Azimuth: The Elden Throne

.

.

.

—

/Swoosh…/

Gliding over the dunes, Dale quickly made his way back from his short but eventful adventure, already planning his next set of moves…

With the wind in his hair and a lot of sand flying at his face, Dale could only think with his eyes closed as he tried to distract himself from the discomfort.

'First thing's first, I'll hand over the report to Jyter, progressing my Quest, this will lead to the development of the Mining operations, something I don't need to oversee nor participate.'

'Once the ores begin to flow back, something that'll likely take a few weeks, several Quests will update at once.'

'Nonetheless, after that, I can do several things…'

'For once, I need to contact Roger and change our plans for the future, there's no point going to El Dorado again.'

'Leaving my home early could trigger that horrible event as well, although I'm already aware that they wanted to capture me and not my family.'

'In the meantime, I should also contact his agents including his granddaughter, especially the latter as she'll likely be deeply intertwined in any future business I have with Roger.'

'In the future, she would cause quite some trouble from running around, guess this time I can prevent her from doing so while also growing closer to her.'

'Roger was someone who stood by my side for quite a long time, and although the last person I saw in the vision was her, she didn't land the finishing blow, which speaks lots of our previous relationship.'

'I was always distrustful of Roger, but I think its time to let go of this mindset and focus on building a stable and long-lasting bridge between us.'

'I should also contact Yumi and give her some of the material samples I collected from the mines, maybe she'll have a use for them, either way, I'll soon have to build a greenhouse so she can grow her own herbs directly from within Resko.'

'I should also sort through all of my rewards from Babylon properly, including opening the chests I got towards the end, I haven't had the chance to open them yet.'

'From handling the books I bought to giving the materials I acquired to the respective Elders.'

'If possible, I should be able to begin implementing my Leaderboard Rankings plan for Resko, the sooner I do it the better.'

'After that, I'll have to begin pursuing the Questlines of the Refugees… Completing the others I have left in the meantime.'

'Sarferato and his family, Qrubin, Winthrope, and everyone else…'

'There are also some villagers that'll give me Quests to complete soon, such as Edimund. He'll change his mind soon and pick up the sword again due to everything that happened and Ophelia will get a chance to heal her injuries, leading to her development as a Hunter.'

'Albeit in the past, I chose to have her stray from such a path… I felt she was already far too old to grab the bow again, leading her towards becoming an advisor instead… Should I follow the same path?'

'Is it okay to push Ophelia onto this? Out of all the Elders, she's the only one who I can't quite figure out yet...'

'Jyter is old but he doesn't fight, neither does Adamante, so I'm not concerned about their well-being, but she used to be a Hunter, would it be okay to push her from what she used to love doing?'

'... Well, if I have the time, I can meet with Erile to discuss what she found in the soundbox left behind by her Great Grandfather, which will lead to further progress in her questline and to update some of my older ones.'

'However, to fully complete that Quest, I'll have to travel to the center of the Continent to search for clues, which isn't something I have the time for.'

'This is a Quest that will likely tie onto even bigger issues occurring directly at the center of the Political and Aristocratic world, it's not something Resko is ready to deal with as it currently stands.'

'For the rest… I'll have to travel to the Southern Wall, which is possibly what I'll be doing soon.'

'Many Quests are pointing there, hints about treasures, monsters to take down, and the Karkavan Questline of figuring out what happened to their previous leaders who went beyond the wall.'

'Then, considering everything I've learned so far… I'm quite interested in finding out what happened to Zenith.'

'One singular Expedition to breach through the wall and reach the Sinking Archipelago, this is what I should pursue... That seems like a good mid-term goal…'

'I've been thinking if I should prepare to slay the Great Devil that took the wall for its nest… But I don't think that's a good idea.'

'Facing it is part of Testro's questline, the last hurdle to break him from the past, have him surpass his PTSD and fears…'

'At the same time, the Devil caused great suffering to all of the Survivors, taking it down would massively improve my image to them and help them let go of their pasts…'

'However, that monster is necessary.'

'Until the status of the Wall can be confirmed, the Wall acts as the Devil's territory, only beings of equal ability would encroach onto it, much less cross it.'

'Not all of it of course, and adding onto the Wall's decayed natural defenses, little creatures managed to cross it over the century, although, each and every one of them that did, caused quite the mayhem themselves.'

'So I'm not sure if I should deal with it yet.'

'Besides, even if we did take it down, who would take care of the wall?'

'Although I'm sure the Root Monster wouldn't damage its structure less than just the natural passage of time, leaving the Wall alone for too long would only be inviting another Devil to take it over as its territory.'

'Is there anything else?... Hm… The merchants will leave soon, but I think I'll change our previous deal a little…'

'Before, they would return to the center of the Continent to sell everything they got from their trip, however, the trip would take anywhere around a month or two to be completed at a generous estimation, and we don't have all of that time to waste.'

'And above all... In the future, they wouldn't return even after a month, meaning something or someone delayed them. I'm quite concerned for their well-being.'

'Previously, Erile organized and stirred the entire campaign to reach the South in less then two weeks on her own and out of her own pocket money, if she took two weeks to reach the South, then on a conservative estimation, they should take a month to come and go.'

'So instead, I'll have them return sooner by taking some losses in the Southern Outpost where Ermin and his sisters play, it could be a good chance to pull Ermin onto my side once and for all.'

'If they buy and sell their stock there, although the Outpost isn't kind to anyone, there's at least a chance they'll be back.'

'And as long as I promise and show enough future profits and prospects to merchants... They'll do it regardless.'

'Anything else?... Yeah, the Mercenary Guild will depart with them, this includes Fray, that idiot.'

'Although he hates me guts right now, his hatred for me reduced extremely quickly after he recovered his conscience and rested for a few days.'

'I think it went down to 1 black heart out of 4 just before he left…'

'Fray had a self-reflection and decided to grow stronger, and I got a Quest from him as well so talking to him or seeing him leave should suffice to receive it.'

'But that's not for today.'

'More?... Yes… I could also contact that girl that tried to assassinate me in Babylon, see if she knows anything about those fuckers…'

'She has a lot to say and now I won't leave her hanging, I'll contact her immediately.'

'I could ask David what he knows about the Seals I received while I was in Babylon, I still don't quite know what they mean.'

'It seems to represent the beings that gave them to me… And although I'm inclined to believe a certain truth, I can't just assume they're Goddesses… But if they are, David can enlighten me on the subject.'

'And of course, last but not least… Level Up… And redo all of my training and the Attainments I… Attained in the future.'

'There's nothing easier than redoing what I already did once. Training is self-explanatory but there's no need to go over Tina's excruciatingly boring lessons again.'

'The problem will be explaining everything to them…'

'... There's much to do.'

"... Dale? Dale... Pensive as always, did I finally get your attention?"

"Are you satisfied with today's journey?"

"Hm? Yes, I accomplished much more than I expected, it was a bountiful reward."

"Great, I saw that you were rather pensive this time around, more so than usual… Although you acted in a more… Straightforward manner."

"That so? Hah… That sounds exactly what I'd expect."

"... There's much to process. I feel like I've been running in circles following behind one mystery after the other, not exactly moving anywhere."

"And after experiencing what the future has to offer, I've realized that being overly cautious won't do, I need to be more proactive in the way I handle things…"

"Even if that may cost your well-being?"

"... Yes, otherwise, if not me, then others."

"But I can take a beating, I trained for it. I'll fight so they don't have to."

"..."

"... Let's go back, I had enough of this desert. I'll drop you by the Church since I won't be going on adventures anytime soon."

"But be warned, we'll be leaving again sometime, we haven't yet asked Qrubin just what's sealed underneath the Catacombs… We need to prepare for it."

"If we can't prevent it then we'll have to face it head-on."

"Just give him some time to think, he'll give you some tips once he processes through it all. He may be a Great Artificer, but he's Human at the end of the day."

"Well… Half Human."

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." Dale replied with a thin smile as he prompted Caladbolg forward

/Shua!/

He proceeded to blast through the air, vanishing amidst the clouds on the horizon.

…

/Meanwhile, on the moon…/

"... Miss… You should take a rest, you've missed lunch already, stop to eat before you continue." A woman said as she looked at a younger girl with concern

"... Alright, but not yet. Just one more round." Mei replied as she took a deep breath

In the real world, it had been around three hours since Babylon closed.

Most players had logged off by now, since spending an entire 24h cycle inside the game had already tugged at their deepest stamina reserves.

Still, some still worked hard to train and Quest, Level Up and gather items.

Be it within the game world or outside of it…

"Huff…"

'If I cannot win in physical strength, then I must outclass him in technique.'

'If he is an unstoppable force, then I'll become an immovable object!'

"... You said that already before, if you don't stop after this one, then I'll be forced to do so on my own." The maid replied with a frown as she looked at the girl with a deep glare

'Looks like her defeat took a deep toll on her… She always trained hard but this time she has a goal.'

'I should be thankful she has any, she spent far too long training for the sake of strength and pure power, it was about time she got motivated towards achieving a certain goal…'

'But this isn't the way to do it. Skipping meals and proper rest won't lead one to stable self-improvement.'

"Fuu… Prepare the things, I'll be trying again!"

"... Very well." She replied as she turned around, moving to a terminal on the side

She began interacting with the terminal, and once she was done, the room Mei was currently in began to change, becoming something akin to an Arena.

On the other side, a dozen warriors manifested, all wearing imposing weapons and armor.

"Huff…"

Mei raised her training rapier, focusing all her attention of the twelve warriors.

It was time for another round of training.

…

.

.

.

Notes