48 5 . First Death -1 (1/2)
Ian arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Palace where two guards stopped him.
”Why have you come here?”
Ian was surprised.
He had never been to the Imperial Palace of the Luspell Empire, not even before he reset his
character.
'Hmm… I do not have any kind of evidence to show them. What should I do?”
Ian thought for a while and just said what he could come up with, ”I am Ian, the Pioneer of
Summoning. I heard that His Majesty the Emperor is looking for me, so I came here.”
He spoke as politely as possible.
It would be a problem if he acted rudely and his Friendship with the guards dropped.
The guards looked confused. They scratched their heads, ”Please wait here for a while. I will go and
ask our captain.”
”Thank you.”
One of them hurried to go into the gate.
A little while later, a man came out, ”Oh, Pioneer, you have arrived. I am truly sorry. I should have told
the guards in advance.”
The man appeared to be the guard captain.
Ian didn't know what to do in this kind of situation.
He had never seen an NPC acting so politely even before he raised his Friendship with him or her.
'Hmm… what is this? Is this because of the Empire quest?'
Actually, they were only guards. It was only right for them to treat a guest invited by the Emperor with
respect, however, Ian couldn't think of that.
”Oh… umm… it's okay. Then, can I go in?”
The captain hurried to quickly nod, ”Of course, Ian. I will escort you to the inside.”
The gate, which had been shut, opened. Following the captain, Ian went in slowly.
'But what is that guard captain's level?'
Laper, the leader of the vigilantes who had given him the Goblins' Campsite quest, was at about Lv.
95.
Ian suddenly got curious and looked at the captain's information.
[Maolin]
Lv. 115
Job: Guard captain
…
All information except for his level and job was closed, but the two were enough to surprise Ian.
'What? He's just a captain who guards the outer gate and he's Lv. 115? Even the No. 1 player in the
level ranking is about Lv.120…'
Ian's eyes widened, he had thought the captain would have a similar level to Laper, if not less.
'Let's see. Then, what are those soldiers' levels?'
Ian checked their information and he was even more shocked.
The two soldiers who followed Ian were Lv. 104 and Lv. 107.
'Ha… now I know the reason why those high-ranked guilds don't even dare to touch Kolonar
Continent's territory, even with their massive power…'
Even a mere soldier of the Empire was at Lv. 100. If a guild messed up with the Empire, the entire
guild would be razed.
Thinking of this, the base Lotus Guild had gotten on its expedition to the North felt even more
valuable.
'I must raise my level quickly and help them widen the base's territory.'
While Ian was thinking like this, the group was getting closer to the Imperial Palace.
…
Karun Peak, the highest peak of the Snowy Mountains of Crupia.
A man with sharp, curved daggers in both hands was fighting an Ice Troll alone.
Koooo-!
The Troll roared and swung its massive club at the man.
Kwang-!
But the Troll's club couldn't even touch the man. It just shattered a rock.
The Troll wasn't an ordinary Ice Troll.
Its size was 1.5 bigger than normal Ice Trolls and blue cold energy was coming out of its club.
It was an 'Ice Troll Warrior', a Hero rank monster, a boss monster of the Karun Peak.
The man avoided every attack with his light movement, as if mocking the Troll, and closed in.
However, as if it had been waiting for it, the Troll grabbed the man's shoulder with its empty hand.
No, it tried to grab.
In a flash, the man disappeared like a mirage.
The Troll was surprised. It became defenseless for a moment. Next, the man emerged behind the
Troll.
”Just die now…”
He stabbed the Troll's back with his sharp daggers.
Kaaaaak-!!
The Troll screamed in pain.
The man didn't miss that moment.
”Hup-!”
A Black energy similar to smoke started to be absorbed into his daggers.
Next, when the daggers absorbed all the smoke, they turned as dark as the abyss. They then pierced
the Troll's heart.
That was the final attack.
The Ice Troll Warrior's face started to turn black.
A black energy spread to every direction from the daggers embedded in the Troll's heart.
That was the end. The Troll turned grey and slowly vanished.
”Hu, it was a tough one, really.”
The man got the items from the Troll's dead body and muttered, wiping off the sweat on his forehead,
”Do I have to work about half a day till Lv. 50?”
Surprisingly, the man who had just killed the Lv. 65 Ice Troll Warrior was at Lv. 49.
His class was 'Assassin', one of the three new classes.
”I am still at Lv. 49… and there's a new class player who reached Lv. 50 a few days ago?”
A corner of his lips curled up.
”And he's a Summoner… huhu, I can't wait.”
The man started to move slowly.
”I still have four days till the Arena opens… So, I have some time to spare.”
He stood in front of a high cliff.
Surprisingly, he then jumped. At that moment, the man turned into a black falcon and flew between
the peaks.
Then, he was gone.
…
”Oh, you must be Ian.”
Ian was very nervous when he stood in front of the Emperor.
All the information about the Emperor was closed, so Ian couldn't even know his level, but just
standing in front of him was enough to make Ian feel overwhelmed.
'I imagined an old man with white hair… to think that he's so young!'
Salias looked to be in his early 30s. He was looked more like a strong general than an Emperor.
”Yes, Your Majesty. I was told that you were looking for me…”