Raleigh Whisper, Immortal Agent. Somewhere southwest of Windemere's outer walls.
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The fear of death and the unknown beyond it kept him alive. That, in the end, was Raleigh's whole raison d'etre. Survive. And now his Faustian bargain denied him even the right to die.
He inspected the gaudy ring on his hand again and sighed. The red leather-covered metal ring was as thick as his thumb was wide, covered in a mosaic of diamonds, black dragon scale, Core fragments, and a squishy glowing leather that shed light directly into the diamonds, amplifying it. Thankfully nobody could see either the ring or the light, because just the materials alone were enough to get someone murdered over it.
> The Immortal Agent - level 68
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> Value: 378 kingmetal coins
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> 22 Perks. Has an MP pool. You do not have enough permissions to see more details.
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> * The wearer gains +15 to Endurance, Dexterity, Willpower, and Charisma.
> * The Wearer gains 45 Proficiency with Furtivity. No additional Abilities are granted.
> * The wearer gains 50 Base HP.
> * The wearer's vision and hearing ranges are tripled.
> * The wearer can detect specially marked items.
> * Soulbound to Raleigh Whisper.
> * Looks no different than a decorative copper ring. The difficulty to see the true ring is 276.
> * The ring and/or the wearer can become invisible upon command.
> * Stores up to 4.3 cubic meters of inanimate matter. Grants knowledge of what is inside to the wearer.
> * Grants darkvision.
> * Can glow as bright as a torch upon command.
> * Immediately upon death, the wearer's soul and body will be kept in the ring.
> * If the wearer's soul and body are stored in the ring, it shifts into the Ethereal world.
> * In the Ethereal world, the ring will activate stealth (1035%, adjusted by size) and fly to Windemere (300km/h).
> * If removed, becomes invisible and teleports back to the wearer's finger.
> * Absorbs excess MP from the wearer.
> * If above 75% MP, grants MP to the wearer if their pool drops below 20%
> * Regenerates 0.05% of the wearer's maximum HP per minute. Regrows lost appendages, fingers first.
> * Multiplies the negative HP threshold for death by 50.
> * Self-repairing.
> * Receives 0.5% of the wearer's Exp awards.
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> Materials: Black Dragon King's Scale, Gold, Platinum, Truesilver, Living Threads, Diamonds, Creature Core, Red Dragon Leather, Phase-Anglerfish's Esca
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> This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
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> A masterpiece ring crafted by Windemere's true sovereign, this unique ring was given to her most trusted Agent.
'At least I don't have to fear death anymore,' he wondered. 'Focus on your freaking job, Raleigh,' he chided himself right after. He waited for three weeks for this, and he couldn't miss it for anything in this world.
Days after his forceful recruitment, the crazy Tabard-toting woman granted him the ring and commanded him to follow the dwarven caravan coming out of Vugh Tarim to wherever they went. After weeks of waiting for them, the dwarves were finally delivering a huge shipment of weapons. It was easy to follow them as the crafter of one of the daggers in the shipment placed an enchanted marker inside it.
They met the other party south of the ruins of Saegalla. The buyers seemed to be from Sadian but the only person he recognized was Lord Torgo. Everyone wore heavy hooded cloaks with a minor enchantment to hide their faces under shadows. Maybe he should ask her for one of those. After thoroughly inspecting the wagons full of weapon crates, Torgo started to negotiate prices with the dwarves. The caravan leader was none other than Elder Blackbrew's son, Malgrit Blackbrew.
Raleigh found it strange that they were negotiating prices now, as a shipment of this size would not be shipped without guarantees and a deposit. The argument became even more heated and the deposit was confirmed. Torgo had funded and incited the dwarven uprising and mentioned connections to Elder Blackbrew.
The stubborn black-bearded dwarf and the haughty human Lord didn't reach an agreement. Malgrit threatened to take the shipment back. That's when Torgo snapped a finger and moved away from the dwarf.
Lamias appeared from the undergrowth and attacked the dwarven caravan! Wearing the same armor as the Windemere knights, they slaughtered the dwarves. He could see by the way they fought and coordinated their actions they weren't a trained knight unit, just someone dressing like one.
Only Malgrit and a handful of warriors escaped. More like they were let go by the assailants. The young dwarf, however, didn't notice it. He was too busy screaming and running for his dear life with all the might his short legs could pump.
Torgo cackled. A cloak-wearing bipedal creature, almost three meters tall, approached from the shadows. Raleigh hadn't noticed that presence before. He paid attention to their conversation.
"You have served us well, human," the creature hissed.
"Show your appreciation with more material means, milord," defiant, Torgo replied and promptly ignored the tall figure to order his men around. "Guys, calm the oxen and take the wagons south. We need to deliver the weapons within the month!"
"Do your job, and the artifact will be yours," the mysterious person shouted. "I think I'm feasting on lamia flesh tonight."
"Suit yourself," Torgo shouted back, already boarding one of the wagons, "These snakes had outlived their usefulness."
Raleigh saw fire coming from underneath the hood and decided it was time to run away.