I finish my breakfast before Hailey or Marcus come down to join. I say thanks to mom and dad as I head upstairs so I can make some more progress. I will be reaching the city of eclipse today and I know the first thing that I am doing. The epic trial quest, the reward from it will last me till I find something better. I hop into my gaming pod and load into Ancients World. I am in the same tent I logged off in. I get out and take a deep breath and soak in the shining sun. It is much warmer down here in the country of Vedersfall.
I pack up my camp and take out my map. The walk should only be a couple of miles to eclipse city and I know that I will be the first player to enter a new city. It really helped when Fenrir covered the majority of the trip for me. I would still be walking through the wilds if not for him giving me a ride. I follow the map all the way to the bridge that leads directly into eclipse city. I walk up to the gate and wait in line to enter. After about 10 minutes its my turn, the guards ask questions like why I'm here and how long I'll be staying. I give them bullshit answers so they let me in. Once I step foot passed the main gate I get a system notification.
[You are the first player to reach a new city]
[Do you wish to accept the hidden reward? Y/N]
I think yes and I get some exp and a title.
[New title: Wanderer]
[Description: You find places other players have not been to yet. +1500 reputation with the adventurers guild.]
This is pretty cool, getting reputation for the adventurers guild so early is great for me. I then hear a system announcement as I walk down the streets of eclipse city.
[World-wide Announcement: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael is the first player to enter a new city! The country of Vedersfall will receive a reward for this accomplishment since this is where The Son of Arch-Angel Michael is!]
[World-wide Announcement: The church of light will scour the country of Vedersfall for Arch-Angel Michaels son!]
[World-wide Announcement: The church of the dark ones will scour the country of Vedersfall for Arch-Angel Michaels son!]
This doesn't change any of my plans. They won't be able to tell its me unless they have someone strong enough to see all my stats. I open my player stats to see my new title and my exp bars new value.
[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.19]
[Exp: 16,180/21,000]
[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden),+2 more]
[Stats]
[Strength - 895]
[Endurance - 845]
[Dexterity - 850]
[Speed - 845]
[Focus - 2345]
[Mana: 23450/23450]
[Health: 6,960/6,960]
[Stat Points: 150]
[Armor rating: 475]
[Inventory]
[Skills/Perks]
[Inheritor of the sword (Passive) - Son of Heaven (Passive) - Heavens light Lvl.4 325/400 (Active) - Protected by Heaven Lvl.4 225/400 (Active) - Slash Lvl.10 300/1000 (Active) Slayer of Evil (Passive) - Holy Willow Trees savior (Passive) - Parry Lvl.1 80/100 (Active) - Finder of Legends (Passive) - The divine who has legend (Passive) - Destined for Greatness (Passive) - Dungeon Diver (Passive)]
I am only 4820 exp from becoming level 20. When I become level 20 I can view more information on creatures and people, but they can still hide or block me if they are strong enough. I continue walking down the streets of eclipse as I am heading to the sacred trial grounds of Monrell. Monrell was a Sword Saint back in the days of the waring states. He is regarded has the best swordsman of his time. He created these sacred trials to test any who be worthy of the sword.
The reward is a legendary sword that he wielded. The trials have never been completed, until a player with a gamer tag called Pesticide came and beat the trials. He left a guide in the forums on how he beat it. Trials are incredibly hard to beat, most don't appear above the grade of very rare. I never heard of any trial being higher than epic, but I have the opportunity to beat one of the only epic trials ever known to the players of Ancients World. The city of eclipse is much larger than Blue Grass, it can hold up to 25 million occupants and it is very large. The trials are hidden from view in the monument to Sword Saint Monrell.
I walk the long streets of eclipse city and I make it to the park they have here. They preserved a part of the forest so people can come and relax here. It is also where the monument to Monrell is. I search the park and I come across a floating statue of Monrell. I look at the masterful armor that was carved from the stone and I can tell just from the statue he was a powerful man. I read the inscription on the monument for anyone to read.
"This monument is dedicated to Sword Saint Monrell for his incredible strength and courage in battle. Any who wish to take the trial of Monrell must give a drop of blood to prove your willingness to bleed."
A fighter of Monrell's strength would demand such a small thing, while the implications are extreme. I now know where this is and I can come back to it later, I need to make sure that all my equipment is fully repaired and ready for a long battle. I exit the park and make my way to the commercial district. After searching for awhile I find the blacksmith shop called Neal's metal works.
I enter the shop and take a look around. There is some really good gear here, most of it is very rare and epic. This is a top of the line shop, I approach the front counter and ring the bell. "Be with you in just a minute!!" I hear a ladies voice call out from the back. After I wait for about 5 minutes I am greeted by a shorter red head in blacksmith gear. "How can I help you?" She sounds pretty tired, probably from working the forge all day.
I take out my swords and place them on the counter. "I was wondering if you could repair these swords for me." She picks them up to inspect them. After checking the stats and seeing the durability I can tell that she is willing to repair them.
She sets them back on the table and sighs. "Yeah I can repair them, but I am swamped at the moment. If you leave them here overnight I can have them done by morning tomorrow." This puts a dampener in my plans, but its only one day. I should ask her if there are any known legendary blacksmiths even around on Gaia.
I let her take the swords and place them behind the counter to work on later. "I was wondering if you happened to know where any legendary blacksmiths are?" She looks at me like I am an idiot. She starts to laugh hard and wipe some of the tears from her eyes.
After she catches her breath she looks at me with red eye from laughing. "Do you even know what you just asked? There hasn't been a legendary blacksmith in centuries. What could you possibly need from one." She talks to me in a very condescending tone.
I sometimes can't stand people like this. Might as well show her instead of tell her. I take out the chunk of adamantine metal from my inventory and place it on the counter. She immediately shuts up and a smug smile crosses my face. "This is why. I was hoping to find someone who can make a sword or armor piece from this for me." She is about to pick it up and inspect it some more, but I grab it fast and place it back in my inventory.
She looks at me in annoyance. "I can tell you that you will never find someone who can use that metal. It be best to sell it to me now to get it off your hands." This woman has no shame does she. I shake my head in disapproval of her antics.
I take out some gold and place it on the counter. "Will this be enough to cover the repair costs?" She takes the bag of gold and weighs it. It meets her standards and she nods her head. I head to the door about to leave, but she stops me.
She is holding me by the collar. "So are you going to sell me that adamantine metal or not." The gall on this girl is crazy. I shove her hand off and leave the blacksmith. I get that its a unique metal, but if you cant use it then why want it at all. Since I cant do the trial today I might as well get off and hang out with my family till my swords are done. I head to the closest inn and pay for a room, once I am laying on the bed I log off and hop out of my gaming pod.
{Sorry guys, got a new PC today and it took awhile to set up and everything. Please mark any grammar or punctuation errors for me. I haven't gone through and edited this yet. I want to get your guys chapter out.}
I spent the rest of the day with my family while my stuff gets repaired. I went to bed later today since I didn't play Ancients World. My alarm goes off at its typical time and I head downstairs to have breakfast with my family. I am not the first of the 3 siblings this time however. Hailey is sitting at the table getting talked too by mom and dad, and I can put together that it isn't good. "Do you have any idea how worried we were last night! You didn't come home till an hour ago!! We have been up all night waiting for you!!" Mom is the first to voice her anger. Hailey believes since she is over 18 she has the ability to make her own choices.
She doesn't understand that when you still live with your parents you still have to follow their rules. She was probably out last night parting or hooking up with some guy. I don't really want to bother asking to ask so I pour myself some cereal and sit on the couch. I turn on the T.V. and put it on low so they can still talk. "Mom I'm not some teenager that can be told what she can and cant do anymore. I am allowed to make my own choices!!" It sounds just like the fights they had when I was a little younger and she was a teenager.
I focus on the T.V. and listen to the reporter talk about the new guild hall that Red Sky has set up. "The 12th ranked guild in the world has set up there guild hall. New features have been discovered about guild halls from the reports coming in from the players residing in Red Sky." Guild halls are an incredible tool for guilds. They can house up too 500,000 members per building. The best guilds have millions of members. Most of the top guilds have to make more than 5 guild halls in different cities and towns. Once sieges are implemented the balance will be upset for awhile, that isn't for a long time though.
I continue to listen to the reporter as they talk about more news. "Willow Tree is moving its top forces into the country Salamander. It is known that a lot of top guilds are going to this country for the roaming world boss. The players that have spawned in the country of Salamanders starting cities have given us more sightings and we now know the name of the roaming world boss." So them actually found out its name. I never paid attention when this happened the first time around. I listen closely in case I remember anything from the future about this creature. "Reports say the name of the creature is Retwick the Lycanthrope. Not much is known about this creature, but there is a theory that this creature only has a certain amount of time till it turns back into a NCP's" That is a pretty good theory. I would make the same assumption about a lycanthrope as well. The NPC's who is transforming probably doesn't even know that its a lycanthrope.
I can hear the conversation behind me grow more intense. "We don't even know what she is doing while she is out Christian!! She could end up pregnant for all we know!!" I can feel the paling of my dads face without having to look back at them. He probably couldn't handle his princess getting knocked up. "I am tried of her behavior Chris! This is the last time she is doing this or I am kicking her out!!" I feel some hurt in my heart at that. I know that Hailey is causing you guys a lot of trouble with her attitude, but she is still family.
I hear the small patter of feet come down the stairs and I can see that Marcus has finally woken up. "What's with all the yelling..." I look over my shoulder and see that he has just gotten out of bed. Mom goes into her mode as she picks up Marcus. "I thought everything was fine now...." Kid is smarter than people give him credit for. Mom give Hailey and dad a serious look. She never likes it when problems between Hailey and her spread to the rest of the family.
I take this time to finish drinking the milk in my bowl and heading to the kitchen to clean it and put it in the dishwasher to dry. I walk past the table as everyone is silent right now, suddenly I am asked a questioned as I am about to start walking upstairs. "What do you think Cera? Shouldn't I be allowed to make my own choices." I guess she is looking for anyone to be on her side since dad isn't anymore. Mom on the other hand looks like she is about to explode.
I turn around to face her as I release a sigh, family problem require the whole family. "I don't know what you want me to say Hailey. We have so many opportunities to do the things we never got to now that we have money and I know that I intend to enjoy it. If you don't start listening to mom and dad they will make sure you feel the pain." It may be a little harsh, but I have no other way to tell her what I think. "I want you to be around when we start to enjoy our new life. Don't you want to be here too?" She looks down and her blond hair covers her face. She doesn't get that mom is willing to throw her out on her ass if she doesn't do something about her high risk behavior.
I turn around and head upstairs, I don't want to deal with that anymore. I enter my room and hop into my gaming pod and load into Ancients World. I open my eye's and see the same ceiling as I did last night before I logged off. I head downstairs and leave the inn and head straight to the blacksmiths shop. I open it up and I am greeted by a bearded man who looks to be in his mid 30's. I approach the counter and lean against is with my forearms. "I came in yesterday to get my 2 swords repaired." He looks me up and down as he smiles. I don't know why he is smiling, but if he tries to swindle me I will not hesitate to throw hands.
He stands up and goes into the back. I hear some talking and the girl from yesterday comes out. much faster than the other man. "Have you given any thought about selling that adamantine metal? We can give you a great price for it." How about a hello first. Talk about a one track mine, she will make a great blacksmith if she is so obsessed with minerals of high quality. All I do is sigh and I watch the man bring my swords and place them on the desk.
I might as well make it clear I don't want to be bothered about this anymore. "I don't want to sell it. I want it crafted into a sword or armor piece for me." She doesn't give the reaction that I was hoping for, instead she pulls out bags and bags of gold. She was about to speak again when I cut her off. "I just said I don't want to sell it. I see no reason for you to have it since you cant use it either. I am better off hanging onto it till I find someone who can." Her pride looks very hurt after my last shutdown.
She looks ready to explode, but before she can throw and insult my way the man beside her stops that from happening. "Mon-mon, he doesn't want to sell it. So leave the young man be and accept his answer." I stifle a laugh at her little nickname. Her face reddens slightly in embarrassment. It's clear he used her nickname to shut her up. "Come back anytime you need repairs done or need new gear." I nod in acknowledgement of his words and leave the smith. As soon as I am out of the door I can hear the little girl Mon-mon start yelling and cussing at who I assume is Neal.
Now that I have everything ready gear wise I should pick up some healing potions just to be safe. I walk a little further down the commercial district and find a mages shop. I enter since it is the time things are usually open. Once inside I can feel magic power all throughout this place. Someone who lives here is very strong. I make my way to the front desk and pick up the little bell and ring it. A lady with long black braided hair with flowers appears right in front of me. "How can I help you young man?" She looks to be in her early 20's, but she is likely using potions and magic to stay and look young. Mages are capable of a lot of cool things here in Ancients World and this lady is an example.