Eldan

A man with gray hair and heterochromia eyes was walking on the street. He looked really stiff while observing and listening people around him. It was obvious that he was worried about something. And that was someone who followed behind him. A figure who was wearing black robe covering all over their body, even their face was hid under the hood.

'It seems no one noticed. Good.'

The man was me, Zeroth. Behind me was none other than a girl that I found in a cave, Mirage. I was asking her to use her 【Shapeshift】 skill before. She, however, couldn't do it properly yet, or perhaps it was a transformation like a lycanthrope had which it could only shapeshift into a wolf.

When she tried to use it, she reverted back to when she was a boss monster again. But instead of black, she became white winged humanoid monster. Still, it would be really troublesome walking around the town with a monster.

I really didn't want to stand out. Being an Aphu itself made me being laughed by players sometimes. When they saw a beautiful girl walking in the town, then you could guess what would happen next.

There were some thirsty players in every kind of games. And I didn't want Mirage being treated like a rare animal in a zoo. So I gave her Uruzak's robe and asked her to wear it. I explained to her what she had to do when we were in the town. Gladly, she was obedient.

'At least I can feel easy now.'

While we were walking, I was thinking about Partner. The fact that I could see her whole stats and skills making Partner wasn't actually the same as party member.

In most games you could only see party member's Name, HP bar, MP bar, buffs, debuffs, and Job/Class. Stats and skills were private information. There was probably a skill where you could see someone's stats and skills, but I didn't have one.

'What is Partner?'

Partner might be categorized as pet, companion or familiar. It could be different though. Nonetheless, I had to travel with her from now on.

'Uhhh whatever... I'll just think of her as a party member.'

Meanwhile, Mirage eyes were sparkling ever since we stepped our foot inside the town. She was looking at every single thing we passed with amazed looks. It was weird, I thought. She was a thousand year old yet interested in something normal like this.

'Did she never come to town before?'

I slapped my forehead and wiped my face down with my right hand. I just realized that I was being dumb. It was, indeed, the first time for her being in the town.

'I forgot that she has amnesia.'

Well, I let her looking around since she didn't cause me any trouble.

A moment later, we were arrived at the bar. We went inside and I asked Paul where Halton was. He told me the place he lived was nearby. Then he gave me a direction where I had to go. I immediately left after I thanked him.

Once we were right in front of the place, I was a bit shocked. It was a dead end of an alleyway beside the town wall. There was a tent with a campfire outside. I could see Halton was stirring something inside a pot atop burning logs. When we came closer, he noticed us and greeted.

"Ahh... Zeroth, sonny. I didn't know you would come over to my place."

I bowed and then he told us to sit down by the fire. He gave us each a bowl of soup. It felt like we were camping.

"I hunted these rabbits in the meadow." He said after he saw me eating one spoon. "Hehehe... How is it?"

"It's good." I answered after I gulped the food. "Thank you... This is really delicious."

I was honest. I never tried rabbit soup before, but the soup he gave me was really tasty. It seemed Mirage also liked it.

"I'm glad you like it."

He dipped his spoon in his soup and began to eat with us. Looking at this old man living a life like this and yet still could share his food to us. It made me ashamed of myself somehow.

There were a lot of people who also lived like Halton in real life. Struggling to survive the cruelty of the world. Some people, on the other hand, always looked away from this very case.

It was like a mass brainwashing product that pushed society's mind to think 'As long as it's not my problem then I don't care'. And I regretted to admit that I was once thinking like that before.

"These rabbits were really troublesome, you know. But I'm glad I can catch them. Hehehe..."

"They're pretty fast though... You must be well-trained."

"I was... Hehehe... I'm not in my prime like I was once because of these old bones. But I still have the techniques though. Hehehe... Anyway, how do you know I live here?"

"Paul told me..."

"Ah I see... He is a kind man, indeed. He always gives me food whenever I need."

Halton's expression changed as he was looking at the night sky. I could see his teary eyes.

"I remember, when I met you before... I realize that begging for life isn't something to be proud of. I've been living in a shame recently. Being a beggar..." He scoffed and giggled. "I should've done better than that... That's why I caught these rabbits for a start."

Old man Halton, I should be the one who said that. I didn't know if I could go back facing reality like you did. It made me thinking if I should log out and see what happened in the real world, but I still couldn't do that simple thing.

"So, why are you here?"

The question that I had been waiting for was asked. Well, I intended to tell him about the ring sooner or later even if he didn't ask. I was still a passive person after all. I took off my left glove and showed him the ring on my hand. His eyes got widen.

Ring of Harmony (Unique Mythical) Type Accessory Restriction None Durability 200 One of Belgram's finest works for his wife which is also known as Artifact of Melleth. It is specially made to prevent a plague from spreading. > Only Zeroth can equip this item Effect:

50% chance to negate all status ailments

+10 HP & MP regeneration per minute Item Skill - Soul Connect

Active: Linking two souls who have the same ring and sharing each other abilities for a certain duration.

Effect: Sharing all skills

Duration: 1 hour

Cooldown: 1 day

Artifact of Melleth. Seeing its description itself also made my eyes widen. Halton took a closer look and examined the ring on my hand.

"Sir Belgram's skill is absolutely amazing. I can tell that from its rarity itself. Mythical rarity is certainly almost impossible to craft for most skillful artisans. I myself as a blacksmith once tried to create a powerful item. But I could only make Epic rarity top. This is 'Unique Mythical'. It's definitely above Mythical quality. It isn't as good as 'Legendary' like the ones he created for the temples, this is a fine work regardless."

"You can tell its rarity?"

"Of course. Didn't I mention that I was a blacksmith? I can tell the product quality from its aura. At least, I can identify its rarity and effect."

"I see..."

"Well, you've found it. You've found the ring I've been looking for."

Artifact of Melleth Quest completed!

Your INT has increased by 5.

Your WIS has increased by 5.

Observe level has increased!

I smiled to the new system messages. It was worth the trouble I guess. I got so much from the cave and the ring was absolutely an amazing reward.

"Where did you get it?"

I looked at Mirage who was sitting next to me. When he noticed her face, he became more shocked.

"She gave me the ring..."

"Ah! I see... You should've told me that Miss Mirage is with you. I'm sorry for my rudeness, I didn't know. I don't have anything good to serve either."

Looking at his troubled face, Mirage shook her head and both of her hands.

"No... It's okay... You don't have to... The soup is delicious!"

Halton knew her. No wonder he knew about Belgram. Then he might know about them as well. Curious, I asked him about her.

"You know her?"

"Of course. Everybody who worked for Sir Belgram knows about Miss Mirage..."

He actually knew her parents. He even worked for him too. Then there might be some clue about their whereabouts. As I was about to asked him again, Mirage opened her mouth.

"Do you know about my parents?"

"No, I was your father assistant's pupil. He was in the smith division when he worked for your father."

"Were they close?"

"They were. I remember it like yesterday. I was fourteen when I met them. I was a homeless orphan born in Alkronia Empire. My parents died in a war, so I had to live on the street with other people who didn't have a house. But we had a shelter in underground tunnel, which was a nice place. Then my life changed when I saw two men working in a workshop, and I was amazed by the item they were creating.

Since then I came to the workshop everyday, watching every item they created. They were always together when working. And later I know they were Sir Belgram and Sir Kaloth... When I was about to ask them to make me their disciple, Sir Belgram was already gone. Disappeared. Since then I heard a lot about him from Sir Kaloth. You could guess they were close from that eh, hehehe..."

He laughed in tears and then sighed.

"It has been 100 years since his death. Sir Kaloth was a great man."

Hearing those words and his expression making me held back my question. I could see Mirage also felt guilty for asking.

"I'm sorry..."

Seeing our sad face, Halton's tried to brighten the mood.

"It's fine. He was a great man! He taught me what is good and bad. And I've been living a life doing good deeds every day because of him. I really am glad that I was his pupil. Hehehe..."

I still felt like I was eating a rotten egg. Even when he was still a youngster, he already got used this kind of life.

Composing my feeling, I decided to explain that Mirage had amnesia. He was surprised and apologized after he heard about it. I also apologized and tried to ask him once more if he knew something about her parents.

"I see... I'm sorry I can't help you. I don't know them personally. But... Please wait, I'll be right back..."

He stood and went inside his tent. A moment later, he went out and gave me something he brought. They were a letter and strange cubic.

"These are from my teacher. He gave me these before he took his last breath. He said, 'You have to give it to someone worthy enough for Sir Belgram's legacy.' I guess it means these items are for you."

I took them and opened the letter. It was from Belgram.

"It's from my Dad?"

Mirage sat closer and then we read it together.

'Dear Kaloth,

I truly am sorry for this urgent matter. I don't have much time, however. I trust you an item I will hand over for the worst possible result. Keep it secret and find someone worthy enough for my legacy. I will give you the detail later. Even though I know you will think of this as paying a debt. I am the one in a great debt to you. Well, let's just think this matter as our everlasting friendship.

Meet me at that place in New Zoria. Please stay alert.

Your old friend,

Belgram.'

"New Zoria?"

"It was a town in Durgan Fort's territory. It's one day walking north from here."

"It was?"

"It is a ruins now."

"What happened?"

Halton was silent. He was thinking about something. It might be really sensitive question. I really should keep my mouth shut from asking questions. Perhaps it was because my nature being an Aphu that I became curious to everything that intrigued me.

Still, I thought that it was wrong to dig someone's personal space. I wanted to apologize but a moment later he finally opened his mouth...

"Ah well, I think I have to tell you two about the dark past of this land."

Halton eyes became empty as he was looking at the fire. Mirage and I were looking at each other for a second. And then we looked back at Halton, waiting for him to continue.

"Around that time, there was a war between kingdoms. Alkronia and Ghaldaran were the most powerful ones since famous artisans were born there originally. So all artisans including my teacher was forced to do government's bidding. We were forced to invent invincible weapons. If not, we were tortured. I couldn't tell you the detail but... They healed and tortured us repeatedly, until we agreed to do what they wanted. It felt like you wanna die instead of working for them. They were like children...wanting to show off their toy to one another and proving who had the most incredible toy among them.

A time had come when I was replacing my teacher to create powerful items. It was because he was diagnosed as having unknown illness. Didn't want to let him down, I succeed creating Unique Epic quality weapon. Secret agencies, however, were everywhere. Spies tried to steal blueprints and formulas. One was caught during stealing my blueprint. The spy was also executed on that very day, in public. It was a must watch execution to warn the people about the incident, especially to some spies who still lurked inside the kingdom. And after that day I got punched by reality. I was gonna walk through a rough road ahead. After my three hundred years of devotion to Alkronia Empire, the war finally ended. It was five hundred years war. Some towns become ruins. New Zoria is one of them."

"Wait, how old are you exactly?"

"I am around five hundred years old if I remember correctly."

'What the heck? Are humans in this world long lived?'

Looking at my shocked face, Halton was laughing.

"Hahahaha... You know, alchemists those days found a prolonging lifespan elixir to prevent skillful artisans from dying. That is why... The elixir slowing my body deterioration. For us humans, however, we couldn't pass over 600 years old. Sadly, the elixir formula is lost. But I think it is better that way."

"I see..."

'Still, it's amazing' I thought. It was like real world during World War was happened. Scientists competed each other creating incredible inventions. History was always the same after all. It's always about war and weapon.

"Then do you happen to know where 'that place' is?"

"Hmmm... I've never been there, so I don't really know where it is. But I think it's probably his secret laboratory. Sir Kaloth always mentioned it when he talked about Sir Belgram. Well, that's all I know. So... Do you want to go there?"

Path to Astral Artisan

Quest: Go to Belgram's Secret Laboratory in New Zoria Ruins and find out what was happening there.

Accept?

'Another quest!'