Chapter 34: Chapter 34 - Akasha’s Snake (2)
Chapter 34 . Akasha’s Snake (2)
Yeon-woo looked for Galliard as he killed the Orcs he encountered throughout his journey northeastward .
The ‘Baotri’ that the Orc mentioned meant rugged rocky mountain . It was not easy to find a specific spot in the eastern desert area where everything around were rocky mountains .
Moreover, Orcs were not fools either . After noticing that their scouts weren’t coming back, they started sending groups consisting of more than a dozen Orcs and others even started to search for Yeon-woo on their own accord .
Fortunately, he managed to find Galliard’s cottage by then .
“Is this it?”
Yeon-woo muttered in a low voice as he stood in front of one of the mountains . It was the highest and steepest rocky mountain in the vicinity . The height of it made the other mountains around look small in comparison .
Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes and strengthened his eyesight .
Then, as if he had zoomed in with a camera, he found something barely peeking out from the tip of the mountain . It was a small cottage roughly supported by a few thick wooden pillars on a sloping cliff . It looked like it could collapse in any moment, but Yeon-woo shouted with joy because it was the same cottage he had seen in the diary .
Later I figured out, Galliard changes the location of his cottage with each round of the tutorial .
It’s so annoying to have to search every corner of eastern desert every time I visit .
His brother also did not know why Galliard kept moving around . He could only guess that it had something to do with chasing Akasha’s Snake .
‘Let’s get in there first . ’
Yeon-woo started to climb up the rocky mountain, lightly hitting the ground .
The slope was too steep and rugged to climb without a single piece of safety equipment, but thanks to his high stats and skills, it wasn’t too difficult for Yeon-woo . All he had to do was to pinpoint the safe places to step on with his strengthened vision, and leap up with his strong leg muscles . Yeon-woo climbed so fast that before he knew it he had already landed on a small yard in front of the cottage .
And he knocked on the door .
“Excuse me . ”
But no sound was heard from the inside .
He expanded the scope of his senses and scanned inside the cottage, but he couldn’t sense anything .
“Is anyone here?”
He couldn’t just open the door and enter without the owner’s permission .
In fact, Galliard was a character who seldom stayed at home and most of the time could be found outside walking around . So Yeon-woo sat on a bench in the yard, and began to wait for Galliard .
“Who are you?”
The sunset was spreading across the sky when Gilliard returned home . When he arrived, Yeon-woo was in the middle of his meditation . He immediately opened his eyes and greeted Gilliard .
“I’m Cain . ”
“I don’t care about your name . I’m asking you what are you doing in front of my house?”
Galliard eyed at Yeon-woo up and down with a look full of suspicion .
But to Yeon-woo, Galliard was a very intriguing existence .
‘Demi-humans… They actually exist . ’
A tall stature reaching about 190 centimeters, a sturdy but sleek body frame, brown skin tone, well-defined, handsome features… And then, the long, pointed ears . Galliard was not a human .
An Elf, one of the most prominent members of the demi-humans . Among them, he was a Dark Elf that was classified as a natural born warrior .
“I’ve been introduced by teammates . I’d like to buy something . Are you the Galliard?”
With a stiff expression, Galliard threw a freshly caught beast on the floor, and lowered his bow from his shoulder . He was getting ready for a fight .
Dark Elves were often treated as freaks even among the Elves . While most of the Elves loved peace and cared for nature, the Dark Elves were more cruel and sometimes cold-blooded hunters . In some cases, they would abandon their teammates without any hesitation if it was for a greater good .
Maybe that’s the reason .
When I first met Galliard, he was very doubtful and would always be on guard against others .
“I’d like to get ‘Undine’s Goblet . ”
Galliard slightly creased his brows .
“Who told you that?”
“Braham . ”
“That asshole . I told him not to go babbling about this anymore . ”
Braham was the name of an old friend of Galliard . He was the person who had been originally trying to climb The Tower with him .
‘And he was also one of the people that Jeong-woo called his masters . ’
Yeon-woo was complete stranger to Braham, but he didn’t care at all . He was going to leave Galliard as soon as he got the item he needed .
‘There’s no need to befriend him just because he was close to Jeong-woo . ’
Galliard had nothing to do with the betrayal his brother had suffered . He had never entered The Tower, and had no will to intervene in any other business .
But still, it wouldn’t do him any good to reveal who he was . Even if he did, it would just make things awkward for both of them . For Yeon-woo, it was enough to know what kind of people his brother had connections with .
“Okay . ”
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Galliard let out a deep sigh . Then he slung his bow back on his shoulder and picked up the beast he had dropped before .
“Come in . ”
Yeon-woo followed Galliard into the cottage . The inside was not much different from where ordinary hunters lived . Along the wall were stuffed heads of all kinds of beasts and various hunting weapons were placed on the floor . Some scraps of leather were scattered on the table .
“You can sit anywhere you want . Just give me some time to finish this . ”
Galliard pointed to a chair with his chin as he pushed the pieces of leather to the side and placed the beast on the table .
The beast he carried home had a slight resemblance to a deer, but it looked very different from what he had seen on Earth . The size was twice as big, and its legs were full of muscles . On its head, two sets of goat-like horns were tangled together .
Galliard took apart the beast at a rapid pace . He drained the blood, removed the flesh, and took out the guts .
Yeon-woo looked at his skills with admiration .
“You into this kind of stuff?”
Galliard peeked at Yeon-woo .
Yeon-woo nodded .
“So we were in the same boat . ”
Galliard smiled as he noticed the backpack Yeon-woo had brought . Some materials were poking out of the backpack .
Looking at Galliard’s smile, Yeon-woo noticed that he had lowered his guard considerably .
Then after he was done, Galliard looked at Yeon-woo as he slammed the table with his blood-stained knife .
“All right . Let’s talk about business . You want Undine’s Goblet?”
“Yes . ”
Undine’s Goblet .
It was a one time use artifact that could draw Akasha’s Snake to the surface .
‘To be exact, it’s more like its favorite food . ’
The reason why Akasha’s Snake appeared on the surface was to fill its hungry stomach . In order to satiate its massive body, his food had to fulfill one of two conditions . Either it had to be present in large quantities, or…
‘It had to be nutritious . ’
The ‘Akasha’ in the name of Akasha’s Snake indicated the smallest unit of matter in the spiritual world . Others called it Ether, or Spirit Element(靈子) .
Akasha’s Snake fed off of this spiritual energy . It wandered around the earth, absorbing energy from the ground, and often ambushed monster’s settlements to rob them of their vitality . As a result, wherever Akasha’s Snake passed by, it would turn into a wasteland where not a single blade of grass could grow . That’s why the eastern part of Section E was filled with barren deserts and rocky mountains .
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And now, it was around the time when the last remaining bit of Akasha would disappear from the eastern region . This was the time when Akasha’s Snake would suffer from hunger and thirst .
So considering the situation, Undine’s Goblet was a very useful bait to lure out Akasha’s Snake .
Undine’s Goblet is an artifact that contains a great amount of Akasha . Of course, it is also the favorite food of Akasha’s Snake . But the only problem was that,
‘Galliard is the only one who knows how to make Undine’s Goblet . ’
Therefore, he was often visited by players who needed Undine’s Goblet even for other reasons . But Galliard hid himself most of the time out of annoyance .
“You know what the condition is, right?”
He was talking about a condition, not a price .
Yeon-woo nodded his head .
“I do, roughly . ”
“Okay . Then let’s start right away . ”
At that moment .
[The Dark Elf, Galliard, wants to test you . Your reward will be given only after passing this test . ]
[Will you accept the test?]
Galliard’s sharp gaze seemed to pierce through Yeon-woo’s mask .
‘So this is it, Galliard’s test . ’
The condition for Galliard to give Undine’s Goblet was very simple . It was to pass the test he gave .
He never accepted anything else in exchange for the item . Only those who passed the test would receive Undine’s Goblet as a reward .
The reason was unclear . It seemed like he was expecting something from those who passed the test, but no one had ever fulfilled his expectations, and the same test has being repeated for decades .
It was such a ‘weird thing’ for a player to do, but it was now considered as a matter of course, and that was why the system in The Tower accepted his test as a Hidden Quest .
Yeon-woo then nodded .
Then the message disappeared and a new window appeared .
[Hidden Quest / Galliard’s Test]
Content: The Dark Elf, Galliard, has been testing many players for a long time in order to find someone ‘qualified’ .
Being blessed by the wind, his feet are known to be as quick as the wind itself . Your task is to catch Galliard on the run . To pass the test, you must tag him at least five out of ten times .
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Rewards: Rewards will be given according to the number of successes .
– 3 or more: Undine’s Goblet
– 5 or more: Undine’s Goblet + ??
Yeon-woo’s eyes glittered .
‘More than half, is it?’
It was a game of tag . Galliard required players to catch him, and players could use any way possible . He allowed them to set up traps, use their artifacts, or collaborate with teammates .
The players had to ‘touch’ Galliard within a set amount of time for it to be considered as a success .
However, for decades, no more than five people had succeeded in tagging Galliard more than five times .
‘But if I can make it, I can get a skill from him . ’
Yeon-woo knew what was hidden behind the question marks in the quest window . It was a skill that Galliard had .
‘Shunpo(瞬歩)’
It was a special skill that had been passed down within the Dark Elves .
‘Shunpo hastens ones movement and eliminates the sound produced by it . It’ll be of great help in combat . ’
Yeon-woo’s primary weapon was his stealth and speed based on his strengthened senses . No other skill fit his combat style as good as Shunpo . That’s why had Yeon-woo included acquiring it in his plans .
But there was one more reason why Yeon-woo needed Shunpo the most .
Missing a numbering on it, Shunpo might be seen as a mediocre skill .
But I realized its true value only after seeing my teammate . The advantage of Shunpo lies not in its speed, but somewhere else .
··· It was a key element of another skill, ‘Shukuchi(縮地)’
Rank No . 1 .
The key to unlocking one of the best skills that symbolizes ‘AllForOne’ .
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