“Thanks for the help,” Tier said as he tried to get up on his own.

“Thanks for the quest as well, buddy,” Zackhs grinned. “Also thanks for the commotion you caused since I was lost in the jungle while farming EXP.”

Both of them quickly checked the items dropped by the assassins before Ril’dil walked too far. The old monk happily continued striding forward after the assassins had been dealt with, ignoring the fact that players need to check for items.

However, Tier's curiosity of Zackhs’ tale compelled him to ask, “You were lost when doing a quest?”

“Uhh…. At first I was gathering herbs for one quest, then I saw my EXP was not that far from levelling up, so I started fighting the creatures here, then I levelled up, and I thought I could keep going for a little bit more EXP….”

“Understood.” Tier nodded. Zackhs’ answer might be useful one day since it taught Tier that gaining EXP from combat doesn't seem to be that bad. So he doesn’t really need to focus only on quests.

Tier grabbed a leather bracer from the window that popped up from the body of the last assassin he checked. As both of them hastily followed Ril’dil, Tier equipped the brand new item.

“‘Grats,” Zackhs cheered as he saw Tier’s new equipment. “Bracers are reserved for hunters, right?”

“Yup,” Tier confirmed. 

As far as he knew - from Bur’ru’s explanations - the equipment used by each class in Zurefgar varies. For starters, equipment types are separated into cloth, leather, mail, and plate. 

Plates are reserved for warrior-like classes. Brigandines, which are commonly used by hunters, are categorised as mail. Leathers are mostly worn by mystics and shamans, except for bracers which are worn by hunters. Spellcasters are definitely using cloth while rogues use a combination of anything available.

The basic equipment slots are head, chest, arms, hands, legs, and boots. Each class also has their own additional slot of items. A lot of classes wear cloaks and trinkets on top of their own unique slots. Hunters don’t have those item slots, but they get a ranged weapon slot, bracer, and quiver or ammo pouch. Each item slot gives different stats, thus it is up to the players to mix and match the items to their need according to the type and slot available to their classes.

Tier had to admit that the diversity of the equipable items seemed very interesting to him, especially how versatile the rogue class equipment would be. Maybe sometime he could ask Fathan about that.

Ril’dil soon reached his destination, a camp at the northwestern coast with a pier for boats. The old monk laughed  happily as he thanked the two players, “This be our farewell for now, young ones. Remember, da spirits will always be with ya.”

When the quest finished with Ril’dil’s farewell, Tier gained enough EXP to level up - which triggered silhouettes and roars of various animals to appear above him in quick succession.

“That’s a sick level up animation,” Zackhs said enthusiastically. “Warriors only have some kind of weapon clanging above us.”

Tier, trying to avoid being the focus of the conversation, misdirected the discussion “I saw priests also have a good one, a ball of light and darkness swirl around them and then meet on top of their heads, exploding into stardust. Suit their class so well.”

Zackhs sighed as he followed Tier who was walking towards Bur’ru, “Warriors really got the end of the stick in this animation thing. I should change class before I reach 20.”

Frowning from the weird comment, Tier asked, “Why? I don’t think level up animations should matter that much.”

“Not just that, buddy,” Zackhs shook his head. “It is clearly a factor, but I want to be a tank and warriors don't really suit my need for my vision of a tank.”

Tier turned at Zackhs. His eyes were dead serious. “By vision, are you thinking of transforming into a freaking Churchill tank?”

It took Zackhs a while to contemplate in silence before he seemed to realise what Tier meant. The warrior laughed so hard that he had trouble talking or breathing. “Pfft… n-not that….”

Knowing that it would take a while for Zackhs to gain his composure, Tier turned at Bur’ru who greeted him with joy. These class trainer NPCs are apparently located in many places. Tier was hoping there would be several trainers, but it seemed that the game dev chose to stick to one NPC per race per class to make it feel like the NPCs are close mentors to the players. Not to mention that they also kinda update their dialogues depending on the player’s progress.

“My friend, I assume the old priest gave ya a headache with his ‘wisdom’,” Bur’ru giggled. “Yet, be worry not, he meant no harm and perhaps a bit lonely.“

The hunter trainer eyed Tier for a brief moment, as if scanning the player's whole stats. Then continued, “Ya be ready to get out from dis island.” Bur’ru pointed at the pier. “Take a boat to Darukun Jungle at the coast of the Grand Continent. The orcs there be welcoming. We be calling them friends, they be calling us brothers, now we be returning the favour by calling them brothers. We be talking about your paths there.”

Bur’ru’s grin widened, he whispered playfully, “Now, don’t get seasick, my friend. Else the ancestors and spirits be questioning your nature as a rakhs.”

Tier shuddered. The thought of taking a boat had made him sick even before he needed to experience it.

“So, we going there, buddy?” Zackhs approached Tier who was still mulling about taking a boat.

“Is there no teleport? Do we have to take a boat?”

Zackhs shrugged, he walked closer towards the pier, talked to an NPC, then returned with a rather concerned look. “Bad news, buddy,” He sighed. “The boat it is, and it should come in around 3 minutes.”

“You mean that ship?” Tier pointed at a small wooden ship sailing through the rough sea. Some players started to flock towards the pier.

“Probably.”

“But that’s a ship! Not a boat!” Tier protested.

Zackhs laughed, “Perhaps it is a boat from a rakhs’ perspective.”

“Whatever. It is a seafaring vehicle nonetheless.”

Tier begrudgingly followed Zackhs and some other players to hop on the ship. Conveniently, a storm brewed as the ship sailed through the vast sea towards a huge landmass on the horizon.

“I’m gonna die, tell  my  family and friends that I cared about them. Also please tell Mana I love her, though she won't ever love me back,” Tier sighed, loud enough to be heard by other players, especially Zackhs. The nausea is already enough to kill him even without the storm.

Contradictory to the now pale faced hunter, Zackhs was brimming with energy as if he had syphoned all the positivity around him which in turn caused the sky to darken. He shouted in full confidence, “I don’t know who your family and friends are. And who is Mana? Don’t worry buddy, we will make it to …”

A gigantic lightning bolt and loud thunder interrupted Zackhs. The so-called boat rocked as the sea turned treacherous.

“We be meeting da ancestors!!! Da spirits be demanding our souls!!!”

Ril’dil, who apparently was on the ship as well, wailed desperately. The old monk walked towards the front part of the ship and started yelling prayers. Some of the players panicked while Zackhs tried to calm them down.

As for Tier, he had accepted his fate and lied motionless against the mast - which he had tied himself to. Closing his eyes, Tier had hoped that if he would drown or be struck by lightning, then he would respawn at Darukun Jungle. At least he wouldn’t need to take another sea trip.

“I didn’t sign up for this.”