Jake and Maria arrived in Promise on time.
He could tell that from Maria's thrilled voice amidst huffs as they decided to sprint the remaining two hundred meters to the kingdom's capital.
Upon seeing the gates, Jake and Maria revealed their statuses and nicknames, which was enough to safely cross them and enter the new city.
It wasn't the first city of The Oath Kingdom Jake had been. By now, he understood the kingdom's architecture.
He'd tell others it was a mix of Eastern and Western styles from his world.
The eastern influence could be seen above as the tiles of each building's roofs sloped upwards. The same roof adorned every building, whether an apartment or a store. Each floor, except the first floor, had a circling balcony, going around and providing more outdoor space.
Businesses used this additional space to advertise their stuff.
Commoners didn't want to be worse, furnishing their balconies overlooking the streets with their unique wooden furniture. Various ribbons and shining paper lanterns swayed along the breeze as residents of The Oath Kingdom enjoyed their evening.
Down below was the Western influence.
Marble fences provided safety to the first floor and the content around the buildings. Each building seemed to have its lawn and garden, but Jake couldn't be so sure about it. The fences were over two meters high, so peeking in was difficult and disrespectful.
The houses' design was closer to the Western style from what Jake had seen through open gates.
The duo walked down the clean and smooth thoroughfare, flanked by restaurants, stores, and other facilities aiming to draw in tourists and players from other lands. Not like Jake noticed many of them within them.
Which was because of the 'exciting event' Maria had been chatting about.
"We still have some time," Jake said. "Nine p.m., right?"
"Yes!" Maria nodded.
"People must be already gathering in the city's center," Jake added. Maria could sense that not many people were around them on a thoroughfare, which was undoubtedly because of the incoming event!
She smiled.
A few minutes later, Jake noticed the first wall of players and residents circling the city center. The restaurants here were full to the brim, with most clients filling the vast balconies. A few players even perched on the roofs and walls of the closest buildings, to their owners' dislike.
Within the cracks that represented the dragon's eyesockets were two suns, or at least something resembling suns. Those were golden and bright, but for some reason, their piercing presence didn't force anyone to narrow their eyes.
CRACK! CRACK!
Those two suns cracked for the first time in The Oath Kingdom's history, revealing two red pupils. Those unique eyes promptly dropped down.
Jake's tattoos warmed.
[The Red Dragon, Akaryuu, has noticed you.]
[Akaryuu has passed down a legendary quest to you.]
[You have received a quest—The Red Dragon's Offspring(Legendary).]
[Do you accept?]
Jake nodded without thinking.
As he did, the eyes disappeared.
The clouds shivered and then were freed to go forth on their natural journey. They washed over the canvas of the red dragon, putting him back into his slumber. The crowd of players and NPCs also scattered away, returning to their businesses.
Only a few remained in the capital's center.
Jake was one of them.
He never expected to receive such a legendary quest. He knew nothing about The Oath Kingdom. Learning everything as he traveled around the world was part of his fun, but if it weren't for Maria, he would have missed it.
He turned to her and thanked her.
"It was worth running here! I enjoyed it even though I couldn't see the full picture of the dragon!" Maria smiled.
And so did Jake.
A/N: I feel bad, so here's a choice my privilege readers can make! Do you want Maria to be a part of the quest or not? Tell me in comments! I'm also feeling better about burnout, so I'm confident about August's releases.