A tall figure left the outside walls of the Cosal kingdom. Their feet made deep footsteps in the dirt. They kept walking continuously until they left the vicinity of the capital's city. Their footsteps continued into the forest just outside the capital.
It was dark, making it hard to see. Finally the figure stopped. A tree marked with carvings was just ahead. As the figure kept moving, they suddenly felt a presence.
"Name?" A voice came from behind. It was a male thief.
Archers surrounded the figure with their bows at the ready.
"Crucible." The figure answered as he took off his cloak.
"Follow me." The thief walked by him as Crucible followed behind.
He led him deeper into the forest. A thick mist covered the area making it harder to see what was in front of him.
But then they reached the other side of the fog. Crucible's eyes were opened by the light of a campsite lit by torchlight. Players wandered around the campsite, chatting and discussing their next plan of strategy in the upcoming infiltration.
The thief led Crucible to a large tent. Voices could be heard from outside.
Inside, Apollo, Emir, and Iris were huddled around a table. When he entered, the three of them looked up. Apollo was the first to greet him.
"Crucible! Ah, it's good to see you again! What kind of news do you have about our little legendary hero?" Apollo talked in an overly friendly tone to Crucible.
After the news about the first legendary user being confirmed, Apollo had all of his guild members that were searching for her stop. It gave their guild a lot more needed manpower as the current strongest guild.
Currently, Crucible was the only player who had any record of meeting the girl. It was in Apollo's best interests to be as friendly as possible until she was in his grasp.
"I spent some time today following her and Jessica Braggart. I found the two of them going to the auction house and the city slums. I would've followed more, but that was all the time I could spare before I had to go back to protecting the Vinac family head."
Apollo was slightly confused. "Wait... what does the girl have to do with Jessica Braggart? And why haven't you killed her yet?"
"To answer both your questions. The user named Luna was hired by Jessica Braggart and is currently acting as her bodyguard."
Iris burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! You're joking right? She has a legendary class and is spending her time working under a noble? How dumb is she?"
Emir hit Iris from behind to shut her up.
Apollo asked Crucible. "Is she aware of our plan to assassinate Jessica Braggart?"
"No, the two of them didn't even notice when I trailed them from behind. I don't even have any hiding or deception skills either. It was most likely just a coincidence that they ended up together."
The previously quiet Emir spoke up. "The flow of information may have already reached the ears of the king. At this point, there is no reason to continue pursuing Jessica as a target. If we act rashly, the players inside the Cosal kingdom may hunt us down as enemy targets."
Apollo moved his hand and stroked the hairs on his chin. "You're right. Priority number one should be to track down and eliminate the legendary class user."
"That may be a problem." Crucible cut in.
"If we're to eliminate her then it will have to be after the competition. While trailing them earlier, I overheard that Luna will be joining the lower level tournament. It would be impossible to try and kill her."
"She has such a rare class, yet is still that low of a level?" Apollo asked.
"I'm not too sure about the specifics, but her power is there. I witnessed her killing a noble with only a single strike."
"Interesting."
Killing a noble was no easy feat, but Luna attacked someone that didn't even have a chance to defend themselves. She was also a lady of the Jistvin household. Their notoriety was high within the capital, but their strength was nothing more than a bluff.
Crucible's statement was warranted, but it only led to more misunderstandings.
"Apollo, If we were to kill her, wouldn't that just make her a strong future enemy?" Emir asked.
"That's why I told you, Emir, Crucible's job is very important." Apollo glanced at Crucible. "Can you take out the weapon to show her?"
"O-oh, yes." Crucible pulled a knife out of his inventory. It's shape was unique, the two sides of the blade spiraled until reaching the tip. "Here you go." Crucible handed it over to Emir.
[Thrash's Betrayer
Rank - Legendary
Attack damage - 1
Item details: A dagger filled with anger against the word humanity. It was the last weapon used by the warrior Thrash as he died against the Ushain kingdom. The weapon can only be wielded once against another human. After someone dies by its hands, it will shatter and disappear.
*A one time use weapon.
*When an NPC is killed by this weapon, their body cannot be resurrected or recreated as an undead. Their soul is forever lost.
*When a player is killed by this weapon, their level will decrease by double the amount. They are also restricted from logging back in for 14 days.
Requirements - The user's death
Durability - 1/1
Weight - 5]
"What kind of weapon is this?" Emir looked frightened.
Apollo ginned. "A weapon to remove players."
"How did you get your hands on something this powerful?" Emir asked.
"When the world heard about the hero of Dreams, I was called by the king for a special task. For some strange reason, the king doesn't want that girl alive. So he gave me this dagger to remove her from Silver skies." Apollo remembered the look on the king's face after the first chapter was announced.
"But there's nothing in the dagger's information that says we can remove her from the game." Emir was slightly confused.
"Think about it, she doesn't know that it's a one time use weapon. If we get her to believe that we can kill her and restrict her from playing the game for a week each time she dies. Then at that point wouldn't she just quit?"
Crucible interrupted Apollo with a question. "Why are you going so far to kill her?"
"Why? She has one of the strongest classes in the game and we're what?! Just going to ignore her?!" Apollo looked erratic. "Do you think leaving someone like that alone will bring good results?!"
He sat there panting.
"Apollo, are you.... okay?" Emir put her hand on Apollo's shoulder.
"Sorry... I lost my composure for a second there." He looked up at Crucible. "I need you to understand something. The reason a legendary class is so rare is because only the strangest of people can get it."
"What do you mean...?" Crucible asked.
"Those people are as close to humans as you can get. Their desires in the game are much higher than others. If one of these players decided he wanted to become king, there would be nothing stopping him." Apollo looked into the distance. Someone he knew came to his mind.
Apollo asked. "You know how the developers wanted to give a fantasy to those suffering in real life?"
"Yeah, it was one of their marketing campaigns." Crucible replied.
"Those users take it to the next level. They relate themselves more with the NPCs than they do their own people. I've witnessed it first hand at what the legendary classes can do. Their power is unbelievably strong. I'm just glad only two have emerged."
"Kale has a legendary class right? Is he really that strange..?"
"Yes... Even now, I bet that bastard has locked himself into several quests and is speeding through levels at a rapid rate. He's definitely not the same person I once knew." Apollo looked saddened.
"Enough about this." Iris spoke up. "We have to kill the girl. So how do you expect us to do it?"
Apollo gestured for them to get closer. "Listen closely...."
-
The two people entered the church. Everything here was unkempt and worn. The previous symbols of the Cosal kingdom's Silver lion that were hanging from the walls looked torn. Most of the windows were boarded up with planks of wood.
Luna felt slightly uncomfortable. "Are you sure this is the right place?" She asked Jessica.
"Yes, it may look a bit..... worn, but this is definitely the right place." Jessica didn't sound too confident. It made Luna the slightest bit more worried about where they were.
An old man came out from the church's back door. He wore a priest's outfit with a couple of stitched and patched holes spread across it. He wore glasses, they were similar to Luna's in their rounded shape. But unlike hers, one of the lenses was cracked.
But if anything stood out about him, it was his appearance. The priest wasn't human. Instead he looked like something more akin to a really worn out werewolf. Luna was already one edge, so seeing him made her enter a defensive position.
"Oh! I apologize, I wasn't expecting visitors! Let me prepare something for you!" But to her surprise, the old man acted just as polite as a normal human would.
"No, it's fine we came unannounced anyways." Jessica stopped him from running back through the door. "My grandfather held a great bit of trust towards you. I'm of the Braggart household, and I came to ask a favor."
"Ah, young Jessica! How may I be of assistance?"
Jessica looked a bit embarrassed. "Um... father, I know how well my grandfather trusted you. So I came to ask if you could heal my friend." Jessica gestured to Luna.
"I'll see what I can do."
He had Luna lay herself down on the least damaged pew(long benches in churches). Jessica stood aside as the priest hovered his hands above Luna's body. His hands glowed in a white brilliant light, as they examined her condition.
"You're quite the interesting human. I've never seen someone as broken and destroyed as you, but you can somehow move without being in excruciating pain." He pushed up his glasses as he examined her.
"What are you trying to say father?" Jessica asked.
"Everything inside her body is melted together. Her bones look like the wax of a candlemaker. Not to mention how demolished her right arm looks. How did this happen, young lady?"
"It's the power of my chrysalis." Luna answered.
"So you're a silver warrior I take it?"
Luna assumed that's just what the NPCs called players and answered. "Yes."
"Those powers were given to you by the goddess of light as her blessing. Aren't they supposed to be born from your positive emotions? How could yours' harm you?" The priest asked Luna with a serious look.
"I'm not too sure. I've never really gotten a good look at other people's chrysalises. But from what I know, mine is a little more unique. It's not completely under my control." As Luna talked, Noll stayed silent.
"You said you don't have full control over it? How is that even possible?"
This was starting to feel more like a doctor's office instead of a church to Luna. Everything felt like she was getting a checkup at the doctor's. It wasn't that uncommon for her to get a checkup so she was already used to answering questions like these.
"It will be simpler if I just show you. Noll, can you come out already." Luna called for Noll, but no response was heard. "Dammit! I know you can hear me! Just come out already! I won't care even if you look like a one eyed monster surrounded by tentacles!"
Black smoke started to form as it swirled over Luna's chest. A small figure emerged from the smoke. Noll proclaimed his presence.
"Sorry..."
When Noll appeared, Jessica and the priest took a sudden step back. Noll was small, about the size of a football. Unlike his previous appearance, Noll now had a figure and clothes.
His yellow eyes were still peering in through the black darkness that was his body. He had a white cloak with purple lining and small black armor underneath. You could see white hair peeking out from the gaps in his hood.
Luna looked at Noll with confusion. "Why were you so reluctant to appear? You look fine."
"I didn't mean to force you out. It would just be easier to explain if you were actually here physically. Sorry about that...."
Luna looked over and saw the two of them in complete awe. Their eyes were glued to Noll. She used her left arm and sat upright against the pew.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Luna asked.
"H-how can a chrysalis speak?" The priest was enamored by Noll.
"Huh? Do they not do that normally?" Luna scratched her head as Noll silently facepalmed.
The priest asked. "Do you not know the foundations of the goddess's blessing?"
Luna shook her head. "No? I don't pay too much attention to small details like that."
The priest explained it in the form of an old tale. The goddess gave birth to three different types of power for the silver warriors to wield.
The first was a physical tool or weapon type called armament .
The second was an internal support type called medium.
And the third was an irregular type, designed for growth called impetus.
"Wait a second... Why didn't she just give one of each type to the warriors? Wouldn't that be more fair to them?"
"The power they hold is incredible... if they were to have all three, then they would be considered unstoppable. In the first place, it isn't possible for one single warrior to fall under all three types. They were distributed based on the warriors' characteristics, you can't fit all of the criteria at the same time."
The explanation was a little hard for Luna to understand. She just blankly stared at the priest without any real understanding. That's where Noll comes in.
'That sounds awful!'
"So then, what category would my chrysalis fall under?" Luna asked. "Noll appears physically, but all of my abilities are internal."
The priest paused for a moment to think. "An impetus.... I would assume?"
"You mean.... the one that gets stronger overtime?" Luna asked.
"Well... all chrysalises get stronger overtime. Impetus types just have a special way of doing so."
"And that way is?" Luna tried getting as much information out of him as possible. She tried reading as little as possible when on the wiki. She could only make it through the first sentence before her mind couldn't handle it anymore.
"It's hard to say. The method of getting stronger is unique to its user." The priest's answer was vague.
'Unique to its user? Noll, do you understand?'
"Ugh this sounds like a lot of work...."
The priest kindly put his hand on Luna's shoulder. "Don't fret, it will come to you in time. Now... can you tell me the story of how your ability harmed you."
Luna started from the beginning. From how she got lost and found a cave. Discovered Noll inside a dream and linked their mana circuits. To saving Jessica and her grandfather from Archer.
Finally she mentioned her chrysalis's abilities and the fight against Draec. How her body was able to compete with someone stronger, but at the loss of her being able to use her arm.
"Aren't you a silver warrior? You all are immortal, so couldn't you just come back with a brand new eye and arm?" Jessica was starting to wonder if she even needed to pay for Luna's treatment.
The old priest stopped her. "No, from what she explained, the young lady has been cursed by her own power. A curse attached to one's soul cannot be lost even after death."
Luna hadn't even considered the idea of dying and respawning. Now knowing that there wasn't a way out, she was starting to feel the severity of the situation.
"Is there... a way to get back... to normal?" Luna cautiously asked.
"I can remove the curse and heal your body properly, but I recommend you leave your left eye as it currently is." The priest noticed Luna's sudden sadness and tapped his chin.
"I'm not sure if you'll ever find it, but the elves have a sacred healing potion that's given to them every year by the holy tree Yggdrasil. It would heal your eye better than any priest."
"Thank you!"
He brought Luna and Noll into the back and performed the highest level purification spell that a priest could learn. After purifying her body, eye, and arm, the priest told Luna that it would take a little while for him to heal her. So Luna used this time to take a nap.
The priest then used the last of his mana to perform a high level healing spell. The effect was amplified due to Luna's extremely high healing passive while she's asleep.
The process lasted a little over 30 minutes for the bone in her arm to fully reconnect. Then finally, the priest was finished and tried waking Luna up, only for her to not show any response. He was worried for a short moment, until Noll's voice rang in her ear.
"-Up! I'm up!" Luna rubbed her head. It felt like a headache was coming along because of him. "Wait a second! Woah, what's with all of these notifications!?"