" What? What do you mean by death?" Karl asked, his voice shivering with fear and doubt of the uncertain future if he were to fail completing this task.
It had been a long time, and Karl received this type of penalty from the system. According to his memory, the last time he received such severe penalty was when he first encountered Rowanna. At that time, Karl himself knew the tragic fate if he had failed.
But now it was completely different from the situation at that time, as he had no understanding of the oncoming danger, making him anxious and desperate.
" Ding..."
System's melodic notification sound rang in his head, drawing him out from his web of thoughts, and another pop-up notification appeared in his vision.
" Additional information about the quest:
This place is where a person's affinity to the Power of Magic is tested. Since Magical Power is considered to be one of the most mysterious powers in the universe, the higher beings have appointed a keeper, apparently tasked to prevent this power from falling into wrong hands.
From the time this keeper was appointed, there was no single person in the entire universe who was able to pass the tests to continue on the way of Magic, till now.
As this path became proven hard for even well-known geniuses, and because of the consequences they witnessed after failing, with time, practising Magic has now considered as a forbidden path of cultivation, in almost all the realms.
The current world that the host lives is oblivious to this kind of information as this realm is somewhat obscured from many advanced species.
Your task in this quest is to defeat and tame the keeper of The Land of Magic, known as the Lady of Magic, and find out more information related to the above description.
The more you find, the more your reward will be.
The system truly wishes the best of luck in completing this quest.
Hint: Quest difficulty level: Nightmare
Additional hint: Apparently, higher beings tend to steer clear of Magic since this was one of the powers they couldn't control."
" Wow, look at this bastard! Wishing me the best of luck while hinting that this is almost impossible to complete! Are you playing with me?"
Karl waved both of his fists at the notification panel, cursing with every vulgar word he could think of, though all of these had no effect on the system. It was one of those ' attack 100% Damage 0%' moments.
After cursing the system for about 30 minutes, he ran out of words he could insult the system, drawing him into the current situation he was. His thoughts became calm and collected, and his attention was drawn to the important information displayed in the quest notification.
Like that, Karl wasted the entire 30 minutes just to protect his pride from being looked down upon while trying hard to improve certain areas of his vocabulary.
" Mm, again, there are those higher beings! Who exactly are they?" His brow furrowed in confusion as he pondered.
" And it seems they are everywhere! I'm hearing these two words more frequently!" He shook his head, the unsettling thought lingering as he tried to make sense of their elusive presence in every corner of the universe.
" Marina, do you still want to keep that information hidden to me, despite you being my divine servant?" Karl asked out loud, in an authoritative voice, lacing hope of having some help from his servant.
He waited for a few seconds, expecting a reply, but other than the melodic sound of water churning and flowing beneath his feet, he couldn't hear anything.
" Oh, now you also want to play with me, right?" Karl thought out loud.
" My patience has become limited because of all of this shit. I think of all the people, you yourself know how I irritated I'm now! So come out, don't waste my time!"
Oh, now we see him thinking about wasting time.
Karl waited again for few seconds, expecting the soft, melodic sound of her voice, which always had an enormous effect on soothing his worries out, and her elegant yet alluring appearance in her divine clothes, emanating an ethereal glow.
Though he always tended to start a quarrel with her, Karl liked her presence by his side, which encouraged him to press forward despite the challenges he met. After all, she was the only person, he could trust with his life, as she seemed to had this special ability— to heal his earlier wounds caused by his little sister— giving him hope in trusting someone.
And now he felt something was wrong. Marina wasn't a person to abandon someone. He knew this for sure as they were bound by a contract, linking them for an eternity. There was no way, this could be broken that easily.
And then once again the system's notification sound beeped.
" Ding...
The host's divine servant: Marina Throwart is prohibited to enter the Land of Magic, since external help in this test is considered as cheating."
Karl shook his head in disappointment and despair as he once again felt lonely after a very long time. This feeling was stressful, yet strangely nostalgic as if his very own feelings were trying to make him realize that he would always be alone!
And then something caught his attention.
The earlier peaceful environment in the Land of Magic had seemingly began to undergo some changes. These changes were subtle, yet they were tangible, causing Karl's body sensors scream in danger as he observed.
And to worsen this situation, he felt these changes were increasing in prominence little by little, sending shivers in his spine, making him freeze in place, his mind becoming blank for a moment.
Waves of mysterious energy fluctuations crashed on him in every direction, making every cell in his body scream in pain, blood flowing through his nostrils and he felt his mind becoming dizzy facing the oppressive aura of a strong cultivator.
His legs lost their strength as he knelt on the mythical land covered by the thick mist. But soon his body also lost in strength, making him fall flat on the ground.
A comforting yet strange scent invaded his nose, as strange feelings began to pour into his mind, encouraging him to give up on striving hard, which he thought he would never had in his deep sea of thoughts.
" Is it really okay to give up?" Karl felt his mind succumbing to the scent and the strange comfort his body felt, while being engulfed in a mixture of thick mist and cold water.
He sighed and slightly shook his head, as his eyes slowly began to close.