Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait, I've been playing Civilization V and I just couldn't stop to do anything else.
Anyways, let's go!
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"Hahaha, come here Sentry, come here." A beautiful image. The view of a girl with long, silky flaxen hair, snow white skin, angelic smile, glistening ruby red eyes... In all of the sense, a very beautiful girl, playing with a dog, just viewing these two would give a sense of peace and tranquility..
Crow however, couldn't help but give the view a wry smile.
'If only she wasn't wearing a holster on her hip and the dog wasn't a wolf pup.'
Though he thinks that, he among lot of others couldn't help but look and glance at her direction. A few even offered her to join their party but was politely declined. Some even tried to touch the pup but it would either bark, attempt to bite or run away from those people so they just had to give up at some point.
Crow went nearer and called out to them to gain their attention. Sentry went running towards him in a hurry.
"It's amazing how close you two are already in just a few days. It took me a week before this little one decided to be friendly." He said as he carried the pup and hand fed it with some meat.
"I just have a great affinity with animals I guess. With that said... You mind giving him to me?"
Crow was confused.
"Him? I see, so you are a male huh? I should have given you a cooler name, also, no. He's special to me! I'll help you get your own some other time, I'm quite new at this world but what kind of pet do you want?" He put Sentry to the ground and gave it a bone before asking.
"Hmm, I don't know actually."
"Well, we'll just take care of it when the time comes, for now we need to get to a bigger place."
"Why?" It was one thing for her to make a curious look like a squirrel but it was another thing when Sentry also mimicked her. It was quite an adorable sight.
'She either has a great affinity with animals... Or she's like one herself.' Crow thought as he chuckled in his mind.
"Well, it's been three days since we've met and our levels are me with 36, Sentry with 22 and you with 20. With three of us, it would only get harder to level up so I propose we go to some place bigger, what do you say?"
Lucy thought about it for a while and finally answered yes. They took at least two to three hours of getting ready before finally heading out after saying their farewell to the people they know.
"Ah, finally heading out?" Dale was at it again, sitting in his chair inside the pub.
"Yes. I'll come back later once I've gotten better."
"Sure, show the other's the strength of the Freelancer alright? I'm going to wait for more news from you then. There's a city north from here, you should go there."
They didn't need anymore words than that and Crow left the vicinity.
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It's been around three hours since they've said goodbye to that village.
"Come to think of it... I never knew what that village was called."
Crow suddenly stopped as he voiced his thought, it wasn't just him though, Lucy as well did not know what the village was called.
"Anyways, it's getting dark. Let's camp out here for the time being. Monsters tend to be more energetic in the night, I'll get the campfire started while you two watch out for any enemies around."
It would have been a good plan, with the exception that he couldn't get the fire started.
"Uhh, need some help?"
"No thanks, I can do this. I've watched it on a video."
It would've been easier should he asked for help but his stubbornness decided to get the best of him. It took another hour before he gave up.
"This is impossible!" he threw the stick in his hands to the ground in petty anger, hitting his foot in the process.
〈You received 1 damage!〉
"How about I do it?"
Crow having given up, just gave her the ok sign, a few seconds later and there was a loud bang in the premise. Crow immediately looked towards the noise and saw a large fire with Lucy smiling... No, grinning at Crow's astonished face.
"I did it." she said.
Crow just pouted and retorted back saying "Using magic was cheating."
She just giggled as she watched him prepare meat for their dinner.
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While journeying towards a new place, they have encountered a few monsters here and there and was able to level up a few times.
They finally reached their destination. It was a big city, surrounded with walls all around it, a big gate and inside is probably even bigger since a castle is able to be seen from outside!
"Wow." was the only word they can express at the view they have just seen, Sentry was just following along without paying attention.
"Halt! Where have you come from and state your reasons for coming here." They were stopped by the guards and they did not look friendly.
"Uhh, hello there. We're Travellers from the village to the south. Is there any reason why you have stopped us?" Thought still wary, their faces held a look of relief at his words.
"O-Oh, Travellers huh? Hmm, since you came from the village of wolves that means you two are new to this... But it might just work... Hmmm...." The guard on the left was mumbling to himself while the other one was still blocking the pathway.
After a few minutes of mumbling, the guard nodded to himself and told them the reason.
"You see, this city is currently at a stalemate with another kingdom, one from the east. They are trying to conquer this peaceful place and some rumor even state that inside the city are spies lurking around, going in and out of the city."
"Ahh, I see, I understand why you stopped us then." Crow nodded with his hand on his chin.
"We feel as if there will be a battle going to happen soon, if possible... Will you two please help this city to defend itself?"
【Defend the City!】
The guard has told you the reason for their wariness, seeing as how you are new, there is little to no chance of you being spies.
He has asked your party to help with the oncoming defense.
Difficulty: C+
Reward(s): friendship with the the citizens of Drimr City, 200 gold for employment (will get higher based on your amount of contribution), audience with the king. (Only if you were the top contributor to the defense.)
Restrictions: Must not be be allied with the Drake kingdom.
Recruitment will end within 30 days in real time.
Crow thought about it, unlike his usual self that would just jump straight in, he wasn't alone now, there was his pet, Sentry and the girl named Lucy. He knows that players would only get a restriction of usage within 24 hrs on death... But he wasn't so sure about the NPCs, mainly... Sentry. They were weak, still to weak to just jump on the bandwagon and risk Sentry's life.
He politely declined.
"I don't want to be rude or anything but, I dont think we can help much. We are still new at this. We'd like to help but only when we get stronger."
【You have declined the quest!】
"We understand. We will hope you will help us once you get stronger. Enjoy your stay in the City." Though crestfallen at his answer, they still perfectly acted their roles as the guards.
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Crow told Lucy to go search for the job guild so she could get her power-up while he tours the city. His mind however was clouded with thoughts on whether to help or not. He couldn't care less about the other players since they were all driven with their own goals in the real life. A lot of the players were testers after all.
But the NPCs were different, even though they were called NPC, they had their own lives, feelings, regrets, strengths and weaknesses. They were their very own selves, Crow still doesn't know what would happen should an NPC die but he can only guess... And he knows he won't like it.
'I need to find a good grinding area. There's still a month before the registration ends... I should be able to get stronger by then.' steeling his resolve, he was ready to sprint towards the job guilds to search for Lucy but his eye saw something shiny from afar.
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"What's that?" Unknowingly following a real crow's instinct, he went towards the object and saw a stall with different than normal wares.
All it had was collars, claws and even fangs!
"Ah, welcome, welcome. Have you seen something that catches your fancy?" It was a muscled man with a big mustache in his face, he seems to be a blacksmith of some sort based on the hammer on his back.
"Ah. Yes, I was just curious why you're selling these that can't be worn by other people." The man only stare at him dubiously and started to laugh out loud.
"You must be new here huh? Well kid you see, in these parts exists a mercenary tribe of the beastmen. Though these wares are only for monsters of tamers, most beastmen chose to be 【Berserkers】. A being of destruction. Along with their natural strength, they possess beast like abilities like the ability to smell the inflation of mana so as to dodge the magic attack. The 【Berserker】job class is a class that excels in fighting against many, able to hold and handle all types of weapon, including monster equipment like these."
Crow was surprised at the possibility that it possessed. Though he hasn't seen one in real life, based on what the old man said, they could be a very useful asset to the upcoming battle.
"That's not all. Combine the power of the beastmen with the berserker job class and you'd get an almost impossible to beat enemy. Though they sound strong, they also have downsides though. Berserkers tend to use pain as an addition of power, getting hurt, their pain turns to anger and then when the moment they don't feel the pain anymore is when they either faint... Or die. No being in this world is immortal. Even dragons can be slain after all... Anyways, moving on. What do you want to buy?"
It took a while of looking around before he finally settled on the collar that first caught his eye.
"Ah. Are you sure about that?" The muscled man showed a hesitating figure that would cause one to think twice, but to Crow, it didn't matter. As soon as he said yes, the man again laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, many have been discouraged to buy that whenever I use this tone, you are the first not to. The price of that is 5 gold. It might seem pricy for just a plain old collar but you'd be surprised if you bought it. So how about it?"
Due to the endless hunting their party made, he already had around 32 gold, 28 silver and 89 copper. He wanted to buy new equipment with his money but he decided to buy it anyway.
"Hey Crow!" He looked towards the left seeing a girl and a sprinting wolf pup towards him, within two seconds he was tackled by the pup.
"Hahaha, thanks for your patronage kid, here's an extra for your little pet as thanks for chatting with this old man, hoping for your future patronage then."
〈You received Collar of the beast tribe.〉
〈You received Iron claws of wind.〉
Crow checked the items description wondering what it was.
【Collar of the beast tribe】
Accessory item.
Gives additional stats depending on the wearer.
Owners will be recognized by the beast tribe.
Possible gem slot: 1
【Iron Claws (Wind Enchanted)】
Weapon item.
Limited to beasts and beastmen tribes.
Gives additional 15-22 damage.
Due to wind enchantment, gives addition 3 damage and 5 agility.
"Wait! Old man! This costs more than 5 gold! I want to pay for it normally!" Though Crow was adamant on his statement, the man only laughed again.
"No need, no need. You knowing that it costs more and want to pay it fully is good enough for me... Unless you have around 150 gold?" Crow began to sweat at the price mentioned.
"Hahaha. See? I understand your sentiment though, and if you really want to pay me back... Go and capture more beasts and then buy more items from me for those beasts!"
That... Was a really good deal. But Crow still had to ask...
"Why?"
The laughing visage of the man vanished and changed into a more serious one.
"It's because I recognize you as one of the strong... That's one of Wolf Zepyhr's pups right?"
Before Crow could even asked, he was beaten to the punch as the man continued.
"He and my people are quite good friends." He told him.
"By the way, can I put any kind of gem in the collar?"
"Huh? Yeah. Depending on the rarity, handling, hardness and color of the gem, it could strengthen or weaken the effects of the items." The man just shrugged nonchalantly while explaining.
"Is it possible for you to put a gem I have in here?"
The man only nodded.
"Here it is." When Crow showed the Aurora Stone, the man took it in a hurry and inspected it. After a few tests on the stone and he started laughing once again.
'He sure is a happy fellow huh?' Crow thought of him like this for his sudden outbursts of laughing.
"Kid, you sure are interesting. Wait for a while, I'll put this in the collar. If there's any left, I'd be sure to give it back, though I'm pretty sure the rest will just be bits and pieces."
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It's already been half an hour since they waited, Lucy was playing with Sentry while Crow was just watching them have fun. He also kept glancing from left to right since he noticed the onlooking people.
"Sorry for the wait. Here's the collar back, and the pebbles of the aurora stone."
〈You received Soul Collar of the beast tribe.〉
〈You received Aurora stone pebbles.〉
Thanking the old man, Crow was wondering what he meant before.
"By the way, what do you mean by you recognizing me and your 'people'?"
The man only grinned.
"What's your name kid?"
"Uhh, I'm Crow, this is Lucy and this is Sentry."
"I'm Leoric. Just call me Leo. I'm...." He removed his hat and it showed two ears... Not the human's round ears... It was a long furry type of ears.
"A beastman."
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"So, what job class did you choose Lucy?"
"You'd be surprised! There was a lot of different job class to choose from! There was the Mage types, swordsman types, gunner types, blacksmiths, thieves, archers... A lot! There was even the possibility of getting a mixture job class!"
"Mixture job class?"
"Yeah! To get a mixture job class, sometimes you need the right combination of main job class and secondary job class." She said with a voice full of pride.
"Wait, wait, wait! There's a secondary job class?!"
"Ahh, yeah, about that. Freelancers aren't able to get secondary job classes."
"Yeah, figures." He was instantly saddened at the confirmation and to remove the sad atmosphere Lucy began talking again.
"Well, you see, an example of a mixture class is like mine! I chose gunner as my main and Mage as my secondary. The instructor saw my weapon and told me a secret! Due to that, both jobs mixed into one and I became a SpellSlinger! He even gave me different types of magic guns! Though mixture classes aren't able to get secondary classes anymore but still... Pretty neat huh?"
"Wait... That mixture class... Isn't that pretty much what one could call a secret class?"
"Huh? There are secret classes?"
Crow only laughed, to think that right in front of him was a person able to get a secret class.
While this was ongoing, Crow put the collar and claw on Sentry, He didn't like the claws. It's apparently too big for the pup. The Collar shone a bright green after it was worn.
After their chat was over, they asked NPC around the place where it would be a good place to level grind. Crow completely forgot to upgrade his equipment in the hurry and... Well, we could pretty much guess that he was the highest level of the group... But the biggest burden as well, but they still continued to level grind.