—-
Ding!
– You have received the Hidden Quest "A Touch of Dragons".
– Would you like to accept this quest?
< Yes / No >
—----
Lux stared at the prompt in front of him before shifting his gaze at Cadmus whose eyes had locked unto his body.
"If I help you, aside from these gold coins, what other benefits can I get?" Lux asked.
"You're too greedy, Half-Elf," Cadmus replied.
"Then, go find another Elf that will help you," Lux scoffed. "I'm not interested. You can take your gold back."
Lux didn't even bat an eye as he threw the pouch filled with gold coins back at the Draconic Kobold whose eyes had turned bloodshot.
The Half-Elf had acquired the title, Negotiator, after clearing the Hidden Quest of Orc Dominion. This allowed him to have a higher chance of winning when negotiating with anyone, especially those that were members of the Nobility or Royal Family.
Although he was dealing with a Draconic Kobold, who was neither noble nor royal, this was still a negotiation, so he was hoping that he would gain more by accepting this mission that was thrown at his face without prior notice.
"What more do you want?" Cadmus growled. Clearly, he was feeling frustrated because he couldn't use brute force to get his way in this situation. He knew that Lux was now an Honorary Knight of the Kingdom of Gweliven, and killing a Noble would spell out, not only his doom, but his entire clan's future as well.
"I want a share of everything that will be acquired in the dungeon," Lux replied. "I want a third of whatever treasures, Beast Cores, or any other useful items that are found inside it."
Cadmus growled and a streak of flame burst out from his mouth, as he spat on the ground beside him.
"Fine," Cadmus agreed through gritted teeth.
"Ah. Can I also have that pouch back? I'm short on gold coins right now." Lux smiled at the Draconic Kobold, which almost pushed the latter to slash the Half-Elf's face with his claws.
"Take it!" Cadmus tossed the pouch back to the red-headed teenager using all the willpower it could muster. If not for the requirement of the Dungeon to have an Elf be part of the group, he would never, ever, go as far as to negotiate with the Half-Elf who was trying to extort him.
After receiving the pouch of gold coins, Lux finally accepted the mission. A few seconds later, several rows of text appeared in front of him, which made him drop the gold pouch, and his jaw practically fell off his face.
'Oh sh*t…,' Lux thought as he read the information in front of him.
—--
Hidden Quest: A Touch of Dragons
Difficulty Rating: S
Quest Location: Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian
Dungeon Rating: C
Dungeon Mode: Hell Mode
—--
< A Touch of Dragons >
(Chain Quest)
Deep within the earth, an ancient city was unearthed. Find out the secret that was buried along its demise within the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian.
Bonus Rewards will be calculated depending on the choices you make in this mission.
—--
Primary Rewards upon mission completion.
– Potion of Intelligence
This potion adds +50 permanent Intelligence Points to the one who consumes it. You can only consume one Potion of Intelligence in your lifetime.
– Rank 2 Skill Book of your choice.
You will be able to choose any Skill that is Rank 2 and below from the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian.
1,000 Gold Coins
+2,000 Hazeback Kobold Clan Reputation Points
—---
Lux didn't expect that the difficulty rating of the mission would be S, which made him wonder if he could still back out from the mission he had just accepted.
"Um, can I back out?" Lux asked the grumpy Draconic Kobold.
Instead of answering, Cadmus placed its clawed hand on Lux's shoulder, preventing him from moving from where he stood.
"Do you want to?" Cadmus asked. Although his clawed hand that was keeping Lux in place wasn't exerting any kind of pressure, the Half-Elf understood that the Draconic Kobold wouldn't allow him to go, not after being told the secrets of the Ancient Ruins.
"I don't want to."
"Good. You made the right choice."
Cadmus glanced at the guards at the gate, who had unsheathed their weapons after seeing him seize the Half-Elf who was under their protection.
"You have two hours to prepare." Cadmus growled as he released his hold on Lux's shoulder. "We'll be leaving before sunrise. Now, go."
Lux reluctantly nodded his head as he went back to the inn to gather his things. He also asked Aron, who was the Head of the Leaf Village guards to pass a message to his Master, Randolph, that he would be leaving Leaf Village for a week or two.
After exiting the gate, Cadmus grabbed Lux's body before taking off to the skies. He didn't plan on letting the Dwarves follow him, so he decided to cover his tracks by flying to the North for a few minutes before changing direction by turning towards the West.
Lux understood why the Draconic Kobold was being secretive of the Ancient Ruin's location because it could attract the attention of the Dwarves, who would not pass up the chance to gain more treasures.
—--
After an hour of flying, Cadmus descended towards the ground, in a valley that was several miles away from the Stronghold of Norria.
There, he made a beeline towards a giant boulder that was surrounded by vines. As soon as the Draconic Kobold landed, he released Lux and pushed the boulder to the side, revealing a narrow entrance.
"Go in," Cadmus ordered.
Lux nodded as he entered the narrow cave, which was big enough for Cadmus to traverse only if he crouched on the ground.
There were several glowing crystals along the way, so Lux didn't have any trouble seeing what was in front of him. The minutes passed by in silence, as the Half-Elf, as well as the Draconic Kobold, walked at a steady pace.
After walking for almost half an hour, the two finally arrived in a spacious cavern, where an underground lake had formed.
Cadmus walked along the side of the lake, until he arrived at another tunnel, leading deeper into the ground.
The Half-Elf followed behind the Draconic Kobold as he secretly mapped the pathways that they took. Deep inside, he sniggered after discovering Cadmus' attempt to confuse his sense of direction, in order to prevent him from memorizing the path that they were taking.
'He is too cautious,' Lux thought as he followed the Draconic Kobold who was leading him in circles around the underground labyrinth.
Finally, after three hours, Cadmus finally took the right path, and led Lux to the real location where the Ancient Ruins were discovered.
When they arrived at their destination, Lux couldn't help but whistle at the sheer size of the underground city. According to his estimate, even if ten Leaf Villages were stuffed inside, it would fit and still have room to spare.
Kobolds could be seen everywhere and most of them were digging into the ground, trying to unearth the entire city from its buried state.
"Come, the Dungeon is at the very back of the city," Cadmus said as he dragged Lux forward. "You can go sightseeing when we get back."
Lux didn't reply and simply allowed Cadmus to lead him to the Dungeon's entrance, while his eyes wandered around the place.
All the Kobolds were giving him unfriendly gazes as if he was a thief that had come to steal their treasures.
'Well, in a way, I did come to steal their treasures,' Lux thought as he ignored the steely gazes of the Kobolds who had stopped their work to observe him.
Eiko, who was perched on top of Lux's head, was looking around as well. This was something new to her, and she looked at this scene with genuine curiosity.
After walking for twenty minutes, they finally arrived at the entrance of the Dungeon.
Lux marveled at the design on the gates, which had the head of a dragon carved in it. In truth, he was both afraid of and excited about what he was going to find inside the Dungeon.
Although he didn't know if another Story-Mode would activate once he entered, since he was with the Kobold explorers, he had a feeling that if he played his cards right, he would gain unimaginable rewards, which would be similar to the ones he gained inside the Orc Dominion, making him look forward to the secrets that were buried deep within the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian.
