Arthur read the name with a dazed look on his face. ‘Frost Fall? The fourth region…’ He was a little taken aback as he looked up again at the majestic city stretching into the distance.
“We’re here…” Arthur muttered to himself as the realization hit him. Then, slowly, a smile formed on his face. Staring at the beautiful lights of the city under the night sky and the huge moon in the distance, looming over the region. Arthur was captivated at that moment.
“Hahaha, we’re here!” Then, he turned around to look at his friends while laughing. He had already noticed them appearing behind him. They all shared the same awe-struck expression.
After all, this city had truly exceeded their expectations. They had roamed the globe, seen the most beautiful cities the world had to offer and yet nothing came close in comparison to the Capital Of Glory.
“… We made it.” Herculia was the first to snap out of it as he looked at Arthur. “We made it, brother!”
“We did, goddammit!”
The two high-fived aggressively as they laughed. They were excited beyond words. The journey they took had finally come to an end. After long, hard days, they made it to their destination in one single piece.
“Emmy, snap out of it! We had arrived!”
“… I know, I’m just… A little speechless.” The girl replied as she grabbed her staff with her two hands. A smile of relief appeared on her face. “I’m glad we’re alive.”
“We made it, Isla!” Danny approached his leader excitedly.
Isla was the only one that was still staring at the city’s skyline. She then looked at Danny and nodded her head with a calm expression. “We’re here. Thank you all for your efforts. With your help, we have arrived at our destination.”
Stepping forward, she stared at the group. “We are the very first players to step into the capital. That is an achievement worth celebrating. But, this is only the start of our journey in this world. Everything before this was the preparation for the true challenge. There are many things we need to do and we need to do them quickly.”
“…”
The group stared at Isla with serious expression. They understood very well that this was indeed merely a tutorial and the first step toward their goal. This world had countless things waiting for them and a massive challenge to stay on top even when competing with billions of players.
It was a huge task they were all willing to take. Well, all of them except for Arthur. The boy had completely different plans for the future. Plans that were perhaps far crazier than he would’ve ever thought.
“I’m so ready for this! Things are about to get serious now!” Herculia punched the palm of his hand as he declared loudly.
“Time to work even harder and get established in the city before players eventually arrive here,” Emmy said.
“It’s good that you understand what is happening here. We can’t let our guard down.” Danny nodded.
As for Finlay and Serko, the two were simply happy to be there with Arthur and the others. As long as they were with them, things were going to be ok.
“Ugh, I want to leave the game and finally take a goddamn break. We have been going at it for days and days.” Arthur groaned. He hadn’t left the game ever since they started the journey. He even forgot how the real world looked and how detached he became from it.
During this entire journey, Arthur hadn’t left the game not even once. He had been playing for days and days without stopping. He didn’t even know what condition his body was in after several days inside the FIC.
‘Well, time to see what happened to it.’ He thought to himself. ‘I have been injected with so much serum, I hope I’m ok.’
“Before you log out, Arthur,” Isla said. “We should get into the city and find a good place to log out. Staying outside the walls is not safe.”
“… You’re right, we shouldn’t risk it.” Arthur nodded his head. Since the city was surrounded by a gigantic wall that stretched left and right as far as the eye could see, logging out inside these walls was far better and far safer than doing it outside.
“Oh, so we’re going to take a glimpse inside!” Emmy muttered excitedly.
“Not for long. We have other stuff to do before tomorrow.” Danny replied.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey, you two, are you ready to go?” Emmy turned to the dwarves and adjusted their hoods to cover their faces. “Make sure to stay hidden and not let the hood fly off your heads, ok?”
“… Mmm, we know. We won’t slack off like before.” Serko nodded vigorously. They would never dare to make the same mistake as they did before. Especially when they’re about to go inside a place filled with hostile humans that would attack them the moment they identified them.
That idea alone scared the two kids greatly. They didn’t want to experience the same fear they experienced when the three mercenaries discovered them.
“What if they know who we are, Serko?” Finlay muttered under his breath as he looked at his friend.
“I don’t know, Finlay… I really don’t know.” The boy responded anxiously. They didn’t want to even think about the consequences of such a disaster if it happened. Not only on them but also on Arthur and the others as they would also be identified and persecuted for bringing dwarves into the capital.
“Don’t let it get to your heads, guys.” At that moment, they felt a hand pat them on the head. Looking up, they saw Arthur. “You two are going to be ok. We will bring you to the person looking for you safe and sound. I promise you that.”
“… Arthur…”
Seeing the confident smile on his face, the two boys felt at ease almost immediately. They didn’t know why, but they trusted Arthur’s words blindly. If he said that, then that means they are going to be truly fine.
“Good, that’s the look I want to see on your face.” He nodded. “Now, let’s go.”
With that, the group slowly descended from the cliff through the path until they reached ground level. That was when the true scale of the walls and the city behind it dawned on them.
The walls were at least several hundred meters tall and made out of fortified stone and hard iron. They were at least a few dozen meters thick which made them look impenetrable. They loomed over the world outside as if they were divine guardians protecting the city behind them with their lives.
It was truly something that put the group in their place. This wall was more than enough to tell them that beyond that point… They aren’t the special people they think they are. Behind those walls are people who would truly erase them out of existence with a mere thought.
Then, their eyes fell on the colossal gates built into these walls. The two giant doors almost reached the middle of the walls in height. The iron they were forged from looked ancient and yet still terrifyingly strong. They didn’t look like they could be open let alone penetrated forcefully.
“What in the hell is this place…?” Arthur muttered in awe.
“How do you even go about building something like this?” Emmy nodded.
“…” The two dwarves looked at the walls and the gates with a complicated expression. For some reason, the moment their eyes fell on them, they felt something really weird well up in their hearts. But, they couldn’t understand what that feeling was.
As the group got closer and closer to the gate, they noticed the third detail that made them quite confused.
“Am I tripping or are the gates… Open?” Herculia muttered.
“… They are indeed open, you aren’t delusional,” Danny replied. “Why are they open?”
“There aren’t any guards either,” Isla commented. “It’s completely empty.”
For some reason, the group felt off seeing such a thing. For a city as fortified as this one, to leave the gates open sounded really dumb, and by dumb they mean… It makes no sense.
“Did they forget them open?”
“Of course not. They are not that dumb.” Emmy replied.
As the group got even closer, they noticed a few silhouettes slowly walking out of the gates. They were 4 people wearing thick coats and had the same mark as the three mercenaries they met earlier.
‘More mercenaries?’ Arthur tensed a little as he got closer form Finlay and Serko. The other group noticed their presence too and stopped.
The two groups stared at each other as they continued walking. The atmosphere became quiet and cold as nobody uttered a single word. The only sound left was of the feet pressing into the thick snow and the wind howling across the empty area.
Eventually, the two groups passed by one another without saying a single word.
‘Huh?’ Arthur’s eyes widened slowly as he looked over his shoulder. ‘Why didn’t they talk to us?’
Something really weird was going on.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
