The central building of Dragon's Breath was a lavish manor built by the mayor. In the story of the territory the mayor was a traitor whose army had to be defeated in order to take over the territory. This made the territory war rather difficult as Nest of Flames had to fight an offensive war instead of a defensive one. Nest of Flames relied on long-range bombardment to take out the defenders. The town didn't come out unscathed, but it was still better than the damages endured by Greypine Town back then.
Now Nest of Flames has moved into the mayor's manor. There was a large meeting room originally meant for the guild's core members. But the guild also used it to entertain guests or, at this moment, allies.
After defeating two world bosses the leadership of Dream Avenue, Force of Nature, and Nest of Flames decided to meet here like a band of thieves after a successful heist. Dream Avenue arrived with Cyclone, Balm, Liam, and Silver Blade.
"Our fight was so awesome! The world boss used gravity magic. We had to walk on the ceiling and aim at the boss's chest. It was so difficult! … flames everywhere… magma… ancient city…"
Cyclone excitedly narrated everything to Phoenix Feather waving her hands and feet, prompting the allied mage to chuckle and gasp.
"And then the boss finally fell! Oh, we got sooo much loot! But there was not much time to be happy. The ceiling began to give in! We had to escape! But where should we go? We couldn't return the way we came from. Luckily Liam kn… discovered a way out. A narrow path next to the underground river. We thought we were safe, but far from it! We were chased by rolling boulders and had to fight monstrous alligators. Finally, we reached a biiiig waterfall and had to jump down. We barely made it out alive!"
Phoenix Feather listened with big eyes.
"That's not how I remember it…", said Silver Blade with a funny expression. Cyclone squirmed a bit before she admitted:
"Well… maybe I embellished the story a bit…"
In reality, the boss slayers did follow a narrow path along the river but the rolling boulders were at most some rubble and the giant alligators were common monsters. The waterfall was not higher than one meter. Eventually the players reached an enchanted barrier which only allowed people to leave but not to enter. After crossing the barrier, they appeared in a cave close to the river and leisurely return to Dual Sun City.
"Hm, I liked Cyclone's version of the story better.", said Phoenix Feather, which caused a bright smile to bloom on Cyclone's face.
"By the way, what happened to that sun artifact?", asked Callida.
"Oh right, that thing. It returned to float above that obelisk but without emitting any light. We grabbed it one the way out and finished our mission. Of course, we got an SSS evaluation! 45 points and 18.000EXP. Together with the EXP earned from killing the world boss I've already advanced a quarter towards level 51!"
Callida nodded lightly but something else caught her attention. She inquired about the points mentioned by Cyclone. Earlier, Liam and his friends had only briefly talked about the event. Now they explained it again in detail. Their allies were immediately hit with a sense of urgency. Especially Phoenix Feather was annoyed that it wasn't her who had reached level 50 the fastest.
The few guild leaders talked for a few minutes longer before changing to the main topic. The distribution of loot!
A list with all the items they received from the two boss fights was presented by Callida. Of course, a certain trust was important. But during their corporation so far the three guilds got along well. They weren't afraid that someone would embezzle items.
"About two hundred various materials, thirty-two magic equipments, twenty uncommon, seven rare, and four unique. Five blueprints, one quest item, a few potions. Let's see…"
Obviously, everyone's eyes immediately focused on the unique equipment. They were a dagger, a mage staff, a sword, and a shield. Dream Avenue had the right of first pick and after some back and forth chose the dagger for Bloody Edge. The staff went to Nest of Flames and Force of Nature claimed the shield.
What followed were fierce negotiations. In the end Force of Nature also secured the sword for themselves. In exchange Nest of Flames got the quest item while Dream Avenue received three of the five blueprints. The rest of the items were roughly split equally between the three guilds. In the end everyone was happy. They talked some more before Dream Avenue and Force of Nature said their farewells and returned to their own territories.
"Edge! Edge! Look what we secured for you!"
Bloody Edge just completed some simple fetch quest when he was welcomed by Cyclone's excited voice. From her expression he could already tell that it was something nice. After a brief teasing Cyclone finally handed him a sleek black dagger with a red handle, which didn't feel like metal or wood. A quick check provided some answers.
[Fang of the exiled
Category: Unique, Set
Level requirement: 47
Attack Damage: 36-39
Attack Speed: 0,9
Dexterity: +3
Agility: +6
Effect 1: For every attack with this dagger, you have to pay 1% of your current health. Your physical damage (PDMG) will be increased by the amount of HP paid.
Effect 2: If your HP drop below half your next attack with Fang of the exile will heal you for half of the damage dealt and your critical strike chance will increase by 30% for 3 seconds. (cooldown: 300 seconds)
Two-piece Set effect: All your normal attacks heal for 2% of the damage dealt. This heal is not capped by your maximum HP and can overheal. If you are overhealed, your critical strike chance will increase by 50% but you will take 20% more damage from enemy attacks. Also, with every attack there is a certain chance to receive a backlash and lose 50% of your max HP. The chance is equal to the percentage you are overhealed by. You can only be in an overhealed state for 180 seconds at a time. (cooldown: 480 seconds)
Restriction: Bound upon wearing; AGI above 100
The convent of Blood Villa was signed by the noble vampire dukes, regulating the vampires' permissions to hunt. But many vampires can't control their lust for blood and often break the convent. One prominent case was Marquis Evengard. After much pressure from the major races the dukes had no choice but to exile Marquis Evengard for his crimes. The vampire was imprisoned on a lonely island somewhere deep in the western ocean and all his riches had been confiscated. Fang of the Exile was one of the marquis' favourite daggers. Adventurer, can you resist the greed?]
Bloody Edge wore a big grin, presenting his new weapon to his friends. Everyone was intrigued. The dagger appeared rather powerful but balancing one's HP with such a weapon was a difficult task. Everyone could tell that it took a lot of skill to master this dagger. Of course, in order to unfold the full potential of this weapon another dagger had to be found to complete the set.
But Bloody Edge was incredible thankful to Cyclone and Balm. He had already talked with his friends and expressed his wish to choose a class from another family soon.
Level 50 was the basic prerequisite to change to an advanced class. However, this was only possible after completing the event 'War on the Void'. Usually, one would only choose an advanced class from the same family of the basic class. This would guarantee that the basic playstyle remained the same. Most skills could be directly upgraded. One might learn a few new skills and discard a few older ones but all in all there wasn't too much change. For example, Liam planned to change his class from Holy Tempest to Chaotic Tempest, two classes of the same family.
However, Bloody Edge was determined to switch to another family. He didn't enjoy playing with holy light as a thief. This had major determinants. At most one or two skills could be upgraded. The others had to be discarded and replaced by new skills. These new skills would all be at rank 1, which would reset Bloody Edge's character to a tier one character, losing a lot of progress. Although with his experience it would be easier to catch up, this was still a major setback.
Additionally Bloody Edge's equipment wouldn't synergize well with his new class. He would be forced to farm a new set.
Despite all of this, Cyclone and Balm secured this dagger for him, which proved their support for his decision. Bloody Edge's emotions welled up. He didn't know how to put it into words. He silently made a vow to himself. From now on he would give 120% for the guild. He would train more than anyone else. He would become the best thief in the world!