Haven Online: Brewing Chaos

Chapter 21: BellPort

The next ten minutes seemed to fly by as Fenix waited to be teleported. Before he knew it there was a blinding flash of light that enveloped him and he was transported to a new location.

As his vision cleared, he found himself in a quaint town with cobblestone streets that were lined with buildings adorned with stunning archways and intricate designs, reminiscent of old European architecture. Looking closer, he noticed that even the NPCs (non-player characters) were dressed in 16th-century attire, complete with feathered hats and ruffled sleeves. The only thing out of place were their distinctive nose cuffs.

He also saw a lot of other players littering the streets, each one engrossed in their own tasks - some setting up shop to sell goods, others recruiting for their guilds, and some grouping up to complete quests together.

As Fenix looked around at all of the hustle and bustle, he felt a sense of familiarity wash over him. It made him feel as though he was truly back again, that this really was his second chance.

While he was taking in his new surroundings, a notification popped up in front of him, catching him off guard. Clutching his chest he looked at the message.

[System: The Map function has been activated!]

He couldn't help but smile as he read it. Fenix had almost forgotten that the map function would activate at level ten, having mistakenly thought it was at level fifteen. Nevertheless, he was grateful it came sooner rather than later, since he knew how useful a map would be.

With that thought he began weaving his way through the bustling crowd. Opening the map to check his location in Ziam, Fenix watched as it appeared before his eyes. Luckily it was semi-transparent, that way he would be able to navigate without bumping into anyone.

Bellport, the town's name, stood out clearly on top of the map, but everything else was frustratingly blank. He knew he would need to purchase a town map from the general store to get more specific information about the area's layout.

Once he did that the map would show his exact location, but he would have to level it up for it to become truly helpful. This meant acquiring compasses by either buying or finding them, which would unlock features showing various types of plants, monsters, and minerals in the area.

For now, he was just relieved to know which town he was in. Bellport was an ideal starting point for him as it was conveniently located near several lakes and rivers - a stroke of luck for Fenix. Plus, being situated in the inner region and close to the capital made it even better.

Although there were a couple of towns in the inner area, all basic starting points for new adventures, these towns had different environments. From what he read on the forums, for his race, this town and another called Prenton Village were the best options for him.

However, what all these towns had in common was that they were in the inner area, which harbored low-level monsters. The farther a player traveled out to the distant cities, the higher the level of the monsters would be.

Fenix didn't need to worry about that now, since he wasn't strong enough yet to venture out to those towns anyway. He needed to obtain a class before considering anything else, regardless.

The class Fenix wanted was a bit different from the regular ones; it was a completely new one introduced by the creators just last year.

The class was called Artisan, and there were two different versions of it: the tailor/blacksmith hybrid and the chef/potion maker hybrid. An artisan is a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand.

So, naturally, the Artisan would be a mishmash of life skills. Many people thought that the Artisan was a way for the game creators to cater to players who enjoyed life skills, providing a class that allowed them to fight while pursuing their preferred activities.

The class even granted double skill points, which made many people jealous, until they learned that every ten levels, the Artisan had to pass a test of their chosen life skill, and failing meant losing five levels. This knowledge tempered the envy.

The reason was that while the early tests were quite easy, they became progressively harder as the players leveled up their life skills. Some players even found themselves stuck in an endless failure loop, reaching an impasse.

Fenix remembered reading all the stories from players who chose the Artisan class on the game forums. In his previous life, he had always wished he could be one of them. He believed he could pass the tests for his chosen life skill if given the chance, and now he had that chance.

The Artisan class was divided into two types of fighting styles: close combat and ranged. For the blacksmith/tailor hybrid, choosing blacksmith as the fighter class meant wielding a giant hammer, while choosing tailor provided ranged attacks with poisoned needles.

The Chef/Potion-making hybrid was somewhat of a mystery. Despite its popularity after the update, most players used Chef as their fighter class. The few who experimented with potions reverted after a few days, citing difficulty in mastering the skills.

Although Fenix knew he wanted to be the top chef in the game and should choose the Chef fighting class for the principal of it, Fenix didn't really enjoy close combat. So, he decided to make potion-making his fighter class and, if he couldn't figure out the skills, he would just suck it up and change it.

Fenix walked through the town for a while before finding the place he was looking for. In order to change his class in the game, he needed to receive a quest from a job instructor. Each job instructor was located in a different place.

Warriors needed to go to the barracks, mages to the magic tower, and so on. However, artisan instructors were located in a variety of places. In this town, it was an old toy shop.

With a deep breath, Fenix turned the doorknob to the shop. This was a new path he was taking in the game, and he was eager to begin. However, before he could fully open the door, a notification popped up on his screen.

[System: ChibiSlacker is requesting a video chat. Do you accept it? Yes or No?]

It seemed ChibiSlacker had noticed Fenix's departure from the beginner town. Letting out a sigh, Fenix paused and hit Yes.

"Congrats, you're finally out of the beginner town. You took forever," ChibiSlacker's booming voice rang out.

Smiling, Fenix replied, "There was something I had to do, that's why it took so long."

"That's okay. So where did you end up?" asked ChibiSlacker.

"Bellport."

There was a moment of silence before ChibiSlacker spoke again. "That's pretty close to where I am. I'll come meet you there. It'll only take a few hours."

"But what about..." Before Fenix could finish his sentence, ChibiSlacker had already disconnected. Shaking his head in amusement at his friend's impulsiveness, Fenix stepped into the shop.