CHAPTER 20: “NEXT DESTINATION”

Hello, dear envoy.

You might be confused about the intent of this letter, about who is the writer, and why this letter is intended for you.

My name is Nebule. I am one of Oceanus’s people. 

I’ve heard of your great achievements and how you have helped people in the nearby Pymule. 

Please, if you are someone who helps others, I beg of you to come and save me. I know of no one else who can. I will compensate you for your troubles. Money, jewels, anything, just please help me.

If you are willing, I will be waiting for you at the entrance of Oceanus. Our gates have long been closed to outsiders, but in this letter I have attached a special badge for you to be able to earn entry. 

I’ll be waiting for you, envoy. Please.

 

-Nebule.

 

 

Ai read the letter carefully from the start to the neat cursive signature the writer had put on the bottom. Desperation was inked into every word and every line on the paper. The owner needed him badly. 

He’d been debating where to go next for his adventures. After he parted ways with Morion and left the Arena Instance, he had been going through information regarding the places available nearby and was considering which place was best to visit next.

Pymule was located at the edge of elven borders. All beginner villages were located at the borders of their own homeland, close to other places that belonged to other races. It was so that players would be able to visit other lands belonging to other races without having to go across the land. It further pushed the freedom of choice. 

Ai was actually eyeing one of the major cities in the Elven Kingdom, Myta. It was not as big as the capital, but it was still densely populated and would have more than just elves. A place that big must have many quests and hidden pathways that he could have fun trying to figure out. Or maybe he could go to a nearby human village. He was quite intrigued to learn what kind of culture [World Symphony] depicted about humans.

Oceanus was not something he thought about.

Firstly, it was a brand new region featuring a race that had never been seen all that much in Oratorio, the Sirens. Not much was known about them since no one could actually go into their village. From quick glances, all everyone knew was that they looked pretty humanoid with blue tinted skin and some typical mermaid features. Since it was a new region, there would also be countless players clamoring to visit it. There must be lots of players there right now and honestly that was something Ai wasn’t ready to deal with.

Secondly, Oceanus wasn’t exactly close by. 

Elves were woodland creatures, as such their kingdom was located right in the middle of the land, not close at all to the southern corner where Oceanus was located. There would be some distance to cover if he wanted to go there.

He was just curious about the content of the letter about Oceanus and read it on impulse. He expected the letter to be some sort of formal invite, not...this. This letter was just layered with desperation and helplessness. 

Thus the source of Ai’s conflict. His conscience wouldn’t let this slide so easily.

At the moment, he still wasn’t out of the forest just yet. He was just walking mindlessly toward a general direction even though he was keen on visiting that major elven city. Thinking about Oceanus had him taking a small break under one of the trees. 

“What do you think I should do…?” Ai asked, looking at his owl friend.

The owl simply tilted his head slightly and blankly stared at him confusedly. Ah, what had he been expecting from it really.

Staring at the owl, Ai couldn’t really tell what the creature was supposed to do. So far into their journey, it hadn’t done much of anything really. It seemed to really love its owl form as well since it hadn’t changed to anything else. It was definitely considered to be his pet, right…?

[World Symphony] had very vague rules and restrictions about pets in the game. Players weren’t given a menu or status page dedicated for their “pets”. A player couldn’t control their pets as one would in a normal MMORPG. Instead, the animal companions behaved more like real life pets. Firstly, it was up to the animal if they wanted to follow a certain player, as such it was also up to the animal if they wanted to leave said player. Secondly, A pet’s available skills and uses weren’t displayed for the players either, one would need to observe the animal manually and find out what their use exactly was. They could have incredibly useful skills like giving EXP bonus and helping with enemy attacks or do absolutely nothing and were simply just décor.

What could this owl possibly do?

So far all it did was sit on Ai’s shoulder, watch him closely and sometimes even flew around to find something to eat.

Surely there was more to it, right? If not, Ai felt almost betrayed as he recalled how he had fought this thing so fiercely and yet it didn’t even do anything even remotely close to what he’d seen it was capable of in the cathedral.

He poked at the owl’s head while staring at it intently.

“Do something, please.”

No answer, of course.

Ai sighed exasperatedly, stood and dusted off some dirt off his trousers. He shouldn’t be expecting anything yet since they haven’t met any mobs that Ai couldn’t deal with a swipe of his measly dagger. In other words, they’d all been the easiest monsters the game had to offer. 

Maybe the owl only reacted if there were big enemies worth its energy? So picky.

Ai looked at the letter once more. Going to Oceanus wasn’t really what he wanted to do, it just…the letter tugged immensely at his heartstrings.

…

Ai grabbed the item from the mail sent by Nebule and closed the mail. The emotions in the letter had won him over, as much as he didn’t want it to. Well, it wouldn’t harm to just go and take a look at this new region. If the quest were too much of a sudden difficulty jump, then he could just simply leave it for another day.

The badge that Nebule had sent wasn't that special or outstanding looking. It was a blue shell with a pin on the back. Though simple, the color and shine of the shell made it look incredibly pretty, especially under the sun. For now, Ai stored it in his inventory. He would put it on once he reached Oceanus’s borders. He would hate to accidentally break the thing and fail the mission without so much as entering the region.

He had quite the distance to cover so Nebule better be prepared to wait at least a few days for his arrival.

 

***

 

Though the distance left much to be desired, it did give Ai a chance to actually look around the environment as he walked. Like talking a walk at part only much more peaceful. Ai liked walking in these types of dense forests better. There was no distant buzz of the city that he didn’t like that much, there was only the breeze of nature and its inhabitants. How he craved to have this peace in his heart constantly. He couldn’t feel the emotions that he would feel if this was the real world and for that he was grateful.

Ai shook his head to remove the sudden somber thoughts. He was Ai. Reality had no room to be thought about. At the moment, it didn’t exist or at the very least far from his realm of thoughts.

Yes.

Blowing out a breath, Ai returned to admiring the view. Of the multicolor leaves of the trees that soon turned into a vibrant green as he stepped further and further away from the Elven Region. It had truly felt like a fantasy escape.

As he walked for longer, he started to notice that the mobs had changed too.

The mobs in the Elven region were actually pretty tame. Some wild hostile animals, maybe some little monsters that happened to loiter around the area but for the most part they weren’t that hard to take down. There were no big or minor boss type monsters while he was still in the Elven area. Ai wondered if the capital library had some information regarding this.

The monsters outside of the Elven area were much more vicious. There were more of the fantasy type monsters that you would usually see in a fantasy setting game. Goblins, slimes, were-creatures, skeletons, basically all sorts of monsters. As Ai ventured further, he found that some of them were getting harder and harder to kill with just his measly dagger.

Panting over the last monster he just fought, he glanced at his dagger with irate. Once he reached Oceanus, he was so going to throw this thing away. Then his glare fell on the owl, who hadn’t done anything other than fly around and give some hoots which in the creature’s mind was probably supposed to be cheering.

With a groan and a shake of his head, Ai pocketed the dagger away and looked ahead.

Oceanus wasn’t that far, but there was still a little bit to go. It was far too late to turn back and head to Myta, so the only remaining way was forward.

Just as he caught his breath, a rumble that resonated through the ground told him that it wasn’t over. He looked around but there was only silence in the air. Even the owl who loved to prance around had gone deathly still, its beady eyes wary.

A howl pierced through the air, almost deafening and intimidating. Along with it, a giant looming figure emerged from the expanse of the environment. Ai didn’t see where it came from but it was standing in front of him, eyes red as it glared at him.

Unlike the owl’s mirage that he faced in Pymule, this one had a different presence. Ai could feel the hostility that it emanated, it was deadly, unnegotiable, pure. There was no room for Ai to calm it down or reason with it. It was a mob through and through. A giant black wolf, baring its teeth, prepared to fight.