Chapter 8: Ig (Male)
The glory of the gods eternally illuminates the earth.
A hundred years have passed since the Demon King’s World Annihilation War.
Under the mighty power of time, seas can turn into mulberry fields.
As the leaders and warriors who spanned the Demon King’s War gradually passed away, the scars of the past war also faded.
Except for the hero who once saved the world, who now appears in the eyes of the world as the ruler of the continent, the legendary hero and his companions, not many people are willing to remember the memories that fade with the long river of history.
Except—
On the border of the Peka Kingdom.
Aizeliasia, the turning point of the Demon Race War a hundred years ago, where the legendary hero obtained the Sacred Sword and killed the Black-winged Monarch. After an unknown period of desolation, this land, once ravaged by the dragon’s raging flames, finally welcomed a long-lost visitor.
Ig landed on the dark red abyss rock, raising his eyes to look at the crimson line in the distance. Even from afar, the eternally burning flame’s scorching breath made him involuntarily sweat.
As a dangerous secret realm where the hero once fought an immortal dragon and drew out the Sacred Sword, whether it was to follow in the hero’s footsteps, obtain treasures and materials, or for the immeasurable value of the dragon’s remains, countless adventurers made countless explorations and battles, finally causing the profits of this land to shrink day by day. Even dangerous elemental creatures and magical beasts could hardly survive and fled one after another.
Three years ago, after detailed consideration by the Adventurer’s Guild and officials of the Peka Kingdom, this place, where almost no adventurers were willing to go for training, was downgraded from the initial S-rank to the lowest F-rank secret realm.
But none of this concerned him.
Struggling to walk on the ground that was once ravaged by dragon flames, the black-haired young man Ig, and the black cloaks of most adventurers, were soaked with sweat.
Even with his Bronze Rank Swordsman strength and magical items that could isolate fire elements, he could barely withstand the scorching heat.
“Gods above, even though they’ve lost their guardians and Creation Crystals, why hasn’t this fire dried up!”
Forcefully wiping the sweat from his face, Ig grumbled a little discontentedly, then turned back to encourage his companions.
“Everyone! Hang in there, we’re almost there!”
“Dragonfall Land,” once occupied by the Flame Dragon, was not connected to the mantle.
Some people once speculated that the inexhaustible thermal energy here might originate from the breath of the dragon that was slain by the hero, and was later replaced by the “Creation Crystal.”
However, such speculation was quickly overturned – after the secret realm was plundered by countless adventurers, the endless lava in “Dragonfall Land” did not gradually cool down, and even in recent years, it has a tendency to become hotter.
Even a Saint Rank powerhouse from the Peka Kingdom came to investigate, but still found nothing.
This may also be one of the reasons why even now, this barren land, which even the most basic adventurers are unwilling to visit, still retains the “F-rank secret realm.”
“Hey, Young Master Ig, I told you this place where even rats don’t live won’t have anything good! If there are any dragon bones left, I’m afraid the adventurers who have searched here for decades would have been blinded by the Sacred Light of the God Of Light.”
A middle-aged swordsman carrying a greatsword yelled discontentedly at the young man in front.
The immortal dragon bones, which were globally rare and valuable enough to make most noble lords sell their lifelong property, were taken by the Peka Kingdom and the Empire before the secret realm was opened. The remaining bone fragments were undoubtedly plundered by the first adventurers, so how could they be left for them?
“Mr. Fleck, I’m sorry, I will increase your and your companions’ reward later!”
Ig stopped and said apologetically.
Although this greatsword swordsman was hired by him, according to the agreement, they had a certain proportion of rights to the spoils obtained during the adventure. Ig could understand their dissatisfaction when they followed him to this place where not even a single magical beast existed.
Besides this Silver Rank greatsword swordsman, Ig was also accompanied by a bow hunter of the same rank and a water mage. He hired them in Teville City last month, spending a total of 1000 Bright Silver Coins to accompany him for training.
Hearing Ig’s voice, Fleck’s expression softened a bit, and he grumbled as he ordered his companions to keep up.
Ig smiled slightly, picked up a reddish-brown stone from the ground, and a faint light flashed in his eyes.
—
Appraisal:
Stone stained with Dragon Blood
Type: Material
Rarity: Worn
Evaluation: This stone, stained by the immortal blood splattered by the former Flame Dragon Raniellant, has long lost its original function with the passage of time.
—
Lost its function? Then it’s just an ordinary stone.
Ig shook his head and smiled, casually throwing away the hot stone, thinking that there would be no such thing as finding a bargain.
The young man’s action of casually throwing away the stone did not attract the attention of the mercenary companions behind him. They thought it was just a casual action, and did not know that Ig had just used his “Professional Talent.”
For professionals in Agrand, when they break through from the mundane Black Iron rank to the Bronze rank, a very small number of exceptionally talented or lucky individuals may receive divine endowments from the gods and awaken various “Professional Talents,” such as elemental affinity, battle qi resilience, guaranteed hit, weapon mastery, strength enhancement, and so on.
Different professional talents have a considerable impact on the combat and cultivation of professionals. The higher the talent, the stronger the combat power and the faster the cultivation speed the gifted person will obtain under the same conditions, and it will also have a considerable impact on their professional path.
Legend has it that the current King of Peka, Lancaster, before obtaining the Sacred Sword, possessed top-tier divine talents such as Sacred Light Affinity, Battle Qi Resilience, Unyielding Bloodline, Sacred Radiance Banner, Crown of Overlooking Mountains, and Eternal Unbreakable Shield.
And the talent Ig obtained three years ago when he painstakingly broke through to Bronze and entered the professional path was “Appraisal.”
For such a seemingly unheard-of talent, in addition to considerable restrictions, there are also great requirements for the appraised items: the more powerful the will contained in the item, the greater the consumption.
In Ig’s current state, he can at most appraise one ordinary Silver Rank item per day, and even so, he needs to rest for several days – however, for ordinary items like the one just now, it’s fine to appraise three or four times a day.
At that time, Ig was quite speechless for a while after discovering that his talent was so weak. But he quickly adjusted his mindset.
Based on Ig’s self-awareness, it was a fantasy for his talent to obtain a “Divine Endowment.” It was already good luck to obtain this seemingly not very useful “Appraisal.”
Therefore, Ig did not feel too disappointed with the “Stone stained with Dragon Blood” that he casually appraised just now. The reason he wanted to come to this deserted and abandoned secret realm was not for spoils and materials that could be sold for gold.
The real reason was not to “follow in the footsteps of the former hero,” but for… a peerless expert a hundred years ago, who founded the Sword Qi school and was the only one in the Sword Qi school to break through to the legendary realm – Lothelser Tlaesis.
Ig knew that this former peerless expert had fallen on this land.
