Chapter 99 - The Shrine - 3 (1/2)

This situation in which he had to fight zombies repeatedly carried on for about 10 hours which is more than three hours in real-life. At the end, he finally managed to kill them all. He was extremely tired by this time and was exhausted and had no stamina left.

”Ah! After a long time, a bunch of people attempt to test themselves, but the first to arrive was the last to finish,” came the voice of the soul remnant.

”The others finished their quest before me?” asked Balthazar aloud in surprise. The number of monsters he was asked to kill alone already put some doubts in his head. Though the players of Foedus Rex were good by the time he joined the game, he was sure no one would be as good as him at the early stages. So, he suspected that they couldn't have gone through the same test as him. Now, that all his teammates also managed to finish before him, he was sure of it.

”These idiots are definitely monitoring me and are making the game unnecessarily hard for me,” thought Balthazar as he cursed them. But the next second he realized that there was an option for him to quit in the middle, the others could have been given the same option.

His doubts were right. There were quite a few among the others, who managed to finish their test, but his was set to very hard mode and he wasn't given the option to choose difficulty which was provided to the rest. That is the reason, he took so much time. The good thing about it was that the rewards would also correspond to difficulty and even the moderators couldn't stop that. He put in the effort and hence, he was going to receive the corresponding reward.

”Your performance was exemplary,” continued the soul remnant. ”I guess you are worthy enough to obtain these.”

A pair of daggers with long ornate handles came flying into his hands through the wall at the end. Along with these a large treasure chest shining in gold also appeared at his feet. He quickly opened the treasure chest and sweeped it all into his bag. He was immediately transported back to the enclosure, where Merlin was waiting for him.

”Finally, at last. How come you took so long,” said Merlin who was making potions in the enclosure. He had chosen the hard difficulty and it took him about 6 hours to finish his test.

”Give me something to eat. I am real low on stamina and might get kicked out,” replied Shadow. Merlin quickly gave him a meat patty from his bag to Shadow who looked very tired. Once, Shadow was done eating it and rested for a few minutes, Merlin began talking to him.

”I didn't expect anyone to come out after me. So, what took you so long? What was your test?” asked Merlin.

”I had to kill 5000 zombies. What was yours?”

”Five thousand or hundred?” asked Merlin shocked. The number was a bit hard for him to believe. Even if he knew that Shadow was a real-life expert. The thought of one killing so many monsters was unbelievable to him.

”Five thousand obviously. Why would take so long to kill five hundred zombies?”

”What difficulty did you select?”

”Difficulty? There was no such option to select difficulty. I was directly asked to kill 5000 zombies.”

”I think you used all your luck beforehand that you didn't even get to choose,” said Merlin laughing.

”Ya, probably,” said Shadow gritting his teeth in anger.

”Don't get angry. I was just kidding,” said Merlin. ”It was hard for me too. I chose the hardest difficulty it provided. I expected some test that would put my skills to use. Unexpectedly, I was given a few helpers at the start who would fight by my side.”

”No way,” said Shadow getting angrier. He expected something hard if Merlin also took a lot of time to get through the test but hearing that he had helpers was something that he never expected.

”Ya, but it isn't as good as you think. I had to make sure that they wouldn't die. The amount of health they had by the end of the test will be used to evaluate me. I had to help them kill 500 spectres. These helpers would only attack if I gave the order and I could control them for a certain time like a summoner. It felt like more of a test for summoner than a warlock. The demon told me that it is meant to check against the usual weakness of warlocks,” explained Merlin.

”That makes no sense,” said Shadow and it was reflected in his face. ”I can understand the need for endurance for an assassin like me and hence, I was tested in such manner, but for warlock I expected something attacks against high speed monsters as majority of their stronger spells take time to cast,” thought Shadow.

”Ya. I was kidding. That was Fire's test not mine,” answered Merlin. ”I was tested on my attack power and frequency. About 500 flying insects in a tunnel. Luckily, they fell down or got stunned on one hit of dark bolt or any other attack, which allowed me to run around as I killed them,” he continued.

Shadow no longer cared about it. He was getting irritated by Merlin's jokes as he was already tired. He got up and started to move back to the staircase to get out. ”I no longer care about the tests. Come on. Let us go,” said Shadow.

”Ok, so what did you get as your reward,” asked Merlin.

”Didn't yet check it,” replied Shadow.

”What are you waiting for? You might as well check it now,” said Merlin.

”What did you get?”

”I asked first, but I will show it first. It is no big thing,” said Merlin as he revealed a violet colored 6-feet long sceptre which had a large crystalline gem at one end and a metallic shaft. It looked very pretty and beautiful like an ornamental sceptre than an actual weapon.

”That looks pretty. Any good skills on it?” asked Shadow sarcastically. Though he knew it was probably a unique weapon or at the very least a high-quality weapon, he wanted to get back at Merlin and was trying to joke on its appearance as he was feeling a bit angry.

”Pretty and powerful, my friend, the sceptre of evil is a unique weapon. Reduced my level quite a bit, but it has a few good skills and is upgradeable. Also received some other materials and recipies, but this was the best among the lot,” replied Merlin. He was quite proud of the new weapon that he found and was showing it off. He didn't care a bit even that Shadow was trying to point out that it was a bit feminine. He took a snapshot of his weapons attributes and forwarded it to Shadow.

[Sceptre of Evel] (Unique Weapon)

Level 10;