Chapter 10 : Todeum

This was the day that Vampire Lord Tori had announced!

Early in the morning at Morata village, the Geomchis, Pale, Irene, Seechwi, Mapan and their other companions were there waiting.

"So this is Morata Village!"

Mapan had eventually become a mid-level merchant. Because of his skill level, he was now able to trade in precious metals and gems.

A small blessing given to merchants. A very luxurious wagon. It was a large wagon that was drawn by 8 horses and was capable of carrying a lot of cargo and groceries loaded within would not spoil as quickly.

"Buying food! Buying battle supplies!"

Mapan bought supplies that he thought they would need for Todeum.

He went around Morata Village, buying and stockpiling supplies in his wagon from the residents and adventurers.

In the meantime, Weed was at the village entrance earning himself some quick money.

"Wonderful carved sculptures for sale! Each are one of a kind and give stat benefits!"

Sculptures carved by the great Sculptor Weed!

Almost all the tourists that visited Morata wanted to get a souvenir. There was a long line of people in from of Weed to buy sculptures.

A small girl said.

"Ajussi, I'll take the sculpture that looks like the tower of light."

Weed said, smiling cheerfully.

"It'll be 10 gold."

"Ehh, it's so expensive: I can't buy it."

"..."

The small girl left since it was a rip-off.

The next customer, an old grandmother with gray hair, walked forwards.

"Well young man. I would like the sculpture carved like the Tower of Light near the rocky mountains.

"Yes. That will be 9 gold."

Weed gave a her a small discount.

He had a weak spot for the elderly!

"What?"

"8 gold..."

"What sculpture is this expensive? You're not disregard this elderly lady, are you?"

"No, that's not it...then how about 5 gold."

"Elders don't have that kind of money. How about 2 silver!"

"That's hardly the price anymore...sigh okay ma'am."

"You should have done so earlier."

Tears fell from Weeds eyes as he watched his sculpture disappear.

His innate skill of flattery!

The prices of his sculptures were right to some extent.

'd.a.m.n. It's so hard to make money with sculptures.'

The money he got from selling the weapons and armor he made through the blacksmith skill was more than he was expecting.

But here buying sculpture is considered a luxury most people can't afford.

It is rare for people to buy sculptures as gifts because the prices for sculptures keep rising due to rarity.

The next customers were slightly older Ahjummas.

The Ahjummas hurled sharp questions at him.

"If I order one sculpture, can a get a discount on another?"

"That's..."

"You created it from a piece of wood that can be found on the side of the road. Isn't the cost too much just for this level of service?"

The customers thought sculptures were like things that were ma.s.s produced and could buy one get one free like in supermarkets!

Sculptures were still recognized as a souvenir.

This was a situation Weed could not get out of.

No matter how much a great sculptor is praised, realistically he still doesn't earn any money.

'Sculptor is a horrible profession!'

Weed was forced to concede earning him a little less. Thanks to his fame, he was fortunate enough to earn, on average, 5 gold a sculpture. Yurin was drawing paintings nearby.

"Get in line!"

There were even people flocking near Yurin, comparable to that of Weed. However, the big difference was that they were all men!

"What would you like me to draw?"

"Relax...just write down your contact information for me, please."

"That's difficult. I'll just draw you something cool."

"Thank you."

There were a few customers that came multiple times.

"This is already the third time Mister Customer."

"Just call me Hans."

"Then, Hans. What kind of drawing would you like?"

"I would like a picture that Yurin has drawn with her heart. If you want, Yurin, you can leave the canvas blank."

"Oh thank you. As a painter, I only have a little bit of money..."

"I know. Are you having trouble? I can give you 7 gold of my money."

These customers gave her items.

"I thought you might need some leather gloves..."

"I think it would be a good time for you to get a new hat."

Men flocked with much liveliness to see his little sister, the beautiful Yurin!

She was far more popular than Weed's sculptures.

Weed had to make huge sculptures or sculptures using expensive materials to get good effects. That was what it took in order to make a sculpture with tremendous effects.

Sculptures contributed to the development of cities and kingdoms! However because sculptures, are by nature, hard to transport due to its weight was the reason that people did not such sculptures.

Fine sculptures doesn't even sale for much, unless they are at the level of Grand or Magnum pieces.

Pure pa.s.sion, and the ambition to create great pieces of art!

So true artist will immediately choose sculpting job skill.

Weed fell to the ground in regret.

'Since this was how it is, it would have been better if I had been a painter.'

To immerse himself in his work and the joy of getting his blood boiling towards a finished product brought him a sense of accomplishment! But then again, it couldn't be compared to the feeling of one licking their fingers to finger through a stack of stiff million won notes.

He was thoroughly a sculptor that thought about money!

Rather than trying to sell heavy sculptures, it seemed that it would be better and easier to sell food to the people buying paintings.

Finally all the food supplies had been gathered.

Mapan approached and said.

"Weed-nim, it is ready."

"What about Master and the Geomchis?"

"They are waiting in a vacant lot in the center of the town."

"Then shall we go now?"

Weed folded up the stand he had set up.

"For today for all those waiting for the next sculpture we will give a discount."

"Eh, we've been waiting for nothing. For about 20 minute that is."

"I really wanted one".

People who were waiting in line to receive a sculpture were given apologies before their face of yearning dissipate in disappointment.

"Than Mapan-nim, please wait here for a bit."

"Yes? Yes. Goodbye."

After requesting Mapan to wait, Weed then went to the barn, where took out Talrock's armor.

His new piece of armor made out of mithril that s.h.i.+nes.

When Weed equipped the armor, the armor gave him a decent amount of stat bonuses.

Wearing nothing but black, black armor, black cape, looking like a black knight!

Thanks to his intermediate blacksmith skills, he could equip other job cla.s.s's armor, despite him being a sculptor.

Weed came out of the barn, fully equip the armor to emerge onto Morata's street.

* * *

"You're kidding."

"I don't think so."

"Then what?"

"There's no way."

Weed was being a bit excessive.

High level warrior.

He was wearing armor that was made out of mithril.

"Armor like that has high level restrictions."

"He must be high leveled."

The way other people saw Weed changed.

He had spent a few days on the side of the road with a carving nice and a piece of wood or stone and now he was the center of attention and envy.

He walked past the pedestrians and over to where Mapan was waiting.

"Did you wait? Let's go then."

"Yes? Yes!"

Mapan walked with him to where Yurin was waiting.

'There's gotta be a deeper meaning to what Weed is doing.'

He could feel the constant cold gaze of envy.

It was a piece of armor made of a material that absorbs light. They walked endlessly. It was a special and luxurious item that only a few adventurers had and it was rare just to see one.

"He must be a great person."

"Really, who the h.e.l.l is he?"

"Perhaps he looks a little like the sculptor from before?

"No, I feel they look alike but..."

"It looks similar."

"Yes. That's Sculptor Weed."

The saying birds of the same feather flock together was not wrong.

The other people could barely notice that it was Weed's face.

The face that seemed to say poverty and need!

Weed looked rather ordinary so he was relieved that others would not recognize him. However, the pedestrians' reactions were different.

"That armor must be fake."

"Well, mostly. It must be coated with Mithril on the surface only or something."

"It doesn't even look that good."

Weed and Mapan ignored the reaction of the people behind them and went to Yurin.

"Yurin, let's go."

Yurin was in the middle of painting a picture when she looked up.

"Yes, oppa! But, your clothes..."

"Huh?"

Weed looked over his clothes slowly.

"Why do you say that? Is it because I'm wearing the Talrock armor?

"Oh, it's nothing really. It's just a little unique..."

"...."

Blatantly showing off his armor!

In fact, he had worn the armor so that his sister could be proud of him. Weed, Mapan, and Yurin walked towards the center where they heard the people chattering.

"Did you see the vacant lot in the center? Where are you preparing to go hunt at?"

"The party has Orcs, a high level trader, and Geomchis...what quest is it?"

"I heard Sculptor Weed is coming too."

They had already seen the battle against the dragon that was aired on the television.

A bunch of muscular guys fought together closely in a group, mainly using swords. The Geomchis were not unknown.

Many had become famous by going around challenging people in the pursuit of martial arts.

Now the people's attentions were focused since the Geomchis had now gathered in Morata and were now ready to leave for somewhere.

"That's an enormous amount of supplies!"

"Has a new hunting ground developed near Morata?"

"I don't know, maybe."

If you came the northern village of Morata then you shouldn't be a beginner. Most of them caught on quickly and realized something was going on.

They noticed the strange signs that were going on in the village.

The ma.s.sive h.o.a.rding of groceries and the Geomchis were gathering!

Not to mention Pale's conspicuous party adorned with pretty good weapons and armor.

The third fact was by far the most attention grabbing.

The new Orc species!

Orcs could speak human tongue and they traveled between villages, but this was the first time they have seen one.

"It's really ugly."

"Look at the a.s.s. Every step is like a joke."

"It's bigger than my head!"

Seechwi felt delighted.

It was more comfortable for her now that people could approach her more easily rather than looking cool and glamorous like an ice queen.

"Look at this! Chwichwit chwiit!"

"Those nasal sounds!"

Weed, Mapan, and Yurin went to the vacant lot in the center to see that it was overflowing with thousands of onlookers. Because of the rumors people had come from all over Morata.

All sorts of people were waiting to see where they were going to go; from adventurers, travelers, hunters, clerics, and bards.

Surka felt awkward from all of this attention.

"These people are really looking at us a lot."

She moved away and hid behind Irene. She could never handle so many people focusing their attention on her.

"It's still less than the number of people in Rosenheim, but it's growing fast.

They agreed about that.

"Yeah, doesn't it feel exhilarating to explore a new part of the continent?"

Morata was the key city in the North!

Over a thousand people came a day and they were always going off on adventures in new hunting grounds.

People were currently active in exploring the North and the number was increasing. People came in earnest from the central continent and soon the number of people in the north will be equal to everywhere else.

There were approximately 50000 users in the North. given the large size of the continent, the remote area were largely unexplored. People would form parties to go on quests, hunting, or adventures. A lot of people would gather in the cities to share information. Other people rushed to Morata to sightsee.

Looking around, Weed asked.

"Are you all prepared to go?"

"Yes."

"Yea!"

Hwaryeong and Zephyr replied confidently.

Pale lightly patted Maylon on the shoulder.

"No matter what danger we're in, I will protect you."

"I'll always trust Pale-nim."

Romuna, Irene, and Surka were also ready to go.

More often than not, they would go with Weed to hunt. The feeling of being short of breath and the excitement in their chests.

Irene's eyes were twinkling.

'Whenever you go hunting with Weed, something interesting always happens.'

Every time someone died priests would always feel sad about it.

Weed's rate of hunting was 2~3 times faster than normal. However, such high paced hunting was always rewarding.

'I have to do my part...so that no one dies.'

On the other hand, the Geomchis did not seem to be nervous at all.

"Ahem! Departure is taking quite some time."

"Since it's taking some time are we going to eat?"

Weed shook his head.

"That's not it. We're leaving soon."

They were about to leave.

The onlookers were waiting to see what they were going to do with antic.i.p.ation in their eyes.

Morata's village elder quickly ran up to him.

"Count!"

The village elder called out to Weed.

"Did he say Count?"

"Did he call him the Count?"

The surprised onlookers were in an uproar. A user was the Count of Morata! But even more surprising for them was that the village elder called Weed the Count.

"I don't believe it!"

"An engraver has never made it to even a Baron or Viscount but he's a Count."

"If he's the Count of Morata, then that means he's the ruler of the entire province."

Looking around, Weed replied.

"Village elder, if you make such a fuss then you'll trouble the village guards."

He took on the personality as if he was a character in a historical drama.

Counts were considered one of the highest of the n.o.bility. They had more authority than almost everyone in the kingdom.

The village elder said.

"The village is almost out of food."

"..."

"Due to the increase in the number of tourists and residents, there is not enough land so we need to expand. You have to build a trading post for the commercial development of stores for grocery and fabric exchange.

Weed was listening to this story and realized that it was dangerous.

He could only come to one conclusion.

'Money! It could only be that he's asking me for money.'

The village elder was shedding tears.

"We need money. There must be more funds to invest in building and repairing houses for the town."

Zephyr and Pale felt bad for the village elder.

'It'll be hard to get money out of Weed with that kind of story.'

'It's impossible. You have a higher chance of finding a whale in a well than getting money from Weed.'

Instead it would have been better for the village elder to talk to Mapan about such matter. Traders often collected money and would usually be able to spend about a thousand gold. But then the unthinkable happened.

"Oh! If you only needed money then why didn't you just say so earlier?"

Weed let out a long sigh as he opened his backpack. He then pulled out all of his money.

By saving his money by using it as little as possible, he managed to save 30,000 gold. By selling the gold and silver treasures of the Niflheim Empire, he managed to earn 230 thousand gold.

That meant he had a total of 260 thousand gold.

He handed every single bit of it over to the village elder.

"If you must, try to use as much money as necessary for the residents."

"Is, is this really okay? This is far too much money.."

"Of course. It is your responsibility to judge Morata's needs."

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

Ttiring!

Large scale investment in the Morata Province.

It will allow Morata to flourish to the days of the old Niflheim Empire!

Its past glory was long gone in the flow of time leaving it bare and starving.

Only its residents and frail houses remained.

But now these new investment will fund the effort for the residents to become diligent citizens.

For three months, productivity will increase by 30%.

The area of the village will expand.

Use of the castle has become available.

The population growth rate has improved.

Buildings will be constructed immediately depending on the characteristics of Morata.

Bar :

Increases tax revenue and satisfaction of residents but affects Public Security adversely.

Blacksmith :

Increases the technology of the town. Increases the productivity of the residents.

Trading Post:

A place where you can trade with merchants. Brings in tax revenue as well as supplement the town's needs.

Inn:

A place where travelers can stay. Travelers become more lively than if you simply left them in the village.

Textiles :

Cloth weaving and leather polis.h.i.+ng. Morata's specialty increases the amount of leather and textile related quests.

Vigilantes :

Residents will form groups to protect public security. They can't fight the nearby monsters but they will be enough to catch village shoplifters. Help with public security increases commercial development.

Mercenary Guild :

Investigates the surrounding village and gives quests on a regular basis to combat the monsters. Operates largely on taxes. Whenever successful, public security is increased and fame will be given.

A small Church of Freya :

A place of the believers of the Church of Freya to pray. Sacrilegious buildings cannot be build in the village.

Due to the blessings of Freya, the residents will have increased grain production.

Urban development increases, you can now build more buildings.

Proposed Maintenance - Once the village has produced enough buildings, tax rates can be set, commercial, military power, technology, security, and public policies for increases residents can be set in the budget.

Currently 50% of the budget has been set in regional development and state budget, the rest will be distributed.

To raise funds for investment, you can reduce the amount of control you have over the region.

Improve or expand the province to gain more control. Stats that can affect the local politics have been generated.

After the first stage of development, you can raise taxes. Excessive investment in welfare of public security may increase the satisfaction of the residents however, as the town's deficit grows, the position as Count will be compromised.

Weed put in a huge amount for wide scale development of Morata. It was essential component for a village like that of the cities in the central continent.

Thrilled, the village elder said.

"My Lord, as you know, the amount of investment for half of the area has already been managed. The question is what do you wish to do with the remaining 130 thousand gold. First, how much do you wish to spend on village maintenance?"

It was used for the maintenance and construction of houses and roads in the village. If basic buildings are not made, then resident satisfaction, commerce, and public security will worsen. Developing these facilities help somewhat.

Judging the amount for buildings, Weed said.

"Ten thousand gold!"

- Ten thousand gold has been invested for town maintenance.

He only had about 130 thousand gold to work with. That was because the village elders would never work with a small amount to invest with.

"100 gold for each house should be enough."

He judged that would be enough money to spend on the residents for now.Having to use the money he had saved up made him sick.

The village elder asked again.

"How much money do you want to spend on Security?"

Security reduced the crime rates in the village.

It made a big impact, since it affected the villagers' satisfaction.

If crime occurs too frequently commercial development and production would degrade.

National emergencies.

In times of war, the citizens could be mobilized.

There are a number of elements affecting public security and residents with high crime rates would not partic.i.p.ate.

Weed said cautiously.

"300 gold."

A timid investment!

The amount was very small, but thanks to the Freya Church policing Morata it was not a bad choice.

"How much money do you want to invest for Military?"

Political and military power increased whenever the region expands. The military would manage Morata's affairs. They would train knights and soldiers to fight monsters and defend the kingdom from enemies of other regions. They were loyal to the village. It was the cost to maintain a strong military power, but ultimately it was a means to increase territory.

Weed said simply.

"Zero gold!"

The village elder carefully checked.

"Do you mean that you do not want to invest in Military at all?"

"Yes."

- No money has been invested in Military.

The village elder's face became more cautious.

"Please set the amount that you want to invest in art."

As art develops, the villagers become more happy.

Free imagination and creativity was the basis for the growth of culture...

Weed didn't even have to think.

"Zero gold!"

"Do you mean that you do not wish to invest in art?"

"Yes."

Even if someone had put dirt in his eyes, he would never invest in art.

Art did not bring in any money!

Now one area remained.

"Please set the amount that you wish to invest in commercial development, which can be subdivided into several areas."

As productivity and commercial development increased, so did the town's tax revenue.

It supported livestock and agriculture as well as the town's technology. It was also used to develop mines and construct buildings, increasing the town's productivity. Grocery stores increased the number of goods and quant.i.ty available from the trading post.

Blacksmith development increased the quality and production of weapons, armors, and tools.

The production of specialty items will increase.

It was important to make conservative investments in the most specific areas as possible.

Weed flatly replied.

"119700 gold!"

"Such a huge investment in commercial development? I am concerned that you are too preoccupied with economic development."

"Please invest 119700 gold in commercial development."

- 119700 gold has been invested in commercial development.

Mapan shut his mouth.

"So there is this side to Weed!"

At first he had thought that he was just a really cheap person.

"We didn't know how he truly was all along."

Once again this was the time to gauge Weed's leaders.h.i.+p. However, the truth was very different.

Weed's judgement.

'Morata is going to be an important city in the northern continent.'

The growing number of tourists!

Morata was safely under the Church of Freya's protection for another year. so there was no risk to the village or residents from monster attack.

Other users could attack Morata.

However, they were not willing to attack Morata because of the strength and influence the Church of Freya has.

Paladins from the Church of Freya were known to be some of the most strongest and unforgiving people.

'So it'll be safe for at least one year.'

Morata was set to develop.

Then in the future he could recover the money he had invested through a tremendous rate of exploitation!

Truly a vicious lord's dream!

* * *

While he was delayed by the village chief, Mapan, Pale and Geomchi were waiting.

Weed said.

"I'm done now. Let us depart from town!"

"Finally, let's go."

Surka said, smiling brightly as she took lead.

Mapan got the wagon. Whenever the wagon moved it left deep ruts in the ground. This was because the wagon was filled with different types of fabric and leather, jewelry, mountains of food, combat supplies, and other products.

If you pack too much it wouldn't move, but he had calculated and carefully placed the items so that the maximum quant.i.ty could be taken.

"I'm going to see."

"Let's follow them."

"I don't wanna miss where they're going!"

Onlookers followed along closely.

Once they found out Weed was the Count of Morata they became even more anxious.

It looked as if they would follow them to h.e.l.l if they must!

Weed was moving in the direction of the west canyon.

"The area over there is unexplored"

"I don't know. There are a lot of hunting grounds and dungeons that have not been explored yet."

The spectators were puzzled but they still followed. They had witnessed the large amount of supplies that brought along.

Weed's party headed into the foggy woods of the west canyon.

Thickly grown trees blocked out the sky.

It was hard to see through the dense water vapor in the fog so visibility was bad.

Jjireureutring!

Swarms of insects buzzed ominously.

Monsters did not pop up from the fog in the forest. But the daylight was getting dimmer and sound were getting closer.

"It's okay."

"There's an exit on the other side, so we just have to wait until they reach the end."

The people circled around cross the foggy forest.

Only one group continued into the forest while the others avoided it.

The people waited as Weed and his companions went into the fog.

They waited for one hour, two hours but they heard no news.

"Even if they're moving slowly because of the wagon, it should be enough time for them to cross."

"It doesn't make sense that they're not coming out."

"Let's go back to the entrance."

Some people waited at the end while the others went back to the entrance. But they could not find any trace of Weed or his companions.

* * *

The Forest of Mist in the Eastern region!

Water vapor rises from the land, the trees releases the savage wind.

Hwaak! Hwaaak!

There was a strange feeling flowing from this place.

Even for a short while it was an unpleasant place to stay in.

Weed summoned Tori here.

"I call forth Vampire Lord Tori!"

Chatringtring!

They heard something as the ground shook.

A swarm of black flying bats!

He had red, bloodshot eyes with sharp canine fangs protruding.

There were a large number of vampire bats swimming throughout the fog. However, they did not attack Weed, Pale, or Geomchi.

They flapped their wings and flew lower. Some of them hung upside down on trees while others on the wagon.

Looking closely, each of them had the signs of n.o.bility of the night from the protruding fangs and the elegant wings.

Maylon, Irene, Romuna, and Surka were surrounded by 200 thousand vampire bats.

"Oh my G.o.d! Look at those fangs."

"Look how lovely and adorable they are."

Surka and Romuna had a joy that no one else could quite understand. Some would say that bats are ugly creatures but they found them very cute.

Irene slowly went and put a bat on her hand.

"Pretty wings."

"..."

Irene also had weird tastes.

Maybe it was because she didn't have to worry about them trying to attack and eat her.

Vampire Lord Tori knelt down respectfully.

"Master, I've come to take you to Todeum."

Tori gave the the utmost splendid manner towards Weed.

Weed nodded in approval.

"Yea, let's leave now."

Tori was also glad to hear that.

He could finally get away from Weed's outrageous tyranny!

Tori circled around them.

"Take care Master, once we get to the kingdom. If we, by chance, meet again."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"Well, more like intimidation..."

Weed gently hit Tori on the shoulder.

"Do you want to get beat?"

"That, that is not the case."

"Now you're going to live your life with pride and good fortune?"

"That would be more comfortable."

"Then do you want to get beat then?"

"..."

Weed scared Tori again, beating him here where there was no doctor to heal him.

The Geomchis', Irene, and all the party were waiting here, where they wouldn't use up their stamina.

'It's just like a van with bad brakes! The fact that you make a single wrong decision could mean death at any time.'

According to Weeds philosophy, if he didn't beat them enough, they would get rebellious.

Beating that rebellious spirit out of him.

Being beaten at any time leaves an aftertaste. And being caught so suddenly one day.

The times between beatings were very short.

Soon you start acting more positively.

Just like how Death Knight Van Hawk was compliant.

Weed stuck true to his principles and threatened Tori in their last moments together.

"Let us go, Master!"

"Yea."

Weed, leading the way, climbed on top of the vampire bats. Then he slowly rose into the sky.

The humans were flying as well as the carriage!

The vampire bats stuck to the lower part of the carriage to carry it.

* * *

A shaman with long straight hair and a violet wand walked into the entrance of Morata.

She looked around and said.

"Is this where Weed is? I wonder if I came on time?"

Her name was Da'in.

In Lavias she was the woman who played around with monsters with blessings, curses, healing, attacks, and magic!

She was now focused on going around the Versailles Continent and playing in party hunting quests. She had heard the rumors about the village of Morata and its outstanding Tower of Light.

Weed was said to be the one that sculpted it.

"Maybe it will be that Weed that I know."

Da'in could remember that Weed was a sculptor as well as a great fighter.

The sculptures he had made were meager. Since his carving skills were low, they didn't even become fine piece.

There were sculptures that resembled monsters.

"He must have gotten a lot better by now."

Listening to a rumor, Da'in had guessed that this was the Weed she was looking for.

A lot of people had the username Weed, but it was uncommon for them to be sculptors as well.

Thus she came to the northern continent and mingled into the village of Morata.

* * *

Gaston and Pavo arrived in Morata village.

"There it is."

"So difficult. It's even harder for people like us with low stamina to come such a far distance."

"True, if it weren't for those generous merchants who gave us a ride in the middle of the trip then we would never have made it."

Pavo looked back in reminiscence.

During the time in the northern expedition they faced annihilation at the hands of the dragon's breath.

Pavo thought they were bound to lose their lives.

"I really regret it. I should not had such high expectations in the first place. What could an architect and a painter do in such a battle anyways? We went along, suffered all kinds of difficulties, and didn't even get to see it properly."

"Yea. It was harder for us to go into combat when we're so powerless."

Architect and painter!

They were saying all sorts of complaints about their profession.

When they turned on the television they had seen that the expedition was a success, but they were stuck back at the City of Art, Rhodium. They missed out on the chance for fame and the savory rewards.

"Yea, there's a limit to how much growth we can get in Rhodium, Pavo."

"Yea, that's true. Our reputation won't grow in a place like that."

A characteristic of artists.

Repeated works in one place gave less fame. The difference is negligible at first, but difference between the first and the tenth work was considerable.

A faint light was in Gaston's eyes.

"How about we go see other cities?"

"Other cities? Are you suggesting we settle down in a new city?"

"Let me persuade you how it is more rewarding. Its uncommon for painters and architechs in Rhodium to get jobs but there is the whole Versailles Continent. There's nothing keeping you here."

"I understand what you mean. What city do you want to go to?"

Gaston already had a place in mind.

"I'm going to Morata."

"The village with Sculptor Weed? That's bringing back the bad memories that I had in the northern continent."

"I was also there but I did have fun."

"d.a.m.n you're right. But can we go?"

It was difficult for people to go to a new place. It was even more difficult for production cla.s.ses.

Gaston sighed.

"We can at least try. See it that way."

Then the two middle-aged men underwent a number of challenges to get to Morata. They had to go through dangerous zones that were teeming with monsters and sometimes they were chased by bees. Several times they barely escaped and made it safely to a town!

They lay down in the street, exhausted, until they got the help of a pa.s.sing by merchant.

Gaston shook his head.

"It's really hard for profession like our's to get by."

Pavo laughed at that.

"We did arrive safely though."

If it had not been for the digging skills, then they would have almost died. They would dig a hole in the ground and hide until the monsters left. This would not have been possible if they did not see the monsters approach in advance.

Thankfully for Gaston, the skills worked exceptionally well in the snow.

They could just dig a hole anywhere and hide.

Painters and architects but poor survivability but they had their ways to cope.

Even so, it was important that they had caught a ride with that merchant or they would not have been able to survive their crisis.

Fortunately they met in the middle of the northern continent where it was still relatively safe.

Gaston looked at his clothes.

"Wow, your clothes are so dirty."

"You didn't even wash it once."

Gaston and Pavo were basically wearing rags, but the people around didn't seem to mind.

"They must be travelers that are new to the town.

"Look at how much they have suffered."

It was difficult for thousands of the people that had come to Morata. Many people would arrive looking as if they have not bathed in days. Gaston was a little surprised about Morata as he washed his face.

'This city is lively.'

Pavo thought the same.

'There's a lot of people. Judging by just this there are more than 3000 people in the village.'

They did know that this was just the entrance to the village and that people flocked daily. Quite a number of people were busy walking around the village. Merchants had opened stalls and were selling to people as were chefs selling food.

"Pavo, I think it was a good idea to come to Morata."

"This is an all-new frontier of a developing city! It's not bad and I don't know if we can do anything here but it'll be fun."

Then an issue came up.

A Morata resident walked up quickly and grabbed Pavo.

"Are you skilled in architecture?"

Pavo trembled as he replied.

"Yes, I am an architect."

"Good! Did you know that my wife has recently become pregnant? The child is going to be born soon and I need a new house. I'm busy and I don't have time to do it. Please help me out, you won't regret it!"

Ttiring!

The village house for a couple.

The home for his wife and a young baby.

Relieve his concerns by building a durable house as soon as possible.

He wants his house build two to three places in one of the vacant lots west of the apple tree, wood and stone can be used as building materials.

Difficulty : D

Compensation : 26~309 gold.

Varies depending on the size of the completed house and the building materials.

Quest restriction:

Architect profession only.

Pavo nodded his head.

"Please leave it to me. I'll build you a very st.u.r.dy house. It will withstand all sorts of storms."

- You have accepted the quest.

Houses made by digging out stone.

A lot of the city was busy in building new houses for the residents.

The villagers were even building a shopping district.

The residents were able to somewhat construct this much.

But the quality of the houses affect the villagers' satisfaction and improve public security. On a certain level, productivity increases.

Even with a few people helping out, you still needed the professional help of an architect.

A kingdom. The construction of a wall around the town of Morata.

In order to ensure the safety and stability of the town, they built a wall and expand the city.

A lot of people were interested in partic.i.p.ating.

It was announced that there would be a new village made outside the wall.

Morata village was still underdeveloped. They had to create new fields and waterways.

Large scale investment in Morata was rapidly changing the environment for the poor.

Opportunity.

These were the best kind of quests for an architect.

The opportunity to actively partic.i.p.ate in the development of a city!

Pavo pulled up his sleeves.

"We need to work fast! Hands on jobs are very scarce. We're going to need people to work on this."

"Haha, I'll help."

Gaston could not conceal his envy as he saw Pavo working.

Having issues with your profession was a most sorrowful thing.

Quests were very few and you work for next to nothing so often you end up starving.

However, in Morata, they were in great need of an architect. There were G.o.d knows how many jobs for him.

'Architect was so much better. I'm never going to get recognized as an artist.'

However then things changed for Gaston.

Residents came up to him.

"Can you help me? I need a signboard for a shop that I'm going to open."

It was not a very difficult job to do.

Then the village elder came.

"I want you to draw a picture on the city gates as a symbol of the village."

Various doors of opportunity opened up for Gaston.

He was even asked to draw a map about monster in the vicinity. When the map was completed, it could be sold to adventurers and he would get fame.

He even got jobs to make painting for the castle.

The village elder said.

"Our lord is a lover of art. I think that my Lord would want to give some support to the artists in his city."

Tons of Weed's investment was used to develop the town.

Aside from donations to the Church of Freya, the village elder put large sums into art and culture.

* * *

Weed and his companions flew on the vampire bats.

"Kyyyaaaah!"

The acrophobic Surka screamed.

The bats did not have as much power as the Wyverns, who had large stature.

Cl.u.s.ter! Cl.u.s.ter!

Whenever she made eye contact with the ground she would be overcome with fear.

It was very shocking.

"So this is how the adventure starts..."

It was a grandiose start to the adventure of a lifetime. This was the kind of adventure that Maylon had fantasized about.

Pale was at a loss.

"Maylon-nim."

"Yes?"

"Aren't the bats scary?"

"Well..."

"Then again, we are heading to the kingdom of the vampires so riding on bats will be an experience that we can't miss."

Maylon was convinced.

It was slightly different than how she imagined but one does not ride on top of bats often!

It was incredible to think if there were people flying above the ground on bats.

'So this is Weed's adventure.'

Pale was expecting the same thing.

This was the next place that they have gone to since the City of Heavens, Lavias. They spent a long time going on quests and adventures.

The bats flew for a long time until Morata was out of sight.

The faraway lakes and mountains looked smaller than their fingernails. They were so high up that the village looked like a dot.

Then they stopped in place!

The vampire bats were flapping in place.

After waiting for a few moments, Weed asked.

"Tori, are you lost?"

"No master."

Tori replied in a relaxed voice.

"How much longer do we have to go?"

"That's not it, the place is right here."

"Then why?"

"Master, the n.o.ble vampire kingdom Todeum is in the world of the night. We will never be able to get into Riga during the day!"

"Then..."

"We have to wait until it is night."

They remained hanging in the sky listening to the sound of the air.

Weed let out a deep sigh as Tori said it so naturally.

'I brought my entire party. I wasted an entire day because of this ignorant b.a.s.t.a.r.d!'

Weed was regretting. A whole day had been lost.

"Tori."

"What's with the look?"

"Come over here, closer."

"I don't want to go over there.

Tori had finally noticed. Weed was smiling brightly.

"Didn't you say that you would send me and my party there shortly?"

"Yes."

Tori revealed his fangs and laughed grinning.

"This is the last time I think I'll have to say goodbye. Weren't you fond of my sculptures?"

"A sculpture you say, Master? Master's sculptures are very beautiful."

Tori came over.

His face showed was one without any sign of doubt.

'You are an ignorant man.'

Weed narrowed his eyes finely. Then he started beating him.

Papapapapak!

A cool and playful sound was ringing in the air.

There was the scene that Mapan always remembered seeing. Pale and Yurin just looked on.

Hwaryeong's calm eyes lit up.

"So strong. He's so cool."

He firmly hit him around. Weed's actions were good.

Geomchi nodded.

"It seems I taught him correctly."

The Geomchis sympathized with Weed.

"He's only smacking instead of punching."

Geomchi3 had a tingly sensation in his hands.

"I want to try hitting too..."

Geomchi4 agreed.

"It would be nice if I could get a vampire I could hit around."

"Geomchi4, we'll see if we get a chance to get one."

"So I will."

Irene was forced to sit in the front.

This kind of thinking was certainly not normal!

'One only thinks about money and the others are narrow minded and violent!'

It was just what Irene expected from Weed's philosophy. Nevertheless, she felt bad for Tori.

Weed could feel the beating he was giving.

He used high number of attacks in rapid succession giving off big and strong echos.

Weed honed his techniques by beating Tori!

His sword fighting involved increasing the number of basic attacks.

Whenever the skills were used correctly against a monster, he dealt huge damage.

But if the attack was off a bit or if he loses the flow of the attack then the skill was canceled.It was necessary to properly activate and use combat skills.

Because of this, it was a skill that you needed to use in Royal Road.

Surka was impressed.

'He's punching properly!'

She checked for anything that she could learn from Weed. Given her character cla.s.s, she watched to see if she could learn to deal more damage. Daytime had pa.s.sed and now it was night.

The door to Todeum was now open.

They were standing on ground instead of the sky!

Kurururang!

Deeper and deeper they went into the unknown swamp.

Tori said.

"This is the entrance to the Kingdom of Todeum!"

At the end of the description he plunged into the hole and rapidly descended.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

Surka's feminine scream!

Almost at the same time, a snaky voice erupted forth.

"The kingdom of the n.o.bility of the night! You are welcome to enter Todeum! Kuehuehuehuehue."