......
Atlas World, Aurora Continent
Frozen Kingdom
Bang!
A group of players slayed a huge monster that looked like a hybrid of a monkey and a troll. Its body was covered with white furs while its long arms were always as long as its entire body.
The furs covering its forearms were so thick that they resembled leather armor rather than just a part of its skin. It was the same for its legs which seemed to be as hard as steel.
Sitting on top of the huge corpse of this monster, Ashura was currently resting as he looked at the horizon. He stared at the setting sun in the distance before turning his head toward a certain direction.
Around him, the other members of the God''s Paradise were busy dissecting the monster corpses while gathering all the precious materials from them.
Not long after, Lia, the team''s chief healer walked over and said to him. "We are done here, Commander. With these corpses, we should have enough Yeti''s Furs to complete our commission."
"We can start with the next part of our quest after this," she added after skimming through their schedule.
Yeti – these Level 200 Monsters were all at King Class even with their weakest of them all, yet the God''s Paradise had hunted more than a hundred of them just to complete a commission from the Adventurer''s Guild of the Frost City.
This signified how strong their adventurer team was, especially when the total number of their members did not exceed twenty.
Ashura briefly nodded before asking. "How is the progress in that quest? Do you think we can get enough recommendation letters for our members?"
Lia briefly looked into the quest before nodding. "I think we can rest assured about it. Given the number of high-ranking commissions that we have completed since we started exploring the Frozen Kingdom, we should have enough merit for it."
Ashura fell silent for a moment before instructing. "Tell Kallavan and Susanoo to come with me later. I want to try hunting some Wyverns before leaving."
Hearing his words, Lia could not help but feel worried and tried to oppose it. "Commander! Wyverns are descendants of dragons. It will be challenging even for our entire team to take down one, much less the three of you."
"The weakest of them are at least Level 250 King Class Monster. They are comparable to a fully grown Yeti of the same level. Trying to challenge them is no different from committing suicide, especially when our levels are away behind them."
"With level difference almost reaching a hundred, even our entire force can get wiped!" she added, trying to change the mind of her commander.
Ashura smiled bitterly as he assured her. "Don''t worry. I understand our limits more than anyone. It is not this is my first time doing this."
He paused for a moment as he stared at the settling dusk for another time. "We are not there to hunt that monster. We just want to test our limits and see if we can challenge it."
"We have been quite behind on exploring the Awakened Continent, so we have to find some form of challenge that can let our team catch up with our rivals."
"It is much more dangerous compared to the high-level neutral regions and almost matching the level of the Forbidden Lands-..."
He wanted to say more but he was immediately cut off by the Head Commander. He swiftly shut his mouth when he saw the raised hand of the other party from behind.
"I will overlook it this time since you have performed quite well during your entire service under me. But there will be no next time," said the Head Commander.
"We are barely able to discover anything after patching up all the scattered clues that we have gathered. But we don''t get anything much from it. If we don''t take risks now, then the others will overtake us and seize ''that'' think before anyone else."
He paused for a moment as he continued to look at the horizon before continuing. "We must find what ''that'' man has hidden before that update arrives."
"Things will get much trickier if we fail before that."
***
Awakened Continent
The border between the Forsaken Islets and the Corrupted Region of Demons.
It was a land of destruction and chaos as those Undead Race following the true teachings of the Dark Arts, Spirit Magic, and Necromancy were in constant conflict with the Corrupted Beings and Demonified Race of the opposing region.
These two regions were in constant war against each other due to their respective beliefs.
The residents of the Forsaken Islets were following the teachings of the old era that created the Dark Arts and Necromancy, which was the centerpiece of their religion.
The Church of Darkness was the loyal subject of the God of Darkness and Night, who was said to be the creature of the First Undead.
The heretics of the Corrupted Region of Demons were the followers of the Demonic Churches and Corrupted Cult, which used the Dark Arts and Necromancy and modified it with the corrupt powers that were left behind by the Demons when they first invaded the Atlas World.
Due to the clashing beliefs, particularly when the heretics were the reason why the residents of the Forsaken Islets were being branded as evil creatures of the citizens of the Divine Empire and other major regions.
"Boss! We have found it!" Rust rushed toward Immortal''s side while carrying a fragment of a huge disc. "This should be the final piece that we are lacking to complete the key!"
Immortal casually glanced at the disc fragment and stared at the broken emblem engraved on its surface before nodding. "This must be it."
He took the fragment and kept it in his inventory before instructing. "Tell the others that it is time to come back. We must hurry back as the Great Legion is about to start selecting their people."
Rust quickly nodded before suddenly disappearing.
Immortal then summoned a huge bone dragon from the ground before stepping onto its bone hands. "Cursed Armor of the Nether Realm – I will make sure to get you before anyone else."
...