ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 52: The Hidden Quest

Chapter 52

The Hidden Quest

“Yes, my people are likely still being forced into subjugation.” The elder gnome said, as a look of reluctance settled on his features.

Small Humanoid (Gnome). Emotional State: Reluctance.

Alexa watched the Gnome, from his once proud bearing and the way the others in the room seemed content to let him talk, it was clear he was a leader. Going on her instinct, Alexa asked a question that was currently in her mind.

“You didn’t use the escape tunnels?”

At that, the old gnome let out a long sigh.

“No, I did not. I thought that if I stayed, we could work out a more peaceful solution to this matter.” The old Gnome said.

Alexa nodded, reached down and grabbed her daggers.

Gasps.

The gnomes around the room let out a gasp as they saw the blood covered warrior reach down to grab her equally blood covered elven daggers off the ground. There was a moment of hesitation on everyone’s face before she turned to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?” A younger female gnome called out.

Alexa turned to look at the new speaker.

Small Humanoid (Gnome). Emotional State: Confusion.

Alexa just looked at the female and noted a few similar features between the younger female and the older male gnome.

“I am going to free your people.” Alexa said, her tone as emotionless as always, as her thrill of battle had already ended, as the surge of energy that infused her body was now exhausted. She was back to being her old self. Her normal, blood covered, emotionless self.

Seeing the look of determination in Alexa’s eyes, the girl paused, as panic quickly crossed her features before she nodded.

With that being all the permission Alexa needed, she made her way out of the meeting room and began making her way slowly around the building. She first wanted to make sure there were no roaming bands of guards that she had missed.

There was nothing, well almost nothing. The further away from the throne room she got, the easier it seemed it was for her to cast magic. Making a mental note to ask the old gnome about that on her return, she continued her search of the building.

After one pass around, where she encountered no more guards, Alexa continued her journey out of the building. There at the exit, facing away from the doorway, she found red shaded guards. Guards who were clearly looking away from the exit, and out towards the rest of the city.

With the two guards’ attention taken up by their occupation, Alexa tried to test out her magic. From this point, she was a bit further away from where the emergency escape tunnels had left her. From here, she could still feel a slight restraint on her powers, but nothing as fully suffocating as it was to be in the central chambers.

Arcane Wind Blades.

This time she could cast the spells, but they were wobbly and less refined than she was used to. She also realized that she could only summon a few of the deadly blades. Still, she was able to summon more than enough to take down the two guards.

Gentle breeze.

That was the sound of death that passed through the door as she made her way forward. As she exited, she didn’t even turn to look at the two decapitated corpses. Instead, she just gave a quick scan of the area and showed that most of the remaining guards were at different observation posts. All were looking for possible threats coming from outside the village.

There was also a barracks where several sleeping elves were located. Alexa chose to go to the barracks first. Taking out sleeping elves made much more sense, than waiting for all the guards to be awakened by her presence.

Alexa approached the building and once again let loose her deadly Arcane Wind Blades, at the guards who were stationed outside. Then like a stalking burglar she made her way forward. Her body and mind already alive with the thrill of being awake.

She found that while this was distasteful, striking down people in their sleep, it was much more preferable to the idea of fighting in the streets where subjugated gnomes could be caught up in the crossfire.

In all, Alexa was happy that she was revolted by striking down people in their sleep. While she still forced her fully awakened mind to act, she liked the fact that she could still empathize with her intended victims. It showed that her conscience was still alive and well.

Of course, Alexa only entered the building while still riding the emotional high of her killing and absorbing energy of her slain foes. When it came time to actually perform the task, she made sure the moral constraints of her emotions were well and truly buried.

Five rows of bed were lined up four deep, for a total of twenty beds. While not all of the beds were currently occupied, the layout did make her next task slightly easier.

Alexa, was now well and truly out of the influence of the magical dampening field that was in the town hall. This meant she was once again able to summon forth her full complement of ten wind blades and that is just what she did.

With an intense focus of will, she generated her maximum of ten wind blades and sent two wind blades down each of the five rows of beds.

Whoosh.

“Gah.”

Her strikes were so fast and unexpected that she killed all of the sleeping guards before many even had a chance to set up to investigate the sounds of death around them.

Alexa waited, as she felt the flow of energy fill her.

There, looking at the corpses of monsters she slayed while sleeping, Alexa could only feel resignation. She was a monster, or at least she knew she had the ability to be a true monster, if she let herself.

Worse, she was smart and pragmatic enough to perform actions like she just did. Slaying monsters in their sleep.

Alexa stayed in the room, and used the few moments of mental clarity to process what had happened, what she had done. What she would do next.

This was needed. This was just a dungeon after all, she needed to survive, to move on. She also needed to save as many of the oppressed civilians as possible. This was the true training of the Trials of Ascension, at least that was what she had been told. That the Trials would temper her to be a better Super.

Maybe not better, but a Super who can do what needs to be done.

Then just as quickly as her moment of introspection came, so too did her surge of energy pass. With that, she nodded to herself and went around the city stalking the few remaining sets of guards and dispatching them quickly and quietly.

All the while she moved, she felt the eyes of the oppressed following her.

She realized these gnomes had likely become good at noticing odd movements. Their entire survival probably depended on being able to notice the guards and avoid their wrath. That was why they were the ones able to see her, and identify her movements in the dark. Fortunately, no one said anything, instead they all just looked on quietly, as hope filled their eyes.

Finally, after close to an hour of hunting, the last set of guards were dispatched, and Alexa was rewarded with a system message.

Quest Complete: Grain Production: You have stumbled across an enemy settlement that produces grain and have managed to subjugate it under your control. Rewards: speak to the village leader to determine your true reward.

With that as her only notification, Alexa made her way back to the town hall building. As she approached, she saw a few gnomes had come out to inspect the decapitated guards. However, the gnomes quickly dispersed upon seeing Alexa’s return.

Alexa wanted to wave, to reassure the small people that she meant no harm. But they were gone, and Alexa realizing she was back to her emotionless state. While in this state, she realized her true intentions were often overlooked, or misinterpreted, as such she figured it would be easier to talk to the leader, then leave. She still had three more villages to investigate.

Also, Alexa figured that all three villages would likely be similar in their occupation. At least that was how her understanding of dungeons went. While real life would be different, in the confines of a dungeon, things generally fell into set and predictable patterns. This was yet another reason why Alexa liked dungeons so much, to her they just made sense. Or at least more sense than the real world did.

As she entered the grand hall, Alexa once again felt the oppressive yoke of a magic suppression field enveloping her. Simultaneously, all six gnomes, including the ruler, bowed to her.

Alexa just waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

“Rise.”

At that the old gnome was the only one to stand up, as he addressed Alexa.

“My queen. Thank you for freeing us from oppression. Who should we now send our grain shipments to?”

Choose Reward: You must choose who will receive the supply of grains.

Seeing the message, Alexa cocked her head to the side. To her this reward made no sense. Humans had plenty of grain outside of the dungeons. Also, the idea of trying to export grain to the outside world seemed like a logistical nightmare. Especially with how little grain she calculated that this village could produce. Given the number of people in the village and the size of the fields outside, Alexa predicted that this village could barely produce enough grain to keep itself alive, let alone feed humans.

With those thoughts in mind, Alexa did something no other human had done before.

“Keep the grains for yourself. You are all now free. That means you what you produce is your own.”

Gasps.

The reason no other human had done this before, was due to the fact that Alexa was the only human to still be unaffiliated with one of the two main factions at this time. Factions that would all but demand the resources being offered. Fortunately, Alexa had no such restraints on her, which is why giving up the right to the grain was such an easy task.

Rewarded: The Gnomes have been awarded grain.

With that, her quest box showing her that her quest for Grain Production was finally complete. With that, Alexa turned about on her heel and was about to go.

“Wait.”

Alexa turned to see the old gnome staring at Alexa in wide eyed confusion.

“You do not want any reward for your deeds?”

Alexa thought about the request. Of course she wanted a reward for her deeds, who didn’t, but that wasn’t what this person was asking. Not truly, also she knew that while she couldn’t feel, this would be something her emotional mind would have wanted.

“I do not require a reward for doing the right thing.” Alexa said.

Then she once again began to move but was once again stopped.

“Wait.”

Alexa turned to see the gnome, look in contemplation. Then finally resolve filled the old gnomes face.

“I want you to have this.” The old gnome said, going over to the throne and pressing a hidden latch on the side. A latch that caused a glowing blue gem to appear.

Looking at the sudden gem, it was clear that this throne was somehow able to hide the presence of the blue gem. That or the gem didn’t actually exist in the dungeon, until the lever was pressed by the dungeon inhabitant. Looking at the stone, Alexa was shocked.

“This is the Stone of Protection, this is said to be a marker of change. This stone also makes it so the oppressors can’t use their magic.” The old gnome said.

“Sire, you can’t, what if we get attacked again? How will we defend ourselves?” The female gnome asked.

“Silence child. We had it before, and we were still conquered. Still, I can’t help but thing it is more important to show our appreciation to our savior.” The old gnome said, as he came forward and held out the glowing blue stone.

Alexa for her part was curious about what the blue stone was.

To her surprise, while she was able to change the properties of the item, the changes she was able to make were minor.

Item Alteration Details: Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right. This item has an 89% chance to be the Top Left portion. Do you wish to continue?

With that, Alexa let the system do what it wanted and before she knew it, she was holding a shining new chunk of stone. A piece of stone that should make it impossible for her to use her magic. Yet, the moment she touched the stone a strange tingling sensation filled her body, as she felt the piece of stone meld into her skin, much like an augmentation crystal would.

“Wah?”

Collective gasps of surprise rang out around the room, as everyone watched the sacred artifact disappear into Alexa’s skin. Alexa herself was also surprised, as she was greeted by her own system messages.

Partial Divine Item Found: You have found a portion of a divine item. Current stats: Soul Bound.

Hidden Quest Found: Fragments of the Lost: You have found the first of four fragments needed to create a Divine Item. Collect all four fragments.

Warning: This quest can only be completed on the third stage of the Trials of Ascension. Moving on, or otherwise failing to procure a piece of the fragment will result in the permanent loss of this quest and access to all previously recovered pieces.

That was it.

Alexa had found a hidden quest, something that all but screamed of something amazing to happen. There was of course the problem that she could only do this one time. Somehow, she knew this quest would not be offered again, even if she opted to stay.

Alexa had the first of four fragments, a fragment she got from freeing a village of oppressed grain producing gnomes. It didn’t take a genius to realize that the other three villages likely all suffered from similar fates. All three villages were likely oppressed in some way, and all three would need to not only be liberated, but also allowed their own autonomy. Only then would Alexa be able to gain the three remaining pieces for the Divine Item.

With her moment of self-reflection over, Alexa decided that she would finish this hidden quest, regardless of what happened. With her mind made up she made a look at her countdown timer and tried to see how much time had passed since she started.

Countdown Timer until World Integration: 00 Years, 2 Months, 0 Days, 21 Hours, 33 Minutes, 13, 12 seconds.

Seeing the countdown timer, Alexa realized that she had spent just under four hours in this stage of the Trials of Ascension, so far. With that as a timer, Alexa realized one important thing.

I’m going to be late for class.

She was pulled out of her personal reverie, as she looked up to see six sets of eyes all look at her in shock.

“What?” Was all Alexa could ask at their stares.

Then before she could say or do anything, the old man dropped to his knees and bowed.

As the old man kneeled, so too did all the other gnomes. Even the daughter kneeled, after a moment’s hesitation.

They began muttering silently at first, but then as one they all began muttering the same word repeatedly. They were now speaking in Gnomish, a language that Alexa had never heard before, but was more than able to understand what each were saying.

Finally, after a second of focusing, Alexa was able to identify the word being spoken. They all muttered the same word over and over again.

“Messiah.”

With that, Alexa wanted to say something, but saw that all six were clearly caught in some form of fanatical reverie. Not quite knowing what to do, Alexa looked at the six gnomes for a moment, she seemed to come to some decision. Lowering her finger, and closing her mouth, Alexa turned about and promptly left both the town hall building and the village entirely.

She did have three more villages to visit, after all. That was what she told herself, and her prompt departure had nothing to do with the seemingly religious fervor that overtook the six gnomes.

Once she was out of the village, and well into the open lands that separated the gnome village, or the one Alexa noted as the Northernmost village and the Easternmost village, Alexa attempted to do something that she felt might go poorly given how potent the anti-magic field was before. There out in the middle of nowhere, Alexa paused her movement and attempted to summon a burst of magical air.

Gentle Breeze.

With the wind blowing gently, Alexa let out a sigh of relief. Now that the Divine Fragment was within her body, she no longer felt the oppressive restrictions from the piece that she previously felt.

With that one concern out of the way, Alexa continued to make her way to the second village.