No one outside Liguritudum had known yet that a second outworlder monarch had emerged.
While Master was focusing on studying the monarch system, Jack set foot for the first time in Verremor Nation. Of course, he did it under his third disguise, Iamanorc. Otherwise, he would be thrown out already if he appeared in Verremor's portal zone as a human. Or worse, thrown into jail since he was also the sovereign of this country's nemesis.
He stood there looking around. The buildings in this city looked to be made of giant-sized bones and wood, with their walls covered by leather. The leather looked as hard as steel, though. The roofs were traditional thatched roofs.
The orc soldiers guarding the zone portal paid him no mind. Nowadays, outworlders passed through this portal regularly.
Not long after, an orc player approached. "Iamanorc?" That orc greeted. "I'm Whisky, from Everlasting Heavenly Legends. Welcome to Larabar."
Jack nodded. He didn't wear his Cloak of Shadow so the other side could identify him. He also used his Inspect and confirm Whisky's identity. Whisky was a level 59 Priest.
Jack had asked Jeanny to arrange for an orc guild member who stayed in Verremor to be his guide. He would have preferred Life Runner. Larabar was the main city Life Runner had entered this world. But Life Runner had joined the Themisphere kingdom faction and became one of its royal guards, so he was no longer able to walk around freely in Verremor.
"What kind of an alias is Iamanorc, anyway?" Whisky asked. "I don't even know if I have pronounced it right. How do you pronounce it?"
"I am an orc," Jack answered.
"I know you are an orc. I asked how do you pronounce your name."
"I am an orc," Jack said again.
"… Dude, are you messing with me? You do know I am a member of the number one guild in… Holy shit! That is your name, I am an orc! F*ck me, man! Do you have to pick such a name? Well, let me guess. You must be very confused when all this happened. You found yourself as an orc, and you probably think you have gone insane. You keep on thinking I am an orc! I am on orc! So, when you found the startup chest where we have to pick our class, you just put in I am an orc as your alias. Man… I can relate. We all went through that shit."
Jack just stood there listening, all the while impressed by the guy's imagination. Jack didn't want to disappoint him, so Jack just nodded at his story.
"Come," Whisky said. "I was told to take you to Troll's Pissing Pot."
Troll's Pissing Pot was the name of a tavern in Larabar. It was most famous as a frequent hangout for outworlders in that city. It was also owned by outworlders instead of natives. The tavern was the property of the number one guild in Verremor, Cipher Flight.
"You must be pretty close with the high-ups of my guild," Whisky said as they walked. "Our first leader messaged me herself and instructed me to accompany you and do everything you ask."
"We are pretty close," Jack told the truth.
"Really? Then why don't you join our guild?" Whisky asked. Jack's orc disguise was a blank slate, so he was not associated with any guild. "Our guild is the number one guild in Themisphere. Everyone wants to join, but not everyone can. If you are truly close to our leader as you claim to be, then you should have no problem joining."
"I prefer…"
"Or are you afraid to join because you are an orc?" Whisky said before Jack complete his sentence. "There is no worry. See, I am also an orc. As long as you don't go and join the Themisphere kingdom faction, you will be just fine. Or, is it because you have joined the Verremor kingdom faction? I see, you can't join our guild because you can't move around freely in Themisphere."
Jack wanted to say he preferred his freedom. But since he admired Whisky's imagination so much, he decided to just go along with the guy's story.
Whisky proved to be quite a chatty and easy-going fellow, if not a bit too imaginative. They soon arrived in front of a large building that was four floors high. Aside from the closed-walls ground floor, the other three upper floors were opened on all sides.
A cacophony of voices was heard from inside. There were shouts and screams and singing. Jack couldn't be sure if the people inside were quarreling or celebrating. It was still early morning but it sounded like the tavern was full, or was the people inside had been there since the night before?
Then out of the second floor, he saw an orc player fly out and fall on the ground right beside him.
'Okay, one of those noises was surely a quarrel,' Jack thought.
Crazily, instead of standing back up, the falling orc stayed on the ground. Jack used his Inspect to make sure the orc wasn't dead. He wasn't. He was instead snoring on the ground.
"Don't mind that. This is quite common here,' Whisky said. He then looked at Jack with a weird face and asked, "You do live in this country, don't you?"
"Ah, yes. It's just this is the first time I come to this city."
"I've been to many cities in this country, it is the same rowdiness. Well, never mind that. Come in. Just don't antagonize anyone if you want to be left alone. If you do, be ready for a fight. Everyone likes to fight everyone in this country. Probably all that frustration for having to live with ugly orc faces for the rest of our lives. But don't worry, if you get into a fight, I will keep you alive with my healing spells."
"Gee, thanks," Jack said.
They went in and Jack could see the source of the noises he heard from outside. It was indeed rowdy and messy. There was even a fistfight at the corner. People were placing bets on the fight.
"Come. It looks full, but we should be able to find an empty table," Whisky said.
"Hold! I already made an appointment with someone here," Jack said.
Before Whisky could ask who was it Jack was meeting with, Jack caught a busy serving maid and asked, "I'm sorry, miss. Do you know where I can find Four Winds? I have an appointment with him."
The maid looked at Jack with a weird face, as if saying, 'Do you think I'm going to bring any stranger who says he wants to meet the owner?'
"I will take it from here," Jack heard a voice from behind. He turned and saw Water Lily.
"Lily!" Jack called cheerfully.
"You know we were enemies twice, right? Why do you sound like I am your long-lost friend?"
"You know what they said. Yesterday's enemy is today's friend."
"I have no idea of such a saying," Lily said. "Thankfully, you are not wearing your usual face. So, I can still bear you a little. Come, I will bring you to Four Winds."
Whisky had no idea what the two were talking about. But he did know about Water Lily and Four Winds, they were the big shots in Cipher Flight. He became even more curious about this Iamanorc. Who exactly was this orc? Iamanorc was not only close to his guild's leader, but apparently, also to the leaders of the number one guild in Verremor as well.
