Julius found himself staring down an open gate, the place was large and vast. Many fires had been lit, lighting up parts of the camp. There were at least a hundred tents, with who knows how many people inside the camp as a whole.
Julius sat on a worn wooden log near the center of the camp, his body sore, his mind heavier than it had ever been. The fire crackled in front of him, its warmth barely reaching the cold that sat deep in his bones. He scrolled around his system interface mindlessly, just passing the time. He thought back to the events of the dungeon and groaned.
"Why did they all have to die..."
Around him, groups of survivors sat in clusters, their murmured conversations weaving through the air like ghostly whispers. Some were angry, some were in shock, but most of them carried the same quiet, exhausted acceptance that he did. They had all been thrown into something far beyond their control, and now they were left to pick up the pieces.
It seemed that many groups shared Julius' look of sorrow, many people here had lost people in their groups. It had been an unfortunate way to enter this new world, but at least the God's words were true, they had been rewarded for their efforts in the trials.
Julius looked to his side.
[Yara: Level 5 Mage]
Yara sat beside him, still pale, still quiet. She hadn't spoken much since they arrived at the camp, and Julius couldn't blame her. She had survived by hiding in a pile of corpses. That kind of thing changed a person, truly.
She was still shivering, God only knows what went through her head when the leader stabbed her. She probably assumed she was dead.
The system had been clear:
{Remain in Main Camp until further orders.}
It didn't say for how long. It didn't say what would happen next. It only said to wait.
Julius exhaled, forcing himself to focus on something other than the pit in his stomach. He needed to learn. He needed to understand.
He got up. Yara stayed behind, barely reacting as he left her side.
Julius moved toward the nearest group—a trio huddled together, their faces a mix of relief and grief.
Their names hovered above their heads.
{Elric - Level 3 - Merchant}{Mira - Level 3 - Enchanter}{Donovan - Level 4 - Berserker}
Julius approached carefully. "You guys made it through the trial?"
Elric looked up first, his brown eyes sharp but tired. "Barely. Where's your team"
"Only two of us survived. My other teammate is just taking a break." Julius replied.
Mira gave a small, empty laugh. "Well, as you can tell we lost two."
Julius nodded. He had nothing to say to that.
"Was it because of the trial difficulty?" he asked instead.
"Yeah. We got real unlucky, we got the hard trial." Donovan grunted, his large frame shifting as he poked at the fire. "Thought that was bad enough. Can't imagine what you went through, from what I've gathered the higher peoples levels are, the harder their trial was. Also, if your team dies you get a penalty, reducing your reward."
Julius sighed. The trials had been pretty unforgiving.
Mira's gaze flickered to him, her lips pressing into a thin line. "You?"
"Impossible," Julius said simply.
Silence.
Elric's face twisted in disbelief. "No way."
Mira shook her head. "Sorry, tell me again how many of you survived?"
Julius hesitated before answering. "Just two."
Even Donovan, who barely reacted to anything, looked up at that. "Impossible?"
Mira was the one to speak. "You should be dead."
"Yeah," Julius murmured. "I should be. We didn't survive because of strength, only because we managed to hide from our enemies."
He didn't say anything more. He didn't need to.
The air between them grew heavier, but Julius was already stepping away. He needed to meet more people and gather more information. Had the trials been the same for every group?
The second group had five survivors. They were stronger, more coordinated—level 4s and 5s, a mix of Warriors, Mages, and Archers. Their trial had been Challenging. They had lost no people, and they seemed enthusiastic about the future.
The third group had four members. Their trial was Normal. They had only lost one. Apparently there was infighting which led to disaster during the trial.
The fourth group had four. Their trial was Hard. One loss. They were all girls, one of the girls was a tank whilst the other three were mages. Julius could only imagine how their trials went. All of them were level 4.
Each group had their own stories, their own grief. Some were barely holding it together. Others acted like they had already moved on. Julius knew better. The shock just hadn't worn off yet.
It wasn't until the fifth group that he realized just how wide the gap in strength could be.
They had cleared easy. With four losses. Apparently, they had three warriors in their party which caused them to fight over loot. Once the first sword was drawn, none of them could be stopped and they slaughtered one another. The last member bragged about their victory, about how they slew their enemies with ease. His name was Ricklebones he had curly grey hair and a thin scar on his left cheek, Julius made a note in his head to stay away from him in the future. Ricklebones was only level 3, probably because his whole team had died.
"What a scumbag..." He looked at Ricklebones who seemed at peace in his shiny armor. "Perhaps that's what real monsters look like."
And then there was the last group, the sixth.
Obviously, the strongest. They had cleared Impossible with no losses.
Julius didn't know what he had expected from them, but it wasn't this.They were relaxed. Too relaxed. They sat near the largest fire, laughing, joking, like they hadn't just survived hell. He recognized their gear, they had some of the same clothes as the mercenaries.
"Ah." This must've meant they had managed to beat the mercenaries in the final wave of the impossible trial. Many people came up to this group to ask for help and advice, it seemed the leaders of the main camp had already been decided.
They were friendly, so Julius found no issues in walking up to them.
Julius found his eyes landed on the leader first.
{Dain - Level 6 - Warlord}
The highest level he had seen so far. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with wild black hair and a confident smirk that never seemed to fade. His armor was incredible, it gave off an aura of power from it's red dye, his shoulder plates were made from gold and he had a black cape with gold embroidery on it's back. He had a handsome face, and he towered over Julius like a giant.
Dain looked up as Julius approached, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Oh? You're the rogue from the other Impossible trial, right? I heard rumours, apparently you've been walking around the camp asking questions. Level 5... Not too shabby"
Julius nodded.
Dain tilted his head, studying him before grinning. "But you don't look like a Julius."
Julius blinked. "What?"
"I don't know. Julius Caeasar, you look a little scrawny."
Julius stared at him. "Aha, you're a strange one."
"Nah, I just had to let you know now, I couldn't hold it in."
One of Dain's friends looked at Julius, a look of reassurance.
"Don't mind Dain, he's a little crazy. Just stick to what he says and he'll lay off ya." Kael had spoken. [Kael - Level 5 Scout] He had forest-green hair and a pretty face. His eyes darted around, which made him look paranoid.
Julius opened his mouth to argue—then stopped. He didn't have the energy. Not after everything.
"Fine."
Dain laughed. "Good. Knew you'd come around Julius."
The others in his group—seven of them, all high-leveled, all too at ease—watched Julius with interest. Of course, it was easy to spot who had been in the original 5, just by their level.
{Dain- Level 6- Warlord}
{Vera - Level 6- Witch}
{Ronan - Level 6- Duelist}
{Kael - Level 6- Scout}
Lina - Level -6- Illusionist}
{Soren - Level 4 - Shadowblade}
{Elias - Level 4 - Elementalist}
Julius had never seen some of these classes before. Soren and Elias seemed to be hanging with them for protection.
Dain grinned. "You and the girl who made it out. You might be useful. Only two groups made it through the impossible trial, mine and yours. Now that I think about it, you both might definately prove to be high priority options if a dungeon arises or something similar."
Julius stiffened. "Might?"
Dain shrugged. "You tell me. You survived, but surviving isn't the same as being strong."
Julius clenched his jaw. He wasn't sure what irritated him more—Dain's arrogance, or the fact that he was right.
"Then I guess we'll just have to see if anyone else arrives. Anyone stronger than the people present," Julius said.
Dain's grin widened. "That's right. If you recieve my call, make sure you heed it. I'm forming a group of the strongest here, to ensure we can do these quests without any problems."
"Alright, I'll see you around." Julius said, and Dain left without anything else to say.
—Julius left, wondering just how they had cleared the impossible trial with no losses.
'So they have a warlord, a scout, an illusionist, a Witch and a duelist.' Thought Julius. 'Perhaps they just used tricks to beat the trial.'
The system's message appeared again.
{Main Camp Established. Awaiting Next Objective.}
They were stuck here. For how long, no one knew.
Some of the survivors were already moving toward the nearby forest, scavenging for food, testing the limits of this new world.
Julius was offered some food on his way to the forest, so he sat down and ate.
It was the first group he had met.
He looked at them a little closer.
{Elric - Level 3 - Merchant} Blonde haired man with a red suit.{Mira - Level 3 - Enchanter} A brown haired girl with pig-tails, she was wearing night-black enchanter robes that were too large, causing them to spill over the floor.{Donovan - Level 4 - Berserker} A large man with clear gym etiquette, he carried a pair of brass knuckles by his side.
Yara walked by and joined them.
"Oh. Julius, mind if I sit?"
They all nodded in unison, after seeing her level.
[Yara- Level 5 Mage]
"Well, thanks for the food." Julius said, they had cooked a rabbit. It tasted tender and innocent.
'I've never had rabbit before.' Julius thought. He figured they were only helping him and Yara because of their level, he had no problem with that.
'For now I just want to rest, who knows what comes next.' Julius figured.
They offered Yara a mushroom shoup, which she gratefully accepted.
Both groups shared their stories from the dungeon.
"What? Your knight accidently killed your druid?" Yara spoke out, her face flushed. "What kinds of people are even here?"
"Yup." Elric the merchant exhaled in pity. "The druid learnt a new skill but he wanted to keep it a secret. When he turned into an animal, the knight thought he was being ambushed from the side, so he just swung with full force. Next thing you know the druid was on the ground crying in pain, and we couldn't stop him from bleeding to death."
"What were the monsters like in your trial? How many waves?" Julius wondered what the gap was between their trials.
"We had two waves, and most of the monsters were only level 3 at most. The worst thing we had to deal with was a level 5 golem, luckily Donovan here crushed it's core with his bare fists. Talk about badass..."
Eldric smiled at Donovan who humbly shrugged. "We would have beaten it regardless, I only found that strength because Miria enchanted my brass knuckles."
The group of 5 continued talking about their experiences for another hour before the night fully crept it. Julius set up a tent around the corners of the camp, Yara set hers up in the vicinity.
"Julius, come with me." She said.
Unsure of the reason, Julius followed.
She led them to the outskirts of the forest, where she began to cry.
Julius hesitated, his mind still sluggish from exhaustion, but he had followed Yara without question. The campfire's glow faded behind them as they stepped into the forest. Leaves rustled in the wind, following around them.
She let out a choked sob. She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling.
Julius stood there, unsure of what to do. He had seen Yara release spells of mass destruction, but what he saw before him was simply self-destruction.
"I—" Her voice broke, and she shook her head. "I should be dead, Julius. We should all be dead."
He knew it was true. The fight had been a massacre. Their skills, their weapons, their teamwork—it had all amounted to nothing in the face of that overwhelming force.
"I hid in a corpse." Yara's voice was barely a whisper now. "I laid there, covered in its blood, waiting for them to leave. I couldn't even breathe properly. I thought—" Her breath hitched. "I thought I was already dead, I don't even want to put myself anywhere dangerous ever again. I was this close to death..."
She held out her finger.
Julius exhaled sharply and sat down on a nearby rock. "But we lived."
"But why?" she snapped, lifting her tear-streaked face to glare at him. "Why did we survive when the others didn't? Why am I here, talking to you, when Garrick, Fraero, and Orion are just—" She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "Why do we deserve to live? Why are we even here?"
Yara let out a bitter laugh. "You know what's funny? The system didn't care. The moment the fight ended, it just gave us our levels, our loot, and told us to move on. Like it was just a game. I never played these kinds of games before, so I know nothing."
Julius felt something heavy settle in his chest. He had thought the same thing when the golden notifications had appeared. His level had gone up. He had received rewards. And yet, none of it felt like it mattered. None of it could bring back the people they had lost.
He looked at Yara, at the way her fingers dug into her arms as if she was trying to keep herself together. He knew that feeling too well. He took a deep breath.
"Yara."
She didn't respond.
"We're here because we're different. I saw you pretend to be dead, not just anyone can fool mercenaries like that. Me, I just failed my attack and stealthed out, what you did took skill and self-control."
Julius met her gaze, steady and firm. "There's only one thing you need to think about."
She swallowed, waiting.
"Remind yourself every time you're down that we're still alive," he said. "And if we're alive, that means we still have a choice. We can sit here and break apart, or we can keep going. And that choice is yours, right now you're just breaking apart. If that's how you want to live, go on. But I don't think that's how you want to live."
Yara let out a shaky breath. "But how do I stop feeling like this?"
"Gain power." Julius said, his voice quiet but certain. "If you want to get past your fears, you need to become strong to the point that you don't have to suffer loss."
Yara closed her eyes for a long moment, breathing in deeply. When she exhaled, it wasn't steady, but it was something. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve and nodded.
"Okay," she whispered. "Okay. Why am I even crying? That's such a baby thing-."
Julius stood up and offered her his hand. She looked at it for a moment before taking it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.
They walked back to camp together, silent but side by side.
"Oh and don't talk about this to anyone. I'm never crying again." She spoke, her face flushed red with embarassment.
"I have a feeling, we'll get a new order from the system tommorow. But we'll have to wait and see."
That night, the camp slept in silence.
And the system brewed up it's next task.