The Rank-Up to Beta went unhindered and without flaw, and a little over an hour after, Brenden and I entered the grav room, which had the HIGHEST density of beta particles one can get, exceeding that of even Instances.
The two of us sat there, being bombarded by three times Earth’s normal gravity, covered in sweat, yet we both had big smiles plastered across our faces.
Sure, Ranking Up was a cause for celebration and excitement; however, that wasn’t necessarily the reason both my brother and I were one step from cackling like children on Christmas morning as we tore into the presents; no, it was instead because our Timing was Absolutely perfect.
Not only had we begun the process of adapting Beta-Particles at the same moment, but we even finished our Rank-Ups simultaneously, something that, to my knowledge, had never been attempted before; I mean, why would anyone even bother? It’s not like there were rewards on the line in the Origin Timeline.
But here, in the past, that was a completely different situation altogether. After having received added benefits and rewards due to being the first to hit milestones in the other Event Quest, I figured Brenden and I could give a shot at Getting a shared first achievement. As I sat there, looking at my system display, I felt excitement rising in the pit of my stomach.
"Taylor…did you?" Brenden asked, mirroring my anticipation.
"Yeah, first to complete Quest Two, and you," I said without looking over at him.
"Sure did, hah, that was intense, but we pulled it off; if it weren’t for your guidance, I couldn’t have done it…"
{Quest Two: Early to the Past (Chain Quest). COMPLETE}
{Each time you complete one of the sub-quests, you will receive a randomized reward, and upon completion of the overall quest, you will receive a generous reward.}
{You have successfully completed the entire chain of quests and are the first to do so.}
{Q2-A: Reach the peak of No-Rank before 1000 Earthlings have Returned to the past.} (Complete)
{Q2-B: Advance to Alpha-Rank before 2000 Earthlings have returned to the past.} (Complete)
{Q2-C: Improve your Talent Rank to Alpha before 3000 Earthlings have returned to the past.} (Complete)
{Q2-D: Reach the Peak of Alpha-Rank before 4000 Earthlings have returned to the past.} (Complete)
{Q2-E: Breakthrough to Beta-Rank before the final Earthling has returned to the past.}(Complete)
{Earthlings returning to the past: 1277/5000}
Seven Years after returning to the past, I had finally done it; I had completed all five rank-up quests, reaching the Beta Rank Decades before I was supposed to, and that could only mean one thing: TRULY LUCRATIVE REWARDS!
"Arkadia, Claim Event Quest Rewards," uttering the basic command, my display panel flooded with notifications, each one spiking my blood pressure with each line of text I read through.
{Q2-D Note: Due to having completed the quest before the goal of 4000 Earthlings returning to the past, a special reward has been determined.}
{Q2-D Reward: 100 B-Coins, 1X Instance Token (B), 10X Resource Exchange Ticket (B).}
{Q2-E Note: Due to having completed the quest LONG Before the goal of 5000 Earthlings returning to the past, a special reward has been determined.}
{Q2-E Reward: 1000 Particle Stones (B)*1000 PC*, 5X Beta-Grade Elixir.}
{You have Tied for First Place in completing the Second Event Quest, and as such, you and the other Returner who finished the quests at the same time will receive equal Lucrative Rewards; the four options are exactly the same as the ones offered to the Other First Place Returner, and once chosen, the option will be eliminated from your list.}
{Arkadia has extended a One-Time Unique Reward; you may choose one of the following Options.}
{Option 1: 1X Random Talent or Talent Upgrade Token (NO RESTRICTIONS THIS WILL BE A COMPLETE SECOND TALENT, and by using it on a Restricted talent, the restrictions will be lifted.)}
{Option 2: 1X Racial Classification Change Token (Increase the Racial Classification of One Being by 1C}
{Option 3:1X Beta-Grade Item or Resource Recipe of your Choice.}
{Option 4: 1X Resonance Convergence Ticket (Can Return the mind of one person, dead or alive, to the past, so long as the person existed after the Descent of Arkadia.}
"Taylor…that last reward…." I heard Brenden say with a shaky voice, and I’m not going to lie, I was pretty much in the same boat because if Option 4 was what it claimed to be…then that means…
"Brenden, buy Option 4," I said with resolve; sure, I wanted to be the one to bring my Father back, but I knew that it would arguably mean more to Brenden to do so.
Don’t get me wrong, I by no means was treating it lightly, and I, too, wanted nothing more than to bring my Father back to life…the Father I grew up with, the one who raised us in the Origin Timeline, but at the same time, I needed to think about the future, so while my blackened decrepit heart screamed to be the one to bring Dad back, my logical mind was weighing the other options.
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Mind you, if it were only me receiving this reward, in a heartbeat, I would have chosen option 4, no questions asked, but that wasn’t the case; instead, I had Brenden, who was receiving the same reward choice as me, thus, I gave him the opportunity, I mean, he Is after all, considered a Hero.
While I was lost in thought, I heard Brenden moving beside me as he jumped to his feet and raced out of the Grav Room, acting as if three times Earth’s Gravity didn’t affect him in the least, leaving me behind.
"Dumb ass, Dad’s at work and won’t be home for 5 hours; where the hell are you running off to," I grumbled while examining the other three options carefully.
When the fourth option greyed out and vanished, I knew Brenden had taken it, and soon enough, I had tossed away option two. As much as I’d like to know if that ticket would work for us, it wasn’t valid in my mind, not when option one and option three were so drastically important to my future plans.