Draconic Ascension - System Apocalypse Isekai LitRPG

Standing next to him, Rose lifted an eyebrow.

“Sure, if that’s what floats your boat.”

She looked as if she was about to say something else but stopped herself, eyeing him carefully. Without direction, he could only ask.

“What now?”

“…I take you to the Chief. He will know what to do.”

She pointed at the very last house, the biggest one with the mushrooms.

“Sure, then. Let’s go.”

Michael started walking toward it without more deliberation. Rose followed him closely but seemed to have lagged behind for a few steps. Once he crossed the threshold, a translucent blue stone appeared above his head for a couple of seconds, then disappeared. He heard Rose let out a breath.

Entering the village made him feel as if he had stepped into a new world. The voices and sounds that he couldn’t hear even when standing right in front of the settlement’s entrance now hit him in full, creating a cacophony that he needed a few seconds to adjust to. He didn’t understand how this was possible but didn’t think too much about it. Magic was real, after all. Rose’s voice reached his ears.

“This is Bluestone Village. It’s one of the settlements within the underground. There are new arrivals by the hour. The NPCs of this Village are the dark elves. The chief is called Sullivan, and he is the oldest dark elf here. We have to go to him to get you accepted and introduced into the village.”

Michael was pleasantly surprised. It was one of the only times Rose had taken the initiative to speak with him, and certainly the first time that she had said so much. He just didn’t know why. She caught up to him and walked by his side instead of behind him, continuing to talk.

“Sullivan will help you find a direction to grow. Even though you have already picked your Level 10 Skill, so long as you do the things he asks, he will help you a bit. Think of them like quests.”

This time, he visibly frowned but wiped the expression off his face before she saw it. He certainly hadn’t reached Level 10, but there was no reason to tell her that. She didn’t trust him, but he also had no reason to put much faith in her either. Most importantly, either through sheer incompetence or oversight, she had forgotten to use Analyze on him. He wasn’t about to remind her.

The existence of quests was also a surprising piece of information. Given their absence on the past day, he had assumed that they didn’t exist but now realized that had been inaccurate. He had lacked enough information. It was only natural that quests were only offered by quest-givers, instead of appearing out of thin air. Beyond that, there was one term that had irked him.

There are NPCs?

It was a development that he hadn’t anticipated at all. Given that this was real life and not a game, it stood to reason that NPCs couldn’t exist, unless the System had manually created creatures that could only operate within certain parameters. Even then, Michael felt no desire to describe another living being as an NPC. In his opinion, it could only be considered disrespectful at least to reduce another entity to such a status.

I need to investigate that.

He now wanted to meet this Sullivan more than ever. The two of them approached the largest house. Rose pushed the wooden door open. The first thing that Michael saw was a line. Multiple groups of people were waiting for their turn to speak with a very tall dark elf who was sitting in an ornate chair at the back end of the room. Two dark elves, one man and one woman, stood to his sides. A man dressed in leather armor grabbed the bag hanging from his belt and opened it in front of the tall dark elf, speaking.

“Here.”

His tone was brusque. With a serene expression, the dark elf gazed into the bag. He nodded.

“The request has been fulfilled.”

He waved his hand, making a slight blue glow surround the Warrior. Michael looked at it attentively. Once the glow disappeared, the man spoke again.

“You got anything else for me?”

Michael felt like he could almost see the Chief sigh to himself but wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

“No, brave adventurer. Please, come back later.”

The Warrior turned around, walked past Michael and Rose, gave her a glance, and left. The same pattern repeated itself for almost all the people in the line. Finally, the duo reached the spot in front of the dark elf. Without a word, Rose extended her own bag with the two snake heads she had collected. The same blue glow covered her once the chief waved his hand in affirmation. The tall dark elf then turned to Michael with a different twinkle in his eye, something that didn’t go unnoticed. He spoke.

“A new arrival, I see. I am Sullivan, the Village Chief. It seems you also haven’t joined any other settlement yet. Do you desire to be part of this village?”

It was a very standardized line, but Michael didn’t wish to let that trick him. The intelligence in Sullivan’s eyes was one that couldn’t be associated with the term “NPC.” Michael spoke tentatively.

“Yes, I do. My name is Michael. Do you have any advice to give me, specifically? I’m a novice Mage.”

Apart from joining the village, he threw in a question. Its only purpose was to test Sullivan regarding his responses; if he were truly an NPC with pre-programmed messages, it was unlikely that he would be able to give Michael solid, specific advice. Of course, that would depend on the degree of “artificial intelligence” that the System was capable of. On the other hand, if Sullivan truly was a person like he seemed, he would be capable of giving a more elaborate message. With these things in mind, Michael had asked him such a question.

Traces of mirth floated around in Sullivan’s eyes. He waved his hand, and a blue glow covered Michael. A System notification appeared.

[You have joined Bluestone Village.]

[Your current Rank is: Low-Grade Villager.]

[There are no perks or rewards in your current Rank.]

The dark elf spoke, holding the same smile.

“Of course. First, look for Tairy. He’s usually to the left of this place. He will be able to guide you on your journey through magic. He is a dark elf wizard. And…”

Sullivan drew a circle in the air. Blue energy climbed up from the floor, surrounding both himself and Michael in a hurricane of power. It coalesced into a thin, blue layer that covered both Michael and the Chief’s figures. It was almost like a barrier, one that was fully opaque. No sound could be heard from outside the Skill, and nothing beyond it could be seen. Michael’s guard was raised completely. Just as he was about to cast a Mana Shield and try to figure out a way to deal with this sudden attack, he looked at Sullivan, who had lowered his hand. All traces of amusement and fun were gone from the dark elf’s face. Instead, a very serious air had taken hold.

“This is the most important advice for you, and you alone.”

Michael frowned. Reasoning that Sullivan could have already tried to harm him if he wanted to, he decided to hear the Chief out. The atmosphere got heavier. Sullivan enunciated each word carefully, as if afraid that Michael would forget any of them or misunderstand them.

“Be careful. I have a few ideas, but I still don’t know what exactly is different about you. Just know that people like you are very rare, even outside of the Tutorial Zone. Keep your unique trait a complete secret from anyone, even from someone like me, who already has a few guesses. Do not-”

At that moment, a blood-red System message appeared between their faces, covering up their line of sight. It was large enough to block Michael from seeing Sullivan’s face at all. Apart from being a different color, this message also had no words, containing only a string of “!!!” symbols. Michael heard the dark elf click his tongue.

“It seems that this is the limit of what I can say while classified as an NPC – well more accurately, as a non-contestant - by the System. That’s fine. Just keep what I said in mind, Michael Gray.”

A shine entered Michael’s eyes. Of course, the information that Sullivan was able to tell there was something different about him was important, but what surprised him the most was the dark elf’s awareness about being “classified as an NPC.” This was no System construct with something that only resembled a real mind. Sullivan was a real person. Beyond that, he was certainly higher-leveled than Michael, given that the elf had learned his name before he even said it, likely through Analyze. He replied.

“…I’ll remember it. There’s also something I want to ask you.”

The dark elf looked at him with curiosity. The glowing red System windows disappeared.

“Have you seen a woman named Allison Gray? A bit shorter than me, same green eyes and black hair. I don’t know which Class she picked. She’s my mother.”

Sullivan shook his head. His voice sounded a bit dejected and pitying.

“No, I haven’t. I can remember the names of all of your people who came here, but there was nobody like that. I’m sorry.”