Mysterious Fog World: Eldritch Nexus

Ding Lao Tian saw his granddaughter was coming towards him with someone. When he was about to dismiss him as her acquaintance or friend, his eyes widened as he looked at the boy closely.

He quickly walked past Drake and moved towards the duo coming towards him. He calmed his emotions and with a smile asked his granddaughter, “Xue’er, who is he? Is he your friend?” But no matter how hard he tried, faint excitement could be seen in his eyes.

“Grandpa, he is Wang Feng. We met when doing some quests in the territory. He is a chosen one but unlike other chosen ones, but unlike other chosen ones he is very skilled in sword. He is an intermediate swordsman and he is stronger than me. I have never seen anyone better than me in swords in my age group. Moreover, his proficiency in the sword mastery was self-learned without any help from a teacher” Xue’er told her grandfather excitedly.

Wang Feng behaved humbly and waved off all his achievements but anyone with discerning eyes could see the arrogance in his eyes.

Xue’er kept going on about how great Wang Feng was to her grandfather. Anyone could see the affection she had for the boy. Ding Lao Tian wouldn’t normally let just anyone match with his granddaughter, but when he inadvertently saw the boy’s talent, he decided to take him as his disciple. His granddaughter’s affection for Wang Feng would only increase his chances for the same. The more he heard his daughter’s praise for Wang Feng, the more his chances of taking him as his disciple.

“Grandpa, I brought him to you because I think he is perfect,” said Xue’er cryptically after she was done praising her crush to the moon. She knew the real reason for her grandfather to sell those martial arts in such a getup was to find a worthy disciple. He first wanted to give all his teachings to her, but she was incompatible with most of his skills.

He had asked a fortune teller of the Star path and that fortune teller pointed him to the Windmere Kingdom. He told him, that soon he would meet his disciple who would be one of the many visitors of another world.

Ding Lao Tian was pleased with his granddaughter. He was very happy with their match and didn’t mind being their matchmaker in the future after he would take Wang Feng as his successor.

Ding Lao Tian suddenly took a serious posture. Both Xue’er and Wang Feng felt his change. Xue’er knew what was about to happen, and stayed quiet looking at the scene in front of her excitedly.

“Wang Feng, when I saw you I knew you were meant for greatness. Your talent is something that can only be found once in a million years. Moreover, listening to Xue’er has only strengthened that belief even further,” Ding Lao Tian said.

“Elder, it was merely a fluke. My sword mastery still needs too much polish. I merely swing swords haphazardly, I need to work word to reach the level you and Ms. Xue’er are giving me credit for. Moreover, Ms. Xue’er is a much better swordsman than me. She is just praising me as a way to give motivation to a junior,” Wang Feng said humbly and respectfully.

“Young man, being humble is good. But don’t be too humble. Those are your achievements and you should take credit for them,” Ding Lao Tian reprimanded Wang Feng. But, secretly he was even more satisfied with his would-be disciple.

“As the elder taught,” Wang Feng said humbly.

“Wang Feng, I am impressed with your talent, skills and attitude. Will you take me as your master?” Ding Lao Tian asked with complete seriousness.

Wang Feng immediately knelt in front of him, and said respectfully, “Master, please accept my respects”.

Wang Feng.

Ding Lao Tian nodded seriously but inside he was excited as he struck gold for taking such a talented junior as his disciple.

“Congratulations, Wang Feng. Now you are officially my junior brother” Xue’er congratulated Wang Feng for becoming her grandfather’s disciple.

“Thank you, senior sister. Please take care of me in the future”, Wang Feng said respectfully. Xue’e nodded with a shy smile when she heard him call her senior sister.

[Congratulations host, you completed the quest of accepting a master and took Ding Lao Tian as your master.

Sword Mastery (Intermediate, Lv 15) -> (Intermediate, Lv 18)]

Wang Feng who saw the message frowned.

‘Why only three levels? System, are you trying to cheat me?’

[Host, you are comparing the reward with the reward from the newbie gift pack. That was a one-time pack that improved your qualifications vastly and also raised your sword mastery from zero to Level 15, Intermediate Stage. And the reward you got was for completing the quest. It may not look like it but three levels in the Intermediate stage is a very big reward for a quest and was reasonable given who your master is. Moreover, you will get more chances like that in the future when you get more quests.]

Wang Feng grumbled internally hearing the system’s reply but after giving an empty threat to it, he returned his focus to his new master.

Meanwhile, Drake who was watching the entire drama unfold in front of him, asked a question to Ivy.

‘Ivy, is he…’

[Yes, he is a protagonist.]

*SIGH*

‘Of course, he is. An old man who was the elder of a big sect but was crippled and forced out of his sect. His secret grudge against the sect master. His granddaughter fell in love with the protagonist in a few meetings. He is a once-a-million-year-old genius. Of course, that Wang Feng guy is the protagonist. Then that girl…’

[Ding Bi Xue, granddaughter of the Ding Lao Tian. She is one of the main heroines of the protagonist Wang Feng.]

‘Knew it. Then she must have some overpowered physique, bloodline, or something like that.’

[She has the Ice Phoenix Dao Physique. For the Xian path, she will not face any dangers when consuming potions until Sequence 0. As long as she has potions, she can reach peak Sequence 0 easily. Moreover, she has a high chance of breaking through after that and becoming a Great Old One.]

‘Of course, an overpowered protagonist needs overpowered main heroines. As for the old man, he would have one of the two ends. Either, he would be cured by the protagonist, reach his peak and go even beyond that, or, he would die protecting the protagonist who goes around making enemies left and right.’

‘And his idiot granddaughter would hate the ones who killed her grandfather but not even blame the protagonist even if it was his fault for making enemies above his pay grade.’

‘So, what does that make me, a villain in his story?’ Drake asked as he didn’t want the hassle of becoming a villain in someone’s story.

[You are not the villain in his story.]

‘Good. I have no interest in playing cat-and-mouse games with the protagonist.’

As Drake became happy that he did not need to play mind games with the protagonist, something clicked in his mind as he reiterated Ivy’s words.

‘Wait a minute! What do you mean I am not the villain in his story? Is there a villain too together with the protagonist?’

[Yes, there is.]

‘Somehow, I am relieved that I don’t have to deal with a hypocrite protagonist. I will leave that headache to the villain.’

‘But wait, will I be affected being near them? Taking web novels as a reference may not be the best option, but don’t they have some sort of halo around them?’

[Drake, you do not need to worry about all that. You are the host of the strongest artifact in existence, any protagonists or villains do not affect you, or those related to you.]

‘Hey, I am aware of your capabilities, but I am just confirming.’

Drake was confident in Ivy's capabilities but still wanted to double-check.

Once again he became happy that he would not behave like an idiot who smoked rotten weed. But his happiness was momentary once again as he reiterated Ivy’s words as a new realization dawned on him.

‘Ivy, my dear system. What do you mean by any protagonists or villains?’

[It simply means that there are multiple protagonists and villains.]

‘But shouldn’t a world has only one?’

[Yes Drake, you are right about that. But you have to remember, we are in an infinite world. Here you can find the protagonists and the villains in every corner of the world.]

Drake stopped for a second to digest the information Ivy gave him. Then he asked, ‘So, is Wang Feng the protagonist from the real world, outside the game?’

[Ideally, that should be correct. But because your world is set to merge with the fog world, and the individuals from that world can come to this world as players, such rules are weakened in your world. Hence, currently, there are multiple protagonists and villains from your world.]

Drake knew the severity of such a situation. So he asked Ivy, “Since you said that those protagonists and villains do not affect me, does that mean, that I do not need to play mind games with them to decrease their luck and then kill them.”

[Correct, you can kill anyone without worrying about the consequences of heaven retaliating against you. I have protected you against that. For you, they have no special status, and are just like any other being in the world.]

Drake sighed in relief. He didn’t want anything to do with them. And with Ivy’s confirmation, he had nothing to fear.

‘That’s good. As long as they stay away from me, they can fight among themselves all they want. As long as they don’t block my path, and stop me from going forward, I will not bother them. Unless, of course, I want to bother them,’ Drake thought with a smile.

‘So, what is this heaven? Is it the same as what is described in those novels?’ Drake asked to get the answer to another curiosity.

[Generally, for other worlds, it may be correct. But, for the fog world, it's different. Here, Heaven is the name of the territory of a Primal God.]

‘What about Hell?’

[Territory of another Primal God.]

‘Forget it, both are too high level for me.’

Drake didn’t dwell on that subject anymore. He asked another question regarding the protagonist.

‘So, what’s his cheat?’

[He has a system. It's passable. Wang Feng was given the quest by the system to take Ding Lao Tian as his master. He completed it, so his sword mastery was increased from level 15 to 18 in the Intermediate Stage.]

Drake was slightly surprised that Wang Feng was a system user like him. He ignored Ivy’s comment about his system.

As he was having such a conversation with Ivy, he noticed that the trio were leaving. Seeing them leaving like that he frowned slightly.