Child of Destiny

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<strong>Quest Name:  </strong> The Missing Knights

<strong>Quest Type:</strong> Hidden Investigative Quest

<strong>Quest Difficulty:</strong> Nightmare (V+)

<strong>Quest Details:</strong>

-The Council of the Righteous Church around the Atlas World felt that there was something suspicious about the 'Ice Wall of the Eastern End'. And due to that, they sent an elite group of knights to do some investigation on it while also monitoring its state. But because of an unknown phenomenon, the knights started to disappear one after another.

After struggling for long, Lucas Choi, one of the surviving knights, discovered that they could only avoid disappearing if they stayed within the villages around the Sky Deceiving Valley.

With this discovery, he immediately passed on the information to his fellow knights and said that they needed to stay in those villages for the time being.

Time went by and they still couldn't uncover what really was happening. Most of his colleagues died due to some disease while the others continued to live on while being the village chiefs of the said villages.

<strong>Quest Condition:</strong>

-Knight Lucas Choi wanted you to investigate the areas where the other knights disappeared.

<strong>Additional Clue:</strong>

-Talk to the other surviving knights to know more about the event.

<strong>Quest Rewards:</strong>

+10 levels

+50 000 Reputation Points

+1000 Fame

+25 LP (Legacy Points)

-Being the Leader of all of the settlements within the Sky Deceiving Valley

-Additional Clues for the Quest 'The Lost Kingdom'

<strong>Quest Penalties:</strong>

-20 levels

-100 000 Reputation Points

-2000 Fame

= Destruction of all the settlements

= Death of the Knights from the Righteous Church

= Your Favorability from the Righteous Church will drop drastically.

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"Tsk! The penalties of failing the quest have always been harsh. And this one doesn't even have any additional rewards," complained Shin after reading the details of the quest.

"Moreover, it also has some suspicious parts just like the quest that I got from the previous chief of the Calderock Village," he added as he recalled the events that happened when he first encountered a tricky quest.

"Let's just hope that your gut feeling is wrong," said Cloe as she happened beside Shin while looking at him with a bright smile.

Hearing that, Shin rolled his eyes at her before saying. "You are saying that despite knowing how accurate my instincts are?"

"My point exactly! What is the point of thinking about it if you already know that there is something wrong with it?" said Cloe before dragging her with both of her hands. "Stop procrastinating and get moving already!"

"Tsk! Tsk!" Shin kept clicking his tongue as he thought about how they were going to clear this quest without affecting their main objective.

While Cloe was contacting the others and telling them that it was time to regroup, Shin suddenly sensed a couple of gazes observing them from the dark.

He tried to find their locations but he failed to locate any of them despite sharpening his senses. But since he couldn't feel any hostility from them, he decided to forget about them for the time being.

Not long after, the group gathered once again in the center of the village. But despite being physically present, they seemed to leave their minds elsewhere.

"D*mn! How come those metals are that expensive? A small batch of them is as costly as my previous equipment set," muttered Owen while staring blankly in the air.

"I know, right? Even those stupid leathers are even more expensive than those leather suits that are being sold by the Hand of Midas Trading Firm," said Akailu absentmindedly before complaining a little more. "I thought we already have a 50% discount on every transaction within this village, why do I feel that they've gotten more expensive?"

"That is because the owner changed the materials that he is selling from Black Mithril to Obsidian Rank," commented Ithilien from the side while also rolling her eyes at the same time. "Why do you complain that much when they are selling something that you can't find anywhere."

"Because we can't afford any of them," answered Chaotic Luck while wearing a dejected look on his face.

He paused for a couple of moments before turning his head at Shin and asking with a desperate tone. "Big Brother, can you lend me some gold? I'll make sure to pay them when I become big in the future."

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched when he heard those words before saying. "Then how about you offer your service to the Hand of Midas Trading Firm? I am pretty sure that their chief miner will welcome you with open arms."

The expression on Chaotic Luck's face immediately turned dark when he heard those words. Especially when he recalled Chief Miner Walsh of the Hand of Midas, who treated his undead summonses as some first-class miners.

After that, Shin waved his head and shared the new quest with them. "That's enough for now. I'll help you buy a couple of those materials if we are able to clear this quest without any problem."

The others quickly became energized when they heard those words and swiftly looked at Shin with a brightened look on their face. "Really!?"

Seeing the expression that they had, Shin couldn't help but smile at them and quickly added. "Well, that is also based on your performances."

The other members stared blankly at Shin for a couple of moments before shouting in excitement. And when the latter saw that, he immediately waved his head and instructed. "But before that, follow me to our first target. I'll explain the plan along the way."

...

After a few moments of venturing within the Sky Deceiving Valley, the group encountered a couple of monsters that they did see earlier.

"Did new types of monsters spawn or did we just miss these guys because we were exploring the other earlier?" said Owen after cutting down a monster with an appearance of a strange plant with multiple clams on its body.

"I say, these monsters are quite new. After all, we already encountered most types of monsters earlier and most of them have dark auras and frosty traits, but these ones are completely different. Not only in terms of elements but also to unique auras," commented Akailu while commanding his monster summons through his mind.

In the meantime, Shin was currently frowning quite deeply due to what they were experiencing. Since the time they left the Misty Village, not only the aggro of the monsters completely locked on them but the nature of those monsters also changed.

Aside from the points that Akailu had pointed out, all of the monsters that they encountered so far possessed a hint of sacred powers within their bodies.

It might be too faint for the others to notice but for Shin, who just received a special power related to sacred elements, such a small amount of energy was very distinguishable.

Moreover, Cloe who was a member of the Church of Light was also quite sensitive to such energies. And since she was also telling him about her thoughts about those monsters, Shin was now fully convinced that his suspicion about this particular quest was right.

"Is it just me or are all the Village Chief's Quests like these?" complained Shin while knitting his eyebrows.

Beside him, Cloe giggled a little before answering for him. "I heard that most of the quests about transferring the ownership of NPC Villages are not like this. So, maybe it is just your luck."

"Tsk! Tsk!" Shin clicked his tongue repeatedly after hearing those words before raising his hand and calling the others. "Alright, we are picking up the pace."

"We need to head over the first targeted location before deciding our next move," he added before stepping forward and unsheathing his sword.

Seeing his actions, the others couldn't help but stare at him for a moment while knitting their eyebrows. Since the first time they set their feet in this region, Shin rarely partook in the battle since he was focusing on instructing the others.

He was only proving some assistance to the group whenever his help was truly necessary. But the help that he was proving them was only ranged supports that were attacking the monsters that were attacking the others from their blind spots. Aside from that, he was not giving them any help at all.

Due to that, most of the work was given to the other members of the group, especially Chaotic Luck who needed to maintain the formation of summoned undead monsters while traveling.

So, no matter how curious the group about how strong Shin had truly become, they couldn't see it personally.

But now that he was planning to take action, the other couldn't help but look forward to it. Especially Owen and Akailu, who were also battle maniacs like Shin. After all, seeing his battle through a virtual screen and witnessing his true strength firsthand were two different things after all.

"Owen, focus on protecting our backlines alongside Akailu. Luck, just maintain the formation of your Blazing Undeads while we are moving forward," instructed Shin as he looked in front of him, which was currently filled with plant-type monsters.

Seeing that Shin was getting ready for battle, Cloe quickly cast a couple of buffs on him, enhancing his battle capacities.

Shing!

And without further ado, Shin swung his sword in front of him and sent a vertical sword wave that created a path for them.

"I'll be leading the charge ahead, so try to keep up with my speed," he said while lunging forward and cutting all of the monsters that were blocking his path.

...