The Calm Before The Storm Part 4

Quest Name: Journey To The Chaotic Dogma Realm

Recommended Level: 25

Recommended Party Size: 6

Quest Rank: SS

Quest Objective: A potential disaster is looming over the capital city Amaharpe. In order for Amaharpe to have a greater chance of surviving the impending disaster, you must travel through the portal and reach the end of the «Chaotic Dogma Realm», where a mystery awaits you.

Time Limit: 1 Day(After the portal status is Open)

Current Portal Status: Closed

0/1 Reach the end of the «Chaotic Dogma Realm».

Reward:

-Gain +2 levels

-One Epic Rank Equipment

-Gain +200 World Fame

-Gain +1 skill point

-x1 «True World Treasure Chest»

Failure:

-Existence Wipe

Special Note: This quest may be shared with up to 5 other players.

Izroth took a brief moment to look over the quest information. He figured the quest would be challenging, however, he did not expect it to reach this level.

'It's an SS-ranked quest... The rewards from this alone are already quite generous. Though that just goes to show how difficult this journey will truly be.'

When Izroth saw the True World Treasure Chest listed as a reward, he was reminded of the item he received while within the Sea Palace Graveyard. The Underwater World Treasure Chest! He had neglected it since he could not open it within the Sea Palace Graveyard.

Also, he had further pushed it to the back of his mind when he met with that mysterious old man. That and the fact that there was no immediate danger or reason for him to open the chest.

'I suppose when I finish taking care of some things and before I enter inside of the portal, I will open the chest.

After he decided on that matter, Izroth furrowed his brows due to some suspicions he held.

'This quest seems to be related to the current world quest I have, but...'

While it was true that both quests had to do with the fate of Amaharpe, the world quest The Beginning of Beginnings clearly defined that failure was the destruction of Amaharpe itself. However, this quest did not have such an absolute failure listed.

That meant even if Izroth succeeded in completing the world quest, Amaharpe could still potentially be destroyed if he failed this quest! Though this caused yet another question to surface in Izroth's mind. Why are so many events being centered around Amaharpe? What is within this city that is so important?

Izroth shook his head inwardly. There was no reason for thinking about it right now. All he could do was continue pressing forward until he uncovered the answers he was searching for.

He pushed that to the back of his head for the time being and focused his attention on the status of the portal listed on the quest. At the moment, the portal was currently listed as closed. He had a time limit of one day once the portal was opened. However, he had no idea how soon that would be.

"Do you have an estimate as to when the portal will be opened?" Izroth asked.

Gear brought his thumb and index finger to his chin as he appeared to be in deep thought about the question. After a few seconds, he responded to Izroth. "The earliest will be three hours. The latest will be around a full day. The estimate is a little rough since we are opening the portal ahead of time."

'Three hours to a full day worth of time... I'll have to make some proper preparations.'

Izroth did not know what would await him once he stepped into the Chaotic Dogma Realm and so he would take the necessary precautions.

After all, he would definitely rather not have to start all over again. While he was confident in his ability to regain his current strength, he would have a more difficult time executing what he had already begun to set in motion.

Izroth and Gear talked about a few small details for a couple of minutes, however, there was no specific information Gear could give Izroth on the Chaotic Dogma Realm since it changed every time.

Gear let out a burst of joyous laughter, "I did not expect you to reach that high of a mastery level with your Flickering Steps in such a short period of time. It took me years to accomplish that ahahaha."

Izroth only gave a slight smile in return to his compliment. He would not become complacent just because he mastered a single movement skill. However, it would be rude to repay kindness with discontent.

"Creating a technique from nothing is many times more challenging than learning one that already exists. I'm sure you would not be any slower in mastering such a skill if our roles were reversed." Izroth said.

There was a definite truth behind his words. Some people spent decades creating, learning and mastering a single technique. However, those that came after them could be considered fortunate, as they only had to learn and train, not create.

Gear nodded his head in approval, "Your wisdom does not suit your age. There is an old saying that goes with age comes wisdom. However, it seems such a saying does not apply to you." Gear's impression of Izroth rose a great deal when he heard Izroth's reply.

To have so much talent while not being complacent nor arrogant. When he spoke he was neither submissive nor aggressive, but rather words of wisdom often left his mouth which prompted others to listen. There was a certain balance to him and a high level of confidence that Izroth carried with him.

Izroth maintained a carefree expression, but he did not know whether to laugh or cry in regards to Gear's comment. In truth, he was still fairly young for a true cultivator, only a couple thousands of years old. In fact, if his true cultivation age was compared to the age of mortals on Earth, he would be considered to be in his mid-twenties!

But, that did not change the fact that he had lived for thousands of years and accumulated a vast amount of wisdom during that period of time. So, of course, his wisdom would not match his current age in this realm.

"Alright, I've kept you long enough." Gear held out a single finger toward Izroth. "Imprint!" A magical symbol formed on his fingertips and shot towards Izroth.

Izroth did not feel any malicious intentions from the magical symbol, and so he did not bother trying to avoid it. Also, it was simply too fast for him to avoid, even with his heightened senses.

The magical symbol sunk into Izroth's forehead before soon disappearing. A small light flashed for a brief moment, becoming faint before eventually dying out.

"That magical symbol will alert you once the portal is successfully open. When that happens, you must immediately return to the palace. Don't worry, as long as my imprint is with you no guards will dare to block your path." Gear reassured Izroth.

Izroth was just wondering if the system would automatically warn him when the portal was opened or not, however, it seemed as though his worries were unnecessary.

"You must have many preparations to make, Izroth. You should take the time to do so as being underprepared can lead to a disaster. We will meet again before your entrance into the portal." Gear said.

Izroth stood up, "Then, I'll be taking my leave for now." Izroth had a few tasks to take care of before he ventured into the Chaotic Dogma Realm. He began to head towards the door, but just as he was about to exit the room he heard Gear ask a question.

"Do you have any people you have in mind to accompany you?" Gear knew that Izroth was strong, however, there was a time limit and one person could only do so much alone within that time. Also, the Chaotic Dogma Realm was not a place to take chances.

Izroth halted his steps and slightly turned his head around. On his face was his usual carefree smile. "I have a few people in mind." With that, Izroth walked out of the door and headed in the direction of the palace exit.

...

Around 15 minutes later...

Izroth had already arrived at the Apothecary building and was currently inside one of the rooms located on the 3rd floor. There were not many rooms located on the 3rd floor due to the fact that there were not that many rank three apothecaries within Amaharpe.

Izroth removed his Dark Abyssal Cauldron from his inventory and placed it before him. He then initiated the heating process for the Dark Abyssal Cauldron and raised it to its peak temperature, pushing the fire core to the very limit of its capabilities.

At the moment, Izroth had enough ingredients to successfully create a total of 150 Five Cycles Pills. He planned on putting the majority of the pills up for sale and keeping part of them for potential bargains.

Either way, the cheap ingredients made it quite easy for Izroth to create as many Five Cycles Pills as he wanted without having to worry about the production cost.

The only troublesome ingredient to obtain at the moment would be the Isolated Water Droplet. This was because Cross Haven was presently in control of the Sea Palace Graveyard.

Which meant that if Izroth wanted the Isolated Water Droplet, he would have to constantly make trips to the Sea Palace Graveyard, which was impractical. Or, he would have to acquire the item from Cross Haven directly.

Izroth could not waste his time farming Isolated Water Droplets. Besides, he was unsure if Cross Haven was even aware of the reagent located within the dungeon they were guarding.

'I am unsure of the way Cross Haven operates when it comes to such things, however, judging from my previous brief encounter with them, at the very least, they don't seem unreasonable.'

Izroth had already started crafting the Five Cycles Pills. His speed was astounding during the process and all of his movements were precise. Not having to worry about pushing the cauldron too far, Izroth was able to rapidly produce batch after batch of Five Cycles Pills, all of which were grade three in rank.

It was a tedious process having to complete the same set of actions fifty times, but it did not bother or wear down Izroth since he was used to crafting higher level pills that required more... Finesse and did not allow for the simplest of mistakes.

After about fifty minutes, Izroth had finished creating all fifty batches of Five Cycles Pills, which made for a grand total of 150 grade three pills. All the pills were set into his inventory. Izroth noticed that the Dark Abyssal Cauldron did not leave a single bit of medicinal essence left over. It devoured everything remaining.

'Interesting, it becomes stronger by feeding off the medicinal essence left over from crafting pills.'

Izroth had an idea and tried tossing one of the Five Cycles Pills he made into the Dark Abyssal Cauldron to see if it would have a greater feeding effect. However, there was no reaction whatsoever. He placed the cauldron and the pill back into his inventory.

'It seems as if it can only feed off of the leftover essence and not directly from the pill itself.'

It was a bit disappointing, but the cauldron would naturally grow stronger as Izroth used it more frequently.

Izroth then removed the Underwater World Treasure Chest from his inventory. Now was a better time than any to see what was inside of it. There was a 20% chance to receive a common item, a 50% chance for an uncommon item, and a 30% chance to obtain a rare item!

Izroth believed that the reason the rare chance was even higher than the common chance was due to the fact that the chest itself was a rare ranked item. However, a 30% chance for a rare item could already be considered a favorable probability.

He opened the Underwater World Treasure Chest and soon after, the item disappeared from his hands and was replaced by a gentle glowing light.

A few moments later, an item appeared within Izroth's hands that had a faint aura surrounding it. He heard the sound of the system alert go off when the new item emerged from the Underwater World Treasure Chest.

〈System Alert: You have received 1 «Crystal Sea Head Ornament»〉