Chapter 51: The Story Quest I

My first stop is the cartography shop here in Glendar. I know that the first dungeon I need to go to is located a few hundred miles southwest of Glendar, the map will help me pin point its exact location. Once I get the story quest from from the dungeon, I'll have 2 more dungeons to face and a secret boss. The original person who did this said that despite it being a story quest the only real hard part was the secret boss. Apparently it has skills that make it really hard to kill, but my class should make up for that. Even though I'm only using 1 sword now I'll easily take this guy out.

Speaking of skills, I need to get new attacking ones other than slash. It will really boost my combat efficiency and improve the rate I kill things. First things first, getting that map. I make my way to the commercial district of Glendar and see plenty of stores. When I spot the store I'm looking for I notice that it has players also trying getting maps. I make my way in and I hear an argument between one of the players and the owner of the shop. "Your maps are way to expensive! How are we suppose to get out of this damn area if you wont give us a map!" Its only 5 gold, most players should have that by now. I believe that the majority of players have found out these aren't dumb A.I. and are more complex than that.

Looking at their gear they are around level 13 or 14. Newer players looking to leave their starting city. So that explains the gold problem. The older woman working the front desk looks very scared. I can step in if need be, but sometimes waiting for the right moment is a good thing. "If you cant afford the price then find someone else with a better value..." Giving lip to people who cant really die is not such a good idea. I watch the leader of the group of four reach for his 1 handed axe. I think this has gone far enough.

I step up behind the leader and hold the arm that is holding the weapon. He looks at me with anger and frustration. He tries the pull his arm out from my grasp, there is zero movement coming from his struggles. My strength stat is overwhelming to most player nowadays. "Let. Me. Go." He tries to intimidate me, but that isn't going to work on a veteran. "You really want to lose your levels huh? Get him!" His friends start to attack me with all their might. The poor older lady is shaking in fear. However, my high armor rating is taking most of the damage. Put that together with my healing boost and my HP bar is barely moving. I look at this guys gamer tag as they continue to attack me. I use inspect to see who this guy is.

[Getreckednewb Lvl.14]

2,400/2,400 HP

[Description: A fellow player who has a low reputation among the NPC. He is in a state of rage at your behavior towards him.]

I might as well kill these guys before they inspect me and learn who I am. Good thing they are focused on trying to kill me and not paying attention to the real details. I quickly draw The Witness and begin using normal attacks to dispatch of them quickly.

[Getreckednewb Lvl.14]

2,400/2,400 HP

[You have dismembered the targets waist]

[You have ignored armor]

-8850

+40 exp

[Yourmother Lvl.13]

2,000/2,000 HP

[You have dismembered the targets chest]

[You have ignored armor]

-8850

+30 exp

The last of them see that they are no match for me and burst out of the shop in a hurry. I look around and see there bodies before they disappear. I only pick up the gold they dropped and place 5 on the counter, I save the rest for myself. "I need a map on the area known as Flower Forest." She looks at me in slight shock, and instead of asking me what happened she immediately goes into the back and returns with the map I needed and hands it to me. I leave the shop without saying anything else. I wont have to worry about people pursuing me since none of them inspected me.

Those players will probably make it back here pretty fast, so I leave the scene and head to the guards training ground. The vendor is here somewhere, I look around and notice a small group of players getting some skills from a guy in captains armor. These skills aren't great, but they are probably better than slash. I make my way up to the guard as well and I can see the annoyance on his face. "Not another one. I swear these new people are getting on my nerves." I can tell this guy deals with a lot of people just by the look in his eyes and sound of his voice. He must be in charge of training the guards. So he must have great skills.

I walk up to him and look him dead in the eye. "You got any good blade skills?" He is very tired of hearing that by the sounds of it. He takes out some scrolls from his inventory and there is only one that catches my eye. "How much for the double strike?" I don't really see enough of these sold. Most don't use the skill because of its long cooldown, but when you have damage such as mine you can really reap the reward's. He looks at me with a little bit of surprise, guess players think its a useless skill.

He puts the other ones away and looks me up and down. "That will be 15 silver." I don't have any silver, but I have some gold left from the guys I killed earlier. I hand a gold piece to the man and take the scroll from his hand and walk off. I open the scroll and get a new notification. This is one of the great things about being a player.

[You have learn the skill: Double Strike (Active)]

[Description: Strike 2 times every attack instead of 1. Lasts 15 seconds]

[Cooldown: 90 seconds]

This skill has great synergy with other skills like slash. From now on every time I use an attack and activate double strike before hand I hit twice per swing. This will make up for some of the lost damage. Duel wielding has an incredible weakness with it, you cant learn any blocking skills while using it. Parry is different because you are moving the direction of the other blade with your own. Blocking skills are much more useful than parry. Now I could learn some blocking skills, but I think using parry for now is just fine. Its easier to use with 1 blade then with 2. You still have to be good at using the skill, not just activating it will work.

That's another advantage I have, I know how most great skills work in Ancients World. Therefore no need to practice. That is actually saving my ass right now, a lot of players have to practice and get used to a new skill before they use it. Now that I have gained a little bit of exp and a new skill I should check my character stats. I open my player interface and see where I'm at.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.22]

[Exp: 12,950/24,000]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden),+3 more]

[Stats]

[Strength - 850] [Endurance - 800] [Dexterity - 805] [Speed - 920] [Focus - 7300]

[Health: 6,600/6,600] [Mana: 73000/73000]

[Stat Points: 30] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.4 325/400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.4 225/400] [Slash Lvl.11 900/2000] [Parry Lvl.1 80/100] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A]

Now that I have everything I need, I should make my way to the Flower Forest. The first hidden dungeon is there and that is the place where I can find the story quest. On my way out of the guards training yard I see a familiar face. Looks like Kursco James made it back and along with the important person they were escorting. I can see the butler and lady talking to the commander of the guards telling them what happened. As I am about to turn and leave Kursco looks over in my direction and has a look of surprise.

Everyone there also looks over to me and the butler gives a thankful smile in my direction. I reciprocate the nice gesture and wave goodbye. I turn around and start to walk away, then I hear a feminine voice call out to me. "HOLD ON! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!" She made it loud to the point I cant ignore her. I stop in my tracks and turn around to see the lady running towards me. I don't know what she wants, but she better make it quick. She catches up and is standing across from me. She is much sorter than I am, but a little taller than most women. "I wanted to say thank you for saving our caravan." Is that it? I don't have time for this.

I turn around and start walking away. I hear a slight huff behind me, but I have bigger fish to fry than to talk to some snotty lady. "How rude!" That is the last thing I hear before she runs back to the little conversation they were having. I have a journey that will take a couple of days, but at least I wont have any interruptions this time around. As Cera makes his way to the front gate of Glendar, another conversation is happening between the people he saved.

I cant believe he can be so rude when some one of my status talks too him. I understand not liking my family or nobles, but at least say something. A beautiful princess deserves something like that, I turn to Commander Hammond and nod for him to continue. "The orcs are preparing their armies, they will begin to move in a few days. It would probably be good for you to return to the capital, it will be safer there than here." The coming war is on everybody's minds right now. Many women and children are scared, the orc species is very notorious about how they treat prisoners. I hope that the gods shine favor on us. We need all the help we can get.