Even with all the noise from the guards cheering their Captain’s actions, my ears picked out a louder guard shouting at the other end of the hallway. “Hey! Hey! You can’t go down there!”
Smiling and trying to bear the incredible pain, a small part of me actually felt like I was going crazy, somehow feeling a little relieved because of it, but everything just started to fade. My body became really weary and numb, and it got harder and harder to keep my eyes open by the second. Closing them for only a moment, the cheers of the guards abruptly stopped, turning into dozens of loud pained groans instead. Forcing my eyes to open, I saw the beautiful and elegant Odelia sobbing uncontrollably in front of the door, and behind her was every single guard knocked to the sides of the hallway—whimpering in pain on the ground.
Shocked to see her here, Dayla tried to speak “Lady Od—” but in an instant, Odelia flung her outside of the cell, and Dayla’s body went ragdolling down the hallway.
Slowly approaching me, Odelia had a look of disbelief on her face. “W-We always believed there had to be one...somewhere...” Wiping some of her tears from her face, she was about to caress my own, but she stopped herself at the last second. “I-I am so so sorry...” No clue what she was apologizing for. “If only I recognized you when we first met…” She looked sad and upset with herself, “Y-You wouldn’t be in such an unforgivably dire state…”
Struggling to speak, I said to her “I have no clue...what you’re talking about...but I’m…completely okay…” Noting my Health.
Health: 397/3,390
“But if you...want to help...take the sword out…” I suggested.
“Is this your first order of me?” Odelia excitedly asked, quickly kneeling to me before standing back up. “Though I do not agree with taking the greatsword keeping you from bleeding out...I must trust in your judgement, and wholeheartedly fulfill your first order to me.” Hesitantly grabbing onto the handle, Odelia easily pulled it from me. Dropping to the stone floor face first, I immediately casted First Aid a countless number of times on my chest, and merely waited for all of it to kick in.
First Aid increased by 1 Level.
Before Odelia could check on me, Dayla called out to her, “Lady Odelia…” Weakly limping to the door, and holding onto her left shoulder. “Why did you come here and attack us?”
“It was never my intention to attack you or your guards, you were all simply just in my way.” Odelia stated, looking to the guards finally picking themselves up. “As for coming here, when you left our dinner, the guard informed Drune and me of the situation, and I came here in case you couldn’t handle someone strong enough to damage the walls and age Galen.” She explained.
“For the record, I let her do this to me.” Trying to defend my beaten self, slowly sitting up against the wall. “There’s no way I’d be like this otherwise.” Feeling better, and almost back to myself again.
Quickly turning to the sound of my okay voice, they both looked at me in surprise; Dayla's face looked to be confused about how I could be mostly okay after her attack, while Odelia's face eased as she let out a sigh of relief. “I knew if I trusted your judgement everything would be alright, I mean more than alright.” Sincerely smiling at me, Odelia composed herself and knelt down in front of me again, and said “I have found you…I have found our Heir.”
“Lady Odelia, you can't mean...” The more Dayla stared at me, the more her face showed an expression of disbelief.
“I thought I was just being delirious from the attack, but what've you been talking about, Odelia?” I asked, still a little disoriented.
But before Odelia could answer, the guards had regrouped themselves, rushing over to completely block the doorway, and readying all their weapons to attack. “Captain, get out there! We’ll try to hold them back down here while you get your armour and reinforcements!” A guard shouted, with another guard behind him shooting an arrow towards me.
“Nooo!” Dayla shouted, reaching out for the arrow flying in the air, but barely missing to catch it. However—not even looking—Odelia caught the arrow between her fingers right before it would’ve struck me.
Still smiling to me, Odelia said “This will only be a moment, my Lord.” Her face suddenly changed to express her anger, as she stood directly in front of me—almost as if she was guarding me. Grabbing the large black bow on her back, Odelia spoke with a cold aggression in her voice, a voice I didn't know a person could have. “Dayla.” Her voice resonated through the entire space, “Call your men to withdraw, and allow us to walk freely.” Hearing this, the guards started to shout out threats and insults to her.
“Knife ears, thinks she can get out of this!”
“Bitch can try, but I’m beating the shit out of her for what she did to me!”
“Hah, shut the fuck up you elf slut!”
“Your kind is only good for one thing!”
They’re words weren’t directed at me, but every one of them caused me to grimace and cringe, riling me up the more they shouted. Yet seemingly unbothered by any of it, Odelia just spoke to Dayla. “If you do not do so, I will be forced to kill everyone who poses a threat to him, even if it is someone as well connected as you, Dayla.” The guards continued their shouting, but what they couldn’t see on their Captain’s face, was the face of someone who was completely frozen by true fear.
Getting restless, the guards started pushing their way in trying to get inside the prison cell. Responding to their aggression, Odelia drew her arrowless bow string, and I watched a mana arrow begin to form in her hand—similar to my Charged Arrow—already nocked on the fully drawn bow.
Seeing this, Dayla’s eyes widened, and her body was shakened. “...stop...” Suddenly shouting loudly for all the guards to hear, “STOP!” and holding her arms out to stop them from coming inside. “A-All of you, leave! Now!”
“But Captain!” Some guards shouted, reluctant to.
“You are all complete and utter morons!” They recoiled from their Captain's mean words. “Remember this! This woman right here,” Pointing to Odelia, “ she has the power to destroy this entire town! It wouldn’t even take her 5 minutes to wipe it all out!" The guards became speechless. “This single arrow is only a fraction of her strength, but it will surely be enough kill us all if she releases it!" Telling them "So if you do not wish to die here today, I suggest you all do as I say and not anger her further! Leave while she still tolerates us!” This caused a lot of the guards to run back down the hallway, while some hugged the sides and stayed away from the lined up shot of the drawn arrow.
Noticing Dayla’s hand shaking uncontrollably, and the guards starting to back off, I put my hand on Odelia’s shoulder, and she turned to me courteously giving me a nod and relaxed her draw—the mana arrow dissipating in her hand. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?” I asked Dayla.
“Th-This way.” Dayla responded, still limping while she led us down the hallway. Following her, Odelia returned her bow to her back, but she kept her hand on the hilt of her sword, while the guards we walked by forced themselves to look away from her.
Leading us back up the stairs and past some plain looking wooden doors, we arrived at a solid door with the plaque that said ‘Captain’s Office’. Entering the simple room with no windows, we saw a desk with stacks and stacks of papers on top. Closing the door and locking it behind her, Dayla told us “This room has been enchanted to be soundproof when it’s locked, we can speak freely here.” Gesturing for us to sit in the chairs in front of her desk.
All of us sitting down, I mentioned about getting help for her injuries, but Dayla refused and simply questioned me about the 3 incidents again. I explained to her that the 5 adventurers were killers that already murdered at least 14 people, and that I was their next victim. Telling her I was defending myself, I also explained that my attack was way stronger than I thought, and that it was just an accident that I hit the walls.
“You’re saying that you have an attack that can do that much damage to the walls? Just who are you?” Dayla questioned.
“Just a Platinum Rank Adventurer passing by Asheton.” I answered, showing her the Platinum Guild bracelet as proof and then storing it away again.
“Hmm...I didn’t even know a Platinum Rank had arrived in town. Those Guild workers never tell me anything.” Dayla thought to herself for a bit, then mentioned “I noticed that the adventurer’s eyes were missing, how do you explain that?”
“Umm...let’s just say I collect the eyes of things I kill as trophies, monsters or not.” Kind of telling the truth. Dayla gave me a weirded out look, while Odelia seemed unbothered.
“What about Galen? He’s still unconscious since his encounter with you, and he’s aged significantly?” She asked.
“I can’t really explain that.” Instead telling her “He’ll be fine, he just needs to rest. As for his age, I can’t really do anything about that, he really has lost 35 years of his life.”
Dissatisfied with my answer and knowing I probably wouldn’t tell her more, Dayla thought for a moment and then looked at Odelia, asking “What about your relationship with Lady Odelia? Why exactly is she so adamant about protecting you? Even going as far as to threaten the whole guard, and especially myself. Is what she mentioned really true?”
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Looking at Odelia too, I asked “I’d like to know myself, why are you protecting me, Odelia?”
Odelia turned to Dayla and asked, “Is this room really enchanted to be soundproof, Little Dayla?”
Dayla smiled a little when she heard her name being called like that, and said “Yes it is, Lady Odelia.”
Odelia nodded and turned back to me, “I am protecting you, because you are the Heir to the Elves, my Lord.”
“Truly?! The Heir to the Elves?!” Dayla repeated, completely shocked by the news.
“The Heir to the Elves?” Unsure what that really meant, I asked them “What’s the big deal? Don’t the elves already have a king or somehing?”
They both gave me a strange look, and Dayla said “Are you dumb? How do you not know something like that?”
Odelia gave Dayla a stern look for calling me dumb, and then said to me “The Elven Kingdom is the only Kingdom to not have a current monarch, my Lord.”
“Why not? People called them the Dwarven, Elven, and Human Kingdoms, so I assumed they would all have one.” I pointed out.
“Remember what I told you about the Five Great Heroes, my Lord?” Odelia asked.
“I do, you said they all disappeared.” I recalled.
“Well what I did not tell you—because I thought you knew—was that the Five Great Heroes were the Kings and Queens of their respective Kingdoms.” Explaining, “While the Kingdoms of the Human and Dwarven Races both left multiple successors to their thrones, the Elven Kingdom did not have a single one.”
“Ven’Thyl didn’t have any children?” I asked.
“The whole Elven Kingdom, no, the entire Elven Race always hoped he did have one in secret.” Odelia corrected herself. “But after 500 years of waiting and no one coming to claim the throne, it was eventually believed that there was none.” She then looked directly at me, saying “Though some still believe there is a descendant...somewhere.”
“Who rules the Kingdom then?” Curious.
“The Council of the Three Noble Houses, of course.” Odelia stated. “It has been that way for 999 years, ever since King Ven’Thyl disappeared with the other Great Heroes.”
“999 years?! How can you be so sure I’m the Heir to the Elves then?” Already feeling like I know why.
"I do not know why I did not realize it sooner, but seeing you today in that dire state, something inside just screamed to me you were the Heir we have been looking for.” Odelia then told me more about her, “Not many know of this, but my name is actually Odelia Ven’Thyl, and I am a part of a small unofficial and unrecognized Elven House, a House named the House of Ven’Thyl. We took after the name believing that someday we would find a descendant somewhere in the world, and that we would be there by their side to serve them." Kneeling down to me again.
“That explains her name.” Then thinking about the whole situation, “The crown said I would be recognized as Royalty, but I never expected this to happen. I thought I would just be a lost prince or something.” Imagining a little, “Although it sounds super cool and I could probably get whatever I wanted, I don’t really wanna be the Heir or the King of the Elves. After 999 years of not having one, I'm sure there would be a lot of bullshit to deal with both inside and outside of the Kingdom, and that’s just not something I want to have to do.” Sure of my decision, I said to Odelia “I want to tell you this so you can accept it now, but I don’t want to be the Heir, the King, or whatever else there is." Stating, "I just want to be free and experience this world without any burdens.”
Odelia frowned and nodded, saying “Considering your age, you must be his great grandson, and seeing how your parents and grandparents never claimed the throne either, I knew that would be your decision.” But I could see a little hope in her eyes, “Even still, you are the first descendant I or the others have come across over the 999 years of searching.” She looked happy about that. “So I must let you know, the House of Ven’Thyl will always be open to you, and we will ever be devoted to serving you and your bloodline.”
“Would she even believe me if I said I wasn’t even related to Ven’Thyl?” I wondered, as two new completed Quests caught me off guard.
Quest Completed
The House of Ven’Thyl and the bonus Hidden Quest has been completed:
Find a way to earn the trust of the House of Ven’Thyl.
Discover and present details of the whereabouts of the missing Descendants of Ven’Thyl.
Reward: An invitation to become a member of the House of Ven'Thyl. Hidden Reward: Receive a Continuation Quest.
“What the hell is this? Is there an error with the Quest System or something?” I questioned, as another completed Quest popped up.
Continuation Quest Completed
The Last Descendants of Ven’Thyl and the bonus Hidden Quest has been completed:
Locate the Last Descendants of Ven’Thyl, rescue them from their dreadful circumstances, and bring them into a sanctuary within the Elven Kingdom.
Befriend the Last Descendants and truly gain their trust in you.
Reward: Servitude of the House of Ven’Thyl. Hidden Reward: An everlasting friendship with the Heirs to the Elves.
“It's like that time with Rayna; I got and completed a Quest I didn’t know about, but these Quests seem very important, almost like Main Story type Quests that could affect the whole Story.” Taking notice of the Quest’s wordings, “From the details of these Quests, there actually is a descendant of Ven’Thyl somewhere, and they need to be rescued.” Wondering, “Did Odelia trigger the Quests to be completed because she offered me the Rewards? Or is it because I might be considered a ‘Descendant’ if I’m Royalty now, which somehow made me meet the requirements for the completion?” Asking myself, “What do I do now?” My mind continued to race in thoughts, but stopped when a message began to type out in front of my eyes.
Unexpected outcomes have been detected.
Analyzing unexpected outcomes and all previous outcomes…
Creating all new alternative outcomes for the future…
Seeing how I couldn’t get rid of the message and how dots looked to be loading, I waited for the results.
Out of nowhere, Odelia started to act strange, looking at and feeling her own body. “W-What is this? Ahahahaha...”
“Lady Odelia, what’s wrong?” Dayla asked, concerned.
“Nothing is wrong, more like everything is right!” Clenching her fists tightly, “I feel incredible!” Odelia looked at me with a spark in her eye, and shouted “You really are the Heir!" Explaining, "After declaring my servitude to you, I felt the same sudden surge of power Drune said he got earlier.”
“Drune did?”
“Not only him, his apprentice Mako also said she got stronger.”
“The crown really does affect people who choose to follow me, I assumed since I was a Player it might only be limited to Players in my Party, but I guess not. This crown just keeps surprising me.” Then the loading messages disappeared, and a new one was typed out.
Due to the unexpected outcomes and the previous knowledge of the Completed Quests, a new alternative Quest has been added to your Quest Menu.
Quest
The Bloodline of Ven’Thyl:
Find information about the whereabouts of the Second Descendants of Ven’Thyl, locate their exact location, rescue them from their current dreadful circumstances, bring them into a sanctuary within the Elven Kingdom, and ultimately help them also be known and recognized as the Heirs to the Elves.
Reward: ???
“I'm so stupid, I’ve been reading the Quests wrong, there’s actually multiple descendants left.” Then thinking, “If they’re the second descendants, that must mean they’re the grandchildren of Ven’Thyl, which means if I rescue them, they’re the next ones in line to the throne, not me. I could get all the perks without any of the responsibility, this is perfect!” Feeling great about the situation. “But this Quest is so vague and gives me no clues, how am I supposed to find them if 999 years of searching couldn’t even find them?” My mind began to race again, so I asked Dayla “If we’re done here, can I go now?” needing a place to think properly.
“It’s not like I can do much with Lady Odelia watching over you, so yes you can.” Dayla said, looking overwhelmed with everything she just learned. “I’ll just inform the guards it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Just so you know, you couldn’t do much even if she wasn’t.” I stated, being way too full of myself after being over excited by the Quest.
Dayla was about to respond, but Odelia spoke coldly again. “Oh and Dayla, I ask you not to inform others about what you learned today, especially your Father. You should know what would happen if your Father confirmed the inevitable rumours to the Tyrant, and the Kingdoms hear of the Elves finding their Heir.”
“I do, Lady Odelia.” Dayla replied, looking uneasy about what Odelia said.
Giving Dayla a nod, I left the room with Odelia following close behind.