Izroth explained the talismans that he found in the wreckage of the caravan that was designed to make their original quest fail regardless of what future actions they took. After all, there was no way for them to possibly know about the talismans since they were placed on the wagons before any of their parties even arrived.
"I see, so that's how it is. This system sure was cruel to hand us such an unreasonable quest." Midnight sighed.
"Normally I would be cursing the system, but we did manage to get an S-ranked quest out of it. This feels weird to even say, but I'm kind of grateful that we failed the quest." Mirage said.
"I hate failing, but I have to agree. An A-ranked quest can't even come close to comparing to one that's S-ranked." Omega stated.
"Hey, how do you know so much about everything anyway?" Mirage asked Izroth out of curiosity.
To be honest, everyone else was also curious as to how Izroth was so knowledgable about things within RML. For example, how did he know so many details about cursed weapons and talismans?
"I've just read a few books, that's all." Izroth replied in a nonchalant manner. Of course, saying a "few books" when he read two entire floors worth of books within the Amaharpe palace library was a gross understatement.
As the group continued to follow the route on the scroll, they discussed a few small matters.
Two hours passed by, however, for Izroth and his party, it felt like an eternity.
After moving for around two hours, the group ran into numerous monster waves and small scale bandit attacks.
Of course, everyone was itching to fight and prove themselves after Izroth's most recent display of power. It only made them want to improve even more so than before in order to reach that same point. However, the costs of maintaining such a constant pace of fighting had finally started to reveal itself.
Krrrrk! Bang!
Qi Jiguang's fists rained down upon one of the monsters from the wave of attacks. The strength behind each strike was so powerful and concentrated onto a single point that it caused small holes to appear in the body of the monster. A few moments later, the monster's body shattered to countless pieces as if it were made out of glass. The blue glow around Qi Jiguang's fists disappeared.
"That's the last one." Qi Jiguang said. He took a deep breath before exhaling to control his breathing. However, there was still a look of fatigue on his face and he was not the only one.
Ying Yue, Midnight and Omega were also feeling fatigued. Izroth, and surprisingly Mirage, were the only two who did not appear to be fatigued. For the last two hours, they had been fighting nonstop against monster waves and bandit attacks without rest. Thankfully, none of the bandit attacks were nearly as large as the first one, however, the monster attacks were becoming more brutal.
In the last monster wave, the number of normal monsters was practically nonexistent and a good number of elite monsters showed up in their place.
RML did not have a fatigue bar that allowed players to keep track of their fatigue, instead, it was a hidden stat with no clear hints as to how to improve upon it. There were certain rumors going around that it was based on willpower, and others that said it was based on one's HP value. But, in the end, no one was absolutely certain on what determined the limits of one's fatigue.
Izroth could tell that the fatigue was starting to have an effect on everyone but Mirage's overall performance.
'We haven't been able to cover much distance in two hours due to the constant attacks. If things continue at this rate, then…'
Izroth opened his inventory and removed four aqua-colored pills. These pills looked as if there was water flowing around inside of them as they released a refreshing aroma. Just by breathing in its medicinal scent, everyone began to feel as if their fatigue was fading away.
"What a refreshing scent. Just what are those pills?" Midnight said with a hint of amazement in his voice.
"These are called Ocean Spring Pills. Taking one will help to alleviate the majority of the fatigue you're currently experiencing." Izroth explained.
"There's such a miraculous pill?" Omega exclaimed.
Midnight looked over at Mirage who had a smug look on her face.
"I see, so you too. No wonder the two of you are fine after all this time." Midnight said with a sigh. He had been secretly wondering how those two were not tired after so much fighting. For Izroth, he simply wrote it off as another ridiculous skill he possessed, however, it was different for Mirage.
Izroth gave one pill to everyone excluding Mirage who he already gave one to back at the Blazing Temple.
After consuming the pill, it was just as Izroth said. The large majority of their fatigue had disappeared! It was as if a large burden was lifted off their shoulders and everyone felt as though they could fight forever!
"What a useful pill!" Omega could not help but praise the Ocean Spring Pill.
"It's like a gentle ocean current flowing throughout your body. Not to mention, the other effects are incredible." Qi Jiguang said in a tone of disbelief.
Name: Ocean Spring Pill(II)
Rank: Grade-Two
Usage: The user who consumes this pill permanently gains the passive skill «Ocean Rejuvenation».
«Ocean Rejuvenation»: Greatly reduces the user's fatigue. Grants the user a 10% chance to ignore any crowd control effect(s). This effect is doubled if the user is below 25% HP. If the user is under crowd control effect(s) when their HP falls below 25%, all enemy crowd control effect(s) on the user is instantly removed and for 2 seconds, the user becomes immune to all crowd control effect(s).
Special Note: Consuming this pill more than once will not grant any additional effect(s). However, consuming a higher grade version of the pill will replace its effect(s).
Not only did the Ocean Spring Pill relieve a player's fatigue, but it also granted them a certain degree of crowd control immunity.
However, the most useful part of the skill was without a doubt the effect that took place when the user's HP dropped below the 25% mark. Removing all crowd control and becoming immune to it for two seconds was enough to completely change the course of a battle! In other words, it was a life-saving skill that the pill provided.
Of course, the most amazing part was that Izroth had willingly given them such a valuable pill freely.
"Although I am unable to pay you back at the moment, I will be sure to return the favor one day." Qi Jiguang said in a serious tone.
"It's just a small matter." Izroth responded. The last thing he wanted was for someone to slip up and die due to their fatigue. After all, if Qi Jiguang was killed then the quest would automatically be considered as a failure.
Just as everyone was beginning to feel refreshed, Ying Yue suddenly turned around. She could sense someone closing in on their location at a great speed.
"Someone's headed this way, and fast." Ying Yue warned.
"Only one?" Izroth questioned.
Ying Yue gave a slight nod and replied, "They're still a bit over 1,000 meters away, but at the speed they're moving they'll be here in less than thirty seconds."
1,000 meters in under thirty seconds? This meant that they were covering more than 30 meters per second! However, what was more terrifying was that Ying Yue could tell that someone was after them even though that person was over 1,000 meters away!
Izroth, however, had not forgotten the skill that Ying Yue mentioned back in the Chaotic Dogma Realm. Whenever she passed through an object, she would leave behind a small residual trace for around an hour or so. Of course, now that she was stronger, it was possible that the effects were even greater than that.
As long as anyone or anything passed by that object, she would immediately be informed. It was, in all sense, a completely broken detection skill.
Ying Yue could see that everyone, except Izroth, had a baffled expression on their face. Therefore, she gave them a brief explanation of how her skill worked.
"I never knew you had such a handy skill all this time." Mirage said.
"With a skill like that, it's virtually impossible for anyone to follow you without being discovered." Midnight stated. First, Izroth and now even Ying Yue was showing amazing abilities. At this point, he was starting to grow a certain level of immunity towards these type of surprises. The main culprit that caused this to happen was, of course, Izroth.
Though, if Luna, Halls, and the others were here at the moment, they would without a doubt relate to Midnight seeing as how Izroth took them through the same process.
"Whoever is headed this way, it won't be possible for us to outrun them. If they turn out to be an enemy, we'll have no choice but to fight." Izroth said.
Even Izroth with his base agility of 1,293 could not run over thirty meters per second. Of course, if he used his Flickering Steps thirty meters in one second would be nothing, but that skill only lasted for twenty seconds. Not to mention, the other members of his party did not have a base agility even remotely close to his own.
Thirty seconds quickly passed by and a few moments later, a strong gust of wind blew towards Izroth and his party that caused everyone to nearly be pushed backward.
Izroth did not budge a single step even with the strong gust of wind slamming into his body. His gaze locked onto the figure who had just appeared before them.
It was a middle-aged man who gave off a fierce aura and sharp sword intent.
"Interesting, it almost seems as if you were waiting for me to arrive. Though, I should be grateful that you've saved me some time." The middle-aged man said as the strong gust of wind vanished.
The middle-aged man possessed piercing red eyes, and in his left hand was a gorgeous black sheath with the sword still inside. Even though there was no longer any wind or breezes around, the clothing and hair of that middle-aged man were still moving as if they were being constantly influenced by the wind around him.
'A cursed weapon? No…'
Izroth did not feel the same vile aura that the greatsword of the Faceless One gave off. Also, this person seemed to be more than just a personality.
The middle-aged man took a single step forward and that was when Izroth and his party members could see his information.
"I know this is an S-ranked quest, but aren't we players supposed to be the one to seek this kind of person out?" Midnight questioned after seeing what they were up against.
NPC Name: Zephyr, First Sword of the Warpath Blade(Rare)
NPC Level: 45
NPC Faction: Discipline of the Warpath Blade
NPC HP: ???(100%)
It was the same middle-aged man that spoke personally with the Faceless One who put out the bounty for Izroth and his party. His true name was Zephyr, however, everyone within the Tiger's Mouth only knew him by First Sword.
Although everyone was shocked, they were already prepared for something along this line to occur given how fast that person was moving. The chances of them being a normal NPC or player was too small. However, being prepared for it and being face to face with it were two different things.
'Discipline of the Warpath Blade?'
Amaharpe's palace library did not have much intel when it came to the topic of factions besides some of the more well-known factions, as well as, some general information about them. Therefore, for a faction that was based in Proximus, Izroth never even knew they existed before just now.
'Did he come for the bounty as well?'
