This chapter ended up being super duper massive.
It was already rather big before, being 2.3K words, but it has now become 4.8K words long!!!
Come on bros, your guy is trying his best...
I hope the story has been entertaining so far.
Peace!
(PS: I should be dropping chapters 14 and 15 soon, I just wanted to post 11 to 13 first as I had already finished them, I'll eat something first and then post them after editing)
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[DING!]
[Opening Beta Tester Box]
"I wonder what'll come, I'm not really expecting much..."
'But I'll take a freebie.'
/POOF!/
/Confetti!!/
The box exploded, releasing a lot of virtual confetti around, some even fell atop Dale who watched all of it with a poker face.
[DING!]
[Thank you for participating in Azmimuth's Beta!]
[We wish you many rewarding adventures!]
[You've acquired, Beta Tester Special ID effect redeem token]
[You've acquired, Explosive Molten Finger Emote]
[You've acquired, The Challenger's Insignia]
"Hooo... That's quite interesting." He mumbled as he checked his reward
Simply put, the ID effect was something that changed the font and visuals of his character ID into something a bit more interesting.
The words went from their orderly form to a more ragged and even monstrous shape, it was rather cool, but Dale had no intention of using it for now.
He didn't want to flash the fact he was someone that had played the Beta for everyone...
Besides, it was a token, so he could keep it in his inventory forever until he found a good use for it.
"The next one... An Emote? I didn't know the game had such things... Though it seems odd for it to not have any."
'In a VR game where you can already express yourself fully, there is no need for Emotes... Normal Emotes.'
'The Developers have to find ways to monetize their games... It's just how gaming has evolved to become.'
So to test it out, Dale activated it via the Social Menu... And...
/Crack!/
He felt the ground beneath him crack open as molten lava exploded outward into the sky!
"?"
And as this happened, his hand moved up without his consent.
Due to being caught off guard, Dale's mind spun until he got an idea...
/Boom.../
In the middle of a magma explosion, Dale raised his middle finger up high...
This was... Explosive Molten Finger.
"Wow... I like it... Hahaha... It's a fun Emote." He said as he watched the ground and the magma vanish
They were never there, it was just a visual effect
'The problem with the emote is that it has an animation time, and I don't really like leaving myself open like this, it's fun, but I don't feel too good now that I've put some thought into this...'
'I'll likely not use it, but it may come in handy one day who knows?...'
'This leaves the last item...'
[The Challenger's Insignia
Type: Consumable
Description: A Special key that unlocks a greater Challenge within Babylon.
*Tradable*
]
"Hum... Babylon you say?..." Dale mumbled as he scratched his chin
'The name doesn't ring me any bells... Apart from the real-life mythological association of course.'
'That just makes it even more interesting, it seems this Beta Box was more than just a little fun reward from the Devs for the players containing miscellaneous cosmetic items.'
'It may be the literal holder of the key to this Mystery... Or give me the means to go after it... Or a clue... Or nothing at all.'
'Regardless, a key that leads me to something else... It looks like I'll have to wait for the right time to come.'
"Humble rewards, two cosmetics, and one item that unlocks something for the future, nothing of substance for the current me, but good either way." He said as he cracked his neck
'They are all tradable as well, but I won't really do it, I see no point in gaining a couple hundred bucks for something only 100 people have...'
And after making sure everything was cleaned up properly, he started his journey.
...
"..."
'It's quite... Deserted.'
As Dale walked, taking his first few steps into the world, he observed his surroundings trying to understand where he was.
And he couldn't help but notice how irregular this place was.
"This place is bordering on being a wasteland… The plants are small and scarce, and even the ground seems a bit dry as well…"
'I'm surprised there is even a road, but this road is barely even standing, it seems to have been made centuries ago...' He thought as he tapped on the ground with his foot
Dale turned his head to the right, looking at a few brown mountains in the distance, then he turned his head to the left, looking at what seemed to be a thick forest filled with tall trees and thick vegetation.
"What is this place... I can see a thick forest in the distance further South but if I look North the environment seems to get worse as it turns into a dry wasteland..."
"I am not that versed in geography, so I can't say the cause of this or if it's naturally possible, however, for me, this is clearly unnatural since the transition between a desert in the North and a thick forest in the South is a bit too sudden…"
'I am currently between the zones, and it's actually rather pleasant... Though I can't say for certain if that is due to my body being sturdier than normal...'
'It's not too hard or dry, but neither is it the uncomfortable feeling of being within a thick lush forest...'
"This in-between area should be around... One to two Kms?"
"At least that is what I think..."
Dale opened the game menu and took a look at a picture he took a minute ago, it was the game map.
He was smart after all, since the game gave him such a detailed map, why not make use of it?...
[Image has been deleted]
"?! Come on!" He said in annoyance as he crossed his arms
'Tsk. So this won't work huh… I wonder if my backup image was deleted also?...'
Dale did have a working brain... Most of the time, so he made sure to have his printed image delivered to his E-mail... But given how Elden Throne intercepted them once before in the past, he wasn't too confident his image had arrived at his E-mail...
"Well, it doesn't matter much, I bet I can buy a map of the surroundings of the village once I get there… The rest of the Continent isn't important to me right now."
"Though... I really wanted to know where this road leads... If one side leads to the Village the other one should connect somewhere else."
'This place already seemed rather isolated in the selection Menu, so I wanted to know how much it truly was.'
'I need this information if I want to plan some things for the future, the more I know of my surrounding, the better I can plan...'
'But that'll have to wait for later.'
Shaking his head, Dale made his way to the village.
…
As he approached the village, its overall look became clearer.
It was protected by a rather tall gate around 6-7 m tall made of something resembling metal, though Dale couldn't confirm due to all of the dust and sand that were stuck to it.
Its walls were just as tall, being made from a combination of giant blocks of stone and thick wood stakes, the craftsmanship looked wobbly, but there were close to no dents in it, the walls stood tall and 'clean' for the most part.
It was a rustic feeling, but those were the kinds of walls that could hold against any siege.
It seemed shabby and not so shabby at the same time.
Dale could see a few tall buildings within the village from his angle, including a small hill with a church.
Overall, this was quite the big town, it's too big to be called a simple Village, so Dale wondered why that had been the case...
In front of the village's gate were two guards that looked like 2 statues, they wore simple armor and weapons, but they were completely unphased even with the sun shining atop them.
"Hm?"
One of the guards immediately noticed him, pointing in his direction, trying to get the other guards' attention.
"..."
The other guard soon noticed him, nodding in understanding.
Following this, the two discussed something with each other before he proceeded to grab a bow from his back…
The bow looked pretty damn scary, it was thick and also about the size of an average-sized person...
"What are they… ?!"
/FWUSH!/
/BAM!/
"URG!"
Dale bent his back to the ground, barely avoiding the arrow.
The arrow hit the ground, raising a large dust cloud into the air violently!
"What are these guys doing?!"
'And this force... I won't die but...'
Dale cringed at the thought of being hit with those arrows, more so than anything he had experienced so far.
Seeing his reaction, one of the guards scratched his head before he looked at the other guard for help.
The other guard just shook his head and shrugged before he waved at Dale.
But he didn't know how to react, this made the two guards scratch their heads at each other as they also didn't know what to do.
"..."
'Are they expecting me to approach them after this?... As if, I only have a single life!'
...
For the next 5 minutes, Dale and the guards stayed far away staring at each other, the two guards seemed helpless while Dale was focused on trying to understand what to do...
"Kid, how long are you going to stay there in the middle of the road?"
"?!"
Dale jumped forward as he rolled, taking out his spear from his back.
Meanwhile, the old woman just looked at him with an interested smile, finding it all rather amusing.
She had a basket of things on her back covered by a white cloth and her back was curved as she walked with a wooden cane.
(Image?)
"Did I startle you? Oh my, that wasn't my intention young one." She said with a smile as she put her cane down
"... Who…"
But the old woman interrupted him.
"You must be from very far away seeing how confused you are, so let me explain a few things first."
She pointed at the guards.
"They attacked you with an arrow because outsiders are very very rare, just take a look around, there's nothing for Kms on end..."
She then pointed at the forest and the desert.
"On one side we have a nearly impossible-to-cross desert, and on the other side we have an equally impossible-to-cross forest full of terrible beasts..."
"It's rather hard to say which is worse."
"Visitors are unusual, so rare that 9/10 times, someone coming is actually a Mirage Yirg."
Dale was confused, yet he felt oddly fascinated about it all.
"What is a Mirage Yirg?"
"It's a terrible creature that prowls these lands, it's rather uncommon and I would even say it's rare to see one, albeit it has become orthodox to see them compared to a traveler such as you.
"As for why they are dangerous... They have the ability to disguise themselves as someone else in many ways, but when they do so, they become really immobile and inflexible, so throwing an arrow like this is oftentimes the best way to determine if it's a person or a monster."
When he heard that, Dale scratched his head and said in a low tone:
"But they aimed at my head..."
/Step step step.../
Unfortunately, the old woman ignored him as she walked past him...
"It's hot and there's sand getting in my sandals, we shouldn't talk so much out here."
"Come with me, we can talk on the way…"
The old woman started to walk away at a rather unusual speed, it made him question if she was truly an old lady...
"... What if I hadn't evaded the arrow…" Dale whispered as his mood fell
"Life isn't fair, kid…" She said without turning around, continuing on her way without an inkling of guilt
"..."
Dale looked at her, she seemed harmless, but he was sure there was no way for an old woman to just sneak up on him like this, especially deeming her current speed…
Did she even need a walking cane?...
Was she perhaps a powerful master in disguise?
…
Dale and the old woman eventually arrived in front of the village gates after a minute of walking.
"Welcome back Miss Eino." Said one of the guards as he bowed slightly
Granny Eino nodded slightly, saying as she took something from her basket:
"Thank you for your work, here, take an apple."
The apple was pretty strange, being completely smooth and its color made it look as if the apple had been chromed...
(Image)
"Th-Th-Thank you..." The guard replied awkwardly as he grabbed the apple with a dark expression
They looked at Dale and said:
"It's very rare to see outsiders, and normally we wouldn't allow you in, we aren't sorry for what we did, you are only here because of Miss Eino." He said rudely without an ounce of guilt as well
"##!"
'I know that, but was there a need to say that like that? I didn't even say anything yet!'
Dale got rather pissed, but he didn't really care, so long as he could enter and learn more about this place, then it was fine.
This was his Spawn location, and there weren't any other appropriate locations for him to retreat to if he was exiled from this place.
So he would tolerate a little rude behavior if it meant being allowed inside without any problems.
The old woman said nothing and they eventually got inside.
/Creak.../
With the gates closing in behind them, Dale understood he had taken another major step on his journey.
Operation 'Get inside the Village' was complete before it even properly began...
"Don't let them get to you, this is just how everyone ends up after spending their lives in this place... It hasn't been easy for them." Eino said as she walked up to the front
Dale on the other hand looked around the place with curiosity, most of the village houses were actually 2M above the ground, suspended by wood beams and stones.
The houses were actually rather good-looking, although they had a grim look to them… Dale couldn't explain why.
(Image)
Seeing his childish curiosity, the old woman said:
"Guess there was no need to worry, you seem fine..."
"! Sorry, I was too distracted."
She let out a sigh as he thought about some things...
"It's okay, I can understand that our village can be confusing… Deeming our circumstances."
She stopped walking, they had arrived at a plaza where multiple dirty roads intersected.
It was at this moment that Dale noticed this place was actually bigger than it seemed...
"Let me first introduce myself, I am Tina Eino, one of the elderly residents of Resko."
Dale smiled and nodded, saying:
"I am Dale Houston… I came from…"
But the old woman said with a smile.
"Very far away, I can tell from your voice, expression, actions… Strength."
/THUD!/
"!!!"
She used her old cane to hit his leg, almost making him flinch due to its force and speed as she said:
"You have quite the sturdy body for a young lad your age, how old are you?"
"M-Me? I just became 19…" Said Dale as he held in the pain in his leg with a small tear in the corner of his eye
'Ouch, that hurts...'
She seemed a bit surprised.
"Did you train a lot? What was your occupation?"
Dale was quite surprised by this question so he had to think deeply.
"It's hard to say…"
'My occupation? I played games and studied for a university...'
"I spent most of my life studying and in the past few years, I have been rather lost as to what I wanted to do, although I have found solace in training and…"
"And somehow, I kind of just got here." He said with an awkward smile
'Not a bad explanation, my life was all about studying and gaming in my free time, and now, the reason I am here... it was all because of this game…'
'So yeah, I kind of just got here through chance and fate...'
Hearing his reply, the old woman stayed silent for some time before she lifted her cane and pointed to a road on the right.
"Albeit this town used to be bigger, our village is small and as such, everyone knows each other."
"We built our home in the husk of something greater, so don't get too confused."
"Follow this road and talk with Old Misgurd, he was an old mercenary and is the sole one in our village now."
"Just be patient with his personality, as although I imagine he is going to like you quite a bit... He still is a retired veteran, a grumpy one."
"He is currently the head of the Mercenary guild branch… Or what remains of it."
She pointed towards another road, the one on the far left.
"If you follow that road you are going to find an 'Inn'."
"Although to be honest, that was only an Inn during the time when I was just a child, now it's nothing but a big house where Illia and her family live."
"Tell them I sent you and they will probably take you in… You have 'coin' right?"
Dale scratched his head and asked:
"How much would a night cost here?"
The old woman smiled and said:
"Around one Zull of Iron per night."
"..."
Dale looked at her with a poker face.
"That's a lot..."
'I don't have that much with me right now, the entire processing fee of all my items in the shop was 0.1 Zulls of Iron, and you tell me the night in this place is 10 times that?'
'At least it's far from the night, until then I should be able to gather enough.'
"Are you saying we are not worth such an amount?" She asked with a half smile
But Dale shook his head.
"I will definitely pay, I am just saying it's quite a lot for what I'm used to."
'And I am sure there is a reason, this is a high Level area, so there must be a reason why it's so expensive just for the sake of it...'
"Continue with that thinking process and you'll fit right in." She said with a smile as she turned around, waving her right hand to him
"Until next time young Dale, I hope you can find your calling within this place at the end of the world…"
But Dale replied:
"Thank you for your help… But isn't that basket too heavy for you? Do you need some help?"
Dale was generally worried, and albeit he did have some underlying intentions, Dale came to this Village with a mindset ready:
The Villagers' AI was extremely advanced, so if he wanted to blend in, he had to treat them like people!
And an old lady carrying such a huge basket on her back would definitely appreciate some help!
From his perspective, the game was begging him to help her, it's like a quest that fell right in front of his foot.
Was it really a coincidence that Eino appeared in front of him just when he logged?
Perhaps... But if not...
"..."
She stopped and looked at him in wonder.
"Ho?... It's been a while since someone offered to help me, so long I've stopped asking for it as well..." She said in an oddly deep and melancholic tone
"Thats… Quite sad." Dale replied with a heavy expression
'Are people in the village that self-centered and cruel?'
/Chuckles/
"I won't refuse if that is the case… My house is right at the end of the road…" She said as she pointed at the road in the middle
Dale tried to look, but he couldn't see the end...
She took her basket and gave it to Dale.
"So help me carry it there… If you can."
She dropped the basket on his hands!
/THUD!/
"!"
'WOW!!'
But nothing much happened, and the old lady smiled cheekily.
"This is quite heavy, madam…"
'Are you telling me this old lady was carrying this? Something that seems to weigh around 200 kg?! Also... How did this basket survive?!'
'Is she one of those disguised masters?'
Looking at his confused eyes, she shook her head, using her cane to lightly bump his head.
"Something I've noticed so far is that you think too much… Relax, some things in life just need to be appreciated, let it flow, nothing else."
"Letting go of one's worries can oftentimes help one overcome them."
"So chop chop! If we take any longer my house is going to leave on its own."
[DING]
[You have received the quest, Old lady of the countryside village]
[Old lady of the countryside village
Quest Type: Miscellaneous (Common)
You offered help to an elderly resident of the Village of Resko in the hopes of getting to know them better while leaving a good first impression at the same time.
Requirements:
Help Lady Eino carry her basket to her home 0/1
*Optional* Arrive at Lady Eino's home within 5 minutes 0/1
]
"..."
Dale on the other hand thought deeply:
'I see it now… It's coming together...'
'If this is the level of a miscellaneous quest… A Normal grade Miscellaneous Quest, then this place is a deathbed for any new players…'
'I can also see the Grade and Type of quest, this is likely due to my privilege, well, all the better for me.'
/Step step step!/
It was then Dale noticed she was already a few dozen feet away from him, prompting him to rush after her...
Despite everything, this was no problem for him as he followed the old woman while carrying the basket easily with one hand…
…
/3 minutes later.../
"Thank you, me and my back appreciate your little action." Eino said with a small smile
[Quest completed!]
[10% Level xp
Resko Reputation +1]
"Here, for your troubles." She said as she threw him one of the objects inside her basket
"?... An apple... Huh?!"
'T-This Apple! It weighs over 10 Kg?!'
'I didn't take a proper look at it before since I was busy observing the city... But I never thought she would be carrying such things...'
'It's even shining a little? What is this exotic object?'
"Never seen an Iron Apple before?" She asked with some interest upon noticing his expression
"Really, from how far away are you kid? How come you've never ever held an Iron Apple in your life? How did you grow such muscles?"
"I uh... Very far…" He said with a poker face
"Well then, don't be shy, take a bite." She said with a teasing smile as she looked at him
"..."
'I feel like something is wrong... Mother told me to never accept food from strangers...'
'But this looks to be part of the Quest... Damn, fuck it!'
/Cruch!/
Dale took a bite of the apple with difficulty, it was very very hard… Like ice before it breaks.
But he ate the part after munching on it, and surprisingly, it tasted heavenly!!
/Crunch!/
So he took another bite as he looked at her with a confused expression, why did she look like that?
Tina looked at him with a funny expression.
"How does it taste?"
/Chomp chomp…/
"I don't know… I feel like I've eaten charcoal… But it tastes extremely sweet..." Dale said as he tried to describe it
"Wahahaha…"
Tina let out a hearty laugh.
"Indeed… You are quite the interesting kid aren't you?"
"After you talk with Misgurd and hopefully pass his test, go and talk with Old Testros. It's pretty easy to find him, he is always in the training camp near the Mercenary Guild."
[DING]
[Chain Quest activated]
[Welcome to Resko!
Quest type: Chain Quest (Slightly Rare)
Requirements:
Pass the Mercenary Guild's test 0/1
Become a Mercenary 0/1
Talk with Testros 0/1
*Optional* Impress both Misgurd and Testros with an outstanding performance 0/1
]
'A chain quest?! These normally have good rewards… Alright!'
"I'll do it… But there is one thing I've been wanting to ask…"
"Say it, the thing I lack the least is time."
"So uh… I've seen literally no one… And the few people you talked about are old people… Where are the young?" He asked carefully
Dale did not know anything about the Village, so he had to speak carefully else he could invoke the wrong emotions from them.
"That is simple, did you notice how the soil was relatively barren around our village?"
Dale nodded.
"This has quite the deep story but that doesn't matter right now, what matter is how we get our food."
She pointed towards the South.
"If you go South, you will see that the environment greatly changes and that thick forests soon rise from seemingly nowhere, this is connected with the desert but again, it does not concern us right now."
"The only place where we can farm and procure resources is over there, so every morning, almost everyone from the village leaves and goes to work in the fields near the forest."
"The kids are left with Illia at her Inn, while we old folks stay behind to keep everything in check, although I am a bit of a busybody as I like to venture out from time to time to forage…"
"As for the dangers, this is why most of our guard force goes with them, to keep an eye out since they are our lifeline, but don't you think we are unprotected… That would be a very terrible mistake."
Hearing this Dale nodded in understanding.
'It's quite the dynamic village, no wonder this is a high-level zone, it's incredibly dangerous and if they managed to live here for so long then it means they are far from ordinary… Everyone most likely.'
'Like this old lady over here carrying over a dozen metallic apples... I'm even impressed at myself for being able to eat one, though I feel super full right now...'
"I see, things are quite rough over here. But why not just move the village?"
The old lady shook her head with a sad face before she said:
"It's not as simple as it sounds..."
"Our village is located at the border... It's the only safe place for a long time..."
"And between moving things and keeping it here, it's much safer to stay in this place."
"It used to be simpler to live here, because as you can see, Resko still has many trees and plants growing within it, albeit now the soil isn't good enough to produce enough food anymore, even the trees barely produce any fruits..."
"But in the past, we had no need to get out of the Village's walls for anything."
"It wasn't always this way, that we had to venture outside to procure food..."
"But the desert is slowly increasing in size, and 20 or so years ago, it became impossible to farm in the immediate vicinity of the village and we've been moving closer and closer to the forest... Food is becoming harder and harder to get."
"One day, we might have to start venturing into the forest, cut the trees down for space... And abandon the Village... Even though it was the reason why we managed to last this long in the first place."
"That is why you need to try your best to earn your keep, or else we will kick you out." She said as her mood suddenly shifted
"... Yes…"
Dale gave her a slight nod before he turned around and left towards the Mercenary Guild, waving at her as he left into the distance...
Tina on the other hand looked at him as she whispered to herself:
"Body Reformation… What a kid… But it's no wonder he came to this place, only around here would such a child find the challenge he needs to grow stronger…"
'Though I cannot help but question his decision of coming here regardless, there is nothing but death and decay in this forgotten land...'
"Testros, I've sent you the rookie you always desired, so make sure to not send him away like the others…"
'Whatever his reasons may be… I will leave it to you to judge.'
With a thin smile and a mysterious gaze, the old lady easily grabbed the basket and went back to her home.
…
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Notes
As you can see in case you are an old reader, I changed this introduction by a lot!
I added a lot more content and pretty much doubled the chapter's length as it's currently 4.7K words long.
It was previously 2.2K words long.
Anyway, we saw for the first time how Resko looks with the images and the descriptions, it's time for the legend to restart!
Let's see where it'll lead us, hum?
See you all later!
PS: We're now Vetted! This means we can get power stones!
So drop them like water oh yeah!!!
Cough... I got a bit too excited there, my bad.