Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Galion, the cartographer from Holinda, used the map he sold to teach Kaizen the best routes to the Royal City, as requested.

Between these two great cities, there were many different routes, roads, and paths to follow. For centuries merchants and markets had plotted their own routes and which ones they thought were the fastest and safest. Crossing paths with monsters that suddenly appeared on the way was not uncommon, but two habits were necessary to avoid this kind of situation.

The first was not to travel at night because it was common knowledge that monsters usually became more active and numerous at night.

The second habit was that if you travel, always travel in a group. After all, just as it was not difficult to find monsters, it was not difficult to find thieves.

Kaizen left the store grateful for Galion's help with his tips. In addition to adding information about several areas and points of interest to his game map, he also knew how to get to the Royal City by a less conventional route but quicker than any other. Would there be some risks? Yes, but he was confident in his own strength.

After leaving the mapmaker's store, Kaizen located the town's main livery on the map and walked there. Since he had sold the Beast Mount he had obtained, he needed a new mount to facilitate his journey to the Royal City.

'If I have a choice, I'd rather have a normal horse this time...'

Although the convenience of having Chiron was nice because he could summon the Mount at any time, the fact that it was a creature that drew a lot of attention and could not obey his commands was something that irritated him from the very first moment. That being the case, Kaizen was not sorry to sell it because, to him, it was just an item like any other.

Yes, Chiron was an Epic Beast Mount, only that Epic Rank items are only on the third scale of strongest items in the game, meaning that for someone like Klaus, an Epic item was not enough to get attached to. In addition, Kaizen thought that having an ordinary horse would be better suited to his low-key style of early-game play.

When Kaizen entered Holinda's stable, he didn't consider the stereotype other people had for choosing horses, who usually looked for the most beautiful and well-kept horse. It didn't matter what the appearance was, just the statistics.

The inside of the stable stank of manure. There was dry straw covering the entire floor. Dozens of cramped stalls filled the establishment, divided into two long corridors. All the horses were tied up during the day, and some received individual care from the caretakers.

A horse caretaker at the facility saw Kaizen from afar, deciding to approach him immediately. He was also wearing a leather jumpsuit, large boots, and gloves.

As he approached, this man said snidely:

"I see you are not with a horse. Are you thinking of buying one, or are you just snooping around here?"

"I want a horse. Which one is your best?"

The caretaker, who appeared to be around twenty years old and had dark blue hair, looked at Kaizen, narrowed his eyes, and presented a horse that was right next to the entrance.

"This is Bentley, our best horse. Will you take him?"

The horse presented looked very good indeed. Its black mane was well combed, and its white fur shone; only again, it was not the horse's appearance that Kaizen cared about.

Using the <Analyzer Eye>, Kaizen noticed that the horse was still level 2 and its attributes were terrible, so the horse only had beauty.

"When I said I want the best, that's the best I'm talking about. You understand that, right?" Kaizen stepped forward and said, facing the man.

"Okay, you have good eyes. Follow me, stranger."

Together they made their way to the back of the large stable. There was a corral a little larger than the others in this place, and inside it was a horse.

This horse was huge, and its coat was so white that it looked like a giant snowflake. Its crest was also white, and its eyes were red like blood. He seemed a little larger than average but had impressively muscular legs.

"This is Alfie, a three-year-old horse who has won several races and marathons. He can travel for a whole day and still won't get tired. He is also a very calm animal who cares who is riding him."

Looking with the <Analyzing Eye>, Kaizen could see that the caretaker was not lying by almost announcing how fast Alfie was.

[Creature: Alfie (White Horse)

Level: 8 | Attribute: Mammal | Nature: Primal

HP: 300 | MP: 0

Attack: 5 | Defense: 10 | Speed: 30

Strength: 25 | Wisdom: 3 | Endurance: 10]

"If you wish to buy him, I can sell him for 15 gold coins. He's the best in the town, man. I can't do it cheaper than that."

Now that Kaizen had over eleven thousand gold coins, he didn't think 15 gold was that expensive, but that didn't stop him from mentally converting that money to dollars.

Would the $150 investment in a horse be worth it? He had only spent half of that to buy the armor he was wearing right now.

Suddenly, a huff of stress from another horse caused Kaizen to look back and notice, still with the <Analyzer Eye> activated, the presence of a completely black and dirty horse. It was possible to notice from afar that the poor thing with flies all over its chest, the creature also had filthy fur and a weak appearance. Nevertheless, the most impressive thing about this horse was its stats.

[Creature: Black Cloud (Black Horse)

Level: 5 | Attribute: Mammal | Nature: Mutant

HP: 433/600 | MP: 0

Attack: 10 | Defense: 15 | Speed: 50

Strength: 45 | Wisdom: 15 | Endurance: 30

Special Condition Applied: [Wounded]].

"What about this horse here?" Kaizen asked, approaching Black Cloud, ignoring the caretaker's attempts to sell Alfie.

The dark blue-haired man soon placed himself between the player and Black Cloud, preventing the approach.

"Sir, this horse is very dangerous. He arrived here two weeks ago, and since then, no caretaker has been able to get any closer than this without getting kicked. We don't know what's wrong with him, so the stable owner will send a rider to sacrifice him."

"Sacrifice him? Why on earth would they do that?"

"I don't know. I don't agree with that either. However, if the boss understands that the horse cannot be resold or used, he will have it sacrificed."

Kaizen gave Black Cloud another long look and decided:

"I will buy him. How much will you sell him to me for?"

"Are you sure you want to buy this horse?" The caretaker asked because all it would take was a brief glance, and any other customer would dismiss that idea.

"Yes, I will buy this horse. Is one gold coin enough? Here." Kaizen tossed a gold coin to the caretaker. "Now, step aside. I will open the gate."

"Right!"

Since Kaizen could see the creatures' statistics, he was the only one who realized that Black Cloud was injured, so he was the only one who could help the animal with this problem.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa /NandoFalske

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