After Ambrose arrived at the usual training place at the temple, he saw the Wisdom King sitting casually, his eyes half-closed.
There were also two heavy-looking bags on the ground next to him, both brown in color.
“I am sorry for being late!” Ambrose bowed slightly and immediately apologized.
After a while, he didn’t get an answer.
He glanced quickly in the direction of the Wisdom King and saw him sitting without letting out a sound.
‘I guess he is mad.’ Ambrose sighed inwardly and then went to pick up a training sword.
However, when he was about to start his practice, he heard the wise voice sounding behind him.
“Lower your sword.” The Wisdom King finally opened his eyes.
“Huh?” Ambrose did as instructed, but he looked with a confused gaze at the wise grandmaster.
The Wisdom King grabbed one of the bags and threw it to Ambrose.
Ambrose caught it rather easily.
An ordinary person would struggle to carry it, but after putting over hundred stats on strength, he was already beyond ordinary people.
The Wisdom King took the second heavy bag and began walking away in the direction that led out of the village and the temple.
Ambrose was never allowed to go there, as the Wisdom King forbade it.
“Follow me.” The Wisdom King said. “We are going on a training trip.”
Ambrose looked surprised and quickly followed behind the old grandmaster.
“We are going deeper into the valley?” He asked in a surprise.
“Yes.” The Wisdom King replied. “Your blade loses its touch if your only opponent is a wooden pole.”
“Can’t I fight you?” Ambrose asked curiously while not minding about going on the training trip.
“You could, but you would only learn to survive.” The Wisdom King said. “You need to learn swordsmanship badly. It is crucial for your growth as a fighter.”
“I see.” Ambrose understood the meaning behind his words.
The Wisdom King’s level was simply too high.
“If you train swordsmanship in a situation where losing means death, you could improve faster than you could ever imagine.”
The Wisdom King said and pointed his chin in the direction of the valley.
“This place has a lot of dangerous creatures.
“You said something about players acquiring experience points after killing creatures.
“You would learn swordsmanship and also grow stronger with the help of those experience points.”
‘This is indeed very useful.’ Ambrose thought, as he hadn’t been able to earn as many experience points as he would have liked to.
His leveling speed had dropped drastically as he was still stuck at level 39.
He had been overtaken by the majority of the player base, but he wasn’t sure by how much.
The Wisdom King then looked at his disciple and said, “During this training trip, you must manifest the door and close it. If you fail to do so, I won’t train you any further.”
“Huh?” Ambrose’s eyes widened, and slowly his face turned serious.
‘Pressure is on…’ He took a deep breath and nodded determinedly, ready to prove himself.
The master and disciple left the temple and began their adventure deeper into the valley, where dangerous threats awaited behind every corner.
…
At the Whispering Pages in Yatagarasu.
In the upstairs, Emma closed a book and looked around the room with a thoughtful expression.
“Bella didn’t come back…” She murmured and placed the book back in her inventory before leaving the room.
As she approached the stairs, she heard voices coming from downstairs.
Out of curiosity, she decided to quietly make her way towards the source of the sound.
After reaching the bottom of the stairs, she saw the familiar red-eyed woman sitting on a couch.
Next to her was a middle-aged man with gray hair and a slightly crooked nose.
He was talking to Bella, who silently listened while keeping her head low.
After a while, the middle-aged man sighed and reached over to Bella to give her some kind of pearl.
The pearl was silver in color, and some kind of black, slimy thing was swimming inside it. 𝐎𝑽xt.𝚘𝑚
Bella hesitantly took the pearl from the man’s hand and then looked away from him as if she didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
The middle-aged man sighed and grabbed a walking cane from the ground and then placed a top hat over his head.
He then bade farewell and left the bookstore.
Emma felt like the whole interaction seemed strange.
As Bella sat on the couch, her hand covering her face, Emma approached her and asked timidly.
“B-Bella, is everything alright? Who was he?”
Bella flinched and looked at the little girl with a pout.
“It’s not nice to eavesdrop.”
“I-I did not hear anything.” Emma sat down beside her and looked at the strange pearl. “What is that?”
“Uh, nothing.” Bella said and tossed it into her inventory. She then looked at the little girl and asked. “Did you finish the book?”
“Yup!” Emma answered energetically, realizing that Bella did not want to talk about the middle-aged man.
Ding, ding—a sudden, ear-piercing sound reverberated across the rainy city of Yatagarasu.
“What was that?” Emma asked with a hint.
Bella shot up and walked over to the door, opened it ajar, and looked towards the cloudy sky.
A holographic announcement had appeared in the sky.
The third World Quest had been activated.
Her beautiful face paled slightly, and she then closed the door, locked it, and rushed back to Emma.
She smiled and looked into her innocent eyes.
“Emma, it’s not going to be safe here, so why don’t you log off for today?”
“Eh?” Emma worriedly looked at her. “What about you? Will you log off?”
“Yes, I will close the store first.” Bella said with a smile.
“I’ll help you!”
“No.” Bella spoke sternly and then forced a smile. “I can do it alone. See you tomorrow, alright?”
“O-oh, okay.” Emma timidly nodded, not wanting to upset Bella, and then logged off.
As her petite body vanished into thin pixels, Bella worriedly looked out of the store and rushed to her room.
She locked the door, closed the curtains, and sat down on her bed.
She hugged her legs and heard the sound of her own breathing fill the silent room.
As darkness filled the room, sudden screams coming from the streets echoed with an eerie vibe.
A shiver ran down her back, and she quickly took out the pearl and squeezed it tightly.
“Father…” Bella bit her lip and opened her interface.
The holographic screen appeared in front of her, but something was missing.
There wasn’t a logout button!
“I don’t want to die…” Bella hugged the pearl and whispered a desperate plea for help.
When her eyes were filled with tears, she saw two bounty posters on the wall, both with identically sketched faces.
Rumble—a rumbling of thunder echoed across the vast sky, and following that, the earth shook as if a thousand-strong army was marching across the land.
The players screams echoed throughout the store, and weapons clashing filled the air.
The battle had begun.
Yet the sounds continued to grow louder, as if the battle was coming closer and closer.
Bella bit her lip, and through tears, she cried out. “Father… save me.”