New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Reward received: 1000 World Reputation

You have received a follow-up special event: Ripening the Fruit!

Rewards: Fruit of Evolution, +5000 World Reputation points

Failure Penalty: Loss of the fruit, -5000 World Reputation points, Selena's eternal resentment.

Conditions for Success: Complete the ripening of the Evolution Fruit; keep it safe.

Conditions for Failure: Fail to ripen the fruit, Lose the fruit, Fruit gets destroyed.

Description: You have successfully reawakened the fruit from its deep slumber. Now, it yearns for sustenance. Failure to provide with Aether to ripen will cause it to decay and rot forever.

The reawakening of the fruit so close to ripeness has caused the beasts in the immediate vicinity to enter into a frenzy. Defend the fruit as you feed it, lest it get stolen. Don't let enemies damage the fruit during its growth, or it will shatter and be lost.

Timer before the fruit starts rotting: 4:50

Aether required to ripen: 492,254/500,000

Quest cannot be declined. Good luck, player Astaroth!

**

"Shit! Fuck!" Astaroth cursed as he realized his mistake.

His lack of planning was once again kicking him in the balls. But he had no time to lament.

He could already feel the ground rumbling above him from the monsters rushing their way. And he knew there would be more than they could handle.

Especially since he had to maintain the feeding of the fruit.

But even then, he didn't know how to do that. He had nowhere near enough Aether to finish the ripening, even if he melded with Luna and activated Royal Protection.

And Aether wasn't a resource he could replenish that quickly. Five minutes would never be enough time.

"Selena, defend the cave entrance as best you can. You'll have to do it alone; I have to complete the ripening. I'll send people your way as fast as possible!" Astaroth commanded her.

"Yes, Sir!"

She bolted out of the alcove and headed toward the entrance. She wouldn't make it in time for some beasts to enter, but at least she could halt them on the slope.

Astaroth paced around the alcove, trying to figure out how to feed enough Aether into the fruit so he didn't fail the quest, but his mind was like muddied waters.

"Come on, Astaroth, think. Think, man!"

'How was it getting the energy it needed, anyway? If my theory is correct, there was a previous Ley line connection. But it's gone now. How do I even give it enough Aether to compensate for that?' he wondered, his mind racing.

A rock fell from the ceiling, clattering to the ground next to him, and Astaroth felt his hair rise.

Immediately, he snapped his head upward, only to see a pair of sharp pincers bearing down on him. Reacting off of instinct, his skin turned red, and he kicked the insect away, watching it slam into the wall left of the fruit.

"Fuck! I have to be careful about damaging it!" he shouted, panicking slightly.

But his troubles weren't ending.

More and more insects started dropping from the ceiling into the alcove, and there wasn't much room to defend himself. Plus, he still hadn't found a way to feed the damned fruit.

"Can this day get any worse!?" he clamoured as he dashed forward.

Things quickly got dicey within the alcove as he pulled out the Ad Astra in greatsword form, hacking and slashing away at the insect-type monsters dropping from above.

The flow was practically endless, and his mind was getting cloudier and cloudier. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

'I have to feed the fruit. But I can't stop killing those monsters… What in the fuck can I do?'

A feminine voice replied in his head.

'Let me out. I'll deal with the vermin. I'm wounded, but it's nothing these insects can do anything about.'

'Shegror? But I can't let you out here. The cave is much too small to accommodate your dragon body.''

'Irrelevant. I'm coming out,' Shegror replied.

Astaroth felt a large part of his remaining mana drain out as the dragon forcibly exited the confines of his soul.

He watched in horror as a massive form of light engulfed the room, thinking she would crush the fruit and fail his quest.

But the light shrunk instantly, reaching the size of a person only slightly bigger than Violette.

As the light faded, Astaroth saw a woman take its place, hair black and skin of alabaster, with eyes greener than emeralds. She was wearing a black and green kimono-style dress and held two thin needles dripping with greenish liquid in her hands.

Every time the drops hit the stone ground, a sizzle would echo, and smoke would rise as the stone melted.

"What the fuck?" Astaroth said, his mind reeling in confusion.

"I know you've never seen this form of mine, but now is not the time to gawk. Get to work 'Master'" Shegror said, dripping the last word with mocking.

Astaroth shook his head. She was right.

He could tell it was really Shegror by the tether between them, anyway. So he didn't have a reason to worry.

But his true challenge still awaited him. How in the hell was he supposed to feed this fruit with almost eight thousand points of Aether?

***

Above the ground, another figure appeared that was here to help.

"I recognize this place. This is where Selena used to hole up. This is bad. I can smell the fruit inside. What was this idiot thinking, pulling out an Evolution Fruit so far in monster territory…" Leon spat, looking at the monsters rushing a small cave entrance not far from him.

The monsters were ignoring him, as their minds were locked on the enchanting smell that came from the cave's mouth. Even Leon had trouble keeping his mind clear.

But he knew he had to defend the cave. So he did what he did best.

*RRROOOAAARRR!!!*

The ground shook, the trees quivered, leaves falling from them, and the beasts all around him halted in fear.

"That's right, you brainless shits! That fruit isn't yours to consume! Come at me if you want to feed on it!"

A cacophony of roars, wails, screeches, and other monstrous sounds echoed in response as a part of the monster hoard hooked towards the new threat to their evolution.

'This'll have to do. I hope you have something planned, Astaroth. Hah! Who am I kidding? Of course, you don't. But I know you'll pull through,' Leon thought, reading for an intense fight.