A vicious wind bellowed forth and Akiol raised a hand to hold his hat in place. His cloak fluttered violently before coming to a rest.
'This isn't so bad either.' -Stars
"What isn't?", Akiol asked.
'It's not a bad look, I'm enjoying the whole traveling Swordmaster vibe.' -Stars
"My favorite thing about this look is the fact that you're at my waist instead of my back."
'Don't get used to it, I'll allow it exclusively for our West travels!' -Stars
Silently chuckling Akiol looked back at the fading Green Bay village. He had finally decided on what he planned to do. Joining the mercenaries could take a while to build up reputation, so he decided to directly hunt higher level monsters to sell the corresponding materials. Since he didn't have the usual player expenditures all profit made this way could be spend towards obtaining the teleport tokens directly.
This way he could obtain the teleport tokens to the select cities and kingdoms of the recommended dungeons, and proceed from there. Since dungeons likely had many drops, Akiol planned to only take a bit of the share to improve his own reputation amongst the players. That way he could be invited more often into higher level dungeons with more experienced players and thus increasing the amount of Skills he came across.
It was likely this process would take a few weeks. Akiol had considered posing as an "aspiring guidehand" but he felt this would likely tribute his efforts towards the Guidehands and not himself. Thus this course of action might increase the estimated time if they viewed him as a Guidehand over an individual.
First thing's first, obtaining a teleport token! Akiol zipped through the forest. Before leaving he had asked a few NPCs about the location of a town, so he could gain an idea of where to travel on foot towards one. To his surprise many were willing to assist and happily gave him the needed information.
So the current direction was one given by many of the NPCs. A Town that went by the name Winterball. Once Akiol arrived at this town he planned to obtain enough money via hunting to immediately go to a city. For some reason Akiol found that the monsters were usually of higher Stage than the typical strength near beginner villages.
There was the Second Stage monster he found with Wharm, and then the First Stage monster on the route between two beginner towns. Akiol had a few theories on the reason for this. The one he was most confident in was the fact that the West's players were excessively hunting!
Since the beginner towns held lower leveled players, it made many monsters less likely to be hunted or even spotted. Thus making the beginning areas safer to survive in. This would explain the large level gap between player and monsters, and why higher leveled players were around the beginning villages.
So Akiol was relatively confident in finding a decently powerful monster to sell the resources for. Naturally he noticed he was sort of participating in the excessive hunting, but this issue was too large for Akiol to help by abstaining from any hunting himself.
Naturally the excessive hunting originated from the West's high standard of equipment. Coupled together with the Guidehands in depth explanation of the aspects of different materials, the West had easy access to the required knowledge for their desired effects on custom equipment. Making many players try to obtain the custom equipment far sooner than a player would in the other continents.
Rather Akiol believed custom equipment wasn't something much desired on the other continents. Instead players enjoyed rare drops from various dungeons and the Adventurer's Guild. . .
Soon enough Akiol stopped pondering about this as he picked up an abundance of people through {Star Guidance}. Changing direction he headed towards this and zipped through the trees. Coming to a halt near the road leading to a town.
Very quickly Akiol assumed this to be Winterball. Adjusting his straw steeple hat he walked into the town while picking up on tidbits of conversation. Most of it was passing comments about usual activities. There was only one ongoing conversation that caught Akiol's interest.
"Don't bother heading that way. There's a Second Step wandering boss over there that's the target of some Sects. I don't want to be caught up in their fight."
"Second Step wandering boss? What's it doing near here?"
"I don't know. All I know is that it's been hiding in the crypt bit of that old graveyard. That whole area is a no go zone in my opinion. A few players have quarantined it off for the Sects hunt."
"But I really need to head over there. I'm hoping to obtain some Specter Dust for the custom staff I have in mind."
"Just wait a few days for the Sect to finish it off. By then the Specters should respawn and we can head over."
"What Sect is it anyway?"
"Blighted Blood."
"Blighted Blood?! Screw those guys! They are always monopolizing the Second Step bosses. If it wasn't for the fact that the other top Sects were focusing their efforts towards Third Step they wouldn't be able to get away with it."
Akiol pursed his lips, he planned to log off at the town before spending his time tomorrow searching for a suitable monster to hunt. However with this bit of information he could possibly snatch this monster underneath the Sect's nose.
Truthfully he didn't want to make enemies, but if what he heard was right the Blighted Blood Sect should have a number of Second Stage materials. Additionally he was in dire need to obtain money, the resources of a Second Stage 'wandering boss' would be tempting.
Suddenly a thought struck Akiol. There was a chance this 'wandering boss' was also just an NPC. If by chance an NPC of relative strength was visiting a graveyard. . . it was likely they were visiting someone who passed. Thus Akiol decided to head towards this graveyard. If it was a monster he'd hunt it before Blighted Blood could for the resources. If it was an NPC he'd save them from the players.
Tapping the shoulder of a passing NPC Akiol asked, "Where is the old abandoned graveyard?"
"Abandoned graveyard?", the NPC fell into thought for a moment.
Akiol keenly noticed the NPC didn't flinch. Perhaps the players weren't so vicious in Winterball?
"Oh! Yes it's in that rough direction, is there a reason?", the NPC recalled and pointed roughly north.
"Just visiting. Thank you.", Akiol smiled in response.
Nodding in understanding the NPC replied, "No problem. Safe travels."
Akiol asked a few more NPCs the same question and found the directions all pointed north. Then, after pinching the brim of his straw steeple hat, Akiol vanished from sight. Passing through the trees at an incredible speed. Utilizing {Star Guidance} Akiol tried to find any sign of players. If he could find the encirclement set up by Blighted Blood he'd also find the graveyard.
Within ten minutes of traveling in a wide search area Akiol eventually found a few sporadic players around an area. Gently landing on a tree nearby Akiol picked up on a conversation between two players.
"I'm not actually sure."
"Hmm hopefully it gives good resources, I have a few merit points I wanted to exchange for some resources."
"Aren't you rich? Why are you volunteering for guard duty?"
"I wanted to meet the main hunting team if possible. Apparently the captain might be Third Step, so I wished to maybe ask for some advice."
"Haha, you'd have better luck asking the Guidehands directly than him, he only helps when it's ordered by the leader."
"Is that so? I'll try anyway. When are they arriving?"
"JJ said he got a message that they'd be here within the hour. It's been a bit since he said that. . . so sometime soon?"
Akiol silently frowned and shot off the treetops. His speed made him go by entirely unnoticed by the Second Stage players. Slipping through the encirclement he dashed towards the center graveyard. Through {Star Guidance} he spotted a singular entity within the graveyard.
Stopping on top of a stone pillar Akiol spotted the sole individual and he grimaced. Indeed, it was an NPC. Currently the NPC sat at a gravestone, fresh flowers in front of it. The NPC drank out of a bottle, a somber look on their face.
Stepping off the pillar Akiol landed with enough noise to catch the attention of the NPC. Immediately they drew a short sword, "What do you want?"
"Sorry to interrupt you. You're being hunted.", Akiol adjusted his straw steeple hat.
"It's those damn Resurrectors isn't it? I figured it was just a matter of time before they came for me too."
"It is, so you should probably flee."
"I'm tired of running! They. . . I figured it was around my time. To have my last moments here. . .", they looked towards the gravestone, "It holds some appeal."
"You don't have much time."
"Is that so. . . you should probably get going then. They'll come for you too."
Akiol was unsure how to react to this for a moment, "Do you wish to fall like the others? To be another grave amongst the many? If so I can leave."
"I. . ."
Akiol noticed something rise from the gravestone. A weird wisp of pale blue energy. It brushed the cheek of the NPC before disappearing. Recalling a player's words Akiol remembered they wanted 'Specter Dust'.
The NPC touched his cheek and a singular tear fell, "No, I suppose it isn't my time yet. Alright let's get out of here."
Du-du-du-!
A series of triangles formed a dome around the graveyard. It was obvious at first glance what this was: a barrier.
A group of players walked through. Their voices becoming apparent, "Dee, you're on tanking duty. Remember that wandering bosses don't hold typical aggro patterns like the bosses in dungeons. Only use your taunting abilities when the wandering boss targets our paper defense players."
"Okay! I can do that."
"Polly and Cheese, since they aggro isn't the same you don't have to hold back with your damage. Try to finish it as quick as possible. Since I'm just here to ensure the hunt goes well, I won't be stepping in personally unless things go wrong."
"Roger!"
"That's all from me, get to work."
It was quicker than Akiol thought it'd be. Did they teleport? Akiol inspected the barrier and noticed it was Third Stage level. It would prevent the NPC from escaping normally. With a sigh Akiol adjusted his off hand to grab Stars' scabbard.
"I can break the barrier, on my signal we flee."
The NPC clenched his jaw, "Just when I thought my fate was sealed with that Third Step."
"I'll cover you if needed, just focus on getting out of here."
"Roger."
Akiol was about to move when a few words stopped him in his place.
"There's another one here!"
"What? Is it a player?", the Third Stage player asked.
"No! It's not a player!"
Not a player. . . ?