Soul Art Online
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 13: Travelling
- Arthas -
I looked at the girl who tensed at the mention of the topic.
Veena didn't push and just sat beside me. "You don't have to be worried. We don't mean any harm. We are just curious about what is happening in the outside world. As you can guess, being trapped inside, we have no idea about the events going on in the outside world and that has left us with many questions and worries. We would appreciate it a lot if you could clarify some things for us. Is that alright with you?"
The girl hesitated a bit but nodded.
"Great. Then please go on. We will ask you any questions we have after that."
The girl then went on to tell us about the Game Master and what he had done in the outside world.
What reason might he have behind all this?
With his power, there would hardly be anything he can't get, so why pull something like this?
"Did anyone go against him?" Veena asked, the worry in her voice easy to hear. She was probably worried that her son went ahead and fucked up.
"Lucifer." Elaine spoke, making her pale for a second before she added. "Rizevim Livan Lucifer went against him. He tried to tamper with the game and…."
"And?"
"The Game Master killed him and hung his body on top of the Lucifer Castle. He then gave the entire Devil Race one last warning before erasing the Agreas Island as a punishment for the actions of Rizevim." She gulped before taking a sip of the water on the table. "He then showed what he would do to anyone who tries to mess with the game after that."
"What?"
"He has the Beast of Apocalypse under his control and has threatened to release it on the faction who tries something like that." She then went on to explain about the Beast of Apocalypse and Veena gripped my hand in shock. The girl however continued. "….and."
And?
What and?
Is there even another and left after all this?
The guy was going to release the big bad beast whom the Biblical God had died sealing. What else could he do?
"If someone managed to survive that, he and his lovers, Great Red, Ophis and the Dragon Goddess Tiamat would personally take action." She shivered even as she spoke.
….
….
….
….
By the end of the story I only had one thing to say, 'What the hell, dude?'
Did he suddenly go into his villain arc all of a sudden?
Also Great Red is a female in this world? And what about Tiamat?
Wasn't she a Dragon King level? How did she suddenly become a Dragon Goddess?
Is this even the world I knew of?
Elaine then went on to explain about the middle path discovered by Ajuka and how the Game Master allowed other people to be sent inside the Game to rescue the ones inside.
Taking advantage of this, many people were sent inside the game to rescue the trapped individuals, Veena being one of the most important ones among them.
Even they entered the game due to this.
If what she says is correct then it wouldn't be far before more people enter the game sooner or later and they would increase the number of players too.
That changes our plans by a lot.
It's safe to say that the revelations had left Veena tense. She didn't say anything but the look on her face made her emotions clear.
I had never seen her lose composure like this, not even when we were attacked by those villagers the first time we had met each other.
"Miss Elaine, thank you for letting us know about everything. I really appreciate your courage to come inside to save your loved ones. Rest assured, you will not be discriminated against or troubled in any way and can stay in the guild as you have. If you could tell us the rough description of your friends? If possible, we could keep an eye out for them. If you need anything else, feel free to let us know. We will do our best to accommodate you." I looked at Veena to see if she wanted to ask anything.
She controlled herself and looked at the girl. "Thank you Elaine. Arthas has already said everything I wanted to say apart from the fact that we were planning to invite you to our team. We think your experience as a magician could translate very well to real fighting ability in the game. If you are interested, you can talk to Shiroe and see what you want to do. He is our strategist and games expert. Right now, we need some time to….go through all the information we have received. I apologise for not being able to entertain you well today."
"No no. It's fine. I….thank you for your help." She bowed slightly and got up.
I escorted her outside first and then returned back and sat beside Veena, slowly placing my hand on her.
"Are you alright?"
She looked at me and leaned on my shoulder. "I was prepared for something like this when the matter wasn't solved in the first few months but….I wasn't expecting something like this. The Game Master….just what in the world is he?"
The most OP species in the multiverse….an Isekai Protagonist.
No way I could say that.
She didn't look like she was in any mood to do anything so I called Shiroe and Star and told them that we would be taking a break today.
Either way, they had their own work today with scouting and all so they didn't mind either. Shiroe would also talk to Elaine and see if she would become our group's healer.
I, in the meanwhile, stepped into the kitchen and prepared some tea for ourselves.
"Thank you, Arthas." Veena smiled as I placed her cup in front of her.
"You are welcome." I sat beside her and took my own cup, taking a sip first.
She drank her tea quietly and finally spoke after a few minutes.
"It looks like we are stuck inside till we complete the game. Taking things half heartedly is no longer an option. We need to go at it with everything we have." There was a tone of seriousness in her voice which I hadn't heard before.
"Hmm."
"We need to find my family members too."
"We could always make a group of people who search for people related to our guild members or if the guild expands, we can list their names at our branches. I am sure that like us many other guild members are facing the same problem too."
"Yes. That's a good idea. But first of all, we need to expand our guild. What was the hunt you were talking about?"
"The bosses around Llyne. All of them will be T5 and have special plan to hunt a few of them as they give more loot for the first kill bonus to get some Gold for the trip as well as get something good if we can."
"I see. That's a good plan. I will prepare something for the hunt too."
I nodded and we had our breakfast before separating our ways for our daily work.
I spent the rest of the day levelling up my Skills while Veena worked on her potions as usual. The entire atmosphere was sombre in the house.
In the evening, Shiroe and Star came to our house and Elaine came with them.
"Have you decided to join the team?" I asked and she nodded.
"Welcome to the team, Miss Elaine." I smiled as everyone took their seats. Veena served some cookies and sat down beside me. "So, any information on the rest of the bosses?" I asked.
"Yes. They were actually easier to find than I was expecting. Apparently, they are quite famous. Although getting exact details about their skills was hard. I think you would have better chances asking in the Knight's Guild. They often take care of the beasts around Llyne. They might have more ideas about their Skills and abilities." Shiroe said as he picked up some cookies from the table and took a bite. "Ohh, these are nice. Did you make them?"
"Yes. Getting an oven was a great help."
Normally people cooked on open stoves in LLyne. Ovens were a rarity and something we got recently.
Veena wanted to try some baking on them.
"Alright, I will go and try to find out more. Which ones do you want to target?"
Shiroe brought out a map and Star picked up the plate of cookies, placing them in his lap with a smirk as he started feasting on them.
We rolled our eyes at his antics.
In the short time that we have known each other, we have discovered that Star has a sweet tooth like no other.
Ignoring him munching on the cookies, we concentrated on the map.
"There is a bear monster here. Its hide is thick enough to resist attacks from T3 Archers so none of the other teams will be able to hunt it anytime soon. We would need to trap it first but there is a very good location nearby where we can do it. You will have to lure him there."
"Got it."
"There is a Rhinoceros with a nigh unbreakable defence and then there is a Tiger. The Tiger will obviously be more dangerous as it is the fastest. I suggest facing it when we are stronger. But even it is nothing compared to the Snake Monster. It has the highest number of kills from what I have heard. Its poison will be far more dangerous than anything else. We just cannot face it without a Healer. The rest are mostly pack animals and we would need to face them with more members. Our current strength is not enough to take them without considerable risk to ourselves. We need to level up more before we are ready for those." He finished.
"The Bear and the Rhino then. Got it. By the way, how can we get a Healer Class?"
"By going to Church." He said with a deadpan. "Scholars can become Cleric. It's a T4 Class. There are other variations but we don't know how to get those right now. We will have to power level Elaine to get it quickly."
"Shouldn't be hard. At least with the boss battles coming up, she could be levelled up very easily." Star said, finished with the cookies already.
"When are we going to go after them?" Veena asked.
"As soon as Arthas finds out more info, I can perfect my plans for the attack. We will need one more day to scout everything, so the day after tomorrow."
"I see. In that case, I will go and have a talk with Kenneth today and see what I can find out. You can come along if you have any questions."
"Great."
And we did just that.
Kenneth was more than happy to assist us. They didn't have much information about their skills but there were apparently bounties for those monsters in the Adventurer's Guild and the Knight Guild too, something we collected.
Even the Boar Boss we killed had a bounty of twenty thousand Gold Coins.
This led us to search for other quests regarding these Bosses and we were in luck as even the Blacksmith had a quest for the Rhino. Its leather was a premium material.
Shiroe went back to plan while I returned home.
By the time I got back, it was late in the evening.
Veena didn't seem to be in the mood to cook due to whatever happened in the morning so I got something from outside.
Contrary to what I was expecting, she was back to her usual self when I returned. Either that or she was just that good at keeping herself controlled.
"How did your visit go?" She asked.
"We got quests. Turns out there are bounties for those Bosses. We got money for the Boar Boss we had killed. Shiroe expects that we can earn at least fifty thousand more if we can take down the Rhino Boss. The Blacksmith will buy everything. Shiroe asked me to tell you that we would need some strong poisons to take it down."
She nodded.
The atmosphere was still relatively quieter than other days.
When it was time for bed, as a daily ritual, both of us took baths turn by turn.
I waited in the bedroom for her. The memories of last night were still fresh in my mind, although I doubted there would be a repeat of that today considering her mood.
I was pleasantly surprised when she entered the room, in just the towel. Then again, this much was normal for her by now.
"Oh my, are you still dressed?" She asked, looking at me.
"I….thought you might not be in the mood considering the news in the morning." I replied.
She smiled. "While I appreciate your concern, I think a long night of lovemaking is just what we need to get the serious topics out of our head. As the people nowadays say, fuck the worries out of our minds."
….
Who says that?
Not that I'm going to complain.
If anything, her using those words only made me harder.
I was out of my clothes in seconds and she giggled and she got onto the bed, directly into my chest and captured my lips with hers.
"Today, I want you to not hold back. Be as rough with me as you can." She whispered and my dick twitched at her words.
"Yes my lady." I replied, gripping her hair tightly and pulling her into a ferocious kiss.
In minutes both of us were lost in seeking pleasure in each other.
This time, unlike yesterday, the sex was wild, without any restraint.
It was like having sex with a wild animal.
She was really trying to vent everything out today and I was more than happy to indulge her with all her wishes.
While I was no match for her in terms of experience, I made it up with my greater stamina. In the words of Abridged Kirito, my numbers were greater than hers.
The stamina of T4 and T5 Players was quite a lot.
According to Veena, my strength was in the mid ranges of the Middle Class level according to Devil Standards and was only growing.
It was evident too as we only stopped after three hours and when we did, she was completely covered in my cum and our sweat.
Unfortunately both of us were too tired to care and fell asleep.
We might have to find a spell to clean ourselves next time.
She was right though. The sex did help release all the stress we had accumulated from the information of the outside world.
x_
"That's a rhino?! That thing is the size of a truck. No, now that I look closer, it's bigger than a truck." Star said as we looked at our target from a distance.
"It's a T5 monster, what did you expect?" Shiroe asked but the tension in his voice was apparent to me after knowing him for so long.
And I could understand their worries.
The Iron Horned Rhinoceros was far stronger than the Mad Boar we had fought a few days ago.
It's sheer size made it impossible for us to use our normal methods against it. Normally, we dug pits to fight against heavy enemies like this and baited them to fall inside.
After that we could shoot them down as we wished.
This time however, pulling something like that in this place didn't seem to be possible. At least not with our skills.
"Don't worry. Our plan will work." Shiroe said after collecting himself again.
Our plan was simple. Since we couldn't dig a hole, we used a natural made one.
Star and I will attack the Rhino from a distance and then I will close in to draw the agro.
After it's focused on me, I bait it towards the location of our choice, a nearby cliff.
Obviously the Rhino wouldn't just jump and commit suicide itself. That's where our real plan comes in.
We will block away its vision using Earth Wall, Ice Wall, Mist Spells, Poisons and Aim Eyes, making it follow our sounds and attacks all the while trying to shave off its hp bit by bit.
The only reason I even agreed to this crazy plan was because of all my Skills.
Any other group using this skill would die without a doubt.
If things turn awry, we quit the mission and run away.
x_
"I am never doing this kind of mission….ever again." I complained as I huffed for breath on the ground.
That fucking Rhino was a mad beast, completely beyond anything I had faced before.
Even that Mutated Goblin Chieftain was easier than this….whatever the hell it was.
My attacks barely made a dent, only decreasing its HP in tens.
Tens! Not even hundreds.
Hundreds were for my Skills.
Yes, my skills only did hundreds of HP of damage against a beast which had above one hundred and twenty thousand HP.
I am pretty sure that if it were not for the plan, we wouldn't be able to fight it off without an army.
For the first time in this world, I felt real danger breathing so close to me.
A large truck sized monster chasing you, crushing everything in the path can do that to people.
Its attacks were taking down a quarter or so of my HP every time it used a Skill and it connected to me.
And most of its Skills were AoE ones.
Star was doing an amazing job of keeping it out of the way and Shiroe and Veena were working overtime to stop it.
"The plan wasn't supposed to be this hard. We just didn't know about its passive skill which reduced the time for normal status effects by half. This monster really was a tank." Shiroe said as he sat beside me.
He had thrown some assisting spells in some crucial times, saving my hide or things could have gotten trickier.
We all sat down beside the corpse of the beast which towered like a small hill in front of us and wondered how we did this at all.
"The fall took down most of its HP and induced severe status effects on it. Thank goodness that the beast was as dumb as it was or we would be running for our lives." Star said as he went ahead and looked at its body.
All the drop items were still laying around the beast. We were so exhausted that we hadn't even picked them up yet.
Star did that for us today.
"2 accessories, both rings, 1 Hammer and wow, are those two skill books? Let's see. Iron Guard and Reckless Charge, both tank Skills. Well, I guess we did take down a tank type beast. Here you go, Arty?" He threw the books at me.
I checked the Skills. Iron Guard was like Dragonskin and Reckless Charge was an upgraded version of the Knight's Charge Skill with the added benefit of reducing the duration of Common Debuffs by half.
So this was the Skill the monster was using. No wonder our plan became so difficult.
"I will use one and keep the other one for sale or for when we get another tank."
"Sounds Good."
We checked the list of drops. Thirty five thousand Gold Coins and fifteen thousand Gold Coins first time bonus. So a total of fifty thousand Gold.
That was what we had expected to earn after selling the body of the Iron Rhino.
With this, we will have a decent amount of Gold for our trip.
"And it looks like Elaine got levelled up too."
Sure enough, she had gained 14 levels all of a sudden.
I guess even shared exp from a T5 monster was something extremely high for her.
Even I got two levels with just this monster alone. The Rhino gave a very high exp with the first kill bonus.
"Great, at this rate, we will only need a few more bosses to get her to max level."
"It doesn't have to be only bosses, you know." I shook my head.
Maybe I was getting a bit overconfident in my strength. This boss did a lot to remind me that I was still very weak in this….world. There are numerous others who are far stronger than this Rhino and could take me out with a look.
"Yes. We need more preparations before facing any other bosses." Shiroe nodded too, a serious look on his face. "This fight was….a bit too close for my liking. We are already far ahead of the other players. It would be foolish to risk ourselves so much."
"Exactly."
We stayed there for a while before collecting everything and leaving. On the way back we kept hunting everything we encountered and I gained one more level while doing so.
That Rhino really did give a lot of experience.
If only we could lay a trap and farm it…."Yes!" I shouted reflexively as soon as I got this idea, attracting everyone's attention.
"What?" Shiroe asked, looking at me.
"I just got an idea."
"Oh?"
"The bosses will take a while to respawn, right?"
"Well, yeah. Around a fortnight." He nodded.
"Can't we just dig a hole that big in that time? The only reason we couldn't do that before was because we were afraid of attracting the attention of the boss and that we didn't have enough time. That area will be relatively safer for the next few days. Maybe we could post it as a request. Get some guild members and have them dig a hole the size which could trap the damned Rhino the next time we face it. Then all we would need to do is keep hitting it till it dies or just fill it with water and let the monster suffocate to death. It will be a one time investment and we could get an easy area to farm the Boss. In fact, we could probably do the same with the Boar Boss from the last time."
….
They looked at me with an open mouth.
"Arty….could it be….that you are smart?" Star asked, making me roll my eyes.
"Well, it's possible. It will be a bit of an investment but nothing impossible." Shiroe said after some thought. "We could probably assign some people to do so before we leave."
The plan actually felt more feasible the more we thought about it so we hurried back to Llyne and the first thing we did was post the Quest in our Guild.
x_
The road towards Lannisport was cleared two days after our hunt of the Rhino.
While we couldn't hunt two bosses as we had predicted earlier, the Rhino fetched us more than we had expected, especially with the bounties so we were not lacking in money. In fact, we had far more than we were initially expecting.
In total, we had collected nine hundred thousand gold coins even with the gold we had traded off to Gareth's team.
Apart from this, we had three Skill Books, several equipment and accessories and many Greater Healing Pills for sale when we got there.
Overall, our assets should be around eight hundred thousand gold coins. With this, we were expecting to buy something good in the auction house.
"So, here's the plan." Shiroe, as usual, laid down his map in front of us.
"Where do you always get maps from?" I asked, surprised.
"I buy some and make some myself."
"You make them?"
"Cartographer class can be accessed after Scribe." He answered as a matter of fact. "You just have to take classes in the academy for three days and have a Writing Skill at Level 15 or above."
"Ah. Makes sense."
"Our journey to Lannisport is going to take around three days. From there, we will have to go by a Ship to the Sabaody Archipelago island. This part will take two more days. Taking in the time we stay in those places, we would need around two weeks to return. We need to pack all necessities today. We set out early tomorrow morning. On the way, there are several places we can hunt. Most of them are T4 Bosses and one T5 Boss."
"I have taken care of the Guild matters. We will be keeping contact with them using Guild Chat till we get back." Veena added.
"Great. Then we leave tomorrow. Let's see what our trip brings us."
- Venelana -
She used Ice Wall to block the retreat of the bandits and Arthas cut them down with his next attack, finishing all the enemies and ending the battle.
Two days had passed since they set off for Lannisport.
Until now, their journey had been pleasant.
It reminded her of her youth.
Despite all the faults of this game, it was simply undeniable that it did excite her.
The Devil Race was created to fight against the forces of Heaven. Fighting is in their very being, an inseparable instinct for her and while she was a human here, she has lived with her instincts for too long for them to change now.
The fights in this game gave her the thrill which she had lost in the last five hundred years since her son became the new Lucifer.
It was not just her but every devil. They all had this instinct. But with changing times, they were changing themselves to adapt. Some engaged in Rating Games while older ones like her took on hobbies to engage in to take their minds off these instincts.
Zeoticus took on Politics while she had dedicated herself to managing the Gremory house all these years.
Rias and later Milicas being born did serve as a fresh breath after such a long and monotonous life.
It also made both her and Zeoticus realise that it was time to let go rather than live in the monotony.
Still, she never expected a change to come in this way.
Looking at Arthas who returned after finishing the fight, a smile formed on her face.
He was a good boy….no, calling him a boy would not do him justice anymore. He was becoming more of a man with each passing day.
She would know after all, being the one who helped him climb those stairs. And she hadn't regretted it once since then.
While he was not as experienced, he could always learn over time. It was his enthusiasm that made her fall for him even more. The enthusiasm of a young man was simply different from what she was used to feeling all this time.
It made her feel young again. But most of all, it helped her shake off depressing thoughts and worries.
The news which Elaine had revealed had shaken her more than she had shown anyone.
The Game Master, someone stronger than even the Infinity, Dream and Creation, taking them as his lovers….it was straight out of stories used to scare children.
Not to mention, Creation, the Dragon Goddess Tiamat was said to have passed away before the Devil Race was even created. Her children being the ones who betrayed their parents for power, killed their father and later fought their mother over centuries, before finally overcoming her and ripping her apart to establish their pantheon from her corpse itself.
She remembered it because it was completely opposite of their own situation in which Lucifer was driven to the Underworld and fought against his father.
Then how in the world did she walk the world again? And from what Elaine said, she seemed stronger than before. All of them seemed stronger than before.
They were already the strongest beings in the world. What would an even stronger version of them be?
No wonder they had been able to do nothing to stop this game.
But for the life of her, she couldn't understand the reason why they, beings who never involved themselves with the world, would do such a thing?
And above all, who exactly was this Game Master?
How was this kind of existence hidden all this time from the world?
And if he was, then why did he come out?
Could it be that he was someone who had been behind Infinity, Dream and Creation all this time?
So many questions and no way to gain any answers.
All these questions did was to increase her worries, not that knowing who he was would change anything. They were just too far beyond his power.
Right now all she could do was try to find her family members and keep them safe until this game was over.
As for the people who were sent to save them….she had serious doubts about them since she heard that there were several criminals mixed among them.
The Satans didn't know about the workings of the game and had gambled but she could see many ways the plans would fail due to the structure of the game.
While the plan could have been good if the game could be finished in a short period of time, it was anything but that simple of a case.
It could take several decades for the game to finish and there will be high casualties without a doubt.
Over time, this world….is going to become a real world for everyone and not just a game. And what would these criminals do in a new world, especially against the family members of those who had put them beyond the bars?
Not to mention, criminals like them would have no hesitation in taking advantage of the system of the game to gather others and with the ability to get stronger as long as they were not killed, they could become a major problem down the line.
Sigh….
"Are you alright?" She was awakened from her thoughts by Arthas who was standing in front of her, looking worried.
She nodded at him with a smile. "Just thinking about something. Don't worry."
He nodded and she went ahead with the rest to collect the drops before continuing on their journey.
- Arthas -
We came out of the forest to the scene of the ocean greeting us after the three day long journey. Blue as far as eyes could see. How long has it been since I saw the ocean?
In the distance was the silhouette of a town which became clearer the more we walked towards the town.
Lannisport was a port town.
There were dozens of ships visible on the port and several going in and out of the port too. Overall, the scene looked straight out of some mediaeval fantasy….oh wait….
We were stopped at the gates of the town where the guards asked for entry fees before allowing us in.
This was easily bypassed by my Baron badge. Nobles didn't need to pay entry fees in their own country.
Lannisport was bigger than Llyne. I had asked Kenneth about this place before leaving and he was kind enough to give me some suggestions as well as write a recommendation letter to one of his friends staying here.
Richard was a former Knight in Llyne and one of Kenneth's friends. He had lost one of his arms in battle and retired from duty and became a merchant in Lannisport, the town where was born. He took over his father's business and with the help of the City Lord, his business had flourished.
He had eight ships of his own and ran trade with other countries as well.
Kenneth had suggested that I go and talk to him if I wanted to know more about the situation of other countries. He could also point me towards some rare goods.
I also got a quest from him to deliver some alcohol to him.
Soon enough, we found the Dolphin's Song Trading Agency, the place Richard owned. It was a nice three storied building with two guards at the front and several people going in and out.
Looks like the business was going well.
I asked the guard for Richard and was led directly to him after showing my badge.
….this noble thing might be more useful than I was expecting.
We were soon led to the office on the top floor where a dignified looking man greeted us.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes and I wouldn't be surprised if he was a noble himself. His mannerisms were immaculate as he offered us a seat in his office. "Welcome Baron Arthas. My name is Richard Clyde, the owner of the Dolphin's Song Trading Agency. I was informed that you have some business with me?"
I took out the letter and the bottle of alcohol and forwarded it to him. "I am Arthas, a Knight of Llyne. I was recently given the position of a Baron and had been planning to visit Lannisport and maybe Sabaody Archipelago. I was given this letter of introduction by Kenneth who pointed me in your direction."
His eyes lit up on hearing Kenneth's name. "Kenneth? How is Kenneth doing? That stubborn brother-in-law of mine finally remembered me?"
"Brother-in-law?" I asked, confused.
"Well obviously. That moron married my little sister. He had come to drop me off at Lannisport when I retired, tricked my sister and married her and now he doesn't even have time to visit us. It's been over a year since I have seen my sister and my niece." He complained but I could see a good natured smile on his face as he did that.
I smiled at his humour while he opened the letter and read. Few moments later, a serious look came on his face and he gripped the letter tightly before sighing and placing the letter down.
The guy then bowed towards me. "Thank you for saving my niece's life. I don't have any children of my own and have always treated her as my own daughter. Those damned Goblins!" He growled, banging the desk with one of his remaining arms, the noble demeanour fading away and the rough Knight look coming to surface for a moment.
Amelia, Kenneth's daughter and his niece, was the girl we had rescued from that Goblin's cave.
"I did what anyone should have done. If anything, I am sorry for not being able to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place."
The man looked sad. "Kenneth praised you a lot. He rarely does that. He even wrote how you and your team fought against the Goblin horde and got the rank of Baron. If you ever need any help from me, don't hesitate to speak."
"Thank you. My friends and I were looking for places to buy something good here and in Sabaody. I was wondering if you could give us some advice and help us get a ship to Sabaody."
"Oh, looking for goods eh. Well, I'll be honest, if you are looking for unique things, you should go to Sabaody. Despite the environment there, there is no doubt that the place gets the most unique items. That place sells everything. You might get things from other continents. Many nobles of our kingdom and surrounding kingdoms go there for auctions."
"When is the next auction?"
"In five days. There are different types of auctions. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually and yearly. The quality of goods increases from weekly to yearly. Five days later are the monthly auctions, two months later, the quarterly and so on."
He brought out a book from his drawers and passed it over to me.
The book contained the dates for the auctions.
"If you want to buy things, you could always get something from Lannisport later or just send me a message and I will have the things sent over. Auctions are not always easy to catch. The number of seats are limited."
"Limited?"
"Yes. You will have to go there two days earlier and book seats to participate. The price of each seat in the monthly auctions is 500 gold coins. I suggest you leave tomorrow to get there with time in hand."
I nodded. "We will. Thank you for your advice." I then asked him a few more questions and the man took us for a meal, introducing us to some places in the town and then ordered one of his servants to escort us to his house and arrange a place for us to stay there for the day. He was busy with work so I didn't disturb him either and left.
"Alright, I am going to drop dead on my bed. Haven't been able to get a chance to sleep properly in the last three days." Star said as he stretched his body, yawning.
"He's not wrong. I am exhausted too." Shiroe agreed and left for his room.
Elaine did the same.
Finally, it was just Veena and I left.
We looked at each other and entered her room which was in the corner.
As soon as the door closed, she pulled me in for a hungry kiss.
It seems that three days of sleeping in different tents was not easy for her too.
During our journey, she and Elaine shared a tent while I shared one with the guys.
We didn't get any action in the last three days and the stress was building up for me but now it seems that it was the same for her too.
– Kuroka –
"Three thousand Gold Coins for the assassination and two thousand Gold Coins for the information. Glad to work with you." The dealer offered her money and she checked it once before keeping it in her inventory.
When she got the Tier 2 Job of Thief, she hadn't thought much of it and accepted it as it was the class with best stat gain available for her at that point of time.
She hadn't expected the gains to be so good.
The black market had places which had jobs for these kinds of classes and the quests paid far better than normal quests. The only catch was the danger of being caught which had severe punishments but it wasn't a big deal for Kuroka.
As long as it was just NPCs she didn't care about the assassination target and the results were visible too.
She had become a T3 Rogue very quickly but she didn't slack off. She was still too far behind. After the world quest when the First Guild announcement had appeared before everyone. It would take her several more weeks to understand the meaning of the announcement.
There were people in the Game who were T5 already and the gap between them was increasing even now as Guilds would have Perks for all its participants.
She hadn't even heard of a T4 player in the town till last week. Just how in the world was someone a T5 already?
What kind of a monster was the Guild Master of the Fairy Tail Guild?
She was however not deterred. If anything, she was excited even more. If he had reached such a high level, it only meant there was a way and she could get there too. All this knowledge only pushed her to level up faster.
She sneaked away through the shadows till she reached the place she was staying at and knocked at the door.
"W-w-who is there?"
"It's me. Open up, Gaspy."
The door opened to reveal the cute little blondie on the other side. "Welcome."
She rubbed his head and entered the door, closing it behind her.
Throwing the cloak she was wearing to the side, she slumped on the couch.
"How was your day, Gaspy? Got any orders?"
"Y-y-yes. I got four orders today and even my Heavy Armour Crafting Skill became Level 5. The people you send all ordered custom weapons too." He answered, excitedly.
She smiled at the kid.
To think he had come so far along the way from the kid who had downright fainted after hearing her name.
Although convincing him was not easy, she was glad that she had kept visiting him and finally persuaded him (threatened him) to come with her. After entering the game, she had realised how difficult it would be to find Shirone alone and even if she did, there was a high chance that she might not want to come with her so she decided to bring the blondie with her.
The fact that he was a Blacksmith only helped more.
Not to say that she was the only one profiting from all this. The Blondie was able to get more customers and was climbing up the levels quickly.
He was already higher levelled than her, even with just crafting and now he was level 22 without having stepped out to hunt for a single day.
The equipment he crafted is well liked by the people of the town as they gave better stats than the ones crafted by other Blacksmiths.
Apparently, he got an achievement in the first village.
Super Rookie Blacksmith.
Obtained by crafting 100 Equipment as an Apprentice Blacksmith without leaving the Starter Village.
If someone left the Starter Village even once, they would not get the Achievement.
The Achievement gave him increased experience gain for each piece of equipment he crafted.
Even the equipment he made had higher stats than others had a very small chance of gaining a passive skill depending on the level of the equipment.
Did this game reward people for being a Hikkikomori?
But whatever may be the case, his presence had helped her keep her spirits up and not go crazy.
In this way, she was benefiting more from his presence than she had thought and now the cutie felt like a little brother to her. She looked at him and smiled.
"Really? That's great. How about I take you out for a treat?"
"O-o-out! No way!" He ran away and hid in a box he had made for himself. "I don't wannaaaa go out!"
Her smile twitched.
Yes, he was still a Hikkikomori.
She will have to slowly break him out of his shell in the future.
But she had time.
She was planning to leave this town when both of them became decently strong T4 and go to the next town.
Greenfrost was a large city ruled by Marquis Conrad Black of the House of Black.
She had seen several assignments related to the city which paid really well. Too bad most of them were targets in T5, currently outside her strength to take on.
Maybe in a few months or so, she could go there and check out the city.
Till then all they could do was grind till they levelled up.
"Alright alright, we won't go out. I will get you an apple pie instead."
"Really!"
"Yup, really. Have I ever lied to you?"
The boy's mood brightened up instantly as he came out of the box, excited for his treat.
She chuckled at his antics.
- Game Master -
"Luci's mom has got it going on~"
He chuckled as he heard Red sing and shook his head.
Truly, he hadn't expected that his junior would snag the milf so quickly.
His Isekai Protagonist Aura was on fire.
Now if he could snag the maid and the Princess too.
All three generations….wouldn't that be an achievement of its own?
Achievement: Balls of Orichalcum.
Maybe he should send two Nerve Gears to the two Gremory Ladies outside. Five generations of the Lucifer's family, now wouldn't that be grand?….
Achievement: Balls of Adamantium.
"You look quite happy?" Tia said as she leaned on to his side. He wrapped his arm around her and caressed her arm.
It was very rare that Tia initiated these moments of physical contacts. Her past experiences had left her detached from such emotional relationships. She was down for sex as it rarely meant anything for beings of her age but he didn't want that. No, that would be an insult to both of them. He actually wanted to take her as his lover. It had taken him over three centuries to get her to agree for a romantic relationship.
Her story was far more complicated than Red or Ophis who had rarely had any contact with others. They had joined him quite easily.
Tia however was different. She had been betrayed by her own children and had lost her lovers twice already.
One her husband, who was killed by her own children and the second one being her child, whom she had created to battle against his siblings. She had become his lover, trying to fill the void left in her life by her husband and yet, he was killed soon after.
This made her consider herself unlucky and undeserving of love. The whole thing made no sense but trauma rarely made sense after all.
It was only after he had reached a level of strength where he could take on all three of them, Red, Ophis and her in a single combat and win, did she get assured of his safety and agree to open her heart to him.
"Yes. Looking at him growing up makes me happy. Despite having a considerable lead on others, he hasn't slacked off and is still racing forward. It has even increased more since he discovered the world he is in. This spirit reminds me of myself when I had just started off. Unfortunately, I didn't have things go as easily for me."
"Is that why you are making things difficult for him too?" She asked and he smiled.
"So you noticed?"
"Obviously. That Rhino was nearly a T6 monster. No monsters in that level of area were supposed to be that strong. Is it some kind of test that you are putting him through?"
"Test? No, not really. It's more of a reminder. If he has everything going as he planned, he would grow lax. The enemies he is going to encounter in the future won't give him any chances. In the wise words of the Joker, 'Nobody panics when things go according to plan'. No heroes are born walking simple paths. Every one of them have lived through great obstacles and only then did they get to carve their names on the annals of history. I am merely giving him a tutorial of such a life. What, any questions? After all, you have been personally observing him all this time, you should know better?" He asked.
She apparently saw his relationship with Junior as what she had with her own children before their betrayal. She and her husband had raised them, trained them and protected them and when they grew up, they turned on their own parents. She feared that Junior would do the same when he grew up.
"He….seemed like a decent person till now. The anger he had against those goblins as well as the bandits who had captured the girls or even against the fool who had insulted the devil….it was not fake. He seemed to deeply care about them, despite knowing that the ones captured by Goblins were fake….it still pained him, haunted his dreams for days. Moreover, even when he was tempted by the Devil, he controlled himself and thought about her family first, about how they would feel and if they would be hurt. Such people….are hard to find." She finished reluctantly.
"Wait, he didn't jump her?" He asked surprised.
He hadn't checked on anyone's private moments. He had no interest in voyeurism after all. Only the girls did that, especially Red.
Then again, she had been doing so since the beginning of time through everyone's dreams. It was just another day for her.
Tia rolled her eyes
"Still, such high praise. If I didn't know better, I would think you were impressed by him."
"I am only saying that his performance has been acceptable until now." She huffed.
Such a tsundere.
"Well, I guess that works." He left the matter.
He held her tighter and closed his eyes, relaxing.
Junior might be living his adventure but he had already become the Hidden Boss. He has earned his well-deserved rest.
x_x_
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Author's Note:
Phew.
This chapter took a bit longer than expected.
I got stuck in some work of my own.
So, a few things happened. They found out just who the Game Master was and what they were up against.
We got to see a Veena Pov about her thoughts. Mama Gremory is not playing around anymore.
Arthas is finally near Sabaody. Let's see what he encounters next.
On the bright side, Kuroka and Gasper have been getting along well.
We also got to see how the Game Master was doing and the thoughts of the people running the Game.
Next chapter will be the Sabaody Archipelago.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.