Kiaan, son of Kiaan, stopped when he reached desert. He drank his system-generated water—a regenerating flask he'd chosen as part of his Scout class levels, easily refilled with a small amount of system points. He glanced at his Wayfinder power, which showed his zig zagging line of travel from Nassau heading South. And then he sighed.

In three weeks of fast travel, he had traced the Southern edges of the Great Forest, crossed a grassland filled with huge animals and many tribes of humanoids, and avoided a cluster of mountains. Then he had reached what he thought was the sea, but turned out to be a giant lake or series of lakes, and continued on his journey South.

His speed of travel was incredible, his body stronger and faster than he could have dreamed possible before. There had been a few close calls—monstrous predators that noticed him and gave chase, despite his powers to hide in the terrain.

He had almost been eaten twice while he slept, only surviving due to his life-long propensity to sleep lightly. But he had leveled several times in his journey, and now he had a new power that could hide him for hours if he didn't move, so he slept twice a day but only for a little while.

Between his growing list of incredible powers, and his knowledge of how to survive, Kiaan saw little now to stop him from mapping this new world. As ever he was comfortable alone and in silence, with only the wind and the rising and falling of the sun.

He saw his patron was still alive and growing in prestige, and he knew when he eventually returned from his task he would be greatly rewarded. And even if the man died first, Kiaan son of Kiaan knew he could sell his knowledge to the next highest bidder.

But the damn continent went on forever. He had found some players and small settlements, even interacting with a few, but found no players near the strength of Mason. In fact he was also starting to realize he was amongst the highest level civilians, though unsure exactly what that meant other than bargaining power.

With every new discovery in service of his patron, his experience and system-generated points steadily rose. By the time he was finished, he expected he’d be able to purchase a great deal of supplies and property to add to whatever settlement he wished, whether or not he was given a reward. But he had to actually give his patron the knowledge first to earn most of it.

So after staring long and hard at the sand, he wrapped his head and face in cloth to combat the growing heat of the sun, and pushed on.

For three days he ran through the desert at inhuman speed, avoiding the occasional creature as he flew over small dunes and barren rock. He slept in the hottest part of the day, and had to refill his flask many times, but otherwise pushed through without difficulty.

He thought it was a mirage when he saw it.

As he crossed a large dune, huge stone jut from the near horizon like a wide tower, or a wall. He ran on, blinking again and again until he realized the stone wasn't going away, but growing.

He hurried his pace, ignoring the sweat that trickled down his face and body, knowing he should camp soon and avoid the afternoon heat. But he wanted to see.

When he finally reached the stone, he saw it was really a series of structures laid out in a circular pattern like stonehenge, but with far more design and complexity. In the center was a kind of pyramid, stone cut steps running up all three sides to a huge, square platform at the top. The ringing structures were varied in shape and style—difficult to even understand: a small, white tower here; a barren tree as tall as two men; something like a bunker; a translucent glass cube.

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Kiaan's inspection power showed him little, except that the place radiated magic, and that arcane players would be required to know more. After a long, internal debate, he finally took a tentative step onto the circular stone floor that housed it all.

[Congratulations! You have discovered the Central Hub of the Western Continent. This is a combined collection of communication, teleportation, trade, and other beacons, designed to foster player interaction across the world. The first player to complete the associated quest can claim the Hub.]

[Discovery experience (major) earned: You have earned enough experience for level 10. Please select your secondary class.]

[Title earned: Optimum Exploratore. You are the first civilian to discover a continental Hub. +3 vitality. +300 system points.]

[Title earned: Class and Style. You are amongst the first 10% of civilians to obtain a secondary class. +100 system points.]

Kiaan didn't try to fight the smile. The points alone were half of everything he’d earned so far, and he shivered as the vitality seemed to surge through him like a night’s rest and a pot of coffee.

He would choose his class soon, but as a civilian there was no time limit and no rush. He walked around the 'Central Hub', inspecting the various structures as best he could, storing the images with his Flawless Memory power like a camera. Finally he climbed the pyramid steps, stopping instantly at the top.

An old man with white eyes sat on a wooden stool.

"You..." he perked up, somehow seeming to sense Kiaan's presence, speaking with a voice as dry as the sand. "Have you come to save the Nephalai?"

Kiaan tried to place the name but came up blank. Whatever it was, he expected, was some dreadful task for players to risk their lives on. As usual, he was rather pleased that didn’t involve him.

"Not me," Kiaan came forward, withdrawing his water flask. "But I serve one who would. Are you thirsty, grandfather?"

The old man smiled with obvious, pleasant surprise, and Kiaan was pleased. He knew implicitly it was his duty to represent his patron well, and give him every advantage. The old man took the flask and drank a small sip before handing it back.

"Then tell your master to come. And for the gift of the water, tell him to bring five loyal companions, and a heart of stone. I will await him here."

Kiaan frowned, though he knew the new world was full of strange and magical things, and perhaps this ‘old man’ was really something else entirely.

"He will not come soon, grandfather. It may be months."

The old man made no reaction at all, and Kiaan slowly withdrew. He was not religious, but something about this place reminded him of the Bhagavad Gita and the Hindu myths of his childhood. It was like he’d met an old guru or a god—Krishna waiting on a mountain.

He shivered and fought the urge to pray as his father would have done. Then changed his mind and did it anyway. He also knew he had to decide: go on as instructed, creating a map of the coasts, or turn back, and tell his patron of this place.

After a small pause he knew he must turn back.

It was clear to Kiaan that whichever player captured this place would have a tremendous advantage. That it was so far from Nassau would be a problem, but that was a problem for Mason to solve.

Their forest home seemed of little strategic value. Perhaps they could move the entire population of the settlement, building something new next to the hub. Kiaan smiled.

His patron was American, and likely Christian. Perhaps he and his people would like such a thing—a long trek into the desert. There seemed something entirely biblical about it.

With a final glance at the incredible structures, Kiaan turned back to the sands. He would not rest today. He had been moving fast, true, but still pacing himself, not knowing how long the journey would be.

That was over now. He knew exactly how far to reach his goal. And it seemed to him he was the strongest or amongst the strongest civilians in the world, serving the strongest player. They deserved the honor of this place more than any other. And he could only imagine the future riches it would bring them.

Yes, he had chosen well, and was very pleased the useless, former chief of Nassau lay dead in the dirt. Kiaan had always been good at spotting true killers, and pretenders. Mason was very much the former.

Kiaan raced across the sand, hard eyes on the horizon. The wind and sand didn’t bother him now, and even the heat felt trivial.

Every second of his journey was logged and categorized with his powers, able to be explored later perhaps by his patron. It would be Kiaan’s chance to impress—to demonstrate his dedication, and the urgency with which he returned. So he would show the man the meaning of haste, and earn his reward.