"Are you alright child? Old Ren said you hadn't moved since you entered" The voice of old man Rye startled Abel. He had been pumping himself up, assuring himself that this last forbidden zone had to be it, when he heard the old mans voice from behind him.
"Y-ye-yes sir, I'm fine. I did leave for a few minutes but I came back."
"Hmm, very well then. It seems you haven't found the location yet?"
Abel couldn't hide the discontent on his face. He didn't dare lie to a Legend anyway but he was feeling distressed over not figuring it out yet.
"I have one last location I have yet to read up about… I'm hopeful this is the one."
His voice lacked the confidence he tried to portray but the old man gave him an understanding look. He had the prophecy for so many years and he couldn't figure it out. Although he was feeling disappointed, he wouldn't take it out on a 'child'.
"What locations have you crossed off? I might not have travelled as far as big brother, but I have lived a long life and heard many tales, it might be of use."
"Well I've gone through all the known forbidden zones of the world except for one in Aranthus. I felt it might be Valtoria or Elyndor at first, but it's not in either. Actually, the likelihood of it being Aranthus is the highest but I didn't realize it at first…"
"Well I doubt it's the Sands of Silence or Crystal Mirage City. You think it might be the Sacrificial Peaks?"
"Uh… I haven't read up about them yet, could you tell me what you know?"
"Well, the Sacrificial Peaks are a majestic and rocky mountain range that are said to be the remains of an ancient creature, the first and last of its kind. From what I know… the creature was a Dragon Phoenix. An ancient being born from the fusion of a Primordial Dragon and an Ancient Phoenix. It once brought balance and prosperity to Aranthus, the land of its birth."
The first part of old man Rye's words caused Abel's eyes to widen. This has to be it!
"As the land faced an era of drought and desolation… the Dragon Phoenix, out of compassion and love for its land, chose to sacrifice itself to infuse the barren land with its life-force and energy. Its majestic form was petrified, forming the grand peaks that now overlook the continent."
"Why was it the first and last of its kind?" Abel couldn't help but ask, something didn't add up.
"Well this is ancient knowledge I came across years ago. Apparently, the Dragon Phoenix was endowed with blessings from both lineages. It brought about the jealousy of the gods but they were powerless against it as it stayed in the mortal realm. Even when they sent down their Seraphs and High Angels, they proved too weak to subdue it. In fact, some Historiarchs believe the drought was brought down by the pantheon of gods in their divine spite against this creature they envied. I doubt any of those pompous gods thought the being would sacrifice itself… though I'm not sure whether that was the best result. Apparently, Aranthus used to be a lush land long ago, according to what I heard."
The old man paused as though he was trying to remember all the information he knew about the Sacrificial Peaks.
"Although there is no visible flame on these mountains, it is believed that the fiery energy of the Dragon Phoenix made it difficult for other elemental energies to take root on the land. That's why it is now a desert, though the desertification happened over the span of hundreds of Millenia. It is especially prominent around the forbidden zone. Like any forbidden zone, the area births many natural treasures and resources, but what's special about the Sacrificial Peaks is the creature's domain seemed to enshroud a large area beyond the mountain range. It prevents powerful beings from exercising their peak power, this is especially prominent to those who are aligned to one of the many gods. Regardless of which god you serve, you can expect your power to be halved if you step one foot into this scorching region."
The more the old man spoke, the greater the excitement Abel felt. This was definitely the location! He thought back to that thin, leather bound book he read in the study a few days back and those few annotations penned down. It all made sense… his breath stated to hitch in excitement.
"Sir, th-this is it… I'm sure of it. the Sacrificial Peaks is the place we're looking for!" Abel tried to regulate his breath but failed, so he carried on in excitement anyway. "There's a thin notebook left behind in the study, it said Flame's Bright Birth – The Taboo Flames. This has to be the flame of a Dragon Phoenix, a creature that's envied by the gods must be considered taboo and just like a Flameflume Embergeist, it's heart must still be giving out a bright flame. Then it went on to say The Heart Chamber – Always Shrouded in Light, this must be the region within the mountains that corresponds to the creatures' heart. It is shrouded in light for many reasons… its bright flame, its own sacrifice and I'm guessing it was used to create the first divine weapon of the land. Finally, the last part is what led me to the forge where we found that papyrus, The Forge of Kin shall lead the way. I'm SURE I'm absolutely positive of this being the location master went to!"
Abel spoke louder and louder, his voice carrying obvious excitement. He suddenly realized they weren't in the old mans home so he covered his mouth with his hand in reflex and looked around. The old man chuckled at Abel's antics and reassured him of their privacy.
"Do not worry child. My domain always stifles the sounds around me, preventing others from overhearing my conversation with others. Even a god cannot pry on our words so long as my domain holds. But still, it is best we move this conversation back to my study."
Abel nodded his head and followed the old man out of the library and then the palace grounds. Once they stepped beyond the threshold, the old man grabbed him by the shoulder and just like how they arrived, they zoomed back to the old house.
He quickly shut his eyes the second the old man grabbed his shoulder, aware of the impending dizziness and nausea that would overwhelm him otherwise.
"Smart" The old man chuckled at the response but his face turned serious a moment later. "What you said earlier is logical and everything adds up except one thing… why does the papyrus remain blank? If you were right, then it should lead the way for us to the heart chamber within the Sacrificial Peaks."
Abel felt his face heat up in embarrassment but this was something he grasped long ago. Even before he realized where he should be looking, so he truthfully explained his assumptions to the old man.
"Well… that might be my fault sir. You see, the Sacrificial Peaks is still a region that hosts many high-level creatures. To even think of stepping in there and coming out alive, I'd have to be a high-levelled fifth tier professional at the very least. I'm still only at the zeroth tier, I'm barely considered a professional even…"
The light of understanding could be seen in the old guardian's bright eyes. He nodded his head and thought silently while a couple of notifications popped up in Abel's sight.
*Ding*
Quest: The Prophecy's Riddle complete
+200 EXP
*Ding*
Quest Updated
Seek out the Heart Chamber
You have solved the oracles prophecy. Head forth to the Sacrificial Peaks and uncover the Heart Chamber.
Quest Difficulty: A+
Quest Requirements: Solving the Porphecy, favorability with Guardian Bryen Stonebinder
Quest Reward: ???
*Ding*
+Level Up
+5 STR
+5 END
+5 DEX…
'Wha- it actually wants me to go there… no way no no way! Not yet, I-I can't go yet…'
After making up his mind to delay this quest for as long as possible, Abel took a look at his upgraded stats. He had completely forgotten about his little shortfall of EXP. Thankfully, the EXP granted for completing the quest was enough to fill up his EXP bar.
'Open Character Stats'
Name: Red Sky
Level: 8
Profession: Battlesmith
Alignment: Neutral
Title: Rodent Ravager
Reputation: 20
Health (HP): 530 (+100)
Mana (MP): 330
Attack: 146-150
Defense: 63
Strength (STR): 77 (+18)
Agility (AGI): 58 (+29)
Endurance (END): 57
Toughness (TGH): 37
Vitality (VIT): 43
Wisdom (WDM): 17
Intelligence (INT): 36
Resilience (RES): 14
Dexterity (DEX): 49
Luck: 7
Satiety: 75
Stamina: 98
While Abel was elatedly looking at his updated stats, the old guardian seemed to realize the predicament they currently faced. He spoke out his thoughts and interrupted Abel's inner celebration.
"You're right child. I was too anxious it seems… very well then, you should concentrate on leveling up as quickly as possible. In fact, I have just the right training regime for you… the garrison over at Stormwatch city is planning an expedition to exterminate a gathering of Kobolds within the area. I'll write you a recommendation letter so that you can join their expedition. I want you to head there and seek out the regiment commander, just find the largest army base within the city and ask for the man in charge, his name is Darian Dusk."
*Ding*
Monster Extermination I
Legendary Guardian Bryen wishes for you to level up quickly. Seek out Commander Darian Dusk and join the monster expedition out of Stormwatch city. Make sure to get there within 7 days and get the commanders approval before the army team heads out.
Difficulty level: D+
Quest Requirements: Friendly favorability with Guardian Bryen Stonebinder
Quest Reward: EXP, reputation, coins
Accept?
Yes/No
"Yes sir, understood."
Thankfully, a player could have multiple quests on their interface. They didn't need to finish a quest to take on another, though if they didn't complete an accepted quest, they'd see their reputation fall, lose favorability with the NPC that issued the quest and find it difficult to accept other quests in the future.
'I guess the rewards are dependent on my contribution to clearing out the monsters and maybe more… wait where's my blueprint rewards.'
"Excuse me sir, you mentioned master had left behind some blueprints…"
Abel couldn't help voice out his concerns, he needed some good equipment and he was hoping he'd be able to make it instead of buying it.
"Hahahaha… I haven't forgotten child. No need to look so concerned. Here, these are the blueprints big brother had kept before his departure."
Abel sheepishly smiled and accepted the stack of schematics that appeared out of thin air.
"I'll give you the letter tomorrow morning. You can take a look at these blueprints and take care of other matters you have here before heading out."
Once the old man left, Abel excitedly started looking over the blueprints and weapons schematics before him. They seemed a bit weird but he wouldn't know what was unusual until he inspected them thoroughly.
"Inspect"
[Thunderstrike Warhammer]
Material: Thunder-Topaz ingot x4
Requirements: Level 10, STR 60+ - Level 20
Damage: 67-74
+10 STR
Durability: 60
Special: 5% chance of causing 3 second stun
[Solar Longsword]
Material: Magma-Steel alloy ingot x2
Requirement: Level 10, STR 40+ - Level 20
+5 STR, +5 AGI
Damage: 57-63
Durability: 50
Special: 5% chance of causing 100 burn damage
[Aegis Shield]
Material: Terra-Steel alloy ingot x5
Requirement: Level 10 – Level 20
Defense: 70
+10 TGH
Durability: 75
Special: Twice per day, attack can be blocked 100%
[Viper's Stiletto]
Material: Nocturnium ingot x1, Wood Viper teeth x2
Requirement: Level 10 – Level 20
Attack: 48-51
+10 AGI
Durability: 50
Special: 5% chance to cause poison -10 HP every 5 seconds for 1 minute
[Frostbrand Battleaxe]
Material: Cold Steel alloy ingot x3
Requirement: Level 10, STR 60+ - Level 20
Attack: 68-74
+10 AGI
Durability: 55
Special: 10% chance of reducing agility by 20%, can be stacked 3 times
[Titanheart Chest Armor]
Material: Silver Steel alloy x6, Ogre Pelt x1
Requirement: Level 10 – Level 20
Defense: 40
+10 TGH
Durability: 65
Special: Stalwart Defense -prevents user from being knocked back or suffering fatal attack.
After going through most of the blueprints, Abel was already speechless. What surprised him was that each blueprint had the schematics for level 10 and level 20 respectively.
He couldn't see the full details of the level 20 equipment as they required his basic forging skill to at least be at Expert proficiency. Although they were only 6 equipment blueprints, each one could be forged for level 10 and level 20 with much higher stats for the latter. Even the lower-leveled ones were ridiculous already.
A level 10 armor that could prevent a 1 hit kill would be priceless anywhere. In fact, each of these pieces of equipment would be considered top-notch level 10 goods but the old Battlesmith considered them low-grade trash, not differentiating between the level 10 weapons and their level 20 counterparts.
'But it makes sense, the man was a Legend after all. He'd certainly not care about zeroth tier equipment blueprints. Hmmm… The materials required seem to be much more expensive but it's definitely worth it.'
He had to forge these goods and reach level 10 before this impending quest started!