Ignoring the stares and whispers from the guards, we walked out of the barracks without a problem and headed down the main street, but all I could think about was the Quest. “If I think about it, I most likely would’ve gotten the previous Quests in the city of Ven’Thyl, so maybe that’s a good a place as any to start my search, but I also know I can probably already rule it out as a place the descendants actually are, since the Quest wants me to bring them to a sanctuary in the Elven Kingdom.” Reading the Quest description again.

The Bloodline of Ven’Thyl:

Find information about the whereabouts of the Second Descendants of Ven’Thyl, locate their exact location, rescue them from their current dreadful circumstances, bring them into a sanctuary within the Elven Kingdom, and ultimately help them also be known and recognized as the Heirs to the Elves.

Then a few immediate problems popped up in my head, “Wait, what if I’m not strong enough to complete the Quest yet? and will all the Elves start recognizing me as the Heir like Odelia did?” Remembering how some already acted strangely towards me. “I could even start getting targeted for just being a ‘Descendant’ too...” Worrying a little, I wanted to test an idea out and grabbed the cloak from my Inventory. Wearing it and pulling the hood down as much as I could, I looked over my shoulder—to Odelia following behind me—and asked “Do I still look like the Heir to Elves to you?”

Odelia was confused by the question, but she gave me a close look, and said “Strangely, no. How peculiar?” Tilting her head in confusion.

“Good to know, I just need to keep the crown covered to not be recognized.” Then asking, “Odelia, when are we leaving for Ven’Thyl again? and how far away is it compared to Leon or Sya?”

She laughed a little, “You really do not know much about anything, do you my Lord?”

“Please stop calling me that, and yes I really don’t.” I admitted.

“To answer your questions, my Lord—” I expressed again that I didn’t like being called that, and she took note and continued. “I was planning on leaving in 4 days, and I would say if one went by horseback that it would take them about two weeks just to get to the borders of the Kingdoms, then another two weeks to arrive at the City of Ven’Thyl.”

“Four weeks?! That’s gonna take forever!” I exclaimed loudly.

“My Lord—I mean Eyes—surely you jest if you actually believe we would travel that long. Have you not heard of a TC before? A Teleportation Circle?” Odelia looked worried that I really didn’t know anything.

“Of course I have.” I stated, knowing at least that much. “So we’re just gonna take the one at the Adventurer’s Guild then?”

Odelia gave me a disappointed look, sighing “How are you to be the Heir to the Elves with this much lack of knowledge, my Lo—Eyes.”

“I thought you accepted my decision when I told you I didn’t want to be the Heir.” I reiterated.

“Of course I have, Lord Eyes,” Giving me a wink, then saying “The Guild TCs are private and only for Guild Member use, and as you can see, I am not one.” Adding, “They are also extremely overpriced.”

“So we’re going to a different one?”

“Indeed, the public TC outside of Leon to be exact, the one near Sya is just an annoyance to my Dark Elf eyes.” Then telling me, “We could even make to Leon in 2-3 days if you allow me to carry you, since you seem to have an issue with long travels, and a day if I really exhaust myself.”

“2 weeks into 2 days? Just how fast is she?” I wondered, then making sure. “So 4 days?”

“If you would like we can leave early, I will just have to tell Drune that I have to cut my visit short this time.” Odelia looked saddened about that.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t wanna cut your visit with your husband short.” Feeling bad, and thinking "There was surprisingly no time limit for the Quest, so I can probably take my time with it."

“Thank you for your kindness, Lord Eyes.” Odelia said, bowing to me, and rolling my eyes at her, I kept walking towards the square.

Still following me to the front of the Sleeping Forest Inn, I turned to Odelia and said “Okay I’m safe, you can go home to Drune now.”

“Eyes, I should keep watch over you, at least for the first night.” Odelia insisted, calling me properly so I would agree.

“Uh, no thank you, I’m good.” Trying to dismiss her.

“At least allow me to escort you to your room.” She still insisted.

“Fine, to my room and then you leave.” Odelia nodded in agreement as we walked inside.

The inn itself was completely packed, filled with tons of people eating and drinking at the tables, the waiters and waitresses serving them, and musicians playing on stage. Seeing Rayna and Kassa notice me by the bar, I just gave them a wave but kept heading up the floors to my room.

Unlocking my door, Odelia gently pushed past me, and said “I will make sure it is safe.”

“Are you gonna act like this all the time now?” But she didn’t answer and just searched the room.

Spending the next 3 minutes thoroughly searching the pretty empty room, Odelia finally said “It is all safe.”

“I could have told you that.” Taking off my cloak and my practically destroyed chestpiece.

“By the way my Lord, you truly live like the Heir to the Elves.” Gesturing to the whole room suite.

“This room? It was just a thank you for saving the owner’s sister.” I explained. “And didn’t I say to stop calling me that?”

“But you are the Heir, you should be addressed as such.”

“Just like how you told me Odelia is fine, Eyes is also fine.” She reluctantly shook her head.

We then heard a knock on the door and a muffled voice, and I recognized it as Sherry’s. “Umm, Eyes...I brought you some fresh towels.”

“Lord Eyes, that could be someone after you.” Odelia said seriously, cautiously walking towards the door.

“Now you're the one jesting.” I said to her, casually opening the door to see Sherry holding towels. “Thank you very much Sherry, Odelia you can leave now.” Sherry was shocked and intimidated when she saw Odelia.

Suspiciously looking at Sherry as she walked by, Odelia said “I will be on my way then, see you tomorrow, Lord Eyes.” Giving Sherry one more look of suspicion before she left.

Taking the towels from Sherry, I said “Don’t mind her, Sherry.”

“Eyes, who-who was that beautiful woman? and what kind of relationship do you have with her?” Sherry questioned, nervously.

“That woman was Odelia, she’s the blacksmith Drune’s wife." I answered, having nothing to hide. "As for our relationship, think of her as my future teacher? or maybe bodyguard? I’m not really sure yet.” Sherry's face looked relieved.

Cheering up, Sherry said “She called you Lord Eyes when she left, are you actually an Elven Prince or something?”

“Technically yes and no, but more no than yes, it’s hard to explain.” Talking with Sherry for a bit, I made up a fantastical story about how I was a bastard son from one of the Noble Houses, and how I was exiled and forced to be on the run after causing a lot of trouble for the House in the Kingdom. Surprisingly Sherry believed it all and pitied me, and we said our goodbyes for the night right after. Taking the rest of my armour off, I hopped in the shower and saw there were a bunch of messages in the Top 10 chat, so I decided to read them while I showered.

The Top 10

Lavie- To Leon at dawn then?

Tobias- The sooner the better, I want to know what type of jobs I can do as a Gold Rank.

Faust- Y so early tho?

Lavie- Would you rather have the trip take longer than it already is?

Faust- No...

Lavie- Casino, Essex, and Xian, you guys are in chat, right? Do you guys want to come to the capital city with us? We’ll go our separate ways when we get there.

Xian- No thanks, I'm good. I'll be too busy playing at multiple gigs this week, but you guys should definitely come to one before you go.

Essex- I won’t be leaving for awhile too, there’s still so many small and hidden shops I want to check out here, and even more things I want to taste and experiment with.

Casino- I’ve kind of been on a roll the last few days, even if I am in a bit of a bind right now, and everyone knows you should never leave when you’re on a roll.

Lavie- Too bad, but I guess as long as you guys are enjoying yourselves.

Their messages made me laugh a little, “No wonder they’re not in the Top 10 anymore, it sounds like they really haven’t been doing anything but enjoying themselves.” Reading the rest of the messages.

Dream- Hey did u guys hear?

Faust- Hear wat?

Dream- Right knowing u guys I’m probly the only 1 who talked to and made other friends in the tutorial

Xian- Hey, I talked to people, I just didn’t trust them enough to add them as a Friend.

Essex- Likewise.

Faust- Friends? wat for? they’d probly all be useless anyway

Lavie- I'd say we’re friends, and I don't think any of us are useless, do you?

Faust- No...it's probly just Dream who is

Dream- Ha! Look who's talkin

Faust- You wana go blondie?

Dream- Bring it! which room do u wanna get ur ass kicked in

Tobias- Save your hormones for when we're not here, just tell us what happened.

Dream- Ok fine, here’s the news from the other Players:

The most important and relevant news is that all the standings in the Rankings matter, and at the end of the month we will all get some type of reward depending on our Overall Rankings, though strangely there isn’t a category that shows it. The information came from Guide 50's group (or L if you prefer roman numerals) and they were all told that separately before moving to the Waiting Hub, so it’s sounding pretty legit.

Faust- Oof you guys should get ur shit together I don’t even see u in the Top 100 for Levels.

Casino- Ain’t nothing to worry about.

Xian- When there's a reason to I will.

Essex- I'm 100% sure I'll fine.

Faust- Don’t say I didn’t warn u

Dream- Then according to everyone I’ve talked to, more than half the other Players split into 3 groups and joined something called a Guild Faction; Deicide, Elseworld, and The Guided. Their goals are all different, but here’s the TLDR: Deicide wants to find the Guides and become strong enough to kill them, Elseworld wants to be the highest Ranks and take over the entire Adventurer’s Guild, and The Guided just want to help the world they think they were sent here to save. Their Main Faction Leaders being: Deicide’s Audacity Rank 8, Elseworld’s Naisu Rank 9, and The Guided’s Zealot Rank 12.

Also, unaffiliated with anybody in particular, there’s a person named Global who’s currently trying to make an All-Players Group Chat with everyone in it. It’s going by the name World Chat, and already has 5,728 Players who have joined it, myself included.

Getting out of the shower, I dried myself off with the fresh towels Sherry brought me, and put on my black sweatpants.

And lastly, everyone is on high alert of all the Player Killers recently, and are actively watching out for them on the Player Killer Rankings. However, supposedly half of the Top 10 in the Rankings were all killed and eliminated today, and everyone came to the conclusion that it was Eyes Thalion who did it, since he’s the one who skyrocketed to first place in the Rankings at the same time. Now they’re just debating on whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy for killing the Players Killers.

Lavie- Wow, all that news is surprising, but I’m more surprised that you used actual grammar, Dream.

Tobias- Before you attack me for being on the Player Killer Ranking, in my defense, one of my kills were for the Underground Guild Test, and I didn’t know he was a Player at the time. The other one was just being aggressively racist to me for no reason, and I will admit I probably didn’t need to kill him.

Dream- Hey if u guys don’t wanna join the World Chat I’ll just tell u guys the news myself when there's more of it

“I already knew most of that, but I did learn some new things.” Closing the menu, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed I had a few barely visible scars on my face, and one huge one across my chest. “I guess First Aid can’t heal things perfectly like a Level up can.” Remembering all my wounds earlier were perfectly healed like they never happened. Then taking a closer look at the crown, I saw its changed appearance for the first time.

Unlike the spiked crown the Goblin King wore, or the simple metal band when I picked it up, it was instead more of a circlet than a traditional crown. Still having the black and gold colour scheme of the spiked crown, it seemingly had a nature based design. Wrapping around my head and through my hair was a intertwining design of twigs and vines—mostly black in colour with hints of gold—and protruding through my hair and above my ears were gold branches. And the centerpiece in the middle of the crown on my forehead, was a vertical and sharp oval peridot looking gem surrounded by branches that protruded upwards—black in colour around the gem, and gold at the ends of the branches.

"The branches are gonna make covering it a little harder, but it's pretty simple and not all that flashy, I think I like it." Admiring the crown for a bit, I eventually made my way to the bed, and decided to check out my Stats and see what I should spend my 30 unused points for.

Stats

Name: Eyes Thalion

Race: Wood Elf

Level: 23

Class: Archer

Subclass: Seer

[Titles]: 18

Health: 3,390 (20% regen/hr)

Mana: 2,260 (11% regen/min)

Stamina: 2,260 (11% regen/min)

Vitality: 226[45] Magic: 226[45]

Strength: 259(+20)[48] Agility: 268[54]

Intelligence: 219[44] Endurance: 219[44]

Sense: 233[47] Luck: 151[30]

Available Points: 30

Status: None

Bonus: 20 Strength, +25% of base Stats, +10% to base regen.

Clicking on the square brackets, I figured out they were the bonuses from the crown, and the round brackets were from gear—like my strength ring. Then realizing all my Stats were pretty high already, I decided to keep my 30 Available Points until I felt like I needed to use them. Looking at the Character side of the Menu, I tried to unequip the crown in the head slot, but when I clicked on it, the Unequip option was greyed out. “I guess I really can’t take it off, I just hope I don't miss out on a cool or good helmet because of it, but I guess the extra Stats make up for it.” I also decided to check out my Skills Menu.

Skills

[Sort]

Class Actives: [Arrow Shower Lv.2], [Charged Arrow Lv.2], [First Aid Lv.3], [Leaping Shot Lv.2], [Power Shot Lv.6], [Rapid Shot Lv.3], [Spread Shot Lv.3], [Twin Arrow Lv.3], [Turning Arrow Lv.4], [Archer’s Dash Lv.5] Class Passive: [Archer’s Confidence Lv.2], [Archer’s Stride Lv.Max] Subclass Active: None Subclass Passives: [Eyes Of A Seer Lv.5], [Seer’s Eye Collection(7,252) Lv.5] [Seer's Visions Lv.5] Active: [Sprint Lv.4] Passives: [Dodge Lv.7], [Fitness Lv.4], [Natural Tracker Lv.1], [Sneak Lv.5], [Perception Lv.6] Race Passives: [Elven Physiology Lv.Max], [Keen-Sighted Lv.Max] Weapon Proficiency: [Archery Lv.21] Crafting Proficiency: [Bowyer Lv.1], [Creature Harvesting Lv.2]

Closing the Menus, I thought about when Odelia drew her bow in the prison cell. “It was kinda like my Charge Arrow, but I could also tell it was different at the same time. I was always wondering why Odelia carried a bow without a quiver on her, but if she can make arrows at will like that, it makes sense why she doesn’t.” Holding my right hand out to the ceiling, I tried to imagine an arrow forming in it, but after a solid minute of trying, I felt like nothing was happening. “Well it was worth a try. I should ask Odelia to teach me that first, then I won’t have to worry about needing arrows anymore.” Closing my eyes for the night.

***

In the forest under the moonlit night, a pack of wolves ravaged through the dead body of a Goblin Chieftain they dragged away. Tearing the skin from the flesh, the body unexpectedly twitched, causing all the wolves to back away from the body out of caution. Seeing that the body didn’t move again, the wolf leader slowly approached again. Giving the head of the goblin a quick sniff, the wolf quickly found itself grabbed tightly by the leg, and the head of the Goblin Chieftain twisting towards it. The wolf struggled to break the strong grip of the Chieftain as its mangled body began to stand up from the ground. The other wolves looked afraid, backing away from the disfigured undead goblin.

Desperately, the grabbed wolf started to bite into the Chieftain’s hand, but the Chieftain was unbothered, and suddenly turned his head towards the mountains. Letting the wolf go, the Chieftain started to walk awkwardly towards the mountains as one of his legs was ripped apart from the wolves. The released wolf whimpered to the others, and they all ran away into the forest with their bodies feeling sickly. Reaching the bridge that led to the castle, the Chieftain followed the horde of thousands of other undead goblins—all heading across the bridge to the castle.

Floating high above the middle of the courtyard, an ethereal goblin basked at the thousands of different undead goblins under him, and spoke to them loudly in a ghastly voice. “I may not be your King anymore, but I do know why we all suffer.” The thousands of goblins roared out in anger. “We suffer because the Creature we called our Royal Guard betrayed us!”

The thousands of goblins began to chant together in anger, “Kill the Royal Guard! Kill the Royal Guard! Kill the Royal Guard!” While some chanted “Kill the Betrayer! Kill the Betrayer! Kill the Betrayer!” Their chanting only getting louder as more and more undead goblins arrived and filled the entire castle.

A Closed Dungeon has now formed in the area.