…
Izroth and Sychia took their leave from the lodgings. Since the Thousand Blossom Maiden finished stabilizing her mana, they could move without being hindered. Not to mention, their time in the Secret Realm was limited. Therefore, every minute was precious.
'It looks like getting any information about the Mountain of the Blighted is out of the question.'
From the time he arrived until now, the villagers were still hidden underground and showed no signs of coming up to the surface.
While Izroth would not have too much trouble finding the concealed entrance to the underground area, it would take some time. Also, there was no guarantee that the villagers or peddlers were willing to talk.
'There's no point wasting time on something that may yield no results. We will just have to go in blind. Though I must admit, it is far from ideal.'
At the moment, Izroth had to deal with an S-ranked and SS-ranked quest simultaneously.
'…No, I suppose it's three now?'
Not long after Sychia claimed that she would follow him to the underworld if necessary to heal her master, Izroth received yet another quest from the system. Though there was one thing that troubled him.
Quest Name: A Hopeful Promise
Quest Difficulty: SSS
Recommended Level: N/A
Recommended Party Size: N/A
Objective: The «Thousand Blossom Maiden, Sychia» has placed their hopes in you to heal her master the «Thousand Blossom Holy Maiden, Seina».
Time Limit: 2 days
0/1 Find a way to cure the «Thousand Blossom Holy Maiden, Seina» of their illness.
Reward:
-Official Saint of the «Order of a Thousand Blossoms»
-Max favor with «Thousand Blossom Holy Maiden, Seina»
-Gain max fame with the «Order of a Thousand Blossoms»
-???
-???
Failure:
-Lose 3 levels.
-Death of the «Thousand Blossom Holy Maiden, Seina»
-Lose all favor with «Thousand Blossom Maiden, Sychia»
-Lose all fame with «Order of a Thousand Blossoms»
The contents of the quest were simple. He simply had to find a way to cure Sychia's master within two days. This basically left him with one day the moment he set foot outside the Secret Realm. But, what troubled Izroth were two things in particular.
First, it was an SSS-ranked quest. This alone represented the viciousness of the illness Sychia's master suffered from.
As for what else bothered Izroth, it was one of the consequences of failing the quest—the death of Sychia's master, the Thousand Blossom Holy Maiden, Seina. This meant Sychia's master was swiftly approaching the end of her life!
'It's no surprise she recklessly charged into the Secret Realm with no regard to the consequence. She must have known that her master does not have much longer to live. Indeed… it is not easy to repay the kindness of a life given.'
The approach Izroth planned to use was the same one Astratis used to recover from his injuries. Though, to be honest, Izroth was not entirely sure it would work.
In the end, it was still filled with unknowns and untested. There was a possibility that it only worked on those with Ethos. Or, maybe the illness of Sychia's master required one to take a more specific path without deviation.
But, whatever the case, Izroth was at least certain of one thing—it was not something completely uncurable.
The system was fair and would never give players a quest that was impossible to complete. This meant that even if the method he had in mind did not work, there was still a way. However, if combining the Wing of the Ambrosia Tree with the Immortal Nectar failed, it would not leave Izroth with much time to find another solution. Fortunately, he had a backup plan. Though he hoped it would not reach that point.
"Just to clarify, you plan to cross this… Mountain of the Blighted, to convince someone you have not met before to send aid to a person you have not been acquainted with for more than an hour or so? Even stranger, judging from how the task was handed to you, those two do not appear to be close friends. You—are you sure you are not being scammed?" Sychia commented with a doubtful expression.
He had called her naive not too long ago; however, wasn't he currently in the middle of being taken advantage of by some stranger?
A carefree smile formed on Izroth's face as he replied, "Those who can scam me—I am afraid there was only one such person I have met in my life. As for others, it is not easy for them to take advantage of me."
"Well, if you say so. Regardless, I will assist you to the best of my abilities." Sychia sighed.
She then continued, "You said we have to collect something called Immortal Nectar from the Endless Nectar Fountain, correct? How do we find it?"
"I'm not certain," Izroth answered honestly.
"Then, the elixir-"
"Allow me to finish. I'm not certain, but the one I am completing this task for should know the location of the Endless Nectar Fountain. Though that place should be guarded by someone powerful. Plus, we are not exactly on the best of terms with the one guarding it. That's why if I cannot cross a mountain, they may be unwilling to reveal the location, lest it leads to my demise."
"In that case, we cannot afford to fail," Sychia said solemnly.
"Of course, I have no intention of failing," Izroth replied nonchalantly.
…
After traveling for nearly ten minutes east of the village, Izroth and Sychia came before the start of a mountain pass.
Izroth spotted the location of this mountain pass the instant he stepped out of the Ancient Wilderness.
At first glance, the mountain pass looked to be naturally formed by nature; however, upon closer inspection, one could see faint traces of abnormal formations.
'It's barely discernable, but I'm positive—this path was carved utilizing Ethos. Was it someone like Astratis, a celestial, who carved this mountain pass? But, for what reason?'
While it was well hidden, the Ethos contained within the mountain pass could not escape Izroth's Energy Vision Sense.
Sychia saw that Izroth was carefully observing the mountain pass. Of course, she did so herself. But, Sychia did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Is something wrong with this path?" Sychia inquired.
"No, there should be no issues. I was just curious as to the reason behind its creation." Izroth said as he stepped onto the mountain pass and began to journey ahead.
〈System Alert: You have entered the «Mountain of the Blighted»!〉
Sychia followed after Izroth and asked, "Creation? Are you saying that the residents of this Secret Realm built this mountain pass?"
To Sychia, the mountain pass appeared to be formed naturally. However, if that was not the case, then the group that created this mountain pass must have a high affinity to nature for it to blend in so well.
"If I'm not mistaken, it was made by a single person." Izroth clarified.
"A single person? If that is true, they are an existence who has stepped into, at the very least, the late stage of the legendary realm." Sychia commented as her brows rose in astonishment.
"This territory may belong to that individual. Be sure to stay on guard." Izroth reminded.
"Even without your warning, I planned on doing so. For some reason, the moment we stepped foot onto this mountain pass, I became overcome with a sense of uneasiness." Sychia stated.
'Oh? She sensed it as well? Her perception is sharper than I thought.'
Just as Sychia mentioned, Izroth, too, had felt uneasy after walking on the mountain pass. However, strangely enough, it had nothing to do with the mountain pass itself.
In fact, the mountain pass seemed to suppress the feeling of uneasiness.
"Let's increase our pace," Izroth said as he started to sprint forward.
Sychia nodded as she increased her speed to keep up with Izroth.
…
After roughly five minutes of sprinting nonstop at high speeds, Izroth and Sychia were forced to slow their pace.
"Odd, there was no indication of a mist this heavy forming from the distance," Sychia stated.
The two were suddenly surrounded by a thick layer of mist that appeared of out thin air. This made it difficult for them to see more than one or two meters ahead.
All of a sudden, Izroth's Soul Sense went off in his mind, causing him to immediately activate his Energy Vision Sense.
'This is… How did such a large force manage to get this close without a trace?'
"Sychia."
"Yes, I am aware. I can feel their gazes."
Sychia placed her hand on the hilt of the blade at her side.
A few seconds later, the heavy mist cleared up. However, Izroth and Sychia were not alone.
Standing on the mountain pass was a single man with an unusual appearance. He possessed ghostly white skin, long snow-white hair, and a pair of lifeless red eyes. But, more importantly, this man was not alone.
Surrounding Izroth and Sychia on all sides of the mountain pass, as well as on the short peaks were tens upon tens of individuals with similar appearances!
'So, this is the Blighted Astratis spoke of… It's just as he said—I cannot detect a single sign of life.'
Name: Nameless Blighted(???)
Level: 0
HP: ??? (100%)
