The Second Phase of the Dark Tide Officially Begins!

The Second Phase of the Dark Tide Officially Begins!

The mysterious Lord Payen had only shown his face to the players before disappearing again. There were rumors that players had spotted him near the Machino Line.

The faction leader had inspected the defenses in the company of Lord Kuder and Lord Maxim, giving important instructions along the way. The newbies had tried to creep closer and eavesdrop, but the conversation between those NPCs was obviously encrypted. They couldn't hear anything useful.

They only knew that Lord Payen had gone to Fort Crimea afterward, then vanished without a trace.

The good news, however, was that the NPC for the prerequisite quest to unlock Lord Payen's personal reputation, "Lord Aurora," hadn't left with him. The unicorn, who was demanding and had a rather saucy personality, was still enjoying the players' attentive service in Shadow Valley.

In fact, it was getting a little addicted to it.

The Ashmen and Bricklayers had stopped by in the midst of their busy schedules to design a truly impressive stable for Lord Aurora. Then the players grinding reputation built it for him. Word had it that Lord Aurora had even taken several of the tall, cool-looking Shadowmanes as "lovers." When the blunt-spoken knight Valand heard about it, he couldn't stop grinning.

Under normal circumstances, Shadowmanes only bred in their own special plane. Over the past few centuries, the hillfolk had tried more than once to carry the Shadowmane bloodline into the material world.

They'd succeeded, but not quite enough.

The foals born to mares impregnated in the material world were indeed much stronger than ordinary warhorses. Unfortunately, they still hadn't inherited the Shadowmanes' absurd strength and endurance.

Considering that Shadowmanes had originally come from the elves, it was hard to say whether those elves had added some