Child of Destiny

*Ding*

System: You have come in contact with the [Compass of the Lost Soul (Incomplete)]! You have the opportunity to get its directions once you completed all its broken pieces.

– Missing Pieces Acquired 2/3

…

Looking at the sudden notification, the group could not help but pause before turning to Arthur.

Just like they were expecting, the guy was on the verge of exploding in anger. “Argh! What the heck is this? It is now giving everyone a special ‘quest’ when I have yet to find my piece of Divine Armor!?”

The others shook their head as they watched Arthur complain before Cloe voiced out her thoughts. “I think-… this compass is a tool that can tell as a clue about certain quests.”

Hearing her words, the group suddenly halted what they were doing and turned to her at the same time.

They knew that she was into something right after realizing that it might be the case.

Whatever this ‘direction’ meant, it could only be related to their respective classes, races, and progress within the game, which meant that it would always be related to a certain quest.

Shin then turned to Arthur and said. “Then this most likely be related to how are you going to find that Eternal Cave or something, which is why your quest pointed you here.”

“Tsk! It is most likely it,” Arthur nodded as he turned at the somewhat complete compass on his hand.

Right now, it looked more like a regular compass. The only difference was the pointing needle and the cardinal directions which were now being projected by a special magic diagram that resembled the one that he had just gotten.

Shin then turned to everyone and instructed. “We will be logging out and resting. Then we will continue exploring the dungeon at our usual time.”

…

The Empyrean Talons spent the next couple of days exploring the dungeon. They continued to fight against the monsters inhabiting the cave, which were mainly from the Komodo Lizards and Shadow Lizards.

In these few days, they had exterminated quite a lot of these monsters, which varied from common-rank to elite-rank. Some of the Special Elites were also included along with a couple of chieftain-rank monsters that were guarding some special cave channels that lead to certain treasures.

Starting from the first Cave Komodo Drake that they had killed, the group started getting some loot from the cave channels being guarded by the other chieftain-rank monsters, where some treasure chests were located.

They had mostly gotten some natural treasures like high-quality materials that could be used for forging and alchemy. Most of these materials carried some draconic features or auras due to the nature of the dungeon.

Arthur mostly recognized the uses of these materials as he was very familiar with the Draconic Species and Dragon Race.

Most of the materials were some dragon herbs that could be used by draconic pets that carried the bloodline of a dragon species, further enhancing their draconic abilities or awakening the draconic blood in their bodies.

As for the metals and ores that they had gotten from those chests, most of them were Dragon Ores, which were perfect for crafting equipment meant for draconic species. However, the main attributes of these ores were mostly earth and dark elements.

Arthur was the only person who could fully use these materials, but he did not need them. After all, all his equipment was already of the highest quality possible for his current level. Discover hidden stories at empire

If he wanted to upgrade them, then he would rather swap them out with the ones that his quests would be leading him.

Just like Shin, Arthur’s equipment was mostly Inheritance Items from his Race and Class. He also possessed a Sacred Relic that he nurtured since his early days in the game.

Even though he did not have any Dissonant Wish in his possession, he still had an Ancient Artifact of equal grade and value.

After some discussion, the group decided to hand over the materials that they had gotten from chests to the Hand of Midas and asked them to craft the team something useful. Aside from the herbs that Arthur and the others could use, they were planning to hand rest.

But that still needed some time since they were current at the Awakened Continent and the Hand of Midas had yet to build a branch in this place, so he could only wait.

As for the rest of the items that they had gotten, they were equally distributed to the team based on what they needed. It was the same for the Elemental Cores and Beasts Cores that they had gathered from the Komodo Lizards and Shadow Lizards.

But all the Lesser Dragon Cores were handed to Arthur as he had better use for them.

Diablo also exchanged his shares for the Shadow Elemental Cores due to the uniqueness they had. They also complimented his special powers as well, so he had a better way to utilize them.

The others wanted to give all their cores of shadow element to him, but he refused to take them without anything in exchange. The others also had no choice but to accept due to his stubbornness.

The team had spent quite a long time clearing all the major sections of the dungeon, but they had become more accustomed to fighting under the conditions in this place.

The top combatants, which were also the ones with Transcendent Class and Race, could also use the double consumption of their concentration while using both their combat state and elemental possession, albeit for a limited amount of time.

However, the great burden that this put on their minds was also getting serious as they started to stack after they used them multiple times. Unless they fully rested themselves and recovered from their peak condition, then it was impossible to continue using these trump cards together.

Their hardest battle up until now was when they had to fight a Komodo Drake and Shadow Drake together, which not only gave them a lot of trouble but also killed some of their members in the process.

If not for Cloe’s revival skills and Huahua’s resurrection totems, then they would most likely wiped out during that battle.

Shin, Arthur, Leonard, Alice, and Diablo also took the gamble and simultaneously used their respective elemental possession alongside their combat states.

Alucard also used the special vampiric powers that he had learned from the Vampire Families of the Awakened Continent alongside the inheritance of Dracula, greatly increasing his battle capabilities.

Lorraine also took out a bunch of special ammunition that greatly weakened the two chieftain-rank monsters during the battle.

Cloe also showcased the powerful healing techniques that she had learned from the Church of Light and took part in the offensive while using her unique battle techniques from her previous title as the ‘White Witch of Eternal Night’.

The others, who first saw her fight like this, were astounded. They could not believe that someone with a support class could rival mages in terms of offensive and magic prowess.

She more like a great mage rather than a priest, who only supports the battlefield from the backlines.

But what was the most fruitful in this dungeon raid was the fact that the entire team had already become one. They understood each other very well, making the overall synergy of the team reach another level.

Those who were used to playing by themselves and working alone like Diablo and Alucard finally learned how to move with the team as a unit.

Aside from this, Samael and Huahua also reached the level of a true Ranker, albeit barely.

They might not be strong enough to be considered as Maverick Rankers, but they were not far from reaching that level.

…

“Is everyone ready?” asked Shin as he swept his gaze at the team, who just finished doing their maintenance for their equipment.

The team quickly stood up as they were quite itching to clear this dungeon as soon as possible. They were quite sick of dealing with these Cave Komodo Lizards and Drakes as well as the Shadow Lizards and Drakes.

It had been a while since they had gotten some fresh air, so they were eager to get out of this eerie cave as soon as possible.

They had recovered their peak conditions as well, making sure that they were in their perfect state to face whatever they would be facing next.

They were currently standing in front of a metal gate, which seemed to be the end of this cave. Once they defeated the monster boss waiting for them on the other side, they would be able to leave as well.

“Is this the place?” asked Leonard as he stood beside Arthur, who was focusing his Dragon Sense on this gate.

Arthur did not respond immediately as he was trying to feel what kind of monster was waiting for them beyond this gate and trying to gauge its level if possible.

If Shin’s previous assessment was correct, then the monster beyond this gate would most likely be a Lord Rank Monster, which was way beyond their current limit.

He was not even confident that they would be able to get through this hurdle easily.

It was just a pity that they had never found any other clues about his quest throughout their exploration of the dungeon. He had never completed the compass either as its last piece seemed to be on the other side of this gate as well.

He was just hoping that Shin was right once again that there would be a special quest scenario once they faced the creature inside.

“This place is reeking of the foul scent of a corrupted dragon-… or at least a draconic species. Let’s just hope that Shin is right, or else we will be in deep sh*t later,” said Arthur as he squinted him while looking at the gate.

Shin walked over to them after organizing the team and said. “So, what are you waiting for? Open it up so that we can see what surprises this dungeon is waiting for us.”

Arthur shrugged his shoulder as he took out a golden key from his inventory, which was filled with dragon designs.

It was one of the items they had gotten from the chests, and from the form of mana that was released, they knew it was not a simple item.

Click!

Right after Arthur inserted the key into the hole and turned it, something unexpected suddenly happened.

Whoosh!

……