Versatile: Alternate World

Different kind of matter is being formed in her hands and the marvelous thing is that it is happening right before our eyes. It was like the galaxy is being created by her.

"How marvelous..." Lucia said inside the summon's area as she can see what is happening before us.

"You guys should really be proud to see me do this as I usually do this sort of job alone and in private but since this is a different case, I will make an exception."

A few seconds after the "universe" she is creating in her hand sucked some materials, it started to give form and the Entity of the Shrine of Ascension stopped forming it.

"It looks like you are done huh?"

"Hmph, don't underestimate me. I am working on this kind of job since the very beginning. I can do this while sleeping. So drop the pleasantries and do the quest. In exchange, I will issue a task with the two of you as payment for going in here without the help of the guild."

"Payment? So in the end, we will use money?" Lina asked.

"Money? Money is nothing for me and I have no use for it. That is only what humans and other creatures in this world were created to use for barter for goods they needed. Those metallic things are of no use to me. I will issue a task once the two of you are already undertaking the trials."

The entity of the Shrine of Ascension descends slowly while holding the new "universe" she created. Like a ball, she placed down the small "universe" she created in front of us and it slowly condensed itself before turning into a big portal.

"Since the two of you will be undertaking the Versatile Trial, both of you are qualified to challenge the same quest and since both of you are companions, then it is fine for the two of you to accompany each other in this trial. Complete it and the two of you will be able to perform the Class Upgrade or Class Up in your terms. Now go inside and the task for the two of you to complete the trial will appear the moment the two of you enter the portal. The task I will be giving will also be issued inside the portal as well so aside from the original task you guys are given into, you two will also need to complete the task I handed for the payment. Understood?"

Lina nodded. I didn't respond but I started to get ready, showing my acceptance to her terms.

"Since the two of you agreed, now proceed to the portal so that we can finish this much earlier. Oh, also a reminder. Time flows slower there in that world. So if you guys experienced a month in there, it will just be 30 minutes here in the real world. Anyways, it all depends on your skills in completing this place's objective. Good luck and may the blessings of the gods be bestowed on you."

After that, the entity of the Shrine of Ascension walk back to the darkness of the shrine and was swallowed by the darkness. Before she fully disappears in the darkness, her eyes landed on my weapon and gave out a meaningful expression before she completely disappeared. I am not sure why she had that expression but I have no idea why. My mind snapped back to reality when Lina tugged my sleeve.

"Why are you spacing out in there, Master?"

"Ah...Nothing, I was just thinking if I completed every preparation done."

"I see. Then, shall we get going, Master? The time in there is slowed down so it will be easy for us to finish this."

I nodded in response. When the entity of the Shrine of Ascension said that time is slowed down inside the "universes" she created, things are indeed slowed down that even the real world time is affected too. It isn't something I made up since someone tried to measure the time he spent inside the portal and the time in the real world and it was indeed proven that time indeed has slowed down in the real world since he spend a month inside and when he came out, only 30 minutes passed by in the real world.

I checked my equipment and other resources one last time before entering the portal with Lina.

...

The moment we entered the portal and arrived into the world inside the portal, Lina and I received a notification about our quest.

[Defeat the Endless Horde]

Task to complete the Ascension quest: Defeat the origin of the horde or defend a simulated village from being destroyed for 1000 waves.

Info: During the horde, successful clearing of the current horde will allow you to gain "Horde Coins" that will be used to upgrade the simulated Village's defenses structures. During the time the simulated village will be destroyed, the defense count will be reduced back to zero and the village will be rebuilt. The difficulty will also return to its lowest difficulty. "Horde Coins" that were unspent during the time the village was destroyed, will be carried over while the spent coins will be gone forever.

"I see. A tower defense huh, didn't expect that to be honest. However, what is the connection between a Versatile class and the tower defense game mode? Is there any good reason she made this place like this?"

After that, another quest appeared which means this is what the entity of the Shrine of Attention wanted to be done.

[Heart of the Undying]

Heart of the Undying obtained; 0/1

Info: The Entity of the Shrine of Ascension has given you a task to complete as a "payment" to her services. To obtain the [Heart of the Undying] you need to kill the source of the horde himself.

I see, so there is actually no point for us to just defend the simulated village and defeat the 1000 waves to finish this. We have to brute force the horde and take the heart of the boss. Isn't that convenient and troublesome?

"Master... does that mean..."

"Yes, we will have to defeat the main cause of the horde and if my assumption is correct, the target is the main boss of this stage. But we can't just disregard the Simulated Village. If it was given to us, there is a reason the Simulated Village exists and besides, we are not alone in this realm. We have the help of our friends with us so we should take advantage of that as well."

"That should be the most logical thing we have to do indeed."

I summoned everyone out of the summon's area and I ordered everyone to split up so that we can take a good amount of cover on how big the village is and if it serves another purpose other than a defensive point only.

The moment I step inside the Simulated Village, I received a structured system that looks like I can directly manage the whole village using the system that appeared. Lina also had it but she decided to let me handle most of the things that are done since I am the Master and I should have better plans. I accepted the role though she is still fine to open and control the simulated village if she ever needed to do so.

Since there are still 30 minutes left before the first attack, I decided to take advantage of the situation. I disregarded the system first and let everyone walk around to see what is going on inside the village and if there are anything worthwhile to take note of.

Of course, I also did my own investigation. I assigned myself to investigate the center of the village and to my surprise, the village is empty and all the "residents" living there are all dummies. There aren't any real NPC that can talk or move. They served as simulated humans to the simulated village scenario.

"This is somewhat interesting," I muttered to myself and looked around. Although all NPCs here are not alive, there is one functioning thing here and that is the shops. There is one shop available in the center area of the village and that shop happens to be a potion and alchemy store.

Although there aren't any kind of people here aside from the wooden dummies that acts as the local alchemist, it seems everything is functional. In fact, I can use the alchemy table they have and I can even purchase potions and other useful stuff made from alchemy from the "local alchemist" if you interact with it.

With some of the discoveries, every one of my followers also finished their investigations and we found out that aside from the facilities and shops functions, there are also an endless amount of raw ingredient supplies for making basic items from alchemy and even for repairing weapons and armor, the supply is endless.

The only downside is that the items made from the materials acquired in this town are only exclusive in this realm alone and cannot be brought back to reality. It was also stated in their info that is missing in the original and created outside the realm.

In short, this village is not just for defense points purposes only, this also serves as the place for resupplying essentials to survive the battle against the endless horde.