Chapter 43 - COMING OF AGE CEREMONY (1/2)

WHEN Luo Yan went back to the village, the first thing he did was go to the Pharmacy, Weapon's Shop, and General Store looking for an artificial beast incubator.  But all three said that they didn't have such item in their inventory.  After that, he guessed that the item was most likely only available at a big town.  Such as Olkdale.

It's really probably time for him to leave this village.  He stayed here for five days.  Which was just the right amount of time, considering that he only played for about three to four hours everyday.  And since, he and Luo Jin already talked about meeting at Olkdale Town tomorrow, it's just right to leave here now.

Now, before he could leave, he'd have to do that coming-of-age ceremony that the Elder had been wanting him to have.

With that in mind, he walked towards the Elder's yurt.

”Noctis, have you decided the date of your coming-of-age ceremony?” asked the Elder as usual.

”Yes, Elder,” Luo Yan answered.  ”Is it possible to do it now?”

”Of course.  But please wait an hour to let us prepare.”

Luo Yan raised one of his brows.  An hour?  Since this was a game, he thought that the preparation would just automatically be done after he told the Elder that he wanted to have his coming-of-age ceremony now.  But it turned out that he still have to wait for an hour?  Was it designed like this so it could give the game a tad bit of realistic feel?

At the end, he just shrugged.  He had no problems waiting for another hour.  He could just go to the forest and kill some monsters.

And that's what he did.

He grind levels and killed monsters for an hour.  After he's done, he leveled up again and was now level 14.

Only one level left and he's already qualified to apply for a class.  In Arcadia, a player needed to be at least level 15 before they could have their own class.  When he played the PC version, each class had a trial task.  Once the player successfully finished the trial, then they would be promoted to the class they wanted.  There was no limit on the number of times a player could undergo a trial.  So they could do it as many times they wanted until they passed.  He's just not sure if it was still the same in this VR version.

Luo Yan started walking back to the village.  When he entered, he almost stepped back again when he saw the colorful decorations inside.  There were different kinds of flowers everywhere, attached to the cottages and trees around the village.  There were small blue and white lights floating in the air.  There were even festival flags.  Luo Yan was taken aback by this sudden festive atmosphere.

Okay...

He only left for an hour and they had already prepared so much?  And here he thought they were going for a bit of realism.  Before he could think more, the Gatekeeper who was now back at his post suddenly approached him.

”Noctis, what are you still standing there for?  Come, everyone is waiting for you,” the Gatekeeper said.

Everyone?  Luo Yan didn't have time to ask because the Gatekeeper already pulled him inside the village.   As they walked, he noticed that he hadn't seen a single passing NPC walking around.  Which was unusual since he always saw four or five NPCs walking about.

The Gatekeeper pulled him towards the Elder's yurt.  He thought he would have to see the Elder first before the ceremony began.  As they got closer, he heard sounds coming somewhere near the yurt.  The Gatekeeper did not stop at the yurt as he thought and bypassed it.  He pulled Luo Yan towards the area behind the yurt.

Luo Yan had never been there so he was really surprised by what he saw.  The area was actually a huge garden with a lot of those similar white flowers common in the village.  And now, this garden was currently filled with a lot of people.  Some were arranging the food on the long banquet table, some were holding musical instruments, the younger ones were playing and laughing with each other.  He even saw Filli among those youngsters.  It's like every NPC in the village was here.

When they saw Luo Yan, almost everyone surrounded him and congratulated him.

”Congratulations, Noctis!  This is really the right time for you to have your coming-of-age ceremony,” one said.

”You're our village's most promising young elf, I'm certain you will bring honor to us,” another one said.

A lot of the elves agreed to this statement.  Luo Yan just smiled and thanked them.

”Okay, everyone should disperse, unless you want Noctis to feel suffocated,” the Elder's voice rang, making the elves surrounding Luo Yan disperse and make way for him.