Chapter 127 - Jarko Town (2/2)
Even if the town was a few kilometers to the west of the city. It would take some time for the other players to reach it. Most of them are having trouble to adapt to the game and currently a lot of players are cursing that very small amount of resources are being dropped from killing monsters as they didn't know the trick to it.
So, the Blackrock town became the best place for guilds to focus on right now and very little force is being used to explore the areas surrounding it. Without someone finding the town, it would have quite sparse population of players.
But Balthazar knew that he wasn't the first one to reach the town. He initially thought that due to the quest, he was able to teleport to the town, but now he could see that it wasn't so as he didn't get any notification for discovering a new tow which would be given to the first person to enter a new town.
”As expected, not all guilds would focus on the city or blackrock town. With the competitors that they have, a few second-rate guilds that have members spawned nearby would try to explore and find new towns and areas to get reputation points,” thought Balthazar.
With the map, he managed to find the way to the temple. He didn't remember any Jarko Town from his memories in previous life, but it wasn't surprising. Quite a few guilds occupied few towns and when a player gets enough reputation to be a towns Baron, he could change its name. The same was with forts and other constructions. When, he joined the game in his previous life, a lot of low-level town and areas had their names changed by guilds and sometimes even the events of the game resulted in name changes.
The stream that flowed through the town dividing it into two parts. A quarter of the town was on one side of the stream while the rest on the other. The temple was in the smaller part and most of the remaining land was made of farms and a market area. Most of the residences, adventurers association, colosseum, the baron ruling over the town and other associations were in the bigger part.
This division made it quite easier to travel through the town according to ones needs. He crossed the stream and went to the temple which was about the same size as that in Blackrock Town. It was the largest structure in this part and was a black towering structure at the centre of the market.
A number of shops and were built around it and it looked like market hall, if not for the statues of the twelve lords in the temple. He couldn't see any NPC or players around the temple. If any players were exploring the town, they didn't come here. As he came to the gates of the temple, he was blocked by a pair of town guards which were NPCs at level 15.
”The temple is currently closed by order of the baron. Visitors aren't allowed inside,” said one of the guards looking at him.
Balthazar was surprised for a second. He had never faced a scenario where temple would be closed. It was one of the few places that would be open for 24 hours in the game. If it was closed, it was definitely for his quest or was prelude to a quest.
”Respected Sir. Could you please tell me why the temple is currently closed?” asked Shadow. In such situations, it was best to ask question to gather information about the quest. The responses by the NPCs and their behavior would give a lot of clues on how to further proceed in the quest.
The guard looked at him like he was looking at a stupid person. ”Are you questioning us?” he asked. ”Get out of my sight before I skewer you,” said the guard pointing his spear at Shadow's head.
The guard's reaction made it clear that the scenario was something that couldn't be told to every civilian of the town. He put on the badge that he received for his iron grade membership of the temple.
”I am a member of the temple here on official business. I need to talk to deacon Faroon. Please, let me inside,” said Shadow showing him the badge.
”Pardon us, sir. We didn't know that you were a member of the temple. Give me a minute to inform my superiors,” said the guard who had previously threatened to impale him. The NPC quickly ran up the stairs of the temple and a few seconds later walked down with his captain. The captain was a blond-haired NPC with a large spear in her hand.
”What business do you have with deacon Faroon,” asked Captain Sandy as she looked at him like he was a criminal. Balthazar was a bit surprised by the behavior of the NPC wondering whether she is a part of the enemies but decided to say the truth as he was sure that he could escape from a few level 15 NPCs.
”I was asked to check up on deacon Faroon by the great priest of the White Heart City. He felt that something might have happened to deacon Faroon,” said Shadow.
”What do you mean by that? How would you know if anything happened to deacon Faroon?” she continued in the same tone.
”I don't know. I was requested by the great priest Luciophel to check upon him. Don't know if he is sick, needs help or if he is a danger to someone. I was sent to provide any sort of help that would be required to the temple,” said Shadow trying to indicate to them that he is on behalf of the temple and would be investigate the deacon's situation without any prejudices.
Though it was clear that they didn't want to allow him inside, the NPCs had a few rules that they wouldn't usually go against. So, the captain relented as she signalled to the guards to move aside. ”Let me lead you inside,” she said walking up the stairs.