Chapter 143:

Ding!

【Main Quest – Chapter 1《The Dawn of Transia》has been triggered!

Quest Content: After arduous and extraordinary battles and relentless progress, with your help, Lord Murphy has finally dealt with the most dangerous factors threatening his newly acquired territory. However, this does not mean that an easy time has arrived.

Lord Murphy hopes his territory will develop, and this cannot be achieved without your help!

Because on this land and beyond, there are still many unknown forces casting sinister glances at the new life you are about to begin. The land under the sun is always coveted, as if it is a wicked curse.

But you will not give up!

Quest Objective: Progress the development of Crimson Citadel and the Transia region by completing side quests. When the development reaches a certain stage, trigger the next phase of the main quest until Lord Murphy fully controls the entire Transia region and is prepared for the next impending danger.

Quest Time Limit: 180 days.】

“Damn, this main quest doesn’t have any rewards? And it doesn’t have any failure conditions either. It seems easy but actually feels quite sinister when you hear it!”

On the way from the Blood Vulture Halls to the surface, Onboard Joy Stick complained about the main quest that had just been triggered.

He was now leading his formidable Tiger Leopard Rider brothers and some lower-level little players in a temporary team. As the commander, he enjoyed being surrounded and, to show off his prowess as a veteran player, he analyzed to his group of good brothers:

“Baron of Leim Maxim is responsible for the sewer area combat. That damned place is cramped with plenty of monsters, clearly a side-focused task left for melee fighters. As for the shadows lurking in the inner city, everyone is familiar with those Astral Realm creatures. Those ghostly things have no physical form, so attacking with blades is tiring, but spirit abilities are very effective.

And that’s under the responsibility of Lady Tris.

Lady Tris is the first mage of our newbie village, so the Astral Realm mystery tasks are left for spirit wielders.

As for the secret tasks of the Baroness of Shadows, I can’t guess yet, but following the above logic, it’s not hard to guess that those should be tasks for those aspiring to ranged or stealth professions. Hmm, Lord Murphy said this thing is quite difficult, so it might even be an elite quest.”

He was randomly analyzing when he saw Meow King leading a group passing by. Joy Stick then yelled:

“Hey, Meow, and Pigeon, I have melee fighters here who need to level up the little brother, so I’ll take the sewers first.”

“Damn, you want to hog it all?”

Meow King turned and cursed:

“Be careful, or I’ll report you to the NPCs. Don’t cause any bullying in the market, okay?”

“What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?”

Joy Stick rolled his eyes and said:

“The main reason is that I have so many people that I need to carve out an area to organize our forces. It’s not hogging! Any little brother who wants to join us is welcome, but once in the sewers, you’ll have to listen to my command!

That place is quite dangerous.

Especially for the ten newcomers who just logged into the game, wandering around carelessly is an easy way to lose their first life.

The environment is complex with many passages. If you lose your Computation Bead and spirit dog tags, it’ll be tough for your brothers to find them for you.”

“You have a point.”

Meow King nodded, glancing at the ten newcomers in the crowd poking their heads out curiously, even sticking their tongues out to lick the walls. These strange behaviors were already a staple, and the “peculiar” smiles on their faces were indeed complicated.

Those who knew were playing a 100% realistic game, while those who didn’t might think the guards from St. Elizabeth’s had let the inmates out for a break.

However, he was already used to these newcomers’ strange behaviors. As a last resort, at least none of them had taken off their pants in public, which was already a tremendous improvement.

It seemed their thousands of reminders on the forums had been effective.

They were all buddies from another world, so when they came to play games here, they better not be looked down upon by the native NPCs.

“These new players won’t go to the sewers with you guys. That place is too dangerous. They haven’t changed jobs or learned newbie skills and are unfamiliar with the game mechanics. Going there would just be sending them to their deaths.”

Dump Truck, along with his three brothers, waved at Joy Stick and said:

“We few casual players were about to report back to Miss Miriam. We have official positions assigned at the camp, so we can’t keep skipping out. We’ll take them around for a spin and complete a few administrative quests to get familiar with things.

We’ll learn swordsmanship this afternoon and join you guys for leveling monsters early tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, sounds like a solid plan, brother!”

Joy Stick was very satisfied with this arrangement.

He wasn’t really eager to lead newcomers, mainly because it was tiring. What he yearned for was a “professional” army, not babysitting rookies. Plus, he was fired up and waiting to complete the Black Iron Trial to join the vampire clan and start his second life.

This scene was coincidentally witnessed by Maxim as he emerged from the shadows along the wall of the hallway. He recognized the people in front but didn’t approach to disturb them. Instead, he stood there, concealing his aura, and watched the warriors spar.

Master Mao nodded at East River Lion’s Roar, who had already taken an offensive stance with the Blood Vulture Sword Arts.

The sparring began!

“Argh!” East River Lion’s Roar shouted and charged forward, wielding his blade in a continuous slashing attack. His smooth motions showed he had mastered the combo characteristics of the Blood Vulture Sword Arts quite well, earning a nod of approval from the observing Maxim.

He was deeply impressed by these four warriors.

They took the names of ferocious beasts for themselves, daring and unrestrained, yet emphasizing teamwork. They were also the most diligent in practicing their skills among all the warriors. This four-man team often found Maxim for challenge sparring during their free time.

They claimed they were building favor, but it indeed deepened Maxim’s fondness for them.

In fact, the Baron of Leim was considering whether to give them some of his knight titles.

Maintaining a defensive stance, Master Mao was indeed very steady. He wasn’t being forced to retreat by East River Lion’s Roar’s relentless attacks. In fact, he could have simply stood his ground and parried the attacks, but with each step back, he precisely increased the distance, forcing East River Lion’s Roar to follow.

A one-handed sword’s attack range is limited, but the seemingly unimportant “attack distance” directly determines the crucial “victory standard” from the start of the battle, which Master Mao firmly grasped.

After retreating about seven steps, Master Mao’s feet touched a pile of loose soil.

He narrowed his eyes and, with a flex of his ankles, the sand flew towards the front, causing East River Lion’s Roar to halt abruptly. In that split second of the interrupted combo, Master Mao charged forward, taking a big step while raising his sword in his right hand overhead for a downward slash. East River Lion’s Roar immediately crossed his twin swords to block.

“Hey, you left yourself wide open!” came Master Mao’s taunt.

Before East River Lion’s Roar could change his move, it was too late.

He lowered his head only to be struck in the chest by the wooden shield, which then slanted upwards and smacked his face, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward.

“Master Mao is awesome!” The three others immediately cheered.

But Master Mao shook his head, sheathed his sword and shield, reached out to pull the rubbing-his-head East River Lion’s Roar up, dusted him off, and told him, “Your swordsmanship is good, but you’re using it wrong. That’s not how you use twin swords! The strong hand attacks, the weak hand supports. With both hands attacking, it may seem mighty, but it’s just brute force. You can bully newbies, but against truly formidable opponents, you’ll be blocking with your head?

You need to be more skillful and not rely on brute strength.

Take my advice and first master the sword and shield or spear. If that doesn’t work, practice with a blade. Twin swords are just for show, not practical, and difficult to master, they’re an advanced skill. Blindly tinkering with them is useless and will only lead you astray.”

“Hey, that’s exactly why we need you to guide us, brother,” East River Lion’s Roar wasn’t discouraged by his loss. He laughed and prepared to go to the sewers with Master Mao to hunt some monsters for practice.

“This game is really impressive,” Master Mao recalled the feel of swinging his sword and said sincerely, “To be able to practice real skills. It seems you four will probably be the dark horses in competitions this year.”

“Warriors!” Maxim’s voice came from behind the five.

East River Lion’s Roar turned, immediately stood at attention, and saluted the Baron of Leim in a military manner.

The four of them were sergeants in the Kadman Civilian Self-Defense Force, so they naturally saluted their commander. The Master Mao also mimicked their gesture and saluted the towering figure in front of him.

“I have a Special Quest for you,” Maxim approached and examined Master Mao before addressing the five, “My territory is also my birthplace, but Leim Village has become ruins. I suspect similar undead like ghouls may have appeared there, and I hope you can go and investigate on my behalf.”

“Certainly, my lord. It is our honor,” North Forest Dog’s Paddle replied, accepting this randomly triggered quest. However, the next second, Maxim’s gaze fell upon Master Mao again.

He said, “I just witnessed your sparring and realized this newcomer warrior is quite skilled. If you’re not busy, could you spar with me in swordsmanship?”

“Ding!”

The quest trigger sound made the newly joined Like A Tiger Can Edge Wood pause. Looking down, he found he had received a hidden quest, ‘The Monster’s Trial.’

“Master Mao, you’ve got to give it your all!” West Valley Wolf’s Prowl took off his standard commander-level vampire greatsword and handed it to Master Mao, whispering, “This NPC is incredibly powerful in combat. If you can defeat him, there are great benefits. Currently, only one player has beaten him in the game, and you might just be the second.”

“That powerful?” Master Mao immediately became interested.

He had previously read the little players hyping up the martial arts system in this game on the forums and was itching to try it out. Now, he decided to fight with all his might.

Seeing the eager light in his eyes, Maxim gestured for Master Mao to follow him into the shadowy area of the hallway. He then removed his heavy armor, drew his ceremonial black blade, and performed the swordsman’s courtesy. Master Mao also bowed in the warrior’s salute with his blade.

The two drew their swords and began their battle.

Master Mao immediately launched into the famous “Great Windmill” furious attacks of the greatsword style, while Maxim restrained himself to only using the Blood Vulture Sword Arts in retaliation.

The sounds of their clashing weapons echoed through the shadows, eliciting envy from the four watching brothers.

Excitement welled up within them. After all, since the “Maxim’s Strength Challenge” was introduced, only Sister Pomegranate had managed to pass the challenge by “exploiting a bug” – a legendary tale among players.

But today, could Master Mao defeat Maxim without exploits? Tsk, was another player legend about to be born before their eyes?