The news about the five players who acquired skills spread quickly. Everybody created their own skills, some did the basics first and some were far too excited and created the most overpowered skill possible but were dejected once the system did not allow them to do so.
It boosted the Adventurers' spirits and quests were done in a much faster rate, giving them the gold needed for everyday expenses. Of course, more gold means Adventurers' needs and wants can now be bought much easier, giving a significant rse to the markets and the merchants who sell these things.
It was revolutionary, the simple acquisition of skills made the economy grow and the requests for more tasks and quests also skyrocketed. Though it was simple, it did help change a lot.
Meanwhile, Jouzu and his party were gearing up for an expedition set by the guild master, Eric Dratharion. This particular expedition would aim for the north, which geography is still unknown. The logic was simple, the world is basically a game, there's map, HP bar, MP Bar, Exp bar, Stats etc... All of these worked in order to give the player the information he needed to follow a specific storyline or questline but that changed when it became their reality. The World Map went black and only the accessed areas by the players are available.
Guild Hall, Hedia Adventurer's Guild HQ
People were gathered and look up only to one man, a man who stood up in front of them and spoke about what would be the next coming of events they'd need to take in order to progress.
"Rejoice fellow Adventurers." Eric announced, "today, we are gathered here to finally take action. This day would be the official launch of the guild's expedition quest, which would primarily aim to explore the northern lands." The crowd mumbled and whispered about the announcement, they were doubtful about the suddent event. Eric, as if reading the crowd's expression seem to know this so he continued his speech, "Do not fear, we would not force anyone to join" he paused, "I would give out the details so that everyone could think whether or not to volunteer."
He then proceeded to tell the details, making sure that he doesn't miss anything important. The expedition would require 12 Parties, not needing if it was a high level as long as they are strong-willed and willing, he also said that they'd need skilled Adventurer's for they might be danger waiting up ahead and that they wanted to reduce the casualties to the lowest.
"That's all for now, for those who want to sign up, please proceed to the temporary counter in my room to register."
We must go, it'll be boring if we always stay here.
"Jouzu, are we going?" Mischa asked.
"Of course, we should go and sign up for it. We might level up in the way as well."
"Nah," Nimbus interjected, "we won't even level up, we need tons of Exp before we reach level 9."
"Don't mind him, we'll leave him be."
And so they left Nimbus.
"W-wait! i'm just joking y'know!"
They went to Eric's room to register themselves as part of the first expeditionarists but once they were in, they didn't expected the numbers that would like to volunteer.
"Alright! three more parties to go, any more than that would not be accepted as part of the Expeditionary Force!"
Hearing this, they hurried up to get in line and we're lucky enough to include themselves in the paper. Eric then would later hold a small briefing of the expedition. They theorized that the northern lands ahead of Hedia were rich in quality building and crafting materials, which would be a perfect place for them to establish a territory.
----------------------------------
Some random inn, Hedia
They decided to go rest at the inn they were staying, the first floor is bar-styled, tables were at the right side along with the counter, the left side would be a way to the stairs that goes up to the second floor where rooms are located. It was nothing grand, its just a simple looking inn.
"So, any of you guys know anything about the north?" Jouzu said, starting the conversation.
"No, unfortunately we don't have one."
"Are (A-reh)? this is the first time I heard Sigrun that she knows nothing."
"I'm not literally a walking encyclopedia, Mischa."
"How about a guess? any of you have a guess or idea what's on the north?"
"I think there might be a small village around it." Mischa suggested.
"Some more stupid monsters I assume, HAHAHAHA!"
"A dungeon? A city? I dunno."
Nodding to the three's ideas, Jouzu's eyes looked into Shard.
"How about you Shard? any ideas?"
Shard was surprised, she suddenly snapped back to reality.
"U-umm, I D-don't have any I-ideas..." She replied in a soft voice, which made Jouzu's heart skip a beat.
"Jeez."
"Gross."
Sigrun and Mischa chorused while staring at Jouzu. He was dumbfounded by their reaction, why would they look at him like that? and why would they say those words? He doesn't really know.
Sighing he said, "Ok, we should get a rest for now. But don't get too much rest or else we'll miss the meeting."
"Ok!" his friends chorused.
"Jouzu, can we have a little 'man' talk?" Nimbus asked as his right eye winked.
"Umm, sure. If you want to."
The girls then went into their rooms and so the boys.
----------------------------------
Jouzu and Nimbus' room
"You like Shard don't you?" Nimbus said directly, no signs of shame or hesitation in his tone.
Confused, Jouzu asked, "Erm, what?"
"I said you like Shard don't you?"
Jouzu's face became a little red but he managed to stay calm, "What made you say so?"
Nimbus laughed, amused by Jouzu's reaction, "I knew it! you like her a lot! just look at your face man."
Jouzu then sounded serious, "I Don't Like Her Or Anything."
(Yes, He Doesn't Really Like Any of The Girls In The Group :P)
"Then how would you explain your reaction earlier?"
"Because I thought the way she replied was a little cute. Heck, with that voice i'm sure that even you would think that."
"Hmm, you're right." Nimbus said as he strokes his chin, "Shard is actually damn cute and is pretty freakin' hot too! she's a complete package considering that body and those nice bouncy racks."
Jouzu looked at him with a disgusted face, "You really should stop being creepy."
"But man! I am only saying the truth!"
"Alright, alright. Just don't talk about those things. You wouldn't get a girlfriend if you keep talking like that."
"Says the guy who's in the same status as me."
"Jeez, just sleep already."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The time for the expedition meeting has now begun, the parties who voluntarily registered assembled into the adventurers' guild building.
Eric, the guild master explained what was the purpose of said event.
"We only have one particular reason, we can't just stay here in Hedia. We as Adventurers need to claim our own territory. We can't just sit our asses here forever, this is the New World! this would be the world that we would be living from now on. We need to work our ass up in order to survive!"
Everyone nodded in agreement With Eric, Everyone who stood inside knew that they are foreign in the New World, thus they have to stand on their own, establish themselves, and work together as One.
Eric began briefing them until the meeting ended. Parties who're part of the expedition force were to go on with their own or cooperate with other parties. Three out of the twelve parties went altogether and the rest went with their own.
The Expedition Force left Hedia at exactly 4:00 PM, a time where it was not too bright but not too dark either. Just the perfect amount of light and heat to go and explore the unknown and undiscovered places.
The parties separated ways until their figures left the horizon, they are now to take care of their own.
"Do we have enough materials to set up a camp?" Jouzu asked, "it would be bad if we won't have a place to rest."
"Rest assured Jouzu, We have more than enough here. We also brought enough food and water as well."
"As expected of you Sigrun, thanks."
"No worries, we decided to go by ourselves after all. Better be prepared than never."
"Ha! Be thankful that i'm here to carry these things for you."
"Silly, we can use our 【Inventory】 for those. We don't even need a meat-head like you."
"Pfft." they all laughed at Nimbus.
"I can't believe Sigrun's plan will work, Nimbus is literally the definition of stupid." Mischa said while laughing and catching her breath.
"I told you it will work!" Sigrun replied laughing.
"Geez! I can't believe you guys. How did you make that one work?" Even Jouzu couldn't be more amused.
"You plotting b*tch!" Nimbus retaliated, steams puffing on his head.
Plain Meadows, Northern Part
They walked for several hours until they decided to set up their camp. They put up a camp using one medium-sized tent, one large tent and a fireplace. The larger tent was for the three girls while the other one was for the boys.
Gathered around the fireplace, they held out sticks with Fresh Boar Meat at its end and cooked it. They shared what were their daily lives looked like in the Earth though they knew how each other one lived their lives. They also changed their topics from time to time until Nimbus came up with an idea.
"Alright, enough with the boring life stories and sh*t. Lets start talking about the person we like the most."
""""EEEEHHHHH!?"""" The other four chorused.
"Let's start with Mischa."
"N-n-n-no way! I can't just t-talk about the one I like!"
"Oh so you do have one, who is it then?" Nimbus teased, grinning in a mocking way.
"OH SHUT UP! I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!" Mischa grabbed her one-handed long sword and was about to hit Nimbus but Jouzu grabbed her arm to stop her.
Embarassed, Mischa's face went redder more than before, she turned away and went into their tent.
"Aww that's too bad, next is Sigrun!"
"Jeez, Nimbus stop it already." Jouzu interpolated.
"Iye, its ok. I don't like someone in particular." in that moment Sigrun sounded cool and calm, but she can't hide the slight blush on her cheeks.
"Ho? who is it then? me?"
"Stupid! not you of course its Jo-"
"Jo? Jo What? Jotaro? Jormungand?"
Embarassed, she also walked out and headed to their tent. She almost slipped but thankfully she stopped herself from saying that name.
"So, for the last girl." Nimbus stared at Shard as if teasing her, "C'mon, c'mon answer, answer."
Shard suddenly rose up and slapped Nimbus and unexpectedly Jouzu. She walked out and headed to their tent. Her face though hidden, was really red.
"Why did she had to slap me too?" Jouzu wondered. Added to that was the fact that Shard slapped her harder than Nimbus.
"There's really no fun in them really." Nimbus chuckled and sighed.
"Why did she slapped me too!?"
"Ugh, for god's sake Jouzu, why are you like that?"
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"
Nimbus let out a deep sigh, "You're so dense."
"Sorry, what?" Jouzu looked more confused. Not understanding what Nimbus meant.
"Nevermind, let's just eat."
They ate their barbeque and after cleaning, went to their tents soon after. Jouzu didn't fell fast asleep, thinking about what happened earlier.
The morning sun went up and shone its glorious light upon the green meadows. Jouzu got up earlier than the rest although he had a hard time sleeping the last night. He immediately went out the tent and lit the fireplace outside. He decided to cook a Boar Steak using the meat they had.
Soon after he was done, Nimbus went out the tent and sat down on the small log bench while watching Jouzu cook their breakfast.
"Smells great" he sniffed, "are you secretly a cook Jouzu?"
"No i'm not."
They chatted until Jouzu finished the second batch, they called the girls on their tent and Jouzu put their meal to a plate and handed it to them.
It was a good breakfast, the girls were surprised and impressed by Jouzu's cooking and kept asking him where or whom did he learn his cooking skills, they also had a lively chatter and once they were done eating, they quickly cleaned up and prepared for a long walk again. They started by putting eveything back into their 【Inventory】 and then replenishing themselves.
"Let's go, we still haven't reached today's marker yet." Jouzu said.
And so, they began their trip to the north once again.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Plain Meadows, Northernmost Part
Finally after nearly two hours of walking, they saw a dense forest and silhouettes of Adventurers ahead. There was about ten or twenty of them, all grouped up and looks to be waiting.
They approached the group and found out that they were also a part of the Expedition Force.
Sigrun immediately asked, "So, what are you guys doing here for the past days?"
"We actually just got here. We got attacked by a giant ogre last night" the man replied, "it was terrible, we suffered major losses, a lot of us died."
From his tone alone, the attack that happened seemed really terrible. Both of his eye's were comparable to a void, it looked like that what he witnessed at that particular moment were too much for him.
"Ha! if you only had me back then, you wouldn't lose even a single man!" Nimbus commented.
"Pardon him, he's just like that."
"Its ok, no need to apologize."
"By the way, my name is Jouzu Bladeburn and these guys beside me are my friends." he introduced.
"Sup! my name is Nimbus, the 'Invincible Tank'!"
"Mine's Sigrun"
"I'm Mischa, nice meeting you."
"My name... My name is Shard... nice m-meeting you."
Returning the manner, the man introduced himself, "My name is Forte Magister, i'm currently a level 5 mage. It is my pleasure to meet you, I hope that we get along."
Right after introducing themselves, they joined the group and waited for adventurers who were also part of the expedition. After three hours or so more Adventurers joined in. No one else showed up after that so they decided to leave and go to venture the dense forest.
Dense Forest
The forest was thick, it was full of trees and bushes. The environment would be easily labeled as healthy because of the animal sounds that emanated from everywhere, the trees that bore fruit and the green vegetation below were one of the major additions into this conclusions. Insects and bugs also came here and there from almost everywhere, their colors and sizes varied giving them
The bushes, shrubs, and ferns along the way made their advance slower. They also needed to stop from time to time to take short breaks and replenish ttheir hunger or thirst.
It was already sunset before they knew it and the forest's lively trees blocked the light from the sun, making the forest darker than its outskirts. This forced them to set up a temporary camp in a nearby lake they spotted, it was also the perfect time and a perfectly good spot since animals and other creatures drank water from the lake, making hunting easier.
The place became lightened by fire from the different fireplaces from the parties of the Expedition Force. Some were eating, some were discussing, some were still talking about what happened the last night and such. Jouzu's party who weren't there when the attack happened became curious, so they went to Forte's settlement and asked him about it.
"It... it was really... really terrible." Forte sighed, his memories still fresh of the attack, "that Giant Ogre was too much for us. It was already a one-sided battle from the start, we didn't even scratch it."
"What was the Ogre like?" Sigrun asked curiously.
"It was huge, I think it was about nine meters tall. It also had two heads next to each other. Its weapon was a big stone club." Forte described, from his descriptions alone the monster would terrorize any men. Some of Jouzu's friends we're shocked, not by his description but because of the monster's appearance in a low-level zone.
"What about its level? have you had the chance to see or maybe have a glance of it?" Mischa queried.
"It was level 73."
"WHAT TH- ARE YOU SERIOUS!? I CAN'T TANK THAT SH*T THERE'S NO WAY I CAN!"
Jouzu though surprised, kept his calm composure, "I know that this game- no, this world is more skill-based than level-based. Stats still do matter, maybe even a hundred of us won't take that thing down."
It was true for now. That monster easily wiped out the poor adventurers who were in its way and the fact that the highest level adventurer right now is level 13, there was no way they can beat that monster.
They continued the chatter until they had decided to take a rest. The forest was surprisingly quiet, it has a peaceful atmosphere despite of the imposing darkness of the surroundings, only noises from the bugs that inhabit in it could be heard, all of them have been able to sleep peacefully.
Then morning came and everybody prepared to go for a possibly long walk, again. The forest boasted its wideness which seemed to look like it doesn't have an end and the bountiful, infinite trees that grew made looking far ahead impossible.
"Hey Forte dude! can we take a short break? i'm having a bad feeling in this forest" Nimbus said, his eyes looking in every direction as if searching, "its like someone or something keeps an eye on us."
"Oh sure, why not" Forte replied, "Everyone let's take a break here, please rest for now."
The groups followed Forte's orders, they rested and took a break.
While everyone was setting up, Nimbus approached Jouzu and whispered to him, "Jouzu, come with me for a moment."
Jouzu replied with a short a nod, Nimbus led the way and went away from the group, "Jouzu assuming that you are an Assassin, you have stealth skills right?"
Confused, he replied, "Yes, I am indeed an Assassin. But unfortunately I don't have stealth skills... yet."
"I need you to have one now, my guts are telling me that this someone eyeing us is somewhat intimidating."
He closed and opened his eyes, "Alright, i'll try to acquire one now."
Jouzu imagined the skill Nimbus told him. Undetectable, silent, quick and nimble.
《Skill Acquired》
「Stealth Stalking」
Description:
Makes the user invisible to any kind of sights, also adds 300% movement speed and completely silences movement of any sorts made by the user.
"There we go, I have one now Nimbus." he said.
"Yosh, now use it and go right there."
Nimbus pointed out a tree behind him, Jouzu used his 「Stealth Stalking」 and went to the tree. His movement was so fast it looked like he teleported. He looked around and found nothing, but he wasn't convinced, that time he also felt the same vibe like Nimbus. There was someone or something in there, he was sure of it. He jumped from one tree to another to find the culprit but it was no good. He didn't pursue it anymore and went back to Nimbus and told him he found nothing. They went back to the group soon after.
"Alright they're here! let's get up and get this expedition done!" Forte announced full of energy.
The groups shouted in agreement and immediately put everything back to their 【Inventory】 and left the place. The walk would continue in four slow hours of bush clearing and eyeviewing until they'd reach the forest's end.
The view after would open their eyes wide. It was just like the plains that surrounded Hedia. A big lake on the middle, the forest where they came from were surrounded by mountain ranges on its sides. It was the perfect place everyone would dream of staying in.
"Wow! this place is awesome!"
Everyone's mouth were wide open in their amazement. The sight was very alluring to the eyes, the place they are seeing right now could be compared to heaven itself.
"Everyone! we'll set up a camp in here! we also need some personnel who would be willing to return back to Hedia and give a report to the guild master." Forte announced. In that short amount of time, he was recognized and assigend as the pack leader, ever since all the parties met on the forest's entrance. They obeyed and respected his orders and followed his instructions whenever he told them what to do.
The parties immediately gathered around and decided who would be the party who will deliver the report to Eric, they also and formed a group who will set up a temporary base on the site. They also started forming parties that would scout the area to see what kind of creatures roam around it, they also formed a scouting party to spot and investigate the possible materials needed to build the first ever adventurer city.
The rest of the day would be busy for the first adventurers ever to reach the place, the new found land would be the foundation of the first major activities for the new worlders.