MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Crimson Armor
The following morning, in the yard of Crimson Hound’s compound.

A group of players had gathered and were waiting for the arrival of the wagon and the driver.

Even though the dungeon’s entrance was in Dawnwatch, it would still take around an hour to reach it as the city was still quite large.

While everyone wore their own armor with the familiar crimson cloaks flapping behind them, Adam didn’t have any armor as he couldn’t afford one.

Therefore, he was in his usual getup with a simple leather vest and pants. He had his familiar steel shortsword dangling from his belt and a round shield strapped to his back.

Seeing his getup, most of the players on the yard scoffed and mocked him inwardly. It didn’t give them a lot of confidence that the tank of their group looked so… weak.

“Sigh, I envy you.” At that moment, Enigma came from inside and sat beside Adam. “I wish I could join the raid~”

“Oh, you aren’t coming?” Adam asked with raised eyebrow.

“Nah, I am too weak, apparently.” Enigma sighed wryly. “Well, they aren’t wrong. I am still trying to learn Magick. I am aiming to become a powerful wizard someday.”

“Wizard, huh.” Adam replied, intrigued by Enigma’s goal.

At that moment, the sound of horses neighing and wagons rolling down the cobblestone road sounded in the distance.

“The ride is here!” Knoxx shouted and picked up his backpack. He wore steel-colored armor with a crimson cloak billowing behind him. “No time to waste; let’s go!”

“Good luck.” Enigma cheered Adam on and then returned inside to continue his training.

As Adam was about to pick up his backpack, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and, to his surprise, saw Digby looking at him with his deep, red eyes.

“Guild master?”

“Here.” Digby took something out of his inventory and placed it on the ground.

It was a crimson armor with a similar-colored cloak and helm. The helm looked like a dog’s head with sharp, pointed ears. It looked menacing and intimidating.

“What’s this?” Adam asked with a raised eyebrow. “This is for me?”

“That’s armor that only fully-fledged mercenaries of Crimson Hound receive. You aren’t at that level yet, but perhaps this will help you survive through the raid.

“I expect you to return it to me in prime condition.”

Adam looked surprised. This was clearly expensive armor. However, he was also grateful and accepted it gratefully.

After Digby left, Adam quickly put the armor on, and it perfectly fit his frame. The armor in Mortal Online worked in strange ways. It would perfectly mold to fit the user’s body, almost as if it were alive.

Now, Adam looked vastly different from his previous scrawny self. The armor made him look dazzling, as if he were a seasoned mercenary.

He then put the helm on and closed it over his face, with only his deep eyes peering out from the darkness.

“Information…” Curiously, he wanted to check the armor’s stats.

***

[Armor: Armor of Crimson Hounds]

[Rank: Azure Rare]

[Defense: 150]

[Durability: 100%]

[Description: An armor specially made to be worn by mercenaries of Crimson Hound—the helm and the crimson cloak radiate a menacing aura that has the ability to weaken the morale of enemies and inspire allies]

***

‘150 defense, not bad.’ Adam thought with a smile. ‘This armor can definitely stop most of the ordinary attacks, but I’ll have to avoid Chaosbeing’s special attacks.’

“What’s taking so long?!” Angry-sounding Knoxx stomped to the yard after seeing that Adam was nowhere to be seen when they were ready to embark on their journey.

At that moment, he saw a crimson-armored person in the yard. At first, he was about to bow as a sign of respect, as he thought it was a mercenary of their guild, but then Adam opened the helm and revealed his face.

“Y-you…” Knoxx whispered in shock. “Where did you get this armor? You shouldn’t be allowed to wear that!”

“Guild Master gave it to me.” Adam took off the helm completely and stored it inside his inventory, as it was quite stuffy to wear. He planned to wear it only during battles.

‘W-why are they all treating him differently from the rest of us?’ Knoxx gritted his teeth hatefully. ‘I am also a genius, so why have I never received this kind of treatment?’

“We should get going, no?” Adam walked past him, left the yard, and entered the first wagon on the right. It was already mostly filled with other members of the raid.

After seeing Adam, they looked shocked and envious at the fancy armor. They were aware that some newcomers receive privileged treatment because of their rank in the tutorial.

It had never been as blatant as now.

S-rankers were truly treated differently; the difference was like day and night.

“Tch!” Knoxx clicked his tongue in annoyance, took a seat beside the driver, and then ordered him to start going.

The driver humbly nodded and started pulling the reins. He was also a player but a failed mercenary. He failed in the tutorial, but instead of quitting, he became a wagon driver.

The hours were long, and sometimes it could put his life in danger. Sometimes, he had to drive days to the neighboring cities to deliver goods and supplies.

Sometimes, he was forced to fight off bandits and other wild animals.

There were a lot of instances when he died and lost his coins and supplies. However, he always got back on his feet and continued doing his job.

The job paid fairly well, and he enjoyed it more than his previous occupation in real life. The hardest part was the treatment he received from mercenaries. They treated him like a second-class citizen, which he was in the New World.

At that moment, the horses neighed and started pulling the wagons down the cobblestone streets.

During the hour-long journey, they passed down different kinds of streets with buildings of various architectural styles. The city was a mix of old and new, showcasing the stark contrast between tradition and progress.

After some time, the wagon pulled to the entrance of a strange building—the building seemed to be connected to the enormous mountain that oversaw Dawnwatch.

The entrance of the building was outside the mountain, but over half of the building was embedded into the mountain itself.

They all left the wagon, Knoxx paid the driver, and then they all entered the building. It was clear that they were part of Crimson Hounds, and some of the mercenaries nodded as a result.

After all, they were Tier-2 guild and that garnered respect from weaker guilds. It didn’t matter that they were clearly one of the weakest raid squads in the guild; they still garnered some of that respect.

As soon as Adam entered the building, he looked up. A small smile creeped up on his face. It was still as beautiful as ever.

A spiral of stairs greeted him, going up the mountain like a snake slithering its way to the top. With each spiral, there were doors leading to different floors of the dungeon.

Those doors acted as gateways, or more precisely, portals to the dungeon.

The doors that were unlocked were hazel-colored, but those at the top of the spiral were a deep shade of crimson. Those were the floors at the top of the dungeon that had yet to be explored.

Following Knoxx, they walked up the spiral for a short while. It wasn’t long—only about thirty steps—until they reached the tenth door on the stairs. It was the door to the tenth floor.

Without further ado, Knoxx opened it and stepped through, immediately followed by other members of the raid party.

“Tenth floor…” Adam smiled and stepped through the door.

As soon as he stepped through, the door closed behind him.

On top of the door, there was an insignia of a creature with eight, javelin-like legs and creepy large head with bulging body, like a spider. The insignia was also glowing softly.

It meant that the tenth floor’s boss was currently alive. It wouldn’t glow otherwise.