Chapter 49 - Pegasus?

Arthur shared the quest with Point Blank so that she would have it too. He didn’t see any limit on how many people could get the quest.

’This must mean this quest has some pretty difficult objectives in the future.’

Point Blank was ecstatic when she accepted the quest and saw it was a main one.

"Are you really going to share this with me? I’m just an ordinary Ranger, that’s all."

She was indeed just an ordinary Ranger. Arthur didn’t remember her name. The same went for the rest of her group.

However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t become decent players in this timeline, especially with his help. Arthur needed a trustworthy team to complete some game content in the future, so training them would be easier than trying to find a new team.

"Well," Arthur said, smiling at her, "let’s say this is your first training session. But can you keep this a secret for now? Even from Suzy and Tower? We still need to look into this mission, and it’s easier with just the two of us."

The bigger the group, the harder it was to go undetected. It was that simple.

Arthur figured Point Blank wouldn’t be so keen on keeping secrets from her friends, but she wasn’t that worried about it.

"No problem," she said. "Maybe we can even level up faster than them and make them wonder, haha. Also, maybe being away will make them see my value."

"They don’t see it?"

"Most of the time, no. Tower is always bragging about tanking the monsters, and since Suzy is the one healing him, he always praises her. No one thinks about the one doing the damage..."

"Really? Doing damage is important too. Eventually they will see your worth, especially with the dungeons coming up soon."

"Will they? Why do you say that?"

Arthur wasn’t sure if he should tell her that or not. Sharing too much of his future knowledge wasn’t a good thing, especially because the game company hadn’t revealed much about the dungeons yet, so no one should know about it.

He did it anyway, as it wasn’t that crazy information to begin with.

"There will be a DPS meter at the end of the dungeon, so everyone will know how much damage you did. They will finally see how much you do for the team."

"Are you being serious?"

Point Blank started laughing to herself like she was already imagining the looks on their faces when they finally saw how much she did for the team. Arthur found it funny.

They went to the back gate and waited for Ray to show up. Not many players went there, so the place was pretty much empty. There weren’t many NPCs either, only a handful walking through the dark alleys, glancing at Arthur and Point Blank for a moment before moving on.

"Why does this place feel so... creepy? I don’t know," Point Blank said as she walked closer to Arthur, grabbing his left arm, looking scared.

"This area is where some shady stuff happens," Arthur said. "You know, black market, where the thugs live, and so on. Though it’s pretty safe here."

"Safe? With all of that?"

"Yeah. Ray knows all about it. It’s just part of the city’s economy. If he wants to, he can end it all in one day."

Point Blank had never seen a powerful NPC fight, so she had no idea how powerful Ray was. He was an NPC that Arthur was really curious about.

Eventually, for some reason, Ray would step away from his position as mayor and vanish completely. Arthur still didn’t know what he was up to, but maybe he could find out in this timeline.

"You know a lot, don’t you, kid?" Ray said as he slowly descended from the sky. The man could’ve walked there, but he chose to fly just to show off...

"I’ve heard a few things around," Arthur said. "Where’s my horse?"

Arthur didn’t see the horse that Ray had promised.

"Look up."

He looked up and saw something amazing. It was no ordinary horse but one with wings! The creature was majestic, a white pegasus.

Some players had seen it fly above the city, wondering what that creature was.

"You aren’t going to give me a pegasus, are you?" Arthur frowned.

That reward was just too great to be true. Ground mounts would unlock at level 20 or so, but flying ones only at level 50. Would Ray give him a flying mount when he was just level 10? Wasn’t he going overboard?

"I am lending you one," Ray said, "and if you do well with your mission, then maybe I can give it to you in the future. It depends. It’s not like I use this pegasus anyway, so..."

[Special Reward: Pegasus]

[Complete your current main quest objective and the sequential missions with mastery to get yourself a Pegasus]

That was an impressive reward for a main quest, and that was just one of the many rewards. Main quests were sought after exactly because of that.

Point Blank was a little jealous since the reward was meant for Arthur alone. Wouldn’t she get a flying mount too if she helped him with the quest?

’I want one too...’ she thought.

Arthur still wasn’t so sure about Ray’s intentions. What if he had something else in mind?

"Why do we need a Pegasus, though?" Arthur asked.

There was something else going on. Sure, a flying mount would let them reach their destination way faster. Arthur wasn’t complaining about that. But it wasn’t THAT far. It wasn’t like he was crossing the entire kingdom to get to the elven settlement.

"About that..."

Ray came closer, making sure no one was listening to what he had to say. He gestured for the guards at the gate to move.

"Don’t let any Chosen Ones get near us. They might come to check on the Pegasus."

"Understood, sir."

Once they were alone, Ray spilled the beans.

"There’s a war on the horizon, kid. The roads leading to the elven settlement aren’t that safe anymore. The neighboring kingdom has already invaded us," Ray explained, looking serious. "The population doesn’t know about it yet, and we intend to keep it that way. Those are the king’s orders."

"That’s why you need to travel by air, to avoid getting caught in the mess on the roads. Soldiers are fighting nonstop in those parts. Once you reach the area near the forest, you’ll be safe. Well, not exactly safe, as there are monsters, but no soldiers. They don’t want to piss off the elves living there. That’s why the invaders aren’t close to the elven settlement."

Arthur wasn’t that surprised to hear that. He knew battles between kingdoms were a normal occurrence. That was one of the game’s main selling points. Players would help their starting kingdoms fight against other kingdoms for control. It was even possible to reclaim a whole kingdom if one was strong enough.

"I see. What are they after?"

An invasion like that certainly meant the other kingdom wanted something from the Aldora Kingdom. Be it territory, resources, or both.

"Kid, I like you, but I can’t share the details with you yet. When you reach level 20 or 25, we can start talking about it. As you and all the other Chosen Ones will be the perfect soldiers for the war."

Arthur nodded and didn’t ask any further questions. It wasn’t like Ray would change his mind if he kept asking.

"Do you know where the elven settlement is, or do you need a map?"

"I know where it is."

Ray wondered how he knew that, and so did Point Blank, but no one asked him. Arthur hopped on the Pegasus. Point Blank did too, holding onto his waist so she wouldn’t fall when they took off.

The guards had kept all the players away, but they could still see the Pegasus in the distance. They were starting to get pissed.

"Cinder again, damn it. Now a Pegasus? What the fuck is going on? Why is it always him?"

"Right? This is getting out of hand."

The player base was changing direction, starting to hate Arthur... It was frustrating for them to see him get so much while they hadn’t gotten anything meaningful yet.

Arthur had kind of expected that behavior. He didn’t really care much about it. Whether they loved or hated him, they would still watch his videos and read his posts, and that was what mattered the most to him.

Ray handed him the letter at an angle the players couldn’t see. Then he left.

"Ready?" he asked Point Blank.

"Not quite, but let’s go," she said.

It was her first time flying. The Pegasus flapped its wings and rose into the sky. Arthur controlled it with the reins, flying away from the city. Before long, Snow Pine was just a dot on the horizon.

Point Blank started laughing nonstop once the fear was gone. She was no longer hiding her face against Arthur’s back and was now looking at the scenery below, enjoying the view.

"This is fucking incredible," she said. "Thank you for this, really. You’re the best."

The corners of Arthur’s lips curled upward. It was nice getting a compliment from such a fine lady.

Anyway, he flew toward the elven settlement. Arthur thought he was safe, but he didn’t know that the invaders were already checking the skies...