Chapter 152──Entering Honno-ji

Drako Yau notified everyone to gather at How of the Tempest Wolves’ conference hall right after he left the Arena.

No one dared to slack off; they knew Drako Yau too well. He wouldn’t bother others unless it was something big.

As expected, Drako Yau, with a stern look, was waiting for them when they entered the conference hall. He wasn’t an emotional person, but for those who had been with him for a long while now, reading his emotions wasn’t very difficult because he didn’t conceal them.

They each took a seat. Everyone present were his trusted ones: Danting, Zephyrwolf, Idyllic Poet, Windstrider, Greenstone, Sasaki, and the newcomer, Dumbgirl.

Speaking of Dumbgirl, she had this funny experience not too long ago.

When she returned after receiving Kiu Fung’s teachings, she was lost. A poor, little loli roaming in the wilderness attracted a group of molesters.

However, Dumbgirl killed the ten or so assailants, leaving all but one alive.

‘How do I get to Yoda?’ she asked.

After she found her way to Yoda, she somehow found her way to Howl of the Tempest Wolves as well.

Drako Yau laughed and arranged things for her to join the guild. Everyone in the guild loved the cute yet powerful and silly girl.

‘Alright, everyone’s here.’ Drako Yau nodded, then repeated everything Ichor Hon had told him regarding the Honno-ji Incident.

‘It’s an extremely difficult quest. Our chances of succeeding are slim. If we’re going to accept it, we have to assume everyone’s going to lose a level. We can talk about it before deciding whether we accept the quest or not.’

While Drako Yau was the boss, he was no authoritarian. His father had taught him an important concept—listening to others’ opinions. A smart person might be able to outsmart ten others, but no matter how smart one was, it couldn’t outsmart a hundred, a thousand, or a million brains.

Surprisingly, no one was against accepting the quest. Everyone present were elites in the game; among the group, didn’t every one of them complete an encounter quest of their own? Idyllic Poet’s Phoenix Ring, Windstrider’s Dual Magazine, Zephyrwolf’s hidden class… Encounter quests meant not only high risk, but also high reward.

What reward could there be if there were no risks?

Seeing everyone consent to undertaking the quest so easily, Drako Yau was a bit surprised. But he soon understood why—he was different from them. To them, dying meant spending more effort to regain their lost level. To him, however, dying meant true death. Of course he was going to be a lot more concerned about dying than they were.

Normally, he would certainly not accept the quest, but he was now caught between a rock and a hard place because of Ichor Hon. There wasn’t a way back now that it had gone to this either.

‘Dumgirl and Zephyrwolf, stay behind and guard the guild base. Though Empyreal Spire looks like they don’t intend on bothering me, we can’t be unprepared for that possibility. Sasaki, Danting, Poet, Greenstone, Windstrider, you five are coming with me.’

It was a pretty standard squad composition. Including Drako Yau, there were three melee fighters. Then there was Poet the mage, Windstrider the ranger, and Greenstone the healer.

While Zephyrwolf squirmed his lips, he had to agree with Drako Yau’s decision. Players were having more free time on their hands now that levelling up had become an arduous task. After all, the reward for farming was disproportionate to the effort spent, especially monsters in the wilderness. Monsters in the Highlands of John could no longer satisfy the needs of players who were above Level 30.

Most players who were in the thirties would do other things instead after using up their daily quota for John’s Laboratory, such as increasing proficiency of their subclasses or stroll around in hopes of getting an encounter quest. Others who prefer combat naturally turn to guild wars and player-versus-player (PVP).

Taking Howl of the Tempest Wolves as an example, they had already fought four or five battles of various scales in the past few days. It was necessary for someone with the strength to quell these skirmishes to stay behind. Zephyrwolf had played enough games to know what situation his guild was in, so all he did was groan without actually rejecting Drako Yau’s orders.

As for Dumbgirl, she rarely had any opinions anyways. She was a good girl who listened to others when excluding her odd fixation on certain things.

Dismissed after the discussion went smoothly, everyone took some time on their own to prepare and stock up supplies for the quest.

They then gathered in the Arena after a short while. Seeing them return in around two hours, Ichor Hon was also surprised.

‘Thank you, thank you so much.’

Even Ichor Hon knew he was asking for a lot from Drako Yau. He also knew Drako Yau accepted it as a favour because of their friendship. While he thought his guidance was useless for Drako Yau, it wasn’t the truth. Drako Yau, with his intelligence, could project his own path by analysing what Ichor Hon had told him.

In fact, Ichor Hon had played a crucial role in helping Drako Yau understand Frost Form and Flame Form. More importantly, he now saw Ichor Hon as a friend.

‘Let’s go then’, the soldier in armour said and stood up to bow at the group. ‘Please save my lord!’

A bright aura shrouded the seven of them, and they disappeared from the room. The cramped room now spacious once again, Ichor Hon stared at the ceiling, seemingly pondering about something.

They felt a hazy sensation in their heads, as if they were in a dream. They were already stepping on solid ground by the time they regained their senses. A large door stood before them, guarded by two soldiers on both sides. The words ‘Daihon Mountain Honno-ji’ were written on a wooden plaque.

‘Who’s there?’

The soldiers, noticing someone appear from thin air, immediately went on guard. They were guards sent by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to support his ally. Despite their young age and numbering merely a hundred, they were not to be looked down on.

‘Hold on, it’s me!’

The soldier stepped forwards and said something to the two guards. The guards nodded and said, ‘We apologise. Please enter.’

The temple door creaked and gave off an ancient wooden scent as soldiers opened it. Sounds of people reciting Buddhist scriptures could be heard; an oddly calming sound indeed.

Drako Yau looked at the sky. It was already dusk.

When he saw the temple and the family crest engraved on the soldier’s armour, he could already guess what the staged encounter quest was.

He knew a bit about the famous ancient event known as The Honno-ji Incident. The final battle occurred when night fell upon them. He wasn’t certain about the actual quest conditions, so he could only go with the flow and see how things went.

The six of them followed the soldier and entered Honno-ji while sizing up everything within sight. This type of structure was extremely rare in the actual world. The entire world was torn to bits and rebuilt after the Fifth World War. Less than five of such ancient-styled temples remained currently.

The soldier led the way with quick steps; he was clearly anxious and in a hurry. Soon, they reached the inner section of the temple grounds where the actual temple stood. It was the centre, the core of Honno-ji.

Only one person was guarding the temple—a teenager.

The teenager appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old, but he was guarding the door seriously nonetheless. A samurai katana hung on his waist. His outfit was rather similar to Sasaki’s.

‘Who are you people?’ The teenager nervously gripped the hilt of his katana and asked the strangers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The soldier who led the way replied in a loud voice, ‘My lord, Sir Hon has sent people over.’

After the soldier’s shout subsided, a cold voice emerged from within the temple.

‘Lower your voice. This is a sacred land of the Buddha, do not act impudently. Mori Ranmaru, show them in.’

‘Yes, my lord’, Mori Ranmaru answered.

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