Chapter 190

Ways Abound

A torrential rain of blade-shape sand came afront, forcing Cain to ‘blink’ backward, dodging it as he swiftly used ‘Void Annihilation’, summoning spatial bubbles that kept pestering the Prince, halting the latter’s momentum. In the meantime, Emma and Kramer raged equally since this was the second time Cain stole ‘aggro’ from them by apparently just existing.

Senna’s orbital attack commenced just then as well, weapons raining alongside the tip-scaled sandspears, clashing mid-air, kindling fires in the darkening night. The roars began to swallow the battlefield, some coming from elsewhere, and some localized; Cain broke to he back, landing squarely and using ‘Infernal Starlight’. An army of arms emerged from the ether, infernal in their make, and leaped over at the Prince, forcing the latter to swat them away time and again with the wallops of the sand.

Each one of his movements seemed to command the element, so much so that it never stopped; he was fighting exquisitely against the entire group, blocking the majority of the attacks and only letting through the minor ones. Cain realized something -- even if he wasn’t technically considered a ‘Phantom Boss’, he was the borderline sort. After all, the way he fought was eerily similar to the skeleton Cain faced on the first floor -- rather than outright skills, both seemed to posses absolute control of the elements that they didn’t use rigidly, but rather responsively to the situation.

As such, the Prince ushered in frequent walls that blocked attacks, or summoned tsunami-like waves to buy some space, or using the sand to toss himself out of harm’s way, making it all look easy. The fight was more so frustrating than it was hard; the Prince’s attacks didn’t hit hard, and that was if they landed. Due to the group’s relentless onslaught, the Prince hardly had the time to actually attack and was mostly defending himself. Ever so often, he’d try to toss an attack or two at Cain, which would either be blocked by frustrated and angry Emma and Kramer, or easily dodged by Cain himself.

The battle went on for thirty minutes in such patterns, by which point every party involved was bored out of their mind -- the Prince included. Grunting, he suddenly shuffled back and escaped the encirclement, but didn’t commence the attack. The others paused as well, though didn’t drop their guard. The Prince stared at the group angrily for a moment before sighing, the Mana abound around him withdrawing.

“That was likely the most boring battle of my life,” the Prince said, echoing everyone’s sentiments. “And I once had a three-hour-long chase with a desert squirrel.”

“Forgive us; but you never said we had to beat you, so we took it easy,” Cain replied with a smile.

“You are well to hide,” the Prince said. “But the price of admission is visible, Spellweaver.” the voice morphed into a hum and Cain cringed for a moment as he realized the Prince was speaking directly into his mind. “Only the Awoken may atremble my frosted heart. I require your assistance, Awoken.”

“...” Cain grunted inwardly. Not again...

“My Kingdom... my home... my people... are on the brink of destruction. Us, who have vested our hearts into these sands for eons innumerable are being knifed like common beasts, usurped.”

“Or, and I may be going out on a limb here,” Cain quickly created a Skill using ‘Mind’ Element to communicate with the Prince; even if rudimentary, since nobody else around them had access to it, it was impossible for them to hear the two talking. “You want to use us to depose the Crown Prince and actually usurp the Throne. Just, you know, tossing it out there.”

“If I wanted my foolish brother deposed,” the Prince replied with a chuckle. “I would have removed head from his neck a long time ago. He’s a child, Awoken. Always has been, a desperate slave for our Mother’s love. But... I understand your distrust. I only ask you, too, understand I have no other choice; my Father... is weak, Awoken. On his last, wretched breaths. It shan’t be long ‘fore the Kingdom is Kingless and the Throne Crownless. Shall it fall into anyone’s hands but my Sister’s, there will be no more of Aviumen. Once, Awoken, we had a Divine -- our little tribe, beset to wander the worlds lonely, had birthed a Divine. That, however little, still means something. Help us... and I shall afford you the last Key to the Trove. Speak with that which eludes the minds, and perchance arrive at the few answers you desperately seek.”

“...” Cain frowned for a moment since, if he interpreted the word-vomit correctly, the Prince was literally offering him a chance to meet a remnant of a Divine as a reward. The staggering reality, however, was that even Cain was dumb as to the magnitude of such a reward, only knowing it was likely unmatched across the first few floors. The concept of ‘Divine’, even seventy floors into the Tower, remained as elusive as ever; they were Gods, yet not -- beings beyond comprehension, yet with roots stemming from mortality borne upon humans as well. There was hope, yet also despair knowing that nobody was likely ever reaching that high.

“Think on it,” the Prince said. “We reside within the Annuh’s Deeps, guarding the Bridge of Light. My Father likely has three months left in his breaths, and hardly a day beyond; shall you not arrive, I only pray you bear not witness the end of my kind, Awoken. Farewell.”

Just as the Prince vanished in the joust of whirling sand, a set of notifications flashed in front of Cain’s eyes, prompting him to sigh as he read through them. As he suspected... it just... never stopped. By now, he’d concluded it was likely because he was a ‘Time Thief’ -- it wasn’t that the Tower residents were aware of that, but that the Tower itself, or some power beyond it, ‘sculpted’ reality as to draw him into the conflicts like these.

//Crisis of the Sands (SSS-)

Quest Type: Situational

Context: You have received grave news from Third Prince Eldur about the potential collapse of the once-mighty Aviumen tribe. The Prince suspects a devil from within is leading the slow charge against the Throne and has asked for your assistance in discovering the truth behind it.

Content: Travel to the Aviumen’s homeland, Kingdom of Sunburnt, and help Third Prince Eldur discover the truth behind his Father’s sudden illness and the dreaded whispers that had tainted his reputation among his people. Make note that, should you accept the quest, choices you make here will have resonating effects across the Crucibles.

Rewards: Everyone in your party will receive +5 to their Levels and, at minimum: a pair of Legendary Titles, denominator of a ‘Hero’, a single Talent, and a choice of items from the Kingdom’s Treasury.

Reward(Unique): You shall also be given audience with the fading remnant of a Divine Being, whereupon you will be allowed to ask 2 questions that shall be answered in full. Beware -- the remnant carries indomitable Will; antagonizing it may lead to your death.

Upon Failure: If you abandon the Quest midway through, or if you allow Third Prince to die, you will become permanently hostile with Aviumen, ???, and ???. Furthermore, everyone in your party will receive a week-long debuff decreasing ALL your stats by 33%.//

Cain sucked in a cold breath, looking up at the darkened sky; it was a curse, he realized. The temptation was the like whispers of the devil drawing him in, closer and closer to the point of no return. All of them would undoubtedly die if they actually accepted the quest. The difficulty of ‘SSS-’ was merely smoke and mirrors; it may as well say ‘Virtually, physically, and literally impossible’. He cringed out a smile and felt the bitterness swell within his throat -- because... he had to go. Some things, he realized, drew a pull of the thousand stars and black holes.

He looked around at the rest who began drawing back into the settlement since it was the time for ‘the break’. He’ll put them through hell, again because... he can’t do it alone. But I can make it easier, he sighed and drew back with them, sitting them in a circle and sharing the quest.

“...” they all fell silent, the weight of the abyss hanging over their heads. Only Yuki looked partly excited, beyond the state of terror. This was the first time he ever got to even see a quest harder than ‘A’. “Ah, of course it’s an ‘SSS’ difficulty,” Senna said, stretching lazily. “It’s probably ‘cause your ass is so weak right now the rest of us have to carry you.”

“The only horror here will be that one of us will have to stand by his side at all times,” they’d realized almost immediately he had intended to accept the quest, and nobody said anything about it. “Ah, I guess, it will be up to me,” Emma added.

“No, no, you have to put up with him enough already,” Jamal said. “I’ll protect the chap. May as well.”

“... your faith in me is quite remarkable,” Cain looked at them oddly and chuckled.

“Yeah, and?” Daniel asked back.

“I guess,” his lips stretched into a smile. “It’d be really lame if I betrayed it, eh?”

“... oh, yeah, keep adding to the expectations,” Senna rolled her eyes. “It’s not like they’re already sky-high.”

“Oh? So you expect great things from me?”

“... shut up.” Cain looked around at the laughing faces and Senna’s feverishly-red cheeks, his determination steeling. He had to talk with the Divine remnant, no matter what. Whether the difficulty of the quest was ‘SSS’ or even higher, he would have still gone. That didn’t mean, however, he’d go in blindly; he was given infinite slots for Skills, and moments like these, he believed, was precisely why. He may not have been talented in his past life, but he was patient enough to run simulation after a simulation in his mind whenever he was going on a journey -- take everything into consideration and try to make a counter-measure. And he was prepared to do exactly that -- make a counter-spell for every conceivable scenario they might run into, even if it made absolutely no sense in the long-run. After all, in the marathon that was the Tower, ever so often... people would still need to sprint.