For a moment, as the Soul-Devourer self-destructed, Kael thought it was all over.
But then, as his screen faded to gray, a system prompt appeared.
System: You have died. Consume Revival Sigil to Resurrect Here?
He remembered. The buff Orion had cast on him earlier.
“Yes!” Kael confirmed without hesitation. He couldn’t wait. If more than ten seconds passed, the boss would reset, returning to its initial state with full health. All of their effort would have been for nothing.
In a flash of light, Kael was back on his feet. He saw the boss, panting and exhausted on the floor, and loosed a single, final arrow that snuffed out its remaining life.
System: You have slain the Soul-Devourer. 5,000,000 EXP gained.
System: With the Soul-Devourer’s defeat, all party members have been revived.
Rena, Orion, and the others blinked as they rose to their feet, looking around in a daze. Before they could even ask what happened, another alert filled their screens.
System: The Soul-Devourer’s self-destruct has destabilized the cavern. The cave will collapse in 60 seconds. Please evacuate immediately.
59...
58...
Kael was already moving, scooping up the loot that had dropped from the boss. As he did, ten of the treasure chests scattered around the room began to glow.
“Hurry!” Kael shouted. “Everyone, loot the nearest chest and get out of here!”
The countdown finally snapped them out of their confusion. Everyone scrambled to the glowing chests, grabbing the "Beryl Creek Legacy" quest item from within, and sprinted for the exit. They had just cleared the entrance to the lair when a deafening BOOM echoed from behind them.
They turned back to see that the so-called collapse had merely sealed the passageway with a wall of rock.
Hazel clutched her chest, letting out a relieved laugh. “Haha, that scared the crap out of me.”
“Imagine if we got trapped in there,” Lunara mused.
A soft voice from above answered her question. “You would be consumed by the Soul-Devourer until nothing of your spirit remained.”
“Ah!” The group looked up to see Susan’s ghost floating above them. She had followed them out.
“But isn’t the Soul-Devourer dead?” Rena asked.
Susan sighed, her form seeming to waver. “The Soul-Devourer lives on the energy of souls. It cannot be truly destroyed, not unless one wields a Mythic against it. However, you have greatly weakened its power. It will be a long time before it can cause such evil again.”
“Ohhh,” the group murmured, a wave of understanding passing through them.
“So… how do we get out?” Orion asked.
“There is a teleport nexus in the first chamber,” Susan explained. “While my consciousness is still clear, I will activate it for you.”
She drifted ahead, and the party hurried to follow. Back in the cavern where they first entered, they watched as Susan poured her own spiritual energy into a dormant stone archway. After a long moment, the nexus flared to life with a soft hum, but Susan’s own light had dimmed considerably.
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Hazel stepped forward and touched the shimmering portal, vanishing in a swirl of light. The others followed, one by one. Kael went last, pausing at the threshold to look back at the lonely spirit.
“Won’t you come with us?” he asked.
Susan sighed again. “I cannot. None of us killed by the Soul-Devourer can ever leave this place.”
Kael’s shoulders slumped. Then he remembered his purpose. He looked her in the eye. “I promise you, I’ll be back. And I will destroy that thing for good and set you all free.”
A faint green light flickered within Susan’s form, but she said nothing. Sensing her silent gratitude, Kael gave a final nod and stepped through the portal.
In a flash of light, he was back in Beryl Creek. Rena and the others were waiting for him, gathered around Chief Cade. Kael walked up to the chief to report.
“We have explored the caverns beneath the Verdant Pool and brought back some of your family’s legacy. Unfortunately, we were short on time, and the entrance collapsed before we could retrieve everything.”
Cade nodded gravely. “That you returned at all means you have weakened the Soul-Devourer. I will enlist other heroes to recover the rest. For what you have done for Beryl Creek, you have our eternal thanks. Please, accept this reward.”
A final quest notification appeared for the entire party.
System: Quest [Reclaim the Verdant Pool Legacy] complete! You have received the Wraithbinder Set.
Everyone rushed to open their inventories, their faces lighting up with joy.
“Whoa!” Hazel exclaimed. “Four pieces of a level 25 set, and they’re all accessories!”
“Mine is an Intellect set,” Lunara added excitedly.
“Mine’s Strength and Constitution,” said Hazel.
“I got Constitution and Spirit,” IronShell rumbled.
Each set was perfectly tailored to the recipient's class. Kael inspected his own reward and was more than satisfied.
[Wraithbinder Earring (Legendary)]: Lvl 25
STR +200, AGI +300, Magic DEF +200
[Wraithbinder Necklace (Legendary)]: Lvl 25
STR +200, AGI +300, Dodge +10%
[Wraithbinder Bracelet (Legendary)]: Lvl 25
STR +200, AGI +300, Physical DEF +100
[Wraithbinder Ring (Legendary)]: Lvl 25
STR +200, AGI +300, Physical DEF +100
Set Bonus:
(2/4): +500 Magic Resistance
(4/4): Summon Ghostly Form. Duration 60s, Cooldown 60s.
After equipping the four new pieces, Kael’s stats were now off the charts.
Player: Dawnbreaker
Class: Divine Archer
Level: 27
HP: 17,241
MP: 529
Strength: 2247
Constitution: 862
Agility: 3627
Intelligence: 527
Spirit: 1097
Physical Attack: 6944
Magical Attack: 527
Physical Defense: 3814
Magical Defense: 3589
Thanks to his [Marksman’s Instinct] talent (adds 200% of Agility as bonus damage) and [Vital Agility] talent (adds Constitution score to Agility), his effective Agility was 4,489. This meant a single basic attack from him now dealt over 16,000 damage.
Combined with his Ascendant-tier Diadem, his physical and magical defenses were both over 3,500. Most players wouldn’t even be able to scratch him.
Just then, a series of notifications echoed across the entire world server.
[System]: Congratulations to players Dawnbreaker, Rena, Hazel… and their party for unlocking the new level 25, 10-player Dungeon: [The Verdant Pool Legacy]! The dungeon is now open to all adventurers!
[System]: Congratulations to players Dawnbreaker, Rena, Hazel…
[System]: Congratulations to players Dawnbreaker, Rena, Hazel…
The threefold announcement once again sent the world chat into a frenzy.
[World] NoobSlayer_69: Holy crap, Dawnbreaker is spamming the server announcements again!
[World] MageMaster: A level 25 dungeon is no big deal. My town has one.
[World] ShitDancer: Don't be a noob, MageMaster. A player-unlocked dungeon is way different from the system ones.
[World] PriestessLia: Exactly. The set effects and drop rates are way better in player-unlocked dungeons.
[World] Tankinator: Is this the fifth player-unlocked dungeon on the server?
[World] LoreKeeper: Sixth, actually. But it’s the first level 25 one.
[World] AsunaFan: Where is Beryl Creek?! I wanna go!
[World] Mike_1125: Beryl Creek is in Stonehaven, near Crescent City.
[World] BigGuns: WTF, it’s Crescent City again?!
.....
Kael paid no mind to the public debate. His attention was captured by a private message that had just appeared.
[Korbin the Blade]: Ullr, get back to Starlight Village. Now. We need to talk.
