#On the Road
Shortly after we completed the dungeon, we compiled all our japtem and sold them to various NPC's and player merchants and split the money.
Amazingly enough, the young blacksmith who taught me the Blacksmithing skill became (fairly) rich and famous overnight when he made a complete set of armor using the bones he bought from me, and is in the process of making a sword to go along with it.
As thanks, he gave us a good price for the crafting materials we brought him. Even though he wouldn't buy the other miscellaneous stuff, it was still a considerable sum for level 20++ players.
"Aahh... I can see why that dungeon is so popular. We made so much money and gained so many levels," said Jenna.
The four of us gathered in a tavern to celebrate the completion of the dungeon. We had a large spread on the table consisting of god-knows-what meats, never-seen-before fruits, breads and cheeses.
While Jenna and I drank the crude beer that the tavern was popular for, the underaged Kang and Pepe drank juice.
"But if it wasn't for Notrem, we wouldn't have been able to earn that much," Kang said wile grabbing a large chunk of meat.
"Haha. I didn't really expect it to go that way. I just recomended that blacksmith because I knew he was looking for materials. I didn't expect him to have made a killing with those bones I sold him."
"Mustachio-san is amazing! I want to be an Archer just like him!"
"Aw shucks!" I blushed a little, but one wouldn't be able to tell since my face was already red from the beer.
"With this much money, I can make that trip to the southern deserts I always wanted."
"Desert? That's an odd place for a Water Mage," I asked.
"I figured what better place to train Water Magic, than a place with little water. Besides, there are probably quests there that will ask me to help them find water somehow."
Turns out, both Pepe and Kang plan to stay in Serabourg a little longer before moving on.
As for me, I plan to go to Rhesta after I get a good night's sleep.
As far as parties go, this one didn't last very long. Both Pepe and I had to go to school early the next day (we were in similar time zones), and even while we were in the time-confused Royal Road, we could tell it was also getting late in the real world.
"Alright, I'm going to log-off now, it's getting late. Bye guys."
"Ah! Me too! Good night, Jenna-san, Kang-kun, Mustachio-san!"
"""Bye!(Night!)"""
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"I know I said That I'm going to head to Rhesta... But I don't even know where that is, to be honest."
It was after class the next day and I was facing this paricular dilema. I could ask Kang or Pepe, but since their both just as new to the game as I am, I doubt that they'll know the way either. Jenna might know, but she's likely to be busy preparing for her own journey, and I didn't want to bother her.
*Well, it's not as though I'm completely without friends*
"Player search! Splay Mark!"
Searching for player...
1 match found!
"Set whisper target to that player."
Now whispering to Splay Mark.
:Hey! Splay! Is that you?:
A short pause followed.
:Hey! Notrem! Long time no see! So you're finally in Royal Road?:
Splay Mark was one of the friends I made some years back in my previous school. Us and a few other classmates formed a small clique back then based on our mutual love of video games.
By the way, "Splay Mark" isn't his actual name, but rather we ended up with a habit of calling each other by our In-Game-Names (or IGN).
:Yeah, finally got myself a Capsule. Just started out. How are the rest of the guys doing?:
:Voltanis is here with me, but Kenobi is traveling god knows where. We're already over level 60, what about you?:
Voltanis and Kenobi were the other two members in our clique. And yes... the name "Kenobi" is from "Obi-Wan Kenobi".
*:I managed to hit level 28 after the last dungeon and need to travel to another town. Speaking of which, do you know where "Rhesta" is?:
:Where ye' at?:
:Serabourg.:
:Then you'll want to head out of the Eastern Gates and follow the road for half a day. When you hit a fork, take the one on the right. It'll be a day and a half's journey to the next fork. When you get there, you can either go straight to make a pit stop at a small barbarian town called "Groun", or turn left to head straight to Rhesta. If you go to Groun, it'll cost you about a day, but it's well worth the rest, believe me.:
:All right, thanks.:
:No problem. Maybe we meet up some day, eh?:
:Heh. Lemme catch up a little first.:
:Will do.:
The gate that I've been using so far was the Northern Gates, which was where most of the new players went due to the large number of beginner level monsters. The Eastern Gates, on the other hand, led to higher level areas for players above level 20.
To prepare for such a long journey, I would need three things.
Food.
Water.
And Arrows (since my Blacksmithing can't possibly provide all the Arrows I need, especially since I can't craft them while walking).
The first two are simple enough to find from any NPC provision shop, but for the last I'll need to visit a specialty store.
And since I had a fair bit of reputation there, there is one place that would offer me a good price.
Riing!
...
...
"It's you again."
It seems that she had completely abandoned her former receptionists uniform in favor of the leather tunic worn by beginner archers.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"(Snicker) The Dere-Tsun girl is still here."
"SHUT UP! It's still a few days before I can leave the place I might as well wait it out here."
"And meanwhile, I've just cleared another dungeon."
"CHEH! I'll have you know that I'm being regardes as a prodigy by the instructors here!"
"So am I."
...
...
"A-Anyway, what the heck are you doing back here. Most people never look back once they leave the Guild, but this is the second time you've come back."
"Oh, I just wanted to buy some arrows for my journey."
"... Then use the side door..."
"I just wanted to annoy you."
"FARK YOU!"
*(HAHA) I guess she's a little fun to be around.*
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*Now that that's over with, it's time to set out.*
The "road" that my friend mentioned is nothing like what modern roads are like. Instead, what I saw was a road of pounded dirt, about wide enough for three wagons to travvel side by side.
The road cut through the forest that surrounded Serabourg, and I'm likely to encounter then same critters I fought with near the Northern Gates (rabbits, foxes, wolves) as well as some higher level monsters like boards and bears.
Further away from the city I'll probably run into the occasional bandits that preyed on travelers.
And the bandits aren't neccessarily NPC's either, some of them might be Player-Killers as well, but those were few and far in between.
In a way, while the road made traveling easier, it also made it more dangerous since those bandits knew exactly where to lie in wait.
It also made for a terribly boring trip.
*Tree.... Tree... Tree... Another tree... Is that a rabbit? Oh, wait. It's just another tree.*
Since all I had to do was keep placing one foot in front of the other, there wasn't anything to occupy my mind, and, as I mentioned before, I couldn't possibly do any blacksmithing while walking.
"C-One-Thirty rolling down the strip,
Engine-er take a little trip (ya!).
Stand up, hook it up, shuffle to the door,
Jump right out, at the count of four (ya!).
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yo-AH!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yoOH!
If my parachute doesn't open wide,
I've got another one by my side.
If my spare one doesn't open too,
Then I'm in for a jolly good ride!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yo-AH!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yoOH!
If I die on the Russian Front,
Bury me with a Russian gun.
If I die in the Vietnam war,
Bury me with a Vietnam whore!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yo-AH!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yoOH!
If I die in Sentosa,
Send me back by Cable Car.
If I die in an Old Folks Home,
Box me up and send me home!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yo-AH!
Ay-oh-ay-oh-ai-ai-yoOH!"
(One of the variations of the "Airborne" marching song. And no, I'm not from Airborne, I just like the song.)
To keep up my own spirits, I employed a method used by marching armies since the dawn of time; the marching songs.
And slowly, but surely, the day passed and night started to fall.
***********************************************************
It was a half-moon that night, enough light to walk by since it was a suprisingly well maintained road. It was because of this that I decided to continue walking even after the sun had set so that I could reach the fork in the road beofre breaking for the night.
In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea, since I didn't know when monsters might suddenly attack, and they do get stronger during the night.
But, as luck would have it, it seems that I made the right choice tonight as I saw a campfire in the distance.
A figure next to the campfire raised his hand and called towards me.
"Ooooy!"
I raised my hand to wave back, but realized he probably couldn't see me very well.
"Hey! Mind if I share your fire?"
"Come! Come! Traveling alone is boring!"
When I got closer, I saw that he was a young man not much older than I. His hair was the color of ash and he wore a tunic of the same color over a pair of brown pants.
"I'm afraid I have little to offer my guest other than stale bread, since I did not learn the cooking skill."
:Sob... Sob...:
"Ah, don't worry about it! I can hardly expect to take your food after sharing your fire! Besides, I didn't learn the skill either!" I said as I sat next to him.
:Sob... Sob... Sob...:
"Haha, and here I was hoping I'd be able to get a decent meal from you!"
:Huu-waaah...:
"I never had talent for cooking in real life, and I doubt I'll be any better here! Stale bread is good enough for traveling, since it doesn't spoil."
:Sob... Sob...:
"I know what you mean. Most other food are so expensive that they're simply not worth buying."
The conversation continued on this thread for quite some time before I finally noticed something.
"Hey, by the way. Your kid has been crying for quite some time. Is it really al right for you to not check him?"
:Sob... Sob...:
"Huh? I don't have a kid. I thought he was *your kid."
...
...
...
...
:You can hear me?:
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*IT'S A GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!!!!!!!!*
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Author's Note:
So much for weekly release :p
Stuff happened last week.
Somehow managed to forget my brother was getting married. Had to help prepare all the things.
Anyway, here's the chapter. Longer than the previous two, since I had more time to work on it.
As usual, all comments and criticisms are appreciated.
Also, I might go back to the previous chapters and lower the weapon damages.