The 'party' lasted until very late that night. By the time Michael returned with the girls to Kyovashad, it was already 1 AM when he checked on the pocket watch he got from Aylin.
Furthermore, looking at the drunk seven beauties, the Necromancer couldn't help but complain in his heart about having to deal with such a mess.
'*Sigh* Why did they have to use the herb from Hoduin!? Now I'm stuck with seven drunk chicks while I'm the only one sober... It feels like college all over again...'
Complaining inwardly while the girls chattered around him, Michael was glad that the effects would only last another half an hour at best.
By the point where they got back to the Pink Palace, the girls recovered slightly but swiftly started throwing up and becoming pale-faced.
After requesting assistance from the servant girls who were still awake, he started moving between each one of them. Fortunately, the dizzy spell and the sick phase didn't last long; a few minutes later, they were all passed out on the couches or the floor.
"*Sigh* Take care of the girls, please. I'll start moving them to their rooms. Also, help me bring some washbasins to their rooms if they need to throw up again."
With the help of a servant girl who guided him to each of the girls' rooms, Michael managed to 'deposit' them in their beds.
He used a Cleaning Marble on each one, and after doing so, he asked the servant girl following him to change their clothes.
As much as he would like to do it himself, he treasured his life too much to attempt such a stupid trick.
Fortunately, after he was done with all the other sisters, he returned to Helen's room, where he got to undress the tigress. Halfway through his 'cleaning' session, the naked woman stuck to him like an octopus.
Judging by her flushed face and erratic breath, Michael was surprised to realize that she was very... excited to see him.
Feeling the warmth of her body, as well as her lips and teeth on his skin, the Necromancer let loose as well.
It was already morning when he woke up and was unsurprised to see Helen still asleep.
He first opened the MAP and checked the newly explored areas and the remaining unexplored parts of Fractured Peaks.
'I only have one Side Quest left: the Hammer of the Champion. Since that requires me to clear a Stronghold, it's better to set it aside temporarily. Furthermore, there's a second which popped up last night...'
Looking at the MAP northeast of Menestad, he saw a red skull marking the Kor Dragan. The symbol was the same as for Malnok, representing a Stronghold Event.
With his level at 36 and four skill points left to assign, he wasn't in a rush to face possible death alone in such dangerous places.
[Mmmm...](Helen)
"..."
Seeing the naked hottie next to him stretch and moan, the young Necromancer started to doubt his age. His body was indeed young, possibly around 18 - 19 years old, but with his mind being that of a seasoned 'adventurer' when it comes to women, he couldn't understand why his hormones were in such a twist every time he was in bed with Helen.
Sighing and groping her perky ass, he continued his exploration of the unexplored parts of the MAP.
'There's one part south of Margrave which is hidden by fog, as well as the one directly north of Kyovashad... I should focus on exploring today since I have my horse now.'
After barely getting out of bed, Michael checked the time and saw it was 6:40 AM. Getting something to eat in a hurry, he returned to Helen's room, kissed her, and left for Margrave.
Except for killing some Worgen and some Ghouls, there was nothing special in the area he discovered.
Checking the Region's progress, he was surprised to see that it was only 65 out of 75, so he hurried back to Kyovashad.
From there, he traveled north to the Kylsik Plateau, where, after killing some Ice Clan members, he discovered a new area and a Side Quest.
The Side Quest came from a crumpled note left on the ground. It read, 'A beacon of warmth in winter's embrace, patience rewarded by nature's own grace.'
[ Side Quest issued - Secret of the Spring
Objective: Solve the note's riddle. ]
A new marker appeared on his MAP, leading to another area he hadn't previously explored.
Getting rid of Froswings and more Ice Clan goatmen on his way to the location, he finally reached a place called Trough of Orobas.
There, he found a natural hot spring surrounded by cliffs on almost all sides. The smell of sulfur was prevalent, and the water was probably boiling, so a dip in it was out of the question.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Reading the riddle in the Quest interface again, Michael couldn't reach a conclusion regarding what the answer could be.
Five minutes later, he was getting impatient and flustered.
"Do I just need to wait without moving from this place?"
As his words bounced off the walls of the cliffs, a slight tremor almost threw him off balance. When he turned around, there was a treasure chest covered by snow and dirt behind him.
A bit scared by its sudden appearance, Michael looked around and tried to see if there were any traps or monsters nearby. To his surprise, there wasn't anyone near his location.
Hesitating slightly, he had Pathfinder open the chest. After rummaging through it, the Skeletal Warrior brought him 3 Rawhides, and the Side Quest was completed, dumbfounding the poor Necromancer.
[ Side Quest completed - Secret of the Spring
Reward 1: 5,610 experience points
Reward 2: 1,480 gold coins. ]
Scratching his head in confusion, Michael opened his MAP again while guarded by his faithful minions and discovered the Baths of Crocell after wandering further east.
From there, he moved south toward Yelesna and found another hidden Dungeon called Immortal Emanation in the unexplored area.
The area was called Kor Rohavan, and it was filled to the brim with Ghouls and Demonic Bats, which he had to clear.
From there, he ventured west through the Eastern Plains and to the Southeast Foothills, where he found the Savina Falls after climbing down some cliffs.
He was unlucky enough to encounter an ambush from the brigands using that place as their base but finally was able to check the Legendary Aspect of his new helm, as he used Blood Mist to avoid their encirclement while also detonating the Corpses he created.
After some gold was looted, he found a Cellar called Salvina Hideout and was prompted by the Sanctuary to purge it.
He encountered a Bloody Arsonist, an Elite with the Vampiric modifier, as well as a drove of brigands hiding inside. After clearing all of them, he was rewarded with a chest that gave gold, two Rare item boxes, 10 Grave Dust, 15 Silver Ores, and 10 Rawhides.
His experience also reached 125,332/165,000, putting him at almost 80% of his current level.
"Let's see... next, let's travel back to the Bear Tribe Refuge and head southeast of Kor Valar. It's the only unexplored area I have left in that part of the MAP."
After about thirty minutes of riding, he found a location called Malthus' Perch and a new Dungeon named Zenith.
From there, he returned to the Bear Tribe and took the portal to Menestad. The only unexplored area he could see on the MAP was directly south of the city, with the exception of the two Strongholds.
Traveling there, he discovered Kor Benetar. 15 Rawhides and 20 Superior Leathers later - gathered from the many Worgen he killed - he returned to carefully checking the MAP.
"I'm already at 72/75 for Areas Discovered. That means that I have three left. Where are the others?"
Fortunately, he was able to find a location west of Menestad, which was covered by fog, which he had traveled to directly.
According to the MAP, he was surprised to see the bridges on this path would take him to the Dry Steppes from the Frostbite Trails he was moving through down to the Anemic Falls. Backtracking a bit, he discovered another Dungeon called Caldera Gate in a location called the Seat of Seir.
The Dungeon was 'decorated' with plenty of frozen humans, giving Michael the creeps.
Turning tail, he ran out of there back to Menestad. His exploration today lasted for almost four hours, and seeing that it was close to noon, he took the Waypoint back to Kyovashad.
'74/75 Areas Discovered, but I can't seem to find the last place... I'll leave that for later. For now, my Equipment inventory is almost full, so it would be good to clear that first.'
Upon opening his only Murmuring Cache in his inventory, he gained 50 Obols, bringing his total to 510/515, and a Rare one-handed scythe.
Among his Rare items, he found a really good chest piece to replace his current Armageddon Plate.
[ Armaghedon Plate
Rare Chest Armor
383 Item Power
-----------------
670 Armor
* +13 Intelligence
* +17% Shadow Resistance
* +4.1% Damage Reduction while Fortified ]
[ Virtue's Favor
Rare Chest Armor
422 Item Power
-----------------
738 Armor (+68 when compared with the currently equipped item)
* +13 Intelligence
* +4.5% Blood Skill Damage
* +8.0% Lightning Resistance
Empty Socket
Empty Socket ]
Seeing that he didn't lose attributes but rather gained Armor and two sockets, Michael instantly swapped the pieces.
Heading to Zivek's Blacksmith, he gained 15 Iron Chunks, 9 Silver Ores, 7 Rawhides, 8 Superior Leathers, and 12 Veiled Crystals.
After a quick lunch with Helen and the other six sisters who suffered from the aftereffects of last night's party, the couple made their way to Kratia the Jewler.
[Are you sure?](Helen)
"I mean... you said I can recover them, right? After I embed them in my current equipment."
[Mhm. However, I'm not sure what level of gems you can currently use. We need to ask Aunt Kratia.](Helen)
"Let's go with that temporarily, in that case. After all, there's no need to keep postponing."
Based on his current equipment, he could slot a total of 7 gems in his equipment. Two were for his accessories, while the other five were for his armor pieces.
Since he could gain some buffs by doing so, he didn't see a reason to wait any longer. Especially after Kratia confirmed that he could reuse them in the future.
He first crafted 2 Chipped Skulls, which would add 250 to his total Armor by slotting them into his rings, and then another 5 Chipped Rubbies, which would increase his Maximum Life points by 2.5% each, to a grand total of 12.5%.
This did come at a cost, though, as he spent 31,500 gold coins in the process, as well as 60 Skull Fragments and 150 Rubby Fragments.
Kratia tried to bait him into spending another 30,000 gold coins to add sockets to his two Legendary weapons (the Scythe and the Focus), but he quickly ran as fast as he could, seeing his gold pile drop back to 201,531.
Furthermore, he had only 3 Rubby Fragments left, making him want to cry.
[Stop acting like that... Your stats increased quite a bit, didn't they?](Helen)
"Ugh... yeah... about 280 Armor because of my pants and amulet giving 12% increased Total Armor and 154 Life Points. I'm happy, but this really hurts my wallet."
Sharing his stat page with Helen, Michael couldn't help but feel slightly proud.
[ Class: High Necromancer
Attack Power: 583
Armor: 2,550
Life: 1384
--------------
Strength: 169
Intelligence: 221
Willpower: 212
Dexterity: 199 ]
He felt himself getting tankier, which meant he could survive more easily in the future, even if he met with dangerous situations.
[How about it? Do you want to improve some items at Uncle Zivek's?](Helen)
"Nope! I spent enough as it is. Furthermore, I think it would be for the best if I could wait until I get better items for higher levels first. I also need to gather more materials... *Sigh* I feel poor."
[Compared with other Wanderers of your level, I can tell you that you are doing much better. So? What's the plan? What do you want to do next? Still going to clear some Dungeons?](Helen)
Pondering for a moment, Michael shook his head.
"I will search for Neyrelle after you help me decide how to add my skill points."
[Huh? Didn't you say you'd wait until tomorrow?](Helen)
"Mhm... but I don't want to leave that child alone for too long. After all, I feel bad for her, given what she went through. Furthermore, I can't keep avoiding the main problem, which is Lilith. Now that I got the blessing from Prava, I can cross the Black Lake and see what she was up to."
[Just be careful, okay?](Helen)
"You know I will."
After showing off their affection in public enough to piss off the passing people, Michael opened his Skill Tree interface and shared it with Helen.
It was time to add his next four skill points.