MONSTER MMORPG: Mayhem Online

"You what?"

I asked, wanting to confirm if I didn't hear him wrong.

"Some of us receive world messages too. So you are quite the popular one already."

Lucas confirmed, adding more to the sentence this time.

'So even NPCs get world messages? Wait… do they have status screens too?'

No point in guessing when I can just ask.

"Do you have…. Status screen too?"

Lucas looked at me and smiled.

"Yes, I do. But know that not everyone does. Only some are the exception. At least in the central continent."

He added. For some reason, he looked a bit smug.

What bro? You tryna say that you are exceptional or something?

I stared at him and he coughed a bit out of embarrassment.

"Anyways, what brought you to my humble abode? As far as I recall, we don't really have that good of a relationship."

Lucas asked, trying to change the topic.

"Trust me, currently, you're the only guy who I have any sort of relationship to begin with, at least in Ethra."

I commented sarcastically. I still didn't know why the lore writers name the earth of [Mayhem] as Ethra. It sounded like some kind of lame wordplay of the letters in 'earth'.

Ahem!

"Anyways, I had come here for that princess' condition. I wanted to ask if I should go with it or not."

I genuinely had this question ever since I came back from Abyss. I had ended up landing into the Abyss because of the princess quest in the first place. I was not sure if I should continue with the quest, or if I'll even be accepted in the Dukedom of Wenselm with this appearance.

"It depends, actually. I know you enough to at least know that you don't really care about the princess' health, or are interested in gaining the Dukedom. So unless you have a specific motivation behind it, it's not worth a shot."

Lucas said bluntly, and I would have agreed with his assessment if it was just a week ago. But right now, my thoughts are a bit different.

"Uh, about that actually. It's a person's life we are talking about here. Even if she's not someone important to me or brings me any benefits, it would be inhuman to leave her knowing that I could have saved her and it wouldn't cause me any harm doing so."

I said slowly, emotions filling my voice. I am sure if the princess was Jezebeth dying right now, I would have done everything in my power to save her. My heart ached every time I thought of her.

What kind of man was I before losing her?

'A truly selfish and shitty kind.'

In the hopes of running from my own traumas and past, I had become a man who ignored my present, people's present and the people who actually cared about me. All I did was live and live while trying to hide from the fragile kid that I was in my childhood.

Looking at my eyes reminiscing about the past, Lucas commented.

"You have truly changed, inside out."

I smiled at that. I know I was changing, more like, I was becoming the person I should have been from the start.

"I don't really know. Maybe becoming a Duke of a Dukedom doesn't sound that bad anymore?"

I said jokingly and both of us chuckled.

"Lucas, can you tell me more about the status screens though? I am really curious."

I asked out of curiosity. If even NPCs had their own status screens, then there was much more to [Mayhem] than what meets the eye.

"Well, first of all, no one is born with them. Secondly, not everyone has those screens. By 'everyone' I mean the residents of this world, not the resurrection. Only people who have achieved something considerable get them. Everyone else is just waiting to awaken the screens someday."

Lucas started explaining, as he kept moving around inside the small hobbit hole of a house, continuously doing something or the other as he talked.

"Thirdly, this information isn't classified, otherwise I would have charged you."

I still didn't know anything specific, but it seemed like a status screen always existed for them, even as NPCs. Although this information was definitely not common, or I would have heard of it at least once.

'I am not that big of a noob after all…. Or am I?'

I commented inwardly, being dubious about my own thoughts.

"So can you see health, mana, stat points, etc.? If you can, how do you get more stat points?"

"Well, we do see all that. But what do you mean about how we get more stat points? Isn't it obvious? We practice our skills and do training, and it goes up with enough time and practice. Although there is a clear difference between people who have talent and people who don't, the powering up process can be quite tedious for people with no talent."

The small and active hyrus finally sat down as he replied. I wonder where all his energy came from.

"So, what are your plans now? Going to save the princess or not?"

Lucas asked as he looked me up and down, and then touched my tail like a curious kid.

"Hmm well,I think I was at least going to try anyway. But after talking to you, I have reaffirmed some of my own beliefs."

Ignoring him feeling up my tail, I said. Having finally gained a bit of clarity. Not like Lucas said anything that actually helped, but coming here and talking to him made me realise why I should even try.

'To be a better person….. And to be a richer person.'

"Then what are you still doing here? Go away, shoo. I have to sleep and go to work tomorrow again."

Lucas said as he tried as he gestured with both his hands to get the hell out.

"What work? Oh, being the owner of an alchemy house must be tough. Well, I still have some business. And I think you'll be more than happy to engage in it."

Lucas' eyebrows immediately went up at that comment as he waited for me to speak.

"I won't say anything, take a look at this."

[Unknown Egg

Type: Pet Egg

Grade: Unknown

A mysterious egg. Its origins are unknown and it has a very low encounter rate. Can appear when killing monsters, opening chests, or as rewards.

The pet that comes out of it depends on the user's care.]

"OH!!! How mysteriously beautiful. How did you end up with such a rare item? Lad, were you born with the luck of the world or something? You get the legendary class, a special job, an independent race and now this… tell me what you eat for your meals."

Lucas' little eyes almost popped out of their sockets. In front of him was a two feet tall egg. It looked like a common white egg which was enlarged, but it had a small star pattern on its tip.

"So you know what this is?"

I asked and Lucas' eyes lit up. For some reason, he looked extremely excited about this topic.

He again jumped from his seat and started running around here and there, scrambling through documents and books.

"Wait, it's not here. But I am sure it's in the alchemy house. Let's go!"

He didn't even wait for me to answer or reply, as he opened the door and started rushing towards the alchemy house with his short steps.

***

"Not this, not this either, nope, where did I put it?"

Currently, I and Lucas were inside the huge office of the owner of the alchemy house, in essence, Lucas' office.

He was currently scrambling through the large bookshelves that decorated his office, as he kept taking out books and putting them back.

"Found it!"

Lucas shouted as he finally climbed down the stairs that he was using to look through the books.

"Here, this book is called the tales of Ortubell and records some of the adventures of the famous adventurer Ortubel. Although Ortubel wasn't a legend. But for many people, he was still a hero and a messiah. One of his tales records the appearance of the unknown egg that he nurtured and it hatched a Qilin. It brought prosperity in his whole life.."

"Here, this other book is on the life of King Charles of the Oprien kingdom. He was said to be one of the bravest, wisest and most beloved kings of his time. He had gotten an unknown egg too. When he nurtured it, it hatched into a beautiful and powerful Ice peacock, which eventually made him rise to prominence."

"I have no actual proof, but these kinds of eggs have always appeared throughout history, giving birth to strong pets which had been as known as their masters. Man, talk about getting lucky."

Lucas said with a bit of envy in his eyes. Just like dwarfs, Hyrus lives for years too, and hence, even though Lucas was old enough to be a grandpa, he still had a lot to live, and obviously had many things and peoples he was jealous of.

"Killing a monster who was more than halfway through in reaching the second cycle of power, I wouldn't really call it lucky you know."

"....."

I stared at Lucas and he stared at me. After a while, I just stood up slowly as I was about to leave.

"Wait a bit, since you're going to the Dukedom of Wenselm sooner or later, I'll write you a letter. Please give it to the alchemy house there, it's called the Roan's alchemy house."

I nodded my head and after taking the letter, I finally bid my farewell to Lucas.

I left the main plaza with [Camouflage], not wanting to garner unnecessary attention for now. As soon as I got near the city gate, I decided not to take a carriage this time around as I wanted to test my overall stamina and speed.

Cancelling my [Camouflage], I ran and ran and ran till I ended up inside Malta forest.

I took out the map, checked the places where Lucas had marked.

"This is useless."

I was very positive that the map was still not right, and that I had to find out the right location on my own.

AARRGGGHHH

"HELP Me...….urghhhh…."

A loud cry for help resounded from near the Malta mountains. And I knew exactly who could cause such a thing.

"I am so happy that you are still alive and fucking around here. Well, all things must start from where they ended."

I said as I started running towards the mountains without a second thought. It was time for a bit of revenge.

Time to torture someone until they beg for death.

'Isn't that what you like anyways?'

...

//DreamNote//

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