20 Threat! III

Sometime before the attack...

Darius was unsure of his next action. All the tactics he could design, either required him to be stronger, faster or magically able.

Disappointingly, he was neither. He had presumed that he could overcome any situation in this world with his intellect.

'I am an idiot!!!' His fist hit the tree trunk, 'I am so naive to assume that I could outwit every single plight.'

His eyes ended up on the two women whom he had begun to care for in just a day alone. They were fighting there by themselves.

And here he was hiding. Powerless, hopeless, and relying solely on them. Unable help to them.

Proud was he of his intellect, it betrayed him in this moment.

He could not help them. He would not be able to save them. It was their destiny to be kidnapped by these monsters.

To be their food. Or their breeding slaves. This was the life they were destined to.

His forehead was reddening, nerves bulging, and teeth clenching. The trunk scraped his fingers which began to clench in rage.

He trembled. He only felt this useless during the death of the men he called brothers.

He could not do anything then. He would be able to do anything now. It was useless to even try, he would die if he tried.

He thought he did not fear death. After all, he embraced it the first time. But now, he feared it.

'Why do I fear death now that I have already died once?'

He stared at the Hobgoblin if he could kill him, the attack would stop due to distraction. But could he do it?

There were too many. If he ambushed, there was a chance that it would not work. He would die then.

He would lose his chance at this life. When there was finally some joy in his life it would be taken away. By either his death or theirs.

As he wallowed, a mechanical voice in his head called.

[Darius,]

The system did not call him Host this time.

[There is always a way. You only need to look.]

"What?" Darius said in furious calm, "You gave me this impossible quest, and you dare say this to me?"

When hopelessness prevails, a person begins to blame the things around him. Darius did just that; he let his fickle mind overpower his rationale.

[I only give quests that are reasonable.]

"You call this reasonable!?"

[It is. This quest is doable that is if you do not give in to your crushing fear. If you use your intellect properly anything is possible.]

"I have used my intellect. All the plans are impossible to execute, there is nothing I can do." Darius' eyes welled with unshed tears of rage and despair.

[Do you remember the motto that you used in your previous life?]

Darius said automatically, "Live and let live."

[The other one.]

He closed his eyes for a moment, "Perform your duties. Action is better than inaction."

His eyes opened in realisation. He followed this motto all his life, this quote was what made him not stop doing what he thought was right.

"Consequences be damned. They helped me, now it's my turn."

He would save them even if it meant dying again. Never again, would he repeat the same mistake.

"Know yourself, know your enemies. And any battle can be won." Darius said, "What do I have that can lead me to the victory?"

[Do not think within boundaries.]

Darius took the words to his heart. His 80 Intelligence worked furiously. Analysis of the very minute things was being done.

Something he noticed was the rewards for this quest.

The Quest Menu appeared at his command and he saw that one reward that could help him.

[Class Gacha Token ×1]

"System, can I get the rewards before the completion of the quest?"

[Indeed. However, if you decide to do this one of the functions of the system will be locked forever, one of your abilities will also be locked, your level will reset to 1 and your skills will degrade by one rank. The future quests will become increasingly difficult, even to the point that they will outclass your capabilities. A countdown timer will also start and within that time you have to complete this quest with an additional condition added. If you cannot complete the quest, failure conditions will be met and you will die.]

"If I only want one of the rewards?" Darius gulped. The consequences were scary.

[One of the aforementioned consequences will not happen.]

"Alright." He breathed deeply, calming his nerves, "Give me the reward Class Gacha Token."

[Are you sure?]

"Yes." Said he, seriously.

[You have received the reward Class Gacha Token ×1.]

[Quest Completion condition added: Kill the Hobgoblin Leader ×1]

[Countdown: 01:00]

"Use it." Without missing a beat, he commanded.

A gacha machine appeared on the screen. There were many balls with various colours in the machine.

The machine started shaking, the balls were agitated and a second later, one of the balls rolled out of the opening.

The ball was green in colour. It cracked as the golden light tried to escape from within. Darius was nervous, not knowing what he would get. He only hoped that it would be useful in his current predicament.

The ball burst open. Out came a symbol of a staff with wings encircled by blue water.

[Congratulations! You have received an uncommon class, The Priest of Water.]

His status screen opened and below his job, a new segment appeared.

[Class: The Priest of Water]

His mind was filled with information regarding his class. He grinned. This was useful. He could save them now.

The Hobgoblin Leader was about to give the command to fire, he quickly extended his hand towards Fiona and Tiara.

A blue magic circle formed in the air, a bead of sweat flowing down his scalp, eyebrows knitting in concentration, he said, "Aqua Shield."

A thin dome of light blue water surrounded the pair just as the rain of arrows approached.

He barely maintained the shield throughout the barrage. However, he made it. He saved them.

[Countdown Timer: 00:40]

He was tired but he had Mana left for one more spell.

This spell was crucial to complete this quest and kill the Hobgoblin.