Rebirth of the Legendary Guardian

Zhang Yang did not stay long in the village, there were already no more quests left for him here. But he did ask Hushma more about the Kingcross' Sword before he left. He wanted to know about the sword's history, as well as the whereabouts of the other pieces.

However, Hushma was not able to answer his questions about the sword as it has been handed down in the village for generations, its lore already lost to time. But he did, however, imparted a very interesting piece of information to him: This land was not always this filled with salt crystals! It was once a blushful and green land, filled with life!

But for reasons no longer known to men, the land became dried up with salt. Most of the people who once lived here have sought to move away from the salt and towards places with freshwater, deep inside the forests. However, that decision has made them a prisoner of sorts, for when wild beasts started to adapt to the new environment as well, the human's area of activity became severely limited, restraining their growth as a race.

The ruins which Zhang Yang saw on the salted plains on his way here, were proof of Hushma's tale. It is such a shame, that they were unable to restore themselves to the glory they once had.

Hushma also revealed that the village's history can be traced all the way back in history as being descendants of royalty! When their ancestors left the palace generations ago, they each had a piece of the Kingcross' Sword with them. But they all scattered all across the land after the great migration, and with that, the sword fragments as well.

Following the clues given by the village chief, Zhang Yang headed in the Northwest direction. And after several hours of traveling, he finally arrived at the ruins of a stone palace. The corrosion caused by the salt here was terrible, and there were not much of the ruins left as well. Most of the stone walls have been terribly corroded by the wind, leaving scars on them, telling of their ever-losing battle with time.

However, there were still people here! Unlike Hushma's tribe who ventured deep into the forest generations ago, these people stayed on simply because there was a small freshwater lake in the middle of the ruins, untainted by the salt.

Before Zhang Yang could even dismount, he saw a long line of darkness on the horizon. The line gradually grew bigger and closer, and he could finally see that they were a large number of orcs riders on frost wolves. The orcs bared their sharp fangs and waved their battle axes, while they howled battle cries and charged at the ruined city.

"ENEMY INCOMING!" Scouts rang through the ancient city as hundreds of defenders with various kinds of weapons and armor appeared on the what's left of the city walls. But this was to be a losing battle for them, as the only ranged attack they could muster was from a few bowmen, they lacked the firepower of magic canons, and in terms of numbers, the orcs outnumber them 3 to 1!