Chapter 31 *Extra*

"The Paragon who sits upon the Silver Throne,

The Mighty Owner of the Infinite Crafts,

The Guardian King who wields Well-Earned Luck.

(A/N: Yeah, go ahead laugh at me. Couldn't find anything to use for the last line here… If you have better ideas let me know. It should involve something along the lines of protection and well-earned luck.)

That is the honorable name of The Paragon. You have to chant this and then pray for what you want." Bilbo said with devotion visible in his eyes.

As soon as Bilbo finished chanting the name, Max felt as if a gaze was suddenly cast upon himself.

He felt his throat tightening and heartbeat increasing wildly and then it all vanished as soon as it came. 'Was it The Paragon?' He thought and went to hunt an animal in order to sacrifice so as not to displease the god.

Who knows maybe He would be annoyed from being made to wait.

He quickly found an elk in the woods and with an arrow to the neck, he finished it off.

With Bilbo's instructions he prepared an altar and place the elk in the middle.

He went down on one knee and lowered his head. "The Paragon who sits upon the Silver Throne,

The Mighty Owner of the Infinite Crafts,

The King of Red and Black who wields Well-Earned Luck.

I pray for you to help me break my mortal shell and overcome my limits." He chanted. The elk he had sacrificed suddenly burst into flames and disappeared, only leaving ashes and smoke. And then Max waited for a response, but nothing happened after that.

No replies, nothing supernatural except for the disappearing elk. Nothing. The Paragon disappeared after taking Max's sacrifice.

"Is this normal?" He asked Bilbo.

"No, you should've received a reply but I don't know. Maybe it's not your time yet. He must have a plan for you. Don't be discouraged." Bilbo replied.

*Sigh* Max sighed and went on to clean up the altar and the candles. To say that he wasn't disappointed would be a lie.

He never was a religious person in his previous life so, talking and receiving a revelation from a god would have been a novel experience for him but alas, he was not meant to be right now.

Maybe as Bilbo said, he wasn't yet ready.

***

"We shouldn't be far from Falinesti let's keep up the pace." Bilbo said.

"Hey, have you ever been to there before?" Max asked.

"Yeah. It's a beautiful settlement built upon the trees by the elves. They don't really take well to the strangers but if you earn their respect, they will treat you like family." Bilbo answered.

"Anything we should be careful about? I've only known a single elf in my life and she didn't like to speak much, maybe two if you count Adrien but I didn't have any communications with him."

"Hmm, not really. Treat them as you would anybody else." Bilbo said and continued after a moment of thinking. "Oh, by the way, they might be prone to anger. They have a short fuse, so be ready for that."

"Cool cool cool cool got it. Gotta stay calm eh? No problems here." Max said.

***

"Woah."

"Heh always happens to the first timers."

Max was astonished upon seeing such beautiful settlement built upon the trees. It was currently night time but it took nothing from its beauty.

(Image Here)

Lanterns were lit to give light upon the city and it only made it much more magical.

The houses were built in the trees and they were connected through bridges that spanned throughout the settlement. People with pointed ears could be seen everywhere. Shops were still open, noises of arguments, haggles or fights could be heard from everywhere.

"Come on, we need a place to stay for the night." Bilbo familiarly walked through the bridges and the trio finally reached an inn.

*Crash*

As soon as the door was opened, a man with pointed ears was thrown outside. "Get out of here you bastard!" A voice was heard from the inn.

The man that was thrown out got up and angrily left the area.

Bilbo went inside as if nothing happened as got their rooms without a hitch.

"Rest well, we'll discuss our plan tomorrow morning." Bilbo said and the group dispersed.

***

"Alright, I did a little bit of intelligence gathering and heard that there were quite a few people who made it here before us." Bilbo said.

"There is no surprise there." Max cut in.

"But, none of their searches bear fruit yet. I think we should start through here." Bilbo said as he pointed at a location on the map that was spread on the table.

"Why?" Max asked.

"I've heard rumors of a dragon in the Southern Mountains, that is our best bet. Why? You have another idea?" Bilbo asked.

"Not me." Max said as he turned his head toward Medb.

"Me?" Medb asked while pointing at herself.

"What do you think?" Max asked.

"I don't know. It could be anywhere." She replied.

"Just point to somewhere on the map." Max said.

"What's the point of this?" Bilbo asked, puzzled.

"Shh you will disturb the magic." Max said as he shushed Bilbo.

Under the gaze of the duo, Medb slowly pointed to a random direction.

Max and Bilbo looked at where she was pointing. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" Bilbo asked.

"Uhh our destination?" Max answered unsurely.

"Our destination you say?" Bilbo said as he leaned forwards on the table while looking at Max who was averting his eyes. "You realize that's where we came from right?"

"Y-Yeah. Maybe we should do as you said." Max said.

"Yeah, we should." Bilbo replied and the trio left the inn.

***

"Hey, isn't that Wrought Iron?" Vincent said as he spotted a familiar figure among the adventurers who gathered in the southern mountains.

"Yeah. I think it is. I heard he was searching for the hoard as well." Derek replied.

"Let's go say hi. Maybe we can team up." He said as he walked towards the weird trio of a young man, a young woman and an old dwarf. "Yo! Wrought Iron! Didn't think I would see you here!" He yelled.

Max turned around to see Vincent. He was the accountant back in Bravil Hunters Guild.

"Vincent? What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. I figured that I wouldn't be able increase in the ranks in a short while, so I came here to try my luck. You remember Derek right?" He said as he put a hand on his companion's shoulder.

'Ah, the owner of the Azoth Sword.' Max thought. "Yes, I do-" he was about to continue when he was cut by Bilbo suddenly.

"We need to leave kids." He said with surprising seriousness.

"What? What's going on?" Max also became serious after seeing Bilbo.

"This adventure suddenly became not worth it." He said while focused on a group of ten individuals fully dressed in long red robes with hoods covering their faces. "Some lunatics are here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An extra as promised…

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