"Get anything good lately from grinding and questing?" Nie Yan asked. He hadn't chatted like this with Tang Yao in a long time.
"I got a pet Ghost Wolf now. I also found some kind of book filled with a bunch of runes. I have no idea what it's for, but I received a quest for it. I couldn't find out anything else on it, though. You know, the official website really is disgusting sometimes. It doesn't even give a scrap of information on high difficulty quests."
"A book filled with runes...? Is it by chance Malkinson's Runic Book?" Nie Yan asked pensively.
"Huh, yeah. How did you know? I searched online but couldn't find anything. Do you know something about it?"
Nie Yan did know a thing or two about Malkinson's Runic Book. According to legend, it belonged to the Mage God Malkinson. In the previous timeline, Young Goon of the Three Great Magisters wielded this book as his secondary weapon. He never expected in this life it would fall in the hands of Tang Yao. As for Young Goon, he hadn't heard any word of him yet.
History had changed yet again due to Nie Yan's intervention.
"You should work hard on that quest. I'm sure you'll get something good out of it. Malkinson is the legendary Mage God of the Viridian Empire. He's a master of the arcane," Nie Yan said.
"Oh, really? I guess I'll have to start taking this quest more seriously!"
Nie Yan had only heard of Malkinson's Runic Book in passing. He didn't actually know enough to help Tang Yao with the quest.
"Beside the Darkwing Dragon, did you get anything else worth mentioning?" Tang Yao asked.
Nie Yan recalled the Song of the Bramble Bird. After obtaining the book, he hadn't yet gotten a chance to flip through its pages. The Song of Bramble Bird was sung throughout the lands by countless wandering bards. Blimer was a bard. Perhaps he knew more of it?
"I recently obtained a book named Song of the Bramble Bird. I think it's an item for triggering a quest. Let's head to a bar and take a look at what's inside," Nie Yan said.
The two found a bar not much later and sat down in a secluded corner. Nie Yan took out Song of the Bramble Bird from his bag and placed the book on the table.
When Nie Yan flipped to the first page, a peculiar feeling sprouted in his heart. As if guided by some mysterious force, he ran his finger across the several bolded words on the header.
Pursue the vestiges of the Dark Era. The most beautiful of things are birthed from the greatest of suffering. Seek out the Assassin's Heart. Allow its flames to blossom in your hands.
Nie Yan checked his quest window.
Quest Progress: Seek out the Assassin's Heart.
Looking at the difficulty, this was a Legendary quest!
As for what the Assassin's Heart was, Nie Yan had no idea. It was probably related to the Eight Thieves. He flipped through Song of the Bramble Bird, skimming through numerous pages written in Ancient Common.
"Brandishing Scoigne's Infernal Dagger, its blossoming flames swallowing up all life. Through endless pain and suffering, the people still deserve to live... In the darkness, the slaves pray for the light... Despite knowing they faced destruction, they still forged ahead like moths to a flame. For the sake of seeking out the light and warmth, with unshakeable resolve and determination, they still staked their lives to pursue freedom..."
Inside were the biographies of the Eight Thieves. All of them came from different backgrounds. One grew up as a blacksmith. Another was as a pickpocket. Still another lived a life in slavery. After suffering all kinds of torment and hardship, they were brought together by fate and became famed assassins. Their final battle which ultimately led to their deaths became a legend.
A certain name frequently came up in this book-Paternoster. This was a city cloaked in mystery. It was lost to history, vanishing without a trace.
"Paternoster... Paternoster..." Nie Yan muttered. He had heard this name before, but he couldn't recall where. Even searching online didn't bring up any results. The official website generally didn't provide any information on high difficulty quests, so it was no surprise.
"What are you thinking about?" Tang Yao asked after seeing Nie Yan staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought.
"Paternoster, have you heard this name before?"
"Paternoster? You mean like Paternoster's Warhammer?"
Nie Yan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes! Exactly like Paternoster's Warhammer!"
Paternoster's Warhammer was the name of a famous Godly Legendary-grade weapon. The Orc King Aesolte had used this hammer to call down thunder and lightning to smite down Kilfesser, a legendary figure from the dragon race who had slaughtered countless people. On that day, the name of this warhammer was recorded down into the annals of history, forever to be remembered.
It appeared a trip to Orc King City was in order if Nie Yan wanted to find any new leads to unravelling the mystery behind Song of the Bramble Bird and obtaining the Assassin's Heart.
Thinking about Orc King City, Angel Corps came to mind. It seemed trespassing into the territory of his enemy was inevitable. At his current level, completing this Legendary quest was probably impossible. He would have to wait until he reached Level 100 and class advanced to a Shadow Dancer. As it happened, this would be the perfect opportunity to stir some trouble for Soaring Angel.
Nie Yan put Song of the Bramble Bird away, then turned to Tang Yao. "Come on, let's go find Blimer."
The two passed through many streets and winding alleyways before stopping in front of a white house. The words "Wandering Bard Blimer's Residence" were written on a plate beside the gate entrance.
Nie Yan pushed open the door and entered the garden with Tang Yao following closely behind. There, they spotted Blimer. He looked to be in his forties with greying hair. Dressed in white robes, he had an elegant air about him. However, it seemed like something was troubling him.
This was the typical look of a wandering bard. Nie Yan was quite familiar with the appearances of different NPCs.
Blimer looked up at Nie Yan. "Nirvana Flame, sir, might I inquire why you are looking for me? Is there anything you need of me?"
"I found something while exploring the Dolan Mountain Range. I'm wondering if this is yours, Bard Blimer?" Nie Yan took out a scrap of sheet music.
Blimer's face lit up. "Yes, this belongs to me! It's very important to me! Thank you for returning it!"
Nie Yan exchanged some dialogue with Blimer, triggering the quest as he handed over the scrap of sheet music.
"May God bless you!" Blimer thanked. He gave Nie Yan the first reward, more than 50,000 experience and 10 gold. It was pretty generous for ordinary players.
However, Nie Yan wasn't satisfied with just this.
Nie Yan looked at his experience bar. It had only risen by 1%. As for the 10 gold, it was basically chump change!
"Nirvana Flame, sir, would you be willing to help me find the remaining scraps? I'll reward you generously," Blimer pleaded. An ordinary player would perhaps find one sheet music scrap, but finding a second, a third, a fourth, and so on would be much more difficult. Each player could only get five or six scraps at most, unless they acted like Heaven Breaker and spent vast amounts of gold to purchase them.
Nie Yan handed over the second sheet music scrap to Blimer. In return, he received the second reward-100,000 experience and 60 gold. As he handed in one scrap after another, the rewards became better and better. On the sixth scrap, Blimer waived his right hand as a golden radiance enveloped the garden. The surroundings seemed to be frozen in time. Only Nie Yan could still move. In front of him emerged a giant Fate Wheel.
Nie Yan had experienced something similar before. However, Fate Dice and Fate Wheels were different. The former could have negative outcomes, the latter couldn't.
Nie Yan gazed at the different areas of the wheel. He had a 1% chance of obtaining a flying mount, a 1% chance of obtaining a piece of Legendary-grade equipment, a 5% chance of obtaining a piece of Sub Legendary-grade equipment, a 5% chance of obtaining a Special Item, a 20% chance of obtaining a gold reward, and a 20% chance of obtaining a experience reward. If the wheel didn't stop at any of these, he would receive nothing. The gold and experience rewards were further divided into small (80%), medium (15%), and large (5%).
Nie Yan took a deep breath and hit the button to spin the wheel. The wheel spun faster and faster until everything became a blur.
Whether the reward was good or bad depended solely on luck. However, thankfully it wasn't like Fate Dice where bad meant punishment. Nie Yan pressed the button again as the wheel grinded to a halt and stopped on the experience reward. He received 200,000 experience. Experience was easy for him to come by, so this opportunity was pretty much wasted.
"I still have five more spins..." Nie Yan comforted himself. What he wanted the most was a flying mount or a piece of Legendary-grade equipment. Sub Legendary-grade equipment and Special items weren't bad outcomes either.
"Hey, hey! So, did you get anything good?" Tang Yao asked.
"Nope." Nie Yan shook his head with a bitter smile. He continued handing over sheet music scraps to Blimer.
"Oh, I see..."
Nie Yan looked at his experience bar. It had filled up by 30%. He was close to levelling up.