Chapter 271: Ian and The Mauryan Empire (2)
Tring!
[You have entered the Fourth Island of the Southern Island (南贍部洲), Buju.]
[You have entered into the premises of the Mauryan Empire.]
[Since you don’t possess the citizens.h.i.+p of the Mauryan Empire, your affinity with all the NPC’s will be reduced by 20.]
[When the affinity with an NPC is less than 50, you need to be careful since a single mistake can make the NPC turn hostile towards you.]
Ian who had read the system messages felt a tinge of excitement that he hadn’t felt in quite a long time.
‘This is a town that holds lots of interesting content.’
Till now Ian had studied about the places that he had visited.
And naturally, Ian had no clue about the Mauryan Empire, the ancient Empire of India, or about the King Ashoka ‘Wheel-turning king’, ‘The King of Rings’ who was the third emperor of the Mauryan Empire.
However, Ian had always read various ancient myths and narratives from his childhood, and there was one thing that Ian had wanted to do since he was a child.
To Ian who had always had fun reading, the name Buju of the South Islands was very unfamiliar.
‘Is it something related to the western world? It would be awesome if I get to meet Son Wogong.’
The system messages that were pending popped up in front of Ian’s eyes while he was looking around.
[You are the first to discover the Southern Island Buju.]
[Fame increased by 150,000 points.]
[The basic affinity with the people of Buju of the Southern Island is increased by 5 points.]
[From this point on, all the exp gained on the island of Buju would be doubled. (Time remaining 167: 59: 59)]
[The chance of getting unique rewards from boss monsters will also be doubled for a week. (Time remaining 167: 59: 59)]
[The Mauryan Empire had been found for the first time.]
[Till the coming week, you can buy any goods in the Mauryan Empire stores for 70% off.]
Ian was speechless because of the rewards he got from discovering the Mauryan Empire. Ian was really happy about the double exp gained and price discount rewards that he received.
And Ian’s happiness wouldn’t stop there.
‘Okay, Let’s see. A unique item’s drop rate from a boss monster is also increased, could there be something special about these boss monsters?’
Most of the time the rewards for a first discovery were often a specific content that could be gained in a particular region only.
And Ian didn’t miss those parts.
‘Well, then I’ll have to go through the whole area and look into everything?’
At that time, Ian saw a line of system messages that were telling him what he was supposed to do.
Tring!
[Automatic Quest has been activated.]
[The quest ‘Citizens.h.i.+p of the Mauryan Empire’ has been activated.]
[Get the citizens.h.i.+p of the Mauryan Empire in the next 12 hours.]
[You can acquire the citizens.h.i.+p of the empire by hunting ‘Kartovie’ in the ‘Mathura’ field and earn ‘wool x 20’, then place it on the King’s altar.]
[Time remaining – (11:59:59)]
Ian who wanted to find a dungeon to hunt soon looked at the system messages which poked his appet.i.te.
‘Oh, so acquiring citizens.h.i.+p is the first priority in such drastic situations?’
But there was one problem.
‘But, where am I suppose to find the Mathura field?’
Ian looked at the vast plains to see every detail of it.
But there was no clue as to where he was supposed to go.
And Kaka who had been looking at this pathetic sight of a clueless Ian, spoke from behind.
“ChiChi, master. Have you forgotten something?”
Ian had a puzzled expression because of Kaka’s question.
“Hmm…? Forgotten?”
“Master you b*st*rd, where did you keep the map that I handed to you? If you use it, in a single glance you will be able to see all of the Southern Island.”
Ian’s face turned a little twisted and flushed red.
“Ah, Right…! That thing?”
Ian immediately opened his inventory and took out the Wishful Treasure map, which Kaka had extracted from Ian’s dream using his ability the Greedy Night Hag.
‘Since Kaka has mentioned it, I’m sure that the map should be around here… somewhere..!’
The Wishful Treasure map was an ancient map that was made out of parchment that looked like it would crumble at any moment.
As soon as the map was opened, surprisingly a light came out from the center of the parchment.
And this was a phenomenon that didn’t happen when Ian had opened the map the other day.
Woong- Wonng-!
[The conditions to unseal the ‘Wishful Treasure Map’ has been fulfilled.]
The white light that was being emitted from the parchment made a huge map in front of Ian’s eyes.
‘Uh… I guess I was too detailed?’
And at one corner of the map.
A blue light was blinking at the outskirts of the Southern Island Buju.
Ian’s gaze instinctively moved towards that point, and at that same moment, a text appeared below.
* * *
Being the leader was important, being at the King’s altar was also important, but gaining the citizens.h.i.+p of the Mauryan Empire was much more important.
The Empire of Mauryan was a place where it was hard to get around without gaining citizens.h.i.+p.
‘Urgh, my sight is starting to get blurry.’
Ian was riding on Halli and was moving quickly along the road that was being projected in front of him.
All of his familiars except for Halli had been summoned back so they could hide their tracks except of Yankun.
This was because he wanted to get as little attention as possible.
‘Phew, it just looks like a village guard. … what level will it be, 300?’
The guards that Ian saw were wearing a sloppy leather armor and were armed with a bamboo spear that looked like it would break right away.
Ian was not expecting to see such poorly equipped guards. The guards were level 300, and they were watching Ian.
“Look Here, That guy… he seems to be winning.”
“Right. I’m looking at him too.”
“An unknown stranger? Should we search him?”
“Well, he hasn’t done anything suspicious yet, so let’s just watch.”
“Okay, as you say.”
Ian overheard the conversation of the guards, and he felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck.
‘d.a.m.n, What’s with this b.l.o.o.d.y eerie neighborhood?’
The field monsters outside the village were only level 250. so, Ian was winning over them without much difficulty.
‘I don’t know what a Kartovie is or what kind of monster it is, but I hope it’s below level 250.’
Even though Ian was using Halli’s abilities at its maximum, it would still take Ian around three or four hours to reach his destination.
At first, it crossed his mind to fly across the plain using Pin.
Though Halii was very fast, it was still nothing compared to Pin’s speed when it flies across the sky.
But he couldn’t do that, and he had a very clear reason for not doing so. Ian had recalled the conversation that he had with Kaka before he left.
“Master, you will be attacked, and you will fall to the ground if you use Pin to fly to the Mauryan Empire.”
“Hmm… Why?”
“What do you mean by why? The archers of the Border tower in the Mauryan Empire will aim their arrows at Master and Pin.”
“What if I fly at a very high alt.i.tude?”
“Their archers are level 350 to 450, do not take them lightly master.”
“Their archers’ level is that high?”
“Yes.”
Ian bent his head and told himself.
‘Once I complete this quest, I shouldn’t take any other quests from the guards inside the Empire. It would be game over for me if I run into the guards.’
While Ian was riding with Halli, Kaka was climbing onto the shoulder of Ian.
If it would have been some other situation, then Ian would have felt very annoyed, but since he was in an unknown territory with no prior information, he felt very grateful for having Kaka beside him.
“Aren’t you worried about what kind of guy Kartovie is?”
Kaka nodded his head.
“I am master. With master’s current ability, you will be able to deal with it without much difficulty.”
And after traveling for so long, Ian got to the destination of the ‘Mathura’ field.
Ian who had just arrived at the field was looking around for monsters to hunt.
“Hmm…?”
Ian made a questionable nasal sound at which Kaka asked.
“What is it master? Is there a problem?”
Ian scratched the back of his neck and replied.
“Nothing like that, It isn’t a problem…. I’m supposed to do a quest, but I don’t see any monsters.”
Kaka—who had an incomprehensible expression—answered Ian.
“What? That’s Kartovie over there. Master, are you feeling sick?”
“Huh?”
After hearing Kaka’s words, Ian turned his gaze towards the direction that Kaka was pointing at.
Ian saw a very peaceful meadow, and sheep were grazing in that place.
“The sheep…”
Ian was speaking to himself unknowingly, and he realized something, in a split second he was amazed.
“Kaka, don’t tell me that the sheep are the Kartovie or whatever monster it is supposed to be.”
Kaka nodded its head.
“Yes, master. Think about the quest again. The quest instructed us to collect fleece.”
Ian had a silly expression.
‘Well, that’s right, but…’
Ian felt a little embarra.s.sed but slowly approached the sheep.
And once he got close enough to get the information, he was able to identify the name and the level of the unidentified sheep.
[Name: Kartovie / Level: 274 ]
“….”
Ian laughed.
‘This one looks like a tutorial fight zone against a deer.’
However, the level never lies.
Once he saw the horrifying numbers of 274 beside the word level, Ian couldn’t help but feel nervous, even if they were harmless herbivorous animals.
“Ly, Summon!”
Starting with Ly, to Bbookbbook, Karceus, and Pin, he had summoned all his familiars and looked at Kaka to confirm his actions.
“Kaka, are you sure that we are to catch them?”
Kaka nodded his head in annoyance.
“Ha, master, It is deceivable, you are wasting time. Just wing it quickly.”
Ian answered back with a composed expression.
“Oh, Okay.”
And Ian after replying to Kaka was ready to deal with the sheep.
“Ly, just take down one of them!”
“I get it, master.”
Ian wanted to see what a Kartovie would do, so he asked for one.
‘This quest seems so easy, there seems to be a trap somewhere.’
Ian wasn’t ready to relax until the end!
But unlike his thoughts, Kartovie was indeed a truly inexperienced herbivore animal.
Kwak- Kwaahkwak-!
[Familiar Ly has done tremendous damage to ‘Kartovie’.]
[‘Kartovie’ health is reduced by 456790.]
[You have succeeded in defeating ‘Kartovie’.]
[You have earned 189700 EXP points.]
After the attack from Ly, the Kartovie transformed into a grey light.
Ian rested his thoughts and took the Judgment of Spirit King into his hands.
‘Well, at times there are quests that could be done easily.’
All the Kartovie were at the level of 270, but their stats were all in early 200.
Moreover, since they were herbivore natured animals, they didn’t seem to possess any combat skills. Ian literally ma.s.sacred the whole flock.
‘Hey, the exp they give is so small. Even level 100 monsters can give more exp than this.’
Ian murmured to himself and continued to slaughter everything that came into his sight as if he was relieving his stress.
But after clearing out all the sheep, Ian saw a problem.
“Wait a moment…”
Ian checked his inventory right away.
His inventory was filled with wool, but Ian couldn’t find the ‘quality wool’ in particular. It was the one he specifically needed to complete the quest.
“Ahhh! That is why! Quests like these never go smoothly!!”
Ian was down in frustration.
Then again, Ian still hunted the sheep like a crazed person.