Chapter 161 - 161 A New Friend?
"We should go warn Cain that he might have a Dark Elf army, or at the very least, an exploration team coming his way." Kone says, before turning to Su.
"Can you fly me over to his location? It would be way faster than running."
"Sure, I love flying people around." Su says, gesturing for Kone to hop on and immediately taking flight.
"Looks like we\'re finding our own way. Oath Breaker, would you mind? I know you can get there faster than running." Misha sighs, looking at the departing Dragon. Both of those girls are much too easily excited, they just forget everyone else when they find something new that catches their attention.
"Of course. Close your eyes, this might be unsettling."
Misha follows the Demon\'s instructions and feels a lurch of being shifted through space, then the rush of air that indicates they\'re moving, then another lurch, and again before they suddenly stop. The Oath a Breaker is right, the combination of lurching teleports and high speed running is stomach churning. Misha briefly wonders if having her eyes open might have helped orient herself or if it really would have made it worse with the changing locations.
"Alright, we\'re here, you can open your eyes. The other me is rebuilding the blockage at the Dwarven Portal into a solid wall." The Oath Breaker says, heading off any questions Misha might have had about the securing the city part of the quest.
Kone and Su are coming into sight already, the length of a city no major obstacle to a Dragon in flight.
"Drazzit slipped up and her grandmother knows where we are. When she mentioned Lloran the old woman knew right away." Misha explains in a hurry.
"She hasn\'t taken damage, or been restrained, I\'ve got her status bar up on my display. Maybe I should go check and make sure nothing is coming?" Cain suggests.
"Too late young man. Where is that ancient deadbeat? We all thought he was dead, but he\'s been hiding here." Comes a powerful female voice as an elderly Dark Elf Priestess steps through the portal.
"Nobody else is coming I swear. I didn\'t know that Lloran was her ex husband and I couldn\'t stop her, she\'s like level 300." Drazzit pants, chasing her grandmother out of the portal.
"Oath Breakers, close the wall, just to be safe. We don\'t need surprises. Grandma Drazzit, he should be in the Royal Guard headquarters. But what do you need to see him so urgently for if he\'s your ex?" Cain tries to bring the situation under control.
"He wasn\'t my ex then. He disappeared during the evacuation of the Gnomes to the coast. Nobody knew what happened to him and we thought he\'d fallen to monsters in the desert, as unlikely as that is for one of his skill." She explains, stomping towards the training grounds at a rapid pace.
"Lloran you deadbeat, get out here before I have to go in and get you." The old woman bellows as she reaches the former Royal Guard courtyard.
"Go away crazy ghosts, don\'t you pretend to be my wife." The old man\'s voice comes from behind an out building. The ancient Priestess simply vanishes and then returns, holding the old man by the scruff of the neck.
[Quest Complete: Portals Verified and Secured]
"Secured my foot, who let this crazy woman in here? Don\'t you know that\'s against the rules you damnable system?"
"The system won\'t help you, old man. You owe me a debt from long before it existed." She smiles, still holding on to his collar.
"I can explain you see. I was assigned back here to take care of the grounds. I had to go, I didn\'t have a choice." He pleads.
"That\'s why you didn\'t tell anyone, and why you blocked all the exits so we thought the city had been destroyed? You owe me for 987 years of deception. Did you even know that this is your Granddaughter? Trapped with your oldest Son in a dungeon during the last years of the great war."
Kone hands Cain and Misha bags of caramel covered popcorn, no way are they missing or on this show. This is better than a daytime drama.
"Wait, they\'re trapped? But she\'s right here. Drazzit was it? Maude, darling, don\'t be so mad, it\'s bad for your health." Lloran pleads.
"Cain Summoned me. This me is just a copy of the actual me that he met in the dungeon in the middle of the Elven Forest." Drazzit explains and the old man pokes her, as if checking that she\'s solid.
"Looks like your days of hiding are over. But on the plus side, you\'ve got reinforcements, and they\'re probably not going to loot the place." Drazzit adds with a smile.
"I know I said I\'d likely die in here, but I meant of old age." Lloran mutters, before raising his voice for everyone to hear.
"Well, I guess that\'s that. If any of the Royal Guards still exist, they can take up the post and maintain the compound. Just let me work this interface, ah there it is. Quest Reward issued. Random Reward to be issued by the system." Lloran looks proud of himself, and Cain realizes that he\'s only ever issued random quests to people in the surface that he would never meet, because the system was created after he locked himself in here.
[Generating Quest Reward]
[Reward Issued: Muzz City recall stone]
[Ability Category Unlocked: Lesser Dark Elf Companion 50/50]
[Greater Dark Elf Companion 100/100]
Epic Dark Elven Companion 180/250]
[Summon Companion to Finalize Creation]
"Cool, a recall stone for the city." Kone says, looking at her Reward.
"Usable once every 24 hours, no limit. That\'s a pretty good Quest reward." Misha agrees, having received the same reward as the other two party members.
"Not just that, I also unlocked Dark Elf as a companion. When I Summon it, the Ancient Spell that created the other Companions will create a Dark Elf to join our group." Cain adds and everyone moves to the benches, popcorn in hand tray for the show. Even Lloran and Maude have joined them.
The scattered remainder of their group has all assembled now, leaving only the two Oath Breakers who are on Guard duty outside without a front row seat. But they can get the details from their clones.
[Summoning Companion: Dark Elf]
[Calculating Requirements]
[Creation Complete]
A Dark Skinned Elf with long white hair tied in a braid at the back of the neck fades into view, before splitting into two identical copies. The Elf has on brown leather pants, knee high black leather boots with a low heel, a bright red silk shirt and a Grey coat that looks like it was taken directly from a soldier in the American Civil War. A Pair of Scimitar hang from each their hips and a black Bandana under a Tricone hat covers their head.
Cain inspects this new companion, but can\'t properly guess what sort of abilities it might have. Honestly, it just looks like a Dark Elf Pirate.
"Greetings, I am Nila. Dark Elven Wave Rider. A pleasure to meet you all." A musical voice greets them once the new companion is formed.
\'Can\'t you just once give me a Male friend to hang out with?\' Cain thinks, directing his annoyance at the system.
[System Notification: Summon Companion only Summons Companion type beings. User must find their own friends if they are desired]
Okay, now that was just rude and uncalled for.
"Welcome Nila, I am Cain and it is a pleasure to meet you. What exactly is a Wave Rider? Other than the literal meaning, which suggests you\'re a sailor or a water mage."
"I\'m an Elemental Shaman of sorts, with some skill using paired Scimitar, as all Dark Elves except Priestesses learn. Water magic is my strong suit, but I can control the winds to sail and move easily, or create wind blades for combat. I can do most types of Earth Magic like Earthquake and Stone Rain, but they\'re not as strong as my water abilities. For water I can do blades, flying blades, waves, or even tsunami or a wide area pleasant rainfall to water crops. Plus I can Summon Elementals, with my Water Elemental being the strongest of them. I can also do solid water shaping, should we need a water staircase or something." She explains.
"So something like a Shaman of the Sea?" Kone asks.
"You could say that. Unlike our cousins who went underground, our kinfolk took to the seas instead. If you venture out far enough you might even find one of our flotillas. They\'re the size of a small town, built of captured ships." Nila answers fondly.
"Would they be related to the Corsair class? We\'ve got one named Candia in our Guild." Cain asks his new Companions.
"We taught the first Corsairs after the system was created. They\'re more of a close range combatant, while the Wave Riders are much stronger in their magic with a greater range. As they say, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The Wave Riders you might see on the open oceans often work with Corsair led fleets to compensate for the fact Corsairs can only use water magic."
"Can you create Totems like a basic Shaman?" Misha asks, wondering about mana Totems specifically.
"We can\'t. We gave up that ability in exchange for Elementals. But it\'s a fair trade, they\'re very useful." Nila shrugs.
That\'s alright, as long as Cain is merged with the Primordial Shaman they\'ve still got a Mana regeneration totem available when necessary. Plus, the Dark Apostle Class is a little easier on mana than Cleric was.. Unless she goes overboard with the Holy Fire.