Chapter 22. The Strongest Players

“Mose, Is everything alright?”

An elf with blonde hair as dazzling as the shimmering sun bowed her head slightly before my eyes and asked carefully in an attractive voice.

“Yes, everything is fine. Thank you for asking.”

Of course, I had never been treated like that ever in real life, so I cringed with stiff legs, not knowing what to do with the elf’s sincere hospitality.

It had been 3 hours since I arrived at the Asparagan airship dock. Among the stones condensed with mana, those that possess the property of floating on their own are called the floating stones. Even a stone smaller than the palm of one’s hand was extremely precious, that is what is said about its price.

And I was aboard on the ‘Dawn of Velluce’, a very luxurious floating ship equipped with the largest floating stone among the floating stones.

The station attendant permitted me onto the airship free of charge after noticing my Seal of the Sworder I had equipped during the check-in to get aboard.

It was true that I would be able to reap the benefits of the first class public facilities of the five continents for free of charge. Note that it costs 60 golds to just get an economy class seat in the Dawn of Velluce.

The huge airship with a majestic stone statue of a warrior guarding its front was also as luxurious as it was inside. The fact that I was sitting in a top-class seat in this super-luxurious airship made my body tense up.

It was only after the beautiful elf passed by me with a smile as clear as the morning dew on a sprout, was I able to turn to the window to enjoy the view.

I had chills down my spine once again as I experienced the aberrance and magnificence of this ship, sailing through the clouds as if it was in the ocean. A ship with no wings is sailing through the clouds across the sky.

The view outside the window was truly fantastic. Clouds of different shapes were shining golden in the sunlight.

As I was immersed in the scenery outside, a giant orb hanging from the ceiling started to make a noise.

[ Good afternoon passengers. This is your captain, ‘McGroffin’ speaking. First I’d like to welcome everyone aboard sailing through the Dawn with me. In the grand hall on the second floor of our ship, we have prepared everything you would need to enjoy the sweetness of the Dawn, so please do not hesitate to join the festivities. ]

[ We will soon arrive at the ‘Spearhead of the Valerius’ dock. ]

It was an in-flight broadcast. Honestly, the moment was very precious to me. Not only have I never ridden a vehicle this huge in <Circuit>, I have never been on an airplane in real life also.

To experience my first flight ever in Circuit which has such a fantastic background, although it is not in real life. This is so…

“Aren’t you going down to the grand hall?”

Someone approached me without a notice all of a sudden, while I was alone in my thoughts. A young man with long black hair tied back neatly. However, on his face, there was a beard that seemed to have been carefully trimmed covering his chin line.

And on his fingers he had,

“Truth be asked only to the blade.”

I got up from my seat to greet him in haste as soon as I saw the ring on his finger. The man sitting on the opposite side of me smiled and bowed his head after hearing ‘that greeting that only applies to us’.

“Truth be asked only to the blade.”

He was wearing a ring with the same pattern as mine. The seal of a Sworder, which means he was a Sworder just like me. This may sound too obvious, but he was an NPC.

“I’m guessing you have business to do here? I too have some business to deal with, I never thought I would meet a Sworder here!”

“As do I, it is nice to meet you.”

“My name is Caloir. I am a Sworder from Lowsvan.”

“My name is Mose. I am a Sworder from Asparagan.”

As soon as I learned his name, there was a change in the system that only applies to me because I am a Player. Words appeared on top of his head.

<Lv. 91 Caloir>

He was a man of tremendous level. Even without his levels, the aura radiating around him was very similar to that of the Master who taught me.

It was clear in many ways that I was the youngest and weakest Sworder amongst the other Sworders across the five continents.

Caloir, the man with tremendous level, smiled awkwardly and took a sip from a cup of a drink I had on a luxurious wooden table in front of me as he opened up his mouth for a conversation.

“Anyways, it truly seems that something happened in the northern sides, no?”

Then, he led me naturally to walk with him as I got up from my seat. I too followed him down the spiral staircase behind the special class room as if drawn by the aura he exudes.

“There are other huge passengers on this airship other than us. And I’m expecting all of them to head to the same destination.”

He said, as we reached the end of the stairs and slightly pushed my shoulder to open the giant door in front of us while I was in awe.

And words appeared,

Before my eyes. And I was greeted with the sole attention of the crowd on me as I entered the huge hall lined with a red carpet with yellow embroidery.

In a place where classic music filled the room. Even the noise the crowd made gave a gentle and quiet impression, despite the amount of people in the room. A place like this, one would only find in a real life drama TV show.

And the attention that gathered towards me dispersed naturally, and Caloir who stood behind me gave a slight laugh as he walked into the room going past me.

“Their attention puts a burden on my nerves too. Think of it as your debut ceremony since it’s your first time being on this ship.”

I followed as if I was drawn to him once again as his joking words went through one ear through the other.

There were many types of people in the room. From people in colorful and fancy outfits to people with thick plated armor holding their helmet by their sides. I noticed there were some players in the room also.

Seeing a man and a woman dressed as couples frantically wandering around the grand hall, operating small spheres and taking photos of themselves, I could tell that they were on a honeymoon trip.

As I walked into the crowd after Caloir to blend in with them, a giant middle aged man approached me with a smile on his face out of nowhere.

“Nice to meet you! Sir. My name is ‘Soga’. I am the owner of the Fuatt Iron Mountain.”

He held his hand out with a smile on his face. I accepted his handshake since I couldn’t say no to his smile.

“Your rings. I have heard that people with those rings have godly blade skills, is that true?”

A phrase popped on top of his head as he asked me countless questions.

<Lv. 7 Owner of the Mountain Soga>

It was clear that he was a man with enormous wealth or authority despite his low level. Caloir grabbed my arm that was holding Soga’s hand as his countless questions never showed any signs of finishing.

“Oh my. If it isn’t the owner of the Iron Mountain! The quality of a sword crafted with iron from your mountain is one of the best swords I have ever used!”

Then he spat words restlessly from his mouth as if he was rapping to distract Soga and proceeded to move away from him with his arms around my shoulder. Then he whispered into my ears.

“Dirty parvenus. They always have problems that only people like us can solve. It’s best to try to avoid them, or…”

Caloir stopped to stand in front of me as he stopped whispering.

“Are you a Sworder who wields his blade for money?”

He asked, with pure intentions. There was no sign of sarcasm of any sort. The title of a Sworder was only obtainable after torturous trainings.

It was seen as a sign that he didn’t want to interfere with another individual’s inclinations to the person who obtained the title of a Sworder through such training.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that…”

But as a person who has never even been on an airplane in real life, the entirety of this experience was new to me. Not to mention that I had no idea that he approached me with such intentions.

Unlike other games out in the market, this is a virtual reality game. NPCs in this world sleep, wake up, eat, defecate, and talk. They are the natives of this world that follow the laws of space and time of this world.

This incident only happened since I was not able to get in touch with any NPCs in the five months I have been playing Circuit. The NPC that I have seen for the longest time was my master, but he was a man that existed for only one purpose. So filtering out other NPCs that are not like him that approached me with selfish purposes was no easy thing.

But now, with Caloir’s admonition, I felt deeply that I still lacked such skills. Caloir looked at me silently, shook his head for a moment, and said,

“Please, excuse me. You were only accepting a request to shake your hand from someone.”

“No problem. It was a handshake that I wasn’t very happy to accept anyways.

I answered Caloir with a playful tone, as he asked me carefully to not offend me. I could see his face brighten up from this.

In other general games, a system such as an intimacy meter would be kindly put in to see how the NPCs are feeling at a glance, but there were no such conveniences to be found in this game, so the only way to actually raise intimacy was to make friends or develop a further relationship with the NPC.

And so, as I walked across the Grand Hall, Caloir pointed his finger somewhere with a curious look on his face.

“Look closely at the people over there.”

His finger pointed to the area where the table was set. People sitting at the tables in the corners stood out the most.

Pointing at them,

“There are at least five ‘strongest people in the continent’ on this ship right now.”

Said Caloir.

“Now, if our destination is the same as their destination, what would that mean?”

“Are you saying that they are here for the purpose related to the mission we have?”

“Correct! They may be related to the mission you or I may have been assigned to or maybe they have a mission ‘same’ as yours or mine!”

Caloir pointed his finger to the man sitting at the table located in the most left corner of the room as he continued to talk.

“That man is the ‘Sword Master of Tikris’ Gohn.”

It felt like Caloir’s voice was trembling. As soon as I heard the name, my whole body trembled as well.

One of the five heads of the Sworder organization is right here before my eyes!

The biggest goal of young Sworders is to awaken themselves to learn the essence of Adiath in order to reach the position of a Sword Master which is known to wield all kinds of blades in existence.

To put this simply, this was a situation where a new employee, that’s me in this situation, is facing a man who started from the bottom to become a chairman in a company that anyone can become a chairman as long as they put in tremendous effort.

A person of respect and envy, the ultimate goal of the Sworder class obtained in the world of <Circuit> is to sit in that position.

It felt as if my heart was plummeting. I felt sick inside. Golden words appeared above his head at the words from Caloir.

<Lv. 244 Gohn>

I had goosebumps all over my body. The overwhelming level I saw for the first time in my life. I felt as if my mind was going numb when I imagined the many death throes that beings living in this world had to go through to reach that level, unlike the players.

And as soon as I looked at the words that appeared on top of his head,

< Achievement Unlocked >

< You have met ‘Gohn’ of the Twin Ghostblade. >

< The one who faced the Ghostblade >

The words appeared before my eyes. And I could feel my body tense up just by looking at Gohn.

< You have earned 2 points in STR stats from unlocking the achievement. >

What’s more is that I’ve earned two stat points in STR! Chills went down my spine because this unprecedented experience felt like an exhilarating electric current to my body.

The announcement resonated through the airship once more as if it was trying to awaken my mind from carefully staring at the person sitting at the corner table standing awkwardly.

[ Good afternoon passengers of the dawn. This is your captain, ‘McGroffin’ speaking. ]

[ We have reached our destination, ‘Spearhead of the Valerius’ dock. I wish you the best of luck to our passengers of the dawn. Our next destination is the ‘The northern snow wall of the Langnas’. Thank you. ]

And as soon as the announcement ended many people, no, at least all the people in the grand hall except Caloir and I, started to leave through the door. In such a situation, Caloir was also slowly starting to break cold sweat.

And when I realized the true intentions of the questions Caloir had asked earlier, I too broke into cold sweat.

My destination was the northern snow wall of Langnas, located in the far northeast side of Asparagan. If the continent’s strongest men, whom Caloir spoke of, did not get off this station, it was clear that they would at least have come to do something related to my mission in Langnas.

And that also meant that this mission I was assigned to had an astonishing level of difficulty.

After a while, the ship began to move again with the magnificent mechanical sounds of the engine starting up once more.

Towards the northern snow wall of Langnas, the last stop and my destination.

There were quite a few people left in the grand hall. However, the gazes of Caloir and I were fixed on the five people.

Not a single one of them got off the ship in the previous station.

Then a notification appeared before my eyes.

< The class of the quest has been changed. >

< Super (超) Clash Battle Quest >

Class: SS

Investigate the source for the supernatural phenomenons in the farthest northeast side of the Asparagan.