Once Abel logged into his user home he noticed the flashing icon on his screen.
'Hah I completely forgot about this…'
He was half tempted to ignore it for now and just log into the game but Grandma Meng's upbringing and teachings prevented him from doing such a thing. She had taught him better than to lie and ignore people when they asked him something or tried to reach him for whatever reason. He let out a sigh and opened up the private chat thread.
"Oh my gosh thank you for telling me all this. I wasn't expecting anything to be honest, I just wanted to share something interesting with my fans, it's quite hard to come up with interesting topics on an hour-long livestream and I happened to come across your post... anyway, I don't mean to ramble. Please let me know if you hear of anything else, I'll do some free advertisement for your next post ⋆‧⍢‧⋆ "
'What the…' Abel let out a sigh and just replied with "No problem."
He didn't know this girl and she obviously didn't know him, he thought it might just be her outgoing and bubbly personality but he wasn't bothered to check out any of her videos. Besides, it might all be an act for the camera so he put the matter behind him and took a look at his post. The heat seemed to die down a bit as there were only a couple hundred more views since he checked last night. He was unaware the cause for the lack of clicks was an entirely different reason, but he was bound to find out soon enough.
'It was a good run, at least now I can post some interesting stuff here. Should I make a post about the different advancement paths… but it'll take a lot of time, time I don't have.'
He thought about it for a minute and decided not to write out a lengthy post, he wasn't short of credits for the time being and he had a task to finish so he closed the forum and clicked on the Realm Quest portal.
Whoooosh
He found himself back in the forge at the blacksmiths guild. He stepped out and told the reception desk that he was going out for a while but that he'll be back. He was informed his room still had another 14 hours of usage and if he wished to extend then he was welcome to anytime, it wasn't like there were a lot of people making use of these rooms in a place like Veridia.
After making his way back to the army camp, he found different soldiers on duty but he informed them of his reason for being here. Once they saw the letter in his hand, one of the men lead him deeper into the camp. It was a typical barrack with a large training ground, a dormitory and some other buildings he had no clue what for.
They stepped into a 2-story building in the center and was led down the hallway to an office that had 2 guards stationed in front.
"What are you doing here Rus? Don't you have door duty today?" One of the guards asked.
"This gentleman came from Velskryn, he's delivering a letter to the commander, is he in the office?"
"He just came back from a meeting at the governor's, he shouldn't be busy so you can go in."
*knock* *knock*
"Come in"
A surprisingly mild voice was heard from the other side of the door but it was still clear to them all. Abel didn't know what to imagine but he assumed the commander would be a muscular man with a deep voice like the old mercenary captain he had run into on his journey to Stormwatch.
"Sir! This traveler says he has a letter for you from Velskryn and he has to hand it over in person."
Commander Darian Dusk looked middle aged but just like the majority of NPC professionals, his looks could be deceiving. He had dirty blond hair and was actually quite lean for a military man, he didn't have excessive bulky muscles, though his great height might have something to do with that. Abel realized the man was nearly 2 meters tall when he stood up, a full head in height difference between them.
"Understood, you can go back to your station Rus." After giving the commander a military salute, the soldier took his leave.
It was a very different from the traditional salute Abel knew, the man would keep his left arm and hand straight along his body but clench his right fist and extend his arm in the air directly above him. It was a little weird but each kingdom had their own customs and traditions.
Abel had read about the origin of this salute in old man Rye's journals. It was apparently a way to signify that the lowest of soldier and highest of commanders were each the pillars of the kingdom but still shows sufficient respect to their superiors. It was also a means to show that the land below their feet is what they fought for and if they were to die in battle then their spirit would ascend to the divine kingdoms above.
"Where's the letter young man"
"Here it is commander."
He handed him the letter with both hands respectfully and stood at attention, waiting for him to finish reading it. He noticed the commander raise a brow as he skimmed through the letter in his hands.
"Old Rye sent you huh... He speaks highly of you and that alone is an accomplishment not many can boast of, especially since you're obviously so weak. He didn't say what you're good at, only that you were a quick study and had a good head on your shoulders. Introduce yourself, just because the old guardian recommended you doesn't mean I have to agree. If you want my men to take you along on this expedition then tell me what you can do."
"My name is Red Sky sir, I'm a decent archer and slightly better with a sword. I can also cook and repair weapons if I have access to a flame."
Abel figured the commander, being a military man, was the type that would prefer people to be direct and to the point. It was just a guess he came to from the commanders' earlier interaction with the guard that led him here. His words proved to be true as the commander nodded his head and seemed pleased he didn't beat around the bush or try to over-glorify his skills.
"Not bad but considering you haven't trained with my men and you're uneducated in our battle formations, you can only join the archers in providing cover fire. You can do that much right?"
"Of course."
"You will also be tasked with cooking and repairing the weapons for this expedition, do you have a steed?"
"No sir but I can rent one."
"Those old horses can't keep up with our specialized breed of shadow runners. Hmmm, we can lend you a horse for this expedition I suppose. By the way, did old man Rye teach you your combat skills?"
"No sir, I learned from instructor Cedric Stormheart at Velskryn's training citadel. Though I know a couple of self-made active skills as well."
"Oh… that old loudmouth is still kicking huh. Alright then, come back 3 days from now before sunrise and I'll introduce you to the squad that is assigned to this task, you better be on time."
"Understood sir."
"Go and take care of your matters, you're dismissed."
Abel awkwardly gave the same salute and departed from the commanders' office. He swiftly took his leave under the escort of the guard stationed outside the commander's door.
'Why hasn't the quest updated… do I have to meet the squad first? I hope that's the case and not some other hidden requirement.'
Once he was out of the barracks, he was about to head back to the blacksmiths guild when he heard someone call out to him.
"Hey… H-Hey bro, h-hey guy with the red hair h-hold up…"
"Yes?"
"Sorry, yo-you're a player right…? D-do you know how to get back to th-th-the central square?"
The young man that stopped him was dressed in starter clothing and seemed very young, maybe 13 or 14 years old at most. He was quite lean with black hair and long brows but he still retained some childish features, especially the baby fat on his cheeks. He seemed a little embarrassed and kept stuttering, Abel guessed he was new and got lost in the city.
"Yeah, the central square isn't far from where I'm headed. Were you doing a quest and got lost?" Seeing the reluctance on his face, Abel tried to comfort the kid. "It's fine, you don't have to tell me. Just follow me and we'll get there in a few minutes."
"W-well, th-this is my first day in-game and I-I got carried away while exploring th-the city. B-before I knew it… I-I was completely lost. I-I logged off to check the map of the city online b-but I couldn't find it. W-when I logged back on I saw you w-walk out of the barracks. I guessed you're a player s-since you aren't d-dressed like those soldiers."
Eventually, the young man seemed to bury his embarrassment and explained his current situation to Abel. Those that were underage could join the game but they were restricted from certain things like combat, at least until they were 16 years old.
"You know you could just ask an NPC, I'm sure one of those soldiers would have given you directions if you asked."
"Wha- Really…? I-I know this game's different b-but I… it wasn't like t-that in Covenant."
The young man widened his eyes at first and then mumbled to himself. It seemed like he played some other VR games in the past but they couldn't even compare to the world of Faeron.
"Realm Quest is very different, the world of Faeron is like a real world but it's just virtual. The NPC's have their lives, they interact with one another, they can level up, scheme against you and even die. Maybe you should hold off on playing until you're 16 years old."
"I-I am 17!"
"You are? Really?" Abel's skepticism seemed to have annoyed the kid as his face scrunched up in anger but it just made him look cute, like a little boy that wanted to be treated like a man. He eventually let out a sigh seemingly used to such reactions from strangers.
"I-I just have a baby face okay. W-what can I do about it? T-t-this is just how my face is, I-I look like I'm 13 when in reality I'm n-nearly 18 years old!"
"Well, you can't blame others for thinking you are young. I can understand your frustration but don't take it out on others when they're unaware of the truth. Anyway, Stormwatch is built like a large rectangle with many different squares in it, we're currently on the outskirts of the city like one of the corners of the rectangle. There are 2 main roads that cut through the city, the both of them run parallel to one another and perpendicular with the other roads. The street we're on right now is one of those main roads. If the road is at an incline then you know you're heading to the cliff, the opposite is true for the mountain foot. Just remember this and you wont easily get lost next time."
"T-thank you and so-sorry about earlier, you're right. My n-name's Raven by the way, w-what's yours?"
"Red Sky"
"You-you're Red Sky from the f-f-forums? The one that w-went to the p-palace?!"
"No, we just have the same name. Unlike other games, you can have duplicate names here." Abel tried to act like he was tired of explaining himself and had nothing to do with that other Red Sky from the forums, it seemed to have worked as Raven easily accepted it and changed the topic they were on.
"W-what were you doing in the army base? Did you have a q-quest?"
"I was just delivering a letter. What do you want from the central square? If you plan on joining some party to go out and level then I'd advise you otherwise."
"No, I-I want to go to the training citadel. I-I already know this game's different from other VR games, I-I thought it was j-just the combat system t-that d-differed since former gaming pros were getting d-done in by rabbits hehehe" The kid couldn't stop chuckling as he remembered the sad video's he'd seen online.
"Like I said, this is a true open world. Anyway, just keep heading up this road and you'll see a sign a couple of streets later that says central square. Just turn right onto that street and you'll be there in 2 minutes. I'm heading down this road so we'll have to part ways here."
"T-thanks, really bro th-thanks a lot. Umm… ca-can I add you as a friend? We can m-maybe go leveling together after I get s-some s-skills."
The young boy named Raven eagerly asked before they could part ways while Abel hesitated for a moment, the kid actually seemed pretty lonely but that was obvious enough considering he wasn't playing with any friends his own age. He had no idea what his real life was like but he didn't want to hurt the young boy, he assumed Ravens young looks and stutter had alienated him from the rest of his peers.
"We can add each other as friends but I have a quest to do, after that I might not stick around Stormwatch. I actually started in Velskryn and came here for a quest but we'll see how things go in the future."
"S-sure that's f-fine"
Abel initiated a friend invitation and added Raven to his contact list before turning to head to the blacksmiths guild, he still had the room for half a day so he figured he'd make use of this time to forge some Eagle Beak Daggers. He wont stop forging until he uses up all the time he had paid for!