With the Elder's confirmation, Kael left, thoroughly satisfied.

  He had just arrived back in Starlight Village when a message from the First Chieftain popped up.

  Ullr, come to the Civic Hall at once.

  Kael had planned to contact Lila and Elon to discuss the Land of the Behemoth, but that would have to wait. He turned and headed straight for the hall.

  Inside, all three chieftains were present. The First Chieftain, Korbin, and the second, Bork, both had a lot more color in their cheeks than a few days ago; their wounds were clearly healing well.

  Kael strode into the hall with a smile. "Gentlemen, I'm here."

  Korbin nodded. "Please, sit."

  Kael took a seat.

  "Ullr," Korbin began, "your success in linking the teleport nexus to Beryl Creek has attracted many adventurers to our village. Our resources have grown considerably. You've done well."

  "It was my duty," Kael replied smoothly, though he was thinking, This guy gave me squat for that, just a useless "Ambassador" title. If I hadn't lucked into those Lord permissions, it would have been a total loss.

  Korbin continued, "The village has changed a great deal these past few days, and many of the villagers say you've been a great help. Especially Garrick at the forge…"

  At the mention of Garrick, Kael's heart began to race. Is he going to tell them about the free recipe I got?

  "...he said that thanks to you, he was able to advance to the third tier of his craft."

  Kael let out a silent breath. That was a close one.

  "However…"

  However?

  "Since you are our Ambassador, your focus should be on matters outside the village."

  It felt like an emotional rollercoaster. Now Kael was just confused. "Chieftain, what do you mean?"

  "Look around us. We are stuck in a small village, unable to truly grow our strength. Our ultimate goal is to overthrow the Warchief Kromgar, and we cannot do that from Starlight Village alone."

  A jolt went through Kael. This was it. The main storyline was kicking in.

  The level 60 expansion, [Warchief's Descent], had originally involved players cooperating with the main city NPCs to foil the Warchief's plans.

  Now, Kael had opened up an entirely new path, playing the role of a rogue faction—villains, from the main cities' perspective—and he had no idea how the plot would progress from here. And now, Korbin was bringing it up himself.

  Kael shot to his feet, a sudden rush of excitement making him momentarily forget his composure. "Chieftain, are you saying we should start clearing out the Warchief's minions?"

  Korbin shook his head. "The Warchief's armies on our border are not entirely a bad thing. As long as they're there, it makes it much more difficult for Crescent City to send troops against us."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Then I don't understand your meaning," Kael said, puzzled.

  "For now, our first step is to expand our influence. We need to upgrade this village into a town."

  "Upgrade to a town?"

  "Yes. To become a town, we need to formally ally with at least three villages. You have a good relationship with the chieftain of Beryl Creek. Can you bring them into our fold?"

  Kael thought for a moment. "That shouldn't be a problem. But what about the third village?"

  Korbin gave Kael a knowing look. "The third village is one you know very well."

  A thought struck Kael. Does he know about Behemoth's Watch?

  Just then, Korbin stood and walked to a large table in the center of the room. Fenris was already there, unrolling a map. Korbin pointed to the region of the Shadowcrag Mountains.

  Kael understood instantly. "Blackwind?"

  Korbin nodded. "Exactly. After you led the defense against Stonehaven's attack, the Blackwind Brotherhood expanded its numbers considerably. They now have the manpower to establish a formal village. The sudden arrival of the Warchief's forces cut them off from us. We need you to find a way to the Brotherhood and help them establish a teleport nexus."

  Kael was slightly surprised. "The Blackwind Brotherhood hasn't been overrun?"

  "Fenris placed a series of protective wards around their territory, concealing them from the enemy," Korbin explained. "But the wards are beginning to fade. If we don't act soon, I fear they will be in grave danger."

  "But I don't know how to build a teleport nexus," Kael said, voicing a practical concern.

  Fenris walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry," he said with a smile. "I'll be going with you."

  Kael's heart leaped. With this super-support NPC at his side, the mission would be much easier.

  "To avoid attracting the attention of the Warchief's patrols, your party cannot exceed six people," Korbin added.

  Kael understood. It was an escort quest for a party of five. Except this time, he wasn't escorting some helpless merchant, but one of the most powerful support characters in the game.

  He slapped his hand on the table. "Alright, you can count on me!"

  The three chieftains of the now-rebranded Blackwind Brotherhood nodded in satisfaction. Kael received a system notification.

  System: You have accepted the plot quest [Upgrade Starlight Village].

  Phase 1: [Escort Fenris to the Blackwind Brotherhood]

  Party Size Limit: 5 Players

  Level Requirement: 30

  Time Limit: 48 hours

  It was a real plot quest. His heart pounded with excitement. Plot quests weren't like normal quests; they advanced the game's timeline and could affect every player on the server.

  With every step forward, the Warchief Kromgar would make a move, and the main city NPCs would react.

  But this time, Kael was representing a third faction. He couldn't wait to see what kind of interesting butterfly effects his actions would cause.

  Since his return, Kael had been carefully avoiding the main storyline, afraid of accelerating the game's progress. But now, the system had not only pushed a plot quest onto him but had also given him a 48-hour deadline. He had no choice. He could only hope the other players were ready to keep up.

  With night having already fallen, it wasn't the ideal time to start an escort mission. Kael put the quest aside for the moment and sent a message to Elon.

  Elon arrived a few minutes later. "Boss, what's up?"

  "I've got a new location. See if you can work some magic with it."

  "What kind of place?"

  "It's a Hidden Realm called the Land of the Behemoth. I control the teleport nexus. Inside, there are level 30+ Mawflowers that give insane rewards when killed…"

  Kael quickly outlined the Mawflower's stats, experience yield, and item drops.

  "Hold on, boss," Elon interrupted. "Are you sure a normal Mawflower gives one million EXP? And has a fast respawn?"

  "I'm sure. The difficulty is high, though. A team under level 30 would get wiped. A ten-person team of level 30s should be able to handle it."

  "Okay… and the dungeon?"

  "The dungeon is the [Behemoth Simbra] one from the system announcement. I'm not sure about the exact difficulty yet."

  "Boss, can you get a team to clear it once? I don't need a video, just a few screenshots of the key moments would be perfect."

  Kael stood up. "Alright, I'll go clear it now."

  Elon quickly grabbed his arm. "No, no, if you go, it's meaningless. A normal player can't relate to that at all. There's no sense of immersion."

  Kael nodded, realizing he was right. "Okay, I'll ask Lila to get some of her guild members to run it. A 20-person dungeon is probably going to be pretty tough."

  "Perfect," Elon said. "Boss, just grant me administrative access to the teleport nexus. I'll handle the rest."

  A crafty, familiar smile spread across Elon's face.