Chapter 9: Chapter 8: A Meeting With Four Guardians

A quest… So, I’ll need keys to continue. Upon seeing the quest pop-up, Claire closed the UI window, contemplating her current situation.

I assume I’ll get them through some of these doors. She had suspected beforehand that the other 4 doors were important for something, but it was in her creed to always try the least obvious option first.

She navigated her avatar to the door nearest her, facing the left side of the hallway. Then, she entered the room, curious of what this trial might entail.

As Claire entered the room, she spotted the figure of a well-dressed man, sat on a rounded wood table, a fireplace illuminating the background. Like clockwork, a line of dialogue appeared before her, options for replies listed right next to it.

Bartholomeus: Oh, a visitor. Please sit down and make yourself at home.

The NPC greeted Claire, a smile on its avatar's face. When she read the quest title, Claire had already made a meander of what it would entail, but the NPC in front of her, was more interesting than she initially expected.

Bartholomeus: I already know what you're here for, a key, am I right?

As his dialogue finished an animation of Bartholomeus twirling a key in his hands played, a playful smile plastered across his face.

Bartholomeus: I do not mind giving it to you, but first you must defeat me in something.

Bartholomeus: How about a game of chess?

Chess? Upon reading that word, Claire’s body perked up, her eyes even more focused on the screen.

<Quest: Game Master's Curiosity>

A quest pop-up appeared as the NPC finished speaking, it seemed like she needed to complete this to get the key. 2 dialogue options appeared on screen in front of her, giving her the choice to accept the quest or deny it.

I accept. Lillian clicked on the button that said yes. Even if it wasn’t mandatory, she would never pass up a game of chess.

<Quest: Game Master's Curiosity - Started>

As soon as she accepted the quest, the NPC began speaking, its tone joyous.

Bartholomeus: Oh goodie, it has been a while since I have played with another person.

As Bartholomeus's dialogue finished, a screen popped up in-game, displaying a chess board. Claire’s mouth curved up into a smile, anticipating the game. Stretching her hands into the air, she surveyed the board, planning her first move.

Let’s do a classic. Pawn to d4.

Claire began the game, making her first move. The pieces on the screen moved quickly, the NPC moving in almost an instant. She moved again, moving another piece forward to put pressure on Bartholomeus. Oh, this is tough.

Her face was contorted into a focused frown, every part of her focused on the match.

Clack.

More pieces moved on the board, Claire and the NPC moving in tandem, going one after the other. She had to commend whoever developed the AI for this chess match, it had been a long time since she’s played an interesting game. She furiously jotted down possible moves on her notebook, scribbling and scrawling of numbers and letters splayed across it.

'Knight to B2'

In time, her pace sped up, or rather, the NPC began to slow down. With every move Claire made, the NPC was taking more and more time to make a move, almost a slog compared to the game’s beginning. The disparity between the two boards growing larger and larger, Claire’s side still strong in pieces, she decided to end the game, having had enough fun.

And this is. She clicked on the chess piece, the possible places for it to move showing up on screen. Moving her cursor, she moved it to the NPC’s one blind spot. Checkmate.

The screen flashed for a moment, the chessboard disappearing and replaced with the view of an enthused Bartholomeus.

Clap, clap, clap.

Bartholomeus: That was absolutely splendid! In all my years playing chess I have never once faced defeat.

Bartholomeus: Here is your key, I wish I could offer you more, but sadly there is nothing much of value here.

Bartholomeus: I wish you luck on getting the other keys.

<You have obtained item: [Key 2]>

An item went into Claire’s inventory, the NPC giving her a wave to see her off. Claire smiled to herself and left the room, satisfied from that game. It had been easy, also odd as a challenge, but if that was all she had to do to pass this trial, then it would be a piece of cake.

Three more to go

It was a dimly lit room, devoid of decoration. Sat in the centre of it, straight on the hard looking floor was a man with dark red skin, two large horns protruding from out of his head. His eyes were closed arms and legs crossed in a meditative position.

Agares: …

Excuse me. Claire clicked on a dialogue option that popped up next to the next book. In response to Claire’s actions, Agares pointed to a tome next to him, causing a wall of text to pop-up on Claire's screen. It was jumble of nonsense unreadable to the naked eye. Before she could even attempt to decipher it, a line of red flashed across her screen.

CRASH!

A loud sound blared from the game, Claire’s eyes widening as she watched her avatar get flung across the room, the health bar on her screen going down to critical. That chess game had made her too relaxed, unprepared for battle.

Agares: HAHAHA, gets them every time!

Agares: You looking for this?

Agares: Defeat me in battle and I'll give it to you.

<Quest: Battle Maniac's Duel Request - Started>

A quest pop-up appeared, not giving Claire a choice between accepting or denying Agares' challenge. As soon as the pop-up disappeared, a red health bar and the number 6006 appeared above Agares' head, as the giant began to move.

Thud.

Thud.

CRASH!

Claire quickly got into action, using a [Godly Healing Salve], and activating her abilities.

She was luckily able to use healing items while in battle, the game recognizing this quest as a boss battle instead of a duel.

Thankfully for her, the class ascension did not affect either her stats or skills, letting her play just like normal.

<Skill, [Calamity Strikes] activating>

Whoosh!

A flurry of slashes was sent toward Agares chipping away at his health. When he sent attacks back at her, Claire skillfully dodged, using the small gap in-between Agares’ attacks to counter him.

<Skill, [Concept: Demonic] activating>

Soon, Claire's avatar was clad in an aura of demonic energy, boosting her speed and damage.

I have 15 seconds. Claire eyed her health bar, before furiously tapping away at her keyboard.

<Skill, [Concept: Charge] activating>

<Skill, [1000 ripples] activating>

<Skill, [Calamity Strikes] activating>

<Skill, [Cut] activating>

<Skill Chain, [Tempest], recognized>

A barrage of attacks was launched toward Agares, and with the help of the skill Concept: Charge, knocked his health all the way down to 10%,

Just one more attack. Claire swiftly changed her equipment, switching from a longsword to a dagger. Waiting for Agares to recover, Claire consumed another health potion before watching for an opening.

Agares: Very good, but can you dodge this?!

Soon a large aura of energy surrounded Agares, as he prepared his ultimate attack. Seeing this as a chance, Claire swiftly moved towards Agares, skilfully dodging all the projectiles coming at her.

<Skill, [Backstab] activating>

In a few short sequences, Claire moved behind Agares, coating her dagger with a thin layer of mana.

KRSCHK!

Just like that, Claire easily defeated Agares, his body disappearing with particles of light. Then, Agares respawned, sitting in the same spot he was in when Claire entered the room.

Agares: AHAHA, WHAT A WONDERFUL BATTLE!

Claire's health and mana bars were healed to full, as Agares’ avatar made a wide clapping motion, congratulating Claire for her victory.

Agares: Here child, take this key.

<You have obtained item: [Key 4]>

The NPC remained laughing sitting down, not seeming like it was going to stop anytime soon. That was certainly unexpected. A sneak attack from a boss was not unheard of, but this just took the cake. The thing that irked Claire was that it wasn’t a tough fight. The reason it brought her to any form of danger was because she wasn’t paying attention, but with a single healing item, she had been able to bring the boss down to its knees. These challenges are easy, almost too easy.

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She put those thoughts aside, leaving the room and heading right into the next one.

-

Two more left. She thought to herself, entering the next room.

Sage of the 7 skies: Greetings child, how may this old man help you

Claire was greeted once more by an NPC dialogue box, this time the one talking to her was an old-looking man in a green tunic, sitting on the floor atop a single red throw pillow. Funnily enough, the game didn’t give her any choices to respond, so she opened the dialogue box before choosing a reply. It didn’t matter much what she chose as she always had the choice to retry.

Greetings elder, I came here to get the key for the door at the end of the hallway.

Sage of the 7 skies: I can definitely get one for you, but before that would you listen to my request?

It would seem like her response was a success as she instantly got a response from the NPC, as well as a quest.

<Quest: Old Man's Tale.>

“It would be my honour elder”

She once again clicked a dialogue box to move the conversation forward.

Sage of the 7 skies: Ohohoho, very good then, what shall I have you do…

The NPC spoke in a cheery tone, as its avatar stroked its chin.

Sage of the 7 skies: Would you listen to one of my stories?

“Glady elder.” Claire once again clicked on a reply.

<Quest: Old Man's Tale - Started>

Sage of the 7 skies: Hm, where should I begin… well then. This story starts with a young boy, who knew not of the world. Full of innocence and joy, just like a child should.

A quest pop-up appeared, informing Claire that she had begun a quest, and then the NPC began speaking.

Sage of the 7 skies: One day, the gods received an oracle. That one day, a being would come into existence, that could drag them down from their thrones in heaven.

Sage of the 7 skies: That being was that very young boy. Frightened by what they heard the gods approached the boy, hoping to raise him themselves, lest he comes to kill them.

The NPC paused, only “…” showing up in its dialogue box.

Sage of the 7 skies: That’s where the story ends.

Sage of the 7 skies: Tell me, child,

The NPC who had previously stared only in front of it turned in the direction of Claire's avatar.

Sage of the 7 skies: What do you think happened at the end of that story?

Claire watched as a long list of responses popped up on the screen. Soon a timer popped out next to the dialogue options, ticking down each second. Under the pressure of time, Claire chose the answer she thought was most correct, not thinking much about it.

“I’m don’t know Elder.” Her avatar replied

Sage of the 7 skies: Is that so… please do not worry, I am not trying to test you. Even I haven’t deciphered how that tale would end.

Sage of the 7 skies: A tale older than this very tower.

Sage of the 7 skies: This key is for you child, for listening to this old man's tale.

<Quest: Old Man's Tale - Clear>

<Quest reward delivered: [Key 3]>

After the NPC finished its dialogue and gave Claire the key, she quickly left the room.

One more challenge to go. If it’s like all the other ones, I’ll be out of here in no time. With that thought in mind, Claire entered the final door of the 4, entering a pitch-black room.

-

Claire once more interacted with the door, but instead of finding a figure and a line of dialogue, all she saw was an empty room devoid of anything or anyone in it. She wandered around the room, searching for literally anything inside. When she stopped walking for a moment, a message popped up.

You have already gotten 3 of 4 keys, so just take the last one and don't bother me…

Claire tilted her head. How curious.

As she closed the message, a notification popped up in front of her.

<You have obtained item: [Key 1]. >

<You have obtained 4/4 keys.>

<Quest: The 4 guardians - Clear>

Before Claire had the chance to process what was going on, her avatar was transported right in front of the last door in the hallway, interacting with it automatically.

<Conditions met, teleporting player.>

Soon, Claire's avatar was transported to a corridor, with a peek of light coming out of the other side.

“There's not much use thinking about it.” She mumbled walking down the empty corridor, eyes wandering around the room. As she got nearer and nearer to the light, Claire spotted a large iron gate, just like the one she used to enter the floor.

That's it.

Upon laying her eyes on it, Claire ran toward the gate, the end.

<Dimensions have crashed - You have encountered, another User>

You've got to be kidding me. Claire cursed under her breath seeing the notification in front of her. This was the last thing she wanted to see right now, especially since she knew who the other user was.

[Boredservant]: …

[Heartstealingthief]: Good to see you too pal!

'Servant is here as well.'

Claire was relieved, she had managed to catch him just in time. Inwardly, of course, she was seething, but she couldn't lose her cool here, lest she was to end up losing.

[Boredservant]: You were supposed to still be on the 98th floor, how are you here already!

[Heartstealingthief]: It's just a difference in skill my friend.

[Boredservant]: Skill difference my ass! I've been doing this for over 30 hours!

[Heartstealingthief]: What can I say, maybe I'm just better than you?

[Boredservant]: You know what, I don’t care anymore. We both got here at the same time what do you want to do?

[Heartstealingthief]: Rank 1 and forever rank 2 team up to conquer the 100th floor?

[Boredservant]: Over my dead body! You know that only 1 person can attempt floor 100 at a time.

[Boredservant]: You just want an excuse to be the first one in the gate...

[Heartstealingthief]: You wanna duel for it? ;)

[Boredservant]: …

[Heartstealingthief]: Whoever wins gets to go first.

[Boredservant]: sure.

[Heartstealingthief]: I'll send you an invite.

<You have sent a Duel Request to user, [Boredservant]>

<Request has been accepted, prepare to duel>

<Skill, [Concept: Demonic] activating>

Her avatar had its skin ooze out a purple mist of miasma, black veins popping out of its body. She went all out from the from the star. This duel wasn’t just whoever got to clear the tower first, no. It was Claire defending her spot as number one.

<Skill, [Cut] activating>

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