CLA.S.S NEUTRAL: Stranger Is Coming

Silvanus's path. Pondering. New Quest.

I woke up with difficulty. The timer had kept squeaking plaintively for seven hours, but only now did I hear it. Wow! I'd pumped up my skills greatly yesterday, and now I felt stronger than ever before.

Task 'Training with Silvanus II' is completed.

Additional terms are met!

Reward:

+1000 to the Experience

+500 to the reputation with the Keeper

+100 to the reputation with Reena

Silvanus's skill

Additional reward:

+500 to the Experience

+100 to the reputation with the Keeper

+1 to the Intelligence

Skill 'Silvanus's path' is learned.

Description: Silvanus wanders through a forest so that no one can find him if he doesn't want to be found. He can do it due to this skill.

You managed to step on the path that the Elk-Sokhr had shown you, thereby shortening your way significantly. Use paths to travel through the forest quickly and safely. The path length will depend on your skill, so practice more.

Skill Class: epic

Skill level: 1

Well, now I could safely move through the forest, estimate the situation, and find the dead guy's route. No one will notice me. I knew three locations where he had travelled: the first one was a demonic portal, the second one was the place where I found the coin, and the final one was the place of his death.

I suppose that he ran through…

A-a-a stop-stop. I'd completely forgotten about the log with the feather sign. Yeah, here's that place. He ran out of the Hellish abyss with the help of the Lord's heart. No, that's impossible. Then the hellish creatures wouldn't have come out of the abyss. Most likely, he just dropped the Lord's heart, and the portal opened after a while.

The following course of events was connected to the coin. Apparently, he had been wounded and lost it. A little farther on, the stranger had created a sign for lightning of the load, leaning against this tree.

He seemed to have tried disorientating his pursues. Later he had reached... Later he had reached the place where he had met his death. I needed to determine his journey between these points, and then maybe I would find other clues.

Appearing in Rainea, each player had a standard stranger's map, which showed areas, locations, sights for quests, and more.

However, it had significant limitations that would arise after a player reached a certain high level. A player needed to buy new maps—or make them himself if he had the skill of Cartography, which allowed them to increase the scale and quality of a map in proportion to their skill level.

Although different new properties might appear, I needed to learn this skill. I had been in many places here, so I would immediately pump it up, walking through uncharted parts of the forest.

Most players were satisfied with this map, but I liked detailed ones, thus I'd search hard for a teacher. I wonder where I can find one? Maybe in the village?

I took out my map and the dead guy's skull. I showed the map to the empty eye sockets. Damn, I'd completely forgotten that this skull couldn't see. However, a couple of points lit up on the map along the route I had determined before.

Most likely, this guy, even in such a state, could catch the echoes of thoughts, but he couldn't transmit them—otherwise, he would have shown me the images of the place where he had come to Areen Forest.

I supposed this place was located somewhere east of the portal. The next question was why he had needed the Lord of demons' heart in the first place?

I had only questions, but no answers! Damn! I decided to go to the village, but I had to run across the damned swamps, and I needed a rest.

I used Silvanus's path, which I couldn't find for a long time. I even began to worry that the skill was activated in some tricky way, but no, everything went fine when I eventually found the path.

I hoped that with the advancing of my skills, the search time would reduce significantly, as I was too nervous seeking the path. Half an hour later, I was already on the outskirts of the village. HALF AN HOUR! F.u.c.k them all! Why hadn't they taught me this skill earlier? Think how much time I would have saved!

Hmm… There was a lot of dust in the air. Has someone arrived? However, I didn't really care right now. I needed to find a cartographer among the villagers and learn something new.

Maybe blacksmithing and mining? Why not? These skills were useful for crafting weapons or armor—and for making money. Perhaps I would be able to earn a hundred gold coins.

"What are you thinking about?" a familiar voice asked politely, but I recoiled, startled.

This blasted salvin always came out all of a sudden. I would have to learn this skill and scare him back sometime. Although it was worth learning to perceive reality more simply... Or, to be more precise, this game.

To be honest, sometimes it seemed to me that it was much more real than the world from which I'd come. I'd got game addiction, and judging by the fact that I had spent almost a week in the virtual capsule, it was rather serious.

I needed a break from such a colorful and beautiful world… but why? I remembered the gray and dreary world in which I'd lived before coming here, and I thought: no, I would rather stay here a little longer.

"You're a hard man," Silvanus said and sighed. "Probably, your life in your previous world was very difficult for you, since you seem to think about it so often. By the way, you think too much for your young age. Have you really lived so many lives?"

"You have no idea how right you are." I smiled sadly and admitted that the old man was very clever, so I had to be careful with him.

"Thinking is good, of course, but thinking while learning is even better." The Keeper smiled, and we arrived at the edge of the forest. "You have already had enough rest, so we'll continue your training. It's too early for you to enter the village."

"Why?" I was surprised.

"Never mind."

It made me angry. I needed information, but I didn't have an opportunity to get it. What the hell? I'll kill someone now. Where is my sword?

"Calm down. You can go to the village after today's training. One day isn't so important, but during this time, you'll master a few more skills.

Today your main task will be chasing me. Why are you so surprised? You've learned the path, so you need to develop it vigorously. You'll master some more skills, pursuing me. Just get ready in advance. I won't walk in wastelands or fields, where I can be easily noticed. I'll choose the most dangerous paths. Let's start!"