Chapter 32 Outsider

Enjoy.

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/3 Hours later…/

[Quest, Training part 1 has been completed!]

[+10% Level xp]

/Clang…/

The flag holder fell on the ground, causing a large noise across the area.

"HAA… Huff… Dammit… I…"

His legs and arms trembling, Dale also fell on the ground not long after.

'Just 10%?... Not bad…'

'I only need a bit more to Level up…'

'Perhaps this is better than a straight Level Up, I still need to enjoy my Reputation bonus for a little longer…'

As he recovered on the ground, Testros walked next to him and said:

"Hum, I'll overlook this break of conduct, for now, you're free to go, Soldier!"

"..."

Dale looked at him with a tired expression, making Testros cough awkwardly.

He obviously did not care for his conduct at all, though Dale did not know of his reasons to act like this either...

Perhaps it was something he had always desired to do, and it just fell onto Dale's shoulder to bear with it.

Either way, he had no reason to be upset, it's not like Testros was acting like the military on Earth...

"I'll stay here, for now, if you think you are up for it, you can come back later for another session."

"Don't forget to place the flag holder back in place." Testros said as he turned around and left, leaving the tired Dale on the ground

"Huff… Shit…"

/Gulp!/

The shirtless Dale took out a potion from his inventory and drank it; it was a minor stamina potion, meant to help him with recovering stamina.

"Haa..."

Feeling a bit better, he got up from the ground and dusted his shorts.

He dried his sweaty body with a towel before he put on his shirt again.

"It took me almost 3 hours to finish this damn training… It took way longer than I expected."

'In total, I did 165 movements... Or at least I should've since I failed many times and I was forced to restart several times...'

'So at least 300, perhaps over 400...'

'I can see this training was effective somewhat, but here is a minor problem with it… I can't see the end.'

'How many times will I have to repeat this before I can progress on this questline? I can't see myself improving fast enough to catch up with Testros for example.'

'I can improve a few years' worth of training by putting on a massive amount of effort in over a few months… But decades of training?'

'By the time I see any noticeable progress, other people would be long gone past me...'

Dale shook his head, turned around, and started heading to the Mercenary Guild.

"I'm probably doing this wrong, I can't think like this."

'I just need to press forward."

'I have 4 main quests right now, and all of them are somehow related to the advancement of this territory.'

'The main one is to restore Resko to its former glory, but there are no conditions, so it's probably the main quest of this place.'

'The more I do, the more I accomplish in this place, the better my end rewards are going to become.'

'Aside from that, there is the Lost Icon quest, and I would say that is part of the Church subquest, that will probably lead me to find out what is happening to it.'

'And this quest is intrinsically connected to my next quest, Resko's past.'

'Resko's past is all about finding out what contributed to the fall of the city, leading to the Village's current poor state.'

'So far, there are 2 main things that contributed to its fall, and it was the Kingdom and the weakening of the Southern Wall Corps.'

'The Kingdom's actions made the people leave Resko in a disorganized way, but that wasn't entirely it since Resko lost its purpose, becoming obsolete.'

'With the exhaustion of its surrounding resources and the 'Demons' having been thoroughly suppressed, people just left when things became too stable.'

'In a normal scenario, it would be in the Kingdom's interest to turn Resko into a Main City and use it as a connection to colonize the South... But they just threw it away due to their own reasons.'

'It's the same as spitting on the efforts of the first Emperor and his goals, hundreds of years of efforts were thrown away and the South remains wild to this day.'

'And lastly, there is something else that I have yet to find out, and I think that has to do with how the desert is slowly increasing in size, taking over the fertile farmlands.'

'Not only the desert but also the heavy rain that floods the village… I need to find more information about these things.'

'But they have something in common, they are both natural disasters. But they seem more artificial than natural...'

'I know deserts can expand quickly, but for it to also have a strong rainy season seems odd to me... I could just be wrong though.'

"Aside from these 4 quests, I could add my repeatable quests, such as the training and the Mercenary Guild's tasks…"

'And there a few more things that could end up as quests, such as the words of David saying he knew some things about the village, but needed time to remember.'

'And the other Elders of the Village, they can definitely teach me things and I am sure all of them have quests.'

'There are also the words of Misgurd, the Mercenary Guild head, and how he said that merchants come every few years and how an inspection party visits the village every 10 years or so.

'And that the time for their arrival was just around the corner…'

'There are the Hidden Quests too, I just have to find them.'

'And that can only mean one thing… The villagers. There are hundreds of Quests but only 100 villagers.'

'Even if a part of them may be generated automatically by exploring and not through them, they are still an important clue that can lead me to further riches.'

'I already finished a Quest whose final reward was the Legendary Item, Caladgolg. And even if there are no better quests, I am sure there are lower-ranked ones.'

"All of the villagers are now on the farmlands, and when they return, they will immediately go to sleep, so my only chance of interacting with them is by heading there and seeing what I can do."

'Or by solving the food problem in its entirety... If I reduce their food problems, then they'll have more time to focus on other things, opening space for the Village to develop further.'

'Even the Village Head is with them, including most of the Village's guards.'

'As for the people who are still here… It's only the children and the old people, but I can't underestimate them. I already got a quest from one of these 'kids' that resulted in me getting Caladgolg… '

'And I don't need to say anything else about the old people…'

With plans forming in his mind, Dale made his way to the Guild Branch…

…

/Over 5 hours later…/

/Shion!/

In the middle of the dirty polished stone road outside of Resko, sudden white light flashed as a pillar of light fell from the skies.

When the white light dissipated, a person appeared.

His hair was very short and blonde, and his blue eyes seemed to blend in with the sky… He wore cloth armor together with a large double axe on his back.

His skin was a bit tanned but not much.

He was a rather handsome young man.

He raised his hand and taped in the air a few times, and after checking something, he nodded as he smoothed out his hair, saying:

"Good afternoon everyone, we are now... Live!"

"It's currently 3 PM o'clock and you all know what this means!"

"It means Azimuth's first day has just passed! It sure went by quickly… Sheesh." He said with a smile

"But as I promised, I am now here, on the continent of… Well, Azimuth! So it's time to game it out."

He raised his hands and showed the surroundings to the people on the livestream.

"As you can see, we seem to be on the border between a desert and a forest, a rather exotic place brimming with life, so I raise you all a question: Where am I?"

"I'll give the first person to guess it correctly a one-day subscription!" He said with a smile as he looked around

He waited for a few seconds as he walked towards the Resko in the distance.

"Time's up!"

"Believe it or not, we are currently in the hardest spawn point of the game! The Southern Village of Resko on the border of the Kingdom!"

"This place has recently gathered quite the reputation by the community in consequence of the many failed attempts at some of the other higher level areas."

"So I am pretty sure no one had the guts to come and try this place out yet, making us the first to step into this strange land!"

"Well... On that note, let us pray that we'll succeed where they failed..."

"In any case, shall we start this adventure?"

He smiled as he read the comments, his expression becoming a bit more serious before he said:

"No, I don't think so, I would have to be too unlucky for that to happen… Oh!"

"Thanks, BubbleGum for the 6 Shards!"

"Now, since we're the first, we need to set up a plan…"

He looked around once more, noticing Resko in the distance.

"So… How about we check that village over there and see what we can find?"

"Also, remember that Resko has a danger Level of 65, so please forgive me if I take things a bit slow." He said as he looked around

"It would be too bad if we were forced to log out after just arriving wouldn't it?..."

"Oh my, another traveler?" Said an old female voice behind the man

He quickly turned around to gaze at the old woman, it was Tina coming back from picking up fruits in the wild as she always did.

And hearing what she said, the young man thought:

'Another? Has another player actually arrived? Damn… I hope this isn't the case.'

'At least she is friendly.' He thought as he saw the system window on top of her head

[Old Villager (Green)]

"Hello miss. I am indeed a traveler, are you from that village over there?"

"Well, there is only one village around here, and that would be that place over there indeed."

She saw his unusual expression and thought he was confused, so she opened her basket, grabbing something from within

"Here, you look rather skinny for your age, eat some apples." She said as she gave him a shiny gray apple.

It was the famed Iron Apple...

"Thank you!"

And after the young man grabbed the iron apple, she continued on her way to the village with him right behind her.

/Crack!/

"?!?!"

He tried to take a bite of the apple, but his teeth cracked, making him flinch in pain.

As a reflex, he inspected the item in his hands...

[Iron apple

Description: An Apple said to be as tough as Iron, consume with caution]

'DAMMIT! Is she trying to kill me?! Even with my pain reception decreased, this still hurts like hell!'

With a frown, the young man tried his best to maintain a calm persona as he followed the old lady, his stream chat making fun of him as he walked.

They could see everything he could see, and they could also see his Stats at all times, so they immediately realized he took damage from trying to consume the item.

Some even joked, saying, "That's what you get for not listening to your mother, never accept candy from strangers...".

As for the young man, his gaming instinct told him she was an important NPC.

This came from his many years of gaming in Virtual Reality creating the habit of respecting any and all NPCs.

The worst thing that can happen to a player is to be locked out of a quest and lose potential progress… He spoke from experience...

As such, he did not voice any complaints.

...

/A few minutes of walking…/

"..."

As the young man approached the gates, he saw two guards waiting for them.

And the first thing he realized was where their names… It was red.

'Why are their names red?'

'Green means that the NPC is friendly, Gray means it's neutral, Yellow means it's wary of its surroundings, and Red means it's hostile…'

'What did I do?!'

He raised his head to the sky and said:

"Can you see that everyone? The guards seem hostile to us, do you have any idea as to why? Leave your ideas in the comments."

"Even so, it seems we found our way inside, simpler than I thought, but this is just the start..."

And despite everything he said, Tina did not react to his words at all, she calmly walked forward without a care in the world.

When they arrived at the gates, the same that happened to Dale was repeated, and the young man successfully entered the village!

...

"I present to you all… Resko!" He said as he showed them around

'But why does this place look like crap? Compared to the screenshots of the Capital and other starter villages, this place is like the slums…'

'I thought this place would be some sort of legendary place due to its Level requirement...'

'Was it the right choice to come here?'

…

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Notes

So the first player arrives, everyone, welcome our new slav... Friend!

He'll be a recurrent side character as he shall represent the player's views on Dale's actions from now on.

Until later!