Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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/Fwoosh!/

In the skies, Dale took a small pause to stare at the convoy behind him.

"... It's quite a large group, to be honest, I didn't expect such a thing to happen at all."

'Misgurd told me that the periodic inspection team would come soon, and there was a chance for merchants to come as well, yet I didn't think they would come just as he said that.'

'And together at that... Well, perhaps that was to be expected.'

'Such an expedition would likely be known by others beforehand and well planned, right?'

Dale shook his head, turning to face Resko, having the sword fly faster.

He hadn't become some sort of Sword Cultivator, this was in fact, an input Skill of Caladgolg.

It had already manifested when he was tasked with Killing the players in the Church when they tried to steal David from the Altar...

But now, after a few weeks of training and raising his Level, he can now effectively use it for combat and movement as well.

It may seem cool, but honestly, it's only useful for distraction and locomotion like this, because if he was in a fight, he can cause much more damage simply swinging it than controlling it in the air like some sort of Magician.

The Mana cost isn't significant, but it can't be neglected either, he can use it as a surprise factor, but right now, his control over the Sword and its Skill isn't enough for him to use it as an ultimate attack.

And perhaps it never will, as this ability didn't seem to have been made with that in mind.

"In any case... For such a sudden Event, I successfully managed in controlling the situation, so I'll give myself a pat on the back for it."

Dale started remembering what he was doing with his arms crossed.

'A few minutes ago, I passed through Barme's workshop to see his progress in repairing the old armors of the Corps, the ones we collected when I and Testros passed through there...'

'And midway through that, I received a strange notification…'

[A new Event has been triggered, People from afar!]

[Under the leadership of the Apostle, a large caravan braved the harsh desert, successfully reaching the abandoned town of Resko!]

[Merchants, Warriors, Guilds… They have gathered in what may very well be their last visit to the forgotten lands of the South, now, mostly covered in sand and dunes]

[As an Elder of Resko, welcome them on behalf of everyone, show them what you're made of, and have them witness what Resko is meant to be]

[It's up to you to determine what to do with them, weave your own story into being]

[Ju-Arkesios suggests that you welcome them with open arms, but she asks you to exercise caution around the merchants]

…

/Back to the present.../

"... Due to this, I had to stop what I was doing and rush outside."

'I barely had time to take a look at this new equipment and discuss with Barme about his progress and worries...'

'Urg… There are so many things on my head and now there's this.'

'Not to say the loot I left behind... But I didn't grab them since it would've made me look... A bit desperate, that would've undermined by authority.'

'I'll have to go back to Barme and ask him more precisely about it, I'll also have to go back to Miss Tina and show her the Shard of a Greater Devil since I forgot…'

'Her previous lesson simply stuck to my head, and I forgot to share it, as long as I don't do so, I won't be able to progress on her Questline.'

"If I have time, I also need to do a small analysis of how Resko grew in these past few weeks now that the Event is about to end."

The 2 weeks of increased Growth were about to end, and the 2-week increase from the Special Event was also about to end.

As things started to slow down, Dale had to push some things into the forefront so that the pace of growth of the Village didn't slow down much.

He couldn't let the Villagers go back to their previous lifestyles, he had to find a way to have them work on something more productive and in line with their new professions.

Of course, some of the Villagers awakened as farmers, so if that is their vocation, then so be it.

Dale wouldn't push them out of the things they were born and desired to be, he would only help them walk forward toward their own destinies... Or so he believed, it wasn't that complicated or glorious really, but he liked to describe himself as such.

'There should be about an hour or so left… Then things will return to normal.'

'I don't imagine that they'll suddenly go back to how they were previously, it should be a slow and periodic change, as such, I should try to have them stick to their current ways of thinking to try and maximize the effects of the Event.'

'For example, I have almost finished building the Restaurant for Illia and two other Villagers that seem to have connections with cooking, if Illia can continue to grow her own vocation while also growing her control over the players, as I have a good connection with her, it would be multiple birds with one stone.'

'Yumi is already a good example of that, despite the many potions she has, many of her failures and experiments are often shared with players.'

'Like a potion that will reduce Constitution by 3 for 5 hours, but fully heals their HP, they'll obviously grab it as they have no other sources for such consumables.'

'Barme too, he has his hands full in items the players bring from their expeditions, albeit those don't seem to count towards my Quest completion, at least not in a way I can notice.'

'So far, it seems the Villagers fully ignore some of the obvious things such as food, lodging, and other matters regarding the players unless it's very direct like them insulting them while they're nearby.'

'Otherwise, they just brush it off without a word.'

'But... That isn't the case for David.'

'So that made me think... Is there some sort of limitation on them? Why were they made this way and why is David different?'

'In these two weeks, I've grown very close to them all and it's hard to say if they're real or not, despite the fact the things I learn here are in effect in the real world.'

'I want to believe... I want to... But how can I when there are such obvious signs proving otherwise?...'

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"Hum?... Tsk! Damn troublemakers..." He mumbled to himself, tired

He looked below, seeing yet another group of players fighting, casting all sorts of basic Skills at each other.

Because it had been barely 3 weeks since the game launched, most players had yet to gain any interesting Class or flashy skills to use.

Especially the players of Resko, their options are extremely thin.

And this was a severe problem that has been on Dale's mind for a while now, he needs to find ways to give them Classes, not for their sake, but for his.

Strong and satisfied players will naturally develop the region, contrary to weak and unsatisfied ones...

And this leads to the rising Pk problem.

"This is getting annoying, I have to deal with them soon."

"The problem with these Pk players is that they are now like ants, their numbers are increasing in proportion to the players'."

'They don't add any value to their surroundings.'

'They don't hunt much, so no resources, they don't seek to improve their Reputation that often, and they don't work in the city to help embellish it.'

'On the contrary, they work in increasing the displeasure of the normal and more casual players, weakening them by stealing their items and demotivating them from moving forward...'

'And these are the people that hold the economy, I need to protect them, let them go outside, die, kill, and Level up so they can bring back better and better resources.'

'The PK players' only worth is with me killing them and getting their items, but that doesn't really work very well towards boosting the economy.'

'Even if I resell these items or give them off as Quest rewards, displeasure will still rise, I can't recycle them forever.'

'The large players' groups will be in charge of doing harder Quests, with most of them occupied exploring the environment and leveling up right now.'

"I've been sharing several Quests, as many as I can, but the demand is too big."

'Resko is slowly changing, and I need to keep up with it while also aiming higher.'

"My idea was to create some Quests to deal with these Pk players since in the first place, they can't buy items in the shops."

'If they kill too much, their names will prevent them from even interacting with the Villagers.'

'So at least in that regard, they need to restrain themselves, otherwise, they'll be blocked from entering Resko, and they won't be able to Log off safely.'

'Killing players increases your Karma regardless of who is on the right, and who is in the wrong, this is how the player system works here, even if it's not entirely fair.'

'Still, the Villagers frown at murder, regardless of the origins.'

'However, if you do have a reason for it, with this reason normally being verified by the Game System AI, your Karma ratings will start to fall back to normal at a very speedy rate without you needing to do anything at all.'

'Let's say you get 10 Karma for killing someone than for someone with a cause, let's assume self-defense, this person will go back to normal within half an hour.'

'But for a Pk player? That may take 2-3 days, and sometimes, it doesn't fall back at all the so-called thresholds.'

'That's why they need to hold themselves, and the very reason why this place hasn't fallen to war yet.'

'So, if I put them as targets, once they're killed once or twice, they would be so weakened that they'll be forced to hide till their murder count decreases...'

"Hum... I'll think about this in greater detail once I'm done with this matter." Dale mumbled as he started to descend

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