Before the morning sun even rose, Zeke already finished dealing with all the monsters in the forest. There were some that stirred up a bit of trouble but, his four generals easily dealt with these troublesome foes. With the end of his hidden quest, these are t he skills that have been added to the ones which he can make use of.
[Skill Name: Peerless Bladesman]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: The skill owner becomes 5% more proficient in the use of any bladed weapon.]
…
[Skill Name: Master Bowman]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: The skill owner becomes 5% more proficient in the use of any archery based weaponry.]
…
[Skill Name: Craftsman]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: The skill owner becomes 5% more proficient in crafting weapons, armor, and accessories.]
…
[Skill Name: Ground Spikes]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 70]
[Information: Allows the caster to create spikes that shoot out of the ground. The length and piercing capacity are dependent on the skill's rank.]
…
[Skill Name: Poison Cloud]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 70]
[Information: Creates a cloud of poison on the intended location for the caster. The skill is effective on all kinds of opponents. Damage varies depending on the monster's rank. Enemies who leave the area of the Poison Cloud's effect will have it wear off after a minute.]
…
[Skill Name: Lesser Wind Element Resistance]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: Makes the skill owner 5% more resistant to all wind attributed attacks and debuffs.]
...
[Skill Name: Warrior's Toughness]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: The passive owner is 5% resistant to all types of attacks.]
…
[Skill Name: Slime Tamer]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 20]
[Information: Allows the user to tame the slimes encountered. Tamed slimes can evolve depending on the quality of nurturing.]
…
[Skill Name: Mage's Wisdom]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: Adds 5% to the gamer's mana points and grants +10 Intelligence attribute.]
…
[???]
…
The last skill looked problematic but, Zeke didn't mind it at the moment because he's already feeling lightheaded. Zeke wasn't able to get any sleep because, the monsters he conjured will disappear once he loses consciousness. Hence, he stayed up with his minions, wishing that he could get some shut eye soon as he neared the camp.
Another great bonus that came with this quest is that, his monsters also grew in rank and in level. Right now, all they need is for Zeke to reach level 40 and they will gain an evolution. Aside from this, Zeke and Allesiah also leveled up. Zeke is now level 38 while Allesiah has just reached level 30.
"I hope Miss Windsprite won't attack me this time. I might just stab her and kill the other two if I don't get any peace of mind." Zeke said, just wanting to get things done with.
As he reached camp, the two Windsprites are still sleeping. Glade is out on the lookout so Zeke approached him first.
"Hey, good morning there." Zeke said as he stepped down from the tree.
"Oh, you're back? Thank god you're safe. We kept on hearing the wailing sound of monsters all night long." Glade said.
"Uhhh yeah." Zeke replied, not wanting to tell Glade that he is actually the cause of all that noise.
"Did you get some sleep?" Zeke continued, noticing a pendant that Glade is hiding underneath his clothing. He was only able to see a part of it but, it looked something similar to old man Felroy's cane.
"Not much, I got most of the guarding duties. I am a servant of the Windsprites after all." He replied.
"Must be tough on you." Zeke said, sitting down on a tree and patting the empty space beside him; motioning for Glade to sit there.
"But the monsters." Glade said, sounding worried that monsters may come.
"Believe me, there won't be monsters coming here anytime soon." Zeke replied.
He wanted to sleep right away but, if he sleeps now, it may take him a long time to wake up. If there's one thing that Zeke never wants to break, it's a healthy sleeping habit. This is because, he is a heavy sleeper. The effects are even aggravated when he's completely tired and drained. He'd turn into the kind that, even if you place his sleeping body in a concert, he won't be waking up anytime soon. Hence, he decided to stay awake until they reach the next town.
With this, Glade sat beside him and they had a small conversation. Zeke wanted to know more about the elves and their culture. To him, there are things that can only be learned through the ones who experienced things first hand. And the thing that interested him the most is…
"The human rebellion?"
"Yes, do you know anything about it?" Zeke asked.
"You can actually read it in books." Glade replied.
"Yes. I can. But history is not kind to its subjects. Those words can be twisted and turned depending on what the people in power wants to place in it. What I'm, asking you is, the real cause of rebellion and the real sequence and reasons for the events." Zeke said, closing his eyes.
"For a human, you sure are wise Master Zeke." Glade said. Zeke isn't able to see it with his eyes shut but, Glade is now smiling at him.
"I'm guessing that means you'd tell me right?" Zeke continued.
"it's not like I have a choice. You save me and my mistress twice. Furthermore, you reunited her with Lady Allesiah and are now even working toward reuniting the three sisters." Glade said, sounding happy about the things that took place.
"There are some things that I want to ask about that actually. But I'll leave it for later. Right now, I just want the information you can give me."
"Understood." Glade replied with a smile on his face.
There are three key points in the story that Glade has told him. The first one is how the humans and the elves actually began on equal terms. 'During the reign of the first king, anyone who can fight is given honor. Thus it didn't matter if you are human or elf. If you can fight and you can win, then you are to be respected.' Were the words that Glade said.
This meant that, territories are settled with fights, either through duel or through a small skirmish between factions. Things shifted with the coming of the second king. He despised humans especially because, he was once defeated by one. Seeing them as the inferior race, he completely destroyed the laws of the first king, creating a kingdom ruled by elves, with humans as slaves and lower elves as servants.
This is the second point to the story. The humans never forgot about the way things were done before and wanted to restore this. However, whenever they tried negotiating peacefully, they would only be shown violence and nothing more. This led the humans to be more spiteful and hateful of the elves which, led to the third point.
The rebellion is something that everyone thought would come one day. But seeing how docile the humans became throughout the years, the elves thought that this may never come after all. But then, a single human rose on top of every other. He created a group and, slowly spread his influence to all humans who lived in the capital of Elysium.
"He had the strength to back up his determination." Glade said.
This man resembled the first king more than any elf king ever has and, with him leading, the humans of the capital began the rebellion. This man stood at the front of the battlefield while the current King of that time hid inside his chambers, laying with his women as the enemies continued striking.
Like every other king, he has his pride and thought that humans are nothing but insects. Even the soldiers thought this way and took the merry band of rebels lightly, a decision they soon came to regret.
The humans advanced slowly and, soon after, they've almost gotten half of Elysium's capital within their grasp. But then, disaster struck as the prince mobilized everyone efficiently. With the wave of the battle shifting to the elves, the humans decided to create one last blow to the capital. They stormed the castle, dominating the forces as the rebel leader led the march.
They knew that it is only death that awaits them but, they wanted it to be a death which would leave a dent in history. With this, the rebel leader dueled with the king. Fought him at his best and, was able to come out victorious. It is here that, his name has been recorded in history and, in all the wanted posters around Elysium.
"Hark - The King Slayer."
As Glade's narration ended, Zeke opened his eyes and saw the morning sun about to rise. The sisters have also woken up at this point and, although Sylph still didn't get along with Zeke, Glade promised him that there would be no more hostility or sneak attacks.
At this, the group advanced toward the town and with their coming are also the final preparations of the enemy forces.