Trouble always around the corner

As they made it into town, the duo sold off most of the useless items they picked up from the Forest Sprites and with their new coin purchased a few Common rarity weapons and a shield for Sol. Compared to when they first had started, the town had filled up to bursting with new players of a wide variety of colors and classes. Despite the cost of purchasing all the new gear and game, hundreds of players were roaming around the town and enjoying all that Reign of the Aspects has to offer.

While making their way out of the city after getting the necessary supplies and quests, a group of players was crowding the corridor that Sol and Luna were heading down. Irritated by the group that was blocking their way, Luna looked at their character names. As soon as she had recognized a name she would never forget in both lifetimes. An ice-cold glare formed in her eyes and a dangerous aura radiated from Luna.

Noticing his sister's anger, Sol looked at the group and hurriedly suggested they just go around them. Just then what looked to be the leader of the group spoke up.

"How about you two beauties join our group? We can help you level and make sure you are well taken care of."

Of the two, the slightly taller woman spoke and moved to protect the other woman. "No thanks, we are doing just fine on our own. I wouldn't want to distract you guys from your hard work and besides we would just hold you all back anyway."

Walking up closer, the leader of the group just smiled. "Nonsense, it will be no trouble at all. Besides, as you can see from our group, we would appreciate you gracing us with your presence."

Irritated by the suave talking of the leader while his goons did nothing to hold back their lecherous gazes, Sol charged forward to interrupt them before his sister would intervene.

"I was wondering where you two had run off to! I am glad I was able to find you both before we left town. Thank you, gentlemen, but I'm afraid these ladies are spoken for."

Pushing through the crowd that was thankfully shocked enough to let him waltz right past them. Sol was able to make it to the two women and begin ushering them out as fast as he could.

Just as they were almost out of the group, they realized what they were up to and quickly surrounded them again.

"And just who do you think you are to steal these girls from us, huh? Mr. Knight in shining armor routine is it? Unfortunately for you, I have more people and there's nothing you can do to stop us."

Being so close to Sol, the leader paused for a moment. "Ahh, so it is you! I thought you looked familiar. You're the busboy prick from this morning, no wonder you're all high and mighty. How unfortunate for you that we met so soon, now I can repay you for all you've done.

That damn old man really doesn't know how to hold his punches, but thankfully I can let loose some of my frustrations on you. Fellas, why don't you escort this white knight outside so we can teach him some manners huh?"

Just as the group of thugs was about to surround Sol, a patrol of Temple Guardians happened to swing around the corner spot the potential brawl.

"An'Elari! Do not cause trouble within the town, even you are bound by the Eternal Code."

Debating on whether to go ahead and drag the irritating knight out of the town anyway, Richard grit his teeth. "Tsst! Whatever, we were wasting time here anyway. Let's go fellas." Glaring at Sol and the guards, the Richard lead of the group ushered his goons out of the town.

Somewhat disappointed about missing out on smashing his bratty face in, Luna walked up to the two girls and stopped suddenly as she looked at the Temple Guardians. Confused as to why they showed up at all.

Luna knew that these guardians were not to be trifled with. Usually, the Guardians would patrol the towns in which their temple was located but unless the enemy or situation threatened the safety of the Temple, the Guardians would not intervene. Despite their lack of peacekeeping, every town and city in Elem would heavily benefit from the protection that the Temples would bring from elemental creature attacks.

Players had attempted in the past to attack Temples, believing them to provide some sort of secret equipment or wealth, only to be harshly destroyed and stripped of their abilities for a whopping three days.

Looking around, Luna stopped as she looked at Eilyria still sitting on her brother's shoulder smiling.

"Elly? Did you call the Temple Guardians here?"

Hiding as best as she could away from Luna's gaze, Eilyria nodded shyly.

"Yes…those guys were being so mean to Sol, so I may have called in the Temple Guards over. Did I do something wrong big sis Luna?"

Laughing lightly at the absurdity of having the AI that controlled all of Reign apologizing for something, Luna smiled and rubbed Eilyria's small head. Looking towards the direction that Richard and his goons had gone, Luna's determination to keep her brother safe from anything and anyone who would threaten her family.

Just as they were about to head out, a slightly taller lady walked up with the other hiding behind her. "Thank you for helping me and my sister, those guys caught sight of us as we logged in and wouldn't stop harassing us."

Slightly annoyed by the continued interruptions but looking over at her brother to see him shyly hiding over to the side, Luna smirked and talked with the two sisters. "Don't worry about it, my brother over here did most of the work."

In a not so hushed tone, Luna spoke just loudly enough for her brother to overhear. "Although I would be careful, he is still single and pretty desperate for the attentions of a lovely lady such as yourselves."

"Hey! Don't tell them that sis, they will get the wrong idea!" Sulking even more after being called out by his sister, Sol fell to the ground and hugged his knees and cried slightly.

Cracking a small smile, Luna couldn't help laughing lightly at her brother's over the top and obviously fake 'breakdown' by her teasing. 'I missed you so much, all those hardships were worth being with you again.'

Two light giggles came from the girls as they saw the brother and sister mess around with one another and could tell that they were kindhearted.

"Thank you again for saving us. I don't want to take up any more of your time, but would you mind adding each other as friends? Wouldn't hurt to have friends like you should we ever need Sir Knight to save us again." Winking at Sol, the two sisters smiled as he shyly got up from the ground and dusted off his pants.

Still slightly elated from teasing her brother, Luna took a good look a good look at the sisters. Having been distracted by Richard and his thugs, she didn't truly pay attention to the sisters and after seeing them closely she had a faint feeling as if she recognized them. "Sure, my username is Luna and my brother over there goes by Sol."

The taller of the two sisters nodded. "You can call me Diana and my sister here goes by Minerva".

Adding each other to their friend's list, Luna paused immediately, and her faint memory clicked as she recognized the two sisters from her past life.

Their cold and dethatched feeling that they emanated before was nowhere to be seen, wondering what had happened to cause them to turn from the people before them to who they could potentially be.

They were much different wearing the beginner gear compared to the flashier pieces later in the game. But after looking closely she realized that these sisters would be regarded as two of the most feared non-clan players.

Called the Twin Goddesses, they had achieved feats not even entire clans were able to do and even Luna's clan thankfully were on good terms with them and did not get into any conflict.

While they did not have a clan of their own, their beauty and skill attracted a cult following that called themselves The Moonbound and even ended up being a force in and of themselves which would pave the way for their goddesses and have ruined many players that had insulted or crossed their goddesses with zealous fury.

Not willing to let such promising players from her reach, Luna had to revise her plans slightly.

"Ahh, so you two are fans of Roman Goddesses I see. Well, we were just about to head out to go level. If you would like, I would love if you would join us. I'll make sure to keep him in line as well." Nudging Sol in the side, he grunted but just shyly nodded.

Diana was about to kindly reject, but as soon as she was about to talk, her sister tugged on her jacket and nudged her. Looking at her normally very shy sister that would very rarely even talk with others, she was shocked to see her urge to agree to the invitation.

"Well I guess my sister speaks for the both of us, we would be happy to join you. I hope we won't be too much of a bother."

Laughing internally at the absurdity of the statement knowing how they could turn out in her past self but realizing that changing their starting point would potentially change how fantastic they may end up being. However, with their potential and her breadth of knowledge, Luna was confident that they would reach even higher strengths.

As the group started to walk out of the town and follow Luna to their next farming spot, Eilyria floated towards the two sisters and happily cheered.

"Hurray! New friends, hello! My name is Eilyria, but you can call me Elly!"

Scrunching her brow at the very animated Eilyria, Diana looked towards Luna who ended up being the leader of their little group. Shrugging at the look Diana gave, Luna just pointed to her brother and then at her own familiar Aquis.

Surprisingly, Eilyria and Minerva got along extremely well, and they ended up chatting and giggling in hushed tones all the way towards a small hidden creek nestled within the woods.

On the way there, they had to make all sorts of random twists and turns. Climb perilously across a few ravines and even squeeze past a cluster of rocks that led into a cave system. Just as the whole party was about to complain to Luna as to why she was leading them on this seemingly wild trip, they all got a notification.

~You Have Discovered the Hidden Spring of Wisdom~

Aside from Luna, every other party member was slightly surprised at the notification. They knew that other games beforehand would let the player know of new locations, but despite them having been through other areas without any notifications they assumed that such a system had not been included.

Holding her hand up as soon as they got the notification, Luna gestured for them to stay quiet.

"Okay, this spring is one of many around the world that give various benefits to those that drink their waters. However, there are a few conditions to drink the waters and leave without dying.

First and foremost, there is always a dangerous guardian elemental that protects the spring from desecration but will not show itself unless any player attempts to destroy or harm the spring in any way.

Second, players can only drink from the waters once a month and if you die to the guardian you lose the chance to get the benefit.

Third, we cannot take any spring water away from the spring and can only have the benefit from one spring at a time."

"Besides that, the springs are not that difficult to find and are fairly harmless if you know what to do. However, the benefits of the springs are very useful to us considering Diana and Minerva are still level one. All the springs close to the starting areas will be for increased experience and the only reason why we didn't come here earlier is the sooner we got the familiar item the better."

Hearing the extensive explanation over the spring, the others became much more vigilant of their surroundings and tried in vain to see what guardian Luna was talking about. Each of them cautiously kneeled by the water's edge and drank a handful of spring water.

~ You have been blessed by the waters of Wisdom ~

Effect: Increase Experience gain from quests and creature kills by 10%

Duration: 1 Week of Played Time

<By drinking the waters of Wisdom, you have been blessed gaining more knowledge from your experiences. The strength of the waters leaves you unable to drink more.>