Vol. 3: Chapter 32
Isolde’s starting location was Willow Creek, a small village in the Stormhold region. As a total noob, her level and gear had been lagging far behind the average player.
But after Kael and Lila had visited her, Lila had arranged for a ten-person, level-30 squad to go to Stormhold and power-level her.
When the hand-picked players learned they were escorting Kael's sister, they were beyond thrilled. Before the WarChief Invasion event, they had boosted her all the way to level 29, just over a hundred million experience points shy of 30. After the event, the squad returned and grinded with her for another day, finally pushing her over the threshold.
For a normal player, hitting level 30 required a sleepless, non-stop grind. For Isolde, it was just a matter of hanging out with a group of enthusiastic friends after class, chatting while they ran a few Dungeons.
Most players aimed for level 30 to get their Class Advancement and upgrade their gear, but Isolde wasn't particularly interested in any of that. She had rushed to 30 for one reason only: to unlock main city teleportation and finally join her brother.
Kael was overjoyed to get her message and replied instantly.
"I'm in Starlight Town. Mayor's Office."
A minute later, a female mage with the ID "Sylvara" appeared in front of him.
"Haha, bet you didn't expect me to get here so fast!"
Kael was genuinely surprised. The teleportation route from Stormhold to Starlight Town went through Crescent and Beryl Creek. Just talking to all the necessary NPCs would take more than a minute. He quickly figured it out—she must have sent him the message after she'd already arrived.
Isolde looked around the office with wide, curious eyes. "Bro, why is this room empty? Where's the Mayor?"
Kael just grinned and pointed to the title floating above his head.
Isolde's jaw dropped. "Bro! You're the Mayor of Starlight Town? Did you become an NPC?"
"Yup," Kael said proudly. "I'm that good."
She circled him twice, a look of utter disbelief still on her face.
Kael walked over and ruffled her hair. "Isolde, you're a senior now, right?"
"Yeah, I graduate next year."
"Any plans?"
"Not yet, but a few companies have already reached out to me," she said, beaming. "My internship pays $3,800 a month. Pretty good, huh?"
"Which company? What were they thinking, lowballing you like that? My sister is worth at least 38k a month!"
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"Oh, stop messing with me. What company would pay a new grad that much?"
A sly smile spread across Kael's face. "I have a job opening. Pays fifty thousand a month. What do you think?"
Isolde's eyes lit up, and she grabbed his arm. "What job? Tell me, tell me!"
Kael feigned hesitation. "Well, it's a lot of tedious work. I'm just not sure you can handle the stress…"
She shook his arm, whining playfully. "Bro, you know me! I can handle anything."
Kael finally revealed his true intentions. "You'll be my Mayoral Assistant. The entire Starlight Town will be under your management."
"Huh?" Isolde gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
...
Kael left the Mayor's Office whistling a tune, feeling fantastic.
He'd only asked his sister to spend three hours a day managing the town. Just handle the basics: mediating NPC disputes, approving NPC quest proposals, issuing upgrade tasks for functional NPCs, processing quest turn-ins for players… things like that.
After her three hours were up, she was free to level up or explore to her heart's content.
And once she graduates, I'll hand over the Arbazon business to her, too. Really pack her schedule. Young people should learn as much as they can while they're full of energy. Hehe, he thought with a grin.
Poor Isolde, now sitting nervously in the Mayor's Office, was just beginning to familiarize herself with the endless menus and functions.
Of course, Kael didn't plan to be a completely hands-off boss. He just needed to free up his "Ullr" identity. But before that, he had to solve his wanted status problem.
He walked to the teleport nexus and activated it. Three destinations were available: Clearwind Haven, Beryl Creek, and Behemoth's Watch. He selected Beryl Creek.
After a flash of light, he materialized in the town. Since Beryl Creek was a persistent zone with no player spawn points, it had been spared from the Horde's invasion.
The village was as bustling as ever, with large numbers of players heading to the Verdant Pool to run the level 25 Dungeon. After half a month of development, Beryl Creek was nearly unrecognizable, its growth rivaling that of Starlight Town.
Kael glanced at his commercial building—it was now a five-story landmark, the tallest structure in the area. He'd leased it to Arbazon under his personal name, and Elon had turned it into something truly impressive.
After a brief stop, Kael teleported to Stonehaven. The city was less crowded than he'd expected; it seemed many players had rushed to the WarChief-occupied territories to start the new race quests. Kael wasn't particularly interested in that. Every race had its pros and cons. Even if some were stronger before level 60, he was confident that humans would hold their own in the endgame.
He walked casually through the busy streets, making his way to the southwestern corner of the city. Soon, a familiar building came into view: two small houses connected by a backyard with an archery range.
It was the home of Alaric Thorne and his granddaughter, Sophia, the place where he had learned Phantom Barrage.
Alaric's true identity was the retired Grand Marshal of the Southern Frontier of the Mythrosian Empire. His son had taken his place, now guarding that same border. And Alaric held a hidden quest that would grant Kael the very item he needed.
This time, Kael didn't go to the backyard to practice. He walked straight up to the front door and knocked.
Knock, knock, knock.
The door creaked open. It was Sophia.
Kael smiled. "Hello, is Grandmaster Thorne home?"
Sophia's face hardened into a scowl. "My grandfather is unwell," she snapped. "He isn't seeing visitors." She started to slam the door shut.
Kael was stunned. This isn't how the quest is supposed to start. The conversation hasn't even begun and she's already kicking me out?
He quickly put his hand on the door, stopping it. "Sophia, it's me. Don't you recognize me?" He was just about to switch his ID to "Dawnbreaker" to prove it.
Before he could, a furious roar echoed from inside the house.
"Dawnbreaker! You have the nerve to show your face here!"