My Roleplay System

Chapter 28: Ruins of Star City

Soon a week had passed since the Martial Arts Entrance Exam.

A few days ago, Lake had asked his sister for help with getting into a hunting field. Naturally, it didn't go too well at the start as his sister strongly rejecting the idea of it. Lake had to spend two days trying to convince her, and was forced to reveal some of his abilities before he could get her to agree.

The reason he wanted to go to a hunting field all of a sudden was due to the fact that he could now absorb the fate of the creatures he killed. Since he would gain RP from it along with a small chance to absorb skills from the fate, he surmised that a hunting ground would be the perfect place for him to get stronger since a field was in essence, a breeding ground for monsters.

His sister however, was adamant about choosing which field that he would enter, which he didn't mind as it didn't matter which one he went to.

A few days later, she had rented him some simple gear for him to use during his hunt before sending him off with a heap of warnings and things to be cautious about when hunting in a field. After he had parted from his sister, he spent a large amount of money that was given to him by her to use a public teleporter that took him to the hunting field.

...

After exiting the teleporter, Lake felt slightly disoriented as he turned his head to observe his surroundings.

The teleporter behind him was inside a walled off room that was heavily guarded as Lake could see many hunters standing watch around it. In front of him, Lake could see many other hunters walking around what appeared to be a large market area. There were various stalls run by ordinary people scattered around that were selling their wares and purchasing any loot or harvested materials that the hunters brought back from the field.

From where Lake was standing, he could see that a strong wall seemed to surround the compound that he was in.

After taking a moment to understand his surroundings, Lake checked his armor and equipment to make sure that everything was in order.

He wore simple black cargo pants and a black hoodie underneath a sleek, streamline piece of armor. The armor was made out of the hide of a rank one, low tier monster, a creature comparable to a Low Rank Martial Apprentice.

After checking his armor, Lake turned to look at the various weapons he had. Ever since he had acquired the Weapon Master skill from the Master Assassin role, Lake had become capable of using a variety of weapons. In order to maximize the skill's potential, Lake had rented a few weapons so that he could better adapt to any situation that came at him.

For melee he had a combat dagger and a short staff that could extend into a spear. For ranged, he carried a set of throwing knives and a pistol with a silencer. He also carried a few smoke bombs in a backpack that contained a fifteen meter rope, ammo, water and other basic survival necessaries.

If you include the cost of the teleportation, Lake had spent over twenty thousand dollars to prepare for the trip! That's enough money for him to live for half a year if he lived casually, or close to a year if he lived frugally.

Thankfully this was his sister's money, otherwise Lake wouldn't even have enough to afford the teleportation fee.

Shaking his head, Lake pulled up his status screen.

[Status]

Host = Lake Egoven

Age = 18

Primary Role = Master of Fate

[Stats]

Strength = 2.11

Agility = 1.75

Stamina = 2.01

Mana Strength = 0

Mana Capacity = 0

[Skills]

Observer of Fate lv2, Writer of Fate lv1, Steel Body Martial Arts lv1 (Upgraded), Master of Stealth lv1, Parkour Master lv1, Assassinate lv1, Weapon Master lv1, Sixth Sense lv1.

[RP Points = 89.134]

Lake felt satisfied after seeing his upgraded stats. During the past week, Lake had spent 30 RP to upgrade Steel Body Martial Arts to the first level which greatly boosted his current physique. If Lake had to compare his current strength with the Martial Realms, he would rate himself, purely based on physique, around the same level as a Low Rank Martial Apprentice. It was also thanks to this massive upgrade in his strength that he was able to convince his sister to let him enter the field.

After checking his status, he began to make his way towards the compound walls. While walking he was also observing the fate of those around him, trying to gather as much information as possible.

While he walked, he had his hood up and a black mask covering his face. His footsteps were silent and most people didn't even seem to notice him walking past them. This was because Lake was using his stealth skill to avoid attention.

Ever since he had synchronized with the Master Assassin role, he came to understand the importance and advantages of staying low profile and keeping your identity hidden from others, especially potential enemies.

Soon Lake reached the compound wall where a gate was set up with a small group of people lining up to pass the gate. Lake quietly joined the line as he awaited his turn.

Looking ahead, Lake could see that the guards were checking the hunter license of the people in line. Lake didn't own a hunter license but thanks to his advanced fitness index and his sister's help, he was able to get his hand on a temporary hunter license which would allow him access to low level fields like the one he was currently entering.

Soon the line was cleared and Lake passed the checkpoint without any problems using the temporary license.

After exiting the gate, Lake was greeted by a dense forest. Using his Master Parkour skill, he quickly scaled a tall tree that stood above the forest canopy which allowed him to see his next destination.

In the distance, Lake could see the site of a ruined city overrun with vines and trees growing out of some of the collapsed buildings.

After observing the cityscape for a while, Lake jumped off from the top of the tree before landing on another tree branch below. Using the branches of the trees that were densely packed around him as footing, Lake quickly began to move through the forest canopy in the direction of the ruined city.

As he moved he also recalled the information he knew about the location.

Star City, a once prosperous place where a few million people used to live. The city was at the forefront of martial arts and mana circulation techniques when it was at its peak and was packed with hunters from all around who would come to learn some of its various martial techniques.

Unfortunately however, tragedy struck. Around twenty years ago, a massive mana explosion had suddenly occurred in the city, causing hundreds of rifts to open up from which various monsters of all kinds emerged. There were armies of low ranking monsters and swarms of high ranking ones. These monsters overran the city, leading to the tragic incident known today as the Starfall, where millions of people had died and the entire city collapsed in a single day.

Eventually, the government had put together a large militia made up of high ranking guilds and numerous powerful martial artists before committing a mass subjugation that lasted over the course of a few months.

When the subjugation was finished, all of the monsters that came out of the rift had been killed and their rifts closed. The government of Star City had wanted to rebuild but unfortunately the City had been contaminated with high density mana that made inhabiting it impossible. Under the effects of the mana field, trees and various flora started to have accelerated growth and mutations. Most technology and forms of communications had become unusable and the original animal population had started to mutate under the effects of the mana field, turning into low ranking monsters.

Eventually the city was abandoned and a few months later, was converted into a hunting field. Thanks to the mana field, various herbs had started to grow within the region that were usually harvested for medicine and the various materials and meat of the low ranking monsters became quality goods sold in the market.

Since most of the money that was earned here was from the gathering of materials, most people that hunted here did so in groups in order to gather and transport more material. Some of the richer hunters who came here would usually drive an armored vehicle to help with transport, usually having a separate team of slightly stronger normal citizens to work as porters and harvesters for the material.

Back in the compound where Lake had just left, he also could have found people who were looking to hire an escort hunter who would guard them or their group while they gathered material for their business.

Nowadays, people usually gossip about the downfall of Star City, wondering what was the cause of the mana explosion that started this tragedy. Most people were under the belief that it was an experiment gone wrong but the original source of the explosion had ultimately never been found.

While thinking about this, Lake eventually made his way to the outskirts of the city where he could already see that the forest and land had claimed most of the terrain with cars and buildings being almost completely hidden underneath it.

Without stopping, Lake continued to move through the overgrown terrain with smooth and swift movements.

While running through the overgrown street, Lake was suddenly startled as his sixth sense had activated, alerting him of danger that was quickly approaching him from above.