Another adventure, but this time, I am alone.

Skill— Silver Flash

As I do not have any companion I should phase my speed with, I can go all out. My figure creates a blinding silver flash as I breeze the White Peaks. The gravity only increases my speed thanks to it being downhill.

I then arrive at the familiar Umchaka Forest. From here, I go further south. I do not plan on passing the Underdark as I have another method I can use to reach Barren Gorge.

The familiar green reach my eyes as I transition from Umchaka Forest to Evergreen. I plan to go to Secret Evergreen from where I spawn into this world.

Evergreen is a low-level map where newbie players spawn and have their first adventure from Ever Village. The Secret Evergreen meanwhile is a secret map that is only accessible after being recognized by the Ever Clan.

“Who goes there?” An angry shout calls to me.

I thump my Armorheart to express my presence. I dispel my Stealth Stance: Dark Form to reveal myself. “I have come with no ill intentions. I wish to just pass by.”

I recognize the old man from the archway, standing upright just before the entrance of the Everest Village. The Ever Village is different from the Everest Village as the former is actually an empty place where people visit for a pilgrimage, while the latter is the actual home of the Ever Clan.

“What is your business, outsider?” The EverGuardian Paramon is a Tier 8 Legacy Wielder who is not able to achieve rejuvenation but manages to acquire longevity.

Not everyone who advances to Tier 8 after all acquires eternal youth which makes the assortment of NPCs in the whole of Vanaheim to be varied. I answer the EverGuardian. “I wish to borrow a Greater Wyvern because I am in a hurry. It will only take me a short time to get one from Secret Evergreen.”

“How do you know of that place? This is preposterous!” Paramon swings his arm with gravitas, while he rests his other hand on the sword on his waist. “The Secret Evergreen is a sacred place for our clan. You shall answer me where you got this knowledge.”

I really don’t like wasting time. I have anticipated something like this to happen as it is obvious enough that my reputation in this world will reset.

Skill— Killing Intent Release.

I am at Tier 9, someone that a Tier 8 will never be able to handle.

“Impossible!” Paramon cries. “You… you are as strong as the EverLord…” He succumbs to the pressure and ends up kneeling in front of me.

“I will get permission from your EverLord himself then…” I tell him, while I walk to the Everest Village. But I did not even go quite far as I see a familiar face. “It is a pleasure to greet the EverLord.” I greet the new, but acquainted face.

I cup my hand to my fist as a greeting. Apparently, this is Ever Clan’s method of greeting.

The familiar face is on the feminine side, but there is masculinity on his eyebrows, and from the sharp gaze he wills. His hair is oddly pink, yet it suits his face just perfectly. He returns my greeting by cupping his open palm to his fist gracefully.

The EverLord is a Tier 9 Legacy on par with my ArcWarrior. In the world of Vanaheim, respect for the strong is tantamount to staking honor. “Forgive me, EverLord… I am in a hurry, so I request your aid… Let me introduce myself, I am Van the Third.”

“Is that so? I am the 9th Lord of the Ever Clan. My name is Sephiron Everest. You can just call me Seph.” Seph introduces himself with a friendly air. “Which Sect are you from?” He adds in curiosity as my show of respect and greetings piques his interest.

The Ever Clan is something in between a Sect and a Noble Household, and their influence in the world is particularly strong. Just that they have a strong non-interference policy, making them an almost unknown presence to the world.

Paramon the EverGuardian comes hurrying to his master as he lowers himself to a kowtow. “Forgive me, milord! Please punish me for my incompetence.”

Seph comforts the guardian. “It is fine as he is someone you cannot handle anyway…”

I explain myself to Seph. “First, I do not belong to any Sect. I am an ArcWarrior. I only came here to borrow a Greater Wyvern. They have the best speed to offer among the more common monster types.”

“Wow,” Seph expresses a word of shock. “Aren’t they, ArcWarriors, battle junkies who tend to die early?”

It seems that Paramon is surprised by his lord’s reaction too as it might be a rare sight to see. I feel the same as Paramon. Seph is the youngest EverLord to lead the Ever Clan. He always tries his best to maintain an air of dignity.

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Hmmm… If that is the case, then his reaction makes sense considering the Sephiron Everest in front of me is a lot younger than the one I know.

“I would like to befriend someone as strong as you, but the Ever Clan is on high alert and is not accepting visitors for the time being.” Seph is basically telling me I cannot go to Secret Evergreen as I like. “You see, two-thirds of the monsters we rear from the Secret Evergreen have been slaughtered. We don’t know who the culprit is yet, but we are having a tight leash on our territory…”

“…”

I feel nervous, but I don’t let it show my face, lest I clue him that it is me all along. I remember my first spawn into this world. I kind of went into a rampage.

“Where are you heading to?” Seph asks my direction in hopes to assist me.

It seems that he does want to befriend me.

“Barren Gorge.” I plainly tell him.

“That place has become more dangerous lately. Of course, you should be able to take care of yourself with your strength. There are a lot of weird people coming from there. They call themselves the Banner of War, and the neighboring Kingdoms are quite annoyed by their antics…”

“…”

I fear that I might lose control of my facial expression as I am fairly certain that this Banner of War should be related to me.

“Hmmm… How about this? Let’s exchange skills…”

“My lord! You cannot! For him to duel you without earning the seals of the Tri-Swords is against tradition. Please think this over!” Paramon explodes into a flurry, begging his lord to not duel me.

I am not inclined to duel either without following tradition. If there is one thing that the Ever Clan fanatically follows to every detail, then it is tradition. I will hate it if the Ever Clan's elders put a bounty on me.

“No. I don’t mean it like that.” Seph quickly explains himself. “My clan has a skill that allows us to travel easily to places. It is called Sword Stance: Sword Flight which our clan has been monopolizing for some time. The requirements for learning this are very strict so only a few learn it. Moreover, it consumes two Skill Slots so fewer even want to learn it. This skill lacks any offensive potential, so my people ignore this skill a lot...”

I feel happy hearing a familiar player term. Skill Slots decide how many skills an individual can hold. For every 30 points in intelligence, a character can gain a Skill Slot, which in my case is not a problem.

The ArcWarrior class after all doesn’t have any Skill Slots and can learn any Skill as long as I can complete the Skill Quest and gather the Exp Points required. When it comes to special abilities, the ArcWarrior is lagging behind, however, it makes up with the unlimited Skill Slots which I greatly benefit from.

Seph then reveals his condition on teaching me the Sword Flight skill. “In exchange for Sword Flight, I want to learn a skill of equivalent value.”

This time, Paramon finally shuts up as trading skills this way should not be against tradition.

“Then I will teach you Movement Stance: Shadow Step which is the Rogue’s counterpart of Movement Art: Ghost Step. This should be fair.” I make him my offer.

The skills that the ArcWarrior can learn are not limited to Warrior-related Skills, but can also interpret the other Legacy Origin Pathways’ skillset, and can convert them to warrior skills.

“We have a deal.” Seph stretches his open palm to mine asking for a handshake.

I reciprocate the motion by shaking his hand. “Yes, then we have a deal.”

***

The three neighboring Kingdoms— Terifon, Andes, and Yolone are making camp at the borders of the rebellious party that calls themselves the ‘Banner of War’ and is preparing for any possibilities of an all-out war.

“Where did these mongrels come from?” The Terifon General, Bodwick, a bald aggressive man shouts at his two other colleagues from a different Kingdom. “Why are they taking claim of the Barren Gorge, and telling us that it is their territory when it should be neutral ground?”

The Andes General waves her hand as if it doesn’t matter to her. “Isn’t it obvious? They are taking righteous claim to the territory because neither of our Kingdoms dare claim it.” The Sword Maiden and General of Andes Kingdom, Klima combs her platinum gray hair while she expresses her opinion as a matter of fact. “Moreover, they do have rightful claim as after all, they exterminated the monsters bearing on the Barren Gorge.”

“That’s the problem. Since it is free land now, it is only natural for our beloved Kingdoms to want a piece of it.” Walrus, the old Yolone General tells them frankly the reality of their situation.

As Generals, they serve the best interest of their Kingdom through militaristic means. Currently, this meeting between the three Generals is a covert convergence as to how to decide the fate of the Barren Gorge Rebels, but as of the moment, the three Generals are not coming up with a proper plan for how to repel the forces in the Barren Gorge.

Their problem is not something with regards to politicking like how much land each Kingdom gets after the fight, but something so much simpler.

The Barren Gorge’s forces are too strong.

In fact, the reason why the three Generals are resorting to a more passive and defensive stance is because they witness the strength that the Barren Gorge wields. The ‘Banner of War’ at least has three Grandmasters in their army.

Walrus even feels that they might be Quasi-Gods, but that is just too ridiculous.

The first-day Bodwick arrives at the Barren Gorge, he is so eager to blow the horn of war, and attack the place, but decides to turn around after a single person creates a trench on their path with a single swing. He shudders on recollecting that particular memory.

Klima has it worse… as she has fallen in love. Of course, she won’t admit it to her fellow generals. She can still recall that suave swordsman with long red hair as if they are a lion’s mane.

Currently, the three Generals have gathered for the purpose of finding a breaking point.

“Shouldn’t we just give up?” Bodwick suggests the obvious, but Walrus knows better that is not an option if he still cares about his Warrior’s Honor.

Klima similarly disagrees with the suggestion as she cannot waste this trip without getting the red-haired swordsman’s name.

“REPORT!” A messenger comes barging into the tent that the three Generals share to conduct their meeting. “Please receive this, General of Yolone!”

However, that is not where the commotion stops as another messenger arrives. “REPORT! Please receive this, General of Terifon!”

Last, but not least, there is the Andes. “REPORT! Please receive this, General of Andes.”

The three of them open the message that comes from their own countries’ capitals. The message is all the same. It reads slightly different with each letter, but the intention is all the same—

“Join forces with the other Kingdoms’ forces and take down the base of the ‘Banner of War’ so that we may have leverage on denying this new forces’ claims.”

The three Generals share a moment of silence.

“…” “…” “…”