For the first time in a while Corwin was aimless. He didn’t want to advance too far ahead of the guild, as this would make him unable to run lower-level dungeons. Level 30 would be fine, but any higher was out of the question. This meant he had at most one more hatchery he could take out in the short-term. With 9 days on his Bloodlust Malediction countdown he didn’t think that hatchery was a top priority. In short, he needed a new quest.

Fortunately, as a level 25 noble in the capital city of the Verdure Kingdom, Corwin had options. However, all of the quests he was interested in had a side-effect of opening some part of the game early. Corwin wanted to make sure that he and his guild benefited from whatever opened early. Eventually he decided on a quest line called ‘Restoration of the Ancient Order’. This quest investigated a long dead monastery where combat monks trained. It opened up a martial artist class that could be of interest to some of the guild. This martial artist class wasn’t a swordsman class and couldn’t compete with Corwin’s class reward anyways. But, it was still a valuable class for rank and file guild members who weren’t completing top tier secret quests. Unlike some elite martial artist classes, this one gave players soul and qi attributes rather than requiring them to find it on their own. This class was particularly good for knights and warriors, and made for solid average team tanks. Corwin was mostly interested in completing the quest for an item reward.

This quest rewarded the ‘Chalice of the Ancient Order’. The chalice was a transmuting artifact, it could combine weaker mana flows into stronger ones. This meant Corwin could upgrade mana crystals into mana stones, giving him another way to enhance his gear. Unfortunately, the ratio was quite painful requiring 1000 mana crystals for every mana stone. Still, it was likely the fastest way for him to get mana stones. Legendary equipment was a huge step up from epic equipment, and 5000 mana crystals for a single legendary equipment was a steep but worthwhile price. Corwin wanted to have at least legendary weapons when he challenged his class promotion quest as the degree of success would greatly affect his power as a Tier 1 character. Nearly doubling his hidden attributes would be quite beneficial as well. Corwin even leaned towards doing that upgrade first.

Regardless, Corwin was getting ahead of himself. First he had to get the chalice. Next, the entire guild reserve right now was just over 1000 magic stones. He’d need the guild reserve to be around 10 times that amount to justify taking half to upgrade an equipment. Both of these were solvable problems.

Corwin started the quest line by talking to the Mage Athexander in the Wizard’s Tower located just off the town square. Athexander was curious about the ancient order and had found a rumour about their monastery being located about one day journey away. He was willing to share the information in exchange for getting any of the spellbooks and research materials the monastery had. Corwin, knowing that this wouldn’t include any artifacts found agreed to pay the price gladly.

You have got the side-quest: Restore the Ancient Order. Recover all spellbooks, research materials, and knowledge from the ruins of the ancient order. Return them to Athexander so he can study them.

Fortunately for Corwin, the Monastery ruin was just 1 hour from a place he had previously been so space manipulation dramatically shortened the journey. The monastery itself had become invaded by feral wildlife, particularly some nasty dire wolves. The level 25 monsters swarmed in packs, attacking with speed and strength. Fortunately, they were quite lacking in constitution so Corwin could trade blows and defeat them.

As Corwin went deeper into the monastery, the wolves became elites. When he went down a stairway into the basement of the ruin he encountered special elites. These fights were tougher, but quite manageable, mostly dangerous because of the large numbers in a pack.

He found most of what he was looking for shortly thereafter. He had recovered all the spellbooks, research materials and knowledge books from the ruins of the ancient order. Unfortunately, the artifact was in the next room guarded by a formidable opponent.

Dire Wolf Pack Leader, Elite Superior Lord

Hit Points 300,000/300,000

Mana Pool 150,000/150,000

The low HP was terrifying as it meant the monster would have huge strength and agility. Nonetheless, Corwin wasn’t about to come this far and not get the artifact to show for it. He charged in. As he charged, a wind barrier formed in front of the dire wolf, completely negating his wind charge. Corwin used spatial slash to destroy the barrier and deal some damage to the pack leader. He fought smartly, exchanging blows wisely and using dodging and parries whenever possible. This wasn’t really a solo-quest, and despite his epic gear Corwin was feeling outmatched. When the dire wolf hit 80% health it summoned a dire wolf pack alpha which was a chieftain level monster. Fighting both the alpha and the pack leader was a substantial challenge. Corwin was forced to use his haste skill to keep up. Fortunately, the chieftain didn’t have any skills that triggered on life loss and Corwin was able to burst it to zero health.

Fighting the alpha continued somewhat smoothly until it reached 60% health. At 60% health, it summoned 2 dire wolf pack alphas. This was quite overwhelming to Corwin, particularly since it implied that 40% would be 3 pack alphas and 20% would be 4. Corwin was forced to use his ring of elements for additional speed. This left him without a plan for when the enemy would reach 40% health. Corwin nonetheless killed off the pack alphas.

Lacking a plan, he retreated. It seemed he would need to rely on his teammates for help sooner than he thought.

Corwin Swordborn

Spoiler : Level 25: 33% of level 26

Str: 4985 (base:25)

Agi: 5025 (base:125)

Con:4985 (base:25)

Int: 1513 (base:25)

Cha: 1513 (base:25)

Lck: 521 (base:25)

Cnc: 521 (base:25)

Sta: 521 (base: 25)

Qi: 521 (base: 20)

Soul: 521 (base:20)

Air Affinity: 521 (base:20)

Fire Affinity: 521 (base:20)

Water Affinity: 521 (base: 20)

Def: 20237

MDef: 16653

HP:158635/158635 (base: 1000)

MP:51003/51003 (base: 1000)

Gear:

MW: Epic Tier Level 31 Longsword, +496Str +496Agi +496Con

Base Damage: 620-744, Def 744 MDef 620 Durability 790/992, Requirements: 992 Str

OW: Epic Tier Level 31 Shortsword +496Str, +496Agi, +496 Con

Base Damage 496-620, Def 620 MDef 496 Durability 796/992, Requirements: 992 Str

MA: Epic Tier Level 31 Plate, +496 Str, +496 Agi, +496 Con

1984Def,1984MDef, Durability 710/992, Requirements:992 Str

LA: Epic Tier Level 31 Plate Cuisse, +496Str, +516Agi(20 Gemstone), +496Con

1984Def, 1984MDef Durability: 716/992 Requirements: 992 Str

G: Epic Tier Level 31 Plate Gauntlets +496Str, +516 Agi(20 Gemstone), +496 Con

1984Def, 1984MDef, Durability 718/992 Requirements: 992 Str

B:Epic Tier Level 31 Plate Boots +496Str +506Agi(10 Gemstone) +496 Con

1984 Def, 1984 MDef, Durability 751/992 Requirements: 992Str

H: Epic Tier Level 31 Helm, +496 Str, +506(10 Gemstone) Agi, +496 Con

1984 Def, 1984MDef Durability 741/992, Requirements: 992Str

RR: Epic Tier, Level 31 Ring of Hidden Attributes (+496 All base attributes, +496 All Hidden Attributes)

LR: Epic Tier, Level 31 Ring of Elements (+496 All base attributes,

Ignore 6.2 Levels, Ignore 6.2 Equip Levels

AM: Epic Tier, Level 31 Amulet (+496 All base attributes)

Skills:

Spatial Slash, Legacy, Tier 0 Level 0

Haste of the Warrior, Legacy, Tier 0 Level 0

Time Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Space Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Air Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Earth Manipulation, Special, Tier 0 Level 9

Fire Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 8

Water Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 8

Dragon Fist, Martial, Tier 0 Level 0

Qi Blade, Martial, Tier 0 Level 0

Demon Slayer, Rare, Tier 0 Level 0

Thunder Slash, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wave Chop, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wind Charge, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Disrupting Blow, Rare, Tier 0, Level 5

Double Slash, Uncommon, Tier 0, Level 2

Slash, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Pierce, Common, Tier 0, Level 3

Parry, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Techniques:

Rapid Blow

Vanishing Steps

Sword Light

Mana Drain

Health Drain

Stamina Drain

Strength Drain

Agility Drain

Endurance Drain

Flicker

Precision Dodge

Curses:

Curse of the Lust Demon, Days Remaining: 29

Bloodlust Malediction, Countdown: 9 days