The edge...

There will be one more chapter today.

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Day 4

Dale followed on with his schedule, morning training/exercise in the training grounds, followed by studying.

But the world around him was ever-changing.

Yesterday, his missions were officially added on the wooden boards by the pretty Guild receptionists, and right now, they were exploding in popularity.

Some players could even be seen competing with each other for every single one of them...

Being able to go outside ahead of time and Reputation was a blessing, no matter how difficult the quest was.

It was a mix of everything they desired.

Being able to hunt monsters on the field for some nice XP, while raising their Reputation...

Not only that, they would be able to keep whatever drops they got and be paid on top of that for that, and it wasn't a low amount, it was quite decent at that, much more than what they could do if they were to spend the same amount of time doing miscellaneous quests...

They were perfect missions for these beginners and veterans alike.

At first, some larger groups thought of using those to their advantage, their plan was to leave a small group do the mission, while having another, smaller group, explore outside.

But they soon saw that such a thing wasn't going to be easy to accomplish…

The moment the first group of players was selected and brought to the area where the mission was going to take place, hell started.

They were the best available, highest Level, best gear, and Reputation, and definitely all of them were on the top 50 players within Resko right now...

Wave after wave of those pests started to attack, making the players use everything they had to defend.

They barely had time to breathe, much less to explore outside.

They were fighting against Bone Mices, creatures with the average Level of 10, ranging from 5 to 15… If they were unlucky, a Variant would attack them, be it an Elite, or if they were super unlucky, a Boss type would spawn.

But most of the time, only fodder types appeared, to be expected from such low-class mobs.

(Fodder -> -10 or more Levels/ Lower stats or abilities)

Still, they were agile and a pain to deal with, especially when in groups, they had sharp fangs and could even fly close to the ground, although they preferred to use the high grass as cover.

Acting in groups, the teamwork was decent, and all of that combined was already more than these players could take.

If one were to die, it meant that he had failed the quest and that he would receive the fail penalty.

But for those that remained alive, it meant that their job had now become even harder as they had lost one person.

Still, for this first batch of players, only the strongest and most reliable were chosen, so they completed the mission without a single casualty.

They soon bragged about their rewards, their drop items... Their Levels... The money and Reputation... Making many envious.

But when the videos of their mission were posted, many took a step back simply due to the difficulty of this quest.

Perhaps this was better for the top players, less competition the better, but it also meant that the difference between the top and the lower players would increase... Albeit, from Dale's perspective, this was bound to happen.

Why should he try to keep them equal?... Of course, he'll try to keep them close within certain boundaries, since in the end, if a group turns out too strong, wrong thoughts may start to fill their minds.

For most players, the penalty for failure was too large, a full -2 points to their Reputation.

That was huge, considering that until they reach +10 Reputation, all of their Reputation gains will be halved.

To some players, that was everything they had… They couldn't afford to lose the little they had and end up wasting more time working as an overworked intern…

It wasn't fun, this wasn't what they came here to do, they wanted to explore outside, hunt monsters, see the beautiful sights of this world, interact with the people…

Make money and get rich!

But so far, they were trapped, they couldn't hunt, they couldn't interact with the Villagers, much less get rich.

Most of them only wanted to leave, they couldn't blame the Villagers, nothing good would come out of that, so they blamed the players, the ones that caused all of this to happen, the greedy players that caused a commotion.

It was safe to say that those Clans weren't really having the best experience, being hated by everyone…

And after their previous losses, most of them had already quit the game, either complaining to the game company, asking for a refund or to their superiors that caused their characters to be incarcerated indefinitely.

Regardless, the day continued as normal...

...

Just as the players moved around, the Villagers had their own schedules.

Most remained a fair share of their time within the makeshift Library, studying whatever books caught their attention, to the point the place became quite stuffy...

Some left after grabbing an interesting book, hoping to improve or to study somewhere more comfortable, like Barme, who grabbed a small collection of smithing books, ores, minerals, and such, leaving to read them in the calmness of his forge.

Jyter did the same, he was very interested to see what was written in those books and how it fared against his own knowledge, grabbing what he felt to be enough, and leaving to his house.

Of course, this was done under a certain order, all borrowed books were marked and written down, just in case someone forgot to return them.

Others, like Tina, preferred to do their own things at their own pace, without really having a goal in mind.

But all of them were really focused on doing something, whatever that may be...

After all, they didn't have much else to do anyway.

The children did what they were best at, and that was play, albeit, far away from the players...

They were still apprehensive of these new people, and it wasn't the first time they had seen some of these people looking at them in weird ways…

Some were okay, some were strange, looking at them as if they weren't people... Or worse.

A few of them went to the library to pass time, others played with wooden swords and dolls, letting their imagination do the rest…

While some simply lazed around under the sun.

But the most impacted by all of this were certainly the young adults, people with a similar age gap as Dale.

Teens and Adults between the age of 16 to 20, were the most affected by his actions, and the ones that were trying their best.

Some wanted to be like him, others wanted to surpass him.

They admired and felt envious, such were their complex emotions.

At first, they felt strange, who was this person that did so much in so little time?

But now, after being proven wrong and experiencing the difference between them and Dale more than once, they decided to try something... Albeit this was seen more with boys than with the girls.

It wasn't rare to see a group of teens in the training field, swinging their swords, axes, spears, and whatever every day, trying to somehow catch up and prove themselves.

What did they want to prove? Perhaps they themselves didn't know, they just wanted to.

And despite it all, they were progressing at immense speeds, nevertheless, it would take a long time for them to give Dale some trouble.

Or would it?

…

/Huff huff…/

While Dale focused on his studies, a man ran around the Village, caring a child in his arms.

The child was clearly a young boy, supposedly around 7-9 years of age.

He didn't look well though, he was breathing and sweating heavily, his face was red and looked overall weak, and his skin was burning to the touch…

All were common symptoms of high fever.

"Huff... Huff..."

The man, presumably his father, knew that very well, so he brought the child to the only healer nearby, Yumi, who was currently reading a recipe book she borrowed from the Library...

/Bam!/

The man opened the door quickly, he was desperate, and his child was in critical condition, he couldn't think of anything else...

Thankfully, Yumi wasn't on the second floor experimenting, otherwise, she would've certainly been startled by his actions, and possibly, even messing something up, potentially causing a minor disaster.

Instead, she was on the first floor reading a book about chemical reactions with her glasses on, although, she did throw her teacup in the air due to how sudden the man's actions were.

Still, noticing the boy, she was quick to move, running around the table and grabbing a set of tools on a nearby shelf, while also putting on a mask.

And while the man cried on her side dramatically, she focused on identifying the problem with the child.

Was it a simple fever? Or worse, a disease?

Because such things weren't impossible to happen, especially deeming the newcomers, she had to put on her mask to minimize risk.

She even asked the man to stay away from her as well, as he may be a carrier as well.

Yumi was glad to be of help but deeming the situation, such feeling only passed through her mind for an instant, especially under the pain-filled face of the child next to her.

...

And as the time rolled down, she became more and more distressed as she couldn't quite pin down the problem.

There was a heat coming from the chest of the boy, and it was clearly too much for him to handle… But what was it?

"..."

'No inflammations, and he was okay until yesterday.'

'He spent the entire time in the library, so what caused him to change so suddenly… Allergy? But against what?'

She thought and thought, and eventually, something struck her mind.

What if this wasn't necessarily a bad condition?

She turned towards the father and asked him to call… Testros.

And without even questioning, the man bolted outside.

Yumi, on the other hand, could do nothing apart from trying to identify the cause, just in case her worries were wrong.

She wasn't a doctor in the end, her specialty was potions, she simply learned medicine so she could identify simple injuries and determine the best potion or concoction for that...

She didn't want her patient to suffer, never, so she kept trying.

…

/7 or so minutes later…/

"I'm sure of it, this boy has gathered a small amount of Mana." Testros said as he removed his hand from the boy's chest

'How unusual... Dale was already irregular enough, we now have this kid?'

'Is something going on, or was this to be expected?...'

"What does that mean?!" The boy's father asked, confused

"It means he's okay, Bartho, and that your son is perfectly fine, although we'll have to give him a hand."

'We'll also have to check his older son and daughter after this, they could also be at risk even if they inherited a small bit of this kid's talent.'

Testros looked at the side, gazing directly at Dale.

"It's up to you."

Dale frowned

"Me? What can I even do?" He questioned as he walked away from the wall he was resting on

"Just like I told you before, shape it, and use it to remove the Mana from his body."

"I could do it, but my body wouldn't be able to take it if his and my Mana were to get in contact, you are different as your body, surprisingly enough, is more adapted to this than mine."

'Technically, I could do it as well, but I want him to try it as well, besides, I'm not lying, his body can consume this kid's Mana while mine would have an adverse reaction.'

"... Okay, I'll try."

Dale approached the boy, with a pensive gaze.

'A little kid, he doesn't look to be beyond 10, yet, he can feel Mana already?'

'No, he definitely can, however, no one noticed it and he immediately jumped to absorbing it?'

'That is impossible, otherwise, he would've flared up like this much sooner rather than now.'

'What caused this then?... Without a doubt, he is talented... At least, his body is.'

'Natural talent? A boy born to be a mage?... How funny.'

Without much pressure, Dale easily absorbed the Mana within the boy's heart, but that was simply a temporary measure, he would eventually accumulate it again with whatever method he used to become like this in the first place.

To this, Testros suggested that the kid remains at his side at all times so he can identify the cause, and potentially teach him how to control his condition, albeit, this will involve intense physical training and study…

Would a child even be able to cope with that?

Dale was fine either way, not like he needed the old man to teach him 24/7, most of the time he was the one that taught himself by reading the many books available.

Nevertheless, it became clear to him, that the hidden talents of the Villagers were starting to bloom, if so, would he be able to keep up?

Time, they only needed time to grow, they had everything else they needed, knowledge and a vast array of people determined to improve…

But did they have such time?

Far away, near the massive wall that covered the horizon, a group of 40 warriors, clad in layers of armor, marched under the dawning sun towards the core of a silent forest, leaving behind hundreds of hungry and defenseless people...

One side was welcoming a glorious age, while the other side had to live under the shadow of a massive wall...

The future was starting to unveil itself.

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Notes