The message was from First Chieftain Korbin. It looks like Fenris healed them, Kael thought.

  He closed the message window and was about to teleport to Starlight Village when a man rushed toward him, his face etched with urgency. It was Anthony.

  "You went into the caverns beneath the Verdant Pool, didn't you?" Anthony asked, his voice trembling with excitement.

  Kael nodded.

  The old man grabbed Kael’s hand, his grip surprisingly strong. "Did you... did you see my sister?"

  "Your sister?" Kael paused, then it clicked. He was talking about Susan. Just as he was about to speak, a system notification popped up.

  System: Give Susan's Locket to Anthony to proceed with the questline.

  Susan's Locket? Kael was bewildered. Susan never gave me a locket.

  Then he remembered. He quickly opened his inventory, sifting through the pile of loot from the Soul-Devourer. Sure enough, there it was. He pulled out the small, silver locket and handed it to Anthony.

  Anthony’s hands shook as he took it. The moment it touched his palm, tears streamed down his face.

  "Oh, Susan, I'm so sorry!" he sobbed. "I should have listened to you! I should have killed that cat when I had the chance. It's all my fault you're..."

  Kael stood by in silence, letting the old man grieve. After a long while, Anthony looked up, his eyes red and swollen. "Young man," he pleaded, "can you save my sister? She's trapped in there, suppressed by the Soul-Devourer, unable to pass on."

  Finally, the official quest prompt appeared.

  System: You have received the quest [Free Susan's Soul]. Do you accept?

  Of course he accepted.

  "I want to help her," Kael told Anthony truthfully. "But the Soul-Devourer is immortal. I can't kill it for good, which means I can't free your sister. And if you want me to free her, you're going to have to give me something to work with."

  "I've heard," Anthony said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "that a soul-aspected Mythic is the only thing that can truly subdue it."

  Kael waited, expecting him to continue. But Anthony simply fell silent.

  That's it? You're not going to give me a clue where to find one? It's your sister we're talking about!

  He waited a little longer, but the old man just pulled out a tobacco pipe, lit it, and squatted on the ground, puffing away miserably.

  Kael resisted the urge to kick him. Useless old man.

  He mentally scanned his knowledge of the game's Mythic items. All of them required level 40 or higher to even begin the quest chains. Well, this can wait, he decided.

  Besides, other players would be grinding the new level 25 dungeon here soon. He wondered if killing the Soul-Devourer in the story quest had also cleared it from the dungeon instance.

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  After saying goodbye to Rena, Orion, and the others, Kael teleported to Starlight Village. He walked straight into the village's council hall.

  Just as he expected, the three chieftains were there: Korbin the Blade, Bork the Ironhide, and Fenris the Fletcher. They looked fully recovered. A fourth chair was waiting for him at their table.

  Kael smiled and walked forward. "Good to see you all back on your feet."

  Korbin the Blade nodded. "It is. Please, Ullr, sit."

  After Kael had taken his seat, Korbin’s expression grew grim. "I'm afraid the situation is not good."

  "What happened?" Kael asked.

  Fenris the Fletcher waved a hand, and a shimmering, three-dimensional image materialized in the center of the hall. It was an aerial view of Starlight Village and the surrounding lands.

  As Fenris gestured, the perspective shifted, showing the view from all four directions. The entire landscape was teeming with Orcs. But unlike before, they weren't massed for an assault. They were scattered, building fortified camps and digging in for a long stay.

  "I thought they were planning to take the village by storm," Korbin said, his voice heavy. "But it seems they've settled in for a siege instead. They intend to starve us out. If this continues, no one will be able to get in or out."

  A flicker of excitement went through Kael. He knew what kind of quest was coming.

  "Ullr, you have a sharp mind," Korbin continued. "We need someone to break through their lines and find a working teleport nexus in the outside world that you can link back to Starlight Village."

  System: Korbin the Blade has asked you to link Starlight Village to an external teleport nexus. Do you accept?

  Kael didn't accept. He lowered his head, a troubled expression on his face.

  Bork the Ironhide spoke, his deep voice filled with regret. "This is a task I should be undertaking myself, but my brother and I are not yet fully recovered. We do not have the strength to force a breakout."

  "The future of this entire village—tens of thousands of people—rests on this, Ullr," Fenris added softly.

  Kael slapped his thigh and stood up. He faced the three leaders, his posture serious. "Brothers. I am honored that you would entrust such a vital mission to me. It shows a great deal of faith." He paused, letting the weight of his words settle. "But... I fear my own abilities are limited. I may not be up to this task. It's no great loss if I die out there, but I cannot bear the thought of failing this village and dooming its people."

  The three chieftains exchanged a look. They understood perfectly. He was being asked to risk his life, and he expected to be rewarded accordingly.

  "I possess a skill known as the [Way of the Hidden Blade]," Korbin offered. "Its power is formidable. Would you care to learn it?"

  "I can teach you the [Iron Skin Technique]," Bork boomed. "It will make your body nigh indestructible."

  "And I," said Fenris, "can offer you a [Resurrection Spell], with which you can bring the dead back to life."

  Kael considered their offers. They were all excellent skills, but useless for him.

  The Way of the Hidden Blade? Could it possibly compare to his Phantom Blade Dance?

  Iron Skin? He was a ranged fighter. If a boss got close enough for him to need extra defense, he was already crowd-controlled and dead.

  A resurrection spell? That was a healer's skill.

  He sighed internally. I was hoping to fleece them a little, but this is all junk. The resurrection spell was the only one with any real value.

  "Third Bro," he said, turning to the third chieftain. "I believe your resurrection spell would be the most useful. If my companions could learn it, they could save my life in a pinch."

  Fenris nodded. "A wise choice. Here is the [Resurrection Spell]." He produced a small, leather-bound book from his robes.

  Kael took it, and as his fingers brushed the cover, his eyes widened. A moment later, he was ecstatic.

  System: You have obtained [Resurrection Spell].

  System: Lucky Bonus triggered! Your reward has been upgraded to [Mass Resurrection Spell].

  Mass Resurrection!

  Crimson Bloom had a top-tier team whose gear and levels were far ahead of the curve, but they lagged behind in one key area: utility skills. The resurrection spell, in particular, required a difficult, time-consuming quest that had to be completed by the guild's core members. But Kael had constantly been dragging his main team along to act as his personal workforce, leaving them no time to do it.

  This Mass Resurrection spellbook wasn't just a reward for him; it was a reward for all of them.

  He immediately opened his friends list to share the good news with Lila, but her name was still grayed out. She wasn't online yet.