"I can't believe it. I got the last book."
I left the magic shop with the last copy of the book I needed. The book, which was a spell book, had a few words on the cover. It read:
Magic Guide: A Starter's Manual
This book was what was required to unlock the magic skill. All I had to do was read it later and then process the information. Finally I could put my MP to use. I put the book back into my inventory along with the other basic spell books I bought.
(A/N: I just realized that I've been referring to MP (magic power) instead of mana. I'll make it more clear in the future. EX: Cores are absorbed by magic users to permanently increase their total mana. I used MP here last time when it should of been mana.)
Since I've finally finished everything I wanted to do for the day, I guess I could enjoy the festival now. I'm sure the mayor will give a speech during the festival. I can use that moment to complete the quest about confronting the mayor.
-
The entire human continent was currently celebrating the hero's party departure that will take place in a few days. The starter town that Roman was staying in was one of the many cities throwing a festival in honor of the hero's party. Today was special though since the hero's party will be stopping by for just a moment. They were tasked with visiting every village and town before leaving for the demon continent.
The humans of this world believes that the demons were the parasites of this world. This belief was passed through the generation by a god named the Man God. The Man God was a human who ascended passed the God Rank and became an actually god eons ago. It is believed that his teachings about the parasitic demon race is what built this human hatred for demons.
This deep belief has caused skirmishes and short wars between the human and demons for many years. Somehow, this continued war never affected the other two continents. The Beast Continent and the Elf Continent never once stepped in and took a side. Since they never stepped in, the humans and demons continued killing each other.
To stop the war, the emperor of the human continent apparently prayed to the Man God for answers. It was said that the Man God guided the emperor. He had him search for five individuals. A priest, a warrior, a mage, a archer and a hero. These five individuals were brought together and formed the hero's party. They were trained by the emperor's people and now they were ready to embark on their journey.
-
Just outside the starter city, a group of five could be seen walking together. These five looked like they've been traveling for a long time. If someone saw these people, they would surely turn and run the opposite way, scared that they would loose their lives to these suspicious people. Fortunately these five weren't suspicious people, they were the hero's party!
"UGH! Finally, we can rest for a bit! I can see the city gates from here!"
The archer was the first to let out a sigh of relief. The archer was a young teenager. He had just turned 16 when the emperor found him. After only a year, he was deemed ready to join the hero's party. The young man took his hood off.
He had messy green hair and attractive green eyes. From his looks, you would assume that he was a model for a big company.
"Shut up! You have the most stamina out of all of us. You aren't as tired as us. You just want to look for another girl to sleep with!"
The person next to him suddenly scolded him. The voice lacked confidence and any form of authority. This caused the archer to just laugh and pat their head.
"Of course! My little Sarah! I promise you can sleep with me instead tonight if that's what you want."
The person's hood came off as the archer did this. Under the hood was a young girl. She was 16 year old, Sarah, a commoner who exceeded in magic. She was brought to the capital of the human continent three years ago. It took her only 1 year under the emperor's men for her to master her magic abilities.
Sarah turned red as the archer kept playing with her hair.
"Quit it Noah! Everyone is looking!"
Sarah complained but she didn't stop Noah, the archer, from patting her head. These two came from the same village and have been friends since childhood. It was no wonder that the two got along so well.
The other three looked on with a smile. These three looked at the other two as their own little brother and sister. The priest, 26 year old Isaac, laughed and called to the two kids.
"Come on guys! We might miss the festival at this rate!"
The other two hooded figures kept on walking. The warrior and the hero.
"Are you okay Kiana?"
(A/N: pronounced "KEY" "Ana" as in the sister from Frozen.)
The warrior asked the hero, Kiana if she was okay.
"Yeah, I'm okay Lauren. I'm just ready to leave for the demon continent now."
"I know what you mean. I hope everything ends smoothly. Once we complete our mission that the Man God gave to us, we can all finally rest."
Kiana just nods. She also prays that all will go well.
-
Roman POV
I was feasting the moment I reached the town square. The festival had already started and there were many food vendors. I wanted to try it all!
While I was chowing down, I couldn't help but thank this VR technology. Even though I know this game brought the end of the world in my past, it was still amazing that I could experience the game like it was real life.
As I go from cart to cart, I notice that there are a lot of actual players around. It would seem that news of the festival has gotten around to other players as well. Everyone had logged in today. I walk over and sit down at an empty bench and watched the people go around.
As I was sitting and watching, I couldn't help but wonder if any of my friends bought the game. I know they all had a VR set from years ago but they didn't show interest in the game like I did. I should asks them once I get off. This festival should last for a few more hours. I'll get off after that.
Once I finish, I began looking at the normal stalls. Some of these stalls sold accessories for cheaper since there was a celebration. I was hoping to take a few with me. Using my Vision Skill, I hoped I could get a few good items.
The first stall I went to was being ran by an old man. He must have been at least in his 60s. There was a little girl next to him, I assume that was his granddaughter. As I walk up to the stall, the old man got up and greeted me.
"Why, hello young man. Could I interest you in any of my items?"
"Ah, I was hoping to find any accessories you have that can be used as protection items."
The old man listens to me and nods once I finish. He begins scanning his items until he finally stops a few different things. He grabs them and shows it to me.
"I have four sets of these items. They all go together." He says this while waving the items in front of me. I use my vision skill to look at the items.
The items were all interesting. The set had a necklace, a ring, a pair of earrings and a bracelet. Each item gave a different array of boosts.
The necklace was a dull silver. The chain itself was small and didn't stand out. What was interesting was the design. The decoration for the necklace looked like fangs from a monster. This piece was about the size of my palm, so it didn't stand out much too. The necklace also had a boost. A 5% boost to all physical attacks.
The ring was silver while my Ring of Deus was gold. The ring looked a little fancy with its engraved rose while the Ring of Deus looked like a simple gold band. I look closely at the ring and I could see that the inside of all four rings were engraved with a quote.
"Death must exist for life to have a meaning?"
I look back at the old man. "Interesting quote. Whoever owned these before must have been a poetic person."
The old man just smiles at me. "I'm sure he was boy. These rings belonged to a family of four. They were proud warriors. The son had that quote engraved so if any of them died, the others could be reminded to live on when they see the ring."
"Mhm. That sounds nice."
I check the boost and see that it had a 10% protection rate to all attacks, meaning that it will deflect 10% of all attacks, whether physical or magical. I couldn't believe it! That means I would never take 100% of an attack, only up to 90% of it would affect me. That's broken!
I quickly check the earrings and the bracelets. The four earrings were basic and small. They were one solid color each, coming in black, white, blue and red. They looked like small beads. I checked the bracelets next. There were only enough bracelets for four people to have one each. The bracelet was designed to look like a dragon wrapping around itself. It's wings stuck out a bit, just enough to use as a weapon that could surprise an enemy.
(A/N: google roman bracelets. I took the design from the serpent bracelets they had. Just add little dragons wings that are pointy and you got my bracelets.)
These items didn't have any boosts to them but they were required to receive the entire set boost. The set boost for having all four items on is a 10% XP boost.
After looking over it all, I decide to buy all four sets. One for me and the rest for my family.
"How much for all of this sir?" I was hoping the man didn't ask for much. These items would be really good for those who are just starting. The old man looks at me and smiles.
"Don't worry son. Since you're my first customer, please take it as a gift."
HUH?
"No! I can't sir!" I fumble through my pockets and pull out my remaining 2 gold coins. I look and see the little granddaughter looking at me. I went ahead and handed her the 2 gold coins and say to her,
"Take this okay? Buy your grandpa and yourself something cool!"
I quickly take the four set of accessories and leave before the old man could stop me.
"Wait!! It's okay son!! Take the coins back!!"
-
After running off, I ended up a little bit aways from the town square. I stop to catch my breathe. After that I put three of the set into my inventory and put on the last one. I slip the ring onto my left middle finger since the Ring of Deus was on my right pointer finger. I put on the necklace and put the bracelet onto my right wrist. Finally I push the black earrings through my ears. Immediately, I could feel the boosts coming through.
"This is nice! Haha!"
While I was checking out the boost, I didn't realize that a group of men had snuck up behind me. I felt a sword being pushed into my back.
"Woah man, nice things. Let's go talk in that dark alley over there."
I tried turning around to see how many of them there were but the sword kept poking me.
"I didn't tell you to look. Just go in the direction of that alley."
I didn't want to die already, especially with all of these things on me so I just listen to them and walk towards the dark alley.