Master of Dominion-Chapter 47:Hephaestonian Scrolls.
Xaphxan had watched the entire duel in shock, a duel that had not lasted five minutes at all, one he could hardly follow, as both Rael and Iyvre had been nothing more than blurs of movement to his slow eyes.
He was amazed at their battle prowess and, just slightly, disappointed that his boss truly was not a bronze ranked warrior. Still, Rael had come out on top against that white headed witch, and that was good enough for him.
He turned his gaze toward Yasmin and Ayobe and could see disbelief written on their faces, and honestly, he could not help but gloat to himself.
Rael held the greatsword to Iyvre’s neck as she stared in disbelief at the broken blade still in her grip.
"You lost," Rael said, which only made Iyvre tighten her hold on the shattered blade, causing him to frown.
she can’t take a loss,’ Rael thought, unwilling to go another round, one he was certain to lose, with his aether already being spent.
Iyvre sighed, releasing her grip on the broken handle and letting it drop to the ground with a clatter. She then lifted her gaze to face Rael.
"A broken blade is a broken will. I yield. This duel is yours," she uttered, her face shifting back to its stoic expression.
"And the stakes?" Rael added.
Iyvre stiffened for a bit.
"It still stands. My loyalty is yours."
"Iyvre," Yasmin exclaimed from behind, already descending the tree alongside Ayobe.
"I keep my word, and you know that," she rebutted, not even glancing her way.
Rael lowered the greatsword.Since he was already straining to carry it anyway, and held Iyvre’s gaze for a while before choosing to check the system interface first.
[Host Interface]
[Name: Rael Drakul]
[Age: 22]
[Gender: Male]
[Race: Human]
[Rank: (Tier 2) Iron Fighter]
[Aether Capacity: 13%]
[Aether Limit: 15%]
[Strength: 12.5]
[Agility: 11]
[Endurance: 16]
[Will: 19]
[Intelligence: 10.6]
[Aether Reserves: 0.1%]
[Aether Manuscript: Warmaster Scripture I (Phase: Iron Path Initiated)]
[Aether Techniques: Blood Rend Technique]
[Aether Spells: Eye of Critic]
[Reward Allocation]
[Quest Logs]
—
Tier 1: Locate Four Resource Points
Objective: Discover four resources that could benefit the growth of the host’s territory.
Reward: Furnace of Hephaestus Blueprint
Completion: 2/4
—
[Tier 2 Quest: Defeat Iyvre Legolas]
[Description: Best Iyvre Legolas in a fair duel and claim an unrefuted, flawless victory.]
[Completed]
[Reward Allocated]
Would host like to claim the reward
Yes / No
—
Tier 3: Recruit Three Aether Users to the Host Territory
Objective: The recruits must willingly serve or align with the host’s territorial motives.
[Completed]
Reward Allocated
Would host like to claim reward
Yes / No
—
Tier 4: Survive the Withered Nights
Status: Dormant
Trigger: In 11 days
Objective: Endure the Withered Nights, a time when corrupted essence floods the land and sanity rots.
Reward: ???
Seeing the changes to his quest logs, he finally let out a great sigh of relief, inwardly of course. Yet he was surprised to find that Iyvre had been the one unwilling to ally with him. It seemed she had wanted to get past the shame of losing to him within the territory.
"You offer me your loyalty then I offer mine too," Rael responded, catching Iyvre off guard as he continued, turning to Yasmin and Ayobe, including Xaphxan.
"We can only trust each other now and put aside our differences caused by our races," he glanced at Iyvre, "backgrounds," then turned to Xaphxan, "and pains." He finally shifted his gaze to Yasmin.
"And do what we can to live." He brought his hand forward in a gesture to shake Iyvre’s.
"Allies?" he asked.
Iyvre hesitated for a bit, turning to her two sisters, who nodded in kind.
"Allies," she answered, shaking Rael’s hand.
....
It had been two hours since the duel with Iyvre, and since then Rael had locked himself in his longhouse, resting and refilling his aether. As for his shoulder injury, surprisingly, Yasmin had offered to heal it, which she did with one of her spells.
Rael opened his eyes, already feeling his aether reserves filled up. He slowly exhaled, already preparing his mind for what was to come, The reveal of the tier 3 quest reward
[Tier 3 Reward Allocation]
[Would host like to claim the reward]
[Yes/No]
Yes."
The host has been granted the Hephaestonian Scrolls.
[Classification: An encyclopedia of countless forging techniques and pathways]
[Origin: Pre-Godsfall Era, Lord of the Forges]
Reward injection initiated.
"Arghh, fuck," Rael groaned as a surprisingly splitting pain coursed through his head, an influx of information flooded his mind. This was even more painful than a manuscript injection, something he had clearly grown used to.
It took three minutes for the pain to subside and another five for Rael to finally regain his bearings and grasp the full scale of the information he now held within his mind, something that could be worth a war. Still, it was not what he had expected from a Tier 3 quest, since he had anticipated something lethal and useful for the Withered Nights, or at least manuscripts for the elven sisters, but definitely not this.
What filled Rael’s mind were countless written experiences and notes. He suspected they all belonged to this so-called Lord of the Forges, a name he had never heard before.
It was not only notes and experiences, but also techniques and different forging paths, which bewildered Rael. This was not some kind of manuscript. It was something else entirely. It felt like the very groundwork of forging manuscripts.
"This is... it’s too much. How the hell am I supposed to go through all this?" Rael groaned, still feeling lost in the influx of information. As excited as he was, he honestly did not know where to start, so he chose to calm down and rest. His head was pounding terribly, and clearly even his improved physique and endurance had been pushed to their limits.
Rael smiled as he caught sight of one of his stats increasing rapidly.
[Intelligence: 10.6 > 10.7 > 11.6 > 12.7]
It kept rising until it finally settled at 14.7.
"Well, I don’t mind that bonus." Rael beamed even more when he noticed that the Thunder Circuit manuscript, which had once stated no compatibility with him, now showed a compatibility of 23%.
Though small, it gave Rael a daring idea, one that would leave any other aether user goresmacked.
