A jolt of pure excitent shot through Kael.
This was new. This didn't happen in the original tiline. In his past life, Nyria’s raid had simply killed the Ant Queen, which then exploded into a shower of loot. The scene playing out before him ant he had triggered a new storyline.
Maybe making that choice back at Norlun's lair was the right call after all.
The wave pattern surrounding the Ant Queen grew sharper, more defined, and a flicker of recognition sparked in Kael’s mind. He had seen this effect before. That afternoon, Nyria had used a skill with an almost identical visual, an ability that had absorbed fifty or sixty thousand points of damage.
But unlike Nyria's static shield, this pattern began to move. The waves swirled and eddied with a life of their own, coalescing from pure energy into a physical form. The light solidified into the shape of a young woman standing before him.
It was Bylgja, youngest daughter of Raegir, the human form of Tydrisa before her tragic transformation.
Tydrisa looked at Kael, her gaze filled with an ancient, appraising light. "Mortal, you have done well to awaken ."
Kael knew exactly what this was. He was about to receive the follow-up quest for the [Tydrisa Bloodline], similar to his own [Apollo's Legacy] questline. He quickly adopted a respectful tone. "The honor is all mine."
"Ivory is a pet I raised to guard these mines," Tydrisa said, gesturing to the massive Ant Queen. "Will you spare her?"
A system prompt appeared before Kael.
System: Spare the life of [Tydrisa's Ant Queen]?
Looking at the complex, hopeful expression on the demigoddess's face, Kael didn't hesitate for a second.
"Yes!"
A wave of relief washed over Tydrisa's features. She nodded at Kael. "You have a kind heart. I saw that you spared Ivory and even Norlun before. I can entrust the stewardship of this realm to you. Treat them well."
System: You have been granted control of the [Tydrisa’s Quarry] Hidden Realm.
Got it. A deep sense of satisfaction settled over Kael.
Just then, Lila burst into the chamber, with Nyria and her followers hot on her heels. Nyria’s eyes flicked from Kael to the spectral Tydrisa standing before him, and her expression instantly turned murderous. But then her gaze fell upon the special, sealed-off cave behind the Ant Queen, and her fury was imdiately replaced by avaricious glee.
He’s locked in a dialogue! This is my chance! Whatever I need must be in there!
Ignoring Kael and Lila completely, Nyria shot like a rocket towards the cave. Lila saw her move and lunged to intercept, but the gap in their speed was too vast. She had no hope of catching her.
Kael, however, just watched her go, making no move to stop her. A playful grin spread across his face. He calmly opened his system nu and tapped a few commands.
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Poof.
Nyria vanished. Not just her, but the hundred-plus players trailing behind her all disappeared into thin air.
Lila stared in utter confusion. "Where did they go?"
"Check your system alerts," Kael said calmly.
At that mont, an announcent echoed simultaneously across two servers.
Server Announcent: Congratulations to player Dawnbreaker for taking control of [Tydrisa’s Quarry]!
Server Announcent: Congratulations to player Dawnbreaker...
Earth Server.
The forums and chat channels were still buzzing about Kael’s exploits from that afternoon.
"Dawnbreaker is a beast, jumping servers to steal bosses and loot."
"I heard that Nyria chick, the strongest player on Thaloria, took two hundred people to fight the boss and couldn't crack it after a week."
"Yeah, and Dawnbreaker went over and soloed it, lmao."
"How can you even compare those Thaloria scrubs to Dawnbreaker?"
"Dude, that's old news. Didn't you hear about the 2v500? Dawnbreaker and Lila wiped out a five-hundred-player gank squad!"
"Was that the one where Lila was just mincing people in the tall grass with Dragonbane?"
"Nah, a different one. They got surrounded on the road and just slaughtered all of them."
"Whoa, is there a video? I gotta see that."
"No video, but soone posted a few screenshots on the forums. It's the top pinned thread."
...
Before they could finish rehashing the day's events, the new server-wide announcent dropped. The Earth server players were stunned into silence for a mont, and then the channels exploded.
"HOLY CRAP, HE TOOK THE ENTIRE HIDDEN REALM?!"
"I am so proud to see Dawnbreaker being an absolute nace on another server."
"Did you guys even see the na? It’s a QUARRY! That ans it’s a goldmine of ore and gems!"
"Who cares about ore? It's everywhere."
"The ignorance on this guy... dude, it's not about being uncultured, it's about not making a fool of yourself in public."
"THE THALORIA SERVER'S SPECIALTY IS GEMS! FOR FORGING AND SOCKETING!"
"Yeah, players on Thaloria start socketing gems into their gear at level 20! How? BECAUSE THEY'RE SWIMMING IN GEMS!"
"Level 20 socketing?! Holy shit! I have one crappy chipped topaz that I'm too scared to put in my level 25 gear!"
"Man, what a waste of potential on them!"
"Not anymore! We're gonna be so rich!"
"Hahaha, I hope Dawnbreaker cos ho soon!"
"I'm going to go level my jewelcrafting skill right now!"
"With what? You got the gems to level your proficiency?"
"I will soon..."
Unlike the jubilant atmosphere on the Earth server, a stunned, dead silence fell over Thaloria.
The Hidden Realm they had spent a week pioneering had been conquered by a single outsider in less than a day.
Many couldn't handle the shock, logging off in tears. A few of the more hot-tempered players rage-quit so hard they smashed their VR helts and pods to pieces.
Back inside [Tydrisa’s Quarry].
Tydrisa announced she was going to establish a teleport nexus outside, then vanished. The near-dead Ant Queen began to regenerate its health, and its status in Kael's interface switched from [Hostile] to [Honored].
Kael's heart sank. You couldn't attack friendly or honored NPCs. Even if you forced it, the kill wouldn't register or grant experience.
Did this an he could no longer farm this place for XP?
He sighed, then walked into the secret chamber behind the now-docile Ant Queen. Inside were three treasure chests. Kael opened them one by one.
From the first chest:
System: You have obtained [Sunfire Distillate].
System: Lucky Bonus triggered! You have received an additional [Sunfire Distillate].
Sunfire Distillate. An essential item for the Awakening questline. Getting two at once was a huge win.
From the second chest:
System: You have obtained [Ant King dallion].
System: Lucky Bonus triggered! Your reward has been upgraded to [Ant Queen dallion].
[Ant Queen dallion]: Randomly summons a leader-class ant boss to fight for you. Duration: 1 hour. Cooldown: 24 hours.
It was a bit weaker than [Norlun's Pendant], but the shorter cooldown made it much more flexible.
From the final chest:
System: You have obtained [Scale of Tydrisa].
System: Lucky Bonus triggered! Your reward has been upgraded to [Blood of Tydrisa].
Kael read the item's description, and his expression froze for a solid second.
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