Quest Accepted

With the sound of the system notification came the sound of chains hitting the ground. Jake was confused for a second before he noticed that the chains binding him the the wall were broken. Jake looked at the shattered chains with a look of confusion before he realized the one in front of him was holding a sword.

“Your pretty good with the sword?”

“Yeah so what”

“Nothing. So whats the plan.”

“Unleash your dinosaur and escape while their distracted.”

“I thought he was a goner.”

“Nope, the prime minister still cant' take it apart so its stuck in a dungeon. Another person will free him and we can leave this place.”

Right at that moment there was a loud roar that resonated throughout the entire palace.

“That's the signal, lets move”

Without a complaint, Jake and Alison followed the swordsman out of the dark room. Looking back it wasn't really as big as he thought. The darkness masked the corners and gave an illusion that he was actually isolated from the world.

They ran through the narrow hallways which were scattered with miscellaneous loot. Remnants of a fight long over. Jake found this slightly odd. His rescuer always came across as a stealth type. Jake quickly picked up a double bladed axe. It was extremely heavy and awkward to but it was better than being unarmed.

Jake had never used a double edged axe before but the pole was long enough that he could counter if he needed to.

The trio ran through the halls before the black-clad warrior turned around.

“We're lost.”

“What! All this time you were running around aimlessly?”

“It's your fault for following me.”

Jake back tracked and followed the trail of loot. The swordsman must have been a complete noob at games. He left all this loot behind. All the coppers that would add up. Although, Jake didn't complain. He was here to fold paper, not overthrow kingdoms.

They ran until they finally arrived at a hall covered in gold with lights reflecting off every possible surface. Unfortunately there was also a squad of guards marching through. They were probably going to help seal of the dinosaur before they ran into them.

Jake and his companion unsheathed their weapons while Alison shrunk back into a corner.

“Think we can take them?” said Jake in a wary voice.

“Ha! Stand back and watch.”

With that the swordsman charged into the middle of the guards with swords drawn. Swords were flashing everywhere . What surprised Jake the most was that the black-clad warrior was using most of them. He would throw a sword up and draw another. When the thrown sword came down it cut straight into the guard behind him while he throw the other up high and switched swords. Spinning around and around throwing and catching the swords as they came down, the guards were decimated in a blade tornado.

During the melee Jake watched while clutching his axe. Ready to step in if he needed aid. Jake noticed one of the guards try to flank him so he charged in for a swing. Right then the black-clad warrior shouted and tackled Jake to the ground. Where the guard was standing a longsword that had cut the human in half. It also cut the mask of his rescuer.

Long black hair went flowing in the air as blood splattered both their faces. Even through the curtain of blood Jake was able to make out the stunning blue eyes that radiated like the ocean on a sunny day.

Jake was shocked a little. He never expected his rescuer to be a women. Especially with that attitude. On top of that he saw a really unique skill today.

She stood up and finished off the rest of the guards that were still alive before coming back. Jake looked up at her in confusion.

“What, never seen a female player before.”

“No, I haven't seen many players at all.”

“I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Janet”

“I'm Jake”

“I know”

With that Jake was sent into utter silence. The sheer awkwardness of their dialogue forced all words out of Jake's head.

“We should get going now.”

And so the trio continued through the gold gilded halls in silence. From the position of the sun Jake gathered that they were getting closer to the exit but he honestly had no idea what the floor plans looked like.

Unfortunately, Jake and Janet's terrible sense of direction led them to the exactly wrong place. They burst through massive double doors, which looked familiar to Jake. And they found themselves in the throne room.

The once majestic throne room was reduced into what would normally be seen as a boss battle. The massive dinosaur was thrashing around killing guards and mercenary players alike. The king was huddled in a corner looking extremely scared. Alison saw the king but Jake restrained her.

“Janet, carve us a path through to Kaiser. Once we're on him we can break out of here.”

“On it.”

As Janet swung her swords at the guards, their formation naturally caved away from the two strong presences. Caught between the hammer and a hard place, their formation crumbled.

Eventually the trio was standing at Kaiser's feet and were slowly backing away. They looked for an exit but they were all to small for Kaiser.

'How the hell did they get him in here.'

Right as he was thinking that one of the walls burst. From the hole slithered in the golden imugi.

'Of course, this just gets better.'

“Looks like you decided to join the rebels, Jake”

“You rotten prime minister. I'll take my revenge for all those wolves and cranes.”

“Kill them all.”

The line of guards started coming forward, but before they could move a few feet, the imugi created a hole in their formation and charged straight at Jake.

Brandishing his axe, Jake was about to swing as hard as he could at the Imugi. But then he remembered. All those unused stat points.

Jake had never been good at using things. Whether it was money or rare items, if it could only be used once, he would save it. And save he did. All 150 stat points he earned from leveling until now were completely unused. The only reason he had stats above 10 at all was because he had been chopping trees for days on end and he completed the basic training.

“All stat points to Strength!”

With that unique battle cry Jake brought the battle axe down on the imugi's head with increasing force. Using the momentum of the snake against it, and his extremely augmented strength, Jake brought the mythical creature to a stand still. Jake's axe was far from piercing the skin but it would definitely leave a mark.

Jake himself was not immune to the recoil but the augmented strength protected him so that instead of his entire body only his hands were broken.

Dragging Jake behind her, Janet hopped onto Kaiser along with Alison and together they left the palace through the hole in the wall. The imugi was still rolling around on the ground stunned by the massive strength displayed by the weak human. In its rolling it failed to notice the soldiers being crushed by its weight.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Kaiser was at the city wall before Jake regained consciousness. As Jake looked back most of the town was in ruins.

“It took a large distraction to infiltrate the palace.” said Janet with a some-what smug look.

“You guys need a better tactician.” replied Jake, who at the same time, realized his tactics were no better.

“You lead us. The only one to get so close to the prime minister and the king is you. All the others were killed immediately after”

“I'll consider it.”

Jake felt the wind blowing from behind, covering their scent. Although the giant footprints in the ground were a tell-tale sign where they had been.

As the sun set in the distance, dyeing the world red, Jake felt an indescribable sense of euphoria. Then he blacked out.

-----

Later when Jake awoke, he found himself in a bed. The last time Jake slept in a building was when he was taken captive at the palace. It was odd but he prefered sleeping in the forest, as close to his craft as possible.

“You really slept a lot. Whens the last time you logged out?” asked Janet who was seated by his bedside.

“I don't know. I was in the dungeon for a while.”

“You can log out even if your a captive you know.”

“... Well how long was I captured”

“A few days” said Alison who also appeared at his bed side.

“Wow, no wonder I fell unconscious. Anyway so what do we do now?”

“You need to train to become stronger. Imugis are strong creatures and the golden one is said to be the strongest.”

“Speaking of which whats your class?”

“I'm a juggler. I throw my swords, the longer their in the air and the more I throw them the more bonuses I stack.”

“... Moving on where can I train?”

“This is the rebel camp. Its in a beginner level area so there should be areas to train in like the mountain, the lake, the forest”

“The forest it is then. Pack up Alison were chopping down some trees”

“Wait! I was assigned to guard you”

“You mean watch me to make sure I don't run away.”

“So can I come?”

Looking at Alison who had eyes similar to the time she made him accept the quest, Jake could not refuse.

“Try to keep up.”

Calling Kaiser over the trio once again rode the dinosaur away.

-----

“Captain Isaac, why were you not able to restrain the prisonser.”

“There was an intruder. My men were no match for his skills.”

“That was not the question. Why did the prisoner escape?”

Isaac looked down in a depressed manner. One wrong word and his life would end. The prime minister was not a man to be trifled with.

“My abilities were lacking sir”

“Take him away!”

With that one of the only remaining officers in the capital was stripped of his command.

“I'll have to call in one of the armies from the front lines”

-----

An intense heat smacked Jake in the face. The sheer magnitude of heat was astonishing. The volcano was still in the distance but it still almost knocked him off his horse.

Apparently the training ground that Janet had in mind was a valley surrounded by active volcanoes. The ash rose from the open peaks and covered the sun, rendering the land as dark as night. The average level of the monsters was at level 60 but the continuous darkness gave them the night boost making them around level 70.

“What is this place?” asked Jake in shock as they approached a river of lava.

“Welcome to Firre Tree Forrest. Home to the rare Firre Tree. They survive in these hazardous climates. Their roots are said to absorb the underground magma and provide shelter to the monsters that live off them. This is truly one of the most hostile places in Royal Road.”

“What are we going to do here we'll die”

“I thought you were a middle level user.”

“I'm level 35.”

“What! How did you get the strength to stop and imugi. Never mind that how did you think a low level like you could beat the prime minister?”

“Well lets not talk about me what about you? Your pretty good with the sword what level are you?”

“I'm level 60. I'm a juggler. I throw my sword where the enemy will be and catch it. I stack buffs like that. Its actually pretty simple.”

“You mean you were predicting where they were going to be?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

Jake fell into a dismal silence in which Alison tried to comfort him. But the young girl only made him feel worst. Only when he saw the trees did his mood pick up.

They were completely black. The trees which had been in a valley surrounded by volcanoes were entirely covered in ash. They also radiated lots of heat. After years of absorbing magma they had adapted to the harsh conditions and pulled the necessary nutrients out of solid rock.

Jake was about to swing his axe when he remembered he lost his new axe. He had gotten a replacement but it was unwieldy and not suited to chopping trees. That did not stop Jake. Bringing his axe up, he used the technique which he had honed with hundreds of trees and brought the blade down on the tree.

The ancient survivor of the old world stood no chance. The axe embeded itself in the tree with a loud ringing thud. The angle and power were perfect. The trees in this area had never dealt with such a force. They had not prepared defenses against something like this. After all who would come to a valley surrounded by volcanoes.

The monsters in this valley don't actually attack the trees. In fact the warmth comforts them so they in turn help the trees. Any prey they don't eat, gets buried which breaks down and provides nutrients for the trees. The said creatures then take the warmth from the trees to digest their meal. And such the symbiotic relationship had kept generations of monsters alive in this forest.

Jake was completely oblivious to this and continued to chop at the tree. The lava being absorbed by the tree was spraying everywhere but using clever woodcutting, Jake was able to chop the tree down in only a few hits without being burned.

The Guardian of Firre Tree Forest had been alerted by your actions. Be careful with future actions. Don't want to get him angered even if you did take down the Iron Bark Guardian.

With that Jake had an entire Firre Tree to make whatever he desired. Just then someone grabbed him by the ear.

“What do you think your doing?” said Janet in an irritated voice.

“I'm cutting down this tree.” replied Jake. “See even Alison knows” who was making it into little chips.

“I brought you hear to train. Not make more origami!”

“But Kaiser is an origami figure.” Kaiser was looking a little down after as if responding to Janet's comment. Although it was a little hard to tell. A dinosuar's expressions were hard to read.

“Fine but don't come crying to me when your being chewed up by an Imugi” Janet replied as she walked off into the forest.

“Yay!” Shouted Jake and Alison as they had a little celebration along with Kaiser.

And so began their operation of Mass Folding.