"...of Failure," I read the notification. "Woah! Hold on to your horses; hold on to your Mardukryons! I died a hundred times?"

Most of it wasn’t caused by Mirdabons. The vast majority of my deaths were from dropping down various portions of the cliffs in search of a survivable spot. Each time I respawned, I ran off to another part of the cliffs. I didn't realize how many times I had died in this one gaming session until now.

"There is no shame, youngling," the Big M counseled me, "In failing repeatedly. Which is why—"

"Calling Herald Stone a failure? This is slander! This is humiliation! This—"

"—I'm granting you another gift."

"—is great! It's still blasphemy to call Herald a failure. But what's the gift?"

"I have shared my knowledge of Pyro Shell," boomed Mehubanarath, "the first protection spell of the Ancestral Flame Arts. However, given the hardships you have faced, a stronger spell is required to keep you safe. It might not be the time for a youngling to learn of the next form of Pyro Shell, but my aging heart will be troubled if harm comes upon you again. Hand me the Ocadule Shard that I may give you a stronger one."

I gave him back his old bracers with the [Pyro Shell] Shard, adding, "Maybe you can give me a better bracer while you’re at it. Something brand new, if possible. Or are your new stuff too big for my smaller arms?"

"In due time, you'll acquire more powerful equipment," Mehubanarath answered. I raised a brow. It was an excellent reply to my quipping that didn't break the game's fantasy setting. MCO's AI was impressive; it could analyze language and give an immersive response despite the bullshit I was spewing. Or perhaps, since the game was directly reading my thoughts, it didn't need to translate anything.

The Big M handed me back the bracers. It had a new skill socketed into it. He said, "With the ancestor's guidance, may you have safer travels."

[ Received: Mehubanarath’s Old Bracers {1}{Greater Pyro Shell Lvl 1} ]

The hidden achievement upgraded my reward. I should watch out for these bonuses because they were a good way to obtain more advantages.

It would be difficult to find hidden achievements—and that's why it's called 'hidden', Herald Stone, Linguistics Expert—but it seemed to be related to the general tone of it. The quest [Proving Your Worth] would be taken by a low-level player, most likely a level one, unless they had killed Mirdabons beforehand. And so, it made sense that a newbie would die many times, especially with how Mirdabons worked.

But a hundred deaths were indeed a bit over the top, and thus, there was an achievement.

Or a consolation prize, I thought, depending on how one looked at it. The reward better be worth it. The [Greater Pyro Shell] Ocadule Shard was of Epic quality.

Common, Rare, Epic—those were the classifications of item Qualities I had seen so far, and this Shard was the only Epic item I had. But a higher Quality didn't automatically mean a stronger item. There were plenty of trash end-game equipment back in Nornyr Online, and those were the ones I loved the most—a garage sale that might turn up gold if a new interaction was discovered.

Was this upgraded skill worth branding Herald Stone a failure?

Lvl. 1 Greater Pyro Shell: Glorious blessings of the ancestors coat you with a formidable barrier of protective flames that boosts your defenses and absorbs (65% of incoming damage) up to the amount of Ancestral Shroud/Energy spent to summon it added by (15% of Armor). When the barrier expires or is depleted, the damage absorbed is dealt to nearby enemies.

Grants: +75 Armor

Cost: 20% Ancestral Shroud for Mardukryon; 15% Energy for other Races

Duration: 15 Seconds

Cooldown: 7 Seconds

"An improved Pyro Shell..." I muttered. Obviously, I berated myself. There was the word 'Greater'. Perhaps the aspect of Herald Stone, Linguistic Expert, should be purged.

Compared to its weaker counterpart, [Greater Pyro Shell] gave bonus Armor, a lot of it. Unlike [Ancestral Constitution], however, it didn't passively give Magic Resilience as well. But I expected that the barrier itself would absorb both Physical and Magical damage since it didn't specify.

It also added Armor to the calculation of the life of the barrier, consequently raising the explosion damage it would deal.

Not that I wouldn't be killing tank players or boss monsters anytime soon, that was certain. But if I piled obscene amounts of Armor, not only would DPS players have a more challenging time killing me, but I could also kill those squishy bastards who dared tickle me. More experienced DPS players would know to include survivability in their builds. Still, most people would simply push for as high damage as possible and neglect any defenses that a faint fart would blow them over.

Wait...obscene amounts of Armor?

[Cleansing Flames] also added Armor if I was afflicted with negative ailments. It might be of great help if I’d go the Armor stacking route. Nonetheless, I was still very conflicted about picking that Cidule skill.

"I'm very grateful for your gift, Mehubanarath, your hugeness, sir." I bowed deep, slightly bending my front legs to show respect. "I will surely make good use of this skill. I have plans for it already." I expected something better after a few hours of hard work, but in all, I was satisfied with [Greater Pyro Shell]. It had the makings of a good starting build.

"And now," Mehubanarath said, interrupting my intense brainstorming for my [Greater Pyro Shell] plan, "is the time for you to learn how to manipulate Ancestral Flame inside you. Join me in safeguarding the knowledge of our ancestors, lest it be lost to the great nothingness. It is time for another Ancestral Flame to burn pure, forevermore."

"Oh, that's right," I exclaimed, my four eyes widened in surprise and realization. "This reward was only for killing Mirdabons." And so was the hidden achievement item upgrade.

Did it mean there were other methods of completing his quest? It was logical if that was the case. Not everyone could be expected to have a party with them, and I doubted if what I did was the intended method for solo players.

I'd bet one strand of hair, maybe two, that after completing Mehubanarath's quest, Luds and the other Contractors of the Expeditionary Legion no longer looked for different ways to do it. There should be plenty of new Mardukryon players during their time, so making parties was easy. As for solo players, they'd probably just go to the village and ignore the quest.

Nic mentioned that more powerful Ocadules could be obtained later on. But she hadn't done this quest and likely didn't have the specific Ocadule unless she somehow got a copy of it—Captain Edmund had mentioned an Empty Mirror was needed to pass on Ocadules.

Did Luds tell her that the Ocadule was mediocre? Knowing that clown, I wouldn't be surprised if he lied about it. It seemed to be in character for him—the little I knew of it from our short interaction—not to share valuable secrets.

Time to find out what the Big M had in store for me.

Mehubanarath cupped his palms in front of his chest. "With bravery and fighting rarely seen in younglings, you have fought and eliminated the cursed offsprings of our oppressor, the Mountain Guardian." A small ball of fire appeared in his hands, a miniature sun that illuminated the whole clearing. "I deem you worthy of learning of the Ancestral Flame Arts."

[ View: (Novice Ancestral Flame Arts) - Y/N?]

"I'm only allowed to view it?" I asked. I thought the Big M was already going to impart his well-kept secrets to me. Perhaps this was a preview of the reward for a chain of quests.

[ Novice Ancestral Flame Arts ]

Mardukryon Ocadule | Rare Quality

The Venerable Bull God bestowed a tongue of flame from the Furnace of Souls upon the Ancient Mardukryons. With this, the descendants of the Bull God dominated the battlefield with mastery over one of the primordial energies. They wielded no weapon, relying solely on the gift of their progenitor. The lost arts have been reconstructed. This is the novices' path to manipulating the Ancestral Flames.

(Requirement: Unarmed State; Non-Mardukryon Races will use Energy instead of Ancestral Shroud.)

"These all looks—unarmed? What is that about?" My brows furrowed. Then I eyed the metal bracers wrapped around Mehubanarath's arms. He mentioned he hadn't used a spear for a long time. He also didn't have any weapons lying around. The old sling was something from his childhood.

If I understood this correctly, wielding the powers of the Ancestral Flames meant giving up—what are the terms for it again? Main-hand and off-hand equipment? Something like that. That was an enormous sacrifice. There might be builds that could make this work, but I certainly would need a shield for my tank character.

"Weapons, we have no need," the Big M said. He closed his right fist over the ball of fire and raised it. "Let the might of the Ancestral Flames consume our enemies!"

Snakes of fire covered his whole hand, and it glowed bright, almost blinding me that I had to look away. He reminded me of a lighthouse. I could feel the heat of the flames like a scorching shower.

Apparently, the path of the Ancestral Flames Art wasn't for me. I did have [Greater Pyro Shell] to show for my hours of hard work; it was better than nothing. I stared at Mehubanarath as I pondered my next course of action. The elder Mardukryon ranted about how the others at Kurghal Village had resorted to using weapons.

Then it hit me. "Weapons... Weapons? What about shields?"

"Do you understand, youngling?"

"Sure, I'll order extra fries too," I replied as I opened my WeeCee and searched about 'Unarmed State' and 'Shields' in Mother Core Online. "Characters with shields equipped can use skills with Unarmed requirement," I quickly read on the official MCO page. "Hell yeah!"

"Your enthusiasm gives me bliss, youngling. May you have the same zeal when you learn—"

"Chill out a bit, your hugeness." I paused, blinking up at him. "Do people still use the expression nowadays?" I went back to scanning the information about the Unarmed State. "Quivers... Spellbooks..." Those counted as Unarmed as well but equipping a bow didn't. Flasks? Potions? Those were also considered unarmed; potion bombs didn't.

I closed my eyes to recall better what Luds looked like, his gear and all.

That clown was a walking chemistry set. He had all sorts of flasks attached to his body. Could his build be based on an Unarmed State? He must've lied to Nic that the Ocadule Mehubanarath would give was nothing of note. If my hunch was correct, Luds was still using that same Ocadule; he didn't replace it. And that meant it was a good one.

"Youngling," Mehubanarath pressed on. "I ask you one last time. Are you resolved to learn of the Ancient Flame Arts?"

"Yes! A hundred percent yes. That's kind of what I was working towards with a hundred deaths under my belt, probably more." What was worth giving up weapons for? Undoubtedly, a great advantage.

However, my pride did rear its head, prodding me to decline the Ocadule because Luds was also using it. But pride didn't...erm...make people stronger. I don't have an appropriate martial arts master quote for this. That should be another aspect of Herald Stone.

"The proper way to learn the Arts as I did is to start from the basics, as any other lesson," Mehubanarath explained. "However, by killing a pack of the damned brood of the Guardian on your own, I am firm in my decision to impart more advanced knowledge."

[ Hidden Achievement: I Don't Need Others ]

Eliminate a pack of Mirdabons on your own

at level one.

"Another one?" I said. "Does this mean the reward is going to get upgraded?"