First day on the job

"Wait, don't you want to know a little bit more?" Cian tried persuading them as they attempted to leave, but they still remained uninterested until Cian had a genius idea.

He pulled out his axe from the inventory, "what do you think?" 

One of the warriors reached out to touch the weapon, causing his eyes to pop out of his head.

"It's a mythical grade!" he exclaimed in awe, urging the 2nd warrior to touch it too.

His jaw dropped to the floor and his eyebrow shot above his head, "Where did you find a mythical-grade weapon?!" 

Cian wore a satisfied expression as he got the reaction he was expecting.

"It was crafted by the craftsman in Lowdan," he said proudly.

"Is it even possible to craft a mythical grade gear? This is my first time seeing one in person," The 2nd warrior muttered in a wobbly voice.

"I've only heard of two other people that have ever crafted a mythical grade item, and they are both from the Highlands, are you saying there's someone of that level here in the Lowlands and nobody else has heard about him?" The 1st warrior asked, unable to believe what Cian had just said.

"I'm certain you've never met a craftsman of this level," Cian assured them.

'With physical proof of father's skill, there's no way they can doubt me.' Cian smiled at the thought.

They gradually began considering the opportunity offered to them by Cian, and he could see just how awestruck they were, that is until one of them noticed Blue floating behind Cian. His face suddenly contorted into that of disgust and confusion.

"Is that a sprite? I can't even remember the last time I saw one, I thought they scrapped the idea of selling an overpriced familiar that can't even level up" The 1st warrior chuckled.

"I didn't even notice… these days even new warriors do not make the mistake of buying it," the 2nd warrior added before shifting his gaze to Cian 

 "Wait, don't tell me you're a newbie?" he gasped.

'Oh no, if they find out I'm a newbie they'd become even more suspicious' Cian reasoned.

"No, no, of course not," Cian nervously denied.

But it was too late, there was already a lot that just didn't add up, but the most unsettling one was, why would a sprite user have a mythical-grade weapon?

The two warriors were now very suspicious and skeptical.

"Something doesn't feel right, if this mysterious craftsman is as good as you say he is, why would you tell others about him?" the 1st warrior wondered, in Aetheria it was only natural he kept it to himself.

"Yeah, and there are only 13 known mythical grade item users at most, so who exactly are you, because I'm certain none of them has a sprite." The 2nd warrior supported.

In truth, it was indeed suspicious, Aetheria was a place where information was very valuable, and this type of information could shake the whole world of Aetheria if it really was true. They couldn't help but suspect that Cian had a hidden agenda, coupled with the fact that a player finding a mythical grade item was big news in Aetheria but Cian, an unknown player, casually stumbled upon it.

Besides, it already sounded too good to be true, there was no way a craftsman of that level was hiding somewhere in the Lowlands, nothing useful ever happened in the Lowlands.

"This entire thing doesn't sound right, I'd rather not get involved, are you coming?" the 1st warrior asked his friend as he strolled away.

"Wait-" Cian fretted 

"Yeah, I'm never getting fooled by one of these Anti-players ever again.... destroying the game for everyone," he mumbled with disgust, leaving Cian standing on his own in silence.

…

[That went better than I expected]

The veins on Cian's forehead bulged, as a mixture of anger and frustration welled up within him.

"Of course it did, you know this is all your fault!" Cian snapped.

"If I didn't have a sprite, I'm sure they wouldn't have been so suspicious"

[Once again you try to blame me for your incompetence, but I agree there wasn't much you could do. The terror of Anti-players isn't something warriors can easily escape]

Cian imagined all the things he would do to the AI, before having to remind himself that none of those things were possible. With a heavy sigh, he released his clenched fist and let go of his rage.

Thinking about it, it wasn't really Blue's fault, he could also blame all the stupid humans that came into this world only to do sinister things and become Anti-players. It was because of them that the warriors couldn't trust him. 

"But why would they do that? Who exactly are these Anti-players?" Cian wondered.

[For Anti-players, the world of Aetheria is very much different than the one you warriors see, they have special classes like assassins, bandits, rogues, and pirates, and with classes like these the quests they receive are usually negative and always involve something unlawful]

"That means they are free to do as they please, without any consequences?" 

[Unlike the warriors the Anti-players chose the route of an outlaw so they are not bound by the moral laws of the land, but there's also a huge disadvantage with that, when they die they don't respawn, and they restart from the very beginning. They are also exempted from the official warrior rankings and are ranked by the prize of their bounty]

He flashed back to the time he had bought the Alchemists Box and got scammed by the con man, Paddin, if it wasn't for Darcy he wouldn't have even been able to afford any gear after that. 

"If humans are this cruel to themselves, then imagine what they are doing to the residents," he said, disheartened.

It really was heartbreaking for Cian, the innocent NPCs in Aetheria didn't sign up for any of this, and they couldn't do anything about it either. They were at the mercy of both the warriors and the Anti-players, just like he once was.

"Humans really are terrible people," he sighed.

He pulled his mind out of the depressing reality of things, recalling his immediate mission.

"I still have to find a way to get some customers," he reminded himself, doing a quick survey of the players before choosing his next targets.