Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Quick recap:

The second day of the game was ending, and Dale was ready to log off the game since he had finished almost everything he could do, and as the day was getting dark "in-game", he was planning to visit the last elder of the council of the village before leaving for good.

But Rodi approached him first with something in mind... I wonder what it is?

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"Um! Mr. Dale, can I talk with you for a moment?"

"..."

Using his grand acting skills to look surprised, Dale turned around as he stopped walking to think for a few moments.

"Oh? It's you, can I help you with anything?" He asked lightly

/Clears throat.../

Rodi carefully chose his words for this moment, saying:

"I apologize for bothering you at this time, but I saw no other opportunity to approach you during the day…"

"It's okay, I wasn't doing anything anyway."

'As if, he was simply gauging the situation before making risky movements...'

'Although it's okay for me to be humble sometimes, I can't be too humble and make the player think I am his friend or that I am easy to use and approach.'

'I need to keep the persona that I am an important NPC character for as long as I can...'

'Players are like that, they will put a lot of effort into an NPC and after they are done with it, they'll forget about him or throw him away without second thoughts.'

'I was just like that as well, although my circumstances have changed now…'

'The stakes are other now, this isn't a game where I can easily back my save file.'

"It's like this… For close to half a day, I've been hammering and fixing things around the village, and I even cleared some rubble but to be honest, there isn't much for me to do." Rodi said as he looked at the ground in a bit of shame

"So I was wondering if there is something that I can do."

Dale looked at the embarrassed man and smiled internally, thinking about a few things.

"I can understand that since the Village of Resko isn't that big in the first place."

"And although there are many broken buildings indicating otherwise, they are from an older time, and even if we fixed or repaired most of them, without someone to take periodic care of them, they are nothing but a burden."

"I mean, look at the state of this village, the villagers themselves have a hard time taking care of most things… Or of themselves."

After he was done speaking, Dale looked at Rodi and shrugged.

"There isn't much I can offer you aside from what you already do…"

"Unless you want to work in the fields, but I warn you, that will probably be more boring and harder than what you are already doing."

"But if that fancies you, I can talk with the Village head and he will find a spot for you, I believe that they won't refuse a helping hand."

'I have a few ideas of where he can work, but I will not give them out this easily…'

'So come on man, use your social skills, work your way around me, the NPC.'

When Rodi heard Dale's words, he scratched his head and said:

"I am not much of a farmer, and I believe I may end up causing more trouble than actually helping… So uh… Perhaps do something else?"

'There are many contracts in the Guild branch, and many that point towards the outside, but I am not a fool, simply by looking at the contracts' descriptions I am sure I will be facing some sort of dangerous creature outside.'

'And with my current stats, that won't do at all!'

Dale looked at Rodi, and it didn't take much to figure out what he was thinking, he passed through the same things just a day ago after all.

Being someone who played through the entire tutorial, even if Rodi was some sort of bigshot being groomed by a large Clan, it would be very impressive for his total stats to be even half of the surrounding area Level.

Remember, Resko is an area over Level 60...

So Rodi's priority is for him to quickly become stronger through other means, at least until he can explore outside, where the game truly resides.

Or at least, this is what Dale thinks, or what he would do... What he is doing right now.

Although in his case, Dale is definitely strong enough, just not capable enough. At least this is what the elders think.

"Look, the reason why Misgurd put you as an Apprentice/Junior Mercenary is that you don't achieve the necessary requirements to become a mercenary of Resko, and you know that."

"This isn't to limit you, it's to protect you."

"Haha… Yes…" Rodi said in embarrassment

'Look! I am one of the strongest players as of now okay!... It's just that… This place's standards are too high!'

"But… I will agree with you."

"!"

Rodi was pleasantly surprised, waiting for his answer.

"You are currently in a very awkward spot, I can see that you are more of a warrior than anything else, so putting you on a farm or letting you do these mundane tasks isn't going to lead you anywhere, nor is it a proper use of your capabilities."

'A player is better put in a place where his abilities and Skills can grow... I would've preferred Crafting focused players, but we can't really make use of them right now.'

'Either way, Combat focused players aren't bad, I can use them to scout places too dangerous for me to linger on, or to clear out dangerous areas...'

"Than..."

But Dale interrupted Rodi:

"However, despite being mundane, these tasks do help with the strengthening of your body, and they should be enough for you at least until you get strong enough to help us with some more serious tasks."

"But I…"

'Strengthening? I haven't received a single Stat up after an entire day of heavy work!'

Instead of hearing him, Dale raised his hand and continued:

"The most I can do is allow you to participate in the daily training I do, this should help a little…"

"But Sir Dale! I really want to help!" Rodi exclaimed as he took a step forward

"..."

This statement 'surprised' him, making Dale open his eyes slightly more.

But internally, Dale was grinning…

'I got him.'

'The training... Is an incredible Quest, I never had any intentions of sharing it with him in the first place.'

'But now, he has refused it on his own due to him looking down on it, he doesn't even realize what he's missing.'

"Sir Dale, I am willing to put in the extra effort! And even risk my life!"

Dale smiled, and shook his head, saying:

"If that is your will, then so be it."

'Of course you are willing to risk your life you son of a gun.'

'Rodi must be a standard player and hence, he can respawn whenever he dies with just a Level penalty.'

"I can understand your feelings as I am a wanderer just like yourself, perhaps our reasons may be different, but our goals align…"

After saying this last line, Dale turned around and said to Rodi as he walked away:

"Follow me, perhaps I have the job suited for you."

'I wonder if it'll work, but it's better than nothing.'

'I do need a watchdog to keep a look out for any suspicious activity...'

"YES SIR!" Replied Rodi, almost jumping in happiness

'I did it!'

"No need to scream, it's already rather late." Dale said with a thin smile

'Sorry bro, but I'll work you to the bone.'

…

Rodi followed Dale, and they eventually walked into the hill where the Church resides.

Seeing the church in the distance, it was now clear to Rodi where they were going, and this raised a few questions and doubts within him.

"..."

'The Church huh? I saw it during my previous stream, but I didn't go there since the stream was coming to an end, and I was planning on leaving it to the next one…'

'I am already tight on the content department, and I hope this place delivers.'

/Creeak!/

Dale easily opened the massive double doors of the Church, revealing its interior to Rodi.

It was a very humble place, but more well taken care of than Rodi thought.

The stone was rather clean and some were even polished, there seemed to be a few chairs missing, and even the windows were missing, but the place provoked a strange feeling in him…

It was a peaceful place.

"Welcome to the Church... A few rules before we proceed."

"Rule number 1, don't break anything since we're tight on materials."

"Rule number 2, don't take anything from the Church without the Village head's permission, for obvious reasons."

"Rule number 3, don't touch the altar unless it's to make an offering. Especially the holy relic, I am saying this for your safety, but you touch that and your hands may not be the same by tomorrow..."

"Aside from that, you are free to enter and leave whenever you wish, albeit the Church will close during the night."

"This is done by Misgurd as he is the one with the keys, though I believe the Village head has a pair as well." Dale said as he tried to record some of the details shared with him by the Elders

"Altar?" Asked Rodi

But the moment he looked at the other end of the Church, he immediately noticed the massive sword behind it, shining with its mysterious aura…

"..."

Dale noticed his gaze but did not comment on it, instead, he approached the altar with him and said:

"Going over everything quickly, this is a Church dedicated to Ju-Arkesios, God of Stability and Prosperity."

"There is no priest right now, and there won't be another one anytime soon for several reasons I'll keep for myself since they aren't relevant right now."

"In front of you is the relic of this Church, dating back to a long time ago when this Church was founded, please be careful with it."

But when Dale turned his face to look at Rodi, he noticed that the latter's expression was of extreme surprise as he looked at the piles of coins laid neatly around the golden head of David.

Those were the same offerings Dale had helped David sort when he was here to change his Class at the end of his first day in the village.

And Rodi is probably thinking the same thing Dale had once thought of doing… To collect those coins.

Without a priest, they won't be going anywhere, and the villagers themselves don't need it... And what is a Golden head going to do with it?

Of course, Rodi doesn't know that David was actually aware of everything that went around him and that he had even offered those coins to Dale.

However, Dale had refused the offer since the villagers wouldn't take kindly for their offerings having disappeared so suddenly…

"Are you listening to me?" Dale asked, annoyed

"Ah? I am sorry sir!"

Dale shook his head and said:

"It's okay, I know it's quite an amount of money, especially for a countryside village, but those are mostly from the past when this village was much more prosperous."

"But that is a long story, one the elders would be glad to share, so ask them when they are back."

"O-Okay…"

'I tried but they didn't share much with me…'

'Besides… What is that sword?'

Rodi looked at the sword with great interest, but no matter how much he looked at it, he couldn't have the game window pop up, making him greatly distressed.

"That's my sword, Caladgolg." Dale said as he emphasized the word "MY"

Once those words were uttered, the game system suddenly reacted and a window tab opened in front of Rodi…

And he was utterly shocked by what he saw!

[Caladgolg (Legendary Armament)

Rating: ???

???

???

…

Description: ???

]

"?!?!?!"

'Is this what I think it is?!'

'THE FIRST LEGENDARY ITEM! Revealed after one in-game day!'

Rodi was shocked beyond belief as he read through its description... Or the little he could read.

'So far, the highest known rating for an obtained item was the Unique grade, of which I do have the honor of owning one such item.'

'But that was after considerable preparations and information gathering from the players who played on the Beta and 'shared' their knowledge on the internet.'

'Ratings such as legendary were known to exist, but that was mostly a leak from the game developers that said of the possibility of such a rating existing and from the previous grades in their past game…'

'But here is it! Right in front of me!... Is this perhaps a hint? That at the end of this questline lies this…'

Rodi shook his head trying to calm himself.

'No! How easy would that be! Instead, this must be… The hidden potential of Resko!'

'Whatever this is… I shall be the first player to display such an item to the world!'

/SMACK!/

Suddenly, Rodi's head was slapped, making him wake up from his thoughts.

"Focus man, do you even want this job?"

It was Dale, ready to make Rodi realize who's boss…

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Notes