Chapter 12：A New Adventure Begins

Marius finally made it to the Village Leaders Hall. Luckily there was no one around to collect or complete any quests allowing Marius walked straight up to the Village Leader.

"Young Adventurer, welcome back. I see you have gained quite a few achievements since I last saw you." The Village Leader welcomed Marius as a notification popped up.

(Player Midnight Solitude has completed the hidden quest "For the People".)

(Reward. Player Midnight Solitude as attained the Title "Friend of the People" NPC will provide you with better quests and rewards)

(Player Midnight Solitude has achieved the requirements to enter City of their choosing.)

Marius smiled. So those quests were for something.

"Thank you, Village Leader," Marius said politely.

The Village Leader smiled. "You have gained the recognition of the whole village. I simply wish that I could reward you for all your efforts. Please, choose whichever City you wish to enter and I will provide you a letter of recommendation."

Marius watched as the three options popped up.

Iron Mountain City.

Blackwood City.

Fire Mountain City.

Frost Gate City.

Great Falls City.

Marius had done his research on these Cities.

Great Falls City was home to the Valkyrie Overlords. They were the most powerful of the 5 City Lords and their maps were expected to have the most difficult though rewarding grinding areas. In addition, their quests were expected to have excellent benefits to players... if they could complete them.

Frost Gate City was home to the Ice Giants. They were second to the Valkyries in terms of power but exceeded them in rare materials. Their Maps were as bountiful as Great Falls City but perhaps more dangerous. In some ways, it was a paradise for crafters that needed rare materials.

Fire Mountain City was home to the Dragon Lords. Their maps were in the middle tier in terms of dangers and rewards. However, where they shone was supposedly in their advanced magic and powerful class advancements.

Blackwood Forest was home to the Light Elves. This was the more chaotic of the Cities as the Light Elves were constantly at war with their underworld brothers, the Dark Elves. This made their quests the most bountiful, but also the most dangerous to complete.

Iron Mountain City was home to the Dwarves. In terms of power they were eclipsed by the other 4 City Lords, but their weapon and equipment forging was leagues ahead of the other. Their maps were average in terms of difficulty but were rich in forging materials making it one of the more theoretically preferred starting points.

The Cities worked in such a way that players were able to cross their boundaries and earn reputation in each of them. The player would start with 0 Reputation but had free reign to go where they pleased. But if their reputation hit the negatives then they would be hunted by the residents of the city.

According to the forums, it was possible to regain Reputation but alternatively, you could yield more gains from the maps if you had negative Reputation.

Of course, Marius knew which he was going to choose.

Though the other maps offered better methods for getting stronger faster, Marius chooses the Iron Mountain Village.

(Player Midnight Solitude had obtained 'Letter of Recommendation for the Iron Mountain City.')

"Young Adventurer. We bid you safe travels and hope to hear tales of your exploits."

Before Marius could say another word he was saturated in a bright light.

(Welcome to Iron Mountain City.)

When the light faded Marius found himself looking out over a wide Mountain range. The breath caught in his lungs as he stared, the wild and untamed mountains seemed to bellow at him as they stood, sheer black ravines, white-capped and unmoveable beneath the deep blue sky.

A tremor of awe washed over him as he was immersed in the fantastic grandeur.

(Player Midnight Solitude had unlocked Iron Mountain City.)

(Reward: +5 Luck)

(Player Midnight Solitude had unlocked the Leaderboard.)

(Reward: +5 Luck)

(Player Midnight Solitude had achieved First Place on the Leaderboard.)

(Reward: +5 Luck)

The notifications dragged Marius back.

1:05:04

Marius still had an hour to play. Without wasting any more time he ran into the City.

It was a monstrously large place, carved directly into the Mountain. The buildings were made out of pure stone, the walkways chiseled beautifully, in perfect harmony with the Mountains steady rise.

As he ran, Marius noted the two kinds of NPC. The tall and elegant human NPC and the shorter and stouter dwarf NPC.

Smiling, he took note of where the Shops, Refinery and Smithy were. Those places he would be sure to check out when he had a moment. But first things First. Talk to the City Lord.

After an exhaustive run, Marius finally made it to the City Lords Hall. Without ceremony, he entered and saw the City Lord, an ancient Dwarf sitting upon a throne of black iron.

"City Lord." Marius greeted the Dwarf. "I am Midnight Solitude, from Green Horn Village. I have come to greet you and offer you this Letter of Recommendation"

Marius offered the Letter to the City Lord as he looked around the Hall. Around the Walls were NPC Guards, Dwarves in black and grey armor that seemed to suck in the light instead of reflecting it.

Marius turned his attention back to the City Lord. Like his subjects, he wore black and grey armor that almost seemed to be sculptured to his muscular body. His large face was elegant with long black hair tied in a warriors tail at the back.

His name was Oudurin and according to the forums, he was a Level 100 Demon King Rank NPC and he was one of the twelve most powerful NPC's in the game.

"I see that the Leader of Green Horn Village has a high opinion of you," Oudurin said. "Do you truly wish to make Iron Mountain City your home? If you change your mind later you will lose all your Reputation and be unable to rejoin for a week."

"I have no reservations about my decision Lord Oudurin," Marius replied.

(Player Midnight Solitude has become a citizen of Iron Mountain City)

(Player Midnight Solitude has obtained Teleportation Ring. You will be able to teleport to any City which you have visited.)

(Player Midnight Solitude has been blessed with 'Dwarven Dedication'. Any occupation you choose will generate 5% more experience.)

Marius was surprised by these rewards. He hadn't thought that the City would bestow a passive buff that would make his occupation more efficient to train. Even the Teleportation Ring would make his life much easier. The iron band on his arm even looked quite cool

"Young Adventurer. I welcome you to Iron Mountain City. This is your home now. Respect it and protect it with your life."

Marius bowed to the City Lord.

"Lord Oudurin, is there anything that I can help you with?"

After 20 minutes of asking, Marius finally attained the final quest. Any more and he would need to be Level 20 which suited him fine. Most of them were introductory quests to get used to the City

(Speak with Katarin)

(Help Master Durorin (Smith))

(Find an Occupation Tutor and complete their quest)

(Hunt down the Spider Monkey King)

(Hunt down 100 Gollums in the Mines)

(Kill The Gollum King)

A good dozen of the quests Marius saw were side quests. He decided to complete them after he'd finished the more important storyline quests.

Bidding the Dwarf Lord goodbye, Marius went looking for Katarin, the Night Stalker Tutor.

It took him a while, though after asking a few NPC's Maius found Katarin outside a mine entrance.

'Master Katarin," Marius greeted her. "They City Lord bid I speak with you."

Katarin was a human NPC with a tall willowy frame. Her hair was black and tied in a warriors tail at the back and her eyes were an ice-cold blue. She was clad in black and grey leathers, a single short sword hung at her hip.

"Hello Young Adventurer," Katarin replied. "You must be here to learn the true secrets of being a Night Stalker. I commend you for choosing this path."

Marius nodded. "I will not disappoint you."

"We shall see," Katarin replied. "Very well, I shall test you with these skills. If you can become adept with them I shall reward you accordingly."

Skills: Moon Dance Level 1 (0/2000 proficiency) (Increases Dexterity for 20 seconds, leaving behind shadow stream.Costs 5 Mana. Cooldown 1 minute)

Burning Haze Level 1 (0/2000 proficiency) (Binds a target in a haze that deals fire damage. Reduces targets defense by 5% for 10 seconds. Costs 20 Mana. Cooldown 10 seconds)

Aura Blade Level 1 (0/3000 proficiency) (Creates an aura around your weapon, increasing the range of attack by 10%. Cost 40 Mana. Cooldown 5 seconds)

Marius was impressed by these skills, especially by Aura Blade.

It may have a high cost but its short cooldown was amazing. Not to mention the range increase.

His sword currently had a range of 1.5. A 10% increase would make 1.65. It may not seem a lot but the slightest increase in reach would be a sort after attribute.

It was an excellent benefit when combined with his Basic Slash which had leveled up to Level 3, he now enjoyed increased damage and range.

Two things that every close combat class would desire.

Add Moon Dance that increased survivability and Burning Haze which was an adaptable ranged combat skill, Marius had nothing to complain about.

"Master Katarin, I thank you for these skills." Marius thanked the NPC.

"You are welcome. Just make sure you do not shame me, or our class."

Nodding, Marius left.

The next stop was to get an occupation.

Rajan had said that Beast Tamer was the hardest, yet most rewarding of the occupations. Marius had to agree with the theory.

The appeal to a Beast Tamer was that it could upgrade to a Beast Master. A Tamer could, of course, tame Monsters and make them Pets.

However, it was revealed that at level 30 the Pet Function would be unleashed so everyone would essentially a Beast Tamer to a lesser degree. Though, a Beast Tamer could store 10 monsters while an ordinary player could only store 1.

Which is where the Beast Master promotion came into play.

Because Beast Tamer's could store more monsters as Pets, their ability to farm and sell them far exceeded what other players could do. In addition, Beast Masters would be able to utilize the increased storage function to refine monsters in their possession.

Just like NPC's and wild Monsters, Pets would follow the Ranking system. By absorbing the monster essence of other monsters, a Beast Master was meant to be able to make pets a higher rank. This coincides with the grade of Monsters found in various maps. Each grade reflected their level, with the two lower level Monsters being Grey Rank while the higher level would be Black Rank.

For example, if the monsters in the Beginner Village reflected this set-up, then Grey Wolves and Elemental Squirrels would be Grey rank while the Large Boar would be Black Rank.

However, that system wouldn't come into play until the player's made it to a City.

0:35:56

Marius saw the Timer and decided to get moving. Finding the Beast Master could take a while so he decided to start talking with every NPC he could find. He kept his inquiries short and simple, asking for locations of his minor quests and where he could find certain NPC's.

By the time his Timer had run out, Marius had collected a substantial amount of information pertaining to his quests and knew exactly where he would begin his next session. Including the Beast Masters name and where to find him.

Logging out, Marius reached over, picking up his phone.

"Marius?" Rajan's voice on the other end asked.

"I've reached level 10," Marius said simply.

"I know. One of my Moderators told me that someone had made it to the Iron Mountain City. Congratulations."

"Rajan. Who designed that landscape?" Marius asked.

Rajan was silent for a moment. "I did."

"Thank you," Marius said softly, hanging up the phone.

Lying in bed, Marius felt a tear slip down the side of his face.

Sixty years ago, a young couple, recently married and adventurous had traveled to the French Alps. There, they had spent a month. Spending their days climbing and exploring those mountains, discovering secrets and launching furious snowball fights. At night, they made love to each other under their canvas shelters as the wild winds bellowed around them.

That month had been the second happiest time of his life.

The first was when his firstborn child came into the world nine months later.

That night Marius revisited the Mountains, his beautiful wife by his side. Blonde hair, dark eyes and a laugh that could charm a snow storm. A baby girl in her arms.