A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"Good, seems like you all agree. Now as for how the mission will be run..." Pelaros then explain the protocols for the mission, at least on the macro scale. They will set out right after the meeting to the cliff edge between the city and the forest. There they will rest for the night and then set out at dawn to the Pyknos fort, where they will be briefed again and the cleric would join their party.

From there they will go into the forest to explore, after having been briefed on the monsters and undead common in the area. They are to return each day to the fort until they get familiar with the area around the fort, then they can start delving deeper. Each time taking their time to get used to the forest and what they should expect.

The key was that this mission was not to be rushed, but it had to be done well. They were not to just run into the forest, but rather to scour it for the cause. Only if the signs of corruption were to spread quicker were they to hasten their search. If this does not happen, then they must take their time.

Once Pelaros finished his explanation of the plan he asked if there were any questions, and Eldrian got a notification that he had accepted a quest. A special one, one he didn't even know existed in this game.

[Player has accepted a storyline quest. (A quest not limited to just a single kingdom, but rather to the entire invasion)]

[Quest Name: Corruption spreads]

[Quest Giver: Pelaros]

[Quest Rank: SS]

[Quest Description: Find information on the appearance of corruption in the southern border of Taurus, in the forest of Pyknos. This is not the only appearance of this corruption and its discovery is vital to all races in the war for survival.]

[Quest Goal 1 (For completion of the quest): Deliver news of the cause to Pelaros, or any other royal family members of Taurus.]

[Quest Goal 2 (For completion of the questline): Deal with the cause of corruption. (Ranked Epic)]

Reading this had left Eldrian slightly absentminded and caused him to miss the first few questions. A simple thought stuck in his head; Epic ranked quest... Epic ranked... This simple word told him that this quest was really not simple and that it truly was a suicide mission. At least if they actually attempted to do more than find the cause.

[Quest Reward: 4 levels]

[Quest Payment 1: Access to Magic Crystal (Already given, will not be revoked even if quest failed)]

[Quest Payment 2: 20 Gold coins]

[Quest Payment 3: Choice of up to 3 Tier 4 magic weapons/armor, or a single Tier 5 magic weapon/armor]

[Quest Payment 4 (Only given if Goal 2 is accomplished): Choice of up to 4 Tier 5 magic weapons/armor, or a single Tier 6 magic weapon/armor]

[Quest Party: 18NPCs - Evules, Evale, Kydone, Zereus, Corbol, Gregeron, Basalion, Appina, Cillike, Thesice, Pegeron, Demerios, Absede, Rasmem, Kades, Baletus, Hellen, Cilia, Savvises]

Eldrian was left simply without words as he finished reading the description. The rewards were also unlike anything he had seen before. Normally the difficult quests didn't really have any tempting rewards for him. Generally, the biggest reward was actually the XP gain, this time he felt the rewards actually lived up to the difficulty.

This is better, this feels more gamelike... But it isn't, these rewards... Eldrian came out of his thoughts and listened to a bit to the questions, all of which was actually about the rewards. What he was shown would be his, through the system, did not even come close to what these people were asking.

He felt this was fair, as he was the weakest. They asked for land, a chance to take over a town if they were nobles. If not then they asked for a minimum of a Tier 6 weapon even if the quest was abandoned. Though this has to be an agreed abandonment and not just them deserting. If they actually succeeded then they asked for Tier 7 weapons and armor at the minimum, many asking for Tier 8.

Others asked for state secret techniques, such as the arrays used for teleportation in magic towers. Or for the royal family blood in an attempt to gain some of the abilities the royal family had. All things that everyone felt worth going on such a dangerous mission.

Near the end only Evules and Evale hadn't stated their claim, Kydone having asked for a manor and enough gold to never need to work again. This wasn't really all that much, it was actually one of the easiest to give, compared to all the others.

"Evale, you are going to be the leader of this mission. State what you want in return." Pelaros said as he looked at her, knowing the twins he felt their wish would be similar.

She looked at Pelaros and bit her lower lip in contemplation, "I don't know anymore. I had wanted to ask for the construction of a magic tower in our town." Hearing this everyone to a sharp breath, even Pelaros seemed to quickly turn slightly gray. "I hoped for this to solidify our defense... But I fear it is already too late."

"It might indeed be." Pelaros quickly agreed that it was, he would much rather evacuate the town than need to build a magic tower. The cost of that was simply too much, something he did not even have the authority to give. If she had actually asked for that then he would have to consult with the current king.

"Then we want to rebuild our town behind the city, where it should be much safer for our citizens." Evules said as he saw his sister failing to come up with an alternative, "Though we do want this town's defenses to be much better than normal. Stone walls on even the outer wall, along with a protected keep big enough to house all our citizens."

"Evules, you do know how expensive that is..." Pelaros said, hoping they would give in.

"Our people will need somewhere to stay, we can't just keep them in the city. Or rather we can, but what about when the other towns evacuate? This is something that must be done, we just ask for extra measures to be taken."

"Still, the cost..."

"It is both our wish," Evale said, hoping this would sway the decision.

Kydone suddenly perked up her ears as she heard this. "And mine too if it isn't enough!"

Pelaros sighed as he heard this, three people giving up their rewards would still not come near to the cost of this. But it added much greater weight behind it, especially when the cost went back into the kingdom.

"I will have to convene with the king, everyone leave. Except for you three and Haru." Shocked Eldrian stayed in place as everyone left, wondering just why he was also told to stay.

As soon as the room was cleared Pelaros spoke again, "I don't actually need to convene the king, this is totally acceptable."

"Then why send everyone out?" Evale asked.

"To make everyone else not ask for more. Your request is indeed much more resource-intensive, but it is also for the kingdom. They won't care about the latter and it can become quite an argument. Time is a factor and I would rather not need to negotiate for a couple of days. This way with them believing it is the king's decision, then they won't dare argue." Pelaros patiently explain.

"And why am I here?" Eldrian asked as he still did not understand.

"Because you four will be the core of the mission." A female voice suddenly spoke up, Eldrian quite familiar with it.

"Myropsis?" Eldrain asked in confusion. Pelaros instead sighed in relief as he finally knew she had made it back in time.

She did not explain, instead it was Pelaros wo did so, "While we do not know the cause of the corruption, only using the encroaching as a reference isn't very smart."

Myropsis then took over, "So this dimensional storage here has all the books, theories, notes... Everything we have on it. It also has around a hundred hand-sized mana crystals and ten hand-sized Mov Crystals."

Hearing this everyone's mouths fell open and didn't close for a long time. Until Eldrian couldn't control himself anymore, "Are you serious!? What the hell! I thought Mov Crystals are extremely rare, and dimensional storages even more so!" Eldrian's shouts and questioned were directly aimed at Myropsis, who just days before had said she wouldn't be able to get her hands on any.

"Indeed... They are, but this mission is too important." Myropsis quickly answered before turning to Evale, "Evale you are only a Tier 4 arrayist so you do not have the greatest skill, but you should have an idea of what is going on. Other than the priest, a Tier 6 array master will also join you at the fort. You will be responsible to help her if you find the cause. That is naturally if an array can counteract it."

"And if it can't, who is to keep these precious items?" Evale asked, not wishing to touch the dimensional storage. What Myropsis held in her outstretched hand was worth tens of thousands of gold. If she lost it, she feared her citizens would pay the price.