After the fourth day, Iris, Hasega and co, Arknum and Reiner came back. I just handed their things back to them. In these 4 days, I had been helping the villagers move some stones or wood. Sometimes I did quests to exterminate some pests. The city tried to regain their vigor. Not many villagers had the strength left to do labour. Most citizens that survived were old men or women in their late 60’s or 70’s and children under the age of 10, so labourers were greatly needed.

Selei and Sidinia were the first to send their citizens to Trisia. Each had sent around a thousand villagers or more to assist. Merchants from various city quickly flooded this city as they wanted to buy the loot gained from the dark force and sell planks and stones for the rebuilding of the homes. Houses were rebuild one by one inside second level as numerous shacks started to be built in the defenseless first level of the city.

These shacks were the homes for the farmers. Though the land was barren, the count had started a reclamation program to rebuild the farms again and it somehow succeeded. Doing mini quests here and there, I just scoured the city looking for things to do. Starting with killing rats and bunnies that plagued the lands to carrying stones here and there. Even with all of these quests added, not a single level was gained. No wonder why would a level 120 player do the odd job of killing level 5 monsters? Or carrying stones and planks that didn’t even require 20% of their strength.

When the players returned, the count told them everything. He planned to rebuild our showroom and Tantalus headquarter. He offered me the job as Tantalus’s new leader but I refused. I couldn’t possibly replace those guys’ work. My ability was nothing compared to them.

“Umm, Riri, please cheer up. I know it is painful but, you can’t be like this forever.” El tried to support me as soon as she learned what had happened. But I paid her no heed.

“Umm, then. If there is a way to resurrect her....” She spoke. I quickly turned my head towards her.

“What?”

“Umm. It is almost impossible to make a human pet. But you said that soul transmutation changed the user’s soul right?”

I quickly read the skill description

Soul transmutation

A skill that infuses your soul with another soul that is bound by the user. As the skill proficiency rises, the more your soul will be transformed and your race will change completely.

Beginner level 20% of the bound soul’s power

Intermediate level 100% of the bound soul’s power

Advanced level. Permanently changes your race along with the demerits of a bound soul

Currently able to be infused with

Lightning dark Fairy Elkami

“Umm, yeah.”

“So, we might be able to ask Yggdrasil to revive Stella as he did to me.” El said.

“That is certainly possible.” A white Pegasus landed in front of me. What timing.

“Ahh, you are the Pegasus that will take the horn and feather?”

“Yes. My name is Saint. Hello Riri. I want to thank you on behalf of Yggdrasil for defeating the Dark Army that had been corrupting our forest for so long.”

“And so.”

“Well, he knew you were going to ask for this so he has been preparing. But it will not come free. May I ask to see the horn and feather?”

I showed him.

“Well, it is tainted. With a powerful dark force just like El said.“ Saint then offered me a quest. “If you can cleanse this horn and feather, Yggdrasil will be more than glad to resurrect Stella.”

Quest has been offered

Cleanse the tainted horn and feather

The god of nature Yggdrasil asks you to purify the corrupted feather and horn. The horn and feather is are important symbols for all Pegasi so he wishes you to purify it and return it to Saint or another Pegasus.

Quest difficulty C

Quest failure Death or the quest items are no longer in your possession

Time limit 1 month

Quest reward Stella’s soul

I quickly cancelled the other mini quests that had I accepted in Trisia. A glimmer of hope then rose in my heart. If I could complete this quest, Stella will come back again right? Even if she is a summoned being like El it doesn’t matter.

“I accept.”

Quest has been accepted

“Alright and now on to quest. Please climb onto my back.”

“Okay.”

The Pegasus then soared into the sky watched by the citizens of Trisia.

“Umm, do I have to go alone?” I quickly asked.

“Well, I can only carry one human. It takes 1 day for me to get there. So it might cost you around a week if you want to bring a full party.” He said.

1 week out of the 1 month limit. Can I accept that? No, I must try to finish this quest as soon as possible. This quest must not fail at any cost.

“I will try to do the quest alone but in the meantime please bring my friends too okay. I will give their names to you.” I said to him as I tried to pick the most efficient way.

“Okay.”

“So are you alone?”

“Yes I am. We suffered a major loss at Trisia. In addition to that, our leader Sigil died. So our numbers are spread even more thin to govern the forests. Not to mention the disappearance of fairies.”

“Ahh.” The realization hit me when I saw El.

“Yes. The fairies that died at Trisia are dead for good. They numbered more than 300. With a corrupted body, they could not return to Yggdrasil and be reborn. We are the last of our line here.”

“Umm, sorry.”

“No, Yggdrasil ordered us. He deemed the destruction of Death Manager to be more important than our lives in the future. By killing him you saved a lot of us too. This situation will only last for a while.”

“I see.”

“As the darkness was cleared, Yggdrasil has regained some of his power over the forests. He was able to extinguish the corruption Death Manager brought.”

“Umm, but I do not think Reis...ahhh, Death Manager is dead.” I tried to remember when he teleported away from Stella.

The Pegasus then went silent. “I see. So he is not dead. I will inform Yggdrasil of this immediately”

“Sorry to bring misinformation>” El said to Saint.

“No. It is not your fault. I am the one who didn’t tell you.” I said back to El. My mind was too occupied by Stella’s death and I refused to speak about anything.

“Well, he was severely weakened at the very least. We should be glad.” Saint said. ”Yggdrasil will come up with a measure to hunt him. Even though he can no longer dispatch any more troops, I am sure other gods will help. Death Manager is a poison to all the gods after all.”

“We have arrived.” Saint said as we stopped in front of a cave.

“So what are we going to do inside this cave?”

“Umm, in the deepest part of this dungeon lie 2 altars. One is a sacrificial altar and the other is a purification altar. Basically you only need to put the horn and the feather on the purification altar and put another random item on the other altar. The curse will then be moved from the purification altar to the sacrificial one. This is the best method to remove the curse completely without damaging the horn and the feather with unnecessary magic.” He explained.

“Seems easy enough.”

“Only the dungeon we are talking about is guarded by several lvl 100 monsters. You might be able to make it barely. I will now go back to Trisia to pick your other friends, you might want to camp here as you know that at night the monsters get 50% bonus strength’ Saint then raised his wings and flew away leaving me and El alone.

“Hey. Aren’t we going to camp outside?”

“I am just going to test the monsters inside. We might get some information.” I said to El. She then reluctantly followed me.

You are the first to venture into the sacrificial cave

Fame +100

Doubled exp for 1 week

Double loot drops for 1 week

Sacrificial cave

A cave that was once used by gods and humans to clear curses.

3 undead appeared in front of me. They were met by my expert cure and El’s thunderstrike. In 2 minutes all of them was quickly turned into loot. It is not that they were weak. It was just that they were slow making them easy to target and kill. Their attack power was quite high but their defence was quite low, but dodging their attacks or blocking them was easy. It was like they were thieves but with high strength and low dexterity.

I look deeper into the cave. A desire to finish this quest soon filled me. This dungeon is easy, I can conquer it.

“Stop it Riri, you are being unreasonable. There is still 1 month of time. If you die now, the quest will fail. Please wait just a few more days okay?” El tried to persuade me. I just stared at her. The most logical, the most efficient, the safest way would be what El was saying. After that I returned to cave entrance the moon had risen. I just slept on the side with a rock as a pillow and my beginner outfit as a blanket.

‘Just one more day. Please wait for me Stella.’ I murmured that in my sleep.

At dawn, I woke up and started to go into the dungeon again. After mapping several sections of the dungeon and fighting the same mob from yesterday, I found some stairs leading to the second basement. In most dungeons, the deeper or the higher the dungeon goes, the harder the monsters inside it become. With this in mind, I travelled with more caution than before.

True to my thoughts, the monster were indeed getting stronger, just as I arrived several skeletons rose from the ground. Two warriors, an archer and a mage. With a balanced party like this, the enemies were harder to defeat by many fold.

In this case, thanks to my dexterity, I was able to dodge most of their attacks but I quickly lost the ability to counterattack. El instead dealt blows with her electric strikes. When I ventured deeper into this floor, I was met with a larger group of 10 skeletons that randomly consisted of warriors mages and archers. Taking cover here and there prevented the magic and arrows from reaching me. With the multitask skill, I was also able to dodge most of the attacks from the swords.

“GROAR!” An ogre rose from the ground as I tried to map the area. This dungeon has an ogre as well?

The ogre swung his machete towards me at high speed. I managed to barely dodge it and countered with a fireball spell. El Managed to land a few hits on it with her spells but he didn’t die. After several minutes of dodging the ogre was killed.

I kept up my playstyle of dodging and countering with magic. Since my weapon dealt low damage I only used it to block attacks from enemies. Thanks to El, I had decent firepower and dodging ability now. I am kind of a spell casting thief.

Now we were facing a two headed giant ogre at the cave’s stairs. As he looked upon me, he swung his club down with one of his arms. The shockwave alone sent me flying and crashing into the wall.

“Let’s retreat!” El suggested.

“Cast zeus strike.” I ordered back. I had relied on El’s spells the entire time when fighting the ogre. Since ogres are not undead, healing spells won’t work against them. Fireballs also did little damage moreover my class penalty make my weapon worthless. I had no choice but to rely on El’s spells. Call it shameless if you want but there was something more important than pride here.

El compelled by my request cast Zeus strike. As my mana was always depleted when she casts that spell, I couldn’t use my healing spells to recover from my wounds. It was not a big deal. I could dodge his attacks until the counter runs out. Its only 1 minute.

A lightning strike then blew the ogre away. The ogre fell but was still moving.

“He is still alive?” I asked.

“Zeus strike is a pretty powerfull spell. If he is still alive it means this monster is very strong. Or has a very high amount of defence.” El said.

“Let’s kill it. Fireball.” I cast fireball after my mana had recovered a bit. After that I ran and stabbed the monster in various places with my sword. The paralyzed ogre could not do a thing until he got out of his paralyzed state. His health bar was in the red now but my attacks just weren’t strong enough. Damn why didn’t I pick blacksmithing at Trisia before. Well there are no blacksmiths at Trisia anyway I couldn’t blame anyone. Besides I wouldn’t be able to raise its skill that fast.

No need to think about anything else. I just need to beat this thing. The ogre came out of his paralyzed state. He then grabbed me with his hand. His grip tightened as I tried to gasp for air. My HP was slowly decreasing.

“Riri!!” El shouted.

“Cast Thunder ball at it.“ I moaned as I gave the order. Reluctantly she obeyed my order. With a booming sound, the ogre died and I gained a level. My HP bar was turned to yellow just now if i was grasped by more than 2 minutes more i might really die. I managed to beat it. With 20 level ups after the battle at Trisia, I now had 105 points to spend. I decided to put 25 into strength, wisdom, intelligence and dexterity each. These 4 stats are this class’s forte I think. Left with 5 unused points, I just left them alone.

“Riri! You are being too reckless. We still have 29 days! If you die during that time Stella will be gone too!” She shouted. She might be right, I looked at the time on my status screen and indeed it showed night time. Night came without warning. No wonder the ogre I fought this time was like a boss monster. It was due to the night bonus. Now, is there a safe area around here? I need to hide until sunrise.

I looked left and right for cover. It would be bad if another ogre showed up. Even though they are surely a lower level than this one, I would still be in trouble since it is night time. In the end, I found an empty hole at the corner of the dungeon. Using sneak I crept inside the hole and waited until sunrise with the sneak skill still on. I changed into my beginner uniform for added camouflage. The white princes set is just too eye-catching for sneaking like this.

*Hey Riri, I heard from that Pegasus that you were going to conquer a dungeon alone?* Hasega whispered me.

*I am just scouting ahead. Please come here as soon as possible.* I replied.

*Well, Saint can only carry one person at a time. So, it might take a few days. Please wait for us okay. We will come after you.* Hasega said.

*Please.* I sobbed as I made that request. I don’t know if Hasega on the other line heard me. I just wanted this quest to be finished as soon as possible.

The two headed ogre had respawned. He came from the stairs going up and was guarding the entrance to the stair. So he is a third basement monster. I definitely couldn’t go alone at this rate. Even with a boost of 50% at night, something that could withstand Zeus strike isn’t to be underestimated.

“Riri. Please sleep.” El said. She seemed to see through my anxiety and exhaustion.

I couldn’t fight back against her words. She was right. It was still 10 more hours until sun rise. I might as well log out and sleep in the real world. But I couldn’t fall asleep. If they catch me in my sleeping state, I would be killed. At least if I am awake, I could run away even if I couldn’t defeat them.

“El, if I sleep and they notice me, I am going to get killed.“

“I will stay on guard then. You need to save up your strength. Others would need days to reach here.”

“Iris is already at the entrance. If I brought him, maybe.”

“Riri. Please stop being reckless.” El then hugged my cheek she knew what I felt so she never got angry. Tears started to flow again when El hugged me. That’s right. I do not only have 1 friend do I? There is still Hasega, Fira, Dem, Victor, Arknum and Iris. Even Reiner and Baran too are my friends. I must not be reckless for their sake too.

“I am sorry El.”

In the end, I spent the night in that hole more at peace knowing that my friends will help me with this. If I have them, I can tackle this quest in a flash.

When I woke up, the clock in my status screen showed that it was already morning. The enemy should be considerably lowered in strength now.

“El, should I march forward or should I return to fetch my other friends?” I asked El. My mind was hazy now. On one side, I wanted to go inside and clear this quest as soon as possible. But, deep down, I knew I couldn’t do this alone. So I just asked El to answer this. I will trust her this time.

After pondering for a while, El finally suggested that we go back. Even if I had to wait again, as long as this quest was cleared and Stella came back, it didn’t matter.

‘I might be a little late but hang on Stella. I will definitely come’ I made an oath in my heart.

I managed to escaped the ogres quite easily. Being used to these monster, I knew their attack pattern and I was able to dodge them well. The two headed ogre was weaker than I thought. It was virtually no different from a normal ogre, it just had more health and strength.

I met iris inside the first floor of the dungeon. He was hunting alone and killing some zombies when I met him. Unlike me who rushed to the second floor, he just killed the enemy one by one. He was just grinding while waiting others to arrive.

“Hi Riri. When did you arrive?” He greeted me when I came up to him from behind.

“Yesterday. I have already found the stairs to the third floor. But I couldn’t risk going there alone.”

“I see.” He answered calmly. “Okay. Let’s have lunch. I have brought several sandwiches with me.”

When I looked at my satiety bar, it was indeed at a low level. I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. My rye bread had also been depleted since a long time ago. How come I came here without such a simple preparation as that? I might have died of hunger if Iris hadn’t come. Tears came down from my eyes again.

“Are you that hungry that you would cry for a sandwich?”

“Maybe.” I just half assed the answer to that rhetorical question.

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=3772

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=3797

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author note. :grin:

- comments and suggestions are welcomed. please post you opinion on this chapter in discussion topic or here.

- and so here is our latest MC stat.i wonder what item swogystar meant i have a rough guess. but it is true that i have plans for all items in Riri's bag.

Spoiler : Status window

Name Riri class idol performers

Health 6675(+800) mana 10900 (+800)

Level 121 Race human

Fame 1000

Title manager, the white rider

Job none

Health regen/sec 26.5 mana regen/sec 43.4

Strength 143(+122) dexterity 345 (+55)

Wisdom 332 (+102) intelect 311 (+125)

Stamina 305 vitality 117 (+150)

Art 74 charisma 177 (+140)

Leadership. 160(+30) charm 105(+125)

Fighting spirit 180 faith 140 (+105)

Magic resistance

Fire water

Earth wind

Thunder ice

Dark 45%(E) light 45%(E)

Unused points 0

Contribution point church 8000

Contribution point haven 2500

Bonuses

all stat +10 except dex and charm

Dex +25 charm +40

Stamina +40

Magic will be reduced by 90%. unless you meet normal requirement of 300 wisdom

weapon will be reduced by 90% unless have intermediate blacksmith

Leather armor will not be penalized

iron armor will have it’s movement speed reduced by 30% and increased stamina consumption by 20%. Only if you meet the equipment requirement

movement reduced by 30% (E)

healing spell increased by 40% (E)

While riding horse the movement speed increased by 10%

Bag 1

Water canteen

gold coins (15)

Ring of mana(E) (Mana +200, charm +20)

Ring of leadership(E) (chr +30 leadership +30)

Black staff

Circlet of purity.Charm +30Char +30Int +10Wis +10Faith +20, heal,light,dark res+10%

White high heel shoes Charm+30Char+10Faith +20 heal,light,dark res+10%

White dress of purity Charm +20Faith +20 heal,light,dark res+20%

Sword of Elkami Faith +25 Str +20 Dex +25 Int +25 Wis +20

Autographed Beginner’s cloth

Beginner’s pant

Beginner’s shoes

Earing of faith and wisdomFaith +40 wis +20

Necklace of vitalityVit +30Str +20

Ring of vitalityx4 Health +200Vit +30 Str +20

Ring of inteligence x3 Mana +200Intelect +30Wis +20

Stella’s ring Dex +25Str +20Int +30Wis +20Charm +25Charisma +30

Tainted pegasus horn

Tainted pegasus feather

Skill list

Speed reading beginner’s lvl 2 (40%)

Manage beginner’s lvl 5(10%).

Magic mastery intermediate lvl 9

Acrobatic intermediate lvl 5 (Movement 125%)

Multitasking intermediate lvl 3 ( (Focus 6, intelect +25)

Sword mastery intermediate lvl 6 (power 70% speed 70%)

Ambidextrous beginner lvl 2 (Dex +2)

Bullet deflector intermediate lvl 6 (Dex +80)

Sneak beginner level 2

Horseriding intermediate lvl 1

Soul transmutation beginner level 1

Enchanted autograph beginner lvl 1

Break dance beginner level 1

Audience beginner lvl 1

Sub skill

light blessing intermediate lvl 5

phoenix regen intermediate lvl 4

healing hand intermediate lvl 7

Healing Area intermediate lvl 9

Group cure intermediate lvl 6

Expert cure intermediate lvl 6

Single bless intermediate lvl 8

Fireball intermediate lvl 7

El spell list.

Thunder Barrier advance lvl 6

Thunder strike advance lvl 8

Thunder shower advance lvl 1

Thunder ball advance lvl 2

Lightning ball advance lvl 9

Enigma of lightning god Zeus strike intermediate lvl 7

Enigma of lightning god thor Hammer intermediate lvl 3

Enigma of lightning god zeus bolt shower intermediate lvl 2

Enigma of lightning god bolt of thor intermediate lvl 5

Lightning bolt intermediate lvl 6

Mana bolt intermediate lvl 6

Lightning charge advance lvl 4

Lightning pulse advance lvl 5

Lightning strike advance lvl 2

Lighting flash advance lvl 1

Lightning storm advance lvl 2

Shadow ball beginner lvl 2

Dark lightning beginner lvl 3