The last Level 8 Elder Thorn Boar collapsed in the Gnarled Briar Patch, its tough hide finally succumbing to Drake's relentless assault. He stood amidst the thorny vines, catching his virtual breath. Level 8 felt solid. His [Basic Slash] dealing consistent, significant damage with his [Well-Used Longsword]. His shield arm reacted almost instinctively, his [Defend] skill also locked at a hard-won 90% SCR after hours of practice, turning aside most blows with minimal damage leaking through his full set of Normal-quality leather armor and basic shield, augmented by the Rare [Worn Alvari Bracer].
He had spent a long session grinding here after completing the earlier exploration tasks, methodically clearing the Level 7 and 8 mobs that infested the patch. The experience was good, but the path to Level 10, the requirement for facing the tutorial boss, still felt substantial under Legacy of Alvari's demanding EXP Required = 100 * (Level^2) formula. He needed roughly 8,100 EXP for Level 9 and 10,000 for Level 10 – nearly 18,000 total. Killing Level 8 boars, even efficiently, would take time.
"Okay, grinding works, SCRs are solid now. But maybe there's something else? That Alvari artifact I found earlier still feels... unresolved. Time for a different kind of grind – information."
He found a relatively clear spot, away from the patrolling Vine Creepers, and sat, deliberately accessing his [Perfect Recall] archive. He filtered past combat data, focusing instead on the dialogues recorded during his exhaustive sweep of Veridian Rise NPCs back in Chapter 10. He searched for keywords related to local legends, ruins, or anything out of the ordinary within the Verdant Threshold zone.
Most memories were mundane – complaints about weather, gossip about neighbors, simple merchant requests. But [Perfect Recall] allowed him to sift through hours of conversation in seconds. He honed in on the memory of Old Warrior Theron, the veteran who sat near the village barracks.
Recall Triggered: Theron's Voice:"…most adventurers think secrets only lie in the big coastal ruins. Nah. Sometimes things hide closer, just… forgotten. My grandsire explored all over this Threshold, see? Told me 'bout some crumbling watchtower ruins, west of here, past the Briar Patch edge. Overgrown now. Said he found somethin' peculiar there… . Like half of somethin' important, hid right beneath where the old sentinel statue looks out..."
"Forgotten watchtower ruins, west of the Briar Patch. Sentinel statue. That's specific. Feels like more than just random chatter." The word resonated with the description of the [Weathered Alvari Artifact] also feeling 'incomplete'. "Could they be related? Worth checking out. A potential discovery might give more EXP than just grinding these boars."
Decision made, Drake stood up, oriented himself using his map, and headed west from the Gnarled Briar Patch. He navigated through dense woods, eventually emerging into a rockier area with low hills. After about twenty minutes, he spotted the ruins exactly as Theron's memory described: low, crumbling stone walls half-buried in earth and vines, marking a small square foundation on a rise. In the center stood the heavily eroded base and torso of a stone statue, facing eastward.
He approached the quiet, forgotten site. "Okay, 'beneath the old sentinel statue's gaze'." He methodically searched the ground in front of the statue, scanning the overgrown foundation. Nothing obvious. He examined the statue itself – weathered, cracked, solid-looking base. He recalled the exact phrasing again via [Perfect Recall]: "...hid right beneath where the old sentinel statue looks out."
Focusing on the area directly in front of the statue's base, he knelt and ran his hand along the worn stone near the ground. His fingers detected a subtle seam, almost perfectly camouflaged. He pushed aside moss and found a tiny, barely visible Alvari-style etching on the seam line. "A hidden mechanism." He pressed the symbol. With a low grind, a section of the base stone slid inwards and then sideways, revealing a dark cavity.
He peered inside. Resting on faded, dusty remnants of cloth lay a dark metal object – a broken sword hilt. It was ornately crafted, clearly ancient, with swirling patterns unlike any local designs. It felt cool to the touch but pulsed with a faint, contained energy. He carefully retrieved it.
<< Item Acquired: [Broken Twin Blade Hilt]! >> The item details appeared.
[Broken Twin Blade Hilt]
Quality: ??? Type: Quest Item / Artifact Fragment Description: Holds a faint echo of mirrored purpose. Seems ancient, powerful, yet incomplete. Severed cleanly from its blade. [Soulbound]. Requirements: Unknown Stats: None
"Broken Twin Blade Hilt... Quality ???... Soulbound... 'Mirrored purpose'... exactly like Theron's story! This has to be important." He compared it mentally to the Alvari disc; both felt ancient, incomplete, and possibly connected. No stats, no current function, but clearly significant. "Another piece of the puzzle. Whatever these Alvari things are, they seem tied to something beyond this tutorial. Have to keep it safe."
He secured the hilt in his inventory. The detour had yielded a major discovery, proving the value of listening to even rambling NPC stories when combined with his perfect memory. But the mystery of the hilt and the disc would have to wait.
"Level 8, nearly halfway to 9. Still need that final push to 10 for the guardian. Time to get back to earning EXP."
Putting the ancient mysteries aside for the moment, Drake left the dilapidated ruins. He considered the most efficient source of EXP – the Level 7 and 8 mobs in the Gnarled Briar Patch seemed optimal for his current level and skill. He turned back towards the thorny expanse, ready to grind out the final levels needed.