The path toward the beginner villages was quite straightforward. It was just a cobblestone road surrounded by forest.
Near the city, it was possible to spot a few guards patrolling the area, but the farther Arthur and Louise went, the fewer guards they saw, until finally, there wasn’t a single one in sight.
It was almost afternoon, but even with the sun hitting their bodies, it wasn’t enough to keep them warm.
Well, Arthur was warm thanks to the cloak Bram had given him. Enduring the harsh weather was pretty easy for him. He had no penalties like reduced movement speed, attack speed, or slower stamina regeneration.
Those debuffs were pretty bad during the early game. Later on, players would have enough money to buy special food that increased their body warmth, but that wasn’t available in the early game.
"Why are you going there to meet the Chosen Ones? I mean, how are you the only one in the city?" Louise asked.
"Bram brought me here. That’s why I’m the only one there. As for my objective, well, let’s just say I want to speak with someone."
Arthur checked something in the game’s system while they walked. It was a good thing NPCs couldn’t see the screens appearing in front of him. Players could also control everything with their thoughts, so there was no need to click around in the air.
He went straight to the leveling rankings, selecting the Aldora Kingdom to see the highest-level players there.
While players were already reaching level 4 or 5 in the other kingdoms, the highest-ranked player in Aldora was still only level 3.
That was because of the weather debuffs. Arthur knew things would be like that. He checked the rankings, and there it was. Shadow Cloak, the player he was looking for, was in the top three.
Shadow Cloak wasn’t in first place, but Arthur had exactly what he needed to skyrocket through the rankings and grow stronger much faster.
After walking for a while, with no guards around and only a few distant houses here and there, most of them abandoned, monsters started to appear.
They were still close to the city, so the monsters were level 9. Arthur wouldn’t be able to withstand their attacks while he was only level 1.
The first type of creature Arthur saw was a goblin. Typical monsters found almost everywhere. They were always in groups, which made them harder to fight alone.
Louise didn’t even need to draw her sword to kill them. She launched fireballs from a distance, instantly killing the monsters.
"Spells?" Arthur frowned. "I thought you were a warrior or something."
"I’m a Runic Warrior. I can use magic too," she explained.
Arthur had no idea how powerful that class was, and he didn’t remember any player having it. There were plenty of things he didn’t know, or rather, things the players simply never shared.
"I see. That’s cool."
"You think so?" Louise looked down. "My father wanted me to become a full mage like him, but my talent also lies with the sword. He disliked the path I chose for a long, long time. We’re good now, though."
It made sense. A mage like Ray would want his daughter to follow in his footsteps and perhaps obtain the same class he had, which was quite powerful too. But Louise had found something else that suited her better.
Anyway, Arthur watched as she used her fire spells to kill the goblins in a single hit. There was no loot for Arthur to take. When NPCs killed monsters, they didn’t drop loot for players. He wasn’t even getting EXP.
Arthur was eager to start leveling up too and climb the leveling rankings. That would be a good way to become famous and advertise his services to others.
Could it attract problems? Of course, but Arthur was confident he would have enough strength to protect himself from anyone who tried to hurt him.
More monsters appeared. Goblins, a few ice wolves, but nothing Louise couldn’t handle.
Then, finally, Arthur spotted the first players!
His heart raced for some reason. It was just exciting to see them in this new life.
There were three players. One was a warrior wearing sturdier armor. It wasn’t quite full plate, mostly leather with iron shoulder plates. A sword rested at his waist, and a shield was strapped to his back.
This man was the group’s tank. He was tall, muscular, and had a goatee and mustache.
The second player was a healer, a female priest with pink hair that gave her a unique look.
The last player was... not Shadow Cloak. She was a ranger with a bow on her back. While the priest wore long white robes, the ranger wore leather armor.
Those were the armors all players started with based on their class. Arthur, though, was wearing ordinary clothes... What set him apart from everyone else was his cloak.
He saw the nicknames above their heads. The warrior was called The Tower, a classic nickname many players used for some reason... Arthur remembered a famous tank with the same nickname, but it probably wasn’t the same person.
However, this The Tower was actually at the top of the Aldora Kingdom’s leveling rankings! His teammates were there too.
The priest was Suzy, and the ranger was Point Blank. All three of them were in the top ten.
They were near an abandoned cabin, probably using it as shelter from the cold. Staying indoors for a while could reduce the weather debuffs, a common tactic among players.
Arthur approached them with Louise walking beside him.
The group noticed them. The first thing they saw was Louise’s level, which appeared as ??? because of the difference between their levels.
They knew she was a powerful NPC. Their first thought was that they were about to receive a rare quest or something...
The tall man approached them, placed a fist over his chest, and said,
"Hello, milady. Do you require assistance?"
Louise didn’t answer him. She looked to the side and spoke to Arthur instead.
"Why are they acting like this? You act normal."
The players were still learning how to interact with NPCs... To them, it was just a game, but NPCs were like real people. Treating them like NPCs wasn’t the right move.
"I don’t know. Maybe the cold got to their heads."
Arthur greeted the group.
"Hey, did you see someone called Shadow Cloak? I’m looking for him."
The Tower frowned.
"And who are you?"
Then his gaze moved above Arthur’s head, where he read his nickname.
Cinder...
Everyone knew who Cinder was.
"Wait a second, what? You’re a fake, right?"
The Tower didn’t believe Arthur was the real Cinder...