As Izroth examined the loot, he noticed a glow similar to the one when he first picked up the «Strange Bracelet» that belonged to the Seer Tererestiaa. "I wonder if all quest items glow in such a manner..." Izroth thought to himself as he picked up the item.
It turned out that his guess was correct and it was indeed a quest item. Except unlike last time, it was not a bracelet, but rather a key. The key bore a resemblance to the «Skull Key» he received back in the «Dungeon: Goblin's Paradise» after defeating one of the elite monsters there. The only difference was that this key felt much heavier and was coated in a crimson red color.
Item Name: Secret Room Key(Quest Item)
Usage: Allows the holder of this key to access the secret room located within the «Palace of Syxirius, The Unworthy».
Izroth began to wonder if it may have the same effect as the «Skull Key» and just take them back to the exit of the palace. Though it would be a bit disappointing that there were no extra rewards, it would still save some time on a return trip if that were the case. But, he had not forgotten about their main objective and reason for coming to the Shadahi's realm.
It took everyone a while, but they finally snapped out of their little trance and realized that they had just defeated a rare boss! At the moment, besides world bosses, rare bosses were the highest ranked boss monsters that any player had yet to discover.
However, if they knew that Izroth had actually run into epic and legendary bosses, all of them might actually faint from shock.
The fact that they did not receive a system alert saying that they were the first to clear a rare boss meant that someone else had already beat them to it. This caused Halls and Luna to feel a bit dejected after experiencing that brief period of fame for being the first to clear a world boss.
But, they both knew that the big guilds must have already run into some rare bosses if they already obtained some rare equipment. Them being able to acquire the first clear on a world boss was due to pure luck.
If any of the big guilds discovered the world boss first or even while they were in the middle of fighting it, then there would have been no room for them to interfere or gain any benefits.
Nevertheless, Halls felt as though after that disgraceful performance as a tank who could not even hold aggro, he did not deserve the party leader spot. Usually, tanks were supposed to direct and lead the battles so there was normally no arguments when they decided to be the party leader.
The only time this rule really changed was if it was a guild based party and the tank was not the highest ranked member. Or, if a tank joined an already premade group and was just a random player who the premade group would obviously not trust with the party leader role.
Halls opened the party menu and let out a long sigh before changing the party leader over to Izroth. Deep down inside, Halls knew that he could not be completely blamed for his poor performance.
It was just that Izroth was too much of a freak when it came to damage. Even those top-tier pro player tanks might have trouble holding on to aggro with Izroth in their party.
〈System Alert: Player Izroth has been promoted to party leader!〉
Truth be told, Izroth originally did not really care about being party leader or not. But, the more he started playing the more Izroth started to realize how valued such a position was within a party.
Most people would not give up full control when it came to loot distributions and other things, so when someone willingly gave up the party leader role it could be seen as them admitting to their own lack of abilities.
Izroth gave a slight nod to Halls and received one in return. Halls understood that Luna would be not against Izroth being the party leader. He did not know for sure about Scarlet, but since Izroth brought her along there should be no problems. Plus it still would have been two against one.
Izroth began to divide the loot amongst the party. They received 1 gold coin and so he gave everyone 25 silver coins each, even Scarlet. Even though Izroth knew that she was up to no good, there was something off about her.
From the way she acted when they first met, all the way up until now. There were various inconsistencies with her behavior that did not add up at all. He decided to bring Scarlet along because he knew that along with her, three other players were targetting him.
Izroth was of course very confident in his combat skills, however, he still did not fully understand combat against other players in this game or how strong they were. He needed to fight against more than just monsters if he truly wanted to improve.
If she gained a few tiny benefits in the process so be it. Izroth was thinking of the bigger picture and how to further progress within RML, otherwise, how could he become the number one player?
Just like within the seven realms, it did not matter how many beasts you could kill. The most important thing to becoming the number one cultivator was being able to defeat every other cultivator and fight against them to hone your skills.
Izroth decided it was a good opportunity to gain some battle experience against other players and so decided to play as though he were ignorant and go along with things. "Well, it's fine... Soon she will have no choice but to reveal her hand..." Izroth thought to himself.
He reached down and picked up one of the items that dropped from Commander Ekquilore. When everyone saw that item their eyes all shined with excitement. That was a rare piece of equipment! The item Izroth picked up was the «Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest».
Armor Name: Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest
Armor Rank: Rare
Armor Level: 15
Armor Type: Leather
Requirements: 100 Agility
HP: 300
DEF: 30
AGI: 60
Armor Skill: Hellfire Rampage(Passive) - Every successful attack against an enemy without missing, increases the Agility of the user by 10 for 3 seconds (MAX: 100 Agility). If the user misses an attack or does not attack for at least 3 seconds, then the buff from this armor will end.
What wonderful stats and passive! There was no one else here who could possibly equip this armor because of its agility requirement, and so the only person it could go to was Izroth. No one would say anything since Izroth was the one who contributed the most to the fight after all.
Izroth equipped the «Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest» and watched as his stats shot up. "The passive works perfectly with my current combat style" Izroth thought to himself as a slight smile appeared on his face.
The others could only envy the amount of luck that Izroth possessed when it came to receiving rewards. It seemed as though he was born under the king of lucky stars.
Name: Izroth
EXP: 4,972/12,000
Level: 15(Stat Points: 6)
Title: None
Class: Combat Master
HP(Hit Points): 1,200/1,200(700+300+200)
Energy: 100
ATTACK(ATK): 200(140+40+20)
DEFENSE(DEF): 95(20+55+20)
AGILITY(AGI): 210(85+105+20)
MAGIC(MAG): 0
Gear Equipped:
«Nameless Blade» - Main Weapon
«Shadow Necklace» - Accessory(1)
«Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest» - Armor(Torso)
«Foreman's Gloves» - Armor(Hands)
«Commander Boots» - Armor(Feet)
...
The next item grabbed was the «Hellfire Crafted Mana Gloves». An item like this could go to either Luna or Scarlet... But even though Izroth would let Scarlet gain some little benefits, there was no possible way he could hand over such a large benefit to her. This item would go to Luna without a doubt.
Armor Name: Hellfire Crafted Mana Gloves
Armor Rank: Rare
Armor Level: 15
Armor Type: Cloth
Requirements: 100 Magic
MP: 200
DEF: 10
MAG: 30
Armor Skill: Hellfire Mana Essence(Passive) - Regenerates 2% of the user's maximum MP every 3 seconds. This effect continues on even during the middle of combat.
Izroth gave the «Hellfire Crafted Mana Gloves» over to Luna. A blossoming smile could not help but find its way onto Luna's face when she saw the stats and effects of the item. This was her first rare piece of equipment so how could she not show some excitement?
Scarlet was extremely gloomy when she noticed that it was a cloth based rare item and Izroth did not even consider her for a moment and instantly gave it to Luna instead. This made her lightly curse him under her breath.
But, she knew she would have no say in the matter, especially since the item was already within Luna's inventory. What fool would willingly hand over a rare item after it already became theirs?
Halls was also very gloomy but for another reason entirely. Commander Ekquilore only dropped two pieces of equipment and neither of them had been for his class. He really was unlucky lately as if he already used up all his luck when receiving the «Shadow Fang Sword» from the Shadow Wolf world boss.
For the last remaining x4 «True Blood of the Shadahi», Izroth divided them fairly and gave one to each party member. With this, all the loot from Commander Ekquilore was finally divided and now it was time for the party to continue on with their main purpose for coming here.
Izroth turned towards the party to speak to them, "I've picked up another quest item from this monster. It may be where the item we've been looking for is located... Or at least will give us a clue as to where it may be located" Izroth showed everyone the «Secret Room Key» he picked up from the loot pile.
Luna furrowed her brows when she saw the key, "There are many rooms within this palace and it's huge. Also, it probably will not be that long until the Shadahi discovered we have defeated Commander Ekquilore. If that happens then... We can expect even more Shadahi to be roaming the halls".
Izroth nodded as he came to the same conclusion as Luna. If it were just another normal Shadahi it would not be that bad, however, since they defeated a rare boss Shadahi the search was bound to increase. If all those thousands of Shadahi outside joined in, then they would stand no chance.
"So we just have to find the room door that this key can open before we're found right?" Halls spoke while trying to think if he'd seen any doors that looked suspicious while moving throughout the palace.
Scarlet did not have the quest and so she did not bother trying to give any input on the matter or help out at all. She would not gain any benefits from doing so.
Izroth thought for a moment before coming up with a decision, "Then, we'll just follow the path Commander Ekquilore originally came from. We might find it somewhere along the way" Izroth did not believe this system would leave them with zero clues. There must be something he was overlooking.
After walking forward with the party towards the direction Commander Ekquilore originally came from, Izroth was thinking as it suddenly dawned on him. "Of course... How could I miss something so obvious?" he thought to himself. Sometimes, certain things were just so obvious that it was quite easy to overlook them.
"I think I know where it is...!" Izroth spoke under his breath. He suddenly stopped which caused the three others behind him to halt as well. He knew the location of the secret room because they were given the location when they first arrived here!
From the moment they left the demonic brew room, there were thin strings of red light on the floor of the hallway. At first Izroth thought that they may have only just been a part of that oppressive energy running throughout the entire palace, however, that wasn't the case at all.
While he was not incorrect, he was only partially correct. The thin strings of red light were indeed the source of that oppressive energy, but they all seemed to flow within the same direction towards the same source.
Wherever all the thin strings of red light converged, must hold some clues to the secret room's location or maybe even lead to the secret room itself! Izroth looked down at his feet and sure enough, those little strings were still there and more abundant than when they left from the demonic brew room. It seems like they were on the correct path.
Izroth continued onward following the thin strings of red light and eventually came before a large door. This door had different kinds of faces carved into it that looked as though they were in an endless cycle of torment.
Evil and dark energy emitted from beyond the door which made one feel cold to their bones. At the very center of the door was a lock that one needed a key for.
Izroth removed the «Secret Room Key» from his inventory before putting it into the lock and soon heard a clinking sound. The large door before him slowly opened up.
As soon as the door opened, the entire party was hit by an incredibly strong force that seemed as if it wanted to devour them alive. It almost caused them to be blown away just from the intensity of that pressure alone.
Not long after, the entire party received a system alert that made them highly alert.
〈System Alert: You have entered the throne room of Syxirius, The Unworthy!〉