Chapter 99 New Mission

A sudden flash appears and Lucas was immediately transferred back to the bedroom.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

Lucas rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was back in the inn.

"Huh?" He asked. "Where did I go?"

Lucas sat down and leaned against a wall. "I feel like I just had the strangest dream..."

He remembered how the room suddenly went dark, and then a blinding light appeared and transported him somewhere.

After a moment's thought, Lucas realised what happened.

'Teleportation...?' He thought and looked at pale Kalaini's face beside him.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what just happened," Lucas said.

"Neither do I..." She replied slowly.

The day was long, and having three injured people, they needed to rest first. Xina was still missing and that was a mystery, but three injured teammates couldn't do anything to go and look for her right now.

They decided to sleep for the night, then continue their search tomorrow.

As Lucas laid his head on the bedding, he tried to remember how the teleportation worked.

It seemed that when the teleportation occurred, his mind was somehow disconnected from his body, so he didn't actually experience any pain. It also seemed that the teleportation was instantaneous because he never felt any time passing before he teleported.

If he didn't have to be physically present in order to teleport, that meant that someone could send him anywhere instantly - even if they were thousands of miles away! This was incredible, but Lucas knew that it wasn't safe to use this ability recklessly.

Still, the idea fascinated Lucas and made him wonder if he might be able to use it to help himself someday.

Lucas was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Xina walking in.

"Good morning..."

Xina was wearing nothing but a thin tunic, which Lucas guessed she had borrowed from one of the other girls. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and her face was cleanly shaven.

"Hello..."

Lucas glanced at her and noticed that she looked tired.

"Where have you been?" He asked her while slowly getting up from the bed.

"It's the elf thing," she exhaled..." it's a tradition of elves to never show their faces to humans during to merino period. They believe that it will make them vulnerable and weak."

Lucas nodded. "Okay, I understand. Let me guess: you've been hiding your face all this time while we were rescuing Kali."

"Yes, exactly. But I think I'll change my ways eventually," she smiled.

Lucas yawned.

"You should probably get some sleep. You look exhausted."

She looked at him and smiled. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Lucas said.

"Okay, then..."

Lucas returned to his bed and laid down again.

"Goodnight," he murmured.

"Sleep well," Xina whispered.

"And good night to you too," Lucas replied.

He closed his eyes and fell into an exhausted slumber.

*

"Heal me quickly," the man begged.

The old priest knelt down in front of the sick man and placed his hands on the man's forehead.

"I am so sorry, but there are no heal spells in this book that can cure your sickness," the priest explained.

"But there must be something, you just haven't found it yet," the man protested.

"No, there isn't," the priest said firmly.

The man stood up angrily and stormed out of the small church.

"Please, don't leave," the priest pleaded with him.

The man paused on the threshold and turned around. "What is it this time? More herbs or something?"

"There's no such thing as 'more herbs'," the priest sighed. "It's not possible to learn more healing magic than what you already know."

*

Lucas opened his eyes after a strange dream.

He was back in the hallway of the inn. The sun had just risen over the horizon.

"Hmm..." Lucas mumbled. "I dreamt about teleportation and now this..." He stretched his arms and yawned.

Lucas walked over to the door of the inn and checked the window. He saw that the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly.

He looked at everyone still half asleep, then turned to Kali and saw Xina lying next to her, 'she's actually back,' he murmured and dressed up.

After a couple of minutes, Haya woke up as if nothing happened last night, and he got ready as well.

Once everyone was properly dressed, they headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Lucas noticed that the innkeeper had left early to tend to his crops.

[System Activated: New Mission]

[A new mission has been activated.]

[A new message appears:]

[Your current quest is to restore the lost power of the shaman clan.

To achieve this goal, you must find the hidden valley of the shaman.

In order to activate this mission, you must leave the city and travel to the west, where you will find the entrance to the valley.

This mission is active and cannot be deactivated until you reach the valley of the shaman.

The cost of this mission will increase over time.

You may choose to skip this mission by paying the price now.]

"What about Lya? Are we going to leave everything here?" Lucas asked.

Lucas thought for a moment.

"That would be a waste of time," Haya answered. "We can't afford to stay here for much longer anyway."

Lucas nodded and they both looked at Kali who looked like she was deep in thought.

"Kali..." Lucas began.

"I'm just thinking," she interrupted him.

Lucas turned to Haya and gestured towards the door.

"Let's go, before the innkeeper returns."

Lucas led the way through the streets of the village.

"What do you think, Kali?" he asked once they reached the outskirts.

"You're right, Lucas," she replied, "we should say goodbye to Lya." Kali didn't get a chance to know her more but she looked nice, but what Kali didn't know was after Izek's appearance, Lya became very suspicious and unfriendly.

Lucas shrugged. "As long as she doesn't try anything funny, I think we'll be okay."

They went back inside the Lya castle. Xina, Kalaini and Haya were not happy, even Lucas. After that weird dream, he had about her. Every time he'd see her, he felt uncomfortable about it. But Kali wanted to say goodbye to her, so Lucas wasn't going to argue against it.

Lya was standing in the middle of the room, looking slightly confused.

"Hello there," she greeted. "where have you guys been?"

"Oh, sorry about that, we just wanted to save Kali first and you disappeared" Lucas apologized.

"That's fine, but let's hurry up and get going," Haya said.

"Okay, but first let me tell you something," Lya started. "I wanna join you guys."

Xina gasped, while Haya seemed surprised. Lucas' face showed no emotion, but Kalaini was taken aback.

"Why?" Xina asked.

"Because I want to help people," Lya said simply, "I wanna help you guys accomplish the missions."

"She really wants to join us?" Lucas couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah, she says it's because of my amazing looks!" Lya added, then laughed.

"Are you serious?" Kalaini could barely contain herself.

"Who wouldn't want to be my friend, Kalaini?" Lya smiled at her.

Lucas and Haya exchanged glances.

"We aren't sure yet," Kali told her, "but if you like helping people, then why don't you come with us to the western lands?"

"Thanks," Lya said.

And without another word, she followed them out the door.

Outside, Lya caught up to them.

"How far away is the valley?" she asked.

"It's about two days away," Kalaini replied. "But we have to hurry, or else the mission will end."

"Do you mind if I accompany you?" Lya asked.

Lucas thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, that's fine."

In his mind, it was already decided that she will follow them no matter what, but everything about her was way more suspicious than before. 'Why did she insist on following us?'

Lucas knew that his teammates were thinking about the same thing, but no one could speak up. Even if they were to disagree about her joining them, that would make Lya more curious.

Keeping her close to them would make it easier for them to spy on her.

The group set off towards the west.

Lucas and Kali sat down next to each other on a bench.

"Haya, let Notru come out of the magic sack to breathe," he ordered.

"Yes sir," Haya replied in a sarcastic tone and he opened the bag to release Notru.

Notru appeared on the ground, looking around curiously.

"Hi, Notru," Haya greeted him. He looked like he was asleep.

At first, Lucas was against the idea to bring him with them, but after suspicion of Lya and her weird wish to join them, he just couldn't leave him there alone. Notru was like a little brother to him whom he needed to protect.

"Lucas!" Kali shouted when lifting her hand towards the sky.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Look up," Kali told him.

Lucas looked up and saw a dark cloud forming above them.

"Is it going to rain?" He asked.

"Maybe," Kali answered, "I hope not though."

"Me too," Haya agreed.

After a few minutes, the clouds vanished and the sun came out from behind them.

"Wow," Lya exclaimed, "that was strange."

"You're right," Lucas admitted, "it's never happened before."

"So, what now?" Kali asked.

"Well, we still have to find the valley," Lucas told them, "so let's keep moving."

They left the city of Drepana and headed west.