met bedrock. Then, in a dusty, debris-filled corner near where a staircase might have once stood, the skill highlighted something different. Not a resource node, not a structural weakness, but a faint, irregular outline amidst the rubble – something small, made of organic material perhaps, partially buried and easily mistaken for just another piece of trash.
"What's that? Doesn't look like stone or metal..."
Drake approached the highlighted area and began carefully clearing away the loose stones and thick layers of dust. His fingers brushed against something soft but resilient – old, treated leather. He carefully excavated it. It was a small, heavily damaged leather satchel, stiff with age and decay, its straps broken. It looked like it had been crushed by falling debris long ago. Most of it was empty, rotted through, but as he carefully felt inside a surprisingly intact inner fold, his fingers closed on something thin and stiff – a piece of rolled parchment.
He gently pulled it out. It was dark with age and water stains, torn along one edge, clearly only a fragment of a larger document. He carefully unrolled it.
<< Item Acquired: [Torn Map Fragment] (Quest Item?) >>
[Torn Map Fragment]
Quality: ???
Type: Quest Item / Clue
Description: A piece of an old, meticulously drawn map rendered on durable parchment. Shows unfamiliar landmarks and strange navigational symbols. Seems to depict a route through these foothills, but is clearly incomplete. Feels important. [Soulbound].
Drake examined the fragment closely. It depicted a section of rocky terrain, possibly these very foothills, with drawings of specific rock formations, a winding dry riverbed, and what looked like hand-drawn symbols – triangles, circles with dots, wavy lines – placed at certain points, clearly some kind of navigational code or trail marker system. The edge was raggedly torn, cutting off the route.
"A map fragment... hidden here for who knows how long. Definitely Alvari symbols mixed with cartography. Quality ???, Soulbound... like the Hilt and the Artifact Disc. Another mystery piece."
He immediately tried to connect the visible landmarks and symbols to his surroundings or anything stored in [Perfect Recall]. He recognized the general terrain type, but the specific formations drawn weren't immediately familiar from his current vantage point, and the Alvari-like symbols didn't match anything he'd encountered yet (not the Hilt symbols, not the Tuning Stone patterns he vaguely remembered, not standard Alvari script).
"Can't decipher this yet. Need the other pieces of the map, or need to find these landmarks and symbols out in the world to understand the route. This feels like the start of something... a treasure hunt maybe? Left by a cartographer?"
He carefully stored the [Torn Map Fragment] in his inventory. This felt like a significant discovery, a direct reward for his diligence in using [Relic Hunter] even in seemingly unimportant ruins. It was another thread to follow, another secret offered by the world of Legacy of Alvari.
Leaving the crumbling watchtower behind, Drake continued his journey north towards Silverhaven. The sun was setting, painting the Stonetalon Foothills in shades of orange and purple. His primary goal remained unchanged, but now he had a new puzzle piece in his possession, a potential side adventure waiting to be unraveled. He kept [Relic Hunter] active, his eyes now scanning not just for resources or hazards, but for anything – a unique rock formation, a strangely carved symbol – that might match the fragment of the lost cartographer's map.