Corwin traced out the more advanced patterns of the intermediate magic suppression array, obtaining 99% success and getting a 150% reduction. This reduced Estrea’s stats dramatically and turned off all but one of her abilities. As such the fight till 20% HP was straightforward. At 20% HP, her berserk gave her back her skills and Corwin had to face some buffing and debuff magic as well as a powerful offensive arsenal of spells. Fortunately, most of her offensive magic could be dodged so he remained in good shape. At 5%, she started to charge her ultimate ability but the timer was long enough that a burst of skills and techniques made sure it didn’t trigger.

Corwin got a lucky loot and ended up with 16 magic crystals and a silver tier level 8 intermediate mana suppression array. With his 25 magic crystals he had a decision to make about upgrading. The ring of elements seemed to have powerful abilities that were rather important to him so Corwin decided to upgrade it. Corwin was absolutely floored by the combat ability that came out.

Air Manipulation, Tier 0, Level 0

For the next 5 minutes, gain attack speed +25% and movement speed +50%. 1 hour cooldown. Level does not advance by skill points. Spend 4,000,000 XP to level up.

Corwin spent 4,000,000 XP to level the skill and then 16,000,000 XP to level it again. At level 2, it gave +35% attack speed and +70% movement speed for 5 minutes. Corwin hoped that when it advanced tiers it would get a longer duration and/or shorter cooldown but it was still quite a powerful buff. So powerful in fact that it made the next fight unfair.

Corwin completed the intermediate demon suppression array and fought a higher tier of sloth demon, who once again had very few abilities while suppressed. The fight went smoothly till 20% but at that point he activated Air Manipulation. The next 5 minutes saw the sloth demon reduced to zero without too much of a challenge. With 50% movement speed it was too easy to dodge and with 25% extra attack speed his damage reached a whole new level, in part because it became harder for the enemies to block his skills and attacks.

No lucky loot this time but Corwin ended up with 8 magic crystals and an iron tier level 8 pentagram demon suppression array for his trouble. He decided it was time to hold onto my mana crystals for the new item though so didn’t anticipate getting a 3rd gold item any time soon.

The 9th stair was unexpectedly another loot stair. He opened a chest containing a rare water technique, wave chop. Corwin was excited to expand his elemental arsenal and learn a valuable new skill but nervous about just how strong the fire elemental he expected to face next would be.

He stepped onto the 10th stair, fully expecting the final boss fight and was absolutely floored by the enemy he faced off against. Not only was it a greater lord, but it was a fire elemental and not a lesser fire elemental. Fire elementals were powerful existences, and facing one at this stage of the game shocked Corwin to the core.

Corwin steadied himself and centred all of his focus unto the tip of his sword, drawing the intermediate four elements array with the precision of an expert who knew it well. In the intermediate array there were concentric circles at each point of the compass. The number of concentric circles varied based on how one wanted to manipulate the array, but a minimum of three were needed. He drew three circles for each non-water element, and drew a full 9 for water. Corwin then used his mana to fill each circle on the water element exploiting the secret trick of this array he knew before. His intense effort was rewarded by a favorable alert. 100% completion achieved, array has 175% effectiveness. Bonus activated array gets an addition 125% effectiveness. Corwin smiled wholeheartedly. A 300% effectiveness intermediate array would provide an extremely effective reduction in stats.

Sure enough, the fire elemental was easy to fight and had only one skill which Corwin regularly used disrupting blow on. The room got hotter as the elemental lost 20% health ticks, and Corwin started to have less regen, then no regen, then needed a potion to keep up. The elemental's berserk brought a whole plethora of powerful skills online, but having patiently waited on the previous stair, Corwin's Air Manipulation was off cooldown so he had his own super speed to deal with it. Nonetheless, several AoE’s attacked Corwin's HP to low life, and he had to use a potion to get through a flame wall. At 5% health, the flame elemental triggered its ultimate and a countdown appeared along with the word Nova.

Nova was a dangerous self-destruction technique of powerful flame-based enemies. If it triggered Corwin had no chance of surviving. Fortunately, he had his skills saved up in addition to still having the ring active and his techniques available. Had the fire elemental not been severely weakened by the array, killing it fast enough would just be a fantasy. As it was, Corwin had 5 seconds to spare, largely due to the increased effectiveness of wave chop.

Corwin looted the enemy, getting 16 mana crystals and a silver tier level 8 four elements intermediate suppression array scroll for his troubles. This was quite exciting loot and Corwin looked forward to using it in the future.

Corwin stepped onto the last stair and the spirit appeared before him. The spirit offered a choice of three rewards. The first was a basic attributes elixir, usable only once, that would increase all basic attributes by 20. The second was a basic hidden attributes elixir, usable only once, that would increase all hidden attributes by 20. The last was a mystery box. Normally it would be quite difficult to pass up a hidden attributes elixir but between the ring of hidden attributes already giving Corwin massive buffs to his hidden stats and his foreknowledge of what was in the mystery box he didn’t have too much of a dilemma.

Corwin quickly opened the mystery box, revealing a special item type, one he hadn’t found a single copy of to this point in the game. Corwin evolved it 4 times for 1,2,5, and 10 crystals respectively, leaving him with 11 crystals.

Helm of the Swordsman (Growth Type Divine Item, Silver Level 0)

Def: 16/level MDef: 16/level +4 Agi/level +4 Str/level +4Con/level

Reduce the level of mind-altering skills by the level of the helm (Common)

Reduce the level of mind-altering techniques by the level of the helm (Bronze)

Improve Mental State Tier by 0.02 levels/level (Iron)

All Swordsman skills +0.02 levels/level (Silver)

It was definitely a powerful item, but the rarity of helms in Orleans meant he’d need to place an expensive custom order and wait for it to be completed, or perhaps find a crafting recipe for a helm. Corwin had enough gold and getting an entirely new item to add to his person would be quite valuable so he decided it might be worthwhile.

Corwin thanked the spirit for the honor of the trial and expressed his gratitude for being found worthy as well as for the generous reward. He then equipped the helmet in front of it with a smile. Corwin's politeness was rewarded as its reputation improved from neutral to polite. He didn’t think it was likely he’d ever encounter this spirit again, but he still liked being friendly regardless of the advantages.

Having now achieved the fourth growth item, Corwin headed back to town with a spring in his step. He got there and immediately placed a special order for 50 trash level 0 helms. Custom equipment cost a minimum of 1 gold each, so he reluctantly parted with 50 gold for his troubles. Immediately after placing his order, it was time to log out for the daily patch.

Corwin Swordborn

Spoiler : Level 7: 60% of level 8

Str: 273 (base:5)

Agi: 303 (base:35)

Con: 273 (base:5)

Int: 181 (base:5)

Cha: 181 (base:5)

Lck: 69 (base:5)

Cnc: 69 (base:5)

Sta: 69 (base: 5)

Def: 609

MDef: 387

HP: 2611/2611

MP: 2967/2967 (base: 1000)

Gear:

MW: Iron Tier Level 7 Longsword, +14 Str, +14 Agi, +14 Con

Base Damage: 56-64, Durability 24/25, Requirements: 42 Str

OW: Iron Tier, Level 7 Shortsword, +14 Str, +14Agi, +14 Con

Base Damage 42-49, Durability 25/25, Requirements: 42 Str

MA: Iron Tier Level 8 Plate, +16 Str, +16 Agi, +16 Con

64Def,32MDef, Durability 48/48, Requirements:36 Str

LA: Silver Tier Level 8 Plate Cuisse, +32Str, +32Agi, +32Con

128Def, 64MDef Durability: 64/64 Requirements: 64 Str

B: Iron Tier Level 6 Plate Gloves +12 Str, +12 Agi, +12Con

48Def,24MDef, Durability 29/30, Requirements: 36Str

G: Silver Tier Level 8 Plate Boots +32Str +32Agi +32Con

128 Def, 128MDef Durability 128/128, Requirements: 64Str

H: Silver Tier Level 0 Helm

0 Def, 0 MDef durability 5/5 Requirements: 0 Str

RR: Gold Tier, Level 8 Ring of Hidden Attributes (+64 All base attributes, +64 All Hidden Attributes)

LR: Gold Tier, Level 8 Ring of Elements (+64 All base attributes,

Ignore 1.6 Levels, Ignore 1.6 Equip Levels

AM: Iron Tier, Level 8 Amulet (+16 All base attributes)

Skills:

Time Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 0

Space Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 0

Air Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 2

Thunder Slash, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wave Chop, Rare, Tier 0, Level 0

Wind Charge, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Disrupting Blow, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Double Slash, Uncommon, Tier 0, Level 1

Slash, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Pierce, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Parry, Common, Tier 0, Level 2