Infinite Realm

"So that's how it." Sato sighed as he stood outside of the blacksmith guild in Black Rock city.

He had just finished communicating with a clerk regarding the blacksmith tournament and from what he was told, the event was scheduled to be held in the next 2 weeks, which was the same as a week in reality so there was no need worrying about it so soon.

'By then a lot more players would have made it to the city.'

Recalling the fact that he had once encountered a level 11 player in town, Sato guessed that the competition was set at that date to enable more players participate in it. If there was one level 11 player, there would definitely be a bunch of other level 10 and above players.

'Now that I think about it, I didn't unlock any achievement after making it here. That probably means I wasn't the first.'

Achievements were milestones reached by players through a certain action. Take for instance the first kill achievement Sato and the gang had made after they had killed the Kobold King.. Sato had a feeling that there was an achievement for the first player to make it to a city but he didn't get it. This meant that there was most likely another player who had arrived here before him.

'A lot of hidden figures are in the game. I wonder when they will reveal themselves.' 

While things looked a bit calm now Sato felt that there were a bunch of undercurrents that were bidding their time before they would take the entire server by storm. This only served to make him more motivated to work harder on his goals and improve on his strength.

'I can't be too lax with my level. Who knows whether I'm really the highest leveled player. If I had such an experience, who says no one else would have a similar one?'

"So where to now?" The young boy asked Sato.

"Hmm…" Sato took out the map he had gotten from the boy and began browsing through it.

"There's not much information pertaining to the outside environment." Sato frowned as he realised that fact.

Why the main reason he got himself a map of the city was to navigate his way around, Sato was still hoping that he would get a few clues about the resource maps close-by.

"Sorry about that. The map was made with my experience." The young boy replied meekly.

Sato sighed but didn't pursue the matter any longer.

"Where can I get a detailed map about the outside?"

The young NPC pondered a bit before answering,

"You could check out a few stores around. Especially this oned who sell adventurer gear and stuff."

"Lead the way."

The duo then resumed on their journey during which Sato reached the spot and got himself a new map. Compared to the one the young boy sold him, the new map had more details concerning the outside world but was lacking certain details the other map had regarding the city itself.

'He did say he made this out of his personal experience. This kid is something.' Sato thought as he studied the young boy once again.

After purchasing all that he needed, Sato went through the new map looking for his next destination.

'Righy now I would need to check out the resource maps in this place. From my analysis, we would be here till at least level 30 or 50. That means that the resource maps here should be more dangerous than the others in town.'

In some random restaurant, Sato sat down alongside the young boy with the detailed map spread out in front of him.

Black Rock City is a province level city that controls the surrounding Black Rock province. Under this province include Riverdale town, Black Mountain town and Salts Spring town, alongside some other tertiary level towns and settlements.

Similar to Black Mountain town, Black Rock City was a mineral trove but on a whole different scale. Being close to not only the Koro mountains but also Maldora Canyon and Sunset Valley, it had access to a lot of mineral hotspots so a majority of the townsfolk were miners. Due to this reason, Black Rock City was home to a lot of blacksmiths. It was to the point that in comparison to the other cities in the North of Fallen Heart Kingdom, Black Rock City had the highest concentration of blacksmiths.

There were also a bunch of other subclasses that were well concentrated into the city, especially subclasses who relied on mineraks and such to produce their goods such as alchemists, engineers and so on. Therefore, Black Rock City could be said to be the home of mineral-based subclasses.

'I can see why Battle Wolves chose this spot as their starting point. Being in control of this city would make sure they need not worry about materials any longer.'

Recalling that some basic information had been released about the towns and some cities, Sato reached a conjecture on why Black Rock City was such an attractive place for some guilds. As for whether he was right or not, he didn't know.

"So where to now?" The young boy wiped his mouth after his meal.

He was feeling happy that he had found Sato back at the teleportation station because not only did Sato not mistreat him like the others, but he had even gotten him a meal and paid him extra for his services. Because of that, the young boy decided to work harder for him, as a way to thank him for the favour.

"Well, I'll be heading outside of the city so this is probably the end of our contract I guess." Sato said.

Since he was planning to go check out the areas outside of the city, having an NPC who couldn't fight would make things difficult for him. It was better that he left on his own as he would only need to worry about his safety in uncharted grounds.

"Oh, alright then." The young boy said with a slightly depressed tone.

Sato smiled before dropping a few coins on the table.

"Here's your pay; you can keep the change."

Without waiting for the boy to reply, Sato walked out of the restaurant and stopped a carriage that was heading towards the city gates.

"I won't forget this aid, mister." The young NPC muttered with emotion, his eyes covered in tears as he tried to hold them back in.

Sato decided to help the boy the best he could because he reminded him a bit about himself.

Though his parents were billionaires, after their death, Sato wasn't given any of their wealth. Under the guise of managing his part of the shares of the famous Ajita group since Sato was still too young for that, his eldest uncle appeared and took control of his assets claiming to return them only when he clocked 18. However, when Sato was became 11 years old, he was almost killed in an assassination attempt and that made him wonder whether he would actually be able to live up to that 18 years of age.

Realising that their beloved grandson night not live a long life in that household, Sato's maternal grandparents, Juro and Alice Noguchi, took him out of the Kurosaki household. To prevent such an incident from happening again, they even changed his name and moved far from the family house of the Kurosakis.

A few years later, Sato's eldest's uncle, who was in-charge of his assets, took over them under the assumption that Sato had deserted the family and abandoned his rightful duties as heir. Obviously, this was all made up crap, but Sato couldn't simply come back to the family because the risk of being assassinated still existed.

Truthfully, Sati wouldn't mind returning back to the Kurosaki household if he was alone but he had his grandparents who cared for him and loved him, as well as his little sister Hayami. So, there was no way Sato would take that risk unless he was confident enough to assure his own protection. And the best way to do that was to make a name for himself, become a powerful individual that no one would dare to assassinate and the Kurosakis would take him seriously.

As he was now, Sato was just a 21 year old. Even though he was heir to the family, not a lot of the family members saw him as that including his paternal grandfather. For them to accept that fact, Sato had to show that he was worthy of the title, and what better way to do so than to rise to prominence without the family's aid? If he succeeded in that, the family would accept him as a true heir and they would care more about his safety unlike before.

'Everything I do is just for that day.' Sato clenched his fist.

'The day I can finally return and make my father proud.'