[Quest: "Dummy Slayer"]
[Objective: Beat one of the Dummies.]
[Time: 7 days]
[Reward: 'Pass Card'.]
"Hey, was it you?" he asked EGO.
[Surprisingly, no, it's not your class who gave you this quest.]
"As I thought…"
Even though Leon was a slacker in class, he had once heard his teacher inform them that "quests" could not only be given by a talent/class, but also by people if the conditions were right.
Of course, quests given by people couldn't increase stats or give out skills, but physical rewards on the other hand were actually possible.
"Pass Card" was the reward in question, but Leon could only wonder what could its use be.
It was obvious that the nation was giving this quest to anyone who entered the training room, and if it wasn't for being able to ask EGO, then Leon would have probably guessed it was only a side-quest given by his talent, which was what anybody else must have guessed as they got it.
But then… what use would be there in giving it?
Side-Quests are obviously different from actual Quests, since many consider them as unneeded and bothersome if the reward isn't good enough.
And it was pretty damn obvious not many would attempt to defeat the dummies after realizing how strong they are, especially for something as vague as a "pass card".
But… what about Leon? What was he thinking?
"I…" everything was clicking in his mind as he kept thinking of the quest, "I think I get it."
[Wow! So smart!] EGO smiled.
"We HAVE to complete this quest, no matter what," he walked inside the room, looking for an empty area to fight a dummy, and he easily found one at the far right, "I'll tell the others about it when I find them."
[Maybe you should have waited to know what is their room number, then,]
"Oh."
Leon didn't realize his mistake until now, but he would for sure find them, so no worries.
~DING~
He entered the zone with the dummy right before the end of the invisible barrier through the human-sized entrance that was placed at the front, then it immediately closed behind him.
[Name: Leon Devour]
[Class: Devourer]
[Defeat the dummy!]
The dummy, made out of wood, and which had been completely still from earlier, suddenly started moving, and its eyes lit up with a viciousness that caught Leon off guard.
[Watch out, that thing is strong…] EGO squinted his eyes as he analyzed it, [I think they adjust the difficulty between each person since the dummies we saw before had a different amount of aura than this one.]
"And?"
[It means that they adjust the dummy to be equal in power to you, idiot, which is why it's difficult.]
"Oh," Leon let out, yet he still felt confident as it couldn't be this bad, right?
But he was in for a serious reality check - this dummy was no joke. Its movements were fast, and its strikes packed a serious punch.
~SLAM~
Leon rushed towards it to try and punch it, but it easily avoided his attacks and punched his stomach, sending him flying toward the barrier.
[Fight ended since too much damage received, try again later!]
"Oh… come on…" Leon got up, his head hurting like hell, the fight had only started that it already ended.
He left the area as the dummy retrieved its original spot.
"How is that thing equal in power, it literally destroyed me…" Leon sighed as he wiped the blood that come out of his mouth.
[I can assure you it has the same amount of aura and power as you do, it just has better technique.]
"Then, doesn't that mean that in order to defeat it…"
[Yes, you need to have better technique than it does before the 7 days end.]
This was one hell of a challenge to conquer, even for Leon, and probably for all others as well.
But if he managed to do it, then he would surely become much stronger.
He turned his head to the right, and he saw many people get beaten, yet rise up and go back inside the zone to fight the dummy, enhancing their movements and attacks each time.
This [Training] room was truly incredible, and it somehow pushed people to keep doing better.
But… there is another kind of people, actually, it was the majority:
"FUCK THIS SHIT," after being beaten for the fourth time, a muscular guy with a sword in hand got out of the area and headed toward the exit of the [Training] section, "I'm not doing all that useless shit for a pass, I'll manage to get stronger during the ascension challenge."
The great majority of people would lose their nerves and just abandon this side-quest since it wasn't needed.
"…"
[They are making a mistake, aren't you gonna tell them?]
"…" Leon looked at his hand, clenching his fist, then back at EGO, "No, they need to have the motivation to keep going, I'll just tell my own teammates, the others can figure it out themselves."
[Nice, didn't expect less from you!]
They couldn't know the time unless they looked at the giant cloak that was set up in the lobby as there were actually no windows, and the doors of the facility had magically disappeared (like actually, they weren't in their spot anymore), so all the students were trapped, but none seemed to care.
Leon looked for his friends for an additional hour, waiting in the lobby, but in the end he was tired, so he took some food from the cafeteria and went back to his room, tired from everything that was happening and the punch from the dummy still hurting him.
As always, the hallways were packed with people who were laughing and cheering, excited at the prospect of getting stronger and being recognized by the nation.
Leon was pretty much the only one with a grim expression.
[If only they knew, but humans do like to ignore the obvious stuff, don't they?]
~BEEP~
He opened his room using his card, then jumped on the bed, his face against the soft pillow.
[You'll have 6 days to defeat the dummy starting tomorrow, I believe in you, Host!]
"Believe in me all you want, we still need to get stronger," Leon turned around, his eyes looking at the ceiling.
[We did figure out that anyone who didn't complete that side-quest would be expelled after all, right?] EGO smiled as he placed himself in Leon's field of vision.
"Right."
[Well, then, rest well as it will be greatly needed!] the small fireball seeped back into Leon's body as it also needed to rest once in a while, a Devourer's job can't be done when tired after all, right?
And so just like that, Leon fell asleep.
[6 days remain]