New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



Astaroth received Violette's message from inside the dungeon and nodded his head.

'It didn't her too long,' he thought.

Violette immediately accepted the invite as soon as he sent it, and four more names appeared on the party list. Aside from Violette's name, Astaroth read the other three.

The Warrior was called Jaxx; the Defender had named himself Meat-Shield, and the cleric, Jeanne d'Arc, which brought Astaroth's eyebrow up.

'A French name? We haven't crossed many of those in the game, yet.'

But his curiosity quickly died down, as he remembered the task ahead of them. He now only hoped these three players could pull their weight.

If a boss like this was the first one, what would become of the next ones? One thing also bothered him.

Starting in level fifty dungeons, players around the world were finding dungeons that didn't simply have three bosses. The highest amount found in a single dungeon had become seven bosses, and many parties had wiped trying to conquer that dungeon.

In the end, Knights of the Sun had been the ones to conquer it first, after sending in their elite team, with Killi at its head.

Thinking back on their level fifty dungeon, Astaroth realized theirs had not been just three bosses either. After the first two, the zone he had gone into also had many bosses.

With this kind of pattern, Astaroth wondered what the dungeons would be like when they reached higher levels. But this was a question for later.

Right now, he had a more pressing one.

"Lieutenant Tusk."

"What level were the monsters when you started pushing into the dungeon?"

Tusk scratched his head, trying to remember. He was the type to dive into enemies without scanning them, so he rarely remembered the levels of the foes he felled.

He tried checking through his notification board, but since they had received no notifications of enemies killed, or Exp gained, it was a bust.

Fortunately, his party members weren't all airheads like him, and Peaceful Grove replied in his stead.

"The monster varied between level fifty and level fifty-five, sir."

Astaroth looked at her and nodded.

'The levels are in a manageable range. This dungeon shouldn't be too hard, even if it suddenly pumps out boss monsters like crazy,' Astaroth thought.

Astaroth gazed toward the loot chest, which was still untouched. He could see the greed and lust for items in the eyes of his party members, aside from Phoenix, himself, and Chronos, and decided they didn't have to wait on the others to open it.

Walking toward the chest, Astaroth clapped his hand, gathering everyone's attention.

"Alright! Let's open up this reward. Before any of you ask, I don't work as a meritocracy for dungeon loot. You won't be rewarded in function of how you did.

"Of course, it affects the overall distribution, but it is not my primary criterion. I judge how the item could be useful to each individual. Does that pose a problem to any of you?"

No one raised a voice to complain, as it was a fair distribution method, given their current party composition. The only part where it would cause more discourse was if there was good gear for casters.

Their party was full of that.

Astaroth took their silence as an agreement and kneeled to open up the chest at his feet. The reward chests were all small, whatever the reward was, and it was surprising the amount of loot that could fit in these small coffers, sometimes.

A white flash burst out from the chest, as Astaroth opened it, forcing him to close his eyes for a second. And when he reopened them, a list of rewards appeared in front of them.

*First Boss Reward Chest*

1) 100,000 x Gold Pieces

2) 20 x Body Purification Potions

3) Boots of the Speed Demon

4) Monocle of True Sight

5) Book of Forbidden Knowledge

**

Astaroth looked slightly disappointed at the loot they got. There was no weapon and barely one piece of battle gear.

He wasn't sure what the Monocle did, or what the book contained, but he doubted they were that good. But he still had to identify them, so he could properly give out the loot.

He started with the boots.

*Boots of the Speed Demon*

Grade: Rare

Defence Power: 1%

Stats: +30 Agility

Durability: 50/50

Special Ability; Charge attacks: These boots allow their user to use his momentum as a bonus to damage. Damage Ratio: 10% extra damage per second travelled at maximum speed.

Description: These boots adorned a powerful Lancer's feet, once, who was rumoured to breach castle gates with his charges alone. His disappearance remained a mystery that remains veiled.

**

He already guessed who he would give those to, but he wanted to inspect the other items first.

*Monocle of True Sight*

Grade: Special

Stats: Perception unlocked/ +50 perception

Durability: 10/10

Special Ability; True Sight: This eyewear lets its user see beyond mere illusions, granting it a vision of reality, whatever it may be. Only grand illusions or world-transcending spells can hide from this monocle.

Description: This monocle was fabled to be worn by the greatest detective the world has ever known, allowing him to see past the lies and subterfuges of the world.

**

This item gave him a bit more of a conundrum about whom he should give it to. But he staved off the wondering after he verified the last item.

He tapped on the book on the list, making it appear in his hands. He wasn't sure if he should open it, as it might automatically bind it to him, meaning he couldn't let another party member have it.

But there was nothing to tell him what it contained, either. No small synopsis on the back, or scan-able description.

The only thing to hint him, were the traces of mana coming from the book itself, and its appearance.

The book's outer layer was leather, but the leather felt strange. It was too smooth to come from any animal he knew of.

There were also faint traces of demonic mana emanating from the book, like it contained something trapped inside. Something dark and evil.

He decided he should keep the book, as he couldn't discern its true purpose as of now.

"Alright, gather round. I'll distribute the loot," Astaroth called out.