As the only sensible adult among the young ones, Presley knew what question to ask.
"Peacefighter. Is that you?"
Kane didn't know what to say as he didn't know who Peacefighter was anyway.
But it was different for Brahmian—a player who has been playing and watching the news for years to learn more about Arcadia's Trading industry.
"Hey, Presley, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Peacefighter. The current Top 3 in the World Rankings."
Brahmian chuckled.
"Huh? Dude, are you okay? If Peacefighter was here, we could've already found your wife in no time!"
But Presley's expression changed.
"Before we met a few days ago, we fought against Yokai Slayer."
Brahmian eyes dilated upon hearing the name.
"Yokai Slayer! You mean... the 101st Player in the Global Rankings?!?!"
"Yes. That man just called Chaos Revenant the strongest player in the game."
Kane somehow managed to get a gist of what he was trying to say.
"Oh yeah, I also heard that."
But Brahmian was still not convinced.
"What if they just knew each other in real life, and he was just saying that Chaos Revenant might be the future strongest player in the game?"
But Presley shook his head.
"No, no, no. Think about it. Akasha and Bastion were still on the Top 1 and 2 in the Global Rankings because no one has beaten their records. But they both passed away in real life. So, technically the strongest person in the game was now Peacefighter. If what Yokai Slayer was saying was true, you are Peacefigther, the current strongest person in the game."
Kane was curious about many things, but his mouth was instantly sealed upon hearing that same name.
'Bastion... again...'
Presley opened a virtual panel and showed it to them. It was a panel of an Asian man in black and red leather armor, waving at a crowd.
Brahmian tilted his head as he recognized the man that he showed.
"T-That's... Peacefighter."
"Correct. This was Peacefighter. Look at his face."
Presley zoomed Peacefighter's face before standing up and walking toward Revenant. He raised the picture beside Revenant's face.
Mysteriously, Revenant was completely compliant regarding Presley's actions.
A European man like Presley found it a little bit hard to compare Asian faces, but for both Kane and Brahmian, they could see the differences in their faces.
Brahmian spoke,
"They might look the same. But no, they are two different people. You can obviously see that Peacefighter was some Asian dude in his 30's just like you."
Kane nodded as he agreed.
"Yeah, right! Come on, man. That guy is an old shit fag like you. Me, Brahmian, and Chaos Revenant were just kids! Me and Brahmian even started at the same time on Herald City!"
Presley also nodded like he already predicted what they would say.
"I understand. But who knows. I wanna know it from you, yourself."
He then faced Chaos Revenant once again.
"I wanna know it. Are you or are you not Peacefighter?"
But Chaos Revenant was still silent. Presley calmly sat back in his seat to continue his mumbling.
"I played this game for more than a decade, and yet you knew a multitude of information that I didn't even know. It is not something a newbie should know. I'm sorry for being nosy, but I really wanna know what happened to do the founding players of this game."
His efforts were not wasted as Chaos Revenant dropped his bag and sat back in his chair.
"Why do you think I'm Peacefighter?"
Presley took out a map from his inventory.
"This map that you gave me that filled with secret paths that were made by your own hands. How did you know some paths like these exist when pro players barely trekked these mountains, and you sounded like you knew everything?"
Suddenly, Presley chuckled in a taunting way.
"Haha. What's funny, even Orcs who lived there for more than a decade didn't even know these paths."
PLOCK!
Presley snapped his hands, prompting a virtual panel to appear with Yokai Slayer's face on it.
"You said that you were being followed? It seemed to me that one of your chasers were the famed Ranker, Yokai Slayer. Why would he track down a newbie?"
Hearing those weird reason made Kane think.
'Come to think of it, he was indeed missing at our final battle in the Centennial Mishap.'
It took Kane this damn long to realize that Chaos Revenant disappeared after helping him move the boats way back on the Centennial.
But then Kane suddenly had a realization.
'Even I... I wasn't even a newbie when I finished the Herald City Questline!'
Correct.
Kane was already a month ahead of when he decided to continue the Herald City Questline. He even possessed a secret class when he completed the Questline when players were supposed to receive their initial class at Miranda Kingdom.
If he was like that, then Chaos Revenant might be the same—that he might not be a newbie after all. That was something that Presley was trying to say as he pointed fingers at him.
"This guy wasn't even showing his true abilities yet. Have you ever seen him use a single ability at least once."
But Kane and Brahmian couldn't answer, and all they witnessed was this guy throwing some dumb papers. Presley took out one of those papers from his own pocket.
"You see this."
And then he started waving the paper.
"These are called Paper bombs. These are cheap and weak weapons but are helpful at times, such as exploding some fire barrels. Kane said he was level 7 and then 9 and then 60 and then 100 and other stuff that was obviously BS. But if you both started at the same pace, I believe you're both around level 50."
But Kane rebuffed him.
"Huh? But I'm really LVL 180."
"I think that's your highest bullshit record. Well done. But what I'm trying to point here is that, even if Kane's armors were low leveled, his weapons and skills were not, especially his crossbow."
Presley shifted his gaze to Revenant after talking to Kane.
"But for you, we haven't seen any of your skills nor weapons except for those paper bombs. I'm not saying it's shit or useless. I'm saying is that you should've more skills than that. And you're obviously hiding them. Either you found something too great that you needed to hide it, or you were saving your materials for something too great that you will possess."
Seeing that Revenant still wasn't talking, Presley shifted his gaze, raised his hands, and pointed it at the tip of a distant mountain.
"Additionally, players avoided these Amasino mountains because of the harsh weather and the existence of the Orc Raiders. However, you seemed to know everything about the mountains, including how to defeat the Snow Orcs and their secret passages."
Presley moved his hands once again and aimed them at the Hwachas.
"You also managed to acquire an Epic Class Schematic, which ended up being the Hwacha."
Presley stood up and turned around. He walked a few steps away from the campfire to look at the bright moon.
"I was born in the middle of the Enlightenment War. It was scary. I thought I had seen everything. Yet, every time there were battles in this game, my hands were still shaking. But you... all those knowledge, experience, and your calm demeanor during battles are what convinced me that you are Peacefighter."
PLOCK!
Presley snapped his fingers once again, and Peacefighter's face was shown once more.
"I played more than a decade that I knew a little bit of history about the founding players. Peacefighter was known to be both rude, selfish, and boastful person. But before that, he was rumored to be a selfless man who became famous for saying he'll fight to bring peace."
It was a saying that made the player Peacefighter famous.
I'LL FIGHT IN ORDER TO HAVE PEACE.
A sentence filled with contradicting words, but people believed him because the people he helped claimed that he managed to achieve it.
Presley continued,
"But now, you're name was Chaos Revenant. Something that was the total opposite of someone who would bring peace. Is that a coincidence? Or intended?"
Everything Presley said actually made sense. Kane slowly felt betrayed that he gradually moved his chair toward Brahmian. The merchant saw him that he tried to move away, but Kane was like a magnet that kept on following him wherever he moved.
"Psst, Kane. Are you sure he's a newbie just like you?"
"I don't know about that now. But I am a newbie. I am serious. I am definitely a newbie. I spawned on Herald City a few months ago. I knew nothing about this game. I'm 100% a newbie. I roamed that Heral—"
"I'm not asking about you..."
Finally, Chaos Revenant opened his mouth.
"Let me also ask you a question. You said you wanna know what happened to the founding members? What do you wanna know about them?"
Presley took a deep breath.
"The fall of the legendary 7 guilds that rocked the entire Arcadia—The Roxinnian 7."
Kane and Brahmian had both of their eyes wide open with Kane plunging out of his seat.
"Wait! You mean the Roxinnian 7 were not 7 people, but 7 guilds?!"
Kane realized his abrupt enthusiastiasm that he returned to his seat upon uttering those words. Presley answered him.
"Correct. They were the 7 most legendary guilds in Arcadia. And just like what I expected, the both of your reaction was natural, but why do you not looked shocked, Revenant? Did a newbie like you already knew that the Roxinnian 7 were the legendary 7 guilds—an information that wasn't available on the net."
But it wasn't only Presley who was curious. This was a perfect time for Kane to ask the right question.
"Presley. Do you have any connection with the Roxinnian 7?"
"Direct connection. No. But emotional connection, maybe yes. It was because of master Bastion."
"Bastion?!"
Kane was surprised. But Presley was also startled at Kane's sudden curiosity.
"So, you knew Bastion too. Well, I think everyone should know who Bastion is. You probably heard him here and there."
"W-Who's Bastion?"
"He was formerly Ranked 1 Assassin in Arcadia. He's also formerly Ranked 2 in the Global Rankings. He was strong, but what made him popular was because of his guides."
"G-Guides?"
Presley smiled brightly as he reminisced about the man he used to admire.
"Yeah. While everyone was literally stepping on each other's faces just to climb the Global Rankings, there was this guy who gave all the tips, tricks, and guides to other players just so they could catch up to the Global Rankings. That guy was Bastion."
[ID: Bastion]
There was very little known about his past. All those people knew was that he was a Child soldier during the Enlightenment Wars.
At the end of the war, Bastion joined Arcadia with all the skills and experience he accumulated during the war. With that, Bastion quickly rose to the Rankings and immediately entered the Global Rankings.
Unlike other players, Bastion helped his competitors climb the Global Rankings by giving helpful tips and tricks.
His guides were too helpful that even years after his death, people were still visiting the guides that he made.
Sometime later, Bastion found other child soldiers like him who joined Arcadia. They eventually teamed up as they found solace in each other's arms and eventually creating a guild of their own.
The formerly number 1 Guild on the planet—The Nostradamus.
Bastion wasn't even the second strongest person in Arcadia. But he became Ranked 2 because of his achievements and notoriety that it gave him enough FAME to rise up to the 2nd spot.
People loved him because of his incredible achievements, adventures, and tutorials.
Until 10 years ago, when his fans reported him missing, he was eventually found dead in his own apartment by the police.
He became too popular that the whole world was saddened upon hearing his death. Who would've thought that a man with a bright smile on his face just like him would commit suicide?
It became a very big issue at that time. But no one can't do anything as there were a lot of pieces of evidence that proved it was true.
It was investigated that Bastion was slowly getting depressed over time, and he also left a suicide note just beside his dead body.
And one of the most disappointed people were his fans that had used his sincerely made tutorials. And one of them was Presley.
"That was Bastion, a man who helped me overcome being just a fisherman."
Kane had his mouth opened wide as he didn't know Bastion was that incredible.
"Holy shit! That was so cool and creepy as fuck!"
Suddenly, Presley turned toward Revenant once again.
"But there was a person who could tell us the truth. The only surviving member of the Nostradamus Guild. Peacefighter."
Chaos Revenant suddenly smiled.
"I understand. I'll answer some of your questions."
Chaos Revenant consecutively pointed at the mountain peak, the hwacha, and the paper bombs.
"Firstly, those things were taught to me by a friend. Secondly, I wronged Yokai Slayer's employers in the real world. Thirdly, this account was really new as the first time it was logged in was just a few months ago, just like Kane. Lastly, I am not Peacefighter. These were all true."
Presley didn't even know what to answer as he had no way to prove if it was true or false. But Revenant continued,
"However, did you know who my friend is? Did you know who the employers of Yokai Slayer are? And I said that this account is really new, but is this really my first account? And if I'm not Peacefighter, does that mean I had nothing to do with him?"
Presley, Kane, and Brahmian were all confused. But Revenant just chuckled it off.
"Ha! I hope you got the gist of what I'm trying to say. I really like this team. I really liked the time we spent together. I don't want to lie to you. But I don't want you just to also get hurt. All of the things I've said are true. I'm also dealing with very dangerous people that would be better if you just didn't know. Those are the only things that I could tell you."
Presley sighed deeply, but his expression ended with a smile.
"Hmph! What a bummer. But then, just like what you said. Everyone had their own circumstances. And so does you. Well then, Chaos Revenant."
Presley walked toward Revenant and offered a handshake, which Revenant gladly accepted.
"I hope we meet again. And when we do, you finally found your wife. Maybe better if you have kids. I don't know if that was possible, haha!"
"Yeah. I'll show you."
Revenant suddenly leaned to the side to take one last look at Kane.
"Hallo! One last thing before I go. I noticed you got a lot of skills in your build."
"Oh! Uhhhh, yeah. That's what will happen if you reached LVL 150."
Presley cringed.
'This brat. He's really digging into this!'
Revenant shook his head.
"Uh, oh! Let me tell you that while it looked good, having a lot of skills, it is actually bad if you have too many skill assorted skills. You can't even use them because of casting time and mana or stamina restrictions."
But then, it was true. The biggest bullshit that Kane encountered in this game was Luck. And the second-biggest bullshit that he came across was Cooldown.
"Kane. I suggest that instead of collecting more and more skills, just master the ones that you have before moving onto the next skill."
Kane replied.
"But I already did! I can use all these skills well, and I even have combos."
"Uhhhh... that's not it. There's a LVL per skills. Make sure you max all of them. That's how you master them."
Kane suddenly browsed through his skills. Obviously, he didn't even pay attention that some of his skills already leveled up, just like his Sword Throw LVL 2.
"Ohhh... so that's how it works?! I can deal more damage if I just level this up!"
"Yeah. Instead of just using this skill and then that skill and then another to kill a monster. If you just mastered one up to the highest level, you can actually kill them with one skill."
Kane was somehow enlightened.
"Ooooohhhhhhh..."
"You know, Kane. Most people played this game for fame that they were leveling up like crazy. But you, you just casually joined this Waifu Retrieval Team and gathered more and more skills like there's no tomorrow. For me, it looked like you're not determined to improve yourself that you're just aimlessly moving forward."
It was true.
Kane was just playing this game to complete Joshua's unfulfilled dream. Kane was walloped that he couldn't say anything.
"W-What's with that look? Was it true? Anyway, whatever excuse you used as your goal to move forward, not improving your own character will just make it harder for you to achieve that goal."
Presley and Brahmian also nodded as they both noticed Kane's overly varied skillset.
This somehow became an eye-opener for Kane.
Chaos Revenant did one last smile before turning around.
"Good luck, boys!"
Kane waved his hand and shouted,
"Let's meet again! When we meet again, I'll be stronger than that Peacewacker!"
"Hmmm. I'll be waiting."
With that, Chaos Revenant officially left the group.
Presley breathed deeply once again before folding Chaos Revenant's chair.
"Ugh, what a pity. I found nothing about Bastion or Roxinnian 7. But at least, we have the map to the final destination, thanks to Revenant, is it correct?"
Kane took out his compass and placed it on top of the map that was on the table. Kane nodded as the pointing arrow was aimed toward a nearby camp.
"Yeah. It seems that the final bandit camp at the edge of these mountains will be our next destination."
"BANDIT CAMP?!?!"
But Pazkal suddenly intervened with a serious look on his face.
"What do you mean Bandit Camp?!"
"Ehhhhh..."
Since Kane didn't know what to answer, it was Presley who replied to him.
"Our companion, Chaos Revenant, told us that this was a Bandit Camp."
"No. It wasn't! This is a Sparrowcamp!"
Kane, and Brahmian were surprised. But Presley was different.
"Now it makes sense. Rizza claimed that some of the armors that were looted by the Sparrowmen belonged to her companions."
Pazkal was perflexed.
"What are you trying to say?!"
"The Sparrowmen and the Invaders are in cahoots with each other."
WHOOSH!
Pazkal suddenly grabbed Presley's collar.
"What did you say?! Did you forget I'm a Captain of the Imperial Army!"
"Yeah, and I am someone who didn't get fooled by their shiny armors. It's time to admit that you were betrayed. That's why you ended up back here."
SHOOK!
Presley shoved his hands away and then passed through Pazkal afterward. Kane and Brahmian followed. But Presley suddenly stopped.
"I mean, you can find the truth if you come with us. If it was your friends, then we're good. If they were enemies, then we might need your help."
Despite doubtful, Pazkal had no other choice but to check it for himself.