The Acknowledgment - Volume One

Give 'em Hell

                Winter began to pack his things, Mari following him around the office as he grabbed some of the paperwork to take with him. "You've been going out a lot lately, and now on a trip?" She asks half annoyed. "Who are you taking with you? When did you get a girlfriend, sir," Mari teased. "I'm going alone, and will you quit with that?" Winter replied as he left the office. Just as Mari gave up her pestering, Winter was through the door. He returns to where he had previously opened the dungeon and reentered with his key into the demon castle. "When I defeated Cerberus, I was level 20. Now, I'm level 60," Winter thought. "Which means I won't be running into as many difficulties as before," he added, headed to the entrance. Fire blazed with incredible heat, the marked door was closed and was unharmed by the fire all around it. Winter placed the key in, and the door opened.

~>System<{" The [Player] Has Received A [Quest],"}>it rang as Winter was walking through the doorway<~

                "There doesn't seem to be any monsters here. Is this just a hallway? That must be the exit, though," Winter saw another door at the end of the hallway.

~>System<{" The [Quest: Collect The Demon Souls (Part 1)]! The Demons' Castle is Swarming With Demons. The [Player] Will [Receive] a [Special Reward] For Defeating [The Demons] And [Collecting Their Souls]. [Quest Requirements: Collect 10,000 Demon Souls]. [Reward 1. Choose Any 1 Item From The Shop, Reward 2. Bonus stats (+20), Reward 3. Undisclosed Reward],"}>it rang, displaying the quest to Winter<~

                "Oh, it has been a while since my last quest," Winter mumbled to himself. "Wow, the rewards look awesome. It would be worth it to just finish this quest if the second is too hard," Winter thought, beginning to walk down the hallway. Suddenly, the door closed with a loud boom. "But, the fact that the rewards are amazing means this quest is going to be that much harder," Winter added, reaching the end of the hallway, and opening the door. "I don't see a single beast yet, but," he began, as he looked out to see an expanse of a destroyed city. "I didn't expect this. This place looks so different," he looked around. Through the clouds, he could see the red moon, a nearly full city that was set ablaze by an unending fire. "I have to collect 10 thousand demon souls," Winter thought, looking to his left to see some red eyes behind the smoke and dust. "Which means there are at least 10 thousand magic beasts inside this castle!" Winter added, watching demons emerge from the rubble.

~>System<{" Each [Demon] The [Player] Defeats Will [Provide] The [Player] With At Least a [Single Soul]. However, [Demons] With Multiple [Souls] Can be Found on The [Upper Levels] of The [Castle],"}>it explained to Winter<~

                "I told people I was going on a trip, but I'm not sure if I can finish this quest within a week," Winter smirked, holding his bag by his side. He sat it down and began his slaughter Among the demons. "Even though fighting them is easy for now, I'll be racing against the clock!" He smiled.

~>System<{" The [Player] Has Defeated: [3 Low Ranking Demons]. The [Player] Has Obtained [300 EXP], and [3 Demon Souls],"}>it displayed<~

                Winter Throndsen sat down at a table, in an incredibly fancy restaurant, setting his utensils down after his meal. "So, you're saying you want to fund my ideas, as long as I join your guild?" He asks his hands on the table. "Yup!" Tyler replied before taking a bite of her meal. Now that she is older, she dressed quite formally for this occasion and has grown much more cunning. "What do you want?" Mr. Throndsen asks, skewing his eyes. "I don't understand why you can't decide. Your youngest son took the rights to EWR and your eldest is doing lowly work. Don't you think that should be the other way around?" Tyler asks. "It's out of my control now," he replied, rolling his eyes. "But doesn't it keep you up at night? Knowing an idiot like a boy with the name 'Winter Greats' is making executive orders? Entrusting all that power to someone like him," she was about to continue until something snapped in Mr. Throndsen. "So what if I hate him? What more is there to do, now? I'm no longer on the board, and the only one with enough power to give the ownership away is Mr. Greats himself," he explained. "Yes, but Cyrus has been plotting. He's hated where he is since the beginning, and has gotten very close to killing Mr. Greats, multiple times," Tyler replied. "I've come into contact with higher powers. We can remove him from that seat, and give the rights to the rightful heir of your company," she explained. "High powers? What do you mean?" Mr. Throndsen asks, "It's become increasingly clear that your youngest son has grown in strength, and has become increasingly stronger each time he has come close to death," Tyler explained before taking a sip of her wine. "Do you expect me to use my name's fame to collect an S-rank strike squad to murder my youngest son?" He asks with a raised eye. "Far from it. Rather, I'm collecting them for another reason. For now, I've contacted two. One I knew from high school, and a retired Mythic in perfect health," Tyler replied. "I look forward to finding out why you're trying to recruit these Mythics," Mr. Throndsen replied. Winter stepped over the mound of demon corpses. "I've still got a long way to go, but things should get easier with my daggers leveling up soon," he looked at his daggers.