In a flash Liam and his friends were back at the academy together with Ynahvla and the two ironbound. They were standing within Trest’s laboratory, avoiding the void energy.
“Haa, I have to hurry and clean this ss up. Thank you, adventurers, for bringing this to my attention. If you’d excuse now…”
Ynahvla looked sowhat sad about the fact that sothing like this happened in her academy. She disappeared with another teleportation, leaving only the players behind.
“Well, that’s it?”, asked Quickstep.
“I guess so.”
“Don’t we get a reward?”
“We didn’t accept a quest… so where would the reward co from?”
“Hmm, you’re right. Ah, our original quest just updated. Seems like we’re done here.”
The players felt a bit strange as they left the room. But quickly Cyclone and Balm began excitedly talking about the show they had just watched, rising the mood.
The friends soon left the academy, stopping in front of the gate.
“Ok, so what now?”
“We completed two thirds of the quest. Only one more left to go.”
“Do we still have ti?”
“I think so. As long as the quest doesn’t take too long.”
The friends discussed for a mont before all eyes slowly focused on Cyclone. However, the young woman showed a hint of reluctance.
“Guys, what do you think about not starting from Svebrial? It’s kinda la to stay in the sa place for a quest like this.”
The friends looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders.
“If you want to go elsewhere, I won’t stop you…”
“Sure. But where do you want to start then?”
Discussing for a few seconds the friends soon agreed on a certain location although Liam warned them that it might be difficult. They entered the teleportation platform and instantly reached Tority. It was a town Liam had been to before. Located in the south of the Southern Light Kingdom it was close to the Southern Wasteland. It was a hub for players wanting to war against the chaos faction.
The party observed the atmosphere for a bit before finding a quiet place to take out the void compass. Cyclone held it in her hands, tensely staring at the spinning needle. It kept spinning and spinning until it suddenly stopped, pointing towards… the south!
“South…”, murmured Cyclone with a wry smile.
“Well, Mirage has warned us. Let’s hope it doesn’t lead us into the Southern Wasteland. Perhaps our target lies in the Southern Chaotic Mountains.”
“Great! I hope we will et a few chaos faction players!”
Silent Acacia showed an excited grin. He was looking forward to clashing with the opposing players. Glancing at Quickstep he saw that his girlfriend was equally eager to go.
“My friends, the target is set. Let us see where the journey leads us.”
“Make sure to carry a shadow cloak with you. In case we need to infiltrate the Southern Wasteland…”
“Check.”
“I got mine.”
The friends nodded one after another. At this point shadow cloaks were not that rare anymore. Even the black market was pretty much an open secret.
Done with their preparations, Liam and his friends soon left the town. There were multiple groups of players around, heading out to fight against the chaos faction. Many recognized the famous Hotpot. But the friends didn’t want to be entangled, quickly dashing away on their basilisks.
It didn’t take them too long to reach the vast Southern Chaotic Mountains. Here, there were two main paths on which the players crowded. Additionally, many small paths existed where people tried to sneak behind enemy lines, launching surprise attacks.
The void compass led the friends towards the right, away from the bulk of players. They took one of the smaller paths. A few monsters attacked them, but those were only of low level, posing no threat to the friends. Thus, they quickly advanced through blood-red trees, going higher and higher up the mountain.
Suddenly the ground below their feet quaked out of the blue. The players imdiately stopped, scanning their surroundings.
“Did soone attack us?”
“I didn’t take any damage…”
“Is there a fight sowhere?”
“If so, it can only be between NPCs.”
“Let’s advance carefully.”
The friends directly slowed down. They followed the path, constantly looking around, scanning the foliage. Soon, Cyclone inford her friends that the needle was moving. Obviously, they were getting closer to their goal.
Shortly before the players reached the highest point of the path, there was a fork going towards the right. The compass showed that they had to make a turn here. Thus, the players entered the path to the right. However, they only made it a few steps when Cyclone suddenly let out a joyful shout:
“It’s that old man!”
“What? I don’t see anything…”
The others were confused. They had not seen anything yet when Cyclone suddenly sped up. A mont later she jumped down from her mount, entering a narrow, steep path to the left. After only a few ters she arrived on top of a flat, protruding rock, which was great to oversee the path below while being partially hidden behind a few other rocks.
On top of this platform was a simple tent and bonfire. A tattered bag could be seen next to a bedroll inside the tent. And at the edge stood an old man in ragged clothes, leaning against a rock with a tired gaze.
Cyclone was ecstatic eting her favourite NPC again. Eyeing the inconspicuous bag within the tent, she exclaid joyfully:
“Old man yhran! I missed you so much!”
yhran appeared startled. He turned around, looking at Cyclone and the others who were just arriving while rubbing his temples. Gradually his eyes lit up.
“Adventurers! Oh, what luck it is seeing you here.”
“We’re the lucky ones, old man! Can we help you with sothing? You don’t look so good. Just tell . I, Cyclone, swear that I will even storm into the Southern Wasteland for you!”
Hearing this, Silver Blade couldn’t help but cough. She wanted to tell her friend to turn it down. There was no way they could head deep into the Southern Wasteland without being detected. Silver Blade didn’t feel like being chased by the entire chaos faction.
Luckily, yhran shook his head. From his expression he appeared pleased with Cyclone’s enthusiasm:
“I am grateful that you young people are so eager to help a poor old man like . I don’t need you to storm into the Southern Wasteland, though. That place is way too dangerous. I would never dare to go there myself, so how could I send you there?”
The friends rolled their eyes listening to yhran behaving so humble. They didn’t believe a single word.
“Now, my issue lies elsewhere. Have you felt the tremors in the mountain recently?”
As if on cue, the ground quaked again. The movent this ti was way stronger. The players realized that they were getting closer to the source.
“There it is again! Damn it! This is preposterous! How is an old man supposed to get a good sleep under these conditions?! Adventurers, if you can get the tremors to stop, I will definitely reward you!”
“Why don’t you just go els…”
Before Silver Blade could continue asking her question, Cyclone’s hand moved in a flash, almost on reflex, pressing on the mouth of her bestest friend, stopping her from speaking.
“Haha, old man, you’re so right! We will see who or what dares to create such a turmoil! Disturbing your sleep that’s… that’s like, almost torture! It’s a violation of your rights!”
As Cyclone pumped herself up, even yhran was taken aback for a mont before answering:
“Eh, thank you… Please, move quickly. I hope I can have a good sleep tonight. My old bones really need it. I still have a long way to go!”
Cyclone nodded vigorously while throwing a glance at the quest she had just accepted.
[ Quest: A good night’s sleep]
[Step one: Find out what creates the tremors in the Southern Chaotic Mountains.]
[Hint: Please hurry up before night falls.]
“Ah!”
Suddenly Cyclone let out a startled shout. She pulled her hand away from Silver Blade, looking at her friend weirdly.
“Silver, are you dog? You licked !”
“Well, are you my boss? You censored !”
“Hmpf. It was for your own good.”
“Sa!”
The two friends stared at each other for a mont before suddenly breaking out in laughter. The others chid in. After a few seconds the friends cald down and took a look at their quests.
Since yhran’s quest seemingly had a ti limit, it was obvious that the friends had to prioritize it. They went back where they ca from, following the path below yhran’s little platform. The tremors quickly beca more intense. And as Cyclone still held the void compass, she saw that the needle kept pointing in the direction they were going.
The friends were relieved knowing that the likelihood was high that both of their quests led them to the sa target.
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