Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse - Chapter 138

“What do I get out of this, my supposed nemesis?”

“Uh…” At this question, Ragnar was stumped. He thought about it for a moment, then turned back to Cyanide.

“… My respect?”

“Worthless,” Cyanide said coldly. “You expect me to help you for no reason?” He chuckled. “I am an assassin, fool. A mercenary, if you will. I do things if you pay me. If not, I have no reason or obligation to help you—especially considering you are my archnemesis, according to yourself.”

“Fine, fine!” Ragnar rolled his eyes. “I, uh… don’t got anything I can give you in return right now, but I’ll owe you a favor after this, how ’bout that?”

“A favor? Interesting. What makes you think I will need a favor from you in the future?” Cyanide asked, genuinely curious.

“Hey, you never know,” Ragnar said, shrugging. “Maybe you’ll end up having to throw away your weapon sometime as well, and will need my help to get it back.”

“…” Cyanide was about to object to Ragnar’s utterly absurd words, since he would never get so emotional about some weapon, but ultimately decided to accept the proposal. After all, that weapon was part of their group’s fighting power as a whole. If Ragnar didn’t have it, he would be pretty useless—and that would ruin the point of joining forces with him in the first place.

“… I have an idea,” Cyanide said at last, and Ragnar arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“Snake Fangs. You have a number of those, don’t you? Give them all to me.”

“Uh… sure? But is that really all you want?” Ragnar asked, surprised. “I got nearly a hundred.”

“I’ll take them all,” Cyanide said calmly, to which Ragnar folded his arms.

“Man… I don’t get you sometimes, assassin. But a man knows when a question is not his to ask. Here you go.”

He retrieved the Snake Fangs from his inventory, handed all of them to Cyanide, who accepted them without any hesitation. Then, getting back to business, Cyanide turned to the Moonflower on the ground, and bent down to collect them as Ragnar smirked in triumph, eager to get his sword back.

Just as he finished picking the last translucent Moonflower off the grass, however, the glowing blue ‘fireflies’ in the air suddenly converged together as if pulled by some mysterious electromagnetic force, and forged into what looked like a tiny holographic shrine, almost like a ghost object.

It was small, but intensely bright—so much so that Cyanide and Ragnar had to cover their eyes for a moment at first, before they finally adjusted to it and stared at it in wonder.

“… What is that…?” Ragnar murmured, scratching his head. “Doesn’t look like it belongs here, that’s for sure…”

“This place doesn’t belong in the cave in the first place,” Cyanide commented, before turning back to the shrine and using the [Poison Detect]. No pings came up, signaling it was safe to touch, and slowly, Cyanide rested his fingertip on the top of the shrine.

Instantly, a surge of energy flew up out from the bottom of the miniature structure, and projected into the air above it a large screen displaying a list of options below what looked like a torii gate graphic with animated sakura flowers fluttering by. Strangely, however, it was not as simple as a 2-dimensional screen. Rather, it was 3-D, so real yet so surreal at the same time. The fluttering sakura petals looked like they were tangible yet were not; they flew right through Cyanide’s hands.

Down below both men’s chins, a tutorial screen popped up, and the two both looked down to read what it said.

[World Tutorial: Shrine of Divinity]

[Within Endzone, there are various Shrines of Divinity spread out amongst the world, found in locations rich in Soulforce. When one is discovered, they will be marked on your map for future use and cost-free teleportation. At a Shrine, you can recover HP and Soulforce to full, but beware—it is not unlimited. At base level, the Shrine can only hold 1,000 HP and 5 SF, slowly regenerating over time. However, as you contribute to it, it too may offer rewards in return…]

There was a second page, so Cyanide tapped on that and was brought to yet another tutorial page.

[World Tutorial: Divinifly]

[Diviniflies are special Soulforce-borne butterflies often found in places rich in Soulforce. They have a bright glowing luster to them and can come in many different colors, but all share the common trait of being small but slow. When one is spooked, it will try to run away—but if you manage to catch one and offer it up to a Shrine of Divinity, its level will be increased, granting rewards and higher capacity HP and Soulforce.]

“Huh…” Ragnar muttered, closing out of his tutorial and looking around. “Hey, assassin. You think those things over there are the… Diviniflies the tutorial’s talking about?”

Saying this, he pointed in front of him, at where a glowing purple butterfly was slowly fluttering about, completely oblivious to the two men a few meters away from it.

“… Looks like its detection range is quite short, if that is the case,” Cyanide said, folding his arms. “Appears to be deaf, too.”

Ragnar shot a sideways glance at Cyanide, then smirked as an idea formed in his head. Suddenly, he dashed forward, aiming to grab the fly. He moved quick, but-

-Well, quick for him, anyway.

The Divinifly flinched as it felt a gust of wind rushing towards it, and instantly began flapping away. Ragnar’s hand closed around nothing, and his huge frame spun around to the best of his ability. The glowing insect was already out of his reach, though, and he cursed.

“Damn it! What happened to it being slow?!”

“It is,” Cyanide said quietly, looking up at where the Divinifly had flown to in the sky. “You’re just slower.”

Saying this, the assassin immediately dashed towards a tree, climbing up on it and kicking off its top like a nimble cat. Striking with precision and accuracy, Cyanide caught the Divinifly by the wings, careful not to crush it, and gently landed back on the ground, sweeping the grass below him.

“… Hmph. Show off. Let’s see you do that against a group of enemies now, eh?” Ragnar snorted, clearly unimpressed. Cyanide wasn’t trying to impress him, though, and instead simply moved closer to the shrine and offered the butterfly up.

The insect spread its wings as it was enveloped by the purple light being emitted by the holographic Torii gate, and soon vanished with a flash.

Instantly, a purple aura pulsed around the shrine, and a string of text appeared beneath it.

[Shrine of Divinity — Level Up.]

[Level I -> II.]

[Achievement Unlocked: So it begins…]

– Level up your Shrine of Divinity to Level II. –

[Obtained Precepts of the Miner x1.]

[Obtained Precepts of the Chef x1.]

[Obtained Precepts of the Farmer x1.]

[Obtained Precepts of the Alchemist x1.]

[Obtained Precepts of the Craftsman x1.]

[Obtained Precepts of the Beastamer x1.]