Alone Against the Tower - Chapter 51

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Chapter 51: Epic Quest

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I had a rule about not using items that were too good, but that didn't mean I planned to turn down items that came my way.

When I readily accepted the quest, the blacksmith smiled with satisfaction and promised to make me an incredible sword.

She did warn me it wouldn't be free, though, saying I wouldn't get squat if I didn't study diligently.

Still, considering that most of the quest completion conditions were optional and there weren't any particular restrictions, there was a good chance she was just saying that.

She'd probably make the sword even if I only pretended to learn.

That didn't mean I planned to half-ass it. I'd felt the power of proper swordsmanship deep in my bones during my fight with the Elf Knight.

It was a style of combat with a depth on an entirely different level from the crude swordsmanship I'd picked up while fighting Lizardman. I was already looking forward to it.

After receiving the quest and item from Blacksmith Erwen, I went around searching for the other shop-type locations.

There were only two places I could visit. One was a general store that sold potions, and the other was a grocery store.

"Oh my, what brings a human to a place like this? Were you invited?"

The female owner of the general store showed interest the moment she saw me buying potions, then gave me an unidentified pill as a freebie.

[Verdant Spirit Pill]

A secret elixir passed down among Elves.

Rumors say it is the secret behind their racial trait of longevity, though that has never been verified.

Within Elf society, it is treated about as seriously as a nutritional supplement made at home.

When consumed, permanently increases one random stat. Effective only once.

She'd handed it over as casually as a pharmacist giving out vitamins, so I hadn't expected much. It turned out to be an amazing item that permanently raised a stat.

After looking it up, it seemed to be an item you could get by choosing an Elf faction, regardless of whether you went with the Dark Elves or High Elves.

Apparently, you were guaranteed to get one if you followed either faction's quest line.

[Those fucking assholes are acting all high and mighty over giving out one supplement lol]

Of course, the High Elf faction, where nothing but horror stories came up the deeper you dug, didn't seem to give one away so easily.

The grocery store's Non-Player Characters were a Dark Elf couple who looked like tanned street punks. They were pretty friendly toward me too.

"Huh, it's been a while since I've seen a human... Honey, we still have some of those cookies we made last time, right? Bring some over."

At this point, I was starting to think Dark Elves saw humans as something like stray cats.

"Hey, aren't you thirsty? Want some milk?"

I didn't have any complaints, of course. While I was killing time at the grocery store, Eleanor came looking for me.

"Sorry, that took a while. I got carried away looking for a good room."

"It's fine."

"That's a relief. This way, follow me."

Eleanor led me into a massive tree dwelling. The room I'd be using was three or four flights up.

Even if it was a Dark Elf residence, it wasn't much different from any other inn. She said it was a good room, but it didn't look particularly great.

Still, I'd basically gotten free lodging, so I wasn't about to complain.

"You have an item box too, don't you? Then you probably don't have much luggage to organize."

Come to think of it, Non-Player Characters seemed to recognize a Challenger's inventory as some magical thing called an item box.

"Then follow me. I'll show you to the communal bath. You should wash up first."

Eleanor said that and grabbed my arm, pulling me along. I had gotten pretty covered in dirt while fighting the Elf Knight.

"You reek of blood."

Turns out the dirt wasn't the problem.

* * *

Maybe the smell hadn't fully gone away after I'd spent so long covered in blood and poison on Floor 6.

I'd scrubbed myself raw before participating in the Festival, but I never thought the smell would still have seeped in.

"Elves have a better sense of smell than humans. Even so, it's not something we particularly dislike."

After hearing that, I understood why that High Elf prince had freaked out and attacked me on sight.

An outsider carrying a huge black greatsword with a sinister design, reeking of blood and poison from head to toe.

Considering the conflict between the Kingdom Army and the High Elves over the Great Forest, it would've been stranger if he hadn't been wary.

On top of that, I'd just carved up the Rune Bear he was hunting with my greatsword, so I must've looked even more dangerous.

Of course, that was a completely separate issue from those High Elf bastards having absolutely rotten personalities.

"Anyway, let's go in. This way."

The Dark Elf bath Eleanor showed me was extremely spacious and luxurious.

Maybe it was due to the Elves' love of nature, but it felt like a well-developed hot spring. For all I knew, it might've been a real hot spring.

There was one major problem with this bath, though.

You could probably infer what it was from the way Eleanor had naturally brought me here.

"Jesus, it's mixed bathing."

That was right. There was no separation between men and women in this communal bath.

"Humans don't have this custom? If it makes you uncomfortable, I can leave."

"No, you don't need to leave. I'm just not used to it."

It wasn't exactly a bad thing, so I didn't make Eleanor leave.

Still, it was a little strange. I didn't remember the Open Community ever mentioning that Dark Elves had a custom like this.

Maybe it only happened after you raised your affinity past a certain point. Or perhaps Challengers deliberately didn't talk about it.

The Open Community was a system where your real name was displayed, so maybe people didn't want to openly discuss something this explicit.

"Should I look it up?"

Curiosity got the better of me, so I searched the community for the keyword "mixed bathing." There definitely weren't many posts that mentioned it.

Even looking through the posts, people mentioned that the custom existed, but hardly anyone claimed to have experienced it personally.

There might have been differences based on affinity, or perhaps the system prevented Challengers from bathing together with Non-Player Characters.

Maybe it was a unique event only the first-generation Hunters had experienced, or one of the hidden elements I'd uncovered.

Or maybe it had something to do with this, which was registered in my quest window.

[Epic: Dark Elf's Letter - Invitation]

An Epic Quest that had been registered when I accepted Eleanor's invitation.

* * *

There were broadly three kinds of quests in the Tower of Trials.

Normal quests that couldn't be done again after being cleared once, repeatable quests that could be completed multiple times.

And finally, limited Unique quests whose entire supply had been exhausted during the first and second generations.

That wasn't an official system classification, though. It was just how Challengers had categorized them.

"I've never heard of something called an Epic Quest..."

Naturally, I'd never heard that Epic Quests even existed. Even after searching, there was barely any information about them.

It seemed that some Challengers who had discovered hidden elements had revealed that Epic Quests existed.

Hardly anyone had actually received one, though, so they were only occasionally mentioned through word of mouth.

Still, the information had been cross-checked several times, so it seemed confirmed that they existed.

-Bubble, bubble.

As I soaked in the hot bath, I slowly read the information registered in the quest window, as if carving it into my eyes.

The quest description wasn't much different from other quests. It just talked about the history and purpose of the Dark Elves.

Only the unfamiliar message beneath it, in the section listing the quest objectives and rewards, differed from other quests.

[The rewards and objectives of the Epic Quest will vary depending on your record of challenges.]

The final reward for the Dark Elf faction quest known to the community was an item bestowed by the Dark Elf Queen.

You could choose from several types, and I'd heard that a weapon called the [Queen's Knight Sword] was especially popular.

I didn't know how I'd entered this route, but did clearing this Epic Quest mean there would be an even greater reward?

-Splash.

As I was thinking that over, Eleanor cut through the water and moved right up close to me.

Holy shit. Seeing her like this, Dark Elves really were no joke.

I'd heard that back when the Tower of Trials was still a more barbaric place, there had been people who tried to do terrible things to Non-Player Characters.

The moment they made inappropriate contact, every Non-Player Character in the village became hostile toward them, and some of them were killed by guard Non-Player Characters.

But apparently, there was no problem when a Non-Player Character came onto you first. Fucking scared the hell out of me.

"What are you staring at so blankly?"

Had she noticed me looking at the quest window?

No, but was that even possible for a Non-Player Character?

"Nothing."

I gave a vague answer. More importantly, I wanted to move the quest on to its next stage.

"Ah, didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about something?"

I pulled my eyes away from a certain body part that kept drawing my gaze and carefully spoke to Eleanor.

Some quests didn't progress unless you directly interacted with a Non-Player Character like this.

It would probably proceed on its own if I waited, but since she was an elite Non-Player Character, I needed to take the initiative and talk to her.

"Ah, that."

Then Eleanor's words were utterly bewildering.