For the next hour or so, Arthur roamed the city, looking for any interesting weapon shops he might find. He knew that the ones on the main street were the safest option since they were considerably popular.
But, Arthur knew that going for the safe options was not fun. He liked to find those hidden gems, those places that nobody knew about that brought him the weirdest items possible. The same situation he found himself in when he found Nina’s shop.
That shop was completely deserted, but not only did he gain immensely powerful abilities from it, but he also gained perhaps the hardest quest this game had to offer and the rewards that would come with that were naturally huge if he succeeded.
However, even after a long trip through the city and every corner he came across, Arthur couldn’t really find any good shops that caught his eye. The place was simply too vast for him to easily stumble across something interesting that easily.
‘I have mapped a good chunk of this area. Well, it’s probably not that big of an area. But, at least I have an idea of where to go from now on.’ Arthur thought to himself as he stopped in the middle of the street and checked his map.
After walking for almost 2 hours across the entire day, Arthur had covered a fraction of the snow fall region of the city. It was nothing compared to the true size of the capital, but he knew that this was going to take a while either way.
‘Tsk, I still haven’t found any good shops to buy new armor. I’m a little annoyed.’ He mused as he closed the map and looked around him. There were countless buildings around him in every direction and yet none of them was what he looked for.
‘At this point, if I don’t find what I’m looking for today, I will have to resort to simply buying from one of these normal-looking shops.’
Arthur’s plan was to start practicing what he learned today from the academy. He had already seen one of those practicing areas on his way through the city. He didn’t want to waste the entire day just wandering around without doing anything productive.
Sighing, the boy started walking again, heading deeper into the city. He wasn’t too focused on his steps as his eyes kept looking around, constantly searching for anything eye-catching.
*Step*
At that very moment, Arthur felt a chill run down his spine as he heard a weird ice-crunching sound behind him. Instantly, he turned around with wide eyes as he looked around him. The world had already returned to normal. People were walking around him, unbothered by his existence.
Yet, this lively atmosphere had shifted completely for Arthur. That single step he heard was perhaps the weirdest thing he experienced here.
‘… What was that? I felt something off for a split second there.’ He breathed slowly. After making sure nobody was there, Arthur turned around and started walking slowly. He had completely forgotten about his purpose and was now focused on his surroundings very carefully.
His senses scanned the countless people passing beside him, going about their day. Nothing happened after that for several minutes.
‘Was that just my imagination? I can’t really tell. Am I being overly paranoid for no reason?’ He thought to himself as he exhaled the breath he held the entire time.
“Ok, let’s see… I didn’t check that area ye-”
*Step*
Then, he felt it again closer than before. Arthur instantly stiffened as the hair on his body stood up. The goosebumps sent through his body from the cold look he received made him forget everything he was thinking of doing.
Now, it was not paranoia anymore, he was certain that someone was following him and they were not that far away either.
‘They just walked behind me… about a few inches away and they somehow vanished so quickly again! Who am I dealing with?’
Even though Arthur was having a mental crisis at that moment, he decided against showing it on his face. Instead, he started walking again in a normal manner, trying to keep his face as stoic as ever. He didn’t want to show fear on his face.
‘What should I do?’
What made the situation worse was that Arthur was now in a considerably less populated area of the city. He had walked off the main streets into the smaller paths that are still packed with people. However, his options were now very minimal.
He can either try to head back to the main street where he would most likely still be followed or remain there and still be followed. He cannot go back to where the others are or he would put them at risk.
‘Should I just try to make a run for it? But… Where am I supposed to go?’
Arthur’s mind raced through all his options as he felt the eyes looking at him get even closer than before. He kept looking over his shoulder, but with this many people walking past him, he really couldn’t tell who was looking and who wasn’t. Suddenly, every single face became a potential suspect.
‘That? No, that person? No! Did that person just look at me?!’ He kept asking himself, growing more and more paranoid with each passing second. Meanwhile, his feet carried him through the street aimlessly.
A few minutes passed awfully slow during which Arthur’s composure was tested more than ever before in his life. He knew he was being followed, and he knew these people were extremely dangerous. But, he didn’t know where or why they were chasing him.
Arthur knew that he had to take some kind of decision anytime now. To either run away or to face these people.
‘Ugh! I should just send it, shouldn’t I? I mean… These eyes don’t feel hostile as I should expect.’
As ironic as it was, the people following him didn’t seem like they intended to harm him. His reason for thinking that was simple. They were blatantly leaving themselves easily detectable to his senses without trying to hide it. Normally, if they were intending to harm him, they would try to stay hidden and careful, the exact opposite of what they were doing at that time.
Also, even though Arthur felt a chill down his spine from these looks, they were not technically ominous. They were simply terrifying because they were very sharp as if they wanted to pierce through his skin.
‘Maybe they’re… Not trying to pick a fight? It’s not like if they did, I would be able to beat them. Either way, I’m screwed.’
Reaching that conclusion, Arthur sucked a deep breath. ‘If you’re not going to show up in front of me… Fine, I’m going straight to you.’ He thought to himself as he looked to the side.
There, he saw a small, secluded alley that went somewhere deep into the residential areas of the city. Squinting his eyes, Arthur decided to change his direction and then walked straight into the alley.
His hand slowly moved to his sword as he slowly channeled his mana, ready to engage in battle at any moment’s notice. The alley led him left and right before it divided into several other paths.
Arthur took the widest one for the best possible space in case he was required to fight or do something physical. When he walked far enough from the main streets, he finally stopped and looked up.
“Just come out and spare me this hide-and-seek game. I’m not a huge fan of that, you see.” He declared loudly.
For a few seconds, he didn’t receive any response. One would think Arthur was talking to his own demons. But, it didn’t take long for something to finally happen.
Two silhouettes appeared right behind Arthur. The boy slowly turned around and looked at them with squinted eyes. The two people were completely shrouded in blue, almost icey veils. They wore blue coats, and blue, glassy masks that covered their mouths, leaving only their eyes visible.
If he had to describe them, they looked like soldiers of snow, blending well with the white world around them.
‘… So these are the bastards that kept playing that horror game with me? They’re definitely… Very strong. Way stronger than me.’
Even with their aura very suppressed, Arthur was certain the two could easily kill him and he couldn’t be able to do anything about it. They were way too high-level for him.
“Good evening, Gifted.” One of them spoke in a cold voice as if he were some kind of a robot.
‘They know that I’m Gifted, huh? Yeah, they aren’t simple.’ That detail confirmed his suspicion. These people were not some nobodies.
“Good evening, my ass! You were trying to give me a heart attack, weren’t you?” Arthur asked with an angry look on his face.
“…” The two individuals remained silent, looking almost confused.
“Tsk. So, who are you? And why were you chasing me around?” He asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“We have been awaiting your arrival to the capital.” The man said. “It’s our honor to welcome you here. His Highness had sent us specifically to meet you.”
“For what reason exactly?”
‘His Highness? The king? Or another royal family member?’
“You are invited to tomorrow’s main event at the ‘Seraphica Coliseum’ at 8 PM.” The man said as he pulled a letter out of his veil and then threw it to Arthur. The piece of paper flew gently until it rested on Arthur’s hand.
“We wish to see you there.”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3