Chapter 352: Quest completion and continuation

"I'm afraid it is," Deina sighed as she said it. Her tone completely changing as she thought of two special individuals who had also arrived. "Luckily we have not been forsaken."

Confused Eldrian let out a short questioning 'huh'. 

"You likely also never heard of this, it was actually an elf who is a visitor of his majesty who discovered the armies and is continuing to do so."

'An elf? Is it that one?' Eldrian wondered, having only met one other elf. Hence, naturally he could only be thinking of Itireae. "What is so special about her?" Eldrian asked, curious what others knew of her. 

"I don't know," The centaurette replied, leaving Eldrian without words as she giggled. "I did not mean her, she came with his majesty and the old king. They both came to help."

Her voice lifted as she spoke, quickly diving into how she had even met with the king. Eldrian quickly feeling lost as he cared little to nothing for ranks. Even on Earth he often ignored status. 

However, him not caring did not mean he couldn't see why this was good news. Certainly, they would have their personal guards and more than likely they would call a few armies who were not tied down to come over. 

'Likely what she meant with that undead army being harrassed.'

"Sorry, but where are you taking me. I thought we would be going to the command tent."

"There's no one there. Everyone is either on the field or holding certain locations."

"Then where are we going?"

"To the front field," Deine suddenly stopped and turned to Eldrian, blushing a little as she knelt with her front legs. "Get on, it will take too long if we walk."

Without delay Eldrian did as instructed, leaving Deine a little starstruck. Grumbling in her heart that he must not know how great an honor it is for a centaurette to let someone ride them. A man at that.

Eldrian indeed did not know, the suggestion was quite logical and he still wanted to go through the question notifications. After waiting a bit for her to stand back up, Eldrian confirmed that they were off and then called the interface up and his quest specifically. 

[Quest Completed: Cleanse the forest]

[Quest Giver: Pelaros]

[Quest Rank: A]

[Quest Reward: 2 levels]

[Quest Rewards Physical: 1 iron, 1 steel, and 1 silver emblem. Exchange them at an adventurer's guild for the rewards.

[Note: More emblems may be gained by staying and helping in the war. Will you?]

The final note gave Eldrian a yes-no option, naturally he chose yes. Receiving a follow-up quest

[Quest Accepted: Imminent Danger]

[As the player already has a quest connected to the war, quests will be merged.]

[Quest Corruption Spreads and Imminent Danger merged]

[New Quest: Undead Invasion]

[Quest Giver: Taurus Kingdom]

[Quest Rank: Epic]

[Quest Description: The undead have found a way to establish a heaven on earth for themselves. When the kingdom tried to figure out the cause an invasion was suddenly launched, likely due to wanting to keep their secret. The scale of the invasion however feels too heavy for it to be this simple, likely they aim to use this secret to create a strong foothold in the kingdom borders.]

[Quest Goal 1: Help in stopping the undead from gaining a foothold. The bare minimum to call this is a success is by ensuring Pyknos forest does not fall to them. {Difficulty: SS}]

[Quest Goal 2: Find the cause and source of the corruption. The discovery of which might lead to being able to stop more such footholds to be created. {Difficulty: S}]

[Quest Goal 3: Find a way to eradicate the corruption, or at the very least weaken it. {Difficulty: Epic}]

[Quest Goal 4: Ensure that the king does not die. {Difficulty: S}]

[Quest Goal 5: Do not succumb to those aiming for your life and soul. {Difficulty: Epic}]

'Wait! The fuck?!' Eldrian was so shocked by the fifth goal that he almost fell from Deine's back. 'Why would there be a target on me?'

Suddenly Eldrian did not feel quite as comfortable and jumped from Deine's back. His landing was rough, but his actions quick. He immediately used Accelerate, its effects not much but hopefully enough for him to get back to the walls of the fort. They had not gone far yet.

"What?" Deine turned around and looked at Eldrian in utter confusion. 

Eldrian did not care for her confusion, he did not dare stop. Recalling how easily Andreas had hidden amongst their ranks, and fearing that this might be something similar. He only calmed down when one of the other centaurs on guard stopped him. 

"Stop! Who are you?" The centaur shouted, Eldrian immediately throwing up his arms and informing the centaur that he was the Chosen. The only one in the camp. 

"Hmmph." The centaur snorted as he confirmed this, turning to Deine who was coming up from behind.

"Why did you suddenly jump off?" Deine asked, her pride hurt and anger nearly overcoming her. For someone to smear her honor like that. The first person she ever allowed to ride her at that. It cut deep. 

"Sorry," Eldrian turned to face the centaurette, "I just recalled how just a few months ago a devil had hidden amongst us. His disguise so brilliant that not even the commanders knew of his presence."

"Impossible!?" Both Deine and the other centaur exclaimed. 

"It happened, and it resulted in half the team with me dying." Eldrian countered, not wishing to touch the fact that everyone died at the end. "Before I go with you, let me examine you."

"Excuse me!?" Deine exclaimed in shock while the centaur cursed Eldrian for his utter disrespect towards a great healer. 

"If you won't allow it, then I will stay here and wait for Pelaros. He is the only one I will talk with!"

In a standstill Eldrian did not blink, finally, the centaurette caved. "Fine, but make it quick."

"I will make it as long as needed," Eldrian countered, using mana sense with it all focused on the centaurette. He had no idea how good a devil's disguise could be, however, he doubted it would confuse all the observations techniques. 

The first thing Eldrian took in was her normal stats, however, he did not quite trust them. Certainly, Old Sword and the other commanders must have used Observe on Andreas, yet he had managed to stay hidden. 

Eldrian did not care that mana sense was an upgrade, he did not accept just the one. Next, he focused on her mana, two pools present as he had discovered when he first learned Mana Inspection and derived Mana Examination. 

'They seem correct, what about the mana around her? Does she have an aura?" Only after confirming that this was also normal did Eldrian relax. 

"I owe you an apology, seems you were who you said you were." Eldrian bowed a little in a form of apologizing. 

"Can we go then?"

Before saying yes Eldrian finished looking at the new quest he had gained, plus the message from the system. Smiling he finally replied yes. 

[Quest Rewards: Every goal has its own rewards, completing multiple might exponentially increase the rewards.]

[Quest XP Reward: 10 levels, as long as Goal 1 is accomplished]

[Reward Goal 1: Silver Emblem & Official Recognition] 

[Reward Goal 2: Gold Emblem] 

[Reward Goal 3: Magical grade Tier 6 armor set and weapon, or 2,000 Gold] 

[Reward Goal 4: If direct action - Knighthood and choice of reward up to Tier 6] 

[Reward Goal 5: Title - Devils' Bane] 

[Total Completion Reward: 5 Additional levels, 250 Gold, Tier 7 weapon, Nobility: Count, Title: Changer of Fate]

Eldrian was absorbed in the rewards, starstruck and daydreaming until Deine woke him by speaking. 

"We're here,"

"Thanks, now what?"

"Follow me," Deine said as she led Eldrain into the new fort far more impressive than the two before and far larger. A wooden wall followed by a mud one, and finally even a stone one. 

Between the first two there were a few tents for soldiers to rest at and for treatments. Between the second and third were more medical tents and a large number of sleeping quarters. Inside the final wall were a few more medical tents for those injured past the point of simple healing, plus more sleeping quarters. There was even a makeshift blacksmithy for weapon and armor repairs. 

"How long was I out?" Eldrian mumbled as he looked at all this. Unable to accept that this had all been done in just three days. 'I guess if there is more pressure then things can go really quickly. Why didn't they do this from the start?'

Of course, the answer was that a kingdom had much more to worry about than an unknown method of the enemies at a singular location. Without their being proof that it could be adopted and spread again and again the danger of that singular unknown was minimal. 

An invasion however had a massive danger. Just factoring in Kynigo and the surrounding villages and towns would put the loss of life at nearly a million. For a kingdom such as Taurus with vast lands but few people, this loss was never an acceptable amount. 

Finally, Eldrian found himself in front of a brightly colored green tent with bright violet streaks. "I have brought the Chosen!" Deine announced, the door flap lifted up revealing four people. 

"Ah Haru, it is good to see you are well," Pelaros said, relieved that Eldrian seemed to have made it through the ordeal without becoming overpowered by the curse. "Did the attempt reveal anything to you?"

The other three in the tent waited for Eldrian to answer, hoping for good news. Unfortunately, Eldrian had yet to figure out if he had gained anything. 

"I am not sure yet, I have yet to attempt again what I had experienced."