After killing the dragonewt and receiving its loot, I could hear the other players that I had seen before making their way over, so I quickly made sure that my Ghost-X was activated to avoid being seen. The dragonewt’s body had disappeared when it was looted, so I wasn’t worried that they would see the dead body to know that there was anyone else nearby. Or, at least, to know that there was someone this close.
The fact that I was able to perform better than their team made me quite satisfied, especially given the fact that I was still largely an assassin. If I chose to, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to wipe out a team of players chasing me down, if they were on the same skill level. Something to keep in mind, considering that I may be facing the bounty hunters at some point.
When the players came into view, I saw that they had lost another two of their members, several of those that were left having damaged armor or chipped blades. “We should head back to town.” One of the healers spoke up, visibly exhausted. However, the man leading the group shook his head.
“We go until we die.” He said in a firm tone. “You all did as I told you before coming out, right?” Several of those that remained nodded their heads. “As long as we store our valuables in the bank, and fill up our inventory with trash items, we can basically negate the death penalty. The money that we make here will make up for any damaged equipment, so it’s a win-win.”
My eye twitched when I heard that, clenching my fist. They were pushing their Chosen to death to get the most out of their hunting as they could, all because there was no penalty other than losing some random trash from their inventory. How many times had their Chosen been forced to suffer like that?
I wanted to go over and slaughter the whole group, just to force them to stop for the day. However, that wouldn’t change anything. They’d still be out, doing this again tomorrow. All that I would achieve is making my presence known to them.
All I could do was grit my teeth and turn around, activating my Flicker Step to turn into a blur on the horizon. How many other players treated their Chosen in a similar manner? How many of them willingly ran to their deaths just to check out a shiny new item or skill, or just for the sake of seeing their innards spread out before them?
Did they know that their Chosen were still able to feel pain? And if they did, did they care? As for the Chosen themselves, how many of them have tried to ruin the plans of their players by leaving a leveling territory or giving away their belongings to random strangers? What would the player do when they found out about that?
These questions raced through my mind as I moved further and further, fists clenched at my sides. I came across a small pack of dragonewts, and my rage bubbled over. Without even thinking, I launched into a mad frenzy, twisting through the crowd and launching a barrage of constant Assassinations.
The dragonewts let out pained and furious screams as they tried to find my location, but I never stopped moving. I only calmed down once the entire pack had fallen, my breath deep and ragged. I walked around to loot the corpses, trying my best to clear my mind of what I had heard as I made my way to Farro.
Thankfully, what would have normally been quite the long journey was made exceptionally fast due to my constant use of Flicker Step. The distance of one hundred kilometers, once I shut out everything and simply focused on running, took me less than an hour. Granted, this was still a fairly casual pace, and I knew that I could have done it faster if I had pushed myself.
Although the road between these two kingdoms wasn’t regularly patrolled, the existence of the road itself did still give me a path to follow. The city that I came across looked like a magnificent fort with high walls and guards patrolling both atop and around the perimeter.
Not only that, but these guards were more well-equipped than any city I remembered passing through, all of them wearing sturdy metal equipment that made them look like a group of knights. Even the players largely consisted of those wearing similar armors, with mages and healers being few and far between.
Taking a deep breath, I made my presence known by deactivating my Ghost-X skill. It was unlikely that there was anyone that could see through this skill in the patrolling guards, but I did not want to be branded a criminal or spy on the off chance that I was noticed. That would… not be good for my plans at all.
Sure enough, the guards immediately at the gate straightened their stances at my appearance and subsequent approach. As if used to the attention, I brought my hands up, lifting off my helmet to display the player brand beneath a head of still-red hair. “Apologies. I just came from Athua. Have I arrived in Farro, by chance?”
The guards looked at one another, before the one on the right stepped forward to approach me. “That is correct, player. May I ask what brings you to our lands?”
“I’m just out traveling, and wanted to take in a new scenery.” I didn’t feel bad saying this to the guards, as it wasn’t entirely untrue. “Sorry, is Farro a restricted territory?”
The guard looked back to his companion briefly, before shaking his head. “Not at all. Given the skill you displayed, it is no wonder that you were able to make it here safely. In that case, is there anything that I can do to help you?”
“There is, actually.” I smiled pleasantly to the guard, who gave a nod as if expecting it. “There are a few questions that I would like to ask, the first of which is the name of this city. They never told me at Aureakeep, only how far away it was.”
“I see.” The guard let out a sigh. “This is Brothersteel. To players like you, you may consider it a ‘zone’ ranging from levels seventy to ninety. The old dungeons are the three castles to the north, south, and northwest, all of which have either undead knights or armored soldier-type enemies. Additionally, there are six new dungeons that have been discovered and given to the city in the last month. Most of them have various types of animated weapons as enemies, though one is a slime dungeon. Does this answer all of your questions?”
I blinked in surprise, before letting out a light laugh. Naturally, guards were trained to answer questions for players, so it would appear that they had gotten into the habit of simply introducing the territory in such a way whenever any player seemed curious. “That answers most of them, for sure. There are really only two left. Does the church still have a tight grip on healing magic in Farro, like it does in Athua?”
The guard paused for a moment, before giving a nod. “The church isn’t isolated to any one nation. Naturally, the priests throughout the world are in the service of the church. It is said that learning this type of magic without the appropriate faith will cause ones magic to sharply decline.”
“I see… I wasn’t aware of that.” It was hard to tell if this was the truth, or just an excuse that the church used to control the magic. It was entirely possible that faith itself existed as a form of channeling, after all. “My last question… are there any local specialties that I should know about, in terms of trade?”
“If you’ve got the gold, you’re more than welcome to spend it here. Like I said, the nearby dungeons are almost all focused on either weapon or armor type enemies. Because of this, we have a lot of metal that we bring in, and the city has an excellent forging business. I’m no appraiser, but your gear looks quite decent, so you may not need those services, and I doubt you would be a crafter.”
“Quite.” I agreed with that assessment. Staying in one spot for so long to learn a trade skill would be counterintuitive to my grand plan of not having my death farmed for eternity. “In that case, I do not believe that I have any further questions for you. Do you have any recommendations for me, or any procedures that I need to go through before entering the city?”
“No procedures for players, sir. You’re free to enter. As for recommendations… I’d suggest visiting a tavern by the name of the Singing Sword. Tell them Chuck sent you by, and you can get a good meal there.”
I made a note of the tavern name, though I didn’t particularly plan to visit it. Although he didn’t say that there were any procedures, I was certain that there were steps in place to keep an eye out for potential spies from Athua. Perhaps there was someone at this recommended tavern specialized in seeing through disguises, or appraising people’s name and levels. Either way, the simple fact that the guard recommended this tavern was enough of a reason for me to avoid it.
I gave a small nod, maintaining my smile as I entered the city. Not long after passing through the gates, I could hear the clanging of metal against metal, the hammering of steel over an anvil. Had I not just gotten my new equipment from Hammerhead, I might have been tempted to request something from the local blacksmith players.
For now, I needed to maintain a low profile. That meant not visiting the bank, where my identity would be exposed. If I sell the loot that I got from the dragonewts, that will come to four gold, or almost two and a half after the cut for the appraiser. That will be more than enough for me to stock up.
I was tempted to visit the local skill shop, but ultimately decided against it. If there were new magic skills from the dungeons that the guard told me about, I didn’t have the free space on my equipment to enchant them. As for other skills, I couldn’t immediately think of anything useful that would be dropped from these dungeons.
Armor maintenance? My armor has a self-repair feature, so that isn’t important. Tanking skills from the armor dungeons? Most specialized tanking skills require you to have a partner in order to maximize their utility. What’s the point of drawing a monster’s ire if I was already the only one attacking it?
There might be useful weapon skills that I could get from the animated weapon dungeons, but those would be snatched up by players as soon as they came in. Thus, there was generally little point in me visiting the shop in this town.
As I was thinking that, I received a message. Blinking, I opened it up, seeing that it was from Diane. Have you joined your guild yet?
Right, sorry. I meant to send you a notice when I did. I joined it a little bit ago, but I’m in Farro now. Have you made it there yet?
Her reply was quick. I have. On my way to Shadowbane. Also… be careful.
Seeing her message confused me for a moment, before I connected it to the bounty hunters that Nuoda had told me about. You heard about the bounty list?
That’s right. Keep your disguise up. When you can use it to change more, you should. It’s dangerous to use the name Drake. Some people are specifically hunting ‘Drakes’. I’ll have more information soon. Right now, I can tell you one thing about the player that abandoned you.
That caught me by surprise. I didn’t expect her to have access to information that even Nuoda didn’t. What is it?
His negative trait makes it harder for him to use skills. It appears to be a large increase in mana burden. However, the skills he does use are all very powerful, influenced by his draconic race, such as a fire breath. For the most part, he fights with his physical body. According to what I have put together, he wants your positive trait to perfect his character concept of an omnipotent dragon.
What… how? How did you find all of this out? I heard that there wasn’t much information released about him.
A lot of people want to slay dragons. I asked other players that went to fight him to give me the footage of their battle. For the record, his positive trait is still unknown. It’s believed that the skill enhancement is from his racial, rather than the positive.
I wasn’t quite sure what the ‘footage’ there meant, but it was clear that Diane had connections, in order to acquire that level of information. Got it. Thanks for the information, it’s a big help. I’ll make my way towards Shadowbane once I figure out where it is.
