The eyelids of the little elf girl trembled slightly before she opened her eyes. Desakor had been talking to Sora about what had poisoned her daughter and turned his attention towards the little elf girl as she slowly rose out of the bed. She seemed scared as she clung to her father, crying when she remembered what seemed like a nightmare to her.

“D-daddy, I d-don’t want to go into the forest anymore.”

“It’s alright sweetheart, you don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”

The little girl calmed down after a little confronting and finally realized that Sora was in the room. She was a bit curious as to why a human was within their village, even more so since he was within the house of the most respected one in the village. A sudden memory surfaced as she looked at his face, it was the last face she saw before she fainted. She was normally shy but managed to properly face Sora, wanting to thank him for saving her from the tiger.

“Th-thank you for saving me from the tiger. If it wasn’t for you then my father may not have been able to cure my poison.”

“No problem, you helped me a lot too. Your healing magic saved my life.”

Desakor had thought Sora would have told her that he was her savior but to his surprise, he didn’t seem to care too much. His evaluation of Sora went even higher as he saw his selflessness. Desakor still decided to clear things up though, the real savior was Sora and he wanted to make sure his daughter knows.

“Actually, Aila, this adventurer here is the one who saved you. He found the source of the poison and even helped purify the substance in the poison that I could not.”

“R-really? A human did what you couldn’t do it?”

“That’s right if it wasn’t for him… I don’t know what would have happened.”

Desakor had a pained expression on as he thought about what might have happened. The expression only lasted a second and a smile of relief appeared soon afterward. The little elf girl, Aila, was shocked at what her father had said. Desakor is the strongest within the village yet he couldn’t do what a human could. She was just like her father, she had no shame in bowing her head to someone who showed a great kindness.

“Thank you, adventurer.”

“Ah, we are sworn brothers now Aila, you should refer to him as Uncle from now on.”

“Thank you… U-uncle.”

Sora felt a bit awkward by the title, he accepted it so as not to upset anyone though. He suddenly remembered something as he heard the little girl call him uncle. Sora opened his reputation page and next to the ‘Hidden Sky Branch Village’ was the word ‘Family’. Sora couldn’t help but let out a smile as he saw the enormous reputation jump. It looks like this hidden quest was a way to get your reputation up instead of doing the normal grind. It may seem a bit ridiculous for such a short quest to boost your reputation by so much but it was actually very difficult to complete it. You had to defeat the named white tiger without the little girl being killed, take her to the village, find the source of the poison, and then help find a substance that can neutralize the corrupt energy. The last step would be the hardest since most people wouldn’t have a type of energy that could purify the corrupt energy, causing them to fail the quest or need to travel all the way back to Var to find Gzarna who owns some of the purifying energy.

Desakor looked at the necklace in his hand. The crystal in the center had become a bit foggy and the glow it once had was now faded away. He only sighed before throwing it towards Sora, who caught it with a confused look.

“This necklace has been with my family for many generations, dating far back to an ancient era. I want you to have it as an award, it served its purpose for me and I hope it will be able to protect you in the future.”

[x1 Crystal Necklace of Devouring Elements obtained]

Rarity - Unique Lore Rare

Durability - 50/50

Requires - Level 50

“A necklace made from a crystal with the ability to absorb energy. The necklace was once used by Aire Mordirion, a graceful elven warrior that used the power of nature to decimate his enemies. His enemies had a special nickname for him, he was known as ‘The Archmage Devourer’ thanks to his ability to absorb any elemental attacks made against him. His name has been long forgotten but his achievements have helped shape the world we know today.”

+20 Constitution

+20 Spirit

+10% of Magic Damage Taken is Converted to Mana

Sora’s heart started beating faster just by looking at the rarity. Not only was it a Unique, it was also a Lore item. Sora equipped the necklace right as he got it, excited about the possibilities it opens for him. Desakor laughed as he looked at the obvious smile on Sora’s face.

“Haha, I hope it serves you well. To be honest, I only gave it to you due to the fact that it sustained damage from absorbing your attack.”

“That’s fine, it will still serve as a useful tool for me.”

“Good to hear, I will be spending time with my daughter for a while. You are my brother now, so don’t be afraid to look around. Our shops will also be open for you.”

Sora suddenly remembered that he wanted to make money from getting his reputation up, he said goodbye to Desakor, Aila, and Avourel and headed down the staircase within the tree. About halfway down he stopped and took a pathway onto one of the biggest branches of the tree that was packed with many different buildings. He was here for one, in particular, that was close by. He walked into the building and saw many different shelves that seemed to be a part of the wall. Sora walked to one of the corners where a large barrel full of a clear liquid was located. The shopkeeper seemed to think Sora was confused and came over to help him out.

“That is the dew from the top of the sacred tree. It isn’t too hard to collect and has the ability to change into the form of an elf for a short while. We haven’t had any humans around these parts so we have plenty stocked up if you’re interested.”

“How much is it?”

“20 Silver per drop.”

“You said you have a lot of it though, right?”

“Well yes, bu-”

“You also said that I was the first human here, right?”

“Eh-”

“You wouldn’t be trying to rip off the sworn brother of Desakor, would you?”

“... 10 Silver a drop is as low as I can go.”

“Ah, don’t have such a glum expression. I’ll make it up to you by buying in bulk, how about six hundred drops?”

[x600 Elven Dew Drop obtained]

-Use this item to transform into an elf for a week.

Sora looked at the beautiful stacks of dew within his inventory. He could easily sell these for 5 gold per drop, maybe even 10 gold if he sold it slowly. Some people were crazy about elves, there was even a huge outrage at the lack of character customization within the game. These people would easily cough up 10 gold to become an elf, even for just a week.

Sora had finally finished what he came here for, he had his pet and picked up a lot of Elven Dew Drops. His next plan of action was to go back to Var and sell the Elven Dew Drops, maybe even making another trip down here after this batch sells. Sora summoned Luna and Snow, riding together back towards Wind Wolf Village.

Sora rode into a clearing after a short journey, revealing the small village that was on top of a hill and surrounded by wolves. Many players could be seen riding some of the wolves while other players were still on foot. A black wolf suddenly rode towards Sora with Blossom on top. She seemed to be having fun with her new wolf and could be heard laughing all the way until she made it to Sora.

“Hehe, what do you think?”

“The guild seems to be making good progress, how many more groups need to finish?”

“Everyone left needs to defeat the bandit boss, he only respawns every half day and it seems only the top fifty contributors get credit for the kill. I think we are on our last group now.”

“Good, I was hoping our guild could recruit a little more, showing off a little would be good for publicity. We need to start growing, especially with another guild popping up.”

“... Ya, it might be tough if my sister is the leader.”

Sora saw Blossom start to get a little upset and acted quickly. He pulled Snow onto the top of Luna’s head, letting him look at Blossom. She instantly snapped out of her stupor as she grabbed the little cub and started to pet it. Her crow must have been jealous since it landed on her head and cawed. She laughed as also reached up to pat Black Devil’s head.

“I have some things to do, you can finish things up here and then leave with the rest of the guild. Tell Nobunaga to form groups to go into Frost Peak Dungeon as soon as he’s done here.”

“Got it!”

“...”

“What?”

“I’m going to need my pet back.”

“Hehehe, oh yea.”

Blossom gave Snow one last hug before giving him back to Sora. The cub curled up on top of Luna once again as Sora set off to Tidal Wave Pass. Sora was able to take the flight service fairly quickly and landed at Var within a short period of time.

Sora went straight to the auction house, not wanting to sell the Elven Dew Drops manually since it would be too tiresome to haggle with every player that came up. He set the Elven Dew Drops to only 5 gold per drop since he wanted to get more money as fast as possible, that was he could buy even more of the drops. He also threw in the Molten Dagger he obtained from the legendary fish, his old sword, and his old necklace. He set these up for real money and didn’t put a limit on their bid price. With that, he left the auction house and headed towards his territory.

…..

“Did you guys also buy the Elven Dew Drops?”

“Ya! We’ve been waiting for you to use them so we can all be in a group together.”

“Hehe, I wonder if it will make me look like a fairy.”

“You’re going to need more than a few drops of water to ma- OW!”

“I’m sorry, my hand slipped.”

The Elven Dew Drops exploded in the market, creating a new fashion trend that popped up within Var. It was most popular with girls since it made their skin clear and even slightly morphed their body and facial structures to look more slender and graceful. Some of the smarter people had already started to try and figure out the source of the drops, wanting to make their own profit while it was still fresh.

Gentle Water looked at the small drop of dew in her inventory, she had been trying to find out what she wanted ever since Sora told her she wasn’t allowed to join the guild anymore. After that she started to think differently, eventually leaving the unofficial guild she was part of since she was just being used to do the work that nobody else wanted to do. She looked at her position differently and finally figured out that she was worth more than she had thought.

“I wonder if he would let me in his guild now…”