Chapter 29 - Episode 29: Avriel Scarlettblood.
Chapter 29 – Episode 29: Avriel Scarlettblood.
I spent 2 days reaching Sarkh Village from No Man's Land. I ran non-stop and used quite a lot of Stamina Potion.
I'm standing outside Sarkh Village. I can't enter the village anymore, and I can't see Avriel from out here. But, at night time, Avriel always has a routine to go outside Sarkh Village to hunt monsters in the woods. So right now, I'm waiting for her until nighttime comes. I have around 4 hours before she's going to hunt monsters.
I wasted my time by killing monsters in the woods until nighttime. I went near Sarkh Village and observed the entrance to see Avriel. Then she left the village and went to the woods. I followed her from afar.
It's so dark in here.. I activated Moon Eyes and now I can see everything, even the ants on the trees. Avriel is still walking deeper into the woods. Then suddenly she disappeared.
"Oh no…"
I'm looking around then I can see a shiny object coming towards me. It's a dagger and I dodge it. Then a shadow appears not far from where I'm standing at. My eyes are following the shadow and then the shadow stops at the tree in front of me.
"It's me, Miss Avriel."
I turn around and Avriel is leaning on the tree behind me. She smiles.
"You left Sarkh Village not so long ago, but you're already this good. I'm very impressed."
Avriel walks towards me and tilts her head.
"So, what are you doing here stalking me in the middle of the night?"
I grab the letter from Jariel and give it to her. She grabs it and reads it silently.
In just a few seconds after I gave her the letter, she's already pointing her dagger at my neck. She's glaring at me without any expressions.
"Who wrote this letter? Don't you dare lie to me or I will hang your dead body at the entrance of Sarkh Village."
I'm pointing at my eye. Avriel raises her eyebrow.
"How do you think I'm able to see your shadow in a dark place like this without any light? I drank the blood of your father, Jariel, the Eyes of the Moon."
Avriel puts down the dagger and reads the letter again. Then she looks at me.
"Have you read what's inside the letter?"
I shake my head.
"No, I haven't. I don't think I should since it's a letter from a father to his daughter."
Avriel smirks and gives me the letter.
"You can read it."
[Avriel, how have you been? I know you will notice who wrote this letter by the way I write the letters. I know you will not believe it, so I sent your talented kid to send you this letter.
There is something I would like you to know. Abandon your position before it is too late. You know what I'm talking about. The empire is not the same like it used to be. Nobody can run away from the emperor's hands, so I will have something important for you to do. Find a document that I made at the "Pillar". You will know when you read the document.
I'm sorry that I cannot see you ever since I left the empire. Now I finally can write a letter to you and it makes me happy. I will try to contact you more when the kid has the time.]
I flip the letter and give it to Avriel. She grabs it and burns it down immediately. She looks at me while stepping on the burned letter.
"Are you free for the next few days?"
I nod.
"Yes, I'm free."
[Avriel's Favor]
[Help Avriel retrieve the document that is written in the letter. There is a chance you will encounter enemies during the quest. If you died during the quest, you will be forbidden to enter Elena Empire and Avriel's life will be in danger and there is a chance that NPC Avriel will die and will not respawn again.]
[Reward: None]
[Restriction: Cannot use teleportation device during the quest.]
[Avriel is now your party member]
[Name: [Mask of the Moon] Avriel Scarlettblood
Level: 500
HP: 94.750
STA: 5.500
Status:
STR: 350+200 [ATK : 2050+300] [DMG : +55%]
AGI: 750+500 [ASPD : +125%] [SPD : +125%]
DEX: 500+100 [CRIT: 60%] [SDMG: 60%] [CDMG: 200%]
INT: 50+100 [MATK : 150+0] [WIS : 150]
LUK: 200+0 [DDG: 10%] [LCKY: 0.2%]
VIT: 200+0 [DEF : 700+200] [MDEF : 100+100]
CHR: 200+0 [REP : 200] [FAME : ???]
ART:200+0 [SMIT : 5%] [ARTIS : 5%]
EXTRA PTS: 0]
If an important NPC dies under circumstances and will not respawn, the game will replace them with a new NPC with the same purpose as the previous NPC. But, the new NPC will have different hidden or side quests than the previous one. So basically if Avriel died from this quest. I can't get any information related to Krestan's quest since the new NPC won't give me the information because they're not familiar with me and Jariel will no longer have a hidden quest for the players. A butterfly effect is what they called it.
Avriel nods.
"Good, let us get going to Eluna Empire."
I nod and we both on our way to Eluna Empire.
I can't use a teleportation device, so we spent a week reaching Eluna Empire's capital city, Adrastea. Before we left Sarkh Village, I told Emma that I will be playing for a whole day and wake me up when it's time to eat. She understood and will wake me up when there's an order from a customer as well.
It's nighttime, Avriel is looking around.
"I want you to listen to me."
Avriel is looking at me seriously.
"I want you to protect me when I failed to retrieve the document stealthily. I don't know what is inside the document, but if my father asked me to take it, it must be important enough to endanger the Eluna Empire. There is a chance that my own men will chase after us. When that happens, help me kill them. Understood?"
I nod.
"Yes, I will protect you from them."
Avriel covers her face with a piece of black cloth and walks in front of me. I'm following her from behind.
We entered Adrastea through the sewer and went to the surface in the suburban areas. Avriel pointed at the tall spiral building in the middle of the capital city. That's the "Pillar" that Jariel said in the letter. Then we both stealthily walked towards the building. When we arrived a few blocks from the building, Avriel was checking the surroundings.
It's the perfect time to ask her about Krestan's left leg. So I approach him.
"Can I ask you something?"
Avriel looks at me.
"Ask away."
I nod and look at her.
"Do you know where Krestan's left leg is at?"
Avriel is pointing at the top of the capital city. There's a huge building with so many watchtowers. As soon as I look back at her, a dagger is stuck on my neck and the tip of the dagger is already made a cut on my neck. Her eyes are locks on me.
"Why did you ask? If you are thinking about getting that, I will end your life here."
I look her in the eye.
"Does it even matter now?"
I can see her teeth even though she covered her mouth with a cloth. She's grinning sinisterly to take my life away. She's pressing the dagger onto my neck. I raise my eyebrow.
"What? We are here basically doing something similar to my request. You're risking everything for a piece of a document that will lead to your betrayal to the empire… your empire. It doesn't change the fact that you're going to betray your own people. In the end, you will take your father's side over the empire."
Avriel chuckles and moves her daggers slowly to the side. My blood is dripping to my collarbone. It stings and itchy at the same time.
"What makes you think that I will betray the empire after I read what is inside the document?"
I chuckle and grab the dagger, but Avriel pushes my hand away from the dagger and tightly holds my hand.
"You're asking the wrong person. Do you not believe what your father said in that letter?"
I raise both of my hands. Hell no I want to try to argue with her any longer. I'm lucky enough she's not ending my life after all that. She can kill me with a single hit without my lucky potion and daggers equipped. I tilt my head and smirk.
"How about this. If you're convinced after you read the letter and choose to betray the empire. You're going to tell me where Krestan's left leg is at. If you're not convinced, then kill me as soon as you read the document. You can order all your men to hunt me down. You can do whatever you want to do to me. How about that?"
Avriel raises her eyebrow and pulls her dagger away from my neck. She's cleaning her dagger by licking my blood on her dagger.
"That's a deal. I cannot wait to torture you every day."
I nod confidently since I know she will betray the empire because of that document. It's the same as back then. I don't know what's inside the document since it was written in random scribbles that only Avriel and Jariel can understand that language. I didn't care back then so I really have no idea what's the document is all about. Maybe this time I'll ask them.
Avriel sheaths the dagger and starts to move. I'm going to be a lookout for her while she's trying to retrieve Jariel's document.
Avriel disappeared in the shadow and reappeared inside the building. In less than ten minutes, she came back with something in her hand. She approached me and immediately read the document. She clenched her fists and looked at me in the eye. I tilted my head and waited for her response.
Avriel exhales deeply.
"Krestan's left leg is in the collection chamber in the palace. You won't be able to get that."
I shrug and smirk.
"With your help, I can."
Avriel smirks and nods.
"Fine, I will help you out. I have to see the face of that pig emperor for one last time anyway."