MMORPG: Rebirth as an Alchemist-Novel

Ren frowned. "You mean . . . my [Monocle of a Tinker]?"

It was Hubert's gift to him when he rescued the Gnome. He only had one of those, and he doubted Hubert would give him more. That thing wasn't even available in any market yet.

Ren took a deep breath and weighed his options. Right now, the trinket was useless to him, but in the future, he might need it, and Hubert might not sell those.

In his inventory beside his equipment, the [Monocle of a Tinker] was one of his prized possession. But seeing that he had no choice right now, Ren agreed with the bargain.

It was better than Pii.

Viscendra's smile was sweet as she accepted the toll.

"The curse stems from a sacred elven monument of statues just west of town called the Yil'Quessir Ayin," she started. "The dark elves and white elves used to go there to let the magic flow through from the Fey Realm into the forest. Now, something dark and sinister had corrupted the monument – inverted it," she said, smiling gleefully.

"The monument now connects to the Shadowmire, the dark mirror that reflects our world. To stop its spread, you must go to its course – travel through the monument to the Shadowmire and rip out the source of the corruption at its root," she continued.

"The elves possess the secret to activating the monument under normal circumstances – but that won't work now. Just as the monument's magic has been inverted, so has the means to use it. Whatever they used to do, you must do the opposite."

"What did the elves used to do?"

Viscendra answered truthfully. I don't know. But the dark elves' leader, a terribly dull druid named Kail'ithal, will know what the elves usually did to activate the Yil'Quessir Ayin."

[The Quest, SAVE ELDERMILL, has been updated!]

That must be the poem that Kail'ithal told him before. Ren thought.

"Then . . . do you have an item called [Demon Metamorphosis]?

Viscendra visibly stopped. Her eyes narrowed as she asked, "How do you know about that?"

Ren shrugged. "I have my source."

Viscendra looked Ren in the eyes for a whole minute before she slurred. "I do have it. Tell you what. If you can lift the curse, then I'll gladly give it to you."

Ren wouldn't have it. "What's the catch?"

Viscendra laughed. "To be honest, that curse is hindering my fun. There are no more creatures to play around within this parts, scared by that curse. If you can lift it and return everything to the way it was before, then I'll gladly give you that item as a prized."

"You sure?" Ren couldn't believe that she was giving it for free. Something told him that there was something strange about the small smile on her face.

Viscendra shrugged. "I like handsome customers. It makes me feel good seeing them," she said, green streaks of light twirling around his dark eyes like she knew what Ren looked like, even with the hood that covered his face.

"Besides, that item would just collect dust there."

"Then I accept your quest."

[You have accepted Viscendra's Quest!]

"Is there anything else?" she slurred.

"About this . . . being a hexcrafter?" Ren asked, a bit unsure of what to expect. "Do you have spells for it?"

Viscendra clapped her hands in glee. She reveled in the double-edged nature of hexes. Often, she would view a hex's drawback as a cost in itself and imbued a player with a hex at no additional fee.

"I can craft the following hexes at a set price. What hex do you want?"

[ HEXES

● Beauty LV. 1

This hex grants unnatural beauty and intense charisma but also makes the creatures affected vain and fearful of losing their good looks.

- increase LCK by 100

- AoE supportive spell within a hundred-meter radius

- Cost 1000 MP

- Single target

- Cost 100 MP

- last for 1 minute and suffer LCK -100 for a whole day

- cannot cast to the same person twice on the same day.

● Bloodthirst LV. 1

This hex imbues creatures with an unquenchable desire for battle. They gain the following traits:

- increase STR by 100

- AoE supportive spell within a hundred-meter radius

- Cost 1000 MP

- Single target

- Cost 100 MP

- last for 1 minute and suffer exhaustion the whole day.

- cannot cast to the same person twice on the same day.

● Feather LV. 1

This hex makes creatures lithe and graceful but also makes them frail. They gain the following traits:

- increase AGI by 100

- AoE supportive spell within a hundred-meter radius

- Cost 1000 MP

- Single target

- Cost 100 MP

- last for one mina and suffer DEF -100 for the whole day

- cannot cast to the same person twice on the same day.

● Haven LV. 1

Affected creatures briefly gain resistance to specific damage (your choice of the type of damage) – though doing so left them vulnerable after one minute.

- increase DEF and MDF by 100

- AoE supportive spell within a hundred-meter radius

- Cost 1000 MP

- Single target

- Cost 100 MP

- last for 1 minute and suffer DEF and MDF -100 for the whole day

- cannot cast to the same person twice on the same day.

● Mind LV. 1

Affected creatures allowed them to connect mentally with others and gain the following.

- increase INT by 100

- AoE supportive spell within a hundred-meter radius

- Cost 1000 MP

- Single target

- Cost 100 MP

- last for 1 min and suffer INT -100 for the whole day

- cannot cast to the same person twice on the same day ]

Now that Ren thought about this, disregarding the low levels, weren't these spells kind of OP? Though they granted a boon, any creature would suffer the curse the whole day.

And right now, curses are hard to get rid off without the advanced class Luminers, Troubadour, Priest, or Priestess.

When Ren was silent, thinking about whether to get those spells or not, Viscendra spoke.

"Also, I sell a small selection of accursed magic items I had personally crafted and collected."

[MAGICAL ITEMS

Devil's Luck (5 000 gil)

Soulgrip Whip (30 000 gil)

Umbra's Mantle (60 000 gil) ]