The time was midnight in Allastar and he was inside his Inn room with the gold ticket in hand, the clock ringing inside his head but nothing happened. He didn't know what to do as he couldn't activate it or something, the moment he set foot outside his room to go ask at the temple he was teleported somewhere. The strange golden light faded away, his eyes still hurting. He couldn't see for a while but when he saw it he was at a loss for words, it was a palace made of gold and any precious stones you can Imagine. He and five more people, two of whom players, the rest three Npcs were there on a gigantic ruby that was placed like a carpet imbedded in the floor of the palace, there were no plants or people only a large door behind them and In front of them.
The two players had already got the message that he now received.
-You have now in Deerg's golden Palace, enter the door in the -
-front and you will be teleported to his casino where riches and -
-power beyond Imagination rests or step back to to the entrance -
-and lose 100000 Affinity points and return to your former place -
Both players went back to the entrance and teleported back they knew that what awaited them were no reaches or power but the deletion of their characters if they stepped into Deerg's casino. Darknym and the three Npcs went forward inside the door and were sent into a strange room that looked like a normal casino, only that there weren't many people inside.
Other than them there were were three more Gates from where another two groups came, each having two to three Npc and only one Player each. There were now four players and ten Npcs inside the casino and a strange voice was heard through the speakers.
"Welcome to my casino, for the first time, although I see a familiar face among you right Verial"
A beauty, with darkened skin and an arabian silk outfit that would be most fitting for a dancer came forth. However no one mistook her for a simple dancer due to the luxurious jewels hanging on her neck and the bracelets and rings on her fingers.
"Now lets not spend too much time Idling, time is money. First I will Introduce you to one another, you will have ten minutes to make teams and then you will compete in a game from the wheel of fortune"
A large wheel with game names was there in front of them, with strange names for sure.
"Most of you probably know Verial, the most Wealthy dance in "Ashrad" continent and a Priestess of Greed"
She came forward and lay on a sofa that was there in front of them, there were ten to begin with for all ten Npcs.
"Girdan the beastman, also called a minotaur, he is keen on human flesh these days and the best slave trader in the entire continent of Drogan"
A large cloaked man came forth, after letting his cloak go they could see a minotaur muscled minotaur with two horns clad in golden armor with two rubies on their points and golden bracelets decorating his muscular wrists. He went and sat on a sofa that was about to break from his weight.
"Irma the Prophet, known for making a great fortune off of gambling until she became a wanted woman for some mishaps she's probably guilty of"
A ragged woman came forth, she was nothing like the others, she looked like a beggar who hadn't eaten for days, no one knows how she still stood, she ruched to a sofa and begun stuffing herself with food.
"Joto the Godfather, a man who is known as the greatest merchant the Isleplains also a Godfather of the dark underworld of Shellon"
A fat person in a wealthy suit came forth, all his fingers full of rings probably magical, he walked slowly but with the authority of a leader and sat in one of the sofas and begun playing with one of his rings as he waited.
"Glurb the Masterthief of Anchora, Only known as the Prince of thieves, a shadow that no one has caught sight of before"
A small cloaked figure, like that of a cloaked child, he didn't take off his cloak but his green stretched fingers showed that he was most probably a goblin. His hood shrouded his face, he sat on a sofa and waited patiently not making any movements as if he was a statue.
"Barccas the Alchemist, or more like the priest of greed, he has swindled many a disciples with his promises to teach them the recipe for gold"
A dwarf came forth, his gray beard and mage-like attire made him look like a mage or alchemist, because of the many pouches he wore. He didn't look so rich but Darknym knew that appearances were deceiving. He went and sat on the sofa sometimes taking a bite from the food on the table.
"Golem the gladiator, I'm a fan of his work so I brought him here to make the game a bit spicier"
A bulky man, smaller than the Minotaur, and a bit larger than the godfather came forth, he wore a strange helm that covered most of his face and he wore almost no clothes, only to cover his most sensitive parts. He walked to the table took his helm of and silently begun eating, like a mouse that wants to savor every bite of it.
"Robin the master archer, a man I like very much, as he made archery a gambling game, hasn't lost since, his eye rivaled that of an eagle until he lost one of his eyes on a special occasion"
A one eyed elf came forward, he had greenish skin, being one of the Green elves, a race derived from the forest elves, they are even more fanatical over nature and would kill anyone if they saw them harming a plant, they don't care about already dead wood. He went and sat on the sofa eating in between studying the others.
"Vin and Marv are brothers who came here together they are famous traders that have risen high in the country of Anchora"
The last two persons came, forth they were twins and looked almost identical, You could only discern them by their clothes Vin wore green and Marv wore Blue, they each went for one sofa each. Vin looked wealthy while Marv looked a bit lost and less well fed than his brother. Once in a while he sneaked some food into his mouth secretly from his brother.
"Now for the three main Players first is Darknym, the wealthiest level 1 player"
The other three laughed as he said his level out loud. Darknym with his strange hooded loose Shirt and sport wear, nowhere near the fantasy genre.
"Noctus the level 82 assassin and a great gambler"
He was a classic assassin with a black cloak and dark leather clothes, he had some pounces hanging left and right and knives hanging here and there, his face was fully covered and hidden.
"Terminator the Arena champion and a good gambler, betting only on his own matches, win or lose his bet is always true"
He was clad in an expensive fancy plate suit of armor, he was a level 189 fighter who was just about to level up, who by mistake entered the wrong gate, thinking it was the exit from the palace. Just followed the flock of Npcs who went inside most likely came after Verial's ass.
"Woody a strange merchant who specializes in dual guns, and a great gambler, his favorite game's russian roulette"
A strange cowboy wannabe came forth carrying two strange guns, that looked nothing like real guns. two fat tube-like pistols with strange tubes and crystals that came from it and went back and forth. His strange clothing took strange glances from the other players. He was the only one he could tell what race he was, an amber elf with red hair and a strange love for the wild west.
"You now have ten minutes to gather a team, of maximum four people you included, afterwards The Wheel will spin and a game for today will begin, If you win you can take something from my vault, if you lose you lose a soul, and since the only three people here with more than one souls are Varial, Darknym and Woody they have the ability to bet souls on the winner of the game"
Terminator and Noctus before they even ended went for Verial the Ashradian dancer, most likely because she had souls to spare so even if they lost they could do something. The truth was they used to have soulstones as well but they sold them in the black market for a large sum of money, one soulstone cost 10valuable gems,meaning 1000gold coins not knowing what to do about them since they were not mages.
Woody went for Robin since they were both elves, although he probably knew little about the subspecies of elves as he was shaken off within seconds.
As Terminator opened his helmet showing off a beautiful face inside, one similar to the famous actors on TV, the assassin did the same showing a face akin to his, but he was a dark elf, with pitch black hair and green eyes.
Human and dark elf were fighting over the beauty, in the end she chose Terminator because he was of a higher level, he was a level 189 fighter and twice champion of one of the arena's, while Noctus was a level 82 assassin.
Darknym sat next to Irma the beggar prophet who was more concerned about the food on the table than the games to come. The players could see all a small description of the Npcs but they were so plain they didn't even show their levels.
Verial - Human Ashrad
Class Name - Wealthiest dancer of Ashrad An Arabian beauty
that can charm anyone to die for her.
Main profession - Dancer
Secondary - Merchant, Swindler, Mage, Priestess of greed.
Girdan - Beastman Minotaur
Class Name - Master Slave trader
A ferocious powerful Minotaur more akin to a monster than a normal Npc.
Main profession - fighter
Secondary - Hunter, Slaver, Beast master, Beast tamer.
Irma - Human - plains people
Class Name - Fallen prophet
A hungry beggar of a prophet that used to make fortunes off of gambling.
Main profession - Prophet
Secondary - Survivalist, hermit
Joto - plains people
Class Name - the Godfather
A fat but strong person and a good leader,
he has brains and browns for both business and battle.
Main profession - Thief
Secondary - Merchant, Mage, assassin, Commander.
Glurb - plains goblin
Class Name - Prince of thieves
A legendary figure among thieves, none has seen him or even heard of
how he looks, all that is known about him are rumors of his skills.
Main profession - hunter
Secondary - Thief, Trickster, assassin,spy.
Barccas - Gray dwarf
Class Name - The Golden Alchemist
A Quack who isn't as good at alchemy but his affinity to greed gave him
the ability to turn stone to gold. Due to the huge cooldown of the
spell he begun posing himself as an alchemist.
Main profession - Miner
Secondary - Merchant, Swindler, Mage, Priestess of greed.
Golem - Drogan human
Class Name - champion gladiator
A gladiator that fights for his life all his life, a pitiable
existence that can be bought over with money.
Main profession - Master gladiator
Secondary - none
Robin - Green Elf
Class Name - Handicapped archer
A one eyed archer who swindled others but was found out and
lost an eye for his carelessness.
Main profession - Archer
Secondary - Trickster, Merchant, Ranger, fighter.
Vin - Plain people
Class Name - famous merchant
Marv's brother, a ferocious merchant, he would sell
even his own brother for the right amount of gold.
Main profession - Smith
Secondary - Merchant, carpenter, sculptor, Jeweler.
Marv - Plain people
Class Name - famous merchant
Vin's brother, an almost bankrupt merchant, he wasn't good enough
at conducting business but loves his brother.
Main profession - Tailor
Secondary - Merchant, painter, Cook, builder.
In the end the three teams were completed while Darknym waited to see who would remain in the end for his team.
The ending teams were as followed.
1.Team Verial
Normally it would have been Terminator's team but he was
too charmed by the beautiful dancer to care about the game.
He also recruited Golem and Girdan, it was a team of brawn,
all large and strong with Verial as the link between them.
2.Team Woody
Woody after his failure with Robin, recruited Joto or more
like was recruited by him and the rest was Joto's work,
Barccas and Vin although were not the best of the mix they
were versatile and offered lots of benefits.
3.Team Noctus
Noctus after losing to Teminator in levels and losing Verial,
went for Girdan, losing another match to Terminator and
after wards went for Glurb as he was also a sneak profession,
he accepted with some conditions they discussed secretly.
He only accepted Robin because Marv looked like a loser without
his brother and they needed at least three people in one party.
4.Team Darknym
Darknym was left with the prophet who looked too skinny and malnourished.
Whatever the game, non was sure that she would survive or be of help to them
even if she could see the future, how would that help in a sport festival
or a puzzle. Last in his team was Marv who once in a while gave hidden looks
at his brother's team, as if they were up to something recruiting him was like
recruiting a snitch that would betray you right away.
"The ten minutes are up and the first game is..."
the wheel begun spinning and spinning and it was almost about to fall on "default victory" when with a sneeze from the speakers and the wheel fell on "Deerg's Labyrinth".
The players and Npcs begun shouting in distress as they saw it as a cheat.
"Don't mind the small details, the game is my labyrinth game, all fourteen of you are to make a labyrinth and I will select from them the best labyrinth, you will then be teleported to that labyrinth, know that each room aside from the starting area can hold only two people at a time, meaning that you will have to divide your teams even further to win the game,
Each room will have one of the ten traps, each of which have 10levels of difficulty, Which after activating once will become permanent, meaning the next two will see what the trap is all about having a better chance to pass it, lastly the condition to win is one of your players passing the exit gate which looks like this"
A strange bluish liquid-like material flowed from a strange cut in the air, as if it was a picture or something.
You can make your bets now knowing and select a reward to your liking from the vault. The four players stepped forward, and one by one entered a room, he didn't know which Items the others had chosen or if woody had bet any of his soulstones.
It was now his turn as he entered the room, there was a list of Items he could chose from and a number of soulstones was listed on some of them. It took him a long time as he was looking for spellbooks or something that would make him stronger.
In the end he was disappointed, there was nothing of value to a mage in the mix, well not for his kind of mage at least as it had many magic regenerating items and staffs but it wasn't something that would make him, himself stronger.
"What's the matter?"
the speaker said,
"you haven't chosen a single item from my most valuable possessions"
"Well I didn't think a god's most valuable possessions were mere Items, after seeing the soulstones I thought they would be at least as exquisite and worthwhile but these are not the things that make my heart sing, you must also have this feeling when you see something and say I must have that even if I die trying"
"That's the reason I want to make you my champion, we even think likewise, of course these items are not enough to be called a treasure but lets have a deal, if you win the game you can challenge it for a second time, this time the prize will be one of my more worthy possession, but if you lose you become my champion, and lose all your soulstones in the process"
"Isn't it too one sided a deal, how about this, first we play for the champion thing, although I hate being supervised and if I win we play a second game, but this time I will be selecting the maze and the traps while the players are playing the game, if they win you gain all my soulstones, if they lose I gain a spell of my selection from you"
"Spells, you only want spells, I thought we thought alike but only wanting some stupid spells for 40 soulstones, you surely are strange but it's a deal, but know but the next game will be with different players and all their souls if they lose go to me and not you"
"I don't need souls, not yet at least, my collection has more to do with power than souls, I want to be strong enough to become non existent in the world to become a god like yourself"
There was no response only a laughter and the sound of the doors opening.
The labyrinth designing phase was very short and the labyrinth itself was only a 20x20 thing. Really easy and fast to make, the players and Npcs sometimes glanced at other people designs.Darknym made something artistic using all 400 squares, he didn't really remember his own labyrinth but he didn't really care since he thought that everyone would make something as elaborate as that. The only thing that could be made out of the labyrinth was it's symmetrical nature, left and right was the same, making the beginning and exit opposite to one another.
The other players were shocked every time they passed by his labyrinth since they couldn't see the symmetrical form of the labyrinth not, that it mattered to them since there were 400 rooms with traps in it. Joto had stopped at his labyrinth trying to memorize it by heart, thinking that it was the most likely one to please Deerg's gambling spirit, since they would have to pass through all 400 rooms to exit.
They were teleported to the starting location and there was only one exit, from the room.
The four teams were huddled as they were thinking of what to do, while Darknym just sat down and waited for the others to make the first move.He didn't mind to gamble on it but he would lose nothing even if he lost. His teammates were even more strange as they did exactly the same as him, they just sat down and waited for the others to make the first step.
"We should decide who will go first by rock paper scissors"
Said Woody who would have went first if it wasn't for Joto stopping him.
"Why doing something so stupid, we should just send the loser team over there, they will lose anyway"
Said terminator seemingly irritated by Darknym calmly sitting next to the wall
"And why should we do what you say, you aren't even one of the team leaders"
Noted Darknym and the other two laughed at the remark.
Terminator wanted to rush at him with his Mace but then he noticed something strange.
"Guys are your weapons missing too?"
He said a bit nervous since his was a really good mace and he wanted to know if it happened to everyone else.
"Of course it's missing you fool, Weapons are not allowed in Deerg's casino, but when we win you will probably have it back and your price at the same time"
Said Verial who was the only veteran among them.
"But i can't kill people without a weapon"
Terminator protested
"Don't even think about doing something like that, the god is watching us, if want to do anything do it in the form of a gamble or a game, like we did last time I played the game"
Verial said
"And what was that?"
Joto said with an irritating smile on his face as if belittling her.
"well we could take turns by placing lots inside a container and then draw lots for which team goes first"
Verial said.
Everyone had to agree since they had no better Idea and the rock paper scissors was stupid since there was a prophet amongst them.
The lots were drawn, and the order of the teams was,
1.Noctus
2.Verial
3.Darknym
4.Woody
Noctus was a bit disappointed but Verial seemed most happy about the development, if he didn't know better he could tell that the lots were set to end that way from the start.
The two who went first into the room were Robin and Glurb as they said that they were higher a level than Noctis.
The first room that looked empty a moment ago, sprung in action the moment the two of them entered the room. strange contraptions that looked like training dummies wielding blades of sharp metal were everywhere in the room, there were only to places that could be called safe at the start and at the end of the room.
The contraptions were whirling their weapons at a high pace, some being long and others being short. First went Glurb and after passing trough the door and into the next room, Robin called Noctus and guided him through the way, Glurb used.
The first team had passed the first trap, with a trick so elaborate that only they could use. finding a passage in between the numerous traps long and short traps. It didn't need much thought but it was very dangerous.
The second team couldn't enter yet since the other group hadn't left yet. They couldn't see what was ahead but there was a crossroad, with logs over a large lava pond.
They went right, because Glurb chose to go there and Robin and Noctus followed him. without question, they even fell the logs behind them so that others could not follow them. Or more like think that others would not follow them.
Their next challenge was strange because there was nothing inside the room, even after Glurd exited to the other side of the room there still was nothing inside while the next one was a fork going left and right. with another pool of lava and logs but this time bubbles of hot magma emerged from time to time, burning them if they touched them.
Team Verial charged their way into the machines after seeing that the damage they did was nothing serious for a warrior, Verial rode on Terminator's shoulders as he was the largest of their group. Reaching the next room fast enough to see the logs fall behind the last group, cursing their luck.
The While the last member of team Noctus, Robin was waiting for his teammates to chose a path, the doors to his room closed on him, his teammates only heard the sound of water and screams coming out of the locked room, it was a smart trap that activated when the two nearby rooms were full, to kill off some of the competition. They of course could have saved him if they had chosen a path fast enough but Noctus was panicked and Glurb although he wanted to pass the logs and go right stopped by Noctus and Robin saying it was a foolishness going right every time and something about planing their moves. In the end that argument cost them a member of their team and unless they won the match he would stay dead of course they didn't know something that only Verial knew about the end of the game.
Hearing Robin's screaming voice Verial told them to wait a little and after a few moments silence came again.
"Now I will show you how the game is played"
she said and with a move of her arm she blasted Golem and Girdan towards the two remaining Doors, Golem was thrown left and Girdan right across the pond of lava.
"Go Inside and return to tell us what you saw!"
She shouted so that they could hear, Terminator was a bit unhappy as his armor blocked him from feeling her hips on his shoulders, as he acted as her ride. She didn't exit the room with the contraptions making Woody anxious about when his turn will come.
Golem came back full of scars and blood, shouting "There were some monsters ahead so I took care of them, there only one path going to the right"
Girdan came back and shortly after and said
"There is nothing inside but there are two ways to go one to the left and one straight ahead"
Verial threw Golem to the central path and said, go forward and wait for us to come.
In the meantime Glurb and Noctus had a strange argument again, Glurb went to the right leaving Noctus to do as he liked.
Noctus angry at Glurb for the death of Robin, for some unknown reason went to the left. Glurb found another room with mechanical contraption and went to the right once more.
The contraptions were so complicate this time that they even went Vericaly and diagonally, making it a lot more difficult to find a way through. If anyone saw the small goblin doing Master Yoda like jumps here and there sometimes passing through the blades as they whirled and others even stepping on them. Noctus even if he had followed his lead would have been hit a dozen of times, of course they weren't a deadly as they looked.
What Noctus found in his room were monsters, they were wild goblins, a species of hairy little brutes that only knew how to kill.
After a while of sneaking he saw a weapon in the center of the room, it was a plain sword, he could have just bypassed them but he was angry and frustrated, the goblins were all he needed to ease his tension.
When he took the blade he couldn't see it's stats but it felt good to have a weapon, he killed the first goblin with a sneak attack and was revealed afterwards, the remaining nine goblins charged at him but he was level 82, they were nothing to him, even their damage was not even worth considering.
He saw two doors other than the entrance, one going right and one going forward, without even looking inside he went forwards.
In the meantime Verial and her group had went forward and forward once more Here they Golem and Girdan found clay golems and only one weapon at the center of the ten walking statues. Golem although already having a weapon still went for the sword while Girdan begun fighting the golems with his horns, it wasn't easy but the two veterans broke them all after a fierce battle, they had two swords now, which Golem monopolized as he was a dual wielder to begin with.
Verial told them to go forward once more, they saw a strange room full of gas that made it impossible to see through. Girdan and Golem refused to go inside.
The first room with the whirling dummies was free to enter but Darknym didn't want to enter it.
"But it's your turn to go insisted Woody"
"Why should I, I don't even want to move, to begin with there's no time limit and even if I went forward Who said that you won't backstab me afterwards"
"Whatever stay here and wait until we find the exit"
Woody said as he charged through the mechanical contraptions.
He wasn't nor as agile as Noctus nor as Tanky as Terminatorn, but as fast as he entered the room he was out of it, he had used some sort of teleportation spell, although he wasn't a mage or was he, since in the game anyone could have at least five professions it wouldn't be a surprise if he was a mage.
Joto rushed after him through the contraptions as if they weren't even there. While Barccas and Vin tried to mimic the two stealthy team by passing under the mechanical contraptions.
In the end they made it after receiving a little damage at the end of the path as they attempt to take a shortcut through the whirling contraptions.
Woody rushed forward teleporting towards the opposite door across the room, inside he saw an empty room further Inside a few crushed remains of clay golems and even further forward He saw Golem and Girdan sleeping inside a strange Gas, he didn't know if they were dead or not but the Minotaur's snoring sound made it hard to misunderstand.
Joto came a short while after he had shot himself through the non existent logs with magic and since he saw him enter forward it was easy to catch up with him. Barccas and Vin followed after him, Barccas created a bridge made of earth which he and Vin took to follow their leader.
Noctus at that moment was at a strange predicament in front of him was a large meat grinding machine with spikes and behind him were Verial and Terminator encouraging him to jump.
Glourb was already dead by then, he was great and had passed through three rooms before that fatal trap, which needed a teammate to pass through, it was a strange cage with spikes that appeared as he entered the room, he couldn't exit the cage and there was a winded path in front of him, he understood too late that he needed a teammate to free him from the trap, as on the opposite side there was a trigger for his freedom.
The cage looked strange at first but every minute it discharged electricity at him, little by little draining all his life, he wanted to use his escape skills but the rules of the labyrinth blocked him from escaping.
Verial who awaited for Noctus to jump inside because she already knew how to pass the trap, she only needed a dead body, that was what the goblins were there for but she didn't want any competition so she was patient. Terminator or Termi as she called him wasn't as patient, maybe by his own ignorance he kicked a goblin head from the floor at him with the intent of pushing him in.
The Result was the grinder stopped and opened giving Noctus a chance to pass the room. Verial was at first a bit angry but she though it once more and after telling him to grab two goblin corpses said to him to follow her. There were two doors once again, in front of Noctus, one going forwards and another to the right.
He chose to go forward once more after crushing some skeletons that were in the room. He had found a mace in the room, but it did little to help in the next room as a cage fell on him trapping him, there was a lever nearby but it was ouside his reach. In the room behind Verial and Terminator laughed at his imprisonment but the worst was It was a dead end. Thus the entire Noctis Team was finished, since they are competitors in the game.
Joto had pulled the gladiator and Minotaur towards the entrance of the gas room and woke them up by slapping them as hard as he could. The two were in a strange position, since they were saved by their competitors but they had no reason to thank them.
Darknym did nothing making Marv a bit nervous, he wanted to go with his twin brother so he went ahead by himself. Through the path of blades he lost almost half of his Hp. Darknym didn't really care and Irma the prophet did absolutely nothing, out of pure curiosity he couldn't hold it and asked her.
"Aren't you nervous that we might lose"
He said with a smirking face
"Why should I, you will win even if we do nothing at all, I have foreseen it happening already"
She said while eating something she had sneaked out of the table in the casino.
"You know I have a friend who said he could see the future but all he could do in the end was went and lost all his money at the casino"
"Well he must not be high level enough yet, you see our skills have only two downfalls, first is the Magic power requirements and second that we cannot foresee divine Intervention and priest spells, I fell for the second"
"Did you foresee his death or something"
"The opposite, he went and died by using a priest spell too powerful for him to handle"
"And what was your fault in that?"
"How could I have known that he was a priest and not a mage, he told me he was about to cast a spell so I foresaw his future and he was alive after a day but he went and used a death spell from his low priest affinity to kill someone and died, In his will he accused me of killing him and since there was no other suspect for his death all the people of the city went after my head, all the gold in the world became useless to me at the time I found myself roaming in the wild, but the worst thing was that I had no defense from wildlife and was only assured i wouldn't die the next day through divinations"
"By the way how old are you, now that I look at you aren't you a little too young"
"Why do you care are you some sort of perverted molester"
she said in an angry voice
"Oh I think now I'm scared, as if I care I'll wait a bit longer for all of them to die and then go die somewhere silently and become a champion, next I'll go and win myself a few magical spells"
Somewhere deeper inside the Labyrinth Verial and Terminator encountered a new sort of trap, the black slimes, at first there was a straggle but as soon as the slimes caught Verial the situation took a strange turn, Terminator wanted to save her but as her clothes begun to melt from the slimes and her erotic moans begun he did little to help her, at least until he was satisfied from the spectacle.
If not for his heavy armor he might too have fallen for the slimes' strange aphrodisiac toxin that bend the mind of its victims until they could do nothing but moan in delight. As he saved her he couldn't tell but she was still a little hazy and under the Influence of the toxin she begun undoing his armor.
He could do nothing about it but enjoy the moment or so he thought because more slimes begun swarming them, the player was logged out of Allastar with a message
- Your avatar is under a special effect and cannot control your own mind -
He was sure he will regret not seeing what happened afterwards for the rest of his life.
Golem and Girdan found them after a lot of try and error but what they found were two lust twisted bodies with nothing of their former selves remaining Intact, and although they would have loved to enter the room, there were already two people Inside the room, and although they did make it to the room after hearing Noctus's explanation they found them, but they knew not of what to do next. Noctus was free now but as he went to where Glurb was supposed to have went he died before even reaching Glurb's corpse by a swarm of ten wild trolls, which he tried to defeat instead of sneaking them by like Glurb.
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Woody had long passed through the gas by teleportation and was now in a different room, while his three teammates were left behind. There was an Empty room and further in there were two doors, in right one he saw Terminator and Verial among the black slimes still moaning of delight, he stayed for a bit to become satisfied by the spectacle and vocal background but he was a bit too foolish underestimating the Labyrinth as a huge blast came from behind him Insta-killing him.
Of the players only one remained and he was Darknym who waited at the starting location.
"I think you can go now"
Said Irma while lying on the floor in a relaxed improper pose, not caring about him being a man at all.
"Well since you put it that way"
He begun walking, he walked his way through all the traps that chipped through his Magic shield.
Next he went across the Lava pond, He saw a Marv sitting on the entrance floor.
He ignored him and then levitated himself across the room. He went forward and saw Woody's team, he asked them to make way, and as lost as they were being Npcs without a leading player. Darknym asked them to let him through and they did without questions, he went even further, forward walking through the sleeping gas, with his godly luck the gas did nothing but raise his constitution, he went forward and saw the empty room, the next empty room with Woody's remains, he didn't even bother to look right as he went forward, There were some green slimes, that tried to take a grip of him but he passed through them going right ahead.
Next was another lava pond, next were the mechanized dummies, goblins and other simple traps, it was strange since all the traps were so simple, even the cage that needed a second person to open he did it by himself by using telekinesis to pull the lever and exiting. He had passed ten rooms until he saw a large Boss monster, when he entered the door closed, he had secured two swords, which he hadn't a need for.
He entered the room and the doors closed behind him. The Boss was a large creature with a chicken head and legs but the rest of the body was that of a lizard, it was called "cockatrice" It was large and he knew a little about the creature, it was a creature that could petrify it's foes, he just went ahead and begun slashing at it's head while it tried to petrify him. The 50% it had to petrify him was nothing in front of his godly luck.
As the monster fell after a long struggle, a gate opened, it was the exit, he went Inside and found himself his team, and the other three teams all alive and well.
They were entirely well even Woody, who was blown to pieces was well. Verial had all her clothes once more and Terminator his armor. They didn't know what had happened but someone must have won the Labyrinth.
The speaker now spoke once more
"Congratulation Darknym, although I truly would have liked you as my champion you have shown me that luck is all you need in this one, nor skills, nor strength no Intelligence just pure luck helped you get through this hard challenge, Now you can take the souls of all the others, since they didn't pass the labyrinth, their souls belong to you, know that taking the souls of an Adventurer deletes his character so chose wisely"
The three players who were logged out at the moment probably had no Idea that Their character was staked on a simple decision of a player.
"I don't want their souls, I what I want Is their Loyalty and Although Players have no loyalty, the ten of you I'm sure have a small tip of it, I want you to travel to Drogan, and Meet me at the Town of Rubrick, You shall become my first Vessels as I create a New kingdom, although small but with your support I'm sure it will be something amazing.
All ten of them knelled before him as a show of loyalty.
"Well its your loss, but know that the player Woody and Verial have lost all their soulstone in the game so you have gained no soulstones at all"
"Well that is something that can be easily fixed, in the next game"
"How come?"
Deerg's voice was a little puzzled.
"Won't you be giving me spells, well the extraction of a soul is done by a spell no?"
A loud laughter was heard
"I didn't know you would ask for forbidden spells but it sure is true forbidden spells are power in this world and I do know every spell in the world, but I am no powerful, there are others far superior to me and if you want to follow that path I can just delete you from now"
"Then how about other death and life spells I'm sure there are countless spells that are powerful but not forbidden yet"
"Well It's not that there aren't such spells but I can't do all the work for you, go into the room, I will teleport all the people here to their respective city as I prepare for the next group"
He looked at the offline clock and he noticed that time had hardly passed It was one of those time slowing zones, The strange thing was how long it would take for the three of the logged out players to enter with such a long time disparity, normally just a minute.
He went into the reward room and and a huge list of spellbooks could be seen, there were more than 1000 basic spells some of which had the forbidden, forgotten and some even otherworldly description. He could bid one soulstone for 100 of the basic skills but he was not content since the advanced spells needed a one soulstone for 10 spells and further the high spells need a one on one bidding, Superior spells were on a ten for one and the Ultimate were at a 100 for one, meaning he could not gain any of those yet.
"Deerg How about changing the rules a bit so that I can also gain the Ultimate spells, I find it a bit unfair that even if I win a hundred times I won't be able to win one of those spells"
"Not a problem for me but how about you just all in for one of those when you want them, he said"
"That will be like cheating, how about I gain three soulstones from the losing Npcs while you gain, all the others, of course we chose alternatively, you taking the lead"
"Well that doesn't sound so bad but you will lose on many of the ultimate spells"
He said with a small smile.
"That's If I lose the first 20 games afterwards it will be play out just fine"
He needed 1 game to gather all the basic spells and another two games to gather the advanced, the rest of the games he would spend on the higher and then step on to the Ultimate spells, the ultimate spells were few so he would need only spend thirty or so games to gain every spell and at the same time will have a few extra soulstones to get the superior and remaining advanced spells.
He was taken to a strange room afterwards where the controls for the games were, they were in the form of dices cards and other gambling devices, it now made perfect sense how he won before. He pitied the players and Npcs who had just entered, because they were doomed.
In the next game there were three Npcs that drew his attention, one was a beautiful ork with red hair, she was a gladiator and seemed rather interesting, he had found in the ultimate spells a resurrection spell, that allowed to give life to the soultrapped creatures once more, it needed some Ingredients but it could resurrect the creatures trapped in the soulstones so getting Interesting creatures would become a great hobby, but more it became an Idea of making a collection.
The other two he chose were a lich, which made Deerg a bit unhappy since he wanted it for himself.
"How about I exchange the lich for two others?"
Darknym said in a scheming way as if he was baiting him to agree.
"I'm In said Deerg"
The reason for the agreement was that the Lich had a better quality of soulpower, so he was worth more to Deerg who used them as a form of battery rather than just chips for his games.
Darknym chose another three humans since all were male merchants and thieves. He pitied the six players who had come, since they didn't know that their luck was up since now he was in control of the games. Six teams were formed and most had only two people while four had three.
The game that came up was Deerg's russian roulette, they were teleported inside a room, only the six players and a pistol was in the middle.
"The gun has six bullets one for each of you, every time you lose you will lose a soulstone or a teammate, until you have none left, at the end of a round a number will appear with the number of bullets that will refill the pistol, the last player must empty the gun by shooting once in the air and once to his head in that order until the gun is empty and two players have three and five soulstones so they have extra lives in the game"
It was a bit hard for Darknym but since he was the one who refilled the bullets with a roll of the dice, he was sure of it being full after every round.
first round
P1. 9 lives
P2. 3 lives
P3. 5 lives
P4. 3 lives
P5. 3 lives
P6. 2 lives
P1 went first and lost a life, emptying one bullet on himself. -1
P5 went next and the same result occured. -1
P1 lost another life -1
P2 also lost a life afterwards -1
P6 was probably as lucky as him, since he hit a dub (no bullet in the canister), losing no lives.
The game had become a bit more challenging, since they both had Godly luck.
P3 with false hopes lost a life -1
Darknym threw a six with the dice and six bullets were added to the six bullets gun. Leaving the players in an uproar.
Second round
P1. 7 lives -2
P2. 2 lives -1
P3. 4 lives -1
P4. 3 lives
P5. 2 lives -1
P6. 2 lives -0 (Godly luck)
The next round's two sure loses were by P2 and P4 who both lost a life.
The other four losers were Players 1 and 2 who lost another 2 lives each
Six bullets entered the gun once more filling it up to seven bullets once more.
Third round
P1. 7 lives -2
P2. 0 lives -3
P3. 4 lives
P4. 3 lives -1
P5. 2 lives
P6. 2 lives (Godly luck)
Player 2 was out of lives so only 5 players had to complete a round of five shots now, meaning that if a six rolls in the end an extra bullet would be added to the mix.
P1 lost 2 lives from the start by firing two times the loaded pistol. -2
Next three lives were lost by the Players 3,4 and 5.
Player six seemed happy since he had a godly luck not knowing that his opponent (Darknym) had the same luck as him.
Another six bullets in the gun and there now are eight bullets in the gun.
Forth round
P1. 5 lives -2
P2. 0 lives
P3. 3 lives -1
P4. 2 lives -1
P5. 1 lives -1
P6. 2 lives (Godly luck)
The first to get to pull the trigger was player six, he looked nervous knowing that there was a bullet in the gun, but when he pulled the trigger the gun jammed. -0
The next three shots were given to players 3,4 and 5
In the last shot player One was lucky and it was a bud somehow. -0
With five bullets remaining and Six more to enter, a total of eleven bullets were in the gun.
Sixth round
P1. 5 lives -0 (Lucky)
P2. 0 lives
P3. 2 lives -1
P4. 1 lives -1
P5. 0 lives -1
P6. 2 lives -0 (Godly luck)
It was the sixth round and four bullets hit four targets three of whom was Player one and the last was given to player 3.
It was a fast game since only four players remained.
the gun was refilled with another six bullets and gaining a total of 13 bullets.
Seventh round
P1. 2 lives -3
P2. 0 lives
P3. 1 lives -1
P4. 1 lives
P5. 0 lives
P6. 2 lives (Godly luck)
four shots two kills as two times it ended on player 6, resulting in a jammed gun or a misfire beforehand.
losing a bullet from the gun in the process. It was a loophole in the rules cause he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger.
Players 3 and 4 were out of the game in this round.
And the total number of bullets was now 16.
Eighth round
P1. 2 lives
P2. 0 lives
P3. 0 lives -1
P4. 0 lives -1
P5. 0 lives
P6. 2 lives 2x-0 (Godly luck)
This round was a fast two shots round where one bullet was misfired and the other took one of P1's lives.
there were now 20 bullets in the pistol and each shot was a kill at least for Player one who was already depressed knowing that his "Best" luck wasn't enough to win the game.
Ninth round
P1. 1 lives -1
P2. 0 lives
P3. 0 lives
P4. 0 lives
P5. 0 lives
P6. 2 lives -0 (Godly luck)
At this round P1 lost his last life and P6's gun jammed, leaving 19 bullets inside the pistol.
but the dice once again was rolled and the bullets were now 25.
Player six now had to shoot all the remaining bullets but he wasn't nervous at all.
He took the gun and fired to the sky, one bullet was out, he fired the next to his head and Bang! he had just lost his first life. He immediately panicked, not understanding what had happened at first. How could his godly luck had failed him, Deerg was laughing at his reaction right into Darknym's ears.
The game went well for the next ten bullets, which were spend on misfires or into the ceiling. of the room,
He next tried fire into the sky but the gun jammed, not firing a bullet, once again he stiffened but it was better than losing a life, he spent another six bullets. Six bullets remained and It was his turn to fire at himself, with only one life remaining and having shot a total of 29 times already, when the gun got jammed he had to shoot an extra time.
The first bullet was misfired and the second went up to the sky.
The third was jammed and up into the sky it went.
fourth misfired and fifth hit the ceiling making small pieces of sand fall on his face.
It was the last bullet and P6 tension and stress was at a breaking point he had a smiling face as he blew his own head off, with the very last bullet that was inside the gun.
"Deerg, I think that guy would make a better champion than me, didn't you see what a wonderful smile he showed you"
Deerg laughed a little and Said,"You know He still is just a candidate, if he gains as much affinity in his next life, he might become a champion of mine"
"That's the point, if you don't give him a chance now, you will probably regret it in the future"
"How so considerate of you but you should know there are at least another 39 people with the same Godly luck coming today, why bother with a loser when one of them could be a winner"
"Well you are right on that"
He wanted to make a deal for sparing him but he chose otherwise, if he knew him he might have made a better attempt but he was a complete stranger and in a gamble sparing a potential opponent is plain madness.
He had gained 4 soulstones and 1249 simple spellbooks, and 285 advanced spellbooks.
The next bunch of Npcs had only one player present, She was given ten minutes to speak and make acquaintances with the ten Npcs.
Deerg selected first and the one he selected was a polymorphed dragon. Darknym went for the elf female. Deerg went for another elf. Darknym went for the last elf male, and later exchanged him for two humans. The last chosen member was a strange ragged man called the "Torturer of souls".
The game was "Deerg's music thrones" a twisted version of the music chairs.
The player and Npcs were teleported to a large circle platform with winded paths towards ten thrones. There were 11 participants so one would lose each round.
"The game is simple, each round you will appear in the center of the platform, there will be one less throne for you, as you see some paths are longer than others, there's a time limit until you reach the chair after the music stops, each round the time will be set from 2-12 minutes at random, the ones who can't reach the throne in time will not lose however, they will play an extra game for one throne of my choice, meaning they have a second chance to stay in the game"
The rules seemed quite merciful, but most of the thrones had long paths that winded and twisted, going up and down. 2 minutes were surely not enough to reach the three last thrones, and 2 minutes they would get since Darknym was the one controlling the dices.
Round 1
11 competitors
The time was two minutes and the music started to play, for a minute or so, suddenly it stopped and all the competitors saw a clock ticking, 5 of the 11 competitors went for the shortest route, while the second and third shortest had at least two or three competitors each.
The time was out and only four participants were seated the woman player was crying at the floor,thinking that she had lost the gamble, but the truth was she wouldn't be deleted cause she had a soulstone, she would only lose the four soulstones she had used as a bet for Items.
The redemption round was set with three paths, 4 on the longest one, 2 on the second longest, and the one on the third which was the shortest.
She was at the shortest path since her luck was Godly but luck could do little in a physical sport like running. There was no time limit, the first to reach the throne won and she was one of the three winners almost by default.
Round 2
7 competitors remaining
The four shortest paths were destroyed and six thrones remained, the dragon was set on reaching the shortest path available, and since he could fly all the others abandoned any Idea of challenging him.
They once more had two minutes and the music started. A group of three went for the second shortest and a group of two for the next one, the player woman just sat down waiting for the two minutes to end, knowing that with her luck she would again pass by default.
Three Npcs passed by sitting on the thrones and the remaining four were now set for the redemption game. The three of them were on the longest path while she was alone on the shortest available, the one the dragon had taken.
Round 3
5 competitors remaining
Two of the six paths fell and the remaining were the long ones, It would be a surprise if anyone could make it to the thrones in two minutes.
The three most likely to succeed was the dragon, a witch and the elven female because she had some sort of haste ability, her profession was probably that of a runner or a messenger.
When the music started they all chose a different path, but only the female elf had two competitors, since the witch just teleported from time to time to a distance it was impossible to compete with her but the elf was running the same path and although she was fast, they could still block her path or just push her aside.
The two finalists were the dragon and the witch. There would have been a third one but the time run out, but the real problem was that the witch had persuaded the male elf to catch her and not let her go until the time limit and then she won she would save him.
The redemption round had only one winner as the two Npcs plainly fell off the path. In an attempt to capture the runner the elf tackled her and they both fell down the endless gap, seeing them fall the female player begun walking the path more carefully and slower than before.
Round 4
3 competitors remaining
Two more paths collapsed leaving only the two longest paths, the clock was set at two minutes and the competitors had chosen their paths.
The dragon and the which had both chosen the same path, the shortest one of the two.
When the music stopped a race between flight and teleportation begun, the witch was a step closer than the dragon to the throne and won the race.
In the redemption round the dragon and the player both reached the thrones having no loser in the fourth round.
Round 5
Still 3 competitors remaining
Time at 2 minutes and the second race between the witch and dragon started and he lost once more to the witch's teleporting ability.
The redemption round went on and once more the three of them remained.
Round 6
Still 3 competitors remaining
The dragon decided to take the longest path available, he even changed to his dragon form to gain a bit of speed.
There was no race against the witch and the dragon but the result was all three of them had lost the round.
The redemption game was between the which and the dragon and once more the dragon lost. Leaving in the finals the witch and the female player.
Round 7
The finals
Only one path remained and two minutes, the player didn't even try to outrun the witch but what made the match special was that in the middle of the path the witch's MP run out and she fell In he endless gap.
They were now competing in the redemption game, a witch without Mp and a player too afraid of falling. For a good ten minutes they were sitting and looking at each other, the witch was ugly and deformed, she looked like one of those classic witches only lacking a pointy hat and a broom.
Darknym just looked at the two competitors already knowing that this game was his loss.
But what he didn't count was that the two women would begin fighting on the circle platform, it was not a fight as per hits and kicks, it was more of a pushing and hair pulling thing, resulting in the witch falling out of the platform, but not before she cast a final curse on the player.
The curse was nothing big, just permanently decreased her luck by 100, making it into a average luck instead of a godly one.
The player went on the path and with her second step slipped, but grabbed the path so she didn't fall, the path was long and many more misfortunes awaited her, sometimes the path crumbled others it became slippery but that was not what caused her to lose, it was the winded path she could not take, it was like one of sonic's courses where the path made a loop. She had to jump a considerable gap, and although it was possible and she had her grip on the path her hand slipped and she fell in the endless gap.
The Reason for all the misfortunes in the end was her average luck vs the godly luck of Darknym.
She was teleported to the casino but her luck would forever have a -100 penalty due to the witch's curse unless she could find a very powerful healer.
well there were many mages who had great healing capabilities, working as healers since curses and poisons were a bit of a problem in the game, but what she probably didn't know was that the specific curse was the "Dying curse" a master skill that was almost impossible to dispel unless she could convince one of the best mages of Allastar or some powerful Npc to lift it. Truth was luck wasn't an essential skill but her gambling days were over, she could either delete the character or spend a fortune for a mage capable to dispel it or spend some years training the mage profession herself until she gained what she wanted.
In the secret room Darknym said to Deerg, more like talking to himself.
"So another win for me, are all your games so non interactive?"
"Well I want to be as fair as possible"
He said while laughing
He had gained another four soulstones and 440 advanced spellbooks with this game but he felt a bit of petty for the ones competing in those games.
The next game had no players at all and the game was the Labyrinth once more and all seemed human.
He chose the only two females of the group, the first of which was a polymorphed female dragon, Deerg wanted to exchange her for two human men but Darknym rejected his offer this time. There was no further bargain because it would be Deerg's loss otherwise, he didn't want to give three soulstones for one, although the quality of that one made up for two. The last one he chose was a werewolf in human form, He was a bit ragged up but Darknym preferred him to the wealthy merchants and knights.
The game was the Labyrinth and the same rules were set, but the game ended right after it begun.
The way to decide the rooms was a drawing deck, and the first card was Gas of Death a level 10 gas trap.
Not even one of the competitors could pass the first room, and even the dragon succumbed to the gas' effect of Instant death.
A fast 3 soulstones and 295 advanced spell as well as 18 higher spells.
"That was fast"
he said with a smile on his face.
"Well that wasn't as Interesting as I though it would be"
"Of course not, it didn't have even one player, they just walked like Idiot into the trap"
"I don't know if any player other than you could have survived that"
Deerg said with a serious voice.
"Well the game must go one, how many gambles are there left?"
"33 games and one less candidate for champion, that coward didn't even dare to enter my casino, well losing his 100,000 affinity, gold clock and ticket will make him think for a second time before refusing"
He looked at the offline time and saw something horrifying, the clock was moving faster until it reached some exact time and the next group appeared.
There were 9 players among them. Making it a 19competitors, made 9 teams of 2-3people.
Darknym selected a female elf and once again refused to exchange with Deerg, the elf was a High elf priestess and she was here because she had stolen some spellbooks, a lot of spellbooks.
The other two were a human beauty who was some sort of noble and a little girl who was a masterthief at her age.
The game was "Deerg's hide and seek" game and the rules were simple.
"You will have ten minutes to hide in a large area, after the time's up every minute a monster will spawn if it finds you and kills you, you lose. If you survive for an 100 minutes, meaning 100 monsters you all win"
The players seeing that they had no weapons were divided in two groups the ones who hid and the ones who didn't. Some of them had soulstones so they didn't care even If they lost.
In the end only three teams decided to hide, consisting of 3 players and 4Npcs.
The monsters were decided by Darknym who drew 5 cards and could only chose one of them, there were only 100cards so he had to decide what to play with great thought and consideration.
The first monster was a goblin troll rider, it was considered a level 200 monster, like a common troll but it had some special abilities like a goblin's Intelligence and throwing small spears from it's backpack.
The 6 players did short work of it although they lost an Npc in the exchange.
The next monster had appeared a short while after but it was an armored turtle. It had little attack power but its defense was more than a match for the 6 players. Before they were even close to defeating it a fire drake appeared, flying high above the ground scorching them with its flames.
It was then that they begun understanding the futility of their actions, even if they win the two monster with their skills they had to win at least 90 of these powerful monsters and although some of their levels were at 300 and even reached as high as 520 they had no weapons, and magic was as useful as the caster's skills.
For their bad luck the only two strong Npc mages were hiding with the other three teams, sometimes healing them from a large distance in their first fight but now they went completely silent.
A player and another Npc died from the drake's attacks and the turtle's beak, they were the weakest of the bunch but it still was a loss for the group who Instantly dispersed to find a hiding spot.
As they were running away another monster appeared, It was a chimera, with three monstrous heads. Two of the heads were that of a lion's and a goat's, while the last being it's tail was that of a snake, it's feline body lounged at the closest player felling him to the ground and biting and poisoning him at the same time.It didn't take long for him to die from the monster's attack and it went for the next running victim. the chimera had killed one player and three Npcs, while the drake did a good job scouting for hidden targets.
Only four players and one Npc survived and hid out of the twelve courageous fighters, while the three hidden teams just waited and hoped they weren't found out.
Leaving a total only 12 out of the starting 19 players alive. while the monsters had begun multiplying, from the three, they became six and then after some time they reached twelve.
One player who was found died a fast death by the united power of five monsters that could easily be considered boss monsters by some.
When the monsters reached twenty a three man team was found and slaughtered. It was like jungle there now, monsters roaming all around them, players and Npcs tried their best to hide but after another ten minutes another player was found out, because his stamina run out, revealing him from hiding, in the middle of a group of monsters. seven participants remained, 4players and 3Npcs. The Monsters were now forty five and rose in number, some players tried to move away from the spawning area but were spotted and killed, leaving only four participants alive, two teams of player and Npc.
At near seventy monsters only one team remained, The latest monsters were plain goblins but they begun sniffing out stragglers with ease, because they moved in a group.
The number didn't even reach eighty before the last team was found.
Well the players didn't play smart so the result was rather predictable.
He had gained another three soulstones and 51 high spells. Now 31 games remained and they all passed at the same pace, he was tired as he had been playing the games for at least three days, it was exhausting but he had secured another 108 soulstones 15 ultimate spells, 35 superior spells most of which probably rare and 853 higher spells of which, he only left those that were not rare, like elemental spells of the four basic elements.
"I don't know if you are or aren't
a champion of greed already but your first seen winning streak at my casino has left me speechless, Just take the rest of the spells as a bonus since you played for three whole days "
Deerg Said with a smile offered to give him the remaining 15 ultimate spells, 297 superior spells and 49 high spells.
"But since I can't just give them to you what about a game of poker"
The strange casino buff activated after Deerg said that.
He had 15 ultimate spells worth 100soulstones each, 297 superior worth 10soulstone each and 49high spells worth one soulstone each.
1500 + 2970 + 49 = 4519 soulstones worth of spells.
He could only hold for one or two spells before his luck became normal so he played only once putting all his own spells in for all of his spells, of course his owned spells were not enough to gain all the spells but the second round gave him every spell Deerg had to offer.
Some even being forbidden but he had already decided he wouldn't use them.
"I think it's time for me to go"
Darknym said satisfied with his second win.
"wait you can't leave just like that how about we play with soulstones?"
"But you know that my Interest is not in the soulstones but power and spells are the only power I can think that you can give me at the moment"
"Then how about some special profession or a skill"
The small golden gnome said with a smile on his face.
"Maybe next time, when I'm a bit better rested"
Darknym said and was sent back to his Inn room, being it his spawn point.
The spellbooks were packed in his chest, all 3602 spellbooks and 159 soulstones.
He called the servants and told them to transport all the books to the study room in turn of requirements, and to leave forbidden spells in the chest of his bedroom.
Now he could rest, although he knew that in the real world only 14 hours had passed he was in a place where his realization of time made him experience three whole 24 hours, mostly due to some of the games being too lengthy.
He logged out and went to sleep, for the next few days he would be in Destros waiting for the Lab to open.