The global Player chat window was silent and so was the forum board, but everything else seemed to work just like the game. Either he was somehow the recipient of a serious malfunction in the game-tech, or this really was his new reality.
The game forums would have been buzzing with life at any time of the day, but the silence of it all cemented the fact that the Players didn't even exist yet. So, then what was he?
An NPC?
The thought was jarring all things considered, but at least he knew of the leveling path he'd need to take. NPCs were strong in the Lonely Peak, but they were often flawed in that they weren't all specialized.
For example, the Master Thief Hardrin had base skills that were aligned more towards being a Knight than a Rogue-Class; unable to see his capabilities numbered into stats on a status window, he like many other NPCs devoted efforts into skills better off in the beginner level rather than intermediate or expert level.
Don't get him wrong though. NPC stats were monstrous regardless, but this mainly fell in line with balancing issues. You can kill any hellish fiend or spawn in a grand quest, but kill a chicken or make trouble in a town, and the town guards will roast you on a spit like a dead pig.
Still, observing his status window he gradually began to accept things as they are.
The only real trouble was a lack of memories regarding his current person.
He focused in on his name.
[Levi Warchild]
It was the same name he had in reality aside from his last name, but in any case, what mattered was that he belonged to the 'War Tribe.' Not much was known about this tribe, but it was famous back before even the initial stages of the Lonely Peak in the open Player Beta.
Of course, this information was garnered from compilations of various documents and the mutterings of prestigious NPCs, so Players could only make their own conjectures.
He was no different, and was thus walking in blind with no idea what to expect.
With no answers coming to mind, he sighed.
Regardless, dwelling on this matter wasn't too important for the time being anyway. Instead, it was best to look back at his status window.
The leveling systems, classes, backgrounds, everything was lined with the same familiarity Levi had long since gotten used to in his time playing the Lonely Peak.
'Good. This was good.'
With his stats and lvl as it was now, it was akin to starting from the very beginning rather than praying that his character hadn't already put stat points into random categories. He could work with this, and better yet, without the swarms of Players around at the moment, he had all the opportunity to monopolize hidden quests before their arrival.
His first twenty levels obtained would qualify him for a Class Advancement in which a high-tier quest set to the user's level would be given based on the chosen Class. Each interval of a lvl 100 from then on would serve as Tier upgrades, making the difference between a Tier 3 Player and Tier 2 Player like night and day by sheer lvl gap. Then there were the quests one had to complete in order to successfully advance in the first place.
This meant that his level range was still within lvls 10- 40, and he was on the bottom end of the spectrum. Tier 1 was divided into three subcategories of Superhuman, Commander, and Army Grades.
With his current stats, he barely qualified in the lowest Tier 1 subcategory of Superhuman Grade, and even then, it was more to do with his physique than any skill which enabled him to have lvl 10 stats at lvl 2. Just from this, one could understand how terrifying the War Tribe could be.
In any case, he'd have to consider which class he'd be from here on. Should he focus on arcane arts, physical strengthening, or create a dex-build?
The choice would have to wait as a small village came within sight, taking his attention away. Huts made of leaves, thatch, and towering bramble were erected in a circular perimeter with sturdy oak logs roped together with vines to create a palisade defence.
At the center of the village was a large fire pit where a fiery blue flame burned brightly.
"We're back young chief!" Toulu let out a sigh of relief.
Levi took a moment to take everything in.
There were people milling about in the village wearing animal-skin furs to cover their waists and torsos. Many even had animal bone ornaments around their necks, ankles, or wrists. He didn't recognize a single face in the crowd which was odd to many considering that he was apparently the son the Big Chief. Fortunately, the injury to his head was quite apparent, and they didn't purse the matter and instead just waved leisurely before getting back to their own things.
However, there was one exception: A little girl his age and carrying an adjusted stone-tipped spear over her back.
From the looks of things, this girl was part of the patrolling group set around the village to protect it from monsters, meaning that she had to be of a particular strength.
'Why was she glaring at him so coldly?'
He couldn't fathom the situation. Everyone else had been cordial and offered some sort of polite greeting as he was the apparent young chief, but this girl had no such intentions. Her eyes were practically piercing through him, and nodding her head as if his injured state was exactly what she expected of him.
He glanced above her head.
[Selka: lvl ??]
[Favourability: -50 (Open Scorn)]
He couldn't see much else without initiating combat, and the ?? marks were warning enough; they indicated a level difference of twenty or higher, so he wouldn't be throwing any punches here.
Still, there was no way that he wouldn't recognize this girl's name, as it gave him a jolt of shock. The iconic mane of long ash-grey hair that she possessed should have clued Levi in from the beginning, and if not the hair, then her hawk-like gaze should have done the trick.
I-It was her. Sure, she clearly wasn't as old and well defined as in the future, but this was a famous NPC who utterly crushed those that had any relation to the incident regarding the War Tribe. If anything, though, the weariness and regret that had once marred her features was absent in her youth.
She presently looked like a tanned-skin brat with nothing to show in a fluffy fur tank-top and matching fur waist cloth. She was barefoot with threaded bracelets securing feathers on her ankles. Meanwhile, the baby blue of her eyes was full of spirit, rather than a hollow bitterness.
What baffled Levi was why he was disliked so much from the very start to be glared at immediately upon sight.
"You shouldn't mess with her," Nak whispered with a tap of Levi's shoulder. "That's Selka. You two had an argument when you were younger several years back regarding an arranged marriage."
'What?' He was utterly baffled while Toulu continued the explanation.
"You said you'd never marry an ugly brute like her and she said that she'd never marry a weakling." Toulu shivered under Selka's stare, but Levi practically froze.
'Brute? Where? The future War Goddess and NPC leader of the Barbarian Lands? Were these brats fucking with him, right now?'
Levi assessed the expression on everyone's faces, and just knew that brats these young wouldn't know how to lie so elaborately.
"You were both five at the time, and no one took your words seriously, but Selka obviously holds a grudge," Nak directly pointed out his situation while Toul added more fuel to the fire.
"It doesn't help that you're weak in her eyes," Toulu mused. "She's already set to have her first expedition with the tribe's Hunters next season while none of us in the same age group hardly qualifies. That's why we tried to hunt a Terra bird, but we all know how that went."
'An expedition? A Hunt?'
"Selka could hunt one of those birds by herself years ago apparently."
Levi paid no heed to Toulu's follow up as he was instead greeted by a floating indicator.
[The First Hunt (Chain Quest)]
[The War Tribe will begin its seasonal rite of passage for aspiring young Hunters guided by veteran tribe members. As the weakest member of the tribe, this may be the last chance to be acknowledged as a fierce Hunter or risk being delegated to menial tasks, never able to leave the tribe]
[Objective: Gain approval to join the hunt]
[Difficulty: E]
[Quest Rewards: +40 reputation among all Hunters, +20 favourability Toulu, +20 favourability Nak, +10 favourability Selka]
[Quest failure penalty: Restricted to War Tribe grounds: -40 reputation among all Hunters, -20 favourability Toulu, - 10 favourability Nak, -300 reputation Selka]
[Accept/Decline]
He didn't exactly have much choice on the matter. The decline option was grayed out completely. Moreover, leveling would stagnate if he was left protected in the tribe, so there was even more reason to accept.
The difficulty of E was the lowest rating of all with SS rating as the highest. It shouldn't be too hard to complete this quest all things considered, but he still couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed.
Why were things being so unreasonable? He could understand the rewards and penalties of this simple quest quite well, but this was ridiculous.
'M-Minus 300? Seriously?
His favourability with Selka was already in the negatives, she'd practically have no qualms murdering him or leaving him to die if it fell by 300 more. Moreover, even if it increased by +10, it would still be -40.
Her opinion of him really was just that low.
Grudgingly, he focused on the accept button and silently lamented the mistakes of his past self's actions.
If he was going to live in this world after dying in the old one like he assumed, then he needed to get stronger and survive the coming calamities. This quest was only the beginning.
"Is there any way for me to join the hunt?" Levi asked Toulu and Nak abruptly only after Selka scoffed and walked off, giving the three some breathing room.
They both looked at him oddly. Considering the fact that his body had nearly died to a mere Terra Bird before his arrival, their incredulity was justified. Still, this didn't mean that they didn't answer.
"You'd have to ask your father," Toulu thought around the box." You may get looked down on by the other tribe members for using your father's position, but he's not the type to give in just because you're his son. So, it's all on you."
'Right.'
At least he had a means to complete his quest.
The issue now would only be whether his father in this world would acknowledge him without finding anything suspicious about any changed behaviours.
He could only try his luck and just hope he'd be able to prove himself to his father in order to accomplish the first part of this chain quest.