14 A jolt of reality

It took Leo twenty minutes to find his way to the nearest tavern.

In Silverpine Village, almost all Taverns were concentrated on a single street and were part of the entertainment sector of the village.

Just like what motels used to be on Earth before natural disasters became frequent, the taverns in this fantasy world also used brightly painted signs to attract customers and inform them that the establishment was a place where they could stay for the night.

The tavern which caught Leo's attention was called 'Hill-Side Tavern' as its exterior looked more elegant than most other taverns on the street.

[ Hill-Side Tavern Price List :

→One night stay ( No meals included ) - 2 Bronze Coins

→One night stay ( All meals included ) - 4 Bronze coins

→One week stay ( All meals included )- 20 Bronze Coins

→Custom Stay ( Negotiable )- Only for guests staying 3 or more nights ]

Leo read the sign board outside the tavern and immediately decided to roam around to find the prices of other taverns before deciding on one, but after his survey he realized that most taverns charged 1-1.5 bronze coins to stay a night without meal and around 3 coins to stay with all meals.

While the Hill-Side Tavern was expensive if one stayed only for a day, it was comparable to other establishments if one was planning to stay for a full week and Leo planned to do exactly that.

Entering the tavern, he peacefully approached the old man at the front desk and requested to stay for a week.

"That will be 15 bronze coins" The old man said with a polite bow as Leo could not understand why the price differed from what was written on the outside.

"It says 20 on the outside" Leo said, sounding slightly surprised as the old man immediately clarified "We apply a standard 25% discount for government officials on stay and alcohol, soldier".

"Thankyou-" Leo said as he handed the old man 15 bronze coins and made his way to the tavern bar to hopefully gain some information about this world by listening to drunk men talk.

"My, my, a Virex soldier" a woman who wore the same uniform as the man on the front desk said as she guided Leo to the nearest table in the bar.

"What may I get you, soldier? While food from the cafeteria is included in your package, let me clarify that the alcohol you drink in the bar is not.

You will have to pay for this" the tavern waitress said as Leo nodded calmly and said "I'll have your locally brewed beer".

"That'll be one bronze coin, and I'll bring that right away" the waitress said as Leo handed her the one bronze coin.

[ WORLDWIDE PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENT - Player 'Dark Emperor' has become the first player in Terra Nova Online to unlock his class.

Congratulations player 'Dark Emperor']

Suddenly, a worldwide announcement was made as Leo felt goosebumps all over his spine as he read the notification!

'How the fuck has someone already unlocked their class? I don't even understand most of the game mechanics yet and am sitting in the local bar drinking beer.

This won't do-, if I have to act as the biggest big shot then I need to have at least some form of skill to back it up' Leo thought as he looked around the room and saw that the other players seemed bothered by this notification as well.

Overall, there were many NPC and two other players in the bar alongside Leo and while the NPC had no reaction to this announcement, it seemed like the players did not appreciate being left in the dust.

Since Terra Nova Online was only but starting, nobody had put a limit on their personal ambitions yet, which was why they were not ready to see anyone soar higher than themselves.

Once the game world was fully explored and the talented distinguished themselves from the rest, maybe after that point such worldwide notifications might be appreciated, but since it was the start, they were a nuisance and an eyesore.

Nonetheless, for Leo this notification was a much needed reality check as although he had no idea as to how someone was able to unlock their class within the first hour of the game starting, he realized that he could not slack off at all if he wanted to keep up his disguise.

This mission to help the Silverpine Village with their wolf problem was something that was out of his current capabilities, however, it was an opportunity to gain massive levels and unlock his class.

Since he lacked the basic information about classes, about the difficulty to unlock them and about the difficulty to gain levels inside the game, he could only assume that the clear rewards for this difficult quest were something favorable to him, which was why he decided to not run away but rather give this mission his all.

"We lost Jerry to the wolves yesterday- , while the bigger alpha wolves are getting their winter nap, it looks like the younger wolves are still guarding the caves.

We need to somehow exterminate the younglings first to clear the mines,"a bald adventurer seated on the table beside Leo said rather loudly as Leo's ears picked up on this conversation.

"Yeah, Jerry was a naive scout. A good lad for sure, but a naive scout. We told him to stay out of trouble, but he just had to go inside that cave" another adventurer who had curly hair and nasty scars all over his body said in reply to the bald one.

Initially, Leo did not intend to take such a risk so early in the game and did not wish to involve himself in the raid on the wolves until he understood the consequences of death within the game, however, after watching the worldwide notification, he felt uneasy as he decided to take a slight risk.

" Excuse me gentleman-, are you talking about the wolf problem in this village? Pardon me but I could not help but overhear that you might be planning a raid to clear the wolves.

I'm a government soldier who has been entrusted with the same mission, do you mind if I join you?" Leo said in a deep voice as he could see the two adventurers beside him flinch and shudder as they looked at his Virex mask.

--------

/// A/N - Check the attached notes below for latest bonus targets ///