Chapter 1110: An Essence of Madness
Chapter 1110: An Essence of Madness
Quest Name: An Essence of Madness
Quest Difficulty: SS
Recommended Level: ???
Recommended Party Size: ???
Objective: The <<Mad Alchemist, Polkentin>>'s <<Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel» is getting ready to perform an unsanctioned and inhumane experiment on his test subject. Erase all traces of «Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel» research in «Polkentin's Secret Underwater Base» and save «Test Subject #9,999».
Time Limit: 2 hours
Part 1:
-0/5 Erase all traces of <<Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel» research in «<Polkentin's Secret Underwater Base>>.
-0/1 Save <<Test Subject #9,999».
-0/1 Eliminate <<Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel>>.
Reward:
-The <<Mad Alchemist, Polkentin>> will consider you a mortal enemy. You will be actively hunted by the <<Mad Alchemist, Polkentin>>'s creations.
-Gain 5,000 fame with <<Fourth Great Clan>>
-Max favor with «Princess of the Fourth Great Clan, Tesselia>>
-X1 <<Epic Item Treasure Chest>>>
-X5 «Fragment of the Philosopher's Stone>>>
-x1 <<Profession Specialization Scroll» (Legendary)
-Gain 500 world fame
Failure:
-Lose 5 levels
-Lose -750 world fame
-All your stats will be permanently reduced by 5%.
Special Note: This quest cannot be shared.
'Since destroying this place means that I'll have to face this Zitra either way, this quest isn't too bad. The problem is it's a rescue quest and a chain quest.'
Rescue quests in RML were well known for being unpredictable. This was even more so considering that it was an SS-ranked rescue quest. That's because there were too many unknown factors that surrounded the state of the rescue target. And, when it came to chain quests, while it was true that there were more opportunities to receive rewards, it did not get any easier. Needless to say, Izroth was not afraid of a challenge.
"The rewards are rather interesting. It's not every day you see a legendary Profession Specialization
Scroll.'
Profession Specialization Scrolls enabled one to learn a profession that was not obtainable through standard means. The Phantom Queen Morrighan used a legendary-ranked Profession Specialization Scroll to acquire the Magic Architect profession, which allowed her to craft magic items.
There were countless professions that players never even heard of before in RML. And, a Profession Specialization Scroll was a doorway to those professions.
Of course, even if one already possessed a profession, the Profession Specialization Scroll made it possible to "unlearn" it and accept one of the professions it granted. Naturally, for those players who were far along in the mastery of their profession, the decision was quite tough. Nevertheless, most players would be more than happy to give it up for a profession that was considered legendary-ranked.
As for Izroth, he did not have to worry about such an issue thanks to the Prodigy's Right passive from Unparalleled Craftsman. At the moment, he was only an Apothecary; however, Izroth still had one more profession slot open. In the future, he could even take on several more professions!
'I was carefully pondering what my next profession would be. It seems that I have been given a good opportunity.'
The epic item treasure chest was a decent reward and not much needed to be said about it. However, the other two rewards also caught Izroth's attention. The favor and fame related to the Fourth Great Clan and the Fragment of the Philosopher's Stone.
'Fourth Great Clan... Among the trephasia, they utilize a unique method of controlling beasts. Like all the other Great Clans, they also have someone in line who will potentially become the new ruler of the trephasia. Tesselia is an unfamiliar name; however, if I'm earning her max favor, is she the person I have to rescue? Or, is it someone close to her?'
It was unthinkable for a princess of a Great Clan to be captured and used as a testing subject. After all, such a brazen move was not an attack on one Great Clan, but the Great Clans. This was no different than becoming enemies with all trephasia in the Mortal Realm.
Despite everything, Izroth was unsure whether or not it was even a good thing for him to become close with the Fourth Great Clan. The Great Clans were constantly competing with one another. They also had an incredibly complex relationship that was enough to make most players dizzy.
"There's no point thinking about such useless things. I will decide for myself after meeting her. It won't be too late to sever ties with the Fourth Great Clan after I complete the quest if I deem them unworthy.' As for the Fragment of the Philosopher's Stone, Izroth read about the Philosopher's Stone before in the Amaharpe Palace Library; however, the information that surrounded it was too all over the place. There were some books that said it could turn anything to gold, while others described it as a powerful artifact that could raze entire cities to the ground. Some books even mentioned that the Philosopher's Stone was the key to obtaining immortality below the firmament.
Izroth did not know whether or not these things were true, but judging from the things he read about the Philosopher's Stone one thing was certain-it was considered an object of legends for a reason.
'Since they are just fragments of a real Philosopher's Stone I shouldn't expect too much. That being said, it should still be somewhat useful since it's a reward for an SS-ranked quest.'
"I'll accept."
[System Alert: You have accepted the quest «<An Essence of Madness»>!
[System Alert: Warning! When you destroy <<Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel>> research, a temporary debuff will be applied![
[System Alert: Warning! Destroying << Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel»> research will cause you to be marked and hunted by all monsters in <<Polkentin's Secret Underwater Base>>![] [System Alert: Warning! Destroying «Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel» research too many times will cause all monsters in «<Polkentin's Secret Underwater Base>> to become
<<Enraged»>![]
'If it's like this, it will be better if I defeat Zitra and rescue the test subject before destroying the research. But, will it really be that simple?'
Izroth was not too worried about most debuffs thanks to the increased negative effect recovery rate from his Might of the Primordial Colossus and Might stat. However, he did not know the effects or duration of the debuffs. But, seeing as how it was an SS-ranked quest, Izroth knew that the debuffs could not be looked down upon.
More importantly, the quest was framed in a way that made one want to save destroying the research for last. After all, why go through the extra hassle of everything that was followed by the research's destruction? Unfortunately, the system was never that kind.
Izroth believed that not destroying the research first would undoubtedly bring about some consequences. Still, as long as the debuffs were out of the picture, Izroth was confident in dealing with whatever was thrown his way.
After he received the quest, Izroth spent the next minute looking around and searching the room. He read over the scattered notes on the table and discovered various topics of research that ranged from the potency of certain plants to the effect of poisons on organic life. Izroth also tried reading the tomes housed in the bookcase, but whenever he opened one of them, he was greeted by blank pages and a sinister aura. When he attempted to place one of the tomes into his inventory, Izroth received a message from the system alerting him that the tome could not be stored in subspace. As a result, Izroth decided to store one of the books in his Attire of a Silent Night and give up on the rest for now.
"Now, then-shall I finish this before I'm interrupted?"
The following moment, Izroth removed an arrow from his inventory. The arrow was pitch- black with silver markings running along its shaft. It was roughly 80cm long and the arrowhead had a unique curve on one side that bent inward. This was the Whisper Striding Arrow Izroth obtained from winning a bet during his time in the Ancient Celestial Realm.
Woosh!
Suddenly, Izroth unsheathed his Sword of the Storm as a gust of wind erupted around him.
Bzzzzt! Crrrckle!
'Call of the Thunder God, First State: Heavenly Descent.'
In the blink of an eye, two purple bolts of lightning struck down at Izroth's position as the Sword of the Storm transformed into a longbow made of purple lightning.
Izroth drew the bowstring with the Whisper Striding Arrow set in place to fire.
"Head Lab Assistant, Zitra The Cruel."
Right after Izroth said that name, a terrifying penetrative force encompassed the Whisper
Striding Arrow. At the same time, Izroth released the arrow as the sound of a thunderclap echoed throughout Polkentin's Secret Underwater Base.
The arrow flew forward at a frightening speed, piercing through anything in its path with
ease.
Zeeeut!
Izroth's figure flickered in and out of existence as he activated Flickering Steps and followed
the arrow's path.
'Since my Energy Vision Sense can't peer into the heart of this place, I'll just have to use a more direct method of finding my target.'