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Snow lightly but slowly continuously fell above Pea town. The harsh cold wind from the north also blew through the town making staying outside a bit unbearable. Just recently a lot of activities have been going on inside the town.
Many of the adventurers from all over the kingdom have gathered in front of the Adventurer's Guild to hear the important message that was said would be announced today.
The adventurers present waited patiently outside of the Adventurer's Guild as the snow accumulated and layers of the snow stacked causing the people in the area to have difficulty in moving from one place to another. All patiently waited for the announcement that the representative of the Adventurer's Guild is about to make.
Earlier today adventurers who arrived from the north reported about the continuous earthquakes around the area north of the town, many of the adventurers that reported also mentioned seeing a gigantic boar flailing around causing havoc at the base of the Horn of the Devil, the mountains near the town that's well known for the high tier monstrous Holos.
Many who were standing by idly made guesses and assumption about what's about to be announced.
"They might have a big great bounty of the mysterious Holos that's causing all of the earthquakes north of here." One adventurer made a guess.
"I heard that it's not about the Holos but about the kingdom's diplomacy with the nearby kingdoms." Said the adventurer from behind the one that made the guess.
Many of them had their ideas of what might be announced, but none knew the truth and will only be revealed until the announcement had been heard.
Makani who arrived from the north gate noticed the large crowd that's in his way into the Adventurer's Guild building. But without hesitation, he disregarded the big crowd and pushed straight through into the Adventurer's Guild.
Once inside, Makani rushed straight to the counter to withdraw more gold so that he could buy himself a high quality gemstone.
Still emotional about losing Pohaku, his Onion Golem, Makani had one thing in his mind and that was to buy another gem so that he could revive Pohaku.
Makani withdrew 1000 gold coins so that he could buy the best quality gemstone he could get his hands on. After storing the large amount of gold coins that he had recently withdrew into his DS ring, Makani stormed out of the Adventurer's Guild but as he exited the building he's stopped by the large crowd that had gathered outside.
Makani cursed the situation that he was in and looked around. He observed that not only did the layer of snow outside had become higher, the number of people waiting for the announcement grew three times in size.
Snow crunched under Makani's feet while he attempted to push through the crowd to get to the market place. But as he persisted to move through them he was pushed back into the steps of the Adventurer's Guild.
Seeing that there was no way that he'll be able to go to the market place, Makani decided to go back inside to keep away from the cold and the large crowd of people waiting in front of the Adventurer's Guild.
"How am I going to get out of here?" Makani asked himself annoyed with his current situation.
As he waited inside a small group of people hastily exited out of the building. The small group consisted of a blonde woman in the middle who wore a voluptuous dress that complimented the shape of her body. The woman has long white silky rabbit's ears and a thick fluffy scarf around her neck. Unfortunately the woman's face is hidden by a black mask which made Makani curious.
Surrounding the woman in the mask are five strong looking warriors armed what looks like high tier armors and weapons. The five warriors made sure that no one would touch the lady in the mask as they exited the building.
'She looks important' thought Makani as he observed the blonde woman wearing a mask.
Makani decided to follow the small group but at the same time, he kept his distance to prevent being shoved away by the fearsome looking guards that surrounded the masked woman. In his mind if he followed this small group he'll be able to use them to get through the large crowd of people blocking his way to the market place.
The blonde woman in the mask continued her way through the crowd and all the adventurers made way for her so that she could pass. As she passed by Makani overheard the crowd chattering and making comments.
"It's her!"
"I can't believe she's here!"
Many other gasped in surprised when they saw the masked woman who's easily threading through the crowd. Once the small group reached the high flat form that the crowd had surrounded, all became silent and the only sound that could heard is the cold harsh wind blowing.
Makani who was following the small group was suddenly surrounded by large burly adventurers and became stuck between them.
"Gah!"
Makani screamed in annoyance but the adventurer's surrounding him muffled the sound. The woman in the mask scanned the crowd who's full attention is towards her.
"People of the Kingdom of Akau! The Adventurer's Guild are thankful for responding to our call. All of you here are wondering why we have called out here today. But first I would like to thank all of you for coming here today."
The blonde masked woman bowed in front of all the adventurers and all cheered and at the same time giving their comments.
"It was all worth it to see the number 13th Fighter class Adventurer through out the lands!"
"We love you Mei!"
The crowd's cheering and comments slowly died down when Mei stretched out both of her arms with her hands down to signal a request of silence.
"First I would like to explain why we choose this location instead of our grand city Hau, the capital of our Kingdom. The Adventurer's Guild decided to use this harsh and dangerous location because only the bravest and more dedicated adventurers would come to travel here just to hear this special announcement. I am here today to announce to you all three things as one of the Adventurer's Guild representatives. "
Mei stretched out her hands with three fingers sticking out. All became silent and gave their full attention.
"The first announcement is that the Adventurer's Guild have found seven dungeons located here in our very own Kingdom of Akau. All five dungeons have been scouted and we have confirmed that these dungeons are deeper than the dungeons of our neighboring kingdom Hema."
The people in the crowd began chattering. Everyone knows that the reason why Hema is a much preferred place for adventurers. Hema is very populated because of its temperate environment and the several dungeons that's located in the kingdom. The kingdom of Hema has ten times more population than Akau because of the dungeons.
If news of the dungeons in Akau spread, many of the merchant class adventurers will travel to Akau for the better opportunity of becoming rich. With the merchant class adventurers migrating, the kingdom of Akau might start to rival the kingdom of Hema in power.
Once again Mei signaled the request for silence.
"The second announcement is that the ownership of three of these dungeons are for sale to the highest bidder. The bidding of the ownership will start a year from now. The release of the dungeon's location to the public will be given out after the bidding."
Many of the adventurers gasped at the second announcement. The chance of owning a dungeon is a once in a life time event. In the Kingdom of Hema those who owns the dungeons are the nobles.
Many years ago nobles would fight each other for the ownership of dungeons. Since It was hard to keep and manage dungeons by themselves, over time nobles sought out clans to become their subordinates. In exchange of being the subordinates of a noble family, the clans are given gold and land for them to build the clan's base.
With this event, adventurers now have a chance of becoming a noble them selves. Since no adventurer will have the large amount of money alone, clans will try to gather up all their wealth just to purchase the dungeon.
If a clan in Akau owns the dungeon, the royalty of Akau, will make a contract of becoming the clan's sponsor with the clan leader's slight guarantee of becoming a noble.
Chattering among the adventurers followed after the gasps of shock. Many were excited to see what will happen and who will arise to become the owners of the dungeons being sold.
Makani who was listening was not very interested in the announcement. His mind was still set on going to the market place so that he could buy a gemstone to revive Pohaku.
"Tsk! The market place is about to close!"
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
yelled Makani in an irritated tone as he began stomping the ground.
Mei continued talking without requesting the adventurers in the crowd to be quiet as she knows that everyone had become excited from the second announcement.
"The third announcement is that it is confirmed that who ever owns the dungeons will be granted nobility from the king himself!"
Many of the adventurer's jaw dropped and their eyes almost popped out from the shocking news. With this news, new adventurers will try to join the strongest guild for the guarantee of a better life. The competitions between clans will increase and there are chances of new clans forming to try to become subordinates of the new nobles.
The crowd cheered and made loud noises. As the crowd of adventurers went wild from releasing their excitement, Mei exited the scene with her guards. Many of the adventurers dispersed while some stayed to chatter with others about the announcements.
Makani who had been having a rough day was glad that the event was over. As the crowd began to thin he pushed his way to the market place. As he passes through the adventurers Makani could hear their comments and conversations about the announcements.
"This is so exciting! More nobles mean that there will be more towns."
"Yeah! It will be great since the Kingdom of Akau only has three towns and one city which is the capital. It will be interesting to see a new town."
Makani over heard the conversation between two adventurers. It made him laugh because Pea town itself have had a hard time surviving from the large amounts of monstrous Holos that roamed around the Kingdom of Akau. Pea town had been almost destroyed numerous times by the packs of terrifying Holos that would attack the town. Its a miracle that Pea town has survived all this time.
Makani knows from books that he had read, that there were more towns decades ago. The number of towns a decade ago was ten but that changed when a specie of Holos somehow created a pack which turned into a huge horde. The horde went around destroying towns, many adventurers and citizens of Akau died in the quest of stopping the horde of Holos. When the seventh town was destroyed, It was the top five ranked Fighter class adventurers through out the lands that came to the the kingdom's aid and ended the the horde's rampage.
After the great horde of Holos was stopped the Kingdom attempted to rebuild the towns that were destroyed by the great horde. But the attempts were unsuccessful due to sufficient funding and various conditions.
The Kingdom of Akau is the poorest out of the four known kingdom. Its wealth withered away due to the bounty prize that they put out to get rid of the great horde that was causing chaos in the kingdom. Akau is also the most dangerous and harshest inhabitable place out the four kingdoms. Since almost the entirety of Akau is a barren tundra, its difficult for a new town to survive due to the lack of resources.
To create a new town successfully the town has to be continuously be resupplied with resources until it can support itself on its own. But since The Kingdom of Akau has limited resources, the percentage of starting a town is very slim and if you add the situation of the town being constantly attacked by huge terrifying Holos through out the lands, its almost impossible for a new town to survive.
Makani smirked at the fantasies that the adventurers had in their head.
Moments later, Makani arrived at the market place and stalls everywhere were packing up and closing for the day. Makani became irritated and felt cursed due to all the unfortunate situations he had been in.
Makani walked around to see if any of the remaining stalls that were open were selling any gemstones. As he browsed around he came upon a stall that was still up selling gemstones. Behind the stall is an old woman covered in a thick layer of brown fur. Makani went up to the stall and began scanning for the biggest gemstone he could find.
After scanning the stall's goods, Makani frowned.
"What's the matter lad? Don't see anything that yer looking for?"
The elder who owns the store spoke as she noticed the change in Makani's face after looking at her merchandise.
"Is it for a girl?"
The old woman asked.
*Sigh*
Makani sighed.
"No ma'am its for something else." Makani replied in a depressed tone.
"Oh! then you must be a summoner, I see. Well lets me teach you something youngin' my wares are not the best but I know where you can find some of the best for a price!"
Makani furrowed his eye brows. The offer of the old lady seems too good to be true. But out of curiosity, Makani asked the price of the information.
"How much for the information ma'am?"
"That would be 50 copper coins."
Makani began to think since the price of the information seems to be cheap, Makani felt that he wasn't being swindled. Since he didn't have change for the gold coins that he had he decided to give the old woman one whole gold coin. Which is a lot of money to a normal person.
"Here you are ma'am! No need for you to give me the change."
Makani smiled and took out one gold coin. The old lady's eyes widened as she saw the gold coin that Makani placed on the palm of her hand. The old lady stared at the coin for a few seconds and looked at Makani. She then grabbed the coin and bit down on it with the few remaining teeth in her mouth to see if it was fake.
Makani was amused at the old lady's actions and smiled
The old lady noticed Makani staring at her as she attempted to bend the coin by gnawing on it to see if it was real or not. She then looked up and smiled.
"No need to call me ma'am, you can call me grandma." The elderly lady laughed.
The old lady took out a rolled up piece of paper and gave it to Makani.
"This map will tell you where you can mine for gemstones. Though I haven't been there since I was younger, now all I sell are the ones my son have mined."
The elder woman's face changed when she mentioned her son. She looked at Makani intently and her eyes began to water.
"You remind me of my son. So polite and generous."
A drop of tear fell down from the old elderly's face. As she talked about her son. She then took out another item from behind the stall.
"I want you to have this. Its the gemstone that my son held on to when he was attacked by a Holo. I won't be needing it anymore since I'll soon see my son in person."
The old lady smiled and handed Makani a large yellow gemstone with an object embedded inside it. Makani didn't know what to say to the old lady. He felt sympathetic to the old lady but didn't know what to say. To Makani, the idea of an afterlife where one could meet their loved ones seem comforting. Then suddenly he remembered his mother.
Makani wondered; 'If by chance everyone went to the same after life, would the old lady be able to meet his mother?' He was skeptical but just encase, Makani wanted to send a message to his mother.
"If you do meet your son, can you send a message to my mother? Her name is Teresa Pinao. Can you tell her that I'm doing well and that I'll train to become strong enough so that one day i'll be able to protect the ones that are precious to me."
The old lady smiled and promised that if she does meet Makani's mother that she'll relay the message.
Makani remembered very well the day when he felt helpless in the forested mountain. That was the reason why he felt so much emotion when Pohaku disintegrated in front of him. The feeling of being weak and being overwhelmed made Makani strive to become stronger and better. After the market place, Makani decided not to return to Rudolf the blacksmith's place.
In his mind, It would be better to start all over. Since he could now provide for himself, moving to a another town to start a new life sounded like a nice idea. But at the moment, In his mind, It would be better to start all over. Since he could now provide himself with the gold coins that he had earned, Makani could now start what he had always wanted to do; travel through out the lands and to fulfill one of his main goal in life which is to become a well known adventurer.
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