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Day 5, 6, and 7…
The first week of Resko's event had finally ended, but not without some commotion...
At the very last day, after being missing for 2 whole days, causing massive distress in the entire Village, Tina reappeared… With a bang.
...
/Inside Tina's house… A few minutes after she reappeared/
"What the fuck happened to you, old shirt?!" Barme exclaimed as he looked at the bloodied Tina
She was currently carrying the broken down carcass of something Dale couldn't quite recognize, her entire right arm was covered in blood, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were in tatters…
But despite all of this, the most significant change were her looks… She looked 40 years younger, her skin had rejuvenated, her eyes looked clear, her hair had color...
Previously, Tina looked like an 80-year-old woman. Now, she could pass as Dale's mom.
/Fwoosh!/
She pulled a sharp bone from her pocket and pointed it at Barme's neck, saying:
"What did you say? I didn't quite hear it…"
"... Young Miss Tina…" Barme said as his eyelids twitch
Tina smiled, it looked very scary with the blood and dirt on her face.
"Here… A wet towel." Dale said as he returned from the kitchen
"Thank you, dear." She replied as she took the towel to wipe her face
"..."
'What a fucking way to start the day...'
A few minutes ago, he had been the first to notice her when he was walking near the gates...
Dale had just woken up, so he thought something was wrong, his eyesight was still readjusting after all...
Woken up you ask? Indeed, Dale had decided to sleep in game, why? Because it was better than sleeping in real life...
Of course, this wasn't exactly sustainable, but for Dale whose body was already stronger than the norm, he could go on for days, at least long enough for the game to stabilize, giving him enough time to adjust and be ahead of everyone else...
When he saw Tina, he approached her, thinking she was some sort of Villager that had been seriously hurt due to all of the blood, but in the end, he was in for a surprise, especially when he saw the horrific carcass she was carrying…
The poorest of all were the two guards that had to deal with her, the two sods tried to stop her as they didn't recognize her, only to be beaten up when she lost her patience trying to convince them of who she was...
Even now, Dale had to process the situation properly, and to be honest, at the end of the day, he gave up and simply decided to treat it as a normal occurrence…
Tina was now younger, and scarier, looking more active than ever, she had that scary aunt look in her eyes… Albeit, when she talked with Dale, she at least smiled gently.
"Dale, I'll have to ask you to leave for now, and bring this dunce with you before I kick him out, worse, if he spits out one more profanity I may as well cut his tongue out."
/Shudders.../
Barme shuddered slightly, she wasn't lying.
"As you can see, I need some time to make myself more presentable and rest, I'm really tired after 2 days of extreme workout, I'm a tad too grown up for that."
But Dale shook his head and said
"Don't worry, I'll just warn the others that you're okay, they're extremely worried after all so make sure to give them a visit when you feel better…"
"You shouldn't have left a letter behind like that, got us all worked up trying to look for you." He said with a small smile
"Sorry dear, sometimes, I need to do it like this else those boys won't leave me be."
"Come back tomorrow, we'll start then." She said with a smile
"Start what?" Dale asked confused
"Your training of course."
"T-Training?"
"Yes, and don't worry about your exercises with Testros, my training won't conflict with his, in fact, our training aligns in purpose."
"I won't accept a no for an answer." She said with a kind smile
[DING]
[Unique Quest, Introduction to Dancing Shadows has activated]
[Requirements:
After a day has passed, visit Tina Eino in her house and start your training
]
"I'll do it, thank you for teaching me." Dale said earnestly with a smile
'No matter what, I won't refuse her.'
"That's great to hear dear, I'll also get myself ready for tomorrow, drop by whenever you have time, I won't leave my tiny house, my ankles need to cool a bit."
"See you later..."
'I'll take whatever the Elders are willing to teach me, and apart from Testros and Misgurd, there aren't any warriors available to teach me.'
'Although… Misgurd was more focused on himself than on me recently, he must feel pressurized to improve as well, so he doesn't have any time to spar anymore.'
'Edimund is strong, or supposedly so.'
'But when I asked him for tutelage, he said he didn't have anything to teach me, even when I asked for a spar…'
'I don't know why, but I'm confident the problem is not me, but himself…'
'Albeit, I don't really know why he has such an aversion to fighting.'
'Of the remaining Elders, only Ophelia knows how to fight, but she can barely run anymore, much less pull a bow.'
'Her injury truly brought an end to her career as a Hunter and Ranger.'
'She taught me a lot, including the basics of holding a bow, but that's all she can do currently.'
'I don't know what Tina can teach me, but she was the strongest. And now? She may have surpassed Testros again, even after his enlightenment.'
'Still, ever since the day we brought back the books, his progress can only be described as monstrous...'
'Reading a book in the morning, then using what he learned at night, by the time the next day rolled in, he would have some level of proficiency over what he was trying to learn.'
'He says that this is all thanks to the massive foundation he built himself over decades of self-training and reflection, and he isn't wrong.'
'His growth speed is a good representation of how quickly each Villager has been progressing during this event.'
'Even the children are improving in their own way… I can't be left behind.'
With a small nod, Dale turned around and left the house, with Barme right behind him.
It wouldn't take long for this news to spread to the other Villagers, and even to the players, who at this point in time, had already started to figure out what was happening in the village.
There was an entire forum dedicated to that after all, with even a page dedicated to Dale, a game wiki if you will.
Slowly piecing together the fragments from the conversations of the NPCs, they unveil the "lore" of the village and the world, something Dale found quite amusing and informative to visit every time he had some time.
But not all players were satisfied with that, some wanted more…
They tried to break into the Villager's houses, or even inside the library or other hidden areas…
Some did manage to do so, but they didn't last long, especially the poor idiots that tried to break into the library… Those were shot down the quickest.
Aside from those idiots, most players were focused on doing their Rank Up quests...
A Week had passed, and the players that joined in a week ago were now allowed to complete their Rank quest inside the Mercenary Guild, finally going from trainees to Novice Mercenaries.
With this and their Reputation, they would finally be able to start adventuring outside, while getting good quests and commissions from the Guild.
Especially the players who completed Dale's quests outside were the happiest, their Reputation was high, and their Levels too, now they could finally 'graduate' from his Quests and start adventuring for real.
After many attempts, the players came up with a guide to effectively farm the 3 quests called: How to be a Hardcore Farmer…
But that was for another day.
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