Sofia had dispelled the sandworm, but then she looked at Ihuarah, who was noticeably an undead shade too. Trying to cover this up was hopeless. She could only get on her best behavior, put on the good-girl smile, and hope that elves didn’t have any deep-rooted bias against necromancy. At the very least, Mornn did not seem to care. Then again, she did not seem to care about much except swords.
“Seriously. Who gets to level 300 and still works as a guard?” Sofia muttered.
“This guy apparently. I like the armor design. Reminds me of K̶̨͈̲̯̟̲̘̀i̵̢̦̳͍͈̗͌͛̈́̂̊̋̓͘n̴̳̪̬̓̄g̴̲̻̭̙̻͊͗͋̐͗ͅ ̶̙̥̖̮̾̆H̶̨͉̣̮̬̽̈́̊̑̃̀͜e̷̬͈̘̩̘̫͂͠n̴̰̼̦̪͙͊̌̓͐̂͝ṙ̴̼̐͐͌̑͑͋y̵̧̖̞͖̓ ̴̬̎͗I̵̛̬̪̤͋̎̈́̅̈́͋V̶̢̮̹̖̰͐͝ͅͅ’s armo-” Alith noticed the weird reactions of Sofia and Ihuarah, “oh, that’s censored isn’t it? Nevermind… Anyway, it’s nice.” Alith had to cut her rambling short either way because the elves landed about twenty meters away.
The leader of the guards group, an elf much taller than everyone else present and covered in black plate armor except for the head, was the one to walk up to them. His weapon was still sheathed and his face was neutral which were encouraging signs.
“Saintess. Welcome to Herzal. Who is your referrer?” The elf’s voice was cold like ice, he completely ignored the others, only addressing Sofia, which ticked her off a bit but now wasn’t the time to stir up trouble.
Referrer… There’s something like that?! Sun? No, that's a bit of a big claim even if it’s not false.
“Saintess Morning Star.” Sofia answered as confidently as she could, which she believed wasn’t extremely convincing. She’s the one who gave us directions…
Sofia looked for any kind of reaction but the elf was like a statue. He simply turned around, the sigh of which she almost sighed of relief to, but she managed to hold it in.
“Follow me. Do not stray,” the gigantic elf said, casually flying up and away in the direction of the city. Sofia managed to perceive the mana activation of his boots that seemed to be what allowed him to fly.
Ihuarah casually disappeared into Sofia’s shadow, but Alith was hesitating to change to her ghost form. Sofia understood that. Since they saw the worm anyway… She summoned the book and quickly brought out the single Quetzalcoatlus to serve as a mount for Alith. Then she decided to also get on it, because why wouldn’t she?
The other twenty odd guards were still a small distance away, staring at them, and they did not react. Sofia [Identifi]ed a few of them as she flew over, they were all above level 100, some even over 200. After Sofia and Alith flew past them, they split up in three groups and flew up too, one standing behind and the other two to their sides, but still at a respectable distance.
So we’re surrounded is what you’re trying to show? There is really no need for that when your leader is that strong. At least no one attacked and they do not care about the skeletons. So far so good…
Now that I think about it, nobody really ever cared about necromancy since the start. Did it even get me into trouble once? The Empire didn’t care, the Vampires don’t care, Valeure obviously does not mind, it seems the Elves also have nothing against it.
Is it just scripture’s Church that hates it or what?
I wonder what Saria will think about it. She’d think it’s a smart but impractical choice, probably.
What would her class be if she could pick? I think… Some kind of water mage probably. But if the many spears on the islands say anything, what she got is probably nothing like that. Saria the spear warrior? I really can’t see it. But then again if that was her only option of course she would give it her all.
What kind of class did the system give her exactly? I can’t wait to find out…
Sofia’s random thoughts were interrupted by the view of the city from up close, it was impressive but also quite small, all things considered, since it fit over the oasis. Even at sundown, the streets were lit by lightstone and tightly packed with elves of all ages going about their life. Since the city was essentially a kind of big pyramid, there was probably a lot of housing space inside, while the outside streets seemed to be mostly open air markets, shops and parks. The elf guard captain didn’t fly down, leading the group directly to the second highest level of the pyramid, which unlike the bustling streets of the lower levels, was calm and only occupied by a few guards.
They landed in a closed courtyard. Sofia dispelled the bird and Ihuarah showed up again while the last group of guards slowly descended behind them. The tall elf approached them again, “We will need our Saintess to come and confirm your identity.”
“That is fine with us.” Because the timer is stopped.
A few of the guards left the courtyard at that time, taking care to close the door behind themselves, while the level 300+ guard silently kept watch over the group. Sofia found his cold stare a bit unnerving.
“They sure take a lot of precautions,” Alith commented, breaking the silence.
Ihuarah stretched a bit, as if being in Sofia’s shadow had been an uncomfortable position somehow. “Truth be told,” he said as he yawned, “this is a warmer welcome than I had expected, I have been rougher on trespassers to my Empire which weren’t such an explosive threat.”
Ihuarah… You know that iceface guy can hear you, right?
Before the atmosphere could get any more awkward, the doors of the courtyard flew open, revealing the strong figure of an elf wearing an open blue shirt and white shorts. The first thought that crossed Sofia’s mind was how the bursting musculature of this mountain of an elf would make even Victory’s incarnation feel inadequate.
[Oracle - Lv. 499]
499!
Hey, that’s half my quest completed, isn’t it? His necklace is even Sun’s divine rune.
“What an unusual bunch!” the oracle exclaimed in a lively tone, “You can leave them to me, Rehok. They are guests of Sun’s trials!”
For the first time the expression of the elf guard changed, his eyes wide open, his gaze shifted from the Oracle to the small group to the Oracle again. “So be it,” he said to the oracle, then he addressed Sofia, Ihuarah and Alith again, bowing his head, “You have my sympathies.”
What?
The guard elf left, the lower-ranked guards in tow. Sofia heard him mutter something as he left, “Poor souls…”
Is it that bad?
The guard had all left and the Oracle seemed uncomfortable, “Do not mind him, ahah… Let me show you to your quarters, you are free to use them until your quests are completed. I am Sundered Skies, Sun’s fourth Oracle. You may call me Sky, or just Oracle like everyone else does. I hope Sun didn’t force your hands too much…”
“So I get a room this time? Elven hospitality has evolved I see. Sun has not forced us, but you should know how meaningless of a statement that is. I ‘wasn’t forced’ last time either,” Ihuarah replied, followed by a loud sigh.
“A repeat taker? You must have met my predecessor, then. You knew and yet you accepted again and even let these two young ladies get roped in?” the Oracle asked, incredulous.
Him too? Should have we all denied the quests?!
Ihuarah sighed again, “They are smart enough to choose for themselves, I hate to admit it but the rewards are worth the pain. At least with the system we no longer have to sign a soul contract…”
The Oracle’s face tensed up at the mention of ‘soul contracts’, but he smiled and changed subject, “Mornn has told me about your case, Saintess, I can show you to old Rahkam’s divination parlor after I give you the keys to your rooms.”
Oh! Maybe he can help with that thing!
“I would be grateful. Speaking of which, there might be something else I could need your help with, if you would be willing to hear me out. And my quest also requires me to meet with you, though it does not specify the reason.”
“May I see the quest?” The Oracle seemed much more relaxed speaking to Sofia than Ihuarah, he approached, his wooden sandals clapping against the ground were the only sound in the courtyard.
“Of course.”
The Oracle took a few seconds to read through the system windows, “Oh, that’s… Yeah you would need my help to get there, I will have to reactivate the old transmission system. That thing’s been out for longer than I’ve been the Oracle. What was She thinking… I think Sun might have gone a bit too far on this one, both for the task and the reward…”
Five essence is a big deal even to Sun, then. Well.
“I fought against Victory in the ranking spire. How much worse can it be?”
Sofia had dispelled the sandworm, but then she looked at Ihuarah, who was noticeably an undead shade too. Trying to cover this up was hopeless. She could only get on her best behavior, put on the good-girl smile, and hope that elves didn’t have any deep-rooted bias against necromancy. At the very least, Mornn did not seem to care. Then again, she did not seem to care about much except swords.
“Seriously. Who gets to level 300 and still works as a guard?” Sofia muttered.
“This guy apparently. I like the armor design. Reminds me of K̶̨͈̲̯̟̲̘̀i̵̢̦̳͍͈̗͌͛̈́̂̊̋̓͘n̴̳̪̬̓̄g̴̲̻̭̙̻͊͗͋̐͗ͅ ̶̙̥̖̮̾̆H̶̨͉̣̮̬̽̈́̊̑̃̀͜e̷̬͈̘̩̘̫͂͠n̴̰̼̦̪͙͊̌̓͐̂͝ṙ̴̼̐͐͌̑͑͋y̵̧̖̞͖̓ ̴̬̎͗I̵̛̬̪̤͋̎̈́̅̈́͋V̶̢̮̹̖̰͐͝ͅͅ’s armo-” Alith noticed the weird reactions of Sofia and Ihuarah, “oh, that’s censored isn’t it? Nevermind… Anyway, it’s nice.” Alith had to cut her rambling short either way because the elves landed about twenty meters away.
The leader of the guards group, an elf much taller than everyone else present and covered in black plate armor except for the head, was the one to walk up to them. His weapon was still sheathed and his face was neutral which were encouraging signs.
“Saintess. Welcome to Herzal. Who is your referrer?” The elf’s voice was cold like ice, he completely ignored the others, only addressing Sofia, which ticked her off a bit but now wasn’t the time to stir up trouble.
Referrer… There’s something like that?! Sun? No, that's a bit of a big claim even if it’s not false.
“Saintess Morning Star.” Sofia answered as confidently as she could, which she believed wasn’t extremely convincing. She’s the one who gave us directions…
Sofia looked for any kind of reaction but the elf was like a statue. He simply turned around, the sigh of which she almost sighed of relief to, but she managed to hold it in.
“Follow me. Do not stray,” the gigantic elf said, casually flying up and away in the direction of the city. Sofia managed to perceive the mana activation of his boots that seemed to be what allowed him to fly.
Ihuarah casually disappeared into Sofia’s shadow, but Alith was hesitating to change to her ghost form. Sofia understood that. Since they saw the worm anyway… She summoned the book and quickly brought out the single Quetzalcoatlus to serve as a mount for Alith. Then she decided to also get on it, because why wouldn’t she?
The other twenty odd guards were still a small distance away, staring at them, and they did not react. Sofia [Identifi]ed a few of them as she flew over, they were all above level 100, some even over 200. After Sofia and Alith flew past them, they split up in three groups and flew up too, one standing behind and the other two to their sides, but still at a respectable distance.
So we’re surrounded is what you’re trying to show? There is really no need for that when your leader is that strong. At least no one attacked and they do not care about the skeletons. So far so good…
Now that I think about it, nobody really ever cared about necromancy since the start. Did it even get me into trouble once? The Empire didn’t care, the Vampires don’t care, Valeure obviously does not mind, it seems the Elves also have nothing against it.
Is it just scripture’s Church that hates it or what?
I wonder what Saria will think about it. She’d think it’s a smart but impractical choice, probably.
What would her class be if she could pick? I think… Some kind of water mage probably. But if the many spears on the islands say anything, what she got is probably nothing like that. Saria the spear warrior? I really can’t see it. But then again if that was her only option of course she would give it her all.
What kind of class did the system give her exactly? I can’t wait to find out…
Sofia’s random thoughts were interrupted by the view of the city from up close, it was impressive but also quite small, all things considered, since it fit over the oasis. Even at sundown, the streets were lit by lightstone and tightly packed with elves of all ages going about their life. Since the city was essentially a kind of big pyramid, there was probably a lot of housing space inside, while the outside streets seemed to be mostly open air markets, shops and parks. The elf guard captain didn’t fly down, leading the group directly to the second highest level of the pyramid, which unlike the bustling streets of the lower levels, was calm and only occupied by a few guards.
They landed in a closed courtyard. Sofia dispelled the bird and Ihuarah showed up again while the last group of guards slowly descended behind them. The tall elf approached them again, “We will need our Saintess to come and confirm your identity.”
“That is fine with us.” Because the timer is stopped.
A few of the guards left the courtyard at that time, taking care to close the door behind themselves, while the level 300+ guard silently kept watch over the group. Sofia found his cold stare a bit unnerving.
“They sure take a lot of precautions,” Alith commented, breaking the silence.
Ihuarah stretched a bit, as if being in Sofia’s shadow had been an uncomfortable position somehow. “Truth be told,” he said as he yawned, “this is a warmer welcome than I had expected, I have been rougher on trespassers to my Empire which weren’t such an explosive threat.”
Ihuarah… You know that iceface guy can hear you, right?
Before the atmosphere could get any more awkward, the doors of the courtyard flew open, revealing the strong figure of an elf wearing an open blue shirt and white shorts. The first thought that crossed Sofia’s mind was how the bursting musculature of this mountain of an elf would make even Victory’s incarnation feel inadequate.
[Oracle - Lv. 499]
499!
Hey, that’s half my quest completed, isn’t it? His necklace is even Sun’s divine rune.
“What an unusual bunch!” the oracle exclaimed in a lively tone, “You can leave them to me, Rehok. They are guests of Sun’s trials!”
For the first time the expression of the elf guard changed, his eyes wide open, his gaze shifted from the Oracle to the small group to the Oracle again. “So be it,” he said to the oracle, then he addressed Sofia, Ihuarah and Alith again, bowing his head, “You have my sympathies.”
What?
The guard elf left, the lower-ranked guards in tow. Sofia heard him mutter something as he left, “Poor souls…”
Is it that bad?
The guard had all left and the Oracle seemed uncomfortable, “Do not mind him, ahah… Let me show you to your quarters, you are free to use them until your quests are completed. I am Sundered Skies, Sun’s fourth Oracle. You may call me Sky, or just Oracle like everyone else does. I hope Sun didn’t force your hands too much…”
“So I get a room this time? Elven hospitality has evolved I see. Sun has not forced us, but you should know how meaningless of a statement that is. I ‘wasn’t forced’ last time either,” Ihuarah replied, followed by a loud sigh.
“A repeat taker? You must have met my predecessor, then. You knew and yet you accepted again and even let these two young ladies get roped in?” the Oracle asked, incredulous.
Him too? Should have we all denied the quests?!
Ihuarah sighed again, “They are smart enough to choose for themselves, I hate to admit it but the rewards are worth the pain. At least with the system we no longer have to sign a soul contract…”
The Oracle’s face tensed up at the mention of ‘soul contracts’, but he smiled and changed subject, “Mornn has told me about your case, Saintess, I can show you to old Rahkam’s divination parlor after I give you the keys to your rooms.”
Oh! Maybe he can help with that thing!
“I would be grateful. Speaking of which, there might be something else I could need your help with, if you would be willing to hear me out. And my quest also requires me to meet with you, though it does not specify the reason.”
“May I see the quest?” The Oracle seemed much more relaxed speaking to Sofia than Ihuarah, he approached, his wooden sandals clapping against the ground were the only sound in the courtyard.
“Of course.”
The Oracle took a few seconds to read through the system windows, “Oh, that’s… Yeah you would need my help to get there, I will have to reactivate the old transmission system. That thing’s been out for longer than I’ve been the Oracle. What was She thinking… I think Sun might have gone a bit too far on this one, both for the task and the reward…”
Five essence is a big deal even to Sun, then. Well.
“I fought against Victory in the ranking spire. How much worse can it be?”
