New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

\'Which one is the right house?! And why is every guard here being so brutish and unhelpful?!\'

Astaroth kicked a loose cobblestone, and it flew off, hitting the side of a passing carriage. He gasped, realizing what had just happened.

\'Fuck.\'

The carriage was already stopping, as the two guards driving it were hopping off. Astaroth quickly walked to them, bowing and apologizing.

"I\'m terribly sorry! I didn\'t intend to hit anything! I\'ll pay for any damage I caused!"

"Do you know whose carriage you hit, you insolent mut?!" One guard barked, while the other inspected the side of the carriage.

There seemed to be no damage, but the stone had dirtied a part of the crest on the side, and that seemed to anger the guard even more.

He pulled out a sword as he walked toward Astaroth. Astaroth almost panicked.

He wasn\'t sure if he could take them yet, and he hesitated to scan them, too. What if they took that as a declaration of hostilities?

He raised his hands in a sign of peace.

"Please, gentlemen, I swear it was an accident. I do not know whose carriage this is since I\'m new in town. I\'ll pay for your time and inconvenience, but please, I don\'t want to fight you."

The guards seemed to take offence at his statement, as the second one pulled out his sword and they started moving towards Astaroth.

\'Dammit! Guess I don\'t have a choice now. This pompous bastard is probably snickering in his carriage.\'

Astaroth activated Thousand Thoughts, melding with White simultaneously. Everything seemed to slow down in Astaroth\'s perception, and the guards now seemed sluggish, almost unmoving.

He used his sped up thoughts to scan the two guards.

Army Guard:

Level: 30

Grade: Common

Class: Swordsman

HP: 2\'400

Both guards were the same level, and would be easy for him to take down. His daggers materialized in his hands.

He didn\'t want to kill them, but maybe if he wounded them enough, they would leave him alone. Astaroth first dashed to the guard on his left.

But then something caught his eye. Why would the guards be so weak to guard a noble?

That made little sense. But then he thought of something that made him shiver.

What if the guards were only a formality? What if the person in the carriage didn\'t need guards to start with?

Astaroth turned his gaze to the carriage, just in time to see a massive mana signature go off. A wave of transparent energy left the carriage, way faster than he could move.

It washed over the guards, before washing over him too. He received no damage but was suddenly stuck in place.

\'Fuck!\'

The space before Astaroth shimmered as a young man materialized. The man was wearing a gray sleeveless robe, with golden patterned trims all over it.

The man\'s hair was blond, around shoulder length, and his eyes were grey, shining like diamonds. He guessed this was a high-level mage by how he still felt no mana signature off of him, even though he was maintaining a spell.

Astaroth\'s skill was about to end, and he could only curse his bad luck. But the mage was just looking at him.

It was only once the skill ended that the mage talked to him.

"Seems like we can talk normally now. Tell me your name, young man."

\'What? He doesn\'t seem mad.\'

"My name is Astaroth, sir. I swear it was an accident. I can pay for the damages and your lost time if that is what you want."

"Nonsense. I only intervened before any meaningless bloodshed. I\'m more curious about your current form."

Astaroth felt a pulse of mana pass through him, and he guessed he was being scanned by the mage.

\'Shit! Fuck! Will he see my class?!\'

"Hmm. Interesting. Where are you heading, young Astaroth?"

"This is beneath you, sir. I\'m simply an adventurer on a quest for the guild."

"I will judge what is beneath me, young man," the mage said in a stern tone.

Astaroth swallowed his dry saliva with an audible gulp.

"Um… Sir?" one guard said, still unable to move, too.

"Ahh yes. Pardon my forgetfulness. I will release you all now. But I want you to stand down. All three of you. Understood?"

He looked at each person, staying the longest on Astaroth. The three men agreed verbally, since they couldn\'t nod.

Once he had everyone\'s word, he waved his hand, and the magic holding them disappeared. The two guards immediately stowed their weapons, while Astaroth was a bit more cautious.

The noble mage gave him a stern look, and Astaroth gave up, stowing his weapons too. The mage smiled.

"Good. Now, back to my question. Where were you going?"

"Sir. Why did you intervene? We had him handled," the guard asked, wondering why he was taking time for this nameless adventurer.

"I don\'t recall answering to you, soldier. As for why, it is a very simple answer. He would have torn you to shreds in seconds. Both of you."

The guard looked at Astaroth weirdly, like he didn\'t believe him. But the next second, someone suddenly exerted powerful pressure on everyone around the mage.

The pressure surprised Astaroth, but he still resisted most of it. The guards weren\'t as lucky, as they both crashed to their feet, gasping for air.

The mage released his aura, letting the guards catch their breath back as he smiled at them in a patronizing way. Then he turned back to Astaroth.

"You still haven\'t answered my question. I won\'t be repeating it."

The smile he had on his face screamed fake, and Astaroth knew he was currently testing the man\'s patience.

So he pulled out his quest papers and handed them over. The mage unrolled the scroll, reading it in moments, and rolling it back up.

"Very well. I will bring you to where you need to go."

"I don\'t want to be a burden, sir. You can just point me in the right direction and I will be on my way."

"You are coming. I\'m heading there myself, anyway."

"Okay…"

The man\'s forcefulness annoyed Astaroth. Most players would kill to ride with a noble, but he wasn\'t most players.

He had been trying his best to stay under the radar of the NPCs, but now, here he was, forced to accompany one of the high-ranking ones.

This was bad. Terrible, even.