Child of Destiny

Chapter 1568: A Battle of Wits

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*Ding*

System: You have discovered the Dungeon ʼLesser Hatchling Lairʼ!

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Dungeon Name: Lesser Hatchling Lair

Dungeon Type: Special One-Time Event

Dungeon Difficulty: (Default) Hard

Dungeon Size: 20-member Limit

Dungeon Average Level: 155 to 160

Dungeon Requirements:

- At least one ʼDragonkinʼ in the team

- The said member should be the bearer of the [Ancient Dragon Token]

- The said member should be the candidate for being the owner of the [Divine Dragon Armor]

Dungeon Background:

- This hidden cave is the habitat of Reptilian-type Monsters, which took certain changes due to a strange phenomenon.

The monsters underwent a massive transformation due to this phenomenon and gained powerful abilities that far surpassed their species.

Note: This is a one-time event dungeon. It can only be challenged once before disappearing regardless of the result.

…

Arthur shared the details with the team before falling into deep thought.

From the information that he had gotten from his quest, the [Dragon Chain Armor], which was the fragment of the main divine armor of the Dragon Race – the [Divine Dragon Armor], could be found at the depths of the Eternal Cave.

He first thought that this was the cave that he was looking for, but given the description of the dungeon, there was a high chance that he was wrong.

Seeing the disappointed look on Arthurʼs face, Shin walked over and patted his shoulders. ”There is no need to feel so down. There is also the chance that this dungeon is related to your quest.”

”Look at its background – the mysterious phenomenon must be related to that dragon powers that make the monsters within the dungeon evolve,” he added, pointing out the clue that they had gotten from the dungeon description.

”And it is only at hard difficult, it shouldnʼt be that hard to clear,” commented Owen from the side.

Bang!

But as he completed his remark, Ithilien suddenly hit him on the back of his head with her bow. ”Idiot! Do you think this is still the Aurora Continent? Canʼt you see what such a difficulty implies?”

”This dungeon should be following the basic standard of the Awakened Continent, so ʼitʼ is indeed ʼhardʼ!” she added, scolding Owen.

”So, what is the plan, Vice Commander? Are we going to challenge it straight away?” asked Akailu as he recovered his stamina and concentration on a boulder.

Shin thought for a moment as he focused his attention on the final remark at the end of the dungeonʼs description. They only had one chance to clear this dungeon, so it was better to go all-out and clear it in one go.

He shook his head and informed the team. ”This is it for today. Letʼs rest for now and wait for the others to finish their respective tasks and regroup with us.”

”We still donʼt know how difficult the dungeons in this continent are. But given our current understanding of the monsters that we have encountered up until now, I can say that it is going to be very challenging even for us.”

”Letʼs wait for our commander (Cloe) and the rest so that we can challenge it at our best form,” he then paused for a moment as thought of something. ”If they are still not present by tomorrow, then we can just clear some mobs in the surroundings and grind some levels while waiting.”

After all, having a dedicated healer in the team during dungeon raids was important, especially in these kinds of situations where the difficulty of the dungeon was way beyond normal levels.

He then turned to Arthur and asked with a joking tone. ”Any questions? Suggestions? Or violent reactions?”

Arthur shook his head as he smiled bitterly. ”Alright, alright, I understand. We will follow your arrangements.”

Even if he was quite in a hurry to finish this first part of his quest, he knew that it was not going to be easy given the current situation at hand. He just shrugged his shoulders and let Shin make an arrangement.

”Okay. Thatʼs it for today. Have a good rest and we will meet again tomorrow,” Shin instructed everyone.

…

The next day, the other Cloe, Alice, Diablo, and Alucard were still not done with their respective business, which was why the rest of the Empyrean Talons had no choice but to hunt in the surrounding areas of the dungeon while waiting.

But at the same time, they had also informed the rest that they would not take that long before they were finished.

Later this day (in-game time) would be the earliest while it would be later tomorrow (in-game time) if they were delayed quite late.

After spending a whole day hunting the surrounding areas, the Empyrean Talons were able to level up, which made their day quite satisfying.

Aside from Shin, who was at Level 165 already and way ahead of the group due to his previous quest, the rest of the Empyrean Talons were around Level 158 to Level 159. Only Arthur and Leonard were the ones at Level 160.

Given the difficulty of grinding levels at Tier 3, this level was already quite high compared to the rest of the players.

Regardless, Arthur was still quite annoyed that Shin had left them too behind due to his stupid luck when it came to finding special quests.

This was the reason why Shin did not share any experience points with the others when they were hunting, letting them catch up to him as soon as possible.

Of course, one of the reasons was because of Arthurʼs complaints, which made it quite amusing for the others, especially when he was throwing ʼtantrums.ʼ

However, it would be a whole different case when it came to the levels that Shin would be getting from the special quests that he currently had.

Arthur had no control over that matter, but he also had a set of quests of his own, which were on a similar level or difficulty, so the gap was not that big yet.

The 5-level difference was quite big in Awakened Continent, especially for high-level monsters, which could release Aura Suppression to those with lower levels than them. But it was not insurmountable, especially when Shin and the others had recently discovered that there were special stats that could overcome these problems.

”Ignore Level difference – this is quite a huge card that we can use against monsters of higher level, particularly here in the Awakened Continent,” said Owen as he browsed through the forums while resting.

”These stats are quite well-known before, but players started to ignore them after not seeing that much benefit from them. After all, experts of the highest level can bridge the gaps in strength and level suppression through sheer skill and techniques,” commented Akailu from the side.

”Who will think that they are going to be this significant in this continent,” said Ithilien as she joined them.

”But how can these people become aware of this when we are the only ones who know how powerful the monsters of this continent are?” said Chaotic Luck, asking the most concerning question.

He then paused before suddenly coming to a realization. ”Ah! Donʼt tell me other players are currently exploring in the Awakened Continent!”

Shin, who overheard their conversation, suddenly chimed in. ”It is a possibility. After all, it has been a while since we arrived here. Other experts can also find a way to reach the Awakened Continent through other means.”

”Or it can also be because of them stumbling into certain places filled with monsters of similar levels. After all, I have been in such places as the Phantom Island and the Forgotten Sea, which were quite a mysterious place.”

”I will not be surprised if other players discovered similar places,” he added.

Leonard also nodded and agreed. ”Moreover, there are also those Neutral Regions filled with High-Level Monsters such as the Frozen Kingdom and the Barren Lands. Even if the monsters there are not as strong as the ones here, their levels and life ratings are a problem itself.”

”They are equally troublesome, especially those Yetis, Frost Drakes, and Wendigos of the Frozen Kingdom, which were from special category monsters,” he added.

Arthur thought for a moment before joining in. ”I heard that the Barren Lands is filled with Earth Drakes, Salamanders, and Golems. All are also at the average level of 250 up to 300.”

”I must say that the difficulty level of those regions is not much inferior to Awakened Continent. At least for the time being since we still have yet to explore regions where we can find similar monsters.”

While they were discussing, Owen, who initiated the topic, suddenly saw something from the forums. He frowned when he saw the title of the trend before taking a quick look at it.

It was then he saw something astonishing. His eyes turned wide before turning to the others. ”Vice Commander Sickarius and Vice Commander Siegfried! Take a look at this.”

The two were quite confused at his reaction before hearing the sound of the system that they had received a message.

Looking at it, they saw that Owen had sent something to the team chat channel. Then the expression on their faces also turned grim as they saw the screenshots and the content of the entire trend.

– ”Players of the Evil Faction have a chance to enter another World!” –

– ”Portal towards Hell can lead the evil and demonic players to enter another dimension!” –

– ”Once the Demons entered the Atlas World, the Demonic Players can enter the Hell Dimension?” –

Reading through the contents of the trend, Shin and the others could tell that everything was authentic as the player who leaked the quests related to it even did a live feed while sharing his status window and quest panel.

Moreover, it was also supported by some independent players, who chose the Demonic Churches as their main faction.

This news was already spreading throughout the online platforms.

Shin and the others could tell how much this particular quest affected the current flow of the game, especially when the top guilds and big organizations siding with the Evil Faction got involved.

Those guys would never let such an opportunity slip away from their grasp. This will also lead the Faction War that was currently happening in the Dark Cloud Kingdom to elevate to another level as these guilds and organizations would without a doubt do their best to hasten the process of the Portal Opening.

The war would also escalate further as an immediate effect of these hegemons getting involved.

This would also lead the population of the players to be thoroughly divided.

Those who would be siding with the Righteous Churches needed to hasten their progress to quality exploring the Awakened Continent while the demonic and evil players would be doing their best to enter Hell as soon as possible.

Neither side would want the other to take the lead nor be left behind, so they would surely do anything to get an advantage over the other.

But at the same time, those on the side of the Righteous Churches would also be slightly disadvantaged since the demonic and evil players could still explore the Awakened Continent through different means while their sides could not enter Hell and seek opportunities.

Shin squinted his eyes as he read through the trend before mumbling. ”Whoever leaked this quest sure knows what they are doing.”

”Not only can they lead other players to side with the Evil Faction, but they can also discourage those players trying to choose the Righteous Churches.”

”They have listed out all the benefits while hiding the consequences. Regardless, this is more than enough to sway the decision of other players, especially those working independently,” he added as he assessed the entire situation.

”They have weakened the support of the Righteous Churches while gaining more believers for the Evil Faction?” commented Owen before cursing. ”Tsk! They sure are sly.”

”Forget about it. It is not our problem anyway. It is just the other players donʼt know what benefits the Righteous Churches can give them here in the Awakened Continent,” said Arthur as he added. ”Once they do, they sure will have second thoughts.”

Thinking along this line, Arthur seemed to have thought of something before turning to Shin. ”How about we also leak some information about the Righteous Churches. It is not like it is any secret anyway.”

”We can just reveal it to the public and let those sly foxes have a taste of their own medicine,” he added, encouraging Shin.

Shin thought for a moment before nodding. ”Not a bad idea.”

He then formulated a plan inside his head before saying. ”Contact Miss Bunny. Tell her that we have a special job for her.”

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