Aluna's reaction wasn't like someone who was seeing success for the first time; she was very familiar with the entire process and steps.
"Brother Dark Flame," the old nun's eyes bulged, strained to their limits, "While others went mad one by one, they confused their own brains, heard the whispers, and stole the Unclean Holy Grail of the Dark Flame, they are Traitors, they are sinners!"
Lind absorbed the information but didn't say anything. After all, he was just a casual believer himself. If another sect offered eggs, he would certainly switch faiths immediately.
What concerned him more was the fact that there were already Great Knights half a year ago, and this place was just a corner of the world. Perhaps after the Ring of Magic shattered, things weren't as bad as imagined; some people still controlled power.
If they too noticed the anomaly of the players, they would definitely be interested in the players' power.
Just needing to kill to grow stronger, unable to die, they were the perfect tools.
He had competitors now!
Not good news at all.
Lind put away the book "Praise the Sun"; perhaps this was the biggest gain besides the Magic Potion needed to become a Great Knight.
"We should leave Prey Town today. There is a group of devout knights waiting for your guidance."
"Of course!" Aluna stuffed the dried rat back into her pocket, her face full of earnestness.
...
Lind bought a lot of things this time, so he specially found a two-wheeled cart when leaving.
The physically weakened Aluna naturally rode on the cart, pulled by two soldiers.
A beast was dozens of times more expensive than before the Calamity of the shattered Ring, no longer affordable by small forces. Manpower was the cheapest.
"My Lord, we must be careful, or we might become a target."
"Hmm."
Lind nodded. Along the way, his left hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and his attention was at its peak.
Four men and an old nun with a cart full of supplies—it was like shouting to others that there were easy pickings ready for the taking.
Lind, who had already successfully promoted to a Great Knight, did not fear those refugees; those unafraid to die were welcome to come.
What he worried about were the non-human creatures. The chance of encountering them during the day was low, but it didn't mean there were none.
Those greedy for the moon and fearful of the sunlight were ultimately lesser Calamities; no one could ensure that higher creatures wouldn't appear.
After a long walk, the anticipated attack did not occur.
"There are disordered footprints here," Lind looked at the fresh footprints on the ground, "They probably planned to ambush here or had other plans, but something seems to have happened that made them choose to flee, the scene is very chaotic."
His mind couldn't help but conjure images of hoofprints as large as elephant feet, creatures with horses' lower bodies, the upper halves not necessarily twisted by truth or faith—tentacles full of suckers? Tentacles bristling with eyeballs? Or eyeballs covered in tentacles?
But for now, no hoofmarks were found, only the messy footprints of humans.
No matter what had happened, they couldn't relax their vigilance.
"My Lord?" The four soldiers, as well as Aluna, could see a different meaning in his solemn expression.
"Pick up the pace!"
No matter what it was, they needed to leave quickly.
After traveling tirelessly for a day, they finally saw the outline of Star Dragon Ridge watchpost, like a beetle creeping across the horizon.
Finally home!
During this time, Loves White Silk had only posted a video about building a house, and Lind knew that the post was all right.
"It's the Lord, he's returned!" As they approached the watchpost, the soldiers on the wall shouted at the top of their lungs.
The heavy gate of the watchpost swung open.
The soldiers came out voluntarily to help with carrying the supplies, full of vigor, and filled with hope for the future.
All these were essentials for living!
Lind made his routine inquiry, "Have those Undead caused any trouble recently?"
"No, they just finished building their houses," the Soldier shook his head.
Lind made a point to take a look and found that within the area he had planned, a shabby little hut made of wood and stone had been erected. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough to provide shelter from the wind and rain.
According to the thinking of players, it's the early stage of clearing new ground, and no one would be inclined to stay here to build houses.
Once the novelty wears off, players would prefer to go out and explore, to do quests.
"Lord!" Loves White Silk was the first to see Lind, and she rushed over excitedly, "Are there any quests?"
After her shout, the other three players also gathered around.
"Yes, my Lord, are there any quests? We'll take any quest!"
"How about dragons?"
"Giants, Undead, anything goes!"
You're really not picky, are you?
Lind struggled to maintain his expression. He feared that if things went on like this, he might become a world-class actor before becoming a powerful lord.
He switched to the solemn tone necessary for an NPC giving out quests: "Ah!"
There's drama!
Seeing him suddenly sigh, the four players immediately perked up.
Indeed, the Star Dragon Ridge outpost isn't your average Newbie Village; the quests issued by this Lord are different.
In the two days and one night of the game, the four of them didn't really stay in the game without going out. They had to exit the game for eating and using the bathroom. During that time, they also communicated with other players, and the forums were already filled with players' posts. After exiting the game, many players would check the forums; after all, it was the only official chat area. It was not only convenient to view but also allowed for one-click friend adding, data exchange, and more. Players could even make money from the videos they produced in partnership with other video websites, so there really was no reason to give up on the forums.
It was just too useful.
But The Officials seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving nothing but a Beta Test announcement.
The 3000 players of the 1.01 Beta version were not a dispersed crowd, especially after Loves White Silk's first video went viral, and many started forming player groups.
Like joining the major mainstream player groups, the four of them had joined basically all of them, just to get firsthand data and information.
About 1300 people successfully found Newbie Villages to take shelter in.
The rest of the 1700+ players included those who spawned right on monster respawn points, effectively "corrupted," unable to move.
Some were captured and made captives, with no freedom.
Others appeared in desolate areas, not knowing where to go next, getting completely lost — left without any gaming experience.
If it weren't for the ability to level up by killing monsters and the freedom to exit freely, this world would feel almost too real to be a game, seeming to have no concern for the players' hardships.
Then there were those who managed to make it into Newbie Villages. Unlike the four Loves White Silk, they encountered currencies other than Gold Coins, which could even be said to be bizarrely diverse.
The lack of a uniform currency drove the players to complain; the sunk costs were too high, making it unlikely to be easy for them to switch factions later on.
Next, other Newbie Villages usually had important roles such as "Poster Girls," "Blacksmiths," "Pharmacists," and "Merchants."
Players could take on fixed daily quests through Poster Girls, purchase and repair weapons and equipment through Blacksmiths, buy health and mana potions through Pharmacists, and finally, buy or sell various materials through Merchants.
Compared to Star Dragon Ridge, the outpost's walls were many times higher than those of Newbie Villages, resembling a fortress with no such defense quests against enemies like wanderers or mountain folk. Who could break through the sturdy walls of Star Dragon Ridge?
Although there was no Poster Girl here, they had the Lord. But unlike Poster Girls who stayed in one place for long periods, Lind's recent disappearance had left them quite frustrated.
There was no Blacksmith inside the outpost, but there was a weapons shop. While other Newbie Villages were still selling clothes and fur garments, this place was already selling heavy plate armor, even complete suits of armor. When the four revealed the items they could buy, it made the other players in the group drool with envy, all clamoring to come to Star Dragon Ridge, but unfortunately, they couldn't find the way and could only look on with envy.
Perhaps the only disappointment was the lack of a Pharmacist and a Merchant, making the functionality seem somewhat incomplete.
But overall, the four were very satisfied with Star Dragon Ridge as a Newbie Village.
Some were even analyzing that Star Dragon Ridge wasn't a typical Newbie Village but a hidden faction with its own special storyline.
That was also why the four of them were patiently staying here.