Chapter 7: The Beginner's Town

After completing the trials, each player was sent to a different beginner's town, to start their journey and get familiar with the celestial grounds.

In the human territory, Ron walked out of the portal. The portals were set up in the middle of the towns, to welcome the palyers. And guide them on their journey.

But Ron is greeted by gaurds pointing their weapons at him. The situation surprised him a bit, but he got over his surprise soon. There were indeed certain territories and events that might've caused this situation. So he calmly starts to think. ' I wonder which territory this is.' Ron wondered as these territories would either hold back the players growth or grant unique opportunities to those who can seek them.

Ron then, spotted a man in noble attire, looking towards him.

"What is the meaning of this?", He asked addressing the noble.

The noble merely smiled in disdain and walked away showing his back.

"A peasant trying to talk to me, haha. What has this world come to." The noble talked out loud not minding the distorting expressions of the people hearing his comment.

Ron just stares at him. The guard captain appears, blocking his view, and speaks.

" Heaven blessed! We are merely following orders. Come with us quietly."

Ron didn't have much choice but to follow these guards for now, he didn't want to simply die fighting them. He might be able to put up a good fight but ever since he arrived here, there was a certain feeling of weakness. He had guessed something so he just quietly follows.

Ron was locked up in an underground prison. The guards had taken his dagger and cuffed him to restrain him. The prison was not too cramped, as it was made to imprison more than just humans. It would be more apt to call it a dungeon.

Ron could see some players lying close to the walls, crying and shivering in this cold and dark space. Their expressions were gloomy and their faces full of despair.

These players had been here for some time now. Some longer than most. They had arrived after completing their challenges. Most had given up when they found the trials too difficult, or were too injured to continue, only to come to this place.

Some calm ones were also sitting, observing everything discreetly. The light from the burning torches reflecting their faces. These guys had stronger willpower and adaptability. They waited for their chance to escape.

Some had already tried that and they had been killed once or twice by the guards. The death penalty was severe in the celestial grounds, and although players could be revived, they only had three chances. Third time and they'll be gone for real. So most had lost their courage already.

.....

..

Ron sat down on the floor, and thought about the events that occured in the rewards room.

He got to talk to Ignia and now their plan was in motion. But some unexpected things also happened. Like the mask on his face. He examined the mask, it had a woody texture, like dead tree bark. But it was green in color and shined with a certain luster.

Remembering that he can now check his status, he does just that.

The blue screen appears infront of him and he chooses to check his status screen.

[ Name: Ron Agnis

Title: Apex Human.

Affiliation: None.

Race: Human

Class: The Fool.

Level: 0

HP: 50 (Vitality: 5 * 10)

Mp: 50 (Intelligence: 5 * 10)

Exp: 0/100

Strength:6. Agility: 6. Dexterity:6. Endurance:5. Intelligence:5. Vitality:5. Perception:10. Willpower:10. Charisma:10.

Free Attribute Points: 9

--Equipment: -Broken Mask1(bound.)

--Class Skills:

-- Heaven Deceiving veil (Unique.)..

--Deception????

--Deception Magic.lv1.

--??????

--?????

--Skills:

--Basic Regen (Unique) lv 1.

-- Pierce.lv1.

-- Danger sense lv1.

-- Dodge lv 1.

-- intermediate knife mastery.]

"Huh.. Didn't I accept the Miracle Invoker class? When'd it turn into the fool?" Ron mutters in confusion.

While other system messages appear..

[ Error: User under powerful curses..... Readjusting stats..]

[Curse of Regression lv: 0.

Description: All those who seek to meddle with the normal flow of time. I, Rodrik Driar, curse you to eternal damnation.

Effects:

* All Stat points -50%

* Every 100 days test of willpower.

* Marked by The Eternal Temple.]

[Fire God's Curse lv 0:

Description: Those who profane the Fire God, May you never find rest as long as the nine suns shine and even when they set.

Effects:

* Greatly Weakened at noon. Fiery Yang force attacks at night every 40 days.

* All stats -20%

* Eternal enemy of the Fire God's Temple.]

[ The title Apex Human... Takes effect....]

[Title: Apex Human

Effects: All stats: +100%]

[Recalculating.... All stats increased by 30 percent..]

[ Strength: 8. Agility:8. Dexterity:8. Endurance:7. Vitality:7. Perception:13. Intelligence:7. Willpower:13. Charisma:13.]

The blue screen showed his stats and status at this time.

He had long expected something like the curses. But with such strong penalties. His stats would be in the negatives, if he was a normal player.

Stat penalty of total 70 percent reduction was no joke at all. Atleast the title Apex Human was something useful in the end.

He had just entered the celestial grounds and already he has been marked by two huge organizations. Although Ron had expected the Fire God's curse, but the curse of regression came from out of the blue.

The Eternal Temple was the official organization of the time keepers. Those guys held too much power, it was not something Ron could deal with at this moment. That's why he had to keep a low profile and gather his strength. He also needs to create enough trouble so that the system doesn't notice ignia's attempts at sabotage.

The curses would grow after each time they flared up. Currently at level 0, they reduced his stats by 70 percent. If they grew further, he'd definitely be dead, sooner or later. So his growth speed needs to exceed the curses.

"Fuck you, Fire God and you old lunatic Rodrik Driar. Can't mind your own fucking business, you bastards." He cursed at them venting a bit.

He needed to get out of this town and suppress the curses on his own. No priests would be willing to go against those two for him. They held huge influence in the celestial grounds. And it'd take a bit too long to get to the other races territories. And even they'd be either hostile or too stuck up.

He checked his inventory, the items he got from his challenges were there. While thanks to Ignia, he had his old inventory back. It contained a huge space within. It also had many items that survived the corrosion of time. And also many that had been destroyed.

One such regrettable item was his pyromancy legacy. He couldn't get the class this time around it seemed. And he was stuck with another class, till he figured out a solution.

He tried to find the items he needed to suppress the curses for a long time, but almost none survived. And those that did had a time limit.

Ron sighed and for now, disregarded the curses. He took out the Adjudicator's eye, a mythical item, and observed it for a bit. The eye shined with a peculiar glow in the dark of the dungeon.

He then took out the other two items..

The life core of a quasi God rank lich, The whiskers of a wise dragon sage. These were the items needed to get the skill, Sage's eye.

It was not an easy task to collect these items, even for Ron. He almost gave up due to the Adjudicator's eye. Most of those bastards self-destructed when they learned how they were being used for alchemy after their death.

Ron was a bit excited, he had been looking forward to creating this skill. It'd have helped him immensely even when he was called the Pyromaniac. It was a useful skill to have. Not only helping with knowledge but also helping with formations and finding weaknesses.

He took out a huge alchemy cauldron, creating a small commotion in the quiet atmosphere. Some players curiously looked over at Ron, observing what he was upto.

They thought maybe they had a chance of escape, if this person had some kind of plan.

They had no idea Ron didn't give a fuck about them. He just wanted to make his skill.

He added the items together and closed the cauldron. The chains were getting in his way so he cut off the handcuffs, with concentrated fire magic. He then used all his mana to create flames hot enough, to heat the cauldron and melt the items inside.

He needed really destructive flames to do this. And he wasn't strong enough to accomplish that right now. So he used items from his inventory, some high grade heat and fire stones and threw them inside. The cauldron heated up the cold dungeon, and all the prisoners now looked towards Ron who couldn't hide the commotion.

The guards weren't present at this point in the dungeon, they guarded the gates and didn't bother with prisoners much. And even if they did, Ron wouldn't care right now... He was completely engrossed in his alchemy.

The process lasted for quite some time, the once shivering players now were sweating due to the heat. But no one dared to approach Ron.

Slowly the heat began to decrease and Ron finished the process, he too had been sweating. It took too much mental strength to control the rampaging flames. He looked inside the cauldron, the items had melted and meshed together.

A small amount of paste had formed, which Ron picked up with his finger. The paste was hot, golden in color. Ron slowly brought the finger towards his left eye, and rubbed the paste on the outside, he felt a burning sensation but continued to rub it on the eye directly next.

A burning and itching pain assaulted his eye but he gritted his teeth and endured. Slowly the pain began to subside and the paste was being absorbed by his eye. The pupil changed shape and elongated. It seemed like a draconic pupil. Golden in color and giving off a feeling of wisdom.

His eyes now looked heterochromatic, one with a golden colored pupil and other with the black pupil.

[A new power detected..... Would you like to merge?]

Ron clicked yes and the interface changed...

[Aquired Skill: Sage's eye.

Description: A product of alchemy, using highly advanced materials.

Effects: - Sage's wisdom: The eye of the sage, provides you with knowledge of anything within your sight.

--Perception+200%.

--True sight: No illusion can effect you.

-- Insight: Finding enemy weaknesses.]

The information provided by the sage's eye would be useful to him in defeating enemies and finding out more about items he found. Not to mention the perception boost and the true sight. True sight would null any illusion effects on him so some high level enemies and territories would be easy for him to explore.

He sighed, and stood up. Putting the cauldron back in his inventory. He looked at the players looking at him, puzzled as to what he'd been doing.

"Now then, let's check if there are any familiar figures among the players down here." Ron walked towards the players, trying out appraising them with his new skill.

He wanted to get more information about this town, to know what kind of conspiracy was going on here.

.......

...

...

[To Be Continued.]