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An hour later, Khrx nodded while dusting off his hands. Boba’s body of condensed numbers had been completely scattered apart, covering the ground with a layer of digits. “Alright,” Khrx said. “Time to enter [Resolution].”
“Just wondering, but didn’t Boba say Lorin already entered [Resolution]? Wouldn’t that mean you could’ve entered when she did?” Anaheim asked as she kicked away a few numbers by her feet.
“Oh, yeah,” Khrx said. “I lied. I just wanted to vent my frustrations on Boba. I could’ve entered a while ago.” He navigated through his menu and entered the game without waiting for Anaheim’s response. When his vision returned, he was lying down on an altar. Behind him, by the wall, there was a statue of Fiel. He sat up and looked around. “Wasn’t it supposed to be Jax? Oh, right. I forgot.”
Khrx hopped off the altar and hummed to himself before placing his hand on his head. The crow’s feather was gone, but he didn’t feel like it was too much of a loss. And getting smote by lightning didn’t count for his quest that required him to kill himself, which was a shame. The guild’s city had been improved in the few days he had been away, the roads and walls of the building replaced with stones. There were even rune stones on the city walls near the gates.
Lorin had decided to go off on her own to get stronger after suffering a humiliating defeat by Theda’s hands in reality, and Anaheim had spawned somewhere far away because Luke had kicked her out of the guild before killing her that one time. Which reminded Khrx.
[You have invited your lover, Anaheim Miehana, to the guild.]
[Anaheim Miehana has joined the guild.]
[Lukroix Adveign Desrigard has kicked Anaheim Miehana from the guild.]
[You have been demoted from Senior Officer to Plebian.]
Khrx stared blankly at the screens that appeared in front of him. “This bully!” he said and stomped his feet before calling Luke.
[Your call has been declined.]
Khrx tried again.
[Your call has been declined.]
And again.
[Your call has been declined.]
And again.
[Your call has been declined.]
And again.
[You’ve sent too many outgoing calls in the past minute. Spam protection has been activated. For the next six hours, you will be unable to make a call to Lukroix Adveign Desrigard.]
Khrx glared at the screen, a growl escaping from his throat. “You know what? Fine. Just fine. Who needed Luke anyways?” He sniffed and tilted his head into the air, squinting his eyes in disdain as he dismissed the screen. “Just wait until I get that tracking skill. I’ll show you who the plebian is when I feed you to Fufu. Speaking of which…”
Khrx opened his downloaded images and dug up the map showing him the location of the labyrinth. Detailed information about skills wasn’t free, and he had to pay a hundred thousand euros for a mostly complete map of the world, but it was worth it. It wasn’t his money in the first place anyway. He located Swift’s Peak and then the labyrinth before realizing Lorin wasn’t around to fly him places. He’d have to travel through three different guild territories by foot to get to the labyrinth: Poreasing, Amireca, and Rancef. There were also a few city-states along the way, but compared to the sizes of the guilds, they weren’t much. Khrx was a bit surprised when he saw the size of I Can Pick. It was easily five times the size of the second largest territory.
Khrx closed his map and sighed. If this was reality, he could fly without the help of Lorin, but it wasn’t. The stupid game had removed his flight skill for no good reason. He didn’t even have an ounce of mana in his body. According to Bongle, attending classes and lectures could improve his intelligence, but intelligence would increase by one per day. Even if he attended classes for a month, his intelligence would still be negative. Besides, as a dragon, he couldn’t stand anyone lecturing him. Also, he wasn’t very patient. So the only thing he could do was walk. If only Lorin hadn’t killed Monika, then he could’ve ridden a carriage. Once again, it was Lorin’s fault. And he didn’t even have any spells to summon her. He could feel her general location through his connection, but he had no way to contact her. Why did he agree to let her go on a training montage by herself?
Well, what was done was done. Khrx ignored the stares he received as he left the city, descended from Swift’s Peak. There was another wall at the base of the mountain with a bunch of burly men guarding the entrance. A crowd of people were kneeling outside, and they all raised their heads to stare at him. Khrx stared back, his tail raising as his ears pressed flat against his head. “What the heck is this?”
“Khrx’Lrvjnl, sir!” one of the burly men said, turning his attention away from the kneeling people outside the gates. “It’s an honor to meet you. This lowly troll hopes to brownnose his way into your good graces. Someone as magnanimous as your grace will surely—”
“Stop,” Khrx said, raising his arm in front of his face while spreading his fingers apart. “Too many words. So you’re one of Luke’s subordinates, huh?” He gestured outside the gates with his chin towards the crowd of people. “What’s with them?”
“They’re humans seeking to join the guild,” the burly man said. “Lord Aaz’Tala has instructed them to kneel for thirty days and thirty nights to pay obeisance. Around this time of the day, someone brings down a basket of food to feed them. Perhaps they mistook you for him.”
Khrx made a face. He forgot he had to eat inside of [Resolution]. How embarrassing would it have been to starve to death in game? Thankfully, someone came down the mountain path, delivering the solution to his problems. Khrx tripped the food carrier and snatched the basket of bread, lugging it over his shoulder. There should be enough meals to tide him over until he reached the labyrinth. He patted the tearful food carrier’s head. “I’ll be taking this.” Walking past the gates and the crowd of kneeling people, Khrx set out on his very first journey through [Resolution] without a companion.
typo:
Khrx stared back, his tail raising
raising -> rising