Infinite Realm

[[ System notification :

Welcome, player Sky Blade, to Black Rock City.

]] 

With a sea blue flash, Sato appeared on a small round stage alongside some other NPCs in a large hall crowded with other NPCs, with a slightly displaced expression but recovered within a second.

'The teleportation array is way worse than the Worrus' technique but that's to be expected.' Sato evaluated his experience.

There were two major forms of transportation in IR as of now, the first was by land; which required the player to either walk to the destination or charter a carriage for the journey. The second method had to do with making use of teleportation arrays which, although quick, was very expensive.

The teleportation array was a strategic invention in the world of Infinite Realm that enabled players to move through towns and cities without having to take the long road. Also known as the epitome of space magic and magic technology, the device was capable of fast transportation speed as well as assured security during the process. Depending on the distance between the two nodes(the activated array and the target array) a player could arrive at their destination from anywhere between 10 seconds-15 minutes.. And since it teleported the target to a set location, it was almost impossible for one to be robbed during the process. This was because not only was the teleportation fast speed -especially if the destination wasn't too far from the location- but also, it was teleportation; robbing someone during spatial travel was almost impossible. 

However, certain exceptions did exist with the most common one being the interference of a grandmaster-level space-time magic user. 

Considering that finding a user of space magic alone was difficult, one could imagine the difficulty of spotting a space-time user what more a grandmaster-level kind of figure. Most of those figures were hired to work directly under a king or an emperor so they weren't easily spotted. Even if one could, the target for the robbery has to be a teleportation ride that was heading towards a very long distance, for example, cross-kingdom teleportation, empire-kingdom, or even empire-empire teleportation. Hence the security of teleportation array travels, especially for cross-town or town-city, was the most secure among the various forms of travelling.

'So this is Black Rock city's teleportation station…'

The round stage Sato stood on a was grey coloured[1] platform with blue cryptic marks and scribbles all over it, looking like an aesthetic work of art. Apart from the one Sato stood on, there were 9 other stages with a similar appearance to his that had people on them. A few metres to the side were a bunch of counters filled with clerks. 

Over time, some NPCs would walk towards those clerks before paying a certain fee and receiving a ticket. Then they would head to the waiting room which was just beside the hall. Having experienced something similar, Sato knew that those were the NPCs that had booked a spot on the teleportation array but had to wait till all the spots had been sold before they could finally depart.

'Luckily, I made it in time.' Sato thought as he recalled the past event.

After the threat he had pulled up against the super guild and the surrounding players, Azure Dragon was forced to let him go since they couldn't hold him back. Truthfully, if he had seen any sign of hesitation, Sato would have charged straight to the town. Luckily though, no such occurrence took place.

Even though they had let him walk, there were still a few players trailing Sato, looking for an opportunity to end him even in town. However, Sato remained in crowded places and even boarded a carriage to the teleportation station at the central district to prevent his stalkers from getting any opportunity to mess around and also to make it in time.

The teleportation array was best compared to an airplane since just like how commercial airliners board more than 70 passengers in a bid to not only recover their expenditures but also make profits, teleportation stations did the same. Operating a teleportation array required a lot of special resources especially those of the space element as well as magic crystals and sometimes even mana gems(or mana crystals).

Right beside Sato was a few NPCs that had tagged along for the trip. Since operating the array required a lot of resources, it would only be used after a lot of people had booked their spots for it, similar to how traveling on an airplane goes. There were operating times for each usage and players would either book ahead or arrive on time and pay for a spot. Each teleportation array had a maximum capacity of 25 people but only 15 spots would be available for booking. The remaining 10 were left for those who arrived at the spot just before the array would be activated. This was to help facilitate travel for players who might be in a hurry. However, any of the 25 spots could be occupied by an NPC so payers had to make haste lest they do so too late.

Sato didn't want to waste his time looking for a map towards Black Rock city from Riverdale town and he definitely didn't want to spend his hours on a carriage. Therefore, he took the easiest and fastest route which he had come to know of from the summarised edition of the library's books. Of course, due to the fact that activating it was pricey, Sato's wallet suffered a sting in exchange for the 7 seconds journey. It was for reasons like this that NPC merchants usually moved their goods via carriage rather than teleportation arrays, as the cost would be very high.

"Young sir, do you need anything? Maybe a guide?" 

As Sato came off the platform, a young NPC boy walked up to him with a smile. 

'I haven't even gone out but the difference is too much.' Sato sighed internally.

Unlike with the teleportation array here as well as the teleportation station, the difference was clear in comparison to that of Riverdale town. Not only was the teleportation station in Riverdale smaller, but there were also fewer arrays and clerks; probably since not a lot of residents could easily afford the means of transportation. There was also the fact that back in town, Sato wasn't addressed or aided by any guide or anything similar. However, he was already met with one barely after coming here.

'However, this character design is something. Looks like life here isn't so easy.' Sato thought as he studied the young boy.

The kid looked to be about 14 or 15 years of age but due to malnutrition, he had the body of a 12-year-old.

"Do you know where I can get a map of the city?" Sato asked.

He wanted to take a look at the many different scenes and places in other to get accustomed to the city and reap as many benefits as possible.

"A map? Yes, I do." The young NPC replied to him with a smile.

"Price?" Sato asked immediately.

"Just 4 copper coins."

Back in Riverdale town, 4 copper coins were enough to meal in a pub while still having some spare change in hand. However, the same amount of money could only be used to purchase a map. The difference was clear right from the start.

"Here." 

To an average player, a fee of 4 copper coins wasn't much so for Sato who was among one of the wealthiest individuals in the game, less would be said about it.

"So, do you still need a guide, sir?" The young kid asked with a calm but slightly anxious tone.

Glancing at his innocent eyes, Sato decided to aid the kid as his character and appearance touched his heart. He could see based on the boy's dressing alone, that the NPC was having a tough time making a living, and as a kid, it would affect him mentally.

"Alright then. How much do you charge?" Sato asked.

"I charge based on duration or destination, sir." The young boy replied.

"Duration it is. Let's go."

After settling the fees with the boy, Sato asked him to lead him to the nearest material shop since he wanted to check out whether he could find something useful to us and improve on his blacksmithing abilities.

"You're a blacksmith?" The boy asked with interest and respect clear in his voice.

"Kind of; I'm still an apprentice." Rather than making himself look amazing in the boy's eyes, Sato just answered the truth.

"That's cool!" The boy exclaimed with glistening eyes.

"Then you must be here for the Apprentice Blacksmith competition."