Chapter 513 – Authority!
With everything in order, the next step was simply waiting for the gold to come rolling in. Nie Yan turned his attention back to his own matters. He felt confident leaving the selling of the gems to Guo Huai.
Nie Yan arrived at the location of the Ignatius Fur Shop, only to discover that it had become a pile of ruins with rubble and wooden boards strewn everywhere. The shop was gone, and Ignatius was nowhere to be seen.
Since the quest notification told Nie Yan to talk to Ignatius, the old man still had to be alive.
The Hilton Stronghold was comparable to a medium-sized city. Finding a single individual in this sea of people posed some difficulty.
Suddenly, a certain location came into Nie Yan’s mind. The administrative hall!
Nie Yan headed toward the center of the Hilton Stronghold. As he walked through the streets, he passed by several shops here and there, which only sold the most basic consumables. Everything else was broken down buildings and rubble. There were more than 60 properties up for sale in this area. About a third of them had been bought while some of the remaining ones were still decent.
Even though travel to the Hilton Stronghold wasn’t convenient, equipment ranging from Level 70–100 dropped here. This place would surely become a hotspot for player activity. During its most flourishing period in the previous timeline, the number of players moving in and out of the stronghold daily reached in the millions. The value of the land here would skyrocket in the future.
“It’d be great if I could snag up a few of the properties here…” Nie Yan muttered to himself.
The property that had been alloted to Asskickers United was used to establish a branch of the Starry Night Potion Shop. Unfortunately, it was rather small. At most it could be upgraded to Tier 10.
Nie Yan pondered for a moment. Relying on his status as a Grand Scholar and his successful divination of the demon beast invasion, perhaps he could convince the administrator of the Hilton Stronghold to give him a few extra properties.
Nie Yan gazed at the street ahead. He saw fallen walls and debris everywhere as well as NPCs and players walking by. The number of players in the Hilton Stronghold was gradually increasing. Aside from the elite teams from the large guilds, the famous top ranked teams had also arrived. They were moving about in groups.
These players were all moving in units of 20-man teams, sticking close together.
The monsters around the Hilton Stronghold were much stronger. It generally took five teams working together to deal with a single demon beast. Sometimes even five teams wasn’t enough, requiring the cooperation of more than ten up to several dozen teams.
The monsters these players were hunting were fairly ordinary. They wouldn’t even dare to approach the Crusoe Demon Beast that Bladelight and the others were hunting. They would wait until their gear was better.
“Looking for Level 65+ teams to hunt Krong Gold Beetle. Two more teams, and we’re setting off. If you’re interested, whisper me.”
The streets were filled with players looking to hunt demon beasts. The minimum requirement was to be part off a 20-player team. All solo players were basically ignored.
After passing through the bustling streets and crossing a large plaza, Nie Yan arrived at the Hilton Stronghold’s administrative building. It was five stories and more than 20 meters tall. It looked quite grand with several watchtowers erected up in the nearby surroundings. There were fully armed guards patrolling the vicinity. Security was extremely tight.
The walls of this building was riddled with faint cracks. One could imagine what kind of bitter and desperate battle took place here. When the demon beasts flooded into the Hilton Stronghold and swept through everything like a surging tide, only the most fortified buildings remained standing. Everything else was flattened into ruin.
Several players were chatting a small distance away from the administrative hall.
“What is that building?”
“The Hilton Stronghold’s administrative hall.”
“It’s so heavily guarded, completely different from the administrative halls of other cities.”
“Not a single player can approach the administrative hall right now,” a Thief said. At this moment, his gaze fell onto Nie Yan, whose appearance was hidden by a black cloak, approaching the guards.
“Look at that idiot. He’s done for. The guards are going to catch him!” an Arcane Mage gleefully squealed with schadenfreude.
Clad in thick gold plated armour and wielding sharp greatswords, these guards were Level 100 Elites.
The players thought Nie Yan was an idiot for daring to approach the administrative hall. However, what happened next left them dumbfounded The guards didn’t stop Nie Yan but instead greeted him respectfully.
After exchanging a few words, the guards led Nie Yan into the administrative hall, his back disappearing into the building.
“Who the hell was that?”
“I don’t know. He must be extremely important!”
The group of players glanced at each other in shock. They’d never seen a player like Nie Yan before. These high level guards were usually arrogant and rude to any player who approached them. However, in front of Nie Yan, they were as meek as lambs.
Nie Yan entered the administrative hall. The inside looked spacious and grand.
Nie Yan took off his cloak. It would be too cumbersome to converse with NPCs otherwise. Besides, there were most likely no other players inside the administrative hall.
A slim old man quickly approached Nie Yan. It was Ignatius.
“Grand Scholar, sir, it’s an honour to see you again!” Ignatius greeted.
“Likewise.” Nie Yan nodded.
“Grand Scholar, thank you. If it weren’t for your successful divination, everyone here would’ve become food for those demon beasts,” Ignatius said with a grateful look.
“It’s nothing, May God protect everyone in the Viridian Empire.” Nie Yan smiled.
“Please follow me. I’ll bring you to meet Administrator Kilfeather.”
Ignatius led Nie Yan deeper into the building. After passing through the lounge, they arrived in a long corridor with statues lined along the walls. At this moment, another player was walking towards them.
Nie Yan’s heart trembled. He didn’t expect to meet another player in this place. He wanted to put his cloak back on, but it was already too late.
The eyes of the two met. The other player was a Mage. A lightning symbol was sewn to his gray robes, signifying he was an Elementalist.
He was a square faced man who looked to be in his 30s. His appearance was somewhat familiar. The scarlet gem at the tip of his staff emitted a dazzling light akin to a blazing flame.
Parak’s Blaze Staff. It was him!
The guild leader of Alliance of Mages, Crazy Magic!
He actually appeared here of all places!
Nie Yan and Crazy Magic met face to face. Both of them were briefly taken aback.
Enemies really did travel on a narrow road. Neither of them expected to meet under these circumstances.
Crazy Magic paid his respects to Ignatius with a bow. Ignatius simply gave him a glance and nodded.
“Nirvana Flame!” Crazy Magic’s gaze froze over. He didn’t expect Nie Yan to appear here. He only came here for a quest. He believed he was the only person here.
Ignatius’ attitude toward Nie Yan was extremely respectful. Crazy Magic couldn’t help but wonder how Nie Yan pulled this off.
Crazy Magic understood he had no way of stirring up trouble for Nie Yan right now. If he tried anything in the administrative hall, not only would he fail to disrupt Nie Yan’s quest progress, but he would also throw himself into the flames!
Similarly, Nie Yan was also wondering what Crazy Magic was doing here.
The two simply brushed past each other without saying a word. However, some words didn’t need to be said. It was clear as day these two players had their own allegiances.
Some people were destined to be enemies.
Seeing Crazy Magic leave, Nie Yan turned to Ignatius. “Can you tell me what he’s doing here?”
“He previously received a quest from the administrative hall and came here to turn it in today. He’s an Advanced Demon Hunter and Sentinel.”
Advanced Demon Hunter and Sentinel were pretty rare titles among ordinary players. However, they were far lacking compared to Nie Yan’s several titles. His Devil Slayer title was a full rank above Demon Hunter. As for the Sentinel title, though a bit rarer than the Demon Hunter and a fairly high-ranking title, it was merely good as a stopover. It couldn’t be compared at all to the Grand Scholar title.
Apart from the Grand Scholar title, Nie Yan was already on his way to becoming a Great Prophet, an exalted existence in the Viridian Empire. Not to mention he was also the saviour of the Hilton Stronghold. How could Ignatius dare to not answer his inquiries? Meanwhile, Crazy Magic had to be extremely cautious and respectful in front of Ignatius, since he was an important character n the Hilton Stronghold.
This was the difference in status!
In the Viridian Empire, this sort of difference in status was extremely evident. This world followed a strict nobility system.
Someone like Nie Yan with his Grand Scholar title could talk to any NPC in any city and easily receive their quests. However, many ordinary players didn’t even have the qualifications to talk to these NPCs, let alone accept quests from them.
Nie Yan learned about Crazy Magic’s situation from Ignatius. Nothing was omitted. This was the benefit of authority!