(2) Gravedigger Tower
Apophis's party spent the next several hours clearing Gravedigger's Tower floor by floor.
The architecture was gothic, similar to the remnants of the Zetark structures Apophis had already found, but the tower was crumbled, decayed, and filled with bone-chilling air that had caused ice and frost to settle over many surfaces.
In particular, Ceasar found the journey disturbing. He had just fought through this tower when it was in a much more glorious state. To him, it was as though a vengeful god of ice had shattered the tower and then filled it with monstrous abominations.
What exactly had happened to bring such icy death upon this planet? It was nothing like the lore that he'd seen in Horus so far.
But he said none of this. Ceasar preferred to take in as much information as possible and then interpret it later.
Eventually, the party stopped to take a rest in the broken remains of a feasting hall with a high ceiling. It seemed as though a giant had shattered the dining table with a single axe strike, for it was split down the middle. The iced-over remains of almost a hundred bowls and plates lay everywhere.
But there was still a fireplace, and Apophis lit this to provide the party some warmth as they crowded around it.
As they rested, Apophis looked at his available Skill Points.
Apophis was still LvL 8, and he had 10 Skill Points available.
Rather than invest these points in the Talent Tree, he decided to evolve his Book Skill, ~Chaos Flame~, into a new, even more powerful form.
He clicked "upgrade," then inspected the new Skill.
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╟─╼SKILL
║ ╰╼[Name] : ~Demon God Flame (lvl 2)~
║ ╰╼[Esper]
║ ╰╼[Rare]
╟─╼[Summary] : An ember of the flames wielded by the Demon God. Very beautiful, but extremely dangerous.
╟─╼[Effect (1)] : Your flames are much harder to extinguish and manipulate by other beings.
╟─╼[Effect (2)] : 300% more fire damage.
╟─╼[Upgrade Cost] : 50 Skill Points
╚═══════════════╛
He smiled. Well worth the Skill Point cost! Not only did his damage just increase by a huge amount, but it would be much harder for other fire-based Espers—or monsters, for that matter—to turn his own flames against him.
Having upgraded this Skill, Apophis joined the rest of the party in eating a snack and drinking potions to restore his Energy.
***
Meanwhile, outside the Dungeon, the video of Apophis and Ceasar's fight was making the rounds on all the social networks. Seeing their incredible power boosted the motivation of many people who had not reached LvL 5, making them eager to reach this level of power for themselves.
Though many had believed it was impossible for Horus to get any more popular, the game's active player base rose once again. The excitement of this duel made some reluctant MMO players realize the PvP potential of the game, and they joined for the strict purpose of creating PvP builds.
However, even the new PvP-focused players realized the same thing that everyone else had figured out: the fastest way to gain EXP as a low-level player was to kill NPCs.
However, there were no longer many easily accessible areas where players could freely hunt NPCs. Not like there had been in the first hours of the game, at least.
Most big cities were in the hands of player guilds, and these guilds protected NPCs in exchange for heavy taxes. It was really a form of racketeering, of course.
The only location which hadn't been overrun by players, one way or another, was Tyo, the planetary capital of the republic.
Several small guilds tried to attack Tyo's city walls, but were brutally gunned down. Though much of the military had been spread thin trying to deal with players across the nation, there was still a heavy defense presence in Tyo itself. In fact, the city had been built as a military defense post hundreds of years ago, unlike most of Era's modern urban centers.
Once all this information became known, several hundred thousand players organized themselves into a raid and prepared to attack the capital!
On the forums, conversation quickly shifted from the Duel of the Titans to this new raid. Soon, everyone was talking about it.
Because of the huge scale, there was no actual leadership in the raid. It was more of a mob than anything.
In the media, many commentators were discussing this event with fascination. It would surely result in the end of the Republic of Tyo, they all agreed.
The question on everyone's mind was, "Will this impact the game in a positive or negative way?"
Was this event planned by the devs as the natural result of players clashing with the government of the starting nation, or was this a test with severe consequences for players who could not submit peacefully to the rule of law?
Only time would tell.
***
Apophis's party finally ended their break. Apophis had known this whole time that the huge double doors at the end of the dining hall led to the final boss, but of course, he didn't reveal this information.
Instead, he casually asked Ceasar, "You've been through this tower before. We must be getting close to the final boss, right?"
Ceasar glanced at Apophis, frowning. There was something strange in his tone of voice. He… knew something. Had Apophis also been through this Dungeon himself? Perhaps only on the lowest difficulty, right when the Dungeon became available?
If this was true, why was Apophis pretending that he'd never been through it before? Surely that would be something to brag about, not something to hide.
But whatever. Ceasar would play along. "Actually," said Ceasar, "the final boss was behind those huge doors on the previous difficulty. But some details of this Dungeon have been different on the higher difficulty, so the boss might not actually be there."
Apophis nodded. "Well, let's assume the boss is behind those doors. If we're wrong, then we just keep on going. If details are different, though, then I assume the boss will be different than the one you faced. Let's get a basic plan together."
The party prepared themselves as best as they could, assuming the boss would be a fairly standard one with some minions. They prepared for Hulk to draw the boss's aggro while everyone else focused on killing the minions as quickly as possible, then started towards the door.
But just as Apophis touched the ice-cold iron of the door's latch, he was pushed back by a wave of golden energy!
In the swirling mass of energy, a golden, humanoid spirit manifested before them.
Everyone stood there in awe, gawking at her incredible aura of divinity.
Apophis inspected the figure. To his unease, he was not familiar with this being. She was someone new to this second life.
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╟─╼UNKNOWN CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name]: ???
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 250
║ ╰╼[Rank]: S
╚══════════════╛
That tier, and the mysterious way its information was hidden… This was surely a goddess, one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy!
After a few moments, the entity spoke. "Hello, my children. I am the goddess Varda Elentári, one of the protective deities of the universe. The monster you are about to face is an abomination created by a malevolent god.
"I cannot, unfortunately, intervene directly without creating an open conflict with this god. Thus, I charge you to eliminate this creature. Be most careful! This creature bears an aspect of its creator's power, the capacity to corrupt living souls."
System: Quest Notification.
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╟─╼[Secret Quest] Purification of Infamy
║ ╰╼[Recommended Level] 5~10
║ ╰╼[Difficulty] X-
╟─╼[Summary] The goddess Varda Elentári asked you to eliminate the creation of a malevolent god, a monster with the power to corrupt your living soul.
╟─╼[Objective] Eliminate the Dungeon boss on your first attempt and without any party member dying.
╟─╼[Reward] Gain 100,000 GC, 50 Skill Points, and your choice of unique Passive Skill.
╟─╼[Failure Penalty] Lose the ability to gain EXP for 30 days and lose the ability to befriend NPCs of Good Alignment.
╚═══════════════╛
System: Do you accept this quest?
Everyone stared at the goddess in shock.
A quest of difficulty X-?! The potential gains were insane, but could any reward compare to the penalty for failure?
In the end, everyone wanted to give up…
…Except Apophis.