Is this really a Game?!

'Aethion, you there?'

"Of course I am boy, I'm just a soul, I don't really need to sleep, remember?" Aethion spoke from inside Reign's mind.

'Yeah, I do.'

'What do you think the system will give us for the next challenge, I mean, the first one was quite tough.'

"Well, from my very shallow understanding of the system, it should be easier this time since you had already stepped on the path of evolution, but one can never truly know, I do doubt it will ask of you once again to kill a higher tiered enemy like last time, at least not by yourself."

'Yeah, I hope that doesn't happen as well, otherwise, I might not be able to complete it this time, the only reason I was able to kill a Tier I fighter last time was because I had a bunch of people with me if the system really plans on making me try and kill one again, I will definitely not be so lucky.'

"Who knows, you might surprise yourself."

'Yeah right, I know that if I am by myself, the best I can hope for is to perish together against a Tier II, surviving would be almost impossible.' Reign said before exhaling deeply. He turned and put his head on the pillow before falling asleep.

As morning came and the rays of the sun entered through the window of Reign's room, he opened his eyes, being greeted by a notification from the system.

[ Challenge has been created. ]

[ Party challenge! ]

[ The members of the party have all managed to reach level 100, in order to evolve and become Tier II beings, the system asks of you to finish your mission and take over the mountain. ]

Reign blinked a couple of times as he stared at the challenge that had been given to not only him but to everybody else as well.

"Oh, you gotta be fcking with me." Reign said in a drowsy state before his door suddenly opened and Shadow appeared.

"Yo, did you see?!"

"Yeah, just now."

"We have to take over the mountain, what kind of a bs, suicidal fcking challenge is this goddamn system giving us?!" Shadow cursed as he panted heavily.

"Honestly, it's not that bad, the last one I got was to kill a Tier I being while I was still below them, killing a Tier II when we are all together doesn't seem that impossible." Reign said before yawning.

"Yeah but, wait, you had to kill a Tier I during your last challenge?!" Shadow yelled out as Reign rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah man," Reign yawned again before continuing, "I told you and the others, why are you acting all surprised?"

"I, I don't think I heard that, I might have zoomed out when you were telling that story," Shadow said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, no matter." Reign said before getting up from his bed.

"So, are we doing this today, or?" Shadow asked Reign who glanced at him.

"First we all get together, there's not just one Tier II being on the mountain, we have to make a plan first."

Shadow nodded his head before he and Reign got out of the room and went straight to the living room.

Reign started preparing some food for himself and the others while Shadow sat on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. It was only minutes later that everyone else arrived, Laura and Beast went to Reign and helped him make breakfast while Wolf and the others all sat down and started talking.

"Well, we already know just how powerful a Tier II being is since we fought that tiger in the arena, so we kind of know what we are up again, right?" Shadow asked as Wolf glanced at him before shaking his head.

"I wish."

"No chance."

"Tiger was too weak," Greenie said in the end.

"The tiger was the weakest possible Tier II being that could exist, the ash demon leader and the others are definitely not that weak, still, we have also become much stronger, which evens things out a bit." Reign said as he put the breakfast down on the table.

"Toast, slime jelly mixed with some fruits that chef from the territory made, some beef jerky, well, monster beef jerky, tea and some cheese, bon apetit guys." Reign said as he took the jerky before putting it on the toast and covering it with cheese.

"Slime jelly, weren't those things acidic?" Shadow asked as he stared at the orange jelly that was in a big cup.

"Turns out the acid pretty much disappears after the core is broken, mix it with fruits, and you pretty much get a similar jelly to what we had before the game, it's quite good, I tried it before," Beast said as he put some jelly on his toast.

"So, what is our plan?" Tank suddenly asked as he and the others all stared at Wolf.

"Can we at least finish eating first?" Wolf asked as he stared at them before taking a piece of the jerky.

After breakfast.

Everybody sat on the sofas, the food was completely gone even though Reign and the others had made enough for about 20 people to eat.

Their current levels and strength made their appetites much larger. Still, they could offset that by eating meat from higher-leveled monsters and plants that had a larger amount of mana in them since more mana also meant more energy and nutritional value that they contained.

"Well, first we should probably go to the location that the system didn't mark, I think it's time to check out the wood-type monsters that live there, our strength right now is enough to defend ourselves against a Tier II monster, so even if things go south, we should be able to get away safely," Wolf said as he glanced at the others. Upon seeing them all nod their heads he continued.

"Second thing we should do, we need to go and scout out all the other locations, figuring out which place is least defended and who is the easiest target is our top priority, even if the wood-type monsters are friendly, we have no guarantee that they will help us, hell, we probably won't get help and will need to fight by ourselves."

"We do it quietly though," Wolf said as he stared at Greenie and Tank.

"What?" The two asked simultaneously.

"I'm wondering whether we should bring you guys to the scouting mission or not, you're big and stick out a lot, maybe staying back will be better for you."

"He is jealous of us."

"Yeah, how can you not love these muscles man?"

"Agreed, big is good, big means strong."

Greenie and Tank shared a heartfelt moment as the others all shook their heads from the second-hand embarrassment they felt.

"Anyway, like I was saying, we need to figure out who is the easiest target, from there we figure out our plan of attack, do we need to charge in, can we lure the enemy out, can we ambush the enemy, make traps…"

"All of that will be vital to make the fight easier for us, and of course increase the chance of success,"  Wolf said as he looked at Reign and the others who all had serious expressions on their faces.

"It won't be easy, that's for sure," Shadow said in a serious voice.

"No challenge the system gives is easy, every single one is focused on forcing us to use everything we have and to break through our limits, although that's a good thing and leads to us improving faster, it's also very dangerous." Reign said before getting up.

"Alright, should we get going?" The others all nodded before heading out with Reign.

Upon entering the portal they were back in their base on the first mountain. They had no problems with the base so far, no monster really came to the area and one could easily go out to hunt weaker monsters that were nearby.

Reign and the others greeted the people that were present in the base before getting out. The weather was quite nice today, the sun shined brightly and a slight breeze was blowing as they came out.

The first location that they would visit was of course the one that the system hadn't marked, the main base of the wood-type monsters.

If things went well, then Reign and the others will have a new ally soon.