Chapter 254: The Royal Artifacts

"Who gave you this task?!" Aiden repeated the question, looking at Drake with a faint glow emitting from his eyes. His tone, whilst wasn't aggressive, it was no longer friendly either. It carried a coldness that was unlike what the silver-haired adventurous prince was subjected to before.

"I…" Under the scrutinizing and cold gaze of Aiden, Drake found it much harder to form his thoughts into words. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he collected himself, and after regaining a bit of his lost composure, he continued. 

"I am not sure who was the original requestor. It was a special quest posted in the guild's office at the capital. After registering Scarlet and passing her test, we confirmed the objectives with the officers and then accepted it." He explained.

"What were the objectives?" Aiden asked. He was surprised to hear that Scarlet was also aware of the mission but did not speak about it at all when they freed her. Still, the possibility of both of them being sent to the same quest concerned him, making him shelve this thought for the time being.

Although it was not impossible to have two quests with similar objectives, and it was not impossible to accept multiple teams for the same one in cases of culling and gathering-type assignments, for special tasks such as what he and Sarah accepted that shouldn't be happening. Not to mention that this was an assignment given to them directly from Sarah's mother, who seemed to be powerful enough to be considered among the highest-ranking officials in the guild even if she was not officially a member, it was a type of assignment that should be only available for one single, high-ranking team at a time.

"The quest required to investigate the reason behind the increased orc and goblin sightings and check if it has any relation to the newly emerged 'Horde'. If it is, then we are to find more information about the true reason and plans behind that arrival to the outskirts of the Kingdom." Drake answered truthfully.

"I see…" Aiden responded, heaving a sigh, letting the faint glow in his eyes fade out. The quest indeed was similar but not exactly the same. It seems that the threat of these monstrous humanoid creatures made the officials nervous not just in Higrove, the closest to them, but even to the capital's branch as well.

In a much calmer, relaxed tone, and with his usual friendly smile on his green, primal goblin face, he continued.

"That's good, me and my team have similar objectives, that we got from Higrove." 

Then, he reached out with his right palm.

"What do you say if we team up and work together then? We want the same, and it would go faster for the both of us if we're to work together."

Drake didn't really need to think much about the offer, he knew exactly how powerful this boy was. Matching Aiden's gaze with his own, determined look, he accepted the boy's offered hand and shook it. 

"Sure, I would really like that!"

Then turning around and shifting his attention to the brute, long-haired orc standing behind his friend as a stoic, silent guardian, he asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"What is the deal with him then? Can he really be trusted? Aren't you afraid, he will betray us?"

Shaking his head, Aiden responded to his questions with a chuckle.

"Don't worry about him. Roas is faithful and will never betray me or us. He is not just a powerful warrior but one gifted with magic as well."

Seeing his silver-haired friend still wasn't convinced, Aiden simply let out a smug smile, not willing to elaborate any further. Turning around, he focused on the opened metal door in front of them.

"Anyway, we should leave and resume our mission. We need to be faster than this, as this building is huge, and our objective is on the higher floors." Shifting his gaze downwards briefly, he only whispered his last thoughts. "Not to mention, I have to investigate the lower reaches as well…"

Although he couldn't understand what Aiden was muttering under his breath, Drake did catch his brief glance and change of expression as he cast his sight downwards. He found it strange but knowing the boy well enough by now, he didn't inquire further, instead, he stretched his limbs. 

After finishing his exercise and refreshing himself just enough to leave this godforsaken room, he suddenly revealed a similar-looking talisman on his neck that wasn't visible before. What was surprising that not even Aiden's [Dark Sense] or the system seemed to notice before. The talisman had a similar circular shape to what Lily had, but with a dark-blue ball-shaped gemstone etched in its middle, serving as its core.

Closing his eyes as he gently touched the small gemstone, Drake began chanting a few ancient words. Aiden had to really focus his attention to be able to hear it, but strangely, the system did not seem to start any analysis process on it. At the very least, it did not give any notification to him. 

Puzzled by this, Aiden did his utmost to focus on the slightest of Drake's movements and his chant, but regardless, the system remained silent. However, before he could attempt further, Drake seemed to complete the chant. The dark blue gemstone suddenly lit up, leaving Drake's right palm, and began to levitate in the air, in front of its master. In the next moment, a familiar-looking, adorned, lavishly-decorated sword appeared in Drake's now-empty right hand. The talisman finished with its job, flopped back to his neck, and vanished from sight once again.

Opening his eyes, Drake gripped the hilt of his beloved blade with a smug, satisfied smile stretching across his face. Turning toward his surprised audience, his smile curved even higher, turning into a grin instead.

"I am ready, let's go!"

"What was that just now?" Aiden asked with a surprised look on his face. The fact that his system didn't give him any information and didn't start any analysis puzzled him to no end.

"Oh, this?" Drake touched the invisible talisman hanging on his neck, turning it visible once more. "It's a family heirloom, only the direct descendants of our bloodline are able to get these. It has a few handy uses, one of them is an emergency storage device. I hid my weapon inside before I tried infiltrating this place."

"How does it work? Can anybody use it?" Aiden inquired further, eager to know the secret behind his system's silence."

Before Drake could answer any of the questions he raised, another, much more important one.

"Also… Can these items sense, and locate each other? If I remember correctly your sister said something like that you felt one from here. Strangely though, he did not mention any of this quest you guys are on. Why is that?"

Hearing the question, removed the smirk from Drake's face, replacing it with a troubled look.

"Well, the quest was supposed to be a secret assignment. We were told not to reveal any of its details to anyone." Drake admitted, continuing before Aiden could interject. "As for the talisman. Yes, all of the royal heirlooms have a sort of connection and are capable of sensing each other when they are close. We felt the faint, but clear signal from this camp." 

Thinking back to it, he heaved a sigh before continuing with a gloomier expression.

"However, once I got captured, this signal suddenly vanished…" 

"Are you absolutely certain that the signal came from one of these artifacts?" Aiden asked, listening to his silver-haired friend's story. "Could it be that it was just some sort of trap set up to lure you in?" Glancing over to Roas, he continued. "The orcs have the ability to monitor the surroundings with some unknown method, and it is very likely that they have spotted you guys without you and your sister noticing."

"I…" Aiden's reveal was shocking, and the possibility of them being lured directly into a trap was a troubling thought. "I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be possible for these orcs. Doing something like that requires very high-level magical knowledge and a very thorough understanding of the royal artifacts. Not something a primitive, barbaric race as these orcs should be capable of."

His words may have sounded condescending, but it was actually true. While it was indeed possible to achieve such a feat, it was certainly not something that such a brutal race as these orcs or in fact, the goblins would be capable of. Not to mention their lack of magical aptitude but it would be impossible for them to have such deep historical knowledge about the bloodline of the royal family. 

Listening to Drake's words, only revealed a knowing smirk on Aiden's face, surprising Drake. However, his slight surprise quickly turned into a deep shock as he heard his next words.

"Hmm… and what if I tell you that there are beings with powers beyond even mine from another world acting as the true leaders of this horde? There were powerful wardings and even stone guardians protecting this place?"

***

Please read the author's note just below! Thank you!