Chapter 265. Blistered Heart

[ Immemorial Inscription (A faded engraving from ancient times) ]

A bit surprised by the movie-like scenario, Michael eyed Orgai strangely. Furthermore, his Quest had already been updated, prompting new intel to be added.

[ Side Quest updated - Augury of Bones

Objective: Investigate the Immemorial Inscription

Description: Orgai inhaled the bone dust you collected and went into a trance. His words were broken and confused but not without fortune.

A hidden inscription was revealed due to his rantings and a hearty sneeze. Strange as this is, perhaps there's something to his delusions. ]

There were so many things to unpack that Michael didn't know where to start.

Was that even a trance? It looked more like someone getting high and then babbling incoherently. 

Also, his rantings had nothing to do with revealing the inscriptions, though his sneeze played a significant role. 

'The main thing I'm concerned about is the word 'immemorial' used to describe the engravings on this pillar. Furthermore, there are traces of some sort of magic imbued into the characters. Let's hope that the word 'immemorial' refers to the people who lived somewhat recently in the Steppes in relation to the actual age of the stone rather than something older than the Sanctuary. I've read too many of those stories to know none are fun for the main character.'

Refocusing on the pillar, he used the system to identify it further, having it decrypt whatever was written on it.

[ Immemorial Inscription (A faded engraving from ancient times)

Only the worthy earn the Grinning One's attention. Prove themselves. Now, they know true happiness -- their bliss is boundless.

The Old One's Eternal Gift. ]

The Necromancer's frown deepened upon seeing the words 'Old One.' Immediately imagining a Lovecraftian horror, he decisively swore not to approach the shore or big bodies of water for the foreseeable future.

As the system woke him up from his cowardly plans, he turned to look at the junkie.

[ Side Quest updated - Augury of Bones

Objective: Speak to Orgai about the Ancient Inscription. ]

Rolling his eyes, he approached the muttering 'creature' and used his sword to pat him on the shoulder to draw his attention.

"The Ancient Inscription over there. It mentions the Grinning One. It speaks of the 'Old One's Eternal Gift.'"

[Yes! That's it! That's what I heard! 'Prove your worth before me and receive my eternal gift.' The Grinning One guides me! Orgai is worthy!](Orgai)

Leaving aside the tons of popping up in his head, Michael decided to indulge him and get this Quest over with.

After all, he only mentioned the 'Old One's Eternal Gift,' but Orgai spoke of proving his worth.

Maybe it was as the Sanctuary said, and this 'creature' did indeed fall into a trance where he communed with the Grinning One.

"So? What now?"

[No... no. Not yet. Not yet, not yet, not yet...](Orgai)

'Great... now he's having a meltdown...'

[Come. Come! To the shrine of the Old One. See its majesty with your own eyes! See Orgai prove his worth! *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*](Orgai)

Disgusted by the dark fluids coming out of his mouth while coughing, the Necromancer took five steps back, deciding to maintain this distance in case he had to follow him further.

[ Side Quest complete - Augury of Bones

Reward 1: 33,792 experience points

Reward 2: 2,600 gold coins

Reward 3: Ore Cache. ]

[ Side Quest issued - Hubris Smiles Back

Objective: Speak with Orgai near The Grinning One

Description: Orgai now believes he knows what must be done to earn the Grinning One's attention and its 'Eternal Gift.' He has asked you to meet him at the northern shrine to proceed with his plans. ]

Checking the shrine's location on the MAP and seeing the other markers set all over the Dry Steppes, Michael annoyedly massaged his brows, trying to find the best solution.

In the end, he could only compromise.

"You head there first, and I'll meet you soon. You can pray to the shrine in the meantime."

[You fool! The Grinning One doesn't require prayers! Only offerings and devotion!](Orgai)

"This little bit... Yes, yes! You're right. Go ahead and wait for me there. I'll join you soon."

Watching the loathsome creature walk away, he pondered if he should leave him hanging for a week or two before completing the Quest, but ultimately decided to wrap it up as soon as possible.

The main reason for his decision was the two extra blue exclamation marks on the MAP northwest of his current location.

"It looks to be about an hour and a half away on horseback. Judging by the size of the encampment and the descriptions of the two Quests, I'd say it's another barbarian tribe."

[ Side Quest: Consumed by Pride (Level 50+)

Description: Fear devours more than the mind when faced with death. ]

[ Side Quest: Culling the Flesh (Level 50+)

Description: Crane tribesmen are overwhelmed by the cannibal uprising. ]

Since it was on the other side of the region, he first had to figure out the other two Quests he got.

The closest was the Old Traditions one, and the next one after that should be the Blistering Heart, where he had to clear the spiders in the area.

Following the tracker to the altar's location, he found another weird statue with candles and a large bowl for offerings in front of it.

Unlike the Grinning One, this one looked better, but not by a lot. It still had demonic features resembling a bull with large horns, but only two hands joined in prayer in front of its chest.

Also, rather than a crown, it appeared to wear a strange hat on its head, and weird ornaments, similar to accessories, adorned its horns and ears.

Rather than a god to be worshiped, it looked more like the statue of a demonic merchant.

[ Side Quest update - Keeping the Old Traditions

Objective: Show the ancient statue you keep the traditions. ]

Stumped, Michael messed around with the altar's surroundings for a while, bowed to show his 'reverence,' and donated some gold coins to the bowl for offerings, but nothing worked.

In the end, he had to resort to his hidden ace: calling Beatrice.

[What? That statue? Oooh! You found the book. Uhm... what was it...](Beatrice)

After getting the cheat codes, the Necromancer bowed again before the statue.

"I bow to your unaging body and celebrate your azure visage! May time be kind to you."

Just as Beatrice instructed, he calmly took two steps back after speaking, and a chest rose from the ground a couple of meters away.

Happy, he immediately opened it.

[ Side Quest complete - Keeping the Old Traditions

Reward 1: 16,896 experience points

Reward 2: 2,080 gold coins. ]

Shrugging, he cautiously used Pathfinder to open the chest, only to find two white items identified by the system.

"Isn't white used for the trashiest of trash items? The normal ones without any 'abnormalities'?"

Pulling out two bottles identified as Elixir of Cold Resistance and Elixir of Lightning Resistance, he tossed them in the inventory without caring too much about them.

Then, he felt a shock similar to getting punched and immediately assumed a battle position with the minions surrounding him. 

Even after his Golem used the taunt to reveal the invisible enemy, nothing happened.

Five minutes later, he curiously opened his inventory to see if something was wrong with those two Elixirs, only to get gobsmacked by what he saw.

With his heart bleeding, he decisively closed the inventory page, opting to ignore reality for a while.

"Goddamn spiders! Ruining people's lives!"

Upset at the odd occurrence, he focused his anger on the next Quest, choosing the spiders as his venting target.

Since it was already 11 a.m., he saddled up and rushed to the next location. 

Fortunately, the roads were clear thanks to the zealous Wanderers trashing about, hoping to complete their Region Progress faster, and reached the area infested by spiders without any further events taking place.

[ Side Quest update - Blistered Heart

Objective: Slay spiders to draw out the broodmother. ]

Once he entered their territory, the Quest didn't change much; instead, the system added a strange bar under the objective, similar to the HP/MP bars in games.

'Judging by the nature of the Quest, the more spiders I slay, the faster the bar fills. Once it's filled, the Spider Queen should show up. Let's get to work.'

Using his minions as the vanguard, the Necromancer cleared an area of over ten square kilometers of any arthropods.

It took him an hour and a half, but he was finally done after clearing a Carrier Corpse.

"Damn it! Killing those always gives me the creeps. It literally explodes and sends spiders flying everywhere. They're also venomous on top of it all. Huh!?"

*SKREEECH*

"That should be the guest of honor."

With rapid movements, a monstrous spider about three meters from head to sting and legs probably just as long, if not longer, descended from nearby cliffs.

[ Spider Queen (Elite) - Level 51

*Poison Enchanted: All attacks create a poison puddle on the ground. Enemies affected by poison are dealt 500 damage per second for a duration of 8 seconds.

*Summoner: Creates ten summoning circles through which spiders can be called upon every 2 minutes.

*Plaguebearer: Upon death, detonates its Corpse and soul to deal 2000 fixed damage, as well as 500 Poison damage per second, for a duration of 10 seconds. ]

Seeing the ridiculous modifiers for the Elite Spider Queen, Michael almost screamed in fear.

Without hesitation, he took out one of the unaffected Weak Elixir of Poison Resistance and downed it while ordering his minions to sacrifice themselves for his wellbeing at the same time.

About half an hour later, he sat on the ground with a disgusted expression on his face.

"The Poison modifier is indeed absurd. I avoided the puddles but almost died of its self-destruction. What's with that ridiculous explosion range!?"

It was indeed a close call. If not for the Elixir reducing the overall damage, he would've undoubtedly died before he had a chance to grab a Healing Potion to drink.

The explosion dealt around 1,700 points of damage, while the poisoned effect caused him to lose another 350 the next second. Fortunately, he managed to endure by healing.

Overall, the fight was annoying, to say the least. Not only was the Spider Queen resistant to most of his damage types, but she kept running around the canyon, always creating distance between herself and the target.

Fortunately, she kept summoning lots of spiders every couple of minutes, allowing the Necromancer to replenish his soldiers and keep damaging her with Corpse Explosion.

[ Side Quest update - Blistered Heart

Objective: Pick up the Spider Queen Heart

Description: The blood of her slain children has drawn out the Spider Queen. Sorga tasked you with ridding the Steppes of the broodmother, so retrieving its heart should suffice as proof. ]

Rolling his eyes at the Sanctuary, which didn't let him rest in peace, Michael had the Golem walk into the poisoned area and retrieve the drop.

Fortunately, it survived until he reached its master and handed over the item before dying due to the poison effect.

Scratching his head and not knowing if to praise or scold the foolish Golem that walked straight through the poison, instead of taking a detour, Michael stored the Quest Item in his inventory and prepared to leave.

[ Side Quest update - Blistered Heart

Objective: Return to Sorga

Description: The Spider Queen is slain, and you've collected her heart. You should return it to Sorga in Jirandai. ]

Setting his next target as the Crane Barbarian Tribe, the Necromancer resummoned his horse and hurried to his destination.

It was already past 2 p.m., given how much time he had wasted with the spiders and all these other old deity altars.

On his way there, he noticed a chest hidden by the side of the road, which he immediately had Pathfinder open - again after spending 20 Essence points to summon him - and a single item dropped from it.

"Another Quest Item!? Damn it! I'll waste the entire day doing this!"

Annoyed, Michael threw the Bag of Old Coins into his inventory and continued ahead while inspecting the new Quest he was granted.

[ Side Quest issued - Currencies from Afar

Objective: Bring the Bag of Old Coins to Gesur

Description: You found a pouch containing a variety of old coins. Gesur in Jirandai may be interested in these. ]

Fortunately, it was only a delivery-type Quest, which shouldn't branch out further.

Just before the Nightmare Dungeon experience, he had a similar Quest where he brought another recovered item to a man near the odd tree in the middle of Jirandai.

Hoping to be a similar situation where he simply gives the item and gets the experience and gold coins as a reward, he rechecked the MAP to see how far the barbarian outpost was.

Seeing the MAP change the location's name to Crane Tribe Hutmoot, the Necromancer smiled and headed in after greeting the two guards at the gate.

'Seeing how unsurprised they are to see me, an outsider of their tribe, come to visit, there should be more to hear about. Furthermore, if they have the same problem with the cannibalistic monsters, it shouldn't take too long to clear this outpost and forge some positive bonds with their chieftain. I can only pray for no branching Quests...'