Too Stubborn to Die

Mo’han clenched his fists as he watched the notifications pass by in the shadowy, post-trial abyss.

He was frustrated with himself. He had missed his chance to ask Aaron what he had won from completing his patron god’s quest.

Annoying.

He gritted his teeth, wondered what exactly the tournament ticket was all about. It wasn’t just because they both had similar quests that he wanted to ask Aaron about it, but his patron god’s peculiar comments about Yendal. But it seemed he would have to wait until a later date to get an explanation.

It is what it is.

Shaking his head, he refocused on what he was doing and flicked through the trial point store options. With a grading of SS, he had a decent number of points to spend, and he was thankful for it, as the Divine Temple sounded too good to pass up.

A million points… but how can I say no to such a purchase?

Confirming his selection and adding it to his cart, he was left with just 250,000 points, which was, coincidentally, exactly what he needed to purchase a wormhole gate building.

This store turned out surprisingly fruitful. I hope it serves you as well as it has me, A-ran! I would hate for my good friend and rival to fall behind.

A smile creased his lips as he went to check out. He was in no rush, but he also saw no point in sitting around once he had already selected obvious choices. He needed what he needed, and he had it.

“Time to see what this new world has in store for me,” Mo’han murmured as he mentally selected check-out.

Epilogue 2: Darius Nessar

Seething with anger, Darius had spent little time in the trial store, cursing to himself and quickly flicking through the options. He had received fewer points than he had expected to, and he was unable to purchase everything the Death God had commanded him to. Still, he got the stone of corruption, so it wasn’t a complete failure.

Nonetheless, the rage bubbling within him made him more determined to succeed than ever. He didn’t know all the details, but it was clear that the annoying man had outperformed him in the trials. But that didn’t mean he would accept anything less than domination.

Darius was born for this. This world was his oyster, and he would suck it dry. Who really cared if the trials simply weren’t where he excelled? He was still the strongest, and he would prove it.

Glancing down, Darius thumbed the rock that pulsed with deathly energy. All he had to do was follow the instructions laid out for him, and this world would become his domain.

All around him stood his army of undead. They had followed him to this world and were now waiting on his command. With a snap of his fingers, they spread out, charging in all directions.

He knew what he had to do, and he sent his undead army in search of his objective as he calmly walked.

He had arrived in the largest canyon he had ever seen. A canyon that would put Earth’s largest to shame, with multiple river systems snaking through it.

Only a few minutes later, he got a message, telepathically relayed by one of his minions, and immediately corrected his path.

“That was quick,” he flashed a toothy grin, chuckling to himself. As expected, this world wouldn’t be too hard to conquer.

Still, it wasn’t the only message sent back to him. Within a few minutes, he had received mixed results. It was painfully obvious this new world possessed far greater dangers than the Tutorial had, and he could feel the deathly energy leaving the corpses as his minions were slain by beasts and monsters.

But their losses were to be expected, and a small price to pay for his victory. After all, he had numbers to spare. And soon, most of the canyon in his vicinity had been scouted, and most importantly, the obelisk had been found.

Casually, he strolled towards it, calling on all his minions to gather. He spotted the ancient-looking structure and the beasts that guarded it. Even before reaching it, he could feel the energy radiating from the obelisk. No doubt the beasts could too, which was why they were drawn to it and chose to nest around it.

Unfortunately, his situation was somewhat complicated. There was a low-level D-grade beast amongst them, and Darius was forced to use caution, waiting for the rest of his undead horde to gather.

Once his army had arrived, he sent them forth. Alone, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to fight a D-grade beast. He might win, after all; he had grown considerably stronger in the trials. Not to mention, he now possessed a true blessing and new Titles. He had also worked on his taxidermy Profession, giving him many additional Levels and Skills.

But there was no need to risk his own life against powerful beasts when he had a legion of undead to soak up the damage of their attacks.

With a snap of his fingers, they charged. Within seconds, the undead were falling. But it meant little in the long run. They possessed their former powers and could be deadly, but none could progress and get stronger; their paths had been halted, and their long-term value was limited. He had always known that he would need to find new prey and rebuild his army with stronger warriors; his path demanded it.

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This army was expendable. And it was doing its job. Little else mattered.

From a distance, he watched as his army fell against the beasts, using necrotic buffs to help them and debuffs to weaken his enemy. And in between it all, blasted destructive necromancy spells, slaying beasts, where his minions provided the opportunity.

It was a slug, and by the time the D-grade beast was staggering and on its last legs, the battlefield was littered by corpses of both beasts and his minions.

But Darius just smiled. His goal was within sight, and his minions had served him well. Not to mention, being the first to claim the treasure would provide a nice Title.

Soon, the massive, bull-like beast could barely lift its head, constantly being battered by attacks from its minions that landed from all directions. Every time it struck back, he lost a couple of his minions, but they were just weaklings that had died in the Tutorial. Soon, he would replace them with far, far stronger warriors.

When he spotted the perfect opening, he joined the fray, blasting it with his strongest spells in quick succession. It didn’t last long. Even D-grade beasts had their limits, and he savored its groans as the last of its life left it.

“I think I’ll make something of you,” he muttered, briefly glancing at the bull corpse, and then turning to the obelisk.

This was what he had come for. The true treasure.

Walking up to the towering structure, he pressed his pale, bluish hand against it and accepted the prompts. But that wasn’t all, he took the stone of corruption, and poured its power, along with his own necrotic energy into it, just as the Death God had instructed him. Soon, the facade of the obelisk began to change, turning a sickly gray and emanating a foul aura of death that filled the air, choking out life with its unnatural smog.

He had turned the tower into an abomination, but to Darius, it was power. He could already feel it pulsing through the air, granting him additional strength. But it wasn’t just he who was strengthened. He could feel the power seeping into the walking corpses that surrounded him.

Was he as powerful as that bastard from the trials on neutral ground? Darius asked himself. The answer was, maybe not. But he didn’t intend to fight him on neutral ground. He would spread this foul aura across the world, capturing as many obelisks as he could, and with their power, he would become unstoppable.

Don’t you worry, Death God. I will complete that quest. And I will make Aaron Dober one of my puppets!

Epilogue 3: Elmira

It was almost eerie how organized their arrival in their new world was. There was a military-like precision to it, and people were marching around all over the place on orders from their lieutenants, who in turn were acting on Pentival’s behalf.

Then again, it was their entire Tutorial, minus the few who had unfortunately perished during the Tutorial. They had all arrived together, just as the Waypoint promised. And immediately, they had been put to work.

Scouts were sent out with strict orders not to engage anything of a higher level. No lives were to be risked at this early junction. With their numbers, they didn’t need to be, and in a short time, they had found what they were looking for.

It was Pentival that figured it out. Clues in the System store and items purchased. Mentions here and there of something called a Settlement Obelisk, and he had sent his scouts out looking for something that fit the description.

And luckily for them, they had found one only a short walk away. There had been beasts nearby, though, and even a couple quite strong ones. But they had an entire group of elites who had experienced the Trials together, and a few beasts were of little match for them.

The moment they were slain, Pentival took command of the obelisk, and a small camp began to be erected around it.

Everything was going well. Pentival was once more showing his prowess as a leader, and several tiny groups of wandering people who had spotted them had already decided to join and been put to work.

Their rise to power, led by Pentival, felt inevitable, but of course, not everyone was going to be as receptive.

Had it just been humans from their previous world, Pentival probably could have united the entire world within months, maybe weeks. His achievements spoke for themselves, and his fame as a leader of their old world only served to amplify said achievements, quickly drowning out the doubters.

But their world wasn’t just inhabited by humans.

Within a couple of hours, they had spotted them. Ogres. A group of them was hunting beasts nearby. There had been a few of them in the Shadow Trials, but they mostly kept to themselves, and only one small group had negotiated with Pentival. This group was not that group, meaning that they were an unknown entity. Pentival wasn’t just going to sit by as a potential threat roamed, and sent Elmira and a few other elites to investigate.

That was how she arrived where she did. Staring across at the snarling creatures, holding her party back from immediately attacking. Luckily, she had managed to score herself a Lingua Multiversa Skillbook in the trials, and it seemed likely that she was going to become their interpreter.

“Hello, my name is Elmira,” she waved. “We’re warriors from the nearby settlement, and our leader has a proposal for you.”

She had to admit, they almost reminded her of him when he was large and prepping for a fight, at least. Every single one of them was huge, both in height and width, but despite their enormous girth, they moved around nimbly, showing that beneath all that fat was more than a little muscle. They were not that intimidating, though. The highest level among them was still twenty levels lower than her, though.

But she had to remain vigilant. These were strangers, and she didn’t know what their goals were. And while they were at a lower level than her and her party, if there was one thing Aaron had taught her, it was not to underestimate those at lower levels.

“We can understand each other?” A female ogre said, stepping forth with a perplexed expression. “How? Who are you?”

Elmira inwardly sighed with relief. While confused, the ogre in front of her was very clearly not hostile, and she was also clearly the leader of this small group. At level sixty, she was the highest, and based on the glances the other ogres shot at her, they deferred to her. She was also the ugliest of the bunch, her face the color and texture of cottage cheese and almost as wide as it was tall.

“I come from the Empire,” said Elmira with a smile. “Our goal is peace and prosperity. We would like to invite you to join us. We promise that you will not be mistreated.”

“Wait…” said the female ogre, frowning. “Are you the one who was with that human in the Trials?”

“You were in the Trials?”

“Only at the end,” said the female ogre. “But I recognize you. You were with the ogre-like human, right?”

“Aaron?”

“Yes! That was his name! If we come with you, can I meet him?”

“Well, he’s not on this planet…” said Elmira. “But I do plan on reuniting with him again eventually, so I can ask him.”

“Wonderful!” said the ogre woman, grinning and showing off a set of crooked teeth full of food particles. “I am looking forward to it!”