Game’s Dogma

The most troubling thing, though, was that the Tattered Armour was basically bound to him. It took up too much space, and it irked Drako Yau a lot, given his perfectionist personality. The item had latched onto him. It was untradable, it couldn’t be disposed of, it couldn’t be placed into the storage stash either.

After they left the trade centre, Drako Yau and Greenstone walked through the streets shoulder to shoulder. Yoda, though already night time, was still hustling with people, with plenty of stores still welcoming customers. As they walked, Drako Yau suddenly slashed at Greenstone’s neck with a knife-hand strike.

Shocked, Greenstone reflexively dodged the knife-hand strike coming at almost point blank range. However, Drako Yau wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. He swapped between strikes, grappling, and stabs with his arms and attacked Greenstone relentlessly, but Greenstone managed to dodge at a hair’s breadth every time.

‘Are you insane?’ Greenstone pulled himself away to put some distance between them and said with his usual calm look.

‘Your footwork is no ordinary footwork, what is it called?’ Drako Yau stopped and stared at Greenstone. In the entire team, the only person he couldn’t see through was Greenstone. ‘I’m only trying to gauge and understand how strong my team members are. Now I know I don’t have to worry about you even if you’re attacked by someone.’

Greenstone relaxed slightly as he replied, ‘It is passed down within my family. Your footwork’s from a good style as well.’ He had also noticed that Drako Yau’s footwork was out of the ordinary.

‘With how advanced technology is nowadays, people who still train in martial arts are very rare.’ Drako Yau got a bit sentimental. ‘I’m curious all of a sudden. What’s your class progression quest?’

Greenstone went silent for a moment. ‘I don’t have a class progression quest, only a skill tree awakening quest. And… you probably don’t want to know it.’

It only piqued Drako Yau’s interest even further. ‘Give it a try.’

Greenstone swiftly flicked his wrist. Drako Yau reacted just as quickly and pinched his thumb and index finger together, catching a needle between his fingers. A fly was punctured at the needle’s tip.

‘One hundred flies.’ Greenstone said only three words, as if saying anymore was a difficult task. Still, it was enough to make Drako Yau’s jaw drop.

This incident not only didn’t affect their friendship in the slightest, it even increased their understanding of one another. It was exactly what Drako Yau was aiming for.

Drako Yau woke up at the inn as usual, but he soon noticed a commotion was stirring up. He went downstairs to find the entire inn surrounded by many players.

‘Hello, may I ask what’s going on? Is there something to look at?’ Drako Yau was very easy-going when it came to random ordinary players.

One of them shot Drako Yau a glance. After seeing his tattered armour and Common longsword hanging on his waist, he snickered in disdain and said, ‘Shoo, shoo, this isn’t a place for you.’

Another player patted that person’s shoulder and said, ‘Don’t say such things, newbies are still players.’ He then made a friendly smile at Drako Yau. ‘Mate, you probably won’t know this, but we’re waiting for a big shot. A big shot!’

Drako Yau acted like he really was a curious newbie and asked politely, ‘Who is this person?’

The player who disdained Drako Yau sneered again. ‘Sky Dominion, you’ve heard about it before, yeah?’

‘It’s one of the guilds from Empyreon right?’ Drako Yau nodded and answered.

‘One of the guilds from Empyreon?’ The player laughed again, his laughter clearly directed at Drako Yau’s ignorance. ‘You could call it that, but Sky Dominion’s player count and overall strength is ranked high among the first-rate guilds. It can’t be compared to any ordinary guild.’

The friendly player shook his head at his buddy’s temperament before directing another smile at Drako Yau. ‘But, you know, such a powerful guild fell under a single person’s hands.’

Drako Yau was startled. It can’t be that, can it?

He had a good guess at what this was all about. The two players, however, were very satisfied with the shocked expression on his face. After all, they were just as shocked when they first heard about it.

‘Mask of Yoda. As a player from Yoda, you have to know about him, no?’ Even the player with a grumpy temperament was particularly respectful when speaking about Mask. ‘Some say he isn’t a player, but an NPC instead, a master NPC. Some think he’s a player, but anyways, he’s basically the idol of Yoda.’

‘There was news from Empyreon a while ago that 10 or so core members from Sky Dominion all lost a level after returning from the Highlands of John. It was rather difficult to hide such an incident. In that situation, Sky Chun was poised enough to publicly admit that Sky Dominion traded blows with Yoda’s Mask, and a slip of the hand from both parties resulted in such a tragedy. He also said both parties have no intention of calling anyone to account.’

‘A slip of the hand?’ The grumpy player said with a mocking smile, ‘A high and almighty guild from Empyreon had 10 of their players killed by a single person because of a slip of the hand? They got their asses handed to them, it’s just phrased to make them look better.’

‘Shush, don’t say such things so loudly in public!’

‘Hey, where’s the newbie?’

Drako Yau had a weird look on his face when he silently left the scene. The incident had unfolded in an unexpected way. But soon enough, he realised the reason behind it all: difference in strength.

Although Empyreon came second in the Siege event, everyone knew Yoda’s quest difficulty was several levels below that of Empyreon. Everyone saw Empyreon as the strongest city, and players from Empyreon were regarded as superior.

It was natural that players from other cities were ticked off by such a stereotype. Why would anyone want to be under others in a game? And now, he who represented Yoda totally dominated the Empyreon-based Sky Dominion in battle. In everyone’s eyes, he had vented their spleen on their behalf. Things would only get worse from then on.

Drako Yau shook his head. He didn’t contemplate the issue any further as it wasn’t his concern when he took off his mask anyways. He continued on his way through the street—he had a place to visit.

He arrived at the weaponsmith’s store. In Yoda, players who stayed at the weaponsmith and armourer stores were few and far between because only Common weapons and armour were sold there. Most players left immediately after repairing their equipment which had lost durability.

‘I wish to fix my weapon.’

The NPC who stood at the store’s door smiled and said, ‘Please hand me your weapon. I’ll repair it for you immediately.’

Drako Yau nodded and took out the spear pole and a bag of shattered metal. The NPC simply stood there, stupefied. ‘This cannot be repaired.’

‘Please, fix this for me.’ Drako Yau stared at the NPC with an absolutely serious look.

Moon Gazer was his cherished weapon. The same went for Dawnlight, but after that hit from Phantasma Violet, it had been completely obliterated into smithereens, leaving nothing behind but sparks of dust. If he could get Moon Gazer fixed, he had no intention of getting a new spear.

‘Please wait for a moment.’ At Drako Yau’s insistence, the NPC trotted into the store. A woman came out from the store after a while.

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