An artifact emerges

Soren soon returned to town.

To his disappointment, however, the young woman Alice, whom he had hoped to make an impression on, seemed to have left again. Her status placed her above ordinary affairs, and she was probably only stationed here to oversee things, not necessarily staying here all the time. Besides, this was only a very ordinary town, with little to attract a legendary Puppeteer.

But...

Quite unexpectedly, Soren managed to coax some very interesting information out of a tavern dancer.

Apparently, an artifact had emerged in the Eastern Realm.

A flail.

A flail whose powers had been exaggerated to near-mythic proportions, supposedly capable of easily destroying other legendary weapons. The entire Eastern Realm was now in turmoil, with many factions searching for and fighting over this artifact. Yet no one knew exactly where it was. All they could confirm was that an exceptionally powerful artifact really had emerged.

"A flail?"

Soren froze for a moment when he heard this. Flails were rare among artifacts, and the first thing that came to mind was the incomplete artifact component in his possession.

"Could it be the Flail of Ages?"

The more Soren considered it, the more likely it seemed. The Flail of Ages was one of the most powerful artifacts on the Material Plane, and it was renowned for its exceptional armor piercing, with devastating destructive power against any equipment below artifact grade. Precisely because the Flail of Ages was so powerful, people had repeatedly dismantled it and scattered its parts across the world. Its appearance in the Eastern Realm would hardly be surprising, since this had once been the heartland of civilization.

"Could it really be the Flail of Ages? Should I try to fight for it?"

Soren sank into thought.

The Flail of Ages was no less formidable