A smile appeared on Ye Ci's face. She was delighted to know that she was not the only soul who spent a lot of time in the library. Fleeting Time was just like her. While Ye Ci's knowledge was brought over from her last life, Fleeting Time acquired his knowledge from the library in-game. This meant that the man was far more dedicated than Ye Ci gave him credit for. This gave Ye Ci a newfound respect for Fleeting Time. As expected of a top-tier player… He has good mechanical skills, and is willing to do countless researches about the game.
The birth of a top-tier player was not out of coincidence.
Ye Ci continued after Fleeting Time, "Despite our misfortune, the Elven race as a whole had never once given up on our search for the Elven King Dau'er. We have never once given up hopes to reclaim our homeland. So why do you have to wallow yourselves in sorrow?" she then stared at Ciel, who was paying attention to the conversation between De'frei and the duo. "Behold, the King of Goblin lives. He made a grave mistake, but it is something we mortals are bound to make." said Ye Ci as she pointed at Ciel, "Your king lives, and that's all that matters. So what Vo'sok is destroyed? Can't you build a new Vo'sok with the intelligence and capabilities of the Goblins?"
De'frei shifted his sight to Ciel and stared at the monarch for a long moment. He then bowed deeply at Ye Ci and Fleeting Time and performed an ancient Goblin salute that was only used by Goblins on their king or individuals that have earned their utmost respect, "Thank you, o' dear Elves. You are the eternal friends of us Goblins."
Ciel stood up as well, and repeated De'frei gesture before speaking in a calm voice, "Thank you for what you've done for us, Elves. You shall be the most honorable friends of the Goblins."
Even after handing over the Scepter of Life to Ye Ci, Ciel's name was still displayed as "Goblin King Ciel". A system notification appeared in the screen of the duo after Ciel's dialogue, "You have reached the Prestige of Respected with the Goblins."
This was something that even Ye Ci did not expect. She had never in her wildest dream thought that completing a dungeon could boost her Prestige with a single race to the level of "Respected". She stole a glance at Fleeting Time, and found him whistling happily. It was apparent that he was very satisfied with the reward.
A quest marker appeared on De'frei's head, and a system notification signifying the completion of the quest appeared when Ye Ci handed him the Scepter of Life. "I have nothing special with me, nor do I have huge amounts of wealth. Please receive this gift from me as a token of my gratitude for rescuing me from the Goblin Palace." said De'frei as he handed two parcels to the duo.
Both parcels contained a single book wrapped in leather. The words "De'frei's Worknotes" were etched on the covers of the books, written in Ancient Goblin Language. Ye Ci held the first part to the notes while Fleeting Time was in possession of the second part. A system notification chimed out as Ye Ci flipped open the first page of the book, "An ancient voice entered your ears, and something flashed across your mind. You've learnt the Ancient Goblin Language."
It was something that Ye Ci did not expect.
Ye Ci was able to understand the writings on the book, and her eyebrows immediately furrowed upon reading the words. She was not happy. She came to the realization that both she and Fleeting Time held a different part of the same book. Does it mean that I won't have the complete version of De'frei's book?
"By the way, Little Gongzi, do you remember the bet between us earlier on? I think I know what I want as a reward for winning now." said Fleeting Time who saw through Ye Ci's thoughts.
"What do you want?" responded Ye Ci absentmindedly. Her thoughts were focus fully on combining the two books.
"Well, it's simple. Why don't we meet up at the Middle Continent when it's made available to players and get a scholar to copy each of our part and make a trade?"
Ye Ci knew that it was the best solution, but she was not willing to give her trust to Fleeting Time that easily. After all, they would end up as enemies soon enough. "It's not a problem… As long as you're willing to sign a contract with me."
Fleeting Time paid no heed to Ye Ci's pettiness. He patted his book with a smile, "Alright. I knew you won't hand it to me willingly anyways."
Ye Ci narrowed her eyes at Fleeting Time. That bastard.. He always has a way with words. Despite that, she knew that having a contract was the best possible solution, as any breach of the agreement would result in a heavy penalty that would be imposed by the system.
The system was able to generate the contract within seconds, which was immediately signed by the duo after making sure that there were no mistakes in the terms of the contract.
Ye Ci narrowed her eyes at Fleeting Time. Why does this feel so weird?
Fleeting Time's eyes narrowed as well, "So you're saying that your collaboration with Absalom is a valid one, but it's invalid if you're doing it with me?"
Ye Ci pursed her lips at Fleeting Time and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I don't think there's a need to shake hands to validate the collaboration between us. A contract is enough." she snorted and cast a glance at De'frei, who was having a conversation with Ciel which was nothing important and was almost at its end.
Fleeting Time rubbed the bridge of his nose and smiled, "If I know that this is how you'll act once we get out, I would've stayed in the dungeon a little longer. You're not cute at all like this."
"What did you say?" Ye Ci's long pointed ears twitched. She could not hear Fleeting Time clearly, but she had a feeling that it was nothing good.
"There's a quest." Fleeting Time pointed at De'frei with a smile.
Ye Ci accepted the quest from De'frei, which required her to return the Scepter of Life to Ciel. She found the conversation between Ciel and De'frei after sifting through the NPC chat. The NPCs were talking about the fall of Vo'sok, which Ciel regretted. De'frei then expressed his willingness to return the Scepter of Life to Ciel after the king admitted his mistake.
Ciel let out a long sigh after receiving the Scepter of Life from Ye Ci, "Vo'sok was a gift from God. Instead of treasuring such gift, we brought it to ruin. Oh God, please guide your children in our journey to find a new home." the king then began a long chant, and bright red light emanated from the Scepter of Life.
Ye Ci instinctively took a step back and stood behind Ciel, along with Fleeting Time and De'frei.
The sickly red light at the tip of the Scepter of Life expanded as Ciel continued his chant. It was not a reddish orb that was half a yard in diameter which was still growing larger and brighter.
Just then, Fleeting Time received a private voice call. Despite his annoyance, Fleeting Time immediately responded when he noticed that the call was from Absalom. "Fleeting Time! That ore vein is real! We've completed the quest and the Black Iron Dwarves have already begun exploring the ore veins!" shouted Absalom with excitement before Fleeting Time had the chance to speak up.
"Oh, isn't that a good thing?" unlike Absalom, Fleeting Time did not doubt the truth behind Ye Ci's words. He believed her the moment she proposed such a deal. It was not because of his feelings towards Ye Ci. He knew that Gongzi You was not a foolish person, and an intelligent woman like her would not pull a stunt that would jeopardize her benefit on the long run.
"Are you still in the dungeon?" Absalom was literally on cloud nine at that point. The man was so filled with joy that he would take a slap from Fleeting Time with a smile on his face.
Fleeting Time stole a glance at his mini map. He was indeed in the dungeon, but his location was fairly close to the exit, "Yup. I'm still in the dungeon."
"When will you be heading out?"
The red orb at the tip of the Scepter of Life continued to expand, and Fleeting Time himself was unsure if the quest was completed. Judging from Ciel's actions, it was highly possible that a new stage of the quest would be triggered.
"I have no idea." said Fleeting Time, "What do you want?"
"I've just arrived in the Saint Light City, and I want to treat Gongzi You to a meal as a sign of thanks." Absalom had even forgotten about the simple fact that Ye Ci was not a player from the Western Continent due to his barely-contained excitement, "We might be forced to the brink by Golden Era if it's not for her. With the Mithril ore vein in our grasp, we'll be able to control the economy of the entire Western Continent."
"She's a player from the Eastern Continent. There's no way she can enter the Saint Light City."
"Aiya, I've forgotten about that… How do I thank her then? Even if this is a collaboration between us, I'm sure you know that we got the better end of the bargain right?" replied Absalom with mirth clear in his voice.
"Get me a Hawkeye skill book from our guild warehouse then." during their exploration of the dungeon, the duo had not even encountered a single skill book as loot drop, Fleeting Time could still remember his promise to Ye Ci before they entered the dungeon, "Get someone to pass the skill book to me once I'm out of the dungeon. Of course, it'll be best if you're the one who delivers it."
"Alright, let me know when you've left the dungeon."
The red orb was already 8 yards in diameter when the conversation ended. "Away!" shouted Ciel in the ancient Goblin language and the red orb flew at the direction of Vo'sok's palace. A loud bang followed and the ground began to shake.
The explosion threw a vast column of smoke and debris into the air.
Ye Ci knew that the red light would spell bad news, but such an outcome was beyond her expectation. She subconsciously took a step back, right into Fleeting Time, who pulled her into an embrace and pressed her against the ground, shielding her from the explosion.
Ye Ci could feel as debris scratched against her arm, taking away a tiny chunk of her HP with every hit. Her HP was dropping rapidly, and before long, Ye Ci had lost 25% of her HP.
From Fleeting Time's portrait, Ye Ci could see that he had only 20% of his HP left.
Despite that, Fleeting Time remained silent as he shielded Ye Ci from the blast, as if he was a suit of armor that was protecting her in its embrace.
Thud… Thud… Thud…
Even with the tremendous amount of noise generated by the explosion, Ye Ci could still hear the strong heartbeat of the person behind her.