[During the Fragmented Era, the life of the common man was harsh and brutal. It was under the power of the Madness Emperor that an era of prosperity was ushered in, and it was thanks to the Madness Emperor that the first system was introduced.
[Many years passed and the Fragmented Era gave way to the Common, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and the greatest of them all, the Legendary Era—where experts were abound and greatness pillaged from the jaws of destruction and chaos.
[No Era is destined to exist through time immemorial, no one is promised forever. Phoenixes are bound to fall from the skies, and even Dragons will eventually enter an eternal slumber. When the time comes, even the universe itself will fall into silence, never to rise up again.
[The Legendary Era fell and a new Fragmented Era was ushered in—]
The words cut out. It was abrupt, and what Sylas wanted to read was ripped away from him. But in these simple words, he had found a kernel of something different, something that pulled at his heart. His curiosity had both been satiated, and yet simultaneously stimulated to a ridiculous degree. Even for him, he found it hard to calm the urge, as though he couldn't stand to not read the rest.
He understood, now. There must have been more than one system, and with that, there came a mishmash of ranking and grading systems that seemed to work, but were sometimes disjointed and incomprehensible.
'Madness Emperor… it shouldn't be a coincidence.'
Why had he lost three months? Why was it that the first glitch he sensed come when he completed the first half of the Slithering Madness Dungeon?
Was it because the first Dungeon he had stumbled upon a remnant of this first system? And the second, or rather, new system, didn't like that?
What had he inadvertently gotten himself into?
'And in that case, Quests… They use the old ranking system? Is that just coincidence? Something randomly co-opted by the new system and is thus a worthless data point to draw a conclusion from? Or is it something deeper than that…?'
Sylas wasn't inclined to believe that there was some secret here. Although he had stumbled into this new bit of information, that didn't necessarily mean that there was something superior about Quests.
After all, he had already completed a Quest, and the rewards were good… but nothing mind boggling. He still had the voucher that he was waiting to use after he accumulated more coins, but even if he got good stuff out of that, this was just a Fragmented Quest.
'But it's different in its own right as well… the first Quest was triggered due to a reward that Cassarae received from the current system. This one, though…'
Sylas looked around at the bright lights of the Dungeon.
Not only did this Quest somehow seem tied to the Dungeon, but it didn't even give him a chance to reject it. When Cassarae's mission came, he had to accept it first and only then did a compass point him in her direction appear. But this one seemed to plop him right into the middle of the Quest.
Now, the decision was before him.
Kill the Basilisk King and clear this Dungeon and claim its rewards… or try to clear the Quest.
'Is it even possible for me to get out of this Dungeon without killing it?'
Sylis was pulled from two directions at once before he made a decision.
'If it's possible to leave this Dungeon, then I will accept the Quest. If it's not possible, then I'll kill it.'
Sylas walked toward Basilisk King. It gave him a weak snarl before it seemed to give up and sprawl out.
Reaching down, Sylas place a hand on its head. The beast shuddered for a moment, but ultimately did nothing.
[Your Will has completely suppressed ]
[Contract of Subservience has been formed]
Sylas was taken aback. He had just been trying to push his intention toward leaving this place, hoping that an option of some sort would appear, but he didn't expect that this would happen.
But what happened next caught him even more off guard.
[A Taming Contract has been formed]
[Beast Taming Profession Stream has opened]
[Anomaly detected. Trial period will be shortened]
[Time remaining: 03:23:59]
[System-Wide Message]
[Professions have been unlocked ahead of schedule. The Trial period will thus come to a close]
[Time remaining: 03:23:59]
[Title: System Breaker]
[You have shattered the norms of the system. The system is watching you]
[Title: Legendary Tamer]
[You have subdued the pride of a Legendary Beast, your skill knows no bounds]
He had cursed more in the last week than he had in the entirety of the last year. The moment he saw the details of the second Title, and realized that his intention had already solidified his desire to move out of the Dungeon, he knew he was really screwed this time.
As expected, the moment he registered it, a searing pain assaulted his brain like hot coals lashing out against the inside of his skull. The Stat Limits on his Mental broke again, and he tried to force himself to stay conscious, but his high Will seemed to be irrelevant.
Sylas' body appeared out in a familiar expanse of woods just as his vision went black. The last thing he saw were two unfamiliar people looking toward him with the same lack of familiarity… and far more surprise.
Was this how he would die? Not because of his own mistake, not because of some overwhelmingly strong enemy, but because of a ridiculous hidden variable one? How could he have possibly guessed this would happen, even with all his intelligence?
His last coherent thought was one of unwillingness and rage.
This lack of control…
He absolutely hated it.
He hated it with every fiber of his being.