By the time Apophis arrived at the meeting place, everyone else was already there and speculating among themselves as to why he had called them. Upon revealing himself, Apophis said, "I've gathered you here to talk about the greatest opportunity of your lives. I'm inviting you all to join my guild, Eclipse.
"But first, a little context. As you know, the pro-Federation camp just achieved 99% success in all its missions a few minutes ago. The Federation will soon win the war, earning us the ability to explore space itself! With this in mind, I created Eclipse and invite you all to be among my first members!"
Everyone seemed skeptical. White spoke up first. "I get offers every day from top guilds. They offer me huge salaries and benefits worthy of a CEO. Why should I give up all that potential for the sake of a guild created a few hours ago?"
Hulk added, "I agree. Besides all that, you've gained a pretty bad reputation lately, Apophis. You know people see you as a traitor for joining the Federation, right?"
Everyone added more disparaging comments, except for Lotus, who probably kept silent out of love.
Apophis replied, "Listen! Of course people don't like me. Independent, successful players are always hated by the submissive members of big guilds! It's human nature to want everyone else to be just as bad off as you!
"Of course, I understand your arguments perfectly. I admit that, right now, I can't offer you anything close to what the biggest guilds can offer. Nevertheless, I 'do' have an advantage which is completely unique. I can see the future, remember? Well, I'm going to reveal my secret now. In reality, I've had a secret weapon from the very beginning!"
Apophis stretched out his arm and let a black viscous liquid flow out!
Everyone leaned in, fascinated, as the eye of Enclabossa opened in the black pool. They inspected it.
Materialization of Enclabossa [Soul] [Level: ???] [Rank: ???]
Enclabossa spoke up, surprising them all. "I have a mission for you! But it must remain strictly secret!"
All players received a notification.
System: The soul of Enclabossa wishes to speak to you about a sensitive subject and asks to bind your soul to your oath! If you accept, you may never speak of this with anyone else. Breaking this oath will delete your character permanently from the Galaxy of Horus.
Everyone accepted without hesitation, and Enclabossa continued. "I thank you! I am the soul of Apophis, having fused with him in thanks for freeing me from my temporal prison. Unfortunately, my power is not what it was before! The universe, during this millennium, has stolen away my power.
"Nevertheless, there is a way for me to restore my old power! In truth, what you call "Dungeons" and "Raids" are portals to anomalies in the universe! Their energy is of unknown origin and does not come from the original Big Bang.
"This anomalous quality allows me and my host to absorb the power of the creatures killed inside them. However, these portals must be opened to their maximum potential if I am to restore myself, and this height of power is what you call the 'IronMan' difficulty level!"
The five players received a quest.
Quest Notification: The Resurrection of Enclabossa [0/10] [Repeatable Quest] [level: ???] [Rank: X]
Summary: Enclabossa requires you to open the most powerful portals in the universe to help it regain its original form.
Objective: Finish 8 Dungeons and 2 Raids in IronMan mode.
Reward for each completed Dungeon: 1,000,000 GC + 100 Skill Points + 1 Legendary Skill for your class.
Reward for each completed Raid: 100,000,000 GC + 1,000 Skill Points + 1 Runic Skill* for your class.
Additional reward upon quest completion: [Chest (Artifact)].
Everyone accepted the quest without question, as there was no immediate time constraint.
Hulk spoke up. "Thank you for the quest, Apophis. Not sure how useful it is, though. There's no way we have the means to finish it! Not even a single Dungeon, let alone the whole thing!"
Apophis answered, "That's where you're wrong, Hulk!"
But before he could elaborate, server notification popped up.
********Server Announcement*********
"The war between 'The Eternals' and 'The United Federation of Planets' is over."
Winner: "The United Federation of Planets."
Consequences: The Eternals have been recognized as a non-hostile faction within the Federation. Those who do not respect Federation law will be considered "Renegades," and will be hunted down and imprisoned. Players can now access the Galactic Transport System, and can become full Federation citizens at lvl 10.
Apophis smiled. "I recently made an agreement with the Federation. The planet Era will be under my control, and all players below lvl 10 are legally under my supervision. We—the members of Eclipse, of course—will have the leisure to recruit absolutely all the new talent we could hope for. With every resource imaginable at our disposal, it won't be difficult at all to get these Dungeons cleared."
The four players he'd called to the meeting took a few moments to reflect. In the end, every one of them agreed to join "Eclipse."
*Runic: Skill rank higher than Legendary.
