Starting from Zero

Book 3, Chapter 7

Quest of the Cave (Part 3)

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I made it out of the tunnel and entered a round room. Brother is already waiting.

"I never doubted my choice, brother! You passed the traps in one attempt!"

Then he peeked into the tunnel, which is now totally ruined. I didn't know how to solve most of them so...I had to choose the "hard way".

"Forget that tunnel! Any longer and I'll go insane!"

I snatched the bottle in Domergor's hand and drank. He's holding it, it must be good!

And ohhh, it tasted like champagne!

"Don't--" He tried to stop me but is too late.

Then he stared at me, agape. "Do you even know what that was?"

"What?" I saw himself drinking it back there, there should be no problem.

"That's the water from the Spring of Evil!"

"Spring water? So that's why it tasted sweet."

"But, drinking it means you vow to join the dark force, never to go back!"

"What's wrong with that?" Well I am a DARK fighter now, right?

He sat on a stone stool and explained: "After drinking from the Spring of Evil, your red name will be fixed, which means you earn 100 Evilness for every person you kill in the future."

"But I will get that if I kill people anyway. What's the difference?"

"You Evilness will not drop! From now on, no matter how many monsters you kill, what kind of quest you finish or how long you stay online, your Evilness will, NOT, decrease!"

"Say whaaaaat?!" That's a bolt out of the blue!! "You mean I'll be a red name forever??"

"That's right!"

"So I can never go into cities??"

"Not really. If you're strong enough to fight those guards, you're free to go in. Or players can create guilds and build their own city. Then your own guards won't mind your red name." He considered and added: "Oh and, from now on, you can go into AAA-class dark force controlled areas at your will, like the Lost City."

"Why would this happen to me?? Brother, why in the world did you bring such stuff in front of me??" I might as well just blackmail him for some stuff!

"But you took it by yourself!"

"I don't care! You brought this on me!!" Acting like a spoiled kid always works!

"Ugh. Fine!!" He gave up, "Here!"

Domergor took out four purple crystals.

"What are these?"

"Check those dragon's eyes on your gauntlets."

I looked at them. There are no eyes, only four empty holes. I didn't notice that until now.

"Why are there holes?"

"They're called 'sockets', stupid!" Then he inserted the crystals into them. "Check again!"

I called the equipment status window. Two new functions showed up---[Tridimensional Map], [Evilness Pollution].

Evilness Pollution will cause your enemies to consume their HP and MP faster.

I tried the map as well. Ohh nice, it will display a holograpic map above your arm, showing your surrounding terrain, your position, and some red dots which are probably monsters.

Domergor waited for me to finish, and continued. "You've passed the second stage. According to the rules you will get another two parts of the Dark Dragon Lord set. You're supposed to draw them randomly but I'll just give you a backdoor. Go and pick'em. So which ones do you need most?"

"Thanks brother! But what parts are in the set? I need to know them before I can pick!"

"The set includes a helmet, a mask, a heavy armor, pair of shoulder armors, gauntlets, pair of gloves, a breast mirror(*), a tasset, pair of legguards, steel combat boots, two shields, two dragon tooth swords (single-handed but longer and heavier than ordinary sword), a dragon lance, two dragon sinew wires, a pair of wing blades. So that's a total of 15 types, 23 items. You got the gauntlets, and the wing blades must be issued at the last stage, so you can pick two from the remaining 13. After next stage you get another three. And then it's the last stage, you will get all of them and leave this place."

"Wow, that's a lot! But I still don't know which ones are good. Hey brother, how about you decide for me? Just give me something which I'll need in the next stage!"

"Aren't you a lazybum!" He complained but still carried out two items. "Take these then. I think they'll help for now."

I checked.

[Embrace of the Dark Dragon Lord] 'dragon sinew wire'

Durability ∞,

Growth equipment,

*Attack 250-250,

Attack Speed-Fast,

20% Life Steal,

*Additional Lightning damage 300,

Paralyze target for one second when hit,

100% weakpoint strike,

Ignore defense,

Skill [Sling Hook].

(Attributes with "*" will grow with wearer's level)

Another Artifact. This whole set is an Artifact set maybe? I'm gonna get real rich!

It looks like a long silver wire, with an arrow head attached to it. Domergor helped me install them into my gauntlets. I can hide them in there when not using. I only need to give the command in my mind, and swing my arm, then the arrow head will fly outwards, bringing the string with it.

I began to wave the string inside the room, causing Domergor to cover his head and run madly. I ruined the entire room, the wire cut the tables and stools into slices like a laser. After some instructions from Domergor, I learned that I can use the wire like a rope hook. I can shoot the arrow into the ceiling and swing around like those agents in the movies, and I can just "order" the arrow to come off if I wish. There is a device inside the gauntlet which will recover the string like a tape, too.

When I'm done playing the string, I check my second gain.

[Bearing of the Dark Dragon Lord], metal heavy combat boots,

Durability 1000/1000,

Growth equipment,

*Defense 750,

+200% Movement Speed,

Passive skill [Cursing Ground], hostile players within 10 meters of the wearer will lose 10% Attack & Defense & Speed,

Skill [Attach], able to clung onto walls or ceilings like a suction cup.

(Attributes with "*" will grow with wearer's level)

Artifact!! I think I was right. The whole set is a freaking Artifact. The boots can protect up to my knees, they're made of several big diamond-shape structures and look really cool. I'm beginning to imagine what the entire set looks like, it's Artifact so it must be good!

After some research I noticed that there are blades at the heel part. They will work like a machete if I "chop" my foot downwards. And there are spikes at the tip. Whoever designed this must be good, the boots are both artistic AND deadly.

With the additional equipment, I look even more ridiculous now. A pair of black shiny boots, a giant black cape, two black gauntlets worn on my bare arms, plus a non-destroyable, non-unequipable underpants.

Funny.

Domergor is an intelligentized NPC but looks like he doesn't have much sense of a taste, so he didn't comment on my terrible style.

"Ok now, You got your reward, time to move on." He waved and created a portal. "Get in!"

I was shocked when I entered the portal. Across the portal is a big grassland. The ground is fresh green, the vast blue sky is filled with white clouds... It looks like heaven!

Domergor nudged me. "Hey wake up. Now, the mission:" He pointed to a village ahead. "Your mission is in that village. Go! I'll come get you when you're done."

Then he just disappeared! Sigh. He's not leaving me any chance to ask for hints.

My mood got brighter. This has to be the most beautiful scene I've ever witnessed in my life! The air is filled with the damp sweetness of the grass, too. In such a place I'm no longer worried about the quest. I began to stroll forward slowly, while humming a song.

Before I enjoyed enough I'm already at the entrance of that village. When I entered it a pretty lady ran to me at once. I tried to put on my hood at first, but realized there are only NPCs in here, there's no need.

She grasped my arm. "Oh brave warrior, please help me!"

"What's the matter?" She must be the quest NPC!

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(*) A small, flat item which is placed in front of your chest to protect your heart. They usually appear as mirrors in Chinese Wuxia novels.