8 Winfrey Village, The First Quest

The village that Nero had arrived was merely one of the countless others used to welcome races of low status in the universe. Its name was Winfrey Village, one of many others managed by the administrative power that governed not only the Novice Zone but all other Lower and Major Zones. Typically, if Digitizers of powerful families and societies in the ordinary world would like to have some region, their powers would only be constrained in their territories claimed in Major Zones.

Digitizers have many different ranks, some of these are the Novice, Warrior, Expert, and Knight Rank, each of which is divided by 100 levels. Many other ranks exist above these, but they can be focused on at another time.

All within the Novice Zone are none other than Digitizers ranging from level 1 to 100. Hence, limiting them to ranks of a Novice Digitizer. The moment some achieves the peak of level 100, they will be able to transfer to the more distant and higher-ranked zone. However, to do so, one must face a test and overcome it.

Much like people trying to arrive at a stronger zone, those from the upper zones can also similarly arrive at the lower zones, but this is typically at a costly price. Even if they do arrive, they can only display the powers comparable to that of a level 100 and are incapable of partaking in grand events, dungeon raids, or any other special activities of the Novice Zone.

Typically, people like these would only descend to train their juniors who have recently awakened or initiated as a Digitizer. As such, they are termed as Guiders, people who can only guide and offer direction.

At this very moment, Nero was seated at a corner of the restaurant as he listened to Adult Nero speak about specific topics and concerns.

'Do such people have the power to attack novices?' Nero asked with his mind as he calmly sat around a table with his back leaned up against the chair, his current appearance drawing the eyes of a few roaming Digitizers.

Naturally, those who stared at him the most belonged to the group of the opposing gender, as there were already hushed discussions about adding him on some mysterious ranking list.

At this time, Adult Nero, who sat within Nero's consciousness, spoke once more, "No, they cannot; they are each limited by their actions. At most, you can challenge them to a duel, and if they accept it, the battle will lead to no particular loss other than the standard victory and defeat."

Nero hearing this paused for a bit before he spoke with his mind, 'I see, I suppose that answers what I need to know for now, what should I do to move forward?'

Adult Nero's cold face made a slight smile as he replied, "It's simple, you train..."

Nero hearing this frowned, he asked within his mind, 'So you're saying that I should just wander out into the fields of this unknown village and start a fight against any random creature I see?'

"Pff..." Adult Nero almost laughed when he heard this, but he quickly reigned in on his mood and returned cold and severe once more.

He spoke again, "Your current objective is to begin your Inheritance Quest, but before you can do so, you'll need to achieve level 10. For now, the only thing you need to do is focus on leveling up and gaining actual combat experience, and the best way to achieve this is by taking Standard Quests. Now then, with that said, I leave the rest to you, don't ask me any more pointless questions."

Nero hearing these words gained a better idea of what he should do, but as he recalled the final bit of words, he snorted and replied inwardly, 'Hmph! You should be lucky I'm even asking you anything in your position.'

Not hearing a single word from his 'adviser,' Nero shook his head and stared at his arm as he said in his mind, 'Good with this, I have a better idea, now, check status!'

[Name: Nero Valstine]

[Title - None]

[Level 1 | Class: None]

[Next Level EXP: 55]

[Current EXP: 0]

[Influence: None | Prestige: None]

[Health 100/100]

[Magic Power 100/100]

[Combat Power: 30 stones]

[Body Tenacity: 10]

[Spiritual Awareness 10]

[Speed: 50 km/h]

[Genetic Trait:]

[Grade??? Digitize Bit - Inheritance: locked (Level 10)]

[Skills:]

[Passive techniques: none]

[Combat techniques: none]

[Items:]

[???Special Gift - Item locked (Level10)]

....

When Nero saw his stats, his eyes went wide as he was shocked, he was expecting to see an extremely complicated sheet filled with calculation typically found in video games. However, the UI screen shown before his eyes was nothing less than strange.

Though Nero was surprised about the sheet, something else soon caught his attention, as he pondered, 'My speed, when the hell did I get the speed of a car?'

As Nero thought here, he recalled the strange scene of him being brought by from literal death, and the surprising speed he ran with when he left the scene. Only now did he realize that his appearance not only turned for the better, but his body's condition was of a different scale.

'Combat Power of 30 stones, is that roughly 420 pounds of force? Hmm, and that special gift should be that item that I got from the All-Seer, everything else is pretty much self-explanatory, but as for Body Tenacity, I am not quite certain of it. If it is meant to test my durability, how much damage can I receive from attacks?'

When Nero thought to here, he rose to his feet, and began to leave the area, heading towards the direction of the village chief as he concluded his thoughts with firm eyes, 'I suppose I'll find out in actual combat...'

As Nero walked, he bypassed a few individuals that looked no different from him, garbed in simple linen clothes within even so much of a weapon to fight anyone.

This made the spectacle of him being at the center of attention to fate by a bit, but as he was still the best-looking male, he naturally caught some individual's attention.

One sinister-looking young man with a red mohawk, large round nose, and slender eyes, wearing simple-looking armor stared at Nero's location and frowned. He then turned to his friends and whispered something before walking away.

The friends of his then walked towards two different corners, vanishing from the public eye. Yet, even though they disappeared, Nero felt something he never did before, a strange feeling as if he could sense that he was being observed from two areas.

Nero frowned as he thought, 'Strange, I never had this kind of skill, is this the effect of that stat called Spiritual Awareness?'

As Nero thought, he focused on it more and could even clearly tell their directions, though he didn't know who they were or how they looked.

'I don't care who you are, but I won't stand for being dominated ever again... with strength, I'll shape our destiny,' As Nero thought this, he couldn't help but recall the reason he stopped fighting and resolved only to take a beating.

As an eight-year-old child, Nero once hit a boy that provoked him about his mother's illness, but it turned out that the hit was too severe due to him not holding back, using more force due to his past of being roughed up by thugs daily.

It resulted in his mother and him being sued by the family in the Prominent Sector, resulting in a hefty fine. After personally watching his sick mother kneel on the ground to beg for forgiveness to the boy who provoked him, the opposing side's family gave them a way out.

Originally Nero's family wasn't as miserable as they had lived in a slightly better area beyond the walls of the Gutter Zone. However, on that day, they lost everything, and could only take what they had left to make do with a shabby house.

Since then, Nero had matured even more and reigned in on his mood, far more than adult, he became even more silent and didn't speak or care about anyone other than his mother.

Nero clicked his teeth in dissatisfaction as he recalled the lousy memory. Eventually, he made his way through the crowd of humans and non-human individuals, arriving at the older woman dressed in a white hooded robe with markings.

She carried a bored look as if she grew tired of everything, but the moment she saw Nero, her eyes brightened, not waiting for Nero to speak and question her, she prompted the dialogue, "My dear young man, can you help this old lady with a favor?"

Nero was surprised by this, but he promptly replied innocently, "Grandma Chief, tell me your concern? I would like to help?"

The Village Cheif nodded at his manners and spoke, "Good child, you see, I've been having trouble with a stubborn tyrant at the east of the village. It's already beaten down ten of my villagers, beating them to an inch of their life every time they venture to get water from the riverside. Do this lady a favor and bring an end to its tyranny."

Following the granny's words, was a notification UI visible only to Nero's eyes.

[Compulsive Beginner Quest: Tyrant Slayer]

[Difficulty:?]

[Description: Defeat the tyrant who guards the riverside of Winfrey Village.]

[Rewards:]

[200 EXP, Prestige 50, Common Iron Sword]

[Village Chief Pan of the Winfrey Village has offered you a Compulsive Quest. If you reject it, your prestige will sharply decline with the entire village. Do you accept the Quest, Yes or No?]

Nero, upon reading the Quest, details found it a bit strange, but he didn't over ponder it. He only wanted to get strong as soon as possible. He spoke, "You can count on me!"

[Quest accepted!]

Following the announcement, Village Chief Pan smiled as she tossed Nero a small white box and spoke, "You are a very obedient child, here take this with you and equip them, you'll need it for your Quest. Be safe now!"

Nero looked at the small white box and smiled as he saw the items in a menu, he promptly replied, "Thank you, Grandma Chief, I'll do my very best!"

Following his words, Nero then hurried off from this area, towards his quest destination, but as he moved, a few individuals couldn't but help but sneer as they had overheard the Quest he just took. They chuckled as they knew full well, just what kind of trouble he was about to face.