Reign of the Hunters
chapter-276-2

Chapter 276 What Makes a Warlock? (Part 2)

“Only one thing was left in her heart: Vengeance! Where there is light, there will be darkness. If Gods exist, then so do Demons. The change in Eliana’s personality allowed darkness to devour her powers, converting it into a new form of magic. That was how the power of curse was born, and it was Eliana’s strongest attack. She became the first Dark Mage in the Jiama Continent. She became a Warlock.”

Rabbi shook his head as he remembered the sorrowful event from the distant past.

“So what happened after that?” Ye Ci was completely captivated by the story.

“What happened then? She returned to the Dragonia, and brought ruin upon the entire race. No one would’ve thought that the mighty race would be driven into extinction at the hands of a pitiful halfblood. Eliana’s father begged for mercy from his daughter. He begged for her to spare the Dragonia from extinction. But Eliana, who had long lost herself to the darkness, slew her father as well.”

“She was like the embodiment of Darkness, and a ruthless killing machine in our world of Light.”

“What? The Dragonia went extinct?” Ye Ci was stunned, It can’t be! I saw a red one not long ago!

“No, but they’re as good as extinct. While Eliana slain all the adults, she had forgotten about the eggs stored in the Dragonia’s nests. They survived her onslaught, but were corrupted by her powerful dark aura, and became creatures of darkness. They were still struggling to once again become creatures of Light even until this day, but it barely worked. The eggs were badly affected by Eliana’s powers, and hatchlings that were born had their ability to reproduce greatly reduced. Ever since that fateful day, the once proud race vanished from the great stage of history, hiding themselves in the most secluded corner of the Jiama Continent. And there they sat waiting… Waiting for the chance for their race to once again rise and reign supreme.”

So this is why Dragons are very rare in Fate! Ye Ci raised her eyebrows as she browsed through her memories of her past life. The discovery of a single Dragonian nest drove the entire player base into a frenzy. After all, Dragons were the symbol of might and dominance.

“What happened to Eliana after that?” asked Ye Ci. There’s no way Rabbi will talk about this girl if she has nothing to do with Moore.

“Eliana became a Sorceress even stronger than Zerubbabel after wiping out the Dragonia. But she renounced the title of ‘Sorceress’, and founded her own branch of magecraft, and declared herself a Warlock. She knew deep down that she had fallen completely into darkness, and had lost the right to worship the Light, and ever call herself a Sorceress ever again. She devoted everything she had to the World of Darkness and turned her back against the Light.”

Just then, Rabbi directed a question to Ye Ci, “Do you know what the name ‘Warlock’ means?”

Ye Ci had always thought of the term “Warlock” as the name of a character class, but she was proven wrong by Rabbi on this day, “I’m sorry, Mr.Rabbi. I’m not as knowledgeable as you are. I do not know what ‘Warlock’ means.”

“The word ‘Warlock’ came from the World of Darkness. It means ‘one who is cursed for life’. Perhaps this is what Eliana thought of her life. But the people of the Jiama Continent knew nothing about the true meaning behind this word. They thought that a Warlock is an existence as powerful as a Sorcerer. Many who sought such a power flocked to Eliana and became her disciples. They… Became Warlocks.” Rabbi turned around and walked towards one of the chairs. His form was a woeful sight as he made his way across the shrine.

“Eliana did not turn them away. I did not know why she made that decision even until this day. Perhaps she wished for those who craved power to be cursed for the rest of their life. Or perhaps she simply wanted to pass on her magecraft. But as time passed, the Warlocks rose as a class as powerful as Sorcerers. Despite her past, the people of the continent worshipped strength, and Eliana who was the most powerful of Warlocks was worshipped as an idol. This lasted until the day Eliana could no longer stand the world of Light, and went into the world of Darkness where she belonged, and became the only ruler in that world, the Queen of Darkness.”

“The Queen of Darkness!” exclaimed Ye Ci. She was a BOSS with strength far surpassing that of Naga’s. Unlike Naga and his demons, the Queen of Darkness was a pure being of Darkness, and was even recorded in the National Library. Naga begged for strength from the Queen of Darkness, and paid a terrible price for the powers that he gained. But the price that the Dark Lord paid to gain his power was never recorded in history.

“Yes. You’ve heard of her before?” Rabbi was shocked. Hmm… This Elf seems to know a thing or two.

“Yes. I’ve read about her in the National Library. It was said that Naga prayed to the Queen of Darkness when he was young, and received her blessing at a terrible price. But I do not know what price Naga had to pay.” Ye Ci immediately told Rabbi about the information she had obtained about the Queen of Darkness. She was certain that Eliana was one of the important BOSSes in her quest, if not the ultimate one.

“You are correct.” Rabbi nodded at Ye Ci, “You’re not wrong at all. Naga paid a terrible price, just like we did.”

“The curse of undying?”

“No, he lost the ability to come back to live.” Rabbi replied with a smile, “Naga offered his body to Eliana. His body had a special trait that allowed it to accumulate an infinite amount of Dark energy. Eliana made his body into an ornament that she wore with her at all times. This means that Naga had forfeited the ownership of his body forever.”

“So does it mean that the Naga that the heroes had fought so hard against was just a soul without a body?” Ye Ci was astonished by the revelation. Even she as a reincarnator had never seen Naga before in her last life.

“Yes, and no.” Rabbi shook his head, “Naga could never revive his body, but he can still create vessels that can host his soul. It was one of such vessels that the heroes have battled during the war.”

A sudden thought flashed across Ye Ci’s mind, “Wait a minute, so Moore sold his death to the Queen of Darkness for power to become a Warlock and defeated Naga?”

“You can say that.”

“But Naga’s strength came from the Queen of Darkness as well. Is she not fighting against herself then, by lending her strength to Moore?” Ye Ci was confused, “Why would she do that?”

“I did not know at that time, but I’ve finally have an answer after so many millennia..”

“And what is that?”

“Well… A lonely person had to find her joy somewhere, am I right?”

A smile appeared on Rabbi’s face. It was a smile full of sorrow. Ye Ci found herself relating with the Queen of Darkness. She herself had caused wars between guilds out of boredom in her last life as she reaped rewards from the chaos. Her achievements were not as great as the Queen of Darkness, but it was still of the same nature.

Seems to me that Eliana is a rather pitiful person.

Rabbi’s story gave Ye Ci a clearer understanding of the bigger picture. She still know not where to unlock the quest that would lead her to the Queen of Darkness’s secret, but she had still greatly benefitted from the story, “So is there really no way for Mr.Moore to die?”

Rabbi shook his head, “Do you know who I am?”

“Moore’s mentor?”

“No, that was merely one of my most insignificant identities.” A smile appeared on Rabbi’s face, “I was one the first followers of Eliana. There was eight of us back then, and all of us handed our right to die in exchange for great power. This is why we’re kept alive until this day. We were forced to continue our miserable existence with no way of ever dying. What can Moore possibly do?” Rabbi shook his head, “If there is truly a way, we would’ve already been dead. You won’t even be seeing me here.”

Ye Ci nodded at Rabbi, she could feel sympathy for the man, “Very well then, Mr.Rabbi. I’ll relay your words to Mr.Moore.”

“You tell Moore, that no one can escape from the Queen of Darkness’s curse. There is simply no way.” Rabbi stooped forward and pulled a stalk of green grass from a crack on the altar. He stared at the grass with warmth in his eyes. The healthy green color of the grass was a contrast to its cold harsh surroundings. He turned around and handed the grass to Ye Ci, “This is my thanks to you, for listening to my story. You’ve brought great joy into my heart, so I’ll gift this to you.”

The grass appeared to be unremarkable, but Ye Ci accepted the gift with respect. She was shocked to see the stats of the grass.

The Shrine’s Hope (consumable): Permanently increases a random stat.

This is very good! Ye Ci immediately looked around in hopes of spotting more grass, but the one she held in her hand seemed to be the only one in the shrine.

“By the way, don’t you have something with you?” Rabbi spoke up.

Ye Ci nodded after a slight pause. She was completely captivated by the story, and would have forgotten about her quest if it was not for Rabbi’s timely reminder. She pulled the corrupted Holy Arrow out from her pack, and handed it to Rabbi, “This is also one of the reasons why I’m here. I wish to cleanse Shajia’s corruption from this arrow with water from the Sacred Spring. Do I have your permission to do so?”

Rabbi studied the arrow, and smiled, “Ahh, it’s Little Dau’er’s arrow. Thought it’s something big. Go ahead. Cleanse it.”

Little Dau’er? Ye Ci was dumbfounded by the way Rabbi had addressed Dau’er, Are you kidding me? The most revered figure in Elven history, and he’s just ‘Little Dau’er’ to you? Just how old is this guy?

Of course, Ye Ci did not have the courage to voice out her complaints. She braced herself for the pain as she took the arrow from Rabbi and headed to the Sacred Spring.

White smoke billowed from the Holy Arrow accompanied by a loud “hiss” the moment it touched the water of the Sacred Spring.

Ye Ci removed her gloves and submerged her water into the spring as well, and her hand that was scalded by the arrow was immediately healed.

She then began to wash the arrow of its corruption.

“Some of the corruption on the Holy Arrow has faded away. Please continue cleansing the arrow.”

“Some of the corruption on the Holy Arrow has faded away. Please continue cleansing the arrow.”

“Some of the corruption on the Holy Arrow has faded away, you have to work harder..”

Ye Ci was bombarded by system notifications as she washed the corruption away from the arrow.

And another system notification finally rang out after ten long minutes, “The Holy Arrow is free of corruption. Please return to the relevant NPC.”

Ye Ci stood up, and studied the Holy Arrow. The arrow was pure white, and was glowing with light, but nothing other than “Cleansed Holy Arrow” was written in its stats. It seems that I have to return to Natasha first.

This is an errand quest.

It is hard, but the higher difficulty only means that it’s a high level errand quest.

Such is the fate of players, always running errands of NPCs, one way or the other.

“You have my thanks, Mr.Rabbi. I’ve cleansed the Holy Arrow. Thank you for letting me use the Sacred Spring.”

Rabbi pulled a yellowish map from one of his sleeves, “Ah, I remember now. I have with me something about Little Dau’er. Perhaps it can be of great interest to you.”

Ye Ci could hear ringing in her ears as she stared at the map. No way! It can’t be! Could this be the last fragment of Dau’er’s map?! Ye Ci did not forget to express her most sincere gratitude as she received the map from Rabbi.

“Go on your way now. Day is upon us. You won’t be running into those damned Phantoms on your way back.” Rabbi nodded at Ye Ci before disappearing into the shadows.

Ye Ci left the shrine, and into the daylight outside. The sun shone brightly onto the ground below, and the Phantoms silently faded away, just as how they have silently appeared.