Volume 1 - Chapter 3: The Alphtear Part 2_Azura of The White

Hi guys!

I'm sorry for the big delay, I have quite busy schedule in the past few weeks so I had little time to work on the chapter.

As an apology I made it longer than the rest of the chapters, it might be the longest one in this volume.

Chapter 4 will take some time, please be patient, I will do my best to post chapters in short intervals.

So without further adieu:

Chapter 3 - The Akphtear Part 2

A giant approached me, well not a giant just a very fat guard who looked really huge. He was yelling at me in a foreign language, I couldn't understand him at all.

"***! **** ***** *****!"

Somehow after a few seconds, I started to understand what he said.

"You! Stop right there!"

By the looks of him, he was a guard, I think. He wore a simple chain-mail for armor, on his head was a chain coif, under the armor he wore some ragged clothes. By the looks of him, he was more like a bandit then a guard.

I stopped, and he approached me. Even though we were at very close proximity to each other, he chose to yell at me.

"You don't look familiar! Who are you?! State your business!"

My head twitched to the side, I thought he tore my ear drums. He was acting pretty rude, yelling at me while giving me a weird face, I think it is an angry face but I could not tell due to all the fat in his face.

"I'm an adventurer and I wish to enter the city"

I could fluently speak his language, it was like I was born knowing it. This easy learner perk is truly amazing.

"An adventurer you say? Do you have documents to prove that?"

(can you even read…)

I took out my adventurer card from the inventory, but I did it discreetly, as if I took it out of my pants pocket. I didn't know if taking it out from thin air like I did earlier would make me suspicious or not, so I decided not to take a chance.

~ Adventurer Card ~

ID number: <1747239> | Name:

Role: | Party Name:

Adventurer Rank: | Quests Completed: <0>

It looked pretty plain, just as I expected, the same was for my gear, it was all freshly newbie stuff. Not that I really bother with that, I have my awesome Alphtear title.

I handed him my card.

"Pff... I see… A freshly new adventurer… pfff… You may pass"

He handed me back my card while laughing at me, probably because of my adventurer rank. Remembering the video, adventurers usually goes from H as the lowest to A as the highest, and if special requirements are met, you are advanced to either S, SS or SSS.

I didn't care, it was my status in the adventurer guild, not my own. He moved the side, gesturing with both of his hands on the clear path. This was way too easy, he is really dumb.

Before passing the city gate, I wanted to try something. I focused my mind on the guard, I could sense his mana (it was very low), I could feel his pulse, his breath, even his tiniest movements. After a few more seconds of focusing, a screen appeared.

Name: Weldon Austen

Title:

Class:

Race: Human

Vitality – 20 | Strength – 11 | Agility – 3 | Intelligence – 1

Wisdom – 1 | Defense – 30 | Willpower – 1 | Charisma – 1

Perception – 1 | Luck – 2

I could analyze his stats as well. But something is weird, he doesn't have a level or a rank. I wondered why.

This world is really interesting, Though it contains many RPG elements it is extremely realistic. The smell, the people, the sensation is very real. Calling this a game or a dream is almost impossible.

I ventured into the city, and just after passing the gates a window popped in my interface.

"Special Evolution Available!

All of the special requirements were cleared:

Powerful one – All Attributes above 10000 (Cleared)

Health Capacity – Immortal (Cleared)

Mana Capacity – Mana is infinite (Cleared)

Super Perks – At least 10 special perks (Cleared)

Special Title – Cleared, posses [Reincarnated One] title

Inventor – Invented a skill, [Analyze] was invented

Limit Breaker - Broke the limit of a skill/spell/Job

Special evolution (Level 4 Evolution) is available, do you accept?

"Eehhh?!"

I was shocked. Not even a day passed since I got into this world and I'm already granted with the opportunity to evolve, and a special evolution none the less.

Not to be too hasty I pressed the button, and additional text appeared in another window replacing the current one.

"Special Evolution, is an exclusive level 4 evolution.

Upon accepting the evolution:

[The last Ulolear] Title will be granted

Rank and Level will be maxed

When learning a new Skill/Spell/Job, it will be maxed

Exclusive Perks & Special Perks will be unlocked when conditions are met.

Do you accept the evolution?

"Oh wow! I hit a jackpot of cheats!"

After reading that I immediately pressed without any hesitation. Nothing happened. I didn't receive the title, and my attributes didn't change as well.

But then I noticed something; A red text with a time counter appeared just above my speed meter. It was counting down, by the looks of it I had around 8 hours.

"Evolution in: 07:58:32"

I got excited, in about 8 hours I'm going to max my attributes bonus, no, even beyond the max, it will be a level 4 evolution. I'm already a [Cheat] with my [The Alphtear] title, this must be a blessing from this world gods.

I needed something to do to kill time and ease my tension. I started to walk towards the center of the city. The city itself looked astonishing. With its oak wood rooftops, redwood walls and the illuminating dawn in the distance.

Itios has a very captivating atmosphere. The city has a booming economy, which is mainly supported by crafting, blacksmithing and trade. You could tell that from all of the shops that supported such products.

Whilst walking, admiring the city beauty, I heard an unexpected loud noise.

*Baam!*

"Woah!!!"

I stopped immediately and looked towards the source of the voice. A woman, Blonde with a curly hair tight in a bun. She had big blue eyes, a cute mole can be seen her nose.

She was positioned weirdly on the ground, she probably fall. The woman moved her gaze towards, she looked full of sorrow.

"Ah… Sor…"

"It’s fine, it was my fault as well"

She got up and bowed slightly as an apology, I bowed back. There was something ambiguous about her, it looked like she was suffering from something, and I think I saw tears in her eyes. She started to walk hastily toward the center of the city, I wondered what could have made her so sad.

I had about 7 hours left for the evolution to occur, and it is getting dark, I wondered if I could still sleep or even eat. I remembered that in fantasy worlds there are places called inns and taverns where adventurers usually eat and sleep in, though this is a city, there might be hotels as well.

I wanted to ask someone for directions, but there are barely people around here and those that are seemed too busy to be bothered. I decided to take on a different approach, I focused my mind on the map.

By focusing my mind on the map I could see more clearly the size of the city, its structures and even the names of different locations inside the city. The city was quite big by itself, it was spread out for about 200 square kilometers. It seemed to be divided by inner walls into five sections or districts as they were called.

The North section, seem to be called "The Red District".

The South section, it is where I was in, and it was called "The Yellow District".

The West section, "The Blue District".

The East section, "The Green District".

The Center section, "The White District".

I didn't understand the purpose of the coloring but what I was looking for was in the green district, I knew that, because when I focused even more on the map it started to show symbols.

At the first few seconds I didn't understand the symbols, but afterwards I could suddenly understand what the symbols meant. I somehow gained some knowledge by analyzing the symbols, just like with the language when I met the guard.

I decided on a location and started to head there, the place was an inn, I chose that place because it was the closest to me. The symbol that represented it was silver colored. Based on the knowledge I gained, places that offer services and goods are ranked with the same rank system of items, the shops around me are the same.

After quite a bit of walking I arrived at the inn door, I could hear loud noises from inside, the sound of people celebrating. From the outside it looked cheerful, inviting and modest. Clay and thick, stone beams make up most of the building's outer structure. It was hard to see through the closed windows, but the clinking of beer glasses from within could be felt outside.

As I entered the inn through the decorated, metal door, I was welcomed by overall happiness and a feeling of comfort. The innkeeper was busy, but still managed to welcome me with a friendly nod.

The inn itself was packed. Adventurers seem to be the primary clientele here, which could be seen as a good sign. Several long tables were occupied by, what seemed to be one large party of adventurers. The other, smaller tables were also occupied by people who were playing games and, judging by their laughter, were either telling jokes or great, perhaps embarrassing, tales. Even most of the stools at the bar were occupied, though nobody seemed to mind more company.

I managed to find a seat. When the innkeeper was done with the large table he approached me, offering his service. I ordered a meal and a lodging room for a week long.

I payed 5 silver coins for the room, and 10 coppers for a meal and a drink. I was glad to find out I could still eat and drink even though I had the [Consumer of None] perk.

The innkeeper was very nice, Rudus was his name. Bald, with black eyes and several moles are spread unusually across his whole face. He was tall with a sturdy body. He looked like an adventurer or maybe an ex-adventurer.

While drinking and eating at the bar, Rudus inquired me with some questions.

“So, Did you come here as well to defeat the Black King?”

“The Black King?”

“Oh? You didn’t hear? The king finally requested the capture of the Black King, the Necromancer who kidnapped his youngest son”

“I must say that I haven’t…”

“Well it was quite the incident, he put quite the reward as well! A title of a duke and one of his own daughters, any of them for marriage as a reward!”

“Are they ugly?”

“Uhu? What are you talking about? Everyone knows of the king daughters beauty! Marrying one of his daughters and getting the title of a duke is all men dream! Who wouldn’t want to go hunt down the Black King? Even the old me would get the hype for it, though my wife would kill me… Hahahaha”

“Is that so…”

We continued to talk on the subject and I managed to get some more information about where I’m and about this king and this “Black King”.

In summary, the black king is a necromancer, Crikhar Siphon, who was the previous court wizard, he got kicked out because of his inhuman experiments three years ago. Because he was kicked, he went berserk and caused quite the havoc. But last month he has finally got the attention of the king, when he kidnapped his youngest son, his only son, the heir to the throne.

The king three own daughters were presented as rewards together with a duke title, for the one who rescues his son from the necromancer. The king deployed a large search parties and posted the request for the the necromancer head or capture together with his son safe return.

One of the adventurers here found the necromancer location today. Rufus told me that the large table occupied by the group of adventurers were here to confront with this “Black King”. They will head towards his location tomorrow morning.

The group was drinking while discussing how they would engage the “Black King” tomorrow. They looked like a group of mercenaries or bandits more than a group of adventurers.They looked pretty tense, they had an heavy atmosphere around them so no one approached except for Rudus who took their orders.

I wanted to go with that group, it would be an excellent opportunity to get some more skills, but currently there was something bigger on my mind. I asked Rudus one more question.

“Rudus, by any chance, do you know what an is?”

“? Like the legend?”

“What legend?”

“Jeez… How can you call yourself an adventurer without knowing of the legend? Even children knows of it”

“Just tell me already!”

“Alright, alright… Ten thousands years ago, the were the first race in this world, not made by gods but summoned by them to populate the land, there were only six of them. They were very powerful beings who could even match to the gods. But the gods were fearful of creatures as powerful as them, seeing how powerful the are, they decided to act. At first they wanted to exile the , but the when the refused, the gods threatened to kill the . Thus it invoked a war between the gods and the , it was the longest war to date, it lasted over 1000 years, even some of the gods were lost to the but in the end the were completely annihilated... After the bloody aftermath they decided to never summon a race and instead created the races who are now populates this world. That the sums of it any way.”

“That’s quite a tale”

“Yeah, it is. Today the are but just a myth.”

“But what if someone evolves into a ?”

“That’s impossible, though it is almost impossible to evolve into a , to become an you have to be from another world, and powerful as a god at that.”

“But lets say one does… What then?”

“What then? Mhmmm... I truly don’t know, ever since the white god death, the possibility of one to become an is no more“

“Why is that?”

“Because it is was only the white god who could have summoned beings as powerful as an into this world”

“When did he die?”

“Truthfully, it was announced just this morning”

“...”

Oh wow, is it a coincidence? Was it because of me? I did not know how to process what I have just heard.

Because it was too much I decided to call it a day and went into my rented room. I wanted to try and sleep, eating was possible so sleeping is possible as well right?

The room was quite large, it was tight clean, as expected of a good inn like this one. The bed looked very welcoming and cozy, there was a closet for storing the luggage and a window in the direction of the street just beside the bed.

It was already 2 in the morning and I had about 5 more hours to pass until the timer will reach 0. I decided to try and see if I can sleep, this day was too stressful.

I entered the bed, I got myself covered with the blankets and closed my eyes. An hour passed, I couldn't sleep, I felt too much awake. Even when I ate food, the process of eating was possible but it wasn't if I was hungry. I concluded that it was as the perk said, I did not need to consume food but could, I did not need to sleep but I could still imitate it. It would probably be the same with air but I don’t really want to try it now.

Not dwelling on the subject much I decided to explore the city instead, I had to get my stress away. I got outside of the inn and decided to head towards the center of the city. The reason was an interesting symbol that I saw earlier in the map.

A symbol of a temple, there were many temples in the center of the city, each for a different god, but the one in the middle was the most interesting one, it was the temple for “The White God”. I needed some kind of answers so I headed toward that temple hoping to get some.

The streets were quiet, no one but guards patrols can be seen at night. Avoiding the patrols, and walking for about an hour, I finally arrived at my destination.

The temple was a grand building of white stones, the moonlight seemed to make them shine in a low yet bright light. The entrance was a huge garden, it was vast and wide with beautiful flowers and decorated bushes that were scattered evenly making the view even more mesmerizing under the moon.

The trail leading to the temple gates was almost like a carpet of white, glowing stones. The plants and bushes were glittering from morning tear drops, you could almost mistake the glitters with a dancing fairies, a truly magical scene.

Within this garden I heard a cry. In the right edge of the garden, there was a well, just near it was a woman sitting on a bench, she gave a beautiful aura around her, she was the one crying.

Getting closer, I could hear her mumbling a few words with tears running deeply out of her eyes.

“I...*sob* I can’t…*sob* How could this happen? *sob**sob* White God! Please answer my prayers!”

I couldn't hear her good so I got even closer.

“!”

She noticed me.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

I took one hand across my chest holding a fist, the other was moving backwards with my leg to make a bow.

Then I noticed, it is the same woman I encountered earlier. She was even more beautiful now, even though she had a tearing eyes.

“Who are you are?”

“Apologies, my name is Azura, it is a pleasure to meet you miss...”

She immediately wiped her tears, her cheeks got a bit red. She stood up and took an elegant pose.

“Ivy. My name is Ivy Marcallas. It is a pleasure Mr. Azura“

(Ivy, what a beautiful name, but Marcallas… It sounds familiar, I wonder why.)

Even though she was crying a minute ago, she is now radiating with confidence. It something I never saw before, she was like a noblewoman full of elegance and grace.

Unlike my earlier encounter with her where she wore a black cloak, she now wore a beautiful white dress.

"Mr. Azura, are you an adventurer by chance?"

“Yes, I am”

“Then are you going tomorrow as well? To the fight against the Black King?”

“I might... why are you asking?”

Her expression changed, as if she found a solution to a problem.

“Please, take me with you!”

Her eyes were like sharp spear piercing at me, what was with that sudden request? Though I would have loved a company of a lady such as her, my main goal by going would be to learn some new skills, not defending her, she will be in the way. Why would she even want go to where a notorious criminal is?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I’m sorry but I won’t. It is too bothersome”

“B-but...”

She paused for a moment, almost crying.

“*sob* Because he has my brother! *sob*”

Suddenly I remembered, Rudus told me that the Marcallas was the family name of the royal family.

“I still stay by my decision, I will not take you with me”

(Weird, even though I barely know her. Normally I would play an act of a being surprised or make an excuse, but instead I’m calm, my reactions don’t hold any hesitations.)

“Then promise me! *sob* P-promise me… that you will bring him back! *sob**sob*”

“No.”

“Ah?!”

“You see, I might be an adventurer, but I’m no hero of justice. I am going there for my own reasons.”

“...”

(Wow! Is that alright? I’m happy that I can calmly express myself, but for some reason with her it is different, it’s like I can be the real me)

Her head went down, her eyes were bursting in tears again, I felt a bit ashamed for what I said.

“But, if the opportunity present itself...”

Her face suddenly was brightened again, she forced herself to stop crying, and a small smile with teary eyes filled her face. I felt a bit awkward.

“Thank you! That is more than enough! I have a feeling that if it's you...”

Well I was not a complete asshole. Also I didn't want her to cry again.

“So, Why are you here alone in middle of the night? Aren't you a princess? Where are your guards?”

"Ah, that is usually true, but losing my mother, and now I might lose my brother… *sob* I just had a feeling. I felt that if I will come here my brother will be saved."

"Eh?"

What a troublesome princess, she didn't even think that her selfish actions can make it even worse. What if someone attacked her. Going by feelings, I really can’t understand women...

A loud voice then interrupted our conversation.

“Princess! Princess Ivy! Where are you?!”

At the entrance of the garden I saw a man in full set of armor, a rounded helm with a pointed, t-shaped opening leaving the eyes, nose and mouth exposed. Attached to the forehead area are two small antlers.

The shoulders are rounded, quite narrow and huge. They're decorated with layered pieces of curved metal, forming the rough shape of wings.

The upper arms are protected by pointed, layered metal rerebraces which sit perfectly under the shoulderplates. The lower arms are covered by vambraces which have two blades attached on each outer side, all sharpened and ready to be used as a weapon.

The breastplate is made from one large piece of metal, which sits perfectly just under the shoulderplates. It covers everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, but the shoulder area is fairly exposed, probably to allow for more movement space.

The upper legs are covered by squared, layered metal cuisses. The lower legs are protected by greaves which have several layered metal sheets on the outer sides.

Apparently I was too close to the princess, that man… That knight didn’t seem to like it. His reaction was almost instantaneous.

“Y-you! Get away from the princess!”

Unsheathing his sword, a large, wide, straight blade made from some kind of high grade metal is held by a grip made from some creature leather. With just one razor-sharp edge this weapon looked ideal for both cleaving enemies as well as blocking their attacks.

The blade itself was engraved. Several runes are etched into the blade. The cross-guard had a decorative eye on each side, this was clearly a weapon not meant to be wielded by a commoner. A massive pommel is decorated with precious gems, no expense was spared for this gorgeous weapon.

The man ran straight at me, his movements were quite agile even though he had an heavy looking armor and held such a huge sword in his hands.

In less than a second he managed to close the distance between us, he was already swinging his sword toward me. I could see it all, from when he dashed toward me to the point his sword was closing on my shoulder. It was like he was in slow motion, and I wasn't.

Even though it was a sword I felt no danger from it. I moved my hand to the sword direction, and with a single finger stopped the movement of his sword.

“Eh?!”

Even though his face is barely visible I could see the expression of confusion and surprise on his face.

“You bastard! Just how?”

Without giving me a time to react, he quickly stepped back to swing his sword again, but this time the princess intervened.

“Saerus! Stop your actions immediately!”

“But princess! This guy is dangerous!”

“Saerus!”

Surprised and dumbfounded, he stopped his movements.

“Who is that?” I asked.

“It is my personal bodyguard, Saerus. Please accept my deepest apology for his behavior”

“Princess! You don’t have to apologize for me to this commoner!”

“Quiet Saerus! Go wait for me at the entrance! That’s an order!”

“Ch... Y-yes my princess”

I could hear a clicking of his tongue, he then sheathed his sword and headed toward the garden entrance. He was quite angry, I should avoid meeting with him, guys like him are dangerous.

“It’s fine princess, no harm was done”

“It’s Ivy!”

“!... Then Ms. Ivy”

“No, just call me Ivy”

“...”

She smiled while walking backwards with her hands behind her back. I felt awkward, I didn't understood why would she want me to call her by her name so badly.

“Thank you Azura, please return with my brother safe”

“I told you already...”

But it was futile, I could tell from her eyes. What a troublesome princess I thought to myself.

She then left with the her bodyguard, he was quite angry, looking at me with such scary eyes.

Without noticing the timer has already reached 0. The title with all of the promised perks were gained. A small window with the text: “You have Evolved into ”.

It was amazing, I felt so different, the sensation was almost like a bug becoming a lion. My senses were sharper, I felt so powerful than before, it was another league of cheat, I wanted to test my powers, but I didn't want to do it here. I decided to leave the temple for now.

I headed back toward the inn I was staying. When I reached near the inn, a large group of people could be seen organizing in front of it. They were the large group of adventurers that I saw back in the inn.

The group was quite varied consisting of 20 individuals excluding the leader, 10 of them had various melee weapons, some were with a simple axe and some were with a sword, 5 of them had bows or crossbows and the last 5 people were holding different kind of staffs, some of the staffs were more decorated than the other, but they all have one thing in common, a crystal on top of the staff, they were mages.

I approached the group, Rudus as already told me that they plan to go fight the Black King, so it would be an excellent chance to gain some skills.

“Hello there! My name is Azura, I’m a fellow adventurer, I heard from the innkeeper you were going to confront the Black King”

They looked at me with weary eyes, they seemed irritated for some reason. A man with black, straight hair and blue eyes. He stood taller than the rest with quite the bulky frame.

He wore a leather armor that had a hood with a face guard shaped in the face of a hawk. Attached to the forehead area is a row of small horns. The shoulders were fairly oval, quite short and quite large. They were decorated with a row of metal chains on each side.

The upper arms were protected by squared, half covering rerebraces which sit well under the shoulderplates. The lower arms were covered by vambraces which had rows upon rows of small leather pieces, mimicking fish scales.

The breastplate is made from many layers of smaller leather pieces, again mimicking the scales of a fish. It covered everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, but there's a fairly wide neck line which was somewhat exposed.

The upper legs were covered by squared, layered leather cuisses. The lower legs are protected by leather shin guards which had layers of colored feathers on the outer sides. Thick pants made from leather and fur are worn beneath all that.

He approached me from inside the group.

“And what if we do?”

“Then I wish to join you, I’m an adventurer as well”

“What is your adventurer rank?”

He asked with a condescending tone.

“”

“ rank? Hahaha! You think we will accept an rank to our group? Pfffff have you lost your mind? Who would take a weakling to do an rank quest?”

He was quite rude, deducting that I'm weak based on my adventurer rank.

“Who knows I might be useful for you”

“You newbie! Who do you think you are?”

Someone in the group yelled at me. The leader raised his hand marking his men to not interfere. But his face was still showing a laughing face.

“In second thought, why not, you can join us”