Chapter 277: Quest Update and Spells

"Simply to give him a recommendation. We know that it isn't possible to teleport between kingdoms without one." Eldrian replied, though he wanted to ask for more, he felt that actually doing so was unreasonable. 

"That's it? You do know how expensive the teleportation is going to be right?" Pelaros asked in slight shock. 

"Yeah, but we're hoping to get that on our own," Eldrian replied, to which Pelaros simply nodded in acknowledgment. After which they waited a bit more as the twins were still simply relieved meeting each other again. 

"Right, Evale what happened. Why didn't you return until now?" Pelaros asked after giving them a few more seconds, it starting to become awkward. 

"Originally I just wanted to experience what it is like to fight against a revenant. It was far harder than I had thought it would be." Evale started explaining, "And on my way back I stumbled upon a group of undead near the fort.'

"Naturally I followed them and wiped them out after confirming that they were staying in a well-hidden cave. From there I continued to find more such caves, and so I just kept whipping them out. Coming to the fort to inform everyone would have been a waste of time, I had feared they could contact each other. Hence I tried to be as fast as possible."

"I see, that is likely why they suddenly attacked the fort. Once they realized what was going on they risked it all on that." Pelaros was surprised that Evale had managed that much. Considering the fact that there was more than four higher undead in the fight that night. 

"It's likely what happened. I didn't expect that response though. I didn't eliminate all the undead in each cave, which might have caused it." Evale turned slightly sad as she said this, "If I saw anything beyond me I just used some AOE arrows and ran."

"In any case, now that your back we can finally discuss the plans forward." 

For the most part, Eldrian just stood and listened as everyone talked. While Pelaros had gotten most of the information from the other survivors, he asked Evale everything from the start. Both to confirm what was correct, and also to figure out what more she had learned and experienced through going at it alone. 

Eldrian was left without words when he listened to her recount her fight against the revenant. With it being a Tier below her, it had actually pushed her so far. This just resounded to Eldrian how strange and strong undead were. They truly weren't normal enemies. 

In the end, it took a couple of hours before they were done. Eldrian quickly left the keep, it having long since become a little depressing for him. He didn't have much of a say, and being the weakest he also didn't have much right. While Pelaros didn't mind much if he did talk, it was clear they felt he should just wait for them to finish.

Being part of it though had kept him up to date, and also update his quest. 

Reading through it Eldrian realized that not much changed. In fact, only Goal 1 changed to reflect that Pelaros was now part of the mission, and that if things went wrong he needed to report that. 

[Story Line Quest Update]

[Quest Name: Corruption spreads]

[Quest Giver: Pelaros]

[Quest Rank: SS]

[Quest Description: Retrieve information on the appearance of corruption in the southern border of Taurus, in the forest of Pyknos. This is not the only appearance of this corruption and its discovery is vital to all races in the war for survival.]

[Quest Goal 1 [Updated] (For completion of the quest): In four days Pelaros will set out with a formidable force to attempt and find the corruption. Player-Eldrian- must follow along as insurance, bringing news of what happens to the Fort/City and informing the royals.]

[Quest Goal 2 (For completion of the first questline): Deal with the cause of corruption. (Ranked Epic)]

[Quest Reward: 4 levels]

[Quest Payment 1: Access to Magic Crystal (Already given, will not be revoked)]

[Quest Payment 2: 20 Gold coins]

[Quest Payment 3: Choice of up to 3 Tier 4 magic items, or a single Tier 5 magic weapon]

[Quest Party: Unkown - Notable NPCs; Evale, Pelaros, Kydone]

I wonder what determines if an NPC is notable? Eldrian mumbled as he saw that Kydone was also on the list for some reason. Seeing that he also wondered what had happened to her, again. After being healed she hadn't wanted to stay with anyone and had gone off on her own again. 

Anycase, let's continue training.  Eldrian thought as he left the keep, quickly finding an open space where he continued to try and learn Volida. It was quite tricky as it wasn't just a fire spell, like Floga or Mifotia. Instead, it was a hybrid wind and fire spell, and hence Eldrian had to figure out the mana composition as normal. 

He didn't feel bothered as his cast would continually whimper into licks of flame that disappeared with the wind. At least these whimpers informed him on how close he was, and when there was just a burst of flame he knew he overshot it. 

After a few hours, a fireball crashed against the ground, setting it all aflame. "Shit!" Eldrian shouted as he quickly cast Nidia, only to find the spell did little to the flames. So instead he pulled a barrel of water from the dimensional storage of the ring, where he kept the less valuable things, and threw the water over the flames. Yet even so it took a while for the flames to all die, surviving quite the number of seconds under the water. 

Looking at the black circle Eldrian was surprised by the spell's tenacity. The fire it caused didn't die easily, so it was much more impressive than he had thought it would be from the description. Quickly Eldrian cast it a few more times, this time aiming for places without plants. 

It still took a few tries as he had to remember the composition of mana which had worked, but once he got used to it Eldrian finally got the system notification that he had learned a spell. 

[Spell learned]

[Volida, Tier 2, rank 0]

[A simple fireball spell with the focus not on the explosion, but rather the fire itself. Very useful in confined spaces or when trying to make a bonfire.]

[Explosion Damage: 8 Fire-based heat damage (FHD)]

[Area of Effect: Lingering flames dealing 3 FHD every second]

[Cost: 22 MP]

[No cast cooldown] [Due to having learned the spell from root]

[0.25 Cast time]

Interesting, I wonder why the damage is so specifically defined now. Is it another simple interface update or because it is Tier 2?  Eldrian wondered after reading through it. The damage was certainly lackluster, even less than Frost Needle which did 9 IceD (Ice damage). The advantage of Frost Needle was even larger though as it did piercing damage with a bonus of it being ice-based. 

Something which wasn't listed in the spell but rather something Eldrian came to learn. He felt that this FHD, heat-based, meant it was much less effective. Essentially instead of it being a side effect of the spell, it implied it is the entire effect.

The true test for this spell was going to be if it stuck onto the target. Eldrian felt that that would instantly make it far stronger.  While at it Eldrian also looked at Anthisma, to see what was different compared to Anthizo

[Anthisma, Tier 2, rank 1]

[Anthisma a rejuvenation spell of the nature element. Has a side effect of healing minor injuries, but the focus of the spell is transferring energy to the target.]

[Recovers 10 HP [Limit: 7 casts, 2- hour cd]]

[Recovers 18 SP&MP [Limit: 7 casts, 1-hour cd]] [No MP recovery for the caster.]

[1.5 regen bonus of both SP&MP for 3 minutes [Limit: 3 casts, 1-hour cd]]

[Cost: 26 MP]

[No cast cooldown] [Due to having learned the spell from root]

[0.2 Cast time]

Looking at it Eldrian had to admit that with the higher rank, it not being a healing spell became more apparent. Compared to Anthizo it only healed 2 more HP, yet it recovered 8 more stamina and mana. The cost nearly doubled though, from 15 to 26 mana per cast. 

Oh, that bonus regen is really nice though. Anthizo was only 1 for 2 minutes. Eldrian quite liked that increase, especially what it promised in the future. The reason for this was because he had found while his mana and stamina pool grew much much larger, the regen didn't improve all that much. 

The one he was clearest on was his mana regen, which still regened less than one MP per second. Hence this bonus from Anthisma would double or even triple his regen. If not even more.

With that settles, and the sun more than halfway to setting, Eldrian decided to pass some time by reading. Standing up as it became night and heading to the inn where he was to meet Vivian. His mind wandering as he wondered how it was going to go.