Sora was currently standing in front of a cave, harvesting an Azure Spirit Flower. From where Sora was standing, he could see the peak of the mountain and the entrance to the dungeon. The dungeon was very noticeable since it was a huge bronze double door, it is especially noticeable when built into the side of a mountain. Sora had been killing the Frost Elementals on his way up the mountain but he had only ran into eleven of them, leaving his inventory sorely lacking in Small Mana Crystals. Although the cave looked very tantalizing with how many mana crystals he had the possibility of getting, it also looked extremely dangerous. If the Frost Elementals were to surround him and use the magic cone attack then it would basically be an execution after a few rounds of fighting.

[Harvesting Skill has leveled up]

The Azure Spirit Flowers had been the only saving grace on his way up the mountain, he was consistently able to harvest them as he climbed, resulting in a harvesting level of 4 and a few stacks of the blue tulips. Sora walked into the cave, he was going to have to use the same strategy he had been using on the elementals on the way up here. Sora has to be careful not to aggro too many of these elementals at once so he first grabs the aggro of one of them and then kites them back, creating a large gap between him and the other elementals so he has space to move around.

The first few fights went just as planned, he was able to pull the elementals away one by one and kill them while only taken some minor hits. This time however Sora had to fight two elementals at once. The elementals were grouped together so Sora didn’t really have a choice, he would have to switch his plan up this time. Sora used [Purge with Silver] as he brought the two elementals away from the rest of the ones in the cave. Once they were far enough away he used [Slash] on one of the elementals and parried the other one. Just as the first one was about to use its magic attack, Sora used [Concuss] to disrupt the ability and used that time to attack the other elemental. The second elemental used its magic attack almost immediately after Sora had used [Concuss], leaving barely any time for him to dodge the ability. He barely made it out of the area before the attack hit the ground he was just on, following up with a [Slash] and [Crippling Strike]. Sora started running even further back, losing the elemental that was slowed with [Crippling Strike] for a while and focusing on parrying the other one until the slowed elemental caught up. Once the elemental caught up Sora used [Slash] on the one he was fighting to use the stacks of [Vanquish the Weak] effectively, followed by [Concuss] to give him time to focus on the second elemental. Sora continued to juggle the elementals, buying time with [Concuss] and [Crippling Strike] until the second elemental died from [Purge with Silver]. One elemental didn’t pose a threat to Sora as he swiftly finished it off, leaving a couple mana crystals on the ground as his spoils of victory.

…..

It had taken Sora over 20 hours to carve his way through the Frost Elemental cave, effectively leveling him up once and having to down a few health potions in the process. Now the only thing that stood in Sora’s way was what looked to be a Frost Elemental, just a lot bigger. Level 40 -Lanche, The Frozen-

Sora rested for a little bit, eating a Roasted Feline Snapper to increase his Agility. Sora didn’t worry too much about his health at the moment and decided it was better to move a little faster than to buff his health. His goal was to dodge as many magic attacks as he could while using mana only when necessary. The attack pattern should only vary slightly from the normal elementals, the only difference being that Lanche will use his magic attacks more often. The entire cavern was covered in a thin layer of ice, presumably generating from Lanche, and didn't offer anything to use as cover. Sora made sure to refill his potions on his belt slots before running at Lanche.

Sora had already decided not to use [Purge with Silver] since the mana cost was so high and he was only fighting one enemy. He would much rather save his mana for using [Slash] to deal damage and [Concuss] to disrupt attacks. The beginning of the fight was just like any of his other fights, he opened with [Slash] and parried the elementals normal attacks. Sora used [Concuss] to disrupt the first magic attack and continued attacking and parrying. Lanche attacked with a few regular attacks and then used its magic attack again and Sora couldn’t disrupt it since [Concuss] was on cooldown, Sora barely dodged it as Lanche started to use another magic attack right as Sora caught his balance.

-333

Sora couldn’t dodge it this time, he was a bit unlucky that the boss used the ability twice in a row. Sora drank a health potion and continued fighting, this time holding onto [Concuss] and dodging the magic attacks that Lanche used. Sora wasn’t as unlucky this time as Lanche only used normal attacks afterwards, giving Sora enough time to get in a couple basic attacks and a [Slash] before the magic attack came. Sora kept dodging the magic attacks and parrying the normal ones, occasionally taking a hit and having to keep drinking health potions. After holding onto [Concuss] for 4 magic attacks, what he had been waiting for finally happened. Just as Sora dodged a magic attack Lanche started to cast another one. Sora caught his balance after dodging and immediately followed up with [Concuss] to disrupt the second magic attack. Sora could afford to take hits from normal attacks but the magic attacks greatly reduced his HP. Instead of using the time Lanche was stunned to attack, Sora quickly opened his inventory and refilled his health potions on his belt.

Lanche had a huge health pool, after Sora had fought with the elemental for 10 minutes he was barely able to bring it down to 25%. Sora refilled his health potions once again as Lanche was stunned. Sora was currently low on mana and had been holding [Slash] until his stacks from [Vanquish the Weak] had reached to at least 50% extra damage and only used [Concuss] to disrupt Lanche when he used two magic attacks in a row. Everything could be said to have proceeded smoothly up until now, going much better than Sora had anticipated.

Sora dodged a magic attack, followed by using [Concuss] to disrupt the second magic attack. He went into his inventory and filled up his health potions once again, this time he came back to an unexpected attack. Lanche had used his magic attack three times in a row this time, making Sora once again take a direct hit from the attack and chunking away one third of his HP. Just when Sora had thought it was over Lanche used another magic attack on top of that, making a total of four magic attacks in a row. Sora was barely able to dodge the attack as he cursed his luck. Four magic attacks in a row from Lanche could be considered rarer than getting a skill book drop. Sora gulped down another health potion before engaging Lanche once again. Luckily Lanche didn’t have another mass chain of magic attacks and quietly fell, dropping a pile of Small Mana Crystals, a piece of paper that glowed blue, a staff with an icicle on the top, a ring that looked to be made of ice, and a few coins.

[Level up]

Sora finally relaxed now that Lanche was defeated, walking up to the loot and collecting it all. He already knew he was going to get the recipe for the mana potion, the ring was a nice surprise but he was even more excited about his level up, since he finally hit level 40 and could equip the gear he had been holding.

[x22 Small Mana Crystals obtained]

[x1 Beginner Mana Potion Recipe obtained]

[x1 Power of Lanche Staff obtained]

[x1 Gold obtained]

[x3 Silver obtained]

[x1 Band of Ice obtained]

Rarity - Rare

Durability - 30/30

Requires - Level 40

“Although the ring is very fragile, the essence of frost within it will help mitigate damage from frost based attacks.”

+10 Spirit

+15% Frost Resistance

Sora didn’t pay too much attention to the staff since he would be selling it. He equipped the ring, along with the necklace and obsidian armor he had to wait until level 40 to equip. Sora already had the bonus from having two pieces of the Obsidian Bloodsteel set bonus, giving him an extra 20 Constitution on top of the other stats that the armor and necklace gave him. Sora was itching to test out his new armor, on his way down the mountain he found a Frost Elemental and fought it. With his new equipment he completely dominated the poor thing, even taking a few hits to test his defenses. After the elemental died it dropped a Small Mana Crystal that landed on top of a piece of paper. Sora looked at the paper with a complicated expression. The whole reason he wanted to fight Lanche was for that piece of paper. Sora gave a bitter laugh as he picked up the mana crystal and paper.

[x1 Small Mana Crystal obtained]

[x1 Beginner Mana Potion Recipe obtained]

…..

Bubbles was currently swinging at Frost Iron Ore rocks furiously, trying to get as many as he can. He had been going at this pace since he started to mine here and has yet to stop and take a break. His enthusiasm has definitely payed off, since he had nearly 500 pieces of Frost Iron Ore in his inventory. Bubbles wanted to make sure to get as much as he could so he could head back to Var and make a name for himself. First he wanted to turn in his mining quest to become a Novice Miner, then he would make the ore into equipment to become a Novice Blacksmith. Selling the equipment wasn’t what he was motivated by, it was the perks that came with becoming a Novice Blacksmith that he was truly excited by. There wasn’t anyone who had become a Novice Blacksmith yet so he wasn’t excited for a particular bonus, he only knew that as your rank gets higher you can do things like over repair equipment, repair items without repair hammers, make higher quality equipment, and even give bonuses to equipment made by hand. He wasn’t exactly sure what bonus he would get but any bonuses to a blacksmith would draw customers towards you over your competitors. Let’s say one blacksmith made a weapon with 1000 damage. Then another blacksmith made the same weapon with 1001 damage and a little extra durability. Players would go more to the second blacksmith just to get that tiny little bonus.

As Bubbles was thinking about all the different possibilities, Sora walked into the cavern and saw Bubbles swinging his pickaxe without rest. Sora only reconfirmed that he would need to try and draw Bubbles into his guild so he would have a good blacksmith. He walked up to Bubbles and tried to find a good time to interrupt, after waiting for a while the rock broke apart, revealing a pile of blue colored ore. Bubbles had a beaming smile on his face as he collected the ore. He turned around and was startled by the sudden appearance of Sora.

“Oh, It’s just you Ethereal, I didn’t notice you with that new armor. How did your business go?”

“It went well, could have went better but I am just happy to not have died. How about your business? It seems to be going well.”

“Hahaha, it has been going more than well, the ore spawns within close proximity of each other so I’m able to continuously mine to my heart's content.”

“That’s good, I will be heading back to Var, do you plan on staying here or going with me?”

“Well I want to go back to Var to turn in my miner quest… Would it be possible to come back afterwards?”

“Hmm… Let’s try talking to Veradon to see if that would be possible.”

“Alright sounds good, I have to report to him to turn 10% of my ores anyways.”

Bubbles and Sora left the cave and went towards the tent located in the middle of the camp. The medical tents seemed to have less soldiers than when Sora had went up the mountain, which means they are making significant progress in fighting off the rest of the corrupted insects. Sora and Bubbles walked up to the tent, the guards stationed there seemed to have been under the order to let them through as they stood at either side without obstructing them. As Sora walked in he could see the commander, Veradon, sitting as his desk with a worried face as he was reading through reports. Once Sora walked closer he suddenly lifted his head up and greeted them with a smile.

“Ethereal, Bubbles, it’s good to see you again. What brings you here?”

“Bubbles had some business with you and I tagged along.”

“So Bubbles had some business, I hope your mining has been progressing well.”

“Yes sir it has, I came here to first give you your 10% that I promised. Secondly I wish to request a moment of absence to go back to Var and would like to ask if it is possible to come back after my business is complete.”

“Haha, is that all? Our little deal benefits the kingdom just as much as it benefits you so of course you can come back.”

“Thank you sir!”

“Hehe, no problem, if that is all then I will be returning to work.”

Veradon seemed to have mixed emotions as he said that, Sora couldn’t help but shake that something must be up for him to show such obvious signs. Sora decided to try and figure something out before he leaves.

“Sir, I may be prying more than I should but you seem to have some worries. Is there anything wrong?”

Veradon let of a sigh as he looked at Sora, he started to think carefully while looking at Sora. After a minute of silence he finally let out another sigh before sliding a piece of paper over towards Sora, Sora began reading it. The paper had very minimal information on it, the basics being reports of what seemed like an influx of mana within the mountain. Another report had shown a cases in which a small earthquake occurred as the soldiers were fighting off the corrupted insects. The more Sora had read, the more he had the suspicion of a hidden quest being possible. Sora had began trying to recall information about this event from his past life but couldn’t come up with anything conclusive, it’s possible that this event was never found. Now that Sora thinks about it, in his past life the royal army had never come here to clear away the corrupted insects. The way it happened in his past life was simply an event where the demons left the mountain and fought within the factions territory. Sora slid the information back towards Veradon with a troubled look on his face.

“That’s the jist of what’s happening. We would like to investigate further but we are simple soldiers and something like the influx of mana can only be felt slightly to us. If you are on your way back to Var then please talk to Gzarna about this phenomenon, I’m sure she will be interested. I’ll also write a letter to her with the royal crest imprinted on it, if a guard tries to stop you then just show them the imprint.”

“Alright, I’ll let her know.”

[x1 Letter to Gzarna obtained]

[Quest Received]

[Mysterious Mana Mountain]

-Veradon, a commander of the royal army, has received reports about a mana influx coming from Frost Peak Mountain. Head to Var and speak with Gzarna, the head mage of the royal family, about these occurrences.