11 Over the Horizon

     After waiting, we took the food out of the oven and placed it on the counter beside it. The heat that came out of it was a little more than what I was expecting, but it didn't stop me from taking a spatula and cutting out two pieces for Veronica and myself. 

     We went back to my room and ate together on my bed. 

     The melted cheese bonded with the chicken and the potatoes, making a nice addition to the taste. We put our hands together and said the phrase most people say when they are ready to eat, "Bon appétit!" 

     We took a bite at the same time…

     It was an immediate reaction, we had to chew quickly before more of the spice fell on your taste buds. We took a sip of our milk and let it sit on your tongues. I took another sip of my milk and looked over at Veronica. "Damn, that's hot!" She nodded, and did the very same thing as me. She took another sip. "I know! We definitely added too many spices." 

     Despite that, the taste of the chicken, potatoes, and bacon had finally set in. I let out a sigh of relief. 

     "Ah. Much better. With the taste coming back, it's really good, right?" She asked me, and I nodded in response. "Yeah. It really is."

     The way the different ingredients blended together was pleasant to the taste buds after they were assaulted by a wave of heat. Moments later, I started to think about playing again. I really had to grind my level up and fast if I wanted to keep getting stronger. I can't keep relying on the weaknesses of monsters all the time. "Hey, when we're done, why don't we go back and play a bit more? Just until the both of us get to level five." I asked Veronica. "Yeah! I'm up for it. We should be able to get it down faster now with our new equipment." She responded. 

     We soon finished our meal, and put away the leftovers in my fridge. I definitely need to save the recipe so I can make it myself if Veronica visits again. 

     Laying down on my bed, I slip on the headset and turn it on. 

I opened up my menu and looked at my stats. "Huh? That's weird."

     Once I logged in, I was given a notification. It seemed that while we were out, the game had maintenance that logged everyone else out. We weren't given anything special to compensate for the sudden mass logout, which sucked, but something about the menus were different. The stats had changed. 

[ PLAYER: Damon : LVL 4 ]

[ PLAYER STATISTICS ]

HP: 170

MP: 19

VIT: 17

DEF: 17

STR: 21

INT: 19

SPD: 26

AGI: 18

     "They changed the stats around. MP is no longer here, but it was instead replaced with defense. Not only that, but the description for MP was added to intelligence, so now your MP would be raised depending on your intelligence stat. It also made it where our amount was no longer in the hundreds. "Did this mean that the MP amount for skills changed?"

     Sure enough, it was the case. Sword of Agni no longer needed 25 MP. It instead needed 5 MP to compensate for the decrease. 

     "All they did for health was change it to Vitality. Strength also replaced attack, but now it allowed for us to do more. The higher the stat, the easier you can lift stuff and the harder you can hit things. Seems they got a bit of backlash for the stats? Anyway, I'm happy with it." I'm especially happy that they didn't just remove the points I put into MP. Veronica noticed it too. "Huh. I like it this way. How about you?" She asked. 

     "Yeah. It looks better, too." 

     I started to look around, and I noticed that Kazuya wasn't in the area anymore. But, a few guys in blue armor approached us. 

     "Excuse me. Have you two recently been in the mines?" One of them asked. I nodded. "Yeah, why?" 

     "Have you slain the ants residing within them?" He asked another question. Once again, I nodded in response. 

     "Please come with us. Lord Dundran has requested for your appearance." He hit the ground twice with the lance he held in his hand. I was confused and wanted to ask for more details, but the knights already turned around and started to walk away. Veronica immediately started to follow them, meaning I had to follow suit. 

◇◇◇

      "My lord! We have found the other two warriors! They are being brought here as we speak!" Announced the knight from earlier. He was once again waved away by Dundran. He looked down to another man in armor. This one stood off to the side of the blue carpet. On his back, he had a large shield and axe. His armor was of a darker shade of blue and had a bulkier look to it. "Your allies, are they strong?" Asked the Lord. 

     "I haven't known them for long, but I can tell that they are just from a glance." He answered the Lord without a moment to think. 

     Dundran nodded. He would then wait in silence. The man in armor looked back at the large double doors. He folded his arms over his chest. 

     After waiting a bit, the doors began to open, and Dundran's eyes would look over to the sudden entrance. "Ah! There you are, my young warriors. I welcome you!"

◇◇◇

     "We have brought them, your Lordship!" One of them spoke to the Lord. They walked away and stood on either side of the carpet, yet kept their distance from us. I stood in the middle with Veronica to my left. I was surprised to see that Kazuya was here, but I guess he was there to "help" fight the boss. 

     "There is no need to delay the reason for me bringing you here. I wish to reward you for defeating the infestation of ants. Please, take these bags of gold for your troubles." The Lord motioned his guards. Three of them stood in front of us and proceeded to hand out three bags of gold. Each of us got a bag. Immediately, a pop-up screen appeared. 

[ ITEM: GOLD PURSE ]

[ RARITY: UNCOMMON ]

     My eyes widened upon seeing the amount that was in there. 

[ CONTENTS: 100,000 ]

     "One hundred thousand!?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I closed my eyes, rubbed them, and stared at the number again. It did not change by even a single digit. "Are you sure? This is a lot of gold to be giving us." I questioned. 

     Suddenly, the three guards pointed their swords at my neck. Before they could say anything, the Lord stomped the ground, halting them. 

     "How dare you threaten those that have saved us? It is obvious he is just in shock at seeing a large sum of gold. I am sorry, young ones. My men have been trained to respect me to the highest degree. Please, accept my reward. You deserve it for slaying such dangerous monsters." 

     "However, I am sorry to say that this does not end your time here." 

     So there's something else. Maybe to compensate for giving us such a large reward?

     "My wife and I must leave. In a few short days we must go to meet the other Lords of the realm." He continued. 

     I already have an idea on what he wanted to ask of us. 

     "Please. Come with us as our guards. You see, my most trusted knight, High Commander Kaiser, is off somewhere in another country, and I trust no one else to stand beside me. But, since you are here and have shown your strength, I ask that you take his place. 

     So, it's an escort quest. I looked at the other two and they already made up their minds. It was obvious that they wanted to help the Lord and his wife. I sighed. This meant I had no choice but to come with. "Alright, we'll come with you. Is there something else we need to do during this?" I asked. 

     "I must say that you are right. The road we must go to is the fastest route, but it is crawling with an alarming number of monsters. Do not be discouraged by this, for we also go through outposts, where we will arrive and rest for the night and press on in the morning." He answered, and it seemed truthful by his tone. 

     "Okay. When do we leave?" Asked Veronica. 

     "In four days we must depart. Is that enough time to prepare yourselves?" 

     We all looked at each other, and we nodded in unison. I stepped forward as the knights got out of my way. "Should be more than enough. We'll be ready by then."

     Four days was pretty generous. I have no idea what could possibly happen next. But it seemed that we ended up starting a story quest. Even if we didn't do anything worthwhile, it helped us know more about the current situation of the world. 

     "Perfect! Now, you may leave. I await your return! But, may I please know your names?" Dundran asked. 

     "I'm Kazuya." 

     "My name is Veronica! Nice to meet you, sir!" 

     "And I'm Damon." 

     The Lord smiled. "And you have most likely figured out that I am Lord Dundran. Now you may go." He said, directing the guards to open the doors for us to leave. We turned around and walked out of the room. 

◇◇◇

     "That boy in the middle… something is different about that one."