"Help me defeat the Goblin King."
The wind whistled past as if aiding Lysar in carrying her words to her saviour's ears.
For minutes, they were both silent.
Lysar said nothing, not even a whisper escaped her lips. On the other hand, Sethryn did not know what to say.
He did not respond for those minutes of silence because he feared that he would utter something wrong, seeing how broken the elf girl already was.
...
...
...
Sethryn was in deep thought. He was analysing the best possible ways of tackling the problem he had at hand — defeating the Goblin King.
He was still a level 2 character in Alderix. If he had gotten any stronger, it would be just a little above the Red Orc he battled in the past before entering the Tower.
Sethryn could tell that he was not yet strong enough to confront the Goblin King.
However, he had one problem and his problem had to do with the potential of the Goblin King.
Was she growing stronger at the present time while he wasted time?
Was her level of strength fixed as is common with antagonist characters or arc villains in most of the games he had played?
A sigh escaped his lips.
Thinking about it was exhausting. He itched, shook his head and glanced at the sky as if he expected the answers he needed to come down like the rain.
Sethryn clicked his tongue. Confused but unrelenting, he conjured his status screen with a thought.
How was he possibly going to get stronger?
He needed to defeat the Goblin King if he had any hopes of clearing the 2nd Floor.
Sethryn stopped wallowing in his depressing thoughts for a second and looked at his elven companion, who was cleaning the tears from her eyes.
"How powerful is the Goblin King?"
Lysar sniffled and kept mum as though she was searching her brain for the right words that would give an apt description of the Goblin King.
Her lips parted and those words escaped.
"Father used to say she was faster than an eye's blink. Fast enough to slay many elves before they could see her coming—"
"Damn. That's fast," a whisper escaped Sethryn's lips.
Faster than an eye's blink?
Sethryn could only imagine how fast she was. The Red Orc was not half as fast as what Lysar described yet the red beast gave him trouble and tested him in battle.
The elf continued to speak, "Growing up I heard stories about the battle between the Goblin King and the valiant elf warrior, Valor, who also happens to be my uncle.
"My father used to tell us that they fought through the night, leaving utter destruction of the forests in their wake. Theirs was a battle that could not be interfered with because of how powerful they were..."
Sethryn goes on to interrupt her, "And in the end, your uncle was defeated."
Lysar nodded. "Yes... and the doom of the elves began."
From her brief narration, Sethryn could gauge the difference in strength between him and the Goblin King. It was wide but not insuperable but he would need time... a lot of time.
Time to prepare himself.
...
...
...
"I have a something to ask you, Lysar."
Lysar's eyes widened in anticipation of her saviour's request. She was indebted to him for saving her life and would do whatever he wanted just to show how grateful she was.
"If I'm going to fight the Goblin King then I need a place to prepare myself. For that, I need a place of isolation, better even if it's fit for hunting."
"Like a place full of magical beasts?" she asked with a curious look smeared on her face.
"Exactly."
Lysar shook her head.
"I do not know anywhere around here. Most of my life was spent in the emerald mine. If Elon was here, he would have listed out a few places."
Sethryn sighed, his hope was about to be crushed by the gentle words of this elf girl.
"You've never heard of those places."
Lysar thought for a bit, a finger to her chin. She snapped her fingers and turned to Sethryn in excitement.
"There's this place that father used to talk about but you will have to pass through Eldarion to get there."
"And Eldarion is goblins' territory now, I suppose?" Sethryn asked.
Lysar nodded.
"Yes, it is."
The fact that goblins had dominated the elven village of Eldarion was not reason enough to change his mind.
A few green footsoldiers of the Goblin Kings will not be a big problem.
"What's the name of this place?" he inquired further.
"The great shrine of our ancestral spirits, the Great Forest Temple. I hear that even the goblins dare not desecrate it since they are worshippers of the spirits of the earth and forest as well."
Sethryn was ready to try out something he had noticed from his status screen but no opportunity presented itself for such.
With the possibility of a battle with the malevolent Goblin King in sight, this was the best time to test it and see how much he would grow.
"Synapse, locate the Great Forest Temple on the map."
[ The Great Forest Temple Located ]
"Activate Map Function: Teleport Skill."
<< You Have Activated Map Function: Teleport Skill >>
<< Destination: The Great Forest Temple >>
With an outstretched hand, he welcomed Lysar to join him.
Sethryn's mouth widened into a grin.
"Time to gather some experience points."
...
...
...
Meanwhile, down a massive crevice in the mountains of the Cage of Jogund, with flights of steps that laid under the ground to one of the emerald mines.
It was the particular mine from whence Freya, Lysar and Elon had escaped.
The report had reached the Goblin King and she decided to come and confirm it herself.
Infuriated by the incompetence of her men that stood watch on that night, she drew upon her bludgeon and smashed their heads in, splurting a purple fluid all over her body.
An order was issued right there to capture the escapees either dead or alive.
Jogund was not going to allow her rule to be seen as fragile. She was not going to tolerate any weak links.
Such vulnerabilities were taken care of as soon as they were noticed.
Freya and Elon were eventually captured but Lysar was yet to be found by the goblins.
And to make an example of them, to exert her dominance over her elven slaves... Freya and Elon were executed.
The young elves were decapitated in cold blood and their heads hung on long spikes for their elven kin to behold and be reminded of the fate that awaited them if they ever plotted an escape.
Until the present day, the elves have obediently followed the orders of their goblin slavers. Not resisting or debating, whatever it was that their green masters wanted was done.
Their lives had gotten even more miserable.
...
...
...
The Goblin King sat on the highest platform constructed in the mine and was covered by a shade that effectively shielded her against the sun.
She peered down and observed as the elves laboured tirelessly.
That was how she want it to be and so it was.
A murder of crows descended from the sky, cawing and settling on Freya and Elon's heads, along with the many heads that were hung beside them.
The black birds chopped the flesh off the deceased bit by bit without any hesitation.
Jogund's eyes were casually strolling over the mine when she felt a sensation within her that troubled her.
She rose immediately, flustered by the strange feeling.
Jogund had every reason to believe what she felt. It was not instinct but something she was absolutely sure about.
Someone had traversed her barrier and this same person possibly headed to the one place she could not reach in all of Emeraldia.
The Great Forest Temple.