GH - 239

I opened my eyes to a not-so-busy Kurghal Village. Most players were away for the Great Hunt. Those remaining in the village were low-level ones that have dropped out of the Great Hunt because of its increasing difficulty or stronger players restocking for their parties. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place.

Some faces were familiar. I just waved at them and moved on. No time for a public relations campaign. That’d eventually follow once it’d become apparent to everyone that I had started a new world quest.

And I’d have my friends with me.

Hey, it’s character development!

My current main quest, Delivering Crucial Information, required me to reach Sajilis and inform them of what was happening. I should’ve taken that Sigil Totem to Sajilis along with eleven other NPCs to complete the quest. But while Herald Stone liked to save his ass, I did have a heroic side. When it was time to get serious, I rose to the challenge like a dough that’d become tasty bread. Herald Stone, the Tasty Bread would save the NPCs and fight against the thread of the main quest.

Also, I’d establish the first connection with the other Mardukryon tribes. The moment we returned to Tagamut, the loop would be closed, proving a roundtrip was possible.

I galloped as fast as I could out the town gates and into the beginner’s area populated with Snowy Swinelings. It was mostly empty now, with the new players having leveled up past here. The wave of new players had slowed down as the hype of the Mardukryon’s new world quest fizzled out. To the back of this area was our party’s favored meeting place because no one came here.  

The rest of the gang were waiting for me when I arrived.

“Herald, you’re alive!” Megantress cheerily waved her wands as she shot off sparks.

“Of course, he’s alive,” Nitana said. “Why wouldn’t he be? We’ll respawn in town whenever we die.”

“Whatever.” Megan stuck her tongue out. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m glad you’re back with us, Herald,” Kezodilla said, trotting up to meet me. He patted me my shoulders. “It was short, but we missed you. I knew you were going to complete whatever it was you were busy would. Am I right that you’ve found a new world quest? Or did you discover where Bawu is hiding?”

“Or maybe you’ve pissed off some high-level players during the Great Hunt,” said Melonomi. “And you’re asking us to join your fight. When we parted ways, we were dealing with that annoying invisible player killer. Now, you’re telling us to prepare for a fight.”

“Don’t be like that, Melonomi,” Kezo said. “I know that you want to avoid player drama. But Herald isn’t a person who’d pick fights.”

Melonomi sighed and raised her hands. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just that I was hoping for a chill Great Hunt and it… isn’t going that way.”

“Let us first hear what Herald has to say,” said Paritor. “I join Kezo’s guess that Herald has found a new world quest.”

“It’s the beginning of a world quest,” I said. Confused looks met me. “It’s not yet a world quest, but it’ll be. It’s because the rest Mardukryon players don’t have access to this place yet. We’ll be the first to explore it.”

“A new area?” guessed Melonomi. “Did you find the place where Bawu got her test subjects?”

“Yes. And more. So much more. I kind of want you to guess what I found, but we don’t have much time. I found the lost Mardukryon tribes that Chief Nogras is looking for. I have progressed our main quest!”

“Oh, my gosh. That’s awesome!” Megan squealed and cast powerful fireworks.

“Hey, cut that out.” Nitana pulled down her best friend’s arms. The spells hit the ground and melted the snow. “We’re all in secrecy mode.” She turned to me. “What do you mean you found them? What happened to you when we split up?”

I told them a super condensed version of getting chased into some ruins by a PKer, meeting Mr. Inuus, and traveling to the other side.

“Poor musical goat,” Megan said, sniffing. “Is he okay?”

“He fell into a cavern, so he might not be,” said Nitana. “But then again, he seemed like an important fellow. Herald’s going to get quests and stuff connected to that goat. Cheer up, we’ll look for that goat.”

“This means that Mad Brewer Bawu’s explosion opened up the next phase of the main quest,” Melonomi said. “Everyone thinks that’d happen, but no one guessed how. We all thought we had to hunt her down. Not that the explosion connected two areas of the mountain.”

“What’s next, Herald?” Kezodilla asked. “Why do you need our help? And how did you return here?”

“The huge problem is that Bawu is spreading her Arcane Blight over there too,” I explained. “There’s a whole lot more monsters on that side of the mountain, stronger monsters at that. We have to help the Mardukryons over there stop the spreading of infection. I returned here by, uh, getting myself killed.”

“Logical,” said Paritor. “That is a fast and easy method. I assume that our Sigil Totems don’t work in that location? I’m also assuming that you are prepared with a plan to return to that area?”

“You bet I do. Buff up while I explain what we’re up against.” I told them about the situation around the ruined town of Tagamut. I also explained about what happened to the other Mardukryon tribes after the Great Quake. Then I pulled the special Sigil Totem out of my inventory. My partymates and Paritor’s summons huddled closer. “Everyone ready? Blast everything that isn’t a Mardukryon. Let’s go!”

We teleported to the Warp Totem of Tagamut amid a sea of Arcane Blighted.

Kezo swung right and left with his blades, sending waves of black flames, opening up the space as he decimated the enemies. He was around thirty levels above them and very strong for his level, so it was an easy task for him. The field opened up to brown up, sparkling Essence and Gli dancing above before the next wave of the Arcane Blighted came.

“We have to save the NPCs!” I pointed at the fortifications of the NPCs by the ancient town.

They were getting overwhelmed by the Arcane Blighted and started to retreat inside the ruins turned into warehouses. It was a much more defensible position, but they didn’t barricade themselves inside the first time because once the doors were breached, they would have nowhere else to go. They didn’t have a choice now. The merchants and traders fled into the warehouses while the Hunter-Warrior Initiates covered their retreat.

Paritor’s small army spearheaded our charge as Megan and Nitana fired powerful spells to clear the way. Melonomi stayed with Kezo. An insanely strong DPSer and a competent support could hold out against this horde. They drew the bulk of the Arcane Blighted to them, taking the pressure off the town.

As for me, I galloped onward, zigzagging past Paritor’s summons fighting the decaying mutants. I went to find NPCs that were in trouble and taunted away the enemies attacking them. I circled back to my party, monsters in tow, calling for Megan or Nitana to airstrike my position.

Though a tank wasn’t very useful in this chaotic fight, I still contributed to saving the NPCs. That was the least that should be expected from Herald Stone.

With our firepower, clearing the town of the Arcane Blighted went quickly. Paritor and his summons went to join Kezo fighting the remaining enemies outside the fortifications. I supposed that Paritor wanted to show off what his new summons was capable of when compared to Kezo’s DPS. The large tiger was good at tanking and AoE damage while the weird humanoid one was a single-target assassin type.    

Megan, Nitana, and I met with the merchants exiting the buildings. The Head Merchant trotted forward.

“Lad, you’ve returned with help,” Malvinor said. “From whence did you come from?”

“Whence…” Megan giggled, finding the word funny.

“Shhh. Herald’s talking to them,” Nitana scolded her.

“We’re from a distant village,” I said. “This is our first time meeting people of Sajilis. But we don’t have time for more explanations. What do we do next? Do we head for Sajilis? I think we have enough firepower to reach it, so long as we don’t get surrounded.”

“I implore you to help us reach our central warehouses on the way to Sajilis,” replied the Head Merchant. “Sajilis has formidable walls and many defenders, despite the bulk of Hunter-Warriors out for the Great Hunt. It will endure. Our fellow merchants, however…”

“We will help you because that’s what we do.” I gestured at Megan and Nitana. “Right? We’re very helpful.”

Megan eagerly raised her hand. “I’ll help!”

“Sure, sure,” Nitana drawled.

It didn’t take long for Kezo and Paritor to wipe out the remaining Arcane Blighted. I explained to them the situation while we followed the merchants. The NPCs had skills that made us travel faster on roads connected to their trade network. Add that to their caravan movement speed passives for traveling in groups, as well as speed potions they gave to us for free, and we were zooming like a racecar.

“Weeee!” Megan shouted.

“Indeed,” I said. “Let’s see how faster we’ll be with this.” I cast [Horde Stampede] and we accelerated by… not that much. We already had a lot of movement speed increase so the bonus I gave was relatively small.

We passed Arcane Blighted monsters along the way. Paritor’s summons, moving far ahead of us as our vanguard already dealt with them before we came near. If there were stronger enemies, Kezo was there to take it down.

“Towers!” I pointed at the horizon. “And walls.” This must be the defense of the vast compound of the Merchant’s Lodge of Sajilis. Some spans of the wall were destroyed, revealing hints of long buildings. “Are those the warehouses?”

“That, they are, yes,” said Merchant Malvinor. “I see fires inside and some Arcane Blighted running away. Is the fight already over? I fear the worst for our fellow merchants.”

“Might not be so bad if there are no enemies here,” I said. “Did the horde go elsewhere?”

We rounded a tower to reach the front gate. I was wide open. There were no more Arcane Blighted monsters here. Instead, there was a huge force of armed Mardukryons, flying flags and banners. The Mardukryon NPCs were all around the level of Methuselah, boasting several spears on their backs. They turned to us as we entered the compound.

Head Merchant Malvinor rushed forward, his arms wide open. “The army of Sajilis! They’ve come to save us!”