Game’s Dogma

Long tables, fallen leaves, cups of tea; elites, players, existence—a rather poetic scene indeed.

The players stayed put. They weren’t sure what this story quest was about. What if the cup of tea was poisoned? They turned their gazes at the NPCs, who were all carefully lifting their teacups in admiration as if it was some sort of treasure. Some of them took a light sip, and elation immediately washed over their faces.

Is that some sort of drug? The players wondered.

“It’d be nice if it was wine.” Mask’s voice was crystal clear throughout the silent patio.

Everyone turned to look at Mask, only to realise he had already downed the cup of tea. Sir Duen chortled. He looked at Mask as if he was an interesting toy and said, “This brother’s words are likeable. However, ordinary wine doesn’t have the same effects as my tea, you know?

“The tea leaves are made from a divine tree’s leaves. A divine tree takes a century to grow and stays leafless for three years before it grows a full crown in another three years. The verdant leaves then wilt and fall, which takes another three years. This tea is made from said fallen leaves, meaning it is only available every nine years. I’ve named this tea the Divine Tea.”

Drako Yau nodded in agreement. The moment he drank the tea, he received a system notification that read, “Drinking the Divine Tea has granted you 10 attribute points and increased your comprehension capability.”

In other words, drinking the tea gave the players two levels for free, not to mention the mysterious comprehension capability enhancement. Drako Yau had a vague feeling that the latter was way more important than the ten points.

After hearing Sir Duen’s explanation of the Divine Tea, the players all drank their cup of tea and were similarly elated. Most were overjoyed by the free attribute points, with only a handful of them deep in thought about the second effect.

Suddenly, a person stood up, an NPC to be exact.

“Sir Duen, tea time’s over. Is it time for the sword?”

The elder laughed as he scolded, “Kid, why the rush?”

The young NPC in his twenties replied obstinately, “Look at all those trash! I can’t wait to teach them a lesson!”

Sir Duen smiled, clearly not taking it to heart. “Have a seat. You’ll go first when we start later.”

The young NPC saluted and bowed slightly. “Thank you, Sir Duen,” he said before glaring at the players in disdain and sitting down.

“As this is the Tea Party of Swords, it is time we have a friendly clash of swords after our cup of tea.” Sir Duen’s warm smile never faded, as if nothing in the world could anger him. “We have been residing here for ages. At some point, we thought it is too wasteful for our martial arts to rot and die within us. Which is why we are looking for successors to inherit our arts.

“Later, everyone may choose to show us your talents and technique, though please keep the spars friendly. We will only choose five successors. Rather than gaining victory over your opponent, what we seek is compatibility. We might choose you even if you lose the single spar you fought in as long as you are a suitable candidate.

“Of course, if anyone present wishes only to spectate, you are more than welcome to do so. However, you will forfeit your chance at becoming one of the five successors.” Sir Duen swept his gaze across every player. “The possibility of us not picking a single successor also exists.”

Everyone listened in silence while battle intent raged within them. No idiot could have reached this place; just from looking at the elimination rate and the Divine Tea’s effects, they all knew the inheritances this quest gave had to be extraordinary. Only five out of hundreds of thousands could take the prize home after all.

Sir Duen also emphasised compatibility over capability, meaning their strength wasn’t the main factor in deciding the five successors. In terms of strength, no one present was confident that they could defeat the NPCs, but Sir Duen’s words rekindled their will to fight for the ultimate prize. It felt like a lottery—everyone had a chance to hit the jackpot.

“Alright, who’s up first?” the young NPC who stood up not too long ago shouted.

Everyone frowned, but no one stepped up to take the challenge. While they all wanted to gain the inheritances, none wanted to take on the role of the first challenger. It’d be best if someone else fought the first battle so they could gauge the NPCs’ strength.

“Do you truly think you can ride your high horse over us?” A snicker emerged from the crowd of players. Dark smoke accompanied the voice as a person carrying a sword on his back stepped forth. “Hades of Underworld, here to ascertain the greatness of your techniques.”

“Heh, finally someone with guts. The name’s Tai On. Remember it as the name of your victor!” 

Tai On unsheathed his sword. With a heavy look, Hades also slowly pulled out his pitch-black sword.

“Take this!” Tai On bellowed as he thrust his sword at lightning speed.

So fast!

Hades immediately focused on the incoming sword. Before Tai On even finished his sentence, the tip of his sword was already right before Hades’ chest.

A contest of speed? That is exactly what I want! 

Hades’ eyes flared up with battle intent as his sword struck twice almost simultaneously—Dual Slash! Swords clashed against one another with a screeching clang.

Tai On shouted the moment their blades locked, “Good!”

Almost immediately, Tai On’s sword broke off into three glowing swords as they blocked Hades’ attack in a triangular formation. Hades spun his sword and repositioned it for a thrust, connecting defence into offence.

Every assassin was dumbstruck by Hades’ move. It was the Level 23 Assassin skill, Poisoned Riposte!

“Poisoned Riposte: Parry the enemy’s attack and immediately counter-attack. If the weapon is poisoned, the poison will be twice as potent.”

It was the strongest poisoned attack assassins had. The doubled poison damage alone made it one of the best skills in an assassin’s arsenal. However, with how argent Hades’ sword was, it clearly wasn’t poisoned. His style of fighting aboveboard with viciousness—was he really an assassin? Wasn’t that how weaponmasters fought?

Every unfortunate leaf that came between their battle was immediately rent into dust and swept away into oblivion by the breeze.

Tai On was surprised that Hades chose to fight speed with speed, but that only made things more thrilling for him.

Good fella! He’s got quite the guts to fight me with speed!

Tai On was just as quick as he slanted his sword to block Hades’ thrust and drew a step back. Hades saw his retreat and suddenly disappeared along with his thrusting sword.

“Spectacular!” the spectating players couldn’t help cheering.

Hades forcefully ended Poisoned Riposte and cast Shadowstrike!

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