The next morning, early sunlight streamed through the dusty window. Liam, who had barely slept due to the game's ultimatum, was just sitting on a chair and gazing out of the window, seemingly in deep thought. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Slowly, Aria came into the room and sat on a chair next to Liam.
"Hello, thank you once again for saving me yesterday."
"No problem. I don't think I have introduced myself. I am Liam, an adventurer. Nice to meet you, Aria." Liam said, with a smile.
"Nice to meet you too, Liam. Though I can't say that we met under the best circumstances."
"I am curious, how did you fall in the radar of those cultists? And how did they manage to curse you?"
"That..."
Aria's gaze suddenly became lost and despondent.
Liam, sensing Aria's distraction, said.
"It's ok, you don't have to say anything that you are not comfortable with."
"No, it's ok." Slowly, Aria gathered her composure.
She looked out the window, her eyes tracing the rising mist that still clung to the cobbled streets of the village. The golden rays bathed her pale face, giving her an ethereal glow, but her voice when she spoke again was laced with sorrow.
"I… I come from the Kingdom of Astradan."
Liam raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that one of the high kingdoms in the Northern continent?"
Liam was not very familiar with this kingdom in his past life. It was a level 1000 area, with a celestial guardian by the name Novotale - the mercurial knight.
Although Liam's guild had killed celestials before, none of the top guilds had ever challenged a high kingdom before. Not because the guilds could not fight them, but because there was no reason to go around challenging entire kingdoms just to level up when there were plenty of monsters and dark forces constantly attacking.
Aria gave a hollow laugh. "It was. Until everything fell apart."
She turned her gaze to him, her fingers unconsciously clutching the edge of her robe. "My father was King Aldric of Astradan, and my mother, Queen Lira. I was the sole heir to the throne. At least, I was supposed to be."
Liam didn't interrupt. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving hers.
Aria continued, her voice steadier now, as though the weight of her memories had settled firmly on her shoulders. "When I was young, our kingdom was prosperous. My parents were beloved. But power… power breeds envy. My cousin, Kael, he was always jealous. He was born of royal blood too—my uncle's son. But he was never content with just being a noble."
Ah, that makes sense
Liam definitely recognized the name Kael. Kael was the head of Astradan in his previous life. He had the reputation of being an extremely ruthless and autocratic ruler
"I take it Kael made his move?" Liam asked, his tone quiet.
Aria nodded, her fingers trembling now. "Two years ago, while my parents were on a diplomatic visit to the Elven provinces, Kael launched a coup. He had spent years gathering loyalists in secret. Mages, merchants, mercenaries… even some of the palace guards. When the betrayal came, it was swift and brutal."
She paused, her voice catching. "I was in the palace when it happened. I remember the screams, the blood. My personal knight, Ser Ryon, dragged me through secret tunnels beneath the castle. I didn't even get to see my parents one last time."
Liam's brows furrowed. "What happened to them?"
"They… they knew Kael's intentions. Even before the visit, they had sensed something was off. So they left behind a plan. A last resort. A powerful teleportation crystal, hidden in the throne room itself. When Kael returned to 'greet' them, they activated it."
She blinked, holding back tears. "It was a one-time artifact. It sent me far, far away from Astradan. But it needed a life offering to activate. Both of them gave theirs."
The silence in the room stretched long. Only the faint creaking of the wooden beams could be heard.
Liam exhaled softly. "They sacrificed themselves… to save you."
"Yes." Aria's lips trembled. "I should have died with them."
"Don't say that," Liam said firmly. "They didn't give their lives so you could fall apart. They did it because they believed you could reclaim what was lost. You're still their daughter—the true heir."
Aria looked down. "Ryon gave me a teleportation scroll, which would take me far away from the kingdom. I used it, and reached a forest. I wandered for days after arriving. I had nothing. No allies. No coin. No power. And then I met them… the Temple of the Black Ember."
Her voice darkened. "They promised strength. A way to fight back. They said they could awaken hidden powers within me, if only I followed their rituals. At first, I thought… maybe they were divine. But it was all lies."
Liam's expression grew grim. "Let me guess—they cursed you as part of their 'ritual'?"
"They called it the Ember Binding," Aria whispered. "They said it would give me control over shadows, the power of vengeance. But all it did was chain me to them. My body grew weaker. My mind… hazy. I started hearing whispers. Seeing things."
"They were taking me somewhere. I had no idea what was really happening, but one day I managed to escape. All the guards were drunk, and I managed to get a key and ran away. But they managed to track me down again."
She shivered. "As for the rest of it, you probably know it already. If you hadn't found me in that temple, I don't know what I would've become."
"I have heard of a guardian Novotale, who guards over Astradan. Why did she not help?" Liam asked, leaning forward
"What..? How did you hear that name?" Aria asked, her eyes becoming wide
"I had read about celestial guardians in a book, I just remembered her as we were talking." Liam tried to make an excuse
"Ah, I see.. Well, you are not wrong. As per ancient records, we indeed have Lady Novotale as our guardian, but she has never been seen in over last thousand years. No one knows if she is even alive or passed away"
"Hmmm.."
Liam was lost in his own thoughts. There had to be another reason. Celestials do not simply pass away, and Kael definitely had the support of Novotale with him in his previous life.
There was a small silence for a moment.
Finally, Liam asked, "What will you do now?"
"I… I don't know," Aria said honestly. "I want to return. I want to see what became of Astradan. I want to know if Kael still rules. But I have lost all my strength"
Liam nodded thoughtfully. "Then let's start with that. Getting stronger. Recovering. One step at a time."
"You would help me?"
"I didn't just save you to drop you off at the next tavern," Liam said with a smirk. "Besides… reclaiming a fallen kingdom? That sounds like one hell of a quest."
Aria's eyes shimmered with a mix of hope and lingering sadness. "Then I'll trust you, Liam. I don't know what you are looking for, but you have helped me once, and I will definitely repay this favor"
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After the morning conversation, Liam decided to leave Aria to rest, and go a farming run to increase his levels. He could gain levels very fast with his broken perk, and did not want to do simpler quests to gain levels normally. It was not like there were any good rewards this early in the game.
He still needed needed 27 gold coins to complete his purchase of the spirit taming charm, and that was the one thing Liam was really looking forward to in order to get stronger.
Also, there was one more important reason why Liam wanted to level up as soon as possible. That was the ability to gain another class.
Dual classes were common in Eternal Nexus. However, a player had to be in at least level 50 in order to be able to unlock a second class. And there was 1 more requirement.
The second class could only be learnt and developed by the player themselves, and not be given by the system.
This meant that the second class depended on a player's own strength and affinity.
Of course, some classes were easy to achieve, and some were more difficult. There were some ultra rare one-off classes as well, which were hidden behind extremely difficult SSS quests.
Liam was aiming to get a similar ultra rare class, but he needed to prepare quite a bit before he could get there.
For now, he would tame a beast NPC, and farm some dungeons to increase his strength as soon as possible.
Liam trudged into Duskwind Forest. SInce he was just going to farm common mobs, he did not need to prepare a lot. He ignored the outskirts of the forest, which had lower level monsters, an headed deep inside.
The forest creatures fell swiftly before his enhanced gear and refined tactics. Nightsaber Cats, Venomtooth Spiders, and even low-level orc scouts patrolling a hidden outpost.
Ding!
Veteran's Knowhow Triggers (1.5x)!
Veteran's Knowhow Triggers (4x)!
Veteran's Knowhow Triggers (10x)!
Level up!
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As the sun was setting, a young man could be seen fighting an Ape. With a final roar, he brought his axe down on a hulking Razorclaw Ape.
Ding!
Veteran's Knowhow Triggers (5x)!
Level up!
[Player: Liam Carter]
Level: 30 (Soldier)
HP: 21800 (110 HP regen/s)
MP: 1460 (9 MP regen/s)
Attributes
Physique - 100
Dexterity - 15
Willpower - 21
Endurance - 15
Charm - 6
Luck - 50
Ding!
Player Liam is the first player to reach level 30.
Rewards - 1x Mystery Gift
"As expected. System, spin the wheel now"
Liam did not expect any great drop, but the item would at least be at level 30 as well, which could be a massive boost to his current aging gear. Worst case, he could sell the gear and get a few gold coins.
Spinning the wheel....
Ding! You received a pair Flickerstep Boots (Epic)
+30% Movement Speed
+50 Armor
Passively increases invulnerability from dodge by 0.5 s
"Well, not bad. Extract the gift"
Extracting...
Extracting...
Extracting...
"Huh? Why am I not receiving the gift?"
Ding! Error, Error, changing gift to a meeting with the dark one
Host will be teleported in 5...4...3...
"What the fuck?"
Suddenly, a dark ominous light surrounded Liam, just like the light when he teleported with Aria.
...1 Teleporting!
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