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Chapter 12: The Meaning of Siva
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"Now here's the deal. Let me tell you first, I would still ask you to come with me in this adventure but whether you agree or not is alright. It's dangerous and might be a lot more dangerous in all respect than the adventures you had so far."
Back in the Crown Hotel Suite in the 88th floor, Siva and Volt's group were gathered around a table.
In there was a laid out map of the whole eastern region of the continent of Espada. In the western area was the border of the Persian Empire and in the south is the sea while in the north is the vast lands of the Kingdom of Thrall.
Markers were placed on Walled Cities, towns and the hidden villages, hunting grounds, mines, the important sites, dungeons, routes, Cloud Gates, and then forests.
But even though the map seemed to be fully marked and explored, a data rendering on their visions said that the map is just 20% complete. Meaning, it's yet to be fully explored.
"So... where are we going?" Asked Samara, eyeing the map's details and tracing the routes and forests with her slender fingers.
"Anazon." Said Siva and the three girls gasped leaving Volt staring at him sternly. "I'm going to Anazon."
"Are you perhaps going after the treasure of the Muans that has become a target of adventurers lately?"
"Yes."
"..."
Volt stared at Siva's face without the mask. As he has the same face as in the real world, Siva looked like the same serious Dex there and here. Except perhaps from a slightly small detail that his 'Avatar' in this world is somewhat the interpretation of his inner self.
And when he said 'inner self' he meant that Siva is the kind to not show his true self in front of people. He would only feel natural and free when he's with people he truly trusts.
That in itself was a compliment and also an alarming piece of information.
"Dex... I mean Siva... are you really going after that?"
"...the lost treasure of the Muans, Excalibur?"
"Yes. The real, Excalibur."
Asked by the same questions by Samara and Hawkeye, Siva straightened his back and looked at them intently.
"I... was supposed to sell the item and the information to a client but he wasn't satisfied by the book and so he demanded that I give him something tangible and could be sold as an actual Item in itself."
Siva did not disclose that "that client said that he wants information with the quality of A-rank and higher. So I gave him an H-class but he refused it like a kid who just changed his mind". It was enough for him to be so angry and defeated that it showed in his face.
"But Siva, that place, Anazon, even us can't be sure to get out alive when faced with troubles we can't fathom and plan about."
"Also," after Hawkeye explained the point, Samara took another glance to the laid out map in the table and rolled her eyes, looking for the right mark. It only took a moment but with her experience, it was enough to see that what she was looking for wasn't there. "It seems you already know what the real first problem is."
"I do." Answered Siva and by that Agatha and Volt's little sister looked at each other, puzzled. "that's why I waited for you guys first instead of telling you the info I got these two days."
This statement made Volt chuckle, catching the four's attention in the room.
"You really planned this out huh?"
Siva lowered his head, as if guilty of something. "Yes."
"I gathered as much information from the time I have as possible. I could go after the treasure myself if you aren't available but getting there is not possible alone."
He was actually referring to the information he had in the time before he actually started RPG: Terroa.
When he was first brought to the "safe house" around two months ago, he spent a few days researching all the targets that he can go after in Terroa. Treasures and information are important in Terroa, especially given the subject of his reasons for going inside the game.
One of the targets he had were the publicly announced "Hunt" for the lost treasure of the Muans.
It was an S-class item, one of a kind. Or perhaps since it was connected with the Muans it might probably be an H-class item.
"What do you mean?"
Siva looked at Samara and pointed out an area in the map. "Because getting the map that leads to the forest of Anazon requires a mission that needs a minimum of five people to go to. It's a chain quest that can be found in a house in this City, starting with a rank of 'E'. You first begin by running errands throughout the city then as its rank rises, according to how you reply to the quest giver, the chain quests also changes in variation, thus eventually leading into a spider web of reactions and randomly generated missions and quests that, in a certain degree, becomes further from the goal of gaining access to that quest that leads to Anazon."
"I see." Samara made a thinking expression. "So you're saying that the lost treasure of the Muans is just a side reward from a difficult mission. Is that it?"
Siva nodded with a firm expression. "Yes."
"But Siva, why do you need us?"
"That is because from the countless thousands of routes that could be taken, when I did my research, what I found with the best chance of success is the part where the mission requires you bring along friends."
"And you eventually landed on the one that requires you to contact us?"
"More or less, yes."
Siva, lowered his head again to hide his embarrassment since from his reply alone, it seems that Volt and the sharp eyed Samara already realized it.
A smile drew on Samara's lips as Volt put his hands on his waist and chuckled to himself quietly.
"Hey, bro, what's funny?"
"Samara..."
Hawkeye pouted at Volt while Agatha pulled the hem of Samara's clothes.
"I didn't see this coming." Samara said and eyed Siva.
"Yeah, me too." added Volt that made Siva blush.
The other two was utterly lost. They exchanged glances towards the three, most notably to the rare sight of the red faced Siva. He looked more adorable there, with a flustered expression and blushing cheeks. Maybe it was a feat of the Apollo Race, even though he had a large scar on his face, he looked like a normal teenager now than when he was in his completely 'Dex' persona.
"A-Anyways, going back to the topic..."
"Why?" Teased Samara. "This is such a rare chance for us. Hawkeye, take a picture."
"Wh-What are you..."
"Hey, Rio..."
"With pleasure."
Agatha tried to stop Samara who ignored Siva's protest while Hawkeye followed the command obediently like a grinning cat with whiskers and waving tail holding a camera ball.
And just when the picture was being taken, Volt put a hand on the arm holding the camera. Hawkeye was about to say her protest but Volt's expression was firm and so she held her tongue.
"That's enough. Siva, could you at least tell us when you got all these information?"
I knew it. Siva closed his eyes. Volt may seem to be the type to not tease people but he was still the type that would like to be enlightened by what's going on. That is the reason why he was embarrassed. He was afraid that this question might be brought up. He don't know how to answer this properly without raising suspicions.
But it was already here, there was nothing to do. Faced with that question, Siva cleared his throat to clear his embarrassment and braced himself to whatever reaction he'd receive.
"I investigated it beforehand." he said plainly.
There was a lull followed by an "I see" that made Siva turn to the nodding Volt.
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"That's why you only took nearly two days' time to actually complete the necessary requirements until the point that you needed us."
Somehow, hearing those words made the three girls grin with their teeth showing from their lips.
"Heh, so that's why he was blushing."
"He's changing..."
"No. He's already changed."
Again, Siva thought, I knew it. And even though he did tried his best to hide his embarrassment, the more he actually exerted effort to firm himself, the more his red face actually became redder.
"E-Ehem, let's just get on to the main topic." on his last attempt, he shook his shoulders and it helped quite significantly on improving his mood. "Now, for these two days, or less on that matter, I went on around the city and the neighboring lands for the errands. Then as I got to the point where the difficulty of the missions I received became more difficult I found something that might become a hindrance."
"Hindrance?" Volt's brows curled.
"Yeah. It seems that the same group who discovered the real Excalibur is going after it again. I was planning to get the mission that allowed me to recruit NPCs to aide us in a raid mission but it seems to have already been taken by another group. And when I asked who these people are, the NPC said that it was a group with Knight Themed clothes."
"Did the NPC say how many?" Samara asked.
"He said there were around 40 or so of them. Maybe a whole guild. But the NPC said they looked strong and that's what actually alarmed me because the NPC guy that gave me the quest was an S-ranked soldier himself. Meaning, whoever these people are, they sure do know where they are going."
"I see. That's indeed alarming."
"So Siva, this quest of yours..."
"Ah, yeah." Siva took an old lamp from his inventory and placed it on the table. After that, an information window popped up in the four's vision.
[Mission]
"The Lantern's Light"
Rank "C" difficulty
The Lantern Festival in Walled City of Maria is getting closer but Gate Keeper Haley "Halberd" Bird's lantern which he's been using in the past 10 years is broken. He needs it badly but don't have the time and opportunity to fix it himself.
In his stead, you are requested to complete this mission before the first day of the Lantern Festival.
Requirements: Bring the Gate Keeper's Sandwich made by his wife to him.
Rewards: Unknown.
Time Limit: 23 days
Will you accept?
(Yes?) — (No?)
Seeing the pop up info window, Hawkeye was the first to raise her head and ask Siva.
"Hey, there's nothing here that said anything about going to Anazon Forest."
Siva held out an open palm and explained.
"I thought so too. But then again, before I accepted the quest, I noticed something else in this lamp. Use your Analyzers and scan the lamp."
Prompted, they did as advised. All four took out their own analyzers even though only one would suffice, and widened their eyes when they read the result of the item analysis.
[The Lantern of Evergreen Light.]
Rarity: [x]
Materials: Unknown
Manufacturer: Unknown
Status: Non-operational
Item description:
The Lantern of Evergreen Light is a special lantern that is a symbol of the now forgotten Artemisia Empire, an empire that once ruled all over the eastern region of the continent of Espada. Though they've been erased in the pages of history, some of their culture's symbols and old traditions still exists as their legacy.
One of their legacies are the Ritual of Light of the Full Moon. In the East Region, there is a forest named "Anazon" that keeps an ancient evil at bay and trapped for generations.
This evil being had once terrorized the people so the Muan Guardians sealed off that evil so that it might never cause harm again. The place that evil was sealed had become a forest and inside that forest, he is free.
In order to maintain the force that traps that evil inside the forest, the people of the East Region celebrates the Full Moon by means of giving it the light of the special lanterns. But even then, once every ten years, the lantern may run out of its light because the Fire Wasp Extract that is the core of its light lost its spark.
No one knows where these extracts could be found but it is said that the Fire Wasps live near Lapis Lazuli's nests.
"Lapis..."
"I can't believe this."
"Of all the monsters..."
"And yet it's just ranked "C" and not like "B"."
Volt was the first to give his analysis as the three girls seemed to have lost all their strengths and complained.
Still, that doesn't mean that the analysis answered their questions. So they turned to Siva with the intent to give him that inquiry. But instead, he showed them a video he downloaded in the internet from his HD.
"I saw this video a few months ago. It's the video the adventurers who discovered Anazon forest uploaded."
In the video, they were running away. A green scaled monster almost 30m long and stands 10 meters high is chasing them. The group of men with heavy armor and sturdy looking weapons lost their will to face the green themed beast and instead chose to run away.
The monster looked like a bulldog but with a much larger jaw frame and leg sized tiny bones. It has a pair of wings attached on its arms like that of a bat's but it did not chase them by air and instead crawled in the land like a real bat.
It doesn't look like one, but the way it moved seemed to suggest its cousin's behavior. It has four limbs with the front two seemed to be proportionate like an ape.
Its rear two limbs were shorter but it was still long enough to be able to lift the monster when it jumps.
"Scary." commented Hawkeye.
"It's a monstrously large monster." Samara added.
"Is this a Lapis?" asked Agatha at which Volt answered with a serious reply.
"That's a Lapis."
"I... fought and subdued two Lapises before. I know how they attack, their behavioral pattern, their strong suits —and perhaps, hopefully, their weakness— and the way they attack. I can predict with 40% accuracy how they will react with unfamiliar presences. We can use that to our advantage, or at least, if you'd go with me inside to find the treasure."
To Siva's words, the four looked at him with widened eyes. It's as if they just heard an octopus sing Addicted by Simple Plan.
"When did this happen?"
"You said you were just "B" rank before we fought the Dragon in Hagonoy."
"Are you trying to pull a joke?"
"Hey, you guys! It's unethical to ask those questions!"
Siva himself was taken aback. He doesn't have a reply nor he had an action plan in case this had happened. He was so focused on solving the problem of manpower that he needed that he forgot these people were also the same people who knew his secret.
"Um... er..." Siva was staggering, looking for words.
"Siva." Fortunately, Volt saved him. "I'm not going to ask you to answer that, but at least, fill us out on the information you have on these monsters."
This made Siva recover and also happy at the same time. "Does this mean, you're going to come?"
"I mean, it's not that I am forcing you or anything. But it's really dangerous. At least, until we actually enter the forest dungeon, you have the choice to come with me or not."
"Well," Samara took a step forth and put a hand on Volt's shoulder. "We are now a team, right? A team is a unit that sticks together."
Then Hawkeye summoned her new gear and put it on her shoulders. "When do we leave?"
Lastly, Agatha's fidgeting quietness was broken by the way she stopped and held her hands in front her chest.
"I-I will do my best to keep everyone safe."
"You have your answer." Volt urged Siva with a smile.
He took a moment to study their expressions and felt that he was asking too much from their kindness. He can't tell what circumstances he has nor the reasons why he was pushing for this expedition like this.
But despite it all, they fully trusted him. It pains him to keep everything regarding his identity a secret and that's why he took a moment to check if they had any signs of hesitations.
Apparently, they don't have it.
"So?" Once again, Volt urged him. "Can we come with you in this adventure?"
"Of course, there is a fee for our help." This made Siva blink. Samara's expression had a mischievous smile.
"We will come with you until the end and we will be filming this adventure from the moment we accept this Gate Keeper's mission."
"..."
Siva took a few seconds to recover. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it without even saying a single word. But when he did, he chuckled and scratched his head, then he stretched out a hand.
"You got me."
Volt took the hand and shook it. His face bade a smile that said this is gonna be a ride.
"Then what are we doing here? Let's go."
He reached for the (Yes?) button and pressed it. Then a message appeared in their visions that started out the most difficult mission they have so far.
***
Meanwhile, just a few doors away from them...
"So?" FlowerLord sat down the chair and leaned back, crossing her legs and arms. Loni sat down on the other side of the table, the head lamp lighting the entire room filled with the members of both parties.
In the table side opposite hers were the three guests that they invited to come. Loni sighed,
"I will start with first time The Destroyer and our... guild met and who he really is. From what you are going to hear is supposed to be a secret so please no matter what you hear, I humbly request that you keep it all a secret between you and me."
Kathleen and FlowerLord looked at Scion as the latter was the one those words were targeted to.
"I will." Scion replied stoutly though she held her friend's hand so tight under the table.
"Alright, let me tell you first. The Destroyer is a player that started out in the Walled City of Aarun. In there, he was also known by the unofficial title of "Volume Hunter"...that's where we first met."
This part was already known by the three. From all the information they gathered in Xargoal-6 and the rumors and videos in the internet, or neuronet for that matter, it wasn't that hard to actually pinpoint this identity. Most especially since they had Kathleen Brew who told them the things she saw and know.
At that, FlowerLord urged her.
"We already know that. What else?"
"Then I will assume that you already know that he and the Masked Organization that intervened in the War of the Two Powers is not connected."
"Yeah, we know." It was Kathleen who answered.
"Then do you know the background of the person that brought The Destroyer in that war?"
These words made the three silent.
"I take it that you don't know." Loni concluded.
"Though we know that she's a strong witch with the ability to use Necromancy." Said FlowerLord.
"Yes, but that's not what makes her dangerous. What actually makes her dangerous is the fact that she is also a person affiliated with The Union of Seven Nations."
Sounds of air being inhaled and held came from the three seated in the table. The Union of Seven Nations is the sole Government that was not part of the UNICORN.
In other words, if the world is unified under the ruling body of the UNICORN as a single country, then the Union of Seven Nation is another country that is not part of this country. In short, potential enemy.
But Loni took no heed to their reactions and just went on with her explanation.
It's yet to even reach the climax so she went on.
"Her name is Rafaela who was also a famous player in the Walled City of Aarun. She has the unofficial title of 'The Witch of Aarun' and that not only she has some sort of connection with the Union of Seven Nations, she is also connected, more or less, with the Masked Organization that appeared in the war."
After she said that, a short, microscopic pause came to her before she finished it. This did not escape Kathleen who was intently recording the conversation in her mind.
"Does that mean she's a double spy?" FlowerLord took a stand and asked. "And what's all this gonna do with the person we're both after?"
"Not we," said Loni, calmly staring at her. "You're the only one who's chasing him. We came to you because we have a proposal to make with the Arch Mage."
"Again with that Arch Mage shit!" FlowerLord yelled.
"It's a title given only to Mages that has strong and unique talents." This time, it was Cramer who went and interrupted their conversation. "Throughout Terroa, the only people recognized by the Circle of Magi as worthy of this title is Isis of Alcides Guild and the Wandering Wizard from the continent of Tiara."
"So what?" She snarled at him.
"What I'm saying is that as of yesterday, they already had given the third person the title of Arch Mage. And that third person is her."
Cramer pointed at Scion and the latter gasped.
"Fuck this!" Yelled FlowerLord. "What's this shit's connection with him?"
"The connection with this matter and The Destroyer is the very reason why we approached you. Because as much as you don't want this to happen, while you all are enjoying this game, the world outside is moving on and gathering the right technologies through this game because of the involvement of the NanoTech."
"So what? That's the adults' problem."
Loni was also standing and she was glaring face to face with FlowerLord. Scion was pulling her friend's arm while Cramer held Loni's left shoulder back.
Loni chuckled and looked at her with a mocking smile.
"You don't get it do you?"
FlowerLord was broken and confused. "Get what?"
"Nano Weapons Technology is a technology that boast of its versatility. Through this game, the countries that made up the Unified Government is garnering strength to gain back their lost pride."
FlowerLord remained unfazed and Scion is still pulling her arm. But then Kathleen on the other side of Scion gasped and she looked pale.
"Kathleen?" Scion became anxious.
"Oh my god, could it be?"
"Yes." Loni spoke and made Kathleen put her hands on her mouth.
"What? What is it?" FlowerLord became confused.
"Alice!" Kathleen pulled her arm, her face grim. "He just gave the world a weapon of mass destruction!"
Hearing that, Scion gasped, cried, and then collapsed.