It was his second time in the capital of Aldeneid, and the first time he had been in a hurry and didn't take the time to enjoy the capital.
But this time he had some time for him. Going to the Dragon Valley would take him about three days, and coming back from there three other days. Killing the dragons shouldn't take much time either, so the entire trip should take around six days.
Hence, he intended to enjoy the capital first, before finishing his 'Lost Legacy' Quest, to give Holdir's clan the paladin's mace.
As he walked in the streets of Eleyrius, Adam didn't put on a shadow cloak as he felt there was no need. He had tried using it, but he just didn't like it, maybe his enemies would know where he was, but he just didn't care.
Adam saw many players in the capital, many more than he used to. This could be explained by the increase in the average level of players across the world. Entering a capital city required one to pay half a Gold Coin as a fee to enter the city, and entering the capital was useless for a Bronze Rank, there would be nothing for them.
The quests given in the capital needed at least a Silver Rank strength to be finished, and most players were far from this level of strength. However, now that it has been slightly more than a couple of weeks since the game has been released, the players are starting to approach Level 50.
There were already a few Silver Ranks across the world, and although they were the top players in the world, even the average players had already reached Level 45.
Players and NPCs should theoretically be able to progress as fast as each other, but players were able to be much faster because they lived a different life.
An NPC would have to care about their expenses, to always have a roof above their head, to have their weapon sharpened, maybe some time their family or friends would need help, or they would just be tired.
However, a player didn't have to worry about all of this, at all. A Player could accomplish quests all day, kill monsters and help people. This was because this was a game for them, so their mentality would always be at top form, they wouldn't get bored of it, and don't need vacations.
But the biggest factor was that they didn't fear death. An NPC would hesitate to visit a dangerous location, would make sure not to offend powerful people, and avoid anything that could bring harm to their life, because they only had one life.
But players could respawn, which is why they didn't have any of those worries. Sure, dying would make them lose a level, but oftentimes the rewards would be even better than a single level. That's why, players had been able to go all the way to the peak of Bronze Rank in two weeks, whereas some NPCs would spend years to do so.
However, there were also consequences. Because players thought of this as a simple game, most didn't care about their promotion to Bronze Rank and got low ranked classes, even B Classes were considered elite players.
An A Class could become a core player in even a Super Guild. Considering there were less than a hundred Super Guilds worldwide, this was pretty damn impressive. As for an S Class… this would depend, actually.
Starting from S Classes to SSS Classes, there was a distinction between genuine and false ones. A false S Class would be someone who only opened the First Gate after they broke through the Qi Gathering Realm, but were able to become an S Class in the game because this was the second time they cultivated.
As for a genuine S Class, it would be one who really opened the First Gate while in the Body Strengthening Realm in the real world.
Because of this distinction, the two types would receive different types of training. A False S Class wouldn't be much more important than an A Class. However, a genuine S Class would stand at the peak of even a Super Guild, becoming eligible for the Guild Leader position.
But there were very few such people, which is why although players leveled up faster than NPCs for now, they also were weaker at the same level. A hundred average NPCs could absolutely destroy two of three hundreds average players of the same level.
A couple of hours went by as Adam visited Eleyrius, and he had to admit, this was really a beautiful city, magic allowed the elves and Foxkin to build magnificent structures.
Although he enjoyed himself visiting the city, it was time for him to return to Fjora. Although the city was less beautiful, it was still a great wonder to look at, and Adam felt closer to this city compared to any other, it looked closer to nature.
However, as he appeared in the streets of Fjora, he was surprised by something else. He saw a lot of people recognizing him, and that wasn't just the players, but even the NPCs recognized him, and most looked at him with fervor.
Those players ranged from Iron Ranks to Gold ones, even people stronger than him were admiring him. Adam had to admit, this felt good, but he did his best to not care about it, and instead headed toward the grounds of the Holdirsons, the clan Holdir left behind.
They were a rather small clan, but as a clan residing in the capital, they were still very strong. Holdir himself hadn't been that strong, he was merely a strong Gold Rank, but his children and descendants were even more talented as many of them were able to become Heroes.
Soon, he reached the clan's grounds of the Holdirsons, and he had to admit, he was quite impressed. For a small clan, they were much bigger than he first imagined. Holdir would most definitely be happy if he knew his descendants grew up so well. Now, he was left to wonder what kind of attitude they would have toward him.
When the guards standing at the entrance saw him, they looked surprised, and hesitantly stopped him. One of the two asked "Greetings, Sovereign. May we know the reason for your honorable visit?"
The guard was obviously scared Adam would get angry because he was stopped. However, Adam didn't mind as he said "I found something belonging to your clan, so I came here to return it to you. I need to see your clan leader."
The guard was relieved Adam was calm, and he said "Fine. Head toward the central longhouse, you should see other guards there. Tell them why you came, and they will speak to the Clan Leader. If he is free, I believe he should receive you."
Adam nodded and walked in between the two guards, leading in the clan's grounds. As he walked he looked at his surroundings. Compared to the Clearwater Estate, where Johan and his family lived, it was a little lackluster, but that was to be expected.
Even though the Clearwater family was way smaller than the Holdirsons Clan, the head of the Clearwater family was the second strongest person in the empire in term of political strength, and the strongest in term of martial strength.
When Adam reached the central longhouse, he saw there were indeed guards, and all the doors were closed. However, Adam could still see light inside, and faintly hear voices even from a distance. There were probably a big amount of people in the longhouse.
The guards in front of the longhouse looked as surprised as the others when they saw him, but when they heard what he came for they looked relieved. No one wanted to offend the Sovereign.
One of the guards entered the longhouse, and a minute later he came back, and said to Adam "The Clan Leader will see you."