"It's really a weapon for Radiant Shield."
"Such a weak boss but he drops a unique?"
"Cyclone's luck strikes again."
"Really, without Cyclone who knows how long it would have taken us to find so much set equipment. I heard from Callida that Force of Nature paid no small sum to outfit their top team."
Listening to her friends, Cyclone only smiled proudly. She kept the hammer in her inventory, planning to surprise Radiant Shield later.
"Adventurers! Hey, up here! Hey!"
Suddenly a shout echoed through the temple hall. It woke everyone up. There were still merfolk and sirens leaning against the wall, frozen in shock. But with this shout they suddenly reacted. Keeping a distance from the monsters who killed their holy priest they swiftly escaped the temple.
Liam and his friends didn't care for those NPCs. Instead, they looked towards the ceiling where a few black cages were swaying in the air, discovering the source of the shout. It was a goblin in a pair of yellow trousers and a tattered brown hat. Who else could it be but Ruxor?
"Finally, we found him!", exclaimed Cyclone. Immediately Ruxor's eyes lit up. He looked towards the other prisoners, saying:
"Haha, didn't I say someone would come to save me? I, Ruxor, have friends all around the world! And not only friends. But also fans! Oh, oh. Let me tell you, two years ago I went fishing at the Lake of Golden Carps..."
The friends listened incredulously as Ruxor began to boast about the famous fish he caught, completely disregarding the situation they were in. In a cage not far from him was a fierce looking pirate captain. The man gritted his teeth and a vein visibly stood out on his forehead. If he could reach Ruxor, one could only imagine how he would stuff the goblin's mouth. Finally, he had enough and looked towards the players with pleading eyes:
"Please, adventurers! I just want to get out of here! Even getting sacrificed by merfolk is preferable over spending even one more second with this green-skin."
"Oh, sure. Sure."
Only then did the friends react. But how should they get these people down? The friends looked around the room and swiftly found the answer as they spotted some levers at the far end of the room. Quickstep jogged over and looked at the levers one by one. Finding no obvious signs as to which lever belonged to which cage she shrugged her shoulders and pulled the leftmost lever.
A loud rattle of chains echoed through the temple. It was accompanied by a startled cry and a heavy bang. Quickstep turned around in surprise and saw that Ruxor's cage had slammed into the ground, causing the goblin to painfully land on his butt.
"Damn…"
The pirate captain cursed quietly as he prepared himself. Suddenly he felt his cage dropping as well.
Quickstep pulled all the levers one by one. The cages crashed to the ground, but the sturdy prisoners only suffered some bruises. The friends went forward to break the locks open and freed all the prisoners. Everyone briefly thanked the adventurers before escaping. Only Ruxor stayed behind.
"Adventurers! It's so great to see you! Thank you very much for freeing me of my predicament."
"No worries. We will naturally help when we come across a friend in need!", answered Silver Blade with a smile.
"This is great to hear. However, adventurers, I still think thanks are in order. How about that? Why don't I invite you for a hearty meal on Small Haven Island? It would be a great opportunity to catch up. Since the last time we met, I made some miraculous catches. I need to tell you all about it!"
Silver Blade looked towards her friends, communicating silently.
"Oh, this sounds really great but I'm afraid we are short on time. Let us postpone this meal."
"What a pity. Are you on an important mission here in the Western Ocean? Perhaps I can help you. There aren't many people who know the oceans better than me!"
"Yes, I think you can help us indeed. We are searching for someone. Zelgor the Titan."
Silver Blade nodded towards Balm who took out the picture of Ruxor together with Zelgor and Inerwos. Immediately the goblin's eyes went round before he let out a sigh.
"Inerwos… how tragic. Now you came to find Zolgar?"
Ruxor appeared somewhat dejected. It was difficult to tell if this was the case because the adventurers didn't come for him or because he was saddened seeing the picture of Inerwos.
"Zelgor, Inerwos, and I were indeed friends. It all started the first time I had been kidnapped by merfolk…"
Everyone stared at Ruxor with strange expressions. What did he mean by 'the first time'? How often did this goblin get kidnapped? However, Ruxor didn't notice their gazes as he was lost in memories:
"… back then the merfolk were pretty powerful. Not only were they battling the habitants of the Western Ocean but also reached their claws into Deavin Ocean, endangering the nephilim living there. However, this was before the nephilim lost their contact to hell, when they were at the peak of their power. The merfolk became too brazen and the council, predecessor of the broken council, sent Inerwos to teach them a lesson. Inerwos had just befriended Zelgor at that time and the two together easily repelled the strongest of the merfolk, causing them to escape in fear.
After the two defeated the merfolk, they freed all prisoners, me included. We immediately hit it off. Inerwos and Zelgor shared my passion for fishing. I became their teacher. Haha, they were good students, but they could never beat me!"
At that point Ruxor laughed proudly. Cyclone stared at the picture and couldn't help but feel doubtful.
"But your fish is much smaller than theirs…"
Instantly the mage felt an icy gaze land on her as Ruxor flared up:
"How can you say that?! You need to consider proportion! Proportion! The fish I caught is clearly even taller than myself! Look at Inerwos and Zelgor. How big are their fish compared to their bodies?!"
Cyclone flinched and fell silent. She thought that there probably existed no fish as big as the titan but she didn't dare to say it out loud. Seeing her like this Ruxor nodded satisfied and continued:
"Anyways. A few years after this painting was made, the tragedy happened. The void invaded hell and Inerwos fell in the battle. I was shocked but Zelgor was devastated. At that time Zelgor was entangled by multiple void dwellers and couldn't come to help in time. Really, a tragedy…"
The friends listened to the story, but Ruxor just wouldn't stop. Finally, they became impatient. Silver Blade gave a slight hint and Ruxor realized that he digressed. He focused back on the original question:
"… after the tragedy Zelgor didn't want to have anything to do with the world. Thus, he retreated to the Western Domain of the End. Here, I can create a simple map for you. You should find him on this island."
Ruxor took out some writing utensils from who-know-where and created a simple map, handing it over to Silver Blade. Finally, the quest was updated.
"Domain of the End? What's t…"
Before Balm could finish her question Cyclone pressed a hand on her mouth, silencing her. Who knows how long Ruxor would continue to talk if they asked another question.
Now that they finally had the answer they were looking for, the friends were ready to go. Ruxor accompanied them for a while before disappearing into some tavern, causing the friends to shake their heads. It was not surprising that the goblin would constantly get kidnapped if he always behaved like this. However, this was of no concern to the friends right now. They went back to their boat and Cyclone finally found an opportunity to ask Liam about the Domain of the End.
"As the name says, the Western Domain of the End is far towards the west, rumoured to be the western end of the world. It is a zone of danger and miracles alike. From time-to-time powerful treasures are born there due to the chaotic mana. Thus, some people also suspect that while the domain is the end of the world, the world is still expanding, and new land is being created. The domain might be moving. In a thousand years the islands which are now lying inside the domain would leave the danger zone, becoming regular islands and might even birth new life."
The friends thought this sounded quite fascinating. Silver Blade asked with shining eyes:
"So, what is the truth? Is the world expanding?"
"Who knows… we would have to ask those thousand-year-old elves or dive deep into some history books to find the answer."
"Oh…"
Silver Blade was not disappointed. Instead, she felt the strong urge to visit a library and read some ancient stories. This was exactly the effect Liam was aiming for. Of course, he knew the truth but wouldn't spoon feeding it to his friends deprive them of the fun of discovering it themselves?