Chapter 6: The First Quest!
After Aakesh accepted the quest, the last sighting of the Ring of Abundance appeared on the next screen.
The coordinates showed it to be outside the town and in deep parts of the mountain in the jungle.
Aakesh didn't waste any time and decided to finish the quest as soon as possible. The earlier he completed it, the earlier he would unlock his status. Unless he completed the first mission, he wouldn't be able to equip himself with any weapons.
Following the coordinates, Aakesh reached the end of the town. He took a deep breath and left the town since moving from here meant losing protection. The jungle wasn't safe for someone like him who hadn't completed his first quest.
From the map, Aakesh could see that there was still around a mile between him and the coordinates of the last sightings.
Hoping that the Ring of Abundance would be there, Aakesh silently and slowly proceeded forward.
The travel that would have usually cost him seven to ten minutes went on to become half an hour when Aakesh finally reached his destination.
A cave-like gap in the mountain welcomed Aakesh's sight.
The quest only talked about the last sighting of the item, so Aakesh couldn't be sure about the success. He needed to prepare himself for failure, so he didn't directly enter the cave and stood there for a few seconds.
After Aakesh's heart had calmed down, he took a step forward and stepped into the gap.
Crunch!
Aakesh couldn't help but shudder after hearing the crunching sound.
Forcing himself not to turn around and leave, Aakesh took a deep breath and took another step.
Aakesh suddenly felt a chill crawling down his spine. Since half his body was outside, there was still visibility, but as soon as he completely entered, the surroundings around him turned dark.
At that moment, Aakesh couldn't stop himself from turning around. When he did, his eyes almost popped open as what welcomed him wasn't any exit, but a wall, blocking his way.
Aakesh's face turned ugly as the death punishment in Myth Online was on the higher end.
Those who died before completing the first quest wouldn't be able to Log In for the next three hours. It was the information Aakesh had received after appearing in the town.
As for what the punishment was for those who had unlocked their status, Aakesh had no idea. The website didn't talk about it, and he hadn't gone on the game forum to read the comments of the users.
"Manish wouldn't give me a quest that might kill me," Aakesh mumbled under his breath a few times to regain some confidence.
His mumbling did the work as he got some confidence to proceed forward.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Ignoring the crunching sound every time his feet landed, Aakesh continued forward. His face was pale from fright but since he couldn't give up he continued.
Aakesh couldn't tell how far he had traveled in this cave when he finally saw some visibility coming from the other side.
Roar!
At that moment, a roar rang in the cave, shuddering Aakesh all over.
The roar seemed to be magical, as it made Aakesh take his step backward.
"I trust my brother. This quest can't kill me," Aakesh mumbled again, but in response to his mumbling, the roar rang once more.
This time, the roar seemed to be aimed at Aakesh as his heartbeat rose to a dangerous level.
Aakesh gritted his teeth and turned around to leave when he saw the wall blocking his way.
Aakesh's already terrified heart grew even more fearful.
Aakesh believed that he had traveled for several minutes in the cave, but he found the wall only a few steps ahead when he turned.
The wall seemed to do magic for Aakesh as his eyes regained composure.
'Since I can't return, I will proceed forward. If I die, I die.'
Aakesh thought in his heart and took a step forward.
The next moment, a light seemed to engulf Aakesh.
Not long after, Aakesh found himself in a different place.
From looking around, Aakesh could guess that he was in a room.
A chandelier made of glass was hanging from the roof. Even though there was no wind in the room, the chandelier continuously swung.
Even then, it wasn't the thing that grabbed Aakesh's attention. It was the throne placed in the center of the room that did it.
On the throne, a being that had only skeletons left was sitting. On one of its fingers, a ring made of gold caught all of Aakesh's attention as if it were the only thing available in the world.
Aakesh's heart grew with excitement as Aakesh was confident that the ring on the skeleton's finger was the Ring of Abundance.
Since Aakesh wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, he looked around the room to find an exit.
Aakesh's face grew ugly as he found the room to be closed from the outer world. Forget a door, even a tiny gap to the outside world wasn't present in the room.
'Since the room doesn't have any exits, that means the ring is the key to leave,' Since this wasn't the time to lose his composure and cause an unnecessary situation, Aakesh calmed down and began to think.
After feeling the ring to be the key to leaving, Aakesh became more and more sure of it with every passing second.
'He will not give me an unsolvable quest,' Aakesh thought in his heart and stepped forward.
Roar!
The being seated on the throne seemed to come alive and it roared, facing Aakesh.
Clang!
The next moment, the sound of bone clashing rang in the room as the being stood up.
Aakesh's heart stopped for a moment, but gritting his teeth, he persisted forward.
From the moment he arrived here, he had been on the receiving end of the other side. First, his exit was locked, then a roar filled with killing intent terrified him, and now this.
Aakesh knew he couldn't just give up on his first quest. A gruesome future awaited him and his family. He needed to grow strong and quickly at that.
At the same time, Aakesh also believed in his brother. The diary would never give him a quest that might kill him.
Believing in Manish, Aakesh stepped forward and approached the skeleton.
A smirk spread across the skeleton's face as it raised its finger. The next moment, an energy beam started forming at the tip of the skeleton's finger.
Aakesh's breathing grew rough while his heartbeat got louder. Even Aakesh could hear his heartbeat.
Gulp!
Aakesh gulped in fear, but still didn't stop, and continued forward.
"Let this be my grand entry to this world!"
Something seemed to click in his mind at that moment as Aakesh screamed and increased his speed, charging at the skeleton.
The smirk on the skeleton's face turned to a grin as a beam of white light flew at an unprecedented speed toward Aakesh.
Aakesh seemed to have lost fear at that moment as he raised his hand, forming it into a punch, and aimed it at the skeleton, completely ignoring the beam.
The next moment, an unexpected scene occurred as the beam didn't injure Aakesh but passed through him, while Aakesh's punch also passed through the skeleton.
It was too late for Aakesh to control himself, as he couldn't control his momentum and fell to the ground.
The beam and the skeleton disappeared as if it was never there, while the room returned to normal with Aakesh groaning in pain.
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A/N: Comment, Comment, Comment!