I dressed up in the same attire and walked out of the house. Saki and the cowmen were standing in between the front yard. They too had the same dressing code as me except for Saki's tiny black pants exposing her thighs and knees. Instead of shoes, she wore long boots. She asked me, "Mr Drake, you and I are under the same costume. People may get the wrong idea!"
I corrected her, "You don't need to worry!", and showed her the back of my brown coat. The coat had a symbol representing a black sword between a vertical eye in shades of violet. Saki responded, "I too have that symbol on my court, except for the sword being violet!"
Xona interrupted, "Me too!", while showing her back 'cause she too had a violet sword on her symbol. Grane attempted, "Huh, but mine's purple ?!"
Sim also attempted, "Mine too?!"
I elaborated, "The colour of the sword represents your rank. Blue is the lowest. Above that is dark blue followed by purple, violet and black. Black sword means me, the founder and leader!"
Kendor hopped on my shoulder, "Master is creating a creed with the title 'Dark Adrians'. You people will be the First Batch Adrians!"
I said, "Oh, you came right on time, Kendor. Do the explanation in my stead!"
She followed, "People with blue swords on their symbols are 'Lower Adrians'. Dark blue swords stand for 'Intermediate Adrians' while the purple ones represent 'Higher Adrians'!"
Sim doubted, "What about those violet sword marks?!"
She exclaimed, "Adrian Monarchs!!"
"!!!!", Xona and Saki flinched in shock. Kendor exclaimed one last time, "And last but not least, my master and your supreme official, 'Lord Adrian' who is the lord of all Adrians!"
…
The four members remained speechless. They didn't know what to say. I questioned, "What? Is this all too much for you to take?!"
They nodded in unison. I questioned again, "You are free to quit if you want to regret your choices in the future?!"
Grane and Sim mumbled,
"Boss, I think we should pass up on this!"
"I also think the same!"
But their female comrade exclaimed, "I'll stay by your side!"
"????", both men became puzzled. Xona said, "I've decided to serve Lord Adrian. You two decide whether to serve him or not!"
"...!", they seemed spellbound. Sim then exclaimed, "We journeyed for almost three centuries. No way in hell am I gonna leave you!!", while Grane emphasized, "I don't know what made you follow this deity so much but I'll trust your decision since you're dangerously trustworthy!"
I said, "I don't need people who follow me because of their peers. I'll observe you two for the next two weeks. If I notice any hesitation in your eyes, I'll kick you out of my creed!"
The two men nodded at my warning. I changed the subject, "To the main topic, we go. Today, I'll be doing fiery quests of all difficulties while Saki goes back to the trial pillar!"
Saki gave a firm nod. I continued, "Xona, Grane and Sim. The three of you are no more cowmen. Advertise yourselves as 'The Adrian Troop', got it?!"
All three of them nodded in unison. I declared, "You're dismissed!"
Like that, the four of them walked out of the scene. Kendor asked, "Master, you created a creed but may I know why?!"
I walked towards the edge of the tree branch. A wide view came into our vision. I began, "You know Yeshod, right? He's the founder of this Artificiary!"
She responded, "How would I not know such a vicious entity?!"
I elaborated, "About his lackeys?!"
She exclaimed, "Yeah, he has two faithful servants-!!!", but flinched in between her speech. She thought, 'Yeshod is the founder of this dimension. He has two loyalties. Furthermore, it has three judges namely Lower, Intermediate and High-Off.
Similarly, master founded a creed. He made two loyal subordinates. Formed hierarchy with Lower, Intermediate and Higher Adrians!'
She looked at me in shock. I smiled, "Yes, I formed this creed with the goal to take over this entire sanctuary that octopus-head created!"
…
I stood in front of a red fiery mist which is a low-difficulty dungeon.
{Outside the trial pillar}
Saki stood before the entrance to the pillar where people kept moving forward and backwards.
{On the 10th earth}
The former cowmen, Adrian Troop stood in front of their trial pillar just like Saki.
---step---
Together, all of us took a step forward even when being separated.
…
I walked past the red fiery mist, finding myself on a stone-built corridor in between a river. In front of me was a ruined land full of broken statues and shattered walls. Kendor spoke, "Seems like a wasteland!"
---fwoosh---
A white portal fluctuating with square particles spawned before us. From the other side of it came a short fox under a brown partywear attire. He was floating above us. Kendor looked at him. The tiny fox began swirling around us with a serious look. Kendor glared at him. He attempted, "No need to be wary of me. I'm the intermediary judge overseeing this fiery mist. Just like how a single Lower Judge administrates 10 trials, I administrate the red fiery mists in this bottom-most earth!"
I asked, "Does that mean there would only be four intermediary judges per earth?!"
He replied, "Yes, I oversee the red fiery mists whereas my other three friends oversee fiery mists, each of yellow, blue and violet mists!"
Kendor engaged in mind-communication, 'Master, you read the memories of those former cowmen and three Lower Judges, didn't you?!'
I responded, 'Of course, I'm just playing a newbie role since this crook might become suspicious of me!'
The judge then brought up, "Now that I think about it, yesterday and its previous day, my pals Dahno and Leleng told me that someone intruded their mists from the outside and triggered a 'Fiery Explosion'. They also said it was a young woman named 'Saki Sasaki'. About that woman receiving tutelage from a recently reincarnated LLB!"
I asked, "What's your point?!"
He attempted, "How were you able to sense the things inside those fiery mists?!"
Kendor flinched, 'Oh no, did we invite suspicion!'
I countered, "I don't know. I just gauged the surrounding radiations and sound waves. The sound waves didn't enter the dungeon. But surprisingly, the mists were full of radiation, in and out. Using them, I created a holographic illusion inside my head!!"
He questioned, "How were you able to define the leader from the monsters?!"
I interpreted, "Their surroundings screamed with an explosive amount of radiation compared to others!"
"... Hmm, is it a sixth sense?!", he asked in wonder. I said, "No, it's my perception!"
"...!", the judge gaped at me in shock, "You lost most of your godly powers before entering here, right?!"
I corrected, "Yet, I still have my past knowledge and experience!"
He exclaimed, "I'll take no more!", and backed off to his portal. I then got a notification.
---beep---
| Fiery Quest
Title: Awful Vedans
Synopsis: Aldena, a human world used to be a peaceful place until one day, a witch created an awful-looking creature from the debris of her dead pets, not knowing the creature could multiply after consuming a living flesh equal to its weight. The first person to be eaten was none other than the maker herself.
The aftermath followed the creature spreading all over the world and devouring all beings. They received the name 'Vedans', which meant babies by the locals.
However, due to there being nothing left to eat, the creatures began to die of starvation since cannibalism wasn't possible for them. Now only a hundred of them remain until this day.
Objective: Eliminate all the monsters.
Failure: The creatures' wrath will befall upon the outside earth, making you responsible for the chaos. Upon your fall, you'll be sent to the Hall of the High-Off Judges to be chosen by one of them as a permanent servant. |
__________
Kendor commented, "What a long synopsis?!"
I turned towards my right and gazed above, "Looks like it already began the moment I stepped in!"
I was looking into a creepy entity in the eyes. It had the body of a baby with elf-like ears, blank eyes, white skin and claws on its fingers. It was drooling in saliva. I stated, "So this is what a Vedan looks like. Is it starving?!"
Kendor said, "The Artificiary panel said only a hundred remained while the remaining died of starvation. So they're bound to be crazy under hunger!"
"Waaaahhhh!!!!!!", the Vedan let out a huge cry. It felt similar to that of a crying baby. What's different was its sound being louder. I felt disguised, "It really is an Awful Vedan!"
------whump------
The ruined area which was built with stones began to produce vibrations under my feet. All monsters in the vicinity began coming to us. I remained tranquil. Kendor said, "Leave these pests to me, master!"
I rejected, "No, I want to try something!"
Kendor accepted, "Then excuse my rudeness, master!"
I exclaimed, ""You're excused!""
By then, I was surrounded by the Vedans.
---waaaahh---
Their baby cries irritated my mind. Kendor stayed firm. At once, I raised my left arm, trajecting the index finger towards the sky.
---beep---
| Commencing Breaking Bad |
__________
"!!!!", all the monsters in the surroundings flinched.
---rumble---
The whole vicinity began shaking. The next instant, the field began breaking down. All the rubble charged into the sky due to the force of my ability execution. The Vedans which surrounded us got caught in the impact and were reduced to dust, altogether.
---whoosh---
The field of the dungeon became plain and barren. Except for the breeze, nothing remained.
With a sigh of relief, I stretched my head upwards, "Gasp!!", thereby getting shocked. A big hole was produced in the sky which made the outer space visible.
[When I was in the Artificiary, I tried stargazing but only found a rocky ceiling beyond the image of the sky. This Aldena is a real world. Not something made by the system like the trials in the pillar. No wonder, I didn't find a single system particle inside these objects except for them revolving around the monsters.
How did none of the people I read memories from, know about this?]
---beep---
| Special Note: You cleared the fiery mist. As an achievement for killing the leader of the monsters, you'll receive extra statistics. |
__________
---beep---
| Achievements:
Your statistics have raised -
Strength(+17)
Speed(+2)
IQ(+2)
Mentality(+23)
Adaptability(+4) |
__________
Kendor questioned, "Why can't I see any character abilities?!"
I replied, "I used an existing ability and nothing new!"