"You...you completed the Ascendant Quest?!" the receptionist blurted, loud enough to shatter the Guild’s usual murmur.
Just like that, every pair of eyes in the hall turned toward .
I didn’t respond. Didn’t blink. Just stared.
My tail nodded in my place—go figure—and that seed to be enough. The receptionist half-bowed in return, fingers flying across the interface panel before handing over a thin paper slip.
I took it, confused, skimming the words.
"You’ve done us a great service.
The influx of new quests from neighboring districts has resud.
The Royal Court wishes to formally reward you."
Service, huh?
Can’t say I did much.
Vaniti was the one who did all the work. Who knew the "threat to the region" was just an overclocked pest infestation? Still not sure how it even qualified as Ascendant difficulty.
Then again... judging by the number of failed voyages and how the enemy waves ca in relentless tides, maybe that alone justified the rank. I think there was a ga mode like that once—one of those "Endless Defense" simulations. Nice to see that system survived the collapse.
I said nothing in return. No fake smile, no celebratory banter. Just turned on my heel and walked out of the Voyager’s Guild before soone could tell I was terrifying. Or strong. Or anything else that made sound like a damn raid boss.
Raid Boss...hm.
I shook my head, let’s save that thought so other ti.
Still...
That girl. The one who tried to steal the quest before we left. That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it?
To be recognized? Rewarded?
Whatever. I offered to split the loot if she joined.
She passed.
Her loss.
I looked at the paper slip again, reading the direction. Since I was on the main island, it seed that I would have to travel a further bit into it. Probably alongside the mountain system as well. That’s where the capital seed to be.
But then again...I would be pretty far from Vaniti, she wouldn’t know where I would be, and all I said to her before leaving was...
Stay put, don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.
This journey looks like I’ll be gone for the entire day, and I’m not sure if she’s eaten anything either. Sheesh, was I always such a bad party mber?
But Vaniti is a big girl, just like . I don’t know how old she is exactly, but I’m sure she can grab herself sothing to eat. Yeah, like that.
My feet slowly lifted off the cobblestone, and I ascended high into the skies. With a slow, gradual pace, I started soaring through the skies. Not too high, but just enough to get out of the ones below in their eyesight.
Flying might be a better option than just walking there, so now it all depends on how long the Royal Court decides to reward . Hopefully not long.
Looking ahead, I never realized how much water was around the islands. It never seed like that in ga. I looked above, and frankly, I was kind of surprised that there were barely any floating islands.
There were none. At all. Guess alot changes in...10,000 years. Still trying to wrap my head around that, and the fact that this world is no longer a replica of the ga I used to play. Just an ever-evolving one.
I dodged quite a few mountains, flew way too low. I expected to see a volcano, but I guess sohow the one I knew from the ga no longer existed. The geography started to change a whole lot by the ti I got nearer and nearer to the Royal Court.
Or the great capital of Aurea Islands, Royalia.
Very, very unique. Catchy na, if I do say so myself.
I descended slowly, boots touching cobblestone yet again. This didn’t look like a town, no, much more of a...noble city if anything. Carriages were far more decorated, street lights, amazing buildings alongside houses.
Far beats anything going on the one I was in previously.
I entered the city, and right before were the mountains in the background. Multiple houses lead up towards us, I assud that’s where I was supposed to go. A rich people’s villa of sorts.
But, before I could even get into it, there was obsidian gates. With two...royal guards at the entrance, guarding it. I guess the Royal Courts is sowhat of a serious thing here in Aurea Islands.
Arriving there, they noticed . Looked up and down. One raised his bayonet, while the other watched carefully.
I raised the paper slip, "I’m not here to pick a fight, just here to claim a reward."
The careful guard took a few steps towards , politely took the paper slip from . Read it, then looked at . He eventually gave it back to .
"Very well then. Your efforts have not gone astray; you will be rewarded shortly." He says.
"If you may,"
He motions for to follow him. The one with the bayonet gives a nasty stare, but not like I paid attention to him anyways. The gate opens, and we enter.
The first thing I noticed, was the elite garden. Fountains on both sides. A range of flowers that I’ve...never seen before. In real life, and in the video ga. We walked the stone path before arriving towards the great house.
This one was perfection, if I had to put it to words. Beautiful decorations throughout, banners of the capital and nations emblem. The doors even opened by themselves, but I could sense it. The faintest use of mana.
Has the world gotten so advanced to where both magic and technology started to intertwine? In...thousands of years, I would’ve expected futuristic buildings and technology...but I guess that just goes to show how much of an impact the Dark Age had, according to Aarx.
When a large percent of the population disappears, I guess the whole world would be put on halt.
The guard went on ahead, but I stopped. Look upwards, towards the upper windows. The curtain moved slightly.
Soone was watching .
But I couldn’t trace the mana. No, there’s too many people around and all of the signatures start blending into one-another. Unless it’s soone I know personally like Vaniti, it would be hard for to weed it out amongst the group.
Which just ans...that security is tight here, I suppose. No ssing up, no violence, no anything.
Yeah...put those jurisdictions on the God of Catastrophe and let’s see how far we get, yeah?
Despite that, nobody knows who I am.
Or maybe sobody in this Court knows...or who they think I used to be.
Serving a false image of makes it all the better, because why believe in this current vision? But then again, what Aarx said stuck to .
...never did completely make sense.
Who...who exactly changed the image of ?
Soone who hated , possibly? Soone who survived?
Or is that just how nature goes?
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