New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



On the distant outskirts of Bastion City, a small group of six players were finishing their patrol rounds when they encountered a strange phenomenon.

The group, composed of SharpTusk, Food Goblin, Chronos, Twinxie, Peaceful Grove, and Galtion, was the party that had escorted Silent Light to the Ash Elf kingdom, Chronos excluded.

What they stopped to investigate was an enormous tree trunk, in which a hollow gap was shimmering lightly. This caught their attention immediately, as they recognized something they had encountered before.

A dungeon entrance!

SharpTusk ordered their group to stop.

"We need to investigate this. If it is indeed a new dungeon, then the higher-ups will want to know what's inside, the level of the dungeon, and possibly what the first boss is."

When scouting a dungeon, three things were of importance.

The level of the monsters inside, the environments and type of monsters encountered, and last but not least, the power of the first boss. That last information could help most strategists deduct the rest of the dungeon's power scale.

The party became ecstatic at the prospect of exploring a new dungeon. This would not only be good on their Exp, but it would also net them a solid amount of brownie points with the higher echelons of Paragons.

However, one member felt unsure about this course of action.

Chronos looked at the shimmering portal-like entrance, and his body shuddered. His eyes suddenly flashed to a different perspective.

He was standing in the corner of a large oval clearing, with ruins around him. Close to his side was Food Goblin's corpse, mutilated beyond recognition, with only the head intact, stuck in a permanent rictus of fear and pain.

Further in front of him, he could see a bisected body with wings, and an Elven woman, impaled in a stone structure with a large spear. The spear looked familiar, and spinning his head, Chronos saw the dragoon who usually wielded it.

Galtion was holding SharpTusk by the throat, the latter's face already turning odd shades of purple, before the head popped, splashing blood all over Galtion's armour. When the dragoon turned his head to Chronos, the sight he saw shook him to his core.

Galtion's helmet was half melted on the right side, and in its stead, the burning face of a demon, with the largest grin he had ever seen, was looking at him. When Galtion, or whatever was possessing him, darted forward, Chronos saw himself grab the golden string attached to his soul, and yank on it, before his vision became normal once more.

Standing in front of the shimmering portal-like entrance, Chronos' eyes widened.

He turned to look at his party leader, showing the first bit of emotion to the man ever since they had met.

"Tusk, we cannot go in there. If we do, we will all die. And I'm not sure some of these deaths will be something we can come back from…"

SharpTusk looked at him, his forehead creasing.

"Chronos, what are you even saying? This is a game. A few deaths are bound to happen. There is nothing to worry about."

Chronos couldn't tell them what he had seen. He simply knew they wouldn't believe him.

He hadn't been entirely transparent with them about what his class entailed, and the powers he wielded. What Chronos had told this party was that he was a mage with light temporal capabilities, like slowing an enemy, or hastening an ally.

He hadn't told them the true extent of his hold over time, because even he wasn't sure how much he could control it. This was the first time he even had a vision like this, from his own perspective.

But the members of his party quickly brushed his uncertainty off. They were jubilating too much to even stop and wonder why he was acting this way.

Only one person hesitated longer than the others, and that was Twinxie, the spirit user. Her pixie started buzzing nervously ever since they found the portal.

But Twinxie was much too shy to voice out her concerns.

As they made preparations to enter this dungeon, SharpTusk sent a message in the sub-officer chat, which currently only contained him. Their vice guild leader, Phoenix, had set up this chat as a drop box for messages from the lieutenants that the officers could go check when they had time.

Since SharpTusk was currently the only lieutenant, she hadn't assigned him to an officer yet. She would wait until there were a few more, before separating them under the officers and start forming divisions.

SharpTusk sent his message about their finding and its coordinates, before sending another message stating they were going in for reconnaissance.

Figuring they were all set, he beat his chest in anticipation.

"Alright! Everyone, stay on guard and check each other's six. We don't know what kind of enemy or what level they will be, so we have to be cautious. But we can do this!"

Then he walked into the portal, followed by Galtion, and Peaceful Grove. Twinxie hesitated for a moment, as did Chronos, but they soon followed as well.

***

Inside Bastion City, on the second floor of the palace, Astaroth and Phoenix were currently arguing with Leon.

"But it's not even been two weeks!" Leon whined.

"I don't want to get thrown into the slog again! Not yet, please. Let me rest a bit more. I did this for ten years, and you've barely come back! I deserve some rest."

Astaroth chuckled at his teen-like reaction, while Phoenix admonished him.

"Leon. You must do this. We can't get stronger if we are stuck here. I know you understand this."

Leon grumbled as he slammed his face into his mountain of pillows.

"I won't either, if I'm stuck here."

Astaroth chimed in.

"Leon, you haven't gained a single level in ten years. What makes you think you can even get stronger? We are still on the lower level of things. Now is the perfect moment for us to go out a level up."

More grumbling came out, muffled, from the pile of pillows.

Phoenix walked over to him, pulling on his ear like a naughty child.

"Come on. Enough of this childishness. You swore to uphold this kingdom, and that vow still holds. Get on with it. We won't be gone for ten years this time. Only a few days."

Leon pouted, as he sat on his ass, unbothered by his ear getting pulled.

"Fine! But only for a few days. Your job is boring, and I want to sleep."

Astaroth laughed and Phoenix clicked her tongue, but they had at least got him to agree.

Now they could finally get some levelling done, before the entire gaming community surpassed them.

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