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Operation: Howl of the Savages

Quest Rank: Legendary

Mission Type: Choice

Objective: Uncover the secrets that lie in the Fog of Chaos.

Description: You have been tied to the Lineages of not just one, but two of the Savage Races of the Genesis World. The Spirit of Genesis has taken notice of you and replaced one of your rewards. The Savages must not be allowed to rise again, and you will pay for the sins of treasures you have taken but not understood.

Reward: ???

Note: For the duration of this Quest, the selected chosen will suffer ailments of the Plague of Savages, one that takes away one sense until they are all gone.

Time Remaining to next Ailment: N/A

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The mission seemed to claim that the objective was to find the secrets of the Fog of Chaos. However... the mission type wasn’t labeled as information gathering or reconnaissance.

It was labeled as choice.

And right then, Grey had made a choice.

He didn’t care what the secrets were, he didn’t care who was on top, he didn’t care who was pulling the strings or who was pretending to pull the strings.

His grandfather was alive and the only thing he gave a damn about was making sure he would stay that way. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

His old man only looked up for the briefest of instants, feeling that something was wrong before going back to focusing on the TV. Seeing how much worry Old Man Temolt was dealing with every day, Grey was determined.

Not only would he make it back to Earth one day, before he did so he would make sure that the Producers had no choice but to show him.

He didn’t care even if he had to be a villain, he would appear on that screen so that his grandfather knew he was fine.

If it required him becoming a Dark Kin, then he would be that. If it required him becoming a member of the Savage Races, then he would be that.

He wasn’t going to let a single soul stop him no matter what the cost was.

The world collapsed as the vision came to a close. Grey’s gaze snapped open and his skin was practically glowing gold, white tattoos covering not just his scalp anymore, but even down to his arms and face.

They almost looked like war paint, though they lacked the fierceness that would have come from a darker color.

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Lv3 Paladin Spirit > Lv10 Paladin Spirit

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Lv10 Paladin Spirit > Lv11 Paladin Spirit

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Lv11 Paladin Spirit > Lv15 Paladin Spirit

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[Mind Enhancement, {Paladin Spirit}, has evolved to {Last Paladin Spirit}]

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Lv15 Paladin Spirit > Lv1 Last Paladin Spirit

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Lv1 Last Paladin Spirit > Lv10 Last Paladin Spirit

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Lv10 Last Paladin Spirit > Lv11 Last Paladin Spirit

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The white tattoos slowly faded away until Grey stood there in silence. The tears that had been on his cheeks seemed to have been burned away, but his fists...

Slowly, he released them as well, exhaling a breath until he felt he was back to his normal baseline.

Then he grinned ear to ear as though a darkness that had been shrouding his mind was completely gone.

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Lv8 Center of Balance > Lv10 Center of Balance

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Lv10 Center of Balance > Lv11 Center of Balance

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Grey was going to check his rewards for the Legendary Quest that had been tormenting him for so long, but then he remembered something. There were two rewards here, not just one.

The reward for the first had not only helped him clear his Legendary Quest and elevate Paladin Spirit that had always progressed at a snail’s pace, but more importantly than any of that, it had allowed him to see that his grandfather was still alive.

It was probably the case that there was a very defined age range for entertainment. The Genesis Council, or maybe the hosts specifically, didn’t find it worthwhile to take the too-young or too-old.

Considering how cheap they were, they wouldn’t pony up the cost to take an old man or a baby into the Genesis Games just for them to die instantaneously.

Grey had already noted that he hadn’t seen a single old person before. And now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a single person his age yet either.

The idea that he had gotten screwed over, or was maybe a part of a small number of minors deemed "fit" to take part, didn’t escape him. But at this point, his mood was so good he didn’t give a damn.

His grandfather had worked a hard enough life to provide for him on his own. The old man could stand to sit on the couch and watch.

Grey laughed. ’Maybe the old man will be jealous he’s missing out.’

His grandfather was a war veteran. Grey knew that time really messed with the old man’s head, but whenever he brought it up to Grey, one would think he had been living the time of his life back then.

There was probably a bit of truth to both.

But right now, Grey would never be able to calm down and relax if the old man was in active combat again. Now that he knew he was at home, the rest of this bullshit world could send whatever they wanted at him.

He would be just fine.

Grey moved his intention toward whatever "Core Sync Blessing" was and got a stream of notifications.

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[{1397} Free Stats detected]

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’Huh?’ Grey blinked. And then his body froze as though every muscle had tensed at the same time.

He looked at his notification screen, only to see his Free Stats ticking down one by one.

’Well damn.’

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[Core Sync Blessing, activating]

—

Grey’s Free Stats plummeted down to zero and then his inner organs shook so much he let out a little fart. And then a big one.

’You better not make me shit my pants.’

Unfortunately, that wasn’t under Grey’s control.

The power drilled down to his very bones. He had experienced two impurity rejections before.

But nothing like this.

The stats sank down into his very being.