Soul Art Online

There were already many people gathered in the place and our entry gathered a lot of attention.

Many people looked at us and some were whispering among themselves.

"Looks like things are developing just as you expected." I said to Veena who looked completely unbothered at all the attention.

"Don't pay attention to them, dear." She replied, nonchalantly.

She must be in a position where she has to deal with the normal public more often.

Apart from the other players, we received the nods from many Knights as well.

We gathered at the head of the crowd, near the Knights and the stage where the City Lord would give his speech.

A while later, the countdown came to zero and the City Lord appeared on the stage with another person whom I recognised as the Holy Knight we had seen yesterday.

"Dear Citizens, I am very happy to inform you that the deadly threat to our home, Llyne….has finally been taken care of. We have finally destroyed all the goblin settlements in the surrounding areas of Llyne." He shouted, letting everyone digest the information. "....And for that….I cannot thank you enough." He finished.

"Yes, my citizens, this entire endeavour would have been fruitless without your assistance. Without all of you, we probably wouldn't have lasted a single hour against the attacking forces, let alone stop them long enough for the Knight Brigade to arrive and end the threat once and for all. For this….I am and will be eternally grateful to all of you. Give yourselves a big round of applause."

The crowd cheered loudly at his speech and he let everyone settle before continuing.

"Now coming back to other matters. As promised, your assistance in our moment of grave danger will not be forgotten. Everyone will be rewarded for their help according to their contribution. Everyone's contribution has been recorded by our Knights and they can collect their rewards from our Knights. That said, the top ten contributors are going to get rewarded by us personally. The one presenting the awards will be the Commander of the twentieth Legion of Knights under the Emperor, Holy Knight, Marquis Lord Conrad Black." He turned towards the other man and bowed slightly.

The crowd applauded.

The man in question himself looked at the crowd and nodded.

Just on cue, Kenneth came forward giving him a piece of parchment.

"Now, before I start calling on the brave warriors, I would like to clarify some things. Those who were working in parties, will have their points calculated according to their contribution in damaging the Goblins."

That explains a lot.

"Arthas." I heard Shiroe whisper to me.

"Yes."

"Change your class to Knight before the announcements. Maybe it could help us get some quests or something from the Conrad guy."

"Sure." I did just that.

On the stage, the City Lord started announcing the names of the people.

"In tenth place with three hundred and fifteen points is….Shooting for Milfs. Please come up and collect your rewards."

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There was a long silence in the entire Town Square.

It lasted for a few seconds before it was broken by a small chuckle which then increased and spread around as if it was a virus and covered the entire Town Square in almost an instant.

"I don't get it. What is so funny about it?" Veena asked me, looking confused.

I rolled my eyes. There she goes with her teasing again.

….or at least I thought so at the start.

Her expression didn't change for a while and I realised that she actually….really didn't understand what the name meant.

Very hesitantly I explained.

"The name or rather the word Milf stands for….Mother's I'd like to….well…."

"Yes?"

"Fuck."

"....oh." The look of realisation dawned in her eyes and she giggled too. "Oh my, that is funny. But then again, why would someone use such a name for themselves?"

"They were probably using this account to get a feel for the game then make another account. It's quite normal for people."

"Although there are some people who do this just for fun or to troll…." Looking at her confusion at the word, Shiroe added. "Troll is someone who takes pleasure in causing drama by arguing with people without wanting or accepting anyone's response. People can have a weird sense of humour."

"That they do."

We looked as a brown haired guy with glasses slowly walked up the stage. His face was red from the reaction of the crowd but he still received the reward.

The Holy Knight brought out a bow for the guy and presented it to the guy. "This is an Elven Bow made by the Woodelves of the Fairy Forest. I thank you for your contribution. You are a brave warrior, Shooting for Milfs. May you receive success in your endeavours." The man completed solemnly.

….

The crowd erupted in another burst of laughter while the guy looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole just so he could escape from the whole mess.

I took a look at Veena and saw that she was actually having fun with the whole thing instead of being offended and I sighed a breath of relief.

Poor guy quickly climbed down the stage and ran off somewhere, probably to hide.

The City Lord, unaware of what just happened and the real reason for people laughing, continued.

"In ninth place with four hundred and nineteen points is Dolphin Puncher."

The next guy was actually a close combat fighter. I knew Gareth was a Martial Artist, a brawler to be exact but I hadn't seen him yet so it was a surprise to see one here first. He looked like a middle aged man with black hair and the same coloured eyes.

He got a pair of boots and left the stage to go stand in one corner.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw three people going to talk to him.

Shiroe followed my gaze and looked at the people and filled me in. "That guy is Dwain's Party member."

"Hmm." I nodded.

This is actually a good place to scout out potential members for any group.

The City Lord however didn't give them any time and continued.

"In eighth place with four hundred and thirty five points is….oh my, how do I spell this…." The man paused before taking a deep breath and forced himself to spell the name. "XxX_VoidSamurai_XxX."

….

The guy had a sabre on his side and walked up the stage and collected his prize.

He looked quite happy at the reward and bowed before leaving the stage.

"Should we?" I asked Shiroe.

"No. We should wait till the names are all announced. Talking to them after we get a better place will be more advantageous in a negotiation." Veena said as she looked at the guy too.

We nodded and looked forward.

One by one people came forward.

Seventh Place was a guy called Messer. From the looks of it. He was an archer too.

He got a plate mail helmet.

Ah, I needed a good helmet.

Shiroe saw me eying the helmet and said. "He's in Gareth's team so I doubt he would trade it."

"Still, there are a lot of Archers in the group." Veena commented.

"Obviously. They could most likely snipe as many enemies as they could from the safety of the walls. This type of raid gives an excellent advantage to any ranged attackers like archers." Shiroe replied.

"In sixth place is Gareth with five hundred and eighty five points."

A bulky man with a slightly balding head walked up. He was wearing a light leather armour and the rest of his gear were above the rest too.

He was given a pair of Gauntlets.

The guy equipped it instantly and waved at the crowd before climbing down the stairs.

Several people gathered around him and the crowd looked at him too.

"In fifth place with seven hundred and eighteen points is Dwain."

A blonde guy who looked like he would be in his thirties walked up the stairs. He had a confident smirk on his face. In fact, the female players were actually more excited. The guy also seemed to revel in their attention. He waved to the crowd with a smile before bowing to the Holy Knight to receive his reward.

The guy was rewarded with a magic bow. He smiled as he looked at the bow.

I guess he was reading the effects of the bow.

Looking satisfied with whatever he read, he went another step and nocked an arrow in and fired it in the air.

The arrow changed into a streak of flame and tore through the air.

Oh….

The guy thanked the Holy Knight once more and came down the stage and to his group before he was surrounded by many people.

"That's the enthusiasm. Now, in fourth place with one thousand and eleven points is….Shooting Star."

Murmurs ran through the crowd as a guy in what looked to be a cow-boy hat, waked up the stage. He had a bow on his back and a sword on his side.

I looked at Shiroe. "Know him?"

Shiroe shook his head. "No. I haven't even heard of him."

I took a look at the guy and saw that he was a young guy around my age. He had black hair and blue eyes and was extremely calm even in the face of all the stares and murmurs.

But that was not what attracted my attention.

The thing that attracted my attention was his level.

"Level 29 Hunter." I said and Shiroe took another look at the guy.

"Seriously?!" Shiroe looked at the guy again. "That's amazing. He has to be the highest level player apart from our team in this town." He exclaimed.

The guy probably sensed my stare and looked at me.

Our eyes met and he smiled at us before going towards the Holy Knight and collecting his reward.

He got a crossbow, and a….Skill Book.

Many eyes were attracted to that Skill Book but the guy didn't care as he walked down the stairs and went to another corner and stood there with his back to the wall.

Before the crowd could bother them, the City Lord's voice stopped them.

"And now, we come to the last three people. The three people who changed the entire course of the war with their wit and courage. These three people not only faced the Goblin Hordes but also led people and defended their gates with less than tenth of the force used by other gates. I cannot find words good enough to praise them. Without them, I doubt we could have won this war as comfortably as we did. So without any further ado, let me call them to receive their honour. In third place with thirty nine thousand points is….Veena."

There was a sudden outburst at information as the crowd went wild.

I could hear the exclamations of thirty nine thousand and that's impossible, ring through the entire place. There were even claims of us cheating.

Yeah….tell that to the Game Master.

Even the Shooting Star guy was looking at us with stunned eyes.

We looked at Veena and gave her a nod and she took the lead to go to the stage.

Apparently, most of the people didn't know her name and they stared at our group in shock.

Veena went up to the stage and received her reward. The Holy Knight said something to her which we couldn't hear.

She was given a plate mail armour armour bottom, two pieces of papers, a book which I assume was a Skill Book and a ring.

She curtsied to the Holy Knight and walked down to us with a smile.

"Next up, in second place with fifty seven thousand points is….Shiroe."

Shiroe gave me a fist bump before walking forward.

The Holy Knight talked to him too and gifted him with three Skill Books, a necklace and a robe.

While this was happening, Kenneth came to me from the side and informed me about few things

At this point, everyone was looking at me.

There was almost no doubt in anyone's mind that the last person had to be me.

And sure enough, the City Lord continued. "And finally, I am especially happy to announce this name as the person. He is not only the one who brought the plan to protect the three gates to me but put his life as a bet to allow him the chance to do so. A member of Llyne's own Knight Academy, with one hundred and fifteen thousand points is….Arthas."

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The silence was deafening.