Too Stubborn to Die

As much as he enjoyed the reunion, Aaron was concerned about the quest objective. As he looked around at the destruction, he activated his Skills and let his senses wash over the area as he expanded [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ], and [ Pinpoint Accuracy ] detailed System overlay to survey their surroundings. And what he saw was… nothing. Not a single sign of the gold mine could be seen anywhere.

“This… this doesn’t look good, Mo’han. How are we going to move on now?”

“What do you mean, A-ran?”

“The tower. This was the only gold mine. Can’t exactly trade gold for other resources if the mine doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Oh, yes! We were trying to build something, weren’t we? Sorry. I wasn’t paying too much attention earlier.”

“You didn’t know about the tower?” Aaron perked a brow.

“Well… kind of? I heard something to that effect. My people were handling the details. I’m sorry, A-ran. This no doubt makes me look foolish. I haven’t been paying too much attention to anything lately. At least not the details. You see, my time following the trials has been a little…” Mo’han let out a long breath. “Unfulfilling.”

“Are you alright, mate?”

“I am now!” Mo’han beamed a smile and threw up his six arms. “This fight has inspired me once more!”

“That’s good to hear. But you know, if something’s troubling you, you can always talk to me. I’m definitely not the best at the whole listening thing, but I’ll damn well try my hardest.”

“Yeah, you always do…”

“Mo’han?”

“It’s just… I have felt a little aimless of late. The trials gave me something to work towards. There was always a bigger mountain to climb. And with you there! I knew that if I sat around and didn’t try my hardest. If I didn’t put in real effort, then I might actually be left behind. It drove me. It gave me purpose. But now, back on my world… It’s just not the same. A fight barely gets started, and my enemies are throwing themselves before my feet in surrender. It’s enough to drive a man mad, I tell you!

Did you know I have an empire? I didn’t even mean for it to happen. And worst of all, it just keeps getting bigger. They call me the conqueror, but I don’t feel like one. I need something. A real challenge. Something to strive toward. It’s a feeling I miss so dearly,” Mo’han said, shaking his head.

“There you go, big fella. Let it out,” Aaron said, patting Mo’han on the back. “But you know, I think you’re in luck. Look, I don’t know all the details. I’m a little out of the loop myself, but there seems to be some divine conspiracy related to this dungeon. And not just the dungeon either. The tournament in a year is somehow related as well.”

“Oh?” Mo’han brightened.

“Yep. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it? I mean, if gods are involved. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be some fairly serious fights ahead of us. Who knows, we might even die.”

“You really think so?”

“It’s a possibility.”

Mo’han’s lips twitched up into a smile. “I can already hear the song of battle.”

“There you go. Not so bad, is it? Imagine it. Fighting against the greatest warriors in the universe. Heck, our sector might not even be that strong. Maybe we’ll be the weaklings.”

“You really think that’s possible, A-ran?” Mo’han said, practically salivating.

“I do, Mo’han. I do.”

Mo’han’s face brightened with ecstasy. “I FEEL REINVIGORATED! I knew catching up with you in here would make things better! BUT YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF, A-RAN! I owe you a greater debt than you can imagine, my friend!"

“Nah, no, you don’t. It’s all good, mate. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

“Oh, I’m feeling better than better! I feel positively amazing! I cannot wait to see what challenges lie ahead of us! I hope to fight them side-by-side with you!”

Interrupting them, footsteps crunched across the wrecked ground, and they turned to spot a rather ragged-looking Elmira leading a group.

“You know, you almost killed us. I only just managed to hold my barrier up long enough for us to escape the valley.”

“Sorry about that,” Aaron flashed a smile.

“My humblest apologies,” Mo’han bowed his head.

Behind Elmira was the rest of her group, alongside Erdek, Red Song, and Ikran.

“Where’s Voidrin?” Aaron asked.

“No idea,” Elmira shrugged. “He’s alive, though. And I suppose this whole thing means we’re not adversaries?” She said, turning to Mo’han cautiously.

“Me? NO! HAHA. Well, unless you want to fight?’ He raised a brow.

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“No, no, no. I’m good. I don’t think I could take what you give.”

“Oh,” Mo’han deflated a little.

Storming across the rubble came Red Song, looking furiously at Aaron and Mo’han.

“What did you two bull heads do!” Red Song pointed accusatively as she reached them. “You two actually destroyed the objective! Do you think about anything? Now what do we do? You two might have just ended our entire sector’s chances of moving onto the next floor?! Do you realize that?”

“I… ah…”

Aaron turned to Mo’han, and they shared a concerned look like two brothers who had just ruined Christmas. It wasn’t possible, though, was it? Surely the System wouldn’t just let them fail because they destroyed the mine, would it?

“Well?” Red Song insisted. “There’s only one gold mine, and you went and destroyed it! Have you got a plan? I mean, seriously! It wasn’t even a real fight. You two muscle heads destroyed the only unique quest objective for a little fun!”

“We, ahh… well, we’re sorry,” Aaron grimaced.

She wasn’t wrong. Their fight was just a sparring session after all.

“I swear upon my honor that we shall make amends! Won’t we, A-ran!”

Dungeon announcement!

A critical resource has been destroyed!

Usual floor advancement is no longer possible…

Red Song glared at them. “See that?”

“Yeah, I said we were sorry…”

Generating an alternative progression option…

Tower construction stages no longer require gold, but now require additional resources.

“Ha!” Aaron huffed triumphantly.

Actions have consequences!

Additional condition added!

As punishment for destroying a critical resource, your sector will be faced with a significantly more difficult challenge on the following floor!

WARNING!

Difficulty for the 6th floor set to EXTREME!

“Happy?” Red Song said. “You’ve gone and made this dungeon more difficult than it needs to be! And who knows what kind of powerhouses will face us on the next floor?”

“HAHA!” Mo’han cheered. “BRILLIANT! WHAT LUCK FATE BESTOWS UPON US THIS DAY! Can you believe it, A-ran? The heavens bless us for our glorious battle! We have been truly gifted! To think, the following floor has been made even more entertaining for us!”

“I think you’re making things worse,” Aaron flashed a toothy grin at Red Song, whose pale skin was starting to match her name as she stared daggers at them.

“Oh? Oh! Right! Do not worry yourself, maiden! It is I, Mo’han Khan! And even better, I have my friend, A-ran, at my side! The next floor won’t know what hit it.”

“Won’t it? Who’s to say the other sectors don’t have powerhouses like you two?”

Red Song had clearly wanted to instill some fear. To get them to be a little more thoughtful, but her words only served to light an even greater flame beneath Mo’han.

“Oh, y’know, it kinda pisses me off that you’re probably right,” Voidrin said, appearing from a cloud of mist. “Who is going to beat these two?”

A short silence followed. Red Song was clearly the kind that wanted to be prim, proper, and prepared. But it was hard to imagine someone besting the two if they were working together.

“We have company,” Ikran said, looking up into the distance at the ledge around the valley.

An insectoid man stood there looking down, his antennae twitching.

“Is that Mandor?” Aaron asked.

“Looks like it,” Mo’han nodded. “I wonder if he’d appreciate a duel? By the way, A-ran, what happened to that creeper from your world? Is he not here? Or did you come to blows already?”

“You mean, Darius?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“He’s still alive. Unfortunately. But he chose to send a minion instead of joining the dungeon himself.”

“I see. What a coward. You should crush his bones.”

“I wish it were that simple. But in truth, I have a bad feeling he has a very intentional reason for staying behind. And it has little to do with being scared of me or anybody else. But I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, though.”

“Sorry to interrupt your bromance, but the rest of us are gathering back at the tower to go over the remaining quest objectives,” Elmira said. “You coming?”

“It’s fine, you go with them, A-ran. You have already cheered me up, and the dungeon update has pushed me the rest of the way. Besides, we’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the next floor.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan. You see there, big fella.”

Gathered back at their tower, a crowd gathered around the signpost, but Aaron’s attention was fastened on the tower. It was building itself. The System had already changed the conditions, and gold was no longer required for all stages of construction. And the tower magically putting itself together was quite the sight.

“What’s left?” Red Song demanded of those standing near the signpost, clearly still agitated.

“There’s only a few minor objectives remaining,” the elven warrior in charge replied. “We have already sent squads out to deal with them. Although they could use reinforcements if you want to join.”

“You two ass lickers can go,” Voidrin said, waving off his two followers and then pointing to a different objective. “I’ll go help with this one.”

Aaron nodded. Although he had a feeling Mo’han wasn’t too bothered about trying to win, there were still other powerhouses like Mandor, and it made a whole lot of sense to go grind the remaining objectives quickly and score the extra auction points.

But there was perhaps an even more important thing on Aaron’s mind as he jumped up into the air. During the fight with Mo’han, he had used pure mana from his foot anchors to fly. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but he had a feeling that using the technique to fly around this floor as he helped finish off the last few objectives was a perfect opportunity to get some practice in with it, and hopefully, unlock a useful flying travel Skill at his next selection.

Aaron shot up into the air, sending bursts of mana through his feet, and flying along at considerable speed. It wasn’t very efficient, though. It was a rather crude and rough means of travel. He was essentially just bursting out raw, uncontrolled mana from his feet.

But it was nice to fly and feel the wind against his face once more.

This is nice, he thought, spotting some allies and quickly diving down to help them.

It didn’t take long, and he was flying again, off to the next objective.

This might just work.

Jumping around like a madman had felt like a good idea at the time. But jumping wasn’t exactly flying. This, however, was. And if the System was taking note, the damn thing should reward him.

Aaron grinned as he flew toward the next objective. He had wanted to win this thing and get some good rewards. But Mo’han’s excitement for battle had been rather infectious, and he had to admit, he was looking forward to what came next.

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