"Wait..." Rhian broke the silence. "Are we to share this? Is that what is being implied?"
Zane blinked. 'Share? Well… it seemed like it, didn't it?'
"Apparently the System will let us have individual accounts only when we've crossed at least twelve main trials." Zane pursed his lips as he stared at the notification asking them if they accepted.
Rhian sat down next to him. "Does that include money?"
Zane looked away. "Not necessarily, but rather, we share what we buy."
Rhian made a face, then he elbowed Zane. "You are yet to nullify the contract over golden thread."
[
"Whatever," Rhian said as he crossed his arms and huffed.
Zane offered an awkward laugh. "If it helps, I don't intend to steal anything personal that you buy."
"You're implying you'll steal it if it's not personal," Rhian accused.
"Obviously."
Rhian stared at him for a moment before he gritted his teeth. "What do you mean obviously! That's not ethical!"
"You won't even notice," Zane promised.
Rhian rolled his eyes, then his eyes fell in front of him. He recoiled immediately. "Wait, are you using some skill?" he asked as he pointed at an insect-like beast that was walking around in front of them. It seemed like a giant bumble bee, which vibrated arbitrarily as it moved around slugishly.
Zane clicked his tongue. "It's a stigma," he said, glancing up at the timer sitting over his head. "Applicable for just another ten minutes, I suppose."
"That's considerably less," Rhian replied before he glanced at the panel that was asking them about
Rhian wasn't wrong and Zane didn't like that. "I accept."
[You've unlocked the Player's Tryst]
[You may make various purchases and receive 'gifts' from other players]
[The Player's Tryst is a bond account]
[Repercussions will be charged to both players if one of the players is found guilty of committing any thing (listed here)]
[The players who are entering into the Players Tryst will be granted individual accounts only upon the completion of 6 Main Trials]
Zane's eyes narrowed at that message. As he had thought prior, there were certain cases. All the trials, such as [Veiled Trials] and [Auxiliary Trials], the [Main Trials] were designated to certain numbers.
One could reach
Otherwise,
There were around ␣␣␣ main trials. For some reason, Zane couldn't quite particularly recall the total number of trials except for the fact that he knew it was a three-digit number, and despite trying his hardest to remember, it felt as though he was simply standing in front of a black wall. No matter how much he pounded his fists on it, it wouldn't let up.
[You are now a registered member of the Player's Tryst]
[You are in a partnership with
[Do you want to access the Player's Tryst right now?]
"Why does it have to be the word 'tryst'?" Zane asked. 'Why?'
[
[
[Some
"What does 'tryst' mean?" Rhian asked, tilting his head.
Zane blinked at him before he exhaled out loud. "Let's just check the store, shall we?" he asked, clicking 'yes' on the option.
[
"These… watchers are saying odd things," Rhian murmured.
"Ignore them for your sake," Zane replied.
[You have entered Player's Tryst]
Zane's eyes widened along with Rhian's. "Isn't that Circe?" he asked, staring at the sword that was displayed in their latest 'sales'. The sword's picture was taken as though it was in a glass casing, with a royal purple background. The sword itself was beautiful, the blade shone bright and seemed to have engravings that the [Genesis] did not; the hilt was wrapped in gold and silver and seemed to have a strong grip. "It's being sold for a million species. But it's an auction so bidding starts at a million…"
"Yeah, no shit," Rhian replied. "It's… that sword is just that great. It's almost impossible for the creator of the sword to even want to issue it to someone. And that someone is dimwitted enough to surrender the sword."
'If that's the case, then I wonder if it's based on the 'random odds' that have become popular,' Zane wondered. 'The Random Odds' was a method by which the creators of certain items issued them to Dungeons to safekeep or give away. It was like rolling a fair die, except with the temples all over Draknir. Thus, the probability of gaining a Circe in a dungeon was already nearly 0.01%, and someone selling it was somewhere in 0.0000001%.
"It's all so expensive…"
"Well… we are in the 'latest heights'," Zane mumbled as he clicked on a 'potions' icon.
[Latest Sales:
> Circe! Starting bid at 1,000,000 species, issued by the…
> Elven Tongue! Starting bid at just 100,000 species, issued by the…
> Siren Eyes! Starting at 500,000 species, issued by….
.
.
.]
The fact that they were just the starting prices. Zane couldn't particularly remember having to go through this stage since he had joined the System after the completion of
"Healing potions are for just a hundred species?" Rhian asked, sitting close to Zane as the both of them looked into the screen.
"How much money do you have?" Zane asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Rhian replied, then tilted his head. "I can afford to buy a couple of these."
Zane hummed. "Might as well get started, no?"
[You've purchased
[You've purchased
[You've purchased
[You've made a hold on skill ␣␣]
Zane could feel pride swell in his chest at the thought of that skill. It was a skill that was well in demand and was known as a 'purchased' skill, since the System was the one who created it.
[You've purchased
[You've purchased
.
.
.
.
[Congratulations on your first purchases!]
[Would you like to receive a complimentary offer?]
Zane paused. He clicked to see more and his eyes widened. "I accept."
[You've purchased ␣␣ type ??]
[A total of 8000 species have been taken!]
[All these items will be available in
"Are you done purchasing?" Zane asked, glancing at Rhian, who had stuffed around three or four bottles of
"I'm done," Rhian replied. "Is it your stigma?"
Zane nodded.
[Time remaining for stigma usage: 2 minutes]
"What are you going to do now?" Rhian asked.
Zane could tell what he was thinking. 'There's no way we can just leave now, can we?'
"You wanted a Circe, right?" Zane murmured. "There is a way…"
Rhian narrowed his eyes in Zane's direction. "I've already gone through the Dungeon. There is no way."
"But, have you thought about the Temple's Monsters?"
-
[Does Zane trust this man?]
"I don't have an option," Zane said, muttering to Shen. Rhian had used his skill, Hurtle Chase, and had helped them climb the boulder and onto the prairie that was above.
He glanced at Rhian, who was walking ahead.
"The Fenghuang won't just die, you know that right?" Rhian asked from ahead.
"I am aware," Zane said, and could feel Shen's nose twitch at the words.
[Shen does not trust him]
"Well," Zane murmured, petting the bunny. "Sometimes you have to do things with people you aren't compatible with to obtain what you want. That's just the way of things."
[Shen wants Zane to bring down the Fenghuang]
"Also, Zane," Rhian said, glancing back. "You have a fire-based sword."
[
"How do you know that the phoenix will be fire-based?" Zane asked, raising one eyebrow.
"I don't. But seeing a n't fire-based phoenix is close to impossible. It just is," Rhian said, running a hand down his face. "There are rumors of a chain of elemental-based Fenghuang. However, the only ones that are plausible are an ice-based one and a water-based one."
[Some
[
"So there's a chance," Zane murmured, recalling the phoenix of ice that had ruined the northern scapes of Vaelrun.
"No, neither of our skills is compatible with fire. You possess fire, so it'll be a battle of dominance, and even if I hypothetically did possess water, what good will it do if the grade of the Fenghuang is higher?"
[Shen does not like this]
"It's rare, but why not just… hope for the better," Zane asked.
"Do whatever you want. Let's just hope by the time we choose to leave this Temple, the Fenghuang's counterpart does not wake up." Rhian walked ahead, one hand on Executioner's hilt.
[Shen does agree with that part. It would be quite dire]
Zane sighed. Suddenly, he felt the presence of something behind his back and removed Ember from its sheath. He struck it behind him and watched as water fell to the ground. Water ghouls couldn't really do much without the presence of water, which made them much safer and easier to deal with on land. However, ever since the trial had been breached, it seemed as though the number of these ghouls had also increased exponentially.
Zane glanced at Ember's dark-colored blade, shining wetly under the sun.
"Zane," Rhian said as he slowed down to a stop. "I think we're near."
'Near would be an overstatement.'
Zane walked over to where Rhian stood and followed his gaze to a large spire. All around the spire were multiple magical beasts and ghouls, each of them seeming as if they were ready to kill anything that moved.
The Temples that were spread over Draknir contained three elements by default: the world they encased inside, one or two dungeons, and a spire. The spire was often placed at the midst of the world encased within the temple, it was nothing in comparison, especially in the case of size, to the spires of Celestium. It could also be referred to as a 'tower'.
The number of floors typically depended upon the Temple itself, usually, there were around ten floors, however, in higher-ranked temples, there could be fifty, a hundred. It entirely depended on the world the temples encased. Currently, the spire was nearly fifteen floors high made of gold and marble, and the temple seemed to be protecting it.
Within these spires, on the topmost floor, despite the architecture making it impossible, lay the spirits of those who kept the temple running. Most temples had one or more spirits that kept the temple powered, and frequently these spirits were forceful 'wrongdoers' or 'sacrifices' who were punished either by the system or by other players.
Zane tapped Rhian's hand. "We have to go closer so the System can trigger a 'veiled trial'."
Rhian nodded before touching Zane's shoulder.
[
Zane felt wind warp around his body, and he instinctively closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was standing much closer to the ring of monsters around the spire. The two of them were only hidden by the thicket of trees.
[Inside the spire… the Fenghuang's there] Shen wriggled in his arms.
"If we were to go in, how much time would it take?" Zane whispered.
"Honestly speaking, given our current state, I don't think we'd be able to finish this quickly enough. Are you sure you want to risk this?" Rhian asked.
[
[
"I thought you were the greedy one," Zane replied.
"Just warning you in case."
'In case' shouldn't happen.' Zane clutched Ember's hilt and took a deep inhale. "I could try upgrading an attribute of my Wisteria; that should take care of wiping at least a fifth of it."
"How much of a head start can you buy me?"
"Remind me of our plan again."
"We use what we'd done in the Celestium, I use Golden Thread to try to force entry into the spire," Rhian replied. "You should keep the monsters away from me until them."
"How much do you need?" Zane asked. 'I'm the one who had this idea. Why are you bossing me around?'
Rhian crossed his arms as he thought deeply. "Five minutes. I've hardly ever picked locks in my life."
Just as Zane was going to open his mouth, a panel opened in front of them.
[Veiled Trial: Kill One of The Temple's Main Monsters
Grade: B+
Time Limit: 70 minutes
Conditions: retrieve the soul of the fenghuang
Failure: permanent imprisonment in the temple's spire
Reward: 5000 species]