New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

After selecting their reward items, the seven players gathered before the old toad king. He gave them a speech about righteousness and how they were heroes to the Grippli.

After a ten-minute monologue, the notification for the dungeon's end finally resounded.

*Ding!*

*Dungeon 'Jungle Maze' has been successfully completed.*

*Ding!*

*Your group is the first one to complete a level fifty dungeon. The gods acknowledge your accomplishments. Would you like to announce your feat to the world?*

Before the entire group, a window appeared, with a yes and no option.

*Yes / No*

Everyone simultaneously tapped yes. They had all agreed to it before even undertaking this journey. This was their end goal, after all.

Announcing to the world that the same group of five, plus two new players, had conquered a new tier of dungeons, without a full group, or the necessary level.

This would make everyone remember who was truly the power-houses in this game. The level leaderboard would become irrelevant from there on out.

Across the skies over the world of New Eden, a message appeared.

*Ding!*

*World Announcement*

*The seven-player party named Paragons has successfully completed the first level fifty dungeon! The players in this party are Astaroth, Phoenix, Violette, Athena Woodland, I'die Ad'tempus, Gulnur Deepshield, and Silent Light. Congratulations, Paragons!*

Every player in the game stopped what they were doing to read the message in the sky. Some players in the wild even almost died from halting their fights.

No one could believe what they were seeing. The leaderboard still had no one at level fifty, meaning no one should be able to complete a dungeon of that level yet, even with a full party of twelve.

Yet a party of seven had just done so. This was crazy news, and people instantly overloaded the forums with posts asking how they had done it.

As for the players concerned, they were now being teleported outside the dungeon, a little over seven million Exp richer, and with a new title.

But they didn't have time to look at any of it, since they were now faced with a fresh problem.

At their exit from the dungeon, familiar players were waiting for them. The party that had entered after them was already here, resting, before going back.

They couldn't attack them, since they were in a safe zone, but that didn't hold the Dwarves and Gnomes from showing a threatening disposition. A Dwarf moved a bit forward from the rest of his party.

"Gulnur! I knew you wouldn't wait for the rest of us to enter the dungeon!" the Dwarf growled.

"You're one to talk! What is that behind you, if not a raiding party? I should have known better than to trust you."

"That sounds like your problem, not mine. Now give us the dungeon rewards!" the dwarf angrily barked, pulling out his two axes.

Phoenix stepped forward to try to de-escalate the situation.

"First, let's not devolve into savagery. We earned these fair and square. You want rewards? Complete the dungeon."

"Second, we are in a safe zone. You can't even attack us, so cease your futile intimidation tactic."

"And lastly, we just completed a dungeon that seems to have wiped your party. What makes you think you can win a fight against us?" she said, that last point with a snarky smile.

"Shut up, woman! You might be strong, but you are still of the weaker sex. Don't ask yourself why the number one is a man!" The Dwarf shouted out, sending spit everywhere.

Phoenix's face went dark, as did Athena's and Violette's. Even the men in her party were now looking at the Dwarf with hatred and disgust.

Phoenix wanted nothing more than to burn them to ashes, but they were still in the safe zone, and that wouldn't be possible. Before she could open her mouth to roast the little man alive, Astaroth put his hand on her shoulder.

When she looked at him, the scornful gaze he had in his eyes made her shiver for a second.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, you little shit?" Astaroth said, with a calm tone.

His voice sounded almost more like the rumble of thunder before a storm. Astaroth suddenly left the party.

Surprise slightly washed the other members of the group, but they rapidly understood what his intentions were.

"If you want to act like an obnoxious macho, fine. I'll play your game. You won't mind accepting a duel then?" Astaroth said, pulling out his new sword and shield.

The shimmer around the blade signalled the rarity of it to the others, and they instantly had looks of greed.

"Tch! You think you can take me on without your party?" The Dwarf said, feeling insulted.

"Oh, not just you. I will take on your entire party. What do you say? I'll even put all my gear on the line."

"You! You think--"

Before he could finish his phrase, a duel invite appeared before him, with a list of rewards. When he saw all the special, elite, and rare equipment on the list, his eyes widened.

His party members quickly pushed him into accepting through their party chat. Cockiness washed over the Dwarf.

"Fine! But it wouldn't be fair if you got nothing in return, if by ungodly luck you won. What do you want?"

"I want two of your levels. Each. And. Everyone. Of. You." Astaroth replied, his lips stretching upwards in a manic grin.

His to-be opponents all shivered in fear at the statement. How confident did one have to be to ask for such a high price of them?

Even if they recognized him from the tournament, they assumed a one-on-twelve fight could only go in their direction. Yet, the ash elf looked to think otherwise.

Hesitation spread amongst the party of twelve. But before anyone could back out, their party leader set in the conditions for his loss, and pressed accept on the duel screen.

A timer appeared before their eyes, and an invisible barrier formed, limiting anyone not in the duel from intervening. Astaroth's grin only widened.

"Thank you for the Exp, dumbass."

* 3, 2, 1, Duel Start!*