Chương 34: The Special Quest

Ch. 34: The Special Quest

"Spiros. What's with the… nicknames?"

"Pardon?" Congrats, hun. See your full benefits on the abilities page;) I stared at the last message on my system. It was hovering above Spiros' head as I drove away from Squonk's house.

"The system is always calling me stuff like 'hun,' or 'sugar.' Like… Who is the system?"

"The three Titans are Xi, Ya, and Zawa. They are the Infinite, the Eternal, and the Endless. They each have a role to play. Xi designed the worlds and the rules by which they operate. The formula for gravity on this world, the dilation of time between them, the weapons for this world.. Ya, the Endless, developed the system by which the humans and the gods grew to new heights. And Zawa developed the demons on the other side. The challenges that need facing.

"So when I talk to the system, I'm talking to Ya? And why does she say all that stuff to me?" Spiros shook his head.

"She used to speak in short, brash, sentences. We gods feared the system as we grew. The titans could sense that and asked Ya to work on her tone."

"Her tone," I repeated.

"I don't know, I think the system is impressed with the human to cross the god threshold."

"The system would see your flayed corpse and wonder what it will have for lunch."

"Jesus."

"It does not have any preference. To this day, Ya tinkers with the system; striving to make it better, more fair. Not less."

"Well how is it fair that you all got hundreds of years to practice and I'm left playing catch up?"

"That's why when you killed me you were given my powers. All that strength and magic in your inexperienced, undeserving, clammy hands," Spiros said.

"I just mean that all you gods got to hang out in a 'lobby' for centuries and grow your levels. The only time I can really grow my levels is from inside of a pit. Those times are limited. Surely if she's interested in making things fair then they would give me an opportunity?"

"I see. You can… make an appeal. Ask the system if there is a way they can adjust. Bring it up to them as you did me." Occasionally taking my eyes off the road, I beckoned with my hand to bring my system closer to me, then enabled the 'Help' tab.

"Hey. Whaddup, Ya? Heard you were a fan. I feel like I'm not getting as much opportunities to grow in levels." I see. You believe the current system does not allow you to grow fast enough, because of your lacking exposure to the land you call Tartarus?

"Yeah!" I said, "I mean… the levels obviously factor into the endgame somehow. What's the point of being an entrant into the game if I don't have a fair shake?" Sit right there, sugar. Let me consult with Xi. Okay. I'm back. We deliberated for thirteen of your earth years and decided to give humans with god powers special quests. Would you like a special quest?

"I thought you'd never freaking ask! Of course I'd like to do a special quest!" Perfect! You are now entering our first 'special dungeon':) good luck!

"Special Dungeon. Sounds good. Just when am I-""Imbecile, look!" Spiros yelled. I looked ahead. Instead of the standard mouth as the portal, a door with flashing yellow lights and the words 'Special Dungeon 001' were written on the top. I tried to slam on the brakes but my brakes were always a little buggy. My car entered the dungeon and immediately wrapped itself around a thick jungle tree in front of me. Spiros flew out of the seat and smashed against the windshield, cracking the glass.

My body jerked forward and was stopped by the air bag.

"Fuck!" I looked out the windows, "Is this…?""'The lobby,'" groaned Spiros as he fell onto my dashboard and stumbled up. Defeat the adult Duragamanx and receive 1000 exp. Good luck:)"A what!?" Something big dropped from a tree. It's two clawed feet slammed down on my trunk. Just as Spiros was trying to climb down the dash to the passenger seat, the shotgun seat's airbag deployed, ejecting him again.

"Reverse!" Spiros yelled as his body slammed into the rear windshield.

"Where!? There's no road!" I undid my seatbelt and stepped outside. The beast was seven feet tall. It was blue with buggy yellow eyes. It outstretched its bat wings to appear even bigger.

"Is this the duragamanx!?" I yelled.

"No, that's-!" He didn't finish his thought. It snipped at me and I struck it so hard that its head whipped into the inside of my cabrio. I opened the inspect tab and placed my reticle on it. The info said: This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Duragamanx:""Yes it is, you stupid horse!"

"It's going to eat me!" Spiros cried. It was rooting through my car, scraping the pleather seats with its claws. Its snout almost reached Spiros as I grabbed the thing's tail and pulled it out. The duragamanx grabbed onto my seats but I yanked it out. I slammed its body against the tree.

"Firebreath," I commanded. I buried the creature in flames. At first, it had an effect. The beast squealed at the initial burns but it shielded itself with its wings. As I closed my mouth, Spiros jumped from the car window into my pocket.

"I'm trying to tell you something! That beast-""I already checked, it's a du-" The duragamanx propelled itself forward and snatched me with its talons, taking me and Spiros high above the canopy. I looked down at the area Spiros and I had dubbed 'The Lobby.' beautiful untouched nature. The trees were tall and the canopy went as far as I could see in one direction. In another, there was the sea.

I watched as a fleet of pterydactyl-like creatures flew above the water, before a horned whale the size of a building pierced one and dragged it into the ocean. In another direction was a mountain in the far, far, distance. There was a wyrm that wrapped around it like vines on a tree.

"This is awesome!" I yelled. The duragamanx continued to float upperward, higher and higher. I grabbed Bloodsucker from my hilt. Do I even have to ask?

"Oh, yeah. There's blood." I stabbed into the side of the talon. It squealed, and I must have hit a tendon or joint because its claws opened. Normal prey would have fallen to their death but I used my cloudstep to run alongside it. I used my knife to stab into the membrane of the wing. I stopped moving and let the momentum of the flying beast rip the knife through the whole of the wing. It could no longer catch air and began tailspinning down.

I jumped further down than the descending monster and let it pass me before grabbing its tail.

"I wonder how much strength my cloudstep ha- woah!!" The beast attempted to fly away with all its might. I had to continuously shoot cloudstep to keep my position in the air. Bloodsucker fed some of the mana back to me. I pulled on the beast's tail and tossed him down, forcing it to crater toward the ground. It tried to recover, but it looked up in just enough time to see my oncoming pile driver. I buried that thing into the earth.

As I tried to wrestle it on the ground, it struck me with the claw at the end of its wing. It got up and roared at me. I charged with my knife but its razor sharp teeth snapped every time I got close.

"Sorry, Spiros. Looks like you could actually be of use," I said as I reached into my pocket and grabbed him.

"What are you do… put me down!" I lobbed him at the monster. The beast took its attention off me and onto the dragon deer falling onto him. It swallowed my celestial guide whole, and while it was distracted, I pierced its neck with Bloodsucker. Ahhh, throat blood. Scrumptious Gurgling sounds came from its mouth and Spiros crawled out. I picked him up off the ground.

"You …. You let me get in that monster's mouth… Be honest. If the dogs were big enough, you'd let them eat me!"

"I would never let them eat you, they might choke."

"I was trying to tell you something," Spiros whimpered.

"You were wrong! It was a duragamanx! My Inspect said so."

"Not the one you were tasked to kill," he said through gritted teeth. Congrats! You gained 250 exp! Unfortunately, Spiros is right. The mission is not yet complete.

"Wh… what!?"

"That was a duragamanx youngling." The rumbling from the forest caused the trees to shake. I lost my balance and fell down. The tree canopy ripped open by claws and a much, much, bigger version of the duragamanx stared down at me, looking for its young. Well… it found its young. Dead, right next to me.

"I get it. Well, Spiros, I'm man enough to admit I was wrong." Good luck, hun 🙂 You're going to need it.

The portal spit my car out into the middle of the street. I placed my key inside the ignition and prayed. Amazingly it still worked. Spiros and I were covered in monster blood. Congrats! You completed a daily mission! Adult Duragmanx defeated. 1000 exp! You've just jumped seven levels! Make sure you check again tomorrow for another daily mission!

"Three lousy levels," I huffed, "Gotta be honest, that doesn't feel worth it," My blood soaked hand turned the AC on to cool us down from the jungle temperatures we just experienced.

"They're daily missions purely to gain levels. You know that the higher exp missions are closer tied toward your inner goal."

"Yeah, well. Either way, I'm one away from getting my first follower. Which… we have to go over the follower system in great detail."

"Shall we stop for some confections first?"

"Maybe a cinnabon?" I asked before checking my phone. A text from Mia read: You coming!?

"Oh, fuck," I called Mia, "Hey, Mia. I'm sorry. I'm going to be a little late. I still need to shower. Yeah, no. Sorry. Okay, see you soon." I made it back home and hop into the shower. I quickly got clothes on and walked past Spiros who asked, "Can I come?"

"No."

"Please? Please can I come? Please don't leave me with the dogs. I'm a great appreciator of art. I was there when Hokusai worked on his famous wood print. Besides, if it is at a cafe there will be baked goods." I sighed and said, "No." I drove to the coffee shop I worked at. The lights were on, and Mia's art was visible from outside. I walked in, probably still smelling like fire and wearing an 80$ blazer from Uniqlo.

Paintings of monsters that had breached our world were hung around the shop as people ideally grazed. In the middle of the store was the most detailed picture. The Silicon Cyclops. Mia was wearing a black form-fitting dress with a red belt cinched at the waist and black military boots.

"Hey! Mia!" I said, I approached her and gave her a hug, "Cool of management to let you use this space for your gallery."

"Thank you so much for coming," Mia gushed.

"Geez. Look at these monsters. It's like you were there."

"Well…" Mia let out a nervous laugh as she gestured to the centered painting. I slapped my forehead.

"Oh, right! You were from San Jose. Wait, did you use any pictures for references?"

"Nope. Just… straight from my little kid brain."

"The Silicon Cyclops," I said to myself. When the portals first started opening up around the world, we realized these strange monsters were straight from hell. We just didn't know which hell it was until the cyclops sprung from a portal off the Google Campus in San Jose.

"To think," She said, "If there's Tartarus, there are probably other realms that we haven't even thought of."

"Yeah," I said, "And heck… this one is a hell, but what if there are heavens out there?"

"You think we'd get so lucky?" Mia asked, "Which ones." I thought about the realm I was just in. The land of rich and exotic game to hunt, all for the purpose of getting stronger. I had just called it 'the lobby' but suddenly I had a new name for it.

"Valhalla?" She sighed as we both stared at the beautiful, terrible painting of the monster that wreaked havoc on the area.

"I'd like to think the people who the monsters have taken are safe now."

"Anything is on the table, I guess." It was clear she had thought about the monsters that had breached the pits too much, and she changed the subject.

"I have to warn you. I did invite Penelope. I know you guys are weird but she's kind of my friend now too." I looked around and spotted her, occasionally glancing at me. I waved her over.

"It's not a problem. Honestly, it's probably good that we break the ice." But then I saw someone right behind Nelo, also at the entrance. The person I forgot I had invited. That person thought I was waving at her, so Nelo and Kayla both approached me.