MMORPG: Ascension of the Strongest Spirit Master
Chapter 43: Skyreach

Chapter 43: Skyreach

Vlad smiled as he read the notification, delighted by the quality of the rewards.

’A Unique quality Armor.’ Vlad mused, glancing down at the torn, blood-streaked hobgoblin armor. ’How lucky of me, I needed one after this battle,’

’An Epic cloak and a rare-quality skill tome as well,’ Vlad muttered, a satisfied grin tugging at his lips. ’Though it’s a shame I won’t be able to use the skill myself.’

’Let’s see what this new armor of mine has to offer and how it looks,’ Vlad thought, eager to see its stats and appearance, knowing it had to be something outstanding.

As expected, the armor did not disappoint as a single look, and Vlad knew this new of his was something unique.

Vlad opened its description, and a large system window flashed before his eyes.

Name: Eclipseborn Aegis

Type: Armor

Quality: Unique

Condition: Pristine

Effects:

•Blessing of the Eclipseborn: While in total darkness, the wearer gains Night vision, Greater immunity to blindness and illusion-type effects, and all physical and magical regeneration increases by 50%.

• Colossus Echo: When struck by a certain amount of Magical attacks, the armor retaliates by releasing shadow spikes in a 10-foot radius.

Skills:

• Void Mantle (Active): Emit a 20-foot radius field of darkness around you for 20 seconds. [Cooldown: 60 seconds.]

• Strength of the Colossus (Active): Awaken the primal force sleeping in the armor. For 15 seconds, gain +25% Strength, +20% defense, and Greater immunity to stagger, fear, and knockback. [Cooldown: 90 seconds.]

• Soul Sever (Active): Expel all spiritual and cursed effects from the wearer’s body, and when activated, the wearer gains resistance to all spiritual effects for 30 seconds. [Cooldown: 120 seconds.]

Description:

Forged from the remains of the Eclipseborn Colossus, a beast born beneath a total eclipse and with strong lineage, this armor still carries the echo of its former majesty and wrath.

It offers more than defense. It offers the instincts of a ruler who never bowed and fought even in madness.

’I could get comfortable wearing this,’ Vlad said as his eyes drifted from the details to its model.

The armor was crafted entirely from shadow-black leather, pitch dark like the starless sky or the sun under a total eclipse. It exuded an eerie, silent menace as if darkness itself had been shaped into armor.

The set consisted of four pieces: A chest piece, a single shoulder guard, gloves, and sleek, knee-high boots.

The chest piece was fashioned from tempered leather. The front was layered with large yet thin triangular pieces, and the base was created from a thicker piece of leather. This made it light but offered no less defense to the sides.

While soft, dark fur lined its edges, making it as comfortable as it was stunning.

The gloves mirrored the chest front design, with their upper side layered to add extra protection. They were tight-fitting and flexible, and they ended in small, obsidian claws, sharp enough to tear through flesh.

The similarly crafted boots were sleek and rose to the knees, built for silent steps.

But it was the shoulder guard, a single, ornate piece made from the preserved face of a bear, that gave the Eclipseborn Agis its name and terrifying presence.

The snarling visage was frozen in a silent stare, its dark, lightless eyes appearing alive with an unnatural gleam as if something still watched from within.

Fangs glinted beneath the dark, flowing fur, making the entire ensemble feel less like armor and more like a creature waiting to awaken.

"Now," Vlad muttered, eyes scanning the glowing interface before him, "let’s see the cloak."

Name: Cloak of Eclipse

Type: Accessory

Quality: Epic

Condition: Pristine

Effects:

• Lurking Shadow: While moving without attacking or casting, the wearer gets shrouded in a dark aura, making it harder for him to get detected with normal means.

• Moonless Grace: Gain +10% movement speed while in dim light or darkness.

Skills:

• Stillness of the Eclipse (Active): If activated within the darkness, the wearer merges with surrounding shadows within five seconds, becoming nearly undetectable for up to 10 seconds during this time: [Cooldown: 180 seconds.]

Description:

Created using the pelt that crowned the shoulders of the Eclipseborn Colossus, this cloak holds the essence of shadows that blanketed the beast’s birth.

To wear it is to move as the Colossus once did, unseen, unstoppable, and steeped in the silence of shadows.

Vlad silently observed its model, a large fur cloak that looked like shifting smoke under the moonlight. Even through the screen, it seemed to pull at the edges, dimming the light around it.

A faint smile curved his lips.

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It had been two days since Vlad killed the Eclipseborn and came to the city of Skyreach, a grand city perched atop a jagged mountain spine known as the Titan’s Crown.

The city was grand, its architecture all vertical and grand, housing stretched domes, needle-like spires, and tiered balconies.

Sky-white stone and pale crystal dominated the noble structures, inlaid with gold and blue metal tracery that glows faintly at night.

Its tallest towers pierce the cloud line, vanishing into mist by midday. The city’s foundation was built into the stone, with bridges and plateaus carved into natural cliffs.

A palace of white marble, a wonder in its own right, rested at the heart of the city, built atop the highest peak of the Titan’s Crown.

The mountain peak itself split at its summit into two massive stone ridges that curved outward and upward, like the raised wings of a great bird frozen in mid-flight.

Between those towering cliffs stood the palace, tall and narrow and sculpted from sky-white stone that shimmered under the sun. Slender towers stretched high into the sky, their spires drowning in layers of frost as if the sky itself tried to reclaim them.

The vast city below stretched far in both directions, housing over a million people. If the capital city Thalmaris was a melting pot of trade, then Skyreach was a city indulgence and spectacle.

Skyreach offered everything from casinos, pleasure halls, battle arenas, and anything related to indulgence and spectacle.

However, Vlad did not come here to enjoy but to look for the Deceiver, and in the past two days, he had found a great deal of information about Guard Captain Alric Dun, Duke Elarcrest, and his relation with the Myrrh & Mercury Traders.

Vlad also found everything he could about the dungeon break incident, which was when Cazimir escaped the city prison. In reality, he and possibly forty-one prisoners were taken out and delivered to the Deceiver as test subjects.

But that was unlikely because why would the Duke make much sense for a few people when he could easily buy nameless slaves by the hundreds, and no one would be able to find that he was behind it?

So the dungeon break had really occurred, and Duke Elarcrest, seeing an opportunity in the blunder, killed a few escapes, captured a few, and delivered a few to the Deceiver.

In two days, Vlad found nothing serious.

Guard Captain Alric was a Law bound Ascended, a fourth-rank individual who wielded vast strength. With a contract with two Noble Rank spirits of the highest quality, he was a force of nature.

He was a commoner who rose through the ranks on sheer talent and relentless effort, earning a name through feats few could match.

Alric was the third-ranked graduate of the prestigious Solaris Academy, the Sky Wyrm slayer, and, most notably, a man personally recognized by the Sky Saint for his rare and formidable gifts.

In his small family, he had a wife, a brother, and his mother, and from what Vlad could gather, he was loyal to the bone to Duke Elarcrest, or more so to his second wife, Celestyn Aetherwing, because of the help she provided his family.

Celestyn ran a charitable organization that helped everyone from orphans to the sick, but her greatest contribution to the city was tens of food halls that provided food for all in need and also work centers that offered safe, respectable work for women and of-age children.

So, while she didn’t directly help Alric, he still saw her help as worth repaying by serving the Noble house when he could have done better with talent.

Because of his loyalty, any thought Vlad had of buying Alric’s loyalty was now also gone.

There was not much to find about Duke Elarcrest. He was A Noble born to be a Duke since he was the only son of the late Duke. He was not a genius who came once in a century but also not a loser.

Elarcrest was powerful and intelligent and knew how to keep his house position unchallenged.

Myrrh & Mercury Traders was the second largest trade organization in the Dukedom of Drakmoor. Unlike the first-ranked organization, which transported goods, they created and sold in their stores.

They had stores for everything from Perfumes and potions to casinos, catering to both everyday needs and luxury indulgences across the region.

Vlad also didn’t find much connection between the Duke and the traders but never expected to find much within just two days.