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Book 1 - Prologue - Part 3
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King Cyril sits on the throne of Turah, wrapped up in his royal purple garb and an intricately designed gold crown that sits atop his head. He is a large and strong man, which is more than enough to intimidate most. In Turah, Cyril rules with an iron fist, and no one dares to betray or go against his word. He believes instilling fear is the best way to rule, for if the people are afraid, they are less likely to defy him.
As he waits for the next person to come in and plead their case to him, he notices his advisor burst through the doors. He’s a tall thin man with dark hair on his face. The look on his face tells King Cyril that he doesn’t have good news. “I do hope you didn’t come here to feed me more failures,” he growls.
The advisor bows before the King. “You have my sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, I do not come with good tidings.”
King Cyril gestures for him to stand. “Get on with it then. What news do you have to share with me today?”
His advisor pulls himself to his feet. “Of course,” he says with a nod. “Everyone has been receiving quests from the Heavenly Dao system concerning some cosmic energy that disappeared. It happened near a small village named Heki, and I wanted to bring it to your attention immediately, as I wasn’t sure you received the same quest.”
There is a brief moment of silence while the King contemplates the situation. “The Heavenly Dao System says cosmic energy has been disappearing, you say? Well, that is certainly cause for concern. Show me this quest you received.”
The man steps back and nods as the quest appears before him.
New Quest Available. This quest is available to anyone level 40+
Quest: Find the Source of the Missing Cosmic Energy
Requirements: Cosmic energy has gone missing from a small village known as Heki. Investigate the area and find the source of the missing cosmic energy. Bonus: Find out why the cosmic energy disappeared.
Failure Penalty: Failure will result in the loss of 5 stat points.
Rewards: Part 2 of the quest, 5,000 gold pieces, and Immunity Shield (Provides immunity from certain mid-level spells–level 50–).
Accept? Yes/No
King Cyril stares at the quest and reads through it a few times before returning his attention to his advisor. “I see. Well, my suggestion would be to get this quest completed. Every soldier who received it is to go with you. I command that this be done as soon as possible. The sooner you complete this quest, the sooner we can get onto more important matters. Gather a group of soldiers and send them to investigate the source of the cosmic energy that disappeared. I see an opportunity here, but I expect perfection when carrying out this mission. Even the smallest failure and I assure you there will be consequences.”
His advisor pales as he nods in agreement. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will ensure it is taken care of right away.” He turns to leave the room to gather the soldiers when King Cyril begins speaking again.
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“If I see another mistake from you like this, you will be executed. You are supposed to be my advisor, which means I need to be able to trust you. When something of this magnitude happens, I expect you to take care of all necessary preparations. If I can’t trust you, you have no business here. Keep this in mind, and all will be fine.” He knows the threat will be enough to scare the man back into place, though when he notices the dread and terror in his eyes, he only gets more annoyed. “You have a good life here, so don’t mess it up for yourself over a little pride.”
The advisor acknowledges the threat and hurries out of the room, much to King Cyril’s entertainment. As soon as his advisor leaves the room, a quest pops up for King Cyril.
World Quest is Available. This quest is available to anyone level 50 +
Quest: General Collapse
Requirements: Send a group of spies with the soldiers traveling to Heki to report back about the missing cosmic energy. Bonus: Send an extra group of spies to watch the soldiers and continue with them as they complete their quest.
Failure Penalty: Failure will result in the loss of 5 Levels.
Reward: Part 2 of the quest, 10,000 gold pieces. Bonus: Additional 5,000 gold pieces/ New set of Royal Garb with 25% stat increase across all stats.
Accept? Yes/No
***
Over a hundred soldiers stand before King Cyril as he sits on his throne. “As I’m sure you all know, I have called you here due to the quest given to each of you by the Heavenly Dao system. You are to complete this quest as soon as possible. Any information you receive is to be brought back to me. I will not tolerate failure.”
“How do you expect us to figure this out?” questions one of the commanders. “I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but it would be helpful if we at least had a place to start. The quest doesn’t offer much information, and I would prefer to know what we are going up against. We know little of this place, so scouting it out before moving would be the best route.”
“Do you dare question me?” King Cyril demands as he stands up from his throne. “If you would allow me to finish speaking, you would have answers to your questions. That said, I don’t think you are fit to lead this mission if you cannot even listen to simple orders. As a Commander, you should know better than to speak out of turn.” He clapped his hands, and the two guards behind him approached the Commander.
The Commander’s face pales as he drops to his knees. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to offend you. I—”
Before he can finish speaking, King Cyril nods to his guards, and one of them instantly slices open the Commander’s throat. King Cyril looks around the room as the body drops to the ground with a thud. “Now, anyone else would like to question me?”
The rest of the soldiers remain silent, and after a few tense moments, the guards make their way back up to the King and take up their positions behind him.
“Very good,” King Cyril says with a grin. “Now, for those who want to listen, you are to head to the village of Heki, where the cosmic energy disappeared, and find the source. If you must kill the villagers to find the answer, do it. I want no stone left unturned. Until the quest is complete. I don’t want to see any of you coming back here.”
When he is finished speaking, the soldiers waste no time leaving the room to prepare. If cosmic energy truly is disappearing, King Cyril is determined to get to the bottom of it. Once all the soldiers are gone, the King’s advisor returns to the room. “Everything is taken care of, Your Majesty. The soldiers are preparing to leave now, and they have a few scouts with them, so they will be able to keep us updated on the situation. We also sent three scouts among them, who will report back as often as possible.”
“Very good,” King Cyril responds. “Now that we have all that out of the way, there is one more thing I need you to do. If I can somehow acquire enough cosmic energy, I can crack the key to immortality. That’s why this is so important and why I need to know I can trust you. This is a golden opportunity, so you should be grateful. I need you to dig through the old archives and gather anything regarding cosmic energy and where it comes from.” Of course, he only asks these questions as he wants to complete his quests, but he keeps the information to himself.
His advisor nods and bows to his King. “Yes, Your Majesty. You have my word that this will be done,” he responds before walking out of the room as King Cyril sits back on his throne, grinning from ear to ear with confidence. As far as he is concerned, no one can defeat him, and he has no intention of missing out on a chance to unlock the secrets to immortality, no matter the consequences.