"Good job!" Kael, who had been seconds away from activating [Apollo's Descent], was overco with relief and surprise.
In the past, he was always the one showing up at the last second to save the day. This ti, he was the one being protected. He had to admit, a small thrill went through him.
Lila shot him a quick smile before turning back to the boss, her greatsword held steady as she parried its ranged attacks.
With her arrival, the battle against Norlun imdiately beca a one-sided slaughter. Lila didn't even need to attack; she just stood in front of Kael in a defensive stance, and every projectile Norlun fired—be it a physical bolt or a magical spell—was neutralized by Dragonbane.
Only a few ground-based AoE attacks, like a wave of earth spikes that erupted from beneath their feet, managed to deal any damage.
With only five million health remaining, Norlun couldn't possibly withstand Kael's relentless storm of arrows. Even when its healing ability kicked in, now ticking for 300,000 health per second, it only delayed the inevitable.
As Kael’s final arrow found its mark, Norlun’s long, narrow mouth opened, releasing a final, sorrowful cry that sounded like a sad lody played on a flute. It collapsed to the ground, its breath coming in ragged gasps. It wasn't dead, but its status had changed.
[Norlun (Near Death, Invincible)]: Level 35
HP: 1 / 60,000,000
Though it had only a single point of health left, Norlun was now immune to all damage. No loot had dropped. Clearly, a story event was about to trigger.
Sure enough, as Kael approached, Norlun raised its claws in a gesture of supplication. At the sa ti, a pendant materialized in the air, floating gently toward him. A system prompt appeared.
System: You have defeated Norlun. Norlun begs for rcy. Please make a choice:
Accept. Receive item: [Norlun's Pendant]. Refuse. Receive skill book: [Summon Norlun].
[Norlun's Pendant (Transcendent)]: Level 35
HP 20,000
[Summon Norlun]: 1/1 charge. Lasts for 3 days.
(Temporarily unusable. Unlocked after clearing the Tydrisa’s Quarry Hidden Realm.)
The Transcendent tier was an extrely rare item grade that sat between Ascendant and Exalted. According to player data, it was even rarer than Exalted gear, typically appearing only as a reward for very specific, unique quests. Transcendent items didn't have scaling potential, but they often possessed incredibly powerful, unique abilities.
Like this one. The summon was Norlun itself, with all of its stats and skills intact. The only downside was that it was a one-ti use. If the summon were permanent with a cooldown of an hour or less, it would be a Mythic-tier item.
[Summon Norlun]: 6 Skill Points required
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Duration: 3 days; Cooldown: 7 days
The skill was, without a doubt, completely overpowered. Though Norlun's stats were fixed, it would remain an incredibly powerful trump card well into level 40, perhaps even level 50.
But Kael didn't even consider it. He chose: "One. Accept Norlun's plea."
He admitted to himself that it was a gamble. But to secure permanent control of this Hidden Realm, it was a risk he had to take.
In his past life, the [Tydrisa’s Quarry] Hidden Realm hadn't survived. After House Myrden cleared it, the dinsion had destabilized and collapsed, disappearing forever.
For years afterward, whenever players discussed which Hidden Realms could have been saved, Tydrisa’s Quarry was always a hot topic. The consensus was that House Myrden should have taken the pendant instead of the summon skill.
On the surface, the summon had allowed House Myrden to dominate the other guilds on the Thaloria server. But in reality, losing the Quarry ant losing the server's primary source of high-quality gems. This critical resource deficit weakened the entire server's player base in the long run, setting them up to be steamrolled in the cross-server wars that ca later.
System: You have chosen to spare Norlun. You receive [Norlun's Pendant (Transcendent)].
As he made his choice, Kael held his breath, his eyes glued to the system log.
System: Lucky Bonus triggered. Your reward has been upgraded to [Norlun's Pendant (Exalted)].
YES!!!
Kael practically jumped for joy. He wasn't just happy about the item itself; he was thrilled by the breakthrough in his understanding of the ga's chanics.
[Norlun's Pendant (Exalted)]:
HP 40,000
[Summon Norlun]:
Duration: 3 days; Cooldown: 7 days
Requires: Level 35
(Temporarily unusable. Unlocked after clearing the Tydrisa’s Quarry Hidden Realm.)
It was rare for an Exalted item to have a level requirent instead of a stat one. It was a minor sha that it didn't have scaling potential and the skill was locked, but he wasn't about to complain.
Lila watched Kael’s ecstatic celebration with a puzzled expression, but her confusion turned to shock when the system announcents began to roll in.
System: Congratulations to player Dawnbreaker for obtaining the Exalted item [Norlun's Pendant]!
System: Congratulations to player Dawnbreaker...
But this ti, the announcent channel was different. In the past, all of Kael’s major achievents were on the Earth server. But he had entered this Hidden Realm using a scroll from the Thaloria server, so the notification was broadcast to both.
The reactions on the two servers were wildly different.
On the Earth server, players were initially thrilled to see a new Exalted item appear. But that excitent turned to groans when they saw the na.
“Ugh, him again?”
“So predictable.”
“Dawnbreaker, co on, step up your ga! Get a Mythic already, Exalteds are boring now.”
“Yeah, what a slacker!”
Naturally, Dawnbreaker's fans weren't having it.
“The hell? You’re bored of Exalteds? What are you wearing, a full set of Mythics?”
“Right? Since when is getting an Exalted item sothing to criticize?!”
“Ignore those trolls. Dawnbreaker is defending the honor of Earth players on the Thaloria server right now!”
“Yeah! I saw a picture on the forums of Guild Leader Lila chasing down Thaloria players with Dragonbane! It was aweso!”
“For real? Dawnbreaker and Lila are on another server?”
“Of course! My buddy who emigrated to Thaloria years ago saw them from a distance!”
“WTF, link to the forums, I gotta see this!”
...
anwhile, on the Thaloria server, the players were on an emotional rollercoaster. At first, seeing the [Norlun's Pendant] drop sent them into a frenzy of celebration.
“Haha, aweso! They finally beat Norlun!”
“Yeah, Guild Leader Nyria took 150 players in there and only 50 ca back out.”
“I wonder how many people House Myrden had to bring this ti.”
“Probably 500, at least.”
“Hope the casualties weren't too bad. That level loss on death is brutal to recover from.”
It was then that soone finally noticed the na attached to the achievent.
“Uh, who’s Dawnbreaker? Is he a new rising star in House Myrden?”
“Wait a minute… isn’t that guy from the Earth server?”
“He is! I saw him today! He was walking around with so woman carrying a giant greatsword.”
“An Earth player stole our server’s treasure!”
Soone then typed out a beautiful, elegant phrase in the common tongue of Earth.
“You motherfucker!!”
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