Book 2: Chapter 29 — An Unexpected Ally
Noah tore through the food in front of him greedily, feeling the magic in it filling both his hunger and mana, a sensation that felt hard to describe accurately outside of simply amazing. Despite being the Lord’s guest, the amount of time he met or interacted with the lord was fairly low. A man of his stature tended to be busy, and Noah himself had been jumping between too many things to have time to sit down or just stroll around.
“It’s good to see that you are enjoying the food,” Krios said, walking into the chamber.
“Best thing I’ve had,” Noah said, as he continued to eat and the lord laughed.
“I hear you’ve been training quite a lot. I hope you’ve had the time to explore the city as well.”
Noah bit through the last of his food, drinking from his cup before he replied. “It’s been nice, quite a lot to see and learn about the place. Had some interesting encounters as well.”
“Good, that is very great to hear. Then do you think that your party can come to a decision regarding my request then?” Krios asked.
Noah frowned for a second, before he rose from his seat. “I don’t think I can speak on that by myself.”
“I understand, but I would appreciate it if you could let me know by now,” Krios said, patting Noah’s shoulder.
“Will do,” Noah replied, as he walked out of the chamber. Tony formed around Noah’s shoulder, perching on his shoulder.
“What do you think?” Noah asked the Abyssal Symbiote.
Tony shivered, flapping his wings.
“Yeah, I’m not sure either. Now that I know what’s in the rift, I don’t know what he would use it for,” Noah said out loud, and Tony flapped his wings, circling above Noah’s head.
“Guess we’ll find out,” he said, and Tony swirled, before flowing back into Noah’s body.
He met Aurelia on his way back to his chamber, the woman stood with a concerned expression on her face. Noticing Noah’s arrival, she walked closer. “Erwest is back. We need to talk in private.”The initial posting of this chapter occurred via noovelllbbin
Noah looked on curiously at her, but did not ask questions for now. Following behind her, he went to Erwest’s chamber, finding the paladin standing inside with a frown on his face, which only got worse when he noticed the two of them. “Can you bring us to your-“
“Yup, got it,” Noah said, reaching out to touch Erwest and Aurelia’s shoulders, before he teleported them into his Dimensional Pocket.
A moment later, he remembered what was inside, as lightning sparked and Bun Bun rushed towards him. Noah picked up the murder bunny who was looking at Aurelia and Erwest with a hungry gaze.
“Will it be a problem?” Erwest asked.
“I doubt it,” Noah said, offering his finger to the rabbit who bit it lightly, before licking off the blood happily like a suckling child.
Erwest seemed satisfied with that, and continued. “The cult lead was a false one, I was met by a woman- at least I think a woman. She knew who you were.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “What did she say?”
“To tell you to bring us to the Pit, and that you’ll know how to reach her,” Erwest replied.
Noah cursed.
“Who is this woman, Noah? And how does she know you?” Aurelia asked.
“She’s Vix, the one who runs a fighting pit in Old Heartilia. I was fighting there to get ability tomes. The enslaved girl I’d talked about is with her, and she was the one who told me about the Shard of the dead god. She wanted me to go into the rift to get the Shard for her.”
The faces around him darkened at his words.
“She intercepted you then? How? Did you not see her coming?” Aurelia asked.
“I don’t know. The waitress in the tavern was who came to me. But I don’t think that girl is Vix herself. She can likely possess others or a similar ability of some sort. She knew what I was there to do and who all of us were,” Erwest replied.
The two of them looked at Noah.
“I didn’t tell her anything,” Noah replied.
“You didn’t have to. Just catching her eye could be enough to lead her to us,” Aurelia said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Erwest interjected. “We need to decide what to do.”
Hayver silently rose to his feet.
“What did you do to him?” Erwest asked.
“Just a little command spell. He’ll listen to everything anyone tells him to do for a while,” she said, before looking towards Hayver. “Get on your knees and bark.”
The cultist moved without a word, getting on his knees as he barked.
“Stop that,” Erwest said, pressing his blade.
“Jeez, you’re no fun,” she said, as Hayver stopped.
“Get back up, and then tell them everything about the cult you haven't told them yet,” Vix commanded.
Hayver stood back on his feet, before looking at the three of them.
“The spell cannot be fully completed without a catalyst. The Shard is needed to start the rift, and the cult plans to ambush whoever obtains the Shard on their way out to take it from them,” Hayver said, and then paused, as if struggling to say the next words.
“Speak,” Vix said.
“A fitting offering to the void is needed. An offer was made by the immense and unending incarnation of the void itself. A trade of power in exchange for the shard. We had been ordered by—“ Hayver stopped in his tracks, clutching his throat. A scream burst from his mouth as he clawed at his face, falling onto the floor.
“What’s happening?” Erwest demanded, but Vix simply frowned as the man continued to twist, before his body burst into dark flames, crumbling into ash.
“He broke an Oath. That’s why he hadn’t said anything,” she said, kicking the pile of ashes that had moments before been Hayver.
“And now you know,” she said, looking up at the three of them. “The rift is a trap. But if you work with me, I can make sure you can get out. All I need in return is that you bring the Shard to me.”
Vix turned to face Noah. “As a show of my goodwill, I’ll keep the former offer for Snow open. And I’ll also let you keep the Shard, so long as I get a fair price for it. Agree to this and I’ll show you how to safely get into the rift, and get out,” she said, before glancing at Noah. “I’ll also throw this in,”
A tome appeared in her hand that she threw towards him. Noah caught the tome, looking down at it suspicious as he used Identify.
[Tome of the Hunter (Epic)]
Erwest watched the woman with a silent glare, before he pulled back his blade.
“Why should we work with you?” he asked. “The Lord has asked us of the same thing, we could simply tell him what we know.”
“You could do that. And I probably won’t be able to stop you. But if you choose to not work with me, working with the cult will be my only option,” Vix said, looking into Erwest’s eyes. “You don’t want to be my enemy.”
Erwest looked back at the woman, hand still on his sword. “I don’t appreciate being threatened.”
“Same, my friend. But you’d be losing out if you walk away from this,” Vix said, as a glowing scroll appeared in her hands. “Let’s shake on it, why don’t we?”
Vix has offered a magical contract:
The Quest for the Shard:
In return for information, security, the ownership of Snow and a Tome, Vix asks you to bring the Shard to her from the Astral Rift.
Do you agree to this?
Yes/No?
Erwest looked back at Noah and Aurelia. Noah simply looked back, neither agreeing or disagreeing as he let Erwest make the choice. Turning back around, Erwest down at Vix, before he grasped her hand.
Noah saw words flash in front of his eyes.
Quest updated!
