Book 3, Chapter 32

The Revenger Returns

    "What the h.e.l.l is this?" I questioned the old

man.

    "I'm sorry! We must have confused something up in

the process. I think we accidentally summoned the soul of an eastern ryu rather

than a western dragon. But that will make do. They're not that different."

    "Make do??" I pressed my nose against the old

man's face. "Now how do you explain your technical mistake, sir?"

    He stuttered: "Calm down friend, it's actually

better than planned. A ryu's soul is usually more violent than a dragon's. Your

Artifact even acquired an additional skill out of it!"

    "Seriously?"

    True. I noticed a new attribute in my status bar.

    [s.h.i.+nryuu's Deterrence]: Advanced version of [Intimidate].

Greatly reduces the Reaction Speed and Accuracy of enemies within your

surrounding area, with a chance to interrupt any spell casting actions.

    "Ummm. Neat.

Fine, I'll let it slip since nothing bad happened."

    The old man grinned again. "To apologize, we can

give you an extra quest where you can obtain a new companion. Do note that this

quest is very hard, we will not be responsible if you fail it."

    "That will

be nice! What kind of quest?" Harder quest means better reward!

    "I...do not know the details." He took out a

small, greenish object. I checked it over and over, the only thing I made out

is that the stuff looks like an almond.

    "It's used to trigger a quest. Bring

it to the Garden of Life if you decide to do it."

    "Understood."

    I put it away and left the

trading center. Man this place is scary. One visit cost me a dozen levels!

    When we walked for a while I called Clark. "Come

here, I just found something!"

    "Umm?"

    I showed him my gauntlet. "Check this out!"

    "A...crossbow? What's wrong with that?"

    "There was no crossbow on the gauntlet before. I

just realized this thing is the same as my Revenger I lost before!"

    "That's simple," He explained, "You

already know Artifacts got souls in them. A soul will not want to vanish, your crossbow

was shattered in that fight so its soul chose to fuse into your gauntlet to

keep itself alive. This was not shown until your gauntlet is repaired. Now they're

revived together. Speaking of which, why the h.e.l.l are you always finding free Artifacts??"

    "Ha! The merit of having a good 'Luck'!"

    With

my full Dark Dragon Lord set, I'm starting to like my own handsome look. c.r.a.p, am

I turning into a narcissist?

    Forget it. I still have something to ask Clark.

    "Can you make combat armors for horses?"

    "You mean...bardings

for war steeds?"

    Oh, so that's the professional name.

    "Yup that's what I mean."

     I summoned my

ten Phantom Knights. Each one of them is wearing full black armors, heavy ones.

Their entire bodies are covered, with only the eyes exposed. They are wearing

really long capes too. The inner part of the cape is blood red, the outside is

black, with golden fringes. Even their mounts are cladded in irons. I can only

see the eyes and tails of these really large steeds.

    They were in this formation when

I was trying to capture them at Domergor's place. And wow I was impressed!

    So

imposing, such awesomeness!

    If they charge at someone as a group, their target

may just surrender on the spot!

    On the other hand, I'm c.r.a.p compared to

them. I was wearing common gear borrowed from Clark. And I looked like some

kind of errand boy! My only noticeable point is that Night Shade is even bigger

than their mounts. I didn't notice this before, Night Shade is actually way

stronger than ordinary horses. Buuut...He got no protections. That's when I

made up my mind to find some armors for him.

    I pointed at the knights I just summoned. "I want

a set of armor like these ones." Then I summoned Night Shade to show him

the size.

    Clark approached Night Shade and lifted one of his

hooves. "I have some of these armors stocked up but...Your companion here is taller

than anyone I've ever seen. Actually you just re-defined what I know about war

steeds. That ten buddies over there are already the largest size of all horses. This Nightmare is

even bigger, by a large amount. Let's see. You go mind your own business for

now. I'll try to craft one for you."

    "What's the price? I need to pay you something.

You didn't even ask for any for repairing my armor."

    "I'm not in a hurry with money. Just remember to

pay it back when you can."

     I left the Lost

City while planning on my next step. I'll log out for now. Will try to grind harder

during the next two days and try to reach over level 265. When Clark finishes

Night Shade's armor, I'll go into the Dragon State city and get my Soul

Manipulator t.i.tle. It will be practice too. Gotta know how to break into a city

first before I can save Rose!

    I had breakfast with Rose the next morning. She told me

that her projects were just approved by the college. She will need to spend the

time allowance carefully to finish her experiments so she may not be

playing the game for the next week. That's fine with me. I may as well take the

chance and get a couple of more levels, to ensure my rescuing plan doesn't go

south easily.

    I went back into the game after driving Rose to the lab.

Grinding sounds a really dull process for most people. Not for me though. I

love the feeling of it. Besides, this is for saving my princess!

     I reached 301 after

six days. All companions stayed close expect Loong'er (300). I'm impressed with

myself! My speed for clearing mobs obviously became way faster since I got my

outfit back. With my high Defense I can look for monsters 100 levels above me, which

means my progress is better than anyone can expect.

    Rose will be back in

two days. Gotta take actions now!

    I went back to the Lost City and received Night Shade's

barding from Clark. He's quite the fast worker. I took Night Shade to the open

ground outside the city to try it on.

    It mostly fits, but there is one problem:

Clark forgot to leave a hole on the forehead! He only made a larger sized

horse armor based on the ones he already have, but he forgot Nightmare's horn, now

I can't get it on.

    It took another afternoon for him to fix it. This time

I'm much satisfied. This full plate armor on Night Shade made him even more

intimidating than the Phantom Knights.

    Before I leave, Clark stopped me. "Hold

it. I think I have something else you may find useful."

    He ran away and came back with an object in his arms.

"Try it!" He threw it on the ground.

    Saddles?

    "Something I used before. Pretty good quality. I

no longer ride horses. Might as well give them to someone."

    I fixed it onto Night Shade's back and hopped on. This

feels really nice! I also noticed that Night Shade's speed didn't go down. From

the walkthroughs, mounts will become slower depending on how much weight they're

carrying. While the riding skills of their riders will improve the situation. Though

I never learned that skill. Besides I never heard of any riding skill that

totally nullifies this speed penalty.

    Is that because of the saddle? I opened Night Shade's

equipment window. He is now wearing a collar, a set of barding, a saddle, four

horseshoes.

    Collar is the reward I got earlier in the game. Every companion has

one.

    The barding is just made by Clark. It increases his Defense by 200 and

gives him a skill [Charge]. The skill is similar to a Fighter's [Violent Dash].

It basically is used to b.u.mp the target off its original position and sometimes

stun it.

    The four horseshoes are not the common ones you pick up on the

streets. They got spikes on them, for causing damage when kicking or stomping

on enemies. They add 200 Attack, 1 Speed for Night Shade while doubling the

effect for [Charge]. Where did Clark get these things?

    I looked at the saddle

last. Yep, it got a bonus: Ignores weight load! It means Night Shade will keep

his full speed whether someone is riding on him or not. He's already fast

enough, no one would ever catch me at this rate!

    I then went to King Chemist's pharmacy to restock my

medicine supplies. His meds are really effective in emergency situations, having

more will surely improve my chances.

     Kay, all done

now. I activated my ring, teleported to the plains just outside Dragon State

city and logged off. Got to have a nice sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be the day to get into the city, finish my Soul Manipulator job change, and see if I'm

good enough to get past the city guards while I'm at it!