The Captain continued, "We were originally cavalry from the Kingdom's Flying Knights Legion. Three months ago, we received orders from the Kingdom to suppress the rebel Golden Knights Order here on Wild Horse Plains. Two months passed, and our numbers dwindled. The Kingdom even stopped sending supplies. We later found out that the area near the Lumber Mill, which was along the supply route, had been infested by Undead forces. All the troops sent with military supplies were killed there and turned into Undead. The rebel Golden Knights Order here is extremely powerful. Over two months ago, they used the advantage of the plains to crush our legion in one fell swoop. Our Legion Commander, Dack, also lost his life in that brutal battle. Since then, we have been trapped on this drawbridge. Two months have passed, and our supplies are completely exhausted. If no reinforcements arrive, we will only starve to death here."
He stopped speaking there, sitting by the campfire with a string of sighs. The other few walked towards a dilapidated barracks. It seemed that was the stronghold of these remnant soldiers, forming a stark contrast with the Golden Knights Order opposite, whose banners fluttered proudly. Even a blind man could see the previous battle situation.
Seeing that there was no benefit to be gained, I quickly sat by the fire and said to the Captain, "Officer, the Golden Knights Order should also be the Kingdom's army, right? Why did they become rebels on the plains?"
The Captain sighed and said, "That's right. The Golden Knights Order was originally the head of the Kingdom's four great knight legions. Its commander, Dack, was one of the few Sky Knights in the Kingdom. The story goes back three years. In that year, the Kingdom's little Princess Misha and Dack fell in love. But also in that year, a terrible Undead plague spread, and the Princess unfortunately also contracted the plague. The Old King, under pressure from his ministers, reluctantly decided to exile the Princess to the Plague Graveyard to fend for herself."
"Dack wouldn't agree, would he?" My interest was piqued. I didn't expect the quest I accepted to have such an interesting backstory. moons constant truly has grand ambitions!
The Captain gave a bitter smile, "Dack is a very stubborn man. His persistence is as strong as his knights' loyalty to him. On the third day after the Princess was sent to the Plague Graveyard, Dack led his elite troops to break through the Undead Mage's restrictions and arrived at the old house. Unfortunately, he didn't find Princess Misha. Instead, he angered the Old King. Because of this, they fell out. Dack and his knights left the Kingdom's army. The Old King, enraged, dispatched the Kingdom's second most powerful Flying Knights Legion to encircle and suppress Dack's Golden Knights Order. Heaven knows the Golden Knights Order would be so formidable; they completely defeated us in just three days. Dack also completely embarked on a path of no return."
I was secretly alarmed. This matter was actually connected to Princess Misha's quest. The reason Commander Dack couldn't find Misha was probably because Misha's soul had already been extracted.
"Young man, whether we can return to Hurricane City alive depends on whether you can help us deliver a message back," the Captain finally stated his request, and the quest prompt followed: "Do you wish to accept Captain Roger's entrustment to deliver a message?"
I hesitated. If I only accepted this delivery quest, it would be too simple. I could complete it with just a single return to town, and the quest reward would naturally be meager. If there were no follow-up quests, I would lose out big time!
Adventure! Only through adventure will there be great rewards!
With a slight wave of my hand, I chose no. Unexpectedly, Captain Roger then smiled meaningfully, "Young man, do you perhaps think this matter is too simple?"
I nodded and said righteously, "As a swordsman of the Kingdom, I have the courage to challenge Dack!"
Roger's expression froze. It seemed the system was already filtering the next quest. Sure enough, in a few seconds, Roger continued, "Young man, this is not a simple matter. You must have the courage to sacrifice your life! Go, and retrieve something from Dack's army to prove yourself!"
Quest Prompt: Accept Captain Roger's entrustment, kill knights of the Golden Cavalry Regiment, obtain 100 Golden Knight Badges, and return them to Roger. This matter is extremely dangerous, so be very careful! The Golden Cavalry Regiment is on the plains opposite. Their legion sends out a small scout squad to patrol outside the barracks every half hour.
I carefully read the quest description twice. I tidied up my gear. Completing the quest for Murong Shanshan just now didn't consume too much equipment durability, so I estimated that completing this quest shouldn't be a problem. The quest mentioned that a small portion of the Golden Knights Order would be patrolling outside, which clearly told me not to go into their barracks looking for trouble. It was more practical to kill small groups of stragglers outside.
"Young warrior, is there anything else?" Captain Roger asked me, surprised, seeing that I wasn't moving.
I originally wanted to ask if he could give me some divine artifact for protection or something, but seeing the impoverished Captain in front of me, I didn't have the heart to say it. He had already lost his horse, probably killed it for food. His knight's lance was long gone, the two-handed greatsword in his hand was full of nicks, the hilt was already rusty, and his armor, which should have been silver-gray, had completely turned black—a truly unbearable sight.
"Captain, nothing else. I'll go now." I held my greatsword and, being honest, didn't ask for anything extra.
Roger smiled and said, "I have nothing good to give you. You probably don't know, but I was actually a foot soldier before. Here's a swordsman skill manual; I hope it helps you!"
"Ding~!"
A skill book fell into my inventory. I opened it and was dumbfounded—Enhanced Combo!
Enhanced Combo: Makes the swordsman more proficient when using the Combo skill, increasing damage to a certain extent. Requires Combo skill level 3!
I quickly checked my skill bar. Combo had just reached level 3 with my frequent use, which was also the highest level I could train it to at my current level. In moons constant, skill levels are set to only be one level higher than the player's own level's tens digit. This means I could train to level 3 at level 27, and then there would be no more experience. Only at level 30 could the skill advance to level 4. Currently, the officially released maximum skill level is 10. Some people on the forum claimed that a level 10 Combo would deliver up to 7 frequent attacks, and high-attack swordsmen might be able to instantly kill mages of the same level.
However, unfortunately, that was only a possibility. moons constant is very balanced. Some people have already researched and found that the higher the Combo level, the less damage each attack deals. These past two days, the forums have been filled with complaints. Most swordsmen are already complaining that Combo's power is too weak, almost to the point of being called 'Disassemble'. The total damage of two attacks is sometimes not even as high as one attack... How would this Enhanced Combo help this almost useless skill?