Starting from Zero

Book 2, Chapter 2

The Forgotten City

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I felt like I just survived an apocalypse when I left the forest. I took several deep breaths, and decided to return to Cold Jadeite and get some potion supply.

But wait!

What is this?! Where is Cold Jadeite?!

What is in front of me is not the vast grassland outside Cold Jadeite, but a mass grave, more than 10 kilos long from the looks of it. The sky is dark gray, there are broken tombs and messy weed everywhere.

Where the hell am I?! To some relief, there is...something ahead. I don't know whether I should call it a city, or a fortress.

It's too big for a fortress. I can't get the full view of it, but from a vague observation I suppose it takes at least 3 times more space than that of Cold Jadeite. But I don't think a city would be built upon an island in the middle of a giant lake, with a 3-kilo long stone bridge as the only connection to the outside.

I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts, collected some courage and started walking towards the "city". Whatever it is, I just need to take a look myself!

The grave land is HUGE, if there are real corpses buried underground, I'd guess the number would exceed a million. Good thing that you don't need to sleep in this game, and the view is wide, I won't lose my way again.

Along the way I can see bones of whatever creatures near those broken tombstones. Sometimes human skulls. The whole area reminds me of the Necropolis from the game Might and Magic. What is Zhong Hua company trying to do here, creating such a big graveyard?!

I finally made it to the bridge when I realized that it looked shorter from a distance, but it's actually more than 5 kilometers. And the lake, something is wrong about the lake as well. The surface of the massive lake is calm, actually the water looks a bit gluey. It's pitch black, occasionally some bubbles would burst on it. There is no weird smell, though.

As I'm considering whether I should cross the bridge, Lucky flew out of my arms and snorted at the lake. I think it tried to breath fire but is still too small to learn that skill.

Shifting my view from Lucky to the lake, I saw some big bubbles coming out of the water, followed by a giant fin with membrane and sharp spikes grown all over it. That fin stood 20 meters above the water. And I think I know what kind of horrible creature would be lurking under the surface. From it's direction, it isn't coming for me. That's good.

There is a even bigger fin appeared not far. Looks like the two monsters are going to fight.

And yes, the two fins started to rush towards each other. With a BOOM, a water pillar exploded above the lake bringing all kinds of stuff and junk into the mid air. I covered my head and ran in panic.

In the chaos, I tripped over something and fell to the ground face-first. The moment I raised my head, a long sword stabbed right into my arm. I scream. Blood burst out. With great effort I pulled the sword out. The wound is still bleeding and my HP is dropping like mad. I quickly gulped down my only health potion. After a red flash, the wound is sealed.

Oh damn this bad luck! I was just watching monsters fight why would something hit me from the sky?!

I stood up. Clang! A heavy shield dropped on my head right on the mark, I almost fall again.

Shit! Is this a prank??

I immediately picked up the shield, raised it over my head and ran towards the woods. Ding! Thung! Clank! Unknown objects kept hitting the shield. My arms almost went numb.

I've almost reached the woods when I realized I'm covered by a big shadow. What's going on?? I poked my head carefully from under the shield and looked upwards. And I nearly wet my pants.

A huge eel, which must have been above a hundred meters long, is falling. Unfortunately I am standing exactly at where it will land.

Out of instinct, I dropped to the ground and pointed my sword upwards. I only felt a weight on my arm and then my mind went black.

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The coldness on my face woke me up. Looks like Lucky is licking at me again. I checked my body. Nothing serious. I tried to look around, it seems I'm buried. Obviously that thing above my head must be the damn eel. My sword is stuck on the ground, with the pointy end keeping the eel above me, creating a small space.

I was thinking about how to get out when the eel disappeared in a white flash. With another "Clang", my newly obtained sword broke into two pieces. Then I heard the system notice:

"Player Ziri has reached level 25.

Player Ziri has reached level 26.

Player Ziri has reached level 27.

Player Ziri has reached level 28.

Player Ziri has reached level 29."

"Huh? That worked?" This system is funny! But free EXP is always welcomed. It's a pity this eel is only a high level monster, not a boss. Or else I would be receiving reward again.

My happiness came to an end when I picked up my sword, or the remains of my sword. Argh! It broke in half! It's not anything valuable, but how do I level with my only weapon gone?! Why did I throw away my Rookie Sword in the first place?!

Then I felt something cold with my hand. Isn't this the sword which stabbed into my arm earlier? Ha! There is always a way out!

However, my mood instantly fell again, because I just found out that I cannot equip this sword. My attributes are:

Level 29,

Strength 377,

Dexterity 174,

Intelligence 58,

Spirit 87,

Constitution 232.

The requirement of this sword is:

Level 30,

Strength 300,

Dexterity 160,

Constitution 150.

Ergh! Why is this happening?! Why can't I equip it?!

I searched on the ground, the eel dropped something like a bead, or a fish eye. But I can't Identify it. There are also 17 gold pieces.

And some equipments flushed onto the shore now scattered around. Most of them are broken, I only found three usable pieces.

One is the shield which hit my head, I Identified it as "Wall Shield", a Large Shield, I can use it alright. Defense 75, block rate 35% and 10% chance of reflecting damage.

A leg guard called "Dark Protection". Defense 80, 10% Lightning resistance, 10% Dark resistance, 5% movement speed. Level requirement 37, can't use yet.

The last one is that shitty sword I can't use! I put everything I can't use into the inventory. I can sell them to exchange for something else anyway.

Knowing there is a scary monster in the lake, I crouched over the bridge and moved forward, keeping my head low. Maybe that thing can leap out of the water and kill me!

I reached the end of the bridge in fear, ahead of me now is the gate of the city. The grand gate is made of heavy stone, 18 meters tall and 7 meters wide. Above the gate are two big words "Forgotten City". I got goosebumps just by looking at it!

I'm even more scared once inside the city. It's deserted. I'm not saying the city is ruined, it's the opposite: the buildings in the whole city look magnificent. All of them are built with blackish stone blocks, they look really sturdy. But all these black buildings under the dark sky really creep me out!

"He-hello?" I shouted. But my voice is trembling with fear.

Shiing! Two black long swords appeared at my neck.

"This is the city of the dead, the living ones are not welcomed! Leave now!" The speaker is a knight fully covered in black armor, and four followers, in black armors as well. Even their mounts are enclosed in full black armor. The speaker is obviously their leader, because a red plume is decorated on his helmet.

There are already players with such cool equipment? I used Identify and almost had a heart attack.

The leader is a Mythal Legion Knight Centurion, level 250 Dark Knight, my Identify can't reveal anything else. His followers are Mythal Legion Knights, level 200, their skills are Group Charge and Intimidate, and I can't see their further information either! They are NPCs. Now I know why they look so strong!

Because I didn't give any reaction, one of the knight decided to slash at me. I closed my eyes but nothing hit me. When I opened my eyes I saw Lucky hovering in front of me, shrieking at the knights.

What I didn't expect is that all five knights got off their horses. Their leader spoke: "I didn't know this is the Black Dragon Lord. I apologize!"

Lucky is still fluttering its wings and shouting at the knights, but they just answered with obedience: "Yes! At your command!" And then they jumped onto their horses and rushed into the city. Lucky turned around and called at me in delight. I petted it to show my gratitude.

With the five knights gone, I started to stride into the city. Looks like Lucky is well respected here!

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Ugh. Got some nasty work here. Sorry but can't update anything during weekend.