Kaelen tightened the leather strap on his vambrace, the familiar weight of his twin blades settling against his hips. Around him, the bustling square of Navea thrummed with life—bards tuning lutes, guardians polishing tower shields, and sorcerers debating mana efficiency. But Kaelen’s eyes were fixed on the job board.

Kaelen jogged to catch up, his boots crunching on crystallized mana. The final chamber of the Skyhigh Lich’s lair yawned open—a cathedral of frozen souls and pulsing violet runes. And there it was: the Lich Reborn, patch 7.3’s newest nightmare. Twice the size of the original, wreathed in black flames, and glowing with a new aura: Spiteful Aegis —reflected 50% of all critical damage back to the attacker. Half the Duelist community had already quit raiding.