After all the excitement, all the engineer who had been working non-stop for endless hours on end passed out. Brigid was the last one to fall asleep.
Lawks’ father sat alone on a balcony drinking a very strong liquor.
[Lawks’ Father]: *sigh* I feel like it’s my own fault I let you guys destroy my mountain. I should have known you kids are far too abnormal. [Crule]: It’s just a mountain. What’s so special about it? [Lawks’ Father]: It’s where we bury out ancestors… [Crule]: Oh… [Lawks’ Father]: Man…grandpa is going to be pissed off when I join them in the afterlife… [Crule]: Sorry about that… [Lawks’ Father]: What happened happened…We can’t change it now.Lawks’ father wanted to maintain relationship with this monster child. He rather save his living clans men than his dead ancestors. Normally this may be frowned upon but times have changed.
[Crule]: Here, take this as our way of saying sorry.Crule reached into his spatial storage and took out a jade box.
Lawks’ father stared at the box with curiosity.
[Lawks’ Father]: What is it? [Crule]: It’s a sealed spell. Opening the box will release one of two powerful spells of mine. Both extremely powerful and lethal. [Lawks’ Father]: What are the spells? [Crule]: The first spell is a barrier skill. It will allow nothing to enter it as all who touched the outside of the barrier will be consumed as used as the barrier’s power source. When used, the barrier will tag those who are already inside so they can come and go as they please. The barrier will maintain itself as best as it can on the energy in the air but it will only last at most a month. If you want it to last longer, you will need to feed it. [Lawks’ Father]: This sounds very ominous…but very useful indeed. Having a powerful barrier like this will be very useful during times of need. What’s the other one? [Crule]: A powerful attack spell. It has about the same power as the attack I used today. Meaning you should be VERY careful where you aim it when you open the box.Lawks’ father was dripping with cold sweat. Something this dangerous was sealed inside of a box with not even the most simplest of padlocks. Anyone with limbs can open it and release the powerful held within.
[Crule]: I see you are worried about how protected this dangerous thing is but rest assured. I can bind it to you so only you can open it. [Lawks’ Father]: *sigh* That would be nice.He bound the jade box with his blood and carefully stored it.
[Lawks’ Father]: So what will you do now? [Crule]: Something big, don’t worry about it. [Lawks’ Father]: Everything you do is big…The two chatted the night away enjoying the liquor.
Crule woke up the next morning and brought everyone together to leave.
[Lawks’ Father]: Have a safe trip.The Lawks’ clan came to give them a farewell. The engineer were sad to see Brigid leave. They had learned so much these past few days and their curiosity had been ignited.
[Crule]: If you guys need help, give me a call. [Lawks’ Father]: We look forward to your support.They waved and Crule set off with everyone.
______
Back on the ship, everyone gathered in the cockpit to discuss what they were going to do next.
[Shin]: What now? [Crule]: We will be heading back into the game to open the second seal. Meanwhile, you guys need to go take advantage of the game starting to train yourselves.Shin, Chun Qin, and Kate nodded. They saw the huge power difference between them and realized how lacking they were.
[Brigid]: Hm? What should I do? [Crule]: Whatever you want! [Brigid]: Ah, finally more free time to work on things. I got a pile of materials I want to try out stockpiled in the ship’s lab.She seemed happy that she gets so much freedom.
Everyone left to rest for the long journey leaving only Ming and Crule left in the cockpit.
[Ming]: Which one of the seals are we going to? [Crule]: The one in the great lake Trysl. If I remember correctly, there should be a temple hidden deep at the bottom of the lake. [Ming]: That lake is huge…nearly the size of a small planet. Just how are we going to find it? [Crule]: The temple is hard to find for most, but with our armor, we should be able to cover the ground easily. With the power of the legion eyes, I should be able to point out the energies that are slowly leaking out from the seal. [Ming]: I see… [Crule]: But first, we will stop by one of the game’s towns by the lake. We shouldn’t forget to make a name for ourselves. The others while training will definitely be noticed by the public as being strong and eventually will get famous. We on the other hand, have to do so elsewhere or we will shadow their fame. [Ming]: Hmm, but we finally get to be famous!Ming said it with a certain sarcastic tone.
[Crule]: Yea…”famous.”The two spent the night together.
______
Crule dropped off Shin and Kate in one of the gate towns, said their good byes and left. He dropped off Chun Qin at another area. He told them he didn’t want their fame to shadow each other’s.
Brigid was happily locked away in her lab doing all sorts of experiment. Flashes of light was often seen shining from under the door and the sound of metal on metal collisions sounded dully through the nearly soundproof door.
Crule flew the ship to the gate town closes to Lake Trysl and gave the keys to Brigid with a note telling her to pick them up when they call. She was too busy tinkering and he didn’t want to disturb her or worst, be used as a test subject.
Ming and Crule walked off their ship after preparing everything. Hand in hand, they headed toward the guild hall.
[Crule]: Might as well take escort missions to improve our adventurer grade.Everyone who joined the close beta were immediately registered in the adventurers’ guild and given a C rank. The others all had to register themselves and began at G rank.
This really distinguishes the strong from the weak as those who participated in the close beta, the small handful of people, were all the cream of the crop, the strongest of the strong who are in the eyes of the public. Of course there were certain hidden experts who would rather join discretely, but the close beta participants were not to be considered weak.
Crule and Ming walked into the large guild hall. It was made from a darker cobbled stone and dark oak wood. The place was outside of the wild so electricity still worked. Dim lights hummed in the background giving the place a slightly bleak feel. But the blood, sweat, and adrenaline that filled the air offsets the bleakness.
There were several dozen adventurers sitting around filling out paper work for their quest. Some were chatting with friends and discussing future journeys. Crule and Ming walked up to the counter where the receptionist was smiling cheerfully with a strong business smile.
[Receptionist]: Good day! How may I help you two? Are you here to register?Crule just smiled politely and Ming smirked a little. They both reached into their pocket and took out a bronze token. The receptionist looked at the token with shock. During job training, they clearly explained the meaning of the tokens.
All G ranked adventurers were given a wooden token. Each rank they improve, they would add a layer to that token. At F rank, they plate the gold in green paint. At E rank, they add a layer of aluminum so the token looks metallic. At D rank, the tokens were coated with a darker metal so it looked like a grey iron.
But the highest anyone has reached so far, was C rank. This was depicted by a bronze token. It was bigger than all the normal tokens as each layer was put on top of each other so if one were to slice into the token, they would see the layers. That is if they could slice into the token at all. It was made from a treated wood that was resistant to weathering and cuts.
To see bronze tokens was a first for the receptionist. The gate town was not known to have much close beta participants hanging around.
She carelessly blurted it out.
[Receptionist]: B-bronze rank…Everything stopped in the hall and eyes turned around immediately to look at Crule and Ming.
Tension filled the air.
