Eternal Art Online

Surrounded by three Wolf King's Guards, Kiriya downed health potions as he fought, keeping himself barely alive under the relentless assault.

In a swift, practiced motion, he scooped up the 25 gold coins dropped by the Sword Fang Wolf King, then stuffed the blood-soaked wolf's head directly into his inventory.

There was no time to check the gear just yet. Instead, he spent the next ten minutes relying on impeccable footwork and precise swordsmanship, systematically cutting down the remaining guards one by one.

Moments later, the entire Wolf Howl Ridge fell into utter silence. Every enemy lay lifeless at Kiriya's feet—converted into experience points, gold, and most importantly, gear.

One more piece of the Sword Fang set had dropped, making it the fifth.

Along with the three pieces he had looted from the Wolf King earlier, that brought his haul to a total of eight high-grade items in a single night.

But that wasn't all—the Wolf King had granted a huge amount of experience. Kiriya instantly leveled up to 23, and his experience bar was now nearly full. With the quest reward still pending, hitting level 25 was practically guaranteed.

Gazing across the now-empty ridge, Kiriya sheathed his sword with a calm breath, then vanished into the darkness like a shadow gliding down the mountainside. He made his way to the hunter camp at the foot of the ridge.

Upon arrival, he pulled out one hundred Sword Fang Wolf pelts and stacked them neatly near the fire. Then, with a dull thud, he threw the ferocious-looking wolf king's head onto the ground.

The hunter stared at the gruesome trophy, stunned speechless. After a long pause, he finally murmured, "Brave young warrior... You completed such a dangerous task. Come, your reward is well-earned."

Ding~!

System Message: Congratulations! You have completed the quest [King of the Sword Fang Wolves].

Rewards: EXP +180,000, Gold +10, Reputation +400!

The reward was generous—experience, gold, and reputation were all substantial, more than fair for a level 387 difficulty quest.

The only downside was the lack of additional gear drops, though Kiriya wasn't surprised.

According to what he'd read, the chance of receiving an equipment drop from this quest was about 25%. Not getting one was within expectations.

Just as he anticipated, the EXP boost immediately propelled him to level 25.

He casually opened the ranking leaderboard and refreshed the page. His name now sat at #6 in the Scarlet Emperor Warzone.

The top five players included a 26th-level female mage named Rose Yuna, and four others—all with names beginning with "Dawnbreaker."

Kiriya narrowed his eyes. That name—Dawnbreaker—wasn't unfamiliar.

It was a fast-rising guild that had emerged in recent years, gathering some of the most elite players across various games and dominating the competitive scenes. Now they had fully entered EAO as well.

This could only mean one thing: chaos was coming. Between titanic guilds like Crimson Lotus, Conqueror, and now Dawnbreaker, the warzone would soon be engulfed in strife.

In the world of gaming, pride ran deep. No one bowed easily. And when words failed, it was fists—and blades—that would speak.

He glanced at the time: 4 a.m. One hour remained until his scheduled logout. Without hesitation, Kiriya pulled out a Return Scroll purchased for 1 gold coin and activated it.

A soft white glow enveloped him, and in the next instant, he was back at the beginner village. (Return points could only be bound to major towns starting at level 30.)

Back in town, the scene remained the same—clusters of low-level players milling about in tattered gear, most of them still dressed in the system's default cloth armor with 0–1 defense. It felt like he had walked into the headquarters of a beggar's guild.

Without delay, Kiriya made his way to the Appraisal Hall and laid five pieces of gear from the Sword Fang Wolf King onto the table.

The appraiser gave them a cursory glance before raising an eyebrow slightly. In a low voice, he said, "Not bad... That'll be 15 gold coins for the appraisal."

Kiriya's heart tightened slightly. Three gold coins per piece—it confirmed his hunch. These were bronze-tier items or higher. Silver-tier gear was still a rare sight at this stage.

He handed over the coins without a word. The appraiser waved his hand, casting an identification spell. One by one, the five items began to glow faintly with a subtle aura of power.

[Sword Fang Chest Plate] (Bronze • Leather Armor)

Defense: 55

Agility: +12

Stamina: +8

Required Level: 25

Set Bonus Activated: Increases ranged skill damage by 15%, boosts defense by 5%, and grants a 12% chance to dodge physical attacks.

[Sword Fang Leg guards] (Bronze • Leather Armor)

Defense: 45

Agility: +9

Stamina: +6

Required Level: 25

[Sword Fang Boots] (Bronze • Leather Armor)

Defense: 42

Agility: +9

Stamina: +6

Required Level: 25

[Sword Fang helmet] (Bronze • Leather Armor)

Defense: 45

Agility: +8

Stamina: +4

Required Level: 25

[Sword Fang Gloves] (Bronze • Leather Armor)

Defense: 42

Agility: +9

Stamina: +6

Required Level: 25

...

Although the five pieces of bronze equipment weren't of particularly high tier, their high level and impressive stat boosts made up for it.

Kiriya removed his old Shadow Tunic and Windstrider Boots, then equipped the complete Sword Fang Set.

The moment the armor settled onto his body, a wave of warmth surged through him. He felt lighter, faster—like his entire body had been refined. The sword mail shimmered faintly with a soft halo, clearly marking it as anything but ordinary gear.

Ding~!

System Notification:

Set Bonus Activated – Ranged skill attack power +15%, Defense +5%, 12% chance to dodge physical attacks!

…

Kiriya's eyes widened in disbelief. As expected, this was insanely powerful! With the additional boost to skill-based attacks, he was now nearly invincible. His heart surged with joy.

He immediately opened his status panel:

Kiriya Noir (Apprentice Swordsman)

Level: 25

HP: 880

Attack: 175–230

Defense: 205

Fame: 1041

Luck: 0

All 45 attribute points gained from leveling up had been poured into Strength, granting him an impressive 27-point boost in attack. His Defense had skyrocketed to a staggering 205—ironclad, even by swordsman standards.

His HP had increased to 650 after leveling up, and with the Sword Fang Set providing an additional +26 Vitality, that translated to roughly +130 bonus HP, bringing his total health to a robust 880.

Kiriya burst into hearty laughter. At this point, he was without a doubt a "high-defense, high-HP tank swordsman!"

Suddenly, he remembered the remaining loot dropped by the Sword Fang King that hadn't yet been identified. He reached into his inventory and pulled out the first item.

It was a pair of boots. He handed them to the appraiser, who glanced at them and said, "Appraisal fee: 80 silver."

The price said it all—it was likely a cheap, run-of-the-mill item.

As expected, a flash of appraisal light revealed the item's stats:

[Wolf Tail Boots] (Black Iron-Tier)

Defense: 72

Strength: +4

Required Level: 27

"Figures... cheap gear," Kiriya muttered to himself. Still, he had to admit—warrior-class defense values were absurd. Just one black iron pair of boots outclassed his entire previous Sword Fang Set.

If a level-27 Berserker were wearing a full suit of bronze plate armor, Kiriya figured he'd need to use Armor Breaker just to scratch them!

The second item from the Sword Fang King's loot was a skill book—it didn't even need identification.

[True-fire Tide] (Skill Book)

Effect: Summons a surge of blazing flames to deal continuous fire damage to enemies within a set area.

Requirement: Level 25 Mage

Kiriya nodded in satisfaction and stowed the book away. It wasn't useful to him now, but in a few days, once more mage players hit level 25, the market price of such a book would skyrocket. No need to rush—better to wait and sell it later.

Then came the third item: a dazzling dagger that shimmered with radiant light. Just by looking at it, Kiriya had a gut feeling—this was something special.

He placed the weapon on the appraisal table.

Sure enough, the appraiser's expression shifted. "Such a treasure... in your possession? Appraisal fee: 10 gold."

Kiriya's heart leapt. He quickly paid the fee. With a wave of the appraiser's hand, the dagger flared with brilliant silver light!

[Shimmer Fang Dagger] (Silver-Tier Weapon)

Attack: 60–95

Agility: +15

Vitality: +8

Required Level: 25

Though Kiriya couldn't use daggers as his main weapon, as a swordsman, he couldn't help but be awestruck. This loot drop from the Sword Fang King was beyond worth it—he'd hit the jackpot.

It was a decent dagger with solid attack stats, but compared to the Obsidian Sword in Kiriya's hand, it still fell short.

This only confirmed what Kiriya had already suspected: the Obsidian Sword had far surpassed silver-tier weapons and was likely already at the level of a gold-tier.

The appraisal shop was empty. Kiriya activated the effects of his full Sword Fang set, along with the Obsidian Sword.

Though all the gear was dark-aligned, the radiant glow it released lit up the entire room as if it were daytime, so blinding it was hard to keep his eyes open. At that moment, a quiet sense of satisfaction filled his chest.

But he didn't linger in the feeling.

Just a few seconds later, he deactivated every single special effect, returning to his usual low-key grinding mode. He knew—when the time came for a real fight, that's when he'd truly shine.

Leaving the appraisal shop, Kiriya first stored the book True-fire Tide in his warehouse, then headed toward the village gate.

There, he shouted a few lines in the open market and sold off his unequipped Shadow Tunic and Windstrider Boots, raking in a total of ten gold coins.

That brought his pouch to a total of seventy-six coins—by current standards, he was practically swimming in gold!

After restocking his potions, Kiriya suddenly found himself at a bit of a loss.

He considered heading to Wolf Howl Ridge, but there was no way to be sure if the Sword Fang Wolves had respawned yet.

Even if they had, the trip there would take at least half an hour—just the round trip alone would eat up his prime leveling time.

He shook his head with a faint laugh.

"Forget it. Better get some sleep. Can't grind without a working body."

Just as he was about to log out, a ding~ echoed in his ear—a new message.

He tapped it open.

It was from Violet.

For a brief second, her graceful figure appeared vividly in his mind. What could this stunning priestess want from him?

The message read:

"Hey, are you there? Can you help me with something?"

Kiriya replied without hesitation:

"Of course."

A few seconds later, another message came in:

"Great! Meet me at the village gate!"

He glanced at his map, then immediately set off in that direction. It wasn't long before he spotted a familiar figure standing quietly beneath the lamplight—Violet.

She was dressed in a soft, faintly glowing robe, clearly bronze-tier gear. Crimson Lotus, her guild, was no joke—they'd already geared her up with bronze equipment this early in the game.

Violet was scanning her surroundings, clearly looking for someone. Her bright eyes held a touch of anxiety, but also… something like hope.

Kiriya approached slowly, fully equipped in his Sword Fang set and with his ID hidden. Violet didn't recognize him at first.

That is, not until he stopped right in front of her and greeted her with a small, teasing smile: "Hey~"

Violet blinked in surprise, raising her eyes to meet his. For a heartbeat, they sparkled with pure admiration. Then, a soft smile graced her lips.

"You already gathered a full set? That's amazing…"

Kiriya replied humbly, "It's nothing special. So, what's this about? A quest?"

Violet nodded, her expression serious.

"Yeah… It's a quest to take down a level-20 boss. Lusk and Ragnar already logged off, so… I thought of you first. It won't take long, I promise. I can pay five gold as a fee."

Kiriya couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, come on, don't treat me like a stranger. It's just a boss fight. I'll take it as a walk with a pretty girl under the stars. If you don't charge me, I'll already consider myself lucky."

His words made Violet giggle, a soft, melodious laugh that carried warmth with it. In that moment, her smile felt like a spring breeze—gentle, comforting, and impossible to look away from.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the beginner's village, a silver-haired girl swung her blade down in one smooth motion, slicing clean through a kobold.

Golden light scattered in the air as she wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled sweetly.

"Finally hit level 20… I wonder what that Dummy's level is by now?"

Beneath the moonlight, her snow-white cheeks and flowing silver hair shimmered with an ethereal glow—so beautiful, it was almost breathtaking.