Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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Standing between the church's door was a young man who looked to be between 13-15 years old.

His hair was black, and a bit messy, his face was dirty and his body was quite muscular for a kid his age.

Though he wasn't handsome by any means.

His clothes were a bit tattered, but Dale was already used to how things were in this village, so his shabby looks didn't make his expression change at all.

Apart from his already visible surprise...

"..."

Dale wanted to ask him who he was, but he cut down the chase and went to the meat of the subject.

"You said it isn't going to move, can you tell me more about it?" Asked Dale the young teen

The teen looked at Dale and replied:

"It depends, I'll do it if you have the conviction to go after it after hearing my story, doing me a favor in the process."

But Dale still asked:

"Before we start, how do you know anything if even…"

But he was interrupted by the boy:

"Guessed as much… Outsider, you must know that our village has been on a decline for years already."

"It started even before the oldest in our village were even born. And by the time everything took a turn for the worst, they were only young children..."

"With some exceptions... Such as Lady Eino, who was an adult when everything came crashing down."

"So it's normal they don't know much about things that happened before their time, things that were washed away as the seasons turned..."

"But some things are still passed around… And this leads us to this." The boy said as he made his way to Dale

The kid sat on a chair, saying as he looked around:

"You did quite a good job with these, outsider."

"Those old farts are praising you quite a lot, it was quite the bother to be compared with you by them..."

"Though I'm happy things aren't as crappy as they once were."

Dale said as he crossed his arms:

"I can't control that… Besides, my name is Dale, it's better than calling me an outsider."

The teen shrugged.

"I would prefer for us to not get too close. Let's leave this for after you bring the Icon back, yeah?"

"..."

'He is rude... Overly so... But not arrogant at the very least.'

'It seems my high Reputation isn't enough to make some of the more extreme ones like this kid behave in a close way around me.'

The young man stretched his arms and said:

"So, this church… What is its deal? Is that what you want to know?"

"It has a very long story, and it's one of the few buildings from the time before the decline of the village that are still rather intact."

"The rest is either buried in layers of compressed sand or reduced to rubble."

"As you know, or if not, it's about time you should..."

"This place is a church dedicated to Ju-Arkesios, God of Stability, Prosperity, and a few other things I forgot about. The church itself was operated by a Cardinal, having at its peak 2 Bishops and 12 priests."

Dale looked around the place and asked:

"This place is a bit too small for such a number of people right? And if the highest authority was a Cardinal, doesn't that mean the Icon was blessed by the Pope of this religion?"

The teen nodded and clapped his hands.

"It's precisely as you said, now, a quick question, why did the Pope and his forces remain still despite the Icon having been supposedly stolen despite its importance?"

Dale thought before opening his mouth to say…

"Wrong." Interrupted the kid without letting him talk

"... I didn't even say anything."

"I know, but I also know your answer is wrong."

"..."

'This kid… Is testing my patience... I wasn't like that when I was his age.'

The teen kid got up and said in a deep tone:

"The Icon was never stolen, it was hidden."

Dale opened his eyes in surprise.

'What great news!'

Looking at his expression, the kid said:

"Don't get your hopes up, there is a reason why everyone thinks it was stolen."

"This is because the Cardinal at the time understood that the village was slowly losing its stability and would soon collapse."

"So he and the other priests gathered everything they could that was of value and that would also not be considered sacrilege to remove, hiding everything else they couldn't carry while switching them for fake ones to draw attention away from them."

"The problem is that things continued to go downhill, and the Cardinal was called back to the mainland of the religion before he could retrieve everything, the two Bishops and the Priests also went with him…"

"However, he left behind a kid… One that he shouldn't have had, and this kid carried his secrets with him as well… That was my grandfather."

Dale heard the entire story and couldn't help but think this village was one hell of a strange place…

"There are a few holes in your story like… Why didn't the Church send anyone to help maintain the village even when they were gone? And why didn't you collect the things after so long?"

The teen laughed at his question.

"I can't blame you for being ignorant."

"..."

"First things first, I am not aware of everything, the reasons why this village started to decay and be abandoned are beyond me."

"You should try your luck with someone else like the Village Head."

[DING]

[Chain Quest Activated, Resko's past

Requirements:

Find out what happened to the old Village of Resko 0/?

??? 0/1

??? 0/1

??? 0/1

]

"But the past is of no importance to us. I only told you this to give a bit of context."

"The reasons why no one in the Village tried to retrieve these items after so long are… Well, even after so long, no one capable enough appeared to do the job."

"I'll explain why we would need such a person soon... Just listen to what I have to say first."

"This may be tied to the Church itself... I have no idea what is passing on those guys' minds..."

"They simply vanished one day and never sent anyone back, and unless they've completely abandoned this place, it doesn't take much to assume something happened on their end."

"For all I know, they might be all dead!"

This made Dale even more confused.

"So first things first, the only ones that know anything about this would be the Priests and Bishops, but they left a long time ago."

"As, for my grandfather, he wasn't capable of retrieving the items almost dying as he thought of a way to do it, his failed attempts led him to abandon the thought of such."

"He invested his time in training everyone else in the hopes someone with the ability to do would appear, and that leads to the next section..."

"My father tried too, but he also failed, his crippled leg is proof of it."

"And now, as you must've guessed it, recovering the items has become my responsibility…"

"But I am not like them, I have no intention of risking my life for something that has absolutely nothing to do with me anymore."

"I hate being incompetent, I hate not being able to live to their expectations, but between dying somewhere else or living the rest of my life without a leg, I would prefer to take care of everyone above ground!"

Dale remained silent, he understood the boy's pain...

But he replied:

"So why not just leave it to the village?"

The boy said as he shook his head:

"That isn't an option, first, my father would be disappointed in me, he isn't aware of our meeting, nor of my wishes, so I would prefer if you left this matter for me to deal with..."

"My lips are sealed."

"... Second, I can't allow the people in the village to have hope in something that might never happen."

"Third, I can't have them risk their own lives to get such a fleeting thing."

"And in the end, this will affect me and the village's already wobbly stability, investing resources into raiding a forgotten place full of traps... What a foolish idea."

He the looked at Dale, a questioning gaze in his eyes.

"Did that answer all of your questions?"

"Partially so..."

"Good, because in any case, thankfully, you appeared to ease my worries!"

"... How so?" Asked Dale as he felt a headache coming

"..."

The young man said nothing. He walked past Dale and into the stage where the Altar was located.

/CLACK!/

He pulled out a small object and lodged it inside a difficult-to-see hole before he twisted it until a 'clack!' was heard.

Following that he pulled and pushed a few more pieces that had gotten loose until he used his body to push the altar, but nothing happened…

So he awkwardly turned to Dale and said:

"Help me here for a moment… The mechanism must be stuck after so many years of disrepair… It has been many years since my father entered this place..."

/CRUNCH!!/

Dale rolled his eyes and helped the boy push the altar, and with a loud sound, it started to move with the ground, revealing a thin staircase into the dark.

"... So this was the answer…" Dale mumbled to himself as he looked at the hole

'There was an entire mechanism hidden... This altar wasn't glued, it probably connects to a series of underground mechanisms... Cool, one mystery down... Many more to go.'

"Phew… Okay, I'll tell you what to do now."

The teen rested his back on the altar and said with a smile:

"The village of Resko is actually built on top of a complex maze of passageways and tunnels, not counting the ancient Sewers."

"Why? Don't ask, because I have no fucking idea."

"Who did it? Ha! I don't care and don't know, in that order." He said deeply

"The only thing that I do know is that this is very likely the only functioning entrance to the underground since the rest should be either broken, lost, or buried in the sand and dirt that accumulated over the decades."

Dale thought for a moment before he asked:

"So what now?"

"Simple, somewhere down there is the Icon and all those shenanigans I talked with you about."

"Meaning, there should also be a few interesting items and things to collect… Treat them as an extra reward… My father even found a gem, one he had cut to fit a ring he gave to my mother as a courting gift when he was younger."

"So if you can find them, they're yours." He said with a cheeky smile as he touched Dale's shoulder

The teen started to leave, but he said one last thing:

"I know you must be thinking: What if you were to try and flee with the things and bla bla bla…"

"Well, first, the place is very dangerous. Traps are numerous and I am sure some nasty things may have taken it as their home, who knows what else?"

"Second, I dare you to try and escape, I bet you aren't even going to leave the gates before one of the old farts cuts you down neck first, so yeah, good luck with that."

"Honestly, they are only old in appearance, as I was fortunate enough to learn that by witnessing one of the older kids have his ass beaten by one of them when he tried to peep in the girl's bath..."

"And remember to stay on guard, that place already crippled enough people…" He said as he waved his left hand

[Your quest has been updated]

[Lost Icon

Without an Icon, the believers cannot commune with their God.

Nor can you proceed with your plans and goals.

A Church is a vital part of any territory, and a spiritual Pillar that is necessary for men to thrive, especially in dire circumstances.

Investigate the ruined Church and seek out its lost treasures, bringing back the lost light to this decadent land.

Or find a replacement for them as they would be just as grateful nonetheless.

* The Icon was never lost, instead, it was hidden inside the complicated labyrinth that runs below the Village and its surroundings.

Requirements:

Find the lost Icon 1/1

The lost Icon lies somewhere deep with the old Labyrinth of Resko, recover it 0/1

Or find a suitable replacement 0/1

]

[Your quest has been updated]

[Resko's past

Requirements:

Find out what happened to the old Village of Resko 0/?

??? 0/1

*The Village of Resko is built on top of the ruins of a Labyrinth.

-Find out why 0/1

??? 0/1

??? 0/1

#You heard that this village once held an incredibly precious Icon for the Church of Ju-Arkesios, having once a Cardinal, 2 Bishops, and 12 Priests.

#During its downfall, the Church did not send help and instead just retreated.

]

Dale finished reading through all of the messages and thought:

'Alright… This meeting was definitely not coincidental… This probably happened due to my efforts in increasing my Reputation!'

'And it also showed me one thing, and that is the fact that the chain quests only progress if I pay attention to my surroundings.'

'If I do not ask a question at the right time with the right conditions... Or if I do not have the requirements, nothing will happen at all.'

'I should also pay attention to how I talk, as being good at talking will definitely reward me positively.'

'I need to be ready and pay attention to the NPCs' words and the environment as well.'

Dale gazed at the dark stairway beneath him.

"Hum… Still, even if the quest updated, I can't trust that kid too much, I need to proceed forward with caution…"

'I simply lack too much information about my target's area.'

/Grab/

opening his inventory, Dale took out his best shield and held it in his left hand while he carried his spear with his right one.

"Time to rock!"

'I'll start with my current gear because of the temporary Skill, Explorer Sense 3.5-Star, but if things prove to be too hard and the conditions fit, I will change to my other set.'

'A labyrinth underneath a lost city? It should definitely be considered a ruin!'

Dale slowly descended the dark stairs…

[DING]

[You have discovered a hidden Dungeon, Labyrinth of Resko]

[Respawn point set]

[For the next week, all drops and XP acquisition are doubled, with the chances of acquiring rare items increasing while the death penalty is decreased for as long as you don't leave the Dungeon]

[The Dungeon is readjusting…]

[You were the first player to discover a Dungeon, would you like to leave your name in the Hall of Fame?]

"Wow… Thank you game, I really needed this Respawn point and that death penalty readjustment…"

"Forget the Hall of Fame again, I don't want to pressure the other players into leaving the tutorial faster…"

'But... That notification... It feels similar to the Green box... But it wasn't.'

Shaking his head, Dale took his first step into the Dungeon's first floor.

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Notes