In an underground sewer network beneath the city, a cloaked figure stood against the wall, waiting for a while.
Only the sound of rushing water could be heard until a jagged noise broke the silence from a short distance away from the cloaked figure.
The space fractured momentarily before settling, resulting in the forming of a portal, from which a young man in his twenties stepped out.
His long blue hair fell to his neck, and his eyes were a striking blood red.
The man surveyed his surroundings before spotting the cloaked figure and motioning for them to speak.
"Sir, the mission has failed," a female voice came from the cloaked figure.
Upon hearing that the mission had failed, the man lost interest and waved his hand, walking back into the portal.
As the portal vanished, the cloaked figure disappeared in a flash of silver light.
After stepping through the portal, the man exhaled deeply and dialed a number.
It took a brief moment before the other end picked up and spoke, "Is it complete?"
The man clenched his teeth before responding, "the mission has failed, master."
The voice on the other side replied immediately, "Abandon the plan and return to base"
"Disappointment just like your father", The call abruptly ended.
The man stood there, fists clenched and spoke through his gritted teeth, "damn it, useless pawns."
"Adam, how long are you going to take a restroom break? We need you here," he heard his colleague call out to him.
"Almost finished," Adam replied casually, quickly adjusting his attire and making minor alterations to his appearance.
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January 26, 1647.
The following day, Noctis readied himself for a visit to the stellar city, the domain of the Nightryn's.
He entered a sleek black car, accompanied by Brad—his head butler, and Lira—his personal maid.
'Thank goodness Brad didn't question why I wanted to go outside and explore the city.' Noctis leaned back in his seat, glancing at the front where Lira sat in the driver's seat and Brad occupied the passenger seat.
They were a little further up the hill from the city, the estate was positioned to the north of the stellar city on a slightly elevated slope.
'I need to think of a suitable reason later on, upon reaching the city, I don't want to raise any suspicions about my odd behavior or anything.'
'The Plan for today— I need to look into a small auction business that began around four years before the game started, so it should be about two years old now.'
'I'm not particularly interested in their auction house, but they will sell some significant items during my first year of university.'
'If others catch wind of this, it will cause quite a bit of trouble for me. But how should I bring up this topic with Brad?' Noctis gazed out the window, contemplating the endless problems that lay ahead in his 1st year.
They were traveling on a privately constructed route linking the estate to the city.
Soon, they arrived in the city, and as Noctis took in the scene, he felt a sense of unease.
'In the game, it wasn't this expansive, and it certainly didn't appear like this.'
The city was indeed beautiful, yet the combination of medieval style architecture and modern technology felt quite strange to him.
'I really don't know how to describe a city like this,' Noctis thought as the car navigated through the myriad of buildings.
He noticed many holographic displays running ads similar to the billboards from his world.
People strolled along the sidewalks next to the roads, engaged in their daily routines.
In the distance, tall skyscrapers towered over the city.
'It still feels like a dream, and if it weren't for the magical elements and everything, I would genuinely think I was on Earth,' Noctis remarked while observing the various buildings passing by.
The vehicle came to a halt as Noctis turned to see that, they were stuck in traffic.'
Just then, Brad turned to his young master and asked, "Master, where are we going? You mentioned you'd inform us once we arrived in the city."
Noctis hesitated for a moment at the question, before he replied,"Let's head to the city's best blacksmith, I need a weapon custom-made along with few additional enchanted training equipment."
After answering, Noctis pretended to be busy by looking at his watch.
Brad nodded toward Lira and looked forward while making a call.
'Good, I finally managed to come up with an excuse. I really needed a custom weapon anyway,'
Noctis thought as he stared at his screen, aimlessly scrolling through articles.
While scrolling, he stumbled upon an article about the crown prince of the Starborne Empire.
He opened the article and felt frustration at remembering the prince's part in the game. 'That hypocritical prince, a man who speaks lies as easily as he breathes, I need to ensure he doesn't survive long after the story of the game starts, he really is a death flag for the many people'
Noctis nodded as he read the article's content. 'Oh, it's just another scandal aimed at tarnishing his reputation by some random writer, he's probably dead by now, I assume. Rip unknown writer'
'The crown prince should be in his early 30's now, he killed his father at the end of the second or third year, depending on the choices the players made in the game,' Noctis focused on his screen.
After nearly an hour, they pulled up to a black obsidian structure with a futuristic appearance.
Lira parked the car at the entrance of the dark building, and a man approached the vehicle to open Noctis's door.
"Welcome, young master." Noctis acknowledged him with a nod, stepping out and walking ahead as the man followed closely along with Brad.
Lira parked the car and tagged along. Upon entering the building, he noticed it was different from what he had envisioned, he expected it to be filled with noise and chaos like a typical blacksmith's workshop.
"Our master is already expecting you, Mr. Brad has already informed us of your request for custom weapons, please follow me," the man maintained a courteous, professional demeanor as he guided the group downward.
The interior was sleek, showcasing numerous weapons, staffs, and wands displayed in glass cases.
He took one glance at the prices and felt a chill run through him.
The game and this world didn't differentiate equipment into ranks, they adhered to the same principles as magic circles, only that they were enchanted with magical runes—another version of magic circles applied to objects, with wands and staffs currently also utilizing runes.
Each rune is considered a single layer similar to that of a magic circle's layers system, and the more runes an object possesses, the more potent it is.
Walking into a spacious area underground, the trio observed a massive futuristic machine at the end of the room, roaring as it processed ores to extract precious metals.
A tall man standing over six feet, approached with a smile as he wiped a layer of sweat from his brow.
Noctis took one look at him and recognized him, he wad Arnold- a high level rune blacksmith.
He had tousled black hair, amber eyes, and a relatively short beard. His bulky frame was a result of years spent blacksmithing, which had developed his significant muscles.
'Wasn't there a piece of lore stating that he was a bodybuilding enthusiast in his younger years?' Noctis gazed at his enormous stature.
"Noctis, how have you been, kid? It's been ages since I last saw you," Arnold smirked as he tousled the boy's hair.
'Status,' Noctis smiled while bringing up the man's stats.
[Status]
Name: Arnold Ashenthron
Rank: A-Rank
Resonance Elements: Pyro, Gravos
Unique Skills: Titan's body(A)
His eyes widened at the unique skill, 'that's new.'
"I'm doing well, what about you, Sir Arnold?" Noctis replied, closing the window in front of him.
The man playfully smacked the boy's head and laughed, "Since when did you start being so polite? Just call me Uncle."
Noctis's smile faltered for a brief moment as he awkwardly responded, "Yes, Uncle."
'I really could use a memory patch here, damn it.'
"So, what do you need me to create?" the man asked as he returned to his seat.
"I require a few custom-made weapons, one of which is a unique design," he approached Arnold's desk and started sorting through the materials and burrowed a pen and paper.
Noctis began sketching a few rough drafts of the weapon, and after some time, he completed them.
Taking one last look, he presented the rough design to Arnold as he described the weapon. "It's called a segmented sword- its size is comparable to that of a one-handed sword. The blade is divided into several sections, each containing an extendable chain."
"The sword will extend and contract using mana. As for the rune types, I'll leave that up to you, Uncle." Arnold nodded, having seen similar weapon types before.
Noctis set the first sketch aside and revealed the second design.
"This is just a standard gun design, but is it possible to enchant it with the same runes found on wands into this weapon?" Noctis looked at the man with anticipation.
The man smiled, meeting Noctis's gaze, and nodded. "It should be possible, but the gun's shape will need to be elongated. You can expect it to resemble a shotgun."
Noctis nodded enthusiastically. "That's perfectly fine, and my other requests are for gravity enhanced training equipment."
They continued to converse for a while, while Brad and Lira remained behind.
After some time, Noctis and Lira exited the room while Brad remained under the guise of discussing payment with Arnold.
In the next moment, Arnold's expression grew serious, "Still no leads? Brad."
"Regrettably no, Master Arnold – we've confirmed that someone has been pursuing the duke's family," Brad replied solemnly.
Arnold exhaled deeply, "I can understand why Grace departed, I can neither blame her nor comment further."
Brad acknowledged this and turned to leave.
"Stay on guard Brad, they will be coming for Noctis next," Arnold warned as he tightened his fist.
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'That took quite a while ,was kinda surprised that noctis used to arnold an uncle, the surprises keep pilling up'
'now, where was that auction house located again?' Noctis exited the building as Lira pulled up beside him.
Climbing in, Noctis instructed Lira to head to an restaurant. 'It should be right around here, I recall it wasn't far from the blacksmith's workshop,' Noctis looked out the window, keeping a lookout for it.
He spotted the auction at the end of the road, just as they made a right turn.
It was a large building resembling a red theater. 'The name sucks though- who would name their business the 'Real Treasure Auction House'?' Noctis observed it before looking back ahead.
'I need to persuade Brad to purchase the auction house. I can't outright suggest he just buy it without a reason, as I don't want to come across as a spoiled rich kid carelessly spending their parents' money.' He contemplated this throughout the short ride.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, Brad was the first to step out and open the door for him.
'Good, this might work, and I have to choose my words wisely later.'
Noctis entered the restaurant, ignoring the crowd's murmurs and gasps.