Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Finders Keepers II

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    [3rd POV] [Location: ??????????]

    Within a large, Valley like location, Gwen was trekking through the vast sands of Mesopotamia, or what it used to be at least. It was the day after her gaining the Cloak and Gauntlets, and she was currently on her way to get the next artifact, that was more...evil in nature.

    ''Any ideas what this thing could be, Nabu?'' Gwen asked, as she walked through the sands of the valley.

    ''None. Whatever this artifact is, it is either recently created, or it was well hidden until now. And whatever it is, it''s quite powerful'' Nabu inwardly replied, having sensed the artifact the closer they got to it.

    The farther Gwen walked, the more she noticed the power coming from the valley she was inside of. It was not far now, probably another few minutes of walking before she got to her target location.

    ''System, if this is an item related to the Lords of Chaos, will I have to do the same thing I did with Teekl?'' Gwen inwardly asked, wanting to know beforehand.Yo?ur favorite stories at novelhall.com

    [Negative. The host simply needs to wear the artifact, and the rest will happen on it''s own] ''... Well alright then, that seems surprisingly simple. Considering there was two artifacts at the last location, there may be another artifact in this valley, that is hidden, either by the aura of this artifact, or through other means'' Gwen thought, knowing that the system tended to give secret quests for ones like this.

    The idea of getting another "Lord of Order" artifact, was...appealing to say the least.

    The more artifacts of such origin she got, the stronger her magic grew, the more growth she''d have in the future, and the less likely she''ll lose in a battle of magic.

    As she stepped through the final small hill, she noticed a large ancient looking temple. It was coated in sand, and was quite literally falling apart.

    ''Okay, looks like the artifact was cloaked, and not newly created. Because that temple is at least a few thousand years old'' Gwen thought as she walked closer to the large temple.

    Standing at the entrance, she began to walk inside. Immediately she sensed a larger influx of the power, as she began to follow where it was coming from.

    She avoided traps along the way, and ignored the skulls of past people that had attempted to invade upon this temple. The traps were simple enough to dodge, but any normal person would have no chance or noticing, or even dodging them. They were cloaked by magic, afterall.

    As she got closer to her target location, Gwen blinked as her spider sense went off, and began to show her a series of events that was about to happen.

    ''...Seems I''m not the only one coming for this thing'' Gwen thought as she was shown the sight of a gorgeous woman she remembered from the comics, a rather well known one, known simply as...Circe. A foe of Wonder Woman, Demi-god, immortal woman, and well known individual throughout history due to her tendency of turning men into "Ani-Men".

    ''What the hell is Circe doing here?'' Gwen thought with a frown, as her spider sense showed Circe attacking her from the back, with a rather powerful looking spell. It wouldn''t do much to her, but still.

    ''Must be the Light, probably offered her something she couldn''t refuse'' Gwen thought with a frown, knowing that the woman she was about to fight, was genuinely a strong user of magic, and far less idiotic than most villains she has fought so far.

    As her senses caught up, she stepped out of the way of the blast, and quickly responded with her own blast of golden glowing magic. Circe promptly held her hands up, creating a powerful shield to block against the attack.

    "You must be Gwen, they''ve told me of you, and your...interference. I suppose you''ll have to die now" Circe said before sending another, stronger blast of magic at Gwen, who once again blurred and dodged it.

    "You know, I wasn''t entirely expecting to see you of all people here, Circe" Gwen said with a grin, as she sent more blasts of magic at the woman, who promptly took cover behind a nearby wall, knowing that Gwen couldn''t destroy it, without threatening the structural integrity of the temple.

    ''She''s smart, smarter than most the villains I''ve fought. But...I''m smarter'' Gwen thought with a smirk, as she promptly destroyed the pillar the woman was behind, causing the roof to

    slowly cave in.

    Before the woman could even react, Gwen blurred to her, and swiped with her claws.

    "AGHG You bitch!" Circe growled in fury as she held her stump that was previously her left

    arm.

    "Huh, for a demigod, you''re a hell of a lot weaker than I was expecting" Gwen said with a blink, causing the woman to snarl and raise her hands.

    Gwen however, wasn''t dumb enough to even give her the chance to escape. Blurring from her spot, she reappeared in front of Circe as she attempted to flee. Without giving the demigoddess a singular chance, she allowed her symbiote to surge out of her, and promptly swiped the woman''s skull clean from her body.

    Looking down at the body, she frowned ''That wasn''t the real Circe...there''s no chance in hell someone as old as her, would die so simply''

    [Quest Received!]

    Circe or not?

    Details - Long ago, the real Circe created a ritual to create "clones" of herself through dark magic, allowing her to take control of them from vast ranges. They are quite a bit weaker than the real her. Every clone killed damages the real body, making it weakened for quite a large amount of time. Find Circe''s real body, and end the 2000+ year old womans life, once and for all. She has an untold amount of clones, find and hunt them down, and it may lead to Circe herself

    Rewards - 10 UL Tickets. 1 UL ticket for every "Clone" killed.

    ''Now that...that is interesting. Seems the power of whatever artifact in this place, is stopping me from tracking her, that, or she has some powerful as hell wards guarding her'' Gwen thought, knowing that Circe was on a different tier in comparison to most of the people she has fought so far.

    Klarion was more than likely stronger, but she was far smarter, and had more knowledge in quite a number of magic practices.

    ''I did not think I would see that face again after so long...I certainly don''t miss it'' Nabu

    spoke inwardly.

    "Good to know, thanks Nabu" Gwen said with a smile, happy with this new addition to her

    powerset.

    Afterall, every bit of power counted when you plan on going to Marvel Comics, DC Comics,

    and other such multiverses in the future.

    [Hidden Quest Complete!]

    The Chaser of the Moon

    Details - Hati, the Lord of Chaos, and consumer of the Moon, was trapped within the Helmet

    of Chaos by a rival Lord of Chaos. By making him your familiar, you have freed him, and

    bound him to yourself!

    Reward - 3 UL Tickets.

    ''...Neat'' Gwen thought with a hum, before looking to Hati.

    "You want to come to the real world with me and Teekl?"

    "Hmm, not just yet. I''ll come out once you back to your home. This temple is ugly" Hati said,

    not wanting to get his fur covered in sand.

    "Alright then. Once I get back to the Mountain you can come out" Gwen said with a shrug,

    before continuing "Anything else? Or am I free to return to the real world" "Nothing else. I''m gonna take a nap now, all that arguing with the furball tired me out" Hati

    said with a wolfish yawn, as he faded away.

    Gwen just deadpanned before returning to the real world. Teekl was now on her shoulder, having previously been in her mindscape, not wanting to get involved.

    "Did you have to make that idiot your other familiar, mistress?" Teekl asked, already not

    liking Hati in the slightest.

    "Well I didn''t get much of a choice in the matter, Teekl. That, and it was basically free power.

    He might be annoying, but who knows, he could grow on you" Gwen said with a shrug and a small grin, causing Teekl to huff.

    Walking out of the temple, Gwen stretched.

    "Let''s get back to the Tower. We''ve got some projects to work on" Gwen said, remembering

    the item she was in the process of building for Artemis. She already had produced the super

    soldier serums for her, Robin, and her pops. But the item she was making for Artemis, was a bit more...special.

    Teleporting off, Gwen had once last thought before she returned back to the Tower of Fate. ''One more artifact until I''m done with this quest. Let''s hope it''s good''

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    That''s the end of the chapter!

    The Helmet of Chaos was something I found some info about and thought would be a good

    addition. It was an old item from the comics (Literally made in 1982).

    Hati was added after thinking for a little while, as I thought it would be a good addition. He''s

    her second familiar, and will come more into play later on.

    Circe is now a genuine villain for Gwen, as she''s stronger than most, smarter than most, and

    older. She also remembers the knowledge of her various clones, so everytime she fights Gwen, she''ll grow and become more experienced.

    Next chapter should be shorter, or roughly the same length. It''ll also be the last chapter for

    this little "Mini-Adventure". I plan on doing another small "arc" in the future, that will be pretty important, and will have some lasting consequences, but I''m still working out how I''m going to do it.

    I should be uploading a vault chapter today, potentially more. Anyways, have a good day, see you tomorrow!