After 5 hours was up, they came out of the Labyrinth. They were somewhat relieved when they saw that nobody was there. They logged out for a few hours. Mostly because they needed to eat and workout.
They decided to meet back by the beginner's village. It was time to trigger the quest. Hiro had gone ahead to the beginner training ground because Kiro was a bit late.
Kiro walked into the training grounds he could see a really short, bearded Dwarf hacking dummies. The game was still unpopular hence not a lot of people were around, it would sore through the roof in a few days though.
The training ground didn't look like much, it was a run-down place, with dirt for grounds. Nothing shiny that stood out at all. Which reminded Kiro of home.
'I should monopolise as much as possible.' Kiro thought to himself. He was still just with his thoughts when he was suddenly interrupted.
"Well young one, it seems like you're just getting started on your journey. This is the perfect place to start at, before adventuring around.
"Asgard is a very dangerous world, monster infested and maybe even gods lie hidden. Train and train to your heart's content," he said with an almost mechanical smile.
Wilace didn't seem like the kind of guy who talked a lot. The developers must've been having a bad joke about him. He seemed like the brooding and groaning type.
"I will do my best Sir!" Kiro played along. They had to, to trigger the quest.
There were various dummies, those that were still and unmoving, those that could move at different speeds and those that were both wood and steel. They were scarily human-like, with the height too. So Hiro looked a bit ridiculous.
Kiro obviously picked the moving ones, so he could sharpen his fighting and instincts.
Hiro wasn't sure he'd need fighting skills as a craftsman, so he went for the unmoving ones. He lacked speed anyway. Instead of a shield, he used the axe he got from the orc king.
It was hard at first but they got used to it pretty fast. They kept this up for 2 days without proper rest. Wilace would come now and then to give them dry bread and water.
He grew to care for them as he watched them working diligently. He was reminded of his good old days. He'd even strike up conversations, telling them he was once a royal knight. After 20 years of service, he retired in this small village.
"Young ones, it seems basic training is no longer a real challenge for you. Don't you want to be stronger? Increase the difficulty to intermediate."
Ding!
[Would you like to increase the difficulty?]
"Yes sir!"
They noticed Wilace would go around saying the same thing to other players, some accepted, some felt they were ready to hunt monsters.
They worked for 5 days straight on intermediate difficulty, their stats all rose by 1+. Health and magic rose by 100+. Now they were interested to know how they'll change in master difficulty, so they raised it up.
Wilace was impressed that they decided all on their own without being pressured.
They kept this up diligently for 10 days (10 hours). 3+ on all stats. Heath and magic rose by 200.
Wilace came over with a prideful smile, proud at how hard these two lads were working. Mostly because they were the only players left from the first batch.
[Your relationship with Wilace has increased by 40+, friends]
"You both are working so hard keep it up," Wilace told them.
"We will, it's the only way to be favoured by the 'gods'," Kiro said. He knew the word god was the trigger and your relationship should be on friends and above. Those were the two requirements.
In his past life he didn't quite watch the journey of this quest, but he didn't want to leave any stones unturned.
He figured he'd grown strong enough for a beginner's quest. Usually, players ignore the training grounds because it's not a requirement or they just spend a day then go hunting.
So usually the average stats for a beginner were between 10 and 12.
Wilace looked visibly touched at Kiro's words. He then said, "could you both do something for me, a favour?"
"Yes!" They both said in a chorus.
"My wife was abducted by true blooded folks, who live in the forest of the damned. There are all sorts of monsters in there, I have tried everything to rescue her myself but it was too dangerous for me, so I deemed it a suicide mission.
"Would you both be so kind as to do that in my stead? I don't have much but I'll definitely reward you"
[Triggered True Blood quest.]
Rank: B
Brandish your weapons brave heroes and fight your way into the forest of the damned, rescue Wilace's wife and come back alive.
Succeed and you will awaken your true blood.
Failure:
Character erasure. Won't be able to create a new one for a month (real time).
If declined, you will no longer be eligible to awaken your true blood.
Limited to: Child of the Dragons, Kiro and the child of the Earth, Hiro.
Accept?
'B ranked quest from the get go? Is Wilace secretly evil and trying to kill us? I mean if we seriously didn't grind to level 19 this would be mission impossible.' Kiro pondered silently.
He then looked at Hiro, he nodded.
"We will do it Sir Wilace, we will bring your wife back."
[Quest accepted,
Time Limit: 2 days]
2 hours wasn't much. What's worse was that, Kiro never bothered to watch the journey in his past life. He did know that, once triggered, this quest isn't easy to trigger again.
Even he couldn't tell how many awakened their true bloods in the past. While some bragged, most were secretive about their strengths.
They prepared for their second adventure. They bade Wilace farewell and took off.
They reached an open field and were shocked by how many players there were this time around. There were a lot of players trying to fill their parties too.
"A priest needed for our level 10 party. They must at least be level 7. Please don't come if you don't have the qualifications."
"Level 8 archer, looking for a party to attempt the world boss."
"Damage dealers needed, we already have healers and tanks."
Hiro and Kiro almost laughed when they heard these announcements and saw their levels. People were still that low on levelling up? It can't be! Didn't they know of the two Labyrinths?
As a newbie, you couldn't hide your level. So it wasn't a surprise when people flocked to them asking to be carried and that they'd pay money!
"I can offer you anything you want, you just have to join our party."
"Don't be so shameless just because you have money!"
"So what if I am? I'm only using the resources I have to get ahead," the kid defended himself and turned back quicker to convince them yet again, "I can offer you up to 100k creds!"
Kiro was deeply conflicted, money was everything after all in their society. But he reminded himself that, getting stronger in this game will allow him billions. The 100k would just be spare change to him.
With a heavy heart, he declined. But the kid was persistent as he kept raising the price. Kiro was tempted to blink out of there, but then he'd be leaving Hiro behind. He considered blinking with him, but he wasn't confident.
"Seriously dude, you've got to learn a footwork skill." He whispered with the side of his mouth.
"If I had known, I would've," Hiro whispered back.
After much threats to the crowd, they managed to slip away. Time was running out, they had a quest to complete.