Home, sweet home.
R eaching the nearest city, Raven teleported to his palace and took a deep, slow breath. He was always happy to come back here, but this time he couldn’t relax. Abenkhriar was still out for his blood, so he went to his chambers straight away, in order to make his stay as brief as possible.
Coming in, he stopped at seeing Nanel resting on the bed, one arm hugging the pillow and another resting on her stomach. She must’ve had a rough day to fall asleep fully clothed. Her chest was rising and falling slowly.
Closing the door behind himself, Raven spent some time observing her. Her fair, waist-long hair was scattered over the bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her serene face.
Some five minutes passed before he dared to move. As if sensing him, Nanel opened her eyes and smiled at him
“If I’m dreaming... Don’t wake me up.”
“Sorry. I’d love to tell you that I’ve come to stay but...” He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He put his hand on hers and touched her stomach. “Alas, I’m just passing by.”
He was about to stand up but Nanel stopped him, a soft smile on her face.
“A boy or a girl? What do you think?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’ll be the happiest child in this world, I promise that.”
He kissed Nanel on the forehead but she just laughed.
“Oh, darling. Don’t be coy with me. Which would you prefer?”
“Well, if I had to choose... I’d rather we have a prince,” he said as he stood up and headed to the chests in the corner of the room. “But only because of how the kingdom functions. Remember how much you wanted to avoid dealing with all that stuff?”
As Nanel remembered everything that Lamaniel had put her through, she silently agreed with Raven. She’d rather not put her daughter through that.
In the meantime, Raven focused on his search for quest-appropriate ingredients and materials. Applying the rank filter, he opened the first box and began to put its contents into his Ring.
A Drop of Cursed Blood. Malista’s Hard Scales. A Cursed Wolf’s Heart. Sarkanite. Jade Python’s Fangs.
He had plenty of rare materials and even a few of higher ranks since he had been to many locations and killed many mobs. Some of these things would probably make Hendelson very happy; the Yin-Yang Tree Bark, for example. He had been saving it for an occasion like this one.
Having used up his own stock, he turned to his friends: Kingmaker, Reporter, Crimson Berserker, Koshie, Lone Thief, and everyone else with whom he had a fairly good relationship. Then he visited the auction house to buy as many valuable materials as possible. At some point, he even remembered the real estate companies that craved the lands on his Floor and asked Kingmaker about which of them were trustworthy.
The negotiations took about six days, but the result was totally worth it. He had collected ninety-five ingredients and materials: fourteen Epic (and insanely expensive), nineteen Extremely Rare, and seven Unique ones with some amazing properties. All the rest were Rare, but Raven told himself he had done everything he could to make Hendelson happy. Ninety-five percent of players in his place wouldn’t be able to collect even a hundredth of that. What made it possible for him to do all this was his connections with TOP clan leaders and with the Age of Ascension.
When he came back to Hendelson with his collection, all the blacksmith could do was stare at it with eyes as wide as plates, apparently at a loss for words. Grabbing one item after another, he struggled to believe they were real. Emotions were flashing on his face so quickly that Raven got worried that he might suffer a heart attack.
Spread over the table before the blacksmith were one hundred eighty-three units of materials and ingredients.
“How? How did you do it? Whom have you robbed? No. Don’t tell me.” He rushed to his desk and, taking out a pile of papers, skimmed through them. “You... You know, that’s... That... Yes! That’ll be a real work of art!”
Daydreaming as he looked through his notes, he raised a hand in a triumphant gesture and hurried back to the table with Raven’s treasures.
“You’ve brought more materials than I could’ve expected. Since these are so good, I’ll do my best to help you. But there’s still much work to be done. As I deal with these, please go and find a strong frame for your arm.”
You have completed Stage One of the quest: The Diabolic Hand of Treason
Stage Two unlocked.
Goal II: Collect the frame to form the bones. The stronger it is, the greater the probability of success.
“Frame?” Raven asked in confusion.
Hendelson shook his head but made no comments on the rogue’s intelligence, his mood too good for that.
“You want me to craft you an arm, don’t you? But even I can’t make it without a frame. Without the bones to attach the flesh to.”
“Something like this?” Keeping his eyes on Hendelson, Raven put an item on the table.
It was the lich’s arm that he had recently come across while going through his inventory.
“That’s...” Hendelson frowned at the powerful stream of death magic coming from the item. “How did you get it?”
“From a very unlucky lich.” Raven smirked at the recollection. “Can you use it?”
“WHAT? It belonged to a lich?!” Agitated, Hendelson took the arm, applied some spell to it, then flashed a broad smile and put the arm back, stroking his beard. “I can’t believe I’m lucky to have the bones of such a creature. You must’ve gotten them from under Lady Fortuna’s skirts.”
“Ahahaha.” Raven made no comment on this joke. “So, do we have a frame?”
“Yeah. These bones are more than perfect.” Hendelson nodded with satisfaction. “Now that we have the flesh and the bones, I need blood to make it work. Bring me some.”
You have completed Stage Two of the quest: The Diabolic Hand of Treason
Stage Three unlocked.
Goal III: You have the flesh and the bones for Hendelson’s future creation. Now find the blood to breathe life into your artificial arm.
Blood? He must be talking about some type of energy. But which one? This game has so many. Maybe this?
Raven took out the Energy Storage filled with the inter-world substance.
“Erm... Can you use this?”
For him, a non-magic character, this golden substance didn’t look particularly useful. But Hendelson screamed in delight at seeing it and took the sphere with great caution.
“Im... Impossible.” He looked up at Raven as if he had just seen a ghost, his voice hoarse with excitement. “Can you... Can you seal the cracks between worlds?”
Raven remembered what the heavenly king had told him about this power, craved by virtually everyone in this world. He had to keep it a secret, so he shook his head and told the dwarf a story he had just made up.
Hendelson’s face became sad. Curious about his reaction, Raven inquired as to why he asked about sealing the cracks. Hendelson’s answer convinced him that it wasn’t the power that he wanted; he was just concerned about a crack appearing not far from his old home. Meeting someone who could store this kind of energy gave him hope that Raven could close it.
Once Hendelson finished talking, another quest message appeared in Raven’s inbox. The dwarf seemed to be dumping them on him every time he opened his mouth.
Attention! You have been offered a quest: Knock, Knock, Who’s There?
Accepting it without even reading it, Raven returned to the matter at hand.
“So? You can use it for blood?”
“Damn right I can!” Hendelson looked down at the Storage in his hands. “This energy is invaluable. It has great destructive power while simultaneously being majestically serene. I have no idea what will come out of it.”
You have completed Stage Three of the quest: The Diabolic Hand of Treason
Crafting time: 0/14 days
Seeing the message, Raven let out a silent moan.
How am I to live these two weeks?