Volume 1: Chapter 6 – Outside the walls

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The marketplace was busy as usual. Goods coming and going, always changing their owners. Everywhere a buzz of coins could be heard. Along with never ending shouts, be it advertising or a fierce barter.

Truly a scene from a prosperous city.

Amidst there was a woman clothed in black cape with her head covered in hood. However there was no male which wouldn't look after her, tracing her back. Even hooded, she emanated with charm only the most beautiful possessed.

Some even went as far as to track her, however in a way unknown to them they easily lost her in the crowd. They searched around, however it was impossible.

Because they didn't expect her to be a level one newbie, who attended the market for the very beginner's equipment.

- 'Clothes acquired, the same as some supplies... but why can't I find any decent gun?! Damnit!' - she shouted in her mind, as she bit her bottom lip in frustration.

Initially she came here only to grab some mana pistol and go out to hunt at last. However she had to quickly drop her plans the second she was surrounded by a flock of idiotic lovebirds who thought she was interested in them.

A good way to hide her identity was the priority.

With a quick glance to the side she found just the right thing. Long, black cape was the best for what she had in mind. She quickly took it and dropped two silvers without even asking a price, then quickly disappeared in the crowd equipping the item on the run. Little did she know the cape she 'bought' was in fact worth mere 20 coppers...

Anyway once she felt even slightly more anonymous, she didn't feel the rush. Instead, she even took her time to look at the wonders presented at the stalls. Which made her pursuers lose sight of her...

However no matter where she looked she couldn't find her weapons of choice. Two mana pistols.

- What'cha lookin' for missy? I've got all sorts of weapons here! From mechanical swords, through magic amplifiers to guns! And I tell ya, 'tis some REAL fir'power, unlike the crap the guy next stall has! - the owner noticed her confusion as he quickly gestured her to come closer with one hand, as the other pointed out weapons he specified.

Eve woke up from her thoughts mid-sentence as she eyed the weapon stall she was standing at. However as she was about to ask for mana pistols she could hear an angry shout coming from somewhere.

- Hey, you bastard! Don't you be discriminating my wares! I tell you mana powered weapons are the thing! Even you have those amplifiers, right? Only... - the man was shouting back at the offensive remark made by the multiple weapons stall. However before he could finish what he was going to say he was abruptly stopped by Eve.

- Do you have mana pistols on sale? - she asked. Actually she rushed the store once she heard the word 'mana powerd weapons'. As she was puzzled of why she didn't notice the wares until now.

But as she noticed the stall, she immediately knew why. It was very small, mere five weapons. Up until now she was paying attention only to the big ones, sure that there would be at least one of them on every stall.

But it doesn't matter now. The nod from astounded stale owner, accompanied by a gesture of pointing towards the pair of goods displayed was enough.

Those pistols weren't anything extraordinary. Some would even call them 'plain'. Grey in colour, with no engravings or anything of sorts. Really, really plain pistol with no fancy cuts or decorations. But none of it mattered.

Just as one would expect from a gear with no level requirement, right?

- How much are those two? - Eve asked, after looking at them. - Can I try them first? - she asked before the man could answer.

He only nodded, pointing her the target on the wall 2 meters behind him. She grinned as she picked the guns, aimed and shot. Twice from each gun.

Surrounding people looked in fright at the sound, however cheered right after. Bull's eye!

The training at the range wasn't for naught. Right now Eve had 100% probability of accurately hitting a target from 20 meters. The very middle of the target ring was the size of her previous target.

- 'Child's play' – she thought. But she was very glad. She felt this was the right gun. Satisfied she asked the price for both.

- 30 silver – said the man. However Eve wasn't fooled now. She noticed his slight smirk, and intuition told her it was too high.

- 10 silver – she said, with her right eyebrow raised.

- There's no way! You don't even know how much of a hassle I had to go through to get them! 27 and not a copper less – he said, folding his arms together.

- Don't try to fool me, you know it very well that all you had to do was to scam some amateur adventurer off of it. 14 silvers – Eve retorted.

- What do you know about trading missy, huh? Trying to anger me? Eh? 25 silvers.

- 'Damnit, what a hard bargain he drives me' – Eve thought. - Yes I am. And I've met enough of your kind to know that you will try to rip off everybody. 16 silvers – she started to feign arrogance, looking at the man.

- Ha, then you must live inside a cave or in the wilderness! There is no way such a hones person as myself is going to act so dishonourably! 22!

- How dare you offend a maiden as pure as myself?! I warn you, do not cross the line, shopkeeper! 19 silvers! - the bargain turned into an argument, however neither side forgot to put the price closer to the one they wanted initially.

- So if you feel as offended as you sound then go ahead and scram! Nobody would want to deal with such a customer!

- You know what, I just might do so! See ya! - shouted Eve, as she dropped 20 silvers from her hand onto the blanket protecting weaponry from getting dirtied on the ground. Then she turned on her heel and left, not even bothering to look back.

But truthfully she, as well as the stall owner were grinning with satisfaction. During the exchange they got to know each other better. Eve found out that he was a man of duty and pride, and he found her trustworthy customer. And a bright one at that.

- 'I really hope I won't see you again' – he thought, following the cloaked figure with his eyes until she got lost amidst the crowd. - 'Those babies costed me 26 silvers both, you know. And to think I even gave her such a generous offer...' - In the end the man laughed out loud from his failure as a merchant.

* * *

Eve arrived at the city gates. It took her an hour to get here from the marketplace, however it was worth it. As of now she had barely 8 silvers on her. The thought of spending her savings on the in-game money hurt her a little, however she knew that it was a necessary investment. With the ever rising popularity of Asgaroth Online, there was no way she would risk getting herself bound in the ranks of army.

- 'There's absolutely no way I would let them do that...' - she thought that as she stood before the main gate.

- Move it! - someone shouted and she could hear a stream of curses before something passed her by a hair's breadth.

That thing turned out to be a wagon filled to brim with goods leaving the capital. Eve freaked out when she saw it. Even through she knew she couldn't die while still inside the protected zone, the experience was just too real. Quickly moving out of the centre of the road to the side, she was panting hard and her heart skipping two beats.

- 'Too real, just too real... I never expected such things can be so real!' - she thought, excited now. This is much more then she expected. It really is completely new world.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

- All right adventure, here I come! - she encouraged herself as she stepped out of the boundaries of the capital.

Warning:

You have stepped outside your starting city area. As of now you are full-fledged adventurer in the world of Asgaroth. From now on your starter's damage reduction is removed.

Damage received: 100% from 0,01%

After closing the message, Eve took in a large breath. And she felt it for the first time. The freshness of air. That calming scent took over her body, rejuvenating her.

- 'To think it's even possible to re-create such a phenomenon... Just what kind of geniuses were working on it?' - she thought, totally enjoying the new feeling.

For over six years she lived enclosed in the urban terrain. Always in a town, surrounded by buildings made of bricks and concrete. Only now did she realize how much did she miss nature.

- Hahaha... - she let out happy laugh, as she took off her hood and looked around, taking in every little detail. She knew she will never forget this moment.

Behind her were solid walls made of stone slabs placed so neatly that there was no room, even tiniest little bit, between them. Then further right was the entrance with constant stream of people coming and going. As expected of the capital city, the Veilen'gard.

However the greatest effect on Eve had the area before her.

Beautiful green plains with couples of trees and shrubs here and there. She saw groups of people around them, but didn't pay them her mind as of now. She was absorbing the majestic sigh before her, where plains slowly transformed into dense forest with mountain peaks appearing away in the distance.

Eve was still marvelling the scenery, when she was approached by a group of people. She noticed that they seemed ready for adventure. And as a typical adventure party, the person leading the group seemed like some kind of a handsome warrior. Before the group reached her she only had time to notice that in the back was a bowman, some female with some kind of magic amplifier in shape of a wristband and a man with another magic amplifier, however with one wing this time.

- Hey, want to come with us? We're off to see the open level 10+ dungeon, the Howling Deeps. How does it sound, miss rouge? - he said with a bright smile. Immediately Eve shook her head.

- Sorry, I just started off. Even though I'd love to come with such a company, I would only be a burden to you – she said, wondering how their expressions would be like.

First, warrior looked disappointed, as his smile was nowhere to be seen. Second, his eyes turned much colder, as he only nodded and gestured his companions to move ahead. Not bothering to give Eve a second glance as the team passed her. Mage-ish woman gave her the look of superiority, archer ignored her and the male magic user had apologetic look on his face. However there was nothing else he could do but follow his team-mates.

- 'Ha, that sure was cold. I'm kind of glad they lost their interest so fast... But the mood sure is ruined now' – Eve thought, as she put on her hood once again.

She looked at the plains once again, but noticed what would definitely be a comical sight, if not for the thought that she was about to do it as well.

What Eve saw was groups of people chasing after little brown rabbit-like animals, however with bigger members. Which truly was funny, as only about one-tenth of attacks connected.

The reality however went as far that the more 'tired' you were, the more you sweated. And almost every person here was coated with sweat.

Eve put her eyebrows together, as she noticed one creature on the side, currently unnoticed by others. Feeling excitement, she pulled her pistols out of holsters under coat. Carefully aiming, she made a shot at the creature with one tenth of her maximum MP.

The mana bullet made a blue line as it went in perfectly straight line and hit the creature in the hind leg. The 'rabbit' let out a sound of surprise, as it tried to run. However seeing as the injured leg couldn't move, it crawled desperately only to move away. But it just couldn't.

Before it moved even 20 centimetres, it received another shot in the head. This time it dropped down. However Eve fired yet another shot at the creature, making it turn into colourful particle dust. Eve noticed an exclamation mark in the top right corner of her vision, as she 'pressed' it.

Before her appeared yet another message:

Loot for killing rebbit: nothing.

Notice:

Dropped loot appears out in the open where the creature you hunted died. Even case the creature was airborne, which will result in the items dropping down from where-ever it was. Please mind that falling items can be damaged upon contact with ground or other matter.

The loot is also free to take by everyone once they are dropped. To prevent being robbed, it is wise to take them as soon as they drop.

Eve went through the messages, however they didn't contain anything new to her. She knew that, and also knew the fact that the message telling what dropped appeared only to the three people that were the most committed to the fight, be it dealing damage, taking damage or taking care of allies.

Anyway, Eve killed two more of those 'rebbits' before players around her noticed something strange.

There was a person which was dealing with those annoying monsters seemingly effortlessly!

At first they thought it was just a delusion, however watched the mysterious clocked person. Then quickly forgot since it seems like the man (as they assumed since telling the gender was impossible with the hood on) just sat on the ground, tired.

However instead of recovering stamina, Eve was recovering her MP. As of now, killing three creatures took 90% of her reserves, so she had to meditate.

…

Finally after two minutes she had her MP bar filled. As of now it took so little only because her MP was low in amount. And actually it was the first thing she planned to change by investing her Status Points, which are earned upon every level up.

However during meditation she figured it would be good to try out something else. Eve lowered the mana consumption of every shot to 5%, as she went in the direction of the closest rebbit.

When she was only two metres away, she shot it's head, however the instead of fainting the creature immediately dispersed. Before someone asks me why, it was because instead of shooting at the creature blindly Eve aimed at it's eyes.

It was possible because the rebbit noticed her, looking at her with curious eyes. Because of it mana bullet had easy time ripping it's eye and penetrating the brain, dealing fatal damage. Eve smiled with satisfaction, as she picked up a copper coin which she noticed in place of the creature.

However when she stood up, her smile was replaced by a look of shock.

Right now not a single person moved, all eyes placed on her. Finally the stalemate was broken by a man, as he pointed at Eve.

- Y-y-you, ho...

- PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO JOIN MY TEAM! - the shocked man was suddenly cut by another.

However that was only the beginning.