FINISHING THE HIDDEN EVENT TASK

THIS time Luo Yan didn't bother killing monsters along the way.  He avoided them as much as possible and ran towards the area where the Silent Marsh was located as fast as he could.  Because of that, he arrived there much faster than he did the first time.

Before entering, he took the Invisibility Cloak from his Items Tab.  He felt a soft material surrounding him, touching his skin.  According to the description of this item, it could perfectly shield his presence.  Not only could no one see him, they couldn't even hear or smell him.  As if he was totally not there.  Its effect could last for ten minutes.  Then there would be a cool down of five minutes before he could use it again.  After using it for three times, it would need another 24 hours before the player could use it again.

With this, he could go directly in the lake water without the fear that the Eternal Lotus would notice his presence and attack him.  Ten minutes were more than enough for him to rescue Filli.

Luo Yan didn't waste anymore time and ran towards the lake.  He tactically avoided the glowing silver lights and then jumped directly into the lake.  

He immediately felt that feeling unique when one was submerged underwater.  So unlike the first time when he accidentaly fell here earlier.  Probably because now he was not under the influence of the Eternal Lotus.  He swam towards Filli.  The elf still looked lifeless but Luo Yan refused to believe that he's dead.  

He took one of his daggers and slashed it towards the lotus' roots entangling Filli's limbs and body.  Because he was underwater, his speed was greatly reduced.  So he couldn't slash as fast as he wanted.  As he expected, the lotus didn't take what he's doing quietly.  The moment he first cut one of its roots, he saw it slightly shaking.  When he cut the third one, the roots started attacking his direction.

He moved back a little, avoiding the roots.  Because he was currently invisible, even if he moved, the roots still continued attacking his former position.  What Luo Yan did was to swim to the other side and continued hacking on the roots entangling Filli.  Soon, the roots attacked him again.  But, of course, he easily avoided it.  That pattern continued on for four or five times until he finally managed to removed Filli from the lotus' entanglement.  

Luo Yan clutched Filli's body and quickly swam upshore.  The lotus seemed to notice that its food source was gone and it began its relentless attack.  The roots extended and attacked in all direction, almost filling the whole lake.  There was almost no available space to swim.

He struggled.  It was especially hard because he was holding another person with him.  When two or more roots were about to reach him and Filli, he gritted his teeth and at the end just decided to use the teleportation scroll.  In a case like this, escape could also be considered a win.

When he opened his eyes, he and Filli were already back at the Origin Village.  In particular, at the bedroom of his small cottage.  He put the unconcious Filli on the bed and took off the the Invisibility Cloak.  He then checked on Filli and immediately noticed the elf's weak breathing.  Not only that, his face was also very pale, his lips were even blue.

Luo Yan took one large red potion.  Since red potions could restore a player's HP, surely it could also revitalize an NPC's life.  If it wouldn't work, then he'd just bring him to the village's healer.  He made the elf drink the red potion.  After a few moments, Filli's face slowly turned ruddy, his lips also turned to a normal color.  Most importantly, his breathing became stable. 

Luo Yan grinned.  Good.  It worked.  He pinched the elf's cheek.  [You surely brought me a lot of trouble.]

Seeing that he still didn't get any notifications telling him that he succeeded in his task meant that it still wasn't finish.  So, should he bring him directly to the Gatekeeper or just bring the Gatekeeper here?  Luo Yan decided to do the latter.

He went out of his small cottage and walked towards the Gatekeeper's cottage.

Arriving there, he knocked on the cottage's door and the Gatekeeper opened it for him.

"Noctis!  Do you have news about my son?"

It was the same dialogue when Luo Yan first went here.  But this time, he had a different answer for him.  "Yes, Gatekeeper.  Filli is safe."

The Gatekeeper's eyes brightened and held both Luo Yan's hands.  "Truly, Noctis?  Filli - he's really safe?"

"Yes, I found him at the Silent Marsh."

When the Gatekeeper heard the words 'Silent Marsh', his expression became frightened.  "Was he in danger?"

"A bit, yes.  But he's alright now.  In fact, he's currently at my cottage, sleeping comfortably.  Shall we go there?"

The Gatekeeper seemed relieved hearing that.  "Yes, yes, let's go."  

They both walked towards his cottage.  The moment the Gatekeeper saw the unconcious Filli, he kneeled beside the bed and held his son's hand.  Then he just burst into tears.  "My son... you're safe... good... good."  With his face stained with tears, he turned back to Luo Yan.  "Thank you, Noctis.  Thank you so much."

After the Gatekeeper said that, Luo Yan heard the familiar sound of the notification bell.  Then the little Gamekeeper appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, dear player!  You successfully finished the hidden event task.  To get your reward, please continue talking to the Gatekeeper.]

Finally, he's done with this task.