At the sound of his alarm a half asleep Xavier got up from bed to start his weekend routine. He took a shower and had some synthetic cereal that tasted almost flavorless.
He went down to the apartment washroom to get some laundry done and at around 12 pm he had some free time.
Booting up his PC he search the web to see the experience of other players. Some showed content creators flexing their combat class like mages and swordsmen while others were complaining about their production classes like weapon smith and pharmacist.
But the thing that confused Xavier the most was that all of the players in these videos spawned at a beginner city that looked like old England but had futuristic tech like floating carriages, skyscrapers shaped like cathedrals and even ariel gardens
This left Xarier with a question, if everyone spawned there then why was he in the middle of only God knows where? After pondering all he could chalk it up to was that it was a bug.
He dm'd Natalia and asked how she's doing so far and she replied that she and some of her friends were grinding levels in one of the fields nearby. She asked if he wanted to join her but Xavier lied and said he got a quest line so he would go solo for a bit.
After lying on his bed again he got ready to enter that nightmare city again. Xavier found himself in the same decrepit bedroom of the skeleton. Making his way downstairs he checked the book he had looted the other day.
He examined the first page and realized the text looked more like a diary, intrigued when he read the first page.
"I am writing this book as I don't know how long I'll be stuck in my room. My name Hinata and broke my foot helping my dad at our shop."Flipping through the pages, Xarier mostly saw mundane stuff and the rambling of a bored kid, but the tone changed at a certain page closer to the end of the book.
" It's been 3 months and we finally got a new city lord. Lord Kaizer was friendly towards the townsfolk but some people like my dad say there is something weird about him.
At first I didn't believe them but strange occurrences started happening after he built the pagoda in the middle of the city. First livestock started dying after black and white spots appeared on their skins.
Then there were mass disappearances in every part of the city. We tried to ask the Lord for assistance but when my father and others tried to ask him he came out of the pagoda rambling and screaming like a mad man.
After that everyone decided to fix the problem themselves but that was when the first victim appeared. Any way I need to go help mom mom secure the shop in case of intruders not sure when I'll write again"
Xavier had only read little and could already tell this Kaizer fellow was doing things in the background. He flipped through some empty pages until he came across another update but this time it looked as if it was written in a hurry.
" How could have gotten this bad in such a short time. At first we were convinced that it was just some virus but now I think it's a curse. A few days after the livestock was infected someone showed signs of the same symptoms. I wish I could have killed that person now, maybe we wouldn't have suffered so much."
Xarier wasn't that surprised that someone got infected as well, what startled him was Hinata's response to the situation. Xarier prided himself in being calm and calculative but for someone to write that with such certainty meant that they had grown an iron will.
He continued reading,
" Some people felt the city lord had something to do with this and when they went to confront him. He got hostile and used a weird sword technique no one in the city had even seen while mumbling something about it being incomplete"
Xarier wanted to read more but the other pages were covered in ink making them unreadable.
Though he did get some useful information, it seemed the weepers might have been the product of the virus
And the city lord undoubtedly had a hand in its spread. At least he had a destination now, he was going to explore the pagoda and kill any weepers on the way. Before leaving he paid respect to the skeleton he assumed to be Hinata and made his way outside. As he ventured he came across the cast city he came across many weepers.
Some he could sneak up on while some were unavoidable but the fights made him get experience so it wasn't a complete loss.
Halfway to the pagoda Xarier came across what he assumed to be a corrupted animal.
It was a deformed skeletal figure that resembled a bull, it towered 3 feet over Xavier.
As soon as the bull spotted Xavier it immediately changed towards him, thinking fast Xavier jumped out of the way. The bull's charge only ended when it turned the building behind them into nothing but a memory.
Knowing that a creeper's head was its weakness he came up with a plan to beat this thing. The bull came out of the building looking infuriated that this pest didn't die. It charged towards Xavier ready to send him to the pearly gates, but Xavier didn't dodge this time. With a perfectly timed jump Xavier landed on the back of the beast and clung to its neck.
As the creature thrashed around trying to get the parasite off its back Xavier aimed his katana at its eyes and with a good poke the creature was no more.
[ You have slayed lvl 7. Corrupted Ink beast ]
[ You have leveled up ×2 !! ]
[ Received 20 gold coins ]
Happy to see his levels on a steady incline he continued his journey. By the time he reached the main entrance to the pagoda he was already level 12 after killing almost every mob he came across; this would have shocked most players as the highest level players right now were only level 7.
***
At the highest floor of the pagoda was a large black crystal that had many paper seals placed on it. Inside the crystal a pair of beautiful oval amber eyes opened, they sensed the presence of some entering their prison.
Using the meager energy they had left, they saw a handsome youth with pale blonde hair enter the place that confined them for years. Wanting to stop him before he got himself killed the entity was about to send a warning but was assaulted by a wave of tiredness and was unable to stop him as they lost consciousness.
***
Oblivious to what just happened, Xarier made his way through the gates and a system message appeared.
[ Do you wish to challenge the inheritance of the crazed painter? Requirements: Must be Level 10]
[ Yes/No ]
Firming his will Xarier pressed yes and his body was sucked through the gates which promptly closed behind him.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Author-nim here again, yeah sorry if the pace is a bit fast, starting at the tower and going forward I'll slow down a bit with more detailed fight scenes. Also I will explain the power system in a bit so don't worry.
Thanks for the support ;3