Okay, I'll be the first to admit it: I’ve never been a travel-loving kid.
Sure, I’ve always gotten excited whenever we travel to another city or country. But walking from one area to another has been really exhausting on my feet! Still, I'm not complaining too much since not only Wind is with me for the virtual trip, but Yuri is also with us, brightening it up with his offline stories before he moved to New York (and trying to keep our focus for any ambushes waiting for us while walking through the road.)
As for the trek itself, it took us about two days to get through the road while dealing with some aggressive monsters along the way. We expected this would happen thanks to some wiki searches and Arthur's suggestions and from that, we’ve managed to survive thanks to our teamwork and most of the supplies Wind and I crafted beforehand. Not only that, we don’t exhaust ourselves during the trip as we camp out for the night and enjoy ourselves around the campfire with Yur1's items he bought to protect us from monsters attacking us during our sleep.
Then on the third day of our trek, we see a large city entering our view. Large towers and buildings peeking out from the bright white walls with some kind of transparent barrier enveloping the whole city. The more we get closer to the city, the more I see the gold details around the walls and the buildings behind. We walk closer and closer to the city until we reach the barrier itself. Luckily for us, we simply walk through it without any kind of conditions as a notification pops right in front of us.
> [NOTICE]
>
> [You have entered
So this is it. The "Kingdom of Light" itself...
I never thought I’d see the kind of medieval fantasy city that I often read my novels in (virtual) person. But thanks to [ADVR] and
However, by the time we reach the gates, I begin to regret thinking that line. What we find is a huge line of players waiting to enter the city and several NPC guards keeping them in line. By the looks on their faces, they seem like they're also excited to enter the city, too.
"Whoa... I heard the whole entrance was packed during the first day, but this is no different than the pictures on social media," Wind comments.
"It just got a lot of new players due to the expansion release and Black Friday sales last month," Yur1 explains. "So it's no surprise the entrance is packed even during the second day of release."
"At least it's not so crowded at the entrance today. I wonder what's holding them up."
Good question. I decide to approach the guards to ask them. But I stop to see several players talking to them before the guards turn to each other.
[But this is really bad... If what the adventurers said about [Wild Bears] and [Lizardmen] is true, then we might have a stampede coming to the city.]
[The monster drops they showed us seem like a real deal to me, too. This is too urgent for us to ignore it.]
[Should we report this to the [Adventurer's Guild]?]
Stampede? Seems like something bad just happened.
"Must be something to do with those bees from two days ago," Wind says. "You did say they looked like they ran off from the forest when we fought them, right, Yur1?"
"Yeah. I didn't expect it to be so serious, though," Yur1 answered.
"But we haven't encountered some bears and [Lizardmen] while we trekked through the field. Some of the NPCs we ran along the way didn't mention them, too."
"This might be a guess, but maybe those players must have completed a [Hidden Quest] related to them."
I raise my eyebrow as I turn to Yur1. "How can you tell?"
"Some [Quests] can have consequences to the game world and that detail mostly occurs in [Hidden Quests]. One forum thread mentioned that when you complete the latter, there's a chance the NPCs will mention the plot details related to it."
"So it's just like the [World Notice], but more subdued, right?" Wind asks.
"You can say that. Did you experience that notice before?"
Wind and I quickly look at each other as soon as he asks that question. "Something like that..."
Before we can continue, one of the guards suddenly shouts, [Sorry for that, folks! We will be opening the gates shortly! Please prepare your [Adventurer Passports] if you have one!]
Good timing. Now we can finally see inside the fantasy kingdom!
"Are you ready, Kazu?" Wind steps forward to my side. "You look kind of nervous..."
I flinch and back away from him. "What?! No, I'm not! I-I'm just...excited that I finally get to visit a kingdom like in Seraph!"
"Then why are your wrists shaking? You're gonna drop your passport if you do."
Crud! I quickly grab my own wrist before it can happen. "Aren't you going with me or not? You're not my [Guardian Player] anymore, so I can go anywhere I want without you~"
"Geez... Don't be like that... Why am I always the bad guy whenever I joke around?"
Yur1 sighs. "Maybe try toning it down for your brother's sake? Not all jokes can make anyone laugh, you know."
"Right...I'm sorry, Kazu. We should head inside right now."
I nod and turn to the large gate beginning to creak open. "Yep... Here we go... Our first step into the
I take a deep breath as I see the gate opening wider and wider. Once it was fully opened, we stepped forward inside and our jaws dropped to see the city itself.
> [NOTICE]
>
> [Welcome to the great city and pride of
As soon as I see the notice pop out, I don't waste any time looking around. Several white, gray, and gold buildings surround the streets filled with citizens of all [Ancestries] along with pillars resembling streetlights and glass windows on some of the stores and houses. Along with the buildings are a few stands managed by NPCs and players alike, and several white and gold armored guards patrolling around the city. Right in the center is some sort of a large castle that is mixed between the medieval designs you can see in novels and fairy tales and a steampunk building filled with blue and yellow [Mana Crystals] sticking out from the walls.
Amazing... I expected to see the usual fantasy city or kingdom in person. But I’ve never expected to see a city mixed with steampunk, fantasy, and whatever you call those crystals. Now, we're standing in the great city of this kingdom with some great expectations of our travels around the world of [Isekai]. To be honest, I'm one step away from tapping the capture button on my screenshot window if it wasn't for us still together.
"Wow... This is much bigger than New York," Wind comments. "It might take a while for us to go around if it wasn't for our mini-maps."
"Agreed. Which makes figuring out our next destination all the more conflicting," Yur1 adds.
"According to the articles about the city on the official site, we're supposed to go to the [Grand Adventurer's Guildhall] to update our ranks and unlock some [Quests] available in
Yur1 hums in thought as he checks his HUD menu. "That should be our first destination then. After that, we should split up and do whatever we need to do here."
I quickly open up my mini-map to see where the hall is located. "According to our map, it should be on the west side of the city. It also says you can find it by looking for three towers over the large building."
"Alright, let's head over there right now," Wind suggests. "Arthur and Razul should be there by now."
"Then let's go!"
With that planned out, we go west so we can start our journey through
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
----------------------------------------
When we arrive, we gasp to see the Guild Hall in question. To our surprise, the three "towers" mentioned turned out to be three tower-like structures towering above the large four-story building made of white bricks and black oak wood. Looking closely, it resembles the castle we saw from the entrance.
"Huh... When they said "grandiose" than any other guild hall we've been in, they ain't kidding," Yur1 comments. "According to the official lore behind it, adventurers who visit here are said to have a great future ahead of them. Plus, they have some important NPC adventurers who already visited the hall yesterday. I heard they might give out some hidden ones if you rank up by completing a lot of [Urgent Quests]."
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?" Wind asks. "I mean, you can't exactly become famous by completing random [Quests]. Plus, you need to be lucky if you want to get some [Urgent Quests] to rank up."
"But what about the one we did with the bear?" I recall.
"We only did one [Urgent Quest]. I doubt that's enough to garner some attention and I like to keep it that way." Wind sighs. "We should get inside while it's still daylight."
"Okay."
As much as I want to meet those adventurers Yur1 mentioned, Wind does have a point. We’ve just arrived here and it's better if we get through the guild hall without any issues such as players hounding us considering, where we are going after this.
----------------------------------------
Once we enter through the large front door, we're quickly greeted by a large lobby filled with twice as many counters and [Quest Boards] against the white-bricked walls of the building. It resembles much like an open area of a mall with several circles near the boards and escalators going up to the next floor, something you can't see in a fantasy setting. As expected, there are lots of players going in and out getting [Quests] and chatting with others along with NPC adventurers. It wasn't long until one of the receptionists approached us with a smile.
[Welcome to the [Grand Adventurer's Guildhall]!] She greets me with a burst of energy. [Are you here to take up a [Quest] or two? Or if you're both new here, are you interested in becoming adventurers yourselves?]
We quickly show our [Adventurer's Passports] to the receptionist. "We're adventurers from
[I see. All of you must be the latest batch registered from that town. I hear that it's a place where most of the initiated start their adventures from there. Yet, you three seemed to gain enough experience.] The receptionist points to the counters with the crystal balls to the right. [If you follow me, we'll check on your progress and current abilities through the [Adventurer Observation] system.]
We obediently follow her instructions as we head to the counters in question. According to her, we have to place our hands on the crystal ball so the receptionist in charge can check our progress as adventurers. There's also our [Masteries] to consider, too. But as long as we’ve done our [Quests] back at
The first one to be tested was Yur1. According to the receptionist, he completed ten 1-star and three 2-star [Quests] along with an urgent one. We also get a glimpse of his stats via the crystal ball on the counter.
> [Adventurer Observation]
>
> [Name: Yur1]
>
> [Race: Insignis]
>
> [Notable Skills]
>
> [Great at swordsmanship, Physically fit]
>
> [Notable Affinity]
>
> [Very skilled in magic]
>
> [Has a mastery over [Fire], [Earth], and [Dark] spells]
Whoa... So this is what a balanced set of skills looks like, huh? I have to admit, while the descriptions are a bit vague, it’s kind of impressive. We haven't seen the interview portion of the examination since it takes place in another room nearby, but it looks like he's happy once he leaves. In the end, he is promoted from [Peridot] to [Topaz Rank]. I have to admit, it's what we expected, but we're still impressed regardless. Then again, Yur1 told us it's expected for us to become [Topaz] due to the rare chance of getting some rare [Urgent Quests] at this stage.
Next is Wind. Just like Yur1, he did the same procedures, and there, we saw his data on the holographic screen from the crystal ball
> [Adventurer Observation]
>
> [Name: Wind]
>
> [Race: Human (Part-Insignis)]
>
> [Notable Skills]
>
> [Physically fit, skilled at swordsmanship and archery]
>
> [Notable Affinity]
>
> [Decent mana control]
>
> [Has a mastery over [Wind] magic]
Wow... I can't believe how Wind has improved since the start of the game. He said before that he never took up swordsmanship or archery in real life and yet, he was commended for those said skills from the observation on him. Then again, it's coming from the game itself. I don't know if it's the same opinion as the other players. Either way, he is promoted to [Topaz] just like Yur1.
Now it's my turn. I slowly approach the counter without losing my cool. To be honest, while I'm excited to see how I did for a few months, I feel like Wind did all of the work since he was my [Guardian Player] at that time. So I'm not sure if I did as well as both of them.
[Alright, don't be shy, young man. Just place your hand on the crystal ball and focus your [Mana] into it,] the receptionist instructs. [From there, I will analyze your skills, magic, and achievements you made for the past few months. Don't worry, it will be over in a few seconds.]
Right... I have to calm down and let her do the rest. With a deep breath, I place my hand on the crystal ball and focus my [Mana] on it for a few seconds. Then, a holographic window suddenly appears from the ball as it shows my information next.
[Let's see... [Insignis] Kazu... You've registered the same day as your brother, Wind...] The receptionist hums as she stares at the ball. But then, she gasped at what she saw next. [Oh, my... Is this right?]
I tilt my head in confusion. "What's wrong?"
[It's nothing much. But it seems like you possess a great talent with magic and...] She gasps again. [You're the son of the [Sign Sage] as well?! And this magic...]
Right... She almost freaked out about that when she analyzed my brothers' abilities earlier. Is our Dad really that famous in the game lately? I get he was in the beta test, but it's not a big deal for me. And what does she mean by...
"Uh... Ma'am?" Wind starts to ask. "Hate to interrupt, but you have a line waiting behind my brother."
He's right. I don't want to be that player who ends up holding down the line because of the NPC.
[R-Right... I apologize for that.] She stood up and grabbed her papers and a part of a crystal from the ball. [Take this time to check your observation while I prepare for your interview.]
"I guess I can do that."
With that, she quickly left the counter, leaving us alone for a moment.
"What was that all about?" Wind asks.
"No clue. You guys did say you only took one [Urgent Quest] beforehand, right?" Yur1 asks back.
"Yeah. We didn't have any luck with the others since the players already took them before we could," I answer. "I wonder what made her leave the counter like that."
I quickly checked on my crystal ball to see what made her freak out like that.
> [Adventurer Observation]
>
> [Name: Kazu]
>
> [Race: Insignis]
>
> [Notable Skills]
>
> [Somehow physically weak]
>
> [Notable Affinity]
>
> [Has great mana control]
>
> [Skilled at [Wind], [Thunder], and [Earth] spells]
Huh... Seems a bit normal and the same as Yur1 and Wind. So why...
[Possesses an unusual, yet powerful unknown spell mixed with [Wind] and [Thunder] mana. Has a chance of possessing a destructive power to destroy a town]
...
Wait...
I HAVE A DESTRUCTIVE SPELL?! IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!
But that's impossible... There is no way I have that kind of spell in my skillset. I only have those elemental spells along with [Arcana] and my Sig-
> [NOTICE]
>
> [The guild noticed your [Rising Tempest Sign] as a dangerous and unknown spell. Please be careful when dealing with this topic or face consequences on your journey.]
...Oh.
Maybe I spoke too soon.
----------------------------------------
Wind's Masteries
[Archery] Level 24
[Woodcrafting] Level 11
[Swordsmanship] Level 25
[Cooking] Level 11
[Wind] Level 18
[Physical Enhancement] Level 18
[Hunting] Level 19
[Blacksmithing] Level 18
[Dagger] Level 11
[Dual-Wielding] Level 3
----------------------------------------
Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 23
[Thunder] Level 21
[Wind] Level 20
[Alchemy] Level 19
[Magecrafting] Level 19
[Magical Affinity] Level 20
[Scribe] Level 24
[Earth] Level 12
[Sign Creation] Level 3