Chapter 200 - Episode 200: A Poison In The Vein.
I'm sitting down in the middle of the field while looking at the VoW, but then Avriel is walking toward me. I look at her from the corner of my eyes and wave at her, she then stands next to me and looks around.
"I'm sorry that I messed up, Trevor."
I smile and shake my head.
"It's fine. I also never thought I would fell into his trap. But, at least I did kill him and that's the most important thing now."
I stand up and brushing my pants.
"You should go back now because I'm going to the Land of Sigrid for a while. I will be back in a few days.."
Avriel nods and then she leaves.
I take a deep breath and sigh, but then I hear footsteps coming from behind. I look back and I see Chelsea and Emma are running toward me. I furrow my forehead and resting my hands on my waist.
Chelsea looks around and then looks at me.
"Hi... are you okay?"
I nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I fell into Aspen's trap and I think I f*cked up."
Emma raises her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
I scratch the back of my head.
"Well, he was waiting for me here and someone is hiding in the woods. I think that player that hiding in the woods was recording my fight with Aspen and then after Aspen is dead, that player left using a portal. Aspen wasn't planning on fighting me to win, but his plan was to make him die by my hand. I believe the video is already out in the Utube or in the forum."
Chelsea nods up and crosses her arms.
"So, what are you planning to do now?"
I raise my eyebrows.
"I'm going to the Land of Sigrid and report my quest since I already killed all the Headless Cult members. Anyway, what are you two doing here?"
Emma and Chelsea are looking at each other and then Emma crosses her arms.
"Of course we are here to help you. We are your apostles and so we want to help you fight against those players. We heard from Kingstar and Ivonna that because of this VoW you're going to fight against all Aspen's pursuivants and of course the players of the community. We both know that we are not much of help, but at least we want to be on your side just so you know that we are here to support you."
I'm humming with understanding.
"Yeah, that's right... because of the VoW, I think I will definitely going to be hunted every time I'm online. This sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it."
Chelsea is shaking her head.
"You don't have to worry about it, because Ivonna has a plan and currently she's persuading the big clans to not take a part in this matter. So basically the players that are going to hunt you down are just a bunch of newbies and mid-tier players."
I raise my eyebrow.
"She did? What makes you so sure that they won't hunt me down?"
Emma is shaking her head.
"We heard that Ivonna is using the information about the dungeon we found in the desert. She offered herself to help them to clear the dungeon."
I tilt my head.
"The lost dynasty? Are you sure they're going to try to clear it now?"
Chelsea is humming and shrugging.
"I don't know, I mean, we have no information related to the dungeon since we are the first ones to discovered it and we haven't tried it yet as well. When you left, we were wandering around and didn't enter the massive castle inside because of what you said back then that you haven't cleared it yet back then so we were hesitating and left after we explored the city."
I'm humming with understanding.
"Well, they're going to find out how hard the dungeon is as soon as they entered the castle. I think Emma is going to be the key to clear the dungeon, so if they're going to clear the dungeon, Emma should join the raid attempt."
Chelsea looks at Emma and Emma is raising her eyebrows.
"Me? Why me?"
I raise my eyebrows.
"You will understand when you see it. Anyway, since you both are here, can I ask for your help?"
Chelsea and Emma nod.
"Okay, I need you to go to this house."
I open the map and share the screen with them. I'm pointing at Krestan's house and they look at it.
"This is Krestan's house. Inside, you will see Avriel, Jariel, and Krestan there. Tell Avriel that you both are there because I told you to because if not, you both are going to be killed by them and I'm not exaggerating about it. Once you're there, just ask Avriel about the situation and if can, ask her to gather some information about Aspen and his plan."
Emma is tilting her head.
"Then? What about us?"
I nod.
"I want you to gather information about the players and what's their opinion about this matter. How bad is the situation and what are they going to do with it. I'm not asking you to go to cities for that, just stay with Ivonna and the others then you can try to gather some information."
I look at Chelsea.
"Chelsea, I think I need that new equipment that you're planning to make. Can you work on it soon?"
Chelsea smiles and nods.
"Okay, I will start working on it as soon as I'm done with the scratch and talk about it with Grisell."
I nod.
"Thank you. Well then, I think you should go now and inform Avriel about Aspen and his plan. I'm going to the Land of Sigrid now."
They both nod and then I open a portal to the Temple of Gloom. I enter the portal after I watch them leave.
I'm waiting until midnight so the building appears under the moonlight. I open the forum and see if there's a new thread that's trending right now, and as I expected, there's a new thread with the title "Trevor's true color." I open it and there's nothing but a video that is linked to Utube. I watch it and it's the video when Aspen saying nonsense and now I know why he said that and I took the bait. Now I look like a true villain because of this video. I don't bother looking at the comments because I know what are they going to say about this.
It's midnight and the building appears, I immediately enter the building and teleport to the Land of Sigrid. I enter the tower and when I look around there are barely any people on the first floor, then I walk around to make sure if it's just a coincidence or not, but then a portal is forming near me. I look at it and then Ezira appears from the portal.
"Trevor, I have been waiting for you. It seems that you have taken care of the task I gave you since you are here."
I nod.
"Yes, I have killed every single one of them."
A notification appears.
[+100 Disciple Points]
[You have met the requirement to become "Apprentice Hero" after finishing your first task!]
[Exclusive Title "New Hero" has been upgraded!]
[Exclusive Title "New Hero" has no longer available!]
[Exclusive Title "Apprentice Hero" obtained!]
I look at it and then I realize that I haven't accessed the Disciple screen.
"Open Disciple Status."
[Name: Trevor
Mentor: Ezira "The Empress of Orion" Alexus
Disciple Points: 100
Rank: Apprentice Hero
Bonus(s): Increase Damage Output by 1%, Decrease Damage Taken by 1%, All status increase by +1%
Ezira Alexus' Skill(s) that can be learned as "Apprentice Hero":
Unique Passive Skill [Corruption] : 1.000 Disciple Points.
Unique Passive Skill [Backstab] : 3.000 Disciple Points.
Unique Passive Skill [Fatalstrike] : 5.000 Disciple Points.
Unique Active Skill [Wind Cutter] (Sickle) : 2.000 Disciple Points.
Unique Active Skill [Double Impact] (Sickle) : 3.000 Disciple Points.
Unique Active Skill [Orbit's Blade] (All Weapons) : 5.500 Disciple Points.]
So I have to collect Disciple Points to be able to learn Ezira's skill. I guess I have to keep doing Disciple's Quest to get those points. This is going to take a while to be able to get one of these skills, not to mention the difficulty of the quest. I mean, killing that many NPCs and the time I spent from clearing the quest only gave me 100 Disciple Points. It's not worth it, but what's done is done.
Ezira is crossing her arms.
"Trevor, follow me. There's something I want to discuss with you."
I look at her and then close the tab.
"Okay."
We both enter the portal and I'm inside a big castle I believe by the looks of it. There's nobody here, but the place looks so clean and neatly placed. I see so many weapons hanging on the walls and framed behind glasses. I know that she loves weapons and she loves to create weapons on her own and none of them are below mythical grade. I wonder if I can take one of the sickles that are displayed on the walls.
Ezira turns around.
"You can use them if you want to, but right now, there's something far more important that I need to discuss with you."
I look at her and raise my eyebrows.
"You look a bit worried, is something bad happened?"
Ezira scoffs and smirks.
"Well, thanks to your friend Aspen. We have to make a precaution."
I furrow my forehead.
"Aspen? What did he do?"
Ezira crosses her arms.
"He becomes Baltizar's disciple."
I don't know who that is and I have never heard of that name before.
"Who's that?"
Ezira sighs.
"For now, all you need to know is that Baltizar is one of the people who brought chaos to the people of Orion after he became a Hero, and abused his title as a Hero to make people kneel before him. To put it simply..."
Ezira is staring at me in the eyes.
"He's like a poison in the vein, and now his disciple is doing the same thing to the Orion."