Returning to Whispering Pines Crossing was like entering a different world. The oppressive tension that had lingered around the outpost was gone, replaced by a current of excited, optimistic chatter. Low-level players, who had previously scurried between the palisade walls and the nearby forest, now gathered in the open, trading and forming parties without the constant fear of being raided.
Lucas and Kael entered the Howling Hearth tavern. The place was buzzing. He took his usual corner booth and ordered a stew, listening as the ambient noise told the story of his recent work.
"It's true! I went there myself this morning. The Quarry is completely empty!" a young rogue exclaimed to his friends. "Scorch is gone. Vanished!"
"I heard they dug too deep and woke up some ancient monster that wiped them all out," a mage added sagely. "Serves them right."
A grizzled warrior, his face bearing the marks of a recent respawn, slammed his mug on the table. "That's not what Rive is saying. He's the only one who made it out. Says they were hunted. Picked off one by one by some kind of ghost. A Tamer and his demon wolf."
The table erupted in laughter. "A Tamer? Get real! More likely he's just making excuses for his own incompetence."
Lucas listened, a faint smile on his lips. His victory was being rewritten as a myth, an amusing piece of local folklore. Anonymity was the perfect shield. The legend of "The Quarry Ghost" was born, and no one suspected the quiet, unassuming Tamer sitting in the corner.
His work in the quarry had been more profitable than he'd imagined. He spent the next hour at the player-run market, carefully offloading a portion of the looted ore in small, untraceable batches. The influx of silver was a significant relief, a tangible step toward paying his sister's next medical bill. But money was only half the equation. The raw materials he kept were the key to real power.
He needed better gear, for both himself and Kael. His current equipment was a liability. He made his way to the outpost's forge, a soot-stained building run by a burly, world-weary NPC blacksmith named Baelin. As Lucas browsed the man's wares, he subtly activated his [System Insight].
[NPC: Baelin Ironhand | Level 25 (Master Smith)] [A skilled blacksmith capable of crafting up to Blue-grade equipment.] [Hidden Status: Distraught. His daughter is afflicted with 'Mana Fading,' a rare magical illness. He is desperately seeking a 'Sunpetal Brew' to stabilize her condition, offering a lifetime of service in exchange.]
The pieces clicked into place. A Master Smith, right here. The same rank he needed for the [Guardian's Heart]. And the path to securing his service was through the very ingredient he had been forced to destroy: the Sunpetal.
Lucas stepped back from the forge, his mind racing. The irony was palpable. To get the gear he needed to progress, he had to solve a problem created by his own recent victory. Grinding monsters for levels felt inefficient, a slow path to the power he needed. This quest, this opportunity with Baelin, was a direct shortcut.
He was at a crossroads. He was Level 7. His next major power spike was at Level 10, with his Job Advancement and the [Tamer's Genesis Ring]. To get there, he needed to be ruthlessly efficient.
He thought of his sister, her smiling face a constant anchor in the chaotic sea of Arcadia. The cold, calculating moves he made in this world, the lives he ended, the systems he dismantled—it was all for her. There was no room for sentiment, only strategy.
How to find another Sunpetal? The Grotto was a bust. But there was another thread, another piece of intel he had filed away. Evelyn and Helios. They had been struggling with a quest for a reagent called [Elder Moss], tied to a powerful boss. High-level quests like that often took place in unique, bio-diverse regions—the kind of places where other rare flora might grow.
Evelyn was a source of information. And if she wasn't willing to share it... well, he had a debt to call in.
His path was clear. His next objective wasn't a monster or a dungeon. It was a person. He needed to find Evelyn.
He left the forge, the warmth of the fire a stark contrast to the cold calculation in his eyes. He had become a hunter of systems, of players, and of information. And his hunt was leading him straight back to his greatest rival.