Elsewhere, many thousands of miles from Viktor, civilization was reforming into a semblance of what could be found in the world. Humans, or most sentient creatures, will gradually form hierarchies and safe places to live out of instinct. The majority of the weak will seek comfort over growth every time, and the residents of Purgatory were no different.
Cities rose up out of the rubble of simulated civilizations destroyed long ago. Towns were built in forests, plains, mountains, and more. Every plot of safe land was snatched up and squabbled over as the inhabitants of this new world worked to secure this place within it. Factions formed, alliances were negotiated, and fights broke out. The strong forced their ideals upon others, either as conquerors or protectors, and the boldest perished or soared to new heights.
In a small inn, there sat a man clad in gleaming armor with a sword across his back. A shield rested against the legs of the table next to him, and a crowd sat around that same table at chairs, mugs raised to their lips as they basked in the shared glory of the gleaming man's fame. A smile graced his face as he spoke to those around him in a quiet voice.
"Please, my friends. I am no different than any one of you, so please, leave me to my meal in peace."
A few men nodded sagely but didn't move, as though just their agreeing to leave him alone was enough without a need to actually do so. One man leaned forward and sloshed his beer onto the table.
"No different than us? With armor that expensive? Even I can feel the mana radiating off of you." The drunkard grinned, tapping the shining man's greaves with his own soft leather boot, to which the shining man responded by shifting his foot away. Another patron scoffed and sipped his drink.
"Do none of you assholes have any skill at mana gauging? The man could crush everyone at your table with his bare hands, and I'm not even that skilled. Even barring that, his shield's emblazoned with a golden cross and yellow flames. The man's either the Gilded Knight, or he's a damn good impersonator! I'd leave him alone when he asks..." The man exposited, returning to his drink.
The Gilded Knight smiled but said nothing.
"In terms of power, this guy's a top ranker. You can feel it in the air..." Another patron said. The original drunkard put his drink down and eyed the Gilded Knight suspiciously.
"How'd you get so strong, anyways? You killed people before? No way you only killed a buncha monsters to get that strong..." He claimed, "There aren't enough weak monsters in the area for you to do that, and the tougher bastards here like to group up. I may be drunk, but I ain't stupid," He finished.
The atmosphere in the room darkened, as did the countenance of the Gilded Knight. A vein bulged slightly on his fist as it clenched beneath his gauntlet, unseen by the crowd.
"Is there... an accusation in that question?" The knight clarified, a dangerous edge to his voice. The drunkard sloshed his drink and slammed it down.
"Dammit, of course there is! I've been in dungeon crawls, I've been on adventuring teams, I've slaughtered monsters. You know what tier fighter I am? Two. A measly second tier after 3 weeks out here. And I'm happy with that, I am! But I've worked hard, and so have many others. Seeing people like you makes me wonder if the real monsters aren't wearing armor and sittin' next to us, huh?"
One patron got up and started to walk towards the door, but he froze with his hand outstretched towards the handle.
"Stay, a moment. I would hate for word to get out about this little incident. It happens to go against my pride," the Knight's voice spoke out. The exiting man's face paled as he struggled to move his body. The Gilded Knight rose out of his seat, and his eyes seemed to gain an unnatural glow about them.
"I hate dealing with ungrateful little maggots like you. You understand that? You understand that I have gone out and risked my life every day for the past 3 weeks? You understand that my will is like iron? My fear, nonexistent? No. How could you? None shall know my story. But I'll tell you a bit of it. See, this isn't my first time in Purgatory. I've died in the first 10 years of three goddamn iterations. I'll make it to ten this time. The big man upstairs keeps trying to wipe my memory, but I don't like when that happens. I won't let him. 'Cuz I've gotten something worth fighting for." At this point, the whole bar was silent, the Gilded Knight's aura tamping down on each patron's limbs like manacles preventing their movement.
"But I don't keep anything when I come back, see. I just happen to be willing to go farther than others. Risk more. And with that risk comes benefits and payoffs. I have too much confidence and pride to be undermined by the otherworldly powers that corrupt lesser men. Men like you." He leaned in close and spat in the drunk man's face.
"Spirit of Pride. Compare me to the room, and find the stronger heart." the Gilded Knight commanded the air. A feeling of wrongness filled the bar, and an unseen figure moved around. A voice like knives against chalk spoke out into the air.
"But the sin of Pride is Arrogance. And the Bounty of Arrogance is Death. Your Arrogance is found sufficient for the wanting pride of the room, and so the day's Death is theirs. The bargain is filled, and the bounty of their souls is mine."
The presence finished speaking and moved around, the bar's patron's screams never making it past the door as the Gilded Knight's aura blocked all sound and mana from leaving until the bar was empty, the demon's hunger sated and the massacre leaving no trace of having happened. The Knight finished his drink and quietly left the tavern, deciding it was time to move on from the area.
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Viktor raced downstairs to meet their visitor. He, Hooch, and Timothy gathered in front of the front door and composed themselves. Hooch moved to open the door for the waiting adventurer, but Timothy panicked.
"Wait! What if he attacks? What if he kills us?" The slight man panicked now. Weeks of being alone had rendered him unprepared for social connections.
"The library has numerous defenses and puts a dampener on foreign mana. Unless he's some insanely skilled monster of a man, we should be fine..." Viktor said, his confidence fading slightly as he considered the odds of someone like that finding their divine library so quickly.
"Let's maybe spread out a bit..." He amended, and they quickly spread out a bit. Hooch opened the door to let in a young man wearing worn leather armor accentuated with rusted metal in the more vulnerable places. A longsword hung at his waist with two curved swords strapped to his back. On his chest he wore a bandolier of throwing knives stretching across his ribs, and a small pouch dangled off his belt. He looked like he'd seen and done things too awful to recount.
"Greetings, sages!" He cried as he entered, giving a low bow that seemed to Viktor to last far too long. At last, Viktor spoke for the "sages".
"Welcome, adventurer. By which name are you known?" He intoned in a solemn tone, giving an air of weighty significance to the introduction. He knew the value of theatricality, and this was nothing short of a negotiation. Their official charge may have been to aid whatever adventurers battled through the trials and tribulations in the surrounding area to find this place, but that did not preclude Viktor from benefitting.
The man straightened, his eyes widening at the austere demeanor with which Viktor comported himself. He took a deep breath and spoke clearly.
"My name is Zachary. I am on the hunt for a sword of great renown, hinted at by the burned tomes in the ruins of a desert far south of here." He searched our faces, looking for any hint of recognition. Viktor, at this point, was much better versed in the histories of the lands than either of his colleagues, but he kept his face schooled into calm neutrality. He was familiar with the deserts far to the south, as a matter of fact. They'd been mentioned in several texts and seemed to have a culture similar to ancient Egypt. They even worshipped some gods by the same name. The only caveat was that many of those gods did exist somewhere in Purgatory...
Timothy spoke, glancing around nervously. "Oh gosh, I'm not much familiar with any swords or deserts. I've been reading a lot about magic! How about you, Hooch? You've been reading a lot about fighting techniques, yeah? Any sword manuals mention a sword?"
Hooch scratched his head.
"I dunno... no? I think... no!" Hooch gave a nod of his head with finality. Timothy turned his head to Viktor.
"Viktor, you're the best of us when it comes to the histories, right? Any insights from you?" Viktor considered the problem, looking at the man intently. As he stared, he noticed something. A feeling. A gentle pressure rolling off of the man in waves. Viktor thought back to his class description and realized what it was: a sense of the man's desires. From the waves hitting his Heartmonger sense, Viktor felt what could only be described as a kindred spirit. This man wanted to become a powerful hero of some sorts. The 'vibe' wasn't perfect, but Viktor felt confident that he could tempt this man with promises of power and get something out of him.
"I may know something about these deserts, but it will take some research. If you'll follow me, I can take you to the guest quarters where you can rest as I search for information." Viktor said, taking control of the situation. The man nodded and followed after him. As they walked, Viktor made casual conversation, probing for more information.
"So, you must have had quite the journey to get here, no?"
"Yes! I was far to the west when I learned of the library's existence. An old man in Castlemouth told me about it, and suggested I could seek you all out to learn of this item's location. And that was shortly after I woke up! I've spent most of the month just getting here..." The young man trailed off.
Viktor processed this information before responding. He wasn't ready to reveal how little about the world they knew here, or how little power they actually had.
"That sounds like quite the journey. I feel it's polite to ask, what level are you exactly?" Viktor asked. He tried to phrase it in a way that didn't alert the young man to Viktor's lacking of an identification talent. He knew they were relatively common, but he couldn't be sure how commonplace they were just two months into the opening of this new planet.
"Me? I'm maybe... top of tier two," Zachary said somewhat proudly, and Viktor filed the information away in his mind. It was nearly impossible to gauge how accurate that was, but a tier two fighter was about the peak of an earth human's physical fitness. At the top, they were close to breaking through the limits of mortal men.
"Wow, that's pretty impressive for this early in Purgatory," Viktor said, praising the man. He had no idea if that was truly the case, but bet that not many people would have outpaced Zachary if the intrepid adventurer had really been traveling through monster-infested lands for a month straight.
"Thank you," Zachary said as they approached the guest quarters. It was a spacious and well-furnished. To be honest, any peasant or purgatory resident (newly awoken) would be ecstatic to spend a night there.
"Wow! This is amazing," Zachary said enthusiastically, "I've slept on dirt or hay for the past month. so this is a pretty big improvement."
Viktor smiled. It was just like taking a client out to a nice dinner before closing the deal. Now he just had to make the poor man sweat for a bit.
"I'm glad you're satisfied. Just rest here for the night while I brush up on our information, and in the morning we'll discuss what I've learned and how much assistance you'll be getting in your journey."
Viktor watched, amused, as the amateur negotiator's smile fell from his face.
"Assistance? What do you mean? I thought that by making here I'd get access to the knowledge I needed," Zachary said, confused. Viktor schooled his face into one of sympathetic patience.
"Well, yes. No matter what, I'll definitely tell you the location of the sword. But, specific knowledge requires sacrifice. It's just a mandate of Thoth that the value of knowledge is not diminished. So, while you'll get the location of the sword maybe, we can discuss what you can offer for more of an edge: the obstacles you might encounter along the way, the best way to utilize the sword, allies you might make on your journey, etcetera."
Zachary looked mollified, but still a bit uncomfortable, so Viktor put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Just rest up and we'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?" And then he turned to do his research for the night, eager to negotiate tomorrow.