Chapter 12 : Trouble
The next part of Nash's plan was to clear the level 2 dungeon called the [Fiery Marsh] but to do that one had to meet certain requirements.
The first was to be at least a level 2 player, which is very much expected and is the most simple of the requirements.
Additionally, the player interested in the said level 2 dungeon had to have a fire resistance attribute of some kind, considering the sort of environment that was existent in the dungeon. But that was only one half of it, the other half was that a fire resistance point of at least 5 was required for this.
None of this was a problem for Nash.
In fact, he had ticked on the requirements and was ready to go for [Fiery Marsh] at this moment, if he so wished.
During the time he left the Assassin Master's place, Nash decided to put his Enhancement Wheel to a test and try it out on the Flame Armour that he had bought from Bismarck.
He had his doubts but since he did not fail in any of the rules that guided item upgrade with the Enhancement Wheel, Nash expected it to work and so it did.
With the wheel spun, it effectively boosted the fire resistance that his Flame Armour offered, raising it upto 5 points to reach what was exactly needed for [Fiery Marsh].
However, the same could not be said for Eileen, who was yet to gain any item that offered any form of attribute resistance, much less one that reached 5 points as needed.
Nash felt the need to help Eileen and that was why he delayed his own play, also since he saw a bigger future, he didn't mind.
After getting her to level 2, Nash was sure that she could now purchase some items to help her meet the fire resistance requirement for [Fiery Marsh].
Until she did so, Eileen couldn't accompany him to that dungeon.
Nash, on the other hand, wanted her to tag along.
That way, he would save a lot of coins on healing and recovery potions that would not add a meaningful advantage to him at this stage in the game.
"Thank you so much for your help, Nash," Eileen said with a smile. "I don't really know how to repay you since I have no coins."
"While we are in the game, you can call me Neon," Nash said, correcting her. "But it's my pleasure to help. I already told you to consider this as payment for taking care of me at the hospital."
After a little while of more chatter and walking around, Eileen and Nash walked out of the village together.
They were also being followed but they had not known that since they did not expect anyone to pick particular interest in them.
After all, they were just starting the game and hadn't achieved anything worthy of note.
However, this person was the storekeeper from before who wanted a peck from Eileen before Nash stepped in to disrupt his plans.
In fact, the storekeeper was no NPC as Nash had falsely assumed.
He was a player who was doing a quest where he had to look after a merchant's magic shop for a period of time when the merchant was away to get more supplies.t
Naturally, many players would assume him to be an NPC and he, on the other hand, indulged them by speaking in a mechanical tone of voice.
He did this for his own self satisfaction and to see the look on their face.
He ground his teeth bitterly as he watched Eileen and Nash walk away.
"A noob trying to play prince charming and save the damsel in distress. He's lucky that I was restrained by the time period given to me by that bastard merchant. You won't get away from me, noob."
******
Nash led Eileen to the grassland where the [Animal Farm] dungeon was located. Getting her to climb up to level 2 was the priority right now.
Even if Eileen was not physically strong enough, thanks to her class of choice, she should be able to, at least, handle the level 0 creatures here.
But before she could handle any of the domesticated animals here, Nash and Eileen had to handle the bag of trouble that approached from behind them.
"Hey! Hero!" the storekeeper from earlier called out.
Nash and Eileen stopped and turned, only to see his familiar face and look at each other.
They both wondered why this person was here.
"Was he following us?" Eileen voiced out her thoughts.
Nash glanced at her and nodded. "I think so."
Nash exhaled and shook his head, stretching out his hand as if telling the approaching player to halt.
"Look. We don't want the staff anymore. She already told you that."
"Yes! You can keep it or sell it to another person," Eileen added, supporting Nash.
The player halted and crossed his arms over his chest.
He then proceeded to massage his chin in thought, pretending to not understand what they were talking about.
"What staff?" he asked with a grin. "You mean that good-for-nothing item from that old merchant's store? Don't make me laugh."
Nash's eyes grew wide slightly.
'He wasn't an NPC,' Nash thought, deducing the meaning underlined in the statement the storekeeper just made.
Nash put two and two together, figuring out that there was a possibility of this person being a real player.
Eileen would probably not have deducted this and if this player took the liberty to follow, it only meant one thing.
He wants to teach them a lesson.
The player laughed and continued approaching them while putting a finger over his lips.
"Sshh, pretty lady. I'm not here for you," he said as his eyes suddenly shifted to Nash. "I'm here for him. I know you must have worked hard to get to level 2. Tsk…"
The player then showed a finger. "How about we stepped it back down to level 1?"
The player spoke quite confidently, making Eileen worry.
She might not have played so many games but she can understand what he was saying and also read the tone with which he spoke.
The reason for this player's confidence was simple.
He was a level 3 berserker class player.