SpartanDonkey was taller by a good half a meter than me, his horns and tusks were longer. We met by the start of the bridge—the end of it from his view. Sharulrath continued walking to the village.

Up close, this player’s large body and gear appeared more impressive. Tanks usually wore heavy armor and large shields almost to the point of being indiscernible from a pile of metal, and I did prefer that style, but there was something intimidating about a bare-chested character—a male character, mind you. I supposed that contributed to the popularity of barbarians and similar classes in RPGs, a primal depiction of ferocity.

SpartanDonkey was waiting for me to come to the village. It must be because of Nic.

She must've spread the word about a new Mardukryon player among the others. Based on my brief encounter with the Legion member at Amberkeld, I could come up with several reasons why this guy was looking for me. I did intend to meet with him someday, but not this soon. My bargaining position wasn't strong yet and the circumstances weren't right.

"SpartanDonkey of the Expeditionary Legion, at your service," he introduced himself, bowing his upper body and slightly bending his front legs. He was still taller than me as he did that, making me wonder if growing bigger was a Mardukryon game mechanic. "A pleasure to meet you...Herald Stone," he said, his eyes looking above my head to read my name tag.

[ SpartanDonkey sends a friend request. Accept/Reject? ]

I raised my nonexistent brow at the notification. I had heard of this tactic from my secretaries chatting at the office—asking for a friend request in social media apps when you were right in front of the person so they couldn't refuse. Well, they could, but they'd appear impolite at the least if they did—I’ll appear impolite if I do reject this.

A very potent strategy.

If we became in-game friends, he could see if I was online and contact me whenever he wanted. That wouldn't be a problem if it was other players—I'd welcome the opportunity to build my network and join a good guild someday. The issue was that people from the Expeditionary Legion seemed to be pushy and keen on taking advantage of others—not that I was one to talk.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked after I didn't immediately respond. "You don't want to be friends?"

A loaded question. I felt the same vibes coming from him as that other Legion guy—'Bonk' something; I couldn't recall his exact name. "Nothing's wrong," I said, "It's just that…" I leaned to the left to look past him. Sharulrath was standing by the village gates, staring at me. It wasn't a good reason to decline SpartanDonkey's request, but I used it to test the waters. "I have a quest to do and—"

"Ah, it's fine." He dismissively waved his hand. "He's just leading you to the Chief, right?" I was considering whether or not I should nod, but he already continued talking, "Add me as a friend so it'll be easier to help you when you need it. You do know what the Legion does, right?

Pushy, isn't he? And he apparently knew about Sharulrath and his quest. I accepted his request to stop his pestering. "I do know...but I've also heard other things," I said, recalling my conversation with Bonk about the scamming rumors concerning the Legion. With this, I yanked back some initiative in my direction.

"Oh, that!" He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Man, I don't know where people get those crazy ideas. The Legion's business won't grow this big if we're underhanded in our dealings." He shrugged his massive shoulders, causing his gigantic beads to clink against each other. "There are some bad apples here and there, sure. But the Legion swiftly deals with them. Anyway, you're friends with Nic, aren't you?"

"I have talked to her and she gave me some advice," I said, choosing my words because I wasn't exactly sure if I could call us friends. And if I did say 'yes', he'd appeal to our friendship to bolster his credibility.

Sure enough, he said, "See, she's helpful and trustworthy, right? You can ask her about me. I always pay the Contractors. And I used to manage a huge team on this mountain. No issues whatsoever, man."

"I'll ask her," I said. This SpartanDonkey person hadn't spoken or done anything malicious, but my businessman instincts were screaming he wasn't to be trusted.

"Nic told me about you a few days ago," he explained. "A new Mardukryon player she was sure will stay around. I doubted it because that usually doesn't happen. Plus, I didn't see you in the village the following day—oftentimes, I’m by my stall beside the Hunter-Warrior Lodge, so I couldn't have missed you.

“I thought you had quit. But a while ago, Clement and his gang—they’re current Contractors—told me they saw a new player go into the Scholar's Lodge. They tried to follow you, but couldn't since you entered an instanced quest inside there."

My mind raced to process the information he spouted. He knew I was doing quests even before I had entered the village. He knew that it was connected to Sharulrath, which, in turn, translated to meeting Mehubanarath. As far as he was aware, I was a solo player, which meant I managed to complete the Big M's quests on my own.

I supposed that was why he was looking for me. I should be careful with my words not to spill any information I could sell later on, especially about my Aritu Form Ocadule.

He continued, "I transferred my stall by the village entrance hoping to catch you as you pass by, but I didn't know how long that would take. Awesomely lucky I didn't have to wait that long for you."

"Why were you waiting for me?" I asked, already knowing the answer. But I was interested whether he would actually tell me about it.

"Because I want to help out a new Mardukryon player," he said. "I'm the highest level here now after a bunch of the top guys quit and switched to Aviarii. I feel it's my duty to preserve our tight-knit community and make it grow by making newbies like you feel welcome here on our mountain.”

Checking his level on my friend’s list, I saw that it was eighty-three—far from the maximum of a hundred and five. I assumed that was because Mardukryons hadn’t progressed enough of their lore to unlock end-game areas for their race…for our race. Just you wait guys, Herald Stone is here to save the day.

He spoke, "It's for the good of our community that you grow strong fast and, more importantly, enjoy your time here."

For all I know, he might truly intend to help me—but that certainly wasn't his first goal. "Thank you," I said. "That'll be great because I don't know much about Mardukryons. I tried to follow guides—"

"Psshh! Those guides are outdated," he scoffed, waving in the air as if swatting a fly. "The guide you need is here." He tapped his temple. "Most of the secrets of the Mardukryon are in my noggin'. And I'll share them with you when you eventually need them. But for now, do you want items? What build are you going for?"

"Erm, I'm still not sure." I wasn't going to make it easy for him to offer help. If I accepted tangible items now, I'd be indebted to him even if he'd say it was free. He'd hold that over my head when I'd eventually try to sell him information about Mehubanarath and anything else I'd uncover. "I'm just casually playing. No pressure at all thinking about builds this early. I want to just explore this place."

"No pressure, for sure, for sure. If not items, I can give you Artas. Let's say fifty thousand Artas? That'll help you buy most of the basic things you want while you decide your build. No pressure, man."

That amount did sound tempting; it was more than the Artas in my inventory. But I didn't want to accept it for the same reason as the items. This amount was only chump change to SpartanDonkey, but it would translate to a huge advantage for him someday in our negotiations—I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. "I think I'll just go at my own pace," I said. "It's more rewarding if I earn my own Artas." Next, he's going to offer me tips.

"I completely understand that," he said, eagerly nodding. "I can give you some tips then. It won't ruin your experience, I assure you that. Just tiny tips here and there."

"I can—"

"You've been attacked by Buvalu, correct?"

"Uh, yes. The giant Mirdabon with wings?" I couldn't lie here or it'd make him suspicious. I deduced that the scripted encounter with Buvalu and the uncle-nephew drama that followed thereafter was the way for most, if not all, Ancestral Arts quest paths, to get the players into the village.

"That big guy, exactly," he said, snapping his fingers. "Sharulrath will take you to Healer Gula for a check-up, and she has healing and potion-making Ocadules. The fastest way to get on her good side is to point out the empty jars in her hut—you'll see what I mean when you get there—and offer to hunt the ingredients to fill them. Even if you don't plan to be a healer someday, it's good to have some healing spells and brew your own potions given the...uh...situation."

"Situation?"

"What I'm trying to say is that there's a large level gap between you and the players here so you'll probably have difficulties finding a party to clear low-level content. I'll try to help you, just give me a call, but that doesn't mean I'll be on all the time. You'll mostly be on your own—you have to be your own healer, tank, and DPS. You get what I mean?"

"I understand." This was a common 'sickness' of dying MMORPGs—the rare new player wouldn't have anyone to interact with because everyone was already at end-game content. Before Nornyr Online, I jumped around lesser-known MMORPGs and had experienced this. "Thanks for the tips," I said, making my exit. "I'll check what you told me about Healer Gula."

"You do that." He stepped aside to let me pass. "I'll be off for now, but if you see me online, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Thank you," I replied noncommittally as I crossed the bridge. Looking over my shoulder, I saw SpartanDonkey disappear in a cloud of sparkling light as he logged out. "Now that's over with, time to finally enter Kurghal. Lead the way Sharulrath."