I mentally pressed "Shutdown" as I was still panting for air. To think there was such abilities of system. Not sure if its after system update or if it were always this capable. Or may be I am in fact suffering from amnesia after all.
I should probably check on this woman who is barely alive and conscious. I wonder why she didn't listen. Well I guess I should be glad though. At the very least, I feel moved.
As Arion approached Elara, the tired Elara looked at him then closed her eyes...Then with a flustered look, she quickly took out some clothes from Roland's ring.
In the quiet aftermath of chaos, Arion, with a tone of genuine appreciation, broke the silence. "Thank you for the clothes," he said.
Elara, her voice soft and imbued with the warmth of their newfound camaraderie, replied, "You're welcome."
Arion, feeling a surge of emotion, added, "Thank you for coming for me as well." His words were more than just a thank you; they were an acknowledgment of Elara's bravery and the risk she took to save him, a gesture that deepened the bond between them.
For a moment, Elara remained silent, the weight of Arion's gratitude hanging in the air between them. It was a silence filled with emotion, a pause that spoke volumes of the risks they faced and the sacrifices they were willing to make for one another.
Eventually, Elara found her voice, her tone carrying a mix of concern and firm resolve. "Don't do that again," she said.
"Yes, I won't," Arion replied, his voice laced with the solemnity of the promise he made to her.
"Okay" Elara responded.
The conversation ended with an awkward silence.
"So where are the others?" I asked to kill the dead air
"They took Albert to a healer, he lost his foot"
"Ah, sorry to hear that. Will he retire now?"
"Most likely, he was... very capable"
"That he was... say...I have business back in this dungeon, would you like to join me?"
"..."
"Okay, then catch you later"
"W-wait, I'll accompany you"
"Are you sure?"
"I trust you"
"Okay"
After our conversation was over, I turned to face the dungeon's dark doorway. It stood wide open, beckoning me, almost as if it was a jail with no guards left, yet boldly whispering for me to come back to a place that was my rightful place. A place where I might have lain asleep for thousands of years, hidden in its shadows.
I entered the dungeon with Elara, unaware that she had just received a notification.
Quest: The Dungeon's Deception
Quest Overview: You've cunningly lured the fugitive back into the depths of the dungeon, earning the favor of the divine Goddess Galandria. Your actions have not only showcased your cunning but also your unwavering devotion to the Goddess.
Main Rewards:
1. Level Up! - Your skill and cunning have earned you a new level of power.
2. [Healing Blessing] - Acknowledged by Goddess Galandria, you are now endowed with the [Healing] ability. To activate this gift, present yourself at the nearest Galandrian Church.
3. Galandrian Citizenship - Your alignment with the Galandrian Church grants you citizenship, allowing unhindered travel across lands as a church's priestess.
4. Oracle Apprenticeship - Your eligibility for Oracle candidacy sets you on a path to potentially profound spiritual leadership within the church.
Sub-quests:
1. Monster Deterrence [Easy, Compulsory]
* Objective: Prevent the monster from leaving the dungeon without using force.
* Rewards: Advanced status as a high-level priestess, with a leap of 112 levels.
* Penalty: Revocation of all rewards (except level up); marked as a heretic; Galandria's Curse.
2. Chamber Trickery [Difficult, Optional]
* Objective: Convince the monster to return to its chamber and sleep.
* Rewards: Position to replace the current Oracle, with a path to become the next Pope post the current one's demise.
* Penalty: None.
3. Divine Confrontation [God-Level, Optional]
* Objective: Slay the monster.
* Rewards: Divinity status, being recognized as kin to Goddess Galandria, ascending to godhood.
* Penalty: None.
Penalties for Failure:
* Loss of Rewards: Except for the initial level-up, failure results in the forfeiture of all rewards.
* Goddess's Curse: A grave penalty affecting your leveling system; what previously required 1112 xp to earn 1 xp, dramatically hampering progression.
Galandria's Curse Details: Being cursed by the Goddess Galandria is a severe setback. This divine retribution makes leveling up an arduous task, transforming your journey ahead into one of toil and tribulation.
Embark on this quest with the knowledge that your actions have celestial watchers. Navigate your trials with wisdom and valor, and you may rise to heights untold, blessed or cursed by the divine hand of Galandria.
Seeing Elara lost in her thoughts, Arion asked what had happened. To which Elara truthfully responded with all the details of the quest to him word to word. One could say Galandria would be facepalming her face at the dissapointment, it was almost certain she was going to mark this brat a heretic. But then...
A wide grin appeared on Arion's face. Lips stretching ear to ear.
"I think you should bargain a bit... say maybe option number 2 was possible, what more can she give you?"
"I will never sell you out never. To think Goddess had such a scheming personality" she protested.
"Don't be naïve, I have a plan... do you not trust me?"
"I do, but..."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"It's gonna be fine"
After convincing Elara a bit more, she finally gave in and demanded more rewards
New Notification: The Goddess Rolls Her Eyes
As you cleverly navigate the perils of the dungeon and fulfill the divine tasks set before you, Goddess Galandria watches from her celestial realm. In a moment of divine amusement—or perhaps exasperation—she rolls her eyes at the cunning and audacity you display. Yet, she cannot help but acknowledge the depth of your devotion and the sharpness of your wit.
Updated Reward for Chamber Trickery:
In light of your exceptional achievement in convincing the monster to return to its slumber without resorting to violence, Goddess Galandria bestows upon you a bounty of rewards, recognizing the ingenuity and daring of your actions.
* All Stats Up by 11.2: A significant boost to all your attributes, enhancing your abilities beyond mere mortal limits.
* Level Up Further 112: An extraordinary leap in your journey, propelling you forward by 112 levels.
* Heal Without Church Affiliation or Prayer: You gain the unique ability to heal wounds and ailments without needing to pray or seek the aid of the Galandrian Church.
* Church Debt: The Galandrian Church now owes you a substantial debt of gratitude, quantifiable as 5 Platinum Coins and 200,000 Gold Coins.
* Title: "One Who Bargained with God" - This title not only marks you as a being of exceptional prowess but also unlocks the Merchant Talent of SSS rank, a testament to your negotiation skills with the divine.
* Job - Shadow Oracle: By virtue of your direct communication with Goddess Galandria, you are bestowed the job of Shadow Oracle. This role, steeped in mystery and power, comes with the option to activate or deactivate it as you see fit, allowing you to walk in the shadows or stand in the light.
* Oracle Exclusive Ability: Once a month, you possess the extraordinary power to raise a dead person, a gift reserved for those who serve directly under the Goddess's gaze.
This notification serves as a testament to your unparalleled achievements and the unique path you've carved for yourself in the world. With these rewards, your destiny is no longer just your own to shape but interwoven with the divine will of Goddess Galandria. How you choose to wield these powers and responsibilities will define your legacy in the annals of time.
Seeing this, Elara's usual composer lost her wits. She was dumbfounded. Standing but lost in thoughts. Possibly processing what just happened and calculating.
"That debt can make me richer than a King of small kingdom" She said in a voice that was leaving her soul.
"So what are your new rewards?" Arion asked
Just like before, Elara read the entire notification to Arion word to word. This time Arion was facepalming. You call that a good bargain? hah... well whatever... you should have asked for divinity... but whatever, you might just not be able to handle the stuff that comes from becoming a god. Arion explained as if he had experienced this in past.
Elara didn't get the last part as she was still calculating how many silver coins that were. However, she gave up quickly. Then she told Arion, that she will not do it. Because she cherishes the company of Arion, she also thinks Arion would be a great companion in their quest to reclaim the Kingdom.
To this Arion simply said -" that! You could have bargained for just that."
Elara smiled and then said, "I would never sacrifice you... maybe the princess would have never agreed to that either"
"No back biting on your boss huh" Arion mocked as he smiled.
"I do complain about her highness every now and then, but I know she would give her own life than give up on her companions" she laughed.
"Sounds like a boss I would have wanted" Arion responded.
"Perhaps, we have a position open" Elara replied
"I'll get back to you on that" said Arion, "we have more pressing matters to attend to . Let's head towards the chamber" He added.
The duo then walked to the dungeon, it was empty... no mechanical beings to stop them, no boss, no traps.
Walking to the dungeon room and then to the Chamber was a breeze for Elara this time. As she walked, she just had one question on her mind, just what is he thinking? First, he laughed at the notification, then he asked her to bargain with the Goddess.
To think there we mere humans could even bargain with the Goddess? Just who was Arion? Just what does he know about being a God?
Countless questions birthed one after another as time passed and as Elara tried to find answers from prior questions.
----------------------------------------
As I stepped into the dungeon boss room this time, I couldn't help but take in the surroundings—the walls, the floors, and everything else around me struck a chord of nostalgia. The whole dungeon felt eerily familiar; it was a spaceship, a massive one designed to hold the most dangerous criminals.
In Arion's time, civilization had reached incredible heights of advancement. They had conquered death itself, embracing both life and its inevitable end. Through genetic modifications, humans were engineered to have bodies that could rapidly regenerate at the cellular level, with even neurons being no exception.
How do they regenerate without materials? It was a highly guarded secret. No one knows. Except that there was a decentralized repository of DNA data and their bodies somehow had access to it. Initially, people had some conspiracy theories however, the decentralized format influenced many to try it nonetheless. After all a decentralized repository means no one can monopolies it.
These new beings didn't just survive; they stopped aging altogether, effectively becoming immortal. However, this immortality brought its own set of challenges, such as overpopulation. To address this, the government made it impossible for these modified humans to reproduce.
But this solution sparked its own issues. Immortal beings, furious over the government's restrictions on reproduction, began to revolt.
Their anger led them to attack human authorities and those who supported them, ultimately triggering the activation of a deterrence mechanism. This system was activated which was dormant until then. It stripped the modified humans of their free will, turning them into nothing more than robots. It was a form of futuristic slavery, a new era where freedom was the price of immortality.
Humans then shut down the the project of immortality, however, they still didn't have anyway they could kill the modified beings. So they put them to good use. They started using them as assassins, Guards, Soldiers, even as sex toys.
At some point, a certain few broke the system. Once they broke it, they started helping others break free.
Soon authorities caught wind of it and all of them and any of whom they were in contact with, were imprisoned. Shocked to find human accomplices among the modified, they executed them after calling them "woke", a derogatory term of modern civilization to address people who would side with enemy out of kindness. Fearing another war with modified beings, the authorities started sending the rest on missions to blackholes, stars. A fate worse than death for those who can't die. Thousands upon thousands faced the same fate. Maybe they are still alive as a spaghetti or still screaming as they burn.
As Arion was lost deep in his thoughts, his attention was immediately pulled towards his system alert
Overtaking control of Sleeping Pod completed successfully.
Connection secured to GAL-NDR-1A Datacenter (8 LM distiance ~ avg latency 8 minutes and 15 seconds) through back channels.
Firewall bypassed securely, entry logs deleted, commence sleep mechanism to initiate data copy.
A delay can cause detection, recommending to expedite the process
While Arion asked Elara to bargain with the goddess, he had asked the system to run a scan and find loop holes in the connection. with a smug face, Arion looked at Elara and said
"This is good bye for now, I need to sleep to find my answers. I will find you once I wake up"
Elara looked at Arion "You promised you will not do anything reckless right outside the dungeon, I came all the way here to get you not sacrifice you" she protested.
"I like you Elara" Arion, instead of responding, he confessed.
"But there are answers I must find" He reasoned with determination in his eyes.
"How long will it take?" she asked
"As long as it takes, but for you it might not be as long as it would for me" he replied in a cryptic way which baffled Elara to no avail.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked
With confident steps, Arion walks to the sleeping pod, the Iron maiden shaped pod automatically opened for him and he stepped in, countless wires and tubes then attached itself to his body.
"With this Galandria can grant you your rewards, right? make good use of it. Once I wake up, I will be your house husband and will do nothing other than be lazy" Arion promised.
"I will make you work to the bones, my future husband" Elara who still didn't want to sacrifice him decided respect his wish and also said yes to the confession in her own way.
The pod started close itself and Elara received her rewards. However Elara didn't bother to read her notifications as her gaze were locked on Arion who was also gazing back at her with smiling eyes.
"Oh by the way, My real name is not Arion and oh, head to Havenbrook" last thing he said as the pods closed. It felt like he was trying to say more, but Elara could no longer hear him.