Three weeks had passed. Blitz logged on to Royal Road on a daily basis, except for minimum sleeping hours and making meals for his mother and himself, he was at the point of addiction. His physical condition, which was bolstered by the fact that he previously had a physically demanding job, enabled him to push on for hours a day. Looking back at the last three weeks, it made him sick to even think of it. The sheer addiction and stress.
Once he signed into the game, he spent twelve hours on average sweeping the temple yard with a stiff broom. The shaft of the broom was made from lead. This took him two hours. The stacking of firewood took another two hours; even his fire resistance had gone up due to the heat his body experienced. He also filled the bathing area, which was the most demanding, and took four hours. It was both mentally and physically tough. Had it not been for the pop-up messages encouraging him, he would have given up.
--
Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)
Stamina rises by 1 point. (+1 STA)
Vitality rises by 1 point (+1 VIT)
New stat: Predator Presence
---
Blitz smiled, as he called up information on this new stat
--
- Predator Presence -
Your mere presence is enough to bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.
For the three weeks, as he immersed himself in his chores, his strength had increased by 28 points, agility 25, and vitality 22. He knew that there was a restriction on his character, and that he could only leave the capital after the one month grace period was over. He began to wonder if he would ever become a disciple of the temple. All he did was menial chores, and he was now so accustomed to them that they were being finished early.
For the last few days, Blitz had revised the order of his chores, he would do the firewood first, then refill the bathing area. Finally, he would sweep the yard.This was done so that he could drag on and look at the other monks of the temple train. He swept as he watched the different groups spar with each other. The staff users sparred against each other. Even those unarmed were fighting against staff users. He was watching and committing the moves he saw to memory. When the chores were over, he had a lot of time, and would go to the back of the temple and do rudimentary exercises by imitating what he saw.
One day, as he was sweeping, and he watched an unarmed monk using a Tiger Claw fist spar against a sabre user. He stood still and watched as the two men were fully engaged with each other. The Sabre user would attack, only to have the unarmed monk deftly dodge and counter attack, the sabre then blocked that attack and retaliated in kind.
Blitz was getting into the swing of things, the broom in his hand moving left and right to the monks’ motions, when a voice was heard behind him,“See something interesting initiate?”
Blitz immediately straightened up and turned around, only to see the Abbot standing next to him. He was watching the two monks as well, the fan in his right hand moving back and forth as his left hand tugged on his tendril-like beard.
“Honorable Abbot, I was just admiring the courtyard and the tree over yonder Sir,” Blitz was nervous and thought to himself that this was not what he actually wanted to say.
The Abbot laughed and replied, “Yes, the tree over yonder is rather green isn’t it?”
Turning to Blitz, the Abbot nodded his head to some thought he had and said,“Hmm, you seem to be a bit bored, Blitz, how about running a quick errand for me?”
“An errand sir?” Blitz questioned.
“Yes, a simple one in fact, are you willing to do it?”
--
-Ting
-The Abbot’s Errand-
The Abbot has asked you to run an errand for him. He wants you to go into town and collect some herbs from the old apothecary at the edge of the slums.
Difficulty level - E
Quest requirements:
Given by the Abbot of Pusean Main temple, make it back before the evening bell is rung at the temple.
Quest reward:
Be acknowledged by the Temple Abbot
--
Blitz looked at the Abbot and thought to himself that maybe this quest was the one that would finally allow him to become a disciple. Without further ado, Blitz replied,“I am honored Abbot. Although I am unworthy, I will swiftly carry out this task.”
--
You accepted the quest
--
“Hmm, Yes, Yes. I entrust you with this task. Take this money as a retainer,” the Abbot said, handing over two silvers, “A word of warning, steer clear of the slum alleys, stick to the main road.”
The Abbot nodded his head and walked away, heading to the pavillion to no doubt play more board games.
“Steer clear of the slums, stick to the road. Get there and get back,” Blitz mumbled to himself as he headed for the temple entrance and the steps.
Hurrying, as he was aware of the time limit on the quest. He reached the bottom of the stairs and was surprised at how easy it was walking down. He felt as light as a feather. Unlike three weeks ago, he was surprised to see actual players before him. They all seemed to be pretty high level. They paid no attention to Blitz, even though he was rather bulky now from his training. Also, his bald head was glistening in the afternoon sun.
Trying to get his bearings, Blitz looked up and saw the sign post pointing in the direction of the apothecary. He was about to head off in the direction when a player approached him.
“Hey, you been here long?”
Blitz looked at the person addressing him. He wore black steel greaves, a black chest piece with a red bird emblazoned on the front and had spikes on his shoulder. Slung across his back was a huge Axe that seemed to be on fire. Blitz was in awe.
“Oi, I’m talking to you, you been here long?”
Blitz looked at the guy. Still admiring his armor, Blitz replied, “Depends on what you mean. Since I started about three weeks ago, I’ve been in the temple for the entire duration. I’m on a quest right now, what you need?”
“Three weeks in the temple? What the hell is wrong with you? You should explore the town a bit before you join anything. You never played any MMO before or something?”
Blitz now peeled his eyes away from the guy’s armor looked at him in the eye. He was a good four inches taller than Blitz. Blitz thought he could take him on.
“Well, it’s already happened.What do you want?”
The guy looked at Blitz and paused for a moment. Then opened his mouth, “What’s this place.”
Blitz was growing tired of the guy now. He’d had enough of the eye candy of the guy’s armor and decided to regurgitate the same thing Major Heron had told him when he first entered the game.
After telling him that, the guy shook his head,“Pfft, this is some underdeveloped dump, it doesn’t even have a training hall. Only noobs here, I'm outta here.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The guy pulled out a shiny object, and after a few seconds, a bright blue light enveloped him and he disappeared. Blitz shrugged his shoulders, and remembering the quest he was on, headed to the apothecary. He made special care to steer clear of the slum area on his way there.
Blitz entered the the old,rundown shop that had the apothecary sign on the front. There was an old man sitting behind the counter, snoring away. Blitz paused briefly to take in the shop. There were bottles with weird symbols on them, different herb and spices, many different shapes of ginseng hung from the ceiling, and there was a pleasant smell coming from the shop. He walked over to the counter and presented himself. The old man opened an eye and yawned. Blitz was not impressed as he looked at the man.
Seeing that this might turn out badly, he stated his business,“Good day Sir, I have come from Pusean Temple at the behest of Abbot Fung. He has instructed me to collect some herbs.”
The old man, without a word, reached under the counter and brought up a wrapped package. He then outstretched his hand, palm up, obviously looking for money. Blitz reached deep into his pocket and fished out the two silvers. The old man flashed a grin, many of his teeth absent. Blitz raised his eyebrows and immediately left the shop.
-Items have been added to your inventory-
Blitz looked up at the sky, and seeing the sun, he calculated that he still had a long time left before he had to get back to the temple. He could use this chance, and as the grumpy high leveller had said, explore the city of Pusean a bit more. Blitz headed back to the main square, and from there, tried to figure out where was the best place to start. The town, in that short time span, was once again quiet. Blitz thought that the other players had reasoned the same as the first grumpy guy, and had ‘blue-lighted’ out of Pusean.
Blitz walked over to a small bridge, after walking halfway across, he stopped to admire the fish in the stream that ran underneath. He felt at peace. Suddenly, he heard a sound. He turned slowly to face the direction the sound was coming from, and arching his neck, he saw a hooded figure in an alleyway beckoning him over. Blitz was apprehensive to say the least, but he knew that the slums were on the other side of the town, so he thought it wouldn’t be a problem. He headed over to the man and stood out in the open. He didn’t want to go into the alleyway, just in case. Blitz had watched the monks and thought that maybe he could defend himself.
“Hey, you’re from Pusean Temple aren’t you?” The man said. He was clearly shifty. Blitz couldn't make out his face under the hood he had on, but thought nothing of it.
“Yeah, I’m still new there though. What’s up?” Blitz saw the man's eyes get wider when he said he was new.
“I used to be a monk at Pusean temple a few years back. Abbot Fung was my teacher,” the guy relaxed a bit as he said that. Blitz also relaxed at the words that the man was a former student. Maybe he could learn something.
“Yeah, Abbot Fung is in good health. Actually, I just came back from the apothecary. I was doing an errand for him. Went to collect some herbs.”
The man smiled, “Yeah, the Abbot used to send me on those errands for him as we--.” The man then stopped as though he instantly had a revelation, “You want to make some extra money? I know from former experience that the temple pay is next to nothing, so this could be a bit of pocket change for when you decide to venture out into the world.”
Blitz looked at the man and thought that this might be a golden opportunity for him to make some money. It was, after all, the last week before he could go out of the capital, go adventuring and finally start earning money. Judging by the fact that the man said he was a former student, what's the worst that could happen?
“Sure, I don't see any reason why not. But how long is this going to take, because I need to get back before the evening bell to deliver this to Abbot Fung..?”
The man waved his hand as a gesture for Blitz not to worry and said, “Don’t worry. It won’t even take long. And even if you do come late, the Abbot won’t mind. Plus, this will only take about thirty minutes. Follow me, stick close.”
The man then headed into the alleyway. He walked with a strange limp as he hurriedly moved. Blitz looked around, then headed after him. The man made a sharp right, then a left, a right again, made another two rights, and walked on, getting faster and faster. Blitz was struggling to keep up, the light in the alleyway from the sun was very dim. The man suddenly stopped, waited for a few moments, then made a sharp right. Blitz was thinking how he never even asked the man his name, yet he’d just up and followed the man on the merit that he had said he knew Abbot Fung.
“We’re here,” the man stopped in front of a plain, unassuming door.
“Where exactly are we?” Asked Blitz.
“You’ll see,” the man said, as he knocked three times on the door, paused, then knocked another two times. There was a shuffling on the inside of the door, then a small slit slid across and then slid back shut, the sound of bolts and chains being removed could be heard, and then the door slipped open.
“Hmm, it’s you, Bumpy, what do you want?” A large, broad-shouldered man blocked the entrance. Looking at the hooded guy Blitz had followed, Blitz thought that at least now, he knew the man’s name.
“I brought another prospect, surely you can let me in... For old times’ sake?” Bumpy told the guard. The guard looked at Bumpy, then cast his eyes on Blitz-his eyes were dark and empty, it was as though he was looking into a dead fish’s eyes, and he never blinked.
“You already owe us big Bumpy, the last one you brought couldn't cover your debts.”
Blitz felt the need to interject and held onto Bumpy, his name now becoming more apparent, and asked him, “Hey, just what kind of a game are you running here mate?”
Bumpy turned around and faced Blitz. He then said, “Calm down man, stay calm, I brought you here, I’ll take you back out. Look, do you even know where you are and how to get back out? This is the slums. Just hold on and let me do the talking. Everything will be OK.”
Slums??! Blitz looked around, trying to assess his location. The house roofs shielded the sunlight from reaching the alleyways. He decided not to panic. The only comfort he had was the fact that Bumpy had said he was a former student. Calming down a bit, Blitz relaxed and decided to just go with the flow. Bumpy turned back to the guard and the conversation continued.
“This one is good I swear,” his hands were clasped in front of him in prayer fashion.
“You always swear that Bumpy. I don’t think I can let you in,” the man was about to go back into the door when Bumpy called out,“I’ll give you 50% of my split, if.. No, when this turns out good.”
The man stopped, turned back around and looked at Bumpy. Then he smiled and moved to the side, opening the door way for Blitz and Bumpy.
Bumpy quickly rushed in and called Blitz to come inside. The pathway leading into the building was narrow. There were torches hung on the walls, illuminating their way down some stairs, and towards another door. The guard then knocked on the door, whispered something to the man behind the door. The door then opened up.