Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The negotiation between Sherlock and the emissary of Eternal Fire ended in failure.

  The proposal of the Werewolf was tempting, but Sherlock didn’t have the intention to agree. After three failed attempts to persuade Sherlock, the Werewolf left, dejected.

  Eternal Fire didn’t give up on resolving the conflict with Eternal Kingdom. In the following days, Eternal Fire sent an emissary daily to present gifts to Sherlock. Even officials from the Merchant Alliance came to mediate their conflict.

  Then news of the discovery of the secret forest near Eternal Kingdom spread like wildfire. The Merchant Alliance and other Dungeons at the boundary of the secret forest wanted to have a share of the newfound resource. But the other Dungeons weren’t as close to the forest as Eternal Kingdom. The gamers didn’t participate in other activities during these few days. They concentrated on building their own Stronghold in the secret forest and attacking Eternal Fire’s Stronghold.

  The gamers’ attacks were neutralized by Eternal Fire. Some gamers wanted to use suicide bombing to blast open the gate of the Stronghold. However, they were stopped by Mana defenses, long-range Arrows, and attacks from Magicians. They were killed before reaching the walls of the Stronghold.

  As the largest Dungeon in the Northern Underworld, Eternal Fire had strong capabilities. The gamers were unable to penetrate the defenses of the enemy Stronghold. If the gamers used the Gundam, it could be a different story. However, Sherlock didn’t intend to use the Gundam. The deaths of the gamers were creating wealth for Sherlock. Every dead warrior of Eternal Kingdom would require death compensation. When the war was over, Sherlock could obtain large amounts of compensation. Hence, Sherlock didn’t stop his gamers’ suicidal attacks.

  The gamers tried many times to attack, but they were stopped by the defenses of Eternal Fire. The attacks dwindled. Eventually, only a few Guilds organized attacks on Eternal Fire’s Stronghold.

  The other gamers were busy logging the trees in the secret forest. To the Underworld residents, logging was a decadent activity. But to the gamers, it was no problem. A lot of gamers became passionate learners after playing the game.

  Sherlock wasn’t bothered with this, as he was busy trying to discover the treasure of the secret forest. He was curious why Eternal Fire wasn’t bothered by the logging activities of Eternal Kingdom. The emissaries sent by Eternal Fire didn’t ask Eternal Kingdom to give up the forest resources. Eternal Fire only wished to lease the land and was willing to give up all of the wood to Eternal Kingdom. Sherlock was sure the Stronghold of Eternal Fire wasn’t built for securing wood. Eternal Fire must be looking for an object, but Sherlock wasn’t sure what it was. He believed that if he continued to occupy the forest, he would learn Eternal Fire’s secret.

  While Eternal Kingdom was fighting against Eternal Fire at the secret forest, the gamers of Victoria City had arrived at the York Territory. Lancelot didn’t bring along many gamers. Besides Big Boss Hamster, who was tasked with building a Teleport Portal, there were only about a hundred gamers who were disguised as mercenary guards. Hence, they didn’t encounter any resistance when they entered the York Territory.

  Lancelot was skilled in choosing a location for a hidden Stronghold. He found a suitable location for the Stronghold at the boundary of the York Territory. It was in a valley with surrounding high ground, and it had only one entrance. To the gamers, who could revive unlimited times, this was the most suitable location. As long as they weren’t killed simultaneously, they could continue fighting using revivals. This was the reason Lancelot chose this location. Big Boss Hamster followed Lilo’s instruction to create the Rune Mana Teleport Portal, which took a day. The gamers stood guard nearby to protect the Teleport Portal.

  It wasn’t really crucial to stand guard, as there were no people around.

  The Surface World Humans weren’t familiar with Rune Mana Formations.

  The Stronghold Teleport Portal was connected directly to the portal in Victoria City.

  The gamers arrived at the York Territory via the Teleport Portal. They used tools and materials to construct the Stronghold. They loved building the walls and houses. Lancelot was unable to understand their passion for construction.

  Only laborers would do such a job, but the gamers enjoyed doing it. They were even willing to use their own money to buy materials for construction. Lancelot believed that building was their hobby.

  He was also concerned about his wife, Guinevere.

  Though he was unwilling, Queen Victoria had betrothed Guinevere to him even though he didn’t know if Guinevere was a man or woman.

  Guinevere said he was a man, but Lancelot observed that Guinevere wasn’t like a man. He felt that Guinevere was trying to protect herself and thus lied about being a man.

  In novels, it was common for the male protagonist to encounter the female protagonist who was disguised as a man. Lancelot imagined that, in the novel, he would protect Guinevere and die on the battlefield. As a Knight, he could accept such an ending.

  The gamers didn’t know that Lancelot had wild imaginations. They only wanted to finish building the Stronghold and pillage the Castle of the Duke of York.

  The distant European-style Castle showed traces of opulence and created a great deal of anticipation in the gamers. They wanted to occupy it very badly.

  Some gamers started planning the occupation of the Castle, while other gamers were wondering whether the Castle was like a second Winterfell……

  In the distant forest of the Fairies.

  Dragonborn had been held captive for five or six days. He did nothing much except help the Fairies repair their treehouses.

  He was being treated like he was their slave. As a legendary fugitive warrior, Tomato didn’t fare any better. He didn’t receive any special treatment. To the Fairies, he was like a common Human, and Tomato conformed to their expectations.

  The two Forest Wolves kept Tomato company. The Fairies weren’t hostile to the Forest Wolves. When they saw the Forest Wolves beside Tomato, they treated Tomato better than Dragonborn.

  The Fairies were wary of the young Wyvern and kept it outside Yggdrasill, though Dragonborn was able to visit the young Wyvern occasionally. He had to ensure that his Strange Encounter treasure wasn’t lost.

  Things changed on the seventh day.

  When Dragonborn finished his work for the day and was about to return to his treehouse to rest, Tomato patted his shoulder. Dragonborn looked at Tomato, who made a silent hand gesture. Then Tomato said, “Shh, don’t say a word. I think we can escape tonight. They aren’t on guard today.”


  Dragonborn didn’t know how Tomato knew that the Fairies weren’t on guard, but he trusted Tomato. Therefore, he nodded and followed Tomato’s instructions.

  They had to remove their shackles. The Fairies tied tree vines on their hands that prevented them from using Mana. Dragonborn felt that he was unable to activate his Mana Skills.

  While Dragonborn was looking for something sharp to cut the vines, Tomato shrunk his hands and squirmed out of them. Was that the Contorting Skill?

  Dragonborn looked in astonishment at Tomato’s feat. Tomato was nonchalant. He put Dragonborn’s hands on the table and nodded before saying, “Are you ready?”


  Dragonborn didn’t understand Tomato, but he nodded and replied, “I’m ready!”


  Tomato raised his fist and pummeled Dragonborn’s hands, and the crisp sound of bones fracturing could be heard. His hands became limp, and he was unable to control them.

  Dragonborn felt that his hands were fractured, but he didn’t feel any pain.

  He understood what Tomato was doing. After his bones were fractured, his hands could get out of the vines easily. It was another Contorting Skill.

  Tomato said to Dragonborn, “Don’t worry, I found a Healing Potion. The Fairy’s Healing Potion is the best.”


  Tomato took out a Potion and poured it on Dragonborn’s hands. His two fractured hands healed completely.

  “Let’s go and retrieve our weapons and armor before leaving. Follow behind me. There are few guards today, as they went to Yggdrasill for a ritual that is held once every two days. Follow me,” Tomato explained and brought Dragonborn out of the room.

  Dragonborn watched as Tomato used the previous vines to pick the door’s lock. The door was opened, and they walked out.

  Tomato was familiar with the surroundings. It was as though he was walking in his home. When they arrived at each corner, he would place a shiny object on the tip of his foot, then extend it out to see around the corner.

  It was like the scenes in movies. If it were real life, Tomato would definitely be a special agent.

  However, Tomato was only a digit in the game world.

  Dragonborn was full of respect for Tomato, who was like his mentor. He had only read about such feelings in newspapers. Some gamers developed feelings of like or dislike for game NPCs. He didn’t expect himself to develop such feelings for an NPC.

  Dragonborn thought he was foolish for treating an NPC like a real person.

  Tomato didn’t know what Dragonborn was thinking about. He led Dragonborn around the Fairies’ territory and evaded their patrols. Finally, he got Dragonborn out of the Fairies’ territory.

  Dragonborn turned back to look at Yggdrasill. He knew that the tree was related to the Open Beta. He didn’t know when he would return, but he was sure the next time he returned, it would be to take over Yggdrasill.

  Dragonborn shook his head and tossed all thoughts of Yggdrasill out of his mind. He followed Tomato and vanished into the dense forest.

  Behind them, a Fairy stood on a branch overlooking their departure. He turned his head and said to his companion, “Those two Humans have left. Do we follow them?”


  The companion was wearing golden armor and looked nobler than the rest of the Fairies. The Fairy in golden armor nodded and said, “Let them leave. The Human is able to build a close relationship with the Wyvern, so perhaps he can help us. Follow them. If they can interact with the primordial creatures, it will be useful in our mission to find the Princess.”


  The Fairy at the side nodded and followed behind Tomato and Dragonborn.

  Dragonborn didn’t know, but Tomato discovered that someone was trailing them. After leaving the Fairies’ territory, he didn’t let down his guard. He moved with Dragonborn and changed directions several times, using several techniques to determine their location.

  After an hour of fleeing, Tomato and Dragonborn arrived at a wooden house.

  The wooden house was built on top of the branches of a large tree and was hidden by the thick foliage. It was hard to discover unless one looked closely.

  The house looked aged, and the walls were covered in green moss.

  When Dragonborn entered the house, he found that the furniture was quite new in contrast to the aged appearance outside.

  Tomato leaned next to the window and looked outside before saying to Dragonborn, “I don’t know whether the Fairies followed us here, so we can only rest here for an hour. Don’t worry about your young Wyvern. It will catch up based on your scent. Of course, not now. Otherwise, the Fairies will follow the young Wyvern to locate you. I covered your scent with some fragrance. Once we are out of the woods, I’ll remove the fragrance. Don’t worry, the young Wyvern’s sense of smell is acute.”


  Dragonborn believed Tomato. He didn’t expect Tomato to be knowledgeable about Wyverns. He had a lot to learn from Tomato.

  Tomato sat down and frowned. He said to Dragonborn, “The Fairies are preparing for something. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I feel something ominous.”


  Dragonborn’s eyes lit up.

  It must be the sequel to his Strange Encounter Mission.