Post by Hayate on Nov 28, 2006 20:38:31 GMT -5
Chapter 4: The Trial of Power
Thursday, May 18, 2017:
It’s been a week since I woke up from the coma. So much happened to me in the little time I’ve played <The World>. Apparently, much has happened to Haseo as well, as more of his memories had begun to enter my mind. Some of a teal-haired Steam Gunner…
‘All done. You two okay?’
…some of a young Shadow Warlock boy…
‘Just shut up and accept my goodwill, okay? Hehehe…’
…and some of an enigmatic Blade Brandier.
‘Just go away. To me…you’re nothing but ugly dolls.’
And with each arriving memory, the headaches grew worse and worse. I’m enduring though. I’ve also begun to grow closer to Yulie. I even joined the guild Sentinel (much to Zetsu’s dismay) so I could be near her most of the time. I know how unusual that sounds, but for some reason, I’ve felt this way ever since I saved her Tri-Edge. It made me realize that I could lose her at any time.
I’ve also leveled up quite a bit. Sure, I wasn’t quite strong enough to be in league with Haseo the PKK, but even in the short time playing, Level 32’s still something.
Once I entered Mac Anu, I wondered what my next action would be. I could’ve gone ahead and leveled up some more. Or maybe I could’ve accepted a quest. “Hmm… What to do… Huh?” At that moment, I received a short mail from Darius, Sentinel’s guild master. Almost immediately, I headed over to Sentinel’s @home, D Protector’s Towering Stronghold.
“…” Darius patiently awaited my arrival on the top floor of the tower. “…You’re late, Akira.” Okay, maybe not that patiently.
“I apologize, Darius.”
“I’ve noticed that you’ve grown exceptionally strong in the time you’ve been with Sentinel, Darius.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“However… Lately, we’ve been receiving more and more reports of distorted data areas. And I fear that it may become too much for us to bear. That’s why I’m beckoning all of Sentinel’s members to become stronger as soon as possible.”
“…”
“Right now, there’s a quest at the Quest Shop called the Trial of Power. Whoever completes this quest is granted a special weapon depending on their class. But, if an Adept Rogue were to complete it, their Job Extension ability would activate.”
“Job Extension?”
Darius sighed in frustration at my ignorance. “You’re an Adept Rogue, Akira. You should already know this.”
“Sorry…”
“Anyway, Job Extension is an Adept Rogue’s ability to utilize more than one type of weapon. When you were selecting your class when you first started this game, you remember choosing more than one weapon, don’t you?”
“Yes. I chose Twin Blade and Steam Gunner.”
“Well, at the beginning, you can only use one weapon type. Your other weapon is sealed and must be unlocked through a quest.”
“You mean if I complete this quest, I’ll unlock my other weapon? Cool!”
“Not so fast!”
“Huh?”
“You’re not yet ready to take on this quest. It’ll be too difficult for you to complete at your current level. That’s why I want you to go to areas and strengthen yourself until you’re at least Level 40. Is that understood?”
“…Yes, sir.” As I exited the tower, a feeling of indecisiveness washed over me. I wanted to complete the quest as soon as possible so I could gain my second weapon. But if I wasn’t strong enough to finish the quest, it wouldn’t matter how anxious I was. I didn’t know what to do…
…I headed over to the Quest Shop. I looked over the documents of the Trial of Power quest. ‘Recommended at: Level 40. Requirement: Complete quest alone.’ So, I wouldn’t be allowed to undertake the quest unless I was by myself. Knowing this made me even more unsure. “I guess I’ll just go to an area then.” I was about to head over to the Chaos Gate…
…when a nearby voice suddenly beckoned my attention. “So, you’re just gonna take the easy way out?”
“Huh?” I turned around to see a strangely-masked man standing against a wall. “Who are you?”
“Hehe… Name’s Antares, shorty. Just call me a…‘talent searcher’.”
“‘Talent searcher’? What do you want with me?”
“You sure you wanna just walk away from this opportunity to get stronger?”
“But I’m not at a high enough level.”
“That’s just the point! You’re going to get stronger in order to get stronger? Doesn’t that sound weird to you?”
“What else can I do?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question…” Upon saying that, Antares logged out.
“…” Maybe he’s right. I can’t back away from this just because I’m not strong enough. My resolve will give me the strength I need! “…Excuse me?”
“Welcome to the Quest Shop! What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to take on the Trial of Power quest!”
“Hmm… Are you certain?”
“100 percent!”
“Well, you have guts – I’ll give you that.” The Shop clerk then picked up the phone beside him and phoned up the person that posted the Trial of Power quest. “Hello? Thank you for your patronage to the Mac Anu Quest Shop. Someone has accepted your quest. Yes… Uh-huh… I understand. Thank you.” After hanging up, the clerk turned back to me. “Here you go. You’ll need this for the quest.”
“What’s this?”
“A chest key. You’ll know what it’s for when you near the end of the quest. You’ll be heading to the level 40 area D Sadistic Devil’s Labyrinth. Good luck!”
I clenched the key tight in my hand and wasted no time heading to the dome. At the Chaos Gate, I inserted the area words and warped to the dungeon.
There, I found myself on a rock face looking over a well-constructed maze. I used the nearby transporter to warp myself to the maze’s starting point. Once I got there, a voice began to speak into my head.
Welcome to the labyrinth. Your task is to reach the end of the maze and unlock the chest you find there. You have exactly 2 hours. Should you fail to reach the finish before 2 hours are up, you will fail the quest and be instantly ejected from the labyrinth. Your 2 hours will begin when the timer on the wall ahead of you reaches zero. Good luck.
The timer on the wall ahead of me read 15 seconds… 14 seconds… I decided to use this time to take some relaxing breaths. 10 seconds. I had 2 hours to complete the quest. I wondered if that would be enough time. I certainly hoped it was. 5 seconds. I took one more relaxing breath. 3… 2… 1… Once the timer hit zero, the wall ahead of me lowered into the ground, signaling my start. I dashed down the first hallway at full speed. At the first fork, I took a left. Upon doing so, I met with my first enemy: a Goblin Soldier. I killed it almost immediately. But still, every second counted, so I got moving as soon as it fell. At the next three forks, I took a right, another right, and a left. In the next hallway, I met another three Goblin Soldiers. One after the other, they fell, clearing a path for me. About five hallways down, I walk into a trap. In a slightly large room, the doors all around me close shut, sealing me inside. The ceiling begins to lower in altitude as if to crush me. “Oh, geez! Now what!?” I tried to calm myself, as the only way to clear this maze was to keep a clear head. “Okay… Think, Akira, think… Hmm?” It was then that I noticed a small crevice underneath the north wall. Peering underneath, I spotted a Goblin General standing on top of a switch – most likely the switch for the falling ceiling. But how would I get him off? It wasn’t even in range for me to use a magic spell. “Let’s see…” By this time, the ceiling was about 5 feet above me and the rate at which it was falling was getting faster. I took another look around the room. That’s when I saw a shimmering object at the southeast corner of the room. I quickly picked it up and realized that it was a rare two-headed Goblin coin. If I remember correctly, Goblins love shiny objects. Back at the north wall, I slide the coin under the crevice. Its shine caught the Goblin’s attention and it approached the coin. This deactivated the switch it was standing on, returning the ceiling to its original position. But I had to kill the Goblin General or else it would go back to standing on the switch. At least now it was within range. “Vak Don!” The General was bombarded with fiery meteors and it died. The wall then rose, clearing a path. “Yes! Time to move on!”
About 30 minutes had gone by now. Ten forks and seven enemies later, I came across a three-way fork and a sign. The sign read: “The left road leads to unimaginable treasure. The right road leads to the exit you seek. The middle road leads to…” The rest of the sign was faded. Treasure? The exit? An unknown path? Which to take? What if the treasure mentioned in the sign was the treasure that was supposed to be at the end of the maze? Did the right road lead to the end of the maze or does it lead to an emergency exit for those who wanted to quit? And what about the middle road? Where could it possibly go to? I didn’t know how much further the maze went in, so I had no time to lose.
…I chose the left path.
After dashing the (really) long hallway, I find a treasure chest. Using the key I obtained at the Quest Shop, I opened it up. Inside I found… “What the? Another key? It looks just like the one I just used.” All of a sudden, the chest I took the key out of vanished, and I was warped to another location.
At this new location, I discovered that was a standing on top of a platform floating high above the maze. “Where am I now?” Behind me, I hear a loud roar. I slowly turned around to meet eyes with a giant crab-like monster. “Oh… I see… I must’ve chosen the wrong path!” Without wasting time, I drew my weapons and clashed with the creature. “YAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
(20 minutes later…)
After a battle that seemed almost endless, the crab fell to its death. Out of breath, I realized that an hour had gone by since I started the quest. In an instant, I was warped back to the three-way fork with the faded sign. “Okay… Gotta think this through…” The right road either led to the maze’s end or an emergency exit. Since I couldn’t know for sure, I took the middle path.
After running a certain distance, I soon noticed that it was getting darker and darker the further I went in. There was no way to tell what was at the end of the tunnel, so instead of running, I started walking. It was risky, but running into a dark chamber without thinking was even riskier. It soon became too dark to see what was in front of me, so I started to walk even slower. Eventually, I stepped onto a platform that glowed bright blue when I stood on it. As I stepped forward, more platforms would glow under my feet. I soon found myself making a path of my own with the glowing platforms. Other than the blue glow, it was still too dark to see, so I did the logical thing: I walked forward in a straight line. Once I got to the other side and the platforms stopped glowing, the chamber lights switched on. Behind me, on the ground where I stepped on the platforms was a bridge. Each platform I stepped on created a piece of that bridge. The voice from the beginning of the maze began to speak to my mind again.
You have cleared the test of darkness. The labyrinth’s dangers will become harder to overcome from this point. If you decide to continue, you will not be able to leave the labyrinth until you complete it or until the remaining 45 minutes are up. This is your last chance to quit. Do you wish to quit this quest?
“…” After coming this far, I’d be a fool to quit. “…No. I’m gonna see this quest through!”
…Very well. Your remaining 45 minutes will begin when the timer ahead of you reaches zero. Good luck.
30 seconds until the wall would go down. This gave me time to replenish my health and energy. Once ready, I waited for the remaining 10 seconds to go by. “Here goes…” 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… The timer hit zero and the wall ahead of me lowered into the ground, signaling my continue. I dashed down the next few hallways at my top speed. Luckily, there weren’t any forks in the road. I eventually came to a giant chamber. Odds are I would face the labyrinth’s final boss here. And I still had 30 minutes to spare. If I took out the boss as quickly as possible, I’d make it to the end of the maze just in time.
…Or so I thought.
Before me, the boss appeared in a burst of digital data: a gigantic bird-like creature that towered over me. <Dragon Vulture>. “Oh, my…” I was at a loss for words. With one swing of its mighty wing, Dragon Vulture slammed me into the labyrinth wall, instantly dropping my HP to zero. It screeched in victory…
…I couldn’t believe my eyes. As I watched what transpired, my controller fell out of my hands. My character had gone down in one attack. I guess Darius was right. There was no way for me to complete this dungeon unless I was at a higher level.
…Just then, something really, really out of the ordinary happened. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but I wasn’t.
My character stood up and glared at Dragon Vulture. His HP was still at zero.
Thursday, May 18, 2017:
It’s been a week since I woke up from the coma. So much happened to me in the little time I’ve played <The World>. Apparently, much has happened to Haseo as well, as more of his memories had begun to enter my mind. Some of a teal-haired Steam Gunner…
‘All done. You two okay?’
…some of a young Shadow Warlock boy…
‘Just shut up and accept my goodwill, okay? Hehehe…’
…and some of an enigmatic Blade Brandier.
‘Just go away. To me…you’re nothing but ugly dolls.’
And with each arriving memory, the headaches grew worse and worse. I’m enduring though. I’ve also begun to grow closer to Yulie. I even joined the guild Sentinel (much to Zetsu’s dismay) so I could be near her most of the time. I know how unusual that sounds, but for some reason, I’ve felt this way ever since I saved her Tri-Edge. It made me realize that I could lose her at any time.
I’ve also leveled up quite a bit. Sure, I wasn’t quite strong enough to be in league with Haseo the PKK, but even in the short time playing, Level 32’s still something.
Once I entered Mac Anu, I wondered what my next action would be. I could’ve gone ahead and leveled up some more. Or maybe I could’ve accepted a quest. “Hmm… What to do… Huh?” At that moment, I received a short mail from Darius, Sentinel’s guild master. Almost immediately, I headed over to Sentinel’s @home, D Protector’s Towering Stronghold.
“…” Darius patiently awaited my arrival on the top floor of the tower. “…You’re late, Akira.” Okay, maybe not that patiently.
“I apologize, Darius.”
“I’ve noticed that you’ve grown exceptionally strong in the time you’ve been with Sentinel, Darius.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“However… Lately, we’ve been receiving more and more reports of distorted data areas. And I fear that it may become too much for us to bear. That’s why I’m beckoning all of Sentinel’s members to become stronger as soon as possible.”
“…”
“Right now, there’s a quest at the Quest Shop called the Trial of Power. Whoever completes this quest is granted a special weapon depending on their class. But, if an Adept Rogue were to complete it, their Job Extension ability would activate.”
“Job Extension?”
Darius sighed in frustration at my ignorance. “You’re an Adept Rogue, Akira. You should already know this.”
“Sorry…”
“Anyway, Job Extension is an Adept Rogue’s ability to utilize more than one type of weapon. When you were selecting your class when you first started this game, you remember choosing more than one weapon, don’t you?”
“Yes. I chose Twin Blade and Steam Gunner.”
“Well, at the beginning, you can only use one weapon type. Your other weapon is sealed and must be unlocked through a quest.”
“You mean if I complete this quest, I’ll unlock my other weapon? Cool!”
“Not so fast!”
“Huh?”
“You’re not yet ready to take on this quest. It’ll be too difficult for you to complete at your current level. That’s why I want you to go to areas and strengthen yourself until you’re at least Level 40. Is that understood?”
“…Yes, sir.” As I exited the tower, a feeling of indecisiveness washed over me. I wanted to complete the quest as soon as possible so I could gain my second weapon. But if I wasn’t strong enough to finish the quest, it wouldn’t matter how anxious I was. I didn’t know what to do…
…I headed over to the Quest Shop. I looked over the documents of the Trial of Power quest. ‘Recommended at: Level 40. Requirement: Complete quest alone.’ So, I wouldn’t be allowed to undertake the quest unless I was by myself. Knowing this made me even more unsure. “I guess I’ll just go to an area then.” I was about to head over to the Chaos Gate…
…when a nearby voice suddenly beckoned my attention. “So, you’re just gonna take the easy way out?”
“Huh?” I turned around to see a strangely-masked man standing against a wall. “Who are you?”
“Hehe… Name’s Antares, shorty. Just call me a…‘talent searcher’.”
“‘Talent searcher’? What do you want with me?”
“You sure you wanna just walk away from this opportunity to get stronger?”
“But I’m not at a high enough level.”
“That’s just the point! You’re going to get stronger in order to get stronger? Doesn’t that sound weird to you?”
“What else can I do?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question…” Upon saying that, Antares logged out.
“…” Maybe he’s right. I can’t back away from this just because I’m not strong enough. My resolve will give me the strength I need! “…Excuse me?”
“Welcome to the Quest Shop! What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to take on the Trial of Power quest!”
“Hmm… Are you certain?”
“100 percent!”
“Well, you have guts – I’ll give you that.” The Shop clerk then picked up the phone beside him and phoned up the person that posted the Trial of Power quest. “Hello? Thank you for your patronage to the Mac Anu Quest Shop. Someone has accepted your quest. Yes… Uh-huh… I understand. Thank you.” After hanging up, the clerk turned back to me. “Here you go. You’ll need this for the quest.”
“What’s this?”
“A chest key. You’ll know what it’s for when you near the end of the quest. You’ll be heading to the level 40 area D Sadistic Devil’s Labyrinth. Good luck!”
I clenched the key tight in my hand and wasted no time heading to the dome. At the Chaos Gate, I inserted the area words and warped to the dungeon.
There, I found myself on a rock face looking over a well-constructed maze. I used the nearby transporter to warp myself to the maze’s starting point. Once I got there, a voice began to speak into my head.
Welcome to the labyrinth. Your task is to reach the end of the maze and unlock the chest you find there. You have exactly 2 hours. Should you fail to reach the finish before 2 hours are up, you will fail the quest and be instantly ejected from the labyrinth. Your 2 hours will begin when the timer on the wall ahead of you reaches zero. Good luck.
The timer on the wall ahead of me read 15 seconds… 14 seconds… I decided to use this time to take some relaxing breaths. 10 seconds. I had 2 hours to complete the quest. I wondered if that would be enough time. I certainly hoped it was. 5 seconds. I took one more relaxing breath. 3… 2… 1… Once the timer hit zero, the wall ahead of me lowered into the ground, signaling my start. I dashed down the first hallway at full speed. At the first fork, I took a left. Upon doing so, I met with my first enemy: a Goblin Soldier. I killed it almost immediately. But still, every second counted, so I got moving as soon as it fell. At the next three forks, I took a right, another right, and a left. In the next hallway, I met another three Goblin Soldiers. One after the other, they fell, clearing a path for me. About five hallways down, I walk into a trap. In a slightly large room, the doors all around me close shut, sealing me inside. The ceiling begins to lower in altitude as if to crush me. “Oh, geez! Now what!?” I tried to calm myself, as the only way to clear this maze was to keep a clear head. “Okay… Think, Akira, think… Hmm?” It was then that I noticed a small crevice underneath the north wall. Peering underneath, I spotted a Goblin General standing on top of a switch – most likely the switch for the falling ceiling. But how would I get him off? It wasn’t even in range for me to use a magic spell. “Let’s see…” By this time, the ceiling was about 5 feet above me and the rate at which it was falling was getting faster. I took another look around the room. That’s when I saw a shimmering object at the southeast corner of the room. I quickly picked it up and realized that it was a rare two-headed Goblin coin. If I remember correctly, Goblins love shiny objects. Back at the north wall, I slide the coin under the crevice. Its shine caught the Goblin’s attention and it approached the coin. This deactivated the switch it was standing on, returning the ceiling to its original position. But I had to kill the Goblin General or else it would go back to standing on the switch. At least now it was within range. “Vak Don!” The General was bombarded with fiery meteors and it died. The wall then rose, clearing a path. “Yes! Time to move on!”
About 30 minutes had gone by now. Ten forks and seven enemies later, I came across a three-way fork and a sign. The sign read: “The left road leads to unimaginable treasure. The right road leads to the exit you seek. The middle road leads to…” The rest of the sign was faded. Treasure? The exit? An unknown path? Which to take? What if the treasure mentioned in the sign was the treasure that was supposed to be at the end of the maze? Did the right road lead to the end of the maze or does it lead to an emergency exit for those who wanted to quit? And what about the middle road? Where could it possibly go to? I didn’t know how much further the maze went in, so I had no time to lose.
…I chose the left path.
After dashing the (really) long hallway, I find a treasure chest. Using the key I obtained at the Quest Shop, I opened it up. Inside I found… “What the? Another key? It looks just like the one I just used.” All of a sudden, the chest I took the key out of vanished, and I was warped to another location.
At this new location, I discovered that was a standing on top of a platform floating high above the maze. “Where am I now?” Behind me, I hear a loud roar. I slowly turned around to meet eyes with a giant crab-like monster. “Oh… I see… I must’ve chosen the wrong path!” Without wasting time, I drew my weapons and clashed with the creature. “YAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
(20 minutes later…)
After a battle that seemed almost endless, the crab fell to its death. Out of breath, I realized that an hour had gone by since I started the quest. In an instant, I was warped back to the three-way fork with the faded sign. “Okay… Gotta think this through…” The right road either led to the maze’s end or an emergency exit. Since I couldn’t know for sure, I took the middle path.
After running a certain distance, I soon noticed that it was getting darker and darker the further I went in. There was no way to tell what was at the end of the tunnel, so instead of running, I started walking. It was risky, but running into a dark chamber without thinking was even riskier. It soon became too dark to see what was in front of me, so I started to walk even slower. Eventually, I stepped onto a platform that glowed bright blue when I stood on it. As I stepped forward, more platforms would glow under my feet. I soon found myself making a path of my own with the glowing platforms. Other than the blue glow, it was still too dark to see, so I did the logical thing: I walked forward in a straight line. Once I got to the other side and the platforms stopped glowing, the chamber lights switched on. Behind me, on the ground where I stepped on the platforms was a bridge. Each platform I stepped on created a piece of that bridge. The voice from the beginning of the maze began to speak to my mind again.
You have cleared the test of darkness. The labyrinth’s dangers will become harder to overcome from this point. If you decide to continue, you will not be able to leave the labyrinth until you complete it or until the remaining 45 minutes are up. This is your last chance to quit. Do you wish to quit this quest?
“…” After coming this far, I’d be a fool to quit. “…No. I’m gonna see this quest through!”
…Very well. Your remaining 45 minutes will begin when the timer ahead of you reaches zero. Good luck.
30 seconds until the wall would go down. This gave me time to replenish my health and energy. Once ready, I waited for the remaining 10 seconds to go by. “Here goes…” 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… The timer hit zero and the wall ahead of me lowered into the ground, signaling my continue. I dashed down the next few hallways at my top speed. Luckily, there weren’t any forks in the road. I eventually came to a giant chamber. Odds are I would face the labyrinth’s final boss here. And I still had 30 minutes to spare. If I took out the boss as quickly as possible, I’d make it to the end of the maze just in time.
…Or so I thought.
Before me, the boss appeared in a burst of digital data: a gigantic bird-like creature that towered over me. <Dragon Vulture>. “Oh, my…” I was at a loss for words. With one swing of its mighty wing, Dragon Vulture slammed me into the labyrinth wall, instantly dropping my HP to zero. It screeched in victory…
…I couldn’t believe my eyes. As I watched what transpired, my controller fell out of my hands. My character had gone down in one attack. I guess Darius was right. There was no way for me to complete this dungeon unless I was at a higher level.
…Just then, something really, really out of the ordinary happened. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but I wasn’t.
My character stood up and glared at Dragon Vulture. His HP was still at zero.
