Chapter 64: Spontaneous Journey and One Ring
Gerard's eyebrow arched when he noticed a familiar name of the item while trying to divide the item into equal shares.
[Ring of Fire]
[Type: Ring]
[Level: 12]
[Pre-requisite]
Level 12 to wear the Ring of Fire]
[Effects]
Increase fire resistance by automatically blocking 5% of any skill with a fire affinity.
[Upgradable]
Yes [+2/+5]
Gerard quickly stores the Ring of Fire in his space inventory.
This Ring is his sole idea. Having watched a particular movie in his past life a hundred times, he created a Ring for this game due to his fondness for it. He named it, Ring of Fire and this is only one out of the 4 Rings scattered around the Edo Kingdom.
At first, this item seems to have no value once the player ascended to the next tier. The player only needs to reach Level 12 to wear it. Most of the players that encountered this ring in the first version of this game only value its effect. And that's all.
But little did they know, this Ring held value that far exceeded what could they imagine.
The Ring of Fire is currently at +2 and it can be upgraded to a maximum of +5. Every ascension provides additional +5% fire resistance until it reached the maximum limit of ascension. It didn't sound appetizing for Guardians and DPS job class but if a player gathered the other three rings, namely Ring of Water, Ring of Wind, and Ring of Earth, one can combine the total of four rings and forge it into One Ring.
This One Ring, if ascended to maximum ascension, can block 50% damage of all skills with any affinity and has a 25% chance to deal an additional 20% of total Base Damage. Imagine the Guardian wielding it or the Swordsman and Assassin that can tank against Mages. One could only imagine how unstoppable those main job classes can be! And there is no duplicate item of One Ring.
Remembering his own creation, Gerard decided to find the rest of the remaining three rings and forge them into One Ring.
The location of the remaining rings is not a problem, they are located in the Edo Kingdom but the problem is, he didn't know the exact location, they might be in the far north of the Edo Kingdom or the southernmost part of the kingdom and finding it at this phase of the quest is not possible.
He can try to finish the quest as soon as possible and then find the rest of the rings to forge it.
All right! Gerard murmurs as he decided to finish the quest as soon as possible and give the missing amulet to Count Alvis through Lina by teleporting.
In the condition to complete the quest, he just needs to find the missing amulet. Once he did, there's no need to personally hand it over and the mission will be complete. And the fastest way to hand it over to the Count is by having Lina and others use a teleportation scroll and return to West Town and give it to the Count.
Just the thought of giving the amulet to the Count bleeds his heart. But he has no choice. After contemplating things, it is better to hand it over to the Count to avoid the destruction of West Town that can lead to the Edo Kingdom's perishes.
If he is a player, he might just shrug his shoulder and let it be. But he is now part of this world and he cannot bear to just let it happen. Why?
After considering things, if he gives the amulet to avoid the destruction of West Town, then the Edo Kingdom can still live longer, and he can continue to find all the opportunities within the kingdom and find a chance to get the amulet from the Count. Since the Count doesn't know what's the real purpose of the amulet and if he can coax him, he might get it for himself and proceed to find the secret land and live there.
And to make it happen, the West Town and the Edo Kingdom must survive. And use all the resources within the kingdom to find the secret place. If not, then goodbye to his secure future.
After sorting all the loot, Lina guides them to the rendezvous place. 10 minutes of walking after leaving the village, they stopped.
"This must be the location where my subordinate will meet us and lead us to the rendezvous."
Gerard nodded his head, just when Lex drop his shield to ease his shoulder, three players appeared in front of them, giving Lina respect as a Guild Leader of Sky Heaven. Two Assassins.
"Is everything good on your end?" Lina asked the newly arrived two members of Sky Heaven.
"Yes, Guild Leader. Everything is good on our end. No suspicious luring around within the perimeter we set."
"Good job. Lead us."
"Yes!" The two Assassins simultaneously replied with enthusiasm.
Then their group went ahead and was greeted by 18 players waiting for them.
All of them give their respect.
"Listen up! This is Payne Blanc. Our benefactor. He is the reason why we are here! I was assigned to be the Leader of this group but the decision still belongs to him. So if you try not to heed his orders, you can say goodbye to Sky Heaven officially. Is that clear?!"
"Yes, Guild Leader!" Their answer in unison and their shout reverberate around the area.
Lina nodded her head and continues.
"Due to trouble we face on the way here, we made some changes in the plan. We will try to get there without resting so if those who do not yet log off and slept or eaten, do it now. We will try to finish the quest tomorrow morning!"
The 20 players under Sky Heaven were shocked. They didn't anticipate the big changes in the plan. The first plan can give them time to do things easily on the way to the Mead Citadel, but since the plan changed, it means they are in a rush. Even so, they heed Lina and log off those who are yet to take a rest.
"Replenish your strength well!"
10 players log off and Lina and the players who accompanied Gerard on the way here log off as well.
Gerard told them in advance because he need them to be in full strength facing their way to the Mead Citadel. After all, they were his main forces in this quest.
The 10 remaining players guarded Payne Blanc, 5 of them are on the lookout while the rest are guarding Gerard's tent.
After two hours, the sun is about to set when all the rest of the players that logged off earlier return. Lina and others included.
Now they are inside the big tent and Lina trying to lay out the plan.
"Since the original plan has changed, the previous reconnaissance team will be disbanded and be included in the main group. We will try to arrive at Mead Citadel before the sun rises tomorrow. So I needed your undivided attention while treading on the unknown path along the way to Mead Citadel. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Guild Leader!"
Gerard nodded his head seeing the enthusiasm and the burning fiery motivation reflecting in their eyes. They needed it this much so he was pleased. Because of that, he added something unnecessary for him but necessary to them.
"Whoever makes it to the Mead Citadel alive will receive additional 10 Silver Coins!"
All of them were surprised.
If only Gerard can read their mind, he might shiver due. How much is he worth? What's his net worth?! His wealth is like delicious food that can make me drool!!
Lina was the first to retort.
"Mr. Payne… it is not necessary."
Gerard just shook his head softly and beam a smile before giving his response.
"It is necessary. We, the original dwellers in this world know the difficulty of heroes. Think of it as a reservation fee for the service you have done so far."
Lina's cheek flushed red. Her Guild received lots and lots of benefits and even her have a limit for being shameless. But seeing the resolve in Payne's eyes and the lust-greed eyes reflecting in everyone's eyes, she resigned and sigh.
"Thank you. But let it be this last time for now. We are a team and we do not want to take advantage of your magnanimity toward us. Besides, the loot is equally shared…"
"Okay, this will be the last time for now."
Lina sighed and coughed before facing his guild members.
"You heard what Mr. Payne had said if you make it alive without dying even once on the way to Mead Citadel, each will receive 10 Silver Coins! Do not disappoint us! Tread carefully and exercise precautions and do not look for monsters to fight. We will fight monsters blocking our path and we will take a detour if monsters are on a boss level!"
Lina once again lectured them before leaving the tent and went ahead on the way to the Mead Citadel.
This is it… Gerard mumbles to himself as he follows behind Lina and others.
On the way to the Mead Citadel, they, fortunately, didn't encounter monsters in a boss-level category. They were lucky enough not to take a detour. Some of them ascend to the next level except for Gerard.
The highest level in their group is Lina followed by Aliyah and Sally. Dealing with the monster at the same level as they prove to be easy.
So before midnight, they were able to arrive outside the perimeter of Mead Citadel. They camp on the elevated hill that oversees the entirety of the abandoned and old fortress. Since it's already midnight, their vision is impaired, and cannot study from their location movement on the old fortress.
They quickly set a perimeter and sent two Assassins to investigate ahead.
But it's just 10 minutes when the two Assassins left, they come back full of wonders everywhere on their body. The other Assassin is losing one limb and bleeding profusely.
Gerard gulp seeing the state of the two Assassins
Lina quickly aids them and has them drink HP Potions while Healer starts casting their skill to the wounded Assassins.
When the Assassins' breathing calms down, Lina starts bombing them with questions.
"What happened?! How's the situation inside the old fortress?!"
"T-there are no monsters outside the old fortress but once we infiltrated the fortress, we were surprised not by the monster lurking around, but by the eerie shadow with…" The Assassin telling the story halted and everyone can see the fear reflecting in his eyes.
"Calm down!" Lina hush the Assassin to no avail as it passed out due to fear.
Lina gritted her teeth and turn her gaze to another Assassin.
"What happened?" This time, Lina is calm and trying to ease the tension of the Assassin.
Sally also consoles the Assassin by putting her delicate hand on his shoulder which eases up the Assassin.
After several deep breaths, the Assassin starts telling the story about what happened inside the old fortress.
"W-when we infiltrated the fortress, we were greeted by low-level monsters such as kobolds and goblins. While carefully moving forward, we saw a pack of ogres inside, their level ranged from Level 5 to Leve 10. Their pack covers almost 100 meters and reaches the heart of the old fortress so we thought it is safe to move forward. But when we took one step on the shattered wooden gate…an eerie shadow with red eyes glaring at us moved and whip us with its tentacles multiple times…" The Assassin halted and everyone can see the horror in his eyes but he continue "And…and… and then we thought we can cut its tentacles hurling toward us but when our dagger collided with its tentacles, our weapon shattered to pieces. That's when we run but…but the monster is fast so we have no choice but to use all the HP potions we have just to stay alive…"
While listening, Gerard's brows furrowed deeply. He is unfamiliar with this kind of monster. The monster has tentacles and it's fast but its attack is not enough to deal instant death damage to a Level 4 Assassin.
This is bad.
Gerard clicks his tongue and returns to his tent and paces back and forth.
Tsk.
Can our team successfully take the missing amulet?
It seems this is called for a dungeon raid approach.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone