Chapter 26 : Expedition Starts!

Ragna walked toward the gate in a relaxed manner. He had accomplished his most important goal. Now that he had a spare time before the expedition began, he decided to stroll around the city.

The city was similar to the cities in medieval time. Except that, there were many strange things that couldn't be explained by real-world logic. Because of the existence of Mana, there were numerous tools which were powered by it. Strange magical circles were everywhere. In this place, the concept of energy and engineering revolved around the usage of Mana.

Ragna couldn't help but admire everything he saw. He watched magicians using their magics to fulfill their daily necessities. Small drizzles were used to water their gardens and blazing hot fire were summoned to burn their furnaces. He even saw an alchemist swirling around the essences of her material to make a medicine.

Other than magic and its shenanigans, he also saw countless things that took his breath off. He saw a muscular young man carrying the carcass of a huge monster. His pace was calm and unhurried. It was as if he didn't even feel the weight of the huge thing that he was carrying on his back. He also saw a strange middle-aged man who exuded a strange pressure for those who near him. Most of the mercenaries here were strange, or in a good way, unique. Obviously, those were NPCs.

The smell of strange flower wafted in the air around him. Every plantation here were different from the one inside the earth. Some had a horrible appearance, but most were quite pleasing to the eyes. Prawk City could be considered as a remote city, because of that it had more affinity toward nature.

The most advanced city in the Matrava Kingdom was, of course, its imperial capital. Sadly, that city was too far from Ragna's current position. Most of the players here came from the City's Portal. Obviously, they were searching for quests, or maybe were doing one which required them to be in this place.

The strange expressions people had when he first came had already been replaced by their normal attitude. There was no trace of their mysterious behavior from before. It seemed like everything was arranged by the system to make players felt the atmosphere of a special event. However, there was also a chance that the villagers had no idea about the events and they came back to their normal attitude after knowing that it was just an expedition.

Ragna had no way to understand how the system worked. It was too complex.

Before he knew it, he already arrived at the military ground. As what Lily had expected, there was numerous merchant opening their own temporary stall at the sides of the field. Everyone was trying their hardest to gain contribution points. Rumor said that the points could be exchanged instantly for equipment, items, and even experience points.

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Ragna could see Lily waving her hand from the crowds of the merchants. She was gesturing 'good luck' with both of her hands. He started having thought that if Lily wasn't wearing her huge thick glasses, she would look far more lovely than now.

Seeing the huge number of players, Ragna couldn't help but admire the Digdaya Corp more. The player's base was still growing, yet the amount of players inside one city couldn't be counted already. It was apparent that the total number of players were dozens of time higher than what he saw, considering that there was another portal inside other big cities.

Suddenly, the loud sound of a horn could be heard. It was now the time to start the expedition. Ragna and other players followed the generals, entering the Astral Realm.

Everyone had a different expectation in their minds. However, they were all hoping for the same thing. For them to reap great reward and glory.

...

Sally City

Inside the military ground, everyone was busy doing their business. Most of them were preparing for the expedition. The number of people who gathered exceeded Prawk City by nearly two times. It was clear that Sally City was bigger compared to it.

Two men walked toward the gate. They had an amazing appearance. Both were handsome, but their equipment stood out more. One of them was a warrior, he had a huge mace strapped to his back. The mace was adorned with a mysterious symbol, emanating the pressure of a godly weapon.

He was bald, but his lively eyes were a charm on its own. He was smiling confidently. His gazes swept through anyone present, telling them to make their way for him.

Behind him was a young man with golden hair. He wore white robe meant for clerics. Astonishingly, there were golden lines scattered around the surface of his robe, indicating that it was something extraordinary. He held a book in his right hand. The book too was covered in golden lines.

He had dazzling appearances. Coupled with his slender and neat look, he could even be described as an angel. All the females there couldn't help but gasp for breath when they looked at his mesmerizing eyes.

"Look, it's the pair.."

"The Mad Warrior and The Golden Cleric, huh? Looks like it will be hard to reap great rewards here"

"Rumor said that both of them could kill a level 40 boss by themselves. Even great guilds had to spend more efforts to be able to do so"

Everyone made their way for them. It was the respect earned from being strong.

Both of them stood there silently. They too also enjoyed the feeling of being admired. Still, they thought that it wasn't good enough. They were still hoping for the last person in their gang to join them here.

It would be perfect, they thought.

...

Everyone exited the portal. They were taken aback when they saw what kind of place it was.

The place was barren. The soil was black without any essence left. There were strange trees with red leaves everywhere. The smell was strange as if the place had rotted completely. Far in the distance were strange wolves with sinister appearance. They howled loudly, signaling that someone had entered their territory.

It was the Astral Realm!