Vol. 2 – Chapter 71 – Behen Archipelago Map

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Sensing the alertness in his voice as he told them that, the group of three left the tree side and rushed to Mathias rescue who was crushed by the invisible weight pressing him down on the ground.

"This is the first time I see someone getting done by Morpheus in such a way. Weight limit? Who would thought it would get us done like this. I mean I never tested that system in the Beta Phase because I was too poor to even afford items." remarked Red in a sarcastic way as he stared at Mathias from up-high, grinning with pleasure while Mathias was dead-pale.

[User Mathias has requested an exchange.]

"What should I do? Help you, or let you see what other debuffs one could get?"

Mathias snorted while turning his ruby eyes at Lane and Evan, activating the same interface for them, opening the exchange trade where the two immediately accepted the transfer.

Then with their windows opened, he began throwing all sort of items in his own window, without even watching what properties they had or what hidden options they might have, flooding the view of the two guys who rarely ever saw such a large amount of items.

"Guild Leader, how the heck did you get your hands on so many items?"

"Don't bother, I will need them back I am only acting as a carrier for that old granma until winter fades away." responded Mathias, who felt his hand hurting a little bit from the movements of picking and throwing in the holographic window.

"Do you guys have enough space?"

"Yea my inventory is rather ghostly. [1350/19540], plenty I should add." confirmed Evan who only had his equipment, gun, and the ammo that kept accumulating with each day he wasn't hunting, along with some potions and food.

"Same for me guild leader. We should be able to solve your problem."

"Wait, give me some too!" interjected Red who felt that Mathias problem could be solved with just Evan and Lane who cooperated with Mathias.

"Ohh, really now? Didn't you want to see what happens? Then go on accept the request." replied Mathias while glancing at Red with a wicked expression that made him look rather scary with his pale face.

"Fine, I'll also help." conceded Red, who opened his exchange interface with Mathias, and immediately being inundated by a flow of items, from gear, to mischievous items, to even wooden sculptures and so on, it contained everything, and after Mathias was finished with transferring his items, he confirmed the transfer on his side, leaving his exchange window turning in black color, locked away.

[Confirm]

Instantly when he confirmed the transaction, Red felt his body turning heavier, with the system alerting him about the large number of items he gained from Mathias, about his weight getting past his limits, and also recommending the processing of the items.

With a shocked gaze he watched Mathias raise on his feet, and later with an accusing tone, he told him.

"You are a troller and scammer. Damn it, what garbage have you given me to make me so heavy?"

"No idea, I just threw things at random. Now you can also check what the sensation might feel like, so enjoy. Thanks, Evan, Lane. Ahh another thing. Do you have spare time to come with me to at the bank so I can open new storage?"

"I mean, we are still waiting for the girls to join our party and later explore the area of Empar Forest, maybe we can stumble upon some great hunting grounds. We got spare time until then, I guess." responded Evan, agreeing to accompany Mathias to the local bank, where he could open a new storage room for Ann's item

Yet, before they departed they took their time to process the items they received, allowing Morpheus to scan around the items they got, and there was a lot of interesting things in that pile of junk. Red in a comic way, got done in the same way Mathias was, being pressed to the ground, by the invisible gravity, which had the orphans who played around the large tree laugh in a merry way.

*Whistle* "Who is that old lady? She got some interesting stuff here, from rare materials to unique consumable items, there's even some chests that can give epic items but the chance is really low 1% but then again 5% for a rare item, so it might be worth a lot of money."

"Ohh, there's such a thing? A chest that when open might give you an item? Like lottery?"

"Yea man, here I'll link this item."

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[Valorous Equipment Chest

Rating: Rare

Use: There is a chance of 1% of gaining an Epic Rated Item, followed by a 5% chance of gaining an Rare Rated item, appropriate for your loot specialization.

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"That's indeed worth a lot of money, even that 1% or 5% chance is worth a lot. Guild Leader, can we give it a try?"

Mathias who also was processing his items, turned his attention on Lane who mentioned that, and with a shake of his head, he rejected the attempt, telling them once again, that they weren't the owners of the items, just the carriers until all of them would be given back to Ann.

"Sigh, you are too good with the NPC's here. If it was me, I would just accept the items, and not be bothered giving them back. That's worth a lot of money right there, enough to secure my early game money needs for gear, potions, and other travel expenses." replied Lane, a bit dissapointed, but understanding that they weren't the owners of the items.

Like this, minutes flew by, but the four guys remained unmoved as they checked all sort of items, with some being noted down by Red, Lane and Evan, especially Red who managed to trade some of the items that made it heavy for him with Mathias.

"Check this flasks out. It is a potion that recovers with percentages." brought out Red, who linked the information about a certain potion from the pile of items.

[Phial of Serenity]

Rating: Epic / Conjured Item

Use: Restores 35% health and removes all diseases, poisons, curses, and bleeds affecting you. (3 Min Cooldown)

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"Yea it is pretty good." agreed the entire group, who looked to be a bounding activity, by searching in this pile of trash Mathias managed to hoard.

Lane also fished out a pretty interesting item from that pile, which made Mathias react rather interested in it, having multiple applications to its use. One could even use it as a decoy for monsters, or traps, that would cast an AoE explosion.

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[Explosive Sheep]

Rating: Rare

Use: Summons an Explosive Sheep which will charge at a nearby enemy and explode for 10% of targets health. Lasts for 3 min or until it explodes. (1 Min Cooldown)

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"The damage seems rather low, but if you think about it, 10% is decent enough when thinking about monsters with thousands upon thousands of HP. Also, the effects of the item, is quite extensive, from being a gadget of luring monsters, to delaying for your next set of actions." explained Mathias to the three guys who seemed to look down a bit on this item.

"Now that you mention it, there is indeed a cool use to it, especially for its duration. What I wonder is who made such an interesting item?"

"Probably some alchemist? Or Magician? What do you say, Mathias? You are the one with a magic class." asked Red, pondering on the small gadget that could deploy this explosive sheep.

"Let me think for a bit… I can feel mana infused into the object, a dim fragment, but condensed enough to cause that explosion the system describes the item doing. It should be the creation of a magician." mentioned Mathias as he looked at the gadget that Red passed to him in close details, which was something that Haycien also agreed on his end.

Yet, things moved forward, with the guys searching in their garbage trove, ignoring the useless heavy items, and focusing on the small gadgets and toys, and the flasks that were stashed in open chests, along with chests that could give a chance of gaining epic items. But there was still not a single moment where the guys were intrigued or left aghast, however there was an old map that Red stumbled upon inside a chest which left the group confused.

"There's this map here. Does anyone of you got an idea what those small islands should represent along with that Hall of Fame marked down?"

'I got no idea. Never saw such a thing in the maps I had the chance of seeing. What about you old Hay?' thought Mathias to himself, discussing with Haycien the items the group would stumble upon, making the old man bored in the process, with only small interjections about things that he found interesting such as the elixirs.

{Seems familiar. Could it be? Isn't this the home of the Sea People?}

'Can you tell me more about it old Hay? Are those merfolk or something that you call them Sea People?' asked Mathias curious about the mysterious map that showed visible signs of age when Red brought it out.

{Hah, the merfolk have their realm at the Southern boundaries of the Empire where the continent meets with the Red Sea. They are a peaceful race that remained neutral in the Hegemon War, and I also kept a friendly relation with their Tribe leader. The Sea People instead, are humans, who distanced from the land tribes, in this case my people. They rejected my proposal of uniting our force in the Hegemon War, and instead they choose to walk alone on that journey. They were the masters of the sea, and I heard they could even sail the Leviathan's infested Red Sea.}

'And what happened to them for such a map to appear? As if it is some treasure map? Ironic don't you think?'

{Hmmm, let me think … Right, it was that incident that triggered the end of Eranikus. Little Mathias, the Sea People are no more, they got whipped out by Eranikus, the Green Dragon I told you I missed the chance of killing and got stolen by that brat Hayate.}

'I see, so they are no more. Trully unfortunate.'

{Don't be sad, lad. From my knowledge and how headstrong they were against becoming my ally, there must be a secret to them. They could sail the Red Sea, and probably touched the shores of the Eastern lands with only the lands owned in the Western Continent being ravaged by the dragon attack. That's a good chance to see if you could still find something belonging to the Sea Ones.}

'It is a good side mission to have I guess. But did the Sea Ones had a name for this place?'

{If I'm not mistaken, their lands were called Behen Archipelago.}

After his talk with Haycien, in its normal fashion as he got used to whenever the old man would open his mouth about information that weren't available to players and which played in the grand story, Morpheus notified him about his "achievements" awarding him with some reputation points and also a surprising quest which made his reaction visible to the other three guys.

[Ding!] [You are the first player to have learned about the ancestral lands of the Sea People, Behen Archipelago. A quest has been initiated.]

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[Explore the Behen Archipelago in the search of the Sea People marks!]

Rating: Secret

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"Did you get something about this map Mathias?" asked Red, as he rubbed his hands, expecting something good from Mathias, and to his surprise, the latter nodded his head, sharing the quest he gained with them.

"BROOO! You better don't share it with others. This place is bound to be a treasure trove. It will remain something between the four of us." said Red as he closed in with the other three, as if they were brothers, making sure this quest and location remains a secret only the four knew.

"Isn't it obvious we will shut up, Red? This is our chance of beating that Russian guy Kraugel. So much it pisses me off he is on the top even though he is a solo player, meanwhile, we three are behind his ass, barely surviving in the top 20." interjected Lane, a bit frustrated about his inability of getting a bigger level than Kraugel.

"Being honest with you guys, we still don't know the right location of this place. We got only hints, and it might be somewhere else looking at the map. Nevertheless, we should try reaching this place, but right now I don't have time, since in a couple of days I will be off the game." told Mathias to the group in a calm way, while Red nodded his head, remarking.

"No problem Mathias, we will try finding this place, and once we get there, we'll not start exploring without you. Deal?"

"Haha, who couldn't say no to free labor? Obviously, I will not pass on such an offer. Deal. Right, we should go to a bank so I could stash away those items. I'll keep this map with me."

"Heh, weren't you saying we shouldn't keep those items?"

"I am only keeping it safe." replied Mathias as he coughed a bit, feeling himself caught in a dilemma, but the guys just made fun of him and prepared to go out again.

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Getting along after Mathias explained to Fayrene about visiting the bank and also telling Vek to keep a watch on the orphans, only afterwards the group departed toward the Inner City, and in a couple of minutes without being disturbed, and also noticing the Clark Gang being still on watch for the players who killed their members. It was close that they were close to attacking Mathias's group because Red, Evan and Lane choose to show their names to the outside.

@Red: What are those idiot's problems? Did someone trigger them that they began acting like how they did in the Beta?

Red asked that in the party chat the four were, discussing the recent changes in Clark Syndicate attitude against the players, but Mathias responded to him in a casual way, as if they weren't that important.

@Mathias: Ignore them, if they really attack, I can't wait to have them dead.

@Red: It was you who triggered them? Black Spearman … No wonder, you are also a crazy psycho. Dude, you better don't make a mess inside Titan while I am staying here. Do it after I finish my quests

@Evan: Guild Leader, are you really that Black Spearman who made it on the top of the forums in the beginning?

@Mathias: I never imagine that people would even be so inspired about a guy welding a spear and killing thugs.

@Red: Haha, you don't know how big you were for the small community of players who still experimented with the PvP side of the game. You inspired so many people, me included to try fighting using realistic attack styles instead of the skills the game would give you.

Confirmed Red, in a humble way that it made Mathias turn a bit embarrassed by how "respectful" that comment got.

From what the others remarked, the old video taken by Maple Mist in the past, was still having an impact in the community of players who were still experimenting with things shaping the landscape of the PVP combining the skills of the game and also the movements from reality.

They kept their talk to a casual level, without touching sensible subjects with Mathias, such as explaining to them his skills or his gear, and this walk along with Mathias made them see him in a new view, of a big brother who wanted to rub his knowledge to them to the best of abilities and made them learn the game even if they didn't understand much about his concepts, such as behaving thinking those NPC are humans like themselves.

It was something they saw first hand when Mathias entered a smaller bank, belonging to a family of influential bankers of the Saharan Empire, and talked with the people inside that were to a large extent only NPC's. They received him so well that it made them question if they knew Mathias was a player just like them, but it was something they couldn't attempt to check, finding it too awkward and moronic to ask.

"Welcome to the Fugger's Bank, how may I be of service, Your Excellency?" asked the clerk of the bank in a respectful way when seeing Mathias wear such nobles clothes, while behind him were players accompanying him.

'Those should be his bodyguards. Wow, he acquired the protection of the outlanders. He must have quite deep pockets to hire those immortal hoodlums. Maybe I should also discuss with little brother on making some contracts with the outlanders instead of paying protection fees to the Syndicates. He should know better than me since his sense for money is higher.'

The sole clerk of this bank, was called Ulrich, a person in his early twenties, with black hair, downing a renaissance styled winter coat, similar in style to Mathias but obviously of a better quality than the tailored made belonging to Mathias, that made him as extravagant as his little brother, Jakob.

"I would want to open storage inside your establishment. Are you offering such services?" asked Mathias bowing his head respectfully to the banker that made him think about a the history of a certain person, he couldn't remember on the moment.

"Obviously, all of our services are similar if not better than the Imperial Bank. Please, have a sit. We are required to sign a contract first and pay a rent tax upfront, and I swear on the great Venice name, your goods will be safe in our Fugger's hands."

"Sure, take your time to set those requirements." replied Mathias in a calm way, as Ulrich guided Mathias to another room of his building, a grand lounge where an spacious couch resides, and once the group of four got there, a beautiful maid came to serve them with some fragrant tea.

"Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, Your Excellency."

Once the maid left, the three guys glanced at Mathias, and with a grin, they remarked sarcastically.

"My, my, boss they actually think you are one of them. Teach me how to play them like you, and get some benefits."

"Hah, stop it, I already told you what to do. Is not my fault you are foolish not to believe me."

"Maybe we need to be in your apprenticeship and learn the craft from you, always at your side acting as bodyguards and learn your secrets."

"Please, don't bother me. Aren't you focused on leveling up? Are you sure committed to follow me around like ghosts?" asked Mathias sarcastically, making Red face change a bit, turning bitter, and since getting burnt by Mathias comment, they got silent, just in time when Ulrich arrived holding in his hands a bundle of paper along with a silver-colored quil and an inkwell decorated with glass craftsmanship.

Ulrich then started discussing with Mathias about the contract, and what was written on it, later on moving to talk about what capacity of storage Mathias required, to which the latter in a nonchalant one, as if he was in control of the entire situation said a large number.

"A medium-size room, with a storage box would suffice for my use."

"Certainty. Gladly we have available storage rooms, from the biggest room, to smallest type. The cost of renting the space of the storage room is 300 gold per month for the medium-size rooms. As for the storage box, you can buy one that will be in our care with 2000 gold."

"Once I buy the storage box, if I don't rent an available storage room, it will still be under your management, correct?"

"Indeed, we have a specific space for the boxes that will be under a secret room, that will not be taxed for our clients. But keeping in mind that the storage room has more usages and that they are unique, our establishment can't afford yet of selling them."

"Understandable, I am fine with this. I expect one of the best storage boxes for such price."

"I assure you, lord, they are made by the best craftsman of Fullbaz. Unbreakable, and impossible to access it without the keys or our supervision."

Nodding his head, he brushed off the shouts he received from the three guys next to him, who found the sum of money too expensive, but Mathias who had his fair share of experiences around Titan, talking with people, found in his visit inside the Imperial Bank, their prices for opening an individual storage, and compared to the Fuggers, this family business had smaller prices.

Filling in the contract together with Ulrich, and later on signing himself with his new name he adopted since getting together with Fayrene, and establishing a deep connection with her family, Mathias Arundell, it made the banker shocked to see who he was by name. While he was reading his name, the three guys could see his reaction, a realistic way of showing surprise, and later on hearing Ulrich ask in a quiet way.

"Your Excellency, I have a question. Are you by chance part of the Arundell Family of Grenhaller?"

"Yes, but don't stress yourself. I am simply minding my own business while my family has their own business in Grenhaller."

"That I understood, sir. Excuse me for my sudden outbreak, it is rare having such visitors from high places."

"Hah, don't bother. Come, show me my storage box, and also the storage room, so I could deposit some of my goods until I come to retrieve them."

"Ahh, of course. After me, gentlemen."

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