Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

The silence that followed the intense battle against the Boss hung over the room, which was now littered with debris and a lot of mana still dissipating.

Kaizen and Xisrith, panting and a little bruised, looked around, assessing the outcome of the fight. This time, the Timekeeper had definitely been defeated.

Kaizen approached Xisrith, his face showing a smile of relief. “Are you all right?” he asked, concerned about her injuries.

Xisrith nodded, although her breathing was heavy. “I’m fine, Kaizen. It was a tough fight, but we made it. That Timekeeper was really powerful.”𝒪𝓋𝓵xt.𝒞𝑜𝓂

“Yes, he was, but look at us, we’re a good pair.”

“You saved my ass and I just took advantage of the loopholes I found.”

“I usually have to guide others to take advantage of the loopholes I open. It’s twice as tiring, which is why I like playing solo.” Kaizen said.

Kaizen and Xisrith shared a laugh, relieved by the victory won through teamwork. The adrenaline of the battle began to subside, and they felt the weight of their injuries and efforts. The room was in ruins, with shelves destroyed and books scattered everywhere. The wreckage was a reminder of what they had faced, but also evidence of their determination and courage.

While recovering, Kaizen and Xisrith began to rummage through the remains of the battle in search of any clues or treasures that the Timekeeper might in fact be protecting, until as Xisrith was walking through the place, she accidentally stepped on a pressure plate and a loud creak began to echo through the room, coming from their left. When they turned in the direction of the sound, they saw the shelf of a wall move to the side and reveal a passage.

Cautiously, they entered the passage and found themselves in a secret room, lit by ancient torches. The room contained a series of chests, swords and various other items forged by the Bloodstones, carefully placed, as if this were their vault.

  A thick layer of dust and sand covered everything in the room, yet it was clear that the items there were very good indeed.

So Xisrith was immediately fascinated by the items and the meticulously forged handmade swords. She admired a curved-bladed sword hanging on the wall and held it reverently, appreciating the quality of the workmanship.

“Ohh… Kaizen, look at this, it’s amazing…” She said with admiration.

As Xisrith explored the items, Kaizen opened a chest and saw that it was full of scrolls. Kaizen took one of the scrolls out of the chest and opened it, whereupon the old scroll revealed itself to be a beautiful diagram of a shield. Quickly, Kaizen took out another scroll from the chest, and this one was a diagram of a blacksmith’s hammer, which could increase the chance of obtaining an elemental effect by up to 10 times. All the scrolls were carefully detailed, made with not only a lot of knowledge, but also a lot of love and dedication.

As a blacksmith, Kaizen could feel the potential of these diagrams even to expand his skills as a blacksmith.

“Xisrith, just look at those diagrams,” said Kaizen enthusiastically.

Xisrith approached and looked at the diagrams with his eyes shining with interest. “That’s incredible, Kaizen. Do you think you can use them?”

“I believe so.”

In fact, his brain was already working frantically on the possibilities in which he could use these diagrams. While the two of them were examining the diagrams and discussing their possibilities, they heard a noise coming from another part of the room. It was a soft whisper, as if the wind was blowing through some crack.

Xisrith raised an eyebrow, her adventurous instincts alert. “Did you hear that?”

Kaizen nodded, picking up one of the swords they’d found and holding it in one hand. “Looks like we’re not alone here.”

They followed the sound of the whisper to a wall where there was a series of old armors placed on already corroded wooden stands.

Xisrith noticed that a weak breeze was passing through a crack in the wall behind one of these armors. “There’s an air intake behind that wall. Maybe another room.”

With not a little care, Kaizen pushed the armor in front of him to the ground and, without even touching the wall, made its bricks fly forward. A little dust rose from the creation of the passage, but Kaizen nodded to Xisrith, ready to explore the place. They passed through the passage and entered a lighter underground chamber, where looking up you could see the moonlight coming through the cracks and holes in the ceiling.

In the center of the chamber was an impressive statue of an ancient wizard, with emerald eyes that shone in the dim torchlight, the same figure they had seen before and possibly the wizard who created the Timekeeper they had faced a few minutes ago. Behind the statue, there was a stone altar with a book bound in ancient leather.

Cautiously, they crossed the room, walking towards the altar, on the lookout for any kind of trap.

When they finally climbed on top, Xisrith looked closely at the cover of the book, which seemed to float by itself.

“It’s a book of spells.” she whispered, staring at the book but not daring to get close.

Kaizen approached and examined the book. “In other words, it’s a grimoire.”

“No, a spell book is different from a grimoire.”

“Is it? What’s the difference?” asked Kaizen.

“A grimoire is free of magic, but to enchant something, you have to sacrifice the whole grimoire, so the thing will be bewitched or enchanted, whatever you prefer. A spellbook only requires one sheet of paper to enchant a person or object. And in case you didn’t know, the difference between ordinary magic and a spell is that magic only requires activation and the work of sustaining it. Whereas a spell requires the work of activation and deactivation. In other words, a spell can have infinite effect as long as it isn’t nullified by the spell caster himself or by some outside nullification.”

“Ow, you know a lot about this Rise Online system.” Kaizen said.

Xisrith realized at that moment that he had said too much. “Eh… I mean, I know a few things.” She said, a little embarrassed.