Without unsheathing his sword, Elliot ran to the thugs.
"Reveal," Ron said and held a wide grin in his face.
'Hostile Human detected.'
<< Ronny >>
Level 62
Elliot's eyes widened but he didn't stop.
"Hasty Aspire!"
His knee landed on one of the thugs, with Ron avoiding it. The thug spat blood after Elliot's attack landed on his stomach.
Elliot stood and looked at the thug without anything else in his face except fury.
It was like he was losing control.
Something inside him keeps feeding him negative energy. Feeding him dark energy. And he was willingly swallowing everything that's being handed to him.
"You're hiding behind a mask? Pathetic," Elliot snickered. "Supreme Malevolence!"
'< Multicast > unlocked.'
"Hasty Aspire!"
Elliot bolted towards Ron at an alarming speed. The big thug wasn't able to see Elliot's movements. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on his stomach while his face was on the ground, Elliot was stepping on his back.
"I know bullies like you," Elliot threatened. "I know you like to prey on the weak, well guess what?"
He leaned in and whispered, "I like to prey on the bullies."
Ron couldn't help but shiver in fear. He saw something in Elliot. Something dark. Something frightening.
He saw a monster.
"Argh!" Ron yelled. "But he owes our guild 100 gold coins!"
Elliot opened his wallet and smacked a hefty amount of gold coins beside Ron's head. The cemented ground formed a crater by how strong Elliot slammed his hand.
"All this trauma for 100 gold coins?!" Elliot got even angrier.
"Ethereal–"
'Cast blocked.'
'Cast canceled.'
"What?"
Ron pushed Elliot and stood. He took the money before running away with his thug friends.
Meanwhile, Elliot sat on the dark alley, reading the messages.
'Sudden Quest [ Defeat the Thugs ] completed.'
'Nail of Sonova received.'
'Bonus achieved.'
'Hair of Sonova received.'
Elliot let out a sigh. He returned to his right mind.
What have I done? That wasn't me.
"I'm sorry," Ed crawled over. "I accidentally canceled your skill. I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?" Lance said, walking towards them. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ed replied. "But I couldn't control my ability. I cancel skills unintentionally. Sometimes, I even cancel buffs. It's frustrating."
"Thank you," Elliot said.
Ed looked at him, his eyebrows knitting in confusion. "W-What?"
Elliot sighed, "If you hadn't stopped me. I might have killed that guy."
–
The next day, Ed was bowing in front of Team Lance's table at the guild house.
"Thank you for yesterday," Ed said. "I will pay the 100 gold coins back soon."
"You should…" Elliot trailed off, looking at his friends to gain their approval.
Lance and Connor nodded.
"You should join our team," Elliot finished. His words made Ed lift his head.
"What?"
"Well, it's going to take you a very long time if you pay up with how you're earning now," Lance said. "You can just join us and pay us with half your cut in the quest."
Ed scrunched his forehead, "Half? I can pay you full."
"You don't have to," Connor chuckled. "We'll still give you half so you can buy things."
"Really?" Ed's face lit up. He bowed once more, "Thank you so much!"
"Let me add you to the party," Lance informed.
'Lance wants you to join his party.'
< Accept > < Decline >
When Ed accepted the invitation, Elliot told him to sit with them. They got to know Ed more now that he's with them.
It turns out, all their first impression with Ed was wrong.
He only wanted to have a party to belong to since he owes the Tattered Gates Guild money when he paid for the family of the teammates he lost. He said he couldn't talk about what happened because he would remember his previous teammates and feel guilty.
Although he wasn't convicted physically, the mental jail it tolled on him was even worse.
The group was in front of the quest board.
"There's a new Comet dungeon," Elliot said, reading the quest. "Should we do it?"
"That's not a new dungeon," Lance said. "That's a returning quest. I think the beasts in the dungeon repopulated. The previous Adventurers might not have eliminated all the beasts inside."
"Beasts are indeed very fast with reproduction," Elliot sighed. "Should we take it?"
Lance thought about it for a few seconds, "There are no other Comet quests. For now. And I'm sure Frederick will definitely kill us this time if we steal another one of his secret quests."
"I think we should," Connor said. "What do you think, Hope? Ed?"
Hope just nodded while Ed was startled. He didn't expect for them to count his opinion in.
"I thought I don't have a say in this," Ed said, scratching his nape in embarrassment.
"What do you mean?" Elliot pouted.
"Other parties only wanted me for the head count," Ed said with a sad smile. "I was never actually asked for my opinion."
Lance flicked his finger on Ed's forehead, "We're not those other parties, aren't us? We're a party. Everyone'snopinion matters."
"I could open a shop with all that cheesiness," Elliot teased that made Lance scoff.
"And who did you think I got that line from?" Lance quirked his brow up.
"Connor told me that's what you told him when you first met."
Elliot gasped and narrowed his eyes at Connor, "I feel betrayed."
Connor smiled awkwardly at Elliot, "Err. I'm sorry."
"Well, anyway, will we take this quest?" Lance asked.
"Yeah, sure," Elliot agreed.
"Yes, finally a Comet," Connor grumbled. "I can't level up enough with just Meteor anymore."
"Flaunting being on Level 38, eh?" Elliot teased.
"No, I mean, I want to get stronger too," Connor said. "So that I could help more."
"I even think Hope has more help than you," Lance snorted that earned him an elbow by Connor. "I'm kidding. Relax."
"Seriously though, I'm dying for this quest," Connor said. "Have you been in a Comet quest before, Ed?"
Ed shook his head, "I could only join Meteorite and some Meteor quests before."
"Well, you're going to join Comet quests from now on," Elliot slung his arm around Ed's neck. "We're a party!"
Ed nodded, "We're a party."
They went to Glitch to register them, signing the waiver once again. After that, they returned to their rooms to prepare.
"The quest will start tomorrow morning," Lance said. "It's not that far, so we only have to travel half a day tomorrow."
"Yes, captain," Elliot said, uploading the quest.
'Quest uploaded.'
[ Fire Salamander's Dungeon
Reward: 750 gold coins
// The Fire Salamander's Dungeon has opened once again. Clear the dungeon. ]
No Creator Reward? Elliot thought disappointingly.
He was about to hand in the quest to Lance when Ed walked over.
"Uhm, Elliot?" Ed called. "Can I read it?"
"Yes, sure," Elliot said and gave the paper.
Ed grinned, finally feeling the belongingness. Elliot chuckled at his new friend's reaction.
"I'll sleep first," Lance said. "Ed, you can keep the paper tonight."
"Okay," Ed smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
"Ah, you don't have to thank me," Lance grinned. "Welcome to the party."
Lance left Ed and Elliot who was still in awe with his new potion. He was sure to drink it tonight.
<< Tonic of Sonova >>
Recipe:
Eye of Sonova X1
Nail of Sonova X1
Hair of Sonova X1
Elliot brewed the ingredients from his Inventory. The waiting time was longer this time.
He already know that when an item is high level, the crafting time takes longer. When potions that only replenish 1,000 HP or 100 MP, it was almost instantaneous.
This brew is OP. Elliot thought and grinned.
'<< Tonic of Sonova >> Brewing Completed.'
"Nice. Ed, I'll go on first…" Elliot was about to stand when he saw Ed visibly shaking.
"Ed? What's wrong?" he scooted over and gasped at the trembling Ed.
Tears were falling down Ed's eyes who were filled with mixed emotions. Pain, regret, sorrow, and fear. All those combined and multiplied a couple of times. That's what Elliot saw.
"Ed, are you okay?" Elliot asked. "I'll call Midnight–"
"No," Ed held his hand. "Please, no."
"What are you saying? You're scared about something," Elliot said. "Did someone scared you? Did Ron came back?"
"No," Ed hushed. "T-The quest…"
"Why?"
"My previous party was killed in that quest."
"Let's cancel it," Elliot said without hesitation.
"No," Ed stopped him once more. "You're all so excited for that quest. I will not ruin that."
"You argue too much," Elliot sighed. "And it's okay. There are plenty of Comets out there. Maybe we'll steal another one of Frederick's secret quests. At least we can divide the punishment. There's leverage when he kills us."
"Please, Elliot," Ed pleaded. "And I also want to finish this quest for them. Maybe then, I'll be free."
Elliot scratched the back of his head. "Fine. But one panic attack and we're out."
"But the penalty–"
"That's not important," Elliot said. "Once again, we're a party. No party member left behind, okay?"
Ed smiled and nodded, "Okay. Thank you, Elliot."
Elliot grinned. "Don't worry about it."
Ed exhaled and stared at the quest.
I will conquer you.