Bonus Archaeology Quest
Quest - Earth 0 | Incan Archaeology Site
Find all of Historical Significance at the Site
This quest is only accessible for two Earth 0 hours due to the proximity of an Adventurer/Archaeologist who has cleared a Historically Significant Incan site in the local area
This location is the site where an Incan Scouting party initially made camp after being forced to divert down an unknown river while evading a highly aggressive and unknown military force
Site Accessible: 0:32:17
0:32:16
0:32:15
"I forgot the timer!"
"I didn't."
"Well, you were made to keep track of archaeology stuff."
"You remember that at specific times."
"Is this the time to chastise me, professor? The timer…"
"Convenient. Now this site is different, there is only one item here."
Alex's HUD guided him to a depression in the terrain and he started to dig, enjoying the simple exercise that was, for once, devoid of the blood and screams of his recent pursuits. Eventually, he dug down deep enough that the entrance to a cave was visible.
"The Strength increase makes digging faster and easier."
"Are you complaining about how easy archaeology is Again? I can modify a few settings and return it to normal…"
Alex's face fell and he looked up at the rim of the hole he was digging then down at his hands.
"Let's not be too hasty. This is how the System wanted archaeology to be done."
"It's no trouble, I only have to change a-"
"Professor! It's fine. Thank you."
"That's what I thought."
The AI drifted down and moved past Alex into the cave.
"Remarkable!"
Alex kept digging to expose enough of the entrance that he could look into the AI Tome-lit cave.
"How did you get in there?" Alex asked as he started removing large rocks from the entrance, casually throwing them up to the surface.
"I phased through the rock and dirt."
"You… you phased through?"
"Of course. I'm a System AI."
"Oh, of course. You phased through solid objects because you're a System AI! Of course, how silly of me… for having no idea that was even a thing."
"That's fine. You can't be expected to know everything. You probably want to hurry up though. The timer…"
"The timer…" Alex grumbled quietly.
Alex continued moving the large rocks, eventually having to climb back to the surface to move the rocks away from the edge… after one fell back into the hole, narrowly missing him, eventually the cave entrance was cleared and the archaeologist-turned-fire fighter-turned-Fire Warrior-turned-archaeologist walked into the small cave.
"What was so remark-"
The AI increased its level of illumination, filling the cave with a soft golden light.
"That's helpful… wow."
Alex slowly spun in a circle, taking in the striking artwork on the walls.
"It's beautiful. This has to be the most intact examples of Incan rock art ever found. Wow."
Alex stared at the stylised art, drinking it in. From the animals to what looked to be an epic journey to…
"Professor, is that… can it be?"
"Viracocha? Yes. Scan it."
Incan depiction of Viracocha, God and Creator of the Cosmos
Incan Rock Art
Earth 0 - Incan Outpost 7
"Amazing. The Settlement we found previously, that must've been where these Scouts ended up. I wonder what brought them so far from home."
"Or what caused them to leave this behind."
"This?"
Alex whirled to see the AI floating above a small alcove, in which what looked to be a staff had avoided his sight."
"No…," said Alex reverently.
Moving forwards, his right-hand shaking, Alex gripped the staff.
Cosmos, Viracocha's Staff of Creation
Legendary Staff
(Viracocha's Regalia of Creation 1/11)
A Staff wielded by the Incan God of the Cosmos while creating Earths
Weapon Stats:
Damage: Low
Attack Speed: Fast
Weight: Light
+100 Intelligence
+100 Wisdom
+100 Charisma
You are of insufficient level to wield the weapon
You are not a God
"Well, now we know that I'm not a God, that's helpful."
"This is an amazing find, Till. Beings throughout the Multiverse would kill for this Staff. They'd tear Earth 0 apart to get their hands on it."
"Does this mean that God's… Deities are level based?"
"I honestly don't know."
"Mhmmmm."
Alex put the Staff in his inventory. Then awkwardly looked around to make sure no one was watching, before climbing back out of the hole.
Current Dig Site
Completion - 100%
All Artefacts Recovered
Bonus Archaeology Quest
Quest - Earth 0 | Incan Archaeology Site
Find all of Historical Significance at the Site
This quest is only accessible for 2 Earth 0 hours due to the proximity of an Adventurer/Archaeologist who has cleared a Historically Significant Incan site in the local area
This location is the site where an Incan Scouting party initially made camp after being forced to divert down an unknown river while evading a highly aggressive and unknown military force
Quest Complete
Quest Rewards
500 A-Grade Credits
2000 B-Grade Credits
5000 C-Grade Credits
Bonus Quest Unlocked
Recover all 11 pieces of Viracocha's Regalia of Creation
(1/11)
"I feel like this should be a bigger moment, Till."
"Recovering a Legendary Staff?"
"Yes. Also, uncovering well-preserved Incan Cave Art."
"That's true. Why aren't we doing something about that?"
"If I file any information about the cave art then the System will show the discovery of the Staff. That would definitely mean people would come after you for the Staff."
"So it's safer to file nothing with the System? Even though the System knows everything?"
"The System does know everything, but it only shares specific information."
"So the System can't be hacked?"
"No."
"Just no?"
"Yes."
"Helpful. Now What?"
"The last Fire Attunement Zone in the area, then Vegas?"
"That'll do."
Alex accessed his map and headed off in the direction of the Level 50 Fire Attunement Zone, already dreading the pain and the boredom.
"I don't know what's worse, the pain from the lava or how boring I find these zones."
The professor chose not to reply.
----------------------------------------
Attunement - 100%
Fire Resistance II Increased To 9
Fire Attunement Zone - C-Grade (Level 50) Complete
Inner Fire Increased by 12
Constitution Increased by 9
Experience Gained - 7930
----------------------------------------
Alex and the professor left the volcano with the Map activated. Alex turned in the direction of Vegas and started running.
"How do you feel about heading back?"
"To Vegas? Part of me feels like I'm going to find out this is just one crazy dream. Another part of me is screaming to stay out here… but I’ll out-level everything soon.”
“Is that all?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“No. For the first time, I’m wondering about Charisma.”
“That could be a problem. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Alex continued running, constantly looking around at the new terrain.
“All this green heading into the city from the desert feels… wrong. It used to dust and scrub.”
“It improves the landscape significantly.”
“I liked the area outside the city, it always made me think that the Strip had stripped all life from the area. So it felt quiet. I found it relaxing.”
“I can understand that. You were a barrel of issues before the Initiation weren’t you?”
“I won’t deny-”
Earth 0 - Lost Vegas
Veterans Memorial Highway
Level 70 Desolation Zone
Alex pulled up.
“Level 70!?”
“I'm caught up on the name.”
“What? Oh, Lost Vegas… that’s ominous. Still, a Level 70 Desolation Zone?”
“No idea. I have no records of anything similar.”
Alex pulled up his Map and waited as the zone populated.
“The Map is changing now that we’re close. Large sections look like they’re different.”
Zooming in he checked out different areas, seeing a mixture of Earth 0 and Earth 51.
“Earth 51?”
"I have one record… oh."
"Oh?"
"The Los Vegas on Earth 51 was decimated by a war with… oh."
"Oh?"
"With the Undead."
Alex spun to stare at the floating Tome.
"The Undead? As in… zombies?"
"More The Last of Us than The Walking Dead, but essentially."
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Unnecessary details. Zombie works."
"So…? Earth 51 has a zombie problem? Why are parts of it here, in my city?"
"No idea. You have company, ask them."
"Ask who?"
Alex spun to look around, finally spotting two people watching from off to his left.
"You can come out."
Alex's two observers approached slowly, both held weapons that looked to be fashioned out of scrap metal.
Name: Nadia Quant
Race: Human (Earth 0)
Class: Brawler
Title: n/a
Level: 34
Name: Hamish Geral
Race: Human (Earth 0)
Class: Brawler
Title: n/a
Level: 37
The three Adventurers stood and stared at each other, Alex just as shocked as they were but for very different reasons.
"Hi, I'm Ale-"
"Mish… it's him. It's Jäger."
"I can see that Adi, I have Scan as well."
"We need to take him to the-"
"He's level 50… at least."
"Then we ask-"
"I'm standing right here, what's the problem?"
Without warning Hamish attacked, swinging down with his scrap metal club. Alex reached out and caught the weapon then pushed back slightly causing Hamish to slide backwards.
"Mish…"
With a scream, Hamish attacked again.
"Rage!"
The Brawler's body seemed to enlarge and he moved with increased speed and ferocity. Again he swung with his club and Alex stepped out of the way, easily avoiding the clumsy attack.
"Level 37?"
With another scream Hamish attacked again, slamming his club into the spot where Alex had been standing just moments before.
"Mish, level 50 remember? At least."
The male Brawler turned on his Scouting partner and attempted to push her away. Alex moved between them and rocked slightly as the large hand pushed ineffectually against his chest.
"What's your problem, Hamish? Any idea professor? I don't want to fight the first Earth 0 humans I meet."
"None, are you sure you don't recognise him?"
"Nope. He's really angry though."
"Who are you talking to, Jäger?"
"Me? Oh, my university archaeology professor."
"Where are they?"
"Floating above me. Now, why is Hamish so angry?"
"Floating above… OK? You really have no idea what you did?"
"I've been out there," Alex indicated the way he'd come, "levelling and fighting-"
"Don't forget dungeoning, Till."
"Oh, and dungeoning. What did I do to Hamish?"
"Reaching level 50 so quickly changed the world."
"The world had already changed."
"True, but getting to level 50 so much faster than everyone else meant we weren't ready. Multiverse Trade and Tourism… we were just hanging on, when you go to 50, other Earths, the rich and powerful were able to buy parts of our planet and transfer replacements from there's."
"Still don't see how this is my fault.".
"Someone from Earth 51… the Vegas on their Earth was overrun by Undead. So he purchased parts of our Vegas and sent his sections here… full of strong Undead."
"Still don't-"
"Till, let her finish."
"We were overrun, we weren't strong enough. We didn't have time to level up, so we couldn't fight back. Since then we've been on the run, hiding in what's left of our city."
"So everyone blames me because I got to 50 first?"
"Yes…"
Alex's body shifted slightly as Hamish hit him.
"Can you not?"
Alex spun and slammed an open palm into Hamish's chest, sending the Brawler hurtling back over ten metres. Alex bent down and picked up the slightly bent club that had been slammed into his shoulder, with a shrug he passed it to Nadia.
Nadia slowly took the slightly bent club and then looked at Hamish's prone body.
"Is he dead?"
Alex looked at his HUD but saw no notifications.
"Nope. Shouldn't be more than a sore chest."
"Thank you. But, you could've killed him, why didn't you?"
Alex shrugged.
“He wouldn't give much experience-"
"Till!"
"Oh, and, uh… it wouldn't be right."
"This entire city is going to end up hunting you, Till. Can you pretend to have some social skills?"
Alex turned away from Nadia and looked up at the professor.
"He attacked me, I don't hear you insulting his social skills."
He turned back to Nadia while shaking his head.
"The professor isn't happy today."
"The Professor?" Nadia looked around and then frowned at Alex. "Right, your professor. Anyway… what will you do now?"
"I should check on my crew at the firehouse, then I need to learn more about the System."
"You were a fireman? Before the Initiation. I thought you were an archaeologist?"
"Yes, and no. I studied to be an archaeologist but there was an accident, people died in a fire so I became a fireman."
"Oh, sure, that makes sense and the Professor?"
"Archaeology Companion."
"Right. Well, I can't help with your firehouse, but System information is easy. Well, hard."
"Yes?"
"The Vegas Strip is gone, replaced by an alternate Strip-"
"From Earth 51?"
"Yes. It was overrun by the Undead, but Earth 51 had purchased a System Information Broker and placed it in the Skypod, the weird tower thing."
"So I just need to get to the top of the tower?"
"Yes… well, sort of."
"Sort of?"
"The casino and tower have become a dungeon, you'd need to clear the dungeon to get to the top. The Broker is in the restaurant at the top."
Alex's jaw dropped, then they both turned as a groaning Hamish stood and walked towards them.
"So… I'd need to fight my way through a lot of Undead-"
"It's called a Horde."
"A Horde of Undead made up of Level 70s-"
"There are also level 80 Elites."
"A Horde of Undead between level 70 and 80, to get to a Dungeon that covers a casino and tower?"
"The tower has expanded, there are floors."
"How do you know all this?
"We were hiding inside the STRAT when you got to Level 50," said Hamish. "The System explained the dungeon. Fifty floors, four bosses and a super boss. It can also be upgraded to a Multiverse Dungeon if you have a Token. Whatever that means."
"You survived getting out?"
"Obviously."
Nadia snorted, then shook her head at Hamish.
"The System spat us out. Our levels were too low. We had to sneak out of the Strip, past the Horde. That's when we lost our healer and tank."
"Your what? Oh, the classes. Right."
"The tank was Mish's wife."
"Oh, that's why he's angry."
"Yea… he carried her out, then she Turned and bit our healer. His daughter."
"That's a tough break."
"Till! He lost his wife and daughter and all you can do is say it was a tough break?"
"He blames me."
"You don't understand that? After Maddy and Ben."
"No. That was my fault, I don't blame anyone else."
"So you do blame yourself!"
Hamish pounced on Alex's seemingly one-sided conversation.
"What? Oh, not for your family. For my partner and best friend. Can't you follow a conversation?"
"A conver… What?"
"He's talking to his professor, Mish. She's floating above him."
Nadia indicated the space above Alex's head with a wave of her hand.
"Floating… so he's mad. The level 50 is insa-"
"So, I need to clear the horde, upgrade the dungeon, clear it, and then I can get information on the System?" Alex said, without acknowledging Hamish's comments.
"Yup, should be real easy for you."
Hamish looked delighted with how events were proceeding.
"You don't need to upgrade it," said Nadia, staring at Alex and then Mish with wide eyes.
"Doesn't sound too bad, what do you think professor?"
"Sounds like a lot of blood… dead parts and you crazy laughing and maybe some singing. I prefer archaeology, less blood and the dying isn't recent. Usually."
"Perfect."
Alex rubbed his hands together and flashed the two Brawlers a toothy smile.
"Mish, are you seriously going to let this happen?"
"Of course. Adi, if he dies what do I care? If he doesn't then he'll clear some of the Undead and we can take back more territory."
"Mish… he didn't kill Maria or Samara. That was the Undead. Blaming Jäger isn't fair."
"What is fair Adi? Maria and Samara being Undead? My Vegas being on another Earth? Another Vegas full of Undead that has killed or Turned almost everyone I know? Or that we live in a computer game now?"
"We aren't in a computer game… you're so old."
"Just because you went to school with Samara doesn't mean you can call me old."
The two Brawlers gave each other sad smiles before turning back to Alex who wasn't listening.
"Jäger, what will you do?"
"Hmmm? Oh, you're done. Head to the Strip and kill some zomb-"
"Undead. They're Undead, Till."
Alex sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"You said saying zombies was fine… Kill some Undead. Then I'm going to run another Multiverse Dungeon and finish up with a session with the Information Broker. How do I get him to tell me things?"
"A-Grade Credits. Do you have any?"
Alex smiled and checked his Inventory.
"A few… I should be ok."
With that, he turned away from the Brawlers and started walking in the direction of the Strip.
"Till! They're the first Earth 0 humans you've spoken to since the Initiation started, at least say goodbye!"
Alex stopped, looked up at the AI and shook his head before turning back to the stunned duo.
"Uh, bye?"
"More Till."
"Um, don't die and, uh, look after each other."
"More!"
"I'm sorry…" Alex looked around himself before continuing. "I'm sorry your wife and daughter are Undead. That… really sucks."
"That really sucks? God you're terrible at this, Till."
"I didn't know what to say. I don't talk to people I don't know."
"Obviously. You used to be… well, you were never great with people but you were better."
"I changed."
"I know, Till. I know. Just, say good luck, or something."
"I need to say more… I shouldn't have stopped walking. This is worse than fighting the High King. Uh, Nadia and Hamish, I guess, you know, good luck with killing stuff and Levelling. The experience bonus should make it really easy. So, get better. Bye."
With that Alex spun and hurried away into the rapidly darkening evening, leaving the two Brawlers staring after the highest levelled human on Earth 0.
Hamish shook his head slowly.
"We're fucked. He's the strongest… he can't even talk to people… we're absolutely fucked."
"You did try to kill him and by the sounds of it, he lost some people and didn't deal with it well. Maybe you can relate?"
"We're so fucked."
"Mish, he lost his partner and best friend. You lost your wife and daughter, my best friend. You have more in common than you want to admit. He obviously didn't intend on Vegas and us getting screwed over. Show some empathy."
"Empathy! I…" Hamish visibly deflated. "I'll think about it."
Nadia passed her Scouting partners club back and then patted him on the shoulder.
"Maria would be proud of you. Samara… she'd probably have missed everything that just happened because she'd be too busy live streaming her meeting with Jäger."
Hamish snorted then snuffed loudly and wiped at his eyes.
"Thanks, Dr Adi. Even with the System, you're still using your Psych degree. Let's get back to base."
“Sounds like a plan.”
The two Brawlers turned in the direction they'd originally come from and disappeared into the gloom of twilight before Nadia stopped suddenly.
“Why was he earing a t-shirt with the chest missing?”
Hamish looked at Nadia then started laughing softly.