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~~~(POV: Hailey Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: The Lost Merchant City of Celzecs, The Fallen Kingdom of Rosalia)~~~

~~~(Time: 4:50 PM)~~~

I drive Hearts Needle through the heart of the final monster in a group of monsters that attacked me. The Fallen Kingdom of Rosalia has been far more challenging than I ever would’ve guessed. There have been multiple instances where I’ve nearly died from the sheer amount of monsters swarming me. Their speed matches mine.

My body is numb from exhaustion, and my mana is nearly empty. Even with my Legacy Grade mana Aura, I’ve used it all just getting this deep into the Rosalia… How am I supposed to take on the capital alone? The attack on the Palace there against its boss is a pipe dream at the moment. “I’m struggling with weaklings…” I’m not even at the start of the Raid.

The Capital City Rosalia is where the Raid starts, and I’m about halfway there. “At least I can take a break for now…” All the monsters inside Celzecs attacked, and I’ve cleared this city. I cleared the one before this one too. “It’s like they have a hivemind or something…” When one attacked, all of them around Celzecs swarmed me. It’s good that I have Hearts Needle.

If I didn’t have it, I’d have already died in the last city, but monsters and fighters are getting stronger every time I get closer to Rosalia City. “Cera probably has even harder quests than I do at tiers 3 and 4, and I still have my third one to do after this…” Everyone in our group is playing catch-up. Marcus will have challenging quests, too, since his Class is Legendary.

Celzecs is entirely dilapidated, and there are no places to stay for the night. Getting out of the city is better anyway. I planned on sleeping in the forests on the way to Rosalia anyway. I don’t know if monsters respawn in the cities, but I’m not sticking around to find out. I shakingly get up and limp my way down the main road. Heading for the exit towards Rosalia City.

The dirt shifts beneath me as I drag my feet, and I find myself thinking back to what Cera told me. He to me that I’d want to level up a few times before taking on Raid on Rosalia City. I’ve done that, but given how hard I’m struggling at this point, I’ll want even more levels to fall on in case I die a few times. Killing these monsters along the way is good.

Maybe that’s why their here, but I doubt it. I’m betting there is deep Lore about The Kingdom of Rosalia and what happened to it. Cera would know the Lore. He knows everything… Well… Not everything but a lot more than me. “I wish you were here helping me, brother…” There isn’t anything we can’t beat together, and I regret that I can’t get help on this quest.

It’s no fault of mine, but it still sucks major ass that I have to do this alone. “Mom should be nearing Deadore by now, and dad should be halfway to Cardone by now… Marcus won’t take long getting to Helios, and Jasmine should have a straightforward shot to where she’s going.” Cera and Sally are the ones that decided to fly, Sally taking the Airships.

I’m jealous of Cera’s ability to fly. It’d make things so much easier if I could just lift off the ground and get to where I need to go… But I need these damn levels… I reach the edge of the forest where the main road leads, and I continue walking forward. “I need to take a break and heal…” Even though I want to stop now, I can’t. Not when I’m so close to Celzecs. 

Monsters could respawn and seek me out, killing me in my weak state. I’d rather not risk it and continue walking forward. It’s getting darker as the minutes go by, and there isn’t much light left to get through the tree to show the path. “Just keep moving… Get to a point where you’re safe…” I have to fight my body from quitting on me, and each step sends throbs of pain through my legs.

I haven’t been this sore in my entire life, and this is the first time I’ve come close to defeat since the moment I got my Legendary Class Battlemind. Ever since that World Wide Announcement about Monsters gaining intelligence and getting access to the system, things have gotten harder. Why everything has changed so drastically, I don’t know.

But it all started after Helda killed Queen Oryzox, and that can’t be a coincidence. “No use in thinking about it… I’d not know without something giving obvious proof… I’m not intelligent in that way…” Not many people could figure it out, and Cera doesn’t know either. That’s a good sign not to worry about it. It’s getting harder to walk, and my body is screaming.

~~~(POV: Cera Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: Local Inn within The City of Portes, Outside The Kingdom of Avalon)~~~

~~~(Time: 5:33 PM)~~~

I’m now tier-2, and I have the next destination for my third tier-up quest. I need to head to The City of Leekes inside The Kingdom of Avalon, and once there, I need to speak to a woman named Felca Moore. She’ll give me the quest to reach tier-3. “I’ve made a lot of progress, but it’ll be even harder this next time.” It won’t be as simple as cutting down a statue to weaken the boss.

I’m betting I’ll have a Raid or some other extremely hard task like Hailey since my Class is rated higher than hers. It’s likely that my quest will get progressively harder. Speaking of my friends and family, I should contact Sally. I’m betting she’d like to hear from me. I’m curious as to how much she’s gotten done in Abble. I open my Friends Tab and start a message for Sally.

[Thought I’d check in and update you on the progress I’ve made. I’ve completed my tier-up quest to reach tier-2. But my next stop is a City called Leekes within The Kingdom of Avalon. I hope that everything is going great on your end. Let me know if you need to know anything. I might have something that could help. You never know.]

As I finish rereading to spell check, I send the message and close my Friends Tab. I lean into the chair in my room, and I’m looking out the window. The Inn below my room is alive with activity, but my room is enchanted with Noise Cancellation. “Hope the rest of you are doing well… I should contact some of the others soon too…” Mom and dad would probably like to hear from me.

I wonder how mom is handling the whole completely on your own thing. She’s probably not liking it, but she needs it. She’s been nothing but a mother for the past 20 some years, and she needs to know who she is outside her kids and husband. Dad needs the same thing, and that’s good for him. I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ve changed after I meet them again.

My HUD shows that I’ve gotten a new message, and I open it up.

[That’s so good to hear! I’m starting my tier-up quest tomorrow. I had to locate where I needed to go and that took me a while. I’m starting to realize how long we’ll truly be apart, and I hate it. While I’m okay for now, there will be days that I’ll ache for your company and touch.]

She obviously needs to talk to me, so I can spend some time doing that for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I’ll be keeping Cera’s player information. That way, I won’t have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.226][Tier-2]

[Exp: 40/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength – 7095][Endurance – 7045][Dexterity – 7215][Speed – 8240][Focus – 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 350] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [Hardened Tree sap Armor (Very Rare)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir’s Whistle (Divine)] [Sally’s Dresses 5x] [Camping gear] [Food Rations 3x] [Dried meat 3x] [Fishing poles 2x] [Fish 8x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts] [Scroll of Eternity (1x use)]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl..92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 80/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controled Fun]