He was interested in what happened that made Masmoenia the dark world of the present. She described them as the same, as monsters everywhere, each for their own, selfish, stupid… A world that no one would miss if it was consumed by fire.
"I guess you want me to mark this test as done. I wish you would go to the end of it; it would give you so much experience. Think about it; this race will push your body limits and create new limits. Don't play it within your comfort zone."
"Though you are right, I still wish to come back and have access to the underground secret passages of the castle of Dimitruicasten. That's what started this whole mess. I don't want to waste time on meaningless things."
"If you don't want to waste time on meaningless things, then you have a goal in mind. Let me remind you, if you want to be stronger, this test is the best tool to start with. Gilbert would say the same thing."
"Aah! The skeleton guide didn't guide at all. What will he say? To keep going till the end of this test and risk getting killed, do you know how much stress you put me through? I wish to come back. At least, the present Masmoenia can give me more confidence. I know how the castle layouts unfold; I won't get lost."
"There is no changing of your mind! However, since we have approximately an hour to the next race, I will explain more things and how to remove the poison from your body."
The one component she wanted him to develop was agility. It was completely different from speed. Unlike speed, agility was more like a combination of many things. As fighting was a demanding physical activity, it also needed agility. While speed was the ability to move the body in one direction as fast as possible, agility was the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stabilize and quickly change directions with proper posture. It was the best attribute to start with in any game. Even if the attack power was low, with continuous dodging and continuous spell casting, the opponent would lose. However, there was a stamina problem.
That was why improving agility with potions wasn't the best option; the best option was continuous exercises that would give a permanent enhancement in abilities. Potions despite their effectiveness, were temporary.
Aurora had the feeling he wasn't someone who would do things on his own; he might start a daily routine but he wouldn't keep at it. He would drop it soon; it was the main truth about his fat body on Earth. Therefore, she came up with the death flag race. She remembered there was an arena for prisoners of Vampires and took advantage of it. It was also to see someone who was the root of her condition.
"That's why I wanted you to be on this race. I don't care about your thoughts, you came crying for skills and a way to fight so I am providing you with a way to escape, an alternate solution to your problem," she smirked and crossed her arms. "Listen, Stephan. I know you might want to gain cheats by clearing some parts of the world you experienced in the game. However, keep in mind one thing, Legend of the Past is a game that is less difficult than Masmoenia. It was a copy to prepare the one who will reach the end."
"Huh? How do you know me so well?"
"It's simple! If I were in your shoes, I would do the same thing. I would look for the easiest and most secure way to become stronger quickly. In other words, looking for the cheat weapons or skills that would give you easy access to defeating anything and anyone. However, Masmoenia isn't that way at all. It's all twisted. Because of the past Masmoenia that had many rotten cores, the present one is far more dangerous."
"Ahh! Because of the miasma…"
"No, the Ustriestan is only a part of it. Consider the Ustriestan a territory marker, the more thickness, the more danger. All who got infected would be in an ending cycle of respawning."
"So it's basically a curse. Didn't you say you can break any curse? Why call me when you can fix things?"
"It's simple," she stuck her tongue out. "I am not helping those scums that caused me to be like this. I hate all of them," her expression quickly changed into one full of hatred. She hugged herself and averted her eyes. "I brought you here to help me. Me... No way to help others. I am satisfied with the world being like that, don't change it. I recommend you take advantage of it; there are a lot of great artifacts in the places where the Ustriestan mist grows thicker. A lot of courageous fellows die there, not only you can find old artifacts, you can only find new ones," she stretched her hands and thick handcuffs surrounded her wrists. "I can only be free in these little dimensions I made with the help of some people I knew but now they are long dead. I need you to free me."
"Are you pulling the emotional card on me? It doesn't work. Don't even try to make me lose time! Mark this test as done and let me out of here. I will take care of my own stats. I am not into suicidal activities. Furthermore, if you have those cuffs, aren't you the bad guy? You typically pulled me here before even finishing what I intended to say and I didn't get the chance to finish the event. In other words, you are a swindler."
"Stop calling me that," as there was a dim light lighting the safe zone, a portal opened and someone appeared from it. She had red hair and red eyes. The witch Soprana opened a portal to get to Stephan because she didn't want to lose her only chance to get the spear. "Look who's here for you! Are you sure you want to come back?"
Stephan immediately jumped to his feet. His eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the witch; he didn't think she would be able to reach the place he was in. However, he wished she was there a moment earlier. He glanced back at Aurora and smiled. She thought he changed his mind.
"No, don't even think about it! You are creating an illusion to make me stay. Why would the mighty witch Soprana come for someone like me? Don't waste your time! You got her chest measures all wrong. I think they were bigger than that."