Outsider

So, this is yesterday's chapter.

I went to sleep after I posted the last chapter because it was deep in the night, so I ended up being late.

After this, I will post today's chapter

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/3 Hours later…/

[Quest, Training part 1 has been completed!]

[+10% Level xp]

/Clang…/

"HAA… Huff… Dammit… I…" Dale said as he breathed heavily on the ground

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

'Just 10%?... It's not bad but… I only need a bit more to Level up…'

'But perhaps this is better, I need to enjoy my Reputation bonus for a little longer…'

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

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

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

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.

"I took 3 hours in 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...'

'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 exemple.'

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

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 the Church.'

'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 this village, 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, but that wasn't entirely it since Resko was starting to become obsolete since most of its resources had been consumed and the 'Demons' had been thoroughly suppressed, so people just left when things became too stable.'

'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...'

"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…'

'I didn't forget it yet, but when I finished the tutorial and saw the number of Quests Resko had, there were many of them that led to Unique and higher rewards… They must be somewhere!'

'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...'

'Even the Village Head is with them, including 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 dirt road outside of Resko, sudden white light flashed.

When the white light dissipated, a person wearing cloth armor with a large double ax on his back appeared.

His hair was very short and blonde, while his blue eyes seemed to blend in with the sky…

He was a rather handsome young man.

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

"Good afternoon everyone, we are now Live! It's currently 3 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, so I raise you all a question: Where am I?"

"I'll give the first person to guess it correctly one month of subscription!"

He waited for a few seconds as he walked towards the village of 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 after many failed attempts at some of the higher Level areas and I am pretty sure no one had the guts to come and try this place out."

"So let us be the first to adventure shall we?"

He smiled as he read the comments before he said:

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

"Thanks, BubbleGum for the 6 Shards!"

"Now, I believe we are the first in this place… 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 since I don't want to lose a Level so soon…" He said as he looked around

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

He quickly turned around and looked at the old woman, it was Tina coming back from picking up fruits in the wild.

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."

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

It was the famed Iron apple...

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

"Thank you!" Said the young man as he followed her

/Crack!/

"?!?!"

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

[Iron apple

Description: An Apple said to be as tough as Iron]

'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 gaming instinct told him she was an important NPC, and his many years of gaming made him develop the habit of respecting any and all NPCs.

The worst thing that can happen is to be locked out of a quest and lose potential progress…

/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 out way inside, simpler than I thought, but this is just the start."

And despite everything he said, Tina did not react to what he said at all.

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…'

'Was it the right choice to come here?'

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Notes