161 Weight of Responsibility
After Zorkan and Kross left, Samar and Stivi did not linger around for a minute more. He ignored the Blue Moon's Lackey and his team, who were fuming with impotent rage and left the Hall with Stivi.
At the exit of the hall, Samar noticed a commotion. Many players were surrounding the exit, watching the few players standing besides the Elven Guards with red eyes.
"Damn, so lucky! I feel like crying!" One of the Natureguards standing ahead of Samar and Stivi exclaimed, letting out a sigh of envy.
"What is so lucky about them? Enough to make you cry?" Stivi asked, hearing his sigh.
"Which bastard said that….?" The Natureguard turned around, ready to blast whoever it was with a verbal cannon.
When he saw the one questioning him was a beauty, the annoyance on his face was quickly replaced by his best smile. He was one of the handsome ones, the type who could usually score the girls.
"Miss, it seems you have just arrived." The Natureguard said, acting suave as if nothing had happened earlier. Seeing Stivi nod, his smile widened even more. "I have been here from the start, so let me tell you what happened…"
The Natureguard gave a detailed account of what had happened, while trying to make himself look good in Stivi's eyes.
Long story short, Sage Tukzer's Disciple Harin, wanted to meet all the Tier 2 Players who had advanced using the Legacies of the Heroes enshrined in the Hero Memorium. So, the Elven Guards were escorting the Deathless who met the criteria to Lady Harin.
Even after explaining the event, the Natureguard was not willing to shut up. Stivi nodded politely, as if she was engrossed in the story while Samar could see she was starting to get annoyed from the twitch of her eyebrow.
"You know, I am this close to inheriting Tier 4 Spikeshield Rihant's legacy." The Natureguard bragged, testing Stivi's patience. "Tomorrow, I will also get a chance to meet Lady Harin. Maybe I can introduce you to her if you add me as friend…"
Just as the Natureguard was about to ask Stivi to accept his friend request, she clung to Samar's arms and flashed him a smile, saying "Thank you, Brother but there is no need to trouble you. We have also advanced using the Legacies in Hero Memorium; so we should go and report to the guards."
The smile on the Natureguard's face immediately disappeared and he looked like he had swallowed a fly. He watched the two of them go to the front and muttered, "Such weaklings… At best they must've gotten Tier 3 Legacies."
Hearing the man's jibe, Samar smiled. This was the case of a fox calling the grapes sour just because he could not eat them.
Shaking his head, Samar registered with the guards and let them escort him and Stivi to Lady Harin.
The guards led them into a spacious room filled with intricately weaved straw quivers and expertly crafted wooden equipment. At the center of the room stood an elf, with the grace of a fairy descended from heaven.
She was Sage Tukzer's Disciple Harin, a Master Woodsmith and a Tier 4 Druid.
The moment Samar laid his eyes on her, he felt like the word beautiful was not enough to describe her delicate visage.
Her intricately tied black hair contrasted with her milky smooth skin. Shaped like almonds, her deep green eyes held an unspoken dignity, making one hesitant to meet them.
Her breathtaking beauty was enhanced by her pearly white gown, embroidered with vibrant green deers. As she took every step, the long gown fluttered, giving an illusion that the deers were circling around her.
Harin scanned Samar and Stivi with her deep green eyes and her eyes widened with surprise. Not only were their Vital signs stronger than other Tier 2 Deathless she had met, an aura of Runic Power surrounded their being.
Immediately, Harin realized that they were the Deathless who had inherited the legacies from Sage Nyasa's Lineage. She knew the Warblade had inherited Battle Saint Anisa's legacy but she was in utter shock when she saw the bow hanging from Samar's shoulder.
"Is that the Deathsong Bow?" Harin asked, her voice filled with utter shock and reverence. Without waiting for him to confirm her suspicions, she met his eyes and asked in a quivering voice, "Yo-You are the successor of Sage Nyasa?"
The moment he confirmed her suspicions, Harin looked at him with eyes full of hope. In an instant, her favorability towards him had increased by +50 points and continued to rise!
Samar knew that becoming the successor of Sage Nyasa was a big deal amongst the elves but only today he had a chance to witness it. Even a dignified disciple of another Sage, a Tier 4 entity like Harin, was affected by the title.
He knew about how much it meant to the Elves but only after seeing it with his own eyes did he understand the amount of reverence the Elves held towards Sage Nyasa and their insanely high expectations from his successor.
'With great reverence come great expectations,' Samar was reminded of this line as he suddenly felt the invisible weight of responsibility held by the title grow heavier on his shoulders.
Harin took a few moments to compose herself and returned to her dignified self. She remembered her original purpose for seeking them out and looked Samar and RedQueen in the eyes.
"Samar, when you reveal that you are Sage Nyasa's Successor, many elves would react just as I did. They will expect outlandish feats from you." She then turned to Stivi and said, "Your situation will not be much different if it is revealed that you have inherited Battle Saint Anisa's legacy."
She said, starting to pace through the room. "However, when they see you are too weak to live up to their expectations, the populace will not be so understanding and will turn on you."
The Tier 4 Druid stopped pacing and looked at their faces.
"This is the reason why my Teacher and the other Sages hope you will agree to conceal your status until the time you are ready to live up to it."
[Harin has offered to seal your Title, Sage Nyasa's Successor. Would you like to agree?]
A notification appeared before Samar and he began to think about his decision.
The earlier performance of Harin had been truly eye-opening. Whether she had acted or it was her genuine reaction, he did not know but her words made sense.
While the title could provide him temporary benefits, it was ultimately a double edged sword. He already had to deal with Guilds that would be coming after him as soon as his ambitions were revealed. He did not need NPCs that felt betrayed because he was not a second coming of Sage Nyasa added to that list.
Samar thus, resolutely chose to seal the title. Instead of gaining quick favorability from the NPCs using the title, he would rather get their friendship through his own deeds.
Harin smiled, hearing his resolute answer. She snapped her fingers and a mask attached to his face from nowhere. It was thin and translucent, like a muslin cloth but it was solid and made of wood.
The Mask melded with his face, and it appeared as if nothing had changed but the Title of Sage Nyasa's Successor had disappeared from his Status window.
"This is a special mask that can only be removed once you reach a specific milestone. For you, it is killing 5 opponents a tier above you. Alone."
Hearing the requirements, not just Samar, even Stivi was shocked. After every Tier, the strength of an NPC, Player or Monster increased exponentially. Only those with heaven defying strengths and luck could challenge beyond Tier and their chances of emerging victorious were 1 in a 100.
Yet, they expected Samar to defeat 5 opponents beyond his Tier. If he could do so, he would not be hailed as just a genius but a monstrous talent!
Through the milestone, Harin and the Sages clearly expressed that the Vedic Archer Class possessed the potential to create a monstrous genius and they would only recognize such a monster as Sage Nyasa's Successor!
"Samar and Red Queen, you have made a great sacrifice by choosing to give up benefits that accompany your identity." Harin said, with a genuine smile that reached her eyes.
Spreading her arms to numerous wooden and straw accessories and equipment, she said, "Please choose anything you like from this collection as a token of my gratitude."
