Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 351 Tamra

The Sorrowful Canyon was a flat land between two mountain ranges with a clear river flowing through the middle. Trees and many other plants grew on the flat terrain. They were not big, but there was still enough of them to block away the sunlight from anyone taking a stroll along the river.

The map was devoid of buildings. There was no indicator of where the Dark Apostles came from. Every monster in Fate existed for a reason in the game and it was very usual for the presence of humanoid enemies to be accompanied by some form of encampment. But Ye Ci had not come across any of those, and it baffled her.

Her supply of food was slowly dwindling, as food materials were never dropped by humanoid enemies. This was why Ye Ci was forced to expand her own supplies to satisfy Ol’ Six's large appetite.

But there was still a small chance for rations to drop from a humanoid monster. Their drop rates might be low, but it helped in replenishing the dwindling supplies that Ye Ci was carrying.

After her nonstop battles against the Dark Apostles and Sorrow Vultures, Ye Ci logged out from the game to have lunch and a short nap. She had spent more than fifteen hours in the Sorrowful Canyon.

Despite the large amount of Tamra’s Diary Fragment she had gathered, many of them were duplicates. Ye Ci was quick to realise that fragments containing important parts of Tamra’s stories had a relatively low drop rate.

Ye Ci had completed nearly half of the diary, but most of the pages lacked any useful information. They were merely the records of Tamra’s feelings when the war broke out, and his encounters after fleeing his home.

Most of the diary entries were written in the form of poems, as if the Elf was a bard wandering from places to places.

Ye Ci was not able to gather fragments containing information about the Elven soldier and clues of Dauer. But patience was one of her greatest virtues. While a person might get bored of something repetitive, Ye Ci was someone who was able to press on despite the boredom. This was probably why she was able to spend most of her time in the library when she was being hunted by her enemies in her last life.

Obtaining the fragments were repetitive, but it was still way more interesting than spending her time in the library. At least she was able to look forward to leveling up.

Killing enemies with higher levels could be rewarding, but the sheer amount of EXP required to leveling up meant that only 15% of her EXP was filled since her trip to the Sorrowful Canyon. Ol’ Sxi’s level on the other hand, had increased from lvl47 to lvl51.

And with an increase in each of its levels, Ol’ Six was able to deal more and more damage to the enemies in the Sorrowful Canyon.

And after more than 36 hours spent in the Sorrowful Canyon, Ye Ci was finally able to obtain a fragment of Tamra’s Diary containing its owner’s location.

“...I ran, and I hid. I was almost caught on several occasions, but I got away. My race had always been adapt at surviving in the wild. I ran through the forest, across the plains, and I think I’m finally able to shake them off…”

“...I’m not a very good Druid, but I’ve learned a lot. I was able to transform myself into animals and blend into the forest. I wonder why Naga’s minions were never able to find me. Many among those who were fighting at the front lines were Druids. Perhaps I lack the killing intent…”

“Naga’s minions have finally left. I can finally thank this forest that saved my life.”

“I’ve decided to settle down in this place. It shall be my home, and my final resting place. I shall stay here until my kinsman who had inherited the will of Dau’er finds me.”

The story stopped there. Tamra’s location was hinted at, but it was still unclear. There were no precise coordinates to his location, and many of the entries recorded were simply too incoherent for Ye Ci to have a good idea of his exact location.

The fragments of Tamra’s Diary had formed into a book as Ye Ci read through their entries. But there were still many missing pages left. It was apparent that she had to complete the missing parts to obtain the location of Tamra.

After reading through Tamra’s diary yet again, Ye Ci was sure that her judgement was correct, and she headed deeper into the Sorrowful Canyon.

She could not recall any players who have completed the quest in her last life. But it was also possible that a player might have completed the quest, but chose not to share it online. After all, Hidden Quests were quite rare in Fate.

Tamra’s Diary was one such example. As the diary was written in Elvish, only players with characters who have learned the language could complete the diary and learn of its secrets. But with so many races in Fate, a player could simply not afford to learn all the languages in the game. And this meant that not many of the player population was able to complete hidden quests like this.

And even if an Elven player came across the fragments, and could understand its words, the player was still unable to proceed with the quest if he or she had never accepted any quests related to the Elven King Dau’er.

Ye Ci was a very patient player.

And she was finally able to obtain enough diary fragments from the Dark Apostles after spending nearly fifty hours in-game on the map.

“...I like it here. It’s just like my homeland. I can build a house on the tall trees. The plains are blooming with life, and the clear river is just like the place Tina and I used to meet. Oh, how I missed you Tina.. I’ve been thinking a lot about her lately. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown old.”

“I did not build my house on a tree. It’s too dangerous. Who knows if Naga’s minions would return. The cave on the cliff is a good place. Perhaps it will be where I die. We Elves have never buried our dead in caves, but I have forgotten what it is to be an Elf…”

“I’m not a warrior, nor am I a follower of Dau’er. I’m but an Elf and the lowest rung of our society. The Elven King had always been a name to me. I do not know why, but I missed him.”

“O’ my kin who has inherited the will of Dau’er. Will you be able to find me? I do not know how much time I have left…”

……

The fragments of Tamra’s diary had revealed his location. He was indeed in the Sorrowful Canyon. And fortunately for Ye Ci, the Elf did not build his home on a tree. It was harder to find an Elven Druid on trees than in a cave.

And it was an easy task for Ye Ci to find a cave on the face of the two cliffs. After all, her pet was a Dragon. She was able to fly over the lvl80 half of the map as none of the monsters in the area were a threat to Ol’ Six.

But the lvl120 side of the map was populated by Poisonous Mosquitoes. There were a substantial number of them, but they were not fast and were spread out over a wide area. Ye Ci was able to evade the mosquitoes and spot a well hidden cave.

The mouth of the cave was too small for Ol’ Six. Ye Ci hovered her pet near the entrance, and swung her Cat Claw onto the face of the cliff, and was able to leap into the cave.

She headed into the cave after dismissing Ol’ Six.

It was a very low cave. Or rather, it was a crack in the mountain with a very narrow and crooked path. Ye Ci had to lower herself as she ventured deeper into the cave. The entrance to the cave was so well hidden that Ye Ci would have thought that she had gone to the wrong place if not for the Elvish words written on the wall of the mountain.

She continued walking forward with a torch in hand, and before long, she could hear singing ahead. It was a melody sung by an old voice that was very familiar to Ye Ci. The song was something that every Elf would hear the moment they were born.

“...the lilies of the valley are waiting as well, as the bard played his instrument, oh my love. Where are you, in the midst of the chaos of war…”

Ye Ci called up her character’s menu, and selected a song. It was a song known to all Elves. Her character then began to sing. The voice was coming from her throat, but it was controlled by the system. Ye Ci was grateful to the developers for this function, as she was someone who could not sing at all.

“Have you forgotten about me? Have you forgotten about me, o’ my love… The fires of war have faded, but where are you now? Where are you now? The way back home is here, don’t lose yourself, find your way home to me.”

“Who’s there?” the singing stopped.

“It’s me.” replied Ye Ci as she continued walking forward, “I am an Elf from the Majia Continent.” she saw an Elf sitting in the deepest part of the cave.

The Elves were a race that would never grow old, but the Elf’s snow white hair was an indication of his very long age. But there was a sharp pair of jade eyes under his white eyebrows.

The owner of the eyes stared at Ye Ci. He was old and frail, but Ye Ci could sense strength from the Elf. He’s lvl120! Thought Ye Ci. He can easily kill me if I handle this wrongly.

“Greetings, my kinsman. I am Gongzi You. I found fragments of a diary written by Tamra and collected it. I found my way here according to the clues written in that diary, and heard the song of our homeland, and I couldn’t resist the urge to join in. I am sorry for disturbing you.” Ye Ci greeted the older Elf with respect.

A smile appeared on the Elf’s face as he studied Ye Ci, “Ah, so you found it…” and he let out a long sigh, “I am Tamra, and I wrote that diary when I was young. I no longer do that anymore.”

Ye Ci glanced at Tamra. The Elf was not as weak as he described in his diary. She was certain that he was as strong as a BOSS.

“You’re from our homeland, am I right? Can you tell me how it’s like back there? Is it still in ruins?” Ye Ci could sense longing in the Elf’s eyes.

“It’s beautiful. We Elves have begun to prosper. It’s always as if the land was untouched by the flames of war.” Ye Ci replied.