"Millie, I must go now," Lux said. "You already know the reason why. Please, take the Princess back to the Capital City to keep her safe. I must return to the Wolfpine Barony as soon as possible and deal with the unfinished business waiting for me there."
Millie nodded her head in understanding. "Be careful. I will also ask his Majesty to send some help."
The moment Black Pearl returned to the damaged port of the City of Watford, Lux bid goodbye to the green-haired Dwarf and Princess Anastasia.
Now that the princess had been successfully rescued, the Adventurer's Guild would personally escort her back to the Capital City to reunite with her family.
Princess Anastasia had already thanked Lux for saving her life and was reluctant to see him go.
In truth, she wanted to invite the chubby teenager back to the Royal Palace so that her father could reward him personally, but according to Millie, her savior still had something very important to do in Wolfpine Barony that needed his immediate attention.
The Princess watched as Lux summoned his mount, Jed, and left the City of Watford alongside Cai and Keane.
"Millie, is the reason why Sir Lucien rejected my invitation to go back to the Capital City of Aeronwen that important?" Princess Anastasia asked. "Is it more important than meeting the King and getting his rewards for saving me?"
"Yes, Princess," Millie replied. "Actually, I am not supposed to tell you this, but Lucien is doing something in order to help save our kingdom. In fact, the thing he is going to face in the Wolfpine of Barony would make all the Rankers of Twilight Rain that kidnapped you look like a joke."
Princess Anastasia's eyes widened in shock after hearing Millie's reply. Since her sworn protectors had sworn their loyalty to her, she believed the green-haired Dwarf was telling her the truth.
"Tell me. What is happening in the Wolfpine Barony aside from the drought?" Princess Anastasia inquired. "Tell me everything that you know and make sure to not leave out even the smallest of details."
Millie felt conflicted, but knowing how serious her Princess was, she decided to tell her what Lux had told her, as well as what she had seen in the Dark Plains.
While this was happening, Lux had just left the city gates and was traveling in haste to return to the Wolfpine Barony, where the Monster of Ruin was currently headed.
—-------
< Optional Quest COMPLETED! >
< Rescue the Princess of Gweliven! >
Mision Rating: S
< Rewards >
+200 Free Stat Points
+5,000 Points to Body Constitution
100,000 Gold Coins
< Additional Rewards >
+1,000 Reputation Points to the Kingdom of Gweliven
– A gift personally given by the King of the Kingdom of Gweliven
—-----
'Not bad,' Lux thought when he saw the rewards he gained after saving the Princess from the members of Twilight Rain.
'For the time being, I'll just pump the 200 Free Stat Points to Intelligence. The skill, Skeleton Make, is a very flexible skill, but it requires a lot of Mana. I still need to conduct experiments on how else I can use it in the future.'
After experiencing what the skill, Skeleton Make, could do, Lux decided to conjure possible combinations, like the Skeleton Grand Cannon which he could use as a long distance attack that could deal devastating damage.
There was also the Skeleton Ship that they had used to follow the Merchant Ship under the sea, which proved to be a very good decision.
The Half-Elf then opened his status page, as well as his Body Constitution Page to check his progress.
—-----
Name: Lux Von Kaizer
Age: 16
Race: Half-Elf
Rank: Grade A Apostle
Health: 113,000 / 113,000
Mana: 42,500 / 42,500
Strength: 450
Intelligence: 650
Vitality: 460
Agility: 400
Dexterity: 400
—-----
< Immortal Dragon Conqueror's Legacy >
Rating: D+
Progress: (6,000 / 40,000)
—-----
Back then, Lux's stats looked extremely pitiful. But now, all of his parameters had reached the 400 mark, making him an inch closer to the next Rank, which was Initiate.
The Initiate rank required a minimum of 5,000 combined Stat Points to reach it, which many considered as the wall that blocked them from becoming a Ranker.
Not everyone could step into the Realm of Rankers because, once you became an Initiate, experience points could only be gained from Rank 4 and above Beast Cores.
Any Beast Core whose rank was lower than Rank 4 would only give 1 EXP at most and was only useful in learning skills.
This was why many had a hard time advancing in order to become a Ranker because hunting Rank 4 Beasts wasn't an easy task, even for someone that had stepped into the Initiate Rank.
Beasts were inherently stronger than humans, and a Rank 4 Beast would require a team of Grade A Apostles in order to be defeated safely.
'I'm halfway there,' Lux thought as he looked at his stats. 'After this mission in the Wolfpine Barony is over, I'll visit the floating island, Karshvar Draconis, and build my Guild Headquarters. Sir Nevreal will be the one paying for its construction, so I could choose the second to the most expensive option…'
The second most expensive option, which cost ten million gold coins, would allow Lux to build a Guild Headquarters made of marble.
The most expensive option was a hundred million gold coins, and the Half-Elf knew that if he asked the middle-aged dwarf to give him this amount of money, there was a high chance that Nevreal would go berserk and hack him to pieces.
Ten million gold coins was already an astronomical sum for the Half-Elf, so he couldn't possibly ask for more… at least, for the time being.
The Half-Elf also glanced at the remaining time he had to return Clyde to the Wolfpine Barony to complete his most important mission.
The Baron's Second Son was currently tied up and was riding with Keane on his Warg.
Clyde was still sleeping because the Half-Elf didn't dispel the sleeping spell that was cast on him by the Rankers of Twilight Rain.
To keep it safe, the Half-Elf decided to keep the Dwarf asleep until they returned to the Wolfpine Barony.
—-----
Mission Time: 8: 24: 10
—-----
'With the time remaining, we will barely arrive at the Border of the Barony,' Lux thought. 'Maybe I should have asked Millie to carry us instead.'
As the Half-Elf thought about the green-haired Dwarf, he felt a strong gust of wind from above his head, making him look up.
"Millie and Princess Anastasia?" Lux frowned. "What are the two of you doing here?"
Princess Anastasia looked at the chubby teenager before shifting her gaze to Clyde, who was still tied up with a rope.
After hearing the full details from Millie, the Princess almost cursed herself for bringing the Baron's Second Son to the Capital City, which would ultimately make the Creature of Ruin follow him.
As a member of the Royal Family, she was well-aware of the history of the Kingdom, especially about the Monsters of Ruin that were scattered around the Arondight Territory.
Within the Kingdom of Gweliven, the giant Seven-Headed Dog, Teju Jagua, which was one of the four Monsters of Ruin, had the ability to suck up the life of the land around it, turning it into a wasteland.
If such a Beast were allowed to wander freely across the Kingdom of Gweliven, the Princess knew that her people would suffer unprecedented hardship if she didn't do anything to help stop its advance.
"We are going to take you to the Wolfpine Barony as fast as we can, Sir Lucien," Princess Anastasia said as she hovered in the air with the help of Millie's power. Unfortunately, we can't bring all of you there. However, since time is of the essence, Sir Lucien and Clyde will come with me.
"With Millie's help, we will be able to reach our destination in time, and still have room to spare before the Creature of Ruin arrives."
Lux nodded after hearing the Princess' words. That was indeed the fastest mean they could use to return to the barony.
"Cai, Keane, I'll go on ahead," Lux said. "I'll wait for you in the Barony, so please, do your best to arrive in time."
Cai and Keane nodded in understanding.
Traveling on land took too much time, so it would be a lot faster if Lux traveled in the air with Millie and the Princess.
Without another word, the chubby teenager grabbed the sleeping Clyde and signaled Millie that he was ready.
"Bye bye!" Eiko waved at Cai, Keane, and Fei Fei on the ground as she and her Papa floated in the air.
"Bye bye!" Fei Fei replied as she jumped in place on top of Cai's head.
A moment later, the Half-Elf, Eiko, Clyde, Millie, and Princess Anastasia soared into the sky, headed towards the Wolfpine Barony.
