proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

Three weeks had passed since the trio had started their journey to the capital. Passing through different terrains, they pushed forward. In between, they stopped at villages and towns to resupply themselves with necessary items. And now only a couple of day’s journey were left for the three to reach their destination.

Every once in a while Shiv would chat with his mother enquiring how things were going on in the village. He had asked his mother to send some of the villagers to the neighboring towns to acquire various military classes like assassins, warriors and so on. He had then asked Randal to improve the military prowess of the village. New NPC’s and players were coming to the village every day and so the village was growing at a tremendous pace. At the end of the three weeks, the village had already finished the work on most of the new infrastructures. An aqueduct now towered over the village bringing water from the nearby stream. Originally the stream would not have been capable of supplying water to the aqueduct. To rectify this shortage, a team was sent to point where the stream broke out. The team was ordered by Shiv to find out where the stream originated and to widen the stream a little by any means necessary. The team were mainly players who could mine. When the team reached the origin of the stream, they found out it was from an underground source and so to increase the water flow they dug around the source. A day’s work and the water in the stream got doubled, any more would cause problems and so Shiv called them back. With the water flow doubled, the aqueduct was now functioning properly. Water tanks were built throughout the village for storing water. This water was used for the purpose of irrigation, drinking and so on. The water tanks were Miyuki’s idea. The remaining water was then left to flow into the forest there by creating a new stream.

A third wall had risen around the village and the area between the third and second wall were being converted to farms with a couple of new granaries and other small buildings. Different crops were imported from neighboring villages. Orchards were made, flower bearing plants were planted for beautification and so more than half of the area between the third and second wall were now being utilized for food production. This was more than enough, actually twice the amount of food were now being produced. Shiv had then asked his mother to sell the excess food to the merchant players. The merchant players could then sell it in neighboring villages or towns. His mother had asked him why sell to the merchants and not directly to the other villages.

“Mother, this way we won’t’ have to worry about transportation and other troublesome things. Moreover, we can ask the players to pay a little more, as they earn more EXP by selling the goods to other villages. From what I’ve heard, buying goods also earns them EXP. So that means they get double EXP while we make extra profit” was what Shiv had replied to his mother.

The apartments had already been finished and now most of the people had a place to live. The guards were given a full apartment which was named guard’s corridor. The number of guards were increased from fifty to hundred when the village was being expanded. Some of the guards were appointed as instructors in the training ground. As the village population increased more and more NPC’s began to train and so more NPC’s were drafted into the village army. Now the military numbered to 74 with 35 archers and 39 warriors. Shiv had ordered Randal to increase the size of the military as much as possible. And so the village prospered.

Hearing the news about the expansion of the village, skilled architects, sculptors and other professionals moved to the village in search of a job. The village was a pool of opportunity, which when used correctly would make one famous in months. Everybody knew this and so they rushed to the village to put their own mark on history. But the village leader was not so naïve to let them all in. Such works were only given to the villagers and citizens. The rest of the players were only allowed to do manual labor like mining stones for the masons and so on. And so the players who wanted to build or sculpt something in the village had to become citizens. This again increased the income for the village and also the military strength.

Shiv was happy with the progress of his village. He knew that it was now only a matter of time for the village to evolve into a town. Content with the news he heard, Shiv continued his journey with Kate and Agon.

---***---

As days passed, the trio neared the capital. 3 weeks and 3 days had passed and now they could see the capital in the far distance ahead of them. They continued walking at their own pace as none of them were in a hurry. Slowly the distance decreased. By morning of the next day, they had travelled most of the distance and were only a little away from the ever prospering capital. When they saw the capital, they started realizing the size of it. Stretching over a vast area, the capital stood as an elegant and beautiful piece of art, surrounded by white walls.

When the three reached the gates to the capital, they were let in as soon as the guards verified them to be humans. The world beyond the gate inspired awe in the three visitors, they observed the buildings around them with dropped jaws. Once the excitement toned down, Shiv asked the nearby guard the way to the church. The guard then accompanied them and showed them the way to the church personally. The three thanked the guard and presented him some food as gratitude which the guard accepted happily. Once they bid farewell to him, they then approached the church. A long queue could be seen as NPCs and players were lined up before the church and so the three followed suit waiting for their turn. The afternoon sun was shining with all its vigor causing the tired three to wobble occasionally. But still they continued to stand in the queue. Couple of hours was what it took for the three to enter the church to visit the priest.

“I wish to see the high priest” Shiv said to the priest politely.

“Why do you wish to see the high priest?”

“For I wish to seek an audience with the pope”

“What? A mere traveler like you wishes and audience with the great pope? Blasphemy”

Shiv sighed from the sudden change in tone of the priest and so he reluctantly showed the priest the mark of the dragon on his right hand.

“It can’t be. The child of Oberon” the priest shouted, backing of a little. The priest’s voice echoed throughout the church and caused every door in the church to be flung open. Priests, clergies, and even bishops ran out of the doors in response to the voice they just heard. One man walked calmly towards the three and then asked,

“Priest Alwin, why is it that you are shouting inside the church?”

“Bishop Marko, the child of Oberon” the priest replied pointing at Shiv’s tattoo.

The bishop looked at the direction where the priest pointed. The moment he saw the tattoo, he froze for on the man’s hands were the symbol of the dragon god.

“Forgive us, child of Oberon. What is it that you desire?” the bishop’s tone was full of respect. It was as if he was talking to the dragon god himself.

“I want to see the high priest, if possible. There is something I want to show him. So can I?” Shiv replied politely.

“Of course please follow me.”

Since everything happened inside the church, none of the players or NPC saw what had happened. The bishop lead the three through a door, then a flight of steps and through another door. The door opened the way to a corridor which had a door on the opposite end. The bishop walked forward and knocked at the door.

“High priest, you have a visitor?”

“A visitor? Who is it this time? The nobles?”

“No, not at all. Someone greater than that”

“Greater?”

“The child”

And suddenly the door flung open and on the other side stood a man with huge stature and widened eyes. The eyes were searching for something among the group of people and when it found the thing it was looking for, a smile appeared on the man’s face.

“To be able to witness such a thing, ah I am honored. Please come in” the high priest invited the three inside. The bishop bowed and left. After closing the door the high priest sat down on a chair offering one for each of the visitors.

“Hello, I am Vintos, the high priest of the Bredon kingdom. Now what brings you here, great one?”

“Please high priest, I am no great one. A simple human like you. Please address me as Shiv and I am here to ask you a favor”

“Favor? Please” Vintos gestured Shiv to continue.

“I wish to have an audience with the King and the Pope” Shiv replied, his eyes had a fiery glint.

From those eyes and the tone of Shiv, Vintos understood that the matter of discussion Shiv had was of utmost importance. But the high priest was hesitant.

“An audience with the Pope is plausible but to meet the king, I am afraid I cannot help you with that.”

“Is that so? Then I shall find a way myself to visit the king.”

“Thank you. As for the audience with the Pope, I will let you know when you can see his highness in three days. Till then please stay here in the temple of your father”

“I appreciate your concern high priest but I am afraid I will have to refuse you”

“Why great one? Is this humble abode not to your liking?”

“Of course not. There are things I want to do and for that I wish to not stand out too much. If I were to live here, I might attract more attention. That is why, so please let me stay outside. And do ask the other priests and paladins to not give me any special treatment in front of the other devotees”

“Very well, but do visit the church once in a while.”

“I will. Now I shall take my leave” the three stood up and bowed at the high priest and walked back the way they came. Once they were out of the church, the three then set out in search for a place to rest and refresh. Soon they arrived at an inn and booked two rooms, one for Kate and the other for Shiv and Agon. They spent the rest of the day at the inn resting. The next day Kate separated from Shiv and Agon to handle some unfinished business. After Kate went, Shiv and Agon also left their rooms and headed to the weapon shop.

“Welcome customer. How may I help you?”

“Hello sir. I was wondering if you had twin daggers with you.”

“Twin daggers? Not Dual swords?”

“No sir, I need two daggers, if possible of the same origin”

“Same origin?”

“I mean same material and same design or so.”

“That is the first time I have received such a request and so I am afraid I do not have one of your specification”

“Is that so. Then please give me 20 steel arrows”

“Of course and if I may say, please visit the weaponsmith of the town for the daggers you wanted. I believe he might be of assistance. And that would be 20 silvers sir.”

Shiv paid the amount and then set forth for the weapon smithy, which was easy to find. The weaponsmith welcomed them with a bright smile and when Shiv mentioned his need there was surprise all over the man’s face.

“Twin daggers? Ho! Someone with a unique taste. Well I am afraid I do not have one. But I could make you one if you have appropriate material.”

Shiv thought for a while and then opened up his inventory and then he smiled.

“I think I have the perfect thing for you” saying so Shiv took out some black scales.

“What are these? I have never seen them before? Don’t tell, dragon scales?”

“No, not dragon scales. These are the scales of what is called dralves, wolves that consume dragon flesh. So what do you say, are these enough?”

“Wonderful. I have never seen such magic imbued scales before. They are similar to dragon scales but different at the same time. How many daggers do you want?”

“Well, I have 40 of those scales so make me 20 of them. And as payment would 10 of these scales be enough?”

The weaponsmith was dumbfounded at the proposals. To give away such high quality material was something the weaponsmith could not believe.

“I guess you prefer gold after all huh” Shiv then began to put back the excess scales when he was stopped by the weaponsmith.

“No, I will take it. My name is Golof, it is good to do business with you. Please visit me whenever you are in this city, I will give you the best weapons for the cheapest price.”

“Thank you, I am Shiv. Golof when can I have the daggers?”

“Well, I shall start right now. And it will take me at least ten days.”

“Ten days? Golof do me a favor and make me four of them now. I will come get the remaining six once you finish.”

“Four eh. Agreed. I will try to deliver them in 4 days.”

“Make them look beautiful my friend”

“Of course, these babies deserve the utmost love”

“Oh and can you make me a bow with these scales?”

“Bow? Another odd request. I thought you were a swordsman.” Golof said pointing at the black sword hanging down from Shiv’s waist.

“I use bows too when the situation demands. The bow helped me kill the dralve”

“Well I cannot say it is possible all I can say is I can try. The scales are not long enough to be made into a bow, so I will have to combine two or three to make a decent bow. I am not sure if they are combinable and so I cannot say anything about it now.”

“Is that so. Well, give it a try.”

Shiv gave the remaining scales to Golof and smiled at the weaponsmith before walking away with Agon. The two wandered around the city, visiting places, passing time and having fun. The day passed without anything special going on. Kate came back late in the night and the three had dinner and went off to sleep.

The next morning, Shiv and the other two asked the guards for a way to meet the king. The guards immediately put down the request with glare and walked away. Shiv then approached the castle and he was stopped before he could get anywhere near and so that too ended in failure. The dejected trio were now sitting on the fountain walls wondering how they could get an audition with the king.

“Kate, go seduce the castle guards” Shiv told the girl next to him and as a reply, got hit on his head.

“This is not going good. How the hell can we meet the king?” Kate was frustrated.

The three sat with their brains trying to figure a way inside the castle.

It was then that the voice of someone startled the three. The three looked to their left and saw some guards and one among them were shouting.

“Kate, let us get closer to them. Might be a quest of some sort”

The three moved closer and as Shiv had expected, it was a quest, quest for the entire capital. A tab opened in front of all the players in the capital.

‘Trrrng’

QUEST: SLAY THE NIGHTThe capital of the great Bredon kingdom is being terrorized by a mysterious beast. The beast attacks the nobles of the kingdom during the night, leaving them on death’s verge. The king of the kingdom has asked for traveler’s help to slay the beast, which has been causing havoc in the kingdom .

Players that are needed: 100

Difficulty : +D

Rewards

Unknown?????

1000 Gold

+50 intimacy with the kingdom

+50 intimacy with guards

+50 intimacy with church

+50 intimacy with nobles

+500 contribution points

Failure

The quest will fail

1. if you die

2. somebody else slays the beast

Failure will reset all intimacy to zero.

Shiv was delighted, he did not waste time and accepted the quest without even completely reading the quest. As Kate and Agon were part of Shiv’s party, they too got the quest as Shiv was the leader. Soon the remaining 97 were filled up at a tremendous rate. Those who could not get into the hundred were cursing those who were chosen. While the one’s chosen were boasting in front of the others. Soon a commotion broke out. The trio slipped out of the place before the commotion got out of hand. The three returned to the inn and gathered in Shiv’s room.

“Listen you two, for now do not let others know that we are in the hundred. Some might try to kill us to prevent us from clearing the quest. Remember if we die the quest fails. So do not tell anybody. Now the next thing is; we will not make our move yet.”

“Why chief? If we do not move now then someone might slay the beast” Agon enquired.

“I do not think so. For the king to ask the help of travelers means the beast should be something they could not handle. That means the beast might be pretty strong. So I do not think the beast will be slain that easily. We will wait for the others to make their move. That will provide us much needed information, like how strong it is and what type of beast it could be.”

“Hm” Kate gave her consent and Agon nodded at Shiv.

“We will wait for two days. Agon, I need you to gather information from the local stores and the inn. Since you are not a traveler they might think that you are just gathering information to satisfy your curiosity. Change your attire a little bit so that no one recognizes you. For the next two days stay in another room.”

“Yes chief” Agon replied.

“Kate, as for you I want you to get mana potions, health potions, poison antidote, poison herbs, paralysis potion and some things of the sort.” Shiv said to Kate and gave her some gold coins. Kate nodded and then went out to get the things. Shiv gave Agon some money to buy clothes and some jewelry asking him to buy clothes which made him look like a rich noble’s son. Agon agreed and fled out of the room. Once the two left, Shiv walked out of the room, heading towards the church. He had things to prepare for the upcoming hunt.

---***---

“Hey Razor, I heard you got some special quest?”

“Of course. I am special after all. Wolin, ask the other two to come, we have a beast to slay” a boy in his teens, holding a red sword that looked bigger than him replied.

“Yes sir, right away” a girl ran away smiling.

---***---

“Marcos, get the stupid drink you moron”

“Sir Adrian, just a minute.”

“I do not have a minute to spare for nobody’s like you. I have to catch the beast and earn the king’s favor. Hurry up”

“Yes Sir Adrian”

---***---

As if the fate wanted them to meet, the three who were destined to fight gathered at the same city to finish a quest the king had given.

The child of Oberon, the strongest blade master, the apostle of light. Three who held the title of the strongest were busy preparing for hunting down a beast, not knowing what was in store for them.

---***---

My new ff

Sorry for the late release. will speed up from today

ARMAGEDDON: THE NEW WORLD

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