...
Approximately 15 minutes earlier...
’This should be the place. Have they not arrived yet?’
At the mont, Izroth was waiting at the coordinates near a small hill to et with a certain individual who had unexpectedly contacted him a couple of hours ago.
Izroth had spent the last day, or rather three days in-ga ti, accepting and completing multiple war objectives. During the process, he gained nearly 300 contribution points! This was mostly due to the advantage of his Captain rank and his ability to accept higher rewarding war objectives.
Izroth did not realize how fortunate he was when it ca to his previous thods of acquiring contribution points. Unfortunately, destroying a city’s magic grid and wiping out its entire population was not sothing that could be done on a whim.
’Hm?’
Izroth glanced to his left side as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his position.
"You’re early. If I had known you were already here, I would not have wasted ti stopping off by the outpost first." A familiar voice sounded.
"I just arrived. Your timing could not have been better placed." Izroth replied.
He then continued, "I have to say your ssage was an unexpected one, Captain Niflheim."
Niflheim shook his head and said, "It’s just Niflheim, now. Though if we are going by our event ranks, then I suppose 10-man Squad Leader Niflheim would be my official title. Too much of a mouthful if you ask ."
A couple of hours ago, Niflheim contacted Izroth out of the blue with a request, which Izroth ultimately accepted. At the ti of his ssage, Niflheim could not pull away from his responsibilities as a 10-man Squad Leader. But, after two hours, he was finally able to move freely—at least for a few hours or so.
"To be truthful, I’m surprised you accepted my sudden request. The last ti we t face to face, we didn’t exactly part ways under desirable circ.u.mstances." Niflheim stated.
"You had a debt, and to that debt, you have already repaid, Niflheim," Izroth replied in a carefree manner.
Izroth did not bla Niflheim for Blue Oasis’ decision back at the Great Sea Palace raid. In the end, it was up to the guild leader of Blue Oasis, Asgard, and despite the theatrics, he made his choice clear.
"Besides, the task you ntioned sounded quite intriguing. I’m just curious as to why you chose to share it with." Izroth ntioned.
Niflheim sighed, "Those I know who et the requirents for it are all a part of Blue Oasis, and those who aren’t from Blue Oasis are too unpredictable or cannot be fully trusted. Since I have cut ties with my forr guild, naturally, I cannot ask for their assistance. You, on the other hand, more than et the requirents and can be taken at your word."
He then continued, "I gave you the rough rundown over chat. But, nothing beats seeing it for yourself in person. Follow ."
Niflheim led the way into a nearby damp, narrow cave located at a hard to find point by the foot of the small hill. From the outside, the cave itself did not seem that big; however, the further inside one traveled, the more they realized just how deep this cave ran underground.
Izroth followed Niflheim, and the two soon ca before a dead end—at least, on the surface.
"I stumbled upon this place by chance when I was first assigned this hill area to investigate with my squad to complete a war objective. Since I’m the only one from my squad who knows of its existence, I decided to leave the information out of my report. After all, this place has nothing to do with either side." Niflheim said as he unequipped his weapon and shield.
"For this part, you’ll need to unequip your weapon." Niflheim stepped forward, and the mont he did so, he passed right through the wall!
’This is one of the black spots I observed using my Energy Vision Sense when I first reached the Demilitarization Belt. I thought they were all the work of one of the two sides, but it seems hidden areas like this are also a cause. Interesting.’
Izroth unequipped his Sword of The Storm and walked forward. Just like Niflheim, he also moved through the cave’s wall, and the scenery around him instantly changed when he arrived on the other side.
〈System Alert: You have received the quest «Resseki & Kiren’s Challenge: Sword & Shield»!〉
〈System Alert: Your stats have been temporarily adjusted!〉
〈System Alert: HP Regeneration and use of inventory have been temporarily disabled!〉
〈System Alert: The cooldown on all your skills have been refreshed!〉
〈System Alert: Certain skills have been temporarily disabled!〉
Instantly after he walked into the room, Izroth received so alerts from the system regarding a quest along with a few limitations to his stats and skills. Of course, Niflheim had already explained this part to him when they spoke via chat.
Na: Izroth
...
[HP(Hit Points): 3/3] [Adjusted]
[Energy: 500] [Adjusted]
[MP: 10,000] [Adjusted]
[Attack: 1] [Adjusted]
[Defense: 0] [Adjusted]
[Agility: 1,000] [Adjusted]
[Magic: 1] [Adjusted]
...
’A strange adjustnt. My mana and energy have increased, but everything else has dropped drastically. Most of my non-sword skills have been grayed out and cannot be utilized. However, the biggest problem is that the amount of HP and defense provided are a bit concerning.’
Izroth swept his gaze throughout the room and examined every corner of his new environnt.
’No one would guess such a structure was secretly hiding away underneath a small hill in the Demilitarization Belt.’
The room was shaped like a giant oval with white concrete walls that spanned upward nearly fifty ters and went across fifteen ters in diaters. There were gray tiles that covered the entire floor, and in the near distance, an ordinary steel sword and plain tal shield hovered a few centiters off the ground at the room’s center.
As he made his way towards the center of the room, Izroth swiftly read over the new entry in his quest logs.
Quest Na: Resseki & Kiren’s Challenge: Sword & Shield
Recomnded Level: None
Recomnded Party Size: 2
Quest Rank: Unique*
Quest Requirent(s):
-Must have exactly two party mbers to participate.
-One party mber must wield only a sword.
-One party mber must wield only a shield.
Quest Objective: He who wields the sword can only attack, never defend. He who holds the shield can only defend, never attack. Attack and Defend for as long as possible. The longer you survive and the higher your score, the better rewards you will receive upon completion. (Must survive a minimum of 10 minutes, or this quest will be considered an automatic fail.)
Ti Limit: None
0/1 Survive as long as possible.
Reward:
-x1 «Resseki’s Flawless Armant» (Sword User Only)
-x1 «Kiren’s Perfect Guardna» (Shield User Only)
-??? (Determined By Score Achieved)
Failure:
-Resseki & Kiren’s challenge is destroyed and can no longer be attempted by anyone.
Special Note: This quest is automatically assigned to a max of 2 players upon entry. All requirents must be t for players to begin the quest.
’A ga of survival where the score influences the reward.’
Izroth reached the center of the room where Niflheim was already standing in front of the tal shield. As for Izroth, he, of course, stood before the steel sword.
"I’ll tell you now; I have no idea what to expect. Nevertheless, once we pick up this sword and shield, there will be no choice but for us to depend on one another to survive." Niflheim stated as he took the tal shield into his hands.
"Life is often full of the unforeseen. One can only adapt or perish." Izroth grabbed the hilt of the steel sword.
Rmmmmmble!
Four passageways opened at the north, south, east, and west sections of the room.
〈System Alert: «Resseki & Kiren’s Challenge: Sword & Shield» has comnced! Starting tir...〉
〈System Alert: Challenge difficulty has been set to x1!〉
Clank. Clank. Clank.
"Sothing’s coming," Niflheim warned.
The sound of rattling wood could be heard coming from the other side of the passageways. A few monts later, four human-like wooden training dolls erged—one from each recently opened passage.
The north wooden doll held a claymore, the south a dagger, the east a saber, and the west a standard steel sword.
"Welco, challengers of the sword and shield. My na is Resseki." A voice rang out.
"If you’ve discovered this place and can hear my voice, then my brother Kiren and I have departed from this world. Before we journeyed to explore the Danger Lands, we decided to leave behind a piece of ourselves in case we never return. But, we won’t hand over our inheritance to just anyone who stumbles upon this place." The voice of Resseki sounded.
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