[Challenger ‘???’ has won against the challenger team.]

[You can challenge the 14th floor of the Spirit Dojo.]

[Do you want to challenge? (Y/N)]

… Syncopation…

[You have won against the trainees!]

[You have successfully cleared the 14th floor of the Spirit Dojo.]

[The first clear reward has been applied.

[You have acquired the item ‘Transcendence essence x2’.]

[You have earned 28 Hero Scores.]

After successfully pushing out the party of Ralph, Ian had shortly challenged the 14th floor.

And it wasn’t so difficult to clear it.

‘It was much easier than the 13th floor.’

Surely the difficulty of the 14th floor was much higher than the 13th floor.

However, the reason why the 14th floor was easy for Ian was due to the ‘Commonplace’.

The 14th floor trainees were summoners, and for Ian, the summoners were the easiest opponents.

‘I got to taste honey because of the Summon Ban skill.’

Summon Ban, the unique ability of the Summoner Knight.

There were a few conditions, but it was a skill that could completely neutralize the summons of the summoner opponent, which was a disastrous skill for Ian’s opponent.

Moreover, as Ian had expected, the first clear reward got applied for the 14th floor.

“Key, now, the real last jump?”

After a little maintenance in the waiting room, Ian took a deep breath and slowly moved into the gate.

The next moment…

[Moved to the 15th floor of the Spirit Dojo.]

With that line of messages, Ian’s vision went dark.

Tring-!

[You have entered the 15th floor of the Spirit Dojo.]

[You have entered the test gate for the first time.]

[Acquired fame for 50,000.]

The darkened vision of Ian gradually brightened up, and new system messages had appeared before him.

And in front of him, a familiar man was standing.

“Oh ho, it has been a while since a challenger came here.”

When he heard a squeaky voice, Ian’s mouth opened with a known voice.

“Syarlon…?”

The appearance of the NPC in front of his eyes was exactly like the Guardian spirit Syarlon.

And the NPC listened to Ian and moved a step forward out of curiosity.

“You know my brother?”

At the end of the NPC’s question, Ian nodded and replied,

“If you are referring to the Guardian Spirit, Syarlon, I know.”

“Ohoh.”

“I came all the way here because of his request.”

Ian realized that the opponent in front of him was the brother of Syarlon, Syarlion.

And he figured out what he was supposed to do in the situation.

Ian pulled out the card which he had obtained from Syarlon.

“This…?”

Syarlon’s eyes widened as he found the wooden card, and the words of Ian continued,

“It is something that Syarlon has asked me to do.”

“…!”

“Syarlon has asked me to give this to you.”

Syarlon was intrigued at what he had and accepted the nameplate Ian had.

Then, the quest system message had emerged.

[Spirit Dojo. Handed the Recommendation plaque to Syarlion.]

[Quest conditions have been met.]

And Syarlion began to read the words which were on the backside of the plaque.

‘Hmm, I hope that this quest is just completed without any other problems…’

The words on the back of the card were in an language that Ian couldn’t read.

But Ian could roughly infer what the content would have been.

Based on the information written in the quest window.

‘But, it can’t happen. It is just a letter of recommendation.’

According to the quest window and the information it had, Syarlon handed it over to Ian as a recommendation to recommend him as an ‘honorary conduit’.

And to be that Honorary conduit, one had to pass the test of Syarlion.

Ian stood there in front of Syarlion waiting, and soon the man on the opposite side opened his mouth again.

“Huhu, it is funny. A letter of recommendation from my brother…”

Swak-!

Syarlion, placed the plaque on the table and pulled something out of his hand.

And Ian’s gaze directly went in the direction of the object.

“That mask… what is it?”

At the question from Ian, Syarlion opened his mouth.

“The orb that you are holding.”

“Huh…?”

“It was something that was born with him.”

“…!”

Ian’s heart began to pound.

At the words of Syarlion, Ian was able to realize the kind of mask it was.

‘The Guardian Mask…!’

The ‘Guardian Mask’, was a reward for the quest of Syralon’s errand, which was another Guardian item.

The most important reason for coming till the 15th floor of the spirit dojo was for the same purpose, and the object had appeared way before he imagined.

Tring-!

[Entered the Spirit Dojo, ‘Test Gate’ for the first time.]

[You are currently in the process of ‘Syarlon’s Errand’, hence special restriction will be applied.]

[All unique abilities other than the ‘Spirit Spell’ have been sealed. (Unique ability of the item can be used.)]

The place where he was fighting fiercely with the party of Ralph.

On a map which looked fairly similar to it, Ian and Syarlion stood facing each other.

But the interesting thing was that the ‘Guardian Mask’ was on the face of Ian.

The Guardian Mask was an item that Ian was supposed to get after he had cleared the quest which he got from Syarlon.

Would Ian clear of the quest if he went and passed the gate test of Syarlion?

“Let me know when you are ready.”

“Okay, Syarlion.”

“There is nothing to get nervous over, so no need to hurry.”

In conclusion, the test of Syarlion hadn’t even begun.

For now, Syarlion had lent the mask to Ian to proceed with the test.

‘Hmm, this is the first time for such a quest to go like this…’

Syarlion’s test was a kind of test which he had never encountered.

Naturally, Ian thought that he would clear it by just fighting him, but the test gate was far different from that.

Ian immediately recalled the conversation he had with Syarlion before entering the duel.

“How do I pass the test?”

“You have to show me the qualities of the guardians that you possess.”

“Qualities… in the sense?”

“Yes.”

“How am I supposed to show it?”

“The way isn’t so difficult. The Guardian Mask which I have just lent to you has the power. it can bring out every last ability in you.”

“…?”

“What I just meant, you will naturally understand it once you compete with me.”

Syarlion hadn’t mentioned whether he had to duel with him or not.

Instead, he just lent the Guardian equipment and said it drew out the maximum ability of the item.

‘The best of the abilities… first, let’s see what the item can do.’

Ian opened the information window of the mask and began to read it thoroughly.

Syarlion also told Ian that there was no need to rush it, so Ian planned on taking as much time as possible and see what the test actually was.

Ian was convinced that the key to clearing the quest would be somewhere in the item information window.

-Guardian Mask

Classification: Incantation Mask

Rank: Rare (transcendence)

Wear restrictions:

Summoner, need to be a ‘Spirit Spell’

Attack: 319

Durability: 770/770

Options: damage +125 (Increases spirit power by the proportion of weapon caused damage.)

All combat abilities +20 (Transcendence)

Leadership +5 (Transcendence)

Affinity +5 (Transcendence)

Spirit Magic +450 (Transcendence)

Summon magic +200 (Transcendence)

All the cooldown of the unique abilities of the summoned spirits has been reduced to 20%.

*Spirit Fairy Tale

-Basic lasting Effects

When using all the spirit magic, the summoned power has been reduced by 15%.

-Use Effect

For a duration (25 seconds), the spirit magic without the summon magic can be used. (Cooldown time: 500 seconds)

*Spirit Mask

Spirits can be masked and it would still allow them to use their abilities.

The four grand spirits (Fire, Water, Land, and Wind) will be encased in the mask, and after each passing second, the spirit’s attribute will be changed.

After 4 seconds have passed, or after the spirit power has been used, the ‘Spirit Mask’ will be removed.

The ability to use a certain attribute will depend on the Spirit Mask.

-Fire Spirit: Fire burns around the caster, causing powerful fire damage to the surrounding area. (The target receiving the fire damage will bounce in the opposite direction.)

-Water Spirit: A pool of water is created around the caster for a duration of 5 seconds, inflicting water damage to the enemies within the range (While the water pool is being maintained, it slows the enemies within the range by 80%).

-Land Spirit: Infuses the land with energy from the caster and stiffens the surrounding for 3 seconds (While the spirit or the caster stays on the land, all the damage will be reduced by 70%).

-Wind Spirit: Summons a powerful whirlwind in the front and attacks all the enemies within the range. The enemies caught in the whirlwind turn unprotected for 1 second (If the unprotective enemies are attacked, the defense will be ignored).

(Cooldown Time: 20 seconds)

*This item belongs to the user ‘Ian’.

This item cannot be transferred or sold to other users and wouldn’t drop even if the character dies.

*It is a growable item. If the conditions are met, a higher level can be achieved.

It has been used by the guardians of ‘Pneuma’.

Has lost its owner, and hasn’t found one yet.

‘Hou, if it is a spirit mask… I don’t think I have ever seen such unique abilities.’

As far as all the Kailan play has been considered, Ian had never used such a myriad of unique abilities.

But right now, the so-called ‘Spirit Mask’, has such a complex mechanism for its unique abilities.

‘In that case, when a needed attribute spirit is present, the unique ability should be activated…’

Ian decided that he had to use the unique ability of the ‘Spirit Mask’.

Since the cooldown of the skill was just 20 seconds, using it wouldn’t interfere with the duel.

[The unique ability of the ‘Spirit Mask’ has been triggered.]

Swahh-!

A familiar system message came to his mind, and a ghostly sound rang out from the mask.

And on top of the mask, a blue swirl started to form.

‘Is this a water attribute?’

Since the mask was present, Ian wasn’t able to see the face of the mask, and all he could do was to assume what kind of spirit it was from the energy.

But even then, Ian tried to activate the ‘spirit power’.

Shat-!

Again, came the ghastly sound, and then the energy of the land spirit began to spread.

‘Ahha, this is how it works?’

Ian decided to withdraw his ability and watch the mask change.

And the energy of the mask quickly changed from the water, land, wind, and fire, and soon concealed the energy.

[After the time limit, the Spirit Mask will disappear.]

Ian’s face saw the system message and was feeling great.

‘This is fun?’

The unique ability of the Spirit Mask which he wasn’t able to understand with the explanation, soon entered the head of his.

And within a while, the cooldown had returned. Ian once again triggered the ability.

This time the spirit attribute that was summoned the first was of fire.

Swath-!

Ian, the moment the fire attribute got summoned, soon unleashed his power.

“Ability activate!”

Kwakwang-!

Intense fire burst out in the close vicinity of Ian.

Just like it had been written in the skill information window.

“Oho.”

Ian smiled and waited for the cooldown to return.

Pung-!

Swah-!

He had remained in the same position for quite a long time and repeatedly exercised the unique ability.

Of course, each time the ability of the spirit mask proceeded, the attribute changed.

Did he take around 10 minutes?

“Syarlion, get ready!”

Ian who gazed into the eyes of Syarlion smiled.