The server was once again bombarded by a long line of text from server announcements. The group was surprised, they had no idea it was an Epic rarity boss. Sora had a hunch but couldn’t confirm it until the end, as soon as he saw the loot that was glowing purple he knew it was an Epic item. Blossom and LeeLee were somewhat used to being in the server announcement, so they fared better than Drazi and Angel. Although Drazi has been a famous player in many other games, he has never had something like this happen. Angel was even more dumbfounded as she looked directly at her name, all the way until the name disappeared. Drazi started laughing joyfully as he even directly hugged Angel. Realizing that he had gotten lost in the excitement, he quickly pulled away with a slight blush. Angel had been too stunned by the server announcement and didn’t react to Drazi as she still looked off to where her name used to be.

Sora let everyone celebrate as he went towards the pile of loot. He already saw two bows in the pile and was a little disappointed in that, luckily they were both only rare. He went through the rare equipment first, if they loot couldn’t be used by anybody they would all roll for it. Luckily the boss dropped the rare gear at level 40, meaning they could use the equipment as long as they had the class. There were a few pieces of heavy armor, which Sora passed on since he already had a good set that he didn’t want to replace. This left Blossom with every piece of heavy armor, taking her defense up to a new level. One bow went to Drazi and the other one went to Sora, there were a few pieces of medium armor that went to LeeLee, while Drazi and Angel only got one piece of equipment each. Then Sora distributed the gold that dropped followed by having everyone roll for the three lucky coins that dropped. Blossom, LeeLee, and Angel each got a lucky coin and used it as it entered their hands. The only things left were two pieces of purple equipment.

[x1 Edge of Corruption obtained]

Rarity - Corrupted Epic

Durability - 80/80

Damage - 130-145

Requires - Level 50 - Sword Class

“A sword that was made from black crystals that hold an immense amount of corrupt power. Be wary of the sacrifice that must be made to wield such power.”

+60 Strength

-10 Constitution

Everybody nearly drooled over the stats of the sword, even Angel, who doesn’t even attack enemies, wanted the sword. Everyone seemed to cry tears of blood as they passed on the sword, leaving Sora as the owner of a new sword. The last piece of equipment laid in front of Sora, it was definitely a staff but they wouldn’t know if it was a mage staff or a healer staff until it was picked up. Drazi had a nervous look on his face as the staff was finally picked up.

[x1 Core of Corruption obtained]

Rarity - Corrupted Epic

Durability - 70/70

Requires - Level 50 - Staff Class

“A staff adorned with the core of Decess, The Seed of Corruption. Some of it’s power is still trapped within the core, awaiting to be unleashed.”

+60 Intelligence

-10 Spirit

Drazi wanted to jump for joy and laugh like a mad man but was able to hold it in as he received the staff. He felt bad that Angel wasn’t able to get much but that’s just bad luck and not his fault. He will make sure that Angel gets something in the future, for now there’s nothing he can do.

With the loot sorted out, Sora reminded everyone that they got an enhanced skill. They were all so excited about the server announcement and the loot that they forgot about the rewards they got. An enhanced skill would take an existing skill that you had and upgrade it to a higher tier. The mana cost would normally go up but the effects of the skill outweighed the mana cost. A skill could be enhanced more than once but the chances are very low to get the same skill randomly picked over and over, especially when you have a lot of skills that could be chosen. Sora had his [Purge with Silver] enhanced.

[Enhanced: Purge with Silver]

Cost: 100 mana

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 2 minutes

-Infuse your weapon with silver moonlight, dealing increased damage to undead and corrupted enemies. At the end of the ability the moonlight will disperse into the nearest 3 enemies dealing 100% Damage or 200% Damage if target is undead or corrupted. If there is only one target within range when the skill ends, deal 200% Damage or 400% Damage if target is undead or corrupted.

Blossom was fairly lucky and ended up having her biggest source of damage enhanced. She shared her new skill with Sora and LeeLee to show off a little.

[Enhanced: Overwhelm]

Cost: 75 mana

Cooldown: 20 seconds

Requires: Greatsword

-Deal 250% damage to target. If target is below 15% health, deal 350% instead.

LeeLee didn’t want to lose to her as she also shared her new skill with Blossom and Sora.

[Enhanced: Accurate Strike]

Cost: 30 mana

Cooldown: 7 seconds

Requires: Dagger

-Next basic attack ignores 75% of target’s defense.

LeeLee was lucky enough to have her main damage dealing skill enhanced. Although [Overwhelm] seemed very powerful, it also was only used every now and then. LeeLee could use her [Accurate Strike] three times for every one time Blossom uses [Overwhelm]. Drazi and Angel didn't share their skills but Sora could tell it was something good since both of them were staring at their skill page for a while before finally snapping out of it. The cavern seemed to be the end of the road, so the party returned to the chasm and started walking back to where Gzarna was at. The way back didn’t have anymore fog so they were able to easily find their way through the chasm and up the narrow path to Gzarna.

Gzarna was currently laying on the floor with an exhausted look on her face. She had returned back to her average look, with straight black hair and skin that didn’t seem as translucent as it did when she was maintaining the barrier. Gzarna was panting heavily as she waited for Sora and his group to get closer before turning her head with great difficulty to face them.

“It seems… you have succeeded.”

“Yes Gzarna, we found a large crystal that seemed to be the source of corrupt energy. After a hard fought battle we were able to destroy it.”

“You have… proven very useful… to the kingdom… please let me… reward you… once I catch my breathe.”

Gzarna couldn’t stop breathing heavily and needed to take a 5 minute break before she was able to talk properly. She took the Orb of Purging back before distributing rewards.

“Your name is Sister Blossom?”

“Yes ma’am!”

Gzarna started to carefully inspect Blossom from head to toe, seeming to think very hard about what to give her. She started rummaging through a deceptively small bag that looked to be the size of her hand, even though she was able to fit her entire arm into the small bag. After rummaging for a while she pulled out a very plain looking necklace.

“It seems you have taken on the legacy of Valor. Me and that old man used to talk quite a bit, he ended up giving me this necklace because he said it only brought back bad memories. Since you are his successor, I think it’s only right for you to have it.”

Blossom took the ordinary chain necklace from Gzarna, nearly dropping it due to the excitement as she looked at the stats. Blossom had shared the information before Sora even asked.

[Chain of Woe]

Rarity - Lore Epic

Durability - 55/55

Requirements - Level 50 - Executioner Warrior Class

“Valor, The God of War had worn this necklace when he decided to start massacring those who killed his mother. Due to the amount of people that were decapitated by his hands he had created a new fighting style known as the Executioner Warrior. The necklace is a simple chain that is stained with the blood of those he slaughtered.”

+50 Strength

This necklace not only gave amazing stats, it also told some backstory about the God of War, hence the rarity of ‘Lore Epic’. A lore epic simply meant that it had stats based on the story it was part of. If Gzarna gave away her equipment then it would probably tell a story about learning magic and give a larger boost to Intelligence. Each piece of equipment had a chance to have a sub rarity, which can be Unique, Set, Corrupted, Blessed, or Lore. Unique simply meant it gave a unique effect that isn’t considered normal, like how Sora’s dagger could be upgraded through an item quest. Set equipment would give bonuses based on the amount of set pieces you have, like Sora’s Obsidian Bloodsteel set. Corrupted equipment give a higher bonus but also take away stats, like the sword and staff Sora and Drazi just obtained. Blessed equipment would give the same high stats that corrupted equipment gives but doesn’t take away from any other stats. Lore was probably the rarest, it would give a huge boost to the stats along with giving a bit of information on its origins. Some people would even pay an enormous amount of money just to have the lore.

Gzarna went on to the next person, this time she chose Angel. She once again started to examine her from head to toe, putting on a complicated look as she circled around Angel. This time, instead of reaching into a bag Gzarna simply put her finger on her forehead and slowly pulled her finger away, bringing a small orb of white light out of her head. She then took the orb of light and placed it on Angel’s head. Sora recognized this as a skill transfer method that a lot of mage NPCs would use to award skills to players. It was the same as what a skill book would do, just a little more interesting. Gzarna continued on to the next person as Angel seemed to be reading over something.

“Who are you little one?”

“L-LeeLee.”

“Ah, you’re so adorable. How about I hire you as my personal maid for your reward? Hehe, just kidding, there's no need for you to fidget like that.”

Poor LeeLee, it seems that even NPCs like to mess with her. LeeLee was a little better when talking to NPCs or else she would have bolted behind Blossom once Gzarna came towards her. Gzarna did a small inspection of LeeLee before reaching into her bag once again. She pulled out a book that looked like a grimoire and was sealed with a chain. Gzarna unlocked the chain and the book started to squirm a little.

“Your reward will be up to luck, this grimoire contains many powerful curses and cannot be controlled. All you have to do is put your hand over this book. I normally wouldn’t allow people to come in contact with curses, but you seem to know how to handle them.”

LeeLee slowly put her hand on top of the book and a purple energy started to wrap around her hand and up her arm. Once the purple energy made it up to her shoulder it suddenly stopped and absorbed into her arm. This was actually the first time Sora had seen something like this, he guessed it was a curse skill but couldn’t be sure. LeeLee posted the information immediately as she saw Sora look at the book curiously.

[Curse of Famine]

Cost: 50 mana

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Requires: Phantom Assassin Class

-Infuse a powerful Curse into your weapon. On the next attack, the curse will exhaust the target, slowing them by 25% for every Curse applied to your weapon for 5 seconds. If the slow goes above 100% add 5 seconds to the slowing duration for each extra Curse.

The skill was pretty good, especially when fighting against players that like to run a lot. If an archer or mage can’t escape from an assassin then it is a death sentence. It also helped LeeLee since she would be able to have two curses applied to her weapons now. Gzarna was currently looking at Drazi while Sora was reading the skill information that LeeLee had sent. Drazi seemed very nervous as the mage looked at him for a while, seeming to have a difficult time deciding what should be awarded.

“You are Drazi?”

“Y-y-yes ma’am!”

“You seem to be a mage, is that right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then would you like to enter my mage's circle? We dabble in arcane arts related to space and time, I’m sure you would benefit greatly from the knowledge you could obtain there.”

Drazi couldn’t pull any words from his mouth, he could only nod furiously at Gzarna. Gzarna laughed as she pulled out a small token with an hourglass on it before handing it to Drazi. Sora didn’t expect this to happen, there were very few people who were able to get the Space-Time Mage Class in his last life. So few that Sora hadn’t been able to learn anything about it. Gzarna finally stood in front of Sora, she seemed to have saved his reward for last. Sora was the actual quest owner so it’s fair to say that he would get the best reward. If he had been a mage then Gzarna might have even made him her direct successor to her magic.

“Ethereal, you have once again helped the kingdom greatly. I will use my authority to personally give you the right to the chasm that has appeared within the mountain. You will have full ownership of any resources within and be able to establish an outpost within the cavern we are currently in. Does this reward sound suitable to you?”

It was finally time for Sora to be the one who blanked out for a while. Even in his past life he had only been able to secure one piece of land, which wasn’t even a good piece of land. This cavern could easily fit a small city within it and the resources in the chasm would be greatly wanted by many players. He could start setting up taxes on resources that are taken and even have a small fee to enter the chasm to train on the corrupted monsters. The enemies within the chasm give an abundant amount of EXP and will be an excellent training ground for any player.

“Y-Yes ma’am!”

“Hehe, then that settles it. By the way, since it’s your property now I guess I should ask permission to go down there to study the corrupt power. So, would that be alright?”

“You are free to enter and leave as you wish. There will be no need to ask me in the future.”

“Such a nice landlord. Hehehe”

[Quest Complete]

-Server Announcement-

Player Ethereal has claimed the first plot of land. +50 Gold +250 Fame +Guild Standard

…..

Gentle Water was currently within the Shopping District, once again looking around for mana potions. The market was extremely crowded at this time of day and the noise made it hard to hear your own thoughts. It was even more noisy than usual since many players were talking about the recent defeat of the first Epic boss, even Gentle Water had talked about it with some of her friends. There was suddenly a gentle pinging noise, making all the players suddenly stop talking. They had recently heard this same noise earlier when the Epic Boss was defeated.

-Server Announcement-

Player Ethereal has claimed the first plot of land. +50 Gold +250 Fame +Guild Standard

The once noisy market had descended into an eerie silence, with the only noise being an NPC who was currently sweeping up around his shop. The first plot of land was surprising but the real reason for such a reaction was because of the Guild Standard. The Guild Standard was used to officially establish a guild, although that may not seem like too big a of a deal it actually was. This wasn’t just something that would be used to establish a guild, it was something that would be used to establish the very first guild. Gentle Water was currently stuck in place as she remembered the talk she had with a man, promising to join his guild if he was the first to create it. Her stunned state was broken when another announcement came through.

-Faction Announcement-

Player Ethereal has created the guild ‘Phoenix Rising’