Lilith flew until they approached the dragon border, which was marked by a massive ravine made to ward off foolish intruders from entering their territory. Seeing the border, Roan told Lilith to land on the other side.
We could just fly straight to a city, but the amount of alarm and attention would make it much more difficult to sniff out the shapeshifter if plan A was a bust. Showing up in rags wouldn't do us any good either.
After landing, Roan ordered Lilith, "We will be walking the rest of the way, change." She transformed back into her human form, looking a bit more kempt than Roan, wearing various hide and linen.
Moving through the woods for a while, Roan finally spotted a small village a ways out. Just in case, he altered his and Lilith's statuses to show as if they were refugees. Villages near the borders were often destroyed due to monsters or attacks of other nations, so it would be a convincing look if they asked any questions. That, and they were in rags.
Time for some more information gathering.
Walking up to the village gates, Roan stopped and waited for a gaurd to let them in. Soon enough a gaurd peered over the wall and said under his breath, "More refugees?", before questioning them. "What's your reason for entering Ryden Village?"
It's a familiar name.
Roan answered smoothly as if he had done it a hundred times, "Our village to the west was razed. We are looking to get back on our feet."
Sighing, the gaurd opened the gate and said, "You get one free meal and night at the inn. After that, you gotta pay. It's pretty easy to find jobs around here, just ask around. We could always use the extra help."
Entering the village, Roan had Lilith hand him a couple human silver coins she had prepared on the way here. They were aquired from the black dragons' stash, along with currency from other nations as well. They made there way to the nearest tailor.
Walking up to the shop, a middle aged lady expressed, "I don't give handouts." Roan flashed a couple silver coins and the lady restarted, "What can I do for you?"
"Two sets of clothes, leather boots, backpacks, and cloaks. One male, one female."
The lady went back into her shop, grabbed sizes she thought would fit, and came back, "2 silvers, there are changing rooms around back." Paying the lady, they went back and changed into their respective outfits.
Coming out, Roan thought of his next plans. Now that we look the part of villagers and I have a general idea of where we are, we should head to a medium sized city to look for other players.
Roan set off for the other side of town. Along the way, he didn't hear anything worth mentioning in terms of the state of the Nation, but that was to be expected in a border village. He neared the northern gate and requested passage out. A gaurd once again stopped them, "Where are ya headed to?"
"We have relatives in Andcester City."
Sizing up the two, the gaurd warned them, "It's about a month's travel north, you sure your prepared?"
Without blinking, Roan answered, "Yes."
Seeing his attitude, the gaurd shrugged his shoulders and opened the gate. On their way out, the gaurd yelled to them, "Watch out for monsters and bandits, ya hear."
Bandits, huh?
During the later stages of the game, bandits were almost extinct. This was because in the early stages, players were often robbed and killed, however by them, once they outleveled the bandits, it was a massacre to say the least. Not only would the players get the sweet taste of revenge, but also all the gold the bandits had collected and their bounties. It was a goldmine for any high leveled player.
Walking for a bit, Lilith questioned, "So that was a human settlement. Are they all like that Master?"
"No."
Knowing her Master was a man of few words, she didn't ask for more.
A while longer, they had reached the road that would take them to Andcester City. The gaurd had mentioned that it was a month's travel from here... if you stopped that is. And unfortunately for Lilith, Roan had no plans of stopping. That was until they were interrupted by an unfriendly looking group of bandits.
Sensing the bandits from a ways away, Lilith turned to Roan, "Master, I'm sensing hostile intent from up the road. May I take care of it?"
Curious to see how Lilith fared in her human form, he replied "Go for it."
Nodding to her Master, Lilith walked slightly ahead of him and with a wave of her hand, 20 odd black flames flew out and silently turned the bandit's force to ash. She then activated her space storage and collected their equipment and coins.
To be expected, dragons are much more efficient at dragon magic, even in their human forms.
While Lilith went around cleaning out the bandits, Roan started walking onward. Picking up the last pieces, Lilith rushed back to Roan's side and walked slightly behind him once again.
After a week of constant walking, a bit more ragged Lilith and stoic Roan arrived at the gates of Andcester City.
Roan looked at the gates and thought, Time to find out if I'm alone in this world.
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After creating their characters, players would be prompted with a choice of which city to spawn in. In the beginning, one could only play as a human until players you travelled to other nations. There were specific race quests one could do in any nation in order to change allegiances. Of course, since the time signaled the beginning of the game, players could only be inside human cities learning and training from various guides.
Looking upon the gate, Roan walked up, payed the entry fee, and went in. Going into the city, he searched high and low. He walked up and down the streets, looked into training fields, inns, bars, or anywhere where players woul meet and hang out. The conclusion:
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Nothing, huh. I guess that's it then. Even if I checked other cities the outcome would likely be the same. There were five billion people on launch and each city was overflowing with players. If there is no one here, that really means I've gone to a parallel planet. Plan 'look for more Apex Beasts' it is then.
Meanwhile, all this time, Lilith had thought her Master was showing her the city since she was curious about it earlier. She looked at all the tall buildings, busy streets, and delicious food with curious eyes. Lilith decisively decided to not ask any questions and simply observed due to her Master's usual silence.
Once Roan had stopped, he heard a voice from behind him, "Thank you for showing me around Master." Turning to see Lilith, he shrugged his shoulders and thought of his next steps.
Looks like it's time to do a bit of investigating. The only thing I've heard of the shapeshifter was from other players. The biggest incedent was in the Capital, only two months after the game started.
A Count, who was an avid adventurer, came back from on outing of slaying monsters with his most loyal gaurds. Tired, he went back to his Manor to rest, gaurded by said knights. In the morning when the maids went in to wake him, they found him headless in his bed. They did a roll call and found one of the gaurds missing. Confused, they searched and eventually went back to where the Count had left to the other day. There, they found the missing gaurd hidden withing a cave, once again with his head missing. From there, there were many incidents of murders with missing heads. Detective players, after analyzing the evidence, ruled that there must of been some sort of shapeshifter. Unfortunately, it was never caught.
If the story was true, it would strike first in the inner Captial, where all the nobles presided. The only chance of getting in the inner Capial is to be a noble or a rich merchant. Luckily, with the black dragon's wealth, we should be able to pass that obstacle. From there, I just need to wait for it to strike. But first...
Roan looked down at his own body, then at Liliths'.
We need to clean up.
Roan retraced him steps until he found a luxery inn. Regular inns have bath rooms that one has to sign up for. Luxery inns, on the other hand, have a tub and soap in each room, making them the ideal place for the wealthy. Walking in with gold in hand, Roan went up to the counter and saw an older gentleman in a suit. Showing the old man the gold, Roan stated, "One room with a bath, one night."
Looking at the dirty couple, the old man kept his thoughts to himself and replied, "3 gold please." Roan handed him the gold and followed him up to the room. After a couple flights of stairs, they finally arrived at a room on the end of the hall. The old man handed him the key and said, "Dinner is available now. Please be out by noon tomorrow. Enjoy." and went back downstairs.
Entering the room, they were greeted with a large tub, an open sink, and toilet to the left, a bed in the middle, and a table and desk to the right. The room was decorated with various rugs, candles, and paintings with a window to the left of the bed. Going up to the bath, Roan pressed on the water gem, allowing warm water to flow out of it. Lilith, impressed by the gem's usefullness, examined it until her Master started taking off his clothes to which she quickly turned around until he was in the tub. Peeking back, she saw then dirty clothes on the ground and asked, "Master, where do I clean these?" Roan pointed to the sink beside the tub.
Steeling her nerves, Lilith grabbed the clothes and made it to the sink. She tried copying whay Roan had done by touching the top of the gem. Unsurprisingly, warm water came out. She let it fill up until she touched the top again. The water stopped and Lilith got to work scrubbing the clothes clean of dirt. Once she was done, she looked back to see Roan in a towel and asked, "How do I get rid of the water in here Master?" Instead of explaining, Roan simply hit a lever near the bath and all the dirty water drained away.
Looking for a lever near the sink, Lilith found it to the left, hit it, and watched the water go down the drain. She then used her dragon magic to dry and warm Roan's clothes. Trying to avoid eye contact, Lilith handed Roan his clothes. He took them, pointed to the bath, and said "Wash." Nodding to her Master, she went to start another bath. Looking back, she saw that Roan was meditating, so she quickly changed into her hide clothes and began to wash her newer clothes. After drying them, she saw the bath was full and swiftly hopped in.
While Lilith was cleaning herself, Roan was examining his soul and body once more. He detected no anomalies, so he moved his thoughts to his next plans.
If I want to get into the inner Captial, we're going to need to look the part. First, we need fancier clothes, we look no different than commoners currently and an outfit upgrade would help change that. Next, we need good horses and a closed carriage. Merchants are constantly moving about, so after money comes comfort for many. Finally, we need merchandise. For that, jewelry will do just fine.
Thinking for a while, Roan was interrupted by a growling beside him. He opened his eyes to find a clean Lilith beside him, embarrisingly clutching her stomach. "Sorry Master, I'll try to control it."
Huh. Looks like dragons need to eat too.
After aquiring his Immortal Body, Roan had never felt the need to eat, drink, or sleep. Interestingly enough though, he was a bit thirsty for some reason. So, he got up and motioned for Lilith to follow him. They went to the dining area and found a corner booth near a window. He sat down with Lilith and soon a waiter came by and handed them menus. "Dinner comes free with the room, so what can I interest you in tonight?"
Roan simply said water while Lilith was frantically searching the menu until she found something with meat and picked that. The waiter said, "Right away" and scurried off to the kitchen.
A little while later, the waiter came back with two waters and a steak, "Enjoy."
Lilith looked at her mouth watering steak and then looked to her Master. He took a fork and knife and showed her how to cut it and stuck a piece in her mouth. Squeling with delight, Lilith started to chow down on the rest of her steak. Meanwhile, Roan sipped his water and enjoyed the show.
After a good meal, Lilith swayed back and forth, struggling to stay awake. Turns out, not sleeping for weeks will do that to someone. Seeing her delirious state, Roan handed her the key and said, "Sleep."
Lilith suddenly jolted back, "But what about Master?"
Roan shook his head and Lilith regretfully whispered, "Okay Master, I'll sleep." She bowed, said goodnight, and headed back up to the room.
While Lilith slept, Roan went around town scouting out areas for tomorrow.
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Lilith awoke to the chirping of birds in the morning. She stretched her arms in the bed thinking, That was the best sleep I've had in a while. These beds are so comfy. Sitting up, Lilith scanned the room, Wait, bed? Lilith had fell asleep on the rug, just in case her Master had changed his mind and wanted to rest. But to her surprise, she was tucked into the bed.
Surprised, she shyly smiled, Master is so nice to me, I wish I could do more to help. Invigorated by her Master's kindness, she hopped out of bed, cleaned the room, and waited for her Master to return.
During the night, Roan had went out and assessed the world he was in. He found more information pointing to the world being a copy of Apex. Or maybe Apex is the copy. I can't be sure yet.
Once, he had gone back to the room to check up on Lilith, only to see her sleeping on the floor.
What kind of dragon falls asleep before they can even make it to the bed? Oh well. Roan then gently picked her off the ground and put her in the bed.
Rest well... After all, If you can't keep up, then I have no use for you. In Roan's eyes, those that held him back were just as bad as enemies. Luckily, Lilith had yet to do so, but he was curious to see how long she'd last.
Anyway, after a night of information gathering, Roan went back to the inn to sign out. Opening his room door, he was immediately greeted by a high spirited Lilith, "Good morning Master! Thank you for last night." She held out the room key in her palm towards him. Roan took it, turned around, and went downstairs with Lilith in tow. Giving back the room key, he left for the clothing store he spotted last night.
Upon entering, they were greeted by a variety of lavish and expensive clothing. They went up to the counter and bought a couple pairs of clothes and shoes each. After changing, Roan led Lilith to the stable and bought a high class carriage and the strongest horses he could find. Lastly, driving the carriage, Roan stopped at a jewelry store. Even though Roan already had many jewels through the black dragons, they were much too valuable and would cause an upset if he ever tried to sell them.
Aquiring all the items needed to safetly enter the inner Capital, Roan left Andcester City.