"Huff Huff Huff .... Haaa" Nier took deep breathes as he woke up from his nightmare and looked around.
He was in the room he rented and realized only 4 hours had passed, his eyes turned towards his clothes, he realized he was wearing the same for nearly 2 days which smelled now, Nier immediately stood up to change them.
A normal person would go back to sleep even when they had nightmares if they didn't sleep for nearly 1 and a half-day but Nier didn't even think about it.
He got such nightmares continuously every day for years now and had adapted to resisting sleep much longer than average joes, which wasn't really an achievement but a curse.
Taking out clothes from his backpack which seemed like a balloon about to burst, Nier entered the bathroom slowly.
Full white interior, quite long with a commode with jet spray at the end and there and a mirror just at the doorstep, it was quite an advanced bathroom which seemed to mismatch the vibe of a mountain town.
Nier- needlessly cautious decided to check it by activating his magic ability and started searching mana around for traps or leftovers with his eyes.
Finding nothing, he closed the doors of the bathroom, stripped his clothes and gazed towards the mirror seeing his reflection.
His skin was sickly pale, unnatural messy white hair and a beautiful scarred face, there were 4 small claw marks on each of his cheeks from eyes down and his most standout feature were his gem like- silver eyes, shining like the a full moon in dark sky.
His body was skinny and scared, it was like someone had joined shattered pieces of the body together but with the muscles, it was a little more bizarre and there were some mud spots here and there which he got from the wet coastal region.
'Nearly 4 years and I still haven't completely healed....or actually, It's a miracle I healed this much, anyone else would have died their body got broken like mine. It shouldn't take much longer before I heal completely, would I get buff after that?'
Nier thought seeing his reflection but then his eyes turned from the mirror towards his body as he kept looking at it for some time and took a shower.
After taking a shower, he cleaned it with a towel and stood in front of the mirror again, this time his body was completely clean- in the mirror.
He once again looked down at his body and-
'It won't go away even now' He thought with anxiety as he looked at his blood-stained body and started scrubbing every part he could find blood on but, it didn't go away.
He turned to the mirror- clean, he looked at his hands- bloodstained. It was as if he was hallucinating and anyone from afar would think he is crazy self-harming himself.
~Sigh
Wiping his body with a towel, Nier wore a blue shirt, white pants, combat boots and strapped a thigh bag around his waist and thighs.
Going out of the bathroom, he opened his backpack, took out some daggers and put them in the thigh bag.
Put some needle-like knives and a gun in the boot's pouches, further taking out all his money and some small bottles filled with different colours of liquid and pills and put them in different compartments of the thigh bag as well.
He then took out 2 sheathed katanas, or at least what seemed like them -then brought the back of their hilts together. They suddenly attached and then he suddenly detached them. The weapon was in fact a double glaive that can become 2 katanas after detachment.
Tying the sheaths to his back which were designed in a way that made it very easy to take out the blades from the back with each hand, he took out the chain he had won and eyed it.
It was 3-4 meters long which is not much but that's the reason he brought it.
'I wish I make elongation and shortening enchantments on it but that would take at least a decade to learn'
He decided to put it back and try to think about upgrading it later, now taking out a cloak which he wrapped around himself.
Nier finally then wore the eyemask after lifting his hair, the eyemask was actually a goggle in the shape of an eye mask filled with several protective runes.
The runes were precoded passive runes meaning they were filled with mana that acted on itself when an attack came near the goggles and Nier didn't need to activate them.
They were expensive, the most expensive thing he bought after waking up, but he felt it was worth it since he considered his eyes his most important organ. On the downside though, it limited the full powers of his ability.
With nothing valuable left in the bag or so he thought- remembering the knuckle he purchased, Nier put them in the bag, grabbing his nearly empty backpack- left the room.
__________________________
~ Montown Guild Link
Nier reached a large building, probably 2nd-3rd largest of the town titled Montown guild link and entered it.
The place seemed to be made of marble and was white in colour, there were several tables set up and notice boards on the side of the walls. At the end were several counters that had different sigils on top of each of them signifying the guild they work for.
There were several people inside, some of them wore armour and battle gears while some wore casual clothes, some of them were talking to the counters, some were sitting or wandering and talking to each other, some just sat having existential crisis realizing they would probably remain a nobody forever.
Guild links were places set up by the WAO that connected guilds so that not every guild has to build their own branches everywhere and adventures don't need to go to only the towns that have their affiliated guild quarters but can connect from anywhere. Of course, if one could- it was still much better to go to the branches as they provided all the benefits.
Ignoring the stares, Nier reached the counter representing YSAG which had the sigil of a brown ship on a small globe with a gold coin on the right side and a blood drop on the left.
'No matter how deep and good your sigil is, the name is still trash' thinking this Nier looked at the woman behind the counter, she was a beautiful woman with pink hair and was wearing a hat looking down at a bundle of papers and computer with an irritated look.
She looked up at the masked man and suddenly changed her expression to a customer-friendly smile and asked " What do you need sir?"
Nier stayed silent for a second and after arranging his questions, he asked-
"So is there a place where I can get Sun-lotus with 6 petal blooms without getting into much trouble?
"Hmm....there really isn't any place as such where you won't face trouble to get 6 petals Sun-lotus and you can only find them openly in the Seasonshore Continent"
"Are you really sure? I've heard the king has one..."
"You just asked me to tell you a way without getting in trouble"
"And you didn't give me such way"
"There really isn't anywhere else that's known to us or told to us workers, you should try to understand the problem we face, we can only tell you what we know of"
"Is there a way to get to Seasonshore continent? Officially, Any kingdom will suffice"
"Yes, there are 2 options you can choose from, both options however have very high limitations. I'll go over them one by one-
First Option - You could sail with a ship of your own, which would take you at least 3 months.
There are several limitations, however- you'll need your own ship as in creating it or buy one since no official or unofficial voyage is being held to Seasonshore and even if you get one, you'll need experienced and powerful crew because of the stormy path.
Everything I said is similar for aerial transport though the duration of travel could be faster and you might not even need a crew if you have a really good treasure of some sort- but.....say that you do all that and reach Summerhawk, the kingdom you'll reach fastest in Seasonshore.
You'll get arrested, locked and interrogated and your fate will be in their hands since you'll go there unofficially and recently, there seem to be a lot of....undercurrents going on there.
Second Option - You can get there through the Teleportation Stand at Rainsparrow city state's royal guild, but they won't allow that unless you have special permission...Oh, you can go there if you have some ability that allows you to but I guess you wouldn't come here then."
After answering everything, the counter woman looked up from the computer and grabbed a water bottle drank everything feeling her throat go dry.
"How do I get the permission for teleportation?" Nier asked not giving her a break.