Stage 2

Ash sat with his back leaned against the wall. He was waiting for Maya to come back with Jagu.

He held the Magic Ring and rolled it with his fingers, then put it in his ring finger.

The system window popped up before him.

[The Player is now wearing the Magic Ring.]

[The Player's Magic Stat will increase by 200%.]

[Additional trait: The player will be able to cast their magic skills without using any tools.]

He furrowed his brows. 'What is that supposed to mean?' He thought for a moment, but couldn't figure out what the system meant.

'Maybe it means that I will be able to store or summon the creatures without using Grimoire. Hmmm.'

He got up and went out of the cave. Without thinking of coming back to the nest, he chanted, "Liberare animae et corpus ex folio."

His forehead suddenly let out a blue light, and a circle symbol formed on it. His eyes shined in bluish hues.

The ground before him shook a little, then black smoke swirling above it. The swirling smoke gradually formed into the Giant Spider.

"Oh, I'll be damned. This game is really a weird one. Almost all the items are related." he amused.

He chanted again, "Vinculum animae et corpus in folio."

And the Giant Spider turned into black smoke and dissipated into thin air. The blue symbol on his forehead disappeared as well.

He touched his forehead. He didn't feel anything when it formed before.

Ash grinned. He thought that he was really lucky.

***

Around an hour, Maya and Jagu came back from their morning stroll.

Ash already prepared lunch, so they sat and ate their meal.

However, Jagu didn't eat. It was weird, but Ash thought Jagu would eat later when he got hungry.

After lunch finished, Ash and Maya agreed to depart from their current spot, onto another quest target.

It was Maya's turn for Ash to help, so she told him where they should go.

They would go to an ancient city on another section of the map, to retrieve an ancient artifact, Kruptos.

So, they were lazing around for today, and would depart tomorrow early.

***

After the nightfall, Maya was snoring softly in her sleep.

Ash, after going out from the cave to train his sword skill, came back to the cave and laid down.

He opened his Stage window, which he forgot to open after his excitement of getting a new creature for his army.

[Stage 2.]

[The Player successfully completed the Quests given for Stage 1.]

[The Player's level increased by 1.]

[The Player obtains new Quests.]

[Success in completing the Quest will increase the Player's Level.]

"Hmm.. This means my level is 2.7 now," Ash mumbled.

He opened his Quest window to check his new quests.

[Player: Ashborn Locke]

[Player Number: #23875]

[Quests:

The Player must go to the Ancient City of Matera. Items to retrieve:

⇒The Missing Scroll

⇒The Lost Chalice

⇒The Forgotten Key

He raised his one eyebrow and opened his Game Map. He found the Ancient City of Matera. However, the city was huge on the map.

'Huh? Now the quest must get three items? And no clue where to get it?'

He blinked, but the Quest and Game Map windows still showed him the same result.

"If I ever go back to the real world, I swear I will badmouth this game on social media," he cursed, feeling somewhat irritated.

Jagu lifted his head and glanced at him, but Ash waved his hand at him lazily, telling him that it was nothing. Jagu whimpered, and walked to his side, and snuggled to his waist.

Ash gently stroked his head, and felt its soft fur on his palm.

Jagu let out soft purrs, and they went asleep.

***

Early in the morning, they went to their parked jeep, and Maya drove it out of the cave area.

They bickered along the way, until they arrived at the gas station.

The gas station itself was abandoned, but the pump still functioned.

They filled the jeep until it was full, and filled some jerrycans in preparation for their long journey.

In the store located in front of the gas pump, they took as much food and drinks as they could bring. They took some clothes along with shoes and boots. It felt like they were looting the store.

Ash could never understand how the foods and drinks in this game world never expired. But he was grateful, as long as he could find them as easily as now, he would survive from starving.

They began to travel to the northwest. The air began to get colder, but the humidity of the tropical forest gradually ceased.

On their journey, they didn't find anything dangerous, as if the game finally gave them time to take a break and enjoy the long journey.

It was a seven day journey by jeep. On the seventh day, they arrived at a rocky hill, filled with holes and some buildings attached to the hill.

The city resembled the Sassi in Matera, Italy. The ancient city was white, with some green grass covering some parts of the rocks.

What was making Ash and Maya gasp, that the city was bustling with life, as if real people lived there.

The markets, the cafe's, even they saw the sheppards hoarding their sheeps along the grass field not far from the city.

With their binoculars, they could see many people walking along its streets. Pigeons were flying and landed along the pavements. Some children were seen running around with laughter.

Ash glanced at Maya, which returned his gaze. They both didn't have to speak, but they understood each other that the city may harm them.

It was another group. A Finding Objects' group, that might have many skilled and cunning people that could kill them easily.

Exhaled, Ash said to her, "There is no other way. We must go there."

Hearing Ash words, Maya was silent, then started their jeep engine and drove along the rocky road into the city.