Maria was on her way home from the market. Night had already fallen over the quiet kingdom of Wrerian, white stars shined brightly illuminating the night sky. She was running late, as there were some last-minute adventurers that had prevented her from closing the shop on time. She was now rushing home, her area of town had been having trouble with bandits and monsters recently and she was not in the mood to put up with that right now. She walked down another side road trying to stay off the main street. A small cat walked up to her and she bent down scratching its head a little before continuing to walk, the cat followed her at a distance, still a little cautious, but definitely wanting more scratches. She pulled some food from the basket she was carrying full of things from her shop. "Here you are little guy," she said smiling and handing the small animal a piece of jerky. The cat purred before grabbing the tender piece of meat and prowling away. Maria stood up getting ready to continue her walk when she felt a rumbling. Suddenly, there was an immense amount of pressure all around her which made her feel like she was getting crushed from all sides. She was forced to the ground as the pressure grew stronger, above her there was a bright flash of light as if the sun had suddenly appeared in the sky. She strained her neck heavily until she was able to move her head. She glanced in the direction of the castle, a red light seeming to shout out from all the windows. "What the hell?" She asked herself before slowly rising to her knees. What was going on, she had never experienced something like this before. Then suddenly there was an explosion. *Boom!* A massive shock-wave rattled the entire city, she could hear windows breaking and people screaming as the city began to wake up.
She cast a glance back at the castle which now had smoke rising from it, the red glow getting brighter and a dark, sinister feeling washed over her. She began to panic now, was the Kingdom under attack, what about her family, her friends? Were they going to be okay, then it happened. Another explosion rang out, a much larger explosion, with the castle at its epicenter. One second, the 8 towering structures were stretching high into the sky, the next, it was gone. In its place was a giant crater and, flying above that crater were two winged figures, both of them with bright auras. As the two fighters' swords connected with one another, a shockwave vibrated through the city, buildings began crumbling around her and her thoughts went back to her family who were at home sleeping. They might be in danger. She began to stand before their swords struck once again, another wave of energy caused the building next to her to fall. She felt a searing pain in her stomach as she fell, the structure landing on top of her. She looked down, a piece of wood was sticking out of her stomach, blood flying out of her mouth as she coughed, shuddering from the pain. Maria felt herself growing weak as she heard the swords clash one more time, she could hardly feel the shaking anymore. Her eyes started to close and she began to feel cold, then everything went black.
18 Hours Earlier:
Arnes looked quickly over to the door, his face going pale as if he had been caught doing something terrible. Brenam not quite as frightened, put his hand on his spear, gripping it tightly ready to fight if it came to it. The door was open and a Shadow Elf was standing in their room before they could even blink. As if they were frozen in time, nobody moved for a couple of seconds, as Arnes tried to register what had happened. The shadow elf smiled at their shocked expressions "So you need me to go with you on a suicide mission?" Arnes took a second to study her face before he broke into a smile "I knew we would find you here, so.. are you in?" the shadow elf laughed at this, "pretty sure I found you." Meanwhile, Brenam was looking between the two of them, still befuddled as to what exactly was taking place in front of him. Brenam jumped a little, his hands tightening on the spear as the shadow elf's voice flipped quickly from hearty to dead serious "how much money are we talking?" By this point, Brenam realizeed that the thief Adrea that he and Arnes had been talking about for the last couple of hours, and the Shadow Elf standing in front of them, were one and the same. Not that this fact made Brenam relax in the slightest. Arnes smiled inwardly, giddy at the thought that Adrea had found them, and that he was about to blow her mind. Arnes walked up, getting as close as he felt comfortable and whispered "2.3 million gold, at least" Arnes had decided to throw that last bit in because he knew they were going to make more, but he was not sure how much more it would be. Just by looking at the thief in front of him, he thought it better to play it safe, rather than shoot for the stars, and have her backstab him one night while they're sleeping. Adrea almost stumbled back in shock before regaining her composure, staring into Arnes' eyes as if she was trying to find a mischievous, lying glint where there was none. "That's impossible, there's no way you have that much!" Arnes' heart skipped a beat, this was it, the moment of truth. "Not yet" Arnes' sayed, the smile still on his face. If they had her, the money was as good as theirs.
14 Hours Earlier:
Arnes and Adrea had spent the greater part of the night and the first few hours of the day working on a plan. The Shadow Elf had figured out several hundred infiltration routes that Arnes hadn't even thought of, one of which seemed to be the most optimal. They decided on entering through the window on the north side of the castle, as it was closest to the king's quarters and would also grant them an easy exit as the castle was filled with high level NPCs, After they finished planning, the three went to the market and began buying gear they would need in order to infiltrate. After collecting their gear, taking inventory of their food rations, and using the last of their gold to rent horses, the three adventurers set off for Wrerian. The journey, they knew, would be a long one, and they were going to need some gold when they got there.
10 Hours Earlier: *Boom* an explosion echoed through the cavern. Another golem fell to the ground as Evander launched fireball after fireball into the creatures back. Nostrus let out a battle cry as a golem fell in front of him as well, his ax cutting through the tall monstrosities' legs like butter. The two had been working to level themselves up in preparation for the upcoming boss raid against Vivmes, one of the immensely powerful demon generals, of which there were four. He was level 80 and both fighters were currently sitting at level 60. Which means they had a ways to go. Suddenly, another explosion rang out and a massive crater appeared in the ground in front of them. In the center of the crater stood their party leader, Captain Ivi. She was wielding a massive Warhammer in one hand and a giant spear in the other. She was playing as a berserker, this allowed her to hold two, two-handed weapons at the same time, regardless of weight or length. She was a monstrous warrior, almost scarier than the creatures they were fighting. She had a yellow aura coming off of her, causing her to glow in the dark cavern. The army of golems began surrounding her, the Captain not seeming to care as she stood there completely calm. Her level was 78 making her one of the strongest players in the game, meaning creatures like this were nothing more than an inconvenience for her. "Berzerkers rage!" she shouted causing fire to shoot from every part of her body, a heat so intense it could be felt from the opposite of the cavern. The golems around her began to melt, their rock turning into magma. The three were given a mission by their guild leader, and they were going to complete it no matter what.
6 Hours Earlier:
Adrea, Arnes, and Brenam entered the gates of Wrerian as the sun began to set in the distant sky. An orange glow cascading across the beautiful marble city. The three adventurers rented a room at a tavern where they laid out their gear. "Okay" Arnes began, "Here's the plan, Brenam, since you are the tank you will be the first to enter the window, where you will use a stunning ability on the guard that will have his back to you. Regardless of level, this shouldn't be a problem as it will be considered a stealth attack, which works on any NPC regardless of combat power. You will keep him stunned until Adrea and I secure the package. We'll come in after you start stunning the guard and sneak our way into the king's room, where we will find the crown, nab it, and get the hell out of there. Understood?" The adventurers nodded, a smile growing on each of their faces in excitement for the upcoming heist.
3 Hours Earlier:
They began working their way through the dark city streets, on guard for any movement that may seem suspicious. They got to the castle wall where Arnes proceeded to pull a rope out of his bag. He tied a hook to it, spinning it around a couple of times before tossing it. The hook embedded itself into the brick, a gentle clink echoing through the quiet night. Arnes pulled the rope twice testing its strength. Then he handed it to Brenam. "Okay, you're up pal, good luck." The Lizard looked nervous as he grabbed the rope, "Don't worry, I won't let you down," he began to climb. Next was Adrea who grabbed the rope and nimbly climbed it, getting to the top in half the time. Arnes grabbed the rope last and began to climb, as he got closer to the top he heard voices, which worried him, but his friends were up there so there was no going back. As he peaked his head up over the edge, he came face to face with a spear tip. Then a massive arm reached down and lifted him onto the wall, throwing him on the ground like he weighed nothing. When Arnes looked, he saw about 10 guards surrounding him, all of them with a level of at least 120. He then looked to see Brenam and Adrea with their wrists' and legs' bound. The guard who had lifted him up, tied his arms and legs as well and they began dragging the three somewhere. The question was, where were they taking them, and how did they know that the three would be coming up this way? Arnes' mind began to race as he thought about all the possible ways they could try to to escape. Then a smile spread across his face, they had nothing to worry about.
2 Hours Earlier: Brenam and Adrea sat in their individual cells, the two staring at each other wearily. Arnes was sat in his cell, grinning from ear to ear and reading as if he didn't have a care in the world.
The doors at the end of the cellblock opened and ten guards came in, massive shields up and spears at the ready as the warden approached each of their cells, unlocking them and sliding them open with a loud scraping sound. "Follow us, we are taking you to his majesty," the warden said. He was a thin, older, frail-looking man with grey hair and sunken in eyes. However, his appearance was deceiving. His level read at a massive 200 above his head, meaning he could execute all three of them if he so wished, without even breaking a sweat. The warden and 10 other guards led the 3 adventurers down sprawling long corridors until they came upon a massive golden door that lay at the end of one of the halls. The warden slid a key into the keyhole and twisted, a massive locking mechanism let out an audible click and the doors slid open, revealing a massive marble throne room.
The King was sat on his throne, a massive frown on his face, his eyes wild with anger as he glared down at the three weak adventurers. "You dare sneak into my castle, and attempt to steal my crown while I sleep. That is a form of high treason punishable by death and I will not let you get away with it even if you are Adventurers." He sneered. The guards had now encircled the three, their spears trained in on them as if they could strike at any moment. Despite all this, however, Arnes had a massive smile on his face and suddenly he began to laugh. This caught the king's attention who looked at the boy incredulously. Arnes' laugh became hysterical and a tear began forming at the corners of each of his eyes. "You underestimated us too much Your Highness. You really thought we would break in without a backup plan?" This caught both Adrea and Brenam off guard as they hadn't been aware of any backup plan. That's when they began to feel an immense pressure emanating around the room. It felt as if the air molecules themselves were getting heavier, it became harder to breathe as the three were slowly forced closer to the ground, then suddenly, a loud bang echoed throughout the throne room and splinters of wood went flying past their heads. "You had to go and start bullying my clients Arethil." Three people came running in picking up the adventures, dragging them from the throne room, the pressure lessening until it felt nonexistent anymore. Arnes stood to see a small short-haired dwarf with a heavy battle-ax, a human who had dark skin and short pink hair with beautiful emerald eyes, and a tall elf with thick glasses and a massive living wood staff standing before them. They were all relatively high levels, the human having the highest level at 78. "Took you guys long enough," Arnes said, a massive grin still spread across his face. Brenam and Adrea both looked completely blown away as the pink-haired woman began to talk. "We got slowed down by some guards out front but we got here just in time it seems." She had a smile just as big as Arnes. "Veda should be able to take care of the rest, you just leave it to him." "Who the hell is Veda?" Brenam asked looking over at Arnes. "No one really, just the most powerful adventurer in the game. "Are you serious? The king doesn't stand a chance then!" Adrea shouted as a massive sound began to emanate from the throne room. The pink-haired girl shook her head "Don't be so sure, he's probably one of the most powerful NPCs in the game world. He could be a challenge, even for Veda. I guess we will just have to see. Right now we need to get out of here though, otherwise we are as good as dead." The six beginning to rung down the front steps of the castle as a massive rumble came from inside. Then, without warning, the castle exploded into a ball of light.