6. Setting Out Alone
I returned to a Nexus Point in Zhesa City near a cafe where Travelers often gathered to partake in beverages from both their home world and those that could only be found in mine. I ordered something randomly off of the menu and took a seat, setting my status as Do Not Disturb so that random Travelers wouldn’t approach me. I was disguised once more in an illusion, so it was unlikely that I’d be recognized unless Ralts had begun spreading around my choice of pseudonym already.
I opened the forums and was unsurprised to see that everyone was freaking out in regards to the drow race opening up. I scanned through them quickly, but although Gyudue was mentioned heavily, my name never came up. Neither Hail nor Hagi. I was rather relieved; that was an action which for which I was uncertain that I wanted credit.
The number of drow enthusiasts who were restarting just to claim the new race was a little startling. Likewise, a surprising number of Travelers who had been planning to try the goblin race were using the excuse of a new starting zone to try it out now.
I observed a number of videos and livestreams. There had, apparently, been a nearby community of goblins in that region of the Deepdark which had wanted to move into the abandoned drow fortress, but had been held back by Gyudue’s presence. With his permission, they were swiftly relocating, and were the primary source of quests for the low level Travelers of both races.
Tarisha has come online
I glanced at the notification, then quickly opened up the direct messaging system.
Hail
Good morning Tarisha
Tarisha
Good morning Hail. I don’t suppose you have anything to do with the sudden upending of the game?
Hail
If your talking about the drow opening their gate, that was almost entirely Gyudue. I had almost nothing to do with it at all. All I did was tell him about his sister. And I might have loaned him a spare Dungeon Core. That’s it.
Tarisha
I’m sighing right now. I know you can’t see it, but that’s what I’m doing. Hail, I thought you were trying to lay low while leveling again?
Hail
I went to Gemos Caverns as a level 15 mage. Oh, I’m level 16 now. Anyway, this is a good thing, isn’t it? Everyone is focusing on Gyudue and the hidden valley goblins. I don’t get why they’re being called that, the Deepdark isn’t a valley.
Tarisha
If it were impossible for anyone to associate this event with you, then yes I’d agree it was a good move. I find it difficult to believe that you made it all the way to Gyudue’s chambers by yourself, however. I doubt that your party will keep silent for very long.
Hail
Only one of them might have recognized me. I’ll send you their contact info. You can try to get them to sign NDAs if you want, but honestly I don’t care. In a few weeks I might confirm my involvement myself. I haven’t decided yet.
Tarisha
I’m sorry, Hail. I don’t mean to sound accusatory. It’s just frustrating that you keep moving the story ahead while there’s nobody around to really appreciate what you’re doing.
Hail
I recorded everything. I’ll send it to you. If the other pros have a problem with me running off on my own, then they should take things up with
Tarisha
I’m sorry, Hail. I know how frustrated you are, and I shouldn’t be adding my own feelings to the mix. Do you need anything from me right now?
Hail
Daemon is setting it up for me to hold court in North Shire. You should probably get in touch with him. But I don’t want the event swarmed by pros this time.
Tarisha
Hail, I’ve been thinking about making a new avatar to level with you. What do you think of that?
Hail
The truth is, Tarisha, this is something that I want to do by myself, with only PUGs to help me. At least until I’m back to where I was. I’ll send you that footage now so you can watch my conversation with Gyudue, but please don’t share it until I say it’s okay. I’m worried about how Drow Travelers will play out politically. Especially considering that their starting zone is almost directly beneath Zhesa city.
Tarisha
I would never do that to you, Hail. I may take steps in the background to prepare for the information coming to light, but I will never reveal it myself without your permission.
Hail
I know. I trust you, Tarisha. I’m going to switch back to my warrior side for a while. I’m not certain I like being a pure mage or not. TTYL.
Tarisha
TTYL, Hail. I’ll be there when you hold court.
I continued to examine the forums for a few moments, watching as random Travelers reacted to the news of the new starting zone unlocking for the two newest races in the game. After several moments of hesitation, I decided to make a post.
Subject
New Races
Original Poster: Hail Jeoran
Hail
I, for one, welcome our new companions in the fight against the darkspawn. Already the other tribe of Goblin Travelers have proven themselves to be valuable allies, and I have no doubt that this latest tribe will prove themselves to be the Thorn March Goblin’s equals in that regard.
As for the Drow outcasts, I have this to say. Your people may have long walked in the darkness of the Deepdark and carried the black-burning torch of the adversary in your hearts. Thedum forgives all, and you will find yourselves welcomed in my lands, provided that you follow the local laws and do not spread the tenants of the Adversary to my people.
I cannot speak for all of Yuikon in this matter, however. I hope that the other nobles will follow my lead. Should you choose or be forced by circumstance to abandon the Deepdark for the surface in the near future, I shall do my part to convince them.
Satisfied, I posted the message and logged out of my mage persona. In the lobby, I pulled up my [Placeholder] profile, applied enough Free Experience to both [Warrior] and [Lord] to bring them up to level sixteen, and reentered the world in a very different location.
Aeridia is the southernmost nation of the Heartlands, and it is our vanguard against the dragonlings. Like all of the frontier nations, its culture was more martial. Its architecture built up more than Yuikon’s did, trying to fit more living space within the city walls as they had been driven back further and further from their croplands. Now that the Travelers were here to fight the dragonlings for us, those tall buildings served a new purpose.
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Aeridia was in a population boom. Children roamed the street in packs, mostly well cared for and cheerfully looking for entertainment and trouble in equal measures. I tipped one group of them for the directions to the local Adventurer’s Guild, and they cheekily demanded more. I got my directions after a few moments of indignant haggling from both of our sides, and made my way there.
The streets were even narrower than Yuikon city. The shade of the tall buildings gave some relief from the arid heat, but they twisted and turned. I nearly got lost on my journey, despite the proximity of the guild to the portal facility. The sign outside was immediately recognizable, although the building itself was much different.
Larger. In every sense of the word. Its footprint took up twice the area of the nearby tenement buildings, and the three story building was nearly as tall as the guard towers of Zhesa Castle had been. I was slightly intimidated, but then I reminded myself that this guild served adventurers of all levels. Inner Aeridia may serve as a starting zone, but it was also one of the first frontier bastions from which Travelers might challenge the Dragonlings. Aside from that, everything was just larger in this nation.
I put my thoughts on the matter and entered the establishment, looking for the LFG desk. When I spotted the familiar sign, I made my way over to the attendant, who looked at me askance.
“You lost, honey?” she inquired.
“Not unless this isn’t looking for group,” I said.
“It is, but nobody, oh! You’re from one of the soft nations, aren’t you? Sweetie, nobody in Aeridia leaves the starting zone until level twenty at the earliest. They have their own LFG queue down there. But I’m not sure it’s worth it for you to bother, since the entire level five to twenty pathway is one big quest chain. I think it would be better for you to return to wherever it was that you got your sixteen levels and keep going before you start switching zones,” she explained.
“Oh.” I considered her words for a few moments. “In Yuikon, everyone starts out in the capital. I thought it would be the same here.”
“Nope, it’s the exact opposite. You have twenty-five little starting towns. Unless you’re starting in a group, you’re randomly assigned to one of them, and the locals don’t let you leave until you’re level twenty because it’s not safe for weaklings to be wandering around Aeridia. No offense. They send you on a long quest chain from town to town, facing progressively stronger challenges, until finally you hit level twenty and they send you here. But all of the group activities around the capitol are level twenty minimum.”
“Huh,” I said. “So there’s really nothing for me to do locally then?”
She considered for a moment, then shrugged and motioned towards the quest board. “You can see if you qualify for any of those,” she suggested. “A few of the quests have no lower level limit in case a player has a string of bad luck and gets bumped back down to level eighteen or nineteen. The character creation screen makes it pretty clear that the enemies outside of the starting zone in Aeridia are pretty unforgiving, but a lot of players overestimate their ability when they start here. A local would have known all this already. Most of them take the portal to one of the softer nations once they realize that the warnings weren’t joking about the learning curve.”
“Thank you. You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever actually been questing before. I’ll try it out,” I said, waving goodbye to her as I left her desk behind.
There were eighteen quests on the quest board for which I was qualified. I quickly accepted all of them, abandoning the few that remained in my quest log from so long ago I barely remember accepting them.
Taking the warnings of the difficulty of enemies in Aeridia seriously, I decided that my next stop should be the Auction Network to upgrade my pathetic warrior gear. After twenty minutes of buying everything that I could equip at my level, including the mace with the highest damage rating I could find, I examined myself briefly.
I looked like a tank. I mean, I was still a skinny teenager, but I guess that the gear makes the person, because I looked like I’d never cast a spell in my life. Not even a simple one like [Spark]. This was despite the fact that I had an ongoing illusion effect masking my appearance to everyone I met.
I pulled up my status screen, pleased to see that my new gear had also improved my stats appreciably.
Name
Hail Jeoran
Level
16
Guild
None
Strength
46
Health
9718/9718
Dexterity
40
Energy
519/519
Vitality
44
Anger
0
Endurance
32
Experience
0/6400
Intelligence
21
Age
15
Wisdom
17
Race
Human (blood of the travelers)
Charisma
38
Class
Warrior
Armor
56
Job
Earl
Attack Power
139
Titles
Dungeon Master I
Critical Damage
2.25
Veteran of Mooncrest Manor
Weapon Damage Rating
D+
Veteran of The Battle for North Shire
Satisfied that my stats were as high as I could possibly get them at this level, I also loaded up on health recovery items before setting out to begin questing by myself for the first time ever.