...…
After some careful discussion, Shin and the others finally came up with the lineup for the expedition team that was going to venture into the unknown lands beyond the towering wall of ice. And the final lineup was just like what Seven had expected.
Everyone inside the room earlier was included in the team with the addition of Alucard and Ara from the Empyrean Talons and S.Tigris' group respectively.
Alucard was chosen because he was quite knowledgeable about the vampires inside the game. On the other hand, Ara was included to be an additional ranged-firepower of the group and also act as a secondary scout.
In the meantime, the rest of the three teams were tasked to guard the portal from any kind of attack from the Corrupted Cult.
At the same time, Kristle and Christine, who now had no choice but to follow Shiella's orders, were included in this group.
Shin and the expedition group were standing in front of the towering wall of ice on the spot where the Empyrean Talons and the others saw a huge emblem before. And spread out in the vicinity as they were making sure that there was no one around aside from them.
A few moments later, Shin survey the surroundings for another time before saying to the others. "Let's go!"
Hearing those words, Kristle and Christine quickly positioned themselves in front of the wall before chanting out a series of words while also doing some hand seals alongside it.
Hmm!
Then a humming sound could before be heard from the wall of ice as a powerful suction force appeared from the center of the strange emblem. But even though that suction force was too strong, nothing seemed to be being pulled from it.
A few moments later, a small vortex appeared at the center of the strange emblem as a crimson aura started to get attracted to it. And not long after, the vortex became a portal leading towards the other side of the wall.
Seeing that, Arthur couldn't help but clicked his tongue before saying. "Tsk! Tsk! This quest sure likes to waste our time with useless things."
After that, he turned to Shin and asked. "Can we get inside now?"
Shin shook his head and smiled bitterly when he saw the impatience that Arthur currently had. And quickly after that, he started nodding his head before saying. "Let's go!"
Hearing his signal, the others quickly did their respective methods to enter the vortex.
...…
Ta-ta!
Swoosh!
On the other side of the wall, the group was immediately greeted by a very cold temperature. The surroundings were covered by snow as if it was currently in the winter season.
Shin and the others quickly get information as soon as they landed on the ground. It was as if they were a team that were always been together. And immediately after that, they started sweeping their gazes on the surroundings, trying to see if there were any threats around.
But after a few moments of observing and learning that there was nothing that could threaten them within the vicinity, they started advancing forward just like what they discussed earlier.
The ground entered the forest while maintaining its formation. And when they had gotten used to each other, Shin who was walking right behind Arthur gave a signal to Faker and Alucard to scout the path ahead.
Two left some marks along the way to make sure that Shin and the others would be able to follow their tracks and not get lost while traveling.
But after a long time of walking, Shin and the others felt that there was something wrong. They didn't encounter any kind of monster along the way. It was the same for Faker and Alucard who were scouting ahead of them.
Aside from the worsening cold, the group didn't manage to find anything strange. And since they were ready this time, the cold didn't affect them much, especially when they brought quite a lot of cold-resistance potion that was provided by the Hand of Midas Trading Firm.
On top of that, they also coated their cloaks with a special potion that had a similar effect. It was one of Adept Hand's specialties, so its effects could last for a long time. As long as their cloaks were not going to get destroyed, then the cold-resistant effects would last until their expedition was over.
The weather was getting worse as the group advanced ahead. They were also some occasional snowstorms that hindered their progress. They were also forced to look for shelter whenever the storm was strong enough to annihilate them.
Fortunately, Faker and Alucard were quick enough to inform them about the storms. There was also Alice who could sense the snowstorm before the two could even inform the group.
A few moments later, Shin and the others finally arrived at the edge of the forest and were forced to stop due to the deep cliff on it.
But that was not the real reason why the group stopped in there. It was because of the breathtaking view that they saw from there.
In a distance, everything was fully covered by snow. There was another white forest ahead of them. But this time, there were a lot of large beasts hovering in the air.
"Wyverns!" muttered Arthur right after seeing the features of the beasts in the sky.
"They are known to others as lesser dragons due to the blood of the dragon flowing in their veins," he added with a serious tone.
But despite the seriousness that Arthur had, Shin just rolled his eyes at him since he knew that this guy just wanted to show off his knowledge regarding dragons.
So, before things could get out of hand, Shin quickly changed the topic. He turned his gaze at the silhouette of a huge city from a distance and said. "I guess we now have our initial destination."
Hearing those words, the others quickly forgot about the words that Arthur had said as they also turned their heads towards the direction of the city. And when all of their gazes were directed to the city, the group simultaneously got a series of system notifications.
*Ding!*
System: The Empire Quest has been updated!
System: Adjusting the quest difficulty based on the overall reputation of the expedition team!
System: Calculating-…
*Ding!*
System: The average reputation of the team exceeds the quest limit!
System: Readjusting the difficulty.
System: Empire Quest has been set into its highest difficulty.
...
Warning Alert!
The Empire Quest was set in highest difficulty!
All of the monsters in the area are not going to be restricted by the system settings. Their levels, stats, and skills would remain!
All of the monsters that are supposedly locked for this quest were going to be unleashed too, so please proceed on the quest with extreme caution!
...
The entire group seemed to be frozen in place after reading the series of notifications. But it only lasted for just a brief moment since they were immediately taken over by an extreme feeling of excitement.
The highest difficulty?
It was nothing in front of them!
Who are they? Their group was composed of the peak gods of the game! And for experts like them, the words 'highest difficulty' was synonymous with the words 'bountiful rewards.'
As long as the quest was difficult it would surely give an equivalent reward in return.
But that was only one of the reasons.
For the peak gods such Zero, Simba, Siegfried, and Sickarius in their group, the words extremely dangerous were the same as them experiencing the thrill of an extreme battle.
In the meantime, Shin used his 'True Sight' skill, trying to take a look at the details of the wyverns that were flying in the distance. But all he got were just a bunch of question marks, indicating that his level was way too low to see them or the distance was pretty far for him to use the skill.
The others also did the same, but after seeing that their actions were futile, the group turned to Shin and waited for him to tell them their next course of action.
They were too distracted by the sight in front of them and the series of notifications that they received from the system, which was why they almost forgot the most important thing and the real reason why they were here.
"Heh! How about we take a look at our quest first?" said Shin smirkingly before opening the quest information panel.
The others also did the same. And right after seeing the first few lines on it, the expression on their faces suddenly turned weird due to having mixed emotions.
Even Zero and Faker, who were usually able to maintain a calm look at all times, couldn't suppress the intense twitching of their faces.
------------------
Empire Quest
Quest Name: The Frozen Kingdom (I)
Quest Type: Investigative Quest
Quest Difficulty: Chaos (Highest Difficulty)
Quest Details: (Not enough Clues)
Quest Condition (Temporary): Please head over to the Capital of the Franzen Kingdom, the Frost City.
Caution: The monsters ahead are extremely strong!
Monster Estimated Level: Averaging between 175 ~ 250.
Quest Rewards: (Calculated depending on the final grade of achievements of the Team)
Quest Difficulty: (Character Deletion)
...
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