Livinius felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he moved a few more steps away from the door.
"Liv... Livinius..."
The muffled voice from the darkness coughed.
Livinius severed his connection with one of the long swords and formed a bond with the lock of the large wooden door. He focused on the lock, and as he pressed into it, the chains stretched and finally snapped under the pressure.
The lock remained intact, but the chain links were broken. The arched door swung wide open, letting in the dim light of the moon.
On the platform before the spiral staircase of the tower, a tall, twisted man hung upside down from a post. Below him, a small pool of blood had formed.
Livinius looked at the purple name tag of the man whose face was torn apart by too many cuts to count and remembered the notification he had received a short time ago. This poor man was Livinius's master, the man he had replaced, and the chieftain of the mound.
He entered the tower with cautious steps and approached him.
"Livi... Livinius... the dwarves... must not discover the vault... first... you... find a way to destroy them. The oil painting... the key... hidden inside the eagle statue's... ugh... eye."
After the last word left Lampert's mouth, he took no more breaths.
[Quest: Find a way to destroy the dwarves before they discover the vault under the mound and enter it. Reward:???]
[Do you accept the Quest?]
Accept!
Livinius grimaced as he glanced at the entrails hanging from Lampert's torn and blood-soaked green robe.
He turned his gaze away from him and scanned the surroundings. There was nothing but dust, rat bones, dead insects, and spider webs.
He lit a candle resting on the railing of the spiral staircase with a match from the matchbox at his side and began ascending the stairs.
When he arrived at a small wooden door, he kicked it open and ducked under its low threshold. After glancing at the moonlight reflected off the surface of the massive copper bell, he sat next to one of the four stone pillars holding up the roof.
From where he sat, he could see the horizon of the vast land covered by the night. In the north, beneath the hills, there were shining points, large and small—likely part of a small village.
"It would make more sense to stay here until sunrise rather than travel at night," he murmured, sighing.
Until dawn, he pondered life and death. He had met his death with more calm than he had expected. He was alive, and he was more grateful for that than the light in his eyes fading and blending into eternity, regardless of how it came to be.
Inside him burned a fierce desire to accomplish great things, good or bad. Deep down, he didn't believe he was inside a game world. But his perception and reasoning clearly fell short of understanding what was truly happening. The only conclusion he could reasonably draw was that he was inside a real world—one with its own laws and mechanisms, operating independently of his comprehension.
He recalled the notifications he received when he first opened his eyes.
Nether...
If it claimed it could grant me immortality… then is it a god?
A god awaiting its awakening...
Then, where does the System fit into this equation?
There's far too much I don't know.
How curious...
But one thing is certain: Nether chose me to prevent the fall of Alkhen Castle.
He rose to his feet, shivering slightly with the cool morning breeze. As the sunlight began to wash over the land, the small village houses became clearly visible.
"Alright," he murmured, stretching his body. "Let's see if I can find something useful in the village."
Without wasting any time, he headed toward the village.
The village was quite modest, with no more than fifty households. Most of the houses were made of mud brick and wood. The faces of the people he saw working the soil, feeding animals, and carrying manure looked pale, as if lifeless, their gazes empty.
Why do the NPCs here look so different?
Livinius had never been in the lands of the Nylian Kingdom before. He knew it was one of the five largest kingdoms on the continent, and that the upper ranks of its aristocracy were dominated by Dark Wizards, Shadow Knights, Necromancers, and Warlocks. He had heard many rumors that there were no laws in this land and that horrific massacres were common.
It wasn't surprising that many players who wanted to play as Dark Sorcerers chose to start in this kingdom.
Livinius walked through the muddy alleyways and stepped into the village square. His eyes immediately caught sight of a stone building, taller than the others.
A tavern, huh? Livinius glanced at the sign bearing the carved words "Green Torch" before stepping inside.
Inside, the place was empty except for a short, unpleasant man polishing bottles on the counter. The smell of melted cheese from the kitchen in the back filled the air.
"Do you know a man named Dusk?" Livinius asked directly.
"Why do you ask?"
"I need to talk to him about something," Livinius replied.
"Wait here!" the man said, sizing him up for a few seconds before scratching the bald spot on his greasy gray hair and heading into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, he returned.
"Follow me!"
Livinius followed him into the kitchen and glanced at his orange name tag indifferently.
"Go downstairs. He's waiting for you," the ominous man said, pointing to the hatch in the corner.
Livinius climbed down the ladder leading from the kitchen into the shelter below. He ignored the musty stench flooding his nose as his feet landed in a shallow pool of water.
The square-shaped room was lit by four torches hanging in each corner. The wall behind was lined with barrels placed on their sides. At the center, on a half-meter-tall stone platform, stood a wooden table.
Livinius quickly scanned the man seated at the table, dressed entirely in black leather.
Dusk tapped the papers in his hand against the table to straighten them, then fixed his crimson, black-pupiled eyes on Livinius.
"What do you want to talk to me about?"
Livinius felt uneasy under the weight of his ominous stare but kept his face composed. In truth, he wasn't sure exactly how or what to say to him. The quest description had been pretty vague.
"I want to talk to you about the Tirid Mound," Livinius said after a slight hesitation.
"So?"
"Tirid Mound was once belonged to my master." Livinius coughed lightly.
"Ah! So you want to take it back from the dwarves," Dusk said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair.
"And how exactly does a Level 1 like you plan to do that?"
"That's… why I'm here. I heard from a few people that you might be able to help," Livinius replied, internally rolling his eyes.
"I can't provide you with any combat support. All I can offer is intelligence through my ravens. Of course, that comes with a price." Dusk clasped his hands and leaned on the table.
"What is it?" Livinius asked, trying not to show his tension.
"Wipe out the Vulture Chieftain Tragal and its minions nesting in the Terrera Woods," Dusk growled, clenching his fists.
"They've been a constant nuisance to my precious ravens. I want them all dead."
"If I do this, how do I know I'll get what I'm owed?" Livinius asked.
"Thanks to my ravens, I can observe every inch around the mound without being seen," Dusk said, tossing his long black hair over his shoulder, and flashing his crooked yellow teeth in a grin.
"If you've got a brighter idea, you're free to chase it."
"Fine," Livinius said after a few seconds of silent brooding.
They completed their agreement under the witness of Themis' All-Seeing Eye.
"I'll need a map of the region, too." said Livinius.
[Main Quest Updated!]
[Fulfill Dusk's request to receive intelligence about the Tirid Mound!]
Dusk opened the drawer of his desk, pulled out a parchment, and tossed it toward him.
Livinius examined the map. It provided a detailed topography of the Skullmark Wildlands, a region within the Nylian Kingdom.
"What's the name of this village?" Livinius asked, his eyes still scanning the map.
"Tehatt," Dusk replied, his sharp gaze piercing through. "If that's all, leave. I have matters to attend to."
Terrera Woods was roughly thirty kilometers to the west and the Tirid Mound was about sixty kilometers to the north.