"What's the meaning of this?! We saved you! You owe your life to us!" Dimitri barked, voice thick with anger.
Sharina looked Dimitri dead in the eyes. "You might have saved my life from danger, but that doesn't warrant my Twin Moon Blade. In fact, my life is meaningless compared to my son's."
At Sharina's declaration, Roni's heart pounded so hard it hurt his rib cage. And he almost fainted when Sharina's eyes steadied on him.
"The player over there had saved my son, Draki, from peril while you lot just stood at the side, watching, waiting like a vulture for me to breathe my last before you claw your way for my prized axe.
Dmitri caught his tongue while the others mouth fell open. Should an NPC . . . talk like that?
Then . . . did that mean that the blade would belong to . . .
"Come here, beast and claim your prize," Sharina said to Roni.
Sharina's words rang in Roni's ears before they fell heavily into his gut like the coldest of ice. It numbed his limbs and his stomach twist in ways that made his temperature drop.
The Twin Moon Blade . . . was his?
Ren was right. He was telling the truth! And now his future was saved!
Roni quickly moved to claim his prize, but the moment he stepped his foot, he almost stumbled from how hard it was shaking, and he would have almost fallen if not for his timely save of himself.
When he reached Sharina, he was catching his breath while the latter released her axe from her scabbards and presented it to Roni.
The Twin Blade curved like the moon, which was big, almost half of Roni's size. They were heavy and a little worn out, but it was his! And when he looked at the weapon's information, his eyes rounded – +100 STR but – 20 MDF? It was like a double edged axe.
However, Roni didn't care. He was salivating at the huge number added to his STR if he ever equipped the axe. His race and class could and the temptation was even harder to resist as time ticked to minutes.
"Keep it safe," Sharina said with a serious face. "It's been with me for years and had known countless battle. It's yours now as a reward for helping us for two nights . . . but most importantly for saving my son.
"If it weren't for you, Draki's body would have been among the corpses we have to mourn. And for that, I'm grateful."
Roni gulped his saliva, ignoring Sharina's blubber. He then immediately stored the weapon in his inventory before someone could steal it from him. With a rare weapon in hand, he wouldn't be able to come out from towns anytime soon.
But once he presented it to Great Dynasty as a ticket and favourable contract, he wouldn't have to fear for his life.
"What the F*ck! Why him!" Dimitri couldn't believe his ears. Just because he saved his son? Was there another part of the quest that they didn't know? How come this was the outcome?
Dimitri was about to storm Roni when the latter logged out without wasting another second. He didn't even spare a glance at Ren. He already had what he wanted. He didn't need to concern himself with him anymore.
Roni's face was grinning as if it would rip in half. In the moment of happiness, he no longer cared for the one who helped him.
Ren didn't mind. He liked it that way. It kept the hate burning. He would make sure that Roni would climb so high that he wouldn't be able to recover if he dropped.
Meanwhile, Dimitri wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. The only thing that kept him from shouting and cursing was the videos that were secretly shooting at him. He knew because his radar for that kind of thing was strong.
Or was he just paranoid brought by years of maintaining his image?
Dimitri bit his lip and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. They had spent thousands of gil for that dud and spent thousands more for that information, only to be left empty-handed.
What would he tell the investors? This was a blunder that wasn't supposed to happen. They had spent double for nothing.
"Let's go," Dimitri said as calmly as he could. His self-control was good, if nothing else. This wasn't the time to be in the spotlight. Making one blunder was already enough to be the talk for tomorrow's news. There was no use in embarrassing their guild further.
Dimitri gave a pointed look at Sharina before he logged out.
Rayna released a sigh of disappointment. She thought that her pretty face would be plastered on tomorrow's news. Only to know that it would, but the headlines would be different.
Without thinking, Rayna's eyes briefly shot to Ren. He was just standing there like a spectator, waiting for things to unfold. Something like mirth crossed his eyes, both mischievous and wicked, and for some reason . . . she was drawn by it.
Tall, handsome, with money, and very capable. Rayna could only sigh in frustration that she wasn't the first to approach him.
Getting close to him would be a problem, especially now that he got Sophia's attention.
Rayna sighed into the sky before she logged out with the others.
Eventually, every player who participated in Sharina's quest got their prize while Ren, Evie, and Ragnar remained as a bystander to the side.
"Now what?" Ragnar asked when the crowd thinned as the players logged out one by one.
"Now . . ." Ren's lips twitched in a small smile, "Let's go get that mask."
Stats Updates
R A G N A R
‖ S T A TU S ‖
Name: Ragnar
Age: 24
Race: Orc
Class: Brute
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Blue
A T T R I B U T E S:
HP (Health Points): 300
MP (Mana Points): 150
STR (Strength): 60 + 10 (Barbaric Axe)
DEF (Defense): 30 + 5 (Silver Armor)
MDF (Magical Defence): 20
INT (Intelligent): 10
AGL (Agility): 30 +5 (Tough Boots)
LCK (Luck): 15 +3 (Lucky Charm)
S K I L L S:
❶ Brutal Strike LV. 5
–– a wild torrent of attacks that overwhelm your foes
–– MP –50
–– can perform 5 slashing attacks
–– cool down for 10 seconds
❷ Brutal Onslaught LV. 2
–– a single attack that cleaved your opponent in half
–– MP –20
–– Critical Hit if STR is higher than enemies defense
–– cool down for 10 seconds
❸ Bone Crusher LV. 1
–– a devastating attack to a single enemy that dealt a massive blow to the head
–– MP –50
–– Critical Hit if STR is higher than enemies defense
–– cause Stunned if LCK is higher than the enemy
–– cool down for 10 seconds
❹ Blink LV.2
–– can teleport within a 1000 m radius
–– cost 100 MP
–– can perform 2x a day
❺ Taunt
–– an aggros stealing ability that lets you draw the enemies focus on you
–– this ability can be cancelled if the damage dealt by one of your teammate is higher than your own.
–– cost 10 MP
S P E L L S:
❶ Heal LV. 1
–– cost 10 MP
–– can heal 10% of HP
–– single target
–– 2-sec cooldown
L I F E S K I L L S:
Cooking: Beginner
Fishing: Beginner
Foraging: Beginner
‖ E N D ‖
Estimate Net Worth: Error!
