I’m not a respecter of authority, although I do fake it sometimes just to make my life easier, but that was because I haven’t met the village elder of the Mardukryon in the real world. This guy was someone I would respect the hell out of.

He was two and a half times larger than me but he was down on the floor with his legs folded beneath him, probably has arthritis, if Mardukryons could have arthritis, or something due to old age. His hair, white as snow, fringed a bald spot on his head, looking like some kind of old Viking ready to impart his knowledge to the younger generation of warriors.

Scars marred his grey body, as opposed to the black of my body as well as the other Mardukryons, more like charcoal that has burnt out. Another thing set him apart from the rest of Mardukryons was the number of horns on his head. He had four large horns like those of a ram curving forward as well as two large tusks. The tusks have iron ring piercings!

One of his horns was broken off so it adds to his awesomeness. You can’t get more respectable than that.

Maybe adding more horns could do the trick.

His name was in violet, compared to the Mardukryon guard outside his modest house whose name was in blue. Maybe it’s because he has a quest for me, or he was an important person to the storyline like Little Pony that led me here.

Glancing at the Little Pony, the popup above his, or her, whatever, character read I just decided call it Little Pony since its bottom half does look like a little pony, well, a pony since ponies were already little.

One interesting thing that I noticed, though, was that the Mardukryons actually have four red eyes! Our humanoid faces were more elongated to accommodate the extra set of eyes. I rubbed my face with my hands and found that indeed I had four eyes. I tried to close an eye, then two, then three. It was hard to explain what it felt like since I could only explain the experience in relation to having two eyes but it was like the four eyes make one picture and if you close some of them, my vision shifted slightly.

Another difference from human faces that our faces had was that our nose, or specifically the lack of nose. Our nose was more like slits or like the nose holes of our skulls.

While I was blinking my eyes, the Elder coughed and then started speaking in a low, weak voice. He was obviously sickly. Was this what the Dalkanus meant by external factors affecting each character? He's level sixty-seven but sickly? Was his sickness or old age already taken into account in his level?

“Youngling, I have observed you grow in this village until you became a fine Mardukryon with budding horns.”

“Oh, these little nobs on my forehead will grow into horns?” I said, feeling around my temples. Maybe it means I’m not a minor Mardukryon anymore, if they do have a concept of minority and majority.

“It’s time for you to receive the medallion of our people.” Another Mardukryon handed me a pouch. The elder continued. “This is given to all Mardukryons who come of age.”

[Mardukryon Skill Tree Unlocked] I pressed the notification, and then it showed a very complicated circular skill tree. Hmm. How can it be a skill tree if it was circular? A skill…circle? “Oh, I have one skill unlocked and one skill point.”

Lvl. 0 Ancestral Constitution: Mardukryons inherited but a minute fraction of the divine solar vitality of their ancestors.

Passive:

Armor: +2

Each time damaged is received

Regeneration: +1 per second

Maximum stacks: 3

Duration: 15 seconds

“That’s a pretty decent beginner skill,” I said. “Three health point regeneration would be very helpful.” And I could level it up. I hoped that it was a skill that would scale as I leveled up.

“This is proof that you are now truly one of us,” the Elder said.

By simply thinking about it, I was able to place the Medallion in my inventory. I have to check it later. “So what do I do next?”

“You are one of the most promising younglings in this village. Now, there are two paths laid before you. You can simply stay in this village, or you can seek out the other Mardukryon tribes scattered all over this world. And fulfill the age-long dream of our people to be united once again.” The Elder coughed uncontrollably. He reached out for a cup of water and clumsily drank it, spilling most of its contents. “It has…has been three hundred years since…since I have travelled the world. But I have only found three other tribes.”

“Three hundred years? So we must be a very long-lived species,” I absentmindedly said as I looked at his horns. Does that mean that we grow more horns as we grow older? Or as we gain more levels? Or some kind of racial quest?

“I do not know how many tribes of our people have survived, hidden away from the rest of the world. They probably number more than a score. The Medallion can help you seek out the three tribes that I have found before, during my journeys, three hundred years ago. I do not know if their locations still hold true.”

“Great. A three-hundred-year-old map that’s probably not even correct anymore.”

“Youngling, I am not imposing this task on you, for the path will be inexplicably long and dangerously hard—”

“Hehe, long and hard. I wonder who’s the writer who sneaked that in.”

“—many younglings, as promising as you have set out before you to find the other tribes. The few that have returned have all failed.”

“They’re failures because they’re not me.”

“Youngling, I present to you your armor and weapon. Do with them as you wish. Set out on this journey, or stay here in this village.”

Little Pony picked up a leather vest from a table and took a spear from a weapons rack at the side of the room and gave them to me.

“Worn leather vest, 3 armor. Durability 15/25. My god, What a piece of shit. Oh, sorry, elder. I’ll wear this now.” Again, just by thinking about it, I was able to wear the leather vest. Worn leather vest. Emphasis on worn. Little Pony then handed me the spear. “Rusted spear? Da fuck.”

“With these, now, you are truly a warrior of our tribe.”

“Can I speak with the manager? I know I’m just level one but could you have given me something decent? Like that guard outside your hut…can I get his equipment instead? I’m a promising youngling after all,” I said sarcastically.

“If you decide to venture out into the world and look for the rest of our people, you must…,” the Elder said, never paying attention to my protests. He heaved again and coughed harshly. Little Pony fetched the elder another jug of water, which was mostly spilled on the floor. We should probably just let this guy die.

“Huh, so they don’t really respond to sarcastic comments. They were probably just programmed to give out their questlines and some basic responses with regards to their storyline and maybe information about this village.” I momentarily thought of that weird NPC in the floating island during character choosing stage before the Elder interrupted my thoughts.

“You must learn the story of our people and you must become strong to meet the challenges that will be thrown at you as you look for other Mardukryon tribes in the farthest ends of this world.”

“You know I can sue you if I get tetanus from this rusted spear.” I held up the spear. Could I get injured from this? I’m not a doctor so I don’t really know exact information on tetanus but I’ve heard that you could get it if you get wounded by rusted nails or something. I held the tip of the spear against my palm and sliced across. “Oh, shit!” I cried out as the blade bit down and some bright orange blood oozed out.

“Healer Gula, also the keeper of the memories of our people, is in a much better position to lecture you on the history of our people.”

[Quest Updated]

Visit Healer Gula’s hut in the center of the Mardukryon village and listen to her tale of the history of your people.

“Accept quest, accept quest! Shit, I’m wounded here, let’s get to the healer.” I could see my health. 85/100. Shit, I have only a hundred health points, I’m squishy as fuck. Or maybe, I’m just so strong that I was able to wound my strong awesome self? Nah. I’m squishy as fuck. Then an idea popped into my head.

I opened my skill tree…or skill circle, and placed a point in the center most skill, the Ancestral Constitution. It now showed

Lvl. 1 Ancestral Constitution: Mardukryons inherited but a minute fraction of the divine solar vitality of their ancestors.

Passive:

Armor: +2/+3

Each time damaged is received

Regeneration: +1 per second

Maximum stacks: 3/4

Duration: 15 seconds

It was probably showing the next level. So level two would bring me to three armor and four maximum health regeneration. Not bad at all. And given that I planned on being a tank anyway, it was a nice first skill to pick up.

Then I pricked myself with the spear, taking care to do the minimal amount of damage. I could see my health going down slightly. It wasn’t as if it was projected in front of me. I just could see my health. Like those eye floaters I guess? Those wiggly things floating around your vision. I could also see the Ancestral Constitution showing up as well, it had numbers on it. I pricked myself a few more times until my skill reached four stacks. My health went down to seventy-five but with three health regeneration for fifteen seconds, I’m going to heal this right back up.

The Elder left me his parting message. “After you hear the story of Healer Gula, then you decide whether to take up the mission of our people. “Eliseph will take you there.”

“Who’s Eliseph?”

“I’m Eliseph!” Little Pony piped up.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot that Little Pony. Lead the way.” I examined Little Pony’s name above its head. “Level Five? Does this mean that this kid could beat me up?”