As Lux journeyed towards Leaf Village on top of his mount, Jed, he checked the rewards he received from his latest expedition in his Soul Book.

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Hidden Quest: A Touch of Dragons (Completed!)

Difficulty Rating: S

Quest Location: Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian

Dungeon Rating: C

Dungeon Mode: Hell Mode

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< A Touch of Dragons >

(Chain Quest)

Deep within the earth, an ancient city was unearthed. Find out the secret that was buried along its demise within the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian.

Bonus Rewards will be calculated depending on the choices you make in this mission.

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Rewards:

Potion of Intelligence

This potion adds +50 permanent Intelligence Points to the one who consumes it. You can only consume one Potion of Intelligence in your lifetime.

Rank 2 Skill Book of your choice.

You will be able to choose any Skill that is Rank 2 or below from the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian.

1,000 Gold Coins

+2,000 Hazeback Kobold Clan Reputation Points

Boots of Teleportation

Argonaut Beast Core (Crystal Dragon)

Golden Dragon Token

--

< Bonus Rewards >

Vial of Dragon's Blood

Dragon War Art Skillbook

< Grotto Survivor Reward >

(Received in the Outer Grotto)

100 Rank 2 Beast Cores

20 Rank 3 Beast Cores

2 Rank 4 Beast Core

--

'Not bad.' Lux thought as he skimmed through the things he gained after finishing the S-Ranked Quest.

He was quite excited about trying out the Dragon War Art that was currently inside his head, but he held back against the temptation since he still needed to return to the Leaf Village first to make sure that the Dwarves, who cared about him, knew that he was safe.

His plan was to stay in Leaf Village for one more day before traveling to Lindow Village, where the Shield of the Faunus Battle Regalia was said to be hidden. Completing a Mythical Quest wasn't an easy thing to do, but Lux was determined to carry it through until the end.

He didn't know how long the entire quest line would take to finish, but he had no intention of leaving the Beginner's Zone until he had completed it.

Sure, he could probably get some Mythical or even Legendary Armor sets from his Grandma Vera, but Lux wanted to become independent. He wanted to advance in Elysium with his own power, so he decided that he would no longer ask his grandma for equipment that could help him get stronger.

Also, he wanted to prove to Iris' father, Alexander, that he was no longer the useless and weak Half-Elf that he knew in the past. More than anything else, Lux wanted to show everyone, whether they had ridiculed or supported him in the past, what he managed to achieve using his own strength.

'Now, let's see what this Rank 2 skill book has to offer,' Lux clicked the skill book inside his Soul Book and it materialized in front of him.

"Here goes nothing."

Lux didn't have any high expectations as he activated the Skill Book but he was amazed after he saw over fifty skills that appeared in front of him.

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< Skills available in the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian >

Acid Spray

Earth Tremor

Entangle

Heroism

Earth Bind

Detect Traps

Summon Creature

Detect invisible

Enchant Weapon with Fire

Armor of Death

Jade Body

Beam of Frost

Acid Spray

Whip of thorns

Death Ray

..

..

..

..

..

..

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The Half-Elf almost got a headache after reading them all. The problem was, he could only choose one among the many skills available to him.

Lux didn't plan to choose the Summon Creature since he already had many Summons. Adding a few more wouldn't make a difference. What he needed was something that would increase his strength, as well as the strength of his minions, making them more powerful.

After almost half an hour of thinking, the Half-Elf finally decided to choose the skill, Jade Body. This skill boosted the target's defense by giving it an additional +200 to defense, which would make his Summoned Creatures more sturdy.

Although an additional 200 points to defense might seem lackluster, it was still an amazing Rank 2 Skill, and Lux was looking forward to how its evolved version would be.

After taking a few deep breaths, Lux chose the Jade Body Skill. Immediately several rows of text appeared in front of him, telling him that his chosen Skill had been automatically upgraded.

--

You have learned the skill, Jade Body.

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< Skill Evolution [EX] detected a new Skill. >

Since the skill, Jade Body, is not learned from a Beast Core, it will automatically be upgraded to Improved Jade Body (Mass Buff).

--

< Improved Jade Body >

(Mana: 10)

This skill adds +300 to defense.

This skill will automatically buff all allied units present in the battlefield.

Skill Duration: 30 Minutes

Skill Cooldown: 10 Minutes

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Lux did a fist pump after seeing the improved version of the skill. Not only did it give an additional +300 to defense, it was also a Mass Buff, which saved the Half-Elf the trouble of manually buffing all of his units one at a time.

"Very nice," Lux said with a smile.

With this buff, only Alpha Monsters or Monsters with similar strength could threaten his Skeleton Summons in the Beginner's Zone due to how sturdy they were. One could even say that Lux's minions were on their way to becoming "overgeared and overbuffed", in the Territory of Norria, making them the local bullies in town.

Right now, only Rank 3 creatures and above could potentially break past his Skeletons' defenses, making Lux very happy.

"As long as I don't meet someone as strong as Cadmus and the Indus Deathworm, I shouldn't have any problem finishing the Mythical Quests from each village," Lux mused as he closed his Soul Book. "My Body Physique also got an upgrade."

Lux was confident that with his current strength, he could easily beat all the Alpha Monsters in the Territory of Norria with the exceptions of its Field Bosses, who still posed a significant threat to his current rank and forces.

'Once I gather the Faunus Battle Regalia and master the Dragon War Art, will I be able to beat them?' Lux thought as the familiar scenery of Leaf Village appeared in the distance. 'I'll just cross that bridge when I get there.'