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nWalking around the woods Eldrian found himself a nice quiet place to rest. Lying against one of the trees he looked at the soldiers as they also found their own places, some of the other players even joining them at this stage. Having overcome their initial dislike of each other. At least enough to not completely alienate each other.

nAround an hour later they set out again, the animals having also rested and grazed. This time Eldrian decided to just play with his sword, not actually train.

nA few hours later he could finally see the massive reddish-brown walls spanning the horizon. Feeling relieved that the journey was at its end Eldrian put away his spear, having switched to it after a few hours of playing with his sword. He didn't really do anything with it, other than using it as a walking stick and looking at its design.

nHaving it out had helped him let his mind wander, thinking about how it had been made. Trying to figure out what the patterns meant while also enjoying how artistic they looked, yet also feeling nice in his hand. Making him appreciate the craftsmanship of it all the more.

nAsking the system for the time Eldrian found that it was nearing four in the afternoon.

n'So we traveled for just over 8 or 9 hours. I remember going there was definitely faster, I think it was only 6.'

nThe soldiers directly entered the city after arriving, splitting into their squads and going to their respective barracks. A few of the gate's guards left their barrack to help Old Sword take the carriages to a storage place.

nSeeing the NPCs split up Eldrian and the other players didn't really know what they should do. Luckily one of the gate's guards came forward to lead them to the Adventurers Guild. Saying that he had been ordered to lead them their so that they could claim their rewards for their efforts in the mission.

nA good 15 minutes of walking later they reached the guild. Looking at it Eldrian realized that it was quite an impressive building. It was four-stories high with a wide door at the front entrance, allowing more than four people to enter at the same time. The doors being more like a gate than actual doors.

nCurious where this was inside the city Eldrian opened his map, only to find that he was really far from the rest of the city he had explored before, having gone in the opposite direction from that part. Looking at it it seemed to him he was at least a 30 minutes walk from the magic tower where he was staying.

n'Hope there are more in the city.' Eldrian hoped this since the city was simply massive, him having only been to around an eight of its one length.

nHaving confirmed where he was Eldrian felt he would have some time to explore some more of the city. He had a few hours left before having to log out, thus if the quest confirmation didn't take long then he would explore a bit.

nEntering the Adventurers Guild Eldrian found that the first floor was really spacious. There were a few tables inside where people were drinking making him almost mistake it for a bar. Yet everyone who were drinking were also armed, telling him that it wasn't really a normal bar. Looking on further he saw that there were two counters, one on his left and one on his right. There were also two mission boards.

nEldrian first approached the missions boards, wondering why there were two and what type of quest there were. He quickly found that those on the right seemed to be meant for larger parties while those on the left for small parties or solo people.

nMost of these missions were either bodyguarding, gathering or exploration missions. The pay for the jobs being determined either by the time taken or things handed in. Be these things intel or items.

nEldrian didn't get quest notifications from just reading the mission post so he believed he had to ask about them first.

n'Wonder if this is going to shift to aim more at players or not.' Eldrian asked himself, realizing that the current missions weren't really for players. Maybe guilds could try but he felt no single player or just a friend group would be able to really do the rest.

nNext he headed to one of the counters, naturally he picked the one that didn't have a queue. Only to be quickly sent to the other, this counter seemingly only dealt with the taking or creation of missions.

nJoining the queue Eldrian quickly realized that most of those in front of him were the other players.

n'Guess being curious is going to cost me some time.' Eldrian sighed as he waited. Luckily the line was moving faster than he had expected. Within 20 minutes he was at the front, the 60 players having been processed.

n

"What mission are you handing in?

" The guy behind the counter asked. The guy was wearing what was considered casual wear in the city, but this didn't hide the fact that he clearly trained hard. Being in good shape and having chiseled muscles.

n

"Hi, I want to hand in the, umm... The First Expedition quest.

" Eldrian stammered, unsure if the NPC was going to understand him. Seeing as they called these things missions and normally had a code for it, which he had learned when he had been reading the missions.

nThey normally went more like, Mission- collect this herb

/mineral; Tag - Herb

/mineral name # Agosstead South branch; Pay - #silvers per herb

/mineral

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"Ah, you are also a Chosen. Congratulations on being one of the few to make it back safely.

" The guy replied, relieving Eldrian as he realized that the NPCs seemed to have no problem understanding what he intended to do.

n

"Your name?

" The guy asked next, taking out a piece of parchment.

n

"Ah, Haru. And did you say one of the few who made it back.

"

n

"Haru, good. And yes I did, most of those who had taken the quest seemed to have died. But that isn't a problem for you Chosen since you just resurrect in the city temple.

"

n

"What are your kills?

"

n

"Ah, let me check.

" Eldrian said as he called up his quest log. The NPC being too fast for him to continue with his questions about the other players.

nHis words causing the NPC to look at him strangely.

n

"Here it is.

" Eldrian said, having found his achievement list, causing the NPC to look at him with an even more questioning look.

"7 Beastwolves, 8 Direwolves, a Beta Direwolf and an Alpha Direwolf .

"

n

"What!

" The guy asked in disbelief. All the players before had at most killed a Direwolf and maybe up to 3 Beastwolves, yet this guy was claiming to have killed over 10 total Beasts and an Alpha and Beta too.

n

"Ah, yeah I was also surprised when I first saw my kills.

" Eldrian replied automatically.

n

"How the heck do you see your kills?

" The guy asked in confusion.

n

"Um, I guess you can say it is one of the things the goddess of life gave us. It helps us keep track of such things.

"

n

"Really?

" The guy asked as he recast his lie detection spell, still getting no feedback from it. Which meant that it either was the truth or that the person was more skillful than him.

n

"Um, can you pledge it?

" The guy asked, not wanting to believe what Eldrian had told him. Especially when the Beta and Alpha was added onto the already large list.

n

"Why?

" Eldrian asked, confused about what was going on.

n

"I just want to make sure you are telling the truth.

"

n

"I thought you guys can just tell.

"

n

"We can, normally. But I just want to make sure.

"

n

"Okay, then what do I have to do?

"

n

"Just state it again, I will be asking the Dioktis if this is true or not.

" Seeing Eldrian's confusion he added,

"He is the god of war and death.

"

n

"Alright,

" Eldrian replied, feeling that this was getting weird. 'Why does the god of war or death need to be involved?'

n

"Oh also just add that you pledge to Dioktis before saying your kills.

"

n

"Okay, I Haru, pledge to Dioktis that I killed and

/or helped in the killing of, seven Beastwolves, eight Direwolves, a single Beta Direwolf and an Alpha Direwolf.

"

nThe NPC waited for judgement, yet nothing happened, indicating that the pledge was truthful. Lost he asked himself, 'How can this be the truth? How did a Chosen rack up such achievements?'

n

"Seems like you were telling the truth.

" The guy said in an apologetic tone.

n

"Ah, let me go check the bounties. I'll be right back.

" After saying this the guy quickly left the counter and headed upstairs.

n'The heck was all that about?' Eldrian asked himself, feeling that that was a lot of effort for nothing. He was also curious about why the guy disappeared so quickly.

nA few minutes later the guy returned.

n

"Alright, seems like you get 48 silvers for your contribution and 10 for succeeding with the mission. Or quest as you Chosen always call it.

" The guy then started counter silvers while Eldrian instead looked at the notifications he just received.

nThe first was that he had completed the Quest - First Expedition. The second was two notifications informing him that he had leveled up twice. A smile grew on his face as he saw that he now had 10 free attributes and that he needed just 1250 XP to level again.

n'Seems like you get 5 free attributes on each level. Really not much, considering all the effort.' Eldrian commented after seeing how little strength he would gain from the levels which had taken him over a week to gain. Knowing that leveling was normally faster early in a game, he quickly realized that they were going to be a secondary determinator for someone's strength. Especially considering the fact that you lost levels every time you died.

n

"Here is your reward.

" The NPC said, handing Eldrian 58 silvers, which Eldrian promptly saved in his inventory, seeing his total cash now going to 75 silvers and a few coppers.

nSmiling Eldrian realized he could still not afford a nice weapon, but he now felt much more secure. Feeling that he had enough to tide him over while he trained to wield magic. Which was his next main objective, the other being to go to Boran's again. Wanting to also learn blacksmithing from him.

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