Darius Valerian, the third prince and Aric’s older brother, hated the forgotten prince more than most. For years, Aric had believed that the funds to his estate had been cut off by the emperor, leaving it in a shabby state. However, that was far from the truth.
Darius had intercepted all the allocated funds for Aric’s estate and had them sent to himself instead, leaving Aric, a prince, to live like a commoner in a large but forgotten home.
When Aric discovered this, he bravely decided to send a letter to the emperor reporting the theft. However, the letter was intercepted and given to Darius, and the death of his caretakers was Aric’s punishment for defying the third prince.
Aric took a breath, and then another.
He gazed at the floating screen before him, his head slightly tilted in confusion. He read the text over and over but found himself unable to truly understand what it meant.
Just then, an idea sparked in his mind.
"The floating thing... yes, it can explain."
Aric began to twist and turn, searching for the system guide, but he could not find her. He started contemplating ways to make her reappear.
"Guide?" he attempted in a low voice.
In response, blue shimmered and danced with a soft chime, and from it, the little guide appeared, floating meters from Aric’s face.
"Hello, please state your query."
Aric gazed at the little floating woman, her tiny wings beating softly, while he still tried to come to terms with whatever was going on.
"What is this?" Aric politely inquired, pointing to the floating screen that carried the quest title.
The guide softly turned to the screen, hovering towards it before dragging it closer. Then, with a gentle tap, the screen expanded, showing further details on the quest.
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**M-QUEST: Opposing the Third Prince.**
Stop the third prince of the Valerian Empire from stealing the funds allocated to your estate.
Failure Penalty: -40 Health
Reward: Martial God Technique. (S-rank)
"Is this real?"
"Yes," the guide answered. "So is the penalty."
Aric’s gaze shifted to the text above the reward as he heard her words. He hadn’t really given the penalty much thought because of the overwhelming reward, but now that he thought about it, it was quite severe.
"How much health do I currently have?"
[HP: 15/15]
"You are currently at your max health with a total of 15 points," the guide pointed at the new window displaying Aric’s HP.
"But the penalty says it will take 40 health points. I don’t have enough."
The guide, in the most emotionless, robotic manner, gave a blunt answer.
"If the user’s health points are less than the penalty points, then you will die."
Aric looked at the tiny guide floating and staring at him nonchalantly as she spoke. He, however, decided not to dwell on the negative. He had so much to gain that failure could not be an option.
"Well, how do I go about this?" Aric began contemplating out loud, prompting a response from the guide.
"I’m unable to give advice at my current level."
Aric raised a brow at the guide’s words.
"So it is possible for you to do so at a higher level?"
"My intelligence and charisma increase along with the intelligence stat of the user. My current inability is based on the user’s low intelligence stat."
"Is that an insult?" Aric side-eyed the guide.
"I am incapable of making insults," the guide responded robotically.
Aric scoffed, pushing himself off his bed. Glancing at the sub-quest, his eyes glinted with determination.
"Alright, let’s get this done," Aric said, standing up and looking at the list of exercises.