[ACTIVATING QUEST 2]
[QUEST: MEET WITH THE BLACKSMITH]
[TASK: Travel to the dwarven kingdom. There, find a blacksmith who goes by the name Ragnir Brazen and commission a greatsword.]
[Reward: 2 Levels, 1500 Coins, and potential for more...]
[Failure to Complete will result in the loss of the system and all items gained from the system!]
A greatsword, huh? I'm more of a hand-to-hand fighter, but alright. Though... how exactly am I supposed to get there?
. . .
A trip to the Dwarven Kingdom was never easy, regardless of if you knew the location or not. First, while the Dwarven Kingdom itself is not big, it is surrounded by mountain ranges which can take weeks to cross by foot and carriage. Second, due to their crafty mechanisms and long history, they've been able to transport their kingdom to random locations all across the land. So unless you know someone who has been there extremely recently or personally know a dwarf, you'll most likely never find it or spend months non-stop searching.
However, fortunately for me, the system seems to have a map where I can find the location of any quest. It only shows me the kingdom though. It would be nice if it showed the blacksmith's location.
Regardless, after a week of trying to convince people I know where it's located, someone was finally willing to take me with them, but we had to make a few stops, so it was around a month-long journey.
The man who took me was a merchant who sold a variety of items and necessities and traveled from kingdom to kingdom throughout the year. Apparently, he had been looking to sell to the Dwarven Kingdom for a while, and it took little convincing. He said, "Well... something's telling me that if I don't trust you, I will miss out on what I've been searching for. I'll trust you this once, and if it doesn't work out, well, at least I was still paid. My next spot is close by to the dwarven land anyway, so it isn't out of the way."
I smirked, glad someone was finally willing to take me. "Great!" I spoke. "When can we leave? I'd prefer to leave as soon as possible."
He responded, "We can leave now if you want. Just let me store my shop. It's right around the corner, feel free to follow me if you want."
So I did exactly that. I was indeed a bit curious as to what he exactly sold, but it was more of an assurance to make sure he wasn't tricking me. He walked up to his little shop, though it would be more proper to call it a stand, and put out a fist toward it. Suddenly, his shop disappeared and he walked back toward me.
"So, are we ready to go?" he asked.
Dumbfounded yet curious, I responded, "Yes... but how did you do that?"
He questioned, eyebrows raising, "Are you serious? You seriously don't know about a spatial ring?"
I scratched the back of my head while answering, "Ah, that's what it is? I've only read about them in books. I grew up mostly away from society with my parents rarely being home. I didn't know they actually existed."
He chuckled, "Oh, well that explains it! Yes, these are called spatial rings. They're quite expensive, but if you become a premium member of the merchant guild, you get one of these for free. They are made from teleportation runes that connect to a different spatial dimension. I'm not sure of the specifics, but that's all I know. Alright, let's get a move on!"
The first few days were filled with non-stop questions, primarily only from me. Questions about how human kingdoms are run, how society functions, what they do during wartime, magic, etc. As a result, I learned quite a lot about humanity.
I decided to go for it and asked, "I have a question. Who wiped out the dragons? Or rather, how did they do it? I thought dragons were, you know, mythical and insanely powerful beings that only the humans from fairytales could kill."
His expression suddenly became serious. "Ah... the dragons. I used to do business with them all the time, but it's just unfortunate what happened. Well to answer your first question, it was the Kingdom of Velmont who initiated it, but the Orwyn Empire that did most of the damage. It was surprising, since both of them were constantly pointing guns at each other's heads."
Velmont and Orwyn, huh? I must remember these names at all costs. "So..." I responded. "What about my second question?"
The merchant thought for a while, scratching his chin while thinking. "It's rather complicated and hard to say. From a regular standpoint and using common knowledge, it was an impossible task for both kingdoms. The Dragon King or Emperor was the third strongest being on the planet. However, the only way to gauge spots except for the first position is through a combat analysis. If you were to ask me, I'd say the Dragon King was number two. So from this perspective, it's only plausible that either the official second seat holder was truly stronger or a decent amount of the top fifteen came together and fought him."
Thinking about what he had just told me, a thought popped into my mind. "Couldn't it have been the strongest being? Whoever is holding the first seat of power?"
He instantly responded, "No, that'd be impossible."
Curious, I inquired, "Why would that be impossible? I'd say it's rather logical, no?"
"Ah, I forget. You're not really into society," he spoke. "You see, from a pure power standpoint, there is no 'logical' reason for why the strongest being would take out the Dragon King who does not even threaten him. But, the main reason is because... well, I'm not supposed to tell you this so do not speak a word about it, but the first seat has been missing for years now."
A shock of confusion visibly hit me. My eyes widened, my jaw dropped, and my body tensed up.
He laughed, "Haha, I know you have lots of questions. Although I am grateful for you guiding me to the Dwarven Kingdom, I cannot tell you any more than this. Otherwise, my life, or rather my career, would be in danger. While the merchant guild is notoriously known for only selling merchandise, we also collect and sell information. In fact, our guild leader holds the fourteenth seat, so it really is not that shocking."
"Jeez... I wonder how big your information network is," I rhetorically asked.
But he swiftly provided me an answer. "Large enough and filled with enough ears for me to know that you're the Prince of the Dragons."
This time, my eyes really widened and my body fully tensed. It felt like my soul had left my body. I chuckled, pretending to be clueless. "Haha... funny joke."
He grabbed his hat, leaned backward, and put it over his face. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone and I know how to keep a favor. No one other than me even knows. I'm the one who brought you to the hospital after all. If it weren't for my 'Ultra-Special Morph Reversion Potion,' you would've remained like a dragon. All these questions of yours wore me out, so forgive me, but I must sleep now."
I struggled to speak until I could finally scramble some words, "Name! Name... what's your name?"
I was too late. He went to sleep and his snores were extremely loud.
I sighed, impatiently curious and afraid, yet I decided to keep my trust in him. Suddenly, the system window appeared.
[MINI QUEST COMPLETED]
[COMPLETION LEVEL: 100%]
[QUEST DESCRIPTION: FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HUMANITY AND THE DEATH OF YOUR CLAN]
[COMPLETION REWARD: +1 TO ALL STATS, 100 COINS, +20 EXP]
[HIDDEN ACCOMPLISHMENT ACHIEVED: MEET A SSS-RANKED BEING]
[HIDDEN REWARDS: HIDDEN SKILL CARD (AUTHORITY-GRANTED)]
[ACCEPT ALL REWARDS? YES/NO]
Without hesitating, I pressed yes. "System, what does (AUTHORITY-GRANTED) mean?"
The system, processing my rewards, responded. "Authority-Granted means that a system-user with higher authority has granted you one of the following: a hidden card they've stored, a hidden-level skill of theirs, or used authority to provide you with a hidden skill. Analyzing authority level and user... identified. Would you like to know more?"
I responded, "Yes, I'm curious."
The system spoke, "Limited information is available as the user has prevented you from accessing certain information."
[USER NAME: RYU ####]
[USER RACE: Human]
[AUTHORITY LEVEL: ????]
[ACTIONS DONE TO YOU: Provided a hidden-level skill.]
[REASON: "I do not need it, enjoy. Get strong fast!"]
Interesting. Well, nonetheless, a hidden skill is a 0.5% chance. But now that I think of it... there are other users, system?
The system responded, "Yes, there are several other system users across... [ERROR]. Users have different authority depending on power, quest progression, and can interact with each other from afar. You have yet to unlock this feature, so get strong fast!"
Hm, that's nice to know that there are more like me, but also sad. I shouldn't have expected it to be exclusive though. That'd be too selfish of the world. But when did I meet an SSS ranked player...
I looked down at the merchant and my jaw, once again, dropped. So by guild master, he is the merchant guild master and fourteenth seat holder. I better not get on his nerves. Let's not think about that though... let's open the card.
[OPEN HIDDEN SKILL CARD? YES/NO]
Yes!
Another cinematic effect, but this time, it gave off a mysterious feeling. The card slowly descended from up above and landed in my hands, tearing itself open. The card vanished, and a ball appeared in my hand. The ball was shaped and colored like the world, and inside were many powerful forces that were in complete unity. I couldn't tell what everything exactly was, but I saw fire, water, air, earth, light, friction, and even gravity. It was like I had a world of my own in my hands, with all the laws, and the system appeared.
[SKILL NAME: RULERS POWER]
[SKILLS CLASS: OMEGA CLASS (HIDDEN CLASS)]
[SKILL DESCRIPTION: All natural laws exist for you to control them as their ruler]
[SKILL HAS 5 TIERS. YOU ARE CURRENTLY ON TIER 1]
[NOTIFICATION: SKILL HAS BEEN DEEMED TO BE TOO POWERFUL FOR THE USER TO USE. LOCKING SKILL. IN ORDER TO UNLOCK, USER MUST REACH 25 STRENGTH AND 25 INTELLIGENCE. UNTIL THEN, NO INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO USER.]
[NOTIFICATION: COMPATIBILITY DETECTED. MERGE RULERS POWER AND MYSTERIOUS WILL FRAGMENT? THIS WILL NOT PREVENT YOU FROM RECEIVING ANY OTHER WILL FRAGMENTS.]
Really... another thing locked? Well, it's good to not be too powerful at my age. System, merge!
[NOTIFICATION: RULERS POWER AND MYSTERIOUS WILL FRAGMENT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY MERGED. NEW POWER: GENESIS RULER. INFORMATION WILL BE LOCKED UNTIL 30 STRENGTH AND 30 INTELLIGENCE. POWERS CAN STILL BE USED SEPARATELY!]
Oh phew, I thought it was about to make me wait even longer. Well, it shouldn't take too long based on my current pace.
[NOTIFICATION: Host, I apologize in advance. However, we've noticed that you've received too many high-level items considering your level. As a result, you will no longer be allowed to receive item beads or skill cards until you reach level 20. Please forgive us, and to compensate, you will be given a 1.5x exp boost and +10% coin boost on each quest.]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 2 (20/30 EXP)]
[TIP: Stat points will also be typically rewarded for hidden quests, so try your best to find and complete as many as possible! Leveling and receiving stats become gradually harder as the quest difficulty will progress quite fast, so get as much stats as possible early on!]