Depraved Hero's Path: Enslaved Monster Girl Harem In The Apocalypse!-Chapter 49: Undying Archives Of Old: Game Start!

"Are they going to be okay?" A brunette chuckled as she took a seat on the ground. "There were only two of them."

"Yeah." The bald man nodded. "That must be the reason why it hasn't started yet. His Party hasn't arrived."

"Still..." She looked around. "With the twelve of us, I don't see us having any trouble."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that♪" Rifna hummed.

The bald man stared at her with narrow eyes.

"Can we even trust you?"

"Absolutely not." Rifna answered, crossing her arms to form an X. "I'm neither friend nor foe. Just a judge overseeing things."

"We've been waiting for a while."

"The Game will start soon, don't worry."

***

'Marianne told me to steer clear of the dinosaurs. The rest is trickier.' Léa thought to herself, holding her chin with a hand. 'The Daeodon, the Deinosuchus, the Irish Elk, the Short-Faced Bear, and the Saber-Toothed Tiger... She had trouble distinguishing between them through Mana alone, despite the differences in size being obvious. The Games will, therefore, be different but of equal Difficulty, maybe?'

Having trouble deciding, Léa thought back to Marianne's words.

"The Giant Scorpion and Devil Frog should be okay. Both have less Mana than the Goblin Chief. If you want to challenge yourself, then go for the Dire Wolf. It would be difficult though, so I don't recommend it. Then again... You did get Rewards from the 1st Main Quest, you might be able to. I did beat the Goblin Chief before getting a Class or anything..."

Léa walked over to the Dire Wolf and stared for a moment.

'It's slightly bigger than the Black Wolf Boss Monster. Still, with my Rewards, I should be able to beat it...'

Just as her hand was about to lay on its head,

"No." She stopped. "If I want to prove myself, I have to beat something stronger than me. If I can't do something special, then I wouldn't deserve special treatment!" Léa clenched her fists. "Since no one else participated in the Quest, I got an A-Rank Clear Rank... But I know that I don't deserve it. Still, with the Rewards from it...!"

Léa had the opportunity to choose 2 E-Rank Items, 1 F-Rank Skill, 1 E-Rank Skill, one D-Rank Item, and one D-Rank Skill.

The choices she had made were:

F-Rank Skill: Night Vision.

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E-Rank Item: Basic Agility Boots.

E-Rank Item: Basic Torso Armor.

E-Rank Skill: Novice Spearmanship.

D-Rank Item: Flaming Spear.

D-Rank Skill: Quickstep.

'Night Vision will help since it's so dark in here. The boots increase my Agility Stat by 3 Stat Points. The Torso Armor is defense against vital strikes. Novice Spearmanship works well with the Flaming Spear, and Quickstep multiplies my Agility Stat by 1.5 for 30 seconds.'

This made the most cohesive combo she could think of.

"Beasts are usually weak to fire, right?" Léa whispered as she swung the Flaming Spear around her, its burning blade leaving trails of sparks and fire in its wake. "I can do this."

A moment later, she placed her hand on the Saber-Toothed Cat replica and quickly jumped back.

"Alright..."

While the Dire Wolf measured little above 150 centimeters in length, the Smilodon measured more than 200 centimeters in length, while weighing close to four times as much!

"Let's do this, Diego."

[The Ghost of the Dead wakes up.]

[Game Difficulty: C.]

[Game Start!]

***

Meanwhile,

"God, that took so much time." Katherine sighed. "I can't believe I walked right past it." She muttered, hiding her face between her hands.

It had taken some time, but Katherine had found it. Her favorite painting presented in the museum.

'Looks exactly like I remembered.' She smiled.

All things considered, it was a rather simple painting. Especially considered with all the others presented.

A female peasant was standing in a field of wheat. Her blonde hair shone just as brightly as the wheat under the sun. That's really all there was to it.

"Distant Wave, 1375..." Katherine muttered. "I wonder if the Distant Wave refers to the wind making both her hair and the wheat dance."

It was the same sensation as always.

Katherine felt like she could stare at it for hours.

The blonde peasant was smiling. She was beautiful.

Yet, there was something strange about it. There was something sad in it that Katherine couldn't quite describe or pick out.

'The Mana it holds... It's about as much as Elijah's.' Katherine gulped. 'I haven't gotten into a fight since obtaining my Class, so I might be underestimating myself. Still, imagine Elijah with nothing but Mana... Hm... I really don't want to imagine us fighting though.' She sighed.

Katherine stretched her arms before letting them go to one side, before the other, feeling the stretch on her hips and sides.

"I guess we'll just have to see how it goes." She whispered, reaching for the painting.

[The Reality behind the Painting Materializes.]

[Game Difficulty: A.]

[Game Start!]

***

'Since I don't know whether I will stay with them or not, I guess I should do something for him.' Marianne thought to herself, slightly annoyed.

Well, you were uselessly banging on the Barrier. Had I not appeared there, you would be dead now-

I know... Why are you bringing that up now?-

She frowned, staring at the multiple statues, vases, and representations of Folklore and Mythologies.

'Whatever I get here will be my gift to him for saving my life, and that'll be that. The fact that it was against a Goblin is slightly embarrassing, but still...'

An object suddenly caught her eye.

'The Mana it holds isn't bad at all. Plus...'

She turned towards the information presented.

"The trickster's Amulet." Marianne whispered. "Since this section is filled with Norse Mythology stuff, it must be referencing Loki." She thought for a moment. "I would have preferred something related to Olympus, but the Trickster element fits Elijah too well." Marianne nodded to her own words.

[The Strength slumbering within the Amulet awakens!]

[Game Difficulty: A.]

[Game Start!]

***

"Make sure you watch everything, Zarath."

"Master?"

"The Price to watch was close to what Léa received with an A-Grade Clear Rank for the Main Quest." He explained, gaze stuck on the multiple screens. "We're bound to learn things through these Games." Elijah slowly turned towards her. "I need you to talk about and explain anything interesting that happens Magic-wise, alright?"

Zarath stared at him silently before slowly nodding.

"Yes, Master."