Kael nodded. "That's right. The Rat is a level 50 Mythic-rank boss."
A sharp, collective intake of breath went through the room. "A level 50 Mythic!"
They all looked at each other. The highest level player in the room was Kael at 35. Take on a level 50 Mythic-rank boss? It sounded impossible.
Although they trusted Kael, no one believed he could survive a direct confrontation with such a creature. Still, they didn't question him. They had been with him long enough to know he never acted recklessly. If he said they were doing this, he had a plan.
Kael read the worry on their faces and offered an explanation. "Our objective is the Staff of Whispering Clouds in its possession, not to kill the Rat itself."
Lila looked confused. "How do we get the staff without killing it?"
Kael nodded. "Simple. We feed it until it's full."
"Feed it?" The group was even more bewildered.
Kael didn't elaborate on the mission's chanics. Instead, he started giving out assignnts.
"Lila, you'll lead a ten-person team. You'll be the core, with nine curse-focused supports backing you up. Before you set out, go to the Land of the Behemoth and buy Potent Anti-Toxin Potions. Each of you needs a full stack."
"Got it."
"Hazel, you'll also lead a ten-person team. You'll be the tank, supported by one or two healers. The rest will be magic DPS."
"Okay, Sir."
Orion, not yet assigned a task, quickly raised his hand. "What about ?"
A smirk played on Kael's lips. "You're on pet duty."
"What? No way!" Orion protested. "I want to fight! I want to be with… with everyone!"
Seeing his desperation, Kael grinned. "Is taking care of Norlun really such a hardship? Fine. You can take a support with you."
Orion imdiately seized the opportunity. "This is your prized pet! It deserves the best protection. I demand that Crimson Bloom assign their top support to this crucial task!"
Kael knew exactly what he was doing; he just wanted to be on a team with Rena. But that wasn't his call to make. He glanced at Lila. She t his eyes, understood, and nodded.
"Rena," Lila said to the girl next to her. "You go with Orion."
"Okay." Rena's face turned a light shade of pink.
Finally, Kael outlined his own role. "I'll take two support players. That brings us to twenty-five people, split into four groups. Every single group is critical. If even one of us fails, the entire mission is a bust, and we'll have to wait three days for the next attempt. So, everyone needs to be extrely careful."
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"Right!" they all replied in unison.
"Now, let's go over the details for each route. First, everyone needs to bring Gills Potions. Hazel's team, you'll need at least two bottles per person…"
Kael spent the next hour ticulously detailing every aspect of the plan.
Finally, he clapped his hands together. "Those are the key points. If anything unexpected happens, ssage imdiately. Alright, everyone go get prepared. Grab a bite to eat. We'll et at the west gate of Stormhold in one hour."
"Let's do it!"
After the group dispersed, Kael used a Pass Token and teleported to Stormhold. He'd only been here once since his return, when he was looking for Isolde. This Mythic-rank quest, he knew, was connected to the Veins running deep beneath the main city.
He made his way to a quiet residential area in the southeast corner of the city. The five houses here were modest but comfortable, with front yards and back gardens. Kael strolled past them, and in the backyard of the fourth house, he found who he was looking for.
A middle-aged couple was working in a vegetable garden. The man, Miles, and his wife, Diane, were talking as they tilled the soil.
"What a day," Miles sighed. "Got a right earful from the Captain for no good reason."
"A little ti off is good for you," Diane said cheerfully. "You're always so busy, I can never get you to help with the weeding. Now's the perfect chance to tidy up the garden."
"It's like the place is haunted," Miles grumbled. "Everything else in the city is fine, but the alarm at the teleport nexus keeps blaring. We can't find anything wrong with it."
"You know, I don't think it's a bad thing," Diane mused. "All the rats in our house have disappeared these past few days. Lenny ntioned he saw them scurrying west, out of the city."
"That's won's talk, Diane. Trivial gossip. I might be about to lose my job, and you're talking about rats."
Hearing that, Kael quietly slipped away. No quest notification had appeared, but he knew he had just fulfilled the first hidden prerequisite.
After leaving Miles's house, Kael headed west. Near the city's west gate, he found a group of young n lazing about on haystacks at a farm.
It was broad daylight, but they were clearly slacking off. Kael approached one of them, a youth nad Lenny, and clapped him on the shoulder. When Lenny didn't react, Kael simply kicked his legs out from under him.
Lenny scrambled up, glaring at Kael. "Who the hell are you, looking for trouble?" The other four youths surrounded Kael, their expressions nacing.
Kael took out a pouch and tossed 50 silver coins on the ground. "I'm here for Lenny. The rest of you, beat it."
At the sight of the money, the youths cheered. "Aweso! I can go to the casino! I'm gonna win big this ti!" They snatched the coins off the ground and scattered.
Seeing how freely Kael threw his money around, Lenny's hostile deanor vanished, replaced by a sickeningly sweet smile. "My good sir! What can I do for you? I'll have you know, there's nothing that happens in Stormhold that I don't know about."
Kael got straight to the point. "I heard you saw a large number of rats leaving the city from the west. Is that true?"
Lenny nodded eagerly. "Saw it with my own two eyes. They were all scurrying into a cave west of here."
"Just rats? Did you see anything else?"
Lenny scratched his head, then mumbled, "Well, uh, I'm a bit hungry. Haven't been eating well lately… makes my mory fuzzy, you know?" His eyes darted toward Kael's coin purse.
Without a word, Kael tossed him a gold coin.
Lenny's face lit up. "Ah, yes! It's all coming back to ! The rats went into the old desolate cavern. And there was a massive rat sleeping in there. Bigger than , it was!"
"Good. I know what I need to," Kael said, turning as if to leave.
Lenny quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait! The governor's n have sealed up that cave. You can't get in that way."
Kael stopped and looked at him.
"But," Lenny continued, "I know another way in. It's connected… though it's been a while, I can't quite recall…" He stared pointedly at Kael's purse again.
Kael threw another gold coin at him.
Lenny caught it and bead. "There's an underwater entrance at the bottom of the river to the west. If you swim through it, it'll lead you right into the cavern. The coordinates are 3892.1022."
Finally, a notification chid in Kael's mind.
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