Snow fell on Han Ling’s shoulders as he warped to the top, staring down the dent in the middle, not surprised to find a dungeon right in the middle of the crater. A green dungeon… Rank B… Sounds about right…

In the future, Han Ling would meet a man who told him about the top of Mount Fuji, it grants one person a unique seed for their level 25 promotion, and it grants a random element that goes with the player’s personality.

But the player must pass some kind of test in the dungeon, the man didn’t mention anything about the test, even then, it won’t stop Han Ling from entering.

Han Ling entered the dungeon, he closed his eyes till he felt a change in his surroundings. A cool breeze hit Han Ling’s face, much comfortable compared to the chilly frost on the mountain.

He opened his eyes to find himself on another mountain, he looked around, the scene stealing his breath. Everywhere he looked, thick white clouds blanketed the ground, he stood on a single summit in the horizon of clouds.

He couldn’t help but smile at the serenity, the calmness, the feeling of peace. Even then, he looked around, but his eyes stopped at the sight of a statue. It was a man holding a Katana, plunging it in the ground, his stone face impassive but the aura it gave was massive. Han Ling could feel the aura from that statue alone.

Suddenly, a tri-ring sounded.

[Hidden Quest- The Locked Sovereign]

Please pick a difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, Hell

Han Ling frowned, I expected a quest but not this kind of quest…

In Sovereign’s Battleground, there are rare occurrences of getting difficulty quest where the harder the difficulty, the more rewards the player gets. Even in the future, Han Ling would only encounter five dungeons of this type, so his experience in this wasn’t the best.

Just what is this damn Sovereign’s Battleground. Well, the best difficulty I can do it probably hard…

Han Ling paused, what the hell am I thinking? If I have to be strong, I’ll have to pick the hardest road, there’s no excuse about limits, humans live to break through limits…

[You have selected Hell Difficulty…]

[Hidden Quest- The Locked Sovereign]

Find and touch three statues of the Locked Sovereign. Rewards: Unknown.

“Huh, I was expecting something a lot harder.” Han Ling turned to the statue and touched it, feeling a trace of whitish mana flowing in a single direction.

Han Ling followed the flow to the edge of the mountain, staring down to find a hole in the sea of clouds. A lush green forest spread out in under the clouds, but a large red shrine stood tall in the centre.

He sent a blood sabre down to the forest and teleported with ease. It was extremely silent in the forest, great oak trees towering dozens of meters above the ground, even the wind was silent.

Han Ling stepped towards the shrine, surprised to find a person sitting at the gate, playing a Koto. The melodious sounds reached the teen’s ear, feeling some caution roll off his shoulders. Yet he couldn’t be relaxed as he watched the person with cautious eyes. Doesn’t seem like any skills being used…

Upon closer inspection, the person was a beautiful, elegant young woman. Han Ling immediately recognized the woman as a Shrine Maiden, powerful humans that earned the gifts of Gods. Shrine Maidens are at least level 150, able to kill Han Ling with a single finger.

The Shrine Maiden stopped playing and looked at the human approaching her. “It’s been a while since I’ve had human company.” The maiden stood, smiling gently at Han Ling. “What brings a human from another world here?”

Han Ling was silent for a while, before answering in a humble tone, ‘My name is Han Ling. I’ve come searching for a statue, esteemed Shrine Maiden.” The shrine maiden raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised the human knew she was a shrine maiden. “My name is Kino, the statue you’re looking for is behind the shrine, feel free to visit it but don’t damage it.”

Han Ling bowed deeply, before speaking, “Esteemed Shrine Maiden, I wish to enquire the locations of the two other statues.” The shrine maiden smiled, “What makes you think I know where the statues are?”

Han Ling stared straight at the maiden, “The first statue I found was at the top of the peak, and a trace of white mana led me here. It doesn’t point to the statue, but to you Shrine Maiden Kino.”

The maiden stared at the swordsman in silence before laughing gently, making a very nice sound that lifts the burden of life. “I see the lord has given you this quest… Interesting, there hasn’t been one like you in a long time.

Han Ling waited for the maiden to continue, she glanced at the human, giggling softly before replying the man’s question. “You’re right, I do know the location of the other two statues, but they’re in dangerous place, would you still go there?”

The Blood Mask nodded, “You never know until you try.” Earning a soft laugh from the maiden, “What an interesting answer, the second statue is in the abandoned shrine North from here, the third statue is in the hands of a beast not far from the abandoned shrine.”

Han Ling frowned under the mask, “Esteemed Shrine Maiden, what is the beast holding the third statue?” The Shrine Maiden looked into the eyes of the human, sorrow and pity flickering in his eyes. “It’s the Wind Wolf King.”

An ugly expression appeared on Han Ling’s face, for the first time, helplessness was evident in his eyes. A ‘king’ is a lord of beasts, normally at least level 50, the worst thing is its different phases, beast kings have 2 phases, a normal phase and a rage phase. Not even bothering with the rage phase, the normal phase was already impossible for a single level 19 swordsman, it doesn’t even matter if a hundred players fought it, without at least being level 25, humans stand no chance.

Han Ling cursed his luck, it just had to be a beast king. Han Ling sighed. He bid the Shrine Maiden farewell before moving to the back of the shrine. He approached the statue, the exact same one on the top of mountain.

He placed his hand on the statue, and a burst of white mana exploded from the statue, a tri-ring sounded, and the following lines said thus…

[You have found the first statue…]

[Rewarding player Bold Bronze loot box. 19 Sovereigns. Advanced Experience book (Silent Silver).]

“The rewards come after touching the statue, what if I can touch the statue then leave when facing the Wolf King? I might have a chance to pass this quest then.”

Han Ling immediately opened the loot box, sighing as he only got gold and a couple of attribute points.

Han Ling then proceeded to travel to the abandoned shrine, seeing a burnt, pile of rubble and the frames of a shrine left. Around it was an entire barren wasteland. Han Ling met a couple of level 25 Wind Wolfs, finding them slightly annoying to deal with as their quick mobility, prevented him from landing a good hit.

As he killed the last wind wolf, a notification popped up.

[You have reached level 20. Upgrading Soldier rank to Captain rank.]

[Swordsman buffs increase to 10%.]

[Additional attribute rewarded…]

[Congratulations. Player has gained the attribute of Magic Damage.]

Han Ling’s happiness fell the moment he saw the last line. F*ck guess I used up all my luck on getting the Blood blade.

Every class upgrade grants the player a new attribute, but magic damage was pretty useless for Han Ling, as his blood sabres and abilities base off his attack, not from magic damage, then again, its possible to get some abilities with magic damage at a later stage.

Han Ling sighed and entered the abandoned shrine, piles of rubble and dust littered everywhere. The statue stood at the centre, a beam of light shining at it through the broken roof, like a spotlight. Han Ling approached the statue and touched it…

[You have found the second statue…]

[Rewarding player Silent Silver loot box, Featherweight Boots, Skill: Mana Pulse (Common)]

The mana pulse skill? Well I guess that’s decent…

Han Ling then sighed, pondering on how to steal the statue from an actual beast king. He looked at his money. A total of 168 sovereigns, he couldn’t really buy anything game changing with that amount of money…

“I’ll just check the situation first. Hopefully this won’t be impossible…”