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[Welcome back to Azimuth player DareDevil]
As the soothing and gentle female voice of the game system echoed in his ears, Dale opened his eyes on his bed in the Inn.
Another night had passed, another day had gone by, and it was time to work.
He slowly got up from the bed, stretching his body as he changed his clothes.
"..."
'Urg… Yet another problem…'
'The number of clean clothes I can use keeps decreasing…'
'Don't tell me I'll have to waste time cleaning them…'
Shaking his head, Dale put on a new set of clothes, throwing the dirty clothes on a pile in the corner of his room.
He looked at David, and the latter looked at him as well, breaking his act as a statue.
"Good morning." David said with a complex expression
There was confusion hidden deep within his eyes, had something happened? And if so, what had he seen to make him like that?
Unfortunately, Dale was not paying attention to him...
He only rolled his eyes as already knew better, if the little guy was speaking, that meant there was no one to overhear their conversation.
There was no point bickering with his to be cautious.
So he replied:
"Hello David."
But as Dale grabbed him, David's expression eased up as he said:
"Today there's a lot to do..."
"Hm? How so?"
Dale already knew today would be busy, although he didn't have a proper schedule, he would just focus on his objective, getting stronger.
Although as always, if his presence is necessary, he wouldn't mind stopping to help.
"First, that alchemist girl, she should be cured already, so it might be a good idea to visit her."
"Yumi? If she's alright I'll visit her since there are some materials I need her to take a look at."
'Besides, being the only alchemist in the Village, her health is extremely important…'
"There's also that old man, Edimund was his name, he passed through here some time ago but seeing that you were still sleeping, he left."
"I believe he had some urgent thing to discuss with you, probably regarding the books you and the other old man recovered."
Dale nodded.
"I see, these books are only rotting in my inventory, so the sooner they're put into use the better."
'This must be the consequences of my choice, the Event can't happen if they don't have access to the books…'
"Aside from that, it's imperative that you fix the Church as soon as possible, I need to go back to my previous task of gathering power, this time, make sure to find a solution for the problem in regards to the offerings, I don't want to suffer in those coins again."
Dale nodded.
[DING]
[Your quest has been updated]
[Herb Chain part 2
With her motivation back on track, the alchemist will now resume her great work.
Even though many of the immediate problems have been resolved, the alchemist is still in need of a helping hand.
Find out what she needs!
>Requirements:
Wait for the alchemist to recover to receive an update. 1/1
Visit the alchemist and talk with her for further tasks 0/1
#Making the alchemist wait too long will result in your Intimacy dropping!
]
Dale expected this to happen, so his reaction was pretty normal.
But it was what happened next that drove him into confusion:
[DING]
[Special Quest has been triggered, A light within the Dark]
[Something strange is happening with Testros…
>Requirements:
Go visit him in the training grounds before it's too late 0/1
>Penalty:
Failing to visit him in time will result in unforeseeable consequences!
]
"..."
"Dale?" David asked
Dale shook his head with a frown.
"I was just thinking, let's go." He said as he strapped the golden head to his waist as per normal
On the way down, he met with some of the children, but unfortunately today, he couldn't play with them.
He even skipped the food on the table, and even though the Buff was tempting, he had somewhere else to be right now…
He didn't see Illia though, something relatively unusual.
Upon asking the kids, they simply said she was called to the Guild for something. In fact, she had already returned, but she left again.
The kids seemed to debate whether she had left to the bathroom or something else…
…
As he walked on the streets, Dale couldn't help but notice how clean and tidy everything was.
He then quickly understood why as he watched the players all around.
'It seems those miscellaneous quests are finally working their magic…'
'I never bothered to do them, deeming there were other options... Better options. But...'
'They're almost endless, and even with the increasing number of players, Resko is starting to change…'
'Fix the roads, fix the fences, fix this and that… As the days pass, Resko will look a little more pretty to the eye.'
'And most importantly, it seems the players aren't hating this… Even if they aren't enjoying it, at the very least they aren't hating doing this sort of work.'
The reason for that would later be known to Dale; the players were simply satisfied with the Experience and monetary rewards they could get by doing them.
Even if it's tiring, fixing the fences and other things didn't take long at all, and for many players, it was much better than digging sand or being sent to jail like the other Guild players Dale killed.
Even now they still can't log back into the game; a full 48-hour forced Logout.
Besides, by doing these miscellaneous quests, they can increase their Reputation, even if slow, given 5-7 days, they'll be rid of this cursed status once their Reputation goes beyond + 10.
On the way, by doing enough of those, they would eventually increase their Ranks within the Guild, something that would prove to be very beneficial eventually...
Or so they hoped.
...
As he made his way to the training grounds, many of the players gazed at him, as always, it was difficult to miss him, a tall and buff man holding a massive sword with a golden head tied to his waist, shining under the sun, wasn't something difficult to miss.
Some even tried to start a conversation with him…
But he quickly put them down, not because he was rude, but simply because he didn't have the time to waste.
So within 5 minutes, he arrived at the training grounds…
…
/Trust… Swipe… Cut…/
"Hm?"
'Nothing much is happening…'
Once he arrived at the training grounds, the only thing he saw was the usual scene of an old man swinging his spear at a straw Dummy.
Sometimes, he stopped, grabbed a sword, and repeated a series of simple moves against it before going back to the spear and doing it all again.
Dale didn't know who to praise, the old man for having such stamina, or the straw Dummy for still standing despite the beating it was taking.
However, seeing as nothing had changed, he simply opened his mouth and…
"HE…"
{SHIU!} David suddenly exclaimed as he interrupted Dale
{Thankfully, you didn't manage to break his concentration, that would've been a disaster…}
'What do you mean?'
{How ignorant can you be? Pay more attention to him, he's in a trance!}
'??'
Dale turned his eyes to Testros, and upon a closer inspection, he did notice that his eyes were unfocused, and unmoving, no matter how much his body moved, they always stopped there, looking forward…
It was very creepy, and it made Dale think the old man was sick…
{Take a close look Dale, this is something not many can achieve in their lifetime…}
{Imprint it within your mind, an opportunity of a Lifetime...}
[DING]
[You have completed the Special Quest, A light within the Dark]
[Your reward is an opportunity]
[Make sure to mark this event in your mind]
The system's messages were rather eerie, very different from their usual tone and writing style as if someone else was writing it...
Of course, that was impossible. There was only one AI in charge of Azimuth.
"Wh…"
David's words and the system's notification made him even more confused as he raised his right eyebrow.
{SHIU! No more sounds!}
He didn't know what was happening, but he complied.
"..."
Testros suddenly stopped his movements, however, something changed…
'The air… It's moving?...'
Something that would've normally just been brushed off in his mind seemed rather odd right now.
And with a closer look, he understood that something was very wrong…
/Tremble…/
The air started to rush to Testros, as if wanting to tear him apart!
But that was simply an illusion, instead, the chaotic wind started to revolve around him, as if a hurricane was about to form.
His unfocused eyes closed, but his eyelids glowed blue.
The tip of his spear started to glow.
He got into a stance and pierced…
"!"
{EVADE IT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!} David exclaimed
/BOOOM!/
Dale barely had enough time to jump to the side as a column of air made its way across the ground like a meteor, cleaving a deep ravine on the rocky ground…
This Ravine was at least a person's deep and wide, and it made all the way from the center of the training grounds to him and a bit further, almost going out onto the streets.
A full 13M…
If his body had been hit by that, Dale would've been blasted into pieces.
"What just happened…" Dale complained as he got up from the ground, rubble falling from his shoulders
And his answer soon came:
[DING]
[A Sub Event , Character Growth, has been triggered]
[After many Decades of training the Basics he learned in his youth, Testros Palinar, a survivor of the fallen and disgraced Southern Corps has achieved Enlightenment upon learning of the fate of his superiors and recovering their legacy, his lifelong dream]
[With his shoulders now lighter, a worthy successor to inherit his will, and the path ahead made clear, he managed to grasp the meaning behind his training and integrate the Advanced Techniques he recovered into his own combat style]
[The birth of a Master!]
"..."
Dale was shocked, and impressed, a flurry of complex emotions traveled through his body, culminating in a single thought:
'So that is how it is done…'
[You have directly influenced the events that resulted in the birth of a new Master!]
[You have observed someone go through Enlightenment!]
{Adapting…}
Dale suddenly felt his mind clear, his shoulders lightened…
{You've entered into a trance}
/Clang!/
In front of Dale, Caladgolg suddenly fell, glowing in its beautiful multicolor light as the sunlight fell on it.
It felt surreal but oddly fitting.
He raised his hand and grabbed it, the sword was as light as a normal hammer now.
He felt as if he had understood something, he just had to make it clear in his head…
Like when someone loses himself in a mathematical problem, the answer was on the tip of his tongue, the formulas were all there.
He just had to put everything together and find out what lay ahead…
So Dale raised his sword and struck forward, a motion so very similar to what he had just watched…
…
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Notes