011 The Third Member!

Meeting the dwarf paladin again, Morning Wind found it somewhat amusing. The two of them had attempted to cooperate, had been enemies, yet somehow always ended up together. Up to now, neither Morning Wind nor Autres had ever truly come out on top; every encounter ended in either alliance or battle. Because of the Ring of Power, the two intended to join forces, for both were formidable in their own right.

The dwarf paladin led Morning Wind to the edge of a cliff, pointed toward a swirling vortex on the sea, and said, “The Assault Armor fragment you’re after is likely down there. That’s the lair of the Abyssal Murlocs—the rulers of the southern islands off Ghana Sea!”

The Assault Armor fragment in Morning Wind’s pack emitted a faint glow, clearly indicating that another piece was nearby. Now he understood why, after flying for so long, he hadn’t found it—the fragment was under the sea. Though he'd lost an Epic Refinement Stone this time, if he could retrieve the Assault Armor fragment, Morning Wind felt it would be worth it.

Autres took the Epic Refinement Stone from Morning Wind, stored it in his pack, and said, “Be careful. The lowest Abyssal Murloc here is level 40, the highest reaches level 60. Even I wouldn’t dare go down there. Take care of yourself!”

So high-leveled? Morning Wind regarded the dwarf paladin suspiciously, wondering if he’d been tricked. How could he possibly survive in such a dangerous place? Wasn’t this just a death sentence?

“Don’t look at me like that. You insisted on coming; I’m just the guide.” The dwarf paladin sat down. “Go on, get going. I’ll wait here for you. If anything happens, message me—I’ll come down and collect your corpse.”

Ignoring Autres, Morning Wind transformed into a raven, swooped down to four meters above the sea, then shifted to his human form. When he dove into the water, he changed into a seal. The area was filled with whirlpools; staying human would have meant being sucked in. Only as a seal could he move safely in these waters.

As soon as he entered the water, Morning Wind saw several Abyssal Murlocs swimming about, their scales a dark green. Their upper bodies resembled humans, but their heads sported enormous mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth, fins trailing down their backs, and each wielded a trident. Their lower bodies were serpentine, allowing swift movement underwater as well as support on land.

These Abyssal Murlocs ranged from level 40 to 50. At level 31, Morning Wind dared not tangle with them; his only hope was to sneak into their lair and retrieve the Assault Armor fragment.

Carefully diving deeper, he finally discovered the Abyssal Murloc palace—a grand structure akin to a main city’s palace, with murloc patrols everywhere. Infiltrating would be nearly impossible. Initially, Morning Wind thought the fragment would be inside, but as he approached, the glow from his fragment weakened.

Where was the Assault Armor fragment?

If it was inside the main city, there was no point even trying. But perhaps it was outside. Morning Wind scouted the surroundings. About a thousand meters from the Abyssal Murloc city, near an undersea hill, the fragment's glow shone brightest.

There was an entrance!

Circling the hill, he found a doorway, tall enough for two people. No murlocs guarded it, but Morning Wind hesitated—what if a boss lurked inside?

But he’d come this far; there was no turning back. Even if there was a boss, he had escape skills; it shouldn’t be a problem. He didn’t need to kill the boss—he just wanted the fragment. No piece could fall into another’s hands, or trouble would follow.

Inside, the cave was pitch dark. Morning Wind crept forward but sensed no danger. At the end, on an altar, lay the fragment. No boss? It seemed unlikely such a prize would be unguarded.

He approached but didn’t pick it up immediately, scanning the area first. If this was a seal for a boss, could he escape after taking the fragment? In seal form, Morning Wind couldn’t use skills—only flee at top speed. He could drink potions, but only in human form, wasting a second to change shape.

The third fragment of the artifact! He had to take the risk.

Morning Wind shifted to human form, drank an underwater breathing potion, then a speed potion, and transformed into a seal again. He grabbed the Assault Armor fragment and bolted for the exit.

The moment he picked up the fragment, the entire cave shook. Crimson light blazed from the altar, and tentacles began to emerge.

There was no time to look back. He’d clearly triggered a boss—now it was a question of escape. Bursting from the cave, Morning Wind swam upward, desperate to reach land.

Boom!

The entire hill exploded, a pillar of red light shooting skyward. A crimson tentacle whipped toward Morning Wind. Just as it was about to seize him, he activated Stealth and vanished, leaving the tentacle groping empty water before retracting. In wildcat form, he continued his frantic ascent.

A colossal crimson octopus, as massive as a mountain, emerged from the sea floor, its tentacles lashing out at him. Without hesitation, Morning Wind used Savage Shift to surge ahead, then activated Timewalk, blinking a hundred meters further. With five uses of the Timewalk skill, he reached the surface on his third blink, then used the last two to reach fifty meters from shore.

Fifty meters could mean life or death. He dashed for the land, slower now that he couldn’t become a seal. If that giant octopus boss caught him, he’d be doomed. But as he stumbled onto the shore, the boss was distracted and did not pursue.

Morning Wind guessed it must be fighting the Abyssal Murlocs.

From his memory, only the legendary Beast God bosses wielded such power. These bosses roamed the continent of Oglath, their origins unknown. Some were unsealed and hunted players; others, sealed, were nearly divine and impossible to defeat.

Now he’d unleashed a legendary Beast God boss—this was a disaster! Luckily, it was an ocean boss. As long as he stayed away from this area, he should be safe. Killing it would have to wait until at least level 60, and even then, it would take time. All he wanted was the Assault Armor fragment—having secured it, he intended to leave as soon as possible. Whether he would ever return depended on future quests.

“Autres? Was this your doing?” Stan, the dual-talented Demonology and Destruction Warlock from Italy, stood at the cliff’s edge, with Autres forty meters ahead, calmly drinking beer.

Autres never glanced back at Stan, his eyes on the crimson Beast God octopus emerging from the sea. He’d meant to send Morning Wind to his death, but hadn’t expected him to awaken such a boss. The boss’s name was black—it wasn’t a Horde creature, it would attack anything that moved.

“It was the Chinese player, Duan Morning Wind, who stirred this up. No idea if he got the Assault Armor fragment.” Autres was certain it was Morning Wind; he hadn’t expected him to trigger a boss in just half an hour. Now, hordes of Abyssal Murlocs besieged the boss, but were no match for it.

“Duan Morning Wind? Could it be…”

Before Stan could finish, a raven flew down and landed on the dwarf paladin’s head. Autres ignored the rude bird. “Raven, let me introduce you—this is Stan, the Ring Bearer from the UK region, game ID Stan. I recruited him as another partner. The plan is for us to ally and kill off the other Ring Bearers, then complete the final Ring quest together.”

“Dwarf, how strong is this guy? If he can’t win fights, don’t bring him in,” Morning Wind said, sizing up Stan. He didn’t recall this person—at least, not as one of the final four Ring Bearers. But now, thanks to his own actions, perhaps Stan would become one.

If Morning Wind guessed correctly, this warlock had already been burned by Autres once. Those who worked with Autres seldom met a good end; Morning Wind wondered if he’d share their fate. Still, it was better to cooperate with Autres than to oppose him—he was a formidable figure.

“He’s about as strong as I am,” the dwarf paladin replied, not wishing to dwell on the topic. “You and I are both triple-classed, though I’m stronger at healing, while your tanking and DPS are excellent. Stan is mainly a Demonology Warlock—he can tank as a demon, or deal damage as Destruction. With the three of us, in most cases you’ll tank; if we face a spell boss, Stan will switch to tank, and I can tank if needed, while you heal and Stan controls. Together, we’ll rule this continent!”

Autres’ plan was sound. All three could tank, Morning Wind could shapeshift for mobility, and Autres’ triple-class talents were formidable, depending on gear. Stan handled both tanking and damage, with some control. All possessed Rings of Power—a truly powerful lineup.

“I agree, it’s a strong team. But would you consider other Ring Bearers? I have two friends who are quite capable,” Stan said—he’d come to ask if his friends could be included.

At first, when Autres approached him, Stan already had a team. In the end, Autres persuaded him to leave his friends. They understood why—Autres truly had the ability. Both hoped to join, but it was up to Autres.

“I want your data collection and analysis skills—the other two aren’t much use. They may rival you in strength, but they lack the intellect. In my team, everyone must match my power, data sense, technique, and intelligence.” Autres had high standards; he'd originally invited Morning Wind just to loot his Ring, but after realizing Morning Wind could rival him, he genuinely recruited him.

Only those who made the dwarf paladin feel threatened were worthy. He thrived on the excitement—he wanted his teammates to be as dangerous as he was.

“Dwarf, I think my intelligence is higher than yours! Aren’t you worried I’ll kill you one day?” Morning Wind hopped a few times atop Autres’ head.

Autres glanced up. “The sea’s full of people who want me dead—you’re just one more. I think you should be the one afraid, now that you’ve boarded my pirate ship.”

“Haha, you two are hilarious. Looks like you got here half a day before me. Any gains?” Stan found them entertaining; he leveled slowly and didn’t know how they’d arrived here.

The dwarf paladin sat down. “Stan, are you really a data collection expert? Sky-Soaring sought to claim the fourth treasure for himself, but the Raven snatched it first. His legendary one-handed sword dropped to me, and the Ring went to the Raven.”

“I suppose I slacked off. I was focused on hitting level 30 to enter the main map and missed all this.” Stan hadn’t expected so much to happen in a few hours—the Japanese top player Sky-Soaring, who’d had both the Ring and a legendary sword, had been killed by these two.

Autres hadn’t lied; if Stan hadn’t joined his team, he’d be the first target, being now the weakest.

“Let’s go fish in troubled waters!” Autres glanced at the battle raging on the sea. Suddenly, he had an idea.