Chapter 40. Aristocrat (1)
The Althiem empire was situated on the Western continent. It was the largest continent among the other continents.
It was also known as the continents of heroes.
The reason for this name was because the Western continent had produced countless heroes since its birth.
These heroes included the six heroes who had saved the continent in the past or other legendary fighters like the Elven king Darios.
Maybe, there were even more heroes, but sadly, there were not many records left of them, after the ancient war.
One of these heroes was the Master tamer Piolan.
He was the only monster tamer who had tamed literally every type of monster.
There were rumors that monsters would be immediately attracted to him or how he had a special skill that helped him in raising monsters.
From fire-type monsters to wind type monsters, he had tamed every type of monster.
Although it had not been confirmed, there were rumors about how he had even managed to tame a Griffin and a Wyvern.
He was the greatest tamer born on the Western continent.
Despite taming almost all types of monsters, he was still not satisfied. One could say that his greed was tremendous.
He wanted to tame the legendary Dragons.
That was his lifelong dream, and to fulfill it, he traveled across the whole Western continent. He searched for a dragon for over 10 years.
In the end, people said that he really managed to find a Dragon's lair.
But taming a dragon was not possible even for the Master tamer Piolan. People said that he died while trying to tame the Dragon.
His body was turned into ashes because of the Dragon's legendary attack Dragon breath.
After his death, there were rumors about how he had left his will and the secret method of taming monsters somewhere in the continent.
Countless tamers and summoners were still looking for that will.
That was the legend of the Master tamer Piolan!!
"So, you are saying that Piolan knows the hatching method to hatch my egg."
"Yes."
'Is he playing a joke with me?'
Ian thought inside his mind as he stared at Lanson, but his face was serious. It don't look like he was playing a joke.
But it could not be anything else other than a joke.
Piolan was already dead, and it had been more than two hundred years since his death.
Even if Ian wanted to go and ask him about the hatching method, he couldn't ask anything from a dead person.
"I'm not talking about asking Piolan in person."
Lanson shook his head and said when he noticed the confusion on Ian's face.
"Then, what do you mean?"
"Although Piolan died, his teachings are still in the world. He actually wrote many books on monsters and taming."
"So, you are saying that the hatching method is in one of his books?"
Lanson nodded his head when Ian finally understood what he was trying to say.
Piolan may have died, but he had written several books about monsters in his lifetime. There were books about hatching too.
Ian just had to find one such book.
"Do you know where I can find such a book?"
Although Ian knew that he could get the hatching method from Piolan's book, he still didn't know where to find it.
He was sure that Lanson would know the location of the book.
"I indeed know where you can find it."
Just like Ian had thought, Lanson knew the location of the book.
"What's the location? I will find it, no matter what."
"The book is actually in the public library."
"The public library??"
Ian asked again to confirm it, and Lanson nodded his head. The book was indeed in the public library of Arth.
'It would be easy to find it.'
Ian thought that he would have to travel to a faraway place to get his hands on the book, but the book was sitting in the public library.
"Then, I will head to the library to look for it."
Ian stood up as he didn't want to waste more of his time with Lanson. He wanted to quickly get the method to hatch the pet egg.
But…
"Although the book is in the public library, normal people can't get their hands on it."
"What do you mean?"
Ian asked with a confused expression on his face. Lanson just shook his head and said with a sighing tone.
"Do you know about the third floor of the public library?".
"Yes, I know about it."
The public library consists of five floors, and ordinary people and commoners could only go up to the second floor.
The third floor was out of their limits, and only the aristocratic class could move on to the third floor and above.
It was a common knowledge one could get after entering the library.
'The librarian told me about it.'
Ian started to think about the time when he had gone to the library to search for information about the Nar herbs.
"The book is on the third floor of the library and commoners can't get in there. Even I can't get permission to enter the third floor."
Lanson said in a tone of desperation.
"So, I have to become an aristocrat to enter it."
Getting the status of nobility wasn't easy at all in Ark. One had to do several quests and make a name for himself before reaching the rank of a Baron.
The players who had attained the status of nobility could be counted on one's finger.
'It would take a long time to get the status of a noble.'
Ian didn't even know where to begin to get the status of a noble. He had to find another way to get the hatching method.
"Actually, there is a way to enter the third floor without being a noble."
Lanson suddenly said, subsequently getting Ian's attention.
"What is it?"
"If you can get the approval of a noble, then you can get access to the third floor of the library."
"That would be hard."
To get close to a noble, one had to do several quests given by a noble. After doing several quests, one's affinity with a noble would increase.
Quests related to nobles were extremely rare, and players would always keep them covert.
"I know it won't be easy, but I have faith that you will be able to do it. If you really enter the third floor of the library, then could you do one thing?"
"What is that?"
Ian asked as he raised one of his eyebrows, but he knew what it was inside his mind.
'It's probably a quest.'
"Actually, I'm currently doing research on monster eggs and their hatching methods. The contents of the book will surely help me in my research."
Like he had thought, it was a quest. Ian quickly looked through the quest window in front of him.
* * *
< Lanson's request>
One of the high ranking summoners of the summoners association, Lanson, is researching on the hatching methods of pet eggs.
He wants you to look for a book called 'Piolan's hatching methods' and tell him the contents of the book.
-Difficulty: C+
-Time limit: None
-Conditions: Having a rare elemental egg
-Rewards: A special reward by Lanson
* * *
The reward was not mentioned, but Ian could tell that it would be a good one since Lanson was a high ranking summoner, and the quest was a C+ grade quest.
Moreover, Ian was going to find a way to enter the third floor of the library, anyway.
So, he didn't have to do anything unnecessary for this quest. That's why Ian accepted the quest without any worry.
"Thank you for accepting my request."
Lanson immediately smiled when Ian accepted the quest. Ian even got the message that his intimacy with Lanson was increasing.
Ian also smiled, seeing that.
"I will excuse myself now."
"Yes, I can't take more of your time. Please complete my request and report to me as soon as possible."
Ian took his pet egg and left the room after that. Inside his head, he was thinking of ways to get the approval of a noble.
As he came close to the entrance of the fourth floor, he noticed that several players were looking at him with a glow in their eyes.
'They are still here.'
They were the greedy players who wanted to get a slice out of the pie. All of them were thinking that Ian had triggered a special quest.
But that was not it.
'These people would even kill for the pet egg.'
Random pet eggs was not a common item in Ark. It was, even more, rarer than the rare items.
Owning a pet was a unique thing in the Ark, and one could even become famous based on their pet. It was not a small thing.
Moreover, PK had no penalties in Ark.
The players would surely try to blackmail Ian, and if he didn't tell them about why he was in the inner room, then only death would await him.
'I can fight them, but the player levels are not low.'
Ian had already noticed some high-level players among the crowd. He was not confident in fighting them.
"At least, I'm safe in the summoners association."
Ian muttered under his breath as he slowly made his way towards the exit.
Fighting was prohibited in the class towers and other essential buildings. Guard NPCs were everywhere in the class towers.
It was also prohibited in the city, but there were some cases that it was reported only if a guard noticed it or someone reported it to the guard.
If not reported, then a player could quickly kill another player.
Players could sometimes see some PKers killing people in secluded alleys or in areas with fewer people.
It was not uncommon!
"Who will be the one to stop him?"
"I don't know."
"Let a high-level guy stop him."
Ian could hear the whispers of the players as he moved towards the exit. They were waiting for someone to stop him.
They would probably threaten Ian to tell them about the reason, he was led by the NPC to the inner room. In the worst case, they could even try to PK him.
'I can't waste my time on this.'
Ian didn't have much to waste. He quickly wanted to find a way to get approval from a noble, and he also had to earn more money.
His sister's future was on the line here!
He didn't want to waste a single second on these greedy guys. That's why Ian quickened his pace and walked towards the exit.
"Hey, you! Wait a second."
As he was close to the exit, a voice called him from behind but...
'I don't have any reason to listen to you.'
Ian didn't stop his steps at all. He instead quickened his pace and rushed on the stairs of the summoner association.
He could feel that some people were chasing after him, but it was just a futile attempt from them.
"Idiots!"
Ian muttered as he left the summoner association.
Soon, five guys also left the summoner association. They were the ones chasing behind Ian. They looked around for traces of Ian, but there were no signs of Ian.
"Where is he?"
"I can't find him anywhere."
"He should not have gone far. Let's split and look for him. He may be holding a special quest."
One of the members said, and the group split to search for Ian, but even after searching for him, they weren't able to find anything.
"Stupid people!"
In a secluded alley, Ian silently muttered as he looked at the people searching for him.
Their search was futile from the start!!