37 Chapter 37
"Here I found your grandfather's hammer." A player said as he brought a hammer to Max who was working in the smithy with Grid next to him, who was fanning the flames.
"Thank you." Max thanked the player as he gave him the EXP.
"Can I take a look at your shop?" The player asked.
"Go ahead." Max said without taking his eyes off the metal and opened his shop interface.
With his daily watering, the leeks in Horizon started growing at a faster pace than the other beginner towns and were buying stuff from Max whenever they had enough EXP.
Memory Crystals were popular as always, and his equipments were slowly gaining recognition by the players who were able to afford them.
Unlike the other shops, he didn't sell anything in exchange for money. Instead he was selling them for EXP. And this attracted more players to his shop.
Unlike the beta testing in which there were only a thousand players, there were hundreds of thousands players this time.
Yes, some chose to start in other towns, but still there were at least 300.000 players in Horizon. And the number continued increasing with the game's reputation skyrocketing.
Max followed all the news through the forums. He could access it just like the players but couldn't post anything on it.
He could only read what was written, and so far, his actions reached their intended purpose.
The players were trying to find out who he was and why his name was Archer. Why he hated Mythical Dawn and tried to destroy them at every instant.
Some guessed that he was Max from beta testing from his iconic twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya, but some rejected it because there was too much of a difference.
His communication with Grid also created mystery among the players, and they used it as the basis for their argument that he was Max.
His EXP was increasing steadily and almost reached three million.
His daily given EXP also increased and he found the reason why.
It was Renown.
[Daily Available NPC EXP: 50.000]
[Renown: 10]
It multiplied his Daily Available EXP.
He wasn't yet known as much, so it wasn't that high. But it was enough for now. The players didn't need too much EXP to be happy currently.
*Clang!*
After landing the final blow of the hammer on the blade, Max went on to attach a hold and a circular guard. Finally finishing the katana.
He grabbed the hilt and looked closely at the sword. "Your name will be… Hyōrinmaru." He said as the blade thrummed in joy in his hand. Ice surrounded the sword for a moment before it disappeared.
Ever since Max became The Paragon's, The God of Craftsmanship's, Counter Guardian, he noticed that his crafts became much better. They were of a higher quality and a cut above the rest.
And with giving them names, bestowed upon them different abilities. They weren't that strong yet, not even close to his Kanshou and Bakuya, but he was getting there.
Maybe one day, he could add more properties onto his favorite twin swords. But it wasn't that day yet.
"Woah." Grid exclaimed as he looked at the sword in Archer's hand. 'I want a sword like that…' He thought.
He's been working in the smithy with Archer for a while now. At first he thought that the help Archer required would be something else, something more exciting, but he was only asked to keep the fire in the forge stable.
He watched as Archer hammered on the metal and watched as the blades came to life after he named them.
He looked at his shop, but didn't find those swords anywhere. He was determined to buy them instantly if the opportunity arose but so far, he didn't have any luck. 'One day.' He thought.
"Archer!" While they were both busy admiring the sword, a guard knocked on the smithy in a hurry.
Max opened the door and was met with breathless visage of the guard. "What is going on?" Max asked.
"*Huff* There is a *huff* situation. Leopold asks for *huff* your help." He said between the breaths.
"Got it. Will be there." Max said as he turned to Grid. "Let's go."
'Yes!' Grid thought excitedly. Finally, the moment he has been waiting for has arrived.
***
In the room was Leopold, with a few more members of the Hunters Guild.
"Gates to Oblivion have been opened." Leopold said gravely. "The situation isn't that bad at the moment but if we leave it be, creatures other than death hounds might started crossing to our world. This requires utmost importance. I want you all to be prepared for an invasion."
Everyone had similar grave expressions on their faces after Leopold finished speaking, except for Max.
"I believe, we don't have to worry about the gate for now." He said as all the eyes turned to him.
"Why do you think so?" Leopold asked.
"We can let the Inhumans deal with the gate." He said.
They wouldn't be able to die anyways, and the creatures that got out of the gate was free EXP for the players.
And in return it was free EXP for him.
"What if they can't deal with it?" Leopold asked once more.
"I'll keep watch. If something happens, I'll do my best to stop it." He said.
Meanwhile Grid was live streaming the whole conversation. He needed money and the game was an opportunity for him to turn his life around.
Him meeting Max and Archer was his opportunity. He almost had 3.000 viewers at the moment and the number was slowly increasing.
-Finally!
-It's the main story line right?
-Probably. I was getting sick of killing rabbits all day.
"What if the creatures that come out are stronger than you?" Leopold asked with hesitance.
He didn't doubt Max's abilities as he knew first hand what the kid was capable of, and to top it all off, he was also a champion of The Paragon.
Meaning that he was the strongest person in Horizon currently. Darien didn't count because he was in the Imperial City.
"Hah" Max gave a hollow laugh. "You underestimate my power captain." He said as he turned around to walk outside, before he added, "I have never fought someone weaker than myself." Then he left the room with Grid in tow.
-That was so cool!!
-'I have never fought someone weaker than myself' lmao meanwhile the cultists from before are turning in their graves.
-Seriously who is this Archer guy? Why doesn't he have a name?
-I'm telling you he's Max!
-He can't be Max! There's too much difference.
*****
"Hey! Don't let it get away!"
"Gah!"
*Whoosh*
A death hound was about to pass through players and head to Horizon when it was killed with a black arrow that lodged in its temple.
The surprised players looked at where the arrow came from and saw the nowadays very famous Archer standing on top of a hill and watching the players hunt the death hounds.
Whenever someone looked like in trouble, he would shoot arrows to immobilize the hounds and let the players land the killing blow.
The players leveled up continuously with shocking speed which made the others players in the beginner towns envious.
The number of players in Horizon was increasing exponentially considering the other towns.
'Hurry up. We don't have much time.' Meanwhile the man in question, Max thought in his mind.
He needed the players to grow quickly and be of help to him later on.
He managed to upgrade his Saint Graph two times during this time but it was still not enough, he felt.
"Hmm?" Then, he felt the gate fluctuating.
A humanoid figure crossed through the gate.
"Hahaha! Finally!" The figure laughed.
He had a black skin with red markings all over, two horns on top of his head and an ominous looking heavy armor with a great sword on his back.
"Tremble before me mortals!" He laughed as he reached for the sword on his back when an arrow lodged into his temple. "Hmm?" He looked at where the arrow came and saw a man standing on top of a hill with a huge bow in his hand. "Is that all? Hahaha!" He laughed as he pulled the arrow out and was about to break it when it disappeared into particles.
"How about this? Caladbolg." Then a voice came from the same man and he lost all vision.
*Boom!*
'Dremoras started appearing. Damn.' Max thought as he watched the dremora's body shatter into countless pieces.
The players watched the exchange dumbstruck.
The demon that came out of the gate looked like a sort of boss but was destroyed so quickly.
'How strong is he?' They all thought as they looked towards the single man standing on top of a hill.
***
In a throne room that looked as if everything was made out of gold, stood a troop of guards with different equipment than the rest.
The Blades, they were called. And they were the personal guards of the Emperor of Cyrodiil, Uriel Septim VII.
"The escape route has been prepared Milord. It is our chance." A member of the Blades said towards the man sitting on the throne.
He looked old, with wrinkles on his face clearly showing and a head full of gray hair. He was dressed in luxurious clothes with jewels adorning his front.
"Let's go." He said as he slowly rose from his throne.
*Boom!*
An explosion rang out as cultists dressed in red robes came into the throne room.
"Protect the Emperor!" A few members of the Blades yelled as they went to fight the cultists while allowing the rest to escape with Emperor in tow.
They went into the dungeons where they had prepared their escape only to find the cell occupied by an unknown prisoner.
"What is going on?! This cell was supposed to be left empty!" A member of the blades said as he looked at the man standing in the cell. "Back up Prisoner. No funny business." He said as he opened the cell and went inside.
The prisoner was standing far away from them as they warned, but the Emperor stopped as he gazed upon the prisoner.
"You. I know you from my dreams." The Emperor Uriel said.
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I'll pick up the pace from the next chapter onwards until we reach Skyrim because I don't remember many stuff from Oblivion, if you want to share your ideas feel free to do so.
Let me know your thoughts regarding the chapter, I feel like I could've written it better but this was all I could do.
⚠️If you enjoy the story, don't forget to drop some stones and reviews ⚠️
There may or may not be a chapter tomorrow 🫠
