NOVEL SIMPLE On the way
Darkness spread everywhere. Nothing could be seen or perceived.
Yet suddenly out of the darkness, a hand appeared, parting it like a curtain. Seconds later, an attractive and deep voice followed.
"How did it go?"
"Your highness! Please forgive us but we failed. He escaped us."
The suffocating air grew thicker and threatened to swallow the cloaked man trembling kneeling in front of the darkness.
"Where is he?"
"He has probably not heeded our warning and started to look for the treasure. We have people stationed at the academy but he hasn't been sighted."
"That's good," the voice pleasantly said, "It was time he finally came out of his hiding to me. This is our fate."
***
A week later, after a tremendous walking journey, plagued by paranoia and fear, Eric and his allies finally arrived at the first checkpoint of the treasure hunt. To clarify his doubts, Eric asked again, "So the checkpoint is there to sort out the contenders?"
"I guess so," Dan briefly answered as their view fell onto a city surrounded by high ashlar walls.
Currently, they stood on a hill, seeing the city from afar. The map said that the first checkpoint took place in the iron-forte city. Since the whole city was like a castle, the name somehow made sense.
"Let's go," Éclair swung her ponytail behind her back and descended the hill. It was a rough journey to come here. Although they didn't meet much danger, it was exhausting on their bodies.
On their way, they've gathered intel that the checkpoints only opens at specific times, if one missed it, they needed to wait until the next window opens.
Without clearing the checkpoints one could not get to the treasure. This was a mechanism of some sort.
Thus, Eric and his allies rushed, barely sleeping and taking a break, only using magic to relieve their fatigue. They could fly but flying took up a lot of mana and had to be used in moderation.
Eric, at first, was surprised that everyone knew of the treasure and even took the treasure hunt as entertainment. From the system's description, Eric thought it was secret but apparently it wasn't. The population of this country knew about it. but the secret was who the contenders were. Random invitations were sent to people and once they accepted, they were a contender, eligible to participate in the treasure hunt.
Of course, Eric was curious about the history of the treasure hunt and where the contenders succeeded and failed.
Since the first king's death and declaration of the treasure, no one was able to pass the trials and find the final checkpoint. It was said that a group of contenders managed to pass all checkpoints and even got to the treasure room but just within a day later, they were all found dead. After that, no one has made it that afar.
Eric wondered how the contenders were chosen. Based on what criteria and who were the ones who oversaw this hunt? Could it be magical creatures? Since this was a story about magic, wasn't it natural to see fairies, elves, orcs, dwarves etc? To be honest, Eric actually wanted to see them.
However, he wasn't worried about not finding the treasure. Of course, he would find it, he was the protagonist, but what ate him alive was to serve an exciting journey to the readers and how that villain and touchy touchy system fell into this all. Wouldn't his personal mission ruin the story?
"Elas, what are you doing? Do you feel sick?" with a worried face, Tani approached Eric and with her pleasant voice, brought him out of his deep thoughts.
"Oh, I'm fine," Eric quickly said and inspected his surroundings, he didn't know they were already in the city. The centre of the city reminded him of European medieval times. A large market with vendors took up half of the plaza and in the back, a crystal palace rose.
Crystal interweaved with iron. This was how the palace looked like. So there were still kings. This sight actually surprised Eric. The magic academy looked more modern and the previous villagers looked like rural ones in this world, so to see they were indeed in a less advanced age toppled his mind a bit.
"So, the map doesn't show a proper location for the checkpoint," Dan whispered. Although the treasure hunt was a public known thing, it was better to keep one's identity hidden as a contender or else similar attacks like at the academy would happen again.
"Let's first find a place to stay, we still have a bit of time before it starts," Eric said as he looked around. Actually, Eric could see on his interface a countdown.
He still had more than 24 hours left.
Once the counter reached 0, Eric would probably receive something about the checkpoint.
"Should we stay in the centre or choose a quieter place," Tani softly asked, feeling all the stares she received from passersby. Since she looked innocent and vulnerable, she was easily the target of males' unnecessary affection.
Taking this into consideration, Eric decided, "Let's stay close to the centre but not too close."
"Alright," Eclair and Dan had no problems with it.
When they chose a hotel, they instantly took a shower and napped. Staying in two separate rooms, it was already the next morning when they woke up.
Eric looked at his counter. 10 hours to go. So, the checkpoint would start in the evening?
This was troublesome. Although Eric could use magic, he still preferred the bright daylight.
"Elas, how much until it starts?" Éclair and Tani walked into Eric's and Dan's room.
"Until evening."
"Great!" Éclair immediately was in a good mood, "Let's explore the heck out of this city!"
And so they did. Actually, it was good because Eric could get familiar with this place. Who knew what the checkpoint was. It was an advantage to know his environment beforehand, especially if it took place in the evening.
The city had a quarter system, it was divided into different small quarters which were named after a letter. The centre had 24 quarters from A-Z. While surrounding the centre were the quarters starting from AB, AC, AD, AE etc. It wasn't too hard to remember. However, the palace itself was its own quarter titled '0'.
The first outer quarter started with A and the last quarter was in the south with Z.
The naming went left to right, top to bottom. They finished exploring just when the timer hit 0 and Eric's interface shook. He quickly opened it and a text box, only he could see, appeared.
[Mission for checkpoint 1: eliminate 5 hunters within the quarters XA-ZA. Failure to finish the task results in elimination from the hunt. Eliminate includes killing, immobilise to participate in the hunt or steal their badge. Time limit: 5 hours.]
Suddenly, something light appeared inside the jacket Eric wore. He felt it through the fabric. This was indeed a badge. He didn't dare to take it out, they were currently in the middle of a bustling street and not even the dark evening could soothe his cautious heart.
"Let's go back," once Eric said those words they understood.
It was time. The mission didn't sound too hard but it actually was. Eric could only hunt the contenders in the XA-ZA quarters. This meant the very outer quarters in the south. The last three rows. Eric had no idea how many contenders were participating and how many were assigned to only this particular quarter.
Maybe the mission was unfair and Eric was the only one, so he couldn't even eliminate the hunters. He couldn't go to the other quarters since this would go against this mission. Another thing that made Eric worry was the elimination method.
Killing was the easiest while stealing the badge the hardest. The badge could be hidden anywhere. No one would bother going for the badge if they could just behead a person. Damnit. Eric didn't want to kill but he also had to pass the mission. Would the readers want to see a slaughtering MC?
"So, what's the first checkpoint?"
Dan and the others anticipating assembled in Eric's room and waited for him to speak. That's right, Eric could use his allies to help him. The rules didn't mention it was impossible!
"It's to-" however Eric was rendered speechless.