Chapter 416: The Hunter’s Here? Exiting The Requiem Stronghold
"I have no idea who the gods are or what you’re talking about," he replied, his voice carefully neutral.
"Alright then," Leon nodded, accepting the answer for now, "Any ideas where there are monsters who drop the crystals?"
"The Catacombs," Cavin replied once more, "Though the drop rate is far too low, we only managed to get two crystals from there in all our years of searching."
"Any other places?"
"I guess you can try to see if the [Hunter] accepts you and gives you a quest," Cavin said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"The [Hunter]’s here?!" Leon’s eyes widened, actually pleasantly surprised for the first time since entering this place, "Where?"
As said before, the [Hunter] was an incredibly powerful NPC that could grant massive rewards and also access to some of the most difficult quests in the higher domains, a legendary figure among players.
To gain his favor though, you needed to show something he considered "worthy", a feat of strength or a trophy that impressed him.
Leon had only met him once in [Higher Domain #54] and hadn’t been worthy at the time, being rejected without a second thought.
But of course he would go around EVERY higher domain to seek a worthy player, that made perfect sense!
"He visits this stronghold sometimes to look for worthy talent to give quests, though anyone that approaches him is rejected and he has never considered anyone worthy, you’ll have to wait for him to come."
"Any other—"
"Nope," Cavin smiled, "That’s all we have, and since they don’t sell any on the [Trading House], you understand why it takes so long, right?"
"Sure," Leon shrugged, accepting the information.
And just like that, he passed the exit portal, appearing outside the central building, his next moves already being made in his mind as he stepped into the sunlight.
Meanwhile, still inside the Central Building, all the requiem guild members spoke among themselves, their voices low and conspiratorial.
"Do you actually think this one will succeed?" one of the members spoke, "Seems kind of far fetched, and only giving him a month..."
"Who cares," Cavin laughed, dismissing the concern, "All of those before him failed, but some of them manage to find crystals here and there, even if he dies, I’m sure Celestial will be useful in some way."
"Our leader’s the best~" the silver-haired girl with the spear who had attacked Leon hugged the oni, "And with that, the plan will soon be complete!"
"Indeed," Cavin nodded, his eyes gleaming with ambition, "Soon, we will gain immense strength, and finally travel to the [Eternal Battlefield] to reign there as well!"
All the members of the requiem guild cheered, they had been waiting for this moment for 15 years, and it was finally coming!
After that, Leon opened his [World Map] and teleported back in front of the Requiem Hotel, appearing in the familiar lobby.
He could see that Emilia, Violet and Celeste’s figures were outside of the stronghold, more precisely at the back of it, their icons moving slowly.
"...Did they make the entire detour?" he wondered, "Seems stupid, but I guess they didn’t know the layout of the place."
Fortunately for Leon, it seems like nothing beside the quest he had been given changed in terms of his overall situation.
He could still do whatever he wanted with his time, though he’d need to be careful inside the stronghold as the guild members were most certainly watching his every move.
They had nothing to fear either way, for the quest would kill Leon the moment the time limit ended, ensuring his compliance.
Fwoosh!
He teleported back to the entrance of the stronghold, right in front of the tunnel that led inside.
Of course, Leon could leave the stronghold by teleporting out if he wanted to, but he wanted to see how to leave properly and understand the layout.
"Please stop, sir," one of the people tasked with helping new players stopped Leon, "If you wish to leave the stronghold, you need to take the other exit."
"Where is it?" Leon asked, his voice curt.
"Huh... at the far end of the stronghold," he shook his head, "It might take a while but—"
"Alright, thanks," Leon said.
He didn’t even wait for the man to finish before he teleported out.
’You can’t leave from the main entrance, but from another one, huh,’ Leon mused.
Leon guessed that was to make it easier for the guards to see anyone trying to enter, while those that were leaving had another way to do so, a security measure.
He appeared in front of the hotel for the second time, then without waiting he walked toward the far end of the stronghold, navigating the busy streets.
It took around two hours of walking through the sprawling city, but he fortunately did it, arriving in front of a giant wall, with several tunnels with the word "EXIT" written on them in bold letters.
’That must be it,’ Leon thought, approaching the nearest tunnel.
"Can I know the reason you wish to leave our glorious stronghold?" a guard near the exit asked Leon, his voice monotone.
It seemed they really didn’t want any of their "citizens" to leave, making the process as difficult as possible.
"Kill monsters and bring stronghold crystals," Leon replied, keeping his answer simple.
As soon as he heard the word stronghold crystal, the guard simply placed his hand on his forehead and nodded, "Very well, go ahead Mr. Celestial."
’Heh, they won’t let anybody leave, but when it comes to something that benefits them... they don’t care at all,’ Leon thought, shaking his head.
Leon already understood how this entire place worked, but at this point he didn’t care about their schemes.
He’d fulfill their quest, bring them the stronghold crystals and then... who knows what would happen next?
Either way, he knew he had a one month time limit to grow much stronger, otherwise he’d be toast and all his efforts would be for nothing.