ACT 9 Magic Kingdom Bristania

-The step 3 maturation process is in progress.

This is the final step in creating the Necromancer’s Immortality Pill. The only thing left is to let it mature long enough to draw out 100% of the effects from each ingredient. Make sure to seal the pot up completely, avoid any direct sunlight and keep it in a cool, dry place.

=Maturation process, time remaining:  81 hours and 37 minutes.

“Phew, I’m glad there wasn’t any problems.”

Ark sighed with relief as he confirmed the information window.

‘It’s useless to be too greedy…… I really thought I was going to save time.’

His plan to take the ferry to save time on creating the immortality pill had backfired. Of course, if the ferry had arrived at the harbour as planned then there would be no problems. However, they received a surprise attack from the pirates along the way. But that wasn’t all. Bread had appeared with an unknown grudge. He really felt like he received a huge misfortune whenever he wanted to create an immortality pill. Despite the numerous difficulties, Ark had firmly defended the pot. Throughout the pirate ships attacks, Bread’s confrontation and riding the dolphins, he had firmly shaken the pot and pa.s.sed through stage 1 safely. And he had to stage at a beach on Bristania until the 2nd stage crystallization process finished. After the 2nd stage was finished, the process of maturation immediately began. The time required for the maturation process was 81 hours. So Ark would have to bury the pot under the sand.

‘The maturation process is the most important and it needs 81 hours, so I need to bury this pot here for 81 hours. But I don’t know what will happen if it is detected by other users or monsters.’

“Master, I found it!”

At that time, Racard came flying from the forest near the beach. Ark had been watching the area and slightly shook the pot when he flinched. At the same time, a warning message flashed before his eyes.

-Shaking the pot during the maturation process is dangerous!

“What, what the, you? You scared me so the degree of completion went down!”

Ark shouted angrily as sweat dripped down his face. He couldn’t know the rating of the finished product until the immortality pill was completed. Since he had to worry about the degree of completion falling throughout all those stressful situations, Ark’s nerves were tense. Then Racard acted like a child who had been scolded and said.

“M-me? You’re the one shouting for no reason.”

“Just be careful. You know how hard it was to gather the ingredients.”

“……I understand.”

“Have you discovered a village?”

“……Yes, if we travel for around an hour through the forest.”

“Well done. You take the lead. It will be a big problem if we encounter a monster now.”

Ark gently held the pot with his hand. During the maturation process, there was a worry that the degree of completion would fall if moved too much. So it would be a serious problem if they encountered monsters while travelling to the village. Therefore Ark had Racard switch to satellite mode. Fortunately, the monsters around here weren’t that high level so they didn’t attack first. But even level 10 wolves were a threat to Ark now. Racard said 1 hour but he had to go back and forth to avoid the surrounding monsters which took them an extra 30 minutes.

‘I was lucky that I encountered the pirates during the mixing process, f it was the maturation process……’

Just thinking about it made him afraid. Anyway, a village appeared 1 and a half hours after travelling through the village. The place Racard found was closer to a city than a village.

‘Is this a city in Bristania?’

It was only after discovering a city that Ark felt like he was in a different kingdom. Currently Ark had arrived in the kingdom of Bristania. It was located to the north of Schudenberg Kingdom. Although it was geographically located to the north of Schudenberg, Bristania had a lot of mountains unlike the plains in Schudenberg. In addition, most of it consisted of rough rocks. Well the scenery was nice but he wouldn’t want to live there. Thanks to the barren land, Bristania had naturally developed magic science to live. That was the reason it was called the Magic Kingdom. Of course, most users who started here chose to become a magician instead of a warrior. The magic science made it easy to raise a magician. Anyway, that made the historical background of Bristania much more mystical than other kingdoms. The main buildings possessed a lot of magical aura and the appearance had a geometric design. Most of the town’s shops also dealt with magic tools. Even the weapon stores sold magic spell books and scrolls. The guards at the entrance of the village was also a magician.

“That’s it, now you can return to your castle.”

Once Ark confirmed the village, he sent Racard back to his vampire territory. In a city with low intimacy, occasionally the residents would be hostile to his summons.

‘This is the first time I’m visiting a foreign country so I have to be careful.’

Ark entered the city holding the pot.

“Swalla swalla, swalla swalla!”

Suddenly he heard words that were impossible to understand.

‘What does that mean?’

Ark turned his head at the sound. The voice was coming from the entrance of the city, where a stone gargoyle was giving off a strange light. That place was normally the quartermaster in Schudenberg kingdom. In Bristania, the gargoyle probably played the logistical role. In any case, the voice was coming from users gathered around the gargoyle. It was one user. Ark stared at the user with a confused expression.

“Swalla swalla, swalla swalla, swalla swalla?”

“Swalla swalla, swalla swalla!”

It wasn’t just one user. All of them made strange sounds.

“What are they saying? Swalla swalla? Is that a popular saying?”

But he had no time to care about that right now. Ark approached one of the guards at the entrance and asked.

“Excuse me. What is this city’s name?”

“Swalla swalla? Swalla swalla?”

Then the guards were also speaking an alien language like the users?

‘What the? Isn’t it strange that a NPC is talking like this? What is going on?’

Ark didn’t know how to deal with it and hesitated. The guard tilted his head and seemed to understand something, then pointed inside the city. The place the guard was indicated was the Magic Inst.i.tute at the city centre.

‘What the? He’s telling me to go there?’

When Ark gestured to the Magic Inst.i.tute, the guard nodded. Ark scratched his head and headed to the Magic Inst.i.tute tower. The city was closely filled with geometric shape. While Schudenberg kingdom felt like a medieval city, this truly felt like a fantasy world. The buildings were strange and there were various light and magic effects from the magicians living there. However, even the odd letters on the sign were distorted and he couldn’t read them. In addition, the NPCs wandering the city also talked in the strange language.

‘Is this a curse? Maybe I’m stuck in a curse. Or are the people stuck?’

Ark walked around the city with a confused look. Then Ark b.u.mped into a boy who ran out from an alley. Ark had been walking timidly while holding the pot so he quickly retreated.

‘Huk, what, what the? Pot, my pot!”

Ark quickly checked his pot. Luckily, the physique of the boy was like a dwarf so the impact was too small.

‘Phew, that was lucky. Who is he?’

Ark felt like he lost 10 years of his life and glared at the boy. But Ark swallowed his curses as he saw the appearance of the boy.

“Swalla swalla, swalla swalla!”

The boy lowered his head and clamoured in a somewhat upset voice. He couldn’t understand but the boy seemed to be apologizing. The problem was the boy didn’t look normal. Unlike the dressed up people around him, the boy was wearing tattered clothes. And the clothes revealed that the body was undersized. The boy bowed his head and hurriedly picked up the items that had fallen to the ground.  It was some cheap scrolls.

‘Is that smell coming from the boy?’

Ark blushed with an embarra.s.sed expression after seeing the boy’s appearance.  The boy had made the mistake by running out suddenly. However, he felt guilty after determining that the boy had a difficult life.

“Are you okay?”

Ark became embarra.s.sed and helped picked up the items before speaking. The boy looked up with a startled expression and held out a tattered book with shining eyes.

“Swalla swalla? “Swalla swalla! Swalla swalla!”

‘What the? What does that mean?’

Ark couldn’t understand the words and tilted his head to one side. After watching for a bit, Ark guessed what the boy was trying to say.

‘Is he asking me to buy this book?’

Ark looked at the book the boy was holding in his hand. It was a tattered book with an unknown use.

‘Well, I feel slightly sorry so maybe I should buy it?’

Ark seeing the hard life the boy was living, he asked for the price of the book. Then the boy smiled and showed both hands twice.

’20? Then 20 silver? If it is that much……’

Although normally Ark wouldn’t even waste 1 copper, he was willing to spend that much for a child. Hadn’t Ark also been an underprivileged boy?

‘It is clear the book is useless……’

Ark smiled and drew out 20 silver. Then the boy made a disapproving expression and shook his head.

‘Then it was 20 copper not 20 silver? It is slightly strange that such a tattered book would be worth 20 silver.’

Ark thought he misunderstood the price and extended 20 copper. The boy sighed and was that a gold coin he pulled from his pocket?

‘What the? Gold? Huck, he’s saying it is 20 gold?’

Ark looked at the boy with astonishment. A tattered book for 20 gold? Wasn’t it shameful? No matter how much sympathy Ark felt for the boy, he couldn’t buy an unknown book for 20 gold.

‘No, does this boy knows that I feel sorry for him? That book for 20 gold? Is this a joke? Then he tried to look pitiful so that he can swindle me?’

“I don’t need this!”

Ark raised his voice angrily and shook his head. Then the boy’s shoulders dropped as his face lost its brightness. With a lowered head, he disappeared into the alley.

“Sheesh, what the? That was too unreasonable.”

Although he felt uncomfortable for some reason, Ark just shook his head.

“No, that guy must’ve prepared that appearance. He thought to use my kindness to sell that book for 20 gold. I should head to the Magic Inst.i.tute.”

Ark pushed down his uncomfortable feeling and entered the Magic Inst.i.tute tower. Then someone from the Magic Inst.i.tute approached and smiled.

“Swalla swalla! Swalla swalla?”

As expected, it was impossible to understand.

“That……you see…….”

When Ark stuttered, the magician instantly laughed and said.

“Ah, you must be an adventurer from the Schudenberg kingdom!”

“Eh? You can talk?”

“Of course. How ridiculous would it be if I couldn’t use a language spell?”

“But just before…….”

The magician seemed to know the approximate situation as he laughed and said.

“Hahaha, this must be your first time travelling abroad.”

“That’s right…..”

“Foreigners who travel abroad for the first time often become confused. Because there was no opportunity to hear a foreign language at home.”

“Foreign language?”

“Yes, the words I spoke just then is in the language of Bristania.”

Ark looked doubtful at the magician’s words. Of course this was the first time Ark had travelled to another kingdom. However, he often met NPCs and users from Bristania in Silvana and Schudenberg. At that time he had no problem communicating.

“But I met people from Bristania in Schudenberg and understood them……”

“They obviously learned the Schudenberg language when travelling from Bristania to Schudenberg.”

The magician smiled and explained. Each of the three kingdoms in the continent had an original language. So before travelling to another kingdom, they needed to acquire the relevant foreign language first. Users and NPCs who came to Schudenberg kingdom had either learnt the language or had been forwarded to an interpreter.  However, Ark had failed to learn the language so all he heard was unintelligible language. In fact, that system wasn’t only found in New World. For example, in old games such as WOW or Aion, different tribes were unable to understand each other.  Only New World had the system to learn other languages. Incidentally, a lot of foreigners also connected to New World. The reason users didn’t feel inconvenience in communicating was because all languages were translated depending on what area they came from. In other words, it didn’t matter if they were j.a.panese or American as all languages were filtered.

“And foreigners don’t know the letters. Since there is no inconvenience communicating in Schudenberg, they never felt the need to learn a foreign language. I don’t know how, but sometimes they may inadvertently learn a language. In particular, merchants are fluent in all three languages even if they hadn’t learned it.”

‘Oh, that reminds me, could it be…..”

Ark remembered seeing a ‘language’ tab on his character information window and he opened it.

-Language Information Window

*Country

[Schudenberg]: 100% understanding.

*Species

[Beast clan] 100% understanding

[Elf] 100% understanding

[Dwarf] 100% understanding

[Hobbit] 100% understanding

[Orc]: 100% understanding

*Other

[Ancient language]: 100% understanding

[Soul] 100% understanding

[Demonic] 100% understanding

* The Country language is applied to all NPCs in the relevant area.

*Communication with all NPCs of the relevant element has 100% understanding applied. Also, mental communication has nothing to do with language.

*The understanding of the relevant monster language is related to the country (special monster languages can be learned separately).

* The language is automatically acquired when entering the relevant area.

‘Ah, this information window displays the languages I can understand.’

Originally this system was automatically applied when encountering NPCs at the border checkpoint or through the harbour. However, it wasn’t possible to learn such knowledge because he took the dolphins.

“But I didn’t have any trouble in Seutandal……”

“I heard that too. Seutandal uses the Schudenberg language. That’s because it is geographically closer to Schudenberg than other kingdoms.”

“So what should I do?”

“Don’t worry. We are selling dictionaries with the language of each country.”

The magician showed him a stack of books with a friendly smile. Ark’s mouth opened absent-mindedly as he was guided to the stacks. There were a huge amount of books sorted onto the stacks. It was hundreds of copies of the foreign language dictionaries. Dictionaries of the three kingdoms as well as ancient languages…… They even had dictionaries of the language of each monster race. The magician took out a book wrapped in a blue light.

“There are many types of Bristania language dictionaries but this is the best one. This is a dictionary the Magic Inst.i.tute created using mental magic. Once this dictionary is used, the mental magic will act and it will be like you have learnt the Bristania language for dozens of years. Isn’t that wonderful?”

It was but the price was also amazing. He didn’t know what type of magic was used but one copy cost 120 gold. Of course, in reality it cost 1,200,000 won to master a foreign language through a school. However, now he had to spend 120 gold to learn a foreign language that would have no use in Schudenberg? Ark inwardly complained and asked.

“Is there a dictionary that is a bit cheaper?”

“Cheaper?”

The magician who was like an eager salesman made a grumpy face. Then he looked through the book stacks and pulled out an old book.

“How about this dictionary? It is a beginner’s course so it will take some time to master the Bristania language. Well, if you study hard then communication won’t be a big problem.”

The magician said without any sincerity but Ark let out a huge sigh of relief. It was a common dictionary which cost 20 gold. He honestly thought that 20 gold was also a waste. But if he was going to be in Bristania then he had to learn the language. If he couldn’t communicate with NPCs then he couldn’t play the game properly.

“I’ll take this one.”

“That will be 20 gold.”

“Please give a discount.”

“Huh?”

The magician made an absurd face at Ark’s words. However, he jumped with surprise when Ark took out the Magic Inst.i.tute member certificate.

“This is a Magic Inst.i.tute member certification? In addition, your name is Ark? Then you are Ark-nim?”

“Huh? You know me?”

“Of course. There isn’t anyone in the Magic Inst.i.tute who doesn’t know who Ark-nim is. Thanks to the research that Ark-nim brought back, the Magic Inst.i.tute has launched a series of new products.”

“New products?”

“Eh? You don’t know? You haven’t heard the uproar these days?”

The magician murmured and pointed to a flyer stuck to the wall.

-The Magic Inst.i.tute’s New Products Guide

Have you become dejected because your weapon has weakened? Are you unable to unleash your capabilities because you don’t have a good weapon? There is no need to worry anymore. After a long research, the Magic Inst.i.tute has launched an ambitious magic while can make your weapon stronger using a special Weapon Reinforcing Agent.

* Please contact the staff if there are questions about price and performance.

Is walking a far distance difficult? Although your body is sick, do you want to visit a distant friend? Do you want to go somewhere else but can’t deal with the monsters? There is no need to worry anymore. Using the commercialized Letter Movement, you can move between the magic towers.

*Still only limited to some metropolitan areas.

After completing the quests related to Magaro, Shannen had used Magaro’s research to develop these products. The areas the Magic Inst.i.tute had concentrated on in Magaro’s research was the and the . In addition, it was filled with new information. However, Ark shook his head after he asked for the price. The cheapest price to use the was 50 gold. Meanwhile, the cost more than 100 gold depending on the type and efficiency of the weapon. Since merchants used the a lot, it still made a profit but most people preferred to leave reinforcement to an expert blacksmith.

“Aaaaaack!”

While Ark was thinking that, a light appeared on the highest level of the tower and a user appeared on the floor.

“Kuak, swalla swalla, swalla swalla, swalla swalla….eeeeek!”

The user cursed with a pale face and vomited. Although Ark couldn’t understand the words, he had used Letter Movement before and could understand the circ.u.mstances. Letter Movement really did cause an awful feeling. The user was probably in the same state that Ark had been in. Although Letter Movement had been commercialized, they still couldn’t guarantee a comfortable method of travel.

“Well, there is still some margin for improvement……”

The magician scratched his head with an awkward face.

“Do you have any other business?”

“I’d like to use a personal warehouse and the transfer mailbox.”

“Anything else?”

“Ah, what is the name of this city?”

“Ciel. A city located in the southwest of Bristania.”

“Thank you very much.”

Thanks to his Magic Inst.i.tute certification, he was able to rent a warehouse in the magic tower for free. Ark entered the personal warehouse and stored the pot carefully. That was the biggest reason Ark wanted to find a village. Since the degree of completion would fall if the pot shook a little bit, wasn’t it better not to carry it around?

“Phew, now I’m relieved.”

Ark wrote a letter to Buksil telling him to come to Ciel. Buksil was a merchant so of course he possessed a mobile mailbox. The mobile mailbox was different from the general mailbox and wasn’t restrained to one place. Once Buksil arrived at a village in Bristania, he would be able to check the letter at a Magic Inst.i.tute. However, there were also the wanted criminals within this area. He didn’t want the cowardly Buksil to become scared so Ark couldn’t let him know about the wanted criminals.

“Now, all my work has finished.”

Ark exited the Magic Inst.i.tute after using the mailbox. When wandering outside, it still wasn’t possible to understand the users and NPCs.

“Should I use this now?”

Ark took out the dictionary he purchased from the magician. Just as he was about to use it, he suddenly stopped.

‘Eh? Wait? This dictionary…..?’

Ark looked at the dictionary and belatedly realized his mistake. It was the tattered book that they boy in the alley had been selling. After looking at the letters on the book, wasn’t it the same dictionary?

‘Then the boy was also selling this dictionary?’

In the end, the 20 gold wasn’t an absurd price but was actually the market price. So the boy wasn’t a swindler……Ark got an idea and quickly ran back into the Magic Inst.i.tute.

“Wait a minute. I’m sorry but can’t I return the dictionary?”

“Huh? You are a full member of the Magic Inst.i.tute…..wouldn’t not knowing the language be difficult?”

“Please grant my request.”

After getting the refund, Ark went running to the alley.

‘There he is!’

After searching a few alleys, he managed to find the boy from a short time ago. The boy had set up a stall in an alley and was yelling in unknown words.

“Excuse me……”

The boy flinched when Ark approached and shrunk back. He seemed to think that Ark was visiting with some hostile intentions. Ark scratched his head and muttered with an embarra.s.sed expression.

“No, it’s not…..I seemed to have misunderstood you a while ago and came to apologize. Instead of just speaking, I was wondering if I could buy your dictionary?”

“Swalla swalla? Swalla swalla?”

The boy tilted his head to one side. Once again, it was really frustrating not being able to communicate. After holding the 20 gold and pointing to the dictionary, the boy seemed to understand the situation and laughed. Although it was a little different, Ark also remembered a time when he had been wrongfully suspected. When he previously had a part time job at a store, Ark had been suspected of stealing several thousand won. Fortunately, it was revealed that the president had just calculated wrongly and the suspicions had been removed. But he was still hurt by that time.

He felt ashamed that he acted like the president and accused the boy of being a swindler. So he received a 15% refund for the dictionary thanks to the Magic Inst.i.tute qualification and bought the dictionary from the boy. Luckily, the boy didn’t mind that he had been treated as a swindler in Ark’s head. Since Ark deliberating sought him out to buy the dictionary, the boy just laughed gratefully and bowed to Ark. He looked pretty cute.

‘Isn’t this guy surprisingly cute?’

Ark smiled and looked at the other things on the stall. Although he had no need for them right then, Ark bought a few useful scrolls. Even though Ark often extorted Sid and Buksil, he mainly did it to his opponents. After remembering his previous situation, Ark could afford to make a small gesture. Was this the first time he thought of another person’s circ.u.mstances? But thanks to the rental house being bought and the items on the auction site being sold at a higher than expected price, Ark had a surplus of money to be spent.

‘I have a margin with which to spend some money.’

Ark named a price which was about 10% more than the boy’s offer.  The scrolls weren’t that expensive so he could afford a few of them. But the boy shook his head and named the fixed price. Ark was a bit embarra.s.sed but he liked the boy’s honest att.i.tude.

“Swalla swalla, swalla swalla!”

“Well, please live well.”

He stroked the boy’s head who smiled before Ark left the alley. After he only bought the items because he felt bad about the misunderstanding, he felt quite good afterwards.

“Now that the uncomfortable feeling is gone, shall I learn the language?”

Ark used the dictionary and the information window appeared.

-A new language has been learnt using the Bristania language dictionary.

[Bristania] 30% understanding: you have gained knowledge about the Bristania language.

However, you will be unable to understand all the words until your understanding is 100%. The only way to learn a foreign language quickly is to engage in a lot of conversation. Conversing with users or NPCs from the corresponding country will increase understanding.

Thanks to the language being incorporated, he could understand some noises.

“It’s cheap. Swalla swalla, cheap! Various cheap swalla swalla magic swalla swalla.”

“New swalla swalla goods received swalla swalla at our store!”

However, it seemed like a tape had been mixed with an alien language.

“My intimacy is low and communication is also inconvenient.”

But Ark could determine the main details of what the NPC was saying. As expected, it was a cheap item.

“Still, this is better than the other option.”

No matter the inconvenience, he would rather learn the language than waste 120 gold. In addition, at the beginning he couldn’t communicate at all but now it was able to approximately understand the words.

“Now I have to wait for the completion of the immortality pill here and for Buksil to get in contact. In the meantime, he should talk to some NPCs and become used to the Bristania language. “What shall I do? The monsters around here are too low levelled…….”

Ark murmured as he walked around the town listening to NPCs.

“Listen closely, swalla swalla. You are a traveller with a lot of experience. Swalla swalla. My worries, swalla swalla. Will you accept?”

“Ah, I’m going crazy, swalla swalla, how can it be done, swalla swalla,  can somebody help me?”

“Do you maybe, swalla swalla, need a job?”

They were NPCs who all gave quests. When Ark came into the city without learning the language, he was unable to trigger quests. Before coming into the city, he checked that the monsters were around level 150-200. So the city had a lot of level 100-150 users. It was comparable to the outskirts of Nagaran in Schudenberg kingdom. While the level 366 Ark was wandering around such a place, he heard a variety of quests.  Since this was the first time he came to Bristania, the quests came flowing from all directions. However Ark rejected all the quests. Since he was level 366, if he did any quests below level 200 then he wouldn’t receive any experience. Of course, sometimes quests were given in low level villages. But the quests they gave was mainly moving baggage. There was also the repet.i.tive quests of hunting monsters. Therefore none of the NPCs running up to him gave plausible quests.

‘But I have to stay here for 3 days so I can’t do nothing. I’ll go outside and gather ingredients while checking if there are any monsters that will give experience.’

Ark was just thinking about leaving the city. Then a shabby building near the shopping centre caught his eye. The reason Ark was interested in the building was because of the sign ‘Martial Arts Training Centre.’

‘Martial arts training? Then martial arts is taught there?’

This was the first time Ark had seen a martial arts dojo here so he turned around and walked there. In Schudenberg, there was a place where hired mercenaries could learn warrior skills. But it wasn’t like this place which had a sign saying the training ground. In addition, this was the magic kingdom so it was a place more interested in magic than Sword Mastery.

“Welcome!”

A hobbit ran and greeted him when Ark entered.

“Is this a place where martial arts is taught?”

“That’s right. Swalla swalla, everyone here, swalla swalla, can become a great warrior, swalla swalla. And not just warriors, swalla swalla, even magicians can train.”

“Magicians? What kind of techniques are you teaching?”

“Huhuhu, swalla swalla, you’d be surprised when you see it. Swalla swalla.”

The hobbit smiles with satisfaction. When he entered an auditorium, a statue of a big, burly hobbit could be seen.

“This is the founder of our dojo, Ramja.  Swalla swalla, I’m his descendant, swalla swalla, we train in the methods of our founder, swalla swalla, in order to do that, swalla swalla, we have start of the art equipment.”

The hobbit indicated to a wooden doll in the training area and said.

“This wooden doll, swalla swalla, uses magic, swalla swalla, moves automatically, swalla swalla, when practicing against the wooden doll, swalla swalla, your combat ability will rise naturally!”

Ark still couldn’t understand all of the language so it was difficult to understand the words. Although the language understanding was low, he was able to interpret the general principles of the training method against the wooden doll. When the wooden training doll was turned on, it would move and start a battle against the player. Players would score points if they avoided the doll’s offensive and managed to attack it. The player was considered to have mastered the relevant training if they got over 300 points in the time limit. When mastering the training, a bonus of +1 points will be applied to stats and the player will be qualified for the next stage. The wooden doll had 10 stages of difficulty. However, if a mastered stage was challenged again then the bonus wouldn’t be applied.

‘Stats can be increased for free?’

Ark felt refreshed as he grasped almost all of the training system. The wooden doll had a total of 10 stages of difficult! If he mastered all stages then wouldn’t he get 10 extra stats? 10 extra stats was like gaining 1 level. Currently Ark was level 366. At this level, rising one level within 7~15 hours wasn’t a small amount.

‘Then all warriors who start in Bristania receives this bonus? Okay, I can’t miss this opportunity to gain stats. I have to break through the 10 stages quickly!”

“How do I use this?”

“Here, swalla swalla, put a coin in, swalla swalla.”

The hobbit pointed to a coin slot near the wooden doll. The training wasn’t free!

“People who challenge the wooden doll, swalla swalla, invest 100 gold, swalla swalla.”

Ark then realized the training dojo wasn’t as superficial as he thought. With a price of 10 silver for one stat, that was like the value of a gum. However, if the stage failed than 10 more silver was required. So if someone failed 10 times that would be 10 gold and 100 times was 100 gold wasted. With the degree of difficulty, it would be easy for people to lose 100 gold to the hobbit.

‘But…….’

Ark had survived so far using martial arts.

‘This is a good opportunity to examine my skills.’

Ark stood before the wooden doll and inserted the coin. Sseon sseon sseon sseon, there was the light sound of music and the wooden doll started to move.

-You have mastered the 9th stage on the wooden doll. Stamina increases by 1.

-You have mastered the 10th stage on the wooden doll. Strength increases by 1.

-You have completely mastered sparring against the wooden doll!

Pa pa pa pang~!

After the 10 stages were mastered, a cannon salute instantly appeared from the head of the wooden doll.

“Awesome, swalla swalla!”

When Ark perfectly conquered the wooden doll, the hobbit’s mouth dropped with amazement.

“In such a short time, swalla swalla, the people who cleared, swalla swalla, didn’t, swalla swalla, numerous warriors abandoned the ordeal halfway, swalla swalla, only a few have mastered it, swalla swalla!”

‘Certainly it was more difficulty than I thought.’

While Ark was resting, he stared at the wooden doll. The first 5 stages were so easy that it was slightly regrettable. Just by avoiding the fist of the wooden doll which flew in a straight line and counterattacking, he was easily able to reach 300 points. But the situation completely changed once he reached stage 6. The wooden doll spouted 6 arms and they all attacked at the same time. Since Ark had rushed it, he failed stages 6-8 four times.

‘If I hadn’t practiced against the Mould Zombies then I wouldn’t have been able to master the 10 stages. I learned taekwondo so it would be a lot more difficult for general users.’

A person who wasted 100 gold would understand when to stop. Anyway, he challenged again after failing four times and Ark managed to broke through the 10th stage. He had invested 1 gold and 40 silver, and gained 4 stamina, 3 agility and 3 stamina. In addition, the mastery bonus gave him a +5 to strength, agility and stamina!

‘It only took 30 minutes.’

It was just like picking up stats freely.

‘I really can’t ignore low level towns. This is Bristania, not Schudenberg. Who knows what else will be different here? I have to carefully check through every village I visit from now on.’

Ark was thinking that when something interrupted him.

“In the end, swalla swalla, you will be the last, swalla swalla, graduate.”

“What do you mean?”

Ark asked and the hobbit pointed to the training area with a sneer.

“As you can see. Swalla swalla, in the past we used to get a lot of visitors. Swalla swalla, but now the number of people training, swalla swalla, the customers are few, swalla swalla, and have no guts! As expected, a dojo shouldn’t be built in the magic kingdom, swalla swalla, I’m almost bankrupt, swalla swalla.”

The hobbit sighed as he looked at the statue.

“Well, it isn’t possible anymore, swalla swalla, I haven’t found a talented enough successor to the founder’s secret technique, swalla swalla, it’s really regrettable, swalla swalla, ah that’s right, swalla swalla, perhaps you, swalla swalla, would you like to try?”

The hobbit suddenly pointed towards a shape of a palm underneath the hobbit statue. Ark placed his hand on the palm without any thoughts. All of a sudden, there was a mechanical sound and the statue started revolving. The hobbit shouted with an amazed voice.

“Unbelievable, swalla swalla, really, swalla swalla, the seal is melting, swalla swalla!”

“The seal?”

Ark asked the hobbit who was making excited noises.

“In fact, the founder of this dojo, swalla swalla, legend, swalla swalla, master of kung fu martial arts, swalla swalla! If only at that time, swalla swalla! The devil, swalla swalla! That person, swalla swalla, and him, swalla swalla, sealed the secret technique, swalla swalla only a person with the appropriate qualification and power will be able to learn the sealed secret technique, swalla swalla!”

He was unfamiliar with the language so Ark couldn’t completely understand the excited noises. However, he was able to understand the most important words among the broken speech. Ark cut and pasted the words together to understand the contents. The person whom the statue was based off and who built this dojo was the legendary master of kung fu techniques. It was to the extent that he could even defeat the devil! And he had placed his techniques on a scroll and sealed it here. Only a person with the appropriate qualifications and skills to learn the secret technique could unseal it. Then why could Ark unseal it? The answer was simple. When Ark touched the scroll, an information window instantly appeared.

-Thanks to ‘Pursuit of Truth,’ you have acquired a new lore skill.

* 7000 fame is necessary to learn this skill.

‘A hidden secret technique!’

Ark’s eyes widened. Yes, the found of this dojo was a ‘person who conveyed hidden lore.’

“Ohhh, my eyes, swalla swalla. Go ahead and grab the scroll, swalla swalla!”

Just as Ark tried to grab the scroll, sparks occurred and his hand bounced off.

-You don’t have the necessary fame to learn this skill!

‘Huck, it needs 7000 fame?’

Ark stifled a scream as he saw the information window. He had used 6000 fame to learn the Ghost Knight Corps skill in Oberium. But now he needed 7000? If 7000 fame was needed then how wonderful would the skill be?

‘If he is the legendary master of kung fu then it must be an amazing skill!’

After seeing that he needed 7000 fame for it, Ark desired the skill even more. He could also guess the skill from the name Entrusted Volumes.

‘In RPG games, sometimes a surprisingly large treasure like a heirloom can be found in a beginner’s village. This might be a jackpot!’

However, Ark currently only had 5840 fame. After learning the Ghost Knights Corps skill, he needed a further 1160 fame to learn the skill.

“Ah, swalla swalla, that’s right the founder, swalla swalla, the person who can learn this secret technique, swalla swalla, people who seek the truth, swalla swalla, also needs a suitable amount of fame, swalla swalla.”

The hobbit spoke with a disappointed expression when he couldn’t grab the scroll. Then he grasped Ark’s hand and said.

“Still, swalla swalla, you are the one who unsealed it, swalla swalla, for the first time, swalla swalla, it is probably the G.o.ds’ intention, swalla swalla, when you return with the appropriate fame then it will be waiting for you, swalla swalla, please learn the founder’s secret techniques through any means swalla swalla.”

“I understand!”

Ark shook the hobbit’s hand and replied. He had accidently discovered a secret technique in a place like this. Who would give up because of a lack of fame?

“I will gain fame as quickly as possible and return for the secret technique!”

Ark instantly ran out of the dojo.

‘Now the question is how I should raise my fame…..’

There were many ways to raise fame in New World. There were usually three common methods. It was solving quests, receiving a t.i.tle or doing some big services for a city. Though in Ark’s case, he received a lot of fame from Miracle Nursing.

‘But it isn’t easy to use Miracle Nursing or receive a t.i.tle, and this was the first time he visited the village so it wouldn’t be easy to render some services for the city.’

The only way let was to complete quests. And this city had a large number of NPCs eager to commission quests. Of course, he wouldn’t receive any money or experience but the most important thing now was fame. Ark rushed to the village square where the NPCs were giving quests.

“A short time ago you, swalla swalla, declined?”

“No, I did it because it was my first trip here. I was also unfamiliar with the language so I couldn’t understand your difficult situation. But now if you have a difficult situation then please tell me.”

“If that’s the case, swalla swalla. Can you find my luggage?’

“You said it was a luggage?”

“I originally, swalla swalla. am a carrier, swalla swalla, but while travelling to another village I was attacked by kobolds, swalla swalla, and ran off with my luggage, swalla swalla, kobolds carried the luggage and returned to their hideout, swalla swalla, I need it by tomorrow, swalla swalla, the miscellaneous items with the luggage, swalla swalla, it is dangerous but can you find it?”

When the old man’s words finished, a quest information window appeared. Since his understanding of Bristania was 30%, the old man’s words were mixed with swalla swalla and he couldn’t understand it properly but luckily the quest window showed the proper information

-The old man in Ciel is a porter who has encountered a problem.

The old man has asked you to find the luggage lost to the kobolds. According to the old man, the stolen goods are piled up with a variety of other items.  Infiltrate the kobold’s hideout and bring back 10 luggages.

“I will go straight away!”

Ark accepted the quest and ran outside like the wind.

From Ark.

I have arrived at Ciel. I have some urgent business with you so come as soon as possible when you receive this.

“Che!”

Buksil blew his nose on the letter and threw it away.

“Urgent business? Bossing me around as always.”

“Aren’t you going?”

Baekgu asked after seeing Buksil’s att.i.tude.

Buksil just laughed and replied.

“I’m going. Ark might be bullying me but I also have to go that way. But now right now. Although he says it is urgent business, I finally got away from him for a little bit so I’m going to enjoy this holiday.”

Buksil murmured as he looked out the window where there was a festive atmosphere. In fact, Buksil had meant to join Ark immediately when he was first contacted. However, Buksil had found a village called Bosaga two days north from where Ark was in Ciel. And that village was in a festival period.

“I’ve come to this village during a festival so there is no way I can go running when Ark called.

After so much struggles, finding this village from the coast is like a sign from G.o.d.”

“But if Ark finds out later……”

“I’ll just tell Ark I didn’t see the letter.”

Buksil laughed and replied after Baekgu muttered in an uneasy voice.

“Huhuhu. After travelling with Ark, I realized how important I am. I’m going to use this chance to make my future travels more comfortable. So just trust me.”

“Yes, Master.”

“So let’s go. The first target is cotton candy. Ohhhhhhh!”

“Ohhhh, this is great!”

Buksil dragged Baekgu to a stall on the opposite side while drooling. At that time, around 30 people entered through the north gate of Bosaga.

“Really?”

“Yes, I searched the internet and accidentally came across the video. The video showed the festivities in Bosaga village and there was a pig like fellow among the residents.”

The person speaking was Isyuram. Isyuram knew that Ark was near the southwest coast.  So the wanted criminals who had been searching the coast along the harbour split into two groups and moved along the northwest and southwest. If they moved to the southwest then Ark might be caught. The urgent Isyuram suddenly remembered a flyer advertising the festival at the harbour and lured the wanted criminals to Bosaga village. Garam nodded at Isyuram’s words and said.

“It is really lucky that you found it. If we find that guy now then Jepeteu hyung will trust you 100%. Now, let’s go search.”

“Hmm, yes.”

Isyuram awkwardly grinned and nodded. Meanwhile, a man and woman entered through the south gate of Bosaga village.

“Oh, really…. I like a bustling place like this but…… Furthermore, we need to find that Ark guy. There is no time to be playing around.”

“Shut up, we have to pretend to enjoy the festival no matter how busy it is. A great amount of people will be coming from the surrounding cities for the Bosaga festival. If he arrived near this coast then he is likely to come here.”

“If you say so.”

“Huhuhu, isn’t it? Right? Then let’s go eat some barbecue.”

“….. As expected, do you really just want to play?”

“It’s legwork, legwork.”

The person approaching the barbecue was a charming female magician wearing white chain armour. Her name was Redian. The man accompanying here and scratching his head was the big, burly Bread. They had pursued Ark all the way to Bristania’s coast and arrived at Bosaga village.

TO BE CONTINUED