BRAGR) Core Guardian Part 1 (Patreon)

“It’s a barrier alright.” I sighed as I looked at the transparent barrier in front of me. I reached up and placed my hand on the barrier to surprisingly watch as my hand passed through it. “Hmmm?”

“Master, be careful.” Hilde pulled me back.

“We have to go forward so we have to go in.” I knew she was worried for my safety but we had no choice but to continue forward. I stepped forward and passed through the barrier, only to hear a grunt of pain from behind me.

“Ouch! Why!?” I turned to see Hilde rubbing her now red nose with one hand and her other hand banging on the barrier. “Master, I can’t get through!”

“Neither can we.” Jada and Mike also seemed to be locked out.

I looked at the notice in front of me.

[Entered Quest Zone…]

[Only the player with the quest may enter the zone. No summons are allowed.]

I couldn’t help but frown because this meant I was on my own, and to top it off, I bet I was going to be in for a tough fight. “Hilde, it seems only I am allowed to enter.”

“What!? Noo!” Hilde looked like she was going to cry. I sighed and shook my head. “Hilde, just protect Jada and Mike for now I will go see if I can deal with the core.”

“But…” Hilde bit her lip. She looked as if she wanted to figure out a way to break the barrier but I had a feeling it would be impossible for her.

“Hilde, just listen to me. I will not do anything that will put me in danger.”

“Yes, Master…”

I knew she was unwilling, but there was no choice. It was either I faced what was to come or face maybe an even greater threat later on. I gave her a smile before turning and making my way towards the glowing spot in front of me. The barrier seemed to attach itself to the building and went all the way to the top and down each side, which explained why these two buildings had not been touched.

I slowly made my way to the area that was glowing, but as I did, I noticed that the white glow went from pure white to yellow to orange and seemed to be getting redder with each step I took. I really couldn’t help but want to get this over with as fast as possible.

Right as the core turned a deep red color, a new notification appeared in front of me.

[Quest Updated]

[Hidden Mythic Quest: ‘Worldly Connections’ Started]

[Conditions Updated…]

[You have discovered a connection between the two worlds. To enter the gates, you must overcome the first trial.]

[Trial Now Started! 126:00:00:00]

[First Trial: Survival (Earth)]

[Earth is under attack by a monster wave. Secure your area and find the core, which is spawning monsters. The trial will end in 126 days if you destroy the core.]

[You have found the core. Core defense mode has been activated. Core Guardian will now be summoned.]

[Failure to destroy the core will result in a penalty.]

And what now stood in front of me was none other than a dragon. Like the one that was flying through the sky but on a much smaller scale but still as tall as a single floor house. But this did not make it any less dangerous.

“RAAAWWWRRR!!!!”

“Please do not yell its annoying.” I rubbed my ear. The roar was ear-piercing.

“Master please fall back. While the dragon is only level 40, it is still a dragon.” Hilde had a right to be worried, but I still could not back down.

“Hilde, I can not back down. If I do something even worse can happen. I need to kill this thing and destroy the core. My quest does not say what the penalty will be. Worse case would be instant death. It could even spawn a massive world boss that is thousands of times stronger than this thing. If you or anyone else got hurt because of that I would not be able to handle it.”

“Master…” Hilde went silent for a second before continuing: “If you get hurt retreated as quickly as possible. If you feel you are about to die make sure you retreat back through the barrier.”

“I will. I promise. I can just run around the city and kill monsters until I am many levels higher than it if I see that I can’t win.” At least, this was my plan…

I took a deep breath before reaching out my hand: “[Shadow Mimic].” I did not just do this once but ten times, summoning all level 30 monsters that I had just fought before reaching here. On top of that, I decided to use [Nature’s Embrace]. These little flower guys may look harmless, but they were very good at controlling vines as well. I figured it would help with some kind of crowd control on the dragon boss here to help me escape if needed.