CHAPTER 90: CHAPTER 90: [FLASH MASK]

The first Intel Ethan wanted to look up was about the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife].

Up to now, Ethan hadn’t seen a single piece of Orange-quality equipment, and this knife used to be an Orange-quality weapon that could level up!

The [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] is only Blue quality now, and it doesn’t give any stat bonuses, so it’s starting to fall behind.

If there’s no way to repair it and raise its quality, he might really have to switch to the [Ruin Spear].

But here’s the problem: the [Ruin Spear] has high equip requirements, and it can’t pair with the [Shadow Belt] for the same healing effect like this blade does.

Besides, Ethan is already used to a long blade. Switching to a spear all of a sudden would feel awkward.

As he was thinking, the screen in front of him suddenly started scrolling text.

Ethan’s eyes lit up and he quickly read it.

But soon he sighed and murmured:

"Sigh... there’s nothing here about how to repair the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife]."

Looks like he’ll have to rely on his talent, [Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward].

If he can fix it and restore its growth, maybe it could even break through to a higher Gold quality in the future.

But if the related Intel shows up too late, it might slow down his pace of getting stronger.

Besides the blade, Ethan also wanted to search for "Siphoner" and [Calamity].

But the search results surprised him — there was no related info on the screen, and only a single warning message popped up:

[Insufficient permissions. Unable to view this content.]

Ethan frowned a little. It seemed the Intel on "Siphoner" and [Calamity] was encrypted.

Ethan took a deep breath. Since he couldn’t find anything, he’d have to wait until he hit level 20, then use the Orange-quality [Ice Calamity Intel] to get the details.

Not finding anything useful, he lowered his expectations for Ice City’s Intel Archive.

Still, he thought for a moment and typed in "Ghostfang."

This time, the Intel archive at the Ice City settlement finally showed the Intel Ethan needed.

"[Ghostfang], a powerful and mysterious group, quietly appeared in the Dawn World twenty years ago. No one knows who its founder is..."

Ethan had only read a paragraph or two and wanted to keep going, when he noticed it would cost 500 contribution points to see the full entry.

He only had 1,000 points total. Just one Intel file about [Ghostfang] would cost 500?

He couldn’t help but mutter, "So expensive."

He quietly canceled the payment.

He needed those 1,000 points to trade for items and power up fast.

Still, he didn’t come away empty-handed. At least he learned that [Ghostfang] had already shown up in the world of Dawnfall Online twenty years ago.

As for the man named [Grinning Ghost] he saw near the exit of Safe Zone 9527, he must have joined [Ghostfang] after entering Dawnfall Online.

Otherwise, could it be that the [Ghostfang] group from Dawnfall Online is recruiting members in the real world?

Ethan thought about it for a moment and felt that was simply impossible.

Since he had only one thousand contribution points, he gave up checking the Intel info and switched to looking through the Item Vault instead.

[Flame Long Blade]

[Quality]: Blue-quality

[Equip Requirements]: Level above 10

[Equip Effect 1]: +3 Strength

[Equip Effect 2]: Flame Slash. Costs 3 Energy. Your next attack gains a fire effect. On hit, it ignites the target, causing them to burn over time and take heavy damage.

[Notes]: Great for starting fires. In a pinch, you can use it for warmth and light. Very good for icefield expeditions.

Costs 200 contribution points.

...

[Rampage Serum]

[Quality]: Blue-quality

[Use Requirements]: None

[Item Effect]: When injected, you get the Rampage buff: +5 Strength, +5 Speed, +5 Defense, but it lowers your sanity.

[Notes]: Simply put, inject this and you’ll be like a rampaging Hulk who’s lost his mind.

Costs 200 contribution points.

...

[Healing Serum]

[Quality]: Blue-quality

[Use Requirements]: None

[Item Effect]: When injected, it keeps restoring your HP: 5% per second for 10 seconds. During this time, it also reduces pain and weakens control effects on you.

[Notes]: A basic healing item. Nothing special.

Costs 200 contribution points.

...

[Flash Mask]

[Quality]: Purple-quality

[Equip Requirements]: Level above 20

[Equip Effect 1]: +2 Charisma

[Equip Effect 2]: Flash Burst. Costs 2 Energy. The Flash Mask emits a strong light that blinds enemies within 5 meters in front of you for 1 second. Cooldown: 10 minutes.

[Equip Effect 3]: Gas Spray. Costs 3 Energy. Activates a built-in device in the mask to release toxic gas, paralyzing enemies within 5 meters around you for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.

[Notes]: Few people expect a mask on someone’s face to suddenly blind them or spray poison at a key moment. It’s basically a scoundrel’s mask.

Costs 600 contribution points.

...

As soon as he saw the [Flash Mask], Ethan’s eyes lit up.

His gaze stayed on the [Flash Mask] for a long time, hesitating over whether to spend his points to get it.

The first effect boosts Charisma, but that didn’t help him much.

His Charisma was already high, so he didn’t need more.

Ethan thought for a moment. In an evenly matched fight, when the enemy was fully focused on predicting his next move, he could suddenly trigger the [Flash Mask] item effect and unleash a flash of light bright enough to blind.

What would happen then?

He’d push the attack and finish the blinded enemy, clean and fast.

Plus, the [Flash Mask] is worn on the face. He wouldn’t need to take off any other gear to use it.

So Ethan stopped hesitating and clicked to redeem the [Flash Mask].

In an instant, his 1,000 contribution points dropped to 400.

Right then, the ground next to the screen shook, and a black pedestal slowly rose up.

Ethan looked at it. On top sat a white mask.

The mask had no markings at all. At a glance, it looked very ordinary.

Ethan wondered, was this really the [Flash Mask] he spent 600 contribution points on?

It looked so plain, nothing like Purple-quality gear.

After he put the [Flash Mask] into his [Inventory], he checked his watch carefully. Only then was he sure it wasn’t fake.

But then he looked at it another way.

In a real fight, who would expect a plain-looking mask to burst out a blinding flash and spray poison?

He felt "Scoundrel’s Mask" would be an even better name for it.

By now, Ethan already had several Purple-quality pieces of gear and items.

But he couldn’t use any of them except the [Universal Painkiller].

He had to level up fast.

Ethan kept checking other items he could redeem.

He tried to find something that could raise his level or permanently boost his stats.

Sadly, those items cost a lot of points—enough to trade for other Purple-quality weapons.

For players, weapons get replaced often, but permanent stat boosts usually don’t go away.

After looking around, Ethan felt there wasn’t much left in the vault worth redeeming.

He guessed it was because his access level was the lowest, so he could only get common stuff.

When his access level went up, he’d probably be able to redeem better things.

After a short think, Ethan redeemed one [Rampage Serum] and one [Healing Serum], which used up the last 400 points.

With all his points spent, he left.

He took the elevator, went outside the building, and asked the guard at the door if there were any monsters nearby around level 20.

The guard gave Ethan a surprised look. He clearly recognized him as the player who came with Deputy City Lord Ford.

So the guard spoke respectfully, "There are, but the monsters there are higher level. If you go by yourself, it will be dangerous."

"On the north side of the Ice City settlement, there’s a place called the Ice Pillar Zone. Ice Spiders appear there around level 19 or 20. That should meet your needs."

Ethan thanked him, then quickly headed out of the Ice City settlement.

He needed to level up as soon as possible.

Only after reaching level 20 could he equip the [Shadow Belt], [Assassin’s Sleeve Crossbow], and [Flash Mask].

After Ethan left, the guard started muttering under his breath:

"What exactly is this player’s relationship with the Deputy City Lord? If he’s going to the Ice Pillar Zone this early, I’m afraid he won’t come back."

"I bet he’ll show up at the respawn point soon."