Dain's Group

Julius found himself staring down an open gate, made of wilting rust, the campsite was large and vast. Many fires had been lit, lighting up parts of the camp. There were at least a hundred tents, with who knows how many people inside the camp as a whole.

Julius sat on a worn wooden log near the center of the camp, his body sore, his mind heavier than it had ever been. The fire crackled in front of him, its warmth barely reaching the cold that sat deep in his bones. He scrolled around his system interface mindlessly, just passing the time. He thought back to the events of the dungeon and groaned.

"Why did they all have to die..."

Around him, groups of survivors sat in clusters, their murmured conversations weaving through the air like ghostly whispers. Some were angry, some were in shock, but most of them carried the same quiet, exhausted acceptance that he did. They had all been thrown into something far beyond their control, and now they were left to pick up the pieces.

It seemed that many groups shared Julius' look of sorrow, many people here had lost people in their groups. It had been an unfortunate way to enter this new world, but at least the God's words were true, they had been rewarded for their efforts in the trials.

Julius looked to his side.

[Yara: Level 5 Mage]

Yara sat beside him, still pale, still quiet. She hadn't spoken much since they arrived at the camp, and Julius couldn't blame her. She had survived by hiding in a pile of corpses. That kind of thing changed a person, truly.

She was still shivering, God only knows what went through her head when the leader stabbed her. She probably assumed she was dead.

The system had been clear:

{Remain in Main Camp until further orders.}

It didn't say for how long. It didn't say what would happen next. It only said to wait.

Julius exhaled, forcing himself to focus on something other than the pit in his stomach. He needed to learn. He needed to understand.

He got up. Yara stayed behind, barely reacting as he left her side.

Julius moved toward the nearest group—a trio huddled together, their faces a mix of relief and grief.

Their names hovered above their heads.

{Elric - Level 3 - Merchant}{Mira - Level 3 - Enchanter}{Donovan - Level 4 - Berserker}

Julius approached carefully. "You guys made it through the trial?"

Elric looked up first, his brown eyes sharp but tired. "Barely. Where's your team"

"Only two of us survived. My other teammate is just taking a break." Julius replied.

Mira gave a small, empty laugh. "Well, as you can tell we lost two."

Julius nodded. He had nothing to say to that.

"Was it because of the trial difficulty?" he asked instead.

"Yeah. We got real unlucky, we got the hard trial." Donovan grunted, his large frame shifting as he poked at the fire. "Thought that was bad enough. Can't imagine what you went through, from what I've gathered the higher peoples levels are, the harder their trial was. Also, if your team dies you get a penalty, reducing your reward."

Julius sighed. The trials had been pretty unforgiving. 

Mira's gaze flickered to him, her lips pressing into a thin line. "You?"

"Impossible," Julius said simply.

Silence.

Elric's face twisted in disbelief. "No way."

Mira shook her head. "Sorry, tell me again how many of you survived?"

Julius hesitated before answering. "Just two."

Even Donovan, who barely reacted to anything, looked up at that. "Impossible?"

Mira was the one to speak. "You should be dead."

"Yeah," Julius murmured. "I should be. We didn't survive because of strength, only because we managed to hide from our enemies."

He didn't say anything more. He didn't need to.

The air between them grew heavier, but Julius was already stepping away. He needed to meet more people and gather more information. Had the trials been the same for every group?

The second group had five survivors. They were stronger, more coordinated—level 4s and 5s, a mix of Warriors, Mages, and Archers. Their trial had been Challenging. They had lost no people, and they seemed enthusiastic about the future.

The third group had four members. Their trial was Normal. They had only lost one. Apparently there was infighting which led to disaster during the trial. 

The fourth group had four. Their trial was Hard. One loss. They were all girls, one of the girls was a tank whilst the other three were mages. Julius could only imagine how their trials went. All of them were level 4.

Each group had their own stories, their own grief. Some were barely holding it together. Others acted like they had already moved on. Julius knew better. The shock just hadn't worn off yet. 

It wasn't until the fifth group that he realized just how wide the gap in strength could be.

They had cleared easy. With four losses. Apparently, they had three warriors in their party which caused them to fight over loot. Once the first sword was drawn, none of them could be stopped and they slaughtered one another. The last member bragged about their victory, about how they slew their enemies with ease. His name was Ricklebones he had curly grey hair and a thin scar on his left cheek, Julius made a note in his head to stay away from him in the future. Ricklebones was only level 3, probably because his whole team had died.

"What a scumbag..." He looked at Ricklebones who seemed at peace in his shiny armor. "Perhaps that's what real monsters look like."

And then there was the last group, the sixth.

Obviously, the strongest. They had cleared Impossible with no losses.

Julius didn't know what he had expected from them, but it wasn't this.They were relaxed. Too relaxed. They sat near the largest fire, laughing, joking, like they hadn't just survived hell. He recognized their gear, they had some of the same clothes as the mercenaries.

"Ah." This must've meant they had managed to beat the mercenaries in the final wave of the impossible trial. Many people came up to this group to ask for help and advice, it seemed the leaders of the main camp had already been decided. 

They were friendly, so Julius found no issues in walking up to them.

 Julius found his eyes landed on the leader first.

{Dain - Level 6 - Warlord}

The highest level he had seen so far. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with wild black hair and a confident smirk that never seemed to fade. His armor was incredible, it gave off an aura of power from it's red dye, his shoulder plates were made from gold and he had a black cape with gold embroidery on it's back. He had a handsome face, and he towered over Julius like a giant.

Dain looked up as Julius approached, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Oh? You're the rogue from the other Impossible trial, right? I heard rumours, apparently you've been walking around the camp asking questions. Level 5... Not too shabby"

Julius nodded.

Dain tilted his head, studying him before grinning. "But you don't look like a Julius."

Julius blinked. "What?"

"I don't know. Julius Caeasar, you look a little scrawny."

Julius stared at him. "Aha, you're a strange one."

"Nah, I just had to let you know now, I couldn't hold it in."

One of Dain's friends looked at Julius, a look of reassurance.

"Don't mind Dain, he's a little crazy. Just stick to what he says and he'll lay off ya." Kael had spoken. [Kael - Level 5 Scout] He had forest-green hair and a pretty face. His eyes darted around, which made him look paranoid.

Julius opened his mouth to argue—then stopped. He didn't have the energy. Not after everything.

"Fine."

Dain laughed. "Good. Knew you'd come around Julius."

The others in his group—seven of them, all high-leveled, all too at ease—watched Julius with interest. Of course, it was easy to spot who had been in the original 5, just by their level.

{Dain- Level 6- Warlord}

{Vera - Level 6- Witch}

{Ronan - Level 6- Duelist}

{Kael - Level 6- Scout}

Lina - Level -6- Illusionist}

{Soren - Level 4 - Shadowblade}

{Elias - Level 4 - Elementalist}

Julius had never seen some of these classes before. Soren and Elias seemed to be hanging with them for protection.

Dain grinned. "You and the girl who made it out. You might be useful. Only two groups made it through the impossible trial, mine and yours. Now that I think about it, you both might definately prove to be high priority options if a dungeon arises or something similar."

Julius stiffened. "Might?"

Dain shrugged. "You tell me. You survived, but surviving isn't the same as being strong."

Julius clenched his jaw. He wasn't sure what irritated him more—Dain's arrogance, or the fact that he was right.

"Then I guess we'll just have to see if anyone else arrives. Anyone stronger than the people present," Julius said.

Dain's grin widened. "That's right. If you recieve my call, make sure you heed it. I'm forming a group of the strongest here, to ensure we can do these quests without any problems."