Memento Clam

Izroth examined the purple clam within his hands. It was no bigger than the palm of his hand and was dark purple in color. There was an unusual symbol that resembled a parade of blades intersecting with one another. The clam gave off a faint energy pulse every few seconds as if it were breathing.

Name: Memento Clam(Magical Item)

Rank: A

Usage: This item is used to collect, store, and view memory fragments.

Memory Fragments Stored: 1/10

Special Note: An ancient relic of the Great Sea that has survived through the test of time. Once this item stores a specific memory fragment, it will be unable to store unrelated memory fragments.

'Memory fragments? There's already one stored inside.'

Izroth touched the top of the Memento Clam and soon after, the clam popped open. There was a beautiful multi-colored pearl resting within the clam. When Izroth tried to pull it out, he was unable to do so. It was as if the pearl and clam were one and the same.

However, just a few moments after Izroth touched the pearl, it began to release a brilliant light. The light encircled Izroth and started to slowly take form. It took the form of a transparent screen with static showing and what was on the screen was becoming clearer by the second.

Izroth could not make out much because the images that appeared were too choppy and fragmented. But, he managed to see the image of a man and a woman constantly flickering in and out of view. The woman was holding something in her hands wrapped in cloth but it was unclear what the object was.

'How is this related to Gilidore?'

The image was in a constant loop as it repeated itself after around five seconds. Izroth furrowed his brows as he tried to make sense of it but he did not know the man or woman that was shown on the screen.

'Perhaps I'll need to collect and store more memory fragments before I'm able to receive a proper understanding of it. However...'

Izroth had no idea where to even begin searching for memory fragments! This quest was becoming more and more unreasonable. How vast was RML? A player could spend an entire year doing nothing but exploring and still be unable to cover every corner of RML.

Izroth shook his head and placed the Memento Clam within his inventory.

'It may be that my previous prediction is accurate. Otherwise, the events that transpired while inside of this dungeon and its structure would not make any sense.'

He was referring to the fact that the dungeon had ended after only defeating two bosses, but there was still much more of it left to explore. Izroth, however, was unable to access the other layers at the moment.

'The memory fragments may reside within the other layers. After all, this is supposedly only the outer layer of the Sea Palace. In order to find answers, I'll have to first discover a way to enter into the other layers of the Sea Palace.'

Izroth was in no rush as the system gave him 90 days to complete the first part of the world quest. It would not give him such a large time limit if it was going to be that easy to figure out everything involving the world quest.

Izroth then turned his attention to the other loot that dropped from the dungeon boss Vicious Barbados.

Loot Drop:

-25 silver coins

-x2 «Merfolk Scale»

-x1 «Vicious Edge»

-x1 «Kashysh's Scale Legs»

-x1 «Vicious Stigma»

The loot was actually much better than Izroth expected it to be. He even obtained a second piece to the Kashysh's Scale set. It was too bad that the set was meant for tanks instead of damage dealers.

There was one item that immediately caught Izroth's attention. It was a piece of equipment that he had yet to acquire, a trinket! Accessories were the hardest pieces of equipment to come by in RML, with the exception of trinkets.

If a player was fortunate enough to come across a trinket, then they could only be considered as being extremely lucky! Trinkets had an active or passive skill attached to them which was able to benefit players greatly.

In fact, trinkets were the only items in RML that players could use regardless of their level. That meant players could use a trinket from level 20 all the way to level 50 due to the nature of the item.

Of course, players would prefer a powerful trinket if possible. Since trinkets did not have a level, players could only use the rank and skill to determine its usefulness.

Accessory Name: Vicious Stigma

Accessory Rank: Uncommon

Accessory Skill: Blood Stigma(Passive) - Attacks have a 10% chance of causing the opponent to Bleedout for 10% of the user's attack damage every 1 second for 10 seconds. This damage ignores all defenses. This skill can stack up to 5 times.

'What a useful skill for long battles or boss fights.'

If Izroth was able to stack the skill up to 5 times with his current attack stat of 430, then the Blood Stigma would deal 215 damage every 1 second and a total of 2,150 damage every 10 seconds.

This skill would work out perfectly for him as it would become even more deadly when he had Flickering Steps or Lightning Field active.

Izroth equipped the Vicious Stigma trinket without hesitation. A player could only have two trinkets equipped at the same time, though most would be lucky if they were able to find even a single trinket.

He then placed the Merfolk Scales and the silver coins into his inventory before examining the last two remaining item drops.

Name: Vicious Edge(Uncommon)

Level: 23

Requirements: 200 Agility

ATK: 80

AGI: 40

Name: Kashysh's Scale Legs(Uncommon)

Level: 23

Type: Plate

Requirements: 150 Defense

HP: 400

DEF: 30

Set Effect(2): The user is able to travel freely inside the «Underwater World» without the use of a «Merfolk Scale».

Set Effect(3): Grants the user +50% bonus speed while within any body of water.

Set Effect(4): The user gains +30 ATK, +20 DEF.

Set Effect(5): The user gains +2,000 HP, +50 DEF.

Set Effect(6): The user gains +4,000 HP, +50 ATK, +50 DEF.

Special Note: This equipment piece is part of the «Kashysh Scale Set» and when equipped with other set pieces, grants the user extra benefits.

The Vicious Edge was not too bad for an uncommon weapon. It gave a decent attack and agility increase. However, it still failed to live up to Izroth's Blade of Lightning. As for the Kashysh's Scale Legs, its stats were not too far off from the chest piece Izroth had received from Calder.

'A tank who manages to collect all six pieces would probably be immediately put on the top list of tanks just based on equipment alone.'

Izroth put the Vicious Edge and Kashysh's Scale Legs into his inventory. He still had the Underwater World Treasure Chest to open, however, he could not open it while inside of the Sea Palace Graveyard.

He looked around the room and noticed that a circular gateway had appeared on one of the walls. It was not there before and must have only appeared after Vicious Barbados was defeated.

Izroth walked over towards the circular gateway and just as he was about to step into it, he received an alert from the system.

〈System Alert: Player Luna has sent you a message, "Hello... The strangest thing just happened. I was finishing up a quest with some friends when I received an alert from the system telling me I've completed a part of the world quest. Any idea as to what's going on?"〉

...

Luna had just returned to Amaharpe to turn in a quest she finished with her friends. She was startled when she heard the system alert sound go off and realized that a part of the world quest The Beginning of Beginnings had been completed.

She did not remember doing anything or coming across something that was related to it. If that were the case then...

Luna opened up her friendslist and saw that Izroth was online. She knew immediately that it definitely had something to do with him. Though, she felt a bit dejected for some reason that Izroth did not bother inviting her to tag along.

She shook her head as a light blush formed on her cheeks trying to clear her mind. "He has no obligation to invite me. What am I thinking?" she muttered to herself before sending a message to Izroth asking him about the alert she just received.

〈System Alert: Player Izroth has sent you a message, "Just a bit of unforeseen luck."〉

When Luna read the message he sent, she immediately gave a helpless smile. Unforeseen luck? If it were anyone else she might question that, but during the short period of time that she had known Izroth for, she knew that he was being straight-forward.

"Completing a part of an SSS-ranked world quest by luck... Is that even fair?" as Luna was muttering to herself, she suddenly felt someone place their hand on her shoulder.

"Nana, we're going to take a break and go eat. Are you coming with?"

When Luna turned around, she saw that it was one of her friends that she was in a party with. She had short azure hair with a lovely pair of eyes to match the color. She was very petite and possessed a captivating smile that would make those around her feel refreshed and full of energy.

Luna let out a helpless sigh, "I told you that nickname is embarrassing, Jia."

Jia giggled playfully, "But I think that it suits you, Nana. So, are you coming or not?"

Luna could only give up as she shook her head, "I'm going to stay on a bit longer. I have a few things I want to finish doing."

"Ugh... I've been rejected by Nana, I'm heartbroken~ How mean! Waaah!" Jia was acting overdramatic and making a scene, causing the players around them to look her and Luna with confused expressions on their faces.

Luna's closed her eyes and endured the stares as her cheeks turned bright red due to the amount of embarrassment from the scene Jia was causing. "You- Don't you know how to behave decently in public?"

Jia burst out laughing when she saw how Luna reacted and stopped her act. It was one of her favorite pastimes to tease Luna until she reached this state. After all, they had known each other ever since they were children and so Jia knew many of Luna's weaknesses.

"Bleh! Fine, we'll go eat without you. See you later, Nana!" Jia playfully stuck her tongue out at Luna before logging off.

Luna let out a sigh of relief and quickly made her way away from her current location to escape the stares of the crowd.

...

A new group of players from Cross Haven was standing outside of the circular gateway that led into the dungeon Sea Palace Graveyard. It was a different group from the one that was there earlier.

One of the players yawned, "It's always so boring when we have to wait our turn... Can't we all just go in at the same time? What's the big deal if someone else enters?"

"Idiot, since our guild was the first to locate this dungeon it's only obvious that we reap the most benefits and take advantage of it. How could you even say such a-" Just when one of the other players were responding, the circular gateway behind them lit up and a figure stepped out from within the gateway.

'Level 22... I wonder how far along the top players are right now.'

Izroth had traveled through the circular gateway located inside of the room he fought against Vicious Barbados in. The gateway had transported him back to the entrance of the dungeon and into the ruins that he was in before he stepped inside the Sea Palace Graveyard.

"Are you Izroth?" one of the players asked when he saw Izroth exit from out of the gateway. He came out by himself and the member of Cross Haven was informed by the previous group and their lieutenant that a solo player named Izroth was inside of the dungeon.

Izroth glanced over at the player before he nodded, "I am."

"Lieutenant Wess told us that you would be coming out. Though, the time was way longer than expected. He just wanted me to inform you that if you could not spread the word about this place, he would be grateful."

Even though the dungeon showed up on the Exploration Logs, it was still a bit tricky to find. If possible, Wess wanted to avoid an influx of players. After all, if too many players poured in at once then even if they were a top guild, it would not be worth it to antagonize the general public.

Izroth had no reason to guide anyone to this location, so he did not mind the request. "You have my word." He then walked towards the gateway located on the other side of the room.

It was the gateway to leave these ruins. Though if he remembered the words of that player correctly, it would not put him at the same location where he first entered into the ruins from.

Izroth stepped into the gateway and made his exit from within the Ruins of Kashysh.