...
Sometime ago...
Izroth had finally arrived at the roped bridge with a waterfall on each side. After going across this bridge, he would be officially taking his first steps outside of official Amaharpe territory.
'This is definitely the correct place. However, the instructions become a bit vague from this point on so I may have to rely on a bit of luck to find my way.'
Azalea had been completely silent ever since she had begun accompanying Izroth. She did not complain or try to strike up an idle conversation with him. Instead, it almost seemed as if she was a simple attendant the way she stood slightly behind Izroth with a calm and focused demeanor.
"Shall we?" Izroth said as he took his first step onto the rope bridge and immediately received an alert from the system.
〈System Alert: Warning! You have left the territory of «Amaharpe»〉
'I should have
Although the system had informed him of leaving Amaharpe, it did not mention him entering into another named area. That could only mean one of two things. The first was simply that he entered into an unnamed area which was not that uncommon within RML.
The second was that he had finally reached an area that he required someone with the Cartographer profession which was more likely to be the case.
To be more precise, he required an item that could only be produced by someone with the Cartographer profession known as the Realm Chart. In simple terms, a Realm Chart was a map created by Cartographer's that officially charted the unknown locations within RML. It was said that at the higher levels, Cartographer's were even capable of creating devices similar to a mini map!
However, even though it was an incredibly useful profession to have, it was not very popular amongst the large majority of players and for good reasons. For one, it was extremely difficult for one to create Realm Chart's since they had to personally go out and view the area before being able to chart it.
Then there was the fact that professions such as Alchemist, Blacksmith, and Apothecary were much more rewarding and useful in both the short, as well as, long term. However, Cartographer's did not see any true rewards early on unless they managed to chart some hidden or secret location. They were, for the most part, strictly only useful for the long term of things.
But, how many people wanted to perform a dull task like charting out new locations? The answer was, not that many. In fact, most of the Cartographer's within RML were a part of some top guild or a big guild trying to make a name for itself.
The truth of the matter was that out of all the things about RML, this was one of the features that most players disliked confronting the most. If one did not have a Realm Chart, then they could only navigate around RML using coordinates, memory, and word of mouth.
'It seems He Huian failed to mention anything about needing a Realm Chart. Hopefully, it turns out just to be an unnamed location until we reach the Blazing Tempris Domain.'
"May I ask what our destination is, master?" Azalea asked. It was the first words she had spoken since beginning her travels with Izroth.
"If you insist on not calling me by my name, you should choose something a little more fitting. After all, I would prefer not to attract unwanted attention with a simple word. Also, we're headed to a place called the Blazing Tempris Domain. Have you been there?" Izroth said as he walked across the long rope bridge along with Azalea.
Azalea, however, shook her head and responded, "I've never been there. But, I have seen the name somewhere before. Also, I apologize. I should have given the way I address you proper thought. I meant no disrespect, teacher."
Izroth shook his head inwardly. It appeared that while Azalea was willing to budge on the way she addressed him, she was still very formal when she spoke to him. Izroth was never one to care for such formalities, but then again, he could understand Azalea's reason for doing so.
But more importantly, he was a little surprised that Azalea knew of the name. Even a top guild like Sleeping Gardenia had very little information regarding the Blazing Tempris Domain, much less other players.
"Oh? Do you remember the place you saw the name at?" Izroth inquired.
"Yes, it's listed on this." Azalea said as she held her hand out and a scroll appeared in the palm of her hand. It was around 30cm in size and looked as if it was made out of some kind of unique old-style parchment paper.
'It's a Realm Chart.'
Azalea actually possessed a Realm Chart! Even though he had not seen one in person, Izroth still knew how a Realm Chart looked as it was pretty common knowledge even before the game was officially released.
After all, the beta testers were allowed to publish a decent amount of basic information knowledge about the game since they were the ones who wrote the original player's handbook guide.
There were a few Realm Chart's for sale in the auction house, however, they were mediocre at best and most of them were just some players attempt at trying to make some quick gold coins. But, none of them were as high quality as the map currently within Azalea's hand, at least appearance wise.
"I'm surprised. Not many players have a Realm Chart, not to mention one of such high quality." Izroth said.
"Finding a good Realm Chart is not a question of money, but rather having the proper contacts. If you'd like, I can obtain one for you as well. You can think of it as a small gift." Azalea replied.
"Then, I'll be looking forward to it." Izroth said. However, right after Izroth finished speaking he received a message alert from the system. He halted his steps and opened up his system interface to view the message.
'Hm?'
〈System Alert: Player Luna has sent you a message, "Silent Steps Attack Need Assist Coordinates..."〉
The message was a few words tied together rather than an actual sentence that made any sense. However, there was a list of coordinates at the end of the message that was actually not too far from their current position.
Since Luna did not have a lot of time to send a fully detailed message, she decided to keep it simple and just list the main points of it. She knew that someone would be able to understand it as the two recipients of the message were Izroth and Zi Yi.
Luna did not keep a very long friendslist and she knew that the only two currently online that would possibly come to her aid were Izroth and Zi Yi. Even though she knew that both of them were most likely in Amaharpe and would not make it to her in time, it was still worth a shot.
Izroth scanned over the message and immediately understood the situation at hand. However, it must have been a dire situation if she sent a message to him. After all, Luna was not the type to ask for help if she did not believe it to be an absolute necessity.
'It appears that I truly was too lenient back in the Chaotic Dogma Realm.'
Since Silent Steps was tied to the Shadahi, Izroth had every reason to kill him back in the Chaotic Dogma Realm when he escaped from Aegis. However, he decided to let him go since Silent Steps did not personally offend him or any of his other party members at that time.
But, Izroth was now absolute enemies with the Shadahi and that would remain unchanged. Therefore, anyone who was with the Shadahi could be considered an enemy.
'Some people require a stern hand to deal with. I will take this chance to correct my original mistake.'
"There has been a little change of plans. I have a small mess I need to clean up." Izroth said as the aura around him felt as if it had become heavier.
Azalea noticed the minute change in Izroth's demeanor as her eyes grew cold.
"If it is a small mess, then please allow me to lend my humble assistance, teacher." Azalea said.
Izroth gave a slight nod and responded, "Let's go." He gave Azalea the coordinates before he turned into a shadow using the skill Shadow Movement and began to head towards the location Luna sent his way.
Azalea turned into a shadowy figure that resembled that of an apparition and she followed after Izroth. It was a skill similar to Izroth's Shadow Movement. This was her chance to not only further prove herself but to also make a lasting impression on Izroth so that he would take her request more seriously.
Izroth replied with a simple message of three words to Luna, "On my way."
...
"No one is to interfere!" Silent Steps said as he walked forward with his daggers in hand. He gave off a menacing feeling as he approached Luna. He was not in the same pathetic state as when they encountered one another last time when he was forced to run away in the end.
Luna, however, did not falter in the slightest nor did she attempt to retreat. If he really wanted a fight so badly, then she would gladly give him one. She held her staff outwards towards Silent Steps and was prepared to face what was to come.
Just as Silent Steps was about to make his move, he heard a commotion beginning to take place in the group of players surrounding Luna.
"Ah! What the heck was that?!"
"It's a ghost!"
"A monster! It must be a ghost-type monster, quick use magic to kill it! Gah!"
"What's going on?! Hey, watch where you're shoving!"
The group was falling into a state of confusion and as they began to see one... two... three players bodies fall to the ground one after the other, they started to panic and shoved one another. No one had any idea what was going on, but players were starting to randomly drop like flies!
Silent Steps frowned as he witnessed the catastrophe. To him, it simply looked like everyone was fooling around.
"What are all of you doing?! Control yourselves!" Silent Steps ordered, however, his words fell on deaf ears.
The next moment, a terrifying tremor shook the ground underneath the crowd's feet and caused some of them to lose their balance. But, everyone immediately realized that they were losing some of their HP every second that passed!
It was then that Silent Steps could finally see the bodies of his Fatal Touch members dropping like flies. Between the apparition and the tremors, no one was even aware of how they were dying!
A couple of seconds later, that same apparition that was causing so much damage was headed straight towards Luna which caused her to be on guard.
However, instead of attacking her, it stopped right next to her and the shadowy figure disappeared and was soon replaced by a girl with long flowing black hair that fell down to her ankles, piercing orchid colored eyes, and a mask that hid the lower part of her face.
"Is this your doing? Who are you?" Silent Steps said with a cold look in his eyes as he glared at the girl who appeared before them.
However, Azalea completely ignored Silent Steps and turned to Luna and said, "Are you Luna?"
Luna examined Azalea. She did not appear to hold any ill intentions and so she gave a small nod and responded, "Yes, but I'm afraid your name escapes me." Luna had never met this person before and she was confident of that. So, who exactly was she and why was she helping her? Better yet, how did she even know her name?
"I am called Wraith. I have come to assist you at the request of my teacher." Azalea replied as she stood in front of Luna and stared at Silent Steps who was giving off death glares in her direction.
"Teacher?" Luna was confused by Azalea's words. What teacher?
Silent Steps facial expression darkened when Azalea ignored him and instead spoke directly to Luna. He felt as if people were truly going out of their way to step on his face. Was his reputation so poor that such a thing had become tolerable? The answer was obviously no!
"It seems I have arrived too late." A voice echoed throughout the battlefield as a flickering image formed one after the other. The sword in that flickering image's hand was releasing a constantly overbearing aura. In just a handful of seconds, there were no players who were originally surrounding Luna and her party remaining. Now, there was only the group behind Silent Steps and himself.
Luna knew who that voice belonged to the moment she heard it! A blossoming smile could not help but find its way onto her face.
Soon enough, the flickering figure came to a stop next to Luna holding an exquisite sword in his hand. The oppressing and overbearing aura it released just moments ago had died down and it was currently calm like the eye of a storm.
Luna shook her head and said, "I never thought you would make it here. However, my friends are..." She let out a small helpless sigh as she spoke. The person who arrived next to Luna was, of course, Izroth.
Silent Steps looked over at Izroth and felt as if he had seen him somewhere before, however, he was unable to quite put his finger on it. After all, the two of them had never directly met within the Chaotic Dogma Realm and Silent Steps did not acknowledge his presence back in the palace. Therefore, it was only natural that he had a vague feeling of having seen him once before.
"There is no need to worry. Your friends will not be alone in the fate they have suffered." Izroth said as a powerful surge of wind began to gather around his sword.