Cherim was an Elven Ranger in Leopur Town under the jurisdiction of Panjal City. She was tasked with keeping the local Mud Gator population under check until the Deathless Beings arrived and took over the task.
Mud Gators were Tier 1 monsters with high defense and attack power. Their high defense mainly stemmed from the earthen coating acting as an armor on their body.
If this armor could be broken, they were easy targets for any Ranger. Yet, many Rangers had lost their lives while fighting these monsters.
The Armor Piercing Arrows of White-Wood Grade and below only had a maximum of 2% chance of piercing through the Earth Armor. It was too low of a probability to bet her life on.
She could not afford to use Black-Stone Grade and above arrows; They were too expensive to take care of mere Lv 20 creatures.
Only skills like Wind Piercing Shot with armor break effect could effectively deal with the Earth Armor. However, the Armor Break Effects were quite low at Tier 1 of the skill.
She visited the Auction house in hopes of finding some weapons or equipment that might help her boost the effects.
Cherim filtered the item list to only show the cheapest options, leaving her with consumables.
She narrowed her list down to White-Wood grade and below as using Black-Stone Grade or better grade consumables to hunt Mud Gators was simply wasting money.
Familiar options appeared before her eyes.
Tier 0 Magic Scroll, Wind Erosion x 1 for 10 Silvers
White-Wood grade Wind-Tail Arrows x 24 for 8 Silvers.
White-Wood grade Stormwind Arrows x 24 for 7 Silvers 50 coppers.
[White-Wood Grade Wind Rune Arrows x 12 for 4 Silvers.]
White-Wood Grade Wind-Tail Arrows x12 for 4 Silvers.
.
.
As she scrolled down, Cherim almost missed the Rune-Forged Arrows but her trained keen eyes immediately spotted the new option.
"Wind Rune Arrows? Is this another impersonator?" She wondered when she read the name and clicked on it curiously.
Her doubts vanished when she read the information of the arrows.
+5% Boost to Wind Attribute!
This was the option she was looking for all along. These arrows would not only boost the Wind Piercing Shot, but they would also pair well with her bow which dealt +15% Wind Magic Damage with every shot.
She immediately raised the bid to 8 Silvers in one go, lest someone snag them before her. Cherim's fears were realized as the price immediately increased by another 50 Coppers.
"I want these arrows, no matter what!"
The fiery competitive streak in her was ignited and she raised the price by another Silver taking it to 7 Silver 50 Coppers. Her opponent was a tough nut as he increased the price by just 50 Coppers, taunting her.
"I can afford to pay 10 Silvers… Let's see if you can too!"
Cherim murmured and added another Silver coin to the bid, raising it to 9 Silvers. A tense silence ensued as the price remained the same for a few moments. Her heart thumped in her chest as the bidding time came to an end.
When the price remained the same even after the last countdown began, Cherim let out the breath she was holding.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,...
At the last moment, the bid quietly changed from 9 Silvers to 14 Silvers, adding five Silvers at once. Cherim scrambled to change her bid but alas, she was too late.
The countdown ended and her cherished Wind Rune Arrows became the belongings of someone else.
"Damn it!" Cherim cursed as she waited for the Auction House staff to replenish the goods.
She was surprised and joyous when she saw another batch of Wind Rune Arrows in the refreshed goods.
Learning from her previous lesson, Cherim did not wait for the bidding to start. She directly paid the instant purchase price of 12 Silvers and claimed the Rune-Forged Arrows for herself.
Such incidents could be seen in many of the Auction Houses in the range of Panjal City. The native Elves were competing with the Guild Players for the Wind Rune Arrows, leaving them frustrated and empty handed.
Overnight, the fame of Wind Rune Arrows spread across Elven Forests, drawing the attention of the Sanctum of Sages.
A Natureguard wearing full body armor entered the Sanctum of Sages in Panjal City. He carried Wind Rune Arrows he had just purchased from the Panjal City Auction house into the Discourse Hall.
"Greetings Sage Tukzer, Sage Imad, Sage Duri. Here are the arrows you requested."
He presented the arrows to the three Sages gathered,and excused himself from the room.
As soon as the doors closed, Sage Tukzer, a Tier 6 Ranger and a Grandmaster Woodsmith, picked up one of the arrows and examined it under his Expert's Eye while the other two Sages waited for his verdict.
"This craftsmanship is clearly the work of an amateur."
Tukzer commented as the glow of the skill, 'Expert Vision' faded from his eyes. The other two Sages waited patiently for him to finish his evaluation even though it was not what they were interested in.
"The materials are all ordinary and there are no traces of any Elemental materials being used during the creation of these Arrows."
Tukzer paused and met the eyes of his counterparts before declaring his final verdict, "This is indeed a Rune-Forged Arrow made using the lost signature technique of late Sage Nyasa."
This caused shock to appear on the neutral faces of the other two Sages.
"How is this possible? Sage Nyasa's lineage was destroyed in the Battle of Bellor and his legacies were lost along with his Shard of Myth. Are you sure you are not making a mistake?"
Sage Imad asked in shock. He was not actually doubting Sage Tukzer's judgment but he dared not believe it as the implications were too huge.
Sage Nyasa had personally killed a total of thirteen Tier 6 Archaeans of the Death Kingdom along with countless Tier 4 and Tier 5 nobles. He was the most feared person among the Tier 6 Arches of the Holy Human Empire and the most hated person in the Death Kingdom.
Only after his death had the Holy Human Empire broken off its alliance with the Death Kingdom and entered into alliance with the Elven Forests to devour the Death Kingdom's territories.
If the news of his emerging successor were to spread, it might be the spark that would reignite the war!
All the Sages in the room were aware of this fact.
"I will refine the imitation of the Rune Arrow Forging Technique I created in the yesteryears and spread it through my lineage. It should be enough to hide the presence of the true successor of Sage Nyasa." Sage Tukzer said in a confident tone.
"We will work with other Sages to find the Successor of Sage Nyasa and provide him the protection needed. A war cannot start before the Deathless Beings in our faction mature."
Sage Imad spoke on behalf of himself and the other Sage present in the room. After dividing the tasks among themselves the three sages turned into beams of light and disappeared, leaving the Discourse Hall empty.