The Call of the Warlords (IV)

Special Hidden Quest Alpha has been activated

An unusual eerie curse has set upon the people of Noriene. All residents and players are cursed till the source has been eradicated. You must defeat the wave of the undead land sharks and the source that brings upon the curse.

Difficulty Level: A

Requirements: The Seed Shard quest: Dispersal must be completed. The top twelve warlords of Noriene must be in the same room and the majority must agree to combat the threat of Noriene. Once agreed upon, guilds may form temporary alliances and send out invitations to other players. Players who have watched the meeting may choose which group they want to join for the duration of the quest. NPCs must also join in on the quest. All requirements also apply to the NPCs or death shall follow.

Reward: One high levell armor from the highest level of monsters that you kill during the duration of three days for each person.

Failure: Failure to complete this quest will lose a third of your gold, ten levels, and one of your best equipment. Also all NPC in the cities will shun away from you.

Deadline: The quest must be completed in three days.

Will you fight the shadows or walk amongst the dead?

If you choose to walk amongst the dead you will automatically die from the curse and will be forced to walk amongst the dead without any of your gear. All armor and items will be blocked for use until resurrections. Resurrection time has been extended to three days till the completion of the quest.

The crowd looked upon the message with unease, confusion, and horror. Their voices wavered in helplessness.

"What is this?"

"Cursed? How did this happen? What's going on?"

"What? We have no choice on whether or not we do this quest? Are we forced to fight or die?"

The disgruntled voices turned into hysteria.

"Enough!" Liliac yelled at the top of her lungs as she looked upon the crowd. Silence followed after, as they attentively looked upon her.

"This is not something we have to worry about. When the world comes together, we all have a chance to defeat this quest quickly and efficiently. Choose your answer. This is not impossible. Remember we have each other. Do not choose death; you all have a chance to earn the places of the best and even better a rare item."

The crowd settled down as they all agreed with her. Zero, and many others around him, accepted the quest. "Come on, let's get out of here." Zeraph nudged both Zero and Agnis.

"What? Why? It's just getting better," said Agnis excitedly as she threw up her arms wildly. "Come on, a little longer?" she pleaded.

"No. We need to go. If what they are saying is true, we need to go now and buy our materials. All the shops are going to be packed and the things that we need won't be many."

"Ugh. Fine." She sighed.

"You too, Zero. We can't stay here." Zeraph turned around to talk to Zero, but stopped in surprise.

Zero was punching the Historia, which was magically levitating in front of him and trying to eat his O.M. Its white tendrils smacked him back a couple of times, struggling to absorb the glass sphere.

"I know." He struggled with Historia a bit more as he stuffed it back into his bag. People around him watched dumbfounded.

"Luckily I got the most important things recorded for now. It seems the thirty minute O.M. was enough to record the whole event," said Zero with strain as he wrestled with the book a bit more. With one last smack he stuffed it back in the bag.

He was a bit worried that he had to stop the recording in between if he did not have enough minutes. Carefully placing the O.M. into his bag, he turned around and followed Zeraph. Pushing through crowds, ducking from wild arm swings, they maneuvered around the people and tried not to get hit.

"I wanted to see Liliac a bit more. Jergorien was cool too, but Liliac, she silenced everybody. She has such a beautiful voice." Agnis continued to daydream about her.

"What next? You're going to pluck out her hair and save it as a collector's item?" Zero teased her.

"You know what… maybe I should."

Zero looked at her, bewildered. "It was a joke. You know that, right?"

"You know how much locks of famous people hair could go for? Especially in this game where there are many fanatics who follow after her like she's some kind of god. I would make a killing off it. Don't worry. Maybe one day your patches of fur will be popular to make a coat." Her eyes glistened as her lips turned up into a grin. "I already started collecting."

Zero's mouth dropped. "Please no. I cannot believe you're already selling me off."

"No. Not yet."

"Not yet?"

"It's not enough. It seems I need to collect just a bit more to make my first winter coat, and better yet, because it seems you are the only creature of your kind to be ever seen by the public, people might actually buy it off the shelf like hot cakes."

Zero stopped to ponder her statement for a moment. It did made sense that selling his fur coat could bring in a high amount of gold, but the thought of someone wearing his fur made him feel uneasy.

"You remember that day when you died?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well you see, as I was dealing with your dead body…." She shuffled her foot around. "Apparently, your pelt was harvested by the city cleaners. I had to stop them from taking it. I can give it to you if you want it back." She shyly peered up at him.

Zero looked at her, horrified. "I-I-I been what?" He slurred and muttered his speech together.

Zeraph patted him hard on his back. "You've been skinned, buddy."

Zero stopped dead in his tracks.

Agnis waved her hands in front of his face, worried that shock overtook his system. "Hello? I'll give it back to you. Come on, Zero. Snap out of it." She snapped her fingers in his face.

Zero shook himself back to reality. He extended his hands, which shook slightly, toward her. Agnis turned towards her backpack and rummaged in her bag. A clean black fur with gold spots was pulled out of her backpack. Not a single splotch of blood was found on his pelt.

"Here." Agnis handed it carefully into his hands. "Are you sure I can't keep it?" She looked at it longingly.

"No," Zero sternly stated as he took it from her.

He stared at his pelt. The soft pelt ran through his hands. It reminded him of a cat's fur: clean, pristine, and soft.

I'm collecting toes, eyeballs, and now my own fur. Have I become some kind of black market body part trafficker? he thought, horrified. It was so strange to hold his own pelt in his hands.

"Zeraph. Agnis. I…" Zero stopped himself as his hands slightly shook and dropped it onto the ground.

With ease, Zeraph picked it up from the ground and handed it over to him. "Wow…WOW. I don't know what to say, Zero. This is truly strange, but I'll get all your fur back to you. It's already creepy enough to see this in my hand. Maybe we can make another you?" Zeraph winked at Zero, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Heh. Maybe." Zero smiled. "Identify Zero's Fur."

Zero's Fur.

A pelt from a young Drezo Regalia. It can be used to create clothes and armor. The quality of the pelt can be easily destroyed during the process of creation. Older pelts have stronger durability and quality.

+ 0.1% immunization to fire magic.

Zero's jaw dropped. He could not believe that he himself could be used as a special material item. The implications worried him immensely.

"Guys. I need you to make sure you get all my pelts when I die. Okay?" He looked them dead in the eye.

"Sure." Zeraph looked at him quizzically.

"Fine, but the first batch of armor you make goes to me, okay?" Agnis replied with a grin.

"If that's what's going to make you collect my pelts when I die, then yeah. I'll do it," said Zero with apprehension. What is wrong with this girl? he thought. Sometimes I wonder if a couple of screws are loose in her head. Turning around, a small sigh escaped his lips.