Sirius Chapter 22: Chapter 21: The First Mission

Read chapter 22 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

The subsequent tests were completed without much incident. The results that followed, after all the commotion, were somewhat underwhelming; except for a young girl who revealed the Almos element, most participants carried the four primary elements or nothing particularly remarkable. Meanwhile, Li arrived at the plaza, ready to start his first mission. Amelie had already walked him through the basics he'd need to handle future challenges, and had taught him far more than just how to fight. When he arrived, he noticed two people already scanning the options on the mission board. "Akemi and... what was his name again?" "Hey, kid! You finally showed up; we need one more for this challenge!" shouted the albino. The man didn't seem particularly bothered. "A mission for three?" Moving closer, Li looked at the board. The white-haired young man pointed to one of the orbs in the upper half of the wall; as always, the description was short and vague. "Where's the big guy? Simba, I think his name was." "That arrogant bastard went into a mission alone!" the man replied. "And he sees himself as humble?" Li and Akemi thought simultaneously, but said nothing. Mission: The Goblin King's Nightmare Objective: Prevent the destruction of the village. Difficulty: B- Requirements: Min: 3 │ Max: 5 Reward: 800p + Hercules Elixir. Side Mission: ? "Why this mission?" Jihan asked. "Cost-benefit. This part of the board has a low entry price but good rewards, and the challenges are theoretically simpler. This one, for example: 'prevent the destruction of the village;' I'd assume it means either eliminating a threat or keeping the population alive through an attack. Nothing overly complex." Akemi explained. Taking a quick look at the options, Li reached essentially the same conclusion. The objective was clear but unspecific, which left the group a wide range of ways to complete it. Going by the name and the end conditions, he figured they would likely need to kill the Goblin King to stop the village's destruction. "You know him?" Jihan whispered to Akemi, nodding toward the other man. The half-elf shook her head, but showed no particular displeasure. "Well, I'm not in the mood to waste time. Are you in?" The albino pressed him. "Yes; let's get going. The less time we spend here, the more of an advantage we'll have." In agreement, Akemi took the orb and the three headed to the platform. "I haven't introduced myself yet; my name is Li Jihan." "Xu Wang. Just try not to be too much of a dead weight, rookie." "Well, that's just his personality. Not much I can do about it." Without wanting to start trouble, Li simply accepted the man's words and kept quiet. Akemi crushed the orb in her hands and a light enveloped them, transporting the trio out of the hall. Without the group knowing, several pairs of eyes were fixed on the first three to pick up a mission after the unlocking. "Raise your bets, gentlemen. How will they perform on the 'Goblin King's Nightmare'?" a jovial voice asked. A man in armor put his hand to his chin, thoughtful, and answered: "It's an unusual mission; a trap, in a sense. It's not as simple as it appears; in fact, it could be considered more of an intelligence challenge than a test of strength. Given the profile of these participants... well, all we can do is wait and see." Everyone else stopped to listen, since the man in question knew exactly what the challenge entailed. "I heard this mission is based on one of your own adventures, sir." the jovial voice remarked. "Yes, but that was a long time ago. I sincerely hope they don't have as hard a time as I did..." He paused. "I'm curious to see which path they'll take..." "Especially him..." he thought. * * * Far from there, three people appeared in another setting. A wall of wooden stakes converged into a large gate, where two men stood watch. The moment they noticed the trio's arrival, they raised their guard. "Strangers, identify yourselves!" one of the guards shouted from the top of the gate