The middle-aged guy stared at Rex like the most impossible thing have happened, this continued for several moments, until he pulled up an antic from his table. An antic Rex easily identified. A relic of the 21st century, the peak of 'Bogus Engineering'.
As Rex racked his brain trying to recall what the slate-like junk was called, the fancy-dressed dude tampered with the slate.
'Oh yes!, it's called a tablet', Rex smiled as he recalled the name of the slate-shaped junk.
With nothing to do, he started studying the features of the man before him.
His hair were silky dark and had slight waves of silver mixed in between them; it did not bear signs of having been given any adequate attention recently, but the chaotic structure of it gave the calm features of his face a distinctive wildness...
'Damn, why I am so fixated on this dude's hair,' Rex cringed inwardly as he scanned for something else to fixate on.
"Welcome, Overlord Rex, to Cosmic Ascendance." The middle-aged man stood and looked up from his tablet with a courteous smile.
"I am Arthur X, the guardian of the triple-A dome of Intirium. Who is honoured to be your Guide through your journey as an F-Ranked player."
"Thank you," Rex muttered the only response that came to mind. Arthur X did not seem to have cared for any reply, as he continued his explanation.
"In this new reality of Cosmic Ascendance, you will walk the path to become an entity that wields strength that even the proudest of creatures in the Cosmos will shudder to."
"Power that even the densest of cosmic creatures will understand its greatness,"
"Power that….
Rex's mind had wandered to the window as Arthur X continued to sing praises of Cosmic Ascendance. He had always had a bit of an attention issue and the proud ramblings of Arthur X were not helping that course.
The window was overlooking a wide stone-paved road, he could spot individuals dressed in all kinds of attire, one could imagine.
From Armors worn on top of bespoke suits, to players complementing their chainmail armor with sneakers. Amidst the predominant chaotic fashion sense, he could still spot a few individuals who differed from the norm, spotting standard attire from single eras..
"Ehemmm"
Arthur X cleared his throat as he tried to gain back the attention of the uninterested Overlord.
Observing Rex's disinterest Arthur could not help but reminiscence on how much he hated the role he was playing, as he continued to go on with his ceremonial address.
". . .In your quest to ascend past your fated limit, you will carve your path to strength through abyssal creatures, explore the ruins of the past powerful ones, gain recognition of powerful inheritances and in doing all this, you will come to know the true beauty of the Cosmos." Arthur concluded his speech with an audible sigh
71%
The integration bar pulsed in Rex's view, reorienting him in the present as he tried to come up with a reply to Author X's narration.
"That sounds. . .Nice," he managed to say.
Author X walked up to an oakwood cabinet that was in his office, unlocking it and displaying five cleanly stacked weapons.
"Wowww"
Rex muttered instinctively. There was something about weapons that resonated with the human soul, maybe not all humans, but it definitely resonated with his soul.
Recalling the euphoria of smashing through undead skulls, his eyes were already fixated on a silver inscribed gauntlet among the assortment of weapons.
"To begin your ascendance journey as an Overlord class, you can select any of the following weapons to accompany you in your journey."
Rex's grin was infectious as he literally teleported infront of the cabinet instantly, ogling the lustre and shine of the equipments.
"You can pick any of them to inspect their attributes and the linked combat style," Author X said as he sat back comfortably on his seat, glad to be done with the whole welcoming ordeal.
He had barely made himself comfortable when Rex's voice stirred his peace.
"I can't view the attributes of this ehmm glove? . . .Gauntlet?" he asked, uncertain of what the item was. It was extremely light, and fit the description of a glove better than it did for a gauntlet.
The only feature that could still associate it with a gauntlet was the silver components that formed a kind of support structure across it and it slight heaviness.
Arthur X's eyes briefly pulsed blue as he inspected the development.
"Your player interface seems to be undergoing some form of transformation, don't worry about that I will introduce the weapons myself. They are mine after all."
"The item you hold are not gauntlets but a glove pair, part of a very powerful fashion set, 'The Enders Garb'."
"The official wear of the 17-seat Order of Yama. An ancient assassin order that their dread stirred even the hearts of gods."
"When equipped, it triples the user's strength and reduces stamina by 30%."
Rex dropped the glove, shock evident in his face.
"A 30% reduction in Stamina? That's a steep price."
"Yes, it is quite a costly one, but weapons or equipment with percent type augmentation are very rare and often have such demands," Arthur Explained.
Rex dropped the glove and picked up the next item that drew his attention.
"Sword of Ouara the demonbane, It amplifies the users damage by 50% and reduces all attributes by 10%."
Drop.
" Helekan's Axe, it doubles the users strength and stamina, and reduces health by 50%."
Drop.
Rex continued to pick different weapons, each one had unique percentage attributes and an accompanying percentage flaw.
He ended up picking up the glove again, a three times increase in strength, when combined with Rageborne and the Overlord brandings, it was going to be a very lethal combination. The demand on stamina was dire, but he had already prepared his mind to focus on improving that.
"Is that your final choice ?" Arthur asked to confirm Rex's decision.
"Yes."
He walked up to Rex and touched the glove, A white tab appeared in Rex's vision. The tab felt invasive, his face displayed his discomfort of the sensation.
"Don't mind the feeling" Arthur assured him.
"Focus on observing the details of the glove."
+++++++
Enders Glove Pair: F-RANK
WEAPON TIER: I
EPIC GRADE
WEAPON TYPE: Guantlet
A pair of glove, part of the official wear of the Order of Yama. Crafted solely with lethality in mind
ATTACK POINT: STR X1.1
ATTACK POINT BONUS: STR[C] SPD [A]
Atribute Effect: /Strength x3 /Stamina -30%/
+++++++
"Epic Grade?"
Rex asked in amazement, Items of epic grade where very rare and was a symbol of wealthy or highly skilled players, he felt much more satisfied with his choice after seeing this.
"Yes, all the weapons were of epic grade," Arthur dispelled his assumption of luck.
"As a player being guided by the almighty guardian, you should expect such generous bestowment." Authur X fawned on his capabilty.
"Thank you, Generous Guardian X."
Rex thanked Arthur with suppressed amusement of the guardian's shamelessness.
"Now that you have chosen a weapon, you are quite equipped to complete your first quest," Arthur said as he sat back down and picked up his tablet."
[COSMIC AI INTEGRATION: 87%]
'Hurry up and Integrate, ' Rex ordered the progress bar like it could respond to him, for a moment it flickered like it actually did, the next moment the progress bar froze.
Rex rolled his eyes imaginatively as he concentrated on his newbie quest.
"Considering your abilities, I can't start you off with something pathetic," Arthur murmured as he tinkered with the Tab.
"You are currently in the Dome hall, a place that holds a lot of importance for Triple A Dome. One of which is the Dome Cave. Before I can assign you a quest, you have to reach Level 5 of the Dome cave under the warrior's difficulty."
"Okay," Rex agreed readily.
In Cosmic Ascendance, the NPC's did not just spout generic tasks, Players often obtained quests based on their ability level. That's why he easily agreed to Arthur's demand. He had to prove his ability, before he could pick up his mission.
"Take this silver coin, for purchasing a dome pass and purchasing anything you might need for your mission."
Rex enthusiastically picked up the silver coin. The Overlord Class was really the heaven-blessed child of Cosmic Ascendance. A silver coin for doing nothing, as he picked it up he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the test.
Arthur did not turn to look at him again after giving him the coin, it deemed his interaction with him was over.
Rex eagerly moved to excuse himself from the guardian's office, excited to explore.
Arthur X's voice stopped him in his track; "If you can complete this mission today, I will give you one more weapon to add to your arsenal."
"Count it done," Rex could not stop himself from eagerly replying. His enthusiasm for the mission, reaching an all time high.
Rex gave a wry smile as he excused himself from the Guardian's office, excited to finally step into Cosmic Ascendance officially.