There was pulsing beacon of light hovering in the air off in the distance. A beam of light descended down from it indicating the location it marked.

Unlike the games Trevor had played in his younger days, there seemed to be no minimap and no glowing arrows or pathway appeared to mark out his route. Instead there was just the beacon off in the distance and he was left to figure out how to reach it himself.

Thankfully the sect wasn’t too confusing to navigate and he soon found himself at the Plaza’s gateway. Two pure white tree’s with rich and dark emerald green leaves, stood at either side of the path. Their branches reached out to each other, forming a dense canopy overhead. A sign hung below them simply reading, [Outer Court Plaza].

The indistinguishable buildings to either side of the pathway were not present on the other side of the white tree’s. Instead it gave way to a wide open area, paved evenly with stone blocks. At each of the corners of the Plaza, were four pagoda’s. These were the aforementioned ‘hall’s’, in the quest’s note.

Trevor found it strange that, although he could see plenty of people in the Plaza, it was just as quiet here as it had been in the other areas of the sect.

When he entered under the archway created by the white tree’s, the sound of the Plaza rushed towards him. There wasn’t even the slightest of sensation as he crossed the invisible boundary.

To the right side of the Plaza, was a large section filled with stalls. People, most likely other disciples, were hawking their wares to their fellow’s. None of the stall owner’s seemed to be mentioning price’s, as far as Trevor could tell. Neither did they seem to be pushing passers by into stopping at their stall. Instead, they were just announcing their wares and waiting for an interested person to come of their own initiative.

The market area took up position in a section of the Plaza between Treasure Hall and Mission Hall. The giant bronze signs above their doors were easy to read, even from the entrance.  Opposite Mission Hall was Martial Hall, with Medicine Hall to the left of the entrance and opposite Treasure Hall.

Treasure Hall, true to its name, seemed to be a treasure in itself. Its frame was gilded in gold and the roof tiles looked to be made of a shimmering red metal that gave off the impression of burning embers. Mission Hall however, was almost painfully plain in comparison. Like the other two Halls, it was made of a rich, dark wood with light brown roof tiles. What made it stand out as Mission Hall, was the two large bulletin boards on either side of it.

Trevor ignored the other halls for now and made his way to Mission Hall to get the location for his quest. He would have plenty of time to look round everywhere properly later. For now, he was excited to experience a little of the action and adventure that the game advertised could be found here.

The way to get to Mission Hall, brought him past the market area and he could see the various items for sale there. Unsurprisingly, he could not identify most of what was being sold beyond their basic type. Ores, pills, clothing, armour and weapons were among the many things on display. There were also large amounts of materials and even whole corpses of ferocious looking beasts as well.

He had been absentmindedly watching a stall owner sell the corpse of a wolf like beast, to another disciple when a thought came to him unbidden.

‘I wonder how you tell who is a real person and who is a computer?’

From what he had seen, neither the stall owner or the buyer seemed to be wooden or give an awkward response to the other. Neither did any of the people he could see seem to be running around everywhere for no apparent reason, regardless of distance. That was the extent of his ‘knowledge’ on the matter though and not knowing any other way on how to discern the difference, he decided to leave the matter until later.

‘Maybe Blaze could tell me how to know who’s real and who isn’t. Hmm, I’ll have to ask next time.’

The possibility of not needing to call the helpline for ‘help’, didn’t even occur to him.

The large bulletin board on the left was covered in requests for certain herbs to be collected or beasts that people wanted capturing, either dead or alive. The board on the right was much more sparsely populated and was occupied with requests for cooperation or information. Just like the stalls in the market area, these boards seemed to be filled by other disciples of the Evergreen Sect.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Walking into Mission Hall, Trevor felt reminiscent of a hotel or bank lobby. There was just a large open space with a counter against the back. Above the counter was the sect’s mission board. It had many of the same things the disciples posted to the boards outside, as well as things like exploration of areas, subjugating beasts, requests from Elders and chores for the sect.

Looking around himself, Trevor couldn’t help but notice he was the only one there. At least the only one on his side of the counter that is. Behind the counter were four, rather bored looking, disciples. The only difference between himself and them, was the yellow arm band on the left hand sleeve of their uniform that said, ‘Mission Hall’ on it.

“Ahem. Hello there. I am Tre...ehm Auroch, a new disciple.”

“Yeah, we figured. We would have recognised you otherwise.” A pale faced young male interjected.

“I’ll warn you now, don’t try ask to take any of the missions that are beyond your level.” The hefty looking disciple on the left added. “You new kids always seem to think too highly of yourselves. If you insist on being stupid though, we won’t stop you. Just know that it will be your own fault and no one else’s if you end up getting crippled or killed.”

The hefty disciple’s voice was filled with exasperation. He had dealt with too many ‘geniuses’ in his time working in Mission Hall. They all seemed to think they could just waltz into the wild and swat ferocious beasts as if they were flies, or stumble across heaven defying treasures just waiting for them to pick up.

‘Seriously. As if they would have the ability to wield a heaven defying weapon, even if they did find one.’ The hefty disciple’s thoughts were filled with derision for such ridiculous preconceptions.

“Actually, Elder Agung gave me a task. But…”

“Yeah, sure.” The pale disciple interjected before he could finish what he was saying. “Auroch right? That’s your name right? Here, one map of the surrounding area, courtesy of the sect. All the main stuff is marked on there. More detailed ones are available but those cost points. Alternatively, you could see if any of our fellow disciples would be willing to sell you a copy of their maps.”

“Of course that has a certain level of risk attached. You never know how accurate their map making skill is, and it’s not like they can’t purposefully give you false information. The benefit being of course, that you don’t need contribution points for those.”

“Shut up fatty. At least let me finish going through all the checks first.” The pale disciple gave his hefty colleague a withering look before turning back to Trevor and continuing. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Map stuff. Whenever you take a mission from us, we will mark your map for you. Similarly if you come across anything important while outside the sect, mark it on your map and you could be rewarded for it. Depending on its worth to the sect.”

“As if there are any new discoveries left to be made nearby anymore.” The hefty disciple’s condescending voice chimed in again. “Best you could hope for is coming across a high level beast. Though if you did, more likely than not it would detect you and you’d be de...ouch!”

“I told you to shut up till I finished Fatty!”

The hefty disciple rubbed the arm that had just been punched and though he looked like he wanted to retort. He swallowed his words and studiously looked away.

“Okay. New kid...Auroch right? Pass me your sect token and I will register the Elder’s request for you. Whenever an Elder gives you a request, come see us first. If you don’t want to bother that’s fine. Just don’t blame us if you get nothing out of it. The Elders won’t care if you miss out on gaining more contribution points.”

Trevor… ‘No. Not Trevor. My name is Auroch here.’ He reminded himself. Took out the dark green sect token from his pocket and handed it to the pale disciple with a thank full look. He was pretty sure that that last bit wasn’t part of the standard script for new disciples like himself.

“Okay then. All done. I have marked down the locations for the materials Elder Agung wanted…” He hesitated for a moment, deciding whether he should say more, before ultimately deciding he should. “I don’t know what you did to annoy the Elder. But some of these materials require you to go to rather dangerous area’s. Particularly for your low level.”

He spread the map out on the counter in front of him and pointer to a location in the middle of an area marked, [Briarwood Forest].

“Mainly, the Iron Boar hides. Iron Boars are found deep in the Briarwood Forest. They are beyond your ability right now. Not only that, but the deeper areas of the forest are home to beasts even stronger than the boars. Since there is no time limit on the Elder’s request. I advise you to wait until you have had time to improve your strength before attempting this part.”

“Delaying might annoy the Elder further. But at least you will be alive to suffer his annoyance.” The hefty disciple said as he nodded to himself sagely.

Surprisingly, the pale disciple didn’t reprimand his colleague and only nodded his own head in agreement.

“Thank you for the information and the additional help. I’m aware you could have just left me to suffer and find out for myself.” Auroch didn’t know what the etiquette for such things was here, but his own principles would not allow him to accept the pale disciples advice silently. “If I might ask one more thing? Where am I best going to get the required tools and something to carry it all in?”

One of the previously quiet disciples on the right spoke up this time.

“Normally we would just tell you to go to each of the relevant department’s. However, since Charlie seems to have taken a liking to you, I guess we could give you a little extra help.”

“Take a walk around the disciples stalls outside.” The disciple on the far side of the counter said. “If you can’t find what you need then go to the Forging Department. There are always forging disciples looking to make a little extra and practice their craft.”

The first disciple nodded his head at his colleagues words, before continuing himself. “As for something to carry it all in. I suggest just picking up a sack from the gardening sheds. Until you can afford a storage item, I wouldn’t bother wasting your points or your coin.”

The other three disciples behind the counter were nodding at his words and giving Auroch a look that said, ‘Listen to him, what he says is true.’

“Many thanks to all you senior disciples. Your advice is much appreciated.” Auroch nodded to each of the disciples in turn and then took back his sect token and picked up his newly issued map.

*Ding!*

You obtained a new item. [Evergreen Sect Map]