Chapter 1171 – A Moment Of Prayer

“They finally had it in stock?” Keerla asked with excitement as Solana walked into the living room holding a large bottle in her hand.

“Just got in a new shipment last night,” Solana said with a smile as she put the bottle of oil-like substance down on the table.

Keerla rushed over and opened it up to inspect its contents. The smell alone gave her high hope, and a quick Identify confirmed it was indeed some good stuff. “Yes! There should be enough here to make at least twenty strings.”

“So two bows,” Solana teased her partner.

“Hey, I’ve gotten more consistent!” Keerla mumbled. “Besides, the last batch of wood was shit compared to what I’m working with now.”

“I’m just saying, better at least make one bow or we’ll have to return to a Hunting Ground to get more Credits,” Solana said.

“We’re already running low again!?” Keerla exclaimed. “We’ve barely just gotten back from our last hunting trip. How can we already be low on funds?”

Solana just looked at Keerla with a raised eyebrow, her eyes not meeting her partner’s but instead directed at the necklace around her neck.

Keerla noticed and looked down at the latest major purchase of their household.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Yeah,” Solana chuckled, shaking her head. “On the positive side, the vice-head druid at work is recruiting for a new project, and I think I have a solid chance at qualifying.”

“If you aren’t qualified, who is?” Keerla said proudly. “Especially after our recent hunting trip.”

Solana just smiled, though she did look a little concerned. Keerla, on the other hand, wasn’t worried, even if she maybe should be.

Their latest trip to a Hunting Ground had been their most adventurous yet. Finding themselves fighting enemies they weren’t confident in beating wasn’t anything new, and getting assistance from other hunters while in a pinch also wasn’t that odd.

However, for it to turn out that the one who’d come to your assistance was the Chosen of a Primordial, now that was certainly something they hadn’t experienced before. It was the kind of event that both Keerla and Solana wouldn’t have been able to answer whether it was good or bad before it happened, as such a hypothetical was just too silly to even consider.

Even now, they couldn’t entirely agree if that encounter had been positive or negative.

Keerla thought it was positive. After that encounter, the two of them had noticed a growth spurt, resulting in both of them getting more levels, Records, and even a skill upgrade for each of them. Even such a small meeting with the Chosen had a significant impact on their lives.

Perhaps too big of an impact, which was why Solana was worried.

The Chosen of the Malefic Viper was likely the most talked about mortal Chosen at the current time due to everything he’d been up to. His simply being the Chosen of the Malefic Viper and seemingly involved with the return of the Primordial was already enough to make people curious about him, but his subsequent actions had only heightened interest.

He was no longer just famous for his connection to the Viper, but known as the top of the all-time Leaderboards of Nevermore and the Harbinger of Primeval Origins, meaning that even without his Patron, even gods would bother to take notice.

It was a given that an encounter with someone like that would have an impact on their Records, and a positive one in most cases, as they had met as allies. However, their meeting hadn’t just been the two of them briefly encountering the Chosen before splitting up.

Because before they parted, a promise had been made, which had sown a seed of karma. One that Solana was afraid would haunt them or bring about something bad.

They owed the Chosen of the Malefic Viper a favor, something both of them had recognized. Usually, making a promise like that to another C-grade was just something one casually did, but things changed when it involved someone of the Chosen’s caliber.

“Look, I know you’re worried, but you really don’t have to be,” Keerla said with a smile.

“Such a karmic debt isn’t good for us,” Solana insisted. “We owe a debt, and in order to repay it, we need to give something of value. What do we own that the Chosen of the Malefic Viper would value? What could we possibly provide that can in any way compare to him helping us out of a situation that could have resulted in our deaths?”

“Nothing,” Keerla said, shaking her head. “Besides, we only promised dinner.”

“A vague promise made to the Chosen of a Primordial known for consuming powerful treasures, and a member of the Order of the Malefic Viper, where offering rare and exotic poisons to dinner guests is only considered polite,” Solana sighed. “What if his version of a ‘mean dinner’ is some mythical rarity poison we couldn’t afford even if we sold ourselves into slavery?”

“You’re such a doomer sometimes,“ Keerla said, trying to calm the dryad down. “From our little encounter, he seemed like a decent guy, right? I don’t think he would want to take advantage of us just because we foolishly made a promise without knowing who he really was. Heck, he probably just finds it amusing.”

“Or, alternatively, he was just playing around by hiding his true identity and will find it equally as fun to mess with two stupid members of the Pantheon of Life who made a misguided promise,” Solana sighed.

“Look, do we even need to rehash this same conversation again?” Keerla sighed. “We haven’t heard anything yet from the Chosen, have we? Isn’t it more likely than any of our other speculation that he never took the promise serious in the first place? If he forgets or doesn’t care about us repaying the favor, nothing happens. I’m sure that sometime in the future we will look back at this time and laugh at how nervous you were.”

Solana looked a bit calmer as she let out a deep breath. “You know I worry, but you’re probably right.”

“Duh, of course I’m right! I tend to be, don’t I?” Keerla said as she went over and put her hands around her partner. “Now, speaking of promises, I do believe someone deserves a reward for finally helping find that damn oil.”

“It was really hard to get,” Solana smiled in response, but before anything more could happen… Keerla felt something from within her spatial storage that made her stop.

“Just a second… someone is reaching out to me through my communication token,” Keerla said, pulling away, a bit perplexed about who could be contacting her using the token.

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Taking out the token, she froze up entirely and just stood there.

Solana looked at her with concern for a moment before realization dawned on her. “Is… is it…?”

Keerla looked at her partner as an awkward smile marred her face. “I guess he didn’t forget?”

Solana just held her face in her hands. “Please tell me he isn’t-“

Keerla just continued to stand there before lowering her hands, cold sweat running down her back. “I… eh… we’re having guests next week?”

“Guests? As in multiple?” Solana’s eyes opened wide.

“Yeah… he said he’s bringing a date…”

The two of them just looked at each other for several seconds before Keerla tried to smile and lighten the mood. “Hey… think about it this way. If we get out of this in one piece, we will have the greatest story ever to tell friends and family and a whole bunch of Records to boot!”