Aesir materialized in an endless grassland and sighed, reflecting with a weary smile on everything that had transpired.
"I didn't expect killing Kyle to have such widespread consequences."
To an outsider, Aesir's last conversation with Howard might have seemed cryptic, but he understood it perfectly. Howard hadn't given him the heraldry to spread his fame. After all, the old man had chosen this remote location to avoid worldly troubles. Why would he invite trouble by attracting attention?
No, Howard was a Grade 5 Warlock Sovereign—one of the hidden powers Aesir had thought would take note of his actions, and indeed, Howard had. By bestowing the heraldry and revealing his true power, Howard was conveying to Aesir that every action had consequences.
Forget Grim; there were thousands of others who had taken an undue interest in him, and they would soon be knocking on his door.
Howard had gifted him the heraldry to provide a means of protection until Aesir grew strong enough to confront the monsters lurking in the shadows.
Aesir was aware of a few of them himself. In his past life, he had been one of the two ultimate powers in the Galvian Kingdom. His victory over the Void Walkers had been aided by one of these hidden powers. Just one of them could upset the balance of power between the two ultimate powers, demonstrating their immense strength.
With Howard's heraldry, Aesir was shielded from the majority of these adversaries.
They wouldn't easily provoke a conflict with a Grade 5 Warlock Sovereign who had nearly reached the pinnacle of power.
However, that didn't mean they wouldn't attempt indirect methods. These ancient monsters would send their subordinates—individuals at or slightly above Aesir's level—to challenge him, knowing that Howard couldn't retaliate directly.
Unknown to Aesir, Grim was also preparing similar challenges to test him and facilitate his growth.
With a sigh, Aesir pushed these thoughts aside. He had other objectives to accomplish, and brooding over this wouldn't help. He surveyed the plain attentively.
Aesir retrieved several items he had purchased from the market in Amzion Crib town before departing.
Carefully relying on his memories and calculations, he began to arrange them.
After finishing, he sighed and turned towards the western defense of the plain. With a determined frown, he journeyed forward for about an hour until he spotted a small town surrounded only by a palisade.
Aesir activated Silent Tracer: Second Form, allowing him to create a new avatar in the character creation menu.
This avatar would be valid as long as the skill remained active.
Aesir fashioned himself to match a cyber punk dressing.
After finishing his task, he crossed into the town and entered without hesitation. Immediately, he faced weapons aimed at his face. Despite this, Aesir managed a small smile.
A woman with pale skin and fiery red hair emerged from the group, approaching cautiously. She had two beauty marks on her lips and cheek, and her lips twitched nervously. Dressed in traveler's clothes with a bag at her waist, she spoke smoothly.
"Hello, Adventurer. Welcome to our small settlement. Can I ask why you're here?" Her voice was gentle and calming, matching her slender frame and poised posture.
Aesir smiled but stayed silent, watching each person holding a weapon. They were of different races and ages, mostly young adults. Though they seemed afraid, there was determination in their eyes to fight rather than flee.
"Sorry, Baron Adventurer," she said cautiously.
Aesir shook his head. "With things like this, you won't be able to defend yourself against the savages."
His words landed with unexpected weight, visibly unsettling them. The woman's complexion drained further, her breath catching in a momentary pause.
Aesir sighed softly before adding, "But don't worry, I'm here."
With a fluid grace, he strode past them toward a building that resembled an inn, though its construction appeared hastily done and still rough around the edges. Aesir moved effortlessly, almost imperceptibly, his movements swift thanks to the enhanced agility granted by Baron Howard's assistance—a speed beyond the perception of ordinary observers.
The pair exchanged anxious glances, their apprehension growing. Aesir's sudden appearance and cryptic assurances felt like discovering a large spider in a small room—unsettling and uncertain, leaving them on edge about his intentions, even though he hadn't made any aggressive moves yet.
In reality, the settlers weren't inherently hostile to outsiders. They comprised a faction from the Adventurer's Guild, pioneers tasked with exploring and evaluating untamed territories for potential habitation.
Initially, prospects seemed promising. The region boasted abundant natural resources, with valuable metals and minerals lying beneath the soil. Control over such a land could potentially bring great wealth to the Adventurer's Guild.
Yet, a perplexing question lingered: why hadn't the Galvian Kingdom already annexed this territory, leaving it open for others to claim?
The answer was straightforward: the land was already occupied. Indigenous people, viewed by the settlers as typical savages due to their unfamiliar language, aggressive demeanor, and unfamiliar customs, had long held sway over the area. Over time, continuous skirmishes had whittled down the frontier group to a mere fraction of its original strength.
These pioneers were not warriors; they were prospectors whose ability to defend themselves had waned over time, leaving inexperienced scholars and travelers to fend for survival amidst constant attacks.
This experience had toughened them a bit, but expecting them to become strong fighters under this pressure was unrealistic. If mental strength came so easily from conflict, PTSD wouldn't exist.
Aesir sat at a counter, going over all the information about this event in his head. He didn't bother pretending not to know what was going on. He knew a lot about what had led up to this and what was likely to happen next.
This quest was known as the War of Attrition, a challenging endeavor open to any player but exclusive to guild participation. Only a formidable group, with members willing to make sacrificial efforts, dared to confront the indigenous inhabitants and secure even a minor foothold in this untamed frontier.
The coveted prize? Land. What else could incentivize a guild to endure such heavy losses? Whether in Faction Online or reality, land held intrinsic value, particularly in a region abundant with resources yet devoid of a clear owner.
However, claiming the title to this land was contingent upon the adventurer's group maintaining control over it. It was a lofty aspiration to expect a player group to match the resilience and strength of the adventurer's guild within the initial decade of Faction Online.
Aesir arrived here without the backing of a guild or the sanction of the adventurer's group, yet he harbored a more promising prospect for success than his previous affiliations.
The critical misstep of former group members lay in taking sides in this conflict, engaging in hostilities against natives deeply attuned to the land. Few pondered why these indigenous inhabitants had managed to retain possession of the land for so long, or why the creatures dwelling here remained concealed within their designated zones.
The big mistake was underestimating these so-called savages based on their appearance. It took almost three years of constant fighting and losses before an ordinary player who had left the group found an underground tunnel.
What was underground? A huge city that stretched for miles. The number of "savages" there was more than the population of the Galvian Kingdom. Later, spies found out that the surface war was just practice for the young to learn to fight.
The natives never took them seriously.
This was a real war of attrition, where both sides had lots of people and strength, but neither was making any real progress. At best, winning here would be a victory that came with a big cost.
Aesir wasn't here to help the adventurer's group or the natives. He was here to help himself. The easiest way to be part of a war and benefit from it was... trading weapons.
That's why Aesir bought lots of items from players who thought they were worthless. In a war, normal weapons were better than bad ones. No group would give its soldiers bad swords because if you died, the enemy could take it and use it.
In Faction Online, bringing a normal weapon to a fight where the enemy had bad weapons was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Aesir would have liked to go to more towns to get items, but most players would have sold theirs by now. It was usually the first thing they did.
The door of the inn swung open with a creak, admitting a delicate woman and a skinny man sporting glasses. They approached Aesir with forced smiles, clearly trying to mask their unease.
"Adventurer Baron, we're glad to have you here. Is everything okay?" the woman inquired tentatively, her eyes darting between Aesir and her companion.
Aesir remained aloof, not bothering to meet their gaze. He found it effortless to exude an air of disinterest and mystery.
"Yes," he replied curtly, his voice carrying a hint of detachment.
To the woman and the man, his concise response held a deeper significance, evoking associations with Faction Online that they struggled to interpret.
"Ah, good," the woman murmured, exchanging a concerned glance with her companion.
The skinny man adjusted his glasses with a flick of his fingers and adopted a more assertive tone than anyone Aesir had encountered thus far.
"Why are you here? Are you here to sell weapons or to scout for a faction?" His question cut through the air, probing for motives with a directness that suggested he wasn't easily intimidated.
The woman clung tightly to Aesir's sleeve, visibly shaken by the blunt and confrontational nature of the man's words. Aesir finally turned to face him, his expression inscrutable.
"What's your name?" Aesir asked calmly, his eyes fixing on the skinny man with glasses.
"Levy. I'm the leader of the frontier group here. And you?" Levy responded, maintaining a stance that conveyed both authority and curiosity.
Aesir chuckled softly, genuinely amused. The connection to Faction Online's AI had caught him off guard. The woman and Levy exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of what was so amusing about Levy's introduction.
"Sorry. I'm Justin," Aesir replied, a small smile playing on his lips.
Levy's surprise was evident, but he quickly recovered, joining in the light-hearted moment. "Ah, I see why you laughed," he remarked, his own smile broadening.
With the tension eased, the trio lapsed into a brief silence, leaving Levy's companion in the dark about the exchange.
"I'm Lena," the woman spoke up finally, introducing herself. "Levy's sister and his deputy. It's a pleasure to meet you, Baron Justin." Her tone was warm and welcoming, contrasting with the earlier apprehension.