Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Sometime later deep in the Catacombs of Resko.../

/SLASH!/

[...]

[Level up!]

[+1 to all Stats]

"Alright... I think this is enough for today." Rodi said as he collapsed on the ground, extremely tired

How many attacks did it take this time?

"Damn, these tanky skeletons..."

He raised his hand and opened the menu, checking the time, before he let out a sigh and thought:

'Almost 6 hours, I spent almost the entire night farming in this place, and finally hit Level 12, placing me at the top of the players in terms of Level.'

'The average player Level is around 4 right now, but this is because most of the players are still in the tutorial with many joining in as we speak...'

"While the person with the highest level is only at Level 14, and he hit that recently, around this morning, he was 11, so about 3 Levels within a day..."

'Yet, I leveled up about 5 times in 6 hours... From the end of Level 7 to 12.'

'The efficiency is much higher, previously, I had to work to the bone to go from Level 5 to pretty much 8 by doing many chores in the village...'

'Those chores were decent if done in high quantities, but neither was I strong or energetic enough for that, I also wasn't capable enough to do some of those more complex tasks.'

'But within a single night here, I went from that to 12... Although I still had to work to the bone in the end...'

Rodi couldn't help but smile.

"I leveled up fast but hunting in here is also very expensive..."

'This damn Miasma keeps trying to debuff me, and if it wasn't for the armor, I bet I would barely be even capable of hunting on the first floor effectively.'

'Also, regeneration of resources is scarce and reduced, so I need to use outside sorts such as potions to heal my health and stamina... And those aren't cheap.'

'It hasn't been long since I came from the tutorial, and I have yet to find any sort of shop in this place, so I'll have to use the open market if I wish to replenish my lost portions...'

"But to use the market in this place, I need to spend a massive sum of money in the Church!"

'Just thinking about it boils my blood due to my anger and the indignation I feel...'

'I only used the shop once but that was more than enough to make me poor, and I have no idea when I'll gather enough money to use it again...'

After resting for a few more minutes, Rodi got up and dusted his pants.

"In any case, the villagers should've woken up by now, so it's a good time to talk with them and see what I can learn about the village, its history, and its surroundings..."

"I only hope I'm not too late... I did give in to my greed and farmed to Level 12 instead of leaving."

'I also need to change my Class as I have gone well beyond Level 10.'

"Not to say my quest! The drops from the Dungeon were few and rather... Useless, but they might have a use..."

'Broken pieces of armor and tools, and also rags and bone pieces from the creatures I killed, not very useful for me, but that may be different for him...'

'I did get a few other drops, such as usable scattered pieces of armor and weapons that somehow resisted the corruption of time, and a few pieces of usable things from the Dungeon chests...'

'And also the scattered Dungeon resources such as plants, I collected many strange mushrooms, and I almost died from touching a bad one due to not being careful...'

'I'm certain they'll be of value... Hopefully... I need the money to replenish my resources.'

"Although there is one thing to note, and that is the fact these Catacombs are much bigger than I imagined, I explored them for several hours and I have yet to finish it."

"And I only explored the first 3 floors since from the 4th floor and onward, I would suffer the debuff from the Miasma."

'For now, this Dungeon is my sole source of stable and decent XP, at least until I reach Level 20. But if I can, I'll stay here until I reach Level 25.'

"But how long will that take? 5-6 full days in the least, counting this one, but perhaps even more... The monsters in here are quite tanky and I don't see other leveled pieces of equipment anywhere..."

'This is a problem and although I bought a strong piece of armor at the start, it's soon going to fall behind my Level as I raise it.'

'Where will I get more gear? Will I be forced to buy it on the market?'

'Impossible, no good gear will appear on the market, even if it does due to some random guy that knows nothing about the value of items it'll likely be snatched away in no time.'

'It's up to luck but I can't relly on that.'

Shaking his head in contemplation, Rodi turned around and climbed the stairs back to the second floor...

...

/At the same time, back in the training grounds near the Mercenary branch.../

"You're here and this means it's time..." Testros said as he looked at Dale

"Aren't you being overly dramatic?" Dale asked as he stretched his body

"No, we won't be going with the villagers to the farms, instead, we'll be going to the shallow parts of the forest, so there is some degree of danger to it."

"What are we going to do there?"

Testros shrugged and said:

"Weren't you the one that wanted to become stronger faster and become more useful for the village? I'll teach you how to properly hunt and survive in the wilderness."

Dale nodded, continuing his stretch.

"I see that you didn't bring that sword..."

"It's too heavy for me to carry, much less bring it with me outside, and also, I am not a sword user... Besides, I don't want to depend on a powerful sword."

"I know, and I agree that it's better to not rely on it. However, as the current user of that sword, you should at least learn some basic swordsmanship."

"But in any case, we won't be needing that for today, training needs to be taken step by step, and bringing such an item to the wilderness isn't something I consider a small step." He said as he turned around

"Unless you plan on cutting down all of the trees on your way..."

"Misgurd is already waiting for us outside, near the gates, so grab the spear and follow me."

This made Dale frown...

"Are you talking about the banner holder?"

'I can tell where this is going...'

"Of course, what did you think I was talking about?"

"..."

'Looks like this is going to be a pain...'

Without complaining, Dale held onto the massive spear and plucked it out of the ground with one hand before resting it on his shoulders.

The massive weight of the spear pressed down on his body, making his left shoulder hurt a little, but such pain wasn't going to stop him.

But this went to show his recent progress.

...

/A few minutes later.../

Dale soon realized carrying the spear around was harder than it seemed.

When he first came here, he managed to carry the spear with much difficulty in and out of the training camp, thus completing Misgurd's test.

And although he is now Level 20 and 15 Levels stronger than before, the spear was still very heavy for him to carry.

Thankfully, since today they were going somewhere dangerous, Testros allowed him to equip armor, but even so, a few more Levels worth of stats wasn't going to make much of a difference, when the value of his stats was in the hundreds.

"You two finally arrived, took you long enough." Misgurd said as he rested his back on the walls of the village, trying to look cool

He was wearing a long sword on his back and there was even a medium-sized shield on his back.

Those were his relics from a better time when he used to be an adventurer like Dale, from a time before he took an arrow to the knee...

The sword was clearly well maintained, but its hilt had some level of damage in it and the shield was just like that, having many scratches across its metallic body.

The triangular-shaped shield had a sharp point in its bottom, probably to pierce his foes when they least expected it... Misgurd seemed to have sharpened it even.

"We're on time, you are the one who arrived too early." Testros said calmly as he walked past the gates and Misgurd

Testros was also similarly equipped, wearing a mix of medium leather armor and heavier armor in the form of a few iron plates here and there.

On his waist and chest were several knives and a long sword smaller than Misgurd's, being thinner yet just as deadly.

"It's just a bit over 6 Am..." Dale said with a bit of difficulty as he walked behind Testros

/THUD!/

Misgurd went to Dale's side and slapped his back as he said, laughing:

"Everyone wakes up before 5, you're too weak for your age!"

"..."

With his legs trembling a bit, Dale stabilized himself and looked at Misgurd with resentment.

But the latter only looked at him with a big and innocent smile.

"Alright, we don't have all day." Testros said to the two of them as he called them from the front

"Let's pass by the farms, since we're outside we could see if they need anything..." Misgurd added as he scratched his chin

"... Fine, although I think it's a bit early."

"If they do have something for us, we could try and have Dale over here do it."

"Hey... Don't decide things without my consent..." He replied with a frown as he tried his best to follow them, sweat falling from his forehead

"The best way to learn is to experience it first hand, so stop bickering." Misgurd said as he turned to the left and started to walk in the hard yellowish stone that covered these lands

Testros said nothing, and instead, followed after him.

"..."

'And they ignored me... I figured.'

'I'll end up dying at this rate...'

Dale raised his head and looked at the horizon, he could faintly see a few houses in the distance, probably the place where the farms were located.

And now that he was focusing, he could perfectly see the environment, something he didn't pay much attention to previously.

The ground below him was hard and clearly infertile, a yellowish hard stone.

Behind him was the desert, although far away, because of the wind bringing sand, it was easy for Dale to realize why many buildings were buried.

And in front of him was the forest, although also far away, it was possible to see the slow but constant transition of the yellow ground to greenish and healthy soil.

"There is a certain exotic beauty to this place..."

'But first, I need to catch up to those old men...'

"Hupp!"

Dale stretched his back and took his first, heavy step into the wilderness of Azimuth.

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