Chapter 42: Nice to Meet You

Nick was grinning at Jaxir like an innocent little lamb, and that was only making Jaxir all the more skeptical.

Eventually, Nick chuckled.

"Fine, fine. There really is a catch."

Jaxir smiled. "Do tell."

"There may or may not be another guild involved already. And I may, or may not, have some conflicts with them. We’re like two peas in a pod, don’t you think."

Jaxir erupted with laughter. "And what guild is that?"

"Okay... maybe it’s not a guild. Maaaaaaybe it’s the church."

"Oh?" Jaxir raised an eyebrow. "Don’t tell me it’s related to the Minor God of Gravity?"

Nick cringed a bit. "How’d you know―wait, don’t answer that. Stupid question. This is their territory, of course you’d know that."

Nick scratched the back of his head and chuckled a bit.

"They’re assholes, just like all of them are I guess. They get a little bit of power and think they can just do anything."

Jaxir pursed his lips, recalling his quest. Technically, he kind of already had conflict with their faction. The moment he got close enough to them, he would definitely be targeted.

It wasn’t long before Jaxir found himself laughing. He didn’t just have one active quest right now, he technically had three. He had almost forgotten that.

One of them was the task to destroy one of the branches of the Golden Fleece Guild, the second was related to the secret of the three villages, and the last one was actually the first of the three that he had gotten.

So many things happened that he almost forgot about it.

―

Quest: Resolving a God’s Hatred

Description: You have killed a budding talent of the Minor God of Gravity and earned Their Divine Ire. Servants of the Minor God of Gravity will receive rewards for targeting you...

Objective: ...

―

Jaxir hadn’t even begun to figure out just how he was going to "resolve" a God’s hatred. But he had a feeling that killing more of their followers was most definitely not going to help.

However... if he didn’t do this, and Nick was right, then he would have to give up on clearing the twinkle village quest.

’Do I have a choice?’ Jaxir thought to himself, exhaling out as his laugh finally tapered off.

Just as Jaxir was about to reply to Nick, his eyes sharpened and his gaze shifted to a spot above his head.

A sparkle of Twinkle Mana appeared for a short period of time before it roared into a pillar that pierced through the skies.

Nick looked on for a moment, speechless. "You..."

Seconds ticked by and then as though on some odd timed cue, a pillar shot up above Nick as well.

They both blinked and looked toward one another and then burst into another round of laughter.

"Well, I guess we’re both fucked, then." Nick said.

Jaxir shifted his staff to his other hand and stretched out a palm toward Nick.

"Well, then. Nice to meet you, Nick. I’m Jaxir."

Nick grinned and took his hand. "Nice to meet you, Jaxir. I’m Nick."

Deeper within the mesh point of the three villages, the scenery became truly a work of art. There was beauty within the beauty, the deeper you looked, the more awe there was to behold.

The leaves were impossibly green, carrying a deep richness to them that reminded one of ripe mint. When you looked deeper, the vein patterns were so clear and defined it almost felt like looking at the individual cells of the plant with the naked eye.

A stream nearby misted continuously as it rushed by, arcs of precious rainbow and gorgeous colors exuded from it. And when one looked deeper, koi fish that reflected their own beautiful rainbow scales and fins of silk swam by in a rush against the current.

It was in this beauty that a group of three had gathered. Well, there was a fourth person present, but they somehow felt so very separate from the first three, as though they were a lofty existence that stood in a realm all their own.

She was a woman wearing beautiful purple robes that almost looked cut out from velvet. A blue silk belt tied around her small waist, and she might have been quite the looker herself if her nose wasn’t practically tipped up to the skies as though she couldn’t bother to be in anyone’s presence but her own.

"This will already be your second attempt." The woman said coldly. "Our faction won’t allow in anyone who hasn’t cleared The Secrets of the Trifecta quest. You’ve already screwed all of this up once already, I’m not going to give you a third chance. If you can’t do it this time, then just scram."

The trio looked toward one another and winced.

It wasn’t actually their fault. Before they could take up the quest, a third party had come in.

The quest could only be cleared by up to three people per season. And with the hibernation of the Twinkle Twinkle Bears coming to an end, they were running out of time to take up those slots themselves.

Obviously, there were always third parties that wanted to take on this quest themselves. But those people were usually ignorant. Once they learned that it was a quest monopolized by the church, they usually just let it go and went to farm for the three sets instead.

But this guy hadn’t relented and had almost killed them.

Dying as someone who followed a Divinity was a lot more annoying, because it meant losing your connection to your God and you couldn’t easily get it back. That was another reason why people were so protective of their Healers.

"We will definitely do it this time, Miss Rin." A young man said seriously.

The words felt odd on his lips, especially considering the fact that Tayo was the same age as Rin. But he had learned to swallow his tongue in front of this woman a long time ago.

Before Rin could reply, something tugged at each one of their mana wells.

―

Quick Time Event triggered.

―

Divine Charge Received.

―

[An enemy of the Minor God of Gravity has been spotted nearby. Kill them.]

―

A mark burned into being on Rin’s forehead and she felt her power surge.