The following morning, Langa went to speak to Liv. He had some questions, as well as something to say. He knocked on Liv’s room door, finding him sprawled on the mattress. He must have been a light sleeper, because the moment Langa came in, his eyes shot open.

”Hey,” Langa said casually sitting down next to him.

”For the gods’ sakes Langa, it's 3 AM! Is this revenge for when I came to your room in the middle of the night?” Liv cursed at him groggily sitting up.

Langa grinned, “Yup, that’s exactly it,” he said, then looked away. “I’ll just bother you for a second, and then let you go back to sleep,” he assured him. “What’s this Deiwos karma store that is mentioned by the system?”

"Seriously? That’s why you’re here?" Liv groaned. “The Deiwos Clan are the Tower Administrators for the Deiwos Tower in which our worlds will be located. Every Tower has a massive Tower-wide karma store run by the Tower Administrators, and the good thing is that even though our Tower is still pretty new, the karma store is connected to all the Towers belonging to the Deiwos Clan. Usually, the stuff sold there is too expensive for new Tower players, so The Unrivalled gives a huge discount to anyone who completes the tutorial. You can use your karma to buy things that aren’t even available for mortals, for one time only,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

That was interesting. So, the whole purpose of the tutorial was to earn karma that you could then use to purchase something that would help you out in the Tower? Was that right?

“Interesting. So what about coins, then? Can I use those in the karma store? I have like four silver, what do they buy?” Langa asked.

Liv groaned once more as he sat up, "Did you seriously wake me up for a lesson in shopping? Sigurd loves teaching Makoto all this crap, can't you ask him?"

"Haibo, Liv, and here I thought that you and I had grown closer when you carried me in your arms all the way here from the forest," Langa said, shaking his head in mock disappointment, and making Liv laugh.

“And where's my thank you?" he asked. "Well, anyway, 100 copper is 1 silver, 1000 silver is one gold, and 10 000 gold is one platinum coin. That’s the currency of the Tower. For 20 copper, you can buy a loaf of bread. For one silver you can rent a room in a decent inn for a night, and for one gold you can buy a very weak C-rank skill,” Liv told him.

Okay, he kind of understood a bit now. The system was right about massive discounts. The Elder remnant was selling B-rank skills for only one silver in the tutorial. That was like 90% off, or it might be more, but Langa was not dealing with mathematics at 3AM. Still, the discount was so tempting, that he almost went to buy another skill before stopping himself. He only had nine active skill slots and four passive skill slots left. It would be stupid to fill them before he even got to the Tower. Lady Mira had said that switching out skills would drain his karma massively.

"Thanks, Liv. Actually, the reason I came to talk to you is that I wanted to apologise to you, and also to ask for a favour.” Langa told him the truth. He could admit when he was wrong.

”Apologise? For what?” Liv was fully awake now, sitting up on his bed, and watching Langa with his mismatched eyes.

”Back in my home world, I was an athlete. I did a lot of events, the high jump, the long jump and javelin throwing. But, mostly though, I was a sprinter in the 100 metres and 200 metres races. I was the best,” Langa said, thinking back. “I always hated relays though, and no matter how hard I worked, someone else was always bound to mess it up. My teammates were good, but… they couldn’t keep up with me. In the end, I just stopped trying. I never gave it my all, but I still always made the top 4.”

Liv watched him, and asked, “Why are you telling me all this?”

”When we fought against Calpu, I thought you were like me. Sometimes it feels like you are pretending to be someone you think we need you to be. I could tell that you were strong, but it felt like you were holding back. I thought that maybe you did it because we couldn’t keep up with you, but I was wrong,” Langa said. “You aren't the type of person who would risk our lives like that. No, I think that you aren’t using your full power because you can’t. I’m sorry for misjudging you.”

A quick gasp escaped Liv. His red eye was fixated on Langa for a long moment, and his aura seemed to change, darkening a bit. Langa did not flinch, holding his gaze. Was it just power that Liv kept hidden under the surface or was his true self hidden as well? He had no way of knowing.

Liv sighed, his demeanour returning to normal. “Quite observant, aren’t you? Well, thanks for the apology, but there’s really no need for it. I’m a demigod. All of us are cursed with powers too great for our mortal bodies to bear. An unbound demigod can easily lose control, and destroy entire civilisations when they self-destruct. That’s why the norm is for any demigod to be sponsored by their godly parent as soon as possible, to contain that power and karma."

He could finally believe it now that he had heard it again. Liv was like him, he was also cursed. It might be a different type of curse, but it was still a generational curse, like the one Langa had. This was the first time that he had met someone similar to him. He did not know how to feel, but he put those thoughts away as Liv continued speaking.

"Thankfully, my maternal family are dragonkin, so my grandmother sealed my mana core, and most of my powers when I was young. I can still use them a bit, but the seal will start to break when I get to level 10,” Liv showed Langa a ring on his finger, there was bitterness in his voice when he spoke of his grandmother. “If I used my full aura against Calpu, I could have killed him alone, easily. It would not even have been a struggle for me, but I also would have killed all of you guys in the process. That's how out of control the power of a god in a mortal's body is, it's a curse. You aren’t wrong. I do hold back.“

The thing of demigods being cursed, Langa had heard about it before. It explained why both Kindaro and Eniche were wary of Liv. Still, it wasn’t like Liv chose how to be born. He did not choose for his father to be a god, and he did not choose to be cursed, just like Langa. But that never seemed to matter to people, they would always judge the cursed ones, no matter what. “See, you have a noble reason for holding back. I just did it because I was bored,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “So, your father will sponsor you in the Tower?”

This time, Liv’s face clouded, and a dark shadow fell over it. “Not if I can help it. I won’t accept his help. Not after everything he has done, not after what he did to my mother. I’ll climb the Tower on my own merit, I don’t care who I have to bow down to, as long as it’s not him. And when I have my kingdoms, when I complete the Infinite Challenge, conquer the Tower and gather enough karma, I will become a deity, and challenge him to a divine war.” His purple eye glowed once more, and the air around him shifted.

Langa envied it. The conviction in his voice, and the determination and passion that he had as he expressed himself. He did not have such a thing. He was good at many things, so he got bored easily. He did not have something that he was passionate about. He only wanted to get through this tutorial, return to earth, and make sure his family was safe. After that, he would probably go back to being lazy and doing nothing productive with his time.

But that was only if he continued to live his life passively. How would it be if there were faster people than him in the Tower, stronger people? Liv was the strongest person that Langa knew, and in the fight against Calpu, he’d ignited Langa’s desire to chase him. He wanted to chase after this strong demigod’s strength, fight against him, fight beside him and measure his own strength and speed against Liv’s overwhelming power. But would Liv allow that?

While held up in his thoughts, his hidden quest updated, but Langa ignored it. He punched Liv lightly on the shoulder. “I’m sure you will be able to do it. Your willpower alone is admirable. Your decisions during our battle against Calpu were excellent, you are a great leader. That will take you places,” he stood up.

”Thanks,” Liv smiled. “What’s the favour you wanted to ask for?”

Langa shook his head. He had wanted to ask for Liv's motivations for climbing the Tower, but he had already completed his quest. “It’s not important. Get some rest.”

As he opened the door, Liv spoke behind him. “Langa, if you are willing to Ascend the Tower with me, then once we get to the Tower, I will also ask you for a very big favour. Is that okay?”

“Okay.” Langa’s eyes lit up. He now had something to look forward to in the Tower. And… he had also made a friend. The first in a long time, someone who did not want to use him for his money or connections.

Once back in his room, Langa checked on the update from his hidden quest.

 

[Hidden Quest #1 Completed!

Reward: Rare Title]

 

[You have received the title: Team Player]

 

[Team Player

Title Rank: Rare

Title Properties: You play well with the team, but you also play the team well. You are good at reading people. You can see the first 11 values on a mortal’s status (Name, Race, Age, Character, Level, Class, Available Karma, Total Karma, Deity, Highest Floor, and Attribute) given that they are within 10 levels (or 1 Tier) of you. For those Shrouded by a deity, you can only see their values if the deity you serve (or the deity that your deity serves) is of a higher rank than that mortal’s deity. You can also see the number of available respawns that the mortal has.]

Langa gasped in shock. This was an insane power. Anyone could see other mortals’ names, levels and classes as long as they weren’t Shrouded. But what? He would be able to see people’s attributes? If anyone found out, they would murder him. People seemed to guard their attributes with their lives. If anything, this title affirmed the fact that he needed a deity to watch over him. So, did this mean that the reason Kindaro could see people’s resistances was also because of a title? No matter. This was something that Langa would keep to himself.

*

With the mini-boss defeated, the team took no days off before getting back into training. At level 8, Langa stopped going out to level up. It was useless, the foxes and wolves gave him very little experience, and he would much rather use his time to practice his skills. If there was one thing that he felt that he was still lacking, it was technique. So, while Liv took Makoto and Sigurd out levelling, Kindaro took Ghol levelling, and Eniche did her levelling by herself, Langa spent the majority of the last two days of the tutorial in the training room. Sometimes, if he had time, Liv came by to teach Langa basic hand-to-hand combat. He had resisted at first, not interested in it, but Liv had insisted that it would help him, and it would be good for the team as well. It was honestly not bad, learning to fight, and he enjoyed it as well.

Those training sessions always left him raging and motivated, because Liv was many things but a gentle sparring partner he was not. Langa found himself missing Kindaro’s mental training sometimes.

“We’re training your reflexes and counterattacks today. The best way to do that is unarmed combat. Fair warning, I’m Advanced at this skill,” Liv said, standing casually in front of Langa in the training area. "Come at me."

Langa frowned. “Put on your armour,” he said as Liv was wearing a cotton shirt instead of his bodysuit armour.

“I don’t need to.”

“Excuse me?” Langa asked.

“I said I don’t need to,” Liv repeated with a hint of a smirk on his face. The bastard was taunting him.

Langa took his stance, standing in a slight crouch, his right leg behind his left, “I’m going to kick your arse.”

“You’re going to try,” Liv said, still not changing his stance as Langa sped towards him, punching out with his right fist. Liv casually tilted his head to the side and tapped Langa’s arm with his open palm. At least, it looked like a tap, but it felt like a burning hot coal had slapped against his arm and forcibly pushed it back.

He stepped back, arm aching painfully, even with the leather armour protecting him.

“Widen your stance, and don’t lower your arms!” Liv barked, as his own fist flew towards Langa’s face. He quickly raised his hands above his face as a guard, but no impact came on his hands, instead, a knee collided painfully with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him tumbling to the floor.

“Are you an idiot? Don’t cover your eyes, you must always have your opponent in your sight,” Liv said, extending a hand to help him up, but Langa swatted it away, heartbeat rising as he stood. "Hardern your abdominal muscles to reduce the force of your opponent's strikes."

Fuck that hurt, but Langa was smiling, “Who the fuck trained you, the devil?” he asked breathing heavily.

Liv blinked, and there was a quick flash of indiscernible emotion on his face. “No, my den-brother did,” he said expressionlessly. There it was again, that something lurking beneath Liv’s surface.

While Langa wondered what it was, he knew that this could unbalance Liv, giving him an opening, so he continued, “I thought you were an only child!” he said, raising his leg to kick at Liv’s abdomen while he was distracted, but a fist aimed at his side forced him to step away to the left, messing with his balance so that he nearly fell over again.

“I am.” Shit there was no distracting this guy as he twisted his body, muscles tense as he launched himself into the air and a swift roundhouse kick landed right on Langa’s chest. His arm was up trying to block the attack, but all he felt was his arm erupting in unimaginable pain.

He’d seen it coming, but with Flash Step on cooldown, there was nothing to do. Shit, his body spun, and he found himself staggering. He would be critically injured if they weren’t in a safe zone and Liv wasn’t holding back. He hadn’t even used his aura for fuck’s sake. Langa steadied himself, finding his bearings again. He would force him to use his aura in this spar.

“Dodge! Dodge! Dodge! Your strength is pathetic, so blocking should be the last thing on your mind,” his friend snapped, eyes alight with more fire than he’d shown when battling Calpu. “You’re fast, so keep me on my toes.”

There was nothing in front of Langa’s eyes except for Liv’s incessant palms. He blocked them with his hands in front of him, but that caused him pain. He ducked down, dove away, and retreated using the movement steps Liv had taught him, but there was no stopping the vigorous strength in those palms.

Good. It was good that Liv was also starting to get into it now, and that fuelled the blood in Langa’s veins, heart speeding as he learned to anticipate Liv’s movements. Once he felt like he had them memorised, Langa dove low, under Liv’s arms and punched upwards, aiming for his chin faster than Liv could bring his arms down to defend, bone crashing against bone, leaving a painful ache in Langa’s knuckles.

He hastily Flash Stepped back before Liv could counterattack, palm striking the air. His adrenaline propelling him forward, Langa once more dashed right in front of Liv and sent a fast jab at him, then another, and then a flurry of quick jabs, hoping that at least his agility would trump Liv’s skills just this once. However, Liv’s guard was impenetrable. When Langa’s fists struck his scaly arms, it felt like he was punching a brick.

“I will surpass you!” He moved back and struck forward with his foot, straight at Liv’s knee, causing him to stumble back. His heart was in his throat as he followed through, quickly recovering his balance and he Flash Stepped to the left, his elbow out, striking Liv’s side as hard as he could with the skill’s bonus damage.

A muffled grunt escaped Liv's lips. “Excellent, but this is what you have to surpass,” came his voice and then he whirled around, leg raised. Langa only saw a flash of glowing gold, the ball of Liv’s foot hitting his head, sending a harrowing burst of pain into his head, disorienting him. He knew that he was on his knees, but even the system’s words were blurry.

 

[Critical Hit!]

[You are in a safe zone

+50% of your maximum HP for 60 seconds

+All damage received in the next 60 seconds will be reduced to (1)

Safe Zone Authorities have been alerted to your near-fatal injury]

He couldn't see, the training room was shaking violently. A health potion was pressed against his lips and he drank it hungrily. He thought he heard the Elder’s voice scolding Liv for excessive force, but he might have been out of it for a few seconds. His vision cleared, and he saw Liv standing over him.

“Still want to try and surpass me?” he asked, purple eye glowing, and face searching for something in Langa's own. “That just gave me a -5 dent to my Alignment.”

“Fuck,” Langa said, breathing heavily as his heart refused to slow down, fire in his veins. He’d gotten him just twice but he hated how that was an achievement. He wanted to actually defeat him. “I swear to you, Liv, one day I will pound you so hard that I will have you on your knees.”

Liv laughed. “Slow down man, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not my type.”

At that, Langa also rolled his eyes and laughed. “Screw you.”

“Again, same problem,” he said with a smile. “Keep practising. I’m taking Sigurd and Makoto out levelling.”

And that was how most of their training sessions ended, with Langa on his arse and completely worn out.

The only time Langa left the training room, was when the group went to practice working as a team. Their coordination was very important. Otherwise, everyone was just tensely preparing for the final battle. The map that Calpu had dropped led them to a large building beyond the mountains. The location of the final tutorial boss was inside the Firefox Queen’s temple.

The night before the final battle, the whole team sat outside, in the courtyard, the only light being the fire that they had lit to roast the four rabbits that Liv and Eniche caught today near Calpu's grove. The rabbits were not corrupted, so they could eat them without worrying about getting infected by the Void.

The meat smelled amazing cooking in the fire, all of them gathered around it. It tasted even better. After a week of eating nothing but tutorial rations, the meat was a welcome change. It was tender, sizzling hot and it melted in Langa’s mouth. He sighed contentedly. He had not had rabbit meat since he was a child, living in the rural areas with his sister, so this was nice.

“Have you had this before?” Langa asked Makoto, who was sitting next to him, enjoying his meal.

“Once or twice, but not roasted in fire like this,” he said excitedly. “This is really good!”

Langa could not help but laugh at the boy’s excitement. Still, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially Eniche, who ate a whole rabbit by herself.

“Wow, you are an animal,” Kindaro said, face screwed up in disgust as he watched Eniche lick her lips.

She flipped him off.

“Ungrateful bitch, I even got your mace back for you," Kindaro said. “By the way, lionkin, listen, tomorrow I will be using real death magic, so you had better not freak out. We can’t have you succumb to fear again, like last time.”

“I don’t care what you do. Just stay away from me,” Eniche warned him with a glare.

“Good, because I learned a very important death skill from the old remnant. I can’t believe I could buy a B-rank skill like that for so dirt cheap! This tutorial is a gold mine.”

“It’s stupid to fill up your skill slots before even reaching the Tower,” Eniche told him.

Kindaro rolled his eyes and turned to Makoto. “So, did you manage to make extra mana stones for me?”

Makoto nodded and gave two stones to Kindaro. “I can’t give you any more than that. They each contain 160 MP.”

“Thanks, kid. I mean it. What I wouldn’t give to have you bound to me so you can follow me around for the rest of my life instead of Ghol.”

“Your Highness!” Ghol protested.

Langa was frowning, once more making sure to watch Kindaro from the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything, however, something happened to distract him.

“Guys! Look what I found!” Sigurd, who had disappeared into the town hall, said when he returned to them. He was carrying a small cask in both hands.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Liv asked him in disbelief.

“If you’re thinking it’s wine, then you’re correct!” Sigurd grinned placing the cask on the ground.

“Did you steal that from the Elder?” Ghol asked him.

“I found it. It’s not like the guy can drink it, I mean he’s just a remnant,” Sigurd said defensively.

Alcohol, finally. Langa stood up, and poured out water from his wooden goblet, then walked over to Sigurd. “Should I just pour for myself?” he asked.

“Hey!” Liv exclaimed incredulously, while Kindaro burst out laughing.

“My man!” Sigurd said, his grin returning. “I’ll pour it for you.”

Sure enough, disregarding everyone else, he poured him the drink and then poured for himself. The red wine had a sharp smell, and it was slightly bitter, but gods did it go down well with the meat. Langa closed his eyes, savouring the taste of this otherworldly wine, he could taste the fruity flavour in it, but it didn’t taste like grapes. Hmm, well, it was good wine, so who cared what was in it?

“I’ll have some too,” Ghol said appearing behind Sigurd using her stealth, nearly causing him to faint in surprise. “And for His Highness as well.”

“Okay,” Sigurd said, clutching his heart. “I’ll give it to you, you don’t have to scare me like that. Sheesh.”

In the end, Eniche and Liv also had a drink. Makoto tried to push his goblet forward as well, but Langa stopped him.

“Nope. I don’t know about you, but the legal drinking age in my country is 18, and you are not, so no alcohol.” Langa told him sternly.

“Oh come on. It’s not like we’re on Earth anymore. New rules apply here,” Makoto pleaded.

“The kid’s right, you know, the laws of the Tower are that anyone who reaches the age where they can choose to be a player is an adult. That age is sixteen, so the kid is technically an adult,” Kindaro chimed in.

Langa glared at him. “Fine, one goblet. But don’t come crying to me when you can’t fight tomorrow because of a hangover.”

In the end, Makoto only took a sip of the wine, and he did not like it all that much. Liv and Eniche also ended up drinking a bit.

Liv sat back with the goblet in hand, a small smile on his lips. Langa, now tipsy, placed an arm around Liv’s shoulders. “Look at you relaxing. Not so uptight anymore, are you Team Leader?” he asked with a laugh. It had been so long since he’d been out drinking with friends, that Langa was having a great time. “Are you drunk already?”

Liv gave him a laugh and shook off his arm. “No way, you think this weak foxkin wine can get someone like me drunk? My poison resistance is pretty high. If anything, you’re the drunk one.”

He was probably right, but it was truly nice to be out here, drinking otherworldly wine with people that Langa only met six days ago. “Eish, so you can’t get drunk? That sucks,” he said sympathetically.

“I didn’t say that. There’s something called Calistria, and it’s a dragonkin ale blend, the recipe was apparently given to them by a deity of alcohol. It knocks even me on my ass,” Liv said with a smile. “Once we get to the Tower, I’ll invite you to have a real drink like that with me. One shot, and you’ll be screaming for the gods to take your soul.”

That sounded tempting to Langa. Good alcohol with good friends was always welcome, and it seemed that Liv was serious about the two of them meeting and working together inside the Tower too. “Sounds great, just contact me, and I’ll drink you under the table!” Langa said, taking another gobletful of wine into his mouth.

”Oh! Calistria! Isn't that banned in most worlds outside the Towers? Don’t they call that the poison of the gods? Invite me too, Liv, come on! I gotta try it!” Sigurd begged, swaying from side to side. He was the one person who drank too much tonight.

Liv watched him for a moment, seemingly contemplating something. Then he seemed to come to a decision. “Sure, you will do as well, I suppose. I shall contact you,” he said. Even in his half-drunk state, Langa could tell that Liv was not just talking about being drinking buddies. What on earth was he planning to do in the Tower?

Eniche shook her head while Sigurd celebrated. “Humans have poor alcohol tolerance and yet, they drink as much as dwarves, who can hold their liquor. What a strange race,” she said.

Now, that right there was a very true statement, Langa thought. By the end of the night, Sigurd was singing war cries and dancing in the darkness. He was a terrible dancer, and his antics made everyone laugh.

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Liv said before they ended the dinner/party. Everyone raised their goblets. “To new friends, to getting out of the tutorial and to all of us making it out alive.”

“Hear, hear!” Sigurd said.

“To all of us making it out alive,” Langa, Eniche and Makoto clicked their goblets together.

“To getting out of the tutorial,” Kindaro said, raising his goblet.

The night was full of eating, drinking, and laughing. For a moment, Langa thought that everything would be okay tomorrow.

 

Of course, he was wrong.

 

*

In the morning, Langa took just a sip of his health potion to quell his hangover. It was a slight waste, but it was okay because he had more. He checked his room to make sure that he had not left anything behind since he would not be coming back here. He then went to find the Elder before he and his team left.

“Elder, I came to say goodbye,” Langa said when he found the remnant standing in front of the FireFox Queen’s painting. Since he was a remnant of the abandoned world, he would also disappear once the tutorial was over.

“Thank you for coming to see me, player.” the Elder said with a smile. "You saved our lady’s shrine from being defiled, and for that I am thankful. When our queen Descended to fight against the encroaching maestrils, she lost nearly all her karma, and the maestrils trapped her into the Void, continuing to suck her karma out every day until she died. The shard of her soul is still trapped inside that temple. Please set her free so that her soul can return to The Great Nine-Tailed Fox, and she can be at peace.”

“I shall do my best, Elder.” Langa bowed to him. To his surprise, it was not a new side quest that popped up, but a different message.

 

[You have discovered the hidden objective of the Final Tutorial Quest: Save The Star-Eating FireFox Queen’s soul shard.

Reward:

Hidden.]

 

“May the Blessing of The Unrivalled Tower Master watch over you.” The Elder said.

There was nothing more for Langa to do, but go on and complete the quest.

*
None of the rest of his team looked like they had a hangover, and Langa could not help but wonder if they had also done the same thing as him. On their way to the temple, Langa decided to use his new title and check everyone's information.

 

 

 

 

 

That was a lot of information. Langa felt a headache when he was looking at Liv’s information. It felt as if his brain would burst open. Like someone was trying to make his head explode from the inside, and it overwhelmed him. Was that because of a Shroud? Most of the others were in line with his expectations, but he was surprised by Liv and Kindaro’s karma. They had more than him, and Kindaro had even used some of his karma to buy a skill! Although to be fair, he was at 1275 available karma, so there was not too much difference between him and Kindaro.

But what puzzled him, in the end, was Liv. Did he reject a deity? Langa guessed that the deity on Liv's status was probably his father. Aapep? Wasn't that a demon from Egyptian mythology? Langa was sure that it was him. But, how had Liv also climbed another Tower? No, his level had been reset like everyone else in the tutorial, so what was up with that monstrous amount of karma? Well, there was no way that Langa could get the answers right now, so he let it all go, and focused on this moment. This fight.

The path to the FireFox Queen's temple branched away from Calpu's grove. The team followed the path left by the corrupted creatures in the early morning sun. The dew on the grass clung to Langa's shoes as they walked. They easily dispatched the level 3 to 5 corrupted animals that dared to step in their path. As they neared the temple, the vegetation dried out, and the forest died down into nothing but black soot.

When they finally saw their destination, they all gasped. They stood surrounded by large, rocky hills strewn with dead grass, and in the centre of them all was a wide valley with the serene but dilapidated temple at its centre. Shrouded in shadow and dead moss, the temple looked isolated within the bleak valley that spanned for kilometres in every direction that Langa could see.

"How the hell are we supposed to get down there?" Sigurd asked the question on Langa's mind.

"I can float you guys down telekinetically," Kindaro offered.

Eniche made a face as if she would rather die, "I'll crawl down." she said, securing her shield to her back.

"And I will jump," Liv said.

Langa, Makoto, Sigurd and Ghol were floated down by Kindaro, who also floated behind them. It was an interesting experience for Langa, like he was flying, but not. He was willingly allowing Kindaro to control him, and that just made him want it to be over quickly. Eniche crawled down the hill on all fours, and from a distance, she actually looked like a large lion with her bushy mane of hair.

Once everyone got down to the valley safely, they made their way to the temple. They could see the entrance of the temple as they walked towards it. The sounds of their footsteps echoed with every step that they took. It was an ancient stone structure, but the statue of the female foxkin at the entrance was destroyed. The air around the temple was eerily quiet, and although the forest was dead, no corrupted creatures were running around either. They all walked cautiously, weapons out, with Liv and Eniche leading the way.

The inner walls of the temple were covered with drawings of the same foxkin that Langa had seen at the shrine. There were various drawings of the FireFox Queen standing on top of a Tower, one of her fighting against a bird that looked like the one in the cave where Langa had obtained Tonare, one of her fighting against a horde of humans, and one where she was fighting against a giant fox with nine tails. The moment that they stepped foot inside the temple, they all received a prompt.

[You have discovered the mini-dungeon: The FireFox Queen's Corrupted Temple]

 

They did not have the the luxury of processing that prompt, because the moment that they entered the temple, they saw it. The maestril final boss. They were inside the large hall of the temple, where stone seats had been carved for the worshipers. The seats faced the stage, where there was a large throne, that Langa presumed the fallen, broken statue of the FireFox Queen was supposed to be sitting on, but now it was occupied by a large creature resembling a werewolf.

The werewolf sat, legs crossed on the FireFox Queen's throne. It...no, she was wearing black leather armour, leather trousers, leather bracers and leg greaves, leather leg tassets and a leather breastplate as well. She had long dark hair and a muscular body covered in fur. There was a nasty-looking spiked chain whip on her lap. Behind her was a long curtain that covered the altar and everything inside it.

 

Karisha (Air Maestril Raid Boss)

Level 10

HP: 7000/7000

Karma: 5702

 

Langa gasped. This maestril only had three levels difference from Calpu, but her health was more than double Calpu's, and she had the karma to spare.

"Oh? You're finally here?" she growled, as her eyes watched them. "My brother's killers have finally come for me. I love it when karma just walks into my dungeon on its own two legs."

Liv and Eniche both rushed her, but there was only one thing on Langa's mind, what the hell kind of dungeon had the boss monster sitting right at the entrance?