Seeing as James was going to be stuck for a few hours inside this cave, he made the choice of trying to explore the cave. His logic being that if Terranova made the effort to spawn caves, there must be a point to them.
He confirmed his doubts once he noticed that there were what looked like human tracks and activity, albeit long forgotten ones, such as ancient paintings on the walls, and the deeper James went, the more frightened he got.
It got even worse when James realized that all comunication systems on the UI had ceased to function which meant that if he wanted to speak to Marcus,he would have to log out. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to speak to Marcus, who had already resurected and was waiting for James at the Chapel once more.
Once James went to log off, a message from the UI came up which said:
"Do you wish to log out? If you do so, you'll lose the elegibility to inherit the "The Fallen Moon Empire's Inheritance". Proceed?"
In Terranova, there were many power struggles within the continent. As such, Empires didn't last forever. Most of the times, when an Empire fell, it would then be assimilated by the forces that destroyed it.
But sometimes, according to the lore, Empires simply and misteriously vanished from the face of the continent, left to be forgotten.
James quickly regretted being so ignorant. Of course - he thought - If I was going to be barred from communicating with outside players, there has to be something worthwhile inside this cave.
"Cancel"
Seeing as he had found a pretty rare opportunity, James pressed forward despite the fact that his deepest fear,the one of isolation, had already sprang up and made James tense as a startled cat.
A few moments later, James came up to a crossroad. Before each pathway, there were plaques with writing on them. The left one stated :
"Thou Shalt Not Commit Any Harm,Thou Shalt Not Commit Thievery,Thou Shalt Respect Your Seniors; The Path Shall Come, But Dare Thou Tread It?"
And the right one said :
"Thou Shalt Shatter The Chains That Bind You, Thou Shalt Not Be Bound By Laws,Thou Shalt Not Yield, Thou Shalt Carve Your Path Through Thine Blood, Sweat and Tears; The Path Shall Come, But Dare Thou Tread It?"
Huh.
If one looked at the pathways as analogy for Good and Evil, most would say that the path to the left represented Good, whilst the right one represented Evil. But one had to look beyond that.
Although rules are needed in society, without strenght to hold them up, is there any point in having them at all? Could you live in peace in a society in which there were no police? As such, although with a barbaric twist to it, the right passageway represented the truly free.
Even if you commited no crime, had always been their most loyal follower, but were still under someone, you'd still be at their beck and call. As soon as you became disposable, you'd be dealt with. This "law of the jungle", where the strong prey on the weak, has always been the case with the world. Animals were no exception, humans were certainly no exception either, so why would an NPC's mindset in Terranova be any different?
Take "Psycothic Faith"'s actions for an example. Had they not been stronger than every player that could defy them due to being a Guild, could they really have blocked the roads? The answer was no.
If they were unlucky and came face to face with an even stronger Guild, they would have had to
yield.
Independently, even though at first glance the left pathway looked to be the "correct" one morally, sometimes, the right choices were not the morally correct. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made.
As such, James ended up walking into the passageway on the right.
Once he reached the end of the passageway, he noticed something odd. There looked to be an NPC there, just standing.
"Ah, at last. My destined heir has come. Come forward brave soul, these old bones of mine don't bite.Yet."
James was spooked. He hadn't expected there to be anything alive in this cavern, seeing as the human traces were pretty damn old. But then again, this was "The Fallen Moon Empire's Inheritance".
Once James got closer, he was able to see the NPC's description. It read:
"Emperor Troyande of the Moon, Level ???, Saint Of War, Spectre, Legendary"
One had to know, there were many sub-classes. Saint Of War was one of the most prestigious ones in the game lore, they were know to be able to fight entire battalion's worth of Monsters. Legends had it that one such Saint had been able to slay one of the God of War's incarnations in Terranova.
James got really excited once he noticed the title the NPC had, Emperor. James was no dumb kid, he had already started to notice that the Empire he was staying in was not that simple after all. And that sub-class, Saint Of War, James liked the sound of it.
Specters reffered to Fallen souls who had been so powerful in their life, they managed to maintain some racionality after their death and live on in this ghostly form if they were bound by great, hateful feelings, if they willed so.
"Should I bow? I'm sorry for being so uncourteous, but I've never stood before a figure of royalty before."
James looked agape after starting to realize just what kind of existence was before his eyes. For one to not be able to see a monster's or NPC's level, they had to either be suppresing James through sheer difference in levels or to be so abysmally strong that James couldn't even fathom how powerfull such entity could be right now.
"You Shalt Not Yield, was it not so? You can relax, I'm no trickster. You can get strong enough to follow those rules if you pass through my few tests, Shouldn't be too hard. Huh? You haven't even gotten your specialization yet?"
"I'm sorry, but I can only grow a bit stronger before being able to do so, my lord."
For a player to receive their specialization , or sub-class, they had to be atleast level 10 and take on the test of the Adventurer's Guild, an NPC organization responsible for recognizing a player's potencial and distributing classes accordingly to that.
"So it's like that. Well, then I have a proposal to you. I will ask you a question and depending on your answer, I'll let you enherit my position as a Saint of War. What do you say?"
"Is there a catch?" - James was worried. Although Saint of War sounded nice, Troyande had mentioned tests before. The test for a Saint of War? James didn't even wanna think about how hard that was going to be.
"There is no catch. Look kid, I will not lie, being a Saint of War is a double-edged sword. Although it can give you great power, it will make people fear you. You shall find it hard to find a place to be accepted, even your bosom friends might abandon you. Do you wish to risk it?"
"I do!"
James had always dreamt of reaching the summit of a VRMMO, although he was too prideful to admit it. One had to take risks sometimes, and even then, it was just a game. If he fails, he could just start all over again and try harder next time.
"Alright kiddo, don't disapoint me on this one. Let us say you do pass through these few tests of mine and enherit my power. Are you ready to be hunted down by every other Saint, to be forced to fight, to stand at the summit? How would you use your powers?"
"How would I use my power? What is power for if not to truly let you be free? How can you shatter the chains that bind if you don't have the power to do so? By depending on others? Bah. How can you truly live a free, unfeathered life if all that matters is how someone is gonna look at you? Me? I shall use my powers to stand at the summit, and if that means to kill those who oppose me, then so be it. If that means to live a life alone, never to find a companion? So be it. Only then can my true aim be accomplished. For once, I Shall Shine brighter than everyone, and be the one that guides my fate." - James screamed at the top of his lungs, making the emperor look dumbfounded.
"To stand at the summit? To guide your fate? HAHAHAHAH, I really found a worthy sucessor this time. Well said, young one. Let the old bones of this man bestow you a little token of my appreciation."
"As of now, you can consider yourself to be eligible to be promoted to a Saint of War. The Path Shall Come, But Dare Thou Tread It? Don't forget those words now."
"You have been invited to the Saint of War's Trials. Keep in mind that shall you die in the Trials, you will lose your elegibility to both the Empire's Inheritance and the Saint of War's Trials. Do you wish to proceed?"
"Proceed!"