World Gate Online

The tour in [Sennerth] ended and we are now back in the Rimmer household.

I"d say that we should be leaving now since it"s already dark out but it"s already dark out so it"s been decided that we"ll be eating dinner here anyway.

Compared to the breakfast earlier, the mood is a lot better now but there is still that awkwardness of finally recognizing how the girls feel about me.

And for some reason, Aleris also joined…

I mean, I don"t even remember having a proper meeting with her. We met just briefly at the time of my summoning, during the meeting after the war, and short meeting after that.

Did she really fall in love with me with just that? Or does she find teasing me fun?? Rather, since when did she become such a character!!!???

Right, I still don"t understand women…

Anyway, we"re all casually chatting on the dinner table while we ate with the TV still on. At this point, a familiar face appeared on the screen, it was Trask. Though, he was together with the President of the Philippines in front of a press conference.

"Wait a sec." (Lucas)

Since I was talking with Len about stuffs in [Harus], I prompted to stop so I can hear Trask in the TV better.

Seeing me suddenly being absorbed in something, the others only glanced at me in wonder at first before redirecting their gaze towards the TV as well.

[[Mr. Forest, as the Philippine"s CEO of IDEA, responsible for releasing both the [Portal] and [World Gate Online], what can you say about the…incidents that has been happening recently?]]

[[Did you antic.i.p.ate that this will happen?]]

[[How was it made possible to have done such a thing as magic and the monsters that began to roam around?]]

Reporters repeatedly ask Trask for answers. Well of course they will be confused. They have every right to be after all.

After so long of refusing to give answers, and especially after the [Behemoth] incident, it seems that the [Gatekeeper] project has been hastened.

Well, I"ve already been informed of this so it"s no surprise for me.

[[First of all, I would like to remind everyone that [World Gate Online] is NOT a [Game], but another [Reality].]] (Trask)

After Trask"s brief pause, the reporters tried to immediately follow up a question but were stopped by Trask himself as he continues.

[[The technology of how the [Portal] was made is something even we don"t know. We tried to dissect it, reverse engineer it, and other experiments but have failed to make heads or tails about it. And to answer your previous question, yes, we knew this will happen one day. Only, it happened faster than we thought thanks to a certain white haired fellow.]] (Trask)

The others who were watching with me turned to look at me which I desperately tried to avoid.

What, don"t look at me. There are plenty of white haired guys out there!

[[Could it be the rumored [White Haired Adventurer], Lucas?]]

[[Yes.]] (Trask)

Oiii!!!

Don"t just casually throw my name like that!

[[Anyway, let me start with how we were able to attain these technologies. It started roughly 15 years ago. That time, all of us CEOs now were a bunch of unemployed people who hang around the net almost all the time.]] (Trask)

Oh? This is new to me…to think that these successful people were once NEETs…

…I have the sudden urge to become one right now and hope I will also suddenly become successful like that.

[[It was an amazing coincidence how we all just happen to meet in the same chat room and everyone was of different nationality. Since it was too good of a coincidence, we all take it for granted and no one left the group. Like that, we all talked and talked…until one day, someone managed to get inside the chat room.]] (Trask)

These guys don"t really have anything better to do huh…

[[The weird thing was, the chat room was already full so it should be impossible for any new people to enter. Not only that, but he didn"t have a name displayed nor a picture. He never gave us a name so we just call him [Null]. He started saying weird things but for some reason, we still believed him. Even though he talked about impossible things, we somehow believed he was right.]] (Trask)

Oi oi, isn"t that hypnotism?...Wait, can hypnotism even pa.s.s through the internet? Well, not like I know much about it anyway.

[[He gave us an offer. An offer to change the world. He gave us the [Portal] and the [World Gate Online].]] (Trask)

So he was the creator huh? Gee, who could"ve known…

Though I say it very sarcastically, I"m still a bit surprised by the sudden news.

I wonder if that guy came from another world?

[[Like that, after many years, we finally established the IDEA Company in every country with each of us as its CEO Representative.]] (Trask)

Everyone looked at Trask attentively, waiting for the continuation but unexpectedly, he cuts straight to the point.

[[Five days from now, we will hold a [World Conference]. Present to the conference will be the world leaders of both worlds. The goal is simple, to achieve peace in both worlds. Now I don"t know if it will go well or not, but it"s already certain, after that day, the world will never be the same.]] (Trask)

Hearing Trask"s announcement, the many reporters present hurriedly jot down notes for their articles while the President beside him nods understandingly.

[[Accompanying us Philippine Representatives are the so called [White Haired Adventurer Lucas] and the [White Knight]. If they are with us, then there are no problems concerning security, haha.]] (President)

Uhh Mr. President, those two mentioned are the same person~ Do I split bodies or what?

-Is probably what you"re thinking right? But now, there"s Ban with me so all I have to do is lend him the [White Knight] set and have him remain silent.

Originally, I was planning on wearing that myself while I let another take on the [White Haired Adventurer] look with the [Mimic Mask] but since there"s Ban, there"s no need to do such things.

Really, my luck seems to be awfully good. It"s as if Ban was made into the [Hero of the Slums] for me.

Well, I don"t think I"m that lucky to have someone always looking out for me.

[[Mr. President, can we know where this conference will be held?]]

[[An inhabitant island. That"s all you need to know.]] (President)

[[Mr. Trask, anything you can tell us in your plans if the conference is a success?]]

[[Well for one, you will now be able to travel through worlds like you travel other countries. Two, a fusion of magic and technology will be seen, meaning, new gadgets and toys haha. And most importantly, a

special police force that will maintain order across the worlds, the [Gatekeepers].]] (Trask)

I"m really looking forward to those new toys haha. One world being successful in magical advancements, and another being successful in technological advancements so when these two forces unite, one can only wonder what innovations will be born. Unfortunately, [Sennerth] seems to be not as advanced as the other two but it"s not like there aren"t any benefits either.

"[Gatekeepers]…Brother, can I also join that?" (Len)

"Of course, anyone can. But [Gatekeepers] will be divided in ranks so in this five days interval, you should get stronger quickly. At most, you will most likely achieve B rank by the time the [Gatekeeper] project is implemented." (Lucas)

Ranks are very important as it both gives people inspiration to become stronger as well as effective when it comes to dividing tasks.

"Don"t I need a [World Key] as well?" (Len)

"Haha, not really. If you are A rank and below, you don"t need a [World Key]. All we have to do is lend a person a [World Key], have him switch, then pa.s.s it on another. Like that, an army of [Gatekeepers] can be easily made." (Lucas)

I remember the days in high school where the teacher hands out our test papers and says to take one and pa.s.s. It works the same as that, only, switch and pa.s.s I guess.

"What rank will you be, o" [White Haired Knight]." (Kanin)

"Don"t mix the two oi. The [White Knight] and [White Haired Adventurer] will become an SS rank. While I become an A rank." (Lucas)

I let out a "humph" afterwards, clearly displaying my displeasure at being called names by someone whose name means Rice in English.

"Huh? Why are you saying it as if those are all three different persons?" (Gavin)

"Because they are." (Lucas)

Not saying anything more, I only grinned and refused to entertain any more questions.

Haha, now they look stupefied.

Anyway, the press conference seems to have finished with the President giving his President-like speech, which was boring so I didn"t bother to hear it.

After a few minutes after dinner, we all gave our farewells and we finally left the mafia household.

"Come visit us again if you have time" (Arlo)

"Lucas, should you reach [Cravon], message me so we can meet up." (Steph)

"Come play again with us later Brother Lucas~!" (Alice)

"Look after our Stephie okay, son-in-law~" (Lora)

""He"s not your son-in-law just yet!!!"" (Eu & Aeran)

On that chaotic note, we all went home.

+ + +

Looking at the distant figure disappearing in front of them, the smiles of the Rimmer family disappeared with a sigh.

"Alright you two, you should go get some sleep." (Arlo)

"Nn, let"s go Alice." (Steph)

Steph smiled and went inside as she lead Alice by the hand, wondering if she can have a carefree dream like yesterday.

Arlo and Lora also smiled as they saw off their two daughters.

After making sure they"re no longer in sight, the two"s face stiffen in absolute seriousness.

"Lora…are you really going to-" (Arlo)

"Dear." (Lora)

Arlo"s face hardened.

He knows that Lora is now full of killing intent but the scary thing is, none of it is leaking off.

There are two kinds of people in the world that one should be afraid.

One, a person who no longer has anything to lose.

And two, a person who does not release a killing intent when angered.

Lora is clearly the latter. At this point, Arlo can only pity her targets as he knows his wife"s temper clearly.

"They tried to kill our daughters, even place spies in our house, and we didn"t notice it all these years…" (Lora)

Arlo gulped down a mouthful of saliva in nervousness.

"If they are not disposed off, how else can I stay calm?" (Lora)

"…Lora, whatever your decision, I am your husband, naturally, I will follow you. Be it in h.e.l.l or in Heaven." (Arlo)

He looked into the eyes of Lora.

Seeing this, Lora revealed a faint smile, then a teasing one.

"Fufu, that"s what I love about you~" (Lora)

"Hmph, naturaly." (Arlo)

Like that, the two finally went inside to discuss their plans.

+ + +

After going home, we all went our separate ways. Aeran, Aleris, and Eu also went back to [Sennerth], Freya was called back, Lily went to the direction of the IDEA building.

Mom, Len, and Rose decided to stay for the night as well.

Now, I went to my own room and grabbed my [Portal].

I have 5 days in real time, that is 15 days in [Harus].

During this time, I will quietly spend my time in leisure. There are no cla.s.ses for me as well in this week since the school is still burned up. I estimate that the repairs will be done after the conference.

After going in, I see the sun still up. It should be around the afternoon here in [Harus].

I once again checked the boats that I ordered and once again gave them out.

As I walk along the third layer, I saw boats going to and from my direction, carrying people with them.

Some used it as transportation, while others were for touring.

The boats are also painted differently as they try to make themselves stand out. I chuckled inwardly at this sight.

Well, they are trying to win the compet.i.tion so it"s only natural.

This is still just in the experimental stage so the rules might change in this period of time, well, I"ll just leave that to Jacob.

Right, after the giving out of boats, I instructed the carpenter to make similar ones and sell it as he see fit. In case there will be others wanting to join.

Hmm…now the problem is, how to make the boats go up the layers?

As I thought of that, I discussed with the carpenter about [Water Elevators]. I think there are some of those in [Earth] so I"ll just search the net later and give him the details.

After that, I painted more in a room in my castle.

Though, at most, I can only make fine arts. Seems like I need a proper inspiration for higher level arts after all.

After two to three paintings, I gave up and do something else.

Since I have nothing better to do, I practiced [Meditate] and raise its proficiency while I control different elements around me with their manipulation skills.

This way, I can raise all their proficiency.

Right now, only the Water, Earth, and Wind Manipulation are at Intermediate level. At intermediate, I can finally control those with mana that aren"t mine.

This way, I"m no longer afraid of elemental attacks. Moreover, I can control even Nature"s elements like the earth beneath me or the winds around me since they still have mana.

I suspect, that on master level, I can control those without mana. Meaning, I can achieve the same result in [Earth] by that time.

Though, I wonder what will happen if I maxed it?

Well, no use thinking about it now so I just sat crossed leg while manipulating the elements around me. Oh, maybe I can control the wind so I will look like I"m sitting in midair?

"Milord, it"s time for dinn…" (Ellen)

Just then, Ellen came after knocking twice and saw me.

"Its fine Ellen, I already ate, you all can enjoy it." (Lucas)

"T-t-that…huh? Eh? Ah, y-yes! I apologize for intruding your training!" (Ellen)

Hm? What"s she so fl.u.s.tered about?

Well, whatever. Let"s quietly max my skills!

+ + +

"Ellen, did you already call milord?" (Jacob)

"Y-yes. Or lord said that he already ate so we should enjoy ourselves…" (Ellen)

"Hm? Something wrong?" (Jacob)

Jacob noticed Ellen"s expression that seemed to be a mix of fear, amazement, and disbelief.

"T-that…milord was…" (Ellen)

Alfan, who was also curious, came closer to hear Ellen.

"H-have you ever heard of the story of Iodel?" (Ellen)

The two listening raised a brow at the sudden question.

"Of course, Iodel, the Legendary Elementalist. Frankly, every child has heard his story. I still remember the days my mother tell me that story when I was little and even aspired to be a magician instead. However, I have no talent in magic, hence, I became a swordsman." (Alfan)

"Right, it is said that he can control every element. Some even thought he was a G.o.d in disguise. The Legendary genius, Iodel. Isn"t he just a myth created for children who aspires to become magicians?" (Jacob)

"…I"m starting to believe that it is no myth." (Ellen)

Hearing this, Jacob and Alfan exchanged glances.

Both of them are thinking, what made her believe so.

In their knowledge, a magic to control elements are only for the [Elemental] race but they can only control one element.

Moreover, Iodel was a [Human] in the story, at most, maybe he can control one element but all?

"You see…when I went up to call milord, I went inside his room after knocking. I know it"s disrespectful to do so. Frankly, it was my own carelessness since milord is so different from a n.o.ble but more like a commoner but…" (Ellen)

"Hmm…since milord is fine with it, I will ignore it. But please don"t do so in the future. Now, what is it?" (Jacob)

"Y-yes. That…milord was sitting in midair and there are five or six elements swirling around him. I saw fire, water, earth, dark, light, and most likely, wind is also present." (Ellen)

As she said so, Alfan and Jacob were both wide eyed in disbelief.

Well who can blame them? Is such a thing possible for a magician?

"…Come to think of it, milord also controlled the water back when he was bringing out the boats…and there were also those immortalized elemental arts…" (Jacob)

The three looked at each other, wanting someone to tell them to snap out of it or that it"s impossible but all of them were already convinced.

"…Back then, I already thought our lord is amazing for facing a dragon and even hordes of monsters by himself but…it seems our lord is even more amazing…" (Alfan)

"…To think someone like that is our lord…" (Jacob)

Now, the three were all smiles as they knew. That this [Watervliet], this home of theirs, will surely prosper into an unimaginable city!

"Haha, or lord said to enjoy ourselves right? Then let"s do so. Right now, I"m really in the mood for celebrating." (Jacob)

"Fufu, count me in." (Ellen)

"Heh, let"s see if youcan hold your liquor Sir Jacob." (Alfan)

+ + +

Fuh, now all elements are in Intermediate level, well, let"s continue this some other time.

It"s already daybreak so I decided to join the soldier"s training this time as well.

For some reason, I can"t see Jacob, Alfan, and Ellen. I wonder where those guys are?

Well whatever, I"ll just raise my stats!

Though, I only managed to raise it by 2-3…I guess it gets harder the more I train huh?

Hmm…now what to do next?

Right, my [Skill Points] are already at 24 huh? That means I can unlock [Smithing]!

With that in mind, I unlocked it and went to a local blacksmith and ask if I can rent a furnace.

At first, the blacksmith was surprised why their lord is trying out smithing but since I"m paying, they didn"t mind.

Though, I can feel that they actually hate it since they most likely thought that their lord is just playing around in their free time.

Well, I couldn"t care less.

For now, let"s create a normal short sword.

I"m paying for every ore I used so they gave me some [Iron Ore] to refine into [Iron].

But…judging from the furnace they use, it"s impossible to create a pure iron and at most, I can only create [Wrought Iron]. For an even purer iron, a blast furnace should be used.

Well it"s fine. Like this, I placed the ore inside the furnace, after a while, the [Molten Wrought Iron] was made and I poured it into the cast and cooling it. Afterwards, a [Wrought Iron Ingot] was made.

Normal blacksmiths would hammer it while it"s hot then heat it again when it hardens again but for me? Haha, all I have to do is manipulate the fire.

I brought the ingot to the anvil and started hammering it all at the same time, a fire is under it, heating it as I please.

Since I can manipulate it, naturally, I can make it so that only the ingot is affected with the heat. The anvil nor me, neither can feel the heat it generates.

I can also control the temperature so it doesn"t completely melt it.

Fire surrounded me and the blacksmiths all looked at me in shock.

A man is forging a sword directly inside the fire!

I"m sure their all surprised but I ignored them and forged my first blade.

*Ton* *Ton* *Ton*

The entire forgery was silent and only the sound of me, hammering, was heard.

Sparks flew from the blade in my every strike.

Haha, I never knew forging would be this exciting!

A grin appeared in my face as I hammer inside the fire.

After finishing the blade, I made the handle from iron as well and wrapped the handle with animal pelt.

Next, I took the more or less complete sword to the grinder to sharpen the blade.

Fuh, now I finally finished my first blade!

I checked the status of the sword, damage is 20~70, rank D, and durability of 150.

The name was the default [Short Sword] and the description was the same as normal. Only, on the bottom, there was a short extra saying "A sword forged by a beginner smith while bathing in the flames."

Huh, well, it should be pretty good for a first timer huh?

Well, after finally trying to forge a sword, I guess I now have a new hobby huh? Well, let"s do this again later.

"Right, thanks for lending me the furnace. Here"s the payment as promised." (Lucas)

"Eh? A-ah, yeah…milord, how is it that you were able to be unaffected by the flames?"

"Hn? Oh, I am also a magician, haha." (Lucas)

And so, I left the forgery leaving a bunch of confused blacksmiths.

Hmph, that"s what you get for secretly hating me.

In my mind, the figure of me sticking out my tongue towards them could be seen. But of course, who can see that?

Well, forging seems fun so I"ll come back again.

Now, what"s next? Let"s go back to meditating.

+ + +

"Hey, did you hear? Or lord forged a sword the other day while inside the flames!"

"Inside the flames? What do you mean?"

"You know that an ingot should be hot so the blacksmith can hammer it into a blade right? Usually, when it hardens, a blacksmith would reheat it before hammering again. But our lord directly hammered the blade while bathing inside the flames!"

"What? This is a joke right?"

"Hmph, you don"t believe me? Then why don"t you ask those blacksmiths."

"Hey, just now, I heard you were talking about our lord?"

"Yeah?"

"Well you see, I heard that inside his castle, our lord is meditating while being surrounded with different elements! They say that he is Iodel"s reincarnate!"

"Iodel? That Iodel from the myths!?"

"That"s right, this is from a trustworthy source. Our lord can control the elements!"

"Hmph, smithing, magic, yada yada. You all fail to see our lord"s true talent."

"What was that? Who said that?"

"Me. I"m a soldier in training so I know. Our lord often joins us in our morning trainings! Rather, he is even more devoted that most of us and you would often see him collapse from training to his limits! Thanks to that, we were even more eager and rapidly strengthen as well! Our lord is most likely even more amazing in sword battles!"

"Wow, to think that our lord would constantly train…it seems that our lord is really different from the other n.o.bles. He also gave jobs to the people in the slums and now, smelly places are rare in the third layer."

"Haha, you all haven"t got inside the castle so you don"t know, our lord is an excellent painter as well! I"m a maid in the lord"s castle so I often see it. When I see that painting…suddenly, my tiredness would disappear like it never happened!"

"A painting that would excite you that much?"

"Yes, better yet, our lord said that people can view it after a few more days so you should come, it"s free anyways as I heard it."

"Seriously!? Hey, let"s go when it opens!"

"Right, I"ll also bring the others!"

While Lucas was quietly spending his time, before he knew it, he was already the talk in every corner of the city.

Not only that, as players can also hear the locals speak, he was also the talk of subject in multiple forums!

The lord of [Watervliet] is the [White Haired Adventurer Lucas]! And he is genius in magic, swords, smithing, and painting!

Multiple speculations were further made and in no time, his fame skyrocketed even more!

+ + +

…Why do I have a feeling as if everyone"s looking at me?

Well, I am the lord of this city after all, I guess it"s that?

I spent 14 days in [Harus], not even going back to [Earth] to eat since I can just switch characters and eat with my [Earth] body here.

Though I still go back to [Earth] on other occasions.

Before breakfast, I would train my body. I found out that simply training would not be enough to raise my stats so I tried to surpa.s.s my limits. Sure enough, my stats easily rose.

After breakfast, I would paint. Still, at most, I can only make fine arts. I should really find some inspirations…

After lunch, I forge weapons. For now, I still have no desire in making especially good weapons or unique weapons and only forged normal ones.

Unique weapons should be done when I found good ores and a blast furnace.

After dinner, I would meditate. As I discovered that it raise INT as well so I always practice it. At the same time, I raise the proficiency of the manipulation skills.

Now, every manipulation skill is stuck in Master LVL 9 (99.99%)…

Well, it seems there is also a bottleneck like the basic elemental spells before, though, now I have no idea how to max it.

Anyway, after reaching finally Master level, I can now control elements without mana…then after maxing it, what"s left for me to control?

I sighed and gave up as I can"t think of anything.

In the past 14 days, my stats rose and even my LUK rose, why!?

Not only that, it seems my Fame also rose as well as Charm…

Forget it, I can"t understand it so why should I think about it?

[Photographic Memory] also turned into [Eidetic Memory] after maxing it. From what I remember, Eidetic memory is the ability to remember everything, not just what you saw.

You can remember every texture, smell, sound, taste, and of course, sight.

At beginner level, I can remember textures and sight. After that should be either smell, sound, or taste while maxing it would mean I can remember everything!

I really wish sound is next so I don"t have to listen attentively to boring talks which are actually needed…like, for example, lectures.

Other than that, I finally maxed [Domnant Arm Mastery], [Weak Arm Mastery], and [Sword Master]! Now I can go look for a [Style]! And even unlock [Dual-wield Mastery]!

Now, I finally have bonus damage when dual wielding! Other than that…there"s nothing much.

On my other free times, I would visit the Prince or Arch-bishop and talk about the [World Conference] that will happen. Now, the work is done.

Also, I would take Ban to [Earth] and so some crime fighting to teach Ban the logic of our world. Things like red light means stop and green light means go and all that.

I also received word that Trask and the others have finished making the conference room in the uninhabited island.

Now…time for the next battle, the [World Conference]!

Author"s Notes

Finally...finally had the time to write...

(vvNot really spoilers but my ranting on why I wasn"t able to write. I figured that there will be guys out there who doesn"t like lengthy ANs so just skip it.)

Spoiler :