Chapter 14: Hell Difficulty
The sun was at its peak. A man was leaning on a tree breathing heavily but, you could see that the smile in his eyes and lips were radiant as the sun.
He was exhausted to he honest but he also felt full of energy. The day was just beginning for him. He exhaled a mouthful of breath and stood up. He dusted off his worn clothes and took a step forward exiting the shade of the tree.
The man reek of sweat and dirt yet he looked clean. The overall aura he emitted was full of vigor.
"Are you done?"
A man, with pale turquoise hair, appeared eating an apple. He was casually sitting on a branch of tree looking at the man before him. He looked at the youthful appearance of his student.
'Yes, it had been an eventful year.' The man thought to himself. He would have never imagined that they travelled together for a year searching for a place with the right environment for his 'training'.
The man jumped and approached the young man. "I already taught you about the way of the sword. Now, you have to find your own."
He clapped the young man on his shoulder and pinched it. There was no height difference between them but you could tell that the young man was only starting his story.
"Let the world know that you are here. Stand before them and show them how its done."
The man was seriously gazing at his student. After a moment of silence, they both laugh. The master and student pair were perhaps became close after a year.
The young man clasped his master's right hand and squeezed it. "The man standing before you was all thanks to you. I won't let you down. This, I promise you."
The man nod and squeezed the hand back. The gesture was truly heart wrenching but all things must have an ending. They both know that the time was nil.
"For the last time, I want you to prove that the past year wasn't in vain."
[Hidden Quest: Hanz's Farewell Quest]
The past year was full of hardship and trial. For the last time, prove that you will now close the chapter of today and open a new chapter of tomorrow.
Mission: Clear 'Hell' Difficulty Tower of Wish
Reward: Farewell Gift, ???
Failure: Hanz Affection-100
Liam looked at his teacher/master for the last time and nodded. "I'll show you the things I have learned for the past year."
The wind blew, the leaves rustle, the man before him vanished into thin air. He could not betray his trust. Liam walked into the very direction of his quest.
He was near the dungeon from the start. He already cleared the normal and elite difficulty with random party. He already knew what he would face so he was confident that he would clear it.
Liam saw the bustling of players going in and out of the tower. The tower of Wish was one of those low level dungeon. You could enter the dungeon thrice even if you succeed or failed.
There were 4 bosses inside the tower. The 'Shadow of Azalea' the priestess, 'Wilfred' the helper, 'Dorian' the guardian, and lastly 'Tristan' the keeper of wish. The tower had a tragic story, it fell from grace it once had.
Azalea, as the priestess, was the first to fall due to her greed. She killed those she once loved and kept their soul within the tower. The Order faction tried to detain Azalea but she escaped.
Fortunately, the escape wasn't fully successful. The shadow of Azalea was left inside the tower waiting for her owner. It was a trap made by the Order faction. Now, 100 years have passed and the tower was once lit.
Every humans have their own greed. The tower of wish again, gave unlimited treasure. It was a mystery on how it operated on its own. Now they have to face these 4 bosses to reach the peak of tower where the stone resides.
Liam stood outside of the tower and waited for players who were crazy enough to try the Hell difficulty. Liam openly observed people who might be interested on forming a team with him.
Normal players wouldn't waste their entry on Hell difficulty but sometimes there were crazy people who do. Liam stopped his gaze on a team which were silent. There were exactly 9 people.
He walked towards them and saw that some people were currently discussing their predicament.
"We have been waiting for an hour now. Is there no other people who wanted to go with us?" A guy with a spiky dandelion blonde hair.
"Of course, who would in their right mind try Hell difficulty? Only us!" a phoenix eyed man with medium black hair answered.
Others were only looking at them arguing and a mocking smile in their lips.
"Excuse me, are you also going to try Hell Difficulty?" Liam broke the silence that pervaded after their small argument
The dandelion blonde haired youth looked at Liam and scrutinized his outfit. 'He looked like a noob and crazy' was his thought but still answered a "Yes."
"May I join you? I was also looking for companions who would like to try Hell difficulty."
The youth looked at his 'teammate' and saw that they also have the same impression of Liam. But, luckily or unluckily, they were short of 1 more.
Before the dandelion blonde hair youth could answer, the team leader, who was quiet on the whole argument of his team, spoke.
"Honestly, we only needed someone to make up for the number. So welcome to the team. Let me add you, what's your name?"
"Thank you, I am Liam."
The others nodded and the team leader introduced their teammate one by one after he added Liam to their party.
"My name is Black Hope, priest, the blonde with a blabbermouth was Velkner, a warrior, his sister Misha, a dancer. The one he was arguing was Ye Han, a ninja. The robed man was Rain, ranger, the one with a white hat was Zigz, a gambler. The peach colored hair was Xavier, a dragon knight, the other girl is Olivia, a mage, and lastly the one with a patch was Leonel, a warrior. What's your class?"
"I am also a warrior. I see. Then let's start. You only have to look out for yourself. As you have heard, there are 2 hidden class, and 1 unique class. So we will surely clear this dungeon. You made the right choice to come with us."
Ye Han snickered but didn't retort Black Hope's words. They didn't need to talk too much. They only have to show it through their action.
"Let's go!"
Liam looked at the huge tower. There was only one path, that was to succeed and move on.
After Liam and his party entered the tower, there were 3 people who appeared on the space they occupied. Hanz was one of them. There were three other people and they were women.
"The torch, we, once held was finally passed on. The things that we didn't accomplish I hope that they could." the woman with a long white hair said.
"Yes, I only hope that they would also walk the step that we once walked and never drift on the wrong path." the woman with a shoulder length orange hair said.
"We did what we have to. We could only hope that they would use those lessons for the better." the woman with a hazel brown hair and wizard hat said.
"We could only help them take their first step. We, the old generation, could only guide them but couldn't decide for them. The right or wrong should only depend on them."
"Yes." the women said at the same time. Once again, they vanished into thin air. The phenomenon was questionable but impossible things were made possible.
Yes, only the players themselves would decide if the path they chose was wrong or right.