A wish to soar the skies, a song of wings.
"Ow, ow, ow… landed right on my ass," Pepper groaned, wincing at the stinging pain.
Checking his stats, his HP had dropped from 15 to 6. Not critical, but close. Dying from a butt-first fall would've been a humiliating story.
"Bilac-san, Aitoile, you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine… somehow," Bilac grunted.
"I'm good, too," Aitoile chirped.
Relieved that both rabbits were unharmed, Pepper noted the circular platform had snagged somewhere, halting its descent. Before them stood a pristine, intricately designed door, starkly out of place in the dilapidated ruins. To Pepper, it screamed hidden room.
"What's this place?" Bilac wondered.
"Feels different from the rest," Aitoile said.
"Yeah… but how do we get back?" Pepper muttered.
Deciding to figure out escape later, he used a potion to recover and scanned for threats. No enemies nearby. He equipped his Madness Breaker and mined the platform's point, unearthing a black steel ore etched with tiny gear patterns.
Gear Metal: Formed when Suppress Drones in the Shindai Iron Ruins reach their lifespan's end, piling together per their system's design.
To the ruins' drones, these are the remains of their kin. To those left behind, they are proof of their existence.
The item's description hit hard—Pepper was essentially grave-robbing. Even Lycaon's Curse Marking couldn't deter the drones' programmed aggression.
"…Sorry, I'm taking your kin's remains," Pepper murmured, clasping his hands and bowing respectfully. Switching to his Marsh Hammer, he mined every point on the platform, leaving nothing behind.
"Yo, Pepper, over here!" Bilac called.
"Pepper-han!" Aitoile echoed.
Stowing the hammer, Pepper joined them. "What's up?"
"This door," Bilac said. "Push, pull, nothing works."
"Bilac-neesan suggested smashing it open, but we wanted your take," Aitoile added.
The door, likely locked with advanced mechanisms, loomed sturdy. If Shindai tech was involved, attacking could trigger a swarm of Suppress Drones or an electric countermeasure.
"These doors sometimes have authentication systems, but that's unlikely here…" Pepper mused. Testing a hunch, he lifted his Traveler's Cloak, showing the door his Lycaon's Curse Marking on his right hand and the Vorpal Soul Collar around his neck.
"…Yeah, figured it wouldn't work—'Authentication: Identification codes 'Lycaon' and 'Weiss Ash,' along with 'Marking' and 'Collar,' confirmed. Unlocking.'—wait, what?!"
His long-shot gamble landed a critical hit, leaving him dumbfounded. The door groaned with a heavy metallic clank, slowly opening. Aitoile and Bilac, brimming with curiosity, stepped inside, with Pepper trailing behind.
As the heavy door fully opened, Pepper, Aitoile, and Bilac entered a small, dusty research facility. Desks and chairs resembled a modern office, alongside robotic arms and welding tools in a partitioned work area. Thick files stacked on a desk, untouched by time.
In one corner sat a large metal box, resembling a time capsule, its contents hidden.
"What the hell is this?" Bilac muttered.
"It's all cluttered and weird," Aitoile said.
"We've stumbled into something wild," Pepper added.
Was the Shindai Iron Ruins once a research lab? The drones' systems and the increasing decay deeper down hinted at a lost purpose. Questions piled up, threatening to spiral into an endless maze. Pepper cleared his mind and began exploring.
"Hm?" Bilac paused, noticing something.
A flickering blue hologram projected an SF armor labeled Radiant Series. "Pepper, what's this?" she asked.
"The Radiant Series? No clue," Pepper replied.
"Even as an archaeologist, I don't get it," Bilac said. "But my old man mentioned 'holographic' tech—some old method for creating 3D images."
Pepper nodded, recognizing the hologram. But the Radiant Series baffled him—a modern sci-fi suit clashing with the game's medieval aesthetic. Was it Shindai-era tech?
"Pepper-han! Over here!" Aitoile called.
Rushing over, Pepper found her by the capsule, where she'd accidentally triggered a projector. After static and noise, a clear image appeared: a woman in a dark room, seated, speaking as if in a monologue.
She wore a modern lab coat, her orange, waist-length hair a wild mess, paired with a black turtleneck, red miniskirt, and black tights. Legs crossed, she addressed the screen.
"I don't know who's watching this right now… but if you're here, you've come for the 'answer' I created."
Weiss Ash had spoken of a human who dreamed of the blue sky. This woman was likely her—the one who forged that answer.
"Sadly, what I created was split into three parts: the 'Vessel,' the 'Mechanism,' and the 'Soul,' sealed in different places. What's here is the 'Vessel.'"
She shook her head, but to Pepper, this was a goldmine. The Soul was guarded by Tyranogiraffe and Kaiserion Caucasus in the Senchibankou Jungle Hollow. The Vessel was here. Find the Mechanism, and he'd have all three.
"My answer requires all three to 'reclaim its power.' But even then, only one with 'the craft of the gods' can 'revive' its wings."
As expected, uniting the three would grant flight. But the catch—only someone with divine craftsmanship could restore it—meant finding such a person first.
"One last thing… I pray my wish reaches someone pure of heart. My dream of soaring freely in the blue sky, entrusted to their hands…"
The message cut off. The capsule's lock disengaged, releasing white, icy mist that spread across the floor like a sea of clouds. As it cleared, a suit emerged, mirroring the hologram: sky-blue with golden lightning motifs, reminiscent of a sci-fi movie's iconic mechanical armor, yet uniquely distinct.
Pepper's instincts screamed this was a legendary item. With reverence, he inspected it.
Radiant Series (Unique Legacy Weapon): Crafted in the Shindai era by a scientist and smith, this armor and greaves enable humans to soar the skies. Wearing even one piece allows short bursts of flight.
The creator's untainted dream of the blue sky will be fulfilled when a worthy bearer dons the full set, granting wings to conquer the heavens.
Yet, as merely the Vessel, it remains dormant without the Mechanism and Soul.
Head Gear: Radiant Helmate [EMPTY]
Torso Gear: Radiant Arsenal [EMPTY]
Waist Gear: Radiant Ortharg [EMPTY]
Leg Gear: Radiant Clarion [EMPTY]
Greaves: Radiant Solreia [EMPTY]
(Legacy Weapon? Equip the full set to fly freely? Like, literally? Can I take that at face value?!
This is early-game, and there's a crazy armor set just sitting here? Is that safe? What if another cursed player found this and took it?!)
The platform's fall from the third floor had led to this hidden door. Inside, Pepper found an unprecedented armor set—eerily similar to the greaves he'd commissioned from Bilac. This was the Vessel from his unique quest, Tempest-Clad Whirlwind, the answer Weiss Ash described for humans to fly.
The hero has been entrusted with a wish from the Shindai era.
Title acquired: [Dream Weaver]
Unique Quest: [Tempest-Clad Whirlwind] has progressed.
Thus, the dream and wings of the ancients were entrusted.
Radiant Series: A Legacy Weapon central to the third stage of the unique quest Impact of the World: Tempest-Clad Whirlwind. A full set of armor and greaves, it enables free flight. Crafted as the ultimate answer for soaring, it was shattered in conflict, with only one set surviving, split into Vessel, Mechanism, and Soul. Weiss Ash called it "the answer that let humans fly freely."
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