The Autosphere took many twists and turns as it plummeted into the depths of the earth before suddenly taking a sharp turn upwards! Exile and the others could not help but laugh as if they were on some kind of extreme roller coaster! Only Leggy had a pale complexion and complained the entire ride.
This went on for roughly twenty minutes before they felt the sphere's momentum slowing down. The group's excited expressions turned solemn, as they did not know what to expect once the sphere opened up. Eventually, the sphere came to a sudden halt, and the atmosphere among them became tense as the metal slid open.
"It's empty..." Exile hummed as he glanced around the room outside of the sphere.
The group wore confused expressions as they looked around for any signs as to who had activated Valheim's station. 'There really is nobody...' Exile thought as he leapt out of the sphere, followed by the others. They had been expecting a battle to take place as soon as they arrived. So this turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Unfortunately, there were no windows for Exile to discover their exact location in the city. Only a hallway that led to a staircase that rose upwards. 'Maybe we're still below ground?' Exile hummed as he waved at the others to follow him.
The ascension up the stairs did not take long. Although the style was similar to the dwarven ruins, about halfway up it changed to match Valheim's architectural style. The group ended up with a lot of questions about the Autosphere network. They had confirmed it was built by the Dwarves for the war. But did that mean the dwarves originally owned this territory? Or was it a collaborative project between various races?
'At the very least there have to be a number of stations in the dwarven territories...' Exile hummed as they reached the entrance to the station. He cocked an eyebrow when he looked at the wooden door in front of him. 'Hopefully, we're not somewhere with a lot of people around...'
He was nervous that just by exiting the building that they would give a huge secret away. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes as he slowly opened the door enough to peek outside. 'Damn!' Exile's eyes went wide at what he saw!
"Guys, we're close to the circle we arrived in when we ascended..." Exile groaned as the others hissed. "It gets worse... There are an awful lot of players out there!"
"Let me see!" Clay moved forward to have a look, unwilling to believe that they were so unlucky! "Why are there so many of them?"
Clay felt despair when he looked outside. Exile had not lied. Valheim was busier than they had ever seen it! Exile stroked his chin for a moment as he considered the possible reasons.
"It's either people who failed to ascend before it became the Open Beta... Or a lot of new players managed to grow rapidly... How long were we down there, anyway?" Exile frowned as he thought about it. He wondered if he had actually lost track of time while they were in the depths.
When he thought about how long it had taken them to travel into the snowstorm, follow the columns, and find the Autosphere. He guessed it could be possible for those with a lucky start to have already made it here. 'Or... They killed other players to advance quickly...' An ugly expression crossed his face when he realised a lot of their early progress was negated because of this mechanic.
When he told the others his thoughts, they too let out a low groan. There were so few players when they started that they could not take advantage of that mechanic, so it had taken them far longer to level up. However, a sudden influx of all new players was a perfect chance to abuse it! They all had one thought on the matter... 'Lucky!'
'Is this the developer's way of balancing the scales?' Exile frowned as he considered that possibility. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth as he continued to watch the flow of traffic outside.
"It's best if we leave one by one and try to blend into the crowd so nobody notices." Exile stated as he turned to the others. "Wait for the right moment and slip out behind a group that passes by. We'll meet up in the bar."
Everyone nodded to show they understood as Exile prepared himself. With Kaleidoscope still on the hunt for him, he was the most likely to draw attention. So it was best if he went first to draw anyone on the lookout away from the doorway. 'Now!'
He quickly slipped out of the door as a group walked past. If he were to judge them on their equipment alone, then they had to be new players. As he tried to blend in, he casually observed his surroundings for anyone that may have noticed. However, it seemed like he had gotten lucky. 'I hope the others can do the same.' Exile slowly shook his head as a frown appeared.
'I need to go to the Temple first!' Exile cursed as he remembered that everyone would need to heal up. 'Ugh, they'll definitely realise that... right?' He was so used to having a team that would not think twice about it he never considered telling the guys to sort themselves out before they headed over to the bar. 'Well, it's unlikely anyone will start anything in the city.'
Exile could not shake the feelings that big things were about to happen in Pantheon Online. Which would only be natural with all of the newbies flocking to the game. 'Things are going to get chaotic...' A sly smile appeared on his face as he took the turn towards the Temple.
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