Different Values, Different Steeds

In WEXO, the gender of a character is always the same as that of the player.

One reason is that WEXO is too realistic. To protect the privacy of each gender, the management made it so that no player can change their gender in the game.

However, to still have the RPG feel of controlling a new body different than the original, extensive character creation was implemented.

On this topic, no player as of yet submitted any sort of complaints. Some male players may have wanted to submit one but are afraid of the wrath of the female players in the game.

That is because most of the players of WEXO, unlike any other games, are mostly female. Approximately 65% of the players to be accurate.

This is due to being able to take professions other than battle-related ones.

Most female players tend to have their own shops, some were merchants, and others tried sewing and other craft. However, most of the females only log in to sightsee the beautiful locations that are safe for travelers.

All in all, the total of heavy battle-related players was about 30% of the total player count. But this number is quite reliable already.

Assuming that for every household around the world, 1 or 2 plays WEXO. If all of them started fighting for the world, it may take quite a short time to clear the game.

Most gamers don't want this. They want to be known as the ones to clear the game, the ultimate dream of any gamer.

However, the remaining few were hoping for all of the players to fight. That's because they know the truth about the game.

- - -

"We finished stage one of the quest but nothing significant was given…"

Faye was complaining about their quest. She felt that her efforts for the quest weren't reciprocated properly.

As they returned the horses to the town, it was already early morning. They were now walking towards Yale Village.

"Don't say that. You received the wooden whistle too right?" Zeus said laughing.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"Try using it."

"… Nothing bad will happen, right?" Faye was doubtful.

"If you don't want to then Marielle, how about you?" Zeus quickly turned to the other person.

"I-If there's no risk then…"

Marielle then put the whistle to her mouth and blew. However, no sound came out.

"… Weird. Is it broken?" Faye wondered.

"E-Eeeeeh?!" Marielle screamed in both shock and disappointment.

"No. That's how it should be. Marielle, take 3 steps back. It should be anytime about now."

Then, a neigh was heard. The sound was coming from all directions. After a few seconds, a white horse covered in silver armor flew down slowly and landed right in front of Marielle.

"A Pegasus!!!"

Faye shouted as she saw what appeared. The horse has wonderful white wings growing on its back.

"Yes. This whistle is an item that is able to summon a phantom steed once a day. Depending on the user's stats, the duration of their stay will last longer."

"Phantom steed… So you mean there are others?"

"Let's see… Pegasus, Gryphon, Wyverns… Also Giant Eagles. I think there are more…"

"… Is there anything with a cute appearance?"

"Your criteria always surprise me to no wonder… Well… I think there is one… It was a furry nine-tailed fox the size of a horse. But among all the steeds, it is the rarest to come out."

"…!!!"

Faye immediately blew her own whistle as hard as she can.

"Don't even bother. That rare steed wouldn't come that often."

"As long as you wish for it, it will come true eventually!" Faye declared resolutely.

"Yeah right. Then if I wish that I can earn a legendary set, will it come true?"

"That depends on your actions!"

"Such double-standard..." Zeus sighed.

Seconds have passed and still, there are no signs of a steed coming for Faye.

"That's weird…"

Even Zeus didn't know what happened. Then, suddenly, the air around their surroundings changed.

They can't explain it clearly but it feels like the air was filled with holy energy.

Then, a majestic figure slowly descended and gracefully landed in front of Faye. It was a steed as large as a horse covered with white fluffy fur. Its nine tails have red-colored fur at the tip as if it was burning. Its face was sharp but full of vitality.

"I-Impossible…"

A Nine-Tailed Fox appeared!

"Yay! A cute one came!!!"

"H-How cute!"

"Let's think of a name! How about Kurama? No, that's not cute… Then, Sora?"

"Why Japanese? No, forget that, how high is your luck to get this in one try?!"

"Luck? I think mine was just normal… around 100."

"T-Then that's just pure beginner's luck! You probably won't be able to summon it again!"

"Quit being a sore loser. A steed as cute as this will be treasured by me for as long as I can!"

"Guh… I can't lose… In rarity, Pegasus is the lowest… A nine-tailed fox is the rarest… Followed by the wyvern… Gah!"

Then, instead of computing his chances, he just hoped for a rare steed as he too blew his own whistle.

"… Nothing's coming… Maybe another rare one!"

Among their group, he was the only one that knows that increasing the affection with your steed after summoning will increase the chance of them reappearing when summoned. However, even without him telling them, the two girls started grooming their steeds. Even giving them food!

A whole minute passed and nothing came. Zeus was giving off beads of sweat.

"…"

Then, another 30 seconds passed. Not a single sign of something coming for Zeus.

"Did the summon fail?"

"M-Maybe if you tried again…"

"..!"

As Zeus was about to vent his anxiety to the two, he felt something pulling on his pants. He then looked at the source.

"What's this?"

A cute-looking monster appeared. It was similar to a dog, more like a Siberian husky. It has fluffy fur of black and white color.

"This is not a monster… right?"

As he picked the dog, or rather, the puppy up and showed it to the two girls and asked…

"Kyaaah! Another cute one appeared!"

"C-C-Can I cuddle it?!!"

They immediately ignored their steed and ran to Zeus's side. Or rather, to the puppy's side.

Since they abruptly left their steeds while they were petting them, the poor things had disappointed expressions.

"Maybe it's a rare monster… Then if I kill it, will it drop unique items?"

Zeus said as he was staring at the puppy.

"Do that and I'll end ties with you!!!"

"H-How horrible!! You can't just harm something this cute!!!"

And at that moment, he was bashed by the two girls.

"I-I'm just kidding…"

However, he was really puzzled as to what this monster is.

"… My steed still isn't responding…"

He then passed the dog to Faye and took the whistle out again. After, he blew it harder once more.

"*Arf*!!!"

As he did, the puppy barked cutely. Minutes passed and nothing still came.

"Again…"

He once more blew the whistle and the puppy barked again as he did.

"…"

All the time, the puppy was silent. However, once he blew the whistle, it will suddenly bark. Cold sweat started falling down his forehead.

"Don't tell me…"

For a last check, he blew it once more. The puppy really barked while looking at Zeus.

"I drew the short end of the lot!!!" Zeus lamented, falling to his knees.

"Huh?"

"W-What?"

The two girls were surprised by Zeus's sudden outburst. He was now despairing about his extremely horrible luck.

"If that's my steed… That doesn't even count as one! It can't even be ridden!!!"

As he was blabbering a lot of nonsense, Hel, who was resting the whole time under the shade of the tree finally approached the group.

"Ohhh… How rare to see the great Sphynx here…"

She then silently spoke as she headed towards the puppy. The dog immediately started barking at her.

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I won't do anything to you."

As she spoke, the puppy quieted down and again enjoyed being petted by the two girls.

"Wait… Hel… What did you say?"

"I said, 'Don't worry, I won't do anything to you'…"

"No, before that… Sphynx?"

"Yeah. This little guy is without a doubt a Sphynx."

"Isn't the Sphynx a chimera…"

"On what era was that? I can't remember seeing a Sphynx like that in my whole life… Even on books or ancient ruins."

"…"

"However, this is really rare. The last time I saw a Sphynx was when I fought with the Dragon Emperor…"

"...."

Zeus managed to summon a Sphynx! However, this fact still isn't sinking down on him.

"Is this small thing even useful? I don't think I could even ride it…"

"Hahaha! That's absurd. Sphynx are magical beings. They can even use magic up to the highest tier. No steed is better than this."

"But the size…"

"I don't know why but yours seem to have lost its power. However, if you give it enough time, no doubt it will recover."

"Then I will cancel the summon!"

"That's not possible I think. Since the Sphynx is in that state, returning would be hard. I guess you cannot summon any steed as long as your Sphynx stays in this form."

A useless steed that cannot be returned! His rotten luck really hit him hard.

"However, to summon a Pegasus, a Nine-Tailed Fox, and a Sphynx as steeds… Your group is quite promising… I'm expecting a lot in your travels."

Phantom steeds also include normal horses, bulls, and other 4 legged animals as rides. However, only Hel knew of this fact in their group. Since players only boasted of the good ones online, the bad ones weren't that well known. Even Zeus, the info-maniac, only knew the rarity of the famous ones.

The group continued walking to Yale Village.

Why didn't they ride on their steeds?

One reason is that not all of them possessed ridable steeds. Another is that the two girls were against it saying that those who ride these cute beings should receive punishment.

They were denying the steed's reason for existence!

At the minimum, steeds stay for 4 hours with their summoner. It was about an hour now so the steeds were still with them.

Not long after, they reached Yale Village. As they passed the guards, they weren't greeted. The guards were staring wide-eyed at the Nine-Tailed Fox and the Pegasus.

After they passed, the guard spoke with each other.

"A-Am I dreaming…"

"No… I guess not… I saw it too…"

"I, we saw a legend…"

They couldn't believe that they could see legendary steeds in their whole life. Their eyes were glued to the steeds until they were out of view.

"Is it my imagination or are we being the center of attention here…?"

Faye was feeling the gazes of many residents. It was still early morning but many villagers were already out working and the streets weren't void of people.

The Sphynx, which Faye named Gerald, was still being cuddled by her.

"If we walk around town with these members, not catching attention will be much weirder."

Zeus retorted sulkily. He, who is a recluse in reality, of course, wouldn't be comfortable being the center of attention.

"How about ordering your steeds to stay at the gates?"

Hel tried suggesting a course of action before they entered, however, the two girls vehemently opposed the idea.

"There's no way I'll let Sora be alone!"

"I-I'll take responsibility for Felix… I won't let him cause trouble!"

And going with the flow, they arrived at this situation.

"You really should have left your steeds at the front gate…"

"It's not that much being the center of attention right? It just feels a little uncomfortable…"

"I-I am not bothered that much…"

Gazes came not only from NPCs, even players that are passing by couldn't help but stare.

'Where did they get that?'

'Their items look strong… What level are they…'

'The fox looks cute. Maybe I can cuddle it if I asked for permission.'

The many thoughts of Gamers! However, nobody among them was courageous enough to strike up a conversation with the group. All they could do was stare enviously from afar.

After minutes of struggle, they finally reached the Chieftain's house.

"W-Welcome back, good travelers…"

Even the elder's stare was switching between the Fox the Pegasus and Zeus. Zeus, who was almost at wit's end, immediately started the conversation.

"This may sound rude but we are in a hurry. We heard that you are troubled with a missing person, is it true?"

The chief quickly recovered his wits and responded.

"Y-Yes… It happened about 2 days ago… We sent a convoy to Vertrand Castle… However, they seemed to have encountered problems on the way… Two of them managed to return but one's still missing… Could we trouble you of investigating the event? If possible, could you find Tyler?"

Even as he spoke choppily, he finished his long speech at long last.

- - -

QUEST ACCEPTED

You have received the quest, 'Finding Tyler'. Since the event happened days ago, there's not much hope remaining. You must act fast.

Requirements: Chain Quest; must complete the Myre village chief's quest

Time limit: 1 day

Rewards: A-grade Leather, Map of the Continent

- - -

"That sounds quite perilous. We will do what we can."

Then, after giving that short confirmation, the group departed for the quest.

After leaving the gates, Zeus gave a sigh of relief.

"Finally… Out of everyone's gaze…"

After resting, mentally, he then started the strategy meeting.

"The steeds should be able to fly. Ask them to search for clues anywhere between here and the castle town. We three will split up and search separately. Meet up here after an hour."

Without much deliberation, they started moving. Sora and Felix flew high up in the sky. Faye and Marielle moved in pairs and searched the western part of the desert. Zeus moved with Hel and searched the east side.

"Slyfer, you can hear me right? Can you help us gather information?"

After they separated, Zeus tried relying on his sword's spirit, Slyfer the wind dragon. Not long after, a voice resounded inside his head.

'Quite rare for you to require my help. What do you need?'

"Help me search for someone."

'Hmm. That's outside of my expertise. However, I could give it a try.'

"Then, please… Dragon Summon!"

After activating his summoning skill, a gust of wind suddenly appeared. After causing a small tornado, Slyfer appeared within.

At the end of his grand entrance, he immediately flew high into the air and spread his wings. A deep and vivid green magic circle full of complex patterns then appeared in the air with him as the center.

After the circle persisted for a while, it vanished. Then, Slyfer went down.

"I didn't find anything significant. But I saw a destroyed carriage in front of a cave down southeast here."

"Hmmm… For a clue, that is good enough. Thanks."

"Hahaha! Behold the Almighty me!"

Then, leaving some overly hedonistic lines, he vanished. Zeus didn't waste a moment and immediately headed toward the cave at full speed. Surprisingly, Hel managed to keep up with his speed.

"Hey, freeloader. How high is your stats?"

He tried asking something private. He wasn't expecting an answer, yet Hel spoke clearly.

"Hmm… All my stats are over 10,000 each. The largest is my Wisdom and Intelligence at 25,000. My total mana capacity is about 200 Billion but not even 1% remains. If I can recover my staff, I would be in my fighting condition though."

The absurdity of Legends! If Zeus didn't know that she is a Legendary Master, then he would have laughed it off as a joke. For normal players, if they heard it, they would think that that level was impossible to reach. However, Zeus was different.

'10,000… Then, about level 100 for a player… Quite high. For a mob, it's about level 400 or higher.'

If they manage to spam their stats completely, 50 levels are enough to reach that amount.

If she used Mana Burn at full mana, she may be able to kill any legendary monsters in one hit. That is if she could land a hit.

Due to their speed, it didn't take long before they reached the place Slyfer mentioned.

It was a small cave. In front of it, the remains of what could be identified as a wagon remain.

"This must be it…"

"Are you going to enter there?"

"I need to check it first. If I can't handle it alone, then I'll need to wait for the others. You should stand guard here."

Then, Zeus cautiously entered the cave.

It wasn't that large, just enough for a single person to squeeze through. But after passing it about 50 meters in, the scenery will change from a tight space to a very wide dome extending down. Its bottom cannot be seen.

"If he fell from here, then there's no hope."

Zeus then took a flare out of his bag and threw it down. The flare dropped for about 300 meters before it stopped in mid-air and illuminated its surroundings. The bottom could barely be seen.

"Hmm… About a kilometer in depth. The stairs are… there. If we walked down, it will take about 20 minutes. If there are monsters, about an hour… Okay."

After he confirmed the state of affairs, he traced his path back to outside the cave. What was waiting for him there wasn't Hel alone. She was accompanied by a large number of monsters.

"Hey… What's this?"

"Hmm? Oh, you're back. Can you eliminate these small fries? They were tickling me ever since you left."

The monsters attacking Hel, Lizard Warriors, were all above level 50! And she didn't appear fazed. The effect of high vitality!

"Sigh…"

And, having been forced into this situation, Zeus couldn't help but finish up this large number of enemies. With his current stats, eliminating this number should take hours. All he could hope for is that he could finish it in time for their rendezvous.