When he reached the scene of the scream, it was a horrifying sight. Purplish spirits belonging to the town of Earth Lake were being dissolved, taken apart ectoplasm by ectoplasm with dark clouds of oil-like substance spewed by thick slimy worms that Beast have never once encountered during his venture in the dungeons. Huddled in one corner against the stone huts was Kiki, terrorised by a few of the worms that had surrounded her.

Seems that she has a fear of these grotesque things as well as ghosts.

The worm-like Lurkers were level 42, well within Beast’s comfort range. A combo of mana-infused blows took care of them well enough. The more interesting thing of note was that they were actually winning against the Lanos Knights of Earth Lake, whom with previous inspection were actually level 50+ despite their valiant efforts at trying to resist the worm’s attacks. It took one splash of that same muck for Beast to instantly know why.

-100 HP

You have been afflicted with Necrotic Acid. You will take a constant 20HP damage/second

Ectoplasm creatures will take additional 200% damage

It was dark magic, infused specifically to deal with the ghosts of Earth Lake, so much that the ghosts literally melted as soon as they come into contact with the attack. With that kind of counter, the spirits had absolutely no chance against their enemies unless Beast, who does not have the same vulnerability as they do, did something quickly to elevate the situation.

Kiki too, if she could gather her nerves enough to contribute.

With a roar and a leap, Beast charged into the battle, first killing the worms that were surrounding the female assassin.

“You okay?” He asked, but did not wait for a reply before priming a Renew spell on the girl and engaging another worm that was about to pulverise a Lanos Knight. Worm after worm he killed, always going for those that were about to defeat a friendly spirit ally. It was not that Beast was being altruistic but because he had to curry favour with the residents sooner or later to advance the quest. It simply did not do him good if the NPCs died off before they could give him all that Earth Lake has to offer. With the combination of his Bloodline Aura and Chi energy, it took no longer than five minute for him to clear the area.

Then, a wretched voice reverberated across the caverns, coupled with an extremely dark presence that instantly chilled the surrounding air.

Could it be a boss fight this soon?

“Lanos Knights, tremble and fear me. With your Antroach protection gone, it is simply a matter of time before I wipe you from this world.” And the evil presence simply vanished.

“You okay, Kiki?” Beast asked for the second time as he pulled the girl to her feet. “It seems that Agor owes us an explanation on some things.”

Surprisingly, the journey back to the heart of the town was… different. What used to be cold responses from the ghosts of Lanos were now amicable smiles from them.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“My husband was almost killed by the Lurkers, but you saved him!”

“You have the heart of a Lanos Knight, young man.”

It seemed that simply saving the Lanos Knights from being destroyed had raised his intimacy with the residents by a whole lot, despite the event only just happening; news in the game was apparently instantaneous. Also naturally, since they had saved quite a number of Lanos Knights from ectoplasmic death, Agor Lanos was more willing to tell the two of them more of what had just transpired.

The voice was of the dark warlock Savathrox, who had led the goblin army to besiege Lanos during the Sundering. After driving the Knights down to the underground, he had pursued them here, only to come to face with guerrilla warfare of massive proportions due to the winding passageways and wide-spanning caverns. It was a long stalemate, leading Savathrox to weave a necromantic spell upon the place instead. Cursing them to be bound to the caverns as spectres that could not rest in peace, the warlock conjured Lurkers infused with dark magic specially to hunt them down, and was thwarted simply because the Antroach that dwelled under the surface had suppressed the Lurker population down.

And this deadlock had persisted for centuries until this day.

Beast was quiet for a while after Agor finished, partly because he was a little apologetic with regards to the Antroach but also because he was trying to process all the information that had been said. Who would have known that under the ruins of the Fort of Lanos, a part of the Sundering event that happen eons ago was still under way? Not only was it an interesting part of history that may shed insight on his Lore Keeper quest regarding Vanadic, it was also a chance to gain more artifacts and powers.

“Where can I find him?”

Agor Lanos was shocked. “You can’t be thinking of taking him on alone? We tried back then, but he was too powerful and has too many.”

“I have her.” Beast pointed to Kiki beside him, who did a double take.

“Wh-what?”

“We will assassinate him, somehow.”

Kiki’s eyes were as wide as saucers now. “But what about you Beast? You don’t have any stealth skills right?”’

“I will improvise.” Beast shrugged. “I had been doing well until now didn’t I?”

“Are you sure?” Agor was not convinced. “I could allow you to bring some of the Lanos Knights with you as reinforcements, if they are willing to go with you.”

With the intimacy increase, there was no doubt that Beast could persuade a substantial number of spectres to lend their aid against the upcoming battle. However, the main bulk of the warlock’s army appeared to consist of Lurkers, and the Lurkers’ attacks had been observed to be extremely effective against the ghosts, so much their chances of survival were zero to none. Because NPC reinforcements were requested based on the consumption of relations points, his intimacy with Earth Lake will also disappear with them once the spectres that constitute those intimacy points die.

In conclusion, it was not worthwhile at the slightest to bring any reinforcements with them to avoid pointless slaughter and intimacy decrease. On the other hand, having two people might just be more beneficial instead with regards to manoeuvrability and stealth. And because they might be the only humans in this place for a long time to come, it would be better to simply proceed and try to take down Savathrox on their own.

“We should be able to handle it alone.” Beast insisted, much to Kiki’s chagrin.

“Very well,” The purple spirit continued. “If the two of you are willing to try, I will not stop you. Savathrox can be found in the Crystal Caverns deeper beyond the Antroach’s lair. I wish you good luck and pray that you succeed for the sake of us all.”

………………….

Because there was nothing else to offer within the town itself, there was also no need for Beast and Kiki to prepare anything with regards to food and supplies. This also meant that they would have to stock up on Antroach eggs first before venturing forth into the crystal caverns portion of this underground saga.

“Umm… Beast, I think I am going to take a bath.” The assassin girl spoke up while they are harvesting black protein from the dead antroach’s lair. “Be right back!”

She logged out before Beast could say anything, to which Beast gave a long sigh. She had been taking more and more of these baths nowadays; perhaps the strain of being underground all the time had taken a slight toll on her mind. One hour later, the girl was back in a visibly better mood than before just as the ‘supplies’ were finished restocking.

Beast looked at Kiki. “Ready?”

“…”

“Then let’s go.”

It took a while for the duo to track down the passageway that would lead them onwards and in the meantime the caverns were surprisingly lacking in signs of life. Armadillos and rat men that used to roam these halls were all missing for unknown reasons, leaving the two of them much time alone with each other. Despite that, there was none of their usual interactions. Kiki seemed to be angry about something.

“Hey…” Beast finally broke the silence. “You okay there?”

“ … I am fine.”

That three words set off warning bells in Beast’s head. Despite being evergreen and having a distinct lack of female interactions back in real life, he had read enough of the articles floating around the internet such as ‘Sentences women say and what they actually mean’ and ‘Things to be wary of when dealing with females’ to know that saying those three words are the most direct way women have of stating that they are actually not fine. And now, Kiki had used it on him.

The articles also mentioned that it is social suicide for men to take it at face value and ignore them.

“Are you sure? You look anything like fine to me.” Beast delicately replied in the way the article recommend that men do.

It apparently seemed to work, because she suddenly whirled around and broke into a tirade. “Of course I am not fine! How could you have just decided everything on your own just like that? Assassinate him? How are we actually going to do that? He has an army and everything! Do you even think it through when you said those words?”

“….”

“And I don’t even care about the quest. I am tired of eating only this every day and being covered in muck and grime… I just want to get out of here.”

So it was regarding that. The article mentioned that the ability for a man to survive a women’s anger is to accurately sift through all her words and accurately pinpoint the thing affecting her the most. Also, the ability to apologise is a big factor as well.

“I’m sorry.” Beast intoned. He had indeed thought it through, but saying that might just infuriate her further. “I have faith in us.”

“Don’t say stupid things like that!”

Beast blinked. Why was that proclamation of faith stupid? Their partnership had been pretty effective so far, was it not?

“I-I… forget it.” Kiki softened, picking up speed as she walked in front of Beast, leaving the Lore Keeper behind to ponder if he had handled the case wrongly. A few seconds later however, a shout caught his attention.

“Beast! Quick! Over here!”

Hurrying over, Beast saw Kiki standing with something glowing in her hand – a miniscule crystal emitting a deep blue colour.

………………

“Ah! Sebast did mention it is Caerheim right?” Naomi stretched her arms as she appeared in the streets of Caerheim’s capital city Loyderidge. “Strange. I thought there would be more people in the city.”

As she had said, the streets of Loyderidge were eerily empty. Gone were the usual bustling city streets where players hawker their wares to the others and the NPCs wandered around, going about their day’s work. Right at this very moment, there were only a few guards patrolling around, along with a man who had approached her with a flyer in his hand.

“Hey! You are new here, right?” It was the mandatory tutorial NPC. “You should not really be doing this now but welcome to Caerheim, Loyderidge. Here is a map of the city. I would have told you to enjoy your stay here and interact with the other residents for employment before going out to the wild but now isn’t really a good time.”

Naomi dumbfounded-ly received the map from the man. “Are you a real person?”

“Of course I am a real person!” The tutorial guy indignantly replied. NPCs have no concept of real or virtuality, so to them they were as real as they could get. “Listen, the city is currently under evacuation. All combat personnel have already joined the Joint Operation or City Militia. Go to the Magus Tower and ask for a passageway out of here; they are doing it for free for all residents and newcomers.”

The man himself seemed desperate to leave. “Go to Torintu or Rydelin, anywhere but here.”

“Why?” Naomi asked.

“Why?! Because Honduria is attacking soon, that is why! “

“Why can’t I fight?”

The NPC was on the verge of tears from exasperation. Even if the concept of levels does not really apply to the NPCs of Ages online, they still have an implicit knowledge of a person’s combat abilities. Naomi was level 1 and was by default no stronger than an untrained commoner of Loyderidge. Therefore her question seemed every bit as ridiculous as it sounded. In the end, he gave up trying to persuade her.

“If you really want to fight,” The NPC’s shoulders were sunken in defeat. “Go look for Commander Lifey at the Joint Operation centre next to the Keep. Or you can find Knight Gordo at the Militia barracks in the city suburbs.”

“Thank you!” Naomi chirped, much to the man’s chagrin. This little girl in front of him was going to stupidly send herself to her death, damn this stupid impending war. Why couldn’t the youngsters live their life in peace?

………

The Crystal Caverns were exactly as its name stated. Crystals of various hues of blue adorn the cavern walls, shining a pale cyan glow onto the surroundings. There were so much of them that the entire place was brightly lit by the glows alone. Beast and Kiki spend an awed moment admiring the crystal formation before remembering what they were here for.

“Why would Savathrox base himself in this kind of beautiful place?” Kiki wondered aloud.

“Possibly for the mana.” Beast could not help but answer. Indeed, his Detect Magic skill was giving off strong pulses of blue in addition to the natural blue glow of the crystals, indicating a saturation of magic that are infused within the crystals themselves.

Taking the blue crystal that Kiki found, he pulled up the information window. It was obscured, a sign of an unidentified item.

"Identify."

Object Identified. Additional information derived.

Michelin Stone (Small)

Weight: 10 grams

Durability: 1/1

Magical, Rare Mineral, Material, Miscellaneous

Value: 2g

This stone is a mana-infused crystal formed by saturation of magical energies that wells from deep beneath the land such that it had turned a deep blue hue. In the past before the Sundering, it was pretty common as a source of back-up mana in times of emergency. This soft, malleable stone is also known to be used for magical enchantments and rituals. However, it is uncommon to find it now in the present time due to rapid abuse of the stone during the time of war.

+0.1% mana regeneration.

If used, replenish 500 mana instantly at the cost of the item.

As expected from Beast, the moment he had identified that the stone was source of direct mana replenishment, he instantly tried to hack a few more of those light blue glowing crystals off the wall. To his disappointment however, all he managed to obtain was dust as the crystals crumbled even from the slightest impact. Perhaps this was the reason why the stones were so rare – getting a functional stone alone would take ages.

“Be careful, I think we are close.”

They have reached a point where the number of Lurkers encountered had inflated to a substantial amount and despite them being easy monsters to defeat, still pose a threat due to their ever growing numbers. Nodding to each other, they embarked on their previously agreed plan.

“Prime: Bloodline Aura!”

“Stealth!”

Within ten seconds of the aura effect, the two of them cleared the area of enemies and melded into the shadows, ready to start their infiltration mission.

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas Everyone!