"You're a brave one, adventurer!" The vagrant rose to his full height, towering over two meters, his presence commanding and formidable.
Bradley gulped, craning his neck up at the man, a surge of panic rising in his chest.
"You've challenged the Holy Swordmaster! Your duel is about to begin!"
The system prompt alone made Bradley break into a cold sweat. Holy Swordmaster? Even the name sounded terrifying.
"Oh, hell no! I made a mistake!" Bradley yelped.
But the vagrant reached out with a single massive hand, hoisting Bradley up like a helpless chick. Ignoring Bradley's desperate pleas, the vagrant kicked the doors of the Bounty Hunter's Guild open, sending them flying and taking out four unlucky players in the process.
With an intense gleam in his eyes, the vagrant gripped Bradley by the collar, leapt high into the air, and landed meters away on a large training field. His movements were like that of a mountain come to life, exuding a fearsome battle aura.
Bradley's eyes went wide in shock, his mind racing. The vagrant raised his left hand, dark flames swirling around it, while his right hand glowed with a blinding holy light.
"Dual-wielding magic swords!?" Bradley thought, overwhelmed. For a moment, the man before him seemed less like a person and more like a godly weapon forged for destruction.
His stance… It was dual-blade style! Bradley's astonishment deepened. This technique wasn't just dual-wielding—it was swordsmanship so advanced that the user's entire body acted as the hilt.
"It's time, young man," the vagrant's silver eyes blazed as he took a step forward.
System Notification: You have triggered the S-Rank hidden class quest—'Forged in Fire'.
Quest Objective: Survive and strike a hit on the Holy Swordmaster within 1,000 attempts. Each death will reduce your experience points until you succeed. Failing to strike the Swordmaster will result in quest failure.
Bradley's heart plummeted. Eighty levels ahead of him, and he was supposed to get a hit in? This had to be a joke! Was he about to get pummeled a thousand times?
Before he could react—
-2250!
One strike, and Bradley was out, his body flying backward. He barely registered what had happened before finding himself back at the nearest respawn point.
An older player slapped a hand on his shoulder, grinning widely. "So, how was it? Feel good?"
Bradley just stared at Orson, swallowing hard before replying, "Pretty smooth death, not gonna lie… and that guy's insane! An S-Rank hidden quest? I'm all in, I'm gonna take him down!"
"Take your time and think before you charge in again," Orson chuckled. While Bradley often put on an exaggerated tough front, Orson knew he'd never back down from a real challenge. He was a classic, hard-headed tank through and through.
That vagrant was no ordinary NPC—he was none other than Glacier, the Sword Saint, the leader of the seven swordmasters of the Holy Dragon Empire. Despite being a magic swordsman, Glacier was unique in his mastery of both light and dark magic, a contrast that had led to his ostracization by the holy order.
While many players in Orson's previous life had heard of the "Forged in Fire" quest, very few had actually passed its tests. The challenge was brutal: high skill requirements, experience deductions on death, and the grueling prospect of potentially dropping to level one in the process.
But Orson was confident Bradley could handle it. Even back then, Bradley had been one of the strongest Dark Knights around—he just needed the right gear and soulprints to match his potential.
As Bradley headed off to take another shot at Glacier, Orson took Hazel to the Mage's Guild.
"Hazel."
An elderly, white-haired mage approached them, his eyes stern as they rested on Hazel.
Hazel pouted, rushing up to hug the old man's arm. "I'm back, Master!"
"So that's Flamebound," Orson mused. This was the mage who had created the D-Rank spell Sacred Sun Shield. Though only D-Rank, the spell's defensive power was incredible as long as one's mana pool could keep up. It rivaled, or even exceeded, many C- and B-Rank defensive spells, a testament to Flamebound's mastery.
Hazel looked embarrassed, giving Orson a shy smile. "I got lost… It was this brave adventurer who escorted me back safely, Master."
The old mage nodded sternly, sighing. "Go and prepare for the banquet the Lord Mayor is hosting. You don't want to shame your noble heritage, do you?"
"Noble heritage?" Orson muttered in surprise. "Guess I shouldn't be so shocked."
System Notification: You have completed Hazel's Hidden Quest Sequence 2.
Reward: Flamebound offers you 50 silver coins. You may choose to accept or decline.
Orson raised an eyebrow. That was it? After all he'd done, especially the borderline dangerous task of outfitting a yandere mage, 50 silver felt like an insult.
"No, thank you," Orson replied with a polite shake of his head.
"Hold on, adventurer," the old mage called after him. "Destroying demons is no easy task. Here, I have a spell more suited to your abilities."
Orson turned back, a smile spreading across his face. Sometimes, holding back paid off twice over.
System Notification: You have received the C-Rank Fire Magic spell 'Touch of the Fire Serpent'.
Description: Created by the Mage Flamebound, this spell consumes 500 MP to summon a fiery serpent that deals 200 + Magic Attack as AoE damage and inflicts 300 burn damage over time. Cooldown: 1 minute.
The spell had a powerful AoE effect and impressive damage, but the high mana cost and cooldown were a bit much. Still, with his immense range and the Elven Gem artifact, Orson could reduce the cooldown and possibly even cast multiple fire serpents at once. At over a kilometer away, three serpents unleashed simultaneously would be devastating.
Even more intriguing was that leveling Touch of the Fire Serpent would unlock a special effect at max level—an unusual trait for a C-Rank spell. Typically, only B-Rank or higher spells had such abilities.
"Alright, time to level this up." Orson headed to the guild shop to enhance his new spell.
System Notification: You have spent 1 skill point and 40 silver. 'Touch of the Fire Serpent' is now Level 2.
You have spent 2 skill points and 90 silver. 'Touch of the Fire Serpent' is now Level 3.
You have spent 4 skill points and 1.9 gold. 'Touch of the Fire Serpent' is now Level 4.
…
After pouring all 30 skill points into the spell, he'd managed to raise it to level eight, but it had cost over 50 gold—more than five thousand real-world dollars! This was why mage classes were notorious for their cost.
"Still, that's some impressive stat scaling," he muttered, examining the updated spell. At level eight, it now dealt 350 + Magic Attack as base damage, with a burn effect of 470 damage over time, and the cooldown had been reduced to 52 seconds.
Orson glanced at his skill point count, frowning. He needed at least 20 more skill points to max out the spell, but the Dragon's Kiss Guild had already claimed the first clear reward for the elite Dungeon of Shadows, so another run wouldn't yield nearly as much.
Suddenly, he received a message.
You have received an invitation from the Lord Mayor.
Mail Message: The Lord Mayor cordially invites the top 100 players on the leaderboards to attend a banquet at the Lord's Manor to discuss strategies for eradicating demons.
System Notification: Your level currently ranks 27th. You have qualified for the Side Quest 'Night Banquet'.
Quest Description: Participate in the banquet to earn large rewards of EXP, skill points, and attribute points. Warning: Quest difficulty may be high.
Orson raised an eyebrow, feeling a slight unease. "This… banquet quest… I've got a bad feeling about this."