...
Within Amaharpe, the top guilds and many of the larger guilds all received shocking news. Most of them did not dare believe it at first, however, after verifying the authenticity of the information several times, they all hurried into action.
More of those grade three pills had appeared, but this time there was not just a single pill. There was a grand total of 135 pills! That amount may seem like a lot to the average player, however, to those top guilds it was still just a drop of water in the ocean.
"What?! How is that possible?! This is a grade three pill! There is no possible way that so many appeared at the same time!" Somewhere within a dungeon located a bit further away than the Sea Palace Graveyard from Amaharpe, Slayer had received news of more grade three pills being put up for auction.
"Tch, 50 gold coins wasted! Now every other guild may have the chance to unlock its secrets." Although Slayer's guild Sage Falls had yet to uncover the process of creation for the Five Cycles Pill, in his mind he had already claimed the pill as his own and planned on creating a monopoly.
Slayer had already ordered an investigation into the creator of the pills to try and rope him into Sage Falls. Slayer felt that with the number of resources he could provide, there was no way the Apothecary would refuse his offer.
"I have to maintain control... I can't miss this opportunity to profit." Slayer grit his teeth before ordering the person next to him to send a message. "Tell them to spare no effort in obtaining as many pills as possible. We need to prevent other guilds from acquiring the pill!"
Meanwhile at the current headquarters for the guild Cross Haven...
"We must obtain at least thirteen pills. It will not be possible to acquire any more than that due to the other top guilds that will be aiming to get their hands on that pill. Thirteen is all we need for now. So make it so." Ewan calmly spoke to one of the members of his guild stationed at the auction house.
"Heh, just as we were about to head out, those guys go and send this interesting bit of information." Dragus was next to Ewan with a strong and hearty look about him.
"Indeed... Yet, we still do not have any information regarding the creator of the pill. Sage Falls managed to get away with the last one. However, Slayer must be regretting the 50 gold coins he spent. I know perfectly well what sort of plans he had in mind." Ewan said.
Cross Haven and Sage Falls had never been on good terms before, even while playing some of the previous MMORPGs. There existed no grudges between the two, it was just that their guilds were not a very good match when it came to getting along.
Slayer was overly aggressive, arrogant, manipulative, and would do whatever it took to win. Ewan, on the other hand, was calm, composed, insightful, open-minded, and had a natural air of authority to him, rather than arrogance. The differences between the two leaders alone were enough for their members to not get along.
"Double the available personnel and locate the Apothecary behind the pill. I find that he or she may not be so simple." Ewan gave a slight smile.
Similar conversations were going on for all the top guilds. Even some of the smaller guilds were trying to accumulate more information about the mysterious Apothecary. The chances were almost negligible, but if they could get that Apothecary to join them then their status as a guild would soar.
Izroth, however, was completely oblivious to the top guilds eagerness to find him.
...
Izroth rushed towards the meeting point that was previously agreed upon. He arrived outside of a small building around five minutes later, as it was not located too far from the auction house.
This building was not one that was frequented often by players. This is why they chose it as a meeting location. Zi Yi was the one who informed Izroth and he agreed that it was a suitable idea.
Izroth opened the door that led into the small building, but just as he did so, he heard a loud shout come from behind the door.
"Idiots! You two have no shame! You dare to team up against me! Aren't you two men?!"
'That's Zi Yi's voice.'
Izroth stepped into the room and the first thing he saw was Guan Yu with his arm around Halls' shoulder in a brotherly manner, laughing up a storm.
Zi Yi's entire face was bright red and she looked incredibly agitated at the moment. She grit her teeth as she was tried hard to suppress the insanity that those two created when they got together. After all, she could barely handle Guan Yu when he was just by himself.
Luna was off to the side with a helpless smile on her face. She tried her best to calm Zi Yi down, but Guan Yu and Halls turned out to be too much of a handful for her.
Izroth blinked a few times before staring blankly at everyone inside of the room. Everyone was so caught up in the moment that none of them noticed Izroth's entrance into the room.
"Ahahaha! You hear that, my brother? We have no shame! Ahahaha!" Guan Yu gave a burst of joyous laughter.
"Shame? Brother, what have we said or done to even think about bringing up shame? Ahahaha! We're true men! True men have no shame!" Halls was laughing in the exact same manner as Guan Yu.
In less than one hour, Guan Yu and Halls were already calling each other brother. How could two complete strangers who had never met before today get along like they've known each other for their entire lives?
Izroth shook his head at the sight before him. Although he predicted that the two of them would get along, he did not expect for them to get along this well so soon. It seems he had underestimated Halls and Guan Yu.
'They haven't known one another for more than one hour and they're already like this?'
Izroth did not even need to ask what was wrong with Zi Yi, as he now understood what Luna meant in the message she sent to him.
"Fine, since we're so generous then we'll give you the chance to regain your lost honor! Big sis Luna will be the judge this time." Guan Yu said in an almost borderline taunting way.
Zi Yi grit her teeth, "Fine...! Then how about this one!"
Luna had backed away from the situation to not be dragged into it, however, she still ended up being pulled in regardless. She could only sigh and give a small nod as her response. If she left them to their own accord, then Zi Yi may not last much longer.
Zi Yi cleared her throat and straightened herself up. "Parallel lines have so much in common. It's a shame they'll never meet." When she finished speaking, the entire room became dead silent. There was not so much as a single chuckle or giggle.
"Ha... Haha..." Luna tried to make herself laugh, but it was far from her specialty to fake such a thing. It came out as forced and awkward, so it was not believable at all.
Guan Yu and Halls almost coughed up blood from how stale that joke was! The way she told that joke should be considered a lethal weapon! An S-ranked skill!
"H-hey... I actually feel kind of bad now... She's really trying hard and putting in a lot of effort, brother." Halls said with a tinge of regret in his voice.
"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't have made that remark... Isn't this a form of torture?" Guan Yu responded to Halls with a gloomy look on his face.
Zi Yi had an expression of shock written all over her face. However, it was soon replaced by a look of defeat.
The truth was, Guan Yu and Halls were messing around, being unruly, and telling jokes. Zi Yi called their jokes immature and unoriginal, which prompted their response.
The two suggested that Zi Yi simply could not understand the jokes and had no true sense of humor. In fact, they bet that she would be unable to tell a single joke that could make them laugh. Zi Yi saw this as a challenge that was beneath her, but after seeing the smug looks on Guan Yu and Halls' faces, she could only accept.
When Zi Yi saw that no one reacted to her joke, her face turned red from embarrassment. She was sure that the joke she just told would, at the very least, warrant some type of reaction! Well, Luna laughed a bit but... It was obviously forced. That was a pity laugh! How could Zi Yi not be embarrassed?
When Izroth closed the door behind him, he made it so that it would be loud enough to catch their attention. However, it was still just shy of being an actual door slam.
After hearing that someone else had entered into this remote area, Luna, Halls, Guan Yu, and Zi Yi all looked over to see who it was.
"You... How long have you been there?!" Zi Yi had just shown a very unsightly side. The fewer people to know about it, the better. She had not seen Izroth walk into the building.
"I... Thought it was an amusing joke." Izroth said in a straight forward manner.
Everyone in the room was shocked when they heard what Izroth said. He actually liked that kind of stale joke?
"Unique men have unique taste..." Guan Yu muttered under his breath.
"Indeed..." Halls agreed.
Luna could not help but giggle at the way Izroth kept such a straight forward and carefree face while saying such a thing. That in itself was enough to make her laugh, albeit in a reserved manner.
However, instead of making Zi Yi feel better about the situation, it somehow made her feel even worse! If someone like Izroth believed that the joke was amusing, chances are that it was probably, no... Definitely a terrible joke!
Everything settled down a few moments later when everyone saw how serious Izroth was. He was usually carefree, however, he had a serious expression on his face at this time.
Izroth had to take such a stance to let them know the gravity of the quest. He himself was already prepared for the potential consequences, but it was important that everyone was ready.
"You were pretty vague over the system message. I'm sure we're all curious as to why that was so, correct?" Zi Yi had regained her composure and was now back to her normal self. She swept her gaze across the room.
Luna, Guan Yu, and Halls nodded their heads. The message Izroth had sent them did not mention many details, only that it was an opportunity that they would regret missing.
"Luna and Halls should have a bit of a better understanding of the situation since they've been with me on another quest that is linked together with this one in some way. It involves Amaharpe itself and what the future may bring." Izroth said.
"Does it have to do with the seal on the Shadahi Realm?" Luna guessed.
"Did that chained guy manage to break free or something?" Halls asked curiously.
Guan Yu was confused by their conversation. Shadahi Realm? Chained guy? What were they talking about?
Zi Yi was also surprised and just as confused as Guan Yu. She had never read anything about this so-called Shadahi Realm. But, little did she know that such delicate information was only accessible within the palace library, and so she could not be blamed.
Izroth shook his head, "I'll explain everything."
Izroth then went on to explain everything Gear had spoken to him about. He also added the previous information from the quest that he, Luna and Halls completed together. Deciding not to hold anything back since he found Guan Yu, as well as, Zi Yi to be trustworthy, he even spoke of the world quest.
Luna and Halls were not even surprised by these chain of events. They had been around Izroth long enough to have built up a resistance and immunity stat to the shocking events that surrounded him.
However, Guan Yu and Zi Yi were totally dumbfounded. This guy already had an SSS-ranked world quest, completed an S-ranked quest, and now also had an SS-ranked quest given to him. What was with that insane luck?! Was that even possible?