After everything settled down, Izroth took a moment to view the new quest that had just appeared in his quest logs.
Mirage and Qi Jiguang also read through the quest information and system alerts. The moment Mirage saw the rank of the quest, she could not hide her excitement. This was an S-ranked quest!
To be honest, Mirage still felt a bit down at having failed the A-ranked quest, however, her mood immediately made a complete turnaround. Even though there was no longer a rare piece of equipment as one of the rewards, the quest more than made up for it in other ways.
As for Qi Jiguang, while this was his first time receiving a Unique-S ranked quest, he had already been to the Chaotic Dogma Realm. The quest for that place was at the SS-ranked, therefore, he was not as excited as Mirage, but he was thankful that this trip would not be one that was wasted.
"Second prince of Tempest? Where's Tempest?" Qi Jiguang muttered to himself as he read through the quest information.
The majority of players within Amaharpe did not know about the other kingdoms or what took place there. Therefore, it was not unnatural that Qi Jiguang was unaware of Tempest, even if it was one of the more powerful kingdoms in the Mortal Realm.
Once he finished reading through the quest information and system alerts, he could not help but smile wearily at the special note on the quest. This quest was truly too cruel!
Qi Jiguang had four party members and yet he could only invite one of them. Now, he had a decision to make, which of his party members should he share the quest with?
As Mirage was lost in her initial excitement and Qi Jiguang was preoccupied with deciding who he would choose to share his quest with, Izroth had a few other questions and thoughts on his mind.
'Unique-S?'
This was a grade of quest that he was unfamiliar with, however, the rewards and failure were just as disastrous as other quests within the S to SSS range.
Another thing that caught his attention was the fact that the system had automatically ejected him from his party. Even though Izroth would not have turned down the quest, the system did not provide him with the option of declining it in the first place.
The quest also allowed for each original quest holder to invite one individual along with them. Of course, since they were all the way in Proximus territory, there was no way for him to invite anyone else along beside the members he began the original quest with, Midnight or Ying Yue.
Though even if they were in Amaharpe, Izroth would have still used his quest share with Midnight or Ying Yue. After all, the two of them were skilled players with a unique skill set that he felt would come in handy.
Of course, it would have been ideal if the quest could have been completed as long as one of them arrived in Everpeak. With his high agility and the skill attached to his Skystep Boots to fly over any difficult terrain, he would have been able to reach the city of Everpeak much faster than the others. But, this brought to light the next issue.
'We have sixteen hours to reach the city of Everpeak, however…'
There was just one problem, he had no idea where the city was located! His Realm Chart did not even cover all of Amaharpe, let alone any parts of Proximus.
However, just as this thought crossed Izroth's mind, Jyuuriel opened his eyes and approached the three players. As he did so, it caused Izroth, Mirage, and Qi Jiguang to turn their focus towards him.
From the words he spoke to Robin earlier, it was obvious that Jyuuriel wanted whatever it was that Robin had to be handed over to him. Would he try to take it from them by force now that Robin had perished?
But, just as the atmosphere grew a bit heavy, Jyuuriel removed a scroll from his side and tossed it towards Izroth who was at the front of the group.
Izroth caught the scroll in his hands as he examined it and discovered that it was a Realm Chart! However, as he opened the scroll, it was not like the Realm Chart that he knew of. Instead, it did not hold geographical markings and had four dots on it, as well as, a line that curved every now and then.
'I've never seen a Realm Chart like this.'
Each dot was a different color and they were bunched together next to one another, except for one of the dots.
One dot was red, another yellow, and the third dot was green. At the moment, those three dots were closer to the beginning area of the line that curved around. At the end of the curved line was the last dot which was purple in color.
"I'm not sure why he chose to entrust the three of you with such an important task, however, I will still carry about my duty. While the decision the second prince of Tempest made is questionable, it brings me some level of ease knowing that one honored with the title of Protector of Amaharpe is amongst you." Jyuuriel said in a straight-forward manner as his gaze locked onto Izroth.
Jyuuriel was far from satisfied with the end results, but at the very least, there was someone who had solid ties to Amaharpe that was a part of the group. At this point, he could not ask for any more than this.
"Protector of Amaharpe?" Mirage and Qi Jiguang questioned as they had no idea what Jyuuriel was talking about, but when they saw that he gave the scroll to Izroth and was looking towards him, they easily connected the dots.
Izroth was a bit surprised that Jyuuriel knew that he possessed that title. After all, it was not as if NPCs were able to view player information in the same way that players could view information about them through the system.
"The three of you carry the mind beads of the second prince. The mind beads contain sealed memories that can only be opened by a certain individual. However, mind beads are a banned method in most kingdoms due to one of the side effects it possesses. They give off a strong scent to monsters and causes them to enter into a trance-like state of natural primal rage." Jyuuriel explained.
Natural primal rage? So that's why monsters kept attacking them out of nowhere wave after wave! The mind beads were the culprit all along!
"The second prince had been suppressing the side effects of the mind beads, but doing so puts a high level of stress on one's body and drains away their energy. If I had to take a rough estimate, I'd say you have around twenty to thirty minutes before the last of the suppression effect wears off." Jyuuriel said.
'I see, I knew something was off.'
As a level 40 elite NPC and the second prince of a powerful kingdom like Tempest, it did not make sense for Robin's fighting capabilities to be utterly nonexistent. However, if all his energy was being used to suppress the mind beads, it was no wonder that he looked drained of life when they arrived at his carriage. Just how long had he been suppressing the mind beads?
"I will continue to carry out the terms of my mission. You can simply pretend as if I do not exist and do as you wish. But, I will say this. If you three fail, the blood of countless innocent lives will be stained upon your hands. You may not have held the sword that slew them personally, but it would have been your actions that caused it." Jyuuriel stated.
A few moments later, Izroth, Mirage, and Qi Jiguang returned to meet with their original party members to discuss what was going on. After all, they could not continue to leave everyone in the dark about things.
"So, what do the two of you plan on doing?" Midnight asked after being informed about the situation at hand. The quest they were on had failed, therefore, neither Izroth or Mirage had any obligation to invite him or Ying Yue as their plus one. Therefore, he would understand if they had other plans in mind.
"Well, I was thinking about inviting someone else, but I guess I'll settle for you since you're already here. Besides, what other healer would put up with my reckless fighting style?" Mirage said in a teasing and playful manner as she shared her quest with Midnight.
"Your level of generosity knows no bounds." Midnight said in a dull and monotone way as he accepted the quest.
"Why is it that I'm having a hard time believing you really mean that?" Mirage said as a smirk appeared on her face.
As Mirage joked around with Midnight, Ying Yue was unsure of what to do next. She knew that Izroth had the players he was traveling with during the Chaotic Dogma Realm to share that quest with, therefore, why would he choose her?
"I-" Just as she was about to make it easier for Izroth to make his decision, she suddenly received an alert from the system which instantly caused the words that were about to leave her mouth to disappear. What appeared before her, was an invite to the quest from Izroth!
"Since we've all started this journey together, it's only right that we finish it the same way." Izroth said with a carefree expression on his face.
Ying Yue looked towards the ground and gave a small nod. An uncontrollable smile found its way onto her face as she was happy that Izroth chose to invite her.
Around five minutes later, things had finally settled down. Midnight and Ying Yue had been automatically added to the party after the two accepted the quest. As for Qi Jiguang, in the end, he decided to take along Omega, the tank of his party. After seeing that they already had plenty of damage dealers, as well as, a magic caster and a healer, it was the most sensible choice to make.
Besides, Qi Jiguang could not possibly ask Izroth or Mirage to give up one of their quest shares to the other members of his party. However, the remaining three players who were understandably a bit depressed were soon cheered up by some good news.
Since the Silver Hawk Merchants Caravan was destroyed, the two surviving members of the caravan offered the three players a B-ranked quest to escort them back to Amaharpe. While the rewards were not as good as the A-ranked quest, it was still better than leaving empty-handed. Therefore, the three players accepted the quest and immediately departed.
Now, there was a completely new party formed to finish the task Robin set out to accomplish and it consisted of Izroth, Mirage, Midnight, Ying Yue, Qi Jiguang, and Omega.
When they joined the party, both Qi Jiguang and Omega were shocked to learn that Izroth was a combat master! Not only that, but a level 40 combat master!
After exchanging a few greetings, the party wasted no time starting their journey.
"So, anyone has any clue as to how we're supposed to get to this Everpeak city without a map?" Mirage questioned.
"We have a map." Izroth stated as he revealed the scroll in his hands.
A frown appeared on Mirage's face as she said, "That's a map? It just looks like a squiggly line with a bunch of dots on it. How can that tell us where to go?"
"Each dot on the map represents a different person. This red dot here is me, this yellow dot is you, and the green dot is Qi Jiguang." Izroth explained as he pointed to the group of dots.
He then continued, "You'll notice that as we move, the dots move along with us. It also matches our positions perfectly."
"You mean… That's incredible!" Mirage exclaimed as she saw that the dots were moving along with them.
"But wait, who's the purple dot?" Mirage asked.
"That's a good question with an unclear answer. However, I'm willing to bet that it's the Wiseman of Everpeak." Izroth stated.
