Proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

“Great one? What brings you here so soon?”

“High priest Vintos. Please do not refer to me as great one, I am nothing but a simple man.” Shiv was not happy with the way he was being addressed.

“I am afraid I have no other option great one. To address the child of the true god with his name is an unforgivable sin”

‘Sigh’ Shiv sighed with shrugged shoulders clearly not liking the way he was being treated.

“Anyway, High priest I have come to you to ask for your help”

“My help?” Vintos asked a little confused.

“Yes, I believe you have already received news about a vicious beast havocking terror in the capital?”

“Of course, such a sad thing to happen to the people of this great city” Vintos sympathized with the people of the capital.

“The king has summoned one hundred of us and has asked us to deal with this beast. I too am now hunting down the beast”

“Wonderful! As expected of the great one, already eradicating the evil of the world” Vintos was overjoyed from the sudden statement Shiv made but Vintos’ reaction made Shiv sigh once again.

“I was wondering if I could postpone the meeting with the Pope to some other time, once the beast has been dealt with.”

“Hmm! Is that so? Very well, I shall inform his highness about your decision.”

“Ah, there is something else too!” Shiv said a little hesitant.

“Another favor?” Vintos asked.

“My team lacks a person who can heal. All of us are capable of attacking and so I was wondering if you could….” Shiv trailed off.

“A healer? You want a healer? Is that all? Such a simple thing can be done right now. Please wait here. I will be back soon”

Vintos left Shiv and returned after a few minutes with a boy accompanying him. Behind Vintos was a young boy with blond hair and blue eyes, with a cute smile.

“This here is one of the most promising healers our church has, Grohl. Even though he is quite young, the boy has talent”

“But he is just a boy, I can’t take him to a battlefield.”

“Please do not worry, the boy has already seen enough battles”

“But still” Shiv was hesitant.

“Please take me with you, Great one. Do not worry about me, I am not weak” the boy tried to convince Shiv.

“How old are you?”

“Fifteen. Is that a problem?”

“Do you really want to do this? I can’t guarantee anything, not even your life”

“Do not worry, I am prepared for the worst”

“Sigh! Fine, Fine” Shiv finally gave in. the two then exited the church and headed towards the weapon smithy. Shiv then called out loud from outside the smithy.

“Golof? You in there?”

Hearing the call, a middle aged man with a long brown beard and hair walked out, his left hand stroking his beard while the right hand was holding a metal hammer.

“Well, if it isn’t the esteemed traveler-sama. Why are you here? Did the thoughts of the twin daggers make you lose sleep?” Golof asked trying to tease Shiv. Shiv ignored the tease and went directly towards the matter in hand.

“Golof, I need the twin daggers as soon as possible?”

“Oi! Oi! What is with this sudden demand? You said you will come after four days” Golof was surprised with the sudden demand.

“Yeah, I know. But the king asked some of us to slay a beast which has been murdering people in the city. I too am part of the hunting squad”

“The beast? I know of it. A friend of mine was attacked by it a few days back. By god’s name he was lucky to have escaped”

At this point Shiv’s eyes brightened. Information was something that had a very high value in such virtual games and Shiv knew that very well. He had come to the smithy to ask for his weapons and now he got valuable information too.

“As for your twin blade, I will deliver them by tomorrow. Would that be enough?”

“Well, there is something I want you to make for me. Here is the details of it. I will come help you every day. We have to finish it as soon as possible”

“What in the world is this? What are you boy? I am speechless. Interesting. This thing will fetch me a fortune. Very well I will make it for you.”

“That is a great help Golof. By the way, mind telling me where this friend of yours is?”

---***---

‘Knock’ ‘Knock’ ‘Knock’

“Who is it?”

“Mr. Vernor? My name is Shiv, can I talk to you?”

“What is this about?”

“It is about the beast that attacked you. I need to ask you some things about it. The king has asked me to slay it and I need to gather all the information about it to slay it”

“Come in” said an angered voice.

“Thank you”

Inside the house was a man with wounds all over his body. His right eye was damaged, he had multiple fractures and was in extreme pain. Shiv felt sad from the sight in front of him, he then looked at Grohl and then gestured him forward. Grohl nodded and approached the wailing man.

“What are you up to boy? Get away from me” the man squirmed angrily. The boy did not pay any heed to the man’s words and then began casting some spells. A white light engulfed the bedridden man’s body. As time passed the wounds closed up, the skin regained its smoothness, his eye healed. In less than ten minutes the once bedridden man was now completely healed.

“What the hell?” the man shouted in surprise. The man was surprised with the sudden change of situation, he then stared at the boy with grateful eyes.

“Thank you boy! Thank you!” the man held on to the boys eyes and started crying. “I have been all alone ever since the beast attacked. My wife and my so called friends, every one of them abandoned me. It is thanks to Golof I am still alive.” the man talked while he was sobbing.

“Please do not cry. The true god has seen your pain. Everything will be alright as long as you have faith in him” Grohl tried consoling the man. It took a while for the man to calm down.

“Thank you both of you, thank you. My name is Vrolis, an assassin or should I say ex-assassin”

At this revealing Shiv was taken aback.

“You are an assassin and you were wounded this badly? Did you attack it head on?”

“Not at all. I had no idea about such a beast in this capital. I was betrayed” the man began to sob again. Shiv felt sorry for the man and so remained silent for the man to calm down. Shiv then moved towards Grohl and whispered,

“Sorry about this, I know I should not make you run errands, but can you please go buy some food for the man. Buy the best, the old man must be hungry”

“Ah! Such kindness! I will do anything for a kind person such as you, great one” Grohl replied with eyes full of admiration. Shiv sighed and gave the boy a few coins and then sent him off. Grohl was quick and returned with a huge amount of food and gave it to the man. This once again made the man cry, he greedily took in the food which often caused him to choke. The two silently watched the man eat.

“It has been ages since I had eaten food so great” the man thanked the two bowing his head down deeply.

“It is no big deal. Now tell me Vrolis, what happened? Who betrayed you?”

“The kingdom has a royal assassin group named ‘Silent forest’. I was one of the high ranking officials and the one closest to become the next grandmaster. I had many achievements and so had numerous friends within the group as well as outside it. I had a wife who too is from the same group as I. Last week, I was invited by my friends from the organization for some party which they said were their way of showing their thanks to me for various things I had done for them. And so that night they made me drink so much that I was barely able to stand. Once the party was over they carried me with them and entered the back alley. I was not sure where they were going but since they were my close friends I did not ask anything. Suddenly they put me down and disappeared. I was sitting on the ground not even able to stand on my own. I looked around but could not see anything as I was drunk and it was dark too. I called out loud for my friends but none replied. I called out to them numerous times. It was then that I heard the growl of something. I immediately stopped shouting and sharpened my senses and once again I heard the growl. The growl continued and each growl seemed to be getting closer to me. Something inside me told to get up and run. I tried to get up but my legs would not heed my will, the growling approached me slowly. I could feel the presence of something behind me, a dark presence. The air around me turned foul and it became hard for me to breathe, it was as if the entire area was dying. Slowly my nose picked up the stench of rotten flesh which I could recognize easy due to my line of work. For the first time in years my heart felt true fear and despair, for in the dark behind me I saw red orbs, not one or two but ten of them ”

At the mention of ten red orbs Shiv froze. He had encountered something which had a similar feature, a dralve which had three pairs of eyes which equaled to a total of 6 orbs. Something began to nag Shiv’s mind, for some reason he could not shake the feeling that the beast was related to the dralve he had fought before.

“I began to drag my body backwards and began crying for help. The friends who I trusted more than anything did not show up. I tried to get up and run but I wobbled and fell a few times. All this time the beast slowly watched me as if it was enjoying the act I was going through, like the last efforts of a weak prey that was about to die. The fear in me had caused the effect of the alcohol to wear off partially which enabled me to get up, I slowly began to walk away. Suddenly I fell to the ground as I felt something push me down. There was a warmth on my back and I tried touching. The area I touched was wet for some reason and there was something’s sticking to my body, a throwing knife. I pulled out the knife and for some reason my heart was aching like it was telling me to throw away the knife. I went against the inner voice and tried feeling the hilt and blade. It was my own throwing knife, the ones I always carried with me. Then it struck to me what was happening, the party, the alcohol everything was a trap. My friends who I trusted so much had thrown me into the mouth of death. I understood that I was bait for the beast before me and they were trying to lure out the beast to take it down. My heart was in rage and my mind lost all its sense. With the anger fueling my body I ran towards the beast to attack but it was useless. I was tossed aside like an insect and then bitten and slashed with the claws many times. That was all that I can remember, at that point I lost my consciousness. The next time when I woke up, I was in the hospital with bandages all around my body. From there I was told that I was unconscious for three days. I immediately went to my home to meet my wife, I was sure that she would be worried of my absence but once again i was punished by fate. My home was empty, no valuables, no furniture, and no wife, everything was gone and on my bed was a letter which read as, ‘Sorry Vrolis, there someone I love, I married you because that person wanted you out of his way. Thank you for everything. Goodbye.” with this the man once again broke down.

Shiv looked at the man with pity. The man was robbed of everything he had earned and loved. To add to it, his wife was one of the master brains of the betrayal. Shiv felt an ache in his heart and so he sat on his knees and held the man’s shoulder.

“Vrolis, help me slay the beast”

Vrolis and Grohl froze for a moment and stared at Shiv.

“Great one, how could you ask such a cruel thing to a man in this state? Do you not feel sorry for him?” Grohl who had looked at Shiv with admiration a while before was now glaring at Shiv with disgust.

“Tell me Vrolis. Do you plan to cry out your remaining life? Do you plan to let those who hurt you get away? Do you plan to remain a loser in front of others? Is this the pride of one of the top assassins of the kingdom? Will you remain here and cry till you die or will you slay the beast and become the hero of the kingdom? Where is your pride and honor?”

These words stung deep in the man’s eyes. The once dead eyes regained the vigor it once had. It is said that men fall into despair in the span of seconds, but men can also regain hope in the blink of an eye. All that they need is a person to point the direction, the path to despair or hope. Here the door of hope was opened by the chief of the Draklake, the village of hope.

---***---

Shiv took the two new members of his team to the inn he was staying, he rented another room for the new and introduced them to his old comrades. They got close immediately. Now the team had a healer, an assassin, an archer, and two swordsmen. Shiv then asked Vrolis to explain to Kate and Agon the things he had told Shiv. Once Vrolis finished his story Shiv began to talk.

“How many of you know about the Dragon King and about the lost continent of Aslain?”

“Aslain? There was a continent like that?” Kate was dumbfounded from the sudden revelation while Agon and Grohl nodded their head indicating that they did not.

“I have heard a thing or two about the ‘dragon king’ but this is the first time I have heard about this lost continent you just mentioned.”

“As I thought, only a very few know huh. Fine I will tell you myself.” Shiv then explained to them everything he knew about the dragon king, Aslain continent and Lithinia, about the war and the destruction of the continent by the dragon god, Oberon. He told them about his dragon tattoo and about the artifacts of the dragon king.

“Hm! For the world to be named after a single man, what kind of person was he?” Vrolis spoke in admiration. Both Agon and Grohl were looking at Shiv with great respect while Kate was not too happy.

“Why do you have such big background setting both in real life and the game? Can’t you be normal at least here” was what the lady said glaring at Shiv. Shiv sighed and hung down his shoulder, he too did not wish for such a setting.

“Well that aside, why was this mentioned here?” Kate asked still glaring at Shiv.

“Yeah right, remember the forest I mentioned, the one near Linford castle?”

“Yes” the four replied together.

“The forest was home to wild beast which feasted on meat of a dead dragon. These beasts were once normal wolf which accidentally tasted an evil dragon’s meat. As time passed they changed into beast with black scales. They underwent severe mutations like three pairs of eyes and limbs, twin tails and so on.” When this was revealed all the four stared at Shiv as something hit them hard on their head.

“You are joking, right?” Kate asked, visibly scared.

“These beast had scales around their body which resembled that of a dragon and had immense strength compared to a wolf. Lithinians called them dralve, half dragon half wolf.”

The four who were listening gulped unknowingly as the figure of a dralve materialized in their minds.

“So you are saying a dralve is rampaging around the capital?” Vrolis asked.

“No, it is not a dralve.” This statement caused the four to sigh.

“I think it is an alpha dralve”

“What the hell is that?” Kate growled.

“These dralves are always controlled by a single leader just like the wolves. An alpha dralve is the leader of a dralve pack. And the reason why I assume the beast is an alpha is because of the number of eyes.”

“Number of eyes?” Grohl asked a little confused.

“Yes. Dralves are said to have three pairs of eyes, not more. But the one Vrolis saw had five pairs. I know that I am being ridiculous but we have to expect the worse in order to come out safe. So each of us will keep in mind that the beast we are going to fight is at least three times more powerfull than us. A normal dralve is of my level and so if a dralve has to obey an alpha, the alpha has to be at least twice as strong as a dralve, right? And so we will assume the alpha’s power level as thrice as mine and so unless all of us combine our strength there will only be death waiting for us. Understood? ”

“Yes” the four replied.

“Good. I have a little more than 100G with me. I will give you each 15G. You can buy the things you want with the money, anything you think will help you have a better chance of survival. Remember once the battle with the beast starts there is no going back, so be prepared.”

“So when are we going to start?” an excited Agon enquired.

“On the fifth night. Tonight we wait for the other travelers to begin the hunt. If they are able to slay it then it will be a huge disappointment for us but it is worth the risk if we can gain more information about the beast. Vrolis, I want you to move out at night, scan the area for any battle between the beast and travelers. Do not approach it at any cost, never. Your mission is to observe and report, do not engage.”

Vrolis agreed to Shiv and then grabbed the gold coins Shiv handed over to him and exited the room. The others followed the assassin with the coins Shiv gave. Once everyone left Shiv sat on his bed, his head trying to come up countermeasures for the beast.

‘I am right now level 72. So far the highest level is level 123. Assuming the beast to be twice as powerful as me then the beast should be at least level 120 or above. Even if the player with highest level will have trouble fighting it. But if it is thrice as strong as me then God help me!’

---***---

That night of the hundred players that had accepted the quest more than eighty had already moved out in search for the beast. There were already fights between the players and so some were killed in between the disputes. Even before the night fell the number of players reduced to sixty two. Vrolis sighed at the pitiable travelers who were slashing at each other instead of laying traps for the beast. The back alleys were now dyed red and decorated by fallen bodies and loots.

Vrolis hid himself in the shadows like a ninja, erasing his presence. He was on one of the tall buildings in the capital and so could see almost the entire capital. There he sharpened his senses, awakening an ability that only few knew, mind eye. This skill let him hear and see things much better than a normal human. The mind eye skill gave him the eyesight of an eagle and also the ability to see in dark, the skill also gave him the hearing capacity of bats. This skill had saved him a million times and was also the reason for his success and accomplishments. And so he began scanning the entire capital for any abnormalities. He could only sense the sounds of swords clashing and cries of agony. The night passed without anything special. Other than the players killing themselves Vrolis did not sense the beast’s presence.

---***---

The next day Shiv and his party discussed various traps that can be used against the beast. Grohl suggested using holy water but the plan was not accepted as it was hard to get a decent amount of holy water. But Shiv did not abandon it completely as he asked Grohl to run to the church to get small bottles of holy water. Grohl returned soon with seven bottles. Once that was out of the question the party moved to other plans like wooden traps, ambush and many other ideas but none of them seemed a good plan for Shiv. The secret weapon he had asked Golof to make would take at least three more days. But then they should make as many plans as they could to counter the beast. This quest had a difficulty level of +D, but Shiv knew that once the identity of the beast was revealed the level might even raise to B. An alpha Dralve was such an existence.

Shiv would shut himself in his room for an extended period of time trying to think of various traps and about how the beast enters the city and where it disappeared to. There were too many mysteries to the quest which made Shiv feel anxious. His team of five were made of three NPC’s who unlike him and Kate will permanently die if anything went wrong. This was an added weight to Shiv’s shoulder. And so days and night passed. Nothing special happened for three nights except for the player candidates slaughtering each other. On the third night, the count of candidates dropped to twenty one. Some of these remaining kept low fearing that they would be killed by other players while some laid down waiting for the right moment to strike the beast or other candidates. There was another group, a group which knew things like this would happen and decided to remain silent till the last of the player killers disappeared. Shiv and party belonged to the third group. Shiv had gotten the twin daggers he had ordered and they were now sheathed inside a brand new holster made by the tailor he had visited on the first day.

Every night Vrolis would scan the area for the presence of the beast. In the last four days, the beast had appeared only once. On the night of the fourth day, ten of the remaining twenty one which were part of the group which killed other candidates hopped out of their holes in search for the beast. Vrolis was bored with the work he was given. For the last three days all he sensed was the travelers killing each other. That night too Vrolis expected the same and so scanned the area lazily. He could feel the ten travelers move separately, covering the entire capital. He yawned wide with sleepy eyes and then decided to take a short nap. He decided to scan the area once more before the nap and then began counting the number of travelers.

‘What? Why is there only eight remaining? Another went missing.’ Slowly the number of players dropped one by one. Vrolis focused more and more to sense the presence of an external force which was exterminating the travelers and then his senses began to scream. His face began to sweat and his body trembled. Vrolis sensed the same fear he had felt the night he was attacked by the beast. Slowly something began to appear in Vrolis vision, a beast with three pairs of legs, tails and as black as coal. Vrolis then watched silently as one by one the travelers fell prey to the beast, shivering like a child that saw a ghost.

---***---

“So it is a dralve after all. Seems my fear was right after all. An alpha dralve of all things.” Shiv sighed in frustration. “Vrolis I am sorry for making you do this, really sorry” Shiv apologized as he could see how shaken the assassin was. The assassin was suffering from a trauma after all.

“It is fine. I can’t be afraid of it forever. Also, it is me who should apologize for being a burden to you”

“Not at all. You have already done enough”

“Till the beast breathes the last of its breath what I do will always remain insignificant my friend”

“Very well. Now there only eleven of us left. Before we move out let us try asking for help of the other candidates. Excluding me, Kate and Agon there should be another nine of them. If by any chance even one of them agrees to help us then we might be able to slay the beast much easier” Shiv pointed out.

“Won't that be a problem? What if they try to kill us?”

“I do not think they would. The ones that were intent on killing other candidates have perished and so I think the remaining are those who want to either run away from the beast or the ones that wants to slay the beast in a fair battle. Let us try asking, we might hit gold” Shiv replied winking at Kate who asked the question. This gesture made Kate blush.

“And there is something I want to show you guys too, something that will help us kill the beast”

At this the four looked at Shiv who was now smiling at them.

Little did they know that the action of asking help would cause them unforgettable pain.

---***---

My new ff

Sorry for the late release. will speed up from today

ARMAGEDDON: THE NEW WORLD

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