Phoenix Phire

Alpha Team didn't pause long enough to examine the Phoenix puppet or the items he dropped. Nix looted everything and then immediately activated Deep Blue. All the torches had already changed to blue, and the group could feel the crafters staring at them.

Nix chose the Eidengal destination, and a moment later, the small group stepped into the flower garden. "Let's find Jun Li and the rest of Inferno; Ducky will open the door for us."

/Inferno: Nix: We're by the flower gardens, near the gating platform.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Take the path nearest the fountain; it leads to the old Market Square. Straight pass that is the Armory.

/Inferno: Chiba: Woah... This is like a ghost town.

The group walked down the pristine golden streets; every building looked like it was carefully maintained.

/Alpha: Chiba: A perfect City in the desert, it's like everyone just got up and moved suddenly.

/Alpha: Sasi: Cursed probably.

/Alpha: Rabi: Yep. Definitely cursed.

/Alpha: Nix: No idea, but if this place weren't in a desert, everyone would live here.

Within half an hour, the group was able to find Inferno. Jun Li managed to bring twenty people, including the original Alpha team of Semmi, Fajii, Wind, and Pon.

/Inferno: Nix: Still in there, Ducky?

/Inferno: Ducky: Yep. Just waiting for you to ask me to open it up.

/Inferno: Nix: Go ahead. Open it up.

Nix grinned when the giant double doors opened up, and one plain wooden chest appeared in front of them. "One wooden chest?"

Quest Updated.

Part VII Temple of the Flame

Part VIII Temple of Wood

Part IX Temple of Metal

Part X Elemental Origins

Quest: Temple of the Flame

The Temple of Flame is the birthplace

of the Phoenix. Overlooking the majesty

of this Temple are three Eternal Flames.

To claim this Temple, all three flames must

be extinguished. Only those without the element

of fire may approach.

/Inferno: Nix: Awesome, thanks, Ducky.

/Inferno: Ducky: Should I bring the Sword to Delia now?

[Whisper: Nix to Darsi] Can you make higher level essence containers? We need something that can handle Nemesis level enhancements.

[Whisper: Darsi to Nix] I have a bunch on hand as a result of crits while making the lower-level ones.

[Whisper: Nix to Darsi] Can you give some of those to Ducky?

[Whisper: Darsi to Nix] Guess that depends on you Trip-7.

[Whisper: Nix to Darsi] Really? Going to hold me up for credits? I know you're crazy rich.

[Whisper: Darsi to Nix] Nope, I need some higher level fights. Bring me with you on the next set of Khione Quests.

[Whisper: Nix to Darsi] Sure. I could use some ranged back-up. Just hand them over to Ducky.

/Alpha: Nix: Escort Ducky back to HQ so she can get Delia to dis-enchant that Sword. It shouldn't take very long; then, you can bring it back to Elena in Favi.

/Alpha: Chiba: Thanks, Nix. Remember, you can't advance as a Spellsword until you take on all-comers in Favi.

/Alpha: Nix: I'm going to head there as soon as I wrap up the Dragon City quests.

/Alpha: Beta: Need help with those?

/Alpha: Nix: Should be fine, it's just going to be time-consuming.

After Ducky and the rest of his group left, Nix hooked up Jun Li and Pon, who was waiting patiently by the door.

/Inferno: Nix: Let's open the chest first.

Nix opened the wooden chest.

You have received a Guild Voucher for The Inferno Set Armor.

/Inferno: Pon: That's it? What the hell is this?

/Inferno: Semmi: In fairness, we took a shortcut to get here. Maybe that enters into it.

/Inferno: Sharl: It shouldn't. The quest was to gain access to the Armory.

/Inferno: Nix: Let's wait and see.

"Get ready to fight old bastard." Nix clapped Pon on the shoulder and walked in through the open doors of the Armory. The sound of hammers pounding immediately filled his ears.

You have entered The Eidengal Armory; please report to Black Smith Arbor in the Crafting Room.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Know where that is, Nix?

/Inferno: Nix: That could be the big room Alpha team was in. The Armory is quite large; I doubt we'll be able to explore it all in a few hours.

/Inferno: Pon: After you, Nix.

/Inferno: Wind: Yeah, lead the way boss.

Nix walked into the reception hallway, immediately his hud popped up and displayed a map of the Armory.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Did you have a map before?

/Inferno: Nix: No.

Nix studied his hud for a moment and then headed towards the Crafting Room. After seeing it on the hud map, he was convinced that it was his entry room.

/Inferno: Pon: You guys didn't make up the difficulty of this place, did you?

/Inferno: Wind: There's no one here.

Nix's face grew more serious the closer they came to the Crafting Room. All the torches appeared to be normal orange flames, and there was no one in sight.

/Inferno: Nix: Semmi and Wind, scout out the area.

When Inferno arrived at the Crafting Room a few minutes later, Nix cursed his decision to open the doors. All the Crafters and their tables were gone. The tables were replaced with a huge forge that was being worked by three men. When Inferno entered the room, one of them looked up at him and waved.

"Greetings, Inferno." A bronzed shirtless man greeted them when they approached. He had the rippling muscles that you'd expect from a blacksmith. "I am Arbor, the Eidengal Blacksmith."

Nix approached him with Jun Li and Pon. All three returned the smith's polite bow. "I'm Nix, the Guild Leader of Inferno. These two with me are my Vice Commanders."

/Inferno: Pon: About f*cking time you promoted me!

/Inferno: Nix: I didn't really, you're still just an old bastard.

Arbor flashed them a friendly smile. "Do you have the voucher for the Inferno Set Armor? This will be complimentary."

Nix nodded and handed him the voucher. "Where did all the crafters go?"

Arbor gave him a blank look. "There hasn't been any crafters here for decades."

Nix cursed in his head. He could have brought in more people and raided each of the Crafting tables.

/Inferno: Nix: Can you check out the North Hall Wind?

/Inferno: Wind: Yep, back in a bit.

Nix waited until the Gemini thief trotted towards the North Hall before turning back to Arbor. "How do we claim the set?"

Arbor gestured for him to follow. In the center of the forge was a circular platform about one meter across. It glowed yellow with enchanted light. "Each of your members will stand on the Dais. We will then take your personal thoughts on the details of your armor."

"Just like that?" Nix didn't require a new set of armor, having just upgraded the raid team's gear.

Arbor nodded. "It should take two weeks. We'll take the first ten now, as the guild leader you are first."

Nix stepped up on the Dais, the warmth of the enchanted light increasing slightly. Arbor's brow creased somewhat while he studied the Dais hud. "Something wrong?"

Arbor shook his head. "You have several amazing enchantments on your armor. Sadly, we won't be able to transfer them. However, we can increase the number of enchantment slots on the new set and leave them empty.

Nix nodded. "That's probably best."

/Inferno: Pon: Of course, the punk bastard has the best shit.

"You can step off Guild Leader." Arbor looked from the hud. "You may design the look of the Inferno Set; this will lock in the design for the entire guild."

Nix pointed to Jun Li. "She'll be designing the guild set."

/Inferno: Nix: Can you handle that, Junie?

/Inferno: Jun Li: Of course. Is pink flower engraving okay?

/Inferno: Nix: Sure...

/Inferno: Pon: Let me do it!

/Inferno: Wind: North hall leads to an empty room and stops.

/Inferno: Nix: Okay, thanks.

Nix excused himself and then used Deep Blue to travel to HQ in Ionova. By the time he arrived, half of the enhancements were already removed from the King's Sword while his group waited.

Delia, the beautiful, favored him with a smile. "Ducky asked me to do the last two enhancements first, so here you go."

Essence Diamond

Description: Contains the

essence of Nihlus the Red.

Essence Diamond

Description: Contains the

essence of Sindi.

"Thanks for the help, Delia." Nix activated Deep Blue and traveled directly to the control room at Inferno City.

Nix had left Halla the Che from Core'Diem in charge of the city, but only he could make changes with the City Control Interface. He opened the interface and studied it for a moment.

[Inferno System Operations]

1. Security

2. Power Grid

3. Transportation

4. Master Key.

Nix stared at the hud while considering the possibilities. "Display all sub-menus, make sub-menu display the default."

[Inferno System Operations]

1. Security

a) City Controller (Nix)

b) City Shields (Enabled)

c) City Gating Platforms (Enabled)

d) City Gun Points (Enabled)

2. Power Grid

a) City Utilities Power (Enabled)

b) Greater House Power (Disabled)

c) Residential Power (Enabled)

d) Business District Power (Enabled)

3. Transportation

a) Mark V Thrusters (Enabled)

b) Orbital Stabilizers (Enabled)

c) City Levitators (Enabled)

4. Master Key.

a) Annonymous (Enabled)

b) Intercity Communication (Disabled)

c) Direct Control (Disabled)

d) City Links (Disabled)

"Enable City Links and Intercity Communication."