As Ares joined the group led by Frost Storm Bringer, he had the opportunity to have a conversation with each member as they introduced themselves:
Ares: "Hey everyone, nice to meet you all! I go by the name Sword Sovereign, but you can call me Ares."
Night Owl: "I am Night Owl," one of them said, his eyes shining with a hint of mystery.
Rich Kid: "You can call me Rich Kid," another chimed in, sporting a confident smile.
The group burst into laughter as one of them playfully interrupted, saying, "Ignore him, he's Fat Ash Henry," prompting laughter from everyone.
Noble Knight: "And I am the Noble Knight," another member of the group announced, exuding a sense of honor and chivalry.
Then all of them started to introduce themselves:
StealthySnacker: "Welcome to the team, Ares! I'm StealthySnacker."
LootGoblin: "Hey, Ares! I'm LootGoblin, the treasure hunter with the Midas touch. I'll make sure we collect every shiny item and valuable loot we come across. It's like second nature to me!"
CaptainClumsy: "Ah, Ares, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Sword Fairy: Sword Fairy.
...…
As Sword Fairy introduced herself with a cold gaze, there was a moment of silence.
CaffeineMage: "Ahem! Greetings, Ares! I'm Caffeine Mage, the master of lightning-fast spells and boundless energy. You can count on me to keep the group on their toes with my hyperactive nature. By the way, you can ignore emotionless Sword Fairy for her short reply. She is a martial artist in the real world and is trained to be like that."
Princess Punch: "I am not emotionless; I just don't show my emotions!"
CaffeineMage: "Yeah, we understand."
SirSlacker: "Hey, Ares! I'm SirSlacker. and My favorite thing in the world is to sleep." Said the guy Yawning.
DizzyDasher: "Welcome to the team, Ares! I'm DizzyDasher, the agile guy of the group."
GiggleMaster: "Hello, Ares! I'm GiggleMaster, a mage."
WhackaWhacker: "Greetings, Ares! I'm WhackaWhacker, a berserker."
Ares couldn't help but feel amused by the unique personalities of his new friends. After talking to them for a while, he found out that everyone was at level 10 and had awakened a martial soul. Among the thirteen of them, two people had actually awakened unique Epic rank Martial souls, while the rest had awakened gold rank martial souls. He was genuinely amazed by this group.
Afterward, they all decided to leave the novice village. Frost waved goodbye, saying, "See you around."
Frost wanted to tell him to teleport into the same city as her, but she refrained as she felt he might have a destination in mind, and they were bound to meet in the future since they were in the same server.
As Ares chose the option to leave the novice village, he was prompted to choose the city he wanted to go to. He thought for a while and decided to ask Fatty. He logged out as he hadn't added Fatty yet, and he didn't even know Fatty's game ID.
Then he called Fatty, William, and asked, "Hey, Fatty, which city are you in? I am about to leave the novice village."
Fatty Willam picked up the phone, his voice filled with shock and a tinge of disbelief.
Fatty Willam: "Holy fuck, man! Seriously, how the fuck did you manage to ditch the damn novice village in just three days? Are you secretly a gaming wizard or something?"
Ares chuckled mischievously, thoroughly enjoying Fatty Willam's baffled reaction.
Ares: "Well, you know, I feel like I'm a goddam ninja in this world. it was piece of cake to leave the novice village!"
Fatty Willam, still trying to process the information, let out an exasperated sigh mixed with a hint of frustration.
Fatty Willam couldn't hide his mix of awe and frustration, as he spoke with a hint of sarcasm.
Fatty Willam: "Well, well, color me impressed and slightly pissed off. Just a little reminder for you, oh mighty genius. We have the luxury of teleporting between cities within the same server. But holy shit! Guess which server I ended up picking? The Asian one, with dreams of encountering hot Korean girls. And here you are, probably chilling on the American server because, you know, we actually live in America. So much for our grand plans of playing together."
Ares cleared his throat, creating a brief moment of suspense.
Ares: "Ahem... well..."
Fatty Willam, eager for an explanation, interrupted him with an impatient tone.
Fatty Willam: "What's the deal, man? Don't keep me waiting."
Ares took a moment to compose himself before responding.
Ares: "Actually, here's the thing. I randomly selected a server without a clue about which one it was. Let me just double-check that real quick."
After quickly logging back into the game, Ares examined his interface, only to discover that he, too, was on the Asian Server. Realizing the situation, he promptly logged out and dialed Fatty Willam's number once again.
Ares: "Hey, Fatty! You won't believe this. Turns out, I'm also on the Asian Server, just like you."
Ares couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of their server selection, imagining Fatty Willam's reaction on the other end of the line.
Fatty Willam was genuinely surprised and exclaimed with excitement, "Alright, teleport to Scarlet Citadel, I'm already here!" Both of them logged into the game simultaneously.
Ares wasted no time and quickly selected Scarlet Citadel as his destination, teleporting to the city. As he arrived, he was greeted by a cheerful notification:
Ding! "Congratulations to player for leaving the novice area."
Ding! "Welcome to the city of Scarlet Citadel."
Impressed by the magnificent architecture that surrounded him, Ares couldn't help but admire the grandeur of the buildings, streets, and the city itself. He noticed that the city was divided into two sections—an outer city resembling a town or village, and an inner city that stood like a fortress.
Lost in the awe-inspiring view, Fatty Willam interrupted Ares's reverie by playfully slapping him on the back of his head.
Fatty Willam: "Stop daydreaming, dude! Everyone will figure out you're a noob. Quick, add me! My game ID is Charming Suave Hero."
Ares was taken aback by Fatty Willam's choice of nickname, wondering to himself, "Charming? Suave? All I see is a fat pig." Nonetheless, he swiftly added Fatty Willam to his friends' list.
Fatty Willam couldn't resist making fun of Ares's game ID, mocking him with laughter.
Fatty Willam: "HAHAHA, Sword Sovereign! Now that's new, hahahaa"
After fatty had his laugh he said, "Let's form a party and hunt some monsters in the nearby Verdant Vale Forest."
He promptly sent a party invitation, which Ares gladly accepted. The duo plan to begin their journey towards the forest, They took the opportunity to inspect each other's interfaces.
Fatty Willam was shocked by what he saw.
Fatty Willam: "What the fuck...? What's with your abilities? Sword Heart? Sword Sura? Sword Intent? Fuck, you've only just left the novice village and you've already awakened Sword Intent! Even level 100 NPC Swordsmen can't achieve that. And for a player to awaken it... I've only heard of one guy, a genius swordsman in real life. Damn, I forgot you've been practicing sword art daily. This is so cool!"
As Fatty Willam perused Ares's interface, his eyes widened when he spotted the golden glow on the Martial Soul tab.
Fatty Willam: "It's a Legendary-grade Martial Soul, and a dragon at that! The highest Martial Soul awakening I've heard of among players is a Pseudo-Legendary grade. Heck, even awakening an Epic-rank Martial Soul is incredibly rare. Meanwhile, I've only awakened a Silver-grade Martial Soul. Damn it, you also have some high-level unknown physique!"
Feeling disheartened, Fatty Willam glanced at his own interface, which seemed rather ordinary in comparison. Aside from his equipment section, which boasted all gold-level items (thanks to his wealth), his Martial Soul was only a Silver-rank wolf. Depression started to creep in.
Witnessing his friend's sadness, Ares reassured him, "Don't worry, I have another interface." He proceeded to explain all the perks of his Mythological Interface to Fatty Willam.
Fatty Willam was genuinely surprised but felt a glimmer of hope in becoming stronger. As a tank-class player already at level 30, he was adorned with gold defensive items from head to toe.
Suddenly, a memory resurfaced in Fatty Willam's mind when he was chased around by group of players because he had high grade equipment, prompting him to caution Ares:
Fatty Willam: "Keep your interface in private mode so that apart from your name and level, others won't be able to see your entire interface when you party up with them. Your interface should remain unknown to other players, or else you'll become a target for everyone."