Allevia collected the orb that the Elden dropped and made a dash for the tunnel he had entered by. ‘This should lead to the surface. With a bit of luck, I can get away before anyone else notices the treasure is gone.’ She rushed through the winding tunnel that branched off in different directions.
It was obvious which path led to the surface because of the air currents. So she did not need to worry about getting lost. From time to time, she would hear the sound of people running down the adjoining tunnels. Forcing her to duck into another to hide from view. Her heart raced in her chest whenever that happened, but she managed to remain level-headed.
Eventually, she spotted the exit. The sounds of fighting were intense as the noise carried down into those tunnels. However, as she rushed out into the open air, she quickly glanced around to take stock of the situation.
‘Jor’s busy fighting what looks to be the Elden leader. ‘ It seemed that luck was on her side as nobody seemed to notice her presence in that strange location. Without thinking about it too much, she picked the direction that had the least amount of players in it.
‘I have to be more careful this time… No more jumping over boulders blindly!’ Allevia sighed as she raced around the edges of the battlefield. The odd spell was thrown her way, but everyone was too busy dealing with their opponents to try to intercept her. ‘I’m actually going to make it!’
She burst out laughing as she continued to race away from the battlefield. She had done it! She had stolen the treasure for herself and now she was putting distance between herself and those who wanted to seize it. She could just imagine how furious Jor would be when he discovered that he had wasted all of these lives for nothing.
‘I need to be careful how I use this in the future. I can’t let him realise I took what he was after until I’m strong enough to defend myself against him.’ She frowned as she began to leave the noise far behind. There was a lot for her to consider going forward. The most important thing would be which Pantheon she should turn to.𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝗇𝓔t
She would still need help to grow, but she wanted to avoid the bigger ones, since they were always fighting with Jor. The chances she would be discovered only escalated if she sided with any of them. She was laughably weak when compared to those powerful players. The upper echelons of most of those Pantheons were in Tier 5 or close to it.
She was nothing more than a small fish in the ocean compared to them. Still, she knew she had to do something. ‘Maybe I should turn to the Dwarves? What’s that kingdom again that loves to study the gods? They should be willing to help me out.’ She had to consider the fact that Jor was likely to absorb her Skardian followers and kill her Oracle for her desertion. But he probably would not chase her down when she survived, as long as he did not know she had the First Flame.
‘It’s such a strange thing… It’s like it is a key to building a solid hybrid build.’ She considered how it had given her the option to pick both Lightning and Hearth spells. Something she had never heard of before. That was the problem with most authorities. They tended to prefer one stat over the others and their spells usually focused on something that complimented that fact.
But, with the First Flame, she could build a stable selection of spells that could make her a well-developed all-rounder. Or focus on a variety of offensive spells to give more breadth to that style. The same also went for the healing and support spells. It gave her a level of freedom in her build that the majority would not get to enjoy.
‘I can’t wait to see what else comes from it. It said it would unlock more fire-related abilities as my Tier advances.’ She chuckled to herself as she finally cleared the snow-covered ground from Jor’s spell and set foot back on the luscious grasslands.
It took her weeks to exit the Elden lands. She had grown tired of finding places to safely login and out of the game. ‘The battle’s bound to be long over. I wonder what Jor will do now? Hopefully, he won’t return straight to Valheim if he won. I need time to set up my second Oracle first.’
She sighed as she sifted through her memories of the common knowledge about Tier 1. She felt pleased with her decision to contact the dwarves. But they were still a long way away. Who knew if she really had the time to put her fate in their hands. ‘I wonder if the passage to the Orc’s divine realm is open here. It would probably be safer cutting through there.’
There were a lot of unknowns to her journey. Just now, she was on the edge of the Elven Divine Realm that bordered the Elden territories. Elves were famous for looking down on the human players, so she was not keen to run into them.
Still, she could only do her best to avoid them. Her journey continued as she hid from powerful mobs and kept her eyes out for players who were exploring far afield from their cities. It made for slow progress, something that seriously made her frustrated. There were a few times she thought she had been spotted. But nobody made a move on her location.
The greatest excitement she experienced as she crossed those Elven Realms was using the giant mushrooms in one of the zones to quickly bounce from one to the other. Vastly improving her travelling speed in that region. Or at least, she wished that was the most excitement she got.
Unfortunately for her, she was pitted against a number of packs of Divine Beasts. Several of them she barely escaped from with her life. While the others were weak enough for her to deal with them without wasting DP. She knew she had to be careful with its use as it was the only thing she had to hand that could heal her for now.
‘Maybe I should’ve tried to sneak onto Jor’s ships and steal a portable shrine or two… At least then I’d have access to my prayers so I wouldn’t be stuck in this condition.’ she had even come to wonder if she would make it to the Dwarven Realms before she ran out of DP. Still, at least she could count on the fact that the Skardian Gods and the dwarven players were allies after the last vote. So she could freely enter their cities without fear.
She began to lament the journey at some point, despite the many wonders of the Elven lands that she had never witnessed before. Such as trees with colourful leaves twisting their branches around each other to create arches over the pathways through the forests. Or the crystal clear lakes that felt refreshing to drink from.
She partially wished she could just take her time and enjoy those sights, but she knew time was of the essence. If Jor had set off straight for Valheim then he should be returning within a few days. At this point, she could only hope the battle had taken longer to come to a conclusion and that he wasted time thoroughly searching those tunnels.
‘Of course, it would be even better if the attack failed. They would have respawned at the shrines on the ships and he might have wasted more time attempting a second assault.’ But that was just wishful thinking. She had to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Over a month of in-game time passed by as she began to feel desperate. She never realised just how much area those divine realms actually covered before. But that was because her level had barely allowed her to explore much outside of Valheim. Just as she was about to throw in the towel, she noticed that the terrain up ahead made drastic changes.
It went from luscious lands full of colour to barren and rocky. ‘Don’t tell me! Does this actually directly connect to the Dwarven realms?’ She sighed with relief at the sole thought of possibly having reached her destination without having to go through other lands. However, there was still an issue that might appear. It all depended on whether the way between those two realms was actually open or not.
Otherwise, she may have to waste more time searching for a way in. Unable to contain herself any longer, she sprinted at full speed towards the border. Hoping against hope that she would not fail so close to her goal. She held her breath in desperation as the dividing line between those terrains approached…