Chapter 168 Return To The Lake of Tears, The Troubled Seer
"How did we get out here? More importantly, where are our rewards?" Guan Yu said as he searched his inventory but came up empty-handed. However, the strange thing was that when he at his quest logs, Guan Yu saw that he had successfully completed the quest.
〈System Alert: 1/1 Reach the end of the «Chaotic Dogma Realm».〉
They should have received their rewards by now and the quest should have disappeared from their quest logs. Of course, Guan Yu was restless and excited as he would soon own a piece of epic equipment! He would be amongst the first to do so and his overall combat prowess would soar as a result.
"It is quite odd that it shows the quest as complete, but we do not have the rewards in our possession. It could be that we have to deliver the Sphere of Heslin to Tererestiaa before we receive it." Luna speculated.
"It would have been nice if that was included as a part of the quest. I feel a little cheated at doing all the footwork for free. It's like we've become a delivery service. But, we did acquire a blessing from Tererestiaa last time so I guess I light travel session won't hurt." Halls said with a smile on his face. He was just happy to finally be outside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm.
Izroth and his party started their journey towards the mountain region. It did not take them long to reach the starting area of the mountain region and come across some Mountain Golems. However, since their level gaps were so far apart, the Mountain Golems completely ignored them and did not initiate an attack.
"What's this Lake of Tears like?" Zi Yi asked curiously as they approached the Valley of Death.
"If I had to describe it, it would be a world untainted by the impurities of the outside. It's a very isolated location. The lake itself is quite beautiful and every drop is crystal clear. The Seer Tererestiaa lives in a temple by the Lake of Tears." Luna explained.
"Does she live there all alone?" Valentine asked.
Luna nodded and responded, "Based on what we've previously observed, I believe it's safe to say that she does, in fact, live there by herself. Although, there is a nice little village not too far away. But, the people there see Tererestiaa as a saint."
"That sounds kind of lonely. Living in some isolated place all by herself. This Tererestiaa must be some kind of old reclusive witch." Guan Yu said as he tried to picture her appearance.
"You got it all wrong, brother." Halls said as he shook his head.
A few moments later, Izroth and his party reached the Village of Tears. Once they arrived, they were quickly greeted and treated with the utmost respect. Of course, most of the attention was on Izroth, Luna, and Halls since they all possessed the Blessing of Helilatiaa.
There were three people at the front of the group that welcomed everyone. Two of them were familiar faces, the Great Elder and the head warrior of the Village of Tears, Hajitin. Standing between the both of them was a man past his middle-age, but he still appeared quite sturdy and active. But, he was still much younger than the Great Elder.
NPC Name: Village Chief Soranzan(Elite)
NPC Level: 20
"Welcome, I am the chief of this village, Soranzan. Although this is our first time meeting, I have heard much about you from my head warrior and the Great Elder." Soranzan said in a respectful tone of voice. The last time Izroth, Luna, and Halls were here, he was away from the village.
After exchanging a few small pleasantries, Izroth realized that if he allowed it, this talkative Great Elder would go on forever and try to convince them to stay for a bit. However, Izroth did not forget the main reason he came to this place.
"I see, so you are here to visit she who possesses the eyes of truth. You have the Blessing of the all-seeing goddess, we will not stop you from going freely." Soranzan said after hearing why Izroth and his party had decided to pop in for a visit. After all, the chances they were here for mere sight-seeing was low.
"We would like to leave towards the Lake of Tears right away." Izroth said.
"Ah, business with the great Seer. Yes, you must make haste and make it a priority. Forgive this old man for his senseless ramblings." The Great Elder said as he smiled.
"Would you like for me to guide you there?" Hajitin asked.
Izroth, however, shook his head in response as he said, "There's no need, I remember the way there. I thank you all for your kindness, but we must take our leave now." Izroth was polite to those who were polite to him.
"Then, we wish you a safe journey. May the all-seeing goddess bless your steps." Soranzan said as he gave a slight bow. Soon after, the Great Elder, Hajitin, and the other villagers also bowed as a show of respect as they saw Izroth and his party off.
...
"Those villagers were nice back there." Guan Yu said as he walked in the forest on the path of the Lake of Tears.
"You know, it's a bit surprising to believe such a place even exist in these mountain regions. I've never heard about the Village of Tears before today. It makes me wonder what kind of secrets other places hold." Zi Yi said.
"It's not a place we would have found if not for the quest related to it." Luna explained.
"Hm... I wonder what happened to that Scarlet person. She just suddenly logged off on our return trip once we reached the Village of Tears." Halls said.
"Who's Scarlet?" Zi Yi inquired.
"She was the fourth member of our party during our first quest to this location. However, we did not get to learn much about her." Luna responded.
Around five minutes later, Izroth and his party passed through a gel-like atmosphere as they finally reached their destination, the Lake of Tears.
As Zi Yi, Guan Yu, and Valentine took in the sight of the beautiful surroundings, as well as, the calm, sparkling, and pure lake before them, they were taken aback.
"How pretty...!" Zi Yi said without even realizing it as they approached the nearby temple.
"It looks like a nice place to swim. You think she would let us go for a dive?" Guan Yu said excitedly.
"I would not recommend that you attempt that action, brave adventurer. If one lacks a heart filled with purity, then the lake would instantly consume and purify them." A pleasant voice sounded from the top of the temple steps. This voice belonged to the Seer Tererestiaa.
"That's not an old witch at all." Guan Yu said in a defeated tone of voice. He finally understood what Halls meant when he said that he got it all wrong.
"If we are talking about purity then forget about it, brother. It is your loss." Halls said as he laughed.
"I did not think I would see this place again." Izroth said as he walked up the steps with everyone trailing behind him.
"It is good to see you again, Izroth. I wish you did not always have to spoil your trip here with troublesome matters and that we did not have to always meet under such circumstances. However, new paths are opening up for the future and many things are still uncertain at this point." Tererestiaa turned to walk back inside of the temple as she soon took a seat on the small pillow.
"Is there anything we can do to be of assistance?" Izroth asked.
"We all have your own path to walk. You may not know it, but you have already started down your own path, Izroth. After all, you have not traveled all this way without purpose." Tererestiaa responded.
"You are correct. I was asked to hand a certain item over to you." Izroth said as he removed the Sphere of Heslin from his inventory and held it out in front of him.
"That item..." Tererestiaa appeared to be extremely troubled when Izroth removed the Sphere of Heslin from his inventory.
"Is something wrong?" Luna asked after noticing Tererestiaa's troubled appearance.
Tererestiaa stood to her feet and waved her hand as the Sphere of Heslin disappeared. As soon as she took that action, Izroth received a stream of alerts from the system.
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have completed the quest «Journey To The Chaotic Dogma Realm»〉
〈System Alert: You have gained +2 levels!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded +6 stat points for leveling up!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded +1 skill point for leveling up!〉
〈System Alert: You have received +200 World Fame!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded +1 skill point!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded «Sword of The Storm»〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded «True World Treasure Chest»〉
"I do not have much time to waste. The aura of this item has already been exposed to the outside world during your travels. It is not safe, even at the Lake of Tears. I must hide its presence at once. My apologies, but I will not be able to see you out personally." Tererestiaa said as she walked towards the small statue of Helilatiaa located at the side of the room and placed her palm upon it.
"Then, we shall take our leave." Izroth said as he witnessed the path that led below the temple open up before Tererestiaa.
"You have my thanks once again, brave adventurers. May the all-seeing goddess bless your steps." Tererestiaa walked down to the location beneath the temple as the hidden pathway closed behind her.
'There are still too many unknowns. When I get the chance, I must find a proper way of gathering information.'
Almost instantly after Tererestiaa left the room, everyone immediately became restless and excited. That was due to the fact that they had finally obtained the rewards from the quest!
"Ahahaha! A good day! Indeed, it is a good day!" Guan Yu said in a joyful manner as he could not help but laugh out of pure happiness.
"We should celebrate!" Halls cheered right along with Guan Yu.
Zi Yi let out a sigh of long sigh of relief. She knew that SS-ranked quest would be difficult, but she had still underestimated it.
"You look tired, Zi Yi." Valentine said in a playful way.
"What's weird is that those two have so much energy." Zi Yi said as she shook her head.
Luna smiled as she looked over towards Izroth and said, "What do we do now?"
After those words left Luna's mouth, everyone turned to look in Izroth's direction. If not for him none of this would have been possible. They were all grateful and would not forget Izroth's kindness towards them.
"We return." Izroth said with a carefree expression on his face. Then, along with everyone else, he began to make his way back towards Amaharpe.
...
When Izroth and his party returned to Amaharpe, they decided to go their separate ways and relax after a long journey. Halls and Guan Yu went off to celebrate in their own way. Zi Yi and Valentine decided to log off for a while and take a break, and as for Luna, she chose to visit the event center to claim her rewards and get it out of the way.
At the moment, Izroth as currently inside of Amaharpe's Auction House. The items he put up for sale should have long finished selling by now.
'There is still much left to take care of.'
Izroth still had yet to go through many of the items he received from monsters inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm, as well as, the items he acquired after finishing the quest. But more importantly, it was time for him to collect his earnings from the Five Cycles Pills he put up for auction.