“Pfft...” Kruff’s boisterous laugh echoes from inside the cabin. “Ha ha ha ha… That’s rich!” He is watching a piece of memory crystal, a part of his rune magic, in his amusement.
This is one of his few past times.
I approach him with unhurried steps. The creaking wood of the cabin’s door echoes as I let myself in. Kruff is a friend I wish to keep for a long time, and I hope he will hear me for it. “Kruff, you don’t mind me leaving Eyt here, don’t you?”
“Why? Where are you going?” He turns to me with a smile.
“Hmmm… You see… I actually have a home. I only remembered it when my daughter picked me up.” I tell him honestly. “I plan to go home so that I can bring an escort and an easier mode of transfer from there to bring you guys.”
“Huh? You want to bring us to your home... That got me curious. I am fairly certain you’ll try convincing me to return to Blumend.” There is a light of childish excitedness in Kruff’s eyes.
I want to be honest with him. “That was my plan regardless of whether Eyt coming here or not. But since learning your dementia and realizing you are about to meet your lifespan’s end, I decided to give you a helping hand. What do you say about advancing to Tier 8?”
“…”
He is very silent. My words must be a surprise to him as even I realize that Tier 8 is a big deal. For the many Kingdoms, Tier 7 is already considered a master and Tier 6 is an elite. If not for the whole of Vanaheim being ignorant of what Tiers mean, there should be more experts roaming around players or not.
“Hmmm…” Kruff gently rubs his goatee thinking long and hard of a response. “Of course, I would love to reach a higher realm, but… I don’t like to be a burden… I heard from legends that Knigic is already the pinnacle, and if there is a next level the amount of Labor required will be immense…”
Labor is how the people of this world view a Quest. Even the denizen NPCs of Vanaheim’s Mirror also see Quest as Labor. Labor can be Heroic or Chaotic, and every time someone aspires to reach the realm of Tier 8, there will be a great upheaval.
I tell Kruff my estimates. “If we do it alone as you are. The odds are about 87% that you fail to reach the next level. I may be able to offer my help on some parts, but for the rest, you have to do it alone. That way, I alone can breach that 87% to shy of 70%. However, if we have my Guild’s resources, I am confident, we can turn that 87% odd to 50%.”
“You belong to a Sect?” Kruff asks in surprise.
Sect? I guess I am as Player Guilds do resemble the Hidden Sects around Vanaheim. “No, we do not monopolize a certain Legacy and spread its teachings within the disciples. So we are not a sect…” I answer his query the best I can.
“If you don’t mind, I will like to risk it… But if it is too much trouble, then forget it…” Kruff is aware that Labors are a pain in the ass as they bring Great Upheavals but if there is a chance for him to advance, then he will.
Legacy Wielders after all pursue strength. For each of them, the reason may differ. Kruff in his youth wants to contribute to his Kingdom, and in his old age, his motivation turns to caring for Pyla.
“Then it is decided, I will help you…” I judge that we should be clear about it. “I have taught the Queen’s Ten about the mechanics of Tiers. I will just roughly explain to you the benefits of Tier 8.”
Kruff and I talk for some time about Tier 8, also the Quasi-God realm. Kruff is not familiar with Tiers, but it seems he understands what Quasi-God means. By exerting pressure on the world, the atmosphere will change, causing debuffs to lower tiers. Every ordinary skill becomes as strong as mid-average skills, mid-average skills will then become stat-attribute-based in terms of effects, and high-end skills will evolve qualitatively.
The most important tidbit that I discuss with him is the rejuvenation and eternal youth that comes with the course of achieving Tier 8. As players are virtually immortal, the player community doesn’t care one bit about this piece of information. The only reason I remember this is because of my AI origins which allows me to tap on my data and recall the smallest information from the recesses of my memory.
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“I will leave Eyt to bodyguard the two of you,” I tell Kruff as I really cannot leave him and Pyla defenseless. “The Warrior’s Nest is quite far and sending Eyt to return will be slower as I am faster than her anyway.”
Kruff proudly scoffs while he shows his strong biceps. “Don’t look down on this old man. I am still strong!”
“Eyt is Tier 8,” I say to him plainly.
“Ugh…” Kruff glumly slouches on his wooden chair. “Man cannot even take a joke…”
***
Eyt is not in a good mood. It is because her dad just has to leave her now of all time! She wants to stay with him for a while longer. But now, she is stuck with bodyguarding duties.
Taking care of the rickety old coot is easy as Kruff is mostly self-reliant. Moreover, he is already starting to recover from his recent fever. From what she hears from her dad, Kruff needs help cleaning himself when he is sick.
Even Eyt who lacks greatly in the common sense department is very reluctant on doing something like that. The truth is… she has a bigger problem.
“HAH!” Coming from her blind spot is a surprise attack that is not surprising. “I will make you eat dirt!” Pyla miserably rolls on the snow as Eyt gracefully evades her tackle.
Pyla is a cute talented kid, and Eyt reckons she will grow into a fine beauty wielding excellence with her sword. Not that Eyt understands ‘beauty’ but that is how her dad describes Pyla.
“Hey, look at me! I won’t forgive you! You broke my sword!” Pyla is teary-eyed but she tries her best not to cry. “I…*sniff… I won’t forgive you.”
“You call that a sword?” Eyt is confused by Pyla’s remark. “That piece of twig?” She asks out of genuine curiosity only to sound sarcastic.
“…sniff*” This time, Pyla comes rushing at Eyt in another tackle… But she miserably misses as Eyt trips her while in the middle of running. “Waaa~aaAAH!” She stumbles on the snow face first and then starts rolling for some distance.
She comes to a stop while sitting, and after a few seconds of silence, she starts crying.
“Woo-woohhh~ sniff~ yaaaah~!”
Pyla cries like a little kid for the very first time.
When she is little, she rarely cries. In that sense, Kruff comes to call her a strong kid. But now for the first time at the age of 13 years old, she truly has started crying like some brat. “That… that… It was Grandpa’s gift! He carved that out of cedar wood!”
The little Pyla continues to sniffle.
Eyt doesn’t feel even a pang of guilt as she just dully watches the crying Pyla.
Kruff who is hiding with invisible magic is not helping at all. The old coot is actually using a memory crystal to record the crying Pyla.
Eyt recognizes what Kruff is doing with her skills. At this exact moment, she feels like she is actually in danger. “What if the old man reports it to Dad?” It is like having an observer while she is on the job.
“Agh~! This is annoying!” There are so many privileges that Eyt has lost since the last update which include the convenient inventory system for every player. “Here, a gift!” She rummages on her stash, a high-level space inventory bag.
The space inventory bag is a very rare item, yet it pales in comparison to a player’s inventory as the bag only has eight slots to it per item.
Pyla immediately shuts up as her eyes land on the beautiful hilt with fairies on its guard. “What is this?” She asks, a little bit of tears still in her eyes, but she is now calmer.
“This is Fairy Epee, my spare weapon…” Eyt explains with her heart in pain. “I am only lending it to you to play with. I will give you another sword once we reach the Nest…” She explains defensively.
“No.” Pyla looks up to Eyt and explains as a matter of fact. “You broke mine, so you have to take responsibility. It is mine now…”
“You greedy…” Eyt is angered by the brat’s remarks but she reigns in her power. She doesn’t want to hurt those she is responsible for guarding. “Listen well. That sword is at Fable-Grade. The grades of artifacts go like this— Myth > Legendary (Or Semi-Mythic) > Fable > Magical > Unique > Rare > Fine > Trash— your wooden sword as you like to call it is trash… Do you understand?”
“For you, my Ankhblyrisiolayp is trash, but for me, that wooden sword is mythic!” Pyla proudly answers back. “The memories I have with it are invaluable!”
“What kind of name for a trashy sword is that?” Eyt feels her energy draining.
The brat is too unreasonable, but then she thinks up a scheme where she can bully the little girl while ensuring the Fairy Epee will return to her. “How about this? If you are able to defeat me, then… It is yours…”
“I am not an idiot… You are stronger than me…”
“…”
***
Kruff returns to his cabin to carefully shelf the new Memory Crystal. He is getting old, and he is about to reach the end of his lifespan. The Blumend King, his best friend, Falion Mon Blumend has gone to the afterlife now, and he should follow.
That is the natural flow of events, but now, an opportunity has opened for him. Fate truly is a very fickle phenomenon. To think that a single encounter in these snowy mountains will change his fate… even giving him the chance to reach a higher realm.
The World must be guiding him. It has always been like that, and every Legacy Wielder respects the world the same way he does. It is because it guides them. To live, express a story, to end, and to be remembered… That is what it means for a Legacy to exist.
That is why it is common sense that all life dies at some point. And what remains of them are their Legacies, all to be upheld for the next generation to come.
But to think, the true nature of Legacy Wielders is actually to defy the very world they respect is ultimately ironic. The World’s Force, World’s Will, World’s Mana, and World’s Spirit… They are all one and the same— they represent the Way and for Legacy Wielders, it all begins with the Four Legacy Origins— Warrior, Rogue, Mage, and Cleric.
Kruff wonders… “Where does this Legacy Pathway end?”