4. A Word of Advice
“That covers everything!” Cer exclaid as she shot up from her seat. With a long, wide stretch, she peered down at Frost with a small grin. “Now you’re ready to go slay so monsters! Start questing. You know, the stuff you adventurers usually do.”
“Cer… we really should tell her about them.” Res whispered cautiously.
“I doubt she’ll get into trouble with one.” Ber assured. “They aren’t common enemies at all.”
“About what? If it’s important then I’d like to know.” Frost inquired.
A long silence followed. The three glanced at each other indecisively, not knowing whether to tell her or not. Eventually, Cer surrendered to Res’ gaze and let loose of a long sigh.
“Be glad Frost. I’m 80 hours into my overti, so listen carefully!”
Cer exclaid and pointed directly at Frost’s face.
“If there’s anything you should fear, it is the Corrupted. In the next 500 hours I highly doubt you’ll co across one. They’re so rare in fact that the last notable event was 15 years ago. If you can’t read the status of a particular entity, then you’re up against a Corrupted. Full stop. Run and don’t look back. I an that in the sincerest way possible. Oh, and don’t be confused with them and other people with the Blessing. We can’t glimpse into each other’s statuses after all.”
“Are they different from any wildlife?” She refrained from calling them monsters for the ti being. It was always strange to how the two terms were interchangeable in many fantasy fictions.
Perhaps if she finally saw one up close then she’d realize why.
“Monsters and wildlife don’t even compare.” Ber adamantly claid. “They are worse. So much more worse.”
Then their faces darkened. A looming cloud blocked off the light of the sun, encasing the hub in its shadow as the following words left Cer’s lips.
“Hey Frost. Ever seen a murderous stuffed toy that strangles children? A loom that weaves thread out of flesh? A machine that sings until your head bursts? Or – better yet – a dozen-winged bird that can claim the lives of a million people in a single night?”
Her words reverberated like spoken scripture. There was a certain thrum weaved into her voice as Frost devoured all that left her mouth, etching it into her mind like a scribe.
That sounds like a nightmare. Maybe I should just stick around inside of the Nexus for a while.
“But don’t let that discourage you. I’m willing to bet my own life that you won’t co across one.” Cer followed as the sun’s bountiful light returned, as did her cheeky smile.
“Oi! If you bet yours, then I’m betting mine too.” Ber thrust a fist into the air.
“Stop it you two –”
“Alright, us 3 are betting our lives on you!” Cer suddenly exclaid, causing Frost to softly chuckle.
Well, that’s one way to encourage soone.
“It sounds like I’m not the only one you’ve said that to.” Frost joked.
“Then how else are we going to push newbies out there? You don’t know that if you don’t make enough Nex you’ll lose access to the Nexus.”
“… wait what?” Frost tilted her head slightly.
“100 Nex a day. That’s the price of this paradise. So go out there and start questing.” Cer and the others nodded to themselves in sync.
Do these three all share the sa braincell?
“Is it really ok for to head out? I an… well, punch is about the only offensive skill I have.” Frost wryly replied, almost embarrassed by this.
“Civilization? Hello? You think the Beholders order us to have Hyperlinks placed in the middle of nowhere?” Ber playfully belittled her.
Right. That would make sense. I can imagine soone getting ganked out of nowhere if that wasn’t the case.
“That’s what the Hyperwarp is for! Either send in a subjugation team straight to the battlefield or bring ‘em right into the Nexus directly!” Cer announced.
Never mind. They have a dedicated thod for getting ganked.
“A-Are you satisfied with everything now?” Res kindly asked. Out of all of them she was the most down to Earth and… well, ‘sane’. She felt like the mother of the trio in a way.
“I think I get the gist of things. I guess the only thing left is how to get from where to where.”
“That’s easy. Invoke [Hyperlink] out loud.” Cer pointed again.
“[Hyperlink].”
A rather sterile world map appeared before her very eyes. A dense fog of war clouded almost everything save for the two regions closest to the Nexus – Brandar, which spanned to the north and east; and Grandis which was to the west.
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