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HC:Pacifist | Ch. 293 - Gatekeeper
🕑 Added 2024-06-19 11:09:06 +0000 UTC[Audience with the Emperor] completed.
Completion Rate: B
Roth regarded the system’s evaluation of his performance in this quest with a frown and pursed his lips. He had put a lot of effort into completing this quest. True, he could have been faster. It had taken him a few weeks to crack the riddles and find this place. Hopefully, the rewards would still be worth it.
The Emperor Crow rummaged through his jacket pockets, looking for Roth’s reward. “Hmm. Not this one. Not this one, either. Here. This is it.”
The Emperor Crow held two diamonds in his talons.
Seeing the gemstones twinkling under the starlight, Roth froze. “Are those enigma diamonds?”
“That’s right!” The emperor stared at Roth for a few silent moments, long enough for Roth to wonder if he was supposed to say something to unlock the next part of the dialogue with the NPC.
Just as he was about to say something, the Emperor’s eyes widened, and he awoke from his stupor. “I’ve got it!” The Emperor brought the diamond up to his beak, and there was a horrible scraping sound. Lin squirmed at the shrill noise while Roth covered his ears with his hands.
“I. can. fill. a. room.” Screech. Squeak. “But. I. take. up. no. space. Now for the next one. Hmm. Something to do with your class. A peacemonger. What riddle could relate to that?”
“W-what are you doing?” Roth asked, befuddled.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m carving enigmas in these diamonds. It’s my gift to you.” There was another awkward silence, followed by another imperial gasp and revelation. I’ve got it.” Screech. Squeak. “I. am. something. you. can. seek. but. cannot. find.” Scrape. Squeak. “When. you. stop. searching. I. come. to. mind. That looks good enough, here. Thank you for all your help.”
Roth accepted the gift and studied the pair of earrings in his hands. Each diamond was the size of a strawberry, embedded into a cup of metal—silver or white gold. Despite the opulence of the gemstones, its design followed the adage of "less is more."
Due to his heightened perception and keen eyesight, Roth could spot some of the small yet precise lines inscribed by the Crow Emperor. Just how could the Crow Emperor, with such a large beak, craft such exquisite, delicate curves onto these hard diamonds was beyond Roth. Only in a game world could something like this happen. After receiving the earrings, the system signaled that the quest rewards were finally done.
Rewards: +100,000,000 XP; 1x [Enigma Earring]; [Crow Emperor] card.
Bonus rewards: +100,000,000 XP; 1x [Enigma Earring].
Level up!
Enigma Earring Set (Epic)
Description: A pair of enigma diamonds personally inscribed by the Crow Emperor himself!
Effects:
+20 wisdom;
+20 charisma;
+10% cooldown reduction;
+100 darkness affinity;
+100 light affinity.
Restrictions: Level 50, [Light Affinity].
You can use [Shine Through] and [Unsung Lullaby] when both earrings are equipped.
Shine Through (Epic)
Description: I can fill a room but take no space. What am I?
Effects: Active. Transform into light for one minute.
Cooldown: 24 hours.
Unsung Lullaby (Epic)
Description: I am something you can seek but cannot find. When you stop searching, I come to mind. What am I?
Effects: Passive. +10 to all stats if you’ve been out of battle for 24 hours. The buff wears off once you enter combat.
Cooldown: 7 days.
“20 wisdom and charisma? 10% CDR?! Sweet! It even has two inherent skills!” Roth removed the [Iron Wood Earrings] he’d been wearing since level 30 and equipped the two new ones. His stats instantly spiked, and he even unlocked the first stat bonus for the [Darkness Affinity].
He checked the ranks and smiled. This new pair of earrings was so powerful that he instantly climbed several spots. The stat and affinity bonuses were top-notch. Before this item, Roth hadn’t even known that an item could boost affinities like this. But the best thing about them was their skills.
[Shine Through] reminded him of what he had been able to do while on the alternate map. He could transform into light and travel at unimaginable speeds. He could only use it for one minute, and it had a long cooldown, reinforcing his suspicions that this skill had to be powerful. If he could teleport at that speed, he could get anywhere he wanted in AstroTerra. This was particularly useful in case he decided to travel somewhere where there was no teleportation gate, just as was the case for the Dark Abyss.
The other skill, [Unsung Lullaby], suited Roth like a glove. For any other player, this skill would have been trash. However, Roth never did combat. Therefore, he could benefit from this massive bonus 24-7. Gaining 10 to all stats was nothing to scoff at.
More importantly, the Crow Emperor had tailored the gift to Roth’s character progression. It took into account his playstyle, his class, his affinities, and his current stat distribution. Did he accomplish all that by adding the two riddles to the diamonds?
“Thank you. I'm honored to wear earrings made by Your Majesty.”
“It's only fair, Lightbringer. You've done me a great service.” The Emperor walked away from the telescope, but something told Roth he wasn’t done with him yet. After a few moments, the emperor addressed him again.
“Did you know you're the first human to reach our abode?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor nodded approvingly. “We have scattered clues of this location throughout the seven Continents. I just never expected humans to be so dumb. You were the only one with the necessary insight to reach here. Therefore, it's only appropriate that you receive an additional reward.”
Roth’s eyebrows shot up. Another reward?
You’ve received a new title: [Imperial Gatekeeper].
Imperial Gatekeeper (Epic)
Description: The doors you open cannot be closed by anyone, and the doors you close cannot be opened by others.
Effects:
You are the gatekeeper of Crownia.
Conditions to unlock [Imperial Gatekeeper]:
Find Crownia.
“Gatekeeper? What does that mean?”
“We have a portal downstairs. We hardly ever use it. I would like to entrust it to you. Maybe it’s time for more people to see our race's grandeur. You know well our race and yours. You’ll know better who should be let in. Therefore, I leave you with the key. Now, please leave. I have to digest our new findings about the Rain of Fire.”
Roth stood dumbfounded for a moment. He glanced at the emperor and the pit leading down the tower. Finally, he looked around, taking in the sight of the ashen plains of the Dark Abyss. As the gears turned in his head, he dove into the hole and rushed to the bottom of the tower.
“Where are you going?!” Lin screamed from above as he raced to follow Roth. But he couldn’t hear his cat. His mind was racing. As far as he knew, no portal led into the Dark Abyss. Whoever wanted to come to this world region had to travel through difficult paths such as the centipede tunnel or the abyssal sea.
Additionally, this region had no cities. That made it inconvenient for players who adventured here to sell their loot. They had to travel to a city in another region to dump their loot every time that it filled their inventories. That meant that while adventuring here was profitable, it required an insane, inconvenient commute, which prevented many from venturing here in the first place.
Opening a teleportation gate would usher in a new era of prosperity and a new wave of adventurers into the Dark Abyss. Without a choke point to monitor, Pegasus would lose its monopoly of this world's region. Additionally, if there was a teleportation gate in this tower, there may be more things.
Roth was so excited about the prospect of finding the portal that he was tempted to jump and let gravity accelerate his fall toward the bottom of the tower. Even though he was confident that his avatar would survive, his pain settings were still fully on. He didn't want to discover what it felt like to experience such a big fall. So, instead of jumping to a painful fall, Roth climbed down as if he were a nimble monkey, rushing as fast as he could to the bottom of the tower.
*
Pzzzt.
The Lord of the Oak focused his mind’s eye on the drilling team. The battery of the nearby golden castle was nearly spent, but they had still managed to dig through the troublesome rock wall. With enough of the way unimpeded, the workers dragged the heavy oak root and eased it into the hole. The mighty tree would do the rest, pushing the soil away to accommodate its underground, growing tendrils.
Treeants knew better than most that unity and teamwork beat individual strength. Trees were slow learners, but the treeants patiently guided them, linking their roots to create a more substantial flow of bioenergy. Oak Holdings's power grid was fully set up, and operations to link the roots of Oak Holdings with Dune Holdings were progressing steadily.
The sandier soil, thicker glass of the greenhouse walls, and water scarcity generated a drier climate inside Dune Holdings. However, the higher temperatures were ideal for incredible, rare plants filled with vitality. Once they were plugged into the power grid, the number of possibilities open to the bioenergy operators would increase exponentially. And they needed options.
Furthermore, the plants of Dune Holdings had a surplus of minerals, and Oak Holdings had water to spare. Exchanging one for the other would cause the plants in both holdings to prosper, increasing their produce and filling the colony’s larders.
Above the surface, the army engaged with scorpions on two battle fronts. Mandibladers fenced with one scorpion's powerful pincers while other soldiers flanked the beast, going for its legs. The mandiblader division no longer had only green and dark brown curved mandiblades crafted from praying mantises’ scythes. Now, some also had straighter black blades crafted from scorpions’ pincers.
The scorpion coiled its tail like a spring and then unleashed it in a sudden, quick movement. Soldiers jumped out of the way, but one of the soldiers was grazed by the stinger. The soldier wobbled uncertainly but still lunged for one last strike before the poison took him.
Casualties were unavoidable when fighting scorpions. Just a scratch from a stinger was fatal. Even though the soldiers had been feasting on the flesh of the scorpions and had built up some resistance, the poison was just too strong. At least now, soldiers managed to fight for a few seconds before dropping. It was progress. When the war first started, they would die instantly.
The scorpion kept fighting, but the army patiently exhausted its strength. The second time the scorpion struck with its tail again, the blow was much slower, and no soldiers were harmed. The treeants finally managed to pin the beast's tail down and disable three of its eight legs. Scorpions were highly resistant to poison, so the only way to finish them was by biting them to death. After a few patient minutes, the beast was finally subdued.
The army moved on, leaving the workers to handle the carcass. The pincer was immediately removed, covered with silk, and transported. It would be sent to the newly formed battering division. The poisonous stinger was an excellent weapon to weaken troublesome prey. They had only experimented with the odd armored beetle, and the results were promising. It was the only weapon powerful enough to damage the earth shaking giants who visited the empire on occasion. All the more reason to keep the hunting grounds with a few scorpions left, at least.
Even though there was the occasional skirmish with a lone scorpion, the army had wiped out most pockets of resistance from Dune Holdings. It was time to set up a perimeter and station a garrison to guard it. The Lord of the Oak had learned his lesson: leave some prey alive.
The colony had killed everything that wasn’t an ant near the oak tree, depriving the colony of precious meat. Thankfully, humans had reintroduced more prey on Oak Holdings. He would leave some prey alive this time. Besides, the humans were starting to realize their presence—all the more reason to spare some and avoid suspicion.
The Lord herded the remaining scorpions toward the periphery of Dune Holdings and decreed it the empire’s second hunting ground. If any scorpion had an inkling of a thought to hunt an ant and encroached on their territory, the soldiers guarding the perimeter would mercilessly terminate them. Otherwise, they would let them breed and raise more prey.
Feeling that Dune Holdings was secured, the Lord of the Oak focused on the next target: Flowerbed Holdings.
Comments
Daniel
👌
Cássio Ferreira
Woooah! Thank you for catching that, friend!
Cássio Ferreira
More on that in the next chapter. hehehe. It's time for some face-slapping.
Cássio Ferreira
Thank you for your comment, Coleman! It's a great boon!
Daniel
Time for some money babyyyyy Also, just a heads-up, sometimes whenever Roth gets experience for finishing quests he doesn't get the 10% bonus from his Overachiever Title. Anyways, Let there be profits!
Daniel Everest
I wonder how strong the bans/exemptions thing is if he can ban Pegasus members and people and/or people on Lokis friend list this could be an excellent vetting tool
Coleman
It’s cool that the crows showed how one can embrace the darkness and the light while not being consumed by either. Roth is well on his way to being the element master. The gatekeeper bonus is huge. He basically got control of a city for emotional investment and staying true to himself. It looks like it’s time to solve our money problems. Trade, tariffs, and transportation are in the palm of our hands. Capitalism Ho!
