Death and Mistery

I continued on my way to Zuriny, disappearing when near strong monsters and hiding when there was danger but the skill was on cooldown. I take pride in my ability to manage stamina and survive in the wild.

'Everything is going well, except this is taking too long.'

What I could never expect was, at the same time I was having happy thoughts and dreaming about a comfortable bed, a good distance away two middle aged men with hideous facial features were talking.

"Hey Spider, look at that young man with black hair, weird clothes and slim body coming toward us from the northweast."

"What do you think Snake? Doesn't he look like a fragile lamb?"

"More on the poor side, but he's in the direction of the capital. If we are lucky maybe he's a villager bringing his economies to the city. An easy target, you can do it."

"Whoosh"

Hearing the sound of an arrow, I try to escape using my title active skill - Disappear. Too late. Something hit my neck, a steel arrow from one of the bandits. I can't see which one shot and both have bows, but it doesn't make a difference as I fall.

I died.

"Argh, this hurts! Why an arrow was aimed at my shoulder!?"

System message - You have died.

"Damn, he looks poorer than we expected. Wait, apart from his clothes he doesn't have anything!"

"B-brother what's happening to his body? W-why it's disappearing and reappering while the wound is closing??"

"He must be a mage! He doen't look noble so he should not have powerful magic, but mages can't be underestimated. You were lucky to hit him but now we need to run!"

'Fortunately these two are stupid bandits.'

This was the message I was reading while hearing their conversation.

— — — System Message — — —

You have died.

Lost 5 levels and all related changes on attributes/skills.

No level to lose - randomly chosen attribute - STR.

Deducted 50 STR.

Skills out of cooldown.

Zuriny set as rebirth location.

Error - Player has never been to Zuriny before.

You will revive in 50 minutes at the place of death or on a nearby safe place.

— — —

Shit! I lost 50 STR, it was a big loss comparable to 5 leves considering I earn 10 free points per level and they are used in attributes, a few skills even require some free points together with experience in order to upgrade them.

'Unfortunately the Scalia AI hasn't recognized my beta test rebirth location.'

It would be dangerous if bandits, monsters and other players camped near me. Well, players should be at the safety of city's and villages for now.

Continuing my travel to the capital, I saw many caravans of NPC's going to the same direction, but I couldn't really ask for a ride and risk being caught by ill-natured, stronger people...

I already know that you revive at the same location, and losing STR once already hurt more than death. I would need 5 levels to recuperate the amount I lost!

After a few minutes thinking aloud and being cautious of my surroundings, I saw a peculiar scene.

A young boy was on top of a horse while happily singing.

I had an idea so I ran a little closer to him, and while panting asked.

"Hey little brother, are you going to the capital?"

"Yes, what do you want?"

"What's your name little brother?"

"It matters?"

"You know what? There are many bandits around here, I just met two a while back, why don't you give me a ride in exchange for protection?"

"You can protect me? Are you very, very strong?"

"Yes, sure. Look little brother, I'm also very reliable you know? I just killed two bandits that were going towards you. Such a shame we can't trust our fellow humans anymore."

"Hahahah I'm in a good mood. You can hop in."

A few minutes later.

'Is this little brother stupid, why doesn't he stop singing? He will never have a wife if he's so annoying. I guess it leave me no choice, he's not real, just a bundle of code...

"Time to end this farce."

"Soul Binding!"

What happened? I was dozing off when the boy used magic, and now there's a lotus symbol on my right arm. It looks like a tatto. Wait, what I am thinking about in this situation!

"What does it mean little brother!?"

He kept his mouth shut and kicked me from the horse.

- 200 HP

We were running so fast that a considerable amount of health points were lost in the fall. It seems I was the stupid one. I shouldn't have asked a stranger for a ride.

If somebody asked me for a bright side, I'm very close to the city now.

— — — Hidden Quest - Darkwind Church Rising — — —

While walking in the direction of Zuriny, you found an ingenuous boy and interacted with him. But he's annoying, so you started having weird thoughts. He suddenly reveals his true nature, leaving a mark on your forearm before going away. It could be useful to learn more about it.

* Find out who he is.

Unoocks the quest 'Darkwind Army Invitation'.

50000 experience points.

* Find out about the lotus symbol on your right arm.

Unlocks the quest 'Unyielding Soul'.

100000 experience points.

* Kill him or assist in his death - uknown rewards.

— — —

What!?

I'm happy to have unlocked a random quest, hidden at that! But this is too high level for someone level 0 with no weapon like me. Look at these experience points rewarded, only quests from level 30 and above would give out this much.

I know a bit about the Darkwind Church, they are a bunch of black magic practitioners with weird ideals. If I'm not wrong, they usually act where their hideout is located at Blackwind country, but it seems they are active in Zening too.

There's an old friend in the capital who may be able to help me with this symbol, but I can't really meet him before I get stronger.