Eden entered once more under the guardian, his sword slashing and stabbing as fast as he could.
[ -16 ], [ -16 ], [ -16 ]
This time, however, it was much harder to keep himself safe as the monster moved around like an enraged bull, trying to stomp him into the ground.
"If you're just gonna watch the show, get out of the party. I'll kill this thing by myself," Eden yelled before sliding out to avoid the monster's crushing drop.
Charging in again as the guardian fell, he dealt another round of damage [ -8 ], [ -8 ], [ -8 ], but then, the guardian restored another [ +10 ] HP.
As the monster rose back to its feet, Eden took cover, positioning himself near the trees.
"I was just trying to find a suitable pattern for my attacks," Cole said, coming next to his friend.
"Really?"
The monster charged again. Eden and Cole ran in different directions. However, the monster stopped.
"Get cover!" Eden yelled, jumping behind a tree.
"Fuck!" Cole cursed as he was too far from the trees. He jumped to the ground as the monster launched thorns from every part of its body.
The rain of projectiles smashed stones, cut trees, and punctured the ground. One of them managed to pierce Cole's body, dealing [ -30 ] damage and creating a sharp pain in his torso.
"You're dead!" Cole yelled in pain, getting up immediately after the attack stopped.
"Don't let yourself be driven by emotions, keep calm," Eden shouted, moving to deal more damage as the monster entered a [ Weakened State ] for a few seconds.
. . .
"Don't get distracted, we almost killed it," Eden said, breathing heavily. After an hour of battle, he was at the end of his strength. His hand trembled on the hilt of his sword, his legs felt like logs, but his eyes transmitted confidence and resolution. At least he still have a little more then half of his HP.
"I'm not distracted, I'm not distracted," Cole repeated, hugging his sword. His whole body trembled uncontrollably, not from fatigue as he no longer had the capacity to feel that. "This is too real, this is not a game," he mumbled, having only 13 HP left even after eating a bread.
Eden couldn't tell if his friend was serious or just overreacting. But there was no time to find out now as the thorn attack ended and they needed to assault the guardian again.
Eden moved as fast as his legs could carry him. This could be the final round of attacks as the monster had only 48 HP left.
[ +10 ]
The guardian's HP regenerated again, but Eden was determined to finish the hour-long battle.
"I'm the one who's gonna take its life." Cole's voice resounded next to Eden as a series of [ -4 ] damages appeared above the guardian's head.
"So you were just overreacting," Eden said, continuously slashing with his sword and dealing a series of [ -8 ] damages.
The guardian rose up, but this time, its enemies didn't retreat. Its HP dropped continuously until...
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[ Congratulations for killing a Level 4 Rare monster ]
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The announcement rang inside the boys' heads. The body of the monster disappeared and the loot dropped on the ground, but Cole didn't have enough energy to do the honors this time. He just sat on the ground, facing the blue sky.
Eden went to pick up the loot and returned with a satisfied expression as he received 32 Coppers and a Dark-Bronze Chestplate suitable for sword users.
"Here, take this," Eden said, handing the chestplate to his friend.
"What's this, are you trying to insult me?" Cole asked.
"You didn't seem to do that well until now; this will improve your overall strength. Take it."
"I don't want it. Let me remind you that even in this game, I am a man of honor and pride. I do not accept something that I do not deserve. Please take it back."
"You're as stubborn as a human can possibly be," Eden said, sitting next to his friend.
"If you were in my position, would you accept it?" Cole asked.
Eden remained silent.
"That's what I thought."
Both of them were stubborn and had a pride that made them uncomfortable when pitied.
After relaxing for a while until their stamina recovered, Eden spoke, "Come, we need to kill more golems."
"Yeah," Cole said, getting up. "How many item will i drop if i die?"
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"No idea. Why, are you thinking to die and restore your full HP?" Eden asked.
"Yeah," Cole replied.
"Then forget it. We don't know if you'll respawn here or at the monolith."
Cole nodded in silence, considering Eden's words.
The Level 4 Rare monster helped their EXP bar reach 47% in one go, but they still needed to work for a few more hours to advance to the next level.
Eden equipped the chestplate, and his stats increased again.
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[ Dark-Bronze Level 4 chestplate ]
Suitable for melee classes
HP: +60
Defense: +12
Endurance: +2
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This wasn't a piece of equipment to give away easily, and without something better, it would do the job until Level 10.
Eden and Cole continued their grinding. They received a message from Captain Chou asking about the progress of their mission, but they managed to evade the actual answer and buy more time for themselves.
The risk of getting caught for not doing enough work was less important than the reward offered by the Special Quest. Hours passed, EXP gathered, and the Wooden Golems fell one by one. The ancient trees that stood for hundreds of years never expected their role would be to serve as mere traps.
Pushing a little bit further ahead, on growling stomachs as they had no food left, after hours of work, the long-awaited notification finally arrived.
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[ Congratulations, you have reached Level 4 ]
+ 2 Attribute Points
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[ Special Quest "Level Maniac" ]
Completed!
Reward: You can go and collect your weapon from Timothy at his shop.
----------------------------------------
Cole lay on his back, facing the blue sky and breathing the long-deserved air of peace. They made it in time.
Eden sat next to him, pondering the potential reward. He wasn't sure about the rank of the weapon; the quest giver never shared that. But the person that completed the quest back then had advanced so rapidly in the early game that they became the vice-leader of Emerald Crane, one of the middle top guilds in Ahartohaim.
It couldn't be said if the success of the player could be attributed solely to the weapon, but Eden was sure that it must've played a part.
"Let's go eat something before we report for the quest," Cole said.
Eden just nodded.
The two didn’t stay on the ground for long. They got up and headed to Akem, where the first thing they did was find a place to eat. They spent 8 coppers on two large bowls of sheep soup and ate until they were full. Then, they went to find Timothy's shop. As he said the day before, it was exactly at the end of the street. The front of the building was a weapon shop, and from the back, they could hear the sound of hammering.
"Hello, is someone here?" Cole asked, admiring the beautiful weapons and equipment displayed on the walls. The prices, however, made him feel poor and unimportant. "I swear that one day, I'll come to buy everything I need from here."
I'm sure you will, Timothy is one of the best blacksmiths in Ahartohaim, Eden thought.
"Dear sirs, how can I help you?" A deep voice announced the presence of the tall man named Timothy. His yellow eyes seemed to see through the outer layer of a person as he gazed at the boys.
"Mr. Timothy, we came to report the completion of our quest," Cole said.
"Quest, quest," Timothy repeated, trying to remember. "Ah, so it's you," he said, analyzing the youngsters in front of him. Then, as a smile appeared on his face, he invited them, "Come, come, follow me. I'm a man of my word."
At the back of the shop was a real forge with two other blacksmiths working non-stop. The heat and smell from the hot iron made Cole's sensitive nose feel uncomfortable.
"I'm gonna ask you to place a hand on that big rock over there," Timothy pointed at a black rock with a mirror-like surface. "That thing will tell me what kind of shape your weapons should have."
Cole was the first to place his hand on the black rock. He stood there for about ten seconds but didn’t feel a thing. Eden was more accustomed to this type of measurement, so he didn't expect to feel anything.
"Good, everything is settled here, boys. You can come to receive your swords two days from now. You should strive to reach Level 5 by then, or you won't be able to use my weapons."
"For real?" Cole asked excitedly.
Timothy raised an eyebrow before nodding with a wide grin that look more creepy then friendly.
After exchanging greetings, the boys exited the shop and went to work on their actual mission as Beta Testers. Better to do something later then never doing anything.
"So we'll need to grind for Level 5 before we can use the swords," Cole said sadly. They will lose their progress when their accounts will be reset.
"It seems so," Eden responded, not too bothered by the extra work.
In the remaining time, they didn’t aim for complicated quests or big rewards. If they could get a few more pieces of equipment, great, but it wasn’t necessary. They just needed something to report. And currently, they were lucky as the city was all theirs. Inhabitants couldn’t do the quests meant for players, and because there were just two such players in the whole city, everything went smoothly.
When Ahartohaim will officially launch, there won't be much space for doing common quests as players would compete for them. But now, it is still peaceful and quiet, Eden thought, placing all his equipment in the bank.
There was one more important quest he remembered in his current city, but he didn’t want to waste it since the EXP would disappear. He could do it to obtain the Skill Book, but he didn’t have a place to store it as he couldn’t let Cole see it. Some secrets needed to be kept even from family and friends.
. . .
"Alright, if that's all, let's log out," Captain Chou said after hearing the reports from all his team members. He took out his [Character Card] and pressed the [Log Out] button.
After all the team members teleported back to Earth, a staff member came with a plate to collect the cards. Then, Eden saw the director approaching them.
This can't be good, he thought.
"I just have to say a few words," said the director. "First of all, I want to thank you for all the work done in supporting our project. Even though for some of you this work was shorter then expected. The valuable information gathered by you and the other teams around the world is extremely useful in the progress of the game and in programming future events."
In understanding its mechanics and finding shortcuts for the three governments to exploit, Eden thought.
"And also, as a result of the information we've analyzed, QuantumPlay Dynamics has decided to officially launch Ahartohaim a few days earlier. While you were in the game, we announced that the official launch will take place the day after tomorrow. Your contribution points will be calculated, and tomorrow you will receive your new [Character Cards], along with your payment," said the director before starting to applaud. All the staff members and people present started to do the same.
"It's here, I can't believe it happened so fast," John said, smiling from ear to ear. His serious expression and controlled behavior were nowhere to be seen. Instead, his powerful emotions, specific for his age, were in full display.
Eden remained calm as Framus had informed him about this, while Cole was the only person in the room who wasn’t that excited since he had been a Beta Tester for only a short time.
"I won’t meet with you individually since I'm pressed for time, but if you want to share something with me, I'm available," the director said, looking at Eden.
"Entry into Ahartohaim will be through the portals situated in special squares arranged in every city in all the partner countries. There will also be a special, portable device available for purchase from our shops at the price of 20,000 credits. Of course, all the Beta Testers have priority in purchasing one directly from us." The director gave a warm smile. "Any questions?"
"Can we buy them now?" Cole asked.
"Of course," the director responded.
"Then we want ours if there's no problem," Cole gestured to himself and Eden.
"I want one as well," Monique said, stepping forward.
But i don't have that much money, Eden thought.