The teleportation plaza was still lightly populated, most players either out grinding or licking their wounds after the recent siege. Damon approached the shimmering teleportation gate and selected his destination. freēwēbnovel.com
He paid the fee, and the portal shimmered brighter. A heartbeat later, he stepped into a new landscape, lush emerald woodlands stretched into the horizon, the sunlight filtering through thick canopies, dappling the moss-covered stone paths with golden veins.
Since he was taking the portal from a neighbouring kingdom, he was teleported outside the kingdom territory and not in the middle of a city.
"Let’s hope the outpost is still untouched," Damon muttered. "I’m not in the mood for side quests today."
The trip to the Elenthil Outpost from the main city was about ten hours, and Damon wasn’t even all that familiar with the territory, which made it even more time-consuming for him. He was only halfway through when he had to log out again.
He reached the actual outpost the next day after again travelling for about six hours. "This better work out." Damon cursed at the massive waste of time but if it had to be done, it had to be done.
The outer perimeter of Elenthil Outpost was quiet. Damon arrived just as the early morning mist still clung to the roots of the trees, drifting like lazy spirits.
The outpost did not look like much at first glance. It was just a couple of buildings, mostly made from wood. Damon exhaled and stepped through the main archway. Immediately, a system notification greeted him:
[Ding! You have entered a Special Region: Elenthil Outpost]
[Warning: Reputation required to access faction quests and nobles’ trust. Current reputation: Unknown]
Damon nodded. He expected as much. He made his way to the central plaza where a crystalline spring bubbled gently at the base of a moon-blossom tree. Standing near it was a single woman.
Damon paused. Even among the elegant NPCs, she was different.
Lirae Sylvaris.
Her silver-white hair shimmered like a stream of starlight, cascading down the back of her embroidered green robe. Her ears were slightly longer than those of the other humans, and her eyes, bright blue, intense, were locked on a flock of white birds that circled overhead.
Graceful. Beautiful. And unmistakably dangerous.
Damon narrowed his eyes. So that’s her...
Blood Reign purred inside his mind. "Oh, she smells like old magic. I want her blood."
They also did not react to Damon’s presence. Some of them gave him a glance but quickly looked away and minded their own business.
"They don’t know you are a blood drinker." Lirae explained. "You are safe. Only I know who you are."
That didn’t make Damon feel much better. In fact, it made him feel like a rabbit calmly strolling beside a fox that just promised not to eat him, for now. He kept his expression neutral, but every instinct was on edge.
"How did you know?" Damon probed. "How did you see through it? The concealment should’ve fooled even high-level soldiers." He hoped he could get the answer because this was important. This meant that he couldn’t really go in front of high-ranking NPCs and had to be extra careful inside any city.
Lirae smiled. Her footsteps were quiet against the soft ground, but her words rang with clarity. "Because I wasn’t looking with sight. I was listening. And your blood hums like an old song, one I haven’t heard in a very long time." She glanced sideways at him. "You possess a strong, powerful bloodline, don’t you?"
Damon froze. He was once again shocked to see that the woman was still peeling away layers of his identity as if she could see right through him. He tried not to let it show on his face, but the chill crawling up his spine was hard to ignore. This woman was very dangerous.
"So tell me, blood drinker. Why have you come to see me? And don’t lie, because I can sense when you are." Lirae smiled, a soft and innocent smile.
Damon awkwardly returned her smile. Naturally, he was still planning to fucking lie! Well, at least tell her the half truth.
"Princess Lirae," He slightly bowed. "I came here because I heard that you needed help and you might have something valuable to offer to me" Did it work?
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