Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 253 Moore (Part 2)

After several failed attempts to gauge the true nature of Ladar, Ye Ci had completely given up on such a notion.

Ladar was surprised by Ye Ci’s arrival. He stared at Ye Ci for the brief moment before finally standing up and greeted Ye Ci, “You’re back, my most honorable friend! You are indeed worthy of my greatest respect.”

A chime of the system notification indicated to Ye Ci that she has reached the Prestige level of Respected in Dark Clay City, and the NPCs in the city immediately became significantly more polite. A player with a high Prestige level in a city would enjoy many more benefits other than the respect of the NPCs. High Prestige levels would mean discounts from NPC-owned shops, and would receive more quests from NPCs. The Prestige of a player in a city would also affect her standing with the rest of the continent. When Ye Ci’s Prestige with Dark Clay City increased, her Prestige with the major cities of the Eastern Continent have increased as well.

A player who achieved the Prestige level of “Respected” would be able to obtain a position from the administration building of the city, which would then be promoted when the player’s Prestige rose. This was a very enticing rewards as high ranking positions would bring endless benefits for a player and his or her guild.

“Mr.Ladar, this is a letter from Orthus to Lord Moore.” said Ye Ci as she pulled the quest item from Orthus out of her inventory.

“It is an honor to receive a letter of reply from the Great Goblin Engineer Orthus. My dearest Gongzi You, I’ve never thought that you’d complete this quest. I hereby congratulate you on a job well done.” Ladar was staring at Ye Ci with a smile on his face, but he made no move to retrieve the quest item from Ye Ci.

Ye Ci immediately realised that things were not as simple as they seem.

“My dearest Gongzi You, I’m sure that Lord Moore would want you to deliver this letter in person. Please follow me.”

Ye Ci immediately raised her eyebrows. I’m going to meet Lord Moore? The highest authority in this neutral map who has always been a mystery? Ye Ci had long given up on trying to meet the lord of Dark Clay City, but the chance to meet the person fell right on her lap. I get to meet him just like that? This is just like the saying “a watched flower never blooms, but the untended willow grows”!

Ladar led Ye Ci into a long hallway at the back of the city hall, through a beautiful garden, and into the castle at the heart of Dark Clay City. The castle was a high tower that was visible even from the Swamp of Sorrows, and was naturally a landmark in Dark Clay city.

Ye Ci had always thought that the tower was the tower of a mage, but she was wrong. The impossibly tall tower was the castle of Lord Moore.

Lord Moore’s castle was not as big as the castle of Lord Shagar of the Red Lake City, but the number of troops garrisoned within his castle was many times more than the troops in the castle of Red Lake City. Ye Ci cast a Detection skill on soldiers stationed along the way, and was shocked by what she saw. Most of the troops were at lvl120, while some among their numbers with exquisite looking armor were lvl150 Elites. There was no way a player could take on the garrison alone.

It did not take Ye Ci long to arrive behall the grand hall of Lord Moore’s castle. The hall itself was not grandiose, but the lvl160 elites stationed within the grand hall, with their glimmering armor and gleaming swords, were an awe-inspiring sight.

A man in dark robes sat on his throne right in the middle of the grand hall. From the gleaming runes on the man’s rob, one could tell that it was an item of the best quality. Even when Ye Ci was not able to appraise the quality of the robe with her Detection, she could tell that it was a God-tier item. It was not hard to tell that the man was of an old age from his white hair and the wrinkles on his face. The man held a magical staff with a large glowing gem at its tip in his frail hand.

Moore sat on his throne, unmoving and with eyes closed, as if he was asleep. Ye Ci could feel a strange aura around Moore. She tried to study the aura with her heightened Perception but to no avail. The aura dispersed just as Ye Ci gave up on her attempt.

The NPC called Moore had never appeared before players in Ye Ci’s last life. The only information that could be gained about the NPC that was shrouded in mystery was through the libraries in-game and Fate’s official website.

Ladar bowed at Moore who was sitting on the throne and said with a smile, “My most honorable lord, our friend Gongzi You is back, and along with her some good news from the Goblins.”

Moore opened his eyes and cast his piercing gaze upon Ye Ci who was standing behind ladar. This came as a complete surprise to Ye Ci. She had assumed that Ladar was nothing but a useless old man due to the large number of soldiers stationed in the castle. She was mistaken.

Despite his age, the intensity of the man’s gaze gave up the aura of youth. Ye Ci could feel an immense pressure under the weight of Moore’s gaze. It was the gaze of the strong.

This pressure was something that Ye Ci had never felt from an NPC. This was why she immediately had a new opinion of Moore.

“Oh, so you’re Gongzi You?”

“Yes, Lord Moore.” high grade NPCs like Lord Moore possessed high levels of intelligence. They could easily tell what a player thought of them simply by observing the body language and the manner of speaking of the player and would then respond in kind. NPCs like this were far more advanced than the other NPCs populating the game, and this meant that Ye Ci had to be very careful as she conversed with Moore.

Ye Ci bowed deeply at Moore. This was the highest form of honor a player can show to an NPC as a sign of respect. It was also something that was used by Ye Ci when she had to deal with high grade NPCs like Moore for a strong first impression.

“I’ve heard about you from Ladar, but this is the first time I see you in the flesh.” Moore studied Ye Ci closely, “I’ve never seen such a spirited Elf ever since the passing of Dau’er.”

“This is what all Elves strive to be. A hero just like His Majesty Dau’er.” replied Ye Ci.

“Indeed.” nodded Moore, “But the Elves have gone into decline since the death of Dau’er. It saddens me.” a hint of sorrow appeared on Moore’s face, “But with a young Elf like you, there is still hope for the Elven race.”

Moore did not immediately inquire about the Goblins, but instead started a small talk with Ye Ci, who answered each and every of the lord’s question carefully. The conversation lasted for a short moment before Ye Ci finally found the chance to hand the letter from Orthus to Moore.

He dismissed Ladar and the soldiers with a wave of his hand after studying the emblem on the letter, “Leave us. There’s something that I must discuss with this Elf alone.”

Ladar and the soldiers immediately lowered their heads and left. Despite their light footsteps, the soldiers’ armored boots clanked loudly as they filed out of the grand hall. The doors were then swung shut, and the footsteps immediately faded away.

At this moment, Moore was the one who was leading the conversation. Ye Ci would never speak up as long as the lord remained silent. After all, the NPC was the only one who would send Ye Ci on her way to the next stage of her Epic-tier quest, and he was currently reading the letter from Orthus in silence.

Ye Ci stared at Moore for a long while before the NPC finally set aside the letter and stared square at her, “Orthus said that you said something great in Vo’sok. So what exactly did you do?”

This came as a surprise to Ye Ci. The incident was already announced in the World Channel and is widely known by players and NPCs alike. Why would Moore ask about something like this? Despite her confusion, Ye Ci recounted her experience in Vo’sok to Moore.

Surprise was clear on Moore’s face, “What? Vo’sok was destroyed?”

This was something that Ye Ci had not expected. It seems that Moore knew nothing about this. “A lot of people out there have heard about this. Do you not know about this, Lord Moore?”

Moore was momentarily stunned by Ye Ci’s question, and his face morphed into a mask of sorrow. “You’ve earned the approval of the Doran Thieves Guild as well as the respect of the Goblins, Elf. You’ve also found the cure to my disease. Would you like to hear a story from me?”

“It will be an honor.” responded Ye Ci. I guess this will lead to the next stage of the quest.

Moore’s expression was that of pain and sorrow. It was apparent that he was reminiscing a very painful memory. “When I was young, the Jiama Continent was not what it is right now. It was still not split into five parts.”

Five? Isn’t the Jiama Continent split into four parts in the lore? What’s with the fifth part?

Ye Ci’s ears twitched. Have I heard him wrongly? Or was it a slip of his tongue? And she was hit by a sudden realisation.

Moore let out a smile when he noticed Ye Ci’s expression, “You must’ve been thinking that the Jiama Continents were split into four instead of five parts.”

“Are you talking about a continent at the middle of our four continents, Lord Moore?” responded Ye Ci even when the answer was already known to her.

“Oh? You seem to know a lot.” Moore was pleasantly surprised. The Elf before him was smarter that expected.

“I’ve read about it in the National Library.” Ye Ci would of course not tell Moore that the Middle Continent was something well known by the player population.