In order to move to the next area, they entered the same small rooms they used to log out. Darkness engulfed them just as it did when they logged out. Only this time their gear didn't melt away and the impenetrable darkness eventually faded. Jake hopped off the little bed and stepped out the same door he entered.
Instead of entering the starting guild, he stepped out into a larger building. To his left one of more than a dozen doors opened. Cass stepped out and glanced left then right. Seeing Jake she moved towards him. The room they were currently in was filled with identical doors. The entire room was a large half circle letting the doors curve around.
Across from them, there was one door, larger than the others, and sitting alone. "I am guessing that way is out." Cassandra stated.
Together they headed to the door and stepped out into a cacophony of noise. There was some type of music playing in the background. Not loud or overbearing. Jake didn't know what the song was. If he had to guess it was some type of country rock? There were no lyrics.
The room they were in was large, the size of a gymnasium, and filled with tables. There were round tables with chairs. Booths mounted to the walls. An entire bar across one section of the room with barstools and of course a bartender. There were somewhere between thirty and forty people inside the room. Conversations from them drowned out most of the music and made up the bulk of the noise.
Everyone was human, Jake had wondered if there were other races. He was actually a bit sad to see no elves or other fantasy races. There were obvious tech types like them but also the more fantasy themed types. Nearby a table had a man with what looked like an assault rifle leaning against his chair and wearing a military uniform. There was a girl a few years older than them wearing a robe with a staff made of some bluish tinted wood. Several sparkling gems looked to be mounted in a spiraling pattern around the top part of the staff. An older man who had to be in his late forties, hair cut military style and turning gray wore camo fatigues. A bandolier of pineapple grenades strapped across his chest.
A kid even younger than them sat with them chatting away in a childish voice while idly playing with a crossbow that had what looked like a large drum magazine attached to it. The polished wood drum was covered in glowing runes. He wore armor that reminded Jake of Ella's outfit. Only with pants instead of shorts.
A group of three headed to the bar and Jake watched as they took out leg drop canisters like his or bags like Ella's. They deposited them into the same style chutes Jake was used to cashing in his cores and mutagen into. Several sitting close to them turned and seemed to be listening to the report of their cash in. They snickered when it was completed seeming to be mocking the group cashing in.
"Well, this isn't what I expected." Jake said softly enough only Cassandra could hear. No one seemed to be paying them any attention. Someone even walked past them to enter the log out room.
Jake's eyes settled on the crossbow wielding kid and suddenly realized that Ella must have hit Rank C in an attribute too and started logging in here as well. Since they weren't grouped he hadn't been given the chance to transition too.
Jake headed towards the bartender who hadn't moved from where he was when they entered. Just standing there polishing the same glass. Behind him Cassandra followed, hugging her oversized rifle. To Jake's surprise and excitement the bartender wasn't a robot. He looked at Jake and Cassandra as they approached, seeming to give them a once over quickly. 'I think they are a person?'
"Er Hello. Are you a real person?" The bartender was older. Probably in his fifties. Gaunt with leathery skin as if he had spent a long time in the wind and sun. His hair was dark black with streaks of sheer white. A salt and pepper mustache just going a bit bushy twitched and his eyes narrowed just a bit.
"New player eh? Yeah, I'm a real person." He twisted the glass in his hand, the rag making a squeaking noise. "Or maybe I'm not. Does it matter?" He eyed both of them. "What do you kids need?"
"Um, have you seen an archer girl come through here? Just a little taller than me. Wearing the fantasy style outfit. Plant looking chest armor, shorts, and knee high boots. Gold hair about this long." Jake held his hand to himself to show the length. "Um, blue eyes? Kinda on the skinny and on the flat side." The bartender saw the girl standing a step behind and to the side of the boy give him a dirty look. He kept his eyes on the boy and his smirk to himself.
"Sorry runt. I haven't seen anyone like that come thru here recently. Were they someone you met in the tutorial zone?"
Jake nodded while Cassandra's dirty look became a full glare as a look of understanding flashed. Again, the bartender ignored it. He was used to the younger crowds' drama. Most of the players were younger lately. "Could be they started at one of the other areas. There are a few stage one hubs for this cluster."
Jake turned around to look at the room full of people. There were more players than he expected. He thought there weren't that many because it was some sort of early access. But it sounded like there were a lot. When he glanced at Cassandra he blinked, surprised by her glare. "What?"
"Nothing." She said a bit too quickly, her glare barely fading. Jake frowned behind his mask and turned back to the man.
"Can you give us any information about what to do now? Do you have like quests or something?" Jake saw the man roll his eyes as he put down the glass.
"No quests shorty. But you are in Hub 4A or Spindle Town depending on if you're talking to your kind or the other ones." He pointed to a person walking by in chainmail with a slew of javelins in a giant quiver strapped to their back. "This area has mostly C rank monsters. You can still find a few D rank here and there but they will normally be mixed in as fodder with the others. Most of the bosses are B rank, though there are some areas where you can find B rank common monsters. You won't find anything higher than B around here." Reaching under the bar he pulled out two sets of metallic dog tags. Dropping them on the counter he pointed across the room, in the direction opposite of the door to the logout rooms. There was another door and on both sides of it, there were giant notice boards. Underneath them were what looked like small ATM machines. The notice boards had actual paper on them while they saw someone stop at the ATM and a holo projection rise up from it.
"These tags can be used as a sort of ID. It will let others see your basic information. Such as your class and attributes. You can let them see more, such as your skills and such if you want. Those boards and holodesks are used to either find fellow players to join up with. Or to do trading. Left for parties. Right for trading." He picked up the glass again. When they finished staring across the room he nodded to the chutes in the counter. "Oh, and of course, you can cash in here."
"What about shops?" It was Cassandra that spoke up this time.
"There are a number of buildings outside. Pretty much all of them are player shops of some sort or another. You can buy the most basic stuff here." Jake spotted the same interface he was used to seeing in their tutorial guild. There was also the crystal ball style interface he had seen at the fantasy guild.
Jake and Cassandra spoke quietly and decided to just explore the town before logging off for the night. As they prepared to leave the bartender spoke up again. "One last bit of advice. To the west of here is mostly the Old One's faction. While the New One's faction is to the east. The town is a bit divided that way. Some of you players take your groups a bit too seriously." When he saw their confusion. "The Old One's faction is the magic based classes. The New Ones are the tech based classes like yourself. They also have their own gathering places like here. I'd suggest you stick to your factions buildings or my establishment. Most of those who don't care come here." He motioned with the glass to the tables full of mixed groups.
Cassandra and Jake shared a look with each other. Then shrugged before thanking the man. They both took a quick look at the party and trade boards before heading outside. Most of the information didn't make much sense to them and they were more curious to see this new area.
Outside the road gently curved to the left and right from the entrance of the establishment. The building they had just exited was a mix match of fantasy design and futuristic elements. Not an even split but a strange mismatching. Some windows looked to be designed from timber and decorated like a wooden tavern. Others had a sleek metallic look to them. There was a wooden sign with a bow and an assault rifle crossed with what looked to be cores and mutagen piled around it swaying from a post. Occasionally the image projected like a hologram and then sank back in. It was a hideous design.
Directly in front of them, the road was split. It was smooth cobblestones to the left while to the right it was cracked asphalt. The buildings all to the left had a medieval fantasy look to them. They had various wooden signs hanging in front of them just like the building they stood in front of. Only no holograms projected from them. To the right boxy buildings of concrete and metal were packed tightly together. Neon signs or holo projections decorated them.
One side looked like magical hobbits would come skipping down the street yelling about going on adventures. The other looked like some cyberpunk shopping district.
They walked down the futuristic looking side eyeballing the various shops. They could see people inside and some even waved at them. The road stretched a few blocks before ending. There were other buildings they could see beyond the end of the road but they looked less futuristic and more apocalyptic. A crumbling warehouse looking building and even one that looked like the entrance to a bomb shelter. Complete with a large rusted hatch door set in the aged concrete that appeared to lead underground.
The last building was another bar. Music with a loud thumping beat could be heard coming from inside with a definite techno style. Bright neon holo projections popped up showing very realistic people dancing. They shared another look before heading back the way they came.
They walked the length of the fantasy section as well. They got more than a few looks but no one said anything. When they got to the end a cozy looking tavern was there. Music that sounded like it was coming from a fiddle and a flute drifted out. People sitting inside next to the window gave them blatant glares. Beyond the end of that block, they were slightly confused to see similar apocalyptic buildings. The skeletal ruins of what looked like a normal house. A crumbling concrete building that might have been a gas station? A huge awning had crashed down over part of it.
It was already late so they made their way back to the neutral inn as they thought of it and moved to the log out rooms. Cass stopped Jake as he moved towards the door.
"I'll call you before I log in. So we can both log in at the same time." Then before he could ask her how she had his number she entered one of the logout chambers.
Jake stared at the door confused before shrugging and entering the chamber next to it.