“Udon hide in the back with the girls, I’ll see what he wants” Jot moved closer to the door and waved us to go in the back

“I’m not going to help you if you get in trouble, I’ll die if I fight him” Was Jot expecting me to come to his rescue if he needed it? In my eyes Jot and I were square we didn’t owe each other anything

“Just go in the back” Jot said with more authority this time, the girls and I headed into the back, I told Umi to make sure Vnaa is safe while Miko and I peeked our heads around the door.

*Bang Bang

“Open up, we have orders from the God Neptune”

“Coming, coming, hold onto your hats” Jot opened the door slowly but Aquarus and his two merman lackeys burst into his store

“Where are they?” Aquarus demanded looking around the store suspiciously

“Where are who?” Jot replied acting dumb

“Hey! Let go off me!” The two merman lackeys grabbed Jot by the arms tightly

“Don’t act dumb, where are the players that where just in here?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I haven’t had a customer all day”

“Hmm, is that so”

Aquarus rubbed his chin, his two tentacles that acted as a long moustache slithered around his hand, it was a disturbing sight

“Your gear has improved drastically, why is that?” Aquarus said looking at Jots newly touched up armour

“I managed to improve my skill that’s all”

“Is that so, I don’t remember Neptune given you permission to upgrade your skills, how did you get those skills anyways? Only Neptune has the authority to upgrade skills” Do Gods have skills as well? Were they just high level players that coincidentally have the same name as the gods I know back on earth?

“A travelling player did it for me, I paid a lot of money for it”

“A travelling player you say, where is that player now?” Aquarus was still looking around the shop, he wasn’t buying any of what Jot was telling him

“His long gone now, he wanted to find some more players to form a bigger party with”

“Is that so, are you sure you aren’t lying to me, you know what happens if I find out you’re lying” Aquarus was now right in Jot’s face, his tentacles were slithering over Jot’s face, I could puke at the sight of the scene.

“Master Udon, we need to help him” Miko whispered unable to watch this any longer,

“I told him we couldn’t, we will die if we go out there now”

“Please Master Udon” Damn it Miko! Toughen up, he knew what he was doing

“Sir Udon, Jot has been kind to me while you were out, I agree with my rival, we should help him out” Now Umi was getting involved, and what was with this Sir Udon and calling Miko her rival? Was Umi delusional?

“Papa Udon” Vnaa said in a soft voice, damn it, I looked on trying to figure out a plan to help Jot out but also let us escape.

“If you are in here player! We don’t mean you no harm, we have a request from God Neptune, he would like your attendance” Neptune wants to see me? Have I don’t something wrong?

“Girls stay here” I told the girls to stay in the room. I headed out but Miko didn’t listen and followed closely behind me

“What does this Neptune want” I walked back into the main floor of the shop, Aquarus turned around and gave me a scowling look, his lackeys tightened their grip on Jot

“You shall address him as God Neptune, you lowly filth of a player” Wow, where did that come from

“I don’t know who this Neptune is, he could be an ugly merman beast like you, his no god of mine”

“Why you” Aquarus lifted his trident up and pointed it into my neck, the tip pierced my skin and a little bit of blood trickled out

“You said Neptune wanted to see me, I doubt he’ll allow you to kill me before that” Aquarus scowl grew even tighter, I hit the nail right on the head

“You may be right there, will you please accompany us to see God Neptune” His tone changed quickly, Aquarus put down his trident and relaxed a little, his lackeys even let go of Jot

“Tell me why I should come with you? All you’ve done is threaten this store owner and raised your weapon at me” I wasn’t going to act like I knew Jot, it might save him a bit of hassle down the road.

“God Neptune will like to hire you for an open quest, none of his players are willing to do the quest so he is forced to look elsewhere” Another open quest…

“Yeah, no thanks”

“I assure you, you will be paid quite handsomely”

“Don’t need money” Aquarus was getting annoyed now, his eyes twitching with rage

“Master Udon, we should at least hear him out, he is a Faction leader after all”

“Your partner is right, if you do not want to accept the quest after you have heard God Neptune, you will be free to leave” More like killed, I don’t have a choice, he looks willing to bring me in by force…willing isn’t the word, wants to bring me in by force is more like it.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Fine, I’ll hear this Neptune Player out”

“Thank you” Aquarus replied, he was still seething with rage.

“God Neptune, we have brought the ones you requested” We made our way through town and headed into the Adventures Guild Hall, it was more like a castle from the lost city of Atlantis, but on land, I left Umi and Vnaa back at Jots shop.

“Thank you Aquarus, welcome players to my castle” He even called it a castle…he seems like his going to be a pain

“I’m sure Aquarus has given you the basics of why I have summoned you here”

“Summoned? More like forced, I don’t like being forced to do things” I glared at the ‘God’ he wore a golden armour set with a dark cyan cape, his armour had jewels imbued in his shoulder and chest pieces, he wore a golden King crown and held a golden trident with another deep sea blue jewel in the middle. He had the classic warrior king look down patch, even his white beard screamed warrior king.

“I apologies for the rough manner my attendant caused you, he is in fact a merman from the merfolk race, their nature is quite strong and demanding”

“What quest do you want me to accept, I find it strange that no one from your guild will accept it”

“Straight to the point, I like it, I would like you and your party to kill the Ancient Floor Monster of the Third Floor, I have been given an order from the Dungeon to slay this beast, it is becoming too strong for its own good. I would also like you to gather up some Ice Imbued Escedian while you are there as well.” He wants me to kill an ancient floor monster…

“You can be serious, what kind of player do you think I am?” I’m not strong at all, I’ll die if I take this quest one

“The type of player that can create familiars” Neptune smirked as he revealed what he knew about me, damn it! This could turn bad, from what Ragar told me about humans being sold on the black market, I would be a high priced item, one that could create an army of familiars.

“Don’t worry, you’re secret is safe with me, that is, along as you accept this quest, I will reward you with 50 Golden Tigre Coins along with an invitation into my Guild” I looked away grinding my teeth and clenching my fists, if I don’t accept this, it will only be a matter of time I’m targeted by a Black Market Group, but if I do accept this Quest I’ll be killed by the Ancient Floor Monster…Damn it!

“We’ll accept”

“Huh” Miko shouted out on my behalf, did she really think we could defeat an Ancient Floor Monster!?

“Excellent, I’ll give you two days to prepare” Neptune gave a smile at Miko’s acceptance of the quest. I looked at his smile, I couldn’t help but sense a sinister motive behind it, something doesn’t feel right, this feels like a set up, I’ve had this feeling many times before

“Wai..”

“Lets go get ready Master Udon” Miko grabbed my hand and led me out of the ‘throne’ room before I could object

“Are you sure this plan will work”

“Yes Aquarus, have faith in your God, I’ve been given word Mercury has summoned the replacement monster, soon we will control the lower five floors and you can kill that filthy sea horse familiar” I turned back to the mumbling of Neptune and his right hand man Aquarus, they were definitely up to something

“Why did you accept that quest Miko? We can’t defeat an Ancient Floor Monster” We headed back to Jots shop and I went straight into arguing with Miko.

“We had no other choice Master Udon, Neptune was going to spread your secret and that would put you in more danger”

“Will you stop acting like you care about me! What is it you want? Do you want me to die! I almost died last time we were on that floor by a Deer-Bear and now you’ve gone and accepted a quest to take on a bloody Ancient Floor Monster!” I yelled at Miko, if she wanted me dead, do it yourself!

“Stop saying it’s an act!”

“Umm, Sir Udon, Rival Miko, please don’t argue”

“You two need to calm down, you’ll scare away the customers” Umi and Jot tried to intervene but it didn’t work, Miko and I were still glaring at each other.

“Big Sister Miko, what’s going on?” Vnaa appeared out of the back room, it looked like she had just woken up, she rubbed her eyes and had bed hair

“It’s nothing Vnaa, Master Udon isn’t looking after himself again”

“Looking after myself!? You’re the one that accepted a suicide quest!”

“Papa Udon, why are you so angry?”

“Because Miko wants me dead, kill me yourself!” That might have been a mistake, Miko’s glare disappeared, her mouth dropped a little and her eyes looked like they were full of tears

“Rival Miko?” Umi followed and called out to Miko who had turned around and walked out of the shop

“Arrrr! Damn it!” I screamed out and walked into the back room

“What just happened?” Vnaa asked Jot, the two of them looked at the back room and then the front door, trying to understand the situation that just unfolded in front of them

“Nothing that concerns you little Vnaa, do you want to help me start to prepare dinner? I have some pre-made Unicorn Rabbit stew”

“Uhh, sure” Vnaa and Jot started making dinner, I had fallen on the bed and fell asleep.

“Mmmm” I woke up a little later, it was already dark, but I could see the streets lights on out the window

“Where is everyone?” I walked out to the kitchen and saw Jot working on a leather wrist cover by himself

“They girls have all had dinner and went for a walk around the town, Miko left some food she made for you over there” Jot pointed to a plate on the bench, didn’t Jot tell Vnaa he already had Pre-made stew?

“If you’re wondering why its not the Unicorn Rabbit Stew, it’s because the young lady insisted you get a good meal every night, I told her not to bother considering how you acted earlier, but she went ahead and made it for you anyways” Was Jot trying to guilt trip me? Did Miko poison it? I looked at the plate full of vegetables and sausages

“She also warned me you thought it might be poisonous, I can try it if you want, but in my opinion you should go back to sleep without dinner” I turned around and glared at Jot, who the hell does he think he is!

“You need to mind your own business you hobbit, you know nothing about me” I grabbed the plate of food and sat down aggressively at the table, Jot just glared back at me, he looked like he wanted to punch me

“Look boy, I don’t know why you are the way you are, you seem to have had a hard life, harder than I could ever imagine. Despite that fact though, you shouldn’t be dishing out your anger on others that have done nothing but looked out for you” Great, another preaching know it all

“Like I said, mind your own business” I sat there in silence finishing my dinner, Miko must have improved her cooking mastery skill, it tasted better then the breakfast I had the other day

“I’m going to stay at an Inn tonight, tell the girls…actually, I don’t care what you tell them” I stood up and went back into my room and grabbed my backpack

“You’ll lose them, all of them if you keep this up boy” Jot followed me to my room, he was still glaring at me, if he wanted to fight then throw a punch! Don’t just stand there and judge me!

“I only need them for the floor party rule, after that, they can do what they want, I don’t care” I pushed passed Jot giving him a shoulder bump and left his shop. I remember seeing an Inn near Claudia’s shop, I started walking in that direction, it was pretty late, if they didn’t have a room I’ll just camp out on the beach.

“One night please”

“Certainly Sir, 1 Bronze Brown Coin please” I handed the Coin over to the lady and grabbed the keys off her and headed up the stairs into my room.

“Smaller then Jots spare room but its better then having to deal with another pointless argument” I opened the door to see a small wooden floored room, the bed was just big enough for me and it had a small desk next to it.

“Guild Gem, look up Escedian” I asked my Crystal Clear Gem, I didn’t even know the details of the quest and Miko still went and accepted it, damn that bee!

Help Menu:

Escedian Information:

Escedian is the hardest substance in the dungeon, it is always found in environments matching its composure, eg: Ice Imbued Escedian is only found in Snowy Mountains and is best used in creating Ice oriented gear and weapons

“Interesting, I could maybe use this to kill the Ancient Floor Monster, if it’s Ice, there might be falling Ice Escedian that I can trap the monster with” I tried to think of ways I could get through this quest alive, I ended up drifting off.