Vol. 3: Chapter 24
"What? That's... that's it? We won?"
Inside Starlight Village, everyone froze as if time itself had stopped. The one outcome nobody had expected had just unfolded in an instant.
A moment later, the surviving soldiers of the Burning Horde let out mournful cries. They howled at the sky, then turned and began their retreat out of the village.
That snapped the players out of their stupor. With a roar, they surged forward to kick the enemy while they were down.
"You think you can just waltz in and out of here? Not on our watch!"
"Cut them off! Don't let them escape!"
"This is our last chance to rack up points! Don't let them go to waste!"
"Quick, grab aggro!"
"Grab what fucking aggro? Mobs don't have an aggro table when they're retreating, you idiot."
"What about CC? A slow, anything!"
The players descended into a final, chaotic frenzy.
Lila didn't join them. Hefting Dragonbane onto her shoulder, she sprinted toward the eastern side of the village. Once outside the walls, she scanned the distance and, sure enough, saw a figure bathed in a golden glow, scratching his head in a daze.
It was Kael.
Three days. It had been three whole days.
He was finally back.
A warmth spread through her chest, and she fought the impulse to rush forward, throw her arms around him, and kiss him breathless. But Lila reined in her excitement, took a deep breath, and slowed her pace, walking up to him calmly.
"Kael!"
He looked up. Seeing Lila, his expression was strange. To her, it looked almost… sheepish?
Thinking something had gone wrong, she asked urgently, "What is it? Did something happen?"
Kael looked a little embarrassed. "The system just notified me that since I didn't participate in the event, I don't get any points. If I'd known, I would've let you guys get the final blow."
Lila's heart settled when she realized it was such a minor issue. "It's fine," she said, relieved. "We have a massive lead on points. We can afford to miss a few."
Kael was still bummed. "Yeah, but I didn't get any loot from the boss kill either, and my Luck stat is insane…"
Lila just smiled, not caring about that at all.
Kael sighed. "Whatever. There'll be plenty of chances to get better gear later."
"How are you back already? I thought your quest was supposed to take four or five days?" Compared to boss points, Lila was far more interested in his sudden reappearance.
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At the mention of this, Kael's expression immediately brightened. "Haha, the system tried its best to screw me over, but it never counted on my ridiculously high Luck stat. I basically skipped the entire track it tried to railroad me onto."
"Oh? What happened?" Lila's curiosity was piqued.
Kael began to recount his story in Elderbloom Sanctuary.
It turned out that after Lady Greenfield—the future Valekeeper Aurelia—had knocked him out, the normal questline would have had him respawn back at his bind point. He would have then had to spend half a day flying back, only to probably get killed again under some other pretext. The whole point was to waste several days of his time.
However, an item Kael carried had caught Aurelia's attention: the locket he'd found in a chest in the Blackheart Grotto—Elara's Locket.
The probability of this happening was astronomically low, but with a sky-high Luck stat, everything tended to bend in Kael's favor.
When Aurelia revived him from the brink of death, Kael's eyes fluttered open. It took a long moment for his senses—sight, touch, hearing—to return. Once he was clear-headed, Aurelia's stern voice cut through the haze.
"Who are you? And why do you possess my mother's locket?"
Seeing Elara's Locket in her hand, Kael quickly pieced the situation together. He struggled to his feet and faced her. "I found this by chance when I was exploring the Blackheart Grotto."
Aurelia was stunned. "The Blackheart Grotto?! Did you… did you see my parents?"
"Who are you, then?" Kael asked. "And who exactly are your parents?"
"My father is Faelan," Aurelia said, lifting her chin. "My mother was Elara Greenfield, daughter of Darius."
The connections clicked into place for Kael. "it seems fate has brought us together."
Aurelia's gaze fell to the locket in her hand, and her demeanor suddenly became hesitant. "This locket… it was my mother's. Could you… could you possibly return it to me?"
Having grown up sheltered in Elderbloom Sanctuary, Aurelia had little contact with outsiders and still operated with a strict sense of propriety. The future Valekeeper she would become wouldn't be nearly so humble. The locket was her mother's heirloom; even if it had belonged to Kael's mother, if she'd wanted it, she could have simply taken it while he was unconscious.
Kael marveled internally. Wow, Aurelia was actually polite when she was young. Gotta cash in now while she's playing by the rules. Who knows when I'll get another chance?
He suddenly clutched his stomach, feigning a wince. "I'm feeling a bit faint, Lady Greenfield. That sedative you used... the dosage was a bit excessive, don't you think? My body isn't handling it well."
Aurelia immediately channeled a holy light to examine him. She saw through his little act in an instant and shot him a glare. But she recalled that she had, in fact, acted rashly, and a bit of compensation was reasonable.
She produced a vial from her robes and handed it to Kael. "This is a Poisonheart Elixir. After drinking it, your Constitution will be greatly enhanced for a short time. Be warned, however—the elixir is imperfect. You will be poisoned until the effects wear off. It also doesn't keep well, so you should use it soon."
Kael took the Poisonheart Elixir, and a system notification popped up instantly.
System: Lucky Bonus triggered! The item you received has been upgraded to [Venomous Titan Elixir].
Though its appearance hadn't changed, the elixir's effects were drastically improved.
[Venomous Titan Elixir]
Constitution: +10,000
Health Regen: +10,000 per second
On-Hit Effect: Applies 500,000 Poison Damage
Duration: 1 Hour
Expires in: 24 Hours
Kael's eyes widened. A mix of shock and delight surged through him. The only downside was the 24-hour expiration timer.
Forcing his excitement down, he cleared his throat. "Lady Greenfield, we're even for the whole drugging me incident…"
Aurelia's brow furrowed. It seemed this guy wasn't done yet.
"...but if you want your mother's locket back, you'll have to do one thing for me."
"And what is that?" she asked, her voice turning cold.
The shift in her tone sent a shiver down Kael's spine, but he held his ground. "There's a patient in my village in critical condition. I'm hoping you can give me some medicine to cure him."
Aurelia stared into his eyes for a long moment, then asked in a low voice, "What is the condition?"
Kael quickly handed her the diagnostic report Healer Isaac had written for the Third Chieftain.
"Wait here," Aurelia said before turning and disappearing back inside.