...

'It traveled fairly deep underground. Is this the aftermath of an SSS-ranked spell?'

At the moment, Izroth was still freefalling. And, if he was keeping track of his distance correctly, he had just passed the two hundred meter mark. Yet, there were still no signs of the meteorite or Gan Ceann!

Izroth was confident that the Grand Magic Morrighan used must have been an SSS-ranked spell to produce this level of destruction.

If she did not contain the meteorite's impact, forget sixty meters, the pit's diameter would have been well into the hundreds. A spell of that level was enough to wipe out an entire legion's worth of foes!

300 meters...

400 meters...

500 meters...

After reaching the 500-meter mark, a faint scolding red glow entered Izroth's vision. The inside walls of the pit were scorched, and the heat being released had not yet dissipated.

'I'm getting close.'

Izroth fell a couple of hundred meters before activating Falling Feather Steps.

Swoosh!

Just as Izroth was about to crash into the surface, his body straightened out, and his momentum was instantly dismissed, causing him to safely land atop the meteorite.

The temperature of the meteorite's surface was still hot; however, due to his Heavenly Golden Body, Izroth had no trouble enduring the heat.

Izroth utilized his Energy Vision Sense to examine his surroundings.

'This area is saturated with mana from the meteorite. But, it's just as I thought...'

Rmmmmble! Crrrrrck! Neigh!

Without warning, the meteorite burst open as the obsidian warhorse emerged with the Headless Horseman around ten meters away from where Izroth stood!

Gan Ceann's lifeless blue eyes locked onto Izroth as the white aura around its longsword had increased severalfold since Izroth last saw it.

'It's pretty durable to have survived a direct hit from an SSS-ranked spell. Though given that it's capable of using genuine Aura, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Still, to inflict this much damage without the use of essence—it looks like the rumors were not exaggerated.'

Name: Gan Ceann, The Headless Horseman of the Abyss

Class: Guardian

HP: [7.42%]

With just one spell, the Phantom Queen managed to shave off more than 80% of Gan Ceann's HP—that was close to 150,000 damage!

Without the use of essence, Izroth knew that even he would have some trouble putting forth that damage amount using a single skill.

Of course, he had skills that could reach that damage range even with the absence of essence. But, Izroth was also aware that his circumstances greatly differed from other players.

Neigh!

The warhorse scrapped its hooves against the meteorite and lowered its head as it prepared to charge Izroth!

At the same time, Gan Ceann brandished the longsword in its hand. Then, as if understanding Gan Ceann's intent, the warhorse galloped forward at incredible speeds!

"It doesn't seem to have an enraged state when its HP falls below 10% like typical boss monsters," Izroth said to himself casually.

Gan Ceann lifted its longsword into the air as it approached Izroth. And, right when it arrived within striking range, it swung down with all its might as the white aura around its longsword became dense.

Swoosh!

'I suppose I shouldn't keep the others waiting too long.'

The longsword was less than two centimeters away from Izroth as he appeared lost in his thoughts. Then, all of a sudden, Gan Ceann's movements ceased.

As for Izroth, he was now standing behind the warhorse!

The white aura around Gan Ceann's longsword disappeared as its lifeless blue eyes faded and the helmet in its hand fell to the ground. The flames around the warhorse were extinguished as it crumbled to dust, and the black suit of armor broke apart.

«Critical Hit»

-32,273

+1,936

〈Battle Alert: The effect «Death In One Step» has been activated!〉

-48,898

〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have defeated «Gan Ceann, The Headless Horseman of the Abyss»!〉

〈System Alert: You have received x1 Level Emblem!〉

...

Using Sword Arts: Four Steps of Death, Izroth dealt the finishing blow to Gan Ceann before returning his Sword of The Storm to its sheath.

〈System Alert: All enemies on the first stage of the «Crusade» have been cleared!〉

〈System Alert: Transportation process will commence in 30 seconds!〉

'Oh? How thoughtful. If I had to climb back up, it might have taken a while.'

Izroth looked down at the puddle of black liquid, which was all that remained of Gan Ceann.

'It's disappointing that it doesn't drop any loot. But, this certainly is an interesting item.'

As the transportation magic circle formed beneath Izroth, he analyzed the small object that appeared in the palm of his hand. It was a golden hexagon with the symbol of a star embedded into its center.

Name: Level Emblem(Unique*)

Usage: Increases the user's level by 1 upon use. Can only be used below level 55. Using this item resets the user's current experience to 0. This item is automatically destroyed after use.

Special Note: A special reward granted to those who successfully clear a stage of the «Crusade».

An item that instantly increased one's level as long as the person was below level 55—this was huge!

One had to know how difficult it was to gain experience and level up after reaching level 48. It could take days, or maybe even weeks worth of in-game time grinding dungeons and quests for the majority of players to gain even one level once they reached that point. Therefore, an item like the Level Emblem could save players a great deal of time and quicken their ascension to the highly coveted level 50 threshold!

Of course, Izroth had already passed this threshold. And, as a Combat Master, reaching level 50 did not bring him nearly as many benefits as other players. After all, for them, getting to level 50 meant an opportunity for a second class advancement that could boost their overall combat potential severalfold!

'I wonder...'

There was something Izroth was curious about the moment he saw the effects of the Level Emblem.

Izroth attempted to dismantle the item with a skill from Unparalleled Craftsman, Heart of A Creator. As long as he could disassemble the Level Emblem, he would be able to acquire a permanent production method to craft an endless amount of them!

〈System Alert: The effects of «Heart of A Creator» has activated!〉

〈System Alert: This item cannot be disassembled!〉

〈System Alert: The effects of «Breaker of Limits» has activated!〉

〈System Alert: System Admin Restriction! This item cannot be reproduced!〉

Izroth held zero expectations from the beginning. After all, not only was it a unique item but having a production method that was practically a leveling cheat would be too game-breaking—even for him.

But, when his Breaker of Limits skill showed up, Izroth was surprised. He believed that perhaps there was a real chance of obtaining the production method! However, this thought quickly went out the window once the following system alert appeared.

System Admin Restriction—even though this was Izroth's first time receiving this message in RML, he was well aware of its meaning.

In the official player's guide, it was termed SAR for short.

The system was pretty relaxed when it came to players' freedom and often rewarded them for their creativity. However, there were times of extreme rarity when the system would deem something as "unattainable".

In other words, it was something never meant to be reached or achieved since it went against the rules of the system. And, players spending gold to instantly level up without any effort undoubtedly fell into this category.

That's why even with Breaker of Limits activating, Izroth ran into SAR and was ultimately unable to acquire the production method to the Level Emblem. However...

〈System Alert: System Compensation In Progress...〉

〈System Alert: A profession related production method «???» can be added to the skill «Heart of A Creator». Would you like to add «???»? (Please Note: Adding this production method will consume one slot for Stored Production Methods.)〉

...the system was not unfair!

'Hm? This is...'

Izroth was taken aback by the system's choice to compensate him. Was it because his Breaker of Limits went off? Whatever the case, it appeared that luck was on his side! At least, he hoped so.

Although the system stated that it profession related, Izroth had no clue what kind of production method he would receive as compensation. For all he knew, it could be an everyday pill recipe. Or, maybe it was something that required hard-to-find ingredients to craft. Nevertheless, once he accepted, one of the four limited slots for stored production methods would be gone forever.

Despite the unknown factor, Izroth believed that it was worth taking the risk. Worst case scenario, he would waste a slot on something useless.

'Let's see just how genuine your compensation is.'

〈System Alert: A new production method has successfully been added to «Heart of A Creator»! [Stored Production Methods: 1/4]〉

Izroth accepted the mystery production method, and right after doing so, the magic circle below him released a bright light.

〈System Alert: Transporting...〉