The two stared at Arthur blankly as if they were frozen in time. Their faces were comically stunned. After all, they didn’t think Arthur was going to say that, not because of how ridiculous their request was.
“Arthur… I… Don’t know what to say.” Nina said as she finally snapped out of her daze. Then, she rushed toward Arthur as she wrapped him in a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Her arms gripped him so tightly that he almost suffocated. However, the feeling was not bad at all.
‘I don’t hate this.’ He thought to himself as he coughed slightly.
“Well, I’m also doing it for myself so it ain’t totally some heroic decision I made right there.” He said awkwardly.
“Thank you so much.” However, Nina didn’t care at all; she kept hugging him and fighting the tears that threatened to escape from her eyes. The happiness she felt at that moment was truly deep. “Even though we’re asking for something like this, you still accepted. We cannot thank you enough. Isn’t that right, grandpa?”
Turning to Miro, Nina noticed that the man still had a blank expression as if he still didn’t realize what happened.
“Grandpa?”
“I have no words to express my gratitude, child.” He finally opened his mouth. “I had my doubts when I first met you. I felt something different exuding from you, but I wanted to deny it. I feared that I could be wrong and I would send an innocent person to their demise. But…”
At that moment, the old man lifted his head, and a small, sad smile formed on his face. The smile, as pained as it was, still carried something special. Hope… It was filled with hope.
“Now I am certain… You are the one we have been truly waiting for.” He added.
Arthur blinked in surprise before he smiled slightly. “I said I’m not that special, didn’t I? I’m just having my own fun.”
The old man nodded his head.
“So, do you have any plan in mind or any useful information that you might want to share with me? Since you guys have been inside the prison before, I need to know everything I need to know before going anywhere near that place.”
“I have had a plan for a while now. Since we expected to find you, we have kept in mind many details of the bastion. After all, we don’t want to let you do this alone. It is still our battle to take with the hero.”
“Oh, you want to infiltrate it with me?” Arthur asked.
“Yes, we must provide any help we can to make this possible. We don’t expect to sit here and wait for a miracle.”
“That’s… That makes sense.” The boy rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. He can understand why they didn’t want to just leave it to him. This was their problem after all and if they didn’t face it and at least help, then how could they stand before their own people after that?
“Ok, sure. We can work together. But, where exactly is this bastion?” Arthur asked.
“It is up north from the capital. To reach it, you have to access a forbidden section of the capital that will lead you to where the bastion was built. That’s the only way in and the only way out.”
“Wait, the capital? So we have to go to the capital first?”
‘Well, that’s very convenient.’
“Yes. We have to go to the capital. But, we cannot take this on at the moment. You did mention leaving tomorrow, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That is fine. If you wish, we can set a date to meet in the capital. Me and Nina have to prepare ourselves.” Miro replied. “We haven’t fought in years.”
“Hmm, a set date huh?”
“Yes, we can then plan our move, and how we are going to approach this. How about… A month from now?”
Arthur fell into deep thought when he heard the suggestion. ‘A month? Hmm, that doesn’t sound too bad. In a month, I can definitely do a lot of stuff, and get way stronger if I play my cards right. Maybe that would make this a little more possible.’
The boy was aware that at his current level, there was simply no way to tackle such an extremely difficult quest. However, a month of preparation was bound to make a difference. It also gave Arthur some room to explore the capital, gather information, and learn a lot of stuff.
“Understood. A month it is.”
“That’s settled then. A month from now, by dawn, near the southern capital gate. We shall meet.” Miro said as he stepped forward and extended his hand to Arthur. “We can never return such a favor, Arthur. But, you shall gain our loyalty to the end of time.”
The boy looked at Miro’s hand for a few moments before he nodded and took it with a smile.
“Let’s just get them out of there and then we can talk about this.” He said.
***
After that, Arthur left the shop. Miro didn’t provide him with information since the two were going to meet in a month. He said that he needed to do some important stuff before actually moving forward. He also warned Arthur not to try and do anything reckless when he was there.
From what he understood, the capital, while being the strongest and safest place in the human territory, was still very dangerous for those who weren’t careful. It’s filled with extremely strong people and that was more than enough to create conflicts.
Taking those pieces of advice in mind, Arthur decided to follow them. He knew that he was probably not going to avoid trouble completely, but he at least had a mental note that he could get into a very sticky situation if he acted like an idiot.
‘Haha, it’s not like I’m going to actually do something stupid. I’m far better than that. It will just be a smooth sail till the time to start this goddamn quest arrives. Then, it might turn a little chaotic.’ He thought to himself.
“Hnng, what a weird day.” Stretching his limbs, Arthur looked up at the sky. It was already night in the game so the entire world around him was dark. “Well, what was planning to do? Oh right, buy some stuff. I still have several hours before the meeting so I should probably try to hunt some monsters.”
Realizing how busy he was going to get before the journey, Arthur quickly stopped slacking and started moving toward his objectives. The time to idle around and take it easy is now over. What was ahead was far harder, and far more dangerous.
This was but the start, and the moment he stepped out of this place, the true test began. The test that would determine whether he was going to remain the number 1 player, or if the other players were going to reach and exceed him.
***
Meanwhile, far away from where Arthur was. In a land foreign to him and one that he had never seen before.
Inside a massive man-made structure that loomed over the world with its high altitude. Its thick walls are made out of robust stone and pillars akin to mountains rooted into the ground. It was a behemoth that would strike fear into anyone’s heart.
Even from the outside, one could hear loud noises, cries, and yells of an endless number of people.
“GET HIM!!!!”
“YEAAH!! KILL HIM!!!”
The source of that noise was indeed a large crowd of people. However, their cries weren’t of despair, and more of excitement. A rabid, almost bestial excitement robbed of any humanity.
They all sat around a massive arena where two silhouettes could be seen. One was a hideous large monster akin to a lion, bear hybrid.
“ROAR!”
The other was a humanoid. A man with a rusty sword and a small wooden shield. Both opponents were engaging in a brutal battle. Blood was spewed everywhere and the two were heavily injured.
However, they didn’t stop fighting. Under the crowds’ eyes, they were killing each other. But, this battle was clearly nearing its end.
The two rushed toward each other at the same time. The monster threw its sharp claws forward to slice through the man, while the man simply swung his sword. Everything happened in a split second.
*Splash*
By the time the crowd realized what happened, blood splashed everywhere like a fountain as the monster groaned loudly. Then, it fell to the ground motionless. Silence took over the entire arena for a second as if everyone was in deep shock before sheers erupted like an earthquake.
There were so many people that the world did indeed shake with their cries. However, the man didn’t care as he stood there, heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath.
“AAAAAAND THE WINNER IS… GINJO THE MONKEY WARRIOR!!!”
“Hah…” Standing there, soaking in his own blood, the man listened to the announcer speaking his name.
“… Curse you all…” He muttered under his breath.
[End Of Volume 1]
Volume Title: Flashy Beginnings
