abcnovels
Chapter 41: [Deal!]
Chapter 41: [Deal!]
"Deal?" I asked as I looked at him. With a thoughtful expression, he rubbed his chin before he looked at that open portal from where that goblin king escaped. His eyes closed for a few seconds before he turned at me and spoke,
"Go save that chief. Go with him to the safe zone first. I will tell you about the deal after you do that."
I observed him for a few seconds before I nodded. I was already going to do that so there wasn't any change of plans. Though it did intrigue me to what kind of deal he was talking about.
With the help of [Cartography!] It was easy to find out where that NPC was. About a kilometer away from me, in one of the buildings in that direction. Though I didn't see that giant cyclops there. Given the size, he should be easily visible yet he wasn't…
I wonder what happened.
"Well. Only one way to find out," I spoke out as I then jumped towards that direction. With my increased stats added on my parkour skills, it was pretty smooth to reach that building. Jumping from one to another, I reached there within a few minutes, before I reached the rooftop.
"?!!!"
But something rather surprising appeared in front of me. The chief, which was previously sleeping, was now sitting in a meditating position as the pieces of the body of the cyclops were present all around the roof.
The green blood of that cyclops, added with that serene meditating chief gave out a rather contradicting portrait in front of me. Though rather than reaching him immediately, I took a few minutes to look at that chief while I stood there.
He was bulky and muscular with a defined body shape. Each of his muscles made me wonder if he was really old as I previously imagined to be. White beard and white hairs, different from that of his daughter. He wore peasant clothes which were torn from multiple places giving it a rag-like appearance.
Though the thing that attracted me the most was that golden hue that was floating around him. Too bad, before I could analyze it, that guy opened his eyes and began standing up.
"I see that you have pushed back that beast. Though I doubt we have much time before he brings more reinforcement. We should hurry up," he spoke As he stood up. Taking one step at a time, he reached closer to me and added,
"You must have a lot of questions. But now is not the time. Let's go to the safe zone."
I looked at the serious expression, before my eyes went to the white goblin flying not too far from me. He too was silent, as he simply observed the entire scene without any change in his expression.
I took a deep breath before exhaling it all out. And then I nodded at the [Chief] before speaking,"sure."
And then without wasting any time, both of us moved back towards the safe zone.
As we ran back, I kept sneaking glances at the chief and then at the goblin. And for some reason, I felt like something was amiss here. I did not know what it was, but I couldn't shake it off. This strange feeling…
'Hopefully, it's something I can handle,' I thought as I kept running.
[You have completed the Quest: Save the Chief!]
[+25,000 Points!]
[+[Earth Blessing: Surface Dweller!]]
[+3 Free Attribute Points!]
It took time, but we reached back to the safe zone where the rest of the players were. Perhaps because I had activated my [Stealth] to maximum using the cloak, nobody noticed me. And I was going to continue it like that.
I believed that the chief would immediately run towards the NPCs, but instead he just stood at the edge of the wall of the high school. He then looked at me before speaking,
"Let's just get over this."
His attitude was… a bit rude.
"Aren't you going to even give him a chance, Gideon?" And surprisingly, the voice came from someone that I never expected. It was the white goblin that watched over the entire tutorial.
"Voltaire. Until when are you going to let that foolish dream of yours take control of you? Last time I did what you said and I almost lost my life. I am not going to trust you again with anything. You already know that," Gideon, the chief of the lost tribe, spoke as he observed me before turning back to that white Goblin.
"Didn't you say that only the players can see you?" I asked a bit confused, while the goblin sighed before speaking,
"Well. He is an exception. He is real after all."
"Real?" I was a bit intrigued. My eyes looked at the players doing their own thing at a distance. Seems like they haven't found our presence, yet. I guess I am not the only one hiding myself here?
"Yeah. On that note. Adrian, let me ask this again, would you like to make a deal with me?" The white Goblin spoke as he looked at me, while the [Chief] observed Voltaire with a narrowed gaze before giving a deep sigh.
"Again. What kind of deal?" I asked, before he spoke out,
"An exchange of information of sorts. We will tell you the history of everything that you are looking at here. Including the secrets and stuff about the tutorial and the things beyond that. Even though you only have 18 hours, you should be able to get a lot out of it."
I pondered about it for a moment. While it wasn't a bad deal given there were many questions that I wanted to ask, I still wondered what they wanted in return.
"And what do you need from me in exchange?" I asked as I looked at him.
"Just answer three of our questions," he raised one his three fingers before asking the questions one by one,
"Your powers. What are they capable of? Can they revive the dead or bring back the dead? What can you do or what you can't do? You don't need to describe them in detail. Just give us a rough idea of your power."
He then raised another of his fingers.
"Your goals. If I tell you that there are gods that would give you everything, will you go by their side? If I tell you that you can't go with them in exchange for the intel we give you, will you give up the chance for infinite treasures? Do you like omnipotence? Or rule an entire kingdom? If I tell you that you can't destroy a certain nation in exchange for the intel we give you, will you do it?"
He then raised the last of his fingers.
"Your race orientation. If I tell you that there are more races out there, will you hate them based on their color, or love them for their beauty? If I tell you not to judge a certain race no matter what you hear, will you do it?"
He then looked at Gideon before tuning back at me as he sighed and then spoke,
"The three questions will be related to more or less what I just told you. Though questions, they are also binding and clauses in a way, preventing you from doing certain things."
Yeah, they weren't questions but straight up restrictions. Though will it be worth following his words? I mean I can probably remove the restrictions using my GM points later on… the question is… is it worth it?
I pondered over his words for a few seconds before speaking,
"Well. Then let's not make that deal. You are better off making that kind of deal with a hero or something. While I may be kind, I don't like to put my nose where it doesn't belong. As for the tutorial, I have already reaped enough rewards. Anymore would be too greedy."
There were many things that I wanted to know about this world. This tutorial and stuff. But not at the cost of any form of restrictions. And looking at the way that goblin, Voltaire, described those questions, I can smell a huge quest filled with troubles and ventures. Not something I am fond of. I just want to live peacefully.
He sighed as if he kind of expected that answer from me. Though he continued,
"I more or less expected that from you. On that note, may I ask you something?"
Observing his solemn face, I nodded.
"If I need help from you in the future. Is there anything that I can do that would make you help me?" He asked with a slight hopeful expression, to which I pondered.
"Not really. I am someone who works hard so that he can relax for a longer time, you know? Smart work and stuff," I answered with all honesty.
Though rather than being sad, that goblin made a rather wide ugly smile as he spoke,
"Then I would inconvenience you the moment the circle of my problems comes into the circle of your problems."
I didn't like the tone of his voice or the words he spoke, but before I could even retort he clicked his fingers.
[The Tutorial Phase 1 Has ended! Please escape through the portal before the Apocalypse descends!]
[Time Remaining for the End of the World: 4 mins: 59 seconds!]
A huge portal opened up at the roof of the Milton high school, alarming everyone present there. That goblin kept smiling at me as he spoke,
"Adrian John Rodriguez. See you again."
And then he pushed me into that portal before I could even do anything.
…
[Voltaire's POV!]
"Why go so far for a kid that you have just met? He couldn't even kill a C-Grade Goblin King unlike the previous guy you bet on," Gideon asked as he did not understand why would I go so far for Adrian.
"Well. There is a difference between the two of them," I looked at Gideon who was observing me as if I had finally gone mad. Though I continued without caring much about what he thought,
"First is the power difference. That kid was strong from the beginning, dominating the entire tutorial with his powers-"
"And yet you lost the golden chance of multiple promotions in exchange for a false hope that he can someday save your race from the cruel system," Gideon scoffed as he cut me in between. Glaring him for a moment, I then shook my head before continuing,
"However Adrian wasn't like that. Would you believe me that Adrian struggled with an E-Grade Goblin, reaching almost on the verge of death?"
Gideon narrowed his eyes but did not speak. Though the slight look of disbelief was still visible from the corner of his eyes.
"Seconds was the difference between the [Gifts]. Back then, I couldn't see through that guy either, so I used a special artifact that cost me 100 million points. That is how I figured out that he had a [Mythical Grade] gift," I spoke before I smiled as I observed his face and asked,
"Can you guess the grade of Adrian's gift?"
"Since he defeated the goblin king then…Mythical? Or perhap Immortal?" Curious he asked but I chuckled as I answered the absurd answer that I got this time,
"Below Mortal."