4 Chapter 3: A New Beginning (part 3)
Great, it's the wonder twins. There has always been bad blood between us ever since middle school, but back in kindergarten and elementary it wasn't like that. Back in the day, we were known as the big three, we were the ones helping everyone in our class, but after graduating Elementary and entered middle school we've been rather distant, they began to climb so high up, they began competing in national tournaments and climbing high in the social ladder. I tried approaching them once or twice as a childhood friend, but they gave me a cold shoulder,
When I tried approaching just to say hi, Chieko, instead of saying hello, says with a disgusted face "shut up and don't get near me."
While Yuki instead of saying hi, says with an annoyed face "excuse me, but do I know you?"
Now back to the present, shall we?
***
Midori took a step forward and said.
"As Akamine-san said before, I'm part of his party. So I won't betray my friend's trust."
"But, aren't I also your friend..."
Chieko's eyes began tearing up while saying that. This caused Midori to step back a bit, Midori glanced at me and Zei. Zei smirked and said.
"Well, the party system never said any limit as to how many members are needed to create a party, it was only the guide who said that there is. So I guess that you can go Midori."
I nodded in agreement with Zei. This'll be less efficient for us, but it'll avoid further trouble with Chieko and Yuki's party in the future. The only reason they want her is because of her skill that can control many people at once. I guess there's already a power struggle happening within them.
Midori looked dumbfounded, but quickly recognized the reason as to why Zei said that. She then said while reaching out her hand.
"It's been an honor, to fight by your side Akamine-san."
"Likewise, Midori."
I shook hands with her and bid her farewell. Before they went away, Chieko and Yuki looked at me and Yuki said.
"Better catch up, we already did 2 main <quests>, and are doing the third main <quest>."
Yuki said that with a smirk, and started walking away again.
"Goodbye for now Rai-kun." Chieko winked at me before leaving, she's probably the only one who changed their attitude towards me during the years.
"Do you think the two of them will survive, Yuki-kun?"
"Yes, because we can't see their status, meaning that they're stronger than us," Yuki said with an irritated tone.
"I wonder if they'll be the ones to find the hidden main quest first or us hihihi." Chieko said that while giggling.
After they left, it's now 12 o'clock. Well that's what my watch says anyway since we're near a restaurant we decided to dine for a while.
"So, how do you plan to compete against them?"
Zei asked while waiting for the order.
"Well, all we need to do is get the hidden main <quest> that's all there's to it."
As I said that the waitress served us our order. She gave us a huge T bone steak with rice, each served with buttered vegetables as side dishes. As I cut into the steak it felt like a hot knife going cutting butter. Zei didn't hold back and began eating her steak. As I put a piece of steak into my mouth, it melted and I couldn't hold back and began eating faster. Zei is now patting her mouth with a napkin.
"So, how do we find this "hidden" main <quest> you speak of?"
Zei asked with a sarcastic tone.
"In games, There are 3 ways, the first one is to do side <quests> then that side quest will lead you to another quest, which will start the linked quest, they give you good rewards but sometimes they'll give you hidden <quests>. The second way is to listen to the people talk in the street, listen to rumors then there might be a sudden pop up to a hidden <quest>. The third one is to wait till my [Foresight] skill activates, then I might get some information out of it."
I said that with a grin on my face
"Okay, how do you activate your [Foresigt]?"
"I activate it when I sleep, but I only get some information out of it, like what happened a while ago in the guild building."
"So, how do you plan to compete against them?"
Zei asked while waiting for the order.
"Well, all we need to do is get the hidden main quest that's all there's to it."
As I said that the waitress served us our order, she gave us a huge T bone steak underneath it with rice, each served with buttered vegetables as side dishes. As I cut into the steak it felt just like cutting butter, Zei didn't hold back and began eating her steak. As I put a piece of steak into my mouth it melted and I couldn't hold back and began eating faster. Zei is now patting her mouth with a napkin.
"So how do we find this hidden main quest you speak of?"
Zei asked with a sarcastic tone.
"in games, There are 3 ways, the first one is to do side quests then that side quest will lead you to another quest which will start the linked quest, they give you good rewards but sometimes they'll give you hidden quests, the second one listen to people talk in the street listen to rumors then there might be a sudden pop up to a hidden quest, the third one wait till my premonition skill activates then I might get some information out of it."
I said that with a grin on my face
"Okay, how do you activate your premonition?"
"I activate it when I sleep but I only get some information out of it."
"So, the only choice we have is to socialize?"
I nodded, then went up to the counter to pay. After that, we left the building then I saw an old beggar on the streets. I went up to him and gave him 5 gold. I got 500 gold in my inventory as a starter, anyways. But then he spoke.
"Thank you, There are ancient dwarven ruins, deep inside the dragon's cave."
I looked back and the old man was gone. Zei looked at me surprised because she got a message.
***
[Hidden main quest: Liberate the Dwarves.]
Description: go to the dragon's cave and lay rest to the souls of the ancient dwarven ruins, and liberate them from the dragon's wrath.
Difficulty: S~SS
Time: 6 days
Reward: 50 to all stats, 1 S Rank item, and 100,000 gold pieces.
Failure: death to all Heroes who participate in the quest. And the dragon will raid multiple villages and kingdoms.
***
Zei looked at me furiously.
"What did you even do to get this quest?!."
She asked furiously
"I got it when I gave the old man some gold, that's it."
I said while covering my face I thought she was gonna hit me but she didn't, she still looks very irritated but, she just sighed instead.
"So, when are we gonna depart Rai-san?"
"We depart tomorrow, first let's go back to the guild, second we need to learn where the dragon lives and also the information regarding the dragon, what type it is, and what element its breath shoots out."
Zei nodded and then led the way to the guild cause I have a horrible sense of direction. When we arrived, there was no one there, the Guild master greeted us first then proceeded to pull us into her room.
"Were you the ones who found out about the hidden main <quest>?"
She was glaring at us, I could tell from the aura around her that if I dare lie I would kiss my life goodbye.
"Yes... it was me to be specific."
She glared at me and then spoke.
"When you've gained the hidden main <quest>, it'll also send a message to everyone, that someone has obtained it and now they're all evacuating everyone."
I bowed my head and said "Sorry! guild master! but I didn't know that a homeless beggar would give me such a quest."
"Homeless beggar??" Zei and the guild master said at the same time that the guild master said "there never have been any beggars in this village before."
"Hey, Rai-san I never saw any old man much less a beggar."
I was surprised as to what she said.
"Huh, but I did see him, I'm being honest that's why I got the hidden quest."
"I'll investigate that later but do you have any plans o [Judge of Light and Darkness.]"
The two of them looked at me and then messages began popping up.
[A <god>is watching over you!]
[A large number of <gods> has taken interest in you!]
[The skill 'Hyper Decision Making' Lvl 3 has activated]
Wait, the <gods> have taken interest in me, hmm, well I guess people do have <gods> that support them in their status, but when will they or we choose on who'll support us. Anyways, I was thinking of a plan B but nothing came up. Well, I do have a plan, not sure it'll work though, I looked at my inventory, then I found the item that might grant us absolute victory.
I began explaining to the two of them my plan, and Zei stood up and rejected it. "No! it's too risky, and you might die."
"That's why I said 'might' work, not 'will' work, but do you have any other plans?"
"No.." She sat down on a vacant chair, she doesn't show much emotion, but you could clearly tell that her voice carried a sense of melancholy.
To my surprise, the guild master agrees to my crazy plan.
After the meeting, it was nighttime, the guild master gave us a map, she looked at me with a worried expression, before saying goodnight. When we reached our rooms I said with a deep sigh. "looks like Midori changed rooms as well."
"I guess so, what do you think they will do when they find out about the <quest> being found?"
"They'll probably not bother with it, they know that the quest will be nigh-impossible to complete as we are now, or they're making bets about our survival."
"Guess your right, Rai-san."
I forgot we share a room, but it's a good thing that there are extra beds.
I laid down on the bed. It was surprisingly soft for this time period. When I closed my eyes reality began distorting, then I saw the text.
***
[The skill [Foresight] lvl 1 has been activated and all requirements have been met]
I saw myself bloodied against the wall and Zei fighting against a crimson dragon.
***
The next day.
The guild master waved goodbye to us and Zei began chanting. A magic circle formed underneath our feet and then teleported us to the base of the mountain where the dragon's nest lies.
"Are you ready, Zei?"
I looked at Zei still preparing her spells and buffing the both of us for the past 5 minutes since we've arrived, well her staff does grant her 50%- mana consumption and 100% mana regen. She then looked at me with a motivated face "Now I'm ready, let's go fight that overgrown flying lizard, how about you Rai-san?"
"I'm ready as I'll ever be."
The both of us entered the cave. The inside was huge enough to be the stage to fight the dragon. As we walk deeper into the cave, we heard a roar coming from the inside of the cave, we went in deeper, then we saw a dragon whose scales are like molten lava.
***
Name: Igneous
Age: 2020
Level: 567
Traits: Great Destroyer, Great Disaster
Supporting god(s):
Stats: (Str): 4500 (Agl): 3389 (Vit): 4568 (Int): 400 (Magic power): 4000
Skills: Poison resistance (lvl 20) Fire resistance (lvl 25) Body strengthening (lvl 23) Fire breath (lvl 30) Sharp senses (lvl 30)
Trait Skills: Natural born Disaster (lvl 15)
***
It was now directly looking at me. It began raising its body then said [Who dares awaken me the mighty dragon Igneous!]
As it said that the whole mountain began shaking from the dragon's rage, we're terrified by it, it's presence alone made me rethink my plan, I also began having flashbacks.
[The skill 'Calm Mind' lvl5 has activated!]
"I'm the one who woke you up mighty igneo-." I was cut off as its tail grabbed me by the leg and threw me against the wall near a huge door. Damn, that's why I was against the wall bloodied in my in the future I saw, anyways, Zei should buy me some time to recover.
[The skill 'Regeneration' lvl 4 has activated!]
[A mere low-level creature, such as yourself, thinks you have the rights to talk to me before I allowed you to speak?!] It roared towards the ceiling then huge flames erupted from its mouth, Zei then released all of her mana and magic that she had been storing, then lots of magic circles began emerging inside the cave, then the fight between Zei and the crimson dragon Igneous began.
Since Igneous is a fire-type dragon, Zei used a lot of ice magic, a hale of huge ice blocks the size of a story-high building began flying towards the crimson dragon. it roared as it was annoyed by being bombarded by an endless barrage of attacks, it simply roared and it melts through all of the attacks.
I'm on the sidelines watching this legendary battle, while still recovering from that last attack. I thought of using that skill. I took out the weighing scale and stood up. While I was holding [The Judge's Weighing Scale] a huge amount of pressure began emitting from it, this caused the dragon to look at me and burst out in laughter. [A <Judge of Light and Darkness>? What does a puny <Judge> like you can do to m-.] it stopped talking as it saw the huge door opened.
[All requirements have been met. activation of skill 'Judgement of Light and Darkness']
Suddenly lots of souls emerged from the door. They were transparent and had thick beards. All of them are short too, it was the dwarves that were slain by the crimson dragon totaling over 200,000 of them. Igneous tried attacking the souls with a fire breath but it was too late. [skill 'Judgement of Light and Darkness' has nullified the attacks of the accused.]
My voice boomed through the cave as I spoke [Crimson dragon Igneous, you have been accused by more than 200,000 dwarves for murdering their clan! I shall now judge you!]
The justice scale that I hold erupted with Light and Darkness on each side, I can see it the light represents sins that the dwarves have committed against the dragon, but it's not only the dwarves I can also see tall humanoid creatures with long pointy ears, the elves, but there were also humans, while the darkness represents the dragon's sin to the ones it has wronged. The scale tipped towards the darker side while that's happening I'm seeing all the things that the dragon had done. I spoke
The number of souls increased from 200,000 to 1,000,000.
[You have been deemed guilty for the crimes you have committed!]
[Hahahaha, I'm guilty but I've never regretted what I've done because I'm a dragon, a being who stands above all, even the <gods> holds no power against us dragons.]
The dragon bursts out in laughter as it mocked the 'gods' I saw two messages appear.
[The <gods> want you to pass judgment onto 'Igneous'.]
[The <souls> await your judgment.]
I glared at the crimson dragon and said.
[Crimson dragon Igneous I sentence you 'death' by the hands of the ones you killed.]
Suddenly the spirits of the dwarves, elves, and humans began grasping on the dragon. A huge hole appeared below, behind the dragon are the hands of the spirits they began dragging the dragon towards the huge hole. The dragon attacked the spirits but it's not doing anything. It tried to attack me with a fire breath but it got nullified by the skill.
I looked at it with pity as it was slowly entering the hole. I then looked at Zei who paused in time, it looked like only I and the dragon were the ones who could move while the judgment was happening or she maybe she can move but she was terrified of what was happening.
[Curse you human! I will rise from the deepest pits of 'hell' and kill you and all the people you love someday!]
It then disappeared together with the hole and time resumed again. Zei snapped back into reality, she looked around and saw me limping towards her. I smiled and said, "Hey, my plan worked."
"*sigh* that was just luck and what the hell happened?"
I explained to her how the skill worked and she looked dumbfounded.
"Jesus Christ, that skill is to OP."
"It's not that OP because it needs a lot of requirements to activate it."
I shrugged and suddenly a lot of messages appeared.
[You have cleared the 'hidden' main quest. Rewards will be distributed.]
[please choose an S rank Item.]
I chose armor.
[Draconic Breastplate] (rank:S.)
Resistant to fire and electric attacks grants the user additional 5 stats to all.
[More <gods> has taken interest in you.]
[You and your party member(s) have slain the dragon 'Igneous' people will now recognize your party as <Dragon Slayers>.]
***
Back in the village, the guild master so as the guild members received a message that the dragon Igneous has been killed, it also reached the class president's party it made Chieko smile while Yuki seemed a bit grumpy, and Midori looked at the sky worried about Rai and Chieko said. "don't worry about him, you have been with him before right, you know what he's like when pushed to do impossible tasks."
"I know Chieko, he's the one who'll make the impossible, possible." Midori looked at Chieko with a smile and said "that's why we should do our best too." She looked at a village full of orcs and high orcs that they were about to face.
***
Now Zei checked her stats and noticed something her level didn't go up, whatever. She glared at me and jumped on me proceeding to choke me. "Hey, why didn't I level up!"
I tapped her arm so that she would let go and said "I *huff* didn't *huff* level up also, it's because when you use that skill to kill a target you and your party members don't gain the Exp."
I placed Zei down and she looked really mad.
"..."
She was silently staring at me and I could feel a strong killing intent coming from her, she pouted and started punching me softly, then she placed her head onto my chest and said softly "you idiot don't do that again, what if you or I die/"
"Huh, is something the matter Zei?"
She quickly composed herself and shrugged it off then began walking back towards the village.
"Hey, what did you say?"
"..."
"Tell me, I don't want to be kept in the dark, you know."
"You'll have to figure that out on your own."
"Hey! Also, why don't you teleport us to the village."
"Takes too much mana, and because of our stars we won't get tired, well that's in your case."
While walking, we encountered some goblins but they just ran away. It seems like their instinct kicked in telling them those guys are people we shouldn't mess with.
Then we arrived back at the village, greeted by the guild master.
"Well done, <Judge>, <Sage> now come with me I'll treat you guys to some food."
She winked at us and led the way to her house.
***
Somewhere far away. [It looks like a new <Judge> has been born.] a man sitting on a throne, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a crown.
[So are you gonna join the choosing of the <gods> as support then your majesty.]
[He is interesting, but there is someone I'm more interested in.] the man looked at the screen revealing Midori. [Have you heard from the other <gods>.]
[No your Majesty, but I do know that they won't sit idly by and do nothing, while there's a <Judge of Light and Darkness> and an <Ancient Sage of Destruction> running around.]
[You are quite right, but all we could do is to wait until the <tutorial> is over.]
[Yes your majesty.]
Laughter emerged from both of them.
