Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 267 An actual Adventure?

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"Huff..."

'Just... What is going on?'

Stupefied by what just happened, Dale looked around with a frown as he went over everything silently.

From the moment he used the Token to this, Dale could not believe the situation.

Meanwhile, Ermin and the sisters approached him, discussing with him what had just happened.

Dale managed to give them an excuse, telling them he pushed them after he felt something was wrong, but he didn't go into too much detail especially because he didn't quite know about it much either, and also because he didn't want them to get in danger as well.

If those beings were willing to do this for him merely looking at them, then who knew what they would do to his friends who were more inconsequential than himself?

They may even just blow them up from just thinking about them.

So he kept quiet as he crossed his arms, going over what he learned… And got.

His new Skill did exactly what it said it did, a manifestation of the perfect self.

From what Dale managed to figure out, it was merely the act of becoming his own Reflection.

It wasn't like mountains of knowledge were deposited into his mind, if it were that then he had already forgotten about it.

He felt it was more like a feeling of Absolution and Confidence, that whenever he decided to do something, a faint presence would guide him while a strange feeling would materialize from nowhere within his body in kind.

It was as if he knew exactly what to do but without knowing anything about the process at the same time.

For example, to resist the pressure, Dale employed multiple Skills he had only read about with surprising finesse, yet he only ever read about it, much less practice.

He couldn't quite tell their names, much less what they did, but he faintly knew where they came from.

This was a clear characteristic of the Reflection.

The Skill seemed to last for about a minute or two though he was unsure if the time limit was based on his sense of danger or the situation at hand or something less specific, maybe even Stamina.

With that in mind, Dale realized the potential of this Skill and why it was so much better than he expected.

With it, not only would he be able to challenge seemingly impossible tasks, but he would also learn while at it.

To invoke his perfect self… And then remember the feeling.

If he could remember everything he experienced while in that state, he may as well reach a new realm of ability or just improve his learning speed by a few times.

But for that, he needed to challenge the Missions… 

Dale had a plan in mind, to gather 20 Million Favor, but that may prove easier than originally expected.

Thanks to this recent event, he gained over 8 Million Favor at once due to the Achievement rewards and the Package Bosst, which when added to what he had before, raised his total to over 12 Million.

He was already over halfway there, and only around half an hour had passed since Babylon opened.

There was no time to wait, the more he worked, the closer those ridiculously priced items became.

So as soon as the table fixed itself, Dale sat down and gave everyone a new mission, but this time, Dale chose a Class 2 Mission.

As said before, it wasn't possible to differentiate Class 3 and Class 2 Missions just by their difficulty, but from comparing his choices with those of Ermin, Dale could tell what was Class 2 and what wasn't.

Though he still couldn't tell what a Class 1 mission was… Albeit he had an idea.

Because even if there were no clear indicators, there were some patterns he picked up, as the description and mission types were usually expressive enough in that regard.

[Guild Contract: Dragon Hunt (Newborn)

 Category: Target Elimination

 Rating: 6.5-Star

 Specifications: Maximum of 4 players; Level Limit of 75

 Base reward: 200000 Favor (Individual) and 1 Loot Box (Material)

]

A new mission with greatly different Specifications and Rewards, one of the things Dale realized about Class 2 and 3 Missions.

The higher the Class, the more Specifications and Rewards it had.

Class 2 Missions had between 1 and 2 Specifications but always 2 Rewards, the second one normally being either materials associated with the Task's Theme or even Items.

Class 1 Missions could have many Specifications and many Rewards, but that was just an idea of his, there was no way to confirm it still.

And in any case, they rolled with it!

…

/Flash!/

Within a Dark Forest, Dale and Company manifested.

The trees were tall as they aimed for the skies and even the vines were as thick as their waists.

The wind was strong, blowing their clothes and hair around as the leaves hustled all around.

A soothing melody played between then trees as the wind moved by.

The birds sang calmly and other animals did their own things, but they were all very loud.

It was a forest of giants.

"Is this it?" Eleonora asked as she looked around

"Seems like it." Ermin replied as he knocked on a tree

'This is tough... Too tough.'

"Time to get carried again?" The younger sister asked quietly as she looked at a lizard on a tree

'That's the size of my arm!'

"..."

"Don't say it like that!" Ermin said out loud while Dale stood in awkward silence

"Then what should I say?"

"Well…"

"I don't really mind." Dale replied as he shook his head

"Most if not all activities are in groups of four, so it doesn't matter if I'm alone or not."

"Ermin helped me a lot for free, I'm just doing my part of the deal, and you two are light to carry too." He said with a chuckle as he looked at them

"Even if there is a Bonus for going Solo, it likely wouldn't be significant enough anyway."

"My only request is that you guys don't die while I'm out there and that you guys tell me when you stop having fun, remember that."

""...""

Both Eleonora and Erminia seemed a bit relieved to hear that, while Ermin sighed on the side with a smile.

"Speaking of that, we should stop by the shop after this is over. We gathered quite the amount so it would be wise to spend it before we die."

"If we end up committing a mistake it's all over as we'll be sent out of the Event, and I heard there were some Tokens we could buy to save our lives and prevent that from happening."

"We should invest a bit more on survivability instead of rushing this, to be honest."

'Besides, Dale won't be with us for the entire Event, I heard from him that he wanted to do PvP content, and even if we can participate in some of those events, we won't be able to be together all the time, nor would I want to.'

'I have my pride too, I don't want to stay in his way that much, I'm grateful he's helping but what he did already goes beyond the price of my little help.'

'In a friendship, both sides should help each other if possible.'

With that in mind, they started walking in search of their target…

/ROAAAR!/

/Shake…/

But with a powerful roar coming from the distance, it soon became clear to them their target was closer than they imagined.

"It's close, somewhere atop the trees." Dale said as he raised his head

'It's not moving... The description of the mission was that of an Infant so I imagine...'

[DING]

[Target Elimination Mission, START!] The System said out loud to all four of them

[In the distant past, Dragons were said to have ruled the world as they flew above the skies!]

[But if that is true or not none can say, as their time amidst the clouds ended before man could leave stories on paper and stone]

[Nevertheless, Dragons still remain at the depths of the most abundant of territories, those that can support their giant bodies]

[Unlike the Myth's, Dragons do not gather Treasure on their own to sleep upon, and no Heroes go on great journeys to steam it]

[Yet, be it before or now, a Dragon's body is the most valuable product...]

[As written in your contract, bring back the body of an Infant Dragon!]

[But beware, Dragons raise their young together as they mate for life, its parents could come back at any moment]

[Expected time until their return: 39 Min, 58 sec…]

"... This is going to be though." Ermin said as he touched his chin

"It's pretty much asking us to do an entire Raid in just half an hour, since I'm assuming we'll take ten minutes to get there in the first place."

"What do you think? You're our breadwinner." Ermin said in a joking tone as he looked at Dale

"... I was thinking of using the Seeds..."

"... Forget I asked..."

"Can I do it?" Dale asked with a small smile

"Can any of us even stop you?" Eleonora said with a chuckle as she rested her back on a tree

"Of course you can, I'm a polite person."

""...""

Taking that as a yes, Dale opened his inventory, taking several Seeds at once.

[Great Instance Modifier (Demonic)]

[Great Instance Modifier (Mutants)]

[Great Instance Modifier (Savage)]

[Great Instance Modifier (Numbers)]

"... You... Don't you think that's excessive?" Ermin asked as his eyes twitched 

The sisters couldn't help but agree.

After hearing from Dale and reading their description, all three of them were already somewhat aware of what those seeds were.

So seeing so many here at once...

"It should be fine." Dale said with a smile 

'My concern isn't the Infant Dragon but the Adult ones...'

"Then do it, before I regret accepting it." Ermin shook his head as he turned around

/Smile.../

/Cr-rack!... CRUSH!/

/SHUAAAA!/

/HUSTLE!/

The entire forest started to tremble as whisps of chaotic energy were released from within the broken remains of the seed's shell, aiming at the clear Skies of the Forest.

/Tremble.../

/ROARR!/

/ROAAR!/

/SCREETCH!/

The creatures within the forest started to scream and roar loudly, causing Ermin and the others to shiver.

[DING]

[A Seed of Cataclysm has been imbued into the land]

[A Seed of Cataclysm has been imbued into the land]

[A Seed of Cataclysm...]

[A Seed...]

It was pure chaos.

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Notes