Stellar Warrior

"What?" Felix almost tilted his head in curiosity.

"It's that the building that I am looking for is not here!" Stell lamented the lack of an array master building.

"Why did you create such suspense for it?" Felix was stumped. If that was all you had to say, then why say it like that?

His question made Stell chuckle. "It's because I concluded something else."

"Stop with the pauses!" Felix almost shouted out of frustration. Containing his curiosity, he waited for Stell to continue.

"It's on the other exiles' planets. Apparently, a planet needs to have a Second Order person before an array master guild appears." Stell's answer confused Felix.

Noticing Felix's confused expression, Stell chuckled. "That means that we still don't have a Second Order existence on this planet."

"That's it? That's the important information?" Felix started looking weirdly at Stell.

"For me, it is." Stell smiled meaningfully. 'It means that I am not left behind by too much.'

"Weirdo." Felix muttered before starting to leave the library. Although Stell wanted to read another book, he decided to postpone it lest Felix leave without him.

After walking out of the building, Felix remembered something. "Oh yeah, why didn't we see any pills here?"

"It's because a genuine pill needs to be made by a Second Order alchemist." Stell answered.

"So you didn't waste time, after all." Felix chuckled, half-mocking Stell for reading an almost useless book for a few hours.

"Hey! Let's go to a blacksmith now!" Felix's curiosity made him almost start flying toward the shop.

After some time, they entered a blacksmithing shop. Inside, they found all kinds of metal and leather armor. However, although it looked medieval, it lacked something.

"It's too basic. Not fantasy-like at all. What's with this shop? I wanted to see Mythril armor that shooted lasers!" Felix complained after exiting the shop.

Again, Stell had to apologize to the receptionist for Felix's rude behavior.

"What did you expect to find? You want to discover heavenly armor in a city where the strongest existence is First Order at most?" Stell mocked Felix's thoughtless and innocent complaints.

After placing a hand over his chest, Felix pretended like he was hit by an arrow.

Stell looked at the scene weirdly before deciding to ignore the bothersome fellow.

"Hey! Are these people players?" A child pointed at Stell and Felix. The child had ragged clothes and was accompanied by several more children and a young woman no older than twenty-five.

Stell looked at the scene, his expression gradually turning serious. With a bitter chuckle, he approached the child.

Felix smiled slightly at the scene as he also approached the children. Although the child felt wary of Stell at first, after seeing Felix, it visibly relaxed.

'Dammit! Why are children so wary of me?' Turning towards Felix, Stell seriously asked. "Is something on my face?"

"Except for your stupid expression, I don't see anything worthy of notice." Felix chuckled as he knelt down, reaching the child's height. The group of kids laughed as they pointed their fingers at Stell.

"Dammit! It's not my fault that I am stupid!" Stell complained as if he really was a stupid bystander, earning a burst of even bigger laughter from the children.

The young lady that watched over the children also chuckled slightly, looking at Stell and Felix with appreciation.

"Roleen, we have to go." She reminded the child that pointed at Stell.

" 'Kay." Roleen casually replied as he bid farewell to the duo.

Looking at the miserable clothes that children wore, sorrow appeared in Stell's eyes. "If only there is a way to help them." He muttered.

"Wanna donate a few achievements?" Felix asked from the side. "Maybe some other time. It's just a temporary solution. Those children have no parents, and almost no one cares about them."

Already accustomed to Felix's silence, Stell just shook his head before heading elsewhere. 'Maybe if I get stronger, I might be able to prevent that from happening.'

With a bitter chuckle, he continued. "Or at least help the ones I see."

He always wanted to become stronger, but that was the first time he felt like he truly wanted to. Not because he read about it in a novel or a random professor suggested, but because he himself saw a tangible benefit of doing so.

Stell also noticed a new side of him. Although he pitied the children, he didn't want to spend his achievements. Not yet, at least.

With a sigh, they continued wandering the city.

"Hey! What's that?" After some time, Felix pointed at a crowded place.

It was a building with many tables and chairs. All of the tables were full of beer mugs. Although there wasn't a fight, Stell could notice a few people arguing or singing together.

"It's a tavern." Stell looked at the place with interest. It was one of the few places his parents never let him approach.

"They seem to be enjoying it, at least." Felix laughed, making Stell shake his head. "Maybe."

Then, Stell got a brilliant idea. "Let's go inside!"

Ignoring Felix's strange looks, Stell approached the bartender. After giving him a gold coin, Stell asked about anything interesting that an exile should know.

"There's no way that will work." Felix confidently commented from the side. It didn't take long for the bartender to serve them two mugs of beer. Then, the bartender began speaking.

"Are you familiar with the power system?" The bartender's question dumbfounded Felix. 'That works?'

"Until First Order. We don't know much about First Order." Stell casually replied. He wasn't worried that people would hear him because the tavern was as loud as it could get. He barely heard Felix and the bartender that are next to him.

The bartender glanced at the gold coin before continuing. "Do you know about the powerful people here?"

"People already made a name for themselves?" Stell narrowed his eyes slightly.

On the side, Felix chuckled as he saw Stell's serious act. 'He really needs to work on his acting more.'

"There are a few. Most of it is from the games." The bartender nodded.

"How do you know that they are exiles from our city and not from another planet? Surely, we aren't the only exiles." Stell asked with a suspicious tone.

"It's confirmed by the sighting." The bartender explained, unbothered by Stell's suspicion.

"So it's just a hearsay." Stell nodded. Although he didn't expect to find any reliable information here, he still thought that he could learn something, at least.

"Sometimes, hearsay is more reliable than the proof." The bartender chuckled. Then, he continued. "There is a man who is known by the nickname 'Shadow.' His full username is 'DarkKnightShadow67'."

He already dropped a bombshell on Stell and Felix. They didn't expect the bartender to already know about Aaron.

"Although he seems like a promising talent, he lost three times, lowering our opinion of him. Still, with a strong element and three games already played, most of which had outstanding results, he is worth mentioning."

Stell furrowed his eyebrows. The information was too accurate! He also noticed the keyword 'we'. Maybe organizations already started forming.

Ignoring Stell's pondering expression, the bartender continued. "There is also a duo known as 'Stellar Warrior'. Not much is known about them except that they seem to enter favorable situations. There is also a video of a player's exceptional thinking ability online."

Stell almost blushed. It was them! It was Stell and Felix!

Glancing to the side, he saw Felix suppressing his laugh. Then, he turned around and started pretending like he was talking with a drunkard. Stell's eyes twitched at the sight.

"Seem to enter favorable situations?" Stell probed, intending to learn everything he could. Shifting his sitting position slightly, he looked at the bartender calmly, as if they were really talking about strangers.

"I am not sure. That's all I've heard." The bartender refused to elaborate, making Stell sigh inwardly.

"Any more?" Stell wished to learn about every important person that appeared.

"There is a strong swordsman with the name "Tian Fen". It's unknown whether that's his real name or a username." The bartender continued. After mentioning a few more people, he stopped.

Stell furrowed his eyebrows after noticing that the bartender didn't mention Damian. 'Is Damian in cahoots with them, or is he able to hide himself somehow? Maybe it's because he stopped playing, hunting for achievements outside the exiles city.'

After concluding that, Stell got curious about the outside. "Is there anything worthy of note inside and outside the city?"

Bartender simply smiled as he looked at the gold coin that Stell initially gave. With pain in his heart, Stell slid another one.

"Alchemy Association, Blacksmith Association, Games Pagoda, Death Arena, and the White Mansion." Stell started hearing about important places inside the city.

He already visited three of them and knew about Death Arena. It was a place where people who couldn't bear each other could duel to death. Although he wasn't used to such buildings, Stell believed that in this chaotic world, it was a necessity.

As for the last one, he had only heard rumors. Apparently, in the South district, there is a huge white mansion in which a powerful person resides. Although the rumors were unreliable, he still didn't dare to approach it after hearing that a few people died trying to enter without permission.

"What about outside?" Stell could finally hear more reliable rumors about the outside world.