As they returned, he noticed the two guards that stood at the entrance had changed.
"Hey Calix, I didn't know they moved up your shift" Darcy asked one of the guards
"I also didn't know until a few minutes ago" Calix replied, they both shared a laugh about it.
"How was your hunt?" Calix asked.
"It was good until a silverback Wolf appeared, but not to worry it was no match for us" Darcy replied playfully
"Thank goodness, a number of them has been getting too close to the village lately… but don't worry we'll deal with them soon enough" Calix answered
With a towering stature and a stern facial expression with piercing eyes, Calix's intimidating look contradicted his soft-spoken personality.
Darcy shared a few more words with the guards before bidding them goodbye, she continued conversing with different villagers, addressing them in a friendly manner.
This made Cian wonder if there was a hidden benefit to being friendly with the villagers.
"Why are you so nice to the villagers, do you get special treatment?"
Darcy chuckled softly. "Not really, but it's just how it is. If you treat people nicely, they'll be nice to you."
"People, aren't they just NPCs?" Cian wondered, it sounded like she actually saw them as real people.
"They are, but to me, they are also people. After the accident, I never thought I'll ever be able to walk again, but here I can do more than just walk".
"I know you may not understand since you didn't want to play the game anyway, but to a lot of players this isn't just a game, it's a continuation of life." Darcy explained passionately.
From the original Cian's memories, Cian could tell Darcy was an innocent soul, she was nice and always trying to help people any little way she could. Hearing this made him realize that Aetheria meant a lot to her.
'Maybe not all players are the same…' he thought to himself.
"Believe me, I understand," Cian replied with a warm smile.
After a while, they got to a tavern. Even if it added no nutritional benefit, the fully immersive experience of the game allowed players their ability to taste, so it was no wonder that tavern was filled with players.
"Hey guys," Darcy called out as they approached a table with four guys and a girl.
"Snow, where'd you go? We've already ordered a few rounds" the girl asked.
"I had to go meet someone, everyone meet Cian" Darcy introduced Cian as they joined the table.
"Cian, is that like your real name?" The girl asked.
She had a staff with a crystal ball leaning on the table beside her, making Cian suspect she was a mage of some sort.
Before Cian could answer, the guy beside her spoke up. "Come on, Nyx, you know it's rude to ask someone that. Sometimes I wonder if there's anything inside your pretty head."
She pouted, and lightly punched him on his arm.
"Excuse her bad manners. I'm Wolfe, the Vice Clan leader of the 'Cyan order'," he introduced himself.
He had a sword by his side and wore a full body armour, with a charming smile, well groomed gold hair and a confident and appealing demeanour.
"There's no problem, it's nice to meet you all" Cian replied.
Cian wondered just how strong the leaders of this clan were, according to Darcy this was a pretty powerful clan and the clan leader was a ranked warrior. How powerful do you have to be, before you become a ranked warrior?
'Maybe I could see his level using my inspect skill?' he secretly activated the skill.
"INSPECT"
_______
Unable to provide information
_______
'Of course, it doesn't work for players', he sighed.
"So are you also a hidden gem like our Snow here?" Wolfe said with a smile, drawing his attention back to the table.
"A hidden gem?" Cian inquired.
"Yeah, there's no one with a better aim than her in the whole of the Nevadar region" Wolfe said
"It's true" Nyx added
Cian turned to see Darcy's face bright red
"Th-that's not true" Darcy mumbled
'I didn't know she was that good, no wonder she was able to join a big clan like this'
"Unfortunately I can't say that I am as good as her" Cian said
"That's a shame, we could use an extra hand for our big quest in a few days" Wolfe said, still maintaining his charming smile.
Cian saw this as an opportunity, he knew about the quest he was referring to, the one with Leviathan. If he could use this chance to get closer to Leviathan, he could perhaps devise a means to carry out his revenge.
"I wouldn't mind joining you on your quest" Cian said
"That's great…my warrior intuition is telling me you are a very powerful warrior" Wolfe replied
Darcy on the other hand was really pleased with how things were going, she didn't have to do anything, but yet everything was progressing just like she had hoped. If Cian were to join the clan, they'll get to spend more time together.
Just as Wolfe was about to speak, one of the other warriors that had since been wearing a wary expression called out.
"Why'd you have a sprite? Are you a newbie?"
The table went flat silent, everyone's attention focused on Cian. The atmosphere had changed in an instance.
"Yes, I only joined the game tonight" Cian replied
"Are you trying to say that it's your first time playing the game?" Wolfe inquired, his friendly smile gradually being replaced by what looked like disgust.
"It might only be his first time but he just slayed a B-rank silverback Wolf" Darcy quickly interrupted
"You expect us to believe he actually just defeated a silverback wolf all on his own without your help?" The other warrior scoffed.
"Not only that, he did it without taking any damage" Darcy added
Everybody at the table wore a look of disbelief. There's no way that was possible. Everyone except Wolfe, who was getting irritated by Darcy's words.
"What's your current level?" Wolfe asked Cian with a mix of anger and disgust.
Cian did a quick check and replied "level 8"
As he announced his level, it caused the Warriors to gasp in shock, followed by whispers and murmurs.
"If you only joined this night, that means you were able to level up eight times?!" Nxy exclaimed as she placed her hands on her mouth.
Hearing his level made the warriors to consider that he just might have killed a B-rank beast.
Wolfe firmly stated as he cleared his throat. "Even at that, we can't let a Newbie join us on a quest with the moonlight clan"
"And you Snow, I expect you to be preparing for VALHALLA instead of running around with a newbie" he said sternly
Darcy was about to say something else before Cian stopped her
"I understand," Cian calmly voiced
"If you'll excuse me, I have some things I have to go deal with" Cian got up and left the tavern.
"Cian, wait, where are you going?" Darcy called out as she chased after him.
"Like I said, I have somewhere I need to be. It's okay, just go and prepare for your quest." Cian said with a smile.
"But I wanted us to be together" she said, looking as if she was about to start crying.
"At least I'm here now, we can still play together anytime… just focus on what you have to do for now" he gave her a hug
"o-okay" she wiped the tear from her eyes, smiled and then returned to the tavern.
'It would have been a good opportunity to meet Leviathan, but maybe It's for the best, who's to say that we wouldn't just repeat what happened before, I should get stronger before meeting him… It's not yet the right time'.
-DING-
Cian received a reminder that he has spent three hours online, he recalled the maximum limit for his console was just seven hours.
"I don't have much time left, It would take me days travelling to meet my father. That means I'll need to use the fastest horse I can get" Cian thought out loud.
[Or you could easily use a 'Pathway']