“You would negotiate?” The Void creature asked, a bit surprised but also quite amused at the same time. “What could you possibly want from me that you would actually trust?”
“Reward stones. Apparently, those can be assigned as quest rewards.”
“Ah, I see where you’re going with this. You want something that you can give to Eldros and have him reward you. Makes sense considering that you trust him.”
“That, and the Primordials seem to be capable of resisting the Void if Invidros is any indication. He seems to have been doing a fine job of limiting the Void’s influence.”
The creature before him grunted. “He has, but he is getting weaker every day as his world weakens around him. If he was still at his peak I wouldn’t need you, my rivals would never have been able to create a foothold in the first place. Fine, I accept your rewards request and I will be as generous as the System allows me to be when it comes to the number of reward stones. I can’t stipulate how many you get on my own, the System will place a limit based on its perception of the difficulty of the task. Can I take that as you agreeing to my offer?”
“We’re getting there. However, we haven’t discussed a timeline for this task? You also said that I will face no serious consequences for dropping the quest, but what about attempting it and failing?”
The Void creature laughed loudly at that. “You are a paranoid one, aren’t you? Then again, I suppose you have cause after that [Soul Shackle] debacle. The timeline isn’t that difficult, provided you eliminate the nearby threats within the next three months. That is how close they are to creating more footholds in the area around Caelis. If those succeed, it will cause a cascade effect that will be next to impossible for you to stop with the resources at your disposal. However, if you wipe those out, you would have several years before it gets that out of control again, but I would advise that you take care of them as soon as you can to make things easier on yourself.”
The creature continued as Lanek focused on its words. “Now, when it comes to failing a quest, there are penalties. If you fail, the System decides what you lose, not I. The penalty is typically the loss of levels, but it can reach more severe penalties if the System deems it appropriate, such as losing skills and having your class revoked or changed.”
Lanek’s eyes widened. “That’s weird, though. Why would the System be so lenient about dropping a quest but so harsh for failing it?”
“Ah, there is a flaw in your logic there. The System decides the penalty for failing a quest, but the quest giver is the one that decides what happens if you drop it. I could make the penalties for dropping the quest harsher, but I doubt you would accept the terms in the first place and then neither of us gets what we want.”
“Very well, I can accept those terms. When do I get the quest?”
“It will only show up once you exit the Void’s domain. The System has no power here, so it cannot give you the quest here. So, the power is all in your hands, if you leave here and immediately decline the quest then there is nothing I can do about it. Although, I promise you that betraying me will make you yet another enemy in the Void and you really don’t want that. The two you’ve already angered will not forget. Ever.”
“I’ll be honest with you as well, since you are being so upfront. I’m not going to accept the quest without running it past Eldros. I don’t know enough about the System to take your word for it.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Fair enough, I expected nothing less and I have nothing to hide. Are you satisfied?”
“I am.”
“Excellent. The list of your targets will be included in the quest once the System creates it.”
With those final words, the creature disappeared from sight, taking the light with it. Before Lanek could so much as protest, he felt a fierce pull and lost consciousness. When he awoke, he found himself staring at Eldros, only the Primordial looked so much larger than he remembered. Looking around in a panic, Lanek realized that he did not have a body and was looking out from a tiny flame.
Eldros spoke, as if sensing Lanek’s panic. “Calm down, you’re fine. Do you know where you were or what happened to you? I’ve never seen a soul split in half like that.”
Lanek nodded, trying to calm down. It was extremely difficult, but he managed to relay everything he had learned from the Void creature about what had happened and how it had helped release him. Eldros scowled for a moment when he heard about the deal.
“I don’t like you dealing with the Void again, but at least you don’t have their taint on you. As for this quest, rest assured that it does work as it said it will, but I will still inspect it before you accept. If the thing wasn’t lying, then it has a point about this benefiting everyone and I really don’t like the idea of more Void incursions.”
“Agreed. So, any idea what it was talking about when it came to me not actually being dead?”
“Yes, it has to do with your Soulbinder class. This class makes your soul much stronger than a normal individual’s as it is necessary for you to be able to link to other souls and interact with spirits. When your dranrid body was destroyed, your soul managed to survive. However, it would not have survived for long if I hadn’t pulled your soul here and kept it from dissipating.”
“What happens now, then? Do you give me a new body?”
Eldros shook his head. “I can give you a new body, but I wanted to make sure that you understood that you have a choice to make. You can have me give you a new body or I can simply let your soul dissipate so that you do actually die. I don’t suspect that you are ready to die, but I would understand if you wanted to rest and avoid all of the conflict in this world. Rest assured, I will not abandon you if you choose that option, you will be reunited with Kazuma and Sanguineus in my domain.”
Lanek swallowed for a moment, a tragic thought occurring to him. “How are they? If I choose to stay and get a new body, will they return as well?”
Eldros smiled warmly at his servant, pleased by his concern for his companions. “Of course they can, but it will be up to them to decide if they want to. I’m almost positive I know that they will choose to follow your lead regardless of your choice.”
“Well, I don’t want to die, I still feel like I have work to do. I want to go back to the monastery and help everyone there if nothing else.”
“Good, because I have a task for you there as well. When your body fell, a tree sprouted up within minutes. This isn’t all that odd from what I remember of the dranrid, but this tree is powerful enough to create another grove dedicated to me and will allow me to extend my influence to the city. What I need from you is to protect it as a temporary guardian until I can find a suitable guardian beast to take over once my influence has taken hold.”
“That’s great news! I’ll do everything I can to keep it safe. However, I’ll need a body first.”
“Aye, I can restore your body. Be aware, once your body is restored the System will likely have a lot of updates waiting for you, not the least of which will be the quest you agreed to consider. Are you ready?”
Lanek nodded and braced himself for the experience. As it turned out, he needn’t have bothered as the process was quick and painless. One moment he was watching Eldros from the tiny flame and the next he was lying on the grass in a peaceful grove, surrounded on all sides by mighty trees and the sounds of nature.
While he lounged and pointedly ignored the System notifications, two very familiar and welcome bundles of fur materialized next to him, leaving his soul behind for the physical world. Immediately, Lanek was beset by licks and headbutts. Laughing, he scratched Kazuma and Sanguineus’ ears, but paused in confusion after a few moments. He stared at his hand, but rather than the dranrid scale and color he had gotten used to, his hand bore a much more natural skin tone.
“Uh, boss?” Lanek called out.
The Primordial looked over at his follower and his eyes widened slightly. “Well, that’s a bit unexpected.”