Chapter 1: 100.000

In an old, battered, damaged throne room, an individual was sitting on the throne. The person was wearing full-plated armour, which covered every part of his body, and said armour seemed to be made of stone. Two battered stone swords were leaned onto the throne from each side, and the statue-like man had his hands next to the weapon's handles.

The throneroom was barren. It only had torches on the wall, which were all burning and giving some light. And a few chandeliers in the middle, across the room. These provided sufficient light in the centre of the room, in which a torn red carpet was located.

Soon, the door of the throneroom, which was located right across the room, opened with a loud crack and creak. Through the opened door, a party of six individuals step in. Two of them seemed to be some sort of mages, as they held staffs and were only wearing robes, while the other four were equipped with bladed weapons and armour. Two had short swords; among them, one had two of them, while the other had a shield. One held a large scythe; another held a large battle axe, and the last one, who seemed to be the leader since he stepped in first, held a crystal sword that was almost entirely transparent.

"So here we are, at long last! We have come to kill you, and..." The man with the crystal sword stated but was shocked.

The moment he opened his eyes to speak, the stone-like man launched himself towards him in a split second and, with both of his weapons, unleashed two devastating cleaves. The man just barely managed to block the incoming attacks and was blasted back straight against the wall, and then he fell down. He coughed blood and was panting.

"What is this?! I should have the highest endurance, yet I was utterly devastated by a single slash?! What even is he?! The previous opponent was so weak that I thought I could go straight here, but...I was a fool!" The man thought as he slowly pushed himself up.

The moment he was back on his feet, he shook his head and was ready to engage once again, but he was too late. His comrades were already slain. The stone-like man stood in the middle of the room. Severed limbs and body parts were located everywhere around him; he was holding one of the mages; his left side was completely missing, and as he was being held by the throat, blood was flowing from his eyes, ears and mouth simultaneously.

"Puny humans... Did you really think you could bare into my sacred castle and defeat me?!" The stone-like man shouted.

And then, with a swift movement, he threw the corps in his grip at the shocked man, who was trembling. As the corps hit the man, he slid against the wall and then collapsed.

"Such weakness must be purged!" The other man stated.

And with a swift movement, he raised his right hand and then slashed the ground with his sword; the sword emitted a powerful burst of flame, which engulfed the entire front of the room. Every corpse was evaporated; not even a single drop of blood remained behind.

As the man was about to make his way back to his throne, the door opened once again, and now a group of two stepped in. One of them was a lady with long red hair, holding a large leather back on her back. She was wearing a full-plated armour made of very reflective material. The other one was a man with short black hair and purple eyes. What he was wearing was rather light on the armour side, as it looked more like a cosmetic outfit. What he had on was a gown-like black uniform with slight purple colour mixed in it. The man held a twig in his hand, which gave a slight blueish glow, and drew a blue afterimage as it moved.

"A-adam?!" Uttered the stone-like man.

"Oh, you remember me? Well... How many times has it already been?" Adam Chatted.

"99999..." The man replied.

"Right, I lost count long ago... Anyway, I hope you are ready to give me what I am looking for; otherwise, we will reach a million soon, pal!" Adam stated with a smug smile.

As the man heard it, he stepped back a bit and raised his blades.

"Sir, I apologise for the interruption, but are you sure you are well-equipped for this fight?! I have heard that Trayzaihr is quite formidable. Or, to be precise... He is the third most powerful entity whom you can go against!" The girl spoke up next to Adam.

"Lulu, I understand your concern, but I could kill him with closed eyes; do not be afraid; I know this is your first time meeting him, but he is quite hem... You just have to learn his patterns and weaknesses or just have to overpower him, like I always do. I even managed to enhance this twig to further increase my luck. I am sure I can get my item within a few dozen kills! Stand by." Adam stated and stepped forward.

"Yes, sir!" The girl replied.

"Now then... Big bad boss, shall we get started?" Adan voiced with a grin.

In a split second, Adam dashed over to the man and, with a powerful thrust, sent him sliding back despite Adam's attack being blocked. The man quickly stood back up and, with all his might, dashed at Adam; as he was running, his weapons gained a flaming aura, and as he reached Adam, he unleashed a devastating double slash at him. However, despite putting everything he had into that attack, Adam was faster. With a lightning-fast hint, he hit the man's chest, who was sent back flying. He hit the wall above the throne and then fell onto his throne, crushing it beneath him.

"One down... Two more." Adam stated with a wide grin.

The man stood up on the other side of the room. When he received the attack from Adam, his armour was slightly cracked and dented. However, moments later, the candles in the room were all put out and were lighting up once again, but this time, they had purple flames. From the man's armour, purple liquid started flowing out, which started covering his armour and repairing it. As soon as his armour was fully submerged in that liquid, Adam quickly dashed over to him and, without giving him a moment to react, hit the man's head. The attack instantly liquified the man's head, and his helmet just fell off. However, instead of blood, what came out of him, was not blood but black liquid.

"Two down, last one..." Adam mumbled.

The candles in the room once again were put out and then reignited but this time with black flames. They gave barely any light; the flames were not even bright enough to illuminate the candles themselves. However, Adam was able to see in the dark, he watched as the headless man stood up, and the black liquid formed a large blob on his neck, and in the ball of liquid, a single eye appeared. Without a second thought, the man slashed at Adam, who just laughed as he blocked both of the attacks. They were quite powerful, as although Adam's twig remained unscathed, the swords cracked.

"I hope I will be lucky." Adam thought.

Adam quickly brought his weapon up, and before the man could move his weapon, Adam had already unleashed a powerful slash vertically. This time, however, it was not a simple slash; it drew a powerful purple flame, which, upon collision with the man's body, exploded and lighted the whole room up. Even before the fire could have been put out, Adam and Lulu found themselves in a different location.

They found themselves in the garden of the castle they were in previously. Lulu was slightly surprised, but Adam was perfectly calm, and he was smiling. He then dropped the twig he was holding, which vanished before it could touch the ground.

"Finally! This fucking boss was so stubborn... No matter how many times I killed it, it refused to give me that one fucking item I was looking for! But now, finally, I received it! I have been grinding him for weeks now, but it is finally done! I finally received its Alpha Soul. Now the final boss is the last opponent I have to deal with since I already farmed the second last one..." Adam shouted as he jumped up in excitement.

Congratulation sir! Lulu stated; although her face remained emotionless, she started clapping.

"These NPCs are great... They were given a decent level of AI and voice... But they are still cold and emotionless." Adam thought.

As he finished thinking, he took a deep breath and then looked at his follower.

"We are done here... We are going back to base. Sell everything based on the filter, and then you may return to your duties." Adam stated.

Within moments, a tiny blue orb spawned in his right hand, and then he crushed it. Causing it to emit a powerful blue light that blinded him and illuminated most parts of the darkened and unattended garden. As soon as Adam reopened his eyes, he found himself in a tiny shack with a tiny trapdoor which was located beside a battered wooden door.

The shack contained a fireplace and an expensive-looking leather armchair; also, it had a small table next to the chair.

"Sir, if you will excuse me!" Lulu stated, and she opened the door of the shack and immediately vanished.

Through the door, a heavily snow-covered baren lad was visible. Adam only smiled and seated himself on the chair, and then the door automatically closed.

"Finally... I have longed for this moment... I am finally about to finish the game, that is, if I can defeat the final boss..."

"Gates of Ardion... It is quite a fun game, it helped me through many difficult times in my life, and in recent years, I was even able to earn a living playing and selling the loot I plundered from dungeons or bosses..."

"Sweet memories... I remember when I first started playing... I was one of the few testers... And still, after all those years, I am still active... I think I could even say that I am one of the most powerful players due to the absurd amount of hours I played with it..."

"But even now, I am not sure whether I would be able to defeat the final boss, Ardion... I heard that the boss is ridiculously powerful... And my biggest concern is that no one has managed to defeat their second phase."

"I am a solo player... Yet I have witnessed that a raiding party of 32 players were utterly defeated... Anyway, I think it is time for me to log out for today. That is my future self's problem only. I just need a good night's sleep, and then I can think with a broader vision!"