World Online

Chapter 286 Melody (2)

Dusting his clothes off, Jake looked down at what was on the ground.

Taking care of two players, none of them even close to him in levels or skill, was a breeze.

"Nothing that useful." Jake shook his head as he just pocketed whatever he found. Even if it was useless, he could just add it to the guild inventory and someone would take it.

He looked down at the walls that he had to cross eventually to enter the city.

"There are so many bandits here. What the hell does the city look like?" He wondered as he continued his walk forward.

The other crucial difference between Melody and every other kingdom was going to be revealed very soon.

While other kingdoms were functional, and had city guards that would protect the cities, Melody was not so.

That was why even the cities within the kingdom weren't safe zones. They were a cluster of complete chaos.

Another fifteen minutes of silence later, Jake saw himself staring up at the cracked board that once read the city's forgotten name.

The board was too far gone to understand what it once said.

"Alright. The Emporium. Where the hell is that?" Jake wondered as he started walking in.

Surprisingly, as he did, he could see players and NPCs moving around freely in the city. For a deserted kingdom to have these many people was shocking to him.

"Why does Nova even allow this? They literally made this place for people like them to exist?" He shook his head as he moved forward toward the center of the city.

The quest map showed him the general location, but it was going to be on him to figure out which building was the emporium.

One look around told Jake that it was going to be a pain to do so.

Every single building he saw was either half broken, completely broken, or filled with vagrants ready to enter battle.

He was surprised that there weren't people already coming and getting ready to fight him.

"And my armor looks fine now as well, unfortunately. It is going to be such a pain, dealing with everyone." Jake thought as he looked up at the open buildings.

Through the half broken walls, there were players and NPCs standing and looking down at the roads.

"Right. Should be around here." Jake came to a stop as he looked around.

He was in somewhat of a crossroads here, with five to eight buildings surrounding him. Counting one or the other was hard, considering that some were completely demolished.

"Which one could be the emporium? It has to be something related to the Knights of Sin…" Jake looked around at each building, trying to guess.

"Let's try out the biggest one first." Jake sighed as he walked forward knowing that he was going to have so face a few people now.

As he was walking to the circular building with five floors intact, and the rest on the ground, he could see the people on top looking down at him from the open floors.

He stopped for a second in front of the giant doors that were now on the ground.

The hall was left open and he could see into the building without even entering it.

There were a lot of people inside this building, probably because it was one of the few that were mostly intact.

"Who the hell are you?" Finally, someone in the hall noticed that Jake was standing at their entrance.

Jake smiled.

"I am looking for the emporium. Is this the place? If it isn't, could you be so kind as to help me find it?" He asked with the smile plastered on his face.

A tall man, maybe Six Feet? Five Inches tall, with tattoos all over his bald face started walking over.

As he stood in front of Jake, he looked down.

Jake wasn't short by any means, but this man dwarfed him in both height and size.

"The what? What the hell are you talking about? This 'ere is the Blood Mercenary Guild's Headquarters. Are you here to join us?" He asked with a rough voice.

"The Blood Mercenary Guild? Have I heard of it before?" Jake wondered for a second, but he dismissed it as some no name guild.

"No, no. Maybe this isn't the emporium then. I'll be on my way." Jake shook his head and turned around.

"Ya think this is yer grandma's place? Just strollin in whenever? You brought me all the way to the entrance ya fool!" The bald man shouted at Jake.

Jake sighed as he shook his head.

Instinctively, his hand went to his sword as he turned around to look at the bald man.

"I'm in the second tier. Do you really want to fight right now? I am not in the mood." Jake said. Now, his eyes had none of the pleasantries that he once had.

He just stared at the bald man, ready to go at him if necessary.

The bald man took a step back.

"N-no. I'll come back another ti-time." He stuttered as he turned around and started running.

"Huh? He isn't the sort of man to just run away like that? What the hell?" Jake frowned.

The next moment, he felt a hand on his right shoulder.

"Did I hear you right, friend? Were you looking for the emporium?" A voice just appeared out of nowhere.

Jake turned around immediately, and his sword was drawn out this time.

What he saw surprised him.

He saw an old man, decked in pretty luxurious clothes. His eyes were barely open, but he had a smile on his face as he looked at Jake.

"Why take your weapons out? I was just talking." The old man smiled.

"That guy… he ran away looking at the old man. Not me!" Jake suddenly realized.

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