The Ancients World

We walk back into the cold forest and stay silent. The method on how we got her mana aura isn't a usual one, but we have it now. "I take it this means we are heading to Bellvia now?" Sally asks me about the subject currently on my mind. I have a lot of complex jobs to do in Bellvia, and with the addition of the heist on their treasure room, it's even increased in difficulty. I don't know how I'm supposed to complete all the quests without getting caught. Perhaps that's the point. Maybe overwhelming force is what'll lead to the success of these quests. I'm not in the mood to sneak around Bellvia trying to find clues about the quests.

I can threaten the annihilation of the entire capital city for the information and items I need from the capital. However, I'm not going to kill millions of innocent people. "We are heading to Bellvia next. We'll discuss some ideas about what to do once we get there. Finding people to help with the heist will be the hard part. With the two other quests I have in Bellvia, that makes the total 3. Each of them is very difficult. The amount of time needed to finish these quests isn't making me happy either. I don't know how long we'll be in Bellvia." The quests that I have now will be a pain in the ass to complete. My decision to take them isn't making me happy right now. I open the quests to see their information.

[Quest: The False One]

[Description: You have found the truth about Bellvia and their involvement with the Dryads, and you have found out about the curse and who made it. You will have a choice to make. Only one of the following objectives can be completed.]

[Objective 1: Expose the Kingdom of Bellvia and have them pay for their crimes.]

[Objective 2: Find the weakness of the curse and use it to free the Dryads and return them to Ancients World.]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Rewards: Hidden]

[Quest: An Abomination]

[Description: Find the research and notes of Ulma Runa on her development of the curse.]

[Objective 1: Find Ulma Runa's lab in Bellvia's capital and bring the notes and research papers back to Flint.]

[Objective 2: Hidden]

[Quality: Epic]

[Heist of Bellvia's treasure vault]

[Description: Break into Bellvia's treasure vaults and retrieve The Dice of Wayland.]

[Objective 1: Once in Bellvia, find a group that can help you pull off the heist.]

[Objective 2: Once you have The Dice of Wayland, keep them until the right time to use them.]

[Difficulty: Legendary]

[Rewards: Anything you can take from the vaults other than The Dice of Wayland.]

All three of these quests are complex jobs that take time to complete individually. Rereading the information, I don't have to be sneaky and subtle about these quests except the heist. That means I can use violent tactics for the first two. I don't want to do the first two without completing the third one. So I've come to a decision. Once I'm done with the heist, I'll use my authority as The Son of Arch-Angel Michael to get the answers to the first two questions. We stop walking, and I kneel on the ground. "Let's get a move on while we still have some daylight left. We'll fly for a few hours and then camp out for the night." It'll take about 16 hours to reach bellvia at full speed. 

So getting there in one trip isn't going to work. Sally gets on my back, and I launch off the ground and immediately reach top speed in the direction the marker is taking me. Sally crawls up my back and brings her head up to mine, so we don't have to yell at each other. "I've heard some pretty bad things about Bellvia the last few years. They are a city that has a massive underground criminal system that has everything you can imagine. Even slavery is ignored by the government there if they are paid enough." Bellvia sounds like a real hellhole. I won't be sad threatening them anytime soon. Sally was a slave long before my grandparents were born. 

I can only assume she will have a hard time around so many people that caused her pain. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you, Sally. If it really comes down to it, I'll use my strongest skill to kill every living hostile creature within 400 kilometers. I'm not going to lose any sleep over killing scum like that." Earlier I thought that I couldn't use Divinity Pulse while in Bellvia, but its description is very specific about hostile enemies only being affected. So I can assume anyone not threatening me will be perfectly fine. "I have more power than pretty much any other humanoid creature. The only ones stronger than me now are people that have truly chased power." I have this option if I want it.

Sally stays quiet at my words and snuggles closer to me. I push those thoughts out of my mind and focus on the problem at hand. Who is going to help me with the heist? I don't know anyone in Bellvia, and I have no way to contact any of the right people for this job. "We'll have to assemble a crew for the heist once we reach bellvia, and that can take some time." I want to hear if Sally has any ideas, but she is just staying quiet and relaxing. I can use Bellvia's criminal underground against it. I can use that resource to find myself a crew to pull this off. "I know what we can do. We'll use the criminal network already present in Bellvia against them." Sally slowly nods her head in confirmation. I take the message and stop focusing on the problems too.

We fly for a few hours, and eventually, the sunsets. I bring us down in a very small clearing in some trees and land. Sally gets off and stretches her body. I pull the camping equipment out of my inventory and set it all up. I start a fire pit and take a seat enjoying its warmth. I pull out the very last of my food supply, and I toss half of it to Sally. "We are having a big meal first when we reach Bellvia. We should reach it by tomorrow evening if we get up early." Sally scoots closer and stops when our shoulders lean against each other. She starts nibbling on her food and staring into the fire. After a couple more seconds, she leans her head on my shoulder. She has earned these moments.

She is proving to herself and me that she is getting better mentally. I won't claim to know what goes on in her head, but what's happened to her in the past will affect her for the rest of her life. "Zern... Will you kiss me..." I turn my head slowly and look at her. She tilts her head up and looks into my eyes. She closes her eyes and brings her face closer. I bring mine to her and right before our lips touch, I close my eyes too. Our lips connect, and a very fulfilling sensation spreads through me. Sally has grown to be very important to me, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any feelings for her. I move my lips just a little bit, and she follows with the motion. 

I feel her hand slide up my back and her fingers run through my dark hair. She brings her other arm and places her hand on my chest. We move our lips together in small gentle movements, and after a couple more seconds, we pull away from each other, slightly red in our faces and taking quick breaths to catch what we missed in the moment of affection. "I love you, Zern... You are the one that showed me life isn't just suffering..." She takes control of the situation and kisses me again. We don't kiss for as long, but she did try to gain access with her tongue. "The new life I have now is thanks to you... Thank you for seeing me for more than just a half-breed..." She leans her head back on my shoulder and relaxes.

I turn my head back to the fire and enjoy this moment we have together. "The life you have right now isn't because of me. It's because you had the courage to leave with me. You decided to have faith in another person, a man even, and took the leap. I would never be able to do that, so you should thank yourself too." She finds my hand with hers and interlocks her fingers with mine. What I said is what I've observed. She has her own courage and faith in good people to thank for all this. Living for 103 years and having her life would turn 99% of people into bitter and cynical people. How could I not like someone with so much strength. She looks at me and tilts her head to the tent. She stands up with her hand in mine and helps me up. She leads me into the tent before it gets too late.