Chapter 31: [The Primordial’s Call]
[Quest: Primordial’s Call
Grade: Mythical
Difficulty: Insane
Description: By the rule of the 7 Higher Gods, the gate of the Otherworld, Spirit Realm of Chaos, Arhinam, was sealed to prevent the Titans living there from invading Zarraf. Not much is known about their existence except for the fact that they are to bring calamity over the entire world if their presence is to be felt upon it, if they were to step on the Land of the Mortals.
But lies there a secret far deeper than what the tales have been passed down. A myth to be chanced upon, or perhaps... a call for help.
Objectives:
-Reach the area of the gates and purify the contamination built over by the Guardians.
-Save the Guardians from the contamination before the madness consumes them (optional).
-Save the trapped beings outside the Gate (optional).
-Open the gates of Chaos (Optional) (Not recommended).
Rewards: Blessing of the Spirits (Grade dependent upon the completion rate)
Remark: Your destiny calls upon you to a world that should not exist, yet it does. What will you make of it oh Fate Weaver?]
[Accept/Reject]
The window hovered in front of me as I looked at the old man waiting for my answer. He seemed to be frozen in time, as if his entire existence had come to a stop and would not move until I were to reject or accept the quest, which was, in a way, interesting to say the least.
It falls in line with how Zarraf was once in the game. I concluded before asking,
"Why don’t you continue, old man?"
I did not press [Accept] or [Reject]. I just wanted to see if there would be any change in the quest, or that old man, or perhaps I could see something that would help me understand the system and this world a bit more than I knew.
Though...
[Quest Accepted]
Even without me touching the quest window, the quest was accepted as that man began explaining about the tales that he had heard in his hometown.
Perhaps there are more ways to accept a quest than just to select [Accept]. I realized. This was something that wasn’t present in the game world. Though, rather than mystical, it felt more like an update of the game. Something akin to a new patch or a bug being fixed.
"The tale speaks of an ancient temple. Chanced upon those whose destiny seeks it, and is often a mark of ill omen for many. While there are many tales that speak of what dwells inside that temple, most often point to a monster that cannot be contained by the gods. A being whom the Gods cannot end, hence, forced to seal in there.
I can go into detail, but I must apologise for these stories are but a fabrication of what the original poem meant to say. Their authenticity remains yet to be verified," that old man added in a solemn voice before going silent. He seemed to be in deep thought, as if trying to understand the meaning of the words he had just spoken.
A Titan won’t be easy to kill or talk to. Though at least I should check it out, in case, I would need to venture here once again. And the name of the quest... it makes me feel like the whole thing might actually be more than what it seems to be. I wondered before nodding at the man as he stood up.
"Let’s just walk for now. If it is in our fate, maybe we will chance upon it?" I said, knowing 100% that we would get there. That old man gave a slight chuckle at my words before continuing to walk with me.
As we talked more, I asked about the poem and the tales of what that old man might know, but sadly there wasn’t anything that could be said as definite proof. On our travels, there were a few monsters, for the word ’strange’ would underestimate their characteristics, that blocked our way.
They seemed to comprise come sort of black charred coal that was burning with a dark, ashen smoke. Like a burnt-out flame that was coloured black in its essence. Their shapes resembled humanoids, except for a few occasional wolf-like or a few that looked like a combination of winged lions, and all of them were covered in a black pus, similar to the miasma that they were evaporating out of their bodies. A few pieces of their bodies were hollowed out .
Killing them, I did a few experiments, finding out their strengths and weaknesses. A few noticeable ones were the fact that anything below an Angel’s Divine Mana did absolutely nothing to them. And among divinity, an angel’s divinity halted their growth, as if freezing them in place, while a God’s divinity completely evaporated them within a few seconds.
Lastly, among the divinities of the gods, Light Magic worked the best while the dark divinity did the minimum. Fascinatingly enough, the dark divinity did not aid in the growth of that black miasma as I had anticipated, making me believe that this was not something made up of normal mana.
Seems like the work of a Titan or an Outer God... but their power is also based on the principles of divinity, isn’t it? Strange. I pondered as we continued researching these strange beings on my journey.
The path, earlier much greener and vibrant, had turned barren and reeked of the same miasma as the previous monsters all over the area. Its source stood tall at a distant crater, not too far from us.
At the center of the crater, there stood an ancient temple that seemed to carry the aura of ages. Something that seemed to have been standing for millennia and more.
"By the Gods!" the old man gasped as he looked at the temple, while I focused on the darkened energies surrounding the area. The powerful beings guarding the temple while also slowly being corrupted by the miasma that was leaking out of the temple gates at the same time.
Not thinking much about the dangers that surrounded the area, I walked closer to the temple with that old man walking behind me, occasionally shivering as he walked with hastened steps. Our destination, the Yellowish Black Guardian standing at a distance away from the temple.