Defiance of the Fall

But not to worry cousin . As soon as this matter is dealt with I will return the command to you as per the instructions . I suggest you stay in your beautiful castle for now , as your safety is paramount to the clan . I have allocated a few of my guards to protect you . We have to make sure that the humans don’t assault you while we’re up at the mountain . - A cold ray flashed through Rydel’s eyes as he retrieved the parchment from the now mute Ogras . - Well then , I have a fruit to retrieve . I will be seeing you later cousin . - He said as he exited Ogras’ study , the last sentence rife with hidden implications .

Ogras briefly considered having it out with Rydel then and there , but soon gave up the thought . Rydel likely was ready for him , and he could also see multiple main branch members standing outside , sneering at him .

Ogras glared after Rydel , looking like a volcano ready to erupt . The aide sensed the atmosphere and made a quick excuse and fled the room , closing the door behind him .

Soon the energy left Ogras’ body , and he slumped down in his chair .

Shit . -

Zac’s heart was still beating quickly after having seen the vision . He wanted to immediately rush toward the valley but first checked his quest tab .

As he suspected a new quest had arrived .

Dynamic Quests :

Ascension (Limited - Open) : Seize the Fruit of Ascension upon ripening . Reward : Fruit of Ascension . Time until ripening : 11 : 58 : 23]

The classification of the quest was new , Limited – Open . His other two dynamic quests were classified as Unique . If he guessed correctly limited meant it was a short duration quest . And he hoped he was wrong , but he believed open meant that everyone within a certain area got it .

The system said to emerge victorious and to struggle for supremacy . Then it conveniently showed the location of the treasure a full 12 hours before it ripened . It wanted a bloodbath .

Zac slowly sat down again and took a small sip of the azure water . He wasn’t in the mood to wait any longer and needed to heal quickly . The burning sensation spread through his body again , but this time the amount was manageable . Once again he felt his wounds slightly improve , and the throbbing pain he had felt come back once again was gone .

As the heat spread through his body he pondered on what to do . He was hesitating if he should actually compete for the fruit , as going against both the monkey horde and maybe even the demons sounded like a suicide mission . He also felt he had no choice .

He didn’t know what a Fruit of Ascension did , but from how it managed to create a quest it couldn’t be a small matter . If his enemies got it and received a huge power-up he might be screwed . The most likely recipient would be the monkey herald as he was the owner of the tree . It was a pretty even fight before , what would happen if it evolved once more?

Besides , it also presented an opportunity for him . The fruit would help someone ascend judging by its name . It sounded awfully similar to evolve , and he guessed it might help him get a better class or evolve his race .

He also almost knew for certain he would find the Herald by the fruit in 12 hours , hopefully still hurt from his slash . Zac knew the monkey possessed high values in Strength , Dexterity , and Endurance from their fight , and could only hope that it also didn’t have a strong Vitality . It also felt reasonable that the general would be there to commandeer one of the fruits . That would mean that both his targets would be gathered at one place in roughly 12 hours .

In a sense , the quest represented an all-or-nothing gambit . If he succeeded , all his problems might be solved , including his incursion quest . But the danger would likely be off the charts . If he failed his mission would turn harder , no matter who got the fruit . If he even survived .

But he felt it was do-or-die . Time was running out , and he needed to take some risks . With a steely determination , he decided to participate in the fight .

Of course , there was no reason to rush there . He only needed to travel for less than two hours to get to the crimson tree . And getting there early would make him a sitting duck . He was only one man in what might be a huge free for all battle , and he needed to avoid attention as much as possible .

His goal should be to sneak in at the last minute , kill the monkey king and steal the fruit . If possible he should kill the general as well , or at least identify him . Then run for his life and see what the fallout was .

He sat down again on the ground , and while keeping a lookout for more demon parties only focused on getting back to prime condition . He waited a full 6 hours before he felt well enough rested to be able to give it his all .