Chương 74: The Burger Had No Meat

Meno cut along the coast, Bloodwake carrying him through the water fast enough that the waves above barely mattered. Serpent's Wake Coast fell behind him in black rock, barnacled spires, and dungeon glow. Only when Southreach's walls rose in the distance did he angle inland toward the southern entrance. He stepped onto the shore near the port, and the sun hit his face, warm and blunt. For a few seconds, he just stood there with water running from his armor while gulls screamed over the docks.

After hours inside green moss light and drowned stone, sunlight felt like a reward the system had forgotten to place in a loot beam. Meno inhaled.

"Okay, guys. Let's try something. I have an idea." try what oh no Preypool? king drowning test?

"Time to test Preypool." He stood on the wet sand, triggered Panic Pump, and watched the new Self-Control shield wrap over his one HP. [Combat State Initiated: 3 seconds] Then he activated Preypool. Water expanded outward from him in a suspended sphere, swallowing the shoreline in an instant. Sand, driftwood, sea grass, and one startled crab hung inside the clear bubble. Behind him, the sea stayed where it was, making the still water around him feel even stranger.

"This is so dumb," Meno said, voice clear inside the created water. He triggered Chain Madness and angled the axe toward his feet. He spun. The water caught the axe, Bloodwake speed fed the motion, and Chain Torpedo launched him upward like a spell with poor supervision. Meno burst out of the top of the Preypool sphere, flew above the treeline, and looked back just as combat state expired below him. [Combat State Ended] [Preypool Collapsed] The suspended water dumped onto the shore in one heavy splash.

Meno hollered from the sky.

"This is great!" POCKET CATAPULT WATER ROCKET ZUBRA TECH do it again shark launch new mount unlocked He kicked once with False Wings and carried the distance farther inland. As he began to fall, he held the second kick until he was close to the ground, then used it to land safely in knee-high grass. The full distance was decent, maybe two hundred feet. Not enough to replace a mount, but enough to be extremely stupid on demand.

"Personal mini catapult," Meno said.

"Wonder how the Zubras would feel about it." Zubra lawsuit angle lower launch into king do not"If I angle lower, maybe more distance," he said. He filed that away and ran to Southreach's southern entrance, entering through the port district. The city smelled of fish, hot bread, and the streets were busy enough that nobody cared about one wet adventurer dripping across the stones. Meno found a merchant, dumped his old junk and Sunken Spire scrap onto the counter, and waited for the total.

[Total: 146g]"That is insulting." He went straight to a repair NPC. [Repair Cost: 200g] [Gear repaired.] [Currency: 189, 441g] Meno stared at the number.

"How do people even make gold?" Meno asked.

"Monsters barely drop anything except junk, and repair costs scale with market price, so farming eats itself." normal bounties bounties check boards not royal quests idiot Meno stopped walking.

"Wait. There were normal bounties too?" Chat buried him. YES HOW DID YOU MISS THAT bounty board streamer quest allergy read signs"Bounties fall under the quest category," Meno said.

"So I never bothered checking the details." That did not help his case. He opened the world map and stepped out of the repair lane before a cart could run him over while he thought. When he had chosen Serpent's Wake Coast earlier, he had still been thinking about Ashfang Volcano from Westmarket, which made it look far. From Southreach, the route was much cleaner: leave by the south, cross the water west, and Ashfang was not nearly the nightmare he had imagined. The faction choice suddenly mattered more.

If the mount quest was really a kingdom selection, choosing wrong could cost time later. Meno zoomed the map out and frowned. Southreach looked almost too good.

"Southreach seems optimal for high-level players," he said.

"Easy Templefall Hollow access, and the best nearby cluster of forty-to-fifty zones: Serpent's Wake Coast, Ashfang Volcano, Skyfin Lake, Crystalstep Basin." trap bait too obvious Southreach zerg Kestrel land guild stack"You think it's bait?" Meno asked.

"Maybe world state progression opens new zones west, north, or east." He checked Northspire next. Northspire had decent Templefall access and shared Starfall Crown proximity with Eastveil. It was not as dense as Southreach, but it looked less crowded on paper. Eastveil had BrineSaint's mythic quest, which made it more important than he had expected. Westmarket looked odd. It sat among lower-level zones and the huge Verdant Maw Jungle, with Templefall Hollow two zones away through the middle.

Meno had started there, built there, crafted there, and made money there. Unfortunately, sentiment did not level characters.

"Westmarket is the heart pick," Meno said.

"Which usually means wrong." westmarket home city Brad city starter loyalty roleplay coward"Guys, you cannot pick this with your heart," Meno said.

"We are not roleplaying here. Immersion mode is off." Chat made fun of him with enough speed that it became background noise. Then someone mentioned BrineSaint again, and Meno remembered the Eastveil amulet. He opened BrineSaint's stream for a second. BrineSaint was in Veilbloom Woods outside Eastveil, near a resurrection shrine. His teammates resurrected one by one, stepped outside shrine protection, and stood still. BrineSaint killed them without resistance. Meno closed the stream.

"Okay," he said.

"Negative karma farming is not exactly hard." Brine dark arc blackmarket access -200 soon mythic rush karma exploit?

"I wonder how he regains it afterward. That is the annoying part." The faction question came back harder. Picking Westmarket out of loyalty could be a self-troll. If VantaRush was right and the big guilds stacked the same kingdom, Southreach would become their board. Meno could gain crafting access today and still spend the rest of the game watching Crownfall, Highbanner, Stormhold, and Silverwake carve every future reward into guild portions.

"If I do not pick Southreach, I might lose the crafter access I just negotiated," Meno said. westmarket WESTMARKET mount fixes travel Meno saw WifeLawyer in chat. WifeLawyer: emailed birthday invite, don't forget to check later"Won't forget," Meno said.

"For sure." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. That reminded him of Aurelia, and the next thought came harder. He should have discussed faction selection with her. He did not call her, because the last call still sat in his throat, and he had stalled long enough. Meno forced his attention back to the map.

"This is bad analysis," he said.

"Faction probably only matters after the raid clear, and that will not happen tomorrow." true world state later Westmarket arc solo faction"If I pick the same faction as the guilds, I cannot contest them later," Meno said.

"Being allies means standing there while they steamroll everything. That is lame." true TRUE not support rank one not sidekick Westmarket Meno closed the map.

"Fine. We are going to Westmarket. I am not playing support for Kestrel." He pointed toward the Mage Tower.

"The mount should solve travel later anyway, and by the time faction war matters, forty-to-fifty zones will matter less." He used the portal network. Westmarket greeted him with familiar noise: merchant calls, warm stone underfoot, and streets he had learned by sprinting between forge, bank, and auction stalls. The castle sat on the eastern side of the city beside the military quarter, the largest structure in Westmarket by a wide margin.

White stone walls rose behind an inner defensive ring, their edges trimmed with gold accents that caught the afternoon light. Within the inner walls stood a temple, administrative halls, and guard barracks with yellow banners.

"Guys," Meno said while walking, "tell Karmabeast to pick Westmarket too. Otherwise he might not be able to hold up his body bag status for Titan Trial later." body bag BODY BAG Karma Trial delete rogue At the castle entrance, two royal guards in gold armor blocked the gate. Their armor made normal city guards look like starter mobs: polished plates, yellow cloaks, halberds with etched blades.

"State your business," one guard said.

"Your reputation is not sufficient for an audience." Meno drew himself up.

"I must speak to the king," he said, entering rare roleplay mode, "about horses." The guard blinked.

"Horses? You seem to be here about the Mountstones. Wait here. We will notify the Lord Chancellor." Meno's shoulders dropped.

"Great. Corrupt official quest chain." Two minutes later, the Lord Chancellor arrived. He was bald, sharp-eyed, and wrapped in ornate robes with gold accents. Huge black eyebrows sat over a face that looked like an older, more dangerous version of Bradbaron's avatar. Chat noticed immediately. Bradbaron dad merchant final boss bald power Dadbaron"I am Lord Chancellor Radnik," the man said.

"So one of you adventurers has finally decided to join our kingdom. Good. I was getting impatient. We have matters to attend to. Follow me and speak no nonsense." Meno immediately loved him. Radnik led him past the castle approach. Instead of entering through the main doors, he turned toward a well-equipped royal guard training ground tucked inside the inner wall.

"What is a mountstone?" Meno asked.

"Ordinary beasts do not survive the dangers of Veyrath," Radnik said.

"Mountstones were developed by the archmages, and our Orren can only produce so many. They are not party favors for anyone who wanders in with an outstretched hand." Meno brightened.

"Magical mounts," he said.

"Not plain horses. Good." Chat spammed horse anyway.

"Why are we not going toward the king?" Meno asked.

"First, you must prove your worth, Swing Master."

"Of course." More quest nonsense. Radnik stopped beside a uniformed officer near the training yard. They exchanged a few clipped words before a royal guard stepped from a side building with an ornate sword and shield. The guard took position across from Meno while Radnik and the officer stood aside.

"So is it a duel?" Meno asked.

"Seems dangerous." Radnik waved one hand.

"Fret not. You merely have to survive for five minutes. We do not expect more from you."

"Survive," Meno repeated. He inspected the golden-armored guard, but no prompt appeared. The challenge had to be scaled to his level or quest state. The officer raised one hand.

"Begin." A timer appeared. [Trial: Royal Guard Assessment] [Survive: 05: 00] The guard walked forward, and Meno triggered Panic Pump into Chain Madness before he could close the distance. The guard raised his shield, but it did not matter. Meno's first axe sequence cracked the shield stance, the second forced him onto one knee. The guard never landed a hit. Twelve seconds after the timer started, he lowered his sword and yielded. [Trial Complete] Meno looked at the watching NPCs.

"That's it?" LOL quest mob survive? he survived Meno guard tutorial 12 seconds Radnik remained silent long enough that Meno almost felt bad for the guard, but then the chancellor's eyes gained a greedy glint and the apology vanished.

"Very good," Radnik said, clapping once.

"It seems not all hope is lost." Meno did not like that sentence because it sounded like another quest, and the feeling only got sharper when Radnik continued.

"Now," Radnik said, "we must get High Priest Ashtor's blessing."

"Great." Radnik led him into the temple. The building looked bright from the outside, all white stone and gold trim, but the air inside felt colder. An old man with white hair knelt at the altar. Meno expected benevolent robes, soft light, maybe a staff with a bird on it. The old man had skulls attached to his belt. He looked less like a priest and more like a warlock who had won an argument with the church. bait BAIT wrong temple Westmarket sus what god is this Meno leaned slightly toward Radnik.

"Which god do you guys worship?" Radnik shushed him with a sharp gesture, which did not help at all. Meno had skipped most world lore because quests usually came with walking, talking, and being asked to care about village disputes, so he had no idea Veyrath even had gods. Maybe the skulls were symbolic. Maybe he was about to accidentally join a cult. Radnik bowed his head.

"High Priest, I have brought you a prospect with exceptional martial prowess. We seek your blessing so the King may determine whether to bring him into our fold." Ashtor turned, and Meno immediately regretted several map choices. The priest had dark purple irises, thin black ritual script across his face, and a metal ring through his nose so large it nearly reached his upper lip. His eyes moved over Meno with patient interest.

"Answer the questions," Ashtor said.

"And explain yourself." Meno's head already hurt.

"Would you rather keep your oath to the dead, or your duty to the living?" living living obviously dead bait oath bad quest answer Meno did not overthink it.

"Dead. If you break your oaths, the living will not believe you keep your duties anyway." Radnik looked surprised, but Ashtor's eyes glinted like a scoreboard had updated behind them.

"Would you rather betray the trust of one who loves you, or let your honesty destroy them?" I LOVE YOU too soon honesty arc don't answer Aurelia damage Meno thought that question was wildly uncalled for.

"Honesty," he said.

"If it destroys them, the love was probably fake." Ashtor nodded once.

"Would you rather condemn an innocent soul to save a guilty one who may yet redeem many, or let redemption die with him?"

"Let it die with him," Meno said.

"I am not doing redemption math." redemption math clip no math boss cold answer based? Ashtor's mouth did not move, but Radnik's expression did. The priest continued.

"Would you rather punish a loyal house for the crimes of its lord, or spare the lord because his house holds the border?"

"Punish," Meno said.

"Zero tolerance for criminal lords. If you spare them because they're useful, your kingdom is a steak-burger without the meat. The shape is there, but there is nothing inside. Big border, empty kingdom. You get it?" Radnik looked constipated by principle, but Ashtor's very non-benevolent eyes glinted again.

"Would you rather preserve a peace that lets the realm decay, or risk a war that might make it stronger?"

"That one is easy," Meno said.

"Always stronger." Chat started screaming. NO WORLD EVENT V2 WAR ANSWER you doomed us Ashtor bowed his head.

"You have my blessing." [Karma +100] [Karma: 500] [Reputation Status Updated: Regarded]"Regarded," Meno said.

"That name is kind of underwhelming." Ashtor turned back to the altar and knelt again, as if Meno had already stopped existing. Radnik, however, looked thrilled.

"Let us meet the King." The chancellor led Meno into the main castle, where metal doors opened into an antechamber with pillars, a staircase, and paintings of knights fighting large monsters along the walls. Meno expected to go up, but Radnik turned left through a side passage lined with dark wooden doors and stopped at one marked with gold script. When Radnik placed his hand on the script, the symbols glowed, faded, and the door creaked open to reveal stairs going down. Meno stopped at the top.

"Why are we going to the basement?" Radnik did not answer. failed trial rip jail time WESTMARKET BAIT leave too late The stairs opened into a large underground hall lined with pillars, and at the far end, a throne waited on a raised platform. Meno stopped in his tracks. A skeleton sat on the throne. It wore ornate robes, too much jewelry, and a crown heavy enough to crack a living neck. The throne beneath it was made of skulls. At first the figure seemed inert, but then golden light kindled in its eye sockets.

Radnik's voice dropped.

"Bow your head. You stand before King Malrec of the Grave Crown, sovereign of the west, whose reign has outlived flesh and oath." wtf THE KING IS DEAD GRAVE CROWN Westmarket nooooo ritual sacrifice so over Radnik stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I bring before the throne an adventurer of exceptional promise, seeking the honor of serving the crown." Meno bowed his head slightly, because NPC drama in a throne crypt was not where he wanted to test pride. King Malrec raised one bony finger and pointed at him. A notification opened immediately. [Are you willing to pledge allegiance to the Western Kingdom?] If you accept: You join the Grave Crown faction of the Western Kingdom of Veyrath. You gain access to the Mountstone Repository.

You gain a significant amount of experience. Pending world state progression, the Northern, Eastern, and Southern Kingdoms may become hostile. Slaying players affiliated with hostile factions will result in Karma gain instead of Karma loss. You gain the unique blessing of the Grave Crown: Once per combat, when a hostile-faction player would kill you, the Grave Crown delays your death for 10 seconds. If the player who dealt the killing blow dies before the delay ends, you survive with full HP. Otherwise, you die.

Your Karma cannot fall below zero. Negative Karma threshold rewards become purchasable with Karma. Penalty if you decline: Western Kingdom and its forces are marked as hostile. Westmarket access restricted. Lose 1000 Karma. Immediate execution. Radnik looked smug, and Meno almost attacked him right there in front of the skeleton king. Chat went insane. OP PvP faction CALL KARMABEAST death delay undead kingdom decline? no ACCEPT The buff was insane.

It was also useless in the specific way only a great PvP blessing could be useless to a man trying to race levels, farm bosses, craft gear, clear the Titan Trial. Somehow, he had picked the PvP faction. If he declined, he lost Westmarket, lost one thousand Karma, and got executed on the spot.

His five hundred Karma would become negative five hundred, which probably locked him out of other cities too, and climbing back from that meant days of quests, flowers, village chores, and every piece of drudgery the AI hid behind friendly NPCs. Meno stared at the prompt.

"Who spammed Westmarket?" he asked.

"This is all your fault, guys." WESTMARKET worth bone king pvp arc do it we chose right Now the map made sense. Westmarket was isolated from the best PvE routes because its people were not meant to care. Grave Crown players would gain more from killing hostile factions later, so they would want border fights, ambushes, ganks, and wars that turned Karma into income for rewards. Meno was not one of those people, but turning back would cripple him.

He would lose the mount, lose the city, lose his Karma, and need to repeat the whole process somewhere else while everyone in the top ten pushed past fifty. BrineSaint was already farming negative Karma on purpose, Jaxxon was forty-nine, and Meno could not afford this nonsense because Westmarket hid a skeleton king in the basement. He accepted, and the next notification made him want to log out.