Vol.2 – Chapter 52 – The Hunt
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The young woman continued fighting the monsters infesting the Shermar Forest, kept hunting down those monsters which took on her time, to complete it. Aside from the Edepths or Graesp, there were other types of monsters and wild beasts from wolves, to boars, all sorts of predators belonging to the forest.
As she was fighting the beasts, Leonor checked her items' durability to make sure they wouldn't break in a fight, and to her disappointment, the sword and chainmail began deteriorating with each hit she received from the monsters.
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[Well Crafted Sword]
Rating: Rare
Durability: 32/145 | Attack Power: 125-210 | Attack Speed: -2% | Critical Chance: +2%
*There is a small chance of automatically reflecting an enemy attack
A sword crafted inside the city of Velnior, by an advanced blacksmith master, who was satisfied with how the blade he forged exited. Showing a good balance even though the weight of the sword overall exceeds what a one-handed sword should be categorized.
User Restrictions: Level 35 / More than 200 STR points and 100 STA points.
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'I should say quits now, and go to Velnior before I lose my items. The monsters will not go anywhere, beside this Forest, so I should remain patient and not greed for more loot.
[Leona - Lv. 22]
She even leveled up since she began hunting the monster, managing to gather about [31/50] trophies by the time she started leaving the forest, directing herself on the principal road leading to the Velnior City.
Walking out of the Shermar Forest she encountered a decent number of players doing the same quest as her, some grouped up, while in most cases they were solo players. The interaction she had with those players was nonexistent, declining all attempts at teaming up with those players, for an unknown reason, only she had the answers.
Still, her journey since stepping on the principal road, Via Severiana, was smooth, with the road itself being maintained, making the journey for traders or adventurers easier, with the only problem being the nuisance of the monsters that overpopulated.
Before she even noticed, a Milarium at the side of the road appeared, giving Leonor the signal she wanted to see since she began her journey back, about being close to her destination.
Each minute it passed, she began seeing the end of the forest, and with another Milarium at the exit, she could see in the distance the walls surrounding a city. The buildings were still distanced, only being able to see the Count Castle, and the walls, with the rest of the landmarks missing from her sight.
The access to the city was available for everyone at a small fee of 150 silver coins for foreigners who could attest to their residence linking them to Velnior City. Yet, once Leonor arrived at the front of the city gates where the city guards got stationed, she heard them ask if she was a resident or a foreigner.
"Will this suffice to get me identified?" asked Leonor as she showed the guards a piece of paper written by the innkeeper he was staying, guaranteeing for her as someone who paid for her stay.
"I see, then everything is good. Next." remarked the guard, giving back the piece of paper to the latter, before calling out for the next in line.
Entering the city, Leonor went directly to the blacksmith to repair her armor and sword, later on with her items repaired costing her only [500] silver coins, she visited the Market to sell all the materials she gained from the Edepths and Graesp.
It was a common sight having players moving around the Market and staring at the stalls without talking to the NPC's as if they were just nuisances, only talking when wanting to find the price of certain items or when buying. On another hand, Leonor who got taught early on by Mathias and also by living the experiences she had early with old Thomas, she behaved differently with the NPC's treating them just like how she would want someone to treat her.
Thus, because of her approach, the people in the city also behaved more openly with her, reacting when she would approach their stalls, such was the case for a middle-aged man, whose stall was selling clothing fabrics.
"Welcome back, young lady. Have you come to sell me materials again or to buy?" asked the middle-aged man whose clothes couldn't compare to what his counterpart in Titan was wearing, giving off a humble origin and decency.
In general, this was for every person holding stalls in the market, all were simple people who wanted to make a living by selling the products they produce.
"Greeting to you too, sir Fran. I got some materials I gained from hunting inside the Forest, mostly cloth fabrics." responded Leonor who took out a part of her loot, the cloth fabrics.
"This is great. I feel it is much better when we got adventurers like you that would sell the things you don't see a use for such as the cloth fabrics. We could finally get a breather on the trade that was monopolized by the big families controlling the production of silk and other fabrics."
"The price is still the same. You are fine with it, young lady?" inquired the merchant, who took a glance at the fabrics, some were a bit rugged while others were dirty with blood, still, one could see that their quality was decent.
"Sure. It is as you said, I don't have much use for those fabrics, so why not sell it to someone who needs it rather than letting it collect dust and mold with us."
The middle-aged merchant give Leonor a wide smile as he looked at her face, before reverting his glance to the fabrics, as if he didn't want to be seen as a pervert to glance at his new customers in an indecent way.
'Is something on my face? Do I still got some of those beasts' blood on my face by chance that he reacted like that?' thought Leonor, when noticing the reaction of the merchant.
Nevertheless, it was something that lasted a bit, since the merchant returned to his professional side, and looked at Leonor strictly as a customer and client, soon to settle down on a decent price for Leonor.
"Like three days ago when you visited my stall, I will offer you 35 gold coins for all those materials. This is according to the market price, you can check it around if you don't believe me."
Leonor gazed at the middle-aged man in a calm way, nodding slowly to the offer, not bothering herself with economics inside this world, since it would bring out a headache about the hotel management she had to do, and without a second thought, she accepted the offer.
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Getting a small pouch containing the gold coins, she thanked the merchant who overreacted, bowing his head at her, making it seem comical and almost as if he scammed her for a lower price, but it was obviously not the case, thus she walked away from the fabric merchant stopping after some minutes to another stall, where different items were put on display.
From toys to weapons, too weird accessories, this stall owned by another middle-aged guy, had everything a player would want to explore around.
Her interaction with this merchant running this weird stall, was short and direct, with her giving every single piece of useless equipment she didn't need that dropped from the Edenps or Graesp which made the guy excited.
"Are you sure you want to sell those things?"
"Do I look as if I had any interest in them?" questioned Leonor giving the merchant a stern look, which made his excitement lower down, becoming quiet with the question, waiting for the offer.
Taking his time to contemplate on what to offer, he in the end offered her a decent price. She, regardless of how low it was, wouldn't be bothered to negotiate since it wasn't in her interest.
"Ten gold coins will do the job. Hand them over. A question out of curiosity, do you have customers who would buy those things, beside the weapons you got on display?"
"Plenty, my lady. I don't lack customers at all, don't I have one right now in you?" said the merchant with a smile, as he placed on the stall counter 10 gold coins, that Leonor took them.
"Well, it seems I now found the person I would get rid of the junk from my hunts. No offense, I wasn't referring to the items you have on display as junk."
"No worries, lady. I know what you mean, and I am thankful that you choose me to sell your items."
Leaving this stall, she, later on, strolled around the market to see if she could find something, but without her even noticing night came about rather swiftly, making her prepare to walk to the inn, and settle down before the day would come, point where she chatted with her guild members for a brief time, and later on logging out from the game, since her game time was about to exceed what she intended for her daily intake.
Nonetheless, in her talk with her guild members, a private message hit her from Malakai, who asked her in a polite way.
@Malakai: Boss, I would be late for work for about 2 hours, can I recuperate the missing hours in another day?
@Leona: Why tell me, call your Department Head and notify him. Hah, you guys always rely on me to give you those leaves. Besides, are you in the process of doing some quest by chance?
@Malakai: Indeed, boss. Some high noble wants me to become their house assassin, The Ravasi House to be specific, one of the families who are influential inside Moroiz Duchy. The leader of the house, Gianfranco Ravasi saw my potential and gave me a lot of new interesting tasks with the intent of helping me grow faster than most players. Yet, the risk is big too, since the people I am to get hostile to are nobles too. There's one quest where I have to follow the son of Count Romeo, an enemy of Lord Ravasi, and surveilled his activities in the Duchy Capital.
@Leona: So you need to spend a lot of time following that person. Good luck with your quests, and don't get too drunk in this game since it can become addicting. Also, remember to call your supervisor, not me.
@Malakai: Sigh, fine. Also, don't worry boss, this is why those developers put a 16 hours limit, so addiction doesn't trigger, at least too fast. How were your quests going on another hand?
@Leona: It is fine, I've met some interesting people so far here, and my quest has progressed to another stage since I reached Judar Church. Tomorrow when I log in the game, I should be able to proceed with the remaining quest and get access to the skills belonging to Judar Church.
@Malakai: This means our guild finally got its hand on a healer. This is great, since no one wanted to become a healer, only little Louis Class seems to work more like a support rather than a DPS.
@Leona: Sorry to break it to you, but my intent isn't to be a healer. It is more fun fighting, feeling that trill, rather than staying in the backline, constantly casting heals or what other spells there are in the game. In my class, I want to become focused on attack and maybe some support, but it remains to be seen, I'll have to hear Matei's opinion. I'll no longer stay connected, take care. Bye.
Ending the conversation there, where the real-timer showed the clock sitting at 20:50, she logged out, revealing on outside a young woman in her mid-twenties, that didn't have any make-up on her face, wearing some casual, comfortable clothes, getting on with preparing for the end of the day as she yawned.
On another hand, inside a large city, a young man with blonde hair, and a piercing in his ear, wearing dark-colored leather, was watching from a distance a young boy about 13-14 years old being accompanied by two middle-aged guys, who were his bodyguards.
'Damn, don't tell me Ravasi wants me to kidnap this boy? I am not lowering myself so low for some experience since I can always run to Mathias in Titan, now that he arrived first.'
Glancing at the bodyguards, the blonde young man clicked his tongue seeming displeased, mostly of how high their level was compared to his level 26, sitting at a comfortable level 175, which would make them capable enough of squashing him since he didn't focus on building his HP, rallying on his high agility.
'Shadow Breath'
Though Malakai as he started to exhale some dark smoke, he later on continued following his target from a safe distance, without attracting the attention of people, especially when it was night.
'Sigh, kid, just go home already, I have other things to do besides following you. My level has stagnated since I gained this quest of following you.'
His movements didn't give him away, keeping his eyes on his targets, until he saw the boy enter a certain district that it became familiar to him, the "Red District" where the brothels were located, and something he experienced himself.
'Ohhh, interesting choices, little guy. But are you big enough to manage those sluts? This is new, such information will be good for Lord Ravasi, but then let's get closer.'
Using his shadow ability, he veiled himself while moving using the cover of the building walls, making him feel just like a shadow, yet, such abilities that were destroying common sense, were draining him down rather rapidly, just for the chance of getting more information.
'Damn it, this skill is draining me too fast.'
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[Shadow Veil]
Rating: Unique
Using the power of the shadows to veil yourself from the light that might touch you, blending along with shadows of inanimate objects or animated objects.
Skill consumption: For 5 seconds you use this ability, you will consume [5] Shadow Energy along with 50 Mana
Skill Cooldown: None
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The skill indeed had a high consumption, but the ability itself was versatile, giving him the potential of becoming the strongest assassin if learning on to correctly use the skills, as they were intended to be used, and this was something that Malakai was struggling to get in order, the way his skills were intended to work.
Since those were some of the skills he learned in a rush from his Master, Shadow Lord Bayek, and now he was struggling placing them in order. Nevertheless, he wasn't stupid as to not figure out their utilities, and as such, he saw the advantages of using Shadow Veil when spying on people.
Minutes passed and his resources declined, with him inside the brothel, after entering using another exit, he was like a phantom, haunting the young boy of 13-14 years old, who left his bodyguards outside in the looby.
'That would be the perfect opening for assassination on the weaker target. But since he didn't receive such instructions nor was he informed on why he had to spy on that boy, he glanced at the bodyguard's faces that had a stern look before taking his leave, just in time where his resources got to his limit.
[Shadow Energy: 15/80]
'Let's get out of here before someone notices me and rats me away.'
Going on the same route he went away, from the lobby, he noticed a girl with lascivious curves that made him grope her ass, before leaving the brothel.
The prostitute looked around confused, only noticing a large shadow on the floor belonging to a man, who disappeared after bypassing the door. She touched her ass that was slightly hot, before continuing on with her night.
On another hand, Malakai who exited the brothel still using his 'Shadow Veil' after getting some distance he canceled the ability, revealing himself blending with the crowd.
'That ass, I have to return and give it a run. But before that, let's report to Lord Ravasi what my investigation results were."
The time passed and using the time of the world it was already 2 AM, but the city of Moroiz still didn't go to sleep, continuing it's activity with the help of the lamps installed in the main streets.
The night was another time for the nocturnal predators to be active, such as the case for assassins, thieves and criminals of any kind, who were brewing their sick plans in this. Apart from them, there was a young man with blonde hair approaching a large mansion guarded diligently by the militia of the person residing in the mansion.
Malakai was allowed inside the mansion compound, without any questions, where later notified the butler, while asking if the Count was still awake, only to receive a negative response, with the butter telling him to wait until tomorrow.
"He is sleeping?"
"That is correct. You can return in the morning when the Lord is awake."
Hearing the butler's response, Malakai could only nod his head, and not bicker about this, thus he choose to leave the mansion and went on to hunt some monsters in the hunting grounds.
He only played for until the timer he placed ti alert him when to log out alerted him while he was fighting some wild beasts of level 25-28.
"Time to get out. If the noble would start getting annoyed that I didn't report to him at the right time, there is nothing I can do about it. I didn't even have to trouble Leonor about missing some hours on the job."