Chapter 4: The Prelude of the First Overture

Far below in the depths of Aria, our proud warrior made his declaration of war against all those who may stand against him. However though, he still has no idea where to even begin! And so he decided to plan out his next move, let's see what he comes up with!

Shin gazed into the abyss before him, the only light he could see was what came down from the hole he was plunged from. The moonlight from the surface reached all the way down into the waters below, but didn't make it too far into the actual cave. With his new levels and better understanding of his own abilities, he decided to tread carefully deeper into the Pandemonium.

"Damn, I guess there's no where else to go but forward? Hopefully I don't run into anything too crazy in there." I murmured while peering forward into the darkness. Fear of the unknown creeped into my heart, but I knew there wasn't any other way to go.

I begin advancing slowly and cautiously into the Tranquil Pandemonium with my scythe readied for any enemy ambush. My eyes weren't completely adjusted to the darkness yet so it was very hard to see. If only I had some way to light my path...?

"Oh crap that's right, I have a fire spell. I wonder if I use it to make a torch?" I began to look around the floor for something to ignite, however though, there were only rocks and spider corpses in the immediate area.

"Damn, I knew it wouldn't be that easy. There has to be something I can use around here?" I began to rationalize my thoughts, and doing so I was hit with another idea to try.

"Wait I wonder if the shop thing has something? I haven't even looked at it yet!" I then tried calling forth the shop with my mind and lo-and-behold, a new unique floating box appeared before me!

"Welcome to the Bazaar! Here you can buy items to aid on your journey!"

I then saw tabs with names listed above as I examined the new menu in front of me, and at the corner of the Bazaar menu, I saw my SC balance.

"Looks like I got 264 SC to spend! That seems pretty promising!"

I read off the tabs that were listed while scratching my head, "Weapons, armors. potions, ingredients, keys, quest items, and miscellaneous? This Bazaar thing will definitely come in handy in the future, now where would I find torches?"

I immediately looked at the miscellaneous tab, "That's the only place I would assume it's at?" I opened the miscellaneous tab and saw a countless variety of items appear. The options seemed endless, and I had no idea where they would be located. That was until I realized they were in alphabetical order...

"I got to search for the T's..." I began scrolling until I saw the T's.

"Oh jackpot! Looks like they got torches here after all!" And then I saw they were pretty cheaply priced too! "Only 20 SC for them!? Dang I might have to check the other items when I have the chance!"

I then bought 3 torches for 60 SC, my balance dropped to 204 after the transaction. I then decided to check out if there was any armors or weapons I could purchase too!

I first checked the weapons tab and was flooded with a whole slew of weaponry. "Wow they got some crazy stuff in here, and what's that?" I then noticed the weapons had star icons below them, the more stars a weapon had, the higher on the list it was.

"Geez the ones with more stars are so damn expensive! Like who the hell would have 20,000,0000 SC to spend on a dagger!? Does more stars mean that they're much stronger than the rest!?" 

I began comparing stats between the star levels, the ones with higher stars were much less in stock than ones with lower star tiers. I counted only a handful of 7 star weapons, but barrel loads of 1 star weapons!

The star levels ranged from 1 to 7 and were separated into groups based on category; they kept the same type of weapons together for easier navigation I guess.

"Hmm let's see if there's any cheap swords I could buy? I don't think this scythe is gonna be any good for me anymore..."

I went to the swords and scrolled down to the 1 and 2 star weapons, and even those seemed kind of out of my price range. "Even the cheap 1 star weapons go for around 300 SC or more! I should probably check the armors tab for now, I think I'm good with the scythe after all..."

I saw the armors and they were also ranked by stars, higher starred armors were astronomically stronger than all the others but also astronomically more expensive!

I went back to the scythes just to see what the 7 star one had to offer...

"DAMN WHO THE HELL HAS THAT KIND OF MONEY!? 30,000,000 SC!? Lord have mercy! What do the stats look like on something like that!?" I immediately clicked on the stats of the scythe at hand and this is what it read:

Scythe: [Sacrilege]
Rarity: ★★★★★★★
Attributes: +35,000 [ATK] / +50,000 [???] / +20,000 [MP]
Weight: 1,250.5lbs
Passives: [???], [???], [???]
Requirements: 1,000 [Strength], 1,000 [???], <Unknown Class Required>
Bio: "In the Lightless Universe before the Songs began, this scythe committed the ultimate sacrilege during the Sunder of Light and Dark. It tore open the Chasm that connected all Life and thus began Death. Only those who walk above Life and Death can wield this power in it's true and terrible potential!"

"Jeez even the bio seems outrageous..."

The stats on this weapon seem remarkable, unlike anything I've ever seen. The comparison between my rusty old scythe and this Sacrilege scythe are almost night and day! There's even hidden attributes on this one too that I might never even see!

I then pulled up the stats of my current scythe just to compare:

Scythe: [Old Rusty Scythe]
Rarity: ★
Attributes: +3 [ATK] / ??? / ???
Weight: 10.5lbs
Passives: N/A
Requirements: None
Bio: "An old rusty scythe with a marred edge, however something seems strange about this one?"

"Well God dang, what kind of power does that scythe have!? It may take an eternity to reach those kind of levels, but I won't stop until I get there. I have to rise to the top no matter what, I don't really have another choice."

I begin checking for 1 star scythes in the shop, they all ranged from 300 - 4,500 SC whilst being slightly better than the last.

"Even these are slightly out of my price range, I guess I need to get some more SC. I can't buy anything just yet." And with that I closed the Bazaar, I need to focus on getting more levels and SC, or else I'm gonna die out here!

"Well, here goes nothing!" And thus I dashed deeper into the darkness, I then called for my inventory and found my torches underneath the miscellaneous tab and brought one out. Soon a perfectly lit up torch manifested out of thin air and into my hands. "Sheesh, this really is useful..."

The area around me was immediately illuminated by the fire, I was able to see clearly now thanks to the torch, "Oh that's so much better!" I noticed tiny critters and bugs scurrying about as soon as the new light had reached them, almost like they were scared of it.

I began walking through the darkness and followed a stone path that was before me, it almost seemed like someone had placed this here to lead somewhere, however I wasn't entirely sure.

I walked for about 40 minutes until I was alerted by something completely unexpected!

A large neon box appeared in front of me, it read,

"Congratulations! You have received a new daily quest from the Constellations above! Would you like to view it?" 

"AAH! What the hell!? That scared the crap out of me! A new daily quest from the Constellations? What do they want with me now?" 

I reluctantly agreed to view the new daily quest, "Whatever, let's see what they want! Not like I have anything better to do."

A new box opened before me, this one read:

"Daily Quest: Basic Training!
Please complete the following before the next 22 hour cycle to receive rewards!

You are reading story Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! at novel35.com

Tasks:
- 0/100 Push-ups
- 0/100 Sit-ups
- 0/100 Squats
- 0/1 Mile Run
- 10 minute meditation

Failure to complete all tasks before the 22 hour interval will result in a disciplinary game!
Time left: 21 hours, 58 minutes."

"What is this? A quest that forces me to train? And what happens if I don't do it? I guess I can probably figure that out later, for now I should probably do what it says. What are even the rewards for completing this damn thing?"

I tried calling for the rewards list but they stayed hidden from me, it's whatever I guess. I think I should start doing the quest now since I have some free time. 

I pondered for a bit, "What should I start with first? I think I should do the push-ups and sit-ups first since they don't take too much time, then afterwards I'll do the squats before the meditation and mile run."

I looked deep into the caverns, nothing but disembodied echoes and the sound of dripping water could be heard all around. My torch's fire crackled and popped as it gave light into the abyss. I don't think I need to find a hiding place since it's empty here anyways...

And thus I put down my torch and got down into push-up position, "Alright let's go! One, two, three, four, five..."

I counted my reps out loud, I didn't realize how quiet it was until I started counting. My voice left a small echo that travelled quite a distance before disappearing. Maybe I should count in my head...

I began to mentally keep count of my reps, "Twenty-five, Twenty-six, Twenty-seven, Twenty-eight, Twenty-nine.... and Thirty!"

I stopped at thirty due to fatigue and sore muscles, "Ugh, this is gonna be harder than I thought!" I was already panting like a dog and I wasn't even halfway finished yet!

I then called to check the progress on my quest:
- 30/100 Push-ups

I nodded my head, "I just need to keep going..."

After about 8 minutes of repeated reps and rests, I finally reached my first goal, "Ninety-nine... and ONE HUNDRED!" My body went completely limp and I was drenched in sweat! "Phew! That was intense! I hope it gets easier... huff huff..."

I lied on my back and readied myself for sit-ups! "Well here we go!" I repeated the same process for the sit-ups and reaped the same consequences of fast workouts on an untrained body. I did sit-ups for about 15 minutes not including rests in-between sets!

My stomach felt like it was on fire, I lied down for a couple moments to get back my breathing. I thought to myself, "Yeah maybe I should've started with meditation instead huff huff."

It was now time for next workout, squats!

"Maybe I can knock these out pretty fast, 100 squats shouldn't be that hard to do!" I get myself ready and begin my next workout, I hit those squats faster than anything!

"One, two, three, four, five!" I kept counting. With my other muscles recovering, I began to feel a 2nd wind hit me. Energy and adrenaline started to rush me in that very moment and I did the squats really fast.

"Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven---" *CRAAASH*

A loud explosion suddenly boomed reverbing back and forth throughout the caverns! The ground began to rumble and I immediately ended my workout!

"What in God's name was that!?"

*Booom! Booooom! Boom! Crash!*

The loud explosions furiously continued on, this could only mean one thing.

"There's something over there, what should I do?" I was conflicted with two options, either go and find out, or run the other direction and hide from it.

One seemed more reasonable than the other, however my curiosity and greed for EXP began to overpower my sound judgment. And in the end, I decided on my choice, "I may regret doing this, but I need to know what's over there!"

And without hesitation, I picked up my ignited torch and ran towards the raging echoes! 

The explosions and blasts grew louder with every step I made, and soon they sounded as though they were right in front of me! I soon felt a large presence near me, it was unlike anything I could ever explain. Somehow I knew it belonged to something, or someone? Could this be because of my sense attribute?

Suddenly out of the blue, a massive dark red flashing box appeared before me:

! WARNING ! 
An extraordinary foe draws near!
Proceed carefully with the upmost caution
Your life is at risk!

"What the hell? I've never seen a warning like this before!? Just what is over there!?" Soon the loud explosions started to wane silent. Almost like whatever's happening over there is wrapping things up!

Before I knew it, I found the source of the loud explosions and I immediately ducked in cover behind a large rock and hid. The area was dimly lit and only traces of fire could be seen around me.

It was only then that I realized there was more monsters nearby, I could hear them talking to each other and they fought against whatever they were fighting. I simply hid and continued to listen. I was not about to join in whatever was over there, not out of fear but out of common sense!

The raging battle was maybe 20 meters away from my position, but I dared not get any closer. I heard screams and wailing cries from multiple creatures, I even decided to ready up a fireball spell just for worst case scenario.

"Just stay calm Shin..." I repeated in my mind.

The extraordinary presence I sensed began to diminish slowly with every second that passed, and the battle starting to calm itself. After awhile, it felt very faint, almost like it wasn't there anymore.

After some time, the fighting seemed to have dissipated, and the voices began to fade away. I then heard a group of creatures run out with haste until they were no more. It was then that I decided to look over the rock to see the carnage left behind.

When I gazed upon the battlefield, I saw nothing but broken rocks and receding flames, until my eyes perceived something that completely baffled me. I think I found the extraordinary foe it warned me about, it just wasn't what I expected to see...

With dark red scales, and torn crimson wings, the scaled beast peered at me with it's fiery gaze. This was something I only ever heard about in fairytales, but to see one with my own eyes astounded me.

The creature was covered in both swords and spears all over, and had large gashes that proceeded blood. However, somehow it was still alive and barely breathing, kind of like I was a little while earlier.

Despite the warning box flashing before me, I decided to take a few steps towards the dying beast. 

My mind was flooded with many thoughts on what it could be, but the only words that escaped my mouth were, "Is that a freaking dragon!?"

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