While Izroth gained much from the Great Sea Palace raid, without a doubt, one of his biggest rewards was the two additional points of luck he acquired. He obtained one point of luck from the system for being the first player to deal the last blow to a raid boss when he was first grouped with Blue Oasis. As for the other point, it was due to being the first player to deal the final blow against a hardcore raid boss!
One had to know how difficult it was to raise the luck stat in RML! After all, despite his many achievements, his luck had only increased by a mere one point before the Great Sea Palace raid. However, even with just that single point of luck, Izroth experienced a multitude of benefits. Now that he had three points of luck—who knew what sort of fortuitous encounters he would have in the future?
…
Around 30 minutes passed by before Izroth received a message from the system.
Izroth opened his eyes as he exited his meditative state. To be more precise, he was practicing the Soul Chant in an attempt to increase the level of his Soul Essence trait. He figured once he hit level 50, it would be possible to move past his bottleneck. Unfortunately, his Soul Essence refused to budge from its trait level of 19.99!
'Is there something I am overlooking?'
Izroth shook his head as he cleared his mind. There was no use in dwelling on this matter. He believed that as long as he continued to persevere and stay on path, then the answer would naturally reveal itself.
Izroth checked the message he received from the system and stood to his feet.
'She arrived right on time.'
The message was sent to Izroth by Azalea Wraith. She informed him that she was waiting outside. As for why she did not walk into the Mystical Realm Palace, Azalea was not a fan of crowds—and in a place like the Mystical Realm Palace, a crowd was all one would find!
The last time Azalea was at the Mystical Realm Palace, it was nowhere near this crowded! Though this was to be expected. After all, the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace was a part of the raid group that defeated a hardcore raid! Everyone rushed to the shop to see if anything from the hardcore raid was up for sale—even if the chances of such a thing were small, it could not be disregarded.
A few moments later, Izroth stepped outside of his shop and scanned the surroundings. It did not take long for him to locate Azalea, who stood in an isolated area not too far away from the Mystical Realm Palace.
Izroth walked over towards Azalea as she stepped forward and cupped her fist to greet him.
"Teacher." Azalea addressed with a look of respect in her eyes. Like everyone else in RML, Azalea witnessed the world announcements. While the majority of people were not aware of it, Azalea was different. She understood the moment her teacher's name appeared on the "Sleeping Gardenia" world announcement, that it had been Izroth's doing!
Ever since the first world announcement that was made that day listed Izroth in a party with Blue Oasis, and then later with Sleeping Gardenia, Azalea grasped the general situation. She did not know what Blue Oasis had done to offend her teacher; however, they could only wallow in their own regret!
Izroth gave a small nod as he said, "You have done well. I did not expect you to return with results this fast."
"It was a small task. Even if teacher needs me to journey to the end of the world and back, it would still be a trivial task." Azalea replied. Since she had accepted Izroth as her teacher, then he only needed to say the word, and she would take action!
Izroth was unsure of the reason behind Azalea's determination. But she had already proven herself twice and displayed a high quality of loyalty—which was tough to find. Therefore, Izroth had no reason to turn her away. In fact, it would be foolish of him to turn away someone with such loyal values.
A while back, when Azalea delivered the Realm Chart to Izroth, before she took her leave, he gave her a specific task. This task was related to the faceless empress he came across within the Undying Maelstrom in the Endless Pandemonium Tower of the Chaotic Dogma Realm. It was there that a Trephasia named Zelfyrion gifted him an item called the Empress Brooch.
Zelfyrion entrusted Izroth with the responsibility of locating the member of the Trephasia race who possessed the same royal bloodline as the faceless empress that he served, and deliver the Empress Brooch to them. This was the objective of the quest Royal Bloodline that Izroth shared with Azalea.
Quest Name: Royal Bloodline
Recommended Level: None
Recommended Party Size: None
Quest Rank: D
Quest Objective: Locate the member of the Trephasia race who possesses the same royal bloodline as the empress of the lost empire and deliver to them the «Empress Brooch».
Time Limit: None
0/1 Deliver «Empress Brooch» to the member of the Trephasia race who possesses the royal bloodline.
Reward:
-???
Special Note: This quest may be shared with up to 5 other players.
"This belongs to you, teacher." Azalea said as she removed an old rusty and worn-out silver compass from her inventory. It was the Isolation Compass that Zelfyrion stated would guide one where they needed to go.
The Isolation Compass was a mysterious item, as its effects could not be viewed through the system interface. However, its value was not something that could be ignored.
Izroth accepted the Isolation Compass from Azalea as he returned it to his inventory. Azalea appeared to have no interest in keeping it to herself, despite its potential value. This increased Izroth's impression of her; after all, many would be tempted if placed in a similar position.
"You stated that it guided you to the Fifth Kingdom of Pzenium, correct?" Izroth questioned.
"Yes, that is where the Isolation Compass guided me." Azalea responded.
Izroth inwardly frowned when he heard Azalea's words. Although he already knew of the answer due to the previous messages he received from Azalea, Izroth wanted to confirm it in person.
"From what I know, the kingdom of Pzenium is a barren wasteland with few scattered oases that are fought over on a daily basis. This type of environment is not suitable for those of the Trephasia race." Izroth stated.
Although the members of the Trephaisa race were not restricted to forest-like environments, they were instinctively drawn to nature and places with lush forests. Therefore, for members of their race to willingly stay in a barren wasteland was unheard of!
"These Trephasia are well-hidden within a secret oasis. If not for the Isolation Compass that teacher lent me, then I would have never located them with such ease." Azalea explained.
'They have an oasis? I see…'
If they acquired an oasis, then it certainly explained how they could live in a place like the Pzenium kingdom. But, it was impossible that the Trephasia had the strength to defend an entire oasis against outsiders or the royalty of the Pzenium kingdom. However, it was a different story if it was as well-hidden as Azalea said. There was a good chance that no one in the Pzenium kingdom even knew of that particular oasis' existence!
'The Pzenium kingdom is not a short distance from here. We should not delay our departure.'
"We will leave at once." Izroth stated.
"Yes, teacher." Azalea said respectfully.
Izroth started to walk towards the gates of Amaharpe along with Azalea as he said, "We have a couple of stops to make on our way there."
"Is there something that you need to do, teacher?" Azalea asked.
"Nothing difficult. Just picking up a couple of people that will be accompanying us to the Pzenium kingdom." Izroth answered.
Azalea furrowed her brows. There would be others following them?
As if sensing Azalea's sudden discomfort, Izroth added, "No need to worry. After all, you are already acquainted with the two of them."
Izroth and Azalea made their way towards the gates of Amaharpe and soon reached the outside of the city. It was time to make their way towards the neutral fifth kingdom of Pzenium!
…
Meanwhile, somewhere in RML…
"We actually made it to the final part of the local event!" Phoenix said excitedly.
"Heh, how could we not make it with our two secret weapons? Right, Realistic?" Two Tons stated as he looked towards Reilei.
Reilei shook her head and replied with a lovely smile, "It would not have been possible without the efforts of everyone."
At the moment, Reilei, Phoenix, Two Tons, Shuyi, and Hidden Pulse stood before the entrance to the cave. However, they were not the only group nearby. In total, including them, there were ten groups of players waiting at the entrance to the cave.
The previous day, there was a local event that many players had gathered for; however, not everyone made it through the first part of the event. Only those present from the ten groups managed to pass the first part of the event and qualified to participate in the second portion.
"Hm? She's late. She is coming, right?" Phoenix commented.
"There is still some time left before the second portion starts. As long as she is here before then, we have nothing to worry about- Ah, it looks like your worries were short-lived, Phoenix. Our second secret weapon has arrived." Two Tons said as he saw a player approaching in the distance.
This player had bright red hair, a gorgeous pair of fiery red eyes, a dangerously curvy body, and a pretty face that would cause men to drool. It was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties and wore a mage-style outfit with a magic staff in her hands.
If Izroth were here, he would have immediately recognized this player. After all, back then, this player had accompanied him to the Shadahi Realm!
"We're glad that you could make it, Scarlet." Reilei greeted with a warm smile on her face.
"Realistic—everyone." Scarlet gave a small nod as she returned a greeting. The instant she arrived on the scene, she immediately drew the eyes of the players around the cave. However, when Scarlet glared in their direction, they instantly averted their gaze. They had seen her strength in the first part of the event; therefore, they did want to become enemies with her and risk making things more complicated than they had to be.
All of a sudden, a loud resounding clap could be heard that caught everyone's attention. It came from an individual located near the entrance of the cave—an NPC.
NPC Name: Kaltinn(Local Event Organizer)
NPC Level: ???
