ACT 1 Pets will grow with food and affection?

Eh? What is this?

Perplexity rang out through the dark cave.

It was clearly here..

Ark looked around with confusion.He checked the features, looked at the map and thought back through his memory. It was impossible he went to the wrong cave. But he couldnt find a passage no matter how hard he looked.There were just rocks blocking the front.

What on earth is going on?

Ark sat down with a frustrated expression and was locked in his thoughts.Ark was currently located south of the capital city of Schudenberg Kingdom, Selebrid.There was a reason Ark left his new business in Lancel village and came all the way here to visit the organization with a long history in assassinations, the Dark Brothers.The trials which appeared in front of Ark..he determined that the quests <Study the Mirage> and <The Resurrection of the Netherworlds World Tree> needed the Dark Brothers help in order to succeed.Of course, gathering forces inside a game wasnt an easy task.But not long ago, Ark had helped suppress a rebellion which increased his intimacy with the Dark Brothers. He also grasped the situation in the Netherworld and came up with a justification to convince the Dark Brothers.

It the negotiations proceed as I expect then it will be possible to succeed!

However there was an unexpected hitch in Arks plan.He gained entrance to the Dark Brothers hidden stronghold Salrins Towers through the secret passage connected to Nabeins hideout and the location to receive assassination requests.That was also the cave where Ark was currently sitting.But it wasnt there.The passage which was clearly there before wasnt visible anymore.

It is impossible to move the towers and everybody insideso why is the entrance blocked? Did something happen in the meantime? Maybe they fled because their home base was found by a professional hunter organization

If so, it was quite frustrating.

No, it cant be that.

Ark shook his head.The Dark Brothers had been active in the darkness for hundreds of years.If there were serious friction with users or another NPC organization then Selebrid which was close by would be buzzing like a beehive.However, he visited Selebrid before coming here and it was quiet.

Then the Dark Brothers didnt suddenly flee somewhere else. Theyre still here. They just blocked the entrance for some reason. But if they blocked the entrance then how would the hundreds of people in their organization leave? In other wordsthere is another passage!

A smile formed on Arks mouth.

I dont know why theyre hiding the entrance but I wont back off just from this.

Thats right. Although the entrance was blocked, their home base was still around here so the assassins would scout the forest.Of course, they used Stealth in avoid to avoid most peoples eyes.But it didnt matter if they could hide using Stealth.

Radun, search the area using Stalking.

Ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!

When Ark exited the cave and gave the order, Radun instantly jumped down from his waist. Then it raised its head and searched the area with its tongue.

-Radun has used Stalking.

Within an hour, the footprints of all the life forms passing through the forest were found.As expected after activating the skill..no, more footprints appeared than he expected.Thanks to that Arks expression became even more frustrated.

Thats right, this area is south of Selebrid.

Of course there would be a lot of movement of users and NPCs.On the other hand, Raduns stalking couldnt specify a particular target and could only search for all the traces around.There were dozens and even hundreds of footprints all over the place so it was impossible to find the assassins traces.

Unbelievable.

Ssak ssak? Ssak ssak ssak ssak?

Its skill had succeeded so Radun waved its tail expecting a compliment.However Ark had sighed so Raduns eyes seemed to convey Dad, did I so something wrong?Ark laughed bitterly and stroked Raduns head.

No, you did well. Its just troublesome seeing so many footprints.

But it did not help? Right?

Its still better than having no clues.

Im sorry, Dad. Im a useless snake.

Radun was almost in tears at this point while Ark continued stroking its head. If Dedric or Razak saw this scene, they would complain but it was a common scene.His ten fingers would become sore from scratching. Sometimes it would become so sore that the senses in the fingers would dull. Therefore Raduns affection for Ark was always at 120%! Now he could guess what Radun was saying just by looking in its eyes.Of course, whether it was painful or not everybody needs 10 fingers

Well, I cant just sit here staring at the footprints so I should look everywhere else..

Ark sighed and moved his body.

Eh?

Ark looked at the footprints and suddenly realised something strange.So far, Ark had never questioned the footprints Radun found. Thus he had never worn a doubtful expression. However, he realized something after seeing hundreds of footprints gathered in one place.

Some of the footprints look slightly different!

Wasnt it like looking for objects in a hidden picture?The first time it was hard to see the different before after a while it started to become noticeable. Ark was the same. Once he noticed that the footprints were different, the differences were clearly revealed.

Thats right, there are many different types of shoes in New World. And the physique of the user or NPC wearing the shoes is also different. It is natural for the footprints to look different depending on the physique and shoe type. If thats the case?

A scene he saw in a foreign drama flashed through Arks head. It was the US drama popular in a long time ago, CSI!In that show, the crime scene investigators looked at the killers physique, personality, habits etc. in order to figure out a lot of information. He remembered a scene where the investigator was smug and said A footprint is like a second fingerprint.

Couldnt that also be applied to New World?

This isnt CSI but I should be able to figure out some basic information.

Ark surveyed the footprints again thanks to his idea and made some deductions.

Lets see..the depth of this footprint is shallow but the form is still intact. Its clearly a cloth shoe so the profession should be magician or merchant? On the other hand, this footprint is quite deep. They should be wearing clunky shoes with a lot of weight so it should be a warrior or knight profession. Im looking for an assassin so they should be wearing leather shoes. It isnt here. Radun, please search a little bit more.

Ssak ssak? Ssak ssak ssak!

Radun suddenly became lively at Arks command and moved around while shaking its tail. And it found even more footprints in the surrounding area.

Okay, this is it! For sure!

Ark used the conclusions he previously figured out to eliminate the footprints one by one.He was looking for footprints that seemed to be from leather shoes. But leather shoes were worn by a lot of regular NPCs and users.Ark also wore leather shoes. However, Ark was looking for footprints with a narrow stride. Normal NPCs and users would not leave a narrow stride in the mountains.If such a footprint remained then it was likely..

It is because when scouting, they want to make as little sound as possible while using Stealth. The Dark Brothers are the only ones who would use Stealth in order to scout. Then Ill start the chase!

Ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!

Ark used amazing forensic techniques!Radun watched the process and looked at Ark with even more admiring eyes. Then a new information window appeared with lively sound effects.

-Your pet Radun has gained a new expertise from its Master.

The pets understanding and application of various skills is poor. So it will not raise the skill through repeated uses unlike a user.In order to raise the skill proficiency of your pet the Master must understand the skill and then pass it onto the pet, stimulating their growth.Arks understanding of Stalking has reached the conditions needed to raise Raduns stalking to a higher rating.

However, the proper training needs sincere affection to accomplish. In order to raise the skill levels of your pets, you need to pay a certain number of affection points.

<Affection needed to raise Raduns Stalking skill to an intermediate level: 50>

Would you like to raise Raduns Stalking to intermediate?