Liam’s preparation
[Chest of the red tiger
Category: Uncommon, Set
Level requirement: 20
Physical Defense: 9
Magical Defense: 7
Intelligence: 13
Effect 1: Increases the limit of creatures you can control by 1.
Restrictions: Bound upon wearing
Set of the Red Tiger:
2 Pieces: Intelligence +15
3 Pieces: Creatures controlled by you receive a bonus of 100 on PDMG and MDMG
4 Pieces: Gain the spell [Red Tiger's Spirit]
The red tiger was a famous monster roaming the eastern mountains. It combined cunning and strength, posing problems even to the powerful mountain dwarfs. Eventually the famous wood elven hunter Gahlagon was invited to deal with the beast. No one knows what he did but from that day on the red tiger vanished into history.]
Various emotions could be seen on the friends' faces.
"A set equipment! This has to be a first!", exclaimed Balm happily.
Final Fend let out a sigh:
"Yes. It's just a pity that it isn't suitable for anyone of us…"
"Maybe Acacia can use it?"
"I doubt it. He doesn't need INT."
Fortune also shook her head, but a question came to her mind:
"For which class is this thing made then?"
"I don't know. Are there summoners? Or maybe necromancers?"
Hearing Silver Blade's question, Balms eyes lit up.
"Of course there are necromancers! Wave of Bones is one."
"Right, I heard that too.", agreed Final Fend.
Silver Blade looked at the two with a curious expression:
"Who is Wave of Bones?"
"You don't know? He's a famous pro here on Falva Star. Face white as bone and hair red as blood! That's his signature look. He is super handsome. His skin…"
"MORE importantly…", interrupted Final Fend Balm's daydreaming. "Wave of Bones is pretty strong and almost got the first clear of the dungeon. He is probably on one level with Star Gazer, maybe even somewhat ahead.
If your guild wants to stand out, he will be a strong competitor."
"Well, seeing Balm's reaction I'm sure Cyclone is aware of him."
Everyone laughed as Balm showed an embarrassed reaction, turning her face away.
"Alright, alright. Let's take care of those wares and finally clear the quest."
"Right."
The party agreed with Silver Blade's suggestion. They approached the bundle of crates and barrels below the queen ant's platform, quite curious what might be valuable enough to warrant so much effort.
Silver Blade pulled out the big net holding the wares together. The secret of these wares was finally revealed.
"It's… boots?", said Balm full of confusion.
"Is that all? Boots and leather?"
"Well, we can only see the content of the damaged chests. Should we open the others as well?"
"Let's not pry into our client's secrets…", suggested Bloody Edge.
"Yeah. Ultimately it doesn't matter for us. Let's just clear the quest.", agreed Silver Blade.
The others shrugged their shoulders. Although they felt some curiosity, Silver Blade's words were reasonable.
Thus, the female tank began gathering the wares into her inventory. It was the first time this magical space was close to filled up.
But even after all the objects disappeared, there was no notification. Silver Blade furrowed her brows, taking a look at her journal.
[Quest: Find Zeygnar's lost wares]
[Step one: Locate Red'or island]
[Step two: Find the place where the wares have been washed ashore]
[Step three: Investigate the area]
[Step four: Follow the marks]
[Step five: Gather the lost wares (83/100%)
"Strange, I'm still missing quite a bit."
"Maybe we passed something along the way?"
"No, I don't think so."
The party discussed in low voices, quite confused. But suddenly Watchful Eye appeared next to Silver Blade. He held one of the strange stones which were scattered among the eggs earlier.
"Young lady, I assume this is part of the wares."
"You think so?"
Silver Blade had a similar guess at first but after seeing the content of those crates she had dismissed it earlier.
However, with no other clues she took the stone from Watchful Eye's hand. Suddenly her quest changed drastically.
[
[Step one: Locate Red'or island]
[Step two: Find the place where the wares have been washed ashore]
[Step three: Investigate the area]
[Step four: Follow the marks]
[Step five: Gather the lost wares (84/100%)
Step six: Hand the wares back to Zeygnar OR show the demonic beast nourishing stone to a member of the broken council]
Silver Blade was taken aback, reading through her quest. The others saw her expression, urging her for an explanation.
But after Silver Blade read the content of the quest out loud, her friends wore similar puzzled expressions.
"What is a demonic beast nourishing stone? And what is the broken council?"
"Well, demonic beast nourishing stone is the name of that stone we found between the ant eggs. However, inspecting it only returns a bunch of question marks.
As for the broken council, I have no idea.", explained Silver Blade.
Balm looked at Silver Blade with an amused smile on her lips:
"If only we knew a living encyclopedia…"
"You're right. Let's ask Mirage when we see him."
"Why wait? Just message him."
"Let's not bother him. I'm certain he is busy preparing for the dungeon."
***
Liam was indeed busy at the moment. After spending time with Serena yesterday he had quite the tight schedule today.
Right now, he was beneath the streets of Svebrial. Dim catacombs formed a large net below the entire city. This was also the place where Cyclone encountered the Lightning Hawk Alliance, receiving her powerful class.
However, the secretive alliance was not the only group building a base within the catacombs.
Somewhere behind countless twists and turns several large halls laid close together. One of those was bustling with people around the clock.
Multiple figures in black cloaks, hiding their faces, could be seen here. The stood or sat, laying out all kinds of items before them. From jewelry to children's toys everything could be found here.
One might even confuse this place with a market street inhabited by players. However, at this point in the game all the people here were NPCs.
This was the foundation of the future largest market for stolen goods, opened by the thief guild of Rising Basilisk Empire.
If thief players wanted to sell objects gotten through the [Steal] auxiliary skill this was the only place they could come to.
Right now, Liam was most likely the only person knowing how to reach this place. He wore a random black mask while haggling with an NPC in a corner.
In this black market nothing had a set value. Knowing the market price of things and being good at bargaining were important to avoid getting ripped off.
"Sir, are you insulting my skills? To get this Shadow Cloak I had to break into a mage tower! I risked my life for this! Four gold is absolutely unacceptable."
"Well, from what I heard apprentice mage Rena has recently lost a Shadow Cloak passed down by her master. You don't happen to know something about this, do you?"
"How do you…!
I mean. I never heard about that. It would've saved a lot of effort stealing from an apprentice."
"Right. And if I were to ask my good friend Rena what her cloak looked like…"
"B*stard! Fine! Four gold, not any lower! I am barely making good on my expenses here!"
"Ah I believe you. Dating an apprentice mage can be costly…"
"YOU!"
Suddenly the cloaked figure opposite Liam jumped up. A confused expression hid below his mark.
But noticing the curious stares directed towards them, the man took a deep breath before slowly sitting down again.
"Fine. Three gold. And I don't want to hear another word from you!"
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Liam smile happily, handing over three gold coins and receiving a black cloak emitting mysterious mana.
"I hope I never see you again!"
"Nice day to you too."
Liam chuckle to himself as he left the merchant behind. Inwardly he scoffed at the thief.
Serves you right. Trying to sell a shadow cloak for 15 gold coins. If I don't put you in your place, there would be no justice left in the world.
With a light spring in his step Liam left the black market, throwing a look at his new procurement.
[Intermediate Shadow Cloak
Category: Uncommon
Effect 1: Hide your identity from everyone below level 75.
The legendary thief Magpie rose to fame with his self-created shadow cloak. However, when he decided to sell his cloaks, he earned more money than during all his years of thievery. Shadow Cloaks quickly turned into a must-have for every thief, very much to the displeasure of everyone else.]
Finally, Liam received this important tool. Not only would it allow him to stroll through the city without being surrounded by fans, but it also opened new possibilities.
And Liam knew exactly how to make use of them.
Leaving the catacombs the veteran directly stepped onto the teleportation platform. Paying a small price he soon appeared in Tority, a city within the Southern Light Kingdom. It was also the city closest to the territory of infernals.