Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 246: Escort Quest

King Teigh was not happy when I sent him a message with the day's events. He was certain that the dungeon we had entered was located in another world and was worried about the ramifications of introducing the Sidhe to another civilization. The Ursula that Bob had fathered was an even more serious development.

A new race with access to the Summerlands, the Wild Hunt, Wild Magic, and the Tuatha de Danaan, was not something that could be taken lightly. A race of Sidhe not native to Talahm and without the background to understand why the Summerlands must be protected at all costs. King Teigh was worried that Asgard and Olympus might gain what they had desired all along, using the naivety of this new race.

I reminded him that the Cernunnos had been born in a similar manner. A race created in a Dungeon and made Sidhe. If System could reconcile one new native species of Sidhe, it could handle two. The messaging feature that System had provided was useful, there was no denying that, but for this discussion, I'd have much rather had it in person. At least we learned that.

There was no way to know where or what universe this world resided in, or what Pantheons had lain claim to the people. Bob and Gloria's mating may have far-reaching ramifications, upsetting established Power structures, but there was no way of knowing what or who those Powers might be.

I admit I resented grandfather's messages, and for the first time wondered if there was a feature to disable the chat feature when it became more of a hindrance than a help. Having someone second-guessing events after the fact was not helpful, and I had to admit that I thought his words held a certain hypocrisy, which I had pointed out. He didn't seem too concerned when he had introduced the Tuatha de Danaan and a System to the world where CERN had been located, but for this, he was worried that Armageddon was about to be unleashed.

Of course, I was over-reacting to his concerns and questions as well. I was reading more into the messages he had sent than he probably meant. I attributed my response to my own bias. I agreed that Bob's actions were irresponsible, and worried about the impact. It made me more defensive than I should have been, and when I reread grandfather's messages later that day, I realized I had inflated his response all out of proportion.

We hadn't been sure about Gloria's status as a dungeon mob or a real person until I had sent her a party invitation and she had accepted. The fact that she was able to group up with us proved definitively that this instance was created using a dimensional rift. Her world truly existed, and the System had used the zones she had described as boundaries between the rest of the world and the dungeon.

The world was real. That did not mean that some of the people, animals, and monsters that we killed would not respawn. We would still have to worry about that dungeon mechanic. The worry about spreading Sidhe's influence to this planet was less of a concern now. There would still be some bleed-over, something that would have to be dealt with, but knowing that claiming the dungeon core would close the rift that created the dungeon should minimize any cultural or societal influence our presence had. With the core claimed and the dungeon closed, our people should never meet again.

"The path to the Palace from here is pretty direct," Gloria said as she began mapping our path into the sand on the seabed. "It spirals inward rather like a conch shell. Each zone requiring a resonating pearl to lower the barrier.

"My necklace has a string of pearls that allow me to pass dozens of zones, but it only works for me. You will need to collect resonating pearls before you can cross the barrier, one attuned for each zone."

[Gathering Quest: Zone Pearls (Note: Chance to drop from all monster types or collected with resources harvested.]

"One thing to keep in mind," she continued. "Each zone boundary is guarded. If we are lucky, we can sneak past, if not we will have to kill the Zone Guardian. The Guardians are all elite, all monsters except for the Royal Guardian protecting the entrance to Conus Burghal."

[Kill Quest: Zone Guardian (0/5)]

"What about the creatures we might encounter along the way?" I asked.

"Fish, beasts, Murlocs, and Lamia will be the largest threat. Normally my guards would protect me, so although I will be able to point out what and where the dangers might be hidden, my fighting skills are almost non-existent."

[Escort Quest: Protect Gloria Conus until she is reunited with her grandfather.]

A gathering quest, a kill quest, and an escort quest. It seemed every other sentence that Gloria spoke triggered a quest. There was no other explanation than System had designated her the focus of this dungeon dive. The only way forward was with her.

"Can we get this started?" Thutmose asked, his impatience evident. "You do remember you are on a time limit, right?"

His complaint was ridiculous, we had barely been on the planet for more than a week. We had plenty of time to conquer this dungeon and claim Ijal. But he had proven himself to be more of a full steam ahead kind of person from the beginning. It was not surprising he was growing impatient.

The fact that I doubted he was getting the quest prompts that Sieph, Bob, and I were probably added to his impatience. He had been able to join our party, but that was temporary. He was still outside the System evolution that was adapting and updating the paradigm we labored under, merging Talahm and Ijal into one cohesive upgrade.