Cold and damp. These were the first two words which came to my mind as we entered the dungeon. The temperature fell almost by 15 degrees and I started to shiver a bit, Will kept close to me, he was afraid of getting lost I think.

After walking for sometime I asked him, "Will, where exactly are the treasures you mentioned?"

He looked as confused as I felt, "I am not sure myself, they said it was just lying around and only some low tier monsters were guarding the treasures".

We walked around half an hour more, each passing minute increased the feeling of uneasiness in us.

"I think we should turn back", I said after some more time of aimlessly walking around. Will nodded. We turned back and tried to retrace our path but suddenly our task windows pinged. It startled Will terribly.

SUB QUEST UNLOCKED

CLEAR THE SPECIAL AREA 'THRONE ROOM OF A GOD'

DESTROY THE POWER OF A KING

REWARDS: S RATED ARMOUR OF A DEITY AND ADDITIONAL REWARDS

PENALTY UPON FAILURE: INSTANT DEATH

TIME ALLOTED: 30 MINUTES

Before us a large door appeared, it seemed like an entrance to one of those big banquet halls.

"This is it Mr. Carlsen", Will said, he was trembling with excitement.

I nodded and pushed open the door.

We came into a large rectangular room, at the farthest end was a large throne, it was made of stone, in fact the entire room was made of smooth, polished stone. It was predominantly grey, with few black areas here and there. The ceiling was so high up, it was barely possible to view it from the ground.

Just in front of the throne was a large treasure chest. Will pointed towards the chest, we walked towards it. This all seemed too easy to be true, there was no resistance, I was starting to doubt this whole quest thing.

Will put a hand on the treasure chest and immediately everything started going wrong.

YOU HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH 'GOD'S TREASURE'

YOU HAVE BEEN AFFLICTED BY STATUS AILMENT 'GOD'S CURSE'

CLEAR THE SUB QUEST IN 5 MINUTES OR YOU WILL DIE

"FUCK!!" Screamed Will, he was writhing in agony, but strangely I felt alright I looked from the corner of my eye, my task window had updated, but Will hadn't noticed it.

YOUR SKILL 'STEEL HEART' HAS BEEN ACTIVATED

YOU ARE CURED OF ALL STATUS AILMENTS

That was one overpowered skill but I had no time to admire its beauty, it seemed like Will was on the verge of death and to make things worse the black areas which I had noticed earlier started transforming into monsters, and they were not some sort of lower tier monsters, they were monsters who radiated strength and authority.

I summoned Excalibur and jumped into action. They were coming at me in large numbers, but it was like the sword was guiding my hand, I weaved and slashed through the oncoming wave of monsters, all the time dreadfully aware of Will rolling around on the ground and the time ticking down on us.

Excalibur obliterated almost half of the monsters in a couple of minutes. Time was passing and I had to do something, I tried to destroy the treasure chest, but it was protected by some sort of magic barrier, I tried to find a way out of this hellhole, but nothing was coming to mind.

Then suddenly it did, the throne. It was painfully obvious from the start. The symbol of a king's power was his throne and to clear the sub quest we had to destroy the king's power. I leapt above the oncoming wave of monsters and slashed at the throne, it cracked a bit. I hit the ground hard, the breath got knocked out of my lungs. I staggered to my feet and summoning every bit of energy I had, muttered, "Help me", the sword started to glow and became warm in my hands, almost as if it was resonating with my wish.

I closed my eyes and swung the sword. It cut through the stone like it was butter. As soon as the throne was destroyed all the monsters disintegrated into dust.

SUB QUEST COMPLETED

CONGRATULATIONS YOU CLEARED ' A GOD'S THRONE ROOM '

YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE REWARDS ' ARMOUR OF A KING WHO RULED FROM THE SHADOWS '

EQUIP [ YES ] [NO]

I nodded and immediately I was encased in a black, shadow coloured armour.

ADDITIONAL REWARDS WILL BE PROVIDED SOON

PLEASE WAIT

I heard a groaning sound behind me and my heart fell down to the ground. Will was still lying on the ground and his condition had seemed to worsen. I had hoped on clearing the mission the curse would be lifted but seemingly that was not the case.

I rushed to his side.

"Will!", I yelled.

He turned towards me and the hope I had started to disappear. His eyes were turning milky and his skin had started turning a bluish colour.

"Mr. Carlsen", He managed to wheeze.

"Don't speak, save your breath I will get you some help, stay still." I started to get up, I hoped he did not realise the crack in my voice or the tears that were starting to form in my eyes. He tugged at the sleeve of my shirt. He shook his head.

He then indicated me to come closer. I did.

"Mr. Carlsen I want you to have this", He managed to say.

My task window pinged an alert.

YOU HAVE OBTAINED A NEW SKILL ' VICTOR'S SPOILS '

"This is my special skill, I have no more use for it". He said and mustered a sad smile.

Tears started flowing down my cheeks, I started to choke on my words, "Don't say that", I scolded him. I raised his head and laid it on my lap.

"I wish I was able to see the stars one more time", he said, though he was putting on a brave front his voice was starting to crack as well.

"Well at least I will be able to see my mother once again", he chuckled.

"Don't..." I pleaded, I was feeling like an absolute piece of trash because I was the one who had pulled him into this.

"Mr. Carlsen I... I don't have much time left." He said. Tears were flowing down his face.

"I have a little sister, her name is Emily, she has blonde hair and blue eyes like I have, please you have to find her, she has no one else. Please look after her. Please", He pleaded and gripped my hands tighter, I did not say anything, I just nodded.

"Well my time is almost up," He said and tried to muster a final smile, "Goodbye Mr. Carlsen, please look after Emily. See you on the other side". And just like that he died. With that charming smile on his face and a peaceful look.

I broke down and cried, I had not felt like this since my mother died. I slowly rested his lifeless body on the ground. He flesh had already started disintegrating in pieces of light. It was an effect of the curse.

Soon he had completely disappeared, leaving no trace he was ever alive, except the lives he had touched.

"Rest in peace, Will", I said and walked out of the dungeon.