Izroth was currently inside the Mystical Realm Palace making sure that everything would run smoothly once he left. Fortunately, there were no issues with the way things ran and the NPCs, as well as, the shop kiosk that was set up could practically manage this place alone.
While there were still small things that needed a player's touch, Izroth's main task was to keep the inventory of the shop at a decent level.
Four hours in total had passed since the grand opening of the Mystical Realm Palace and the number of players was finally evening out. Just as Opal said, the inventory loss declined over the past few hours.
At the moment, Izroth was sitting on approximately 47,000 gold coins after the personal shop tax fees had been removed. After putting aside the portion that would be going towards the gold coins he owed Mariposa and Sleeping Gardenia, Izroth would be left with around 23,500 gold coins. With the current conversion rate, that would be nearly 18,000,000 RMB!
'Since everything here is taken care of, I should head out to…'
Just as Izroth was thinking to himself and on his way to exit the Mystical Realm Palace, he suddenly saw two familiar faces walk through the door side by side. One appeared to be in a good mood, while the other had a more serene demeanor.
"I did not expect to see the two of you here today. It sounded as if an urgent matter had come up the last we spoke, though it seems as if all went well judging by your behavior." Izroth said as he went over to greet the two players. Naturally, those two players were Zi Yi and Luna.
"We've just discovered something huge! Trust me, you'll thank us for not attending your grand opening with this." Zi Yi said in a voice filled with a hint of excitement, as well as, confidence.
"I only lent a small hand in the matter. Almost everything was Zi Yi's own doing." Luna said as she shook her head.
The two of them had rushed over here from the Amaharpe Palace Library to share their good news with Izroth face to face. After all, it would not have felt proper to deliver such good news over a simple message system.
"Oh?" Izroth was curious as to what the two of them were talking about. A huge discovery that would make him thank them for missing the grand opening? Although he did not mind them missing the grand opening, why would he thank them for missing it?
"First, we should find somewhere less open, to talk." Zi Yi suggested. Who knows how many eyes and ears some people had in and out of this shop? There were still hundreds of players wandering around and making some purchases.
"We can use the conference room." Izroth said as he started to make his way towards that area.
As Luna and Zi Yi followed after him, Zi Yi could not help but comment, "This place has a very modern and elegant feel to it. It seems that your grand opening is a big success."
"Indeed, the influx of players have died down a bit compared to earlier, but such is to be expected after the initial hour or two. The original projected numbers exceeded my previous expectations. I'll have to thank you again for your help in preparing the shop." Izroth said as he reached the conference.
After exchanging a bit of small talk, Zi Yi discussed her findings with Izroth and told him all about what happened back at the Amaharpe Palace Library. By the time she was finished, Izroth stood there silently contemplating her words.
'If that map she mentioned truly is accurate, there's a good chance that it could possibly lead us to a lost page from the Book of Beginnings. However, I have a feeling it is not so simple.'
This was not just any other quest. The quest The Beginning of Beginnings was a world quest at the SSS-rank! That meant it was capable of completely changing the course of events within RML, such as the destruction of Amaharpe.
Who knew how large of an impact such a thing would have on players? If a major city like Amaharpe was destroyed, there was no telling what the consequences would be.
"Since the system itself confirmed it, the line you read is certainly from the Book of Beginnings. The question is, where does the location displayed on the map you mentioned lead us to? In the end, we have no physical map and have to rely purely on what you saw during that brief moment of time." Izroth questioned.
"Ah, that part I'll have to let Luna explain." Zi Yi replied.
Luna nodded and explained, "For this, we'll have to ask that you contact Azalea. I'm almost certain that the place that map showed us, is the same as another location I laid eyes upon earlier today on the Realm Chart within Azalea's possession."
"I see. If that's the case, then I'll contact Azalea immediately." Izroth replied. The last time they spoke, Azalea spoke of acquiring a Realm Chart for him as a 'small gift'. He took a moment to open up his system interface and sent a message to Azalea. Instantly after he sent that message, he received a reply from Azalea. Azalea confirmed that she would arrive at Amaharpe within the hour.
"Azalea will be here in less than one hour. Until then, Zi Yi, what else do you know about this True World?" Izroth asked.
…
Around 45 minutes later, Azalea walked into the doors of the Mystical Realm Palace. She had already informed Izroth that she was nearby and so he made sure to tell her where to meet them, as well as, grant her permission(s) to enter into the conference room.
Right after Azalea stepped into the conference room, she cuffed her fists together and bowed in a respectful manner towards Izroth.
"Teacher." Azalea greeted.
Izroth could only inwardly shake his head. Even though he had not yet accepted Azalea as his student, she still insisted on calling him, teacher. However, Izroth began to think that maybe someone with that kind of determination would not be all that bad to teach a thing or two to.
"Teacher?" Zi Yi said as she looked over at Luna for an explanation, however, she was only met with a helpless shaking of the head by Luna. She, too, had to idea why Azalea insisted on calling Izroth teacher. But, it had been something that she had become used to hearing by now due to their time spent together in the Blazing Tempris Domain.
"As promised, I've brought you a small gift." Azalea said as she removed a scroll from her inventory and opened it for Izroth to examine. It resembled the same Realm Chart she previously used, however, there was a bit more detail to this one and a few new named locations were added.
"If it's to your liking, it is yours to keep, teacher." Azalea stated.
Izroth, Luna, and Zi Yi all studied the map carefully. Then, at the same time, both Luna and Zi Yi pointed to the same exact spot on the Realm Chart.
"There." Luna and Zi Yi said as if they were completely in-synch. It only took them a matter of seconds to pinpoint the location that was circled by a red spot on the map. Although this map had no red spot on it, the features of the terrain and all the surrounding properties existed.
Azalea furrowed her brows when Luna and Zi Yi pointed to that spot. Her facial expression also slightly darkened as if something bothered her. Even though the Realm Chart was faced away from her, she knew the location Luna and Zi Yi pointed to all too well.
Izroth looked over and noticed Azalea's unusual reaction and asked, "Is there something odd about this place?" Of course, Izroth knew that whatever place something like the Book of Beginnings was in had to be unique in some way, shape or form. However, if Azalea possessed some useful information, then it was possible that they would be able to prepare a little better.
Azalea seemed a bit hesitant to speak at first, however, it was her teacher who asked her the question. Therefore, she could only tell him what was on her mind.
"That place is dangerous. Extremely dangerous." Azalea cautioned.
"Dangerous?" Luna was one of the first to react. She witnessed firsthand just how terrifying Azalea's abilities were. If even someone like her said that this place was dangerous, then their journey was guaranteed to be a challenging one.
Izroth had the same train of thought as Luna. Azalea was unquestionably a step above even some players like those core members of the top ten guilds. Her skill and potential, as well as, her battle sense was not something to be looked down upon.
"Care to elaborate?" Izroth said in a carefree manner.
"There's an unusually thick mist constantly lingering over that area that makes it impossible for one to navigate through. Not only that, but mist beast roam around inside of that environment. However, that can only be considered as child's play compared to not what, but who resides within the surrounding area." Azalea said as she pointed to a small village on the map.
The village was situated right before the area Luna and Zi Yi pointed to. It was difficult to make out as a village and appeared to be more of a random collection of terrain, however, it was indeed an actual village.
"The most dangerous thing in that area is not the monsters, but rather the NPCs and players that are situated in this small village. They are known as League of The Eidolon." Azalea explained.
League of The Eidolon? Izroth and Luna had never heard of such a name before. However, they still chose to take Azalea's word for it.
But, Zi Yi had a shocked expression written all over her face. During her time spent reading in the Amaharpe Palace Library, she had come across an abundance of interesting knowledge and wonderful facts about RML. However, she also came into contact with some of the more dark and mysterious side of RML.
One of these dark sides was an organization known as the League of The Eidolon and was run by some very powerful individual who remained unnamed within RML.
There was not much information about them on the first floor, but from what little she read about them, she knew that Azalea was not overexaggerating. However, the part that caught her off guard was the fact that Azalea mentioned players were staying there.
"As far as I know, the League of The Eidolon are a very private organization and usually doesn't deal with outsiders, let alone allow them to stay inside of their territory." Zi Yi said with a visible frown on her face.
'Is it possible that the League of The Eidolon knows about what lies within that location?'
Azalea rolled up the Realm Chart and carefully handed it over to Izroth. When he tried to offer her some form of payment, she shook her head and declined. She insisted that the Five Cycles Pill he had given her was enough to cover the price of the Realm Chart.
"I am unable to speak too much on the matter. You must use caution, teacher." Azalea said. She still did not know how strong truly Izroth was, however, she believed that even he would have a hard time dealing with the League of The Eidolon.
"I'll be sure to keep your words in mind." Izroth responded in a carefree manner. It was simple to him, if this League of The Eidolon stood in his way and wanted to interfere, then they could not blame him for being impolite. Other than something like that occurring, he had no intentions of intentionally starting a fight with them for no reason.
'It looks like I'll have to make a few arrangements.'
