56***Sher

"Will you be my friend?" I asked him, holding my hand out to him.

"No. What are you, crazy?" He rejected immediately, his rumbling voice shaking me around.

"Eh? Why not?!" I asked, surprised that he said no!

'That always worked in anime. Did I do something wrong?' I thought in despair.

"Why would I stoop so low as to be friends with a foul blood like you?" He said to me like it was the most obvious thing on the planet.

"Again with that foul blood thing? Why do you have to be so racist to my kind anyway? What did we ever do to you huh?" I asked, getting fed up with his treatment.

"Heh. Naïve fool! Your kind is the reason why my King is dead!!!" He shouted angrily! His outburst made me confused.

"Your King? You a human that the Goblin King turned into a Named Monster right? Wasn't it the Goblin King that did that?" I asked in confusion.

"You insolent pest!!! Don't dirty his title with your slander!!! And that... man wasn't my king! He sold me and many others off to save his own worthless hide!!!" Sher spat at me in what felt like righteous rage! This is making me even more confused!!!

'This makes no sense! The Goblin King being defended...? Those writings on the wall...? A person turned monster by his hand... respecting him?!!!' The more the thoughts turned in my head, the more he seemed to be just a guy who was misunderstood!!!

That's a HUGE step from being a ruthless barbarian, and my brain wasn't ready to take it!!!

"By any chance...? Was the person that killed him a part elf rogue and a Light Mage of the High Court?" I asked, testing out that one theory

"Ha, like that traitor and s*** could defeat him on his own!" He replied with sarcastic laughter.

'What?!!! So those guys actually killed him?!!!' my mind was blown!

Remember, my information comes from lore hunters. While their guesses are backed up by evidence, they are still speculations at best! They weren't even sure if that rouge was the same one that helped kill the Goblin King, and now I hear that not only did they exist, but this had actually actually happened?!! That's a record for approved lore theories if I ever saw one!!!

'In-fact,' a thought occurred to me that made me stop my ecstatic lore-hunter soul, 'That seems almost too good to be true...'

None of the lore hunters video's I've seen have every turned to this area as a source, and yet the coincidental evidence pointed them to this conclusion even with the other, more reasonable claims that were also possible. Kinda gives you the feeling that the past that the lore hunters are trying to spin might be more real that initially thought.

'But that can't be! Lore hunting is just a way how to spice up a game with no story line! Could these have actually happened. Or maybe the game designers put this in as the new update's lore piece for all of us Lore Hunter followers.' I thought to myself, fighting to process all of this into understandable chunks.

One thing kept picking at me though,

'What if there's actually a hidden lore to this game...?'

"Foul Blood."

"Eep!!! Um I-I mean, yes!" I answered in a hurry, my voice cranking in surprise! I blushed a little in embarrassment, and straightened my thought to hear Sher.

"So what will you do know?" He asked, mild impatience radiating from the look he was giving me!

"Ah, that's right!" I shouted as I realized that I've got better things to do!

"Wha...!!! Wait, where are you going?!" He asked in surprise!

"I'm leaving." I answered. "I need to get out of here and back to playing with my mom as I hunt for lore!"

"What?! Then what about me?!!" He asked in bewilderment.

"... I mean... I can try and flip you back over if that's the case, but I don't know if..."

"Not that!!! Don't you want me for anything?!! To use my powers to get stronger? To gain knowledge and insight?!! To use me as a slave to do your bidding?!!"

"Wow! Calm down! Lets not walk down that street." Slavery was abolished centuries ago, both physically and mentally, and I would like to keep it that way, in game or not!!!

"You came all this way, and you want nothing from me?!" He asked again, apparently shocked at my actions.

"*sigh* Look Sher. I know how Named monsters roll, and I can't get strong fast enough to handle you if you come unwillingly. Also, you don't want to be my friend, so why would I force it?" I stated before taking some books from the pile I saw upon entry, and turning away.

"I can turn you back over if you want, but if you don't want to come along, then I've got nothin to ask of you." With that being said, I sent some essence to y arms and legs, jumped as High as possible while using Rocket to get higher. Then came barreling down with the move that made him like that to begin with.

*BARREL STOMP!!!*

*titter!!!*

*REVERSE BARREL STOMP!!!*

*flip!!!*

*THUD!!!*

I stomped on his outer edge as hard as I could and rocked him to one side, then I as he tittered to the other side, I hit him with another one and somehow got him back on his feet!

'That was too easy.' I thought in confusion as he landed back upright. One look at his tail quickly solved that mystery though. Looks like he could have gotten up by himself after all.

"Hehe. Sorry if that was rough." I apologized to him nervously, his hulking mass as terrifying as when I first saw him.

I quickly made more space in my inventory and took up as many books and paper scrapes as possible, then made off with my loot in a hasty retreat!

"What do you seek?" Sher's sudden question stopped me in my tracks, and I turned around in a hurry to answer.

"Sorry?"

"You have white hair. And while others have come that have shown white parts in there hair, you have a full head of it. Which means that whatever truth you seek must be very dear to you." He elaborated.

"Ahhhh..." was all I could say to that. Getting out of here was of fore most importance.

"So what is it that you seek?" He asked again, with more pressure this time.

I straightened my feet, and looked up at him. No point in chickening out of this when I have the answer.

"I seek the true lore to this game. I want to see if this game really has no purpose other than to waste time and take the edge off of people. And I want to see if That can be this game's true ending." I answered with as much confidence as my wobbly knees could give me.

This guy did hit me hard enough for a lot of pain to bypass my pain repressors after all. And several times at that!

"... What do you think of the Goblin King?" He asked this time. This question felt even more intense, so I chose to answer this one with more care.

"... I think that there's more to his story. And he's considered as an important piece to the lore. so if I can learn more on him, that would be... great?" I answered, scared for my life! I don't want to die right now, after all.

"Hmmm..." Sher hummed deeply, as if in thought.

"So... can I... go now, or...?"

"Hold out your hand." He ordered me suddenly!

I held out my had so fast I almost dislocated it! I shut my eyes tightly as I waited for whatever would happen to happen!

"False stories have reached the lower generations about my King." He started. "I can no longer do anything about that.

"You however, though weak and lowlier than the dirt of the ant hill..."

'Oi!!'

"... are my only hope to clearing His Grace's image." The ground rocked, and me along with it, as he stepped closer to me.

"Though that might be the case, you are weak." By now, he was so close, his breath was pushing back my hand!

"So I will accompany you for now." He finished. I opened my eyes a bit in surprise at that statement, and instead of seeing a giant turtle I my face, I saw the direct opposite... absolutely no turtle at all!!!

What I saw instead was a light mist of blue dissipating, and an amber-brown crystal in my hand! It flickered with warmth, and the light in there rumbled as if experiencing a mini earthquake! I could feel pressure of more weight being were it shouldn't be, and I almost had a heart attack!!!

"I got a Beast Stone!!!" I shouted out in surprise! I never expected to get one those until Area 30!!!

Achievement Unlocked: Friend of the Ancients

'Hmm? Never seen that achievement before. Wasn't it suppose to Hero Of The Ancients?' I asked myself, keeping my thoughts in my head this time around.

I stopped thinking of it though, as something else fell into my line of vision.

A blue shard-like entity floated into my face, and I made a grab for it out of surprise! Then something weird happened

When my palm touched it, instead of simply grabbing it or it just vanishing into thin air as a pixel, my vision shifted and I felt my body fall out of my control again!!!

This time though, instead of barreling backwards in a maelstrom of my own thoughts, it was with someone else's memories!

Bits and pieces flashed back and I saw a small building burning, followed by a vision of two unsavory men grabbing the barer of these memories forcefully, then to seeing a dashing young man with half his body in bandages, and much more unclear ones in-between!

On an on they barreled passed, bits and snippets of conversations slipping out from the clearer ones.

And then I reached one that didn't just pass by. In this one I heard a girl crying, the area for miles around was a sludge fest of essence natures! With just a glance, I could count at least 7 types! Puddles of obsidian shadows, hedges of burning light, clouds of explosions, and mountain-sized groves were the least of the remaining evidence of a fight! The air was filled with the sent burnt and/or decaying flesh!

The vison's eyes looked down to find that dashing man in its arms, beaten and raged, body disfigured into a half green wrinkled and bony mess, tears blurring out the picture, but not enough to put two and two together

'The Goblin King?' I guessed, noting how much like a half goblin he looked like.

"Sssshhheeeerrrr...!" He wheezed out, coughing up blood in the effort.

"No your Majesty!" a little girl's voice screamed in sobbing protest! "You can still make it out of this!!! You're too strong to be bested by those cowards!!!"

"*pant* *pant* IIII'mmmm... sssoooorrryyyyy...." He strangled out of himself before falling limp! A loud, guttural cry ripped out from the depths of Sher as she cried sorrowfully!

And then... darkness.