Lake Nadis is probably one of the most beautiful places Scott has ever seen. The waters are shimmering in the sunlight, the air is clean, and the meadow surrounding the lake is filled with different kinds of flowers.

There are roses too, Scott notices as he pockets his mini GPS. After accepting the quest, the said device materialized in front of him, discovering that it was showing a hologram map of Lucis. His coordinates were at the center of the town while Lake Nadis was marked at the far-east. Scott then followed the trail until he arrived.

Everything looks realistic yet surreal at the same time, Scott observes, walking towards the north. The air feels real, the grass bumps into my ankles... As he approaches the lake, he stops to kneel down. I wonder... how the waters will feel like?

He's about to touch the shimmering liquid when he's suddenly interrupted by a gruff voice yelling at him.

"Hey! You the person who accepted my quest?"

Scott turns his head towards the voice and finds himself staring at a man seemingly in his thirties with spiky black hair and dark-blue eyes. Donning a casual white tank top that shows off his muscled arms and black leg pants that come down to his boots, he looks more like a gym trainer rather than a casual civillian.

Scott stands up and approaches the man. "Yes, sir. My name is Scott Wayland."

The man looks him up and down as if searching for something. "I see... you sure you're up for this?"

Scott nods. "Just tell me what I should do."

"All right. The name's Harrington. I'm a wandering swordsman from the east," the man introduces. "During a fight with some crawlers, my sword was thrown into the lake."

"Have you tried finding it?" Scott asks.

Harrington shakes his head. "I would if I could," he says bitterly. "But I'm afraid I'm not a good swimmer. I tried once, and I nearly drowned. That sword's really special to me, so I can't just let it go."

Scott glances at the lake. "How deep is it?"

"About 46 meters, I think. Not that deep compared to the other large lakes. It's fatal for us NPCs, but for you players, it'll be a cinch depending on your willpower." Harrington pauses. "Basically, you'll have your own personal timer to indicate how long you can stay in the water."

"What does that mean?"

"It depends on how skilled you are in swimming. The game records the personal data you inputted before playing and registers your official records... if you have those." Harrington folds his arms in front of his chest. "Which is why I'm gonna give you a little test first to see how long you last underwater."

"That's a common misconception about swimming," Scott points out bluntly. "A good swimmer doesn't hold their breath. It's all about chest expansion and proper breathing."

Harrington stares at him, surprised. "You sound like you're a swimmer," he says, a bit impressed.

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Scott nods, flexing his arms absently. "I'm an athlete back in my world," he responds quietly. "I'm a swimmer, but lucky for you..." He looks at Harrington with no change in his expression. "...I'm also a freediver."

Harrington blinks. "A freediver?"

"Freediving is a form of underwater diving that doesn't rely on the use of a breathing apparatus," Scott explains. "It's purely breath-holding until resurfacing."

Harrington looks more impressed now. A grin breaks out of his features as he looks at Scott with a new interest in his eyes. "For such a skinny guy, I never expected you to have such a great skill. I guess those slim muscles you have aren't for show."

Scott starts taking off his vest, ignoring the older man's quip.

"Then can you tell me how long you can breathe underwater?" Harrington inquires.

"My best record months ago was 8 minutes."

"Is that plenty for you?"

"It is. That is, if I can find your sword within that time." At this moment, Scott has already taken off his shirt. He carefully lays his glass sword on the ground and glances at Harrington. "I should take a test dive first, right?"

Harrington nods approvingly. "Yeah. You should try it out first."

Scott nods back, then dives into the water.

When he submerges, he notices two things.

One: it feels exactly like he's diving underwater, minus the pain and the constricting airway. He's even actually breathing through his nose as if the water is air instead. His vision is also astoundingly clear; he doesn't even need goggles. However, it seems that he cannot open his mouth.

Two: there's a timer hologram before his eyes, indicating that he has 7 minutes and 50 seconds left before he becomes an automatic KO.

That's reassuring, Scott muses to himself as he swims around, trying to get a feel of the waters and its surroundings. The sun's rays slip through and scatter around the waters, revealing thousands of colourful fishes, underwater plants, and small rocks amidst sand. He silently admires the handiwork of the developers of this game.

Everything is very realistic, and the fact that players like me can feel things except pain in this game is a huge plus.

I think I can understand now why most of the population is addicted to this game.

Deciding that his test dive is over, Scott resurfaces, swimming to shore.

Harrington kneels before him. "So how did it go?"

Scott brushes his wet hair out of his face, feeling a bit pleased. "My time in the water is close to 8 minutes."

Harrington grins. "Excellent. You're the perfect person for this quest!"

Scott nods, his mind focusing on the mission. "What does your sword look like?"

"Actually, they're two swords that join into one," Harrington clarifies. "It's called an X-Blade. If you use one sword, it halves the power. However, if you use both, it increases all your stats. It's my prized possession."

"Were the two swords separated when it fell into the lake?" Scott asks.

Harrington shakes his head. "No. When nobody is using it, it automatically forms an 'X' and it cannot be separated unless its owner wields it."

Sounds like a really cool sword, Scott thinks to himself. This old man might be really high-levelled.

He may be an NPC, but I wonder what'll happen if I ask him to train me.

Scott dives back into the water.

This time, he goes deeper. He searches the surroundings and lifts up the big rocks that he sees. After five minutes of futile search, he resurfaces before his timer runs out.

Harrington watches from the sides as this young man he only met today resurfaces from the water multiple times. He knows that this quest isn't exactly easy. However, this mission he gave is going to be very beneficial to beginner players. If they succeed, they'd earn tons of EXP from the get-go, and they'd even earn a Hellfire Fragment for their efforts.

If all four fragments are together, it'll form into a Hellfire orb, one of the most powerful mid-level Guardians in the game.

Lake Nadis is very wide. Harrington surmises that it'll take the boy the whole day to to find the sword, especially if it's in the deepest depths of the lake. However, beginners are also allowed to back out of a quest whenever they want. It just depends on what demerits they'd get if they do so.

Harrington sits down on the grass as he continues to wait, staring up at the sky. He thinks of a boy with black hair and red eyes.

...I wonder what that young lad is up to now?