"Whew, we're finally done," Raylight said as they went out of the dungeon. It was already 5:00 pm in-game. "That took a lot of time, but with all these leather, I hope I can reach 100% Expert on my Leather Crafting. Then I'll make you a cute armor."
"Haha, no need," Pristine responded with a wave of her hand and a dry laugh.
After the battle against the Crystal Buzzard, they rested for a while inside the dungeon. Her stats didn't grow much after the fight against the boss monster, probably because her actions were limited. Looking back on that battle, she realized that she still had much to learn and improve on. The War Chanter was supposed to be a versatile class, and it could fill any role in a party. If one takes that at face value, then that means that the War Chanter should be able to cope with any situation. She had to rack her brains to think of anything to use on that battle earlier, betting it all on a final gamble. She was lucky that she won out that gamble.
"Well then, let's go back to Lancendai. I want to process these leather as fast as possible!"
"Oh, before that, don't we have to look for the Travel Portal here?"
"Right, you didn't know. There's no Travel Portal around Lancendai."
"Huh? Doesn't every town have one?" Raylight chuckled after hearing that.
"No, I don't think so. I don't think every town have one. That would counter the game's selling point of being realistic, because apparently, walking on foot over long distances for hours is part of realism."
"I see. Go on ahead then. I want to check the area."
"Not giving up yet on the portal?"
"Yeah. When I open the map, there are still black areas. So i thought maybe there's a Travel Portal there somewhere."
"The black areas doesn't really mean that it's unexplored. Someone might have already been there, but did not upload the map data to the official database." Raylight turned to leave. "Nothing wrong in trying, though. Good luck!" She then cast Celumbra and faded into the forest.
Pristine searched the black areas in her map for an hour. She couldn't find any signs of the Travel Portal, but found an empty dungeon instead.
Dungeons in Tataria are usually filled with monsters and treasures. But what happens after players raid a dungeon? Pristine wondered about this, and now she found the answer.
She was checking if there were any items left in the dungeon when she heard a rustling sound in the entrance. She looked back to see a turtle-like beast, but instead of a hard shell, its body was covered by leaves.
[ Leaf Turtle ]
[ Leaf Turtles are an endangered species. They are weak harmless creatures that are found at the bottom of the food chain. Because of that, their population is extremely low. Their shell that is made of leaves and appears like a bush can actually produce edible fruits. ]
Noticing her, it stopped moving and hid inside the 'shell' of leaves. Now it looked just like a normal bush. From behind it though, eight smaller Leaf Turtles, the size of her foot, continued to totter into the cave. They stopped and twisted their necks as if looking for something, not realizing the bush beside them was the one accompanying them earlier. After a while, they finally figured that out and entered the 'bush'.
"So dungeons remain empty until a new set of monsters decide to reside in it." That was her conclusion.
The smallest of the Leaf Turtles continued to walk blindly into the dungeon. It only had a few leaves on its back, and one of those covered its eyes. The parent Leaf Turtle in the entrance seemed to not care about the little one and left. It probably thought that Pristine was the current owner of the dungeon, and it didn't want to risk having itself and its other young ones eaten.
"They left you as a sacrifice," Pristine said softly as she crouched down. The small Leaf Turtle continued to slowly move forward. After a while, it bumped its head on her boot.
"That must have hurt," she said. Her boots had metal toe protectors. Even though the impact looked soft, thinking about the size of the Leaf Turtle, it must have been painful for it.
She lifted the small beast with a hand. It was small enough to fit in her palm. She then peeled off the leaf covering its eyes and rubbed its head softly with a finger. She looked at it closely, her nose almost touching its head. It was actually pretty cute.
"Pya!" the small beast cried as it stretched its neck to reach her face, then rubbed its head on her nose.
[ Baby Leaf Turtle ]
[ The Baby Leaf Turtle was born not too long ago. It still doesn't know who its parent is, only moving along with the other Baby Leaf Turtles by instinct. They are easy prey when separated from a mature Leaf Turtle, as their shell is not fully grown yet to hide in. ]
[ They are sensitive to emotions and will attach themselves to any source of affection, and run away from any source of evil intention. ]
[ You have gained the affection of the Baby Leaf Turtle. Maintain a high affection until its maturity to keep it as a pet. ]
"A-are you sure?" Pristine asked the cute little beast. It didn't respond. It only curled its body and settled down on her palm. It closed its eyes and stopped moving. "It went to sleep!" The sudden turn of events left Pristine unable to properly think of what to do.
"Do I feed it milk? But I can't breastfeed yet. Wait? What am I saying? What does it eat? What do I do?!?" She was confused. Although Pristine acts savagely during battles, she's still a growing girl. She likes cute things. This was a side she doesn't want other people to know, yet, not because she was embarrassed, but because she was afraid that the people she had now become friends with would look at her with strange eyes because of her 'sudden' change in personality.
"Feed it grains, but dried seeds will also do," a voice suddenly said behind her from within the dungeon. Startled, she hugged the turtle into her chest and turned around while preparing to draw her sword.
Standing in the darkness of the dungeon was a cloaked figure. The cloth covered his entire body, revealing only a masked head. The mask looks eerily familiar to Pristine.
"Who are you?!" Pristine asked. In Tataria, there was no way to tell if a person is a player or an NPC in just a glance.
"No need to be wary," the figure said, bringing out his hands from under the cloak and raised them in a pacifying motion. It was hard to tell what facial expression he was making or where his eyes were actually looking at because of the mask. Slowly, he put his left hand into the cloak, then pulled an object out, showing it to her.
Stolen story; please report.
It was a silver-colored emblem with a tree and a mask engraved on it. It was exactly the same as the guild emblem of New Eden, except for the gold frame lining its edges.
"I'm the Guildmaster of New Eden."
* * *
There was a small hidden room inside the dungeon that Pristine went to earlier. The entrance was between a boulder that was leaning against the wall and a crevice around tight a corner. It was unnoticeable unless one knew what to look for. The entrance was narrow, but the path gradually widened. There were strange markings on the walls and when she asked the figure who lead her into such a place, he answered that they were seals to prevent intruders.
"I was just about to leave so forgive me for the lack of preparations," as he said that, he started chanting long unintelligible phrases while moving his hands in a pattern. A stone table grew out of the ground followed by two stone chairs. A stone teapot appeared on the edge of the table with two stone cups. Without turning his head, he asked, "Coffee or tea?"
"C-coffee," Pristine answered. She was confused and shocked by what she saw. This person was the Guildmaster of New Eden, but his actions were strange and unreasonable. After meeting at the entrance of the dungeon, he invited her inside for an apology to the misunderstanding, led her to a secret room, made furnitures and kitchenware using an unknown skill, and was now preparing coffee as if it's something natural.
"Here you go." He placed the stone cup of hot coffee in front of her along with a small stone plate of small dried nut-like fruit.
"T-thanks," she said as she picked up a nut. It was actually tasty. The figure suddenly laughed, surprising her.
"It's for the turtle," he said. Embarrassed, Pristine lowered her head and placed the turtle on the table. Sensing the food, it crawled to the plate and munched on the nut-like fruits. The sight was warm and comforting.
"Sorry for the late introductions," the figure said as he sat down on the seat on the other side of the table. "My name is Deus Ultima." He laughed again after seeing Pristine's shocked expression.
"T-that's quite..."
"Shameless, right?"
"No, I-I meant to say bold."
"Thanks for saving me some face." He took a sip of coffee. Pristine tilted her head wondering how he did that as the mask covered even his mouth. Looking closely, the slits for the eyes doesn't actually have holes. Noticing her gaze, he said, "This mask is special."
"Anyways, I started playing the game way back in the alpha stage. When the game officially started, I rushed to log in to make this name. Reflecting on it, I was really quite a child back then." He took another sip of coffee, then reached out over the table and took some of the food on the plate. The turtle looked at his hand while crying 'pya-pya' as if telling him not to steal its food.
"I'm guessing you're a new member of the guild?"
"Yes, I am Pristine Void."
"When did you start playing the game?"
"Just this Monday." He paused for a while, as if thinking of something then nodded to himself while whispering very softly, "Monday is... today is... I see..."
"And your class archetype?"
"War Chanter."
"Oh, that's great." He then started muttering again, "A War Chanter, huh... for the plan... it's a big help... especially on..." Seeing her stare at him, he then coughed to clear his throat and said, "Sorry, I was carried away by my thoughts. Do you have any questions regarding the guild or the game?"
"I'm just curious. If you started long ago, does that mean you already have Grandmaster Rank on all your skills and stats?"
"Hmm, something like that." His answer was vague.
"There are ranks higher than Grandmaster, right?" When she said that, his aura suddenly changed.
"Where did you hear about that?" he asked with a cold voice.
"Uh, no. It's because of this." She showed him the longsword. It had an enchanted skill 'Foresight' which was God-ranked.
"I see," he said and his aura and voice relaxed. "This certainly is a miss by the management, but I guess it would make good preparation when you enter the heart of the continent."
"I don't understand?" Pristine was confused by what he said.
"It's something you don't have to worry about for no. And for the answer to your question: Yes, there are ranks higher than Grandmaster. Don't tell anyone else, though. You and Rhinestone are the only people I have told this about."
"Yes."
"Any other questions?"
"None for now."
"Well then, there are other places I have to go to. Use this." He handed her a black cube with silver inscriptions on it. The material looked oddly similar to that of the obelisk of the Travel Portal. She tried checking what the item was.
[ Unnamed Object #987100923655172 ]
[ No data available. ]
"Just activate it by pressing the round silver button. Go ahead."
Pristine followed his instructions and pressed the silver button. Her vision melted into the darkness.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" a loud unfamiliar voice said as she felt herself hit something, causing her to lose her balance and fall down on her butt. Realizing she had her eyes closed, she opened them to find herself once again shocked.
She was back in the town of Lancendai!
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This is my first time to leave a note.
To those who are following this story and continue reading it, I am truly truly grateful for your wonderful attention.
Right now I am so full of emotions, that I don't want to say that this project will go on hiatus, eternally.
JUST KIDDING. (I know April's fool is over, but it's never too late to try)
What i really wanted to say was,
"I really liked this chapter because we finally get to see the feminine side of Pristine."
Nah, it's just caffeine overdose.
Anyways, due to the comment by mg021 on the previous chapter, I decided to leave a note here.
Any comments and suggestions are fully appreciated, both constructive and destructive.
I'm actually thinking of modifying the style (fonts, tables, etc etc), but it might be something I'll add later. Maybe when I have 1000 followers, ahuehue.
Well, that's all.
Once again, thanks.
Ta-ta!