Re: Evolution Online

<Ding. Staff of the Moon Temple>

Rating: Epic

Health: +100

Mana: +1000

Vitality: +50

Intelligence: +100

Passive Skill: Mana courses through the weapon's wielder, giving a 2% boost to all earth elemental spells cast using mana.

Passive Skill: When your mana runs out, the elements surround you to grant an additional boost of mana, and all earth elemental attacks have a chance to trigger an elemental curse.

Active Skill: Trigger an elemental curse; cool down: 2 minutes

"Elemental curse?" Liam then read the description for the particular effect, as he hadn't come across this specific one.

<Elemental Curse: A random elemental attack that inflicts 20% more damage than ordinary attacks>

"Not bad. This should be something unique to the elves." He waved the staff and tried a couple of attacks after getting into the training grounds. He chose the training dummy spot and not the sparring session spot.

Aiming at the dummy, he cast a fireball and instantly bang. The normal fireball itself hit like a cannon, blasting the dummy apart in a single shot.

-5000

A huge damage number popped up, and a new training dummy reappeared. This was the power of an Epic ranked weapon. 

In some cases, having an Epic ranked weapon was even better than having a Legendary ranked weapon because, just like it did now, an Epic ranked weapon would be able to immediately display its brilliance, whereas a Legendary ranked weapon needed time to grow.

If he could forge such a powerful Epic ranked weapon… Just the thought of it gave goosebumps to Liam. He tried using the weapon to land a few more attacks and really get a feel for the staff.

Several eyes locked onto him as he used the dazzling staff freely. However, all of them only looked at him in disdain.

"Look! Even an ape can fight if it has the right item!" One of the elves commented loudly, resulting in a loud wave of laughter. 

Liam might be continuously displaying powerful spells, but naturally, it was all thanks to the weapon in hand. However, he did not care. Inspecting the weapon first hand was a great idea. He was able to get a lot of inspiration from it.

After a few minutes, he silently handed the staff back to Lyana. "I will head back to the room again. I want to try forging this once more."

"Wait, Sir Liam! I will also accompany you." The elf hurriedly returned the staff to the training grounds keeper and then followed him.

Seeing Lyana run behind the human being like this, a few elves scowled and then went about their business. But three elves, in particular, continued to glare in the direction the two of them had disappeared.

"Lord Saevel, that human being is aiming to forge the 'Staff of the Moon Temple'."

"Mmmm. I can see that."

"My Lord, will he succeed?"

"Heh." The elf loudly laughed and walked away without saying anything else. 

Only the other lackey then explained, "For forging the staff, one needs an extremely high affinity to the earth element. A human to have such a thing? Impossible!" 

"Oh?"

"Lord Saevel is also stuck at this stage for a few years now. That's one of the reasons why he is not able to forge the staff."

"Oh."

"Don't you know this? Why did you ask him? He was in a good mood today, so he let you go. Otherwise… idiot."

"Right. My bad. I forgot about that. So there is no way the human will be able to forge this weapon."

"What forge? Ha ha ha. He won't even be able to figure out why he can't forge it."

The two elves laughed and chatted, continuing to walk behind Lord Saevel to catch up to him.

Meanwhile… back in the forging room… 

Liam stared at the half-completed staff in his hand with a frown. Yet another failed product. It looked like what he had learned from inspecting the staff firsthand was also not enough.

He followed everything in the recipe and used the right ingredients, yet the finished product was repeatedly a failure.

"Sir Liam… perhaps…" Lyana was about to suggest that he give up, but she quickly stopped herself seeing the expression on his face. Surprisingly, there was no confusion or hesitation in his eyes.

Liam looked at the staff with determination. This was not the first time he had attempted to forge a high-level weapon, so he was not completely clueless. 

Besides, he also had the experience of forging souls. So after the 20th failed attempt, he could see what he was missing, but the problem was… this was not something he could solve easily.

Liam remained silent for a while and then attempted to forge the staff one more time. This attempt, he carried out the forging process more slowly than he usually did, but of course, the final product was once again a failure.

He tossed it aside and suddenly smiled at Lyana. "Can I leave my fox in your care again, my Lady?"

"Ah… Yes, yes. Of course."

"Thank you. I am just heading out to stretch my hands and legs a bit. It is too tiresome to be cooped up in here all day." Liam casually laughed it off and used the teleportation gate to leave the area.

He headed towards the wilderness like he usually did, but after some time, he entered [Stealth] and started retracing his steps.

However, he did not return to the elven settlement. Instead, he crossed the stretch of land to enter the forests on the other side of the settlement, the Forest of Echoes.

Liam had heard about this forest before, but this was his first time entering this place. More specifically, he was not supposed to be here. 

This was a protected space for the elves where they had banned all fighting and hunting. Only peaceful creatures lived here under the protection of the elves.

And to hunt down these peaceful creatures was precisely why he had come here.