A Single Step

Kurai immediately changed into the new gear, and a part of him hoped that the people at the inn would simply ignore him now that he blended in more, but it was a futile hope as he stepped out from the backrooms to find quite a few patrons straining their necks to catch a glimpse of him.

Many of them were also whispering while glancing at him a few times, and he pulled his hood up before quickly leaving the inn.

From what he understood during one of Lin's rants, NPCs usually had a set path and dialogue, so why did it seem as if they actually remembered him from earlier?

A glance back revealed that even Lee still had his eyes on him, and the NPC gave him a small bow before resuming his duties, which caused the whispers to increase even more.

Kurai hurriedly left the inn and immediately headed toward the Guilds Hall that Lee had pointed out to him.

The building seemed average at first, but the closer he got, the taller it seemed to become until he was sure that it would rival quite a few modern skyscrapers in height.

He kept his ears open as he moved in between the other people, hoping to find something to point him to another player, but the streets were mainly filled with NPCs.

'Maybe I would find players at the Guilds Hall? That should be the first stop for most of those that entered the beta.'

He lengthened his stride and approached the building, only to be stopped by two guards that looked like copies of Anubis but with bat-like wings and a long scythe-like blade that curved back towards their elbows on each arm, "Your level is insufficient. Please state your business."

Kurai paused as he eyed their arms warily, "I wish to join the Guilds Hall."

The guards slammed their spears down and crossed them, making Kurai back up just a little in surprise.

"Your level is insufficient. Please report to the Training hall and return once the required level is reached."

Kurai was about to argue, but a message popped up in front of him:

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Quest: Attend the Training Hall

(Quest Level: F – Beginner)

Your level has been found lacking. Please attend the Training Hall in the Eastern District to learn basic skills before applying for the Guilds Hall.

Please note that you will be unable to leave the city if you are unable to train at least one of your skills from Novice to Basic.

Reward: 20 gold, 1 basic skill

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Kurai glanced around, but there was no indication as to where the Training Hall was, and the guards completely ignored him after turning him away.

He stood frozen as he tried to figure out what to do next, but a large hand suddenly slammed down upon his shoulder, and Kurai just barely stopped himself from grabbing his sword.

'Barely a day in the game, and I've already developed an annoying habit.'

He slowly unclenched his hand and turned towards the culprit, only to have to raise his head even higher to look up at a tall, muscled man with long, golden hair and golden wolf-like ears.

The guy was built like the gladiators that he'd seen in a movie once, though the guy also had a wolf-like tail in the same golden shade as his ears, making him look more like a wolf-man than a gladiator.

Even the guy's eyes were golden, and he had two scars over the bridge of his nose that looked like claw marks. The thought had him glancing at the hand that was still on his shoulder, and sure enough, the guy had claws instead of nails, and one of the sharp claws was currently uncomfortably close to his throat.

Said hand moved away from his shoulder to wave in front of his face, and it took him a moment to realize that the guy was speaking to him, "-ello? Anybody home? Ah, there you are."

The guy seemed happy to finally have his attention, and he struck out his hand with a wide smile that revealed sharp canines, "Sorry, you seemed to have spaced out quite a bit there. I'm Rai. I don't know if you saw me at the inn earlier, but Lee mentioned that you might need to head to the Training Hall first, so he sent me to guide you there. You must have made quite an impression because Lee is never this helpful to newbies."

The guy didn't even wait for him to reply before he turned away and walked toward the outskirts of the Eastern District, and Kurai quickly jogged to catch up.

They walked quite a bit before the buildings became older and darker, but Rai just seemed to chatter on as if he hadn't noticed, and Kurai wondered whether the man was leading him into a trap.

His face must have revealed his thoughts because Rai's friendly grin suddenly became feral as he turned toward Kurai while crouching as if to pounce.

They were in a narrow alley, and Kurai doubted that he'd be able to run back the way they came before Rai attacked, so he quickly pulled his sword out and readied himself for a fight as strange energy started rising from the ground at Rai's feet.

The feral grin widened before Rai opened his mouth, "Boo-ow, that hurts!"

Kurai blinked and lowered his sword slightly in surprise as Rai suddenly sat down and clutched at his head before glaring at a figure that now stood behind him, only for a fist to hit him over the head once more.

A voice echoed out from the shadows before an older man stepped forward, revealing someone that looked a lot like Rai, but instead of golden hair, ears, and tail, the man had black features, yet the golden eyes stayed the same, "What have I told you about scaring the new recruits!"

Rai pouted, and Kurai was suddenly reminded of Lin whenever her oldest brother dragged her back in line, "But they are usually so easy to scare! Besides, he didn't try to run for it like the others. Doesn't that mean it's a good way to test their courage?"

Rai seemed to wince as the other guy glared at him and threateningly raised his arm. He quickly looked at Kurai while sheepishly scratching his chin, "Sorry, I didn't mean to take it that far. This is my older brother Ren. Our family runs the Training Hall of the Eastern district."

For a moment, Kurai didn't know how to respond to that, but then he shook his head in amusement and held out a hand to help Rai up, "I guess I can take this as my first lesson."

Rai tilted his head to the side in confusion as Kurai grinned and then elaborated, "Never follow a stranger into a dark alley unless you are sure you can take them on."

Rai crossed his arms and grumbled as Ren roared with laughter.

The older brother then motioned for him to follow them, and Kurai was surprised to find that the alley opened up into a large, fully-equipped training ground.

He expected to see most people training in some way or the other, but he was surprised to note that some of the trainees were also meditating near a small river that ran past the training grounds.

Rai noticed his gaze and grinned, "Not all training is about the body; the mind needs to be trained as well. The fundamentals of training are about repeatedly pushing the body to its limits and then surpassing them, but without training and enlightening the mind to ignore the body's limitations, many people easily give up."

Rai instinctively seemed to dodge the blow that his brother aimed toward the back of his head, but instead, Ren grabbed him into a loose chokehold, "Says the guy that always seems to disappear when it's time to train."

Kurai saw a flash of sadness in the younger brother's eyes before he shrugged it off and pointed to the side, "Look! It's Mera!"

Ren snapped his head around so fast that Kurai was sure he almost got whiplash, but Rai quickly dodged out of his brother's loosened grip and stuck out his tongue before running away.

He stopped a few feet away before he turned back and grinned at Kurai, "I have a few errands to run! See you later! Good luck with the training!" He then ran off again, but Kurai couldn't help but see the same look of sadness return just before Rai turned.

He may have just met the guy, but it seemed wrong for someone as energetic as Rai to have that look in his eyes. A hand clasped his shoulder, and Kurai wondered whether it was a wolf thing as he turned toward Ren, who suddenly seemed quite troubled.

"I saw that look of yours. Rai was one of our strongest trainees up until a while ago. We are still trying to figure out what happened, but he collapsed after training one day, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He went back to training the next day, but halfway through, he stopped, and since that day, he's been training less and less."

Kurai frowned as he watched the alley that Rai had disappeared into. He didn't know if there was something he could do, given that he knew next to nothing of fighting, but something about the situation sounded similar to something he'd read before.

His thoughts were interrupted as a 'ding' sounded, and a message popped up in front of him:

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Hidden Quest: Rai's Folly

(Quest Level: E+)

You have triggered a hidden quest due to certain insights.

Discover the reason for Rai's reluctance to train and find a solution before it is too late.

Reward: 50 gold, 1 intermediate skill, increased reputation with the Hikaru clan

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