EIGHT: THE NEW WORLD
(Tyrone Lee)
I had been walking for what seemed like years and decades. Time really did move slow when you were bored. So far I had killed the squadron of Fluffs, a family of another creature which had ice breath, and a few packs of Steel Jawed Wolves.
Although I didn't level up or gain XP officially, I gained more experience myself on how to fend off more monsters. I swear if I had been leveling up normally, I would be at least level 15 by now. The Family of ChillBreaths were enough to push me two levels. I wondered it there were more such places like this for Class Quests of others. And maybe these were where the monster's came from in our world.
It had been five hours walking already, when I decided to take a break. Some break it would be when I didn't have any food or water. I decided to try hitting the weird stream flowing. It was bubbling like acid. I carefully put in the little finger of my left hand in there. It was bubbling alright but it didn't hurt at all! I pulled out my finger and licked the liquid off my finger.
It wasn't bad at all, on the contrary it was like boiling water, except it wasn't even hot. It was bland though. I scooped out the water and drank to my fill. Now all there was left was for me to find some food.
I pulled up the Shop screen, which was available to me now and browsed through the Health section. I didn't find any food items but I found some Hunger Vials, Energy Vials, Recovery Vials and so on. They were reasonably priced with Shards. I brought 3 Hunger Vials, 1 Energy Vials and 5 Recovery Vials for a total of 140 Shards.
As I brought them I got the notification saying the new items were automatically added to my Inventory. I summoned a Hunger Vial and gulped it down.
Damn! I felt like I just had an entire turkey by myself. I had to be careful about these stuff. They were powerful as fuck. Now that I was well fed and watered, I really wished for a nap.
But sadly, I had to complete this quest as soon as I could and I didn't think sleeping here was a good idea. However I decided to take a rest for half an hour. I sat down by one the metal trees and leaned against it, browsing through the other sections of the Shop.
I saw some pretty expensive, but useful items like The Broken Spear, which was really a short spear with a broken handle, but it had the ability to temporarily absorb it's victim's powers and give it to you.
Another useful item was the Equalizer. It was a rifle shaped like an M4, but it was golden all over and had blue energy flowing through it. It used Mana to fire but if you were at least 10 levels higher then the victim will be vaporized immediately but leave the plot behind. However it didn't work on items without Mana. It's cost was unbelievable to me.
I pulled it up for examining closely and it popped up in a hologramic display. I could easily pick it up and feel it in my hands. However I couldn't fire it or anything. I could take it apart by just a few flicks of my fingers and inspect its parts in detail.
I had some fun with it for a while, before I remembered by quest and the long road I still had to walk. I had like eighteen hours left. I got up and started walking again. It was pretty boring since I had no one to talk with or anything to distract myself from the long path. The new planet had lost its appeal by now.
I found the occasional monster which I could just kill with a casual swipe of fire by now. Just as I got too comfortable, a horde of Fluffs jumped out again.
I took out my Spear and stanced myself. But before I was able to move an inch, I heard a distant rumble. Then the ground slowly shook beneath my feet before it stopped. What the hell?! Fluffs weren't that strong to cause earthquakes. I glanced around in case some monster was hiding nearby. I hadn't been looking it, but I was now closer to the Volcano and the turbulence was starting to affect me now. It was getting a bit chilly to be fair.
After getting rid of all the Fluffs, and a pack of Steel Jawed Wolves, which had popped up randomly, I started running towards the Volcano. My patience was at its peak and no way could I walk slowly with it being so close.
As I got closer, lightning crashed around me in different colors. The earthquakes got more frequent. Cold blizzards and hot winds blew together. I used some fire to stop getting pushed back. Surprisingly, there were no more creatures in this storm. I had hoped for some new types of stronger monsters to fight.
I could hear roars different from the thunder, in the distance. Within an hour, I made it to the foot of the Volcano. I spotted an entrance into the Volcano. It was like a cave. I was on high alert as I stepped in.
The second I stepped it, the cave entrance slammed shut and I was engulfed in darkness. I lit a small fire to see around. There was nothing but uneven walls all around me. I had barely taken a few steps forward when the entire cave lit up.
I realised, I wasn't in a cave after all. I was in a colosseum and the stands were filled with different types of monsters and also beautiful creatures which I didn't recognise. There were at least a hundred thousand of them in the stands, cheering and shouting. I couldn't understand their language but I knew one thing for sure: I was just entertainment.
They were all gathered around to watch me. I was in a caged battlefield. There were like a hundred others with me. They didn't look like beasts. Some were dressed and some carried weapons. They looked like various creatures I had never seen before. It was truly a terrifying sight.
"CAN Y'ALL SEE ME?! CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME?! EXCELLENT!!!"
A loud voice boomd from the little podium hanging above, outside the cage. I couldn't see who was in it but I could tell this person was in charge here.
"ALRIGHT!! FOR TODAY'S CONTESTANTS, WE HAVE 100 DIFFERENT PLAYERS!! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE!! THERE ARE NO RULES!!!! BE THE LAST ONE STANDING TO PASS THIS STAGE AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT STAGE!!?"
I got the concept now. It was like a tower game. I was at the lowest level and had to make my way upwards. I didn't know how many levels were there, but I did now how many hours I had left. It was sixteen and a half. I couldn't afford to fail, since I had no idea what would happen if I did.
"SO??? WHAT ARE Y'ALL FODDERS WAITING FOR?!?! START THE SHOW!!!"
I looked around. The creatures had all started leaping and pouncing at each other. I summoned my Spear and brew up a Firestorm. I willed around 70% of my Firestorm in to the Spear. It fired up a bright shade of acid green. my Firestorm grew weak, so I wrapped it around my vital organs and a bit around my fist.
I swooshed my Spear around as it roared happily with the fire. The match had just begun!