As we got near at the region of Fors of Warsaw Valley, we could see our enemies’ numbers become less and less, and when we finally set foot in it, no enemies could be seen or felt nearby. I could see the Scardinians visibly relax while keeping their pace, and even though they seemed alert to anything, I could easily notice their calmer behavior.
It was a matter of time until we met a Scardinian Scout who knew of Grudell and the rest. His expression frosty as he looks at us and then at Grudell, “I thought you were out looking for reinforcement, Grudell”
I frown a bit at the tone of his voice and expression, obvious disregard reflecting on them. I can feel that my party are getting annoyed, but the scout looks impassively at the Scardi, specifically at Grudell.
Before he could answer at the scout, Isca says with a deep voice, “They are strong.”
The scout is taken aback slightly and squint his eyes at Isca. Grudell shakes his head while watching that and says, “They are reinforcement from Gardan, their strength is not something to laugh at. Take us to the Chief, Liv”
I can feel my group visibly relax at those words, and I watch as Liv lifts one of his eyebrows and snorts, “Follow me,” he says as he throws something to the sky, maybe a signal of sorts, as he starts sprinting towards the direction of the Scardi’s home.
Grudell nods at us and we start running behind Liv. The Scardinians led in front as we keep the pace.
‘He is fast…’ As we start running and speeding up, I notice that Liv is running very fast despite not going all out, his agility must be very high. I frown at that, as Juran is barely keeping pace and his stamina must be going down quite fast.
“Don’t”
As I was about to open my mouth to tell Liv to slow down a bit, I hear a soft whisper behind me. I look at Juran and I see a soft glow appear on his body while looking at me seriously.
I nod at him and look at the rest. They all nod, having no problem with the pace. Thinking for a second, I start speeding up a bit, staying just behind the Scardinians from Liv’s position. I release a bit of my aura and stealthily lock on Liv.
I could see his back tense a bit and looks at my direction for a moment before focusing running in front again. I wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson If he dared to increase his pace even more, while we really need to get there as soon as possible, that didn’t mean we wanted to be pushed around at their will.
As if getting my message, the Scardinians smile mischievously at Liv’s back and continue as if nothing is happening.
Soon enough, we could see a rudimentary wall of about 5 meters. A few Guard post could be seen on it along with some Scardinians patrolling around. For some reason, I could feel a different aura from them than the Scardinians we have met.
‘So, not all Scardinians are this strong’ I muse to myself as we finally get to the entrance. The huge door opens swiftly, letting us get in without a problem. We can see briefly the interior of Scardi’s Fors, but soon enough a couple of Scardinians guards stand in front of us while looking at their people, nodding at Grudell and the rest respectfully. Liv nods at them indifferently, and then glances at me, coldness flashes in his eyes and then looks in front of him. I smile slightly as I could feel that he is slightly tired.
I notice that a Scardi wearing a decent armor walks to our direction, his aura similar to Grudell and the rest as he nods at them nonchalantly and says, “Nice to see that you guys are back,” then he turns to us and analyzes us for a second before bowing slightly respectfully, “Thank you for coming to help us, the Chief and the Council is waiting for you. My name is Hinz, let me guide you to them.”
“No need to thank us, we owe Gardan a favor, so we couldn’t turn back on this situation. We hope we can be of help to you,” Kagito walks forward and smiles humbly at Hinz, “And please, we want to know of the overall situation as soon as possible”. His obvious charisma showing for a bit and I chuckle to myself. The doubts on Hinz were obvious while looking at us, but he still maintained his formality, so it was best to show goodwill like Kagito did.
Hinz nods with a serious expression and says, “Follow me” turning around and walking. Little by little we could see the landscape of Scardi’s Fors. While place looked a bit crude, it was still a sight to behold, small streams could be seen on the ground, intersecting on each other as we advanced and turned around on “streets”. Many Scardinians were walking around, working on their weapons, or trading with each other, but an obvious tension could be felt from them. They also looked at us warily, while others simply nodded at us. Soon, we could watch bigger streams forming, until finding their way to a small river. There was a small bridge connected each sides of the river and a majestic building could be seen on the other side.
For some reason, I feel the air turning denser as the pressure increases with each step we give on the bridge. The building felt as if a Dragon was sleeping in it, feeble but imposing.
Soon, we crossed the bridge and got to the entrance to the building. Hinz bows respectfully and says, “Hinz reporting, I have brought the reinforcement of Gardan along with Isca’s group!”
Hong ~
As soon as he says that, a strong wave of magic powers goes through the surrounding and the entrance opens slowly, “Come in!” a strong and deep voice is heard, and my expression hardens.
‘Strong!’
The owner of that voice was indubitably strong, probably as strong as Alwen!
Hinz turns to us and nods at us warily, his thought clear that we had to come in first. Kagito nods at him and walks in front of us, his presence not cowering the least bit as he steps with composed and firm steps despite the pressure. I take in a deep breath and start running the elements throughout my body as I walk a step behind Kagito.
‘I think I get it…’ as I start walking forward, my aura starts surging bit by bit, increasing with unwavering momentum.
Similar situations go through my head one by one.
The probe of Grudell in front of the Dungeon of Death.
The recognition of Isca after fighting against Alwen.
The coldness of Liv at the border of Fors.
The skepticism and hesitancy of Hinz when leading us.
‘Revere the strong, is it?’ a small smile forms in my face and soon I feel two increasing presences besides me. I look and it is Zenith with a deadpan expression and Arksen with a mischievous grin with his hands locking behind his head. Soon, strong presences could be felt from behind us, Isa, Vladi, Juran, Aren and the rest of the Barbarians. And finally, a tremendous fighting spirit mixed with savagery appears in front of us, the step of Kagito strong and mighty, paving the way with a stalwart posture.
‘Really… this guy has surely grown a lot,’ My eyes narrow as I start grinning, ‘different paths, different ways to reach the top.’
Soon, we reached to a huge room as our aura got to the peak of our normal abilities, the air trembled a little more whenever it increased, until reaching a little turbulence. When we get there, we notice a few, older, Scardinians sitting on a podium, and the on at the center had close resemblances to Isca, though his hair and scales were dark brown in color. His eyes were sharp as a sword and a satisfied smile hung on his face.
“Greetings, people of Gardan, my name is Casca, Chief of Scardi’s Fors, and the people besides me is my Council. I sincerely apologize if our attitude caused any inconvenience, and I really find it a pleasure to have you as reinforcement” Says Casca as he stands up slowly, while grasping an old cane besides him. A small, bluish orb could be seen on top of it.
I lift my hand as he stands up and close my hand, forming a fist. The turbulent aura is suddenly congealed and as I let go of my grab, it disperses. Casca’s smile widens at that and Kagito opens his mouth.
“It has not been an inconvenience at all, Chief Casca. We are grateful for the warm greeting, as in fact, we prefer things like this,” calmness shows on Kagito’s face as he says that, and then continues “but I think more pleasantries would be detrimental, as I think that the faster we act, the better”
A serious expression shows on his face along with the rest of the council, “True, we are in quite an urgent situation,” then he looks at the rest of his council and then to Isca for a moment before getting back to us, “Dorek is close to break free from his seal, his army has gotten vast and strong, while he can’t control each and all lizards, those are still troublesome. His Guardians are each stronger than the next, and his power isn’t any less than theirs even with his powers sealed. Thus, we cannot drag this situation any longer, we have sent messenger to the closest Scardi tribes to join us in our fight.”
Casca closes his eyes and when he opens them again, a light sigh is heard, “But they are also cornered because of the constant attacks they are receiving, so they are reluctant to send their forces.”
“Thus, we wish to ask of you to go, along with a small team, to convince them to aid us in this battle, as Dorek won’t just stop with annihilating us.”
– Quest Updates!
Minimum of Charisma and Strength has been fulfilled!
Casca, Chief of Scardi’s Fors, has tasked you to convince the four other tribe chiefs to send reinforcement for the battle against Dorek. The corresponding locations has been added to the map. Organize a group of Elites and go.
Time limit for Dorek’s seal to break: 2 weeks.
Fuuuu ~
I can hear Kagito exhaling slowly. I feel my body tensing while reading and internally click my tongue.
‘We are going to cut it close…’ I think grimly as I watch the map and the details of the update. And that’s thinking of the best of possibilities, if we failed, then it would be catastrophic with the time lost.
Thinking hard about what to do, and how to do it, I could hear Kagito softly mutters something and I look at him surprised, then, he looks at Casca.
“There should be something more that we can do to help along with this, right?” The eyes of the two leaders lock firmly against each other. Then, Casca closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. One of the Council members change expression and shouts with an urgent expression.
“Chief, we can’t send them there!”
The other Council members look at Casca, a bit of unwillingness in their eyes.
Casca slowly opens his eyes and look at Kagito, this time a tired expression shows on his face and says, “I know of your concern, but I think we have no option here.”
“But!-“
“No buts! We can’t even get inside, what would we lose by telling them?” The Council member shuts up as he hears that. Mixed emotions show on his face as he grits his teeth and sits down.
Casca looks at us and says, “There are records of a place that holds parts of the artifact that was used to seal Dorek and kill his father. Sadly, it has become a forbidden zone to us, Scardinians, and most lizard species too, not for its danger, but because we can’t get near it…”
“… The reason that we still show unwillingness to let go of that place is because there is a key for the evolution and survival of our race there… but it choses its owner from the first to get to it,” a sighs run down his mouth.
Understanding falls on us as I get what he is saying, and soon after, another update pops up.
– Quest Updates! Hidden mission.
– Get to the Elemental Ruins hidden in Warsaw Valley and obtain the artifact to help you fight against Dorek! The corresponding location has been added to the map.
– Rewards:
– Unknown.
– If you don’t get the Artifact before Dorek seals break, you will forever lose the chance to obtain it.
Surprise floods me as I watch the notification, and stare at Kagito closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
He turns and looks at us seriously. I look at his eyes and smile, nodding my head. I can see that everyone else does the same and Kagito turns to Casca again.
“We accept! We will separate in 5 groups and lead a group of your Elites to get to those places as soon as possible. Ardha and I are going to the Elemental Ruins.”
Casca looks at us surprised and then frowns, “Don’t try to bite more than you can chew. I admit you guys are strong, but if you are going to fragment so much, then your power becomes lacking.”
Kagito looks at Casca calmly and says with an unwavering voice, “Worry not, our team won’t fail!”
Casca exchanges glances with the rest of the council and then says, “… we will trust you, I hope you don’t fail us”
– The request has been accepted!
