The Night of Valpurgis and the Ogre Fortress
“You already know, right? Mastering the Necromancer class isn’t the end of the road.”
In Horizon, you need to reach level 200 to master a single job. After that, you could choose an entirely new class for fresh experiences or seek an associated job that would amplify your existing power. So, after reaching level 200, must you always pick another class?
Not necessarily. “The top-tier job for a Necromancer—the High Necromancer. With you, I’m sure you can handle it.”
A regular Necromancer is like a college student, but a High Necromancer is more like a grad student. “You’re a smart kid, so I’m offering this. Heehee. What do you think?”
Guld asked with his rat-like merchant face, grinning slyly. “……”
Even with that face, I knew he was an extremely high-level NPC just from his level alone. “With Guld’s support, it wouldn’t be a bad choice.”
However…
“It’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
Fafnir shook his head. “I’m sorry. I appreciate the suggestion, but I can’t accept it.”
“Then, then, that’s a good choice… Huh?”
Guld’s eyes sparkled. The surrounding candles flickered and went out, over and over. “Why! Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the other side?”
Every word sent a wave of killing intent. “It’s not that. I’ve never thought my Master’s school or the Skeleton Soldiers weak at all.”
“Then why?”
If I didn’t explain it well here, my favorability would drop sharply. Fafnir took a deep breath. “Because I’ve discovered a new possibility.”
“A new possibility?”
“If I become a High Necromancer now, I’ll only learn what my Master taught me. But I’m not my Master. Even if I become a High Necromancer someday, I want a High Necromancer with my own special touches.”
“Um……”
Guld’s killing intent vanished. “Tch… A sharp-eyed kid. I was going to turn you into a proper disciple and make you do all sorts of chores.”
“Hehe.”
“Got it. Let’s pretend the High Necromancer offer never happened.”
“Fortunately, my explanation went well.”
“Even without luck, things work out somehow.”
Fafnir let out a sigh of relief. “Speaking of which, what about the Night of Valpurgis?”
“Ah, right.”
“That was postponed. The kingdom is in chaos right now, so no one has time for relaxed gatherings or anything like that.”
“Ah.”
For black magicians who deal with darkness and corpses, this situation was like the end-of-year sale. “They need to harvest everything immediately, but even if we gathered to talk, there wouldn’t be time.”
“Not that it’s all bad, though.”
“Eh?”
“There are more people than I thought who are targeting our necks.”
Black magicians faced many enemies. Not just the flame-wielding holy orders. But also greedy local lords obsessed with treasures or monsters. And even other black magicians who could turn on you. “There are those who are mad with greed or moving for profit, but also groups like the Cult of the Apocalypse or the Demon Cult.”
The Cult of the Apocalypse was a monster faction that wanted to destroy the world. It was literally a major villain. “‘What about it? In the original novel, Flush wiped them out so thoroughly that they were just side characters.’”
The Demon Cult was, as the name suggested, black magicians who worshipped demons. When cornered, their boss monsters could summon powerful demons, but with luck, they dropped high-rank dark-element items that drew users to them. “With the world in chaos, clueless people are setting up traps. We need to be careful too.”
Guld sighed with his rat-like face. “You should be careful as well. I’ll survive fine, but you seem like the type who’ll charge in first and die the moment something happens.”
“……”
Fafnir stayed silent, and Guld patted his shoulder. “That said, there’s a price to pay for rejecting my Master’s offer, right?”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing big. I just need you to do one request of mine.”
After saying that, Guld got to the point. “A hundred years ago, the Demon King Rehern led an army of the dead and attempted to conquer this world. He almost succeeded, but he was stopped by the heroes and the allied forces.”
The history of the Horizon world was something you learned by finding books in the library or reading it like this. In the later parts of the novel, there was a rough history on the wiki, but the details were hidden behind information controls and had to be investigated directly. “So there was such a person.”
“Yeah. He was a Demon King but also a highly skilled black magician and scholar. He was well-versed in the black magic and curses from all over the world, including truly extraordinary ones.”
A legendary-level powerful black magician! Fafnir could immediately guess what Guld would say next. “The traces of that black magician were reportedly found in the Aluin Wilderness in the northern part of the kingdom. Most are rumors, but it might be true, so investigate it for me.”
- Guld is offering a new quest: “Searching for Rehern’s Traces (Normal).”
- Do you accept the quest? (Y/N)
“This quest description is serious.”
“I have a bad feeling there’s something more to it.”
“This isn’t in the novel, though……”
Fafnir accepted the quest for now. “As a disciple, it’s only natural.”
“Hehe, he smells something and jumps on it right away. Just like my disciple.”
- New quest “Searching for Rehern’s Traces (Normal)” has been created.
Quest Accepted
[Searching for Rehern’s Traces]
- Grade: Normal
- Objectives:
- Arrive at the Aluin Free City (0/1)
- Verify the truth of the rumor that Rehern’s traces have been discovered (0/1)
- Description: The legendary black magician Rehern was called a Demon King because of his power. Recently, news has spread that traces of this Rehern have been discovered in the Aluin Wilderness, attracting the attention of black magicians.
- Reward: Experience points, 1 silver
Fafnir sighed after accepting the quest. “This is going to take some effort.”
The Aluin Wilderness was home to monsters around level 220. According to rumors, it was full of undead monsters and a hunting ground that never slept. “With a high class or another job, it might be worth hunting.”
First, let’s take care of something else. Fafnir immediately headed to the Pendragon Lord’s Castle to meet the lord. “Oh, isn’t that the adventurer who repelled the orcs? How are you holding up?”
“Yes, thanks to you. By the way, Lord, I actually have something to discuss.”
“What is it?”
“You know that the Duke of Gwin has started a rebellion, right?”
“……I know. Did you come here to deliver the Duke of Gwin’s wishes?”
“No. Actually, I came to tell you that a legitimate heir to the kingdom is still alive.”
“What are you talking about? Surely the King….”
“Princess Elizabeth is leading the Restoration Army as a living person. The Baran Kingdom Restoration Army, I mean.”
“No way…!”
- Inform three nobles of the Restoration Army’s name (1/3)
Since I came because of Guld, I might as well handle the Restoration Army promotion quest at the same time!
The Pendragon Baron’s expression turned to shock, then he sighed. “I would love to help the Restoration Army too, but the orcs are swarming outside the castle right now, so I don’t have time. If it’s possible, could you request support from nearby cities? If reinforcements arrive and things calm down, I might be able to look into the Restoration Army.”
“Understood.”
- New quest “Requesting Reinforcement (Normal)” has been created.
- Completing the quest will change the relationship between the Kingdom Restoration Army and Byron City from “Neutral” to “Friendly.”
* Rejecting the quest will reset the completion condition for the Restoration Army promotion to zero.
“A convenient excuse.”
Fafnir quickly understood his thoughts. “‘The Duke of Gwin’s army is strong, and the Restoration Army is new, so I want to side with them. But betraying the royal family would be delicate.’”
I wanted to confront him right away, but that might mean I could never return to this city again. “‘Then at this time….’”
Fafnir said, “Lord, is it just about clearing all the orcs?”
“Eh? Eh! Um… Yeah.”
“If there’s no need to call for reinforcements, is it okay not to?”
“That’s true, but… will it work?”
The orcs embedded in the mountains were twice as fierce as plain orcs. “Don’t worry.”
Fafnir said calmly. “If you give me permission, I’ll handle the rest.”
I’ll take responsibility, so please provide as many supports as possible. “‘If something goes wrong, it’ll just be the adventurer’s mistake, so no problem at all.’”
The ability to create quests without one was a special feature of Horizon alone. A short while later, a new quest appeared for the users of Byron City. “New urgent large-scale quest ‘Eliminating the Threat to Byron (Rare)’ has been created.”
[Eliminating the Threat to Byron (Rare)]
- Grade: Rare
- Objectives:
- Occupy or destroy the mountain orc fortress in northern Byron City (0/1)
- Defeat the orc army commander Kuntzbar in northern Byron City (0/1)
- Kill at least 1,000 mountain orcs (0/1,000)
- Description: 5,000 orcs from the Orc Empire have built a fortress and are stationed in the mountains north of Byron City. Hunt down the orcs threatening the city under the lord’s name.
- Reward: Experience points, *30 gold, *Support for the Restoration Army in Byron’s territory, Obtaining the title of Byron’s friend, Multiple benefits for using Byron City facilities after clearing this quest
* Rewards marked with * are limited to Fafnir.
The quest appeared. A short while later, Ludius joined and asked with a surprised expression. “Is this why you came here?”
“No, it’s just a coincidence that I got involved.”
“I see. But I’m not sure if this is okay. Five thousand orcs….”
Ludius was an excellent bard, but this was different. Even if we gathered tens of users, it would be hard to take on five thousand orcs with Fafnir around. “It’s fine.”
Fafnir shook his head. “I have a strategy to capture the fortress.”
“Oh, what strategy?”
“First, let’s gather some users. There’s an urgent quest too. The reward looks good, so we’ll gather quickly.”
“Um…….”
Ludius sighed. “Can I be honest? The users in this city are all useless.”
This was exactly the problem Ludius had been worrying about. The proper users were all busy with PVP. So the users gathering for quests were just the leftovers! “Their levels are also too low, and their job classes are mainstream… and there’s no one who can help in group battles.”
Since the broadcast was off, he could say crude things! No matter how much of a necromancer Fafnir was, leading them to conquer the fortress would be full of hardships. “We’ll just have to try and see.”
Fafnir and Ludius headed to the plaza to gather users. “I’m Fafnir, the leader of this urgent quest. I’ll take overall command of this orc fortress raid, and I’ve given you temporary instructions. Please take care.”
“What? You’re not leading with a high-level NPC?”
The users were uneasy and muttering. “‘Is it really not working?’”
Ludius’s face darkened. At that moment, “Wait, I’ve heard of you. Fafnir, you’re number one in contributions? The real Fafnir?”
“Yes, that’s me, Fafnir.”
“No way.”
“No… Since he’s Fafnir, he could even lead the extermination quest?”
A solo ranker who beat large guilds! The name Fafnir was known among regular users to some extent. “If it’s the real Fafnir, I’d follow him.”
“Yeah……”
The initial disbelief was starting to shift. “By the way, I’m Ludius! When fighting, I’ll give you plenty of buffs, so don’t worry about debuffs or status abnormalities.”
With Ludius joining, the general users agreed. “Is this okay…?”
“Yeah. It’s worth a try.”
“It’s fine, just pay attention. We’re just rolling around, but the real guy is taking it all.”
A user poked his companion’s shoulder as he tilted his head. At that moment, Fafnir smiled. “There. You spoke very well at the right time.”
“Eh?”
The user who was pointed at jumped in surprise. Fafnir looked around once. “You said there was no reward. Don’t worry. If you do well, I’ll personally take care of the reward for you.”
“……Yes.”
“Any other questions?”
The others said nothing. Fafnir nodded and continued. “Good. Starting now, we’ll begin the orc fortress raid operation.”