The first thing Abel did upon entering the city was head to the local stables. He had to get his 2 gold coins back quickly since he only had a few silvers on him. The entrance fee was a whopping 6 silver coins, 5 for him and 1 for the old steed.
Right after he got his money back, he headed straight to the local Adventurers Union. He couldn't handle the constant fee's upon entering a new place. It was no wonder the majority of the NPC's didn't move around, except for merchants and adventurers, most people were more than happy in spending all their life in the same area.
You could come across 3 generations from the same family that had never gone beyond their own city limits. This didn't mean the NPC's were ignorant of the world, they knew even more than most players but they were never inclined to leave their local area. The only exception would be if a big war or major famine broke out but that would most likely coincide with a regional or even global quest that many players could take part in. No such event has taken place so far but the game had barely been released for 6 weeks, who knows what could happen in the future. The current and future players are constantly doing quest that would affect the timeline. Whether it was for the good of the world or not remained to be seen.
After Abel paid for an adventurers' token, he let out a sigh in relief and decided to log off for the time being. It was late at night in Verdia which meant it was well past dinner time in reality. He wanted to see what Frankie and Melissa were up to and inform them of the incoming delivery after tomorrow.
He turned onto the inclining roads and made his way to the central square where the local players were haggling over goods or talking about their day, he pulled up his panel and chose to log out.
Whoooosh
He didn't remain in his user home and swiftly disconnected the Neuro-link, opening his eyes back in the real world. He stepped out of his pod and took a look at the time, 8:35 pm.
'They probably already ate but they shouldn't have gone up to bed yet…'
When he stepped into the main house, just as he had guessed, Melissa and Frankie were enjoying a pot of tea after having their dinner. Abel swung by the living room and mentioned the delivery scheduled for after tomorrow and then asked Melissa about her day. She had also filed the paperwork to cut back on her hours, both of them would only work 3 days a week and for half a day instead of fully day like they did previously.
"By the way, I set things up in Velskryn but if you two want to start somewhere else then that's also fine. It would just be a pity since everything's pretty much laid out for you…"
"It's fine Abe, we were talking about it earlier and we think it'll be better to start off somewhere more remote. Besides, we wouldn't want all your hard work to go to waste."
"Yeah bro, don't worry about us. Go and have dinner, I made brisket today, the left over from the dinner the other night are starting to go bad so I had to chuck them out."
Abel nodded and headed to the kitchen, he made quick work of the brisket Frankie had made for dinner. After washing up and having a cup of tea with his friends, he paid a quick visit to the bathroom before logging right back in.
Whooooosh
The cascading colors came and went as they re-established his Neuro-link. Just as he was about to log back into Realm Quest, he saw an icon flashing on one of the tabs on his screen. After clicking on it, he noticed it was the tab for the forum and that he had a new message.
'I wonder how many views I got now… wait, she replied? I hope she doesn't really want something from me…'
At first, he was wondering what the notification was about. It couldn't be a new message since he had put his settings to block all messages but this didn't count since it was a reply to his own message and under the same thread.
He opened up her reply, thankfully she wasn't asking for anything excessive. She merely asked what his quest was about and if he had any information he could share with her. He thought for a few minutes before writing out a reply,
"I was just getting a recommendation letter from one of the kingdom's guards to join a monster expedition. It isn't anything major, I didn't step foot into the royal palace, just went to a side building but that was already obvious from the video. I don't really know what to share… you probably already know the stuff behind other paid posts like the training citadel and such… where are you in Faeron and what's your profession? I've read some stuff in the library so if you let me know where you're situated and what you specialize in, I might be able to tell you some things."
Once he hit reply, he opened up his post and took a look- 9,589 views.
"It increased by more than 1,000 views so that means… another 2,000+ credits, I can't believe I was missing out on this money-making machine. I wonder how much Coinweaver made from his post. I shouldn't check… it'll probably just hurt my heart if I do.'
Just as he was about to click on the Realm Quest portal, he saw the same icon light up again. He let out a sigh and opened up the message. This chick sure replied fast!
"Hello~
I started out in Elyndor as a mage. I wanted to advance to an illusionist if possible but the skill-essence crystals are so expensive and I don't know which ones to buy! Do you know of any tips that can help?
Thanks~"
'What's up with this chick, acting like we're besties… sigh, me and my big mouth asking if she needed anything in return.'
Abel thought of all the records he had read in the past week, trying to think of something that would be of help. He remembered a rare advancement path the old Battlesmith had written about, it was mentioned in great detail.
He was still at the fifth tier and had been out adventuring in Elydnor when he came across a Dreamweaver. Abel wasn't sure if this person was currently a Legend or not but he vividly recalled the passage about this profession.
"Well I've read about a rare advancement path that will take you further than an illusionist. You go from Mage -> Psionic Mage -> Illusionist -> Enchantress -> Dreamweaver. I'm pretty sure you need the resilience stat and some specific skills to go down this path… skills like basic illusion casting, illusion spark and dream sense. The latter is like mana sense but instead of mana, it's sensing the dreamscape – a different realm filled with dream energy. Once you know these few spells, then that advancement path should open up in your skill tree. I've also read about a high-level Dreamweaver NPC in the free State of Branagh though I'm not sure if she's still around considering the record was over 200 years old. Anyway, I'm about to log in but I hope this helps."
Professions and their advancements varied greatly, not everyone would stick to being the same class throughout their tiers like Abel. Most people would have to advance their class to improve in tier, sometimes straddling the line of another profession entirely, but there were some special and hidden professions that would stay as the same class throughout their advancement in tier. The class with the greatest variance would probably be the mage followed by the warrior.
Once he was done, he quickly closed the forum and clicked on the Realm Quest portal. He wanted to log in before this chick could respond.
Whoooosh
He quickly stepped through the door and found himself back in Stormwatch city's central square. Unlike Velskryn, there was no grand palace opposite the local training citadel. Instead, there was the governor's mansion which was still pretty spectacular but obviously lacking when compared to the royal palace.
The local governor was both a noble and the admiral of the royal navy, tasked with keeping an eye on the oceanic borders. Even if conflicts among the kingdoms had decreased significantly while trade and commerce had flourished in its stead, that didn't mean wars and conflicts were a thing of the past anymore. A kingdom would still have to keep up their guard against any possible invasions or attacks.
'I should head to the army base and see if the commander is available…'
He swung by the fountain and filled up his half empty spacial canteen, old Gallopington had drunk a substantial amount of water from it so it was already half empty. After he was done, he took a look at the map beside the bulletin board and navigated a route to the army base. It took him 15 minutes to get there and he was stopped at the entrance by the 2 serious looking guards.
"Halt, this area is restricted!"
"Excuse me gentlemen, I have a letter for Commander Darian Dusk. I was told I have to give it to him in person." Abel pulled out the letter and showed it to the guards.
"Oh… well the commander has already retired for the evening. If this isn't urgent then come back at day break and we'll escort you to him."
"That's fine, my deadline is still 4 days from now so I'll come back tomorrow morning. Thank you."
'Of course, this isn't like other games where the NPC's are always there. I should have thought of it sooner… so what should I do…'
It was still too early to log off, he had a few hours to kill before he wanted to call it a night and get some sleep. He thought for a few minutes as he left the guarded entrance behind him, he recalled he needed to forge some new daggers.
'Right, I should forge another 2 Viper Stiletto's… I'll need to buy 4 Wood Viper Teeth. Hopefully, I'll do even better this time.'
Abel swung around and made his way to the trader's district. He needed to get some materials and then head to the local blacksmiths guild.