[Quest #3: Succession of Knowledge (3)]
[
Contents:
You have been given all the tools to learn about your environment and survive for yourself!
Now it is time for you to show off the fruits of your labor!
This will be the final process of succeeding your predecessor’s knowledge!
Clear condition:
Reach the entrance to the next floor with your own means!
Reward: ???
(Rewards will change based on the actions you will take)
]
[Good Luck]
*Dash*
The location is deep within a deep jungle, no clear view of the sky, only a wire of thorny vines with
red, exotic plants blocking any light trying to reach the two of them.
Their only source of light were the yellow buds budding from the red flowers, casting a subtle neon
gleam onto their path and the traces of orange fire burning on the ground.
[Skill Flaming Mantle has been activated!]
[For the next 40 Seconds your Body will emit a Fire-Aura causing burn on your surroundings!]
It was a miracle to even see anything burn, really. Normally each and every flammable material inside
this jungle contained large amounts of liquid making them less prone to burning.
Thus, even though the entire ground had been plastered with thick moss for the last few hours, no
major burns remained and the few parts that actually lit afire were quickly extinguished.
*Hisssss*
Loud hissing noises from evaporating water and many animal’s sounds were making themselves
comfortable inside the party’s ears.
[You have slain a Wolf(normal)!]
[Skill: ‘Dash-Dash’ activated!]
In the center of this scenery, there stands the striker Elijah Winchester:
Immediately after the skill-activation his body slumped into a sprinting position.
Elijah’s two legs started swelling slightly and veins were bulging beneath their flesh; an expression of
being under extreme contraction!
*Wooosh*
In a flash his vision contracted. The scenery that seemed wide was suddenly shrunk down to a small
tunnel, which rapidly changed. He felt like the driver of a bullet-train as he traveled to his destination.
“Wooo-!”
The destination target couldn’t even howl once before Elijah arrived on its spot, stepped down on the
ground again and in a second dash did a roundhouse kick against its neck, shattering it in the process.
[You have slain a…]
[Due to Class Attribute ‘Striker’ your Cooldown will be nullified after... ]
Before the message could properly be displayed, the Striker had already reactivated his skill and once
again he dashed to the nearest enemy target, this time a spider
The body of a tarantula close to waist-height, defensive brown hair enveloped its back and eight legs.
Elijah’s first strike was against the spider’s head, his heels digging into the spider’s Pitch-Black eyes.
After receiving such an attack it would be paralyzed for a few moments, during which Winchester had
already acted.
[Skill: ‘Flame-Strike’ activated!]
An ‘Old Longsword’ (Not the same as ‘Old Broadsword’) cleanly swept over the arachnid’s back,
tracing a red pattern on their left side.
The striker bore results: apart from a crack in the spider’s outer shell the red hairs started igniting and a
bright red fire spread out lighting up the other hairs like a large bonfire, enveloping the entire spider.
“I’ll finish him off, start working on the next guy, dear!”
Once he heard the loud shout from his new beloved, Elijah stared in the direction of three-men-sized
group of ‘Grey-Wolves’ and initiated his next skill.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[Skill: ‘Flame-Dash’ activated!]
Once again his legs started swelling, this time twice as much, only this time a red aura started spreading
underneath Elijah’s legs growing into a Tetragrammaton-like shape; a star with five vertices circled
with a golden outline. The Stars edges are not homogeneous but instead run beneath and above each
other vertices making the form seem to be constructed out of two or three separate forms.
The star’s upper corner lights up in a red light and immediately after Elijah takes off.
He sprints with a speed higher than his highest sprints’ as a trail of fire shadows his every movement.
*Sizzle*
A high-pitched sizzling sound is heard as he runs and this sound converts into a hissing soon after:
While still sprinting Elijah has done a handstand and used his legs in a 1080° rotating kick.
It looks like a Breakdance-Performance aided with fire as Elijah does his triple rotation, letting his
flaming calves drive over the wolves’ fur with each round.
*HOWL*
In unity the Grey-Wolves let out a large howl of pain at the same time that Winchester retreats from
close combat.
Kasha in the meantime uses a skill to increase the fire-damage and its duration while singing a
mysterious song. The initially burned enemies quickly succumb to the flames and eventually all that
remains is dust and debris.
…
Traveling back in time, we arrive in the party camp of last night. The morning has greeted Elijah and he
was given his next Quest to reach Floor number two of DToA.
Waking up and informing the others about his Quest. The still overly excited Elijah wanted to lead their
group in accordance to the Quest’s contents but he was rudely awakened from his imagination by two
simple words:
“Good Luck.”
Da’prof, who ushered those words, began walking away and preparing his tent to prepare for departure
but the way he talked and acted made Elijah realize that his departure did not include their departure.
Elijah confronted Da’prof with this and was given an affirmative answer. Da’prof did not have any
obligation or wish to accompany Elijah any further.
This answer enraged the young ascender and he started a fight with Da’prof which ended up with him
on the ground and crying while being all bruised and battered.
Da’prof left continued packing his tent and Elijah tried his luck with the other members of his previous
party. Sadly however not a single person accepted his request and all of them left Elijah while
preparing for departure. This led to the guy having a mental breakdown and other dark thoughts, which
will be skipped over for the sake of his pride.
Eventually all the members left with the tents, flower-incense and any other stuff they brought along
with them. The only thing they had left him with were three variants of swords, a Shortsword, a
Broadsword and a Longsword.
It was at this time that Kasha was the only one willing to go with him and it was at this time that Elijah
truly fell in love with her.
Under the command of Elijah the two of them would continue to complete their Quest and ascend to
the next floor.
…
Going back to the present, the couple had reached a large town. It had been hidden inside a forest
dwelling sagging into the ground, almost like a diamond inside a small hole.
Elijah did not have any time to admire this town, that seemed to be a large machine containing gears,
screws and bolts while making loud whirring noises.
He was occupied with carrying Kasha on his back and doing other things she told him.
At a certain point in their expedition Kasha had cramped her ankle and couldn’t walk anymore, which
is why Elijah volunteered to carry her. Originally he tried carrying her in a princess-carry but due to her
‘unusual’ back he decided to change into a piggyback-ride. This also gave him an easier time fighting
monsters and his level went up by a lot.
At some point the situation devolved into Elijah picking up herbs and hunting beetles for Kasha while
trying to please her. From time to time the man would get small ‘motivational bursts’ from her, though
the frequency of those favors seemed to lessen exponentially with the duration of their trip.
While going inside the city Elijah is not even allowed to look up from the ground anymore due to a
command from Kasha.
“At the city center we can find the entrance to Floor 2, honey.”, Kasha whispers into his ear.
“But it has already gotten this late, has it not? Let us rest inside of an inn for tonight. Can you pay the
costs for me, honey? I promise I will make it worth your while.”
Elijah simply nodded vehemently and carried Kasha according to her specified directions. He wasn’t
even able to speak.
Under the bright sun of noon the two of them went inside of an inn and Elijah paid the entrance fee of
10 Gold. They stayed the night(noon) there and laid inside of the bed while hugging each other.
“I love you.”
These were the first and last words from Elijah to Kasha before falling asleep with her in his arms.
…
[Opening Status Window!]
[
Name: Elijah Winchester
Nickname: N/A
Level: 15
Exp. Pts.: 216/1024
Gold: 0
Class: Striker
Titles: None
Status:
Health: 100/100HP(+5Hp/minute)
Vitality: 10
Longevity: 10
Body: Combat-Level:12.034
Strength: 30
Agility: 40
Craftsmanship: CP-Level: 7.358
Stamina: 30
Dexterity: 10
Mana: 75/75MP(+20Mp/min)
Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 20
Special:
Luck: 0
Perception: 0
SP left: 0
Skills: None
]
[Opening List of Items!]
[
‘Old Longsword’
‘Letter From Kasha’
]
[Opening ‘Letter From Kasha’]
[
Next time you try to put yourself above others you might get a worse treatment than this.
Since I am a nice person I have indefinitely rented out the room you are staying in, so take your time
getting over getting dumped.
Welcome to the Tower!
‘Love’
Kasha
xoxo
]
This letter was Elijah’s Welcome Note to DToA.
Inside of this room there was a single man. His clothing had been stripped from him and he found a
brown leather tunic and a pair of Grey pants. This man had been robbed of his money, his equipment,
his clothing. And as he was sitting there and realizing what had happened that night; as tears were
trickling down from his reddened face; as he picked up the one item he had been left with – a sword –
Elijah Winchester broke down once again. And as he broke into wails of sobbing and crying along with
screaming at the unfairness of this world, he realized that the one thing Elijah had thought he had – his
pride – had long since left him.
Elijah Winchester had nothing.
…
[You are inside of a protected Place! ]
[Effect: Immunity to all Damage while inside of this Place!]
[-0HP!]
[You are inside of a protected Place! ]
[Effect: Immunity to all Damage while inside of this Place!]
[-0HP!]
[You are inside of a protected Place! ]
[Effect: Immunity to all Damage while inside of this Place!]
[-0HP!]
[You are …]
[Congratulations! For trying to take your own life 10 times in a row while being unable to you have
been gifted a title!]
[Title: ‘Sunfish’ has been acquired!]
[Title Effect: -10Luck! For every further unsuccessful attempt -2 Luck!]
Elijah would realize this in the not-so-distant future but towns like this one have a special utility and
name in DToA:
[Trapdoor-Town]
Quest #3 does not have a singular ending and Floor Ascension-spot. Instead there are multiple possible
spots for travelers to end up at. Trapdoor-Towns on Floor 1 can only be reached by the Girgisch-People
and only by those that utilize the same class and skills as Kasha, the Shamans.
It is designed to only be accessible for the people with ‘similar tendencies as Elijah’. The usual
procedure for people like him is the following:
1) Isolate and seduce the Player
2)Lead the Player to the nearest Trapdoor-Towns
3)Rob him of all his money and leave him with a minimum of Equipment to fend for himself.
4.1)The player decides to go along with 1)-3) and accept his mistake. He can continue normally from
now on and might be able to take an eventual positive effect from this event.
4.2)The player has a breakdown and expresses it in suicidal actions. In this case he is unable to hurt
himself to prevent any losses inside the Tutorial Stage
4.2.1) the player decides to move on
4.2.2)The player tries to leave the town, in this case he is unable to leave any way other than ascending to the next floor
4.3)???, the Player can reach a special event. In this case ???
…
But for now it is time to check on Elijah’s next actions.
Skipping through the day a bit, Elijah noticed that he was unable to kill himself and decided to leave
this floor for good. It was the same faint hope that had given him the courage to live on once before.
It turned out that to ascend to the next floor he needed to pay 50 Gold and Elijah spent the rest of his
day jobbing inside of this village, doing laundry and washing dishes. The entire time he was wearing a
detached expression, almost not even existing in the same time and space as the people around him.
Shortly before Midnight Elijah Winchester had gathered enough money to ascend to the next floor.
[Ascending to the next floor?]
“Yes”
…
[Congratulations! You have completed Quest #3: Succession of Knowledge (3)]
[You have been given 100 Gold!]
[Quest #4 will be opened up!]
[Quest #4: Echo-chamber of Misery!]