As Daemon walked through the town square, he noticed that everyone was either staring at him or sneaking glances so very often. With his hate for attracting attention in real life, Daemon could not stand the attention in the game as well. He knew he had good looks but the continuous staring in the game from players and NPC’s alike, began creeping him out. He therefore chose to walk through a dark lonely alley where he wouldn’t be bothered. As he went through the alley, he kept to the shadows and suddenly he received a message.
TRRRINNGGGG!!!
You have learned the skill Sneak!
By sticking to the shadows or just treading lightly you have a reduced chance of being seen.
And at night or in different environments, you receive bonus expertise when practicing.
Skill level is beginner level 1.
“Interesting, unlike a normal elf, dark elves can receive skills just by walking around and doing activities.” Daemon commented. As an elf, he had to repeat the activity many times before he could learn the skill. Sneak skill took him a really long time to learn before. ‘Or maybe because I knew that walking in lonely dark street alleys is more effective….I was able to learn it quicker?’
He quickly did a common delivery errand to reach level one (quest available in all starter cities) and activated his skill sets.
He then decided to practice his sneaking ability a bit more. When he had the elf character he unlocked the sneak ability quite by accident. It then took nearly forever to raise the skill to a level where he could go around town without arousing any attention towards himself. However things were different now. Daemon knew exactly under which circumstances would sneak ability rise the most and he was going to exploit his previous knowledge. So, he went back to the town square to sneak around.
As he stepped out of the alley way, he quickly hid behind a wagon. As the wagon proceeded, he took each carefully, pacing himself with the wagon.
You have attained beginner level 2 Sneak!
You have begun unraveling the secrets of sneaking around. Your ingenious intuition helped you realize coordinated movements keep low visibility!
Once close enough to a pottery shop, he hid behind a large jar. Like an overly large rate scurrying around the city, Daemon moved behind shop and person, hiding in the shadows and staying as quiet as possible. It would be a lie to say that he succeeded; it was just too obvious. Some players laughed as they say him play ninja in broad day light, NPCs were worried someone deranged had escaped the dungeons, but Daemon content.
You have attained beginner level 3 Sneak!
You have begun unraveling the secrets of sneaking around. Did you know it is better to wear black clothes in the dark to avoid being seen? Always wear clothes to match your background, it will camouflage you!
Daemon was happy, his progress was rather explosive. It had taken him an entire month to unlock beginner level 3 sneaking. Now, he accomplished it in a few hours. He didn’t bother buying any ninja like clothes as wearing basic gear in this city left him looking like a beggar. No one was really that bothered or interested in him anymore.
Daemon happily, sneaked around a little more till he noticed his rapidly declining satiation levels. He took out some stale bread and decided to sit and the people go about in the game. After an hour or so, Daemon was surprised to receive more messages;
You have learned the skill observe!
You can observe the environment around you in greater detail.
Skill level is beginner level 1.
You have learned the skill laze!
You recover stamina faster if you laze around
Skill level is beginner level 1.
‘Oh these ones are new! I never unlocked these last time…I wonder how observe can develop? Maybe I can view hundreds of miles ahead at master level? Laze can be useful….though I am not sure if I will have the opportunity to level it up as much….’
When he got back to the square he noticed that there were two acrobats putting on a performance, full of flips rolls and daring speed combos of agility. ‘Now that is cool!’ Daemon thought to himself.
When the duo acrobats were done, he approached the pair. “Excuse me!”
The male acrobat looked and greeted, “Greetings weary traveler, my name is Sparrow. This is my wife, Hummingbird. How may we help you?”
“I was wondering if you would show me a thing or two about being an acrobat.”
“Indeed we can, but acrobatics are not for the weak of will. They require you to master your body’s movements and learn to flow with the momentum of your movements, so are you sure you want to learn acrobatics as a profession?”
“Yes, I want to learn acrobatics and show the world the beauty of movement that is unrestricted, unlike dancers who are bound to the ground with their footwork and routines.” Daemon unhesitantly went a bit melodramatic with his reply. ‘I will gladly accept all the professions this world has to offer, even useless ones like these….’
“Here, take this and meet us after you retrieve the item listed. We will be waiting in the middle of the park near the gazelle statue at night.” Sparrow replied as he handed over a something wrapped up in brown paper.
TRRRING!!!
You have received Acrobatic Suit:
This suit has high durability, but no defense. To make up for the loss of defense it gives 10% bonus move speed and 5% bonus to agility.
TRRRING!!!
You have received a special map!
The arrow indicates your current location and the star is your destination. As you walk the arrow will move accordingly. This map is as intelligent as you are, the more you invest in intelligence (INT) the more details it will reveal to you!!
TRRRING!!!
You have received a quest!
Retrieve the item hidden away in the caves to Sparrow and his fair wife Hummingbird
Quest level: FF
Quest requirements: unknown
Daemon’s eyes sparkled with greed. ‘Who knew appreciating these fools would earn me a suit so good! I think I might just stick a bit longer with them….to see what else they offer.’
“Well, then wary traveler, we will be off!” Sparrow said as he packed away his equipment and began leaving.
“Thank you!” Daemon shouted back. “I truly appreciate these tokens!”
“No problem, but be careful at night. The fog rolls down from the mountains, and monsters and thieves roam rampant on the streets. This is a mountain city and weak are doomed to die here.” Sparrow smiled as he replied.
“By the way…where are these caves located?”
“The Valley in Hidden Mist, weary traveler. ”
‘Ominous name….Heh…. ‘ Daemon wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk his life so early on in the game just to get some low level item. The quest wasn’t even level F.’ He shyly replied, “Well see you later” as he tried to hide his intentions of not going after the quest.
“Goodbye and see you later.” Sparrow said as he disappeared into the ocean of people in the town square.
‘The name of this place makes me wonder why and how did it get that name. I guess I can read through the history behind it later to find out….for now…more sneaking and observing!’
He changed his attire and wore the acrobatic suit. The AGI and SPD were astounding for a beginner level equipment. As it grew darker, the sneak ability became more and more effective. With the added effect of the suit, Daemon was also faster than before. The added benefit of the darkness and increased speed, help Daemon greatly increase his sneaking ability to beginner level 6! He even unlocked a new skill stealth which provided greater cloaking abilities!
Daemon however grew wary of sneaking around. He was quieter when he moved, he barely had a presence…and Daemon was unsure whether he wanted more. ‘For now this is good enough.’
Daemon looked around what else could he do, but soon concluded other than trivial quests and learning more about the water element, there wasn’t really much to do here. ‘How boring! I guess I should have started in the first city and come here with a group after leveling up.’
Daemon took out the map from his pocket and began following a dotted line that appeared between him and the caves. Daemon was expecting guards to prevent him from leaving the village but no one even noticed him…the fog was so thick that Daemon was pretty much invisible to the guards checking the entrance. ‘Strange…’ Daemon thought, ‘I thought you could only a city after spending three weeks in it….this is definitely strange…’
With his presence so thin by his sneak and stealth abilities and the fog masking whatever else was left of his presence, Daemon found himself walking through the rough mountain terrain without attracting the attention of even foxes or wolves. ‘I wonder if I leveled those abilities too much?’
The journey was rather boring and uneventful. Daemon was expecting more action, a few bad monsters but in under an hour he reached the cave entrance; there awaited a small girl.
“You made it weary traveler!” She said as he stood a foot away from her (otherwise she might not have seen him or realized it was him).
“Why are you here?” Daemon asked suspiciously. It would be suspicious to anyone to find a little girl no more than the age of six outside the village by the entrance of an ominous cave greeting absolute strangers.
“To give you the item.” She replied.
Quest Completed!
Quest reward:
You have received Acrobatic shoes:
These shoe have high durability, but no defense. To make up for the loss of defense it gives 10% bonus move speed and 5% bonus to agility.
Stolen story; please report.
“Awesome!” Daemon exclaimed. The equipment was really good for beginner level and could even be used at mid levels. “Thank you so much!”
“…” Only silence greeted Daemon.
“Little girl?” Daemon called out.
The fog slowly receded only to reveal that other than Daemon there was no one else there. The little girl vanished into the fog…
‘Freaky….’ Daemon thought to himself, he was getting goosebumps. He just received a noob level quest and the reward did not match the effort and then there was the disappearing 6 year old girl, ‘who the heck was she?’…something was wrong here, his hunch told him to be wary of Sparrow.
Daemon decided to go to the park early and hide there while reading his book issued from the library, “Water Affinity for Dummies”. The book helped reveal the secrets of water’s three forms and how it could be found anywhere. When he finished the book, he got 3 messages.
TRRININGGG!
You have learned Water Mastery:
This increases your affinity for water. As you level, your affinity will grow stronger with water. Since you are a Dark Elf you start with Beginner level 2!
TRRININGGG!
You have learned Water Crafting:
This skill allows you to control water. You can manipulate and shape it in all of its forms. Remember the greatest limitation and strength of water warrior is water itself. You need to carry a pouch of water with you at all times!
As a dark elf, you start at Beginner level 2.
As Water Mastery and this skill increase hand in hand. At higher level you will be able to create more complex forms with water.
TRRININGGG!
You have learned Dehydrate:
This skill is only limited to the dark elves. It allows you to steal water from the earth and plants. At higher levels you can heal and replenish stamina while this skill is active.
Skill limitations: requires you to be touching the target.
-Warning- Excessive use of this skill may have adversely effect on you. Please use with caution.
Dehydrate skill is beginner 1.
‘Interesting abilities….though isn’t the dark elf a little too overpowered? I guess races which are unlocked later tend to be stronger….to compensate for the players lower level…’
Daemon looked around a bit to see if anyone was approaching the park. The entire village was like ghost town. Most players were busy in quests and hunting during this time. The thick fog added on to the spooky feel factor. ‘Time to try them out.’
Daemon held his arm straight and began to concentrate. ‘Gather the water droplets in the air.’
Daemon sense’s lit up like a Christmas tree. He could feel millions of water droplets suspended in the air. However, he was struggling to gather them.
TRRRINGG!
Your skill level is too low to use this ability. If you continue trying to do so, you will deplete your stamina!
Daemon immediately stopped with the fruitless struggle after seeing the message. Instead he looked around for readily available source of water. He was lucky enough to find a muddy puddle in the park itself.
He tried again; he closed his eyes trying to imagine raising water as a natural action like raising a limb. With great difficulty, he summoned one sphere of water. It was no bigger than a tennis ball. As he was struggling to hold it up, there were ripples all over its surface as it struggled to maintain form.
TRRRINGG!
You created your first Water Sphere! Water Crafting and Water Mastery have increased!
Daemon opened his eyes and read the message. He was fairly pleased with the message. He stared at the sphere of water as it remained floating above the surface of the puddle. It was crystal clear and there wasn’t a single speck of dirt in it. When manipulating water, that is all he could do. The residual dirt and sand would be left behind. It looked surreal as it continued to float on the surface of the puddle.
‘Raise!’ Daemon focused all his thoughts of raising the sphere into the air.
As he attempted to do so, it slowly started to rise while being supported by a column of a water.
Daemon was a little disappointed with the effect. He was hoping to make it hover in air. However, water affinity only enabled players to manipulate water’s shape and move it around. It was still subjected to physical laws of the game world. In short, his hopes for making it fly around like a speeding bullet went up in smokes.
However, Daemon didn’t lose heart, water users were fairly strong. All though they could not manipulate water to fly around as they wished, they could use the mana to shoot water pellets around. He had seen a fairly high level user’s VR posting, where the user raised four pillars of water around a fire user. After which the user shot hundreds of water pellets through those pillars at the fire user. The result was devastating. At first the fire user dodged a few of the water pellets, but the water user was just toying with him. He then launched thousands of pellets scattering them in every possible direction…making it impossible for the fire user to dodge….that VR posting went viral within a few hours posting.
Daemon smiled as he remembered that VR posting. ‘Well that stupid fire user had it coming to him…trying to fight a water user next to a stream is obviously going to have a devastating impact….for now I am content with this level of ability.’
Daemon then started shaping his water sphere as it stood on top of the water column. First, Daemon made shapes like cubes and pyramids to get the basics down, but as he continued, he started shaping it into shapes of weapons. The most basic weapon he could come up with was a small needle and if he added all the water in the puddle to it, he could enlarge it to the size of a thin pointy stick. More detailed weapons and objects required higher levels of water crafting and mastery.
“Hmmmm..... a high level water user could make infinite weapons of water, so I don’t have to worry about buying weapons then…”
Daemon then proceeded to make all kinds of sharp shapes. The only problem he struggled with was maintain form or switching from one shape to another. However that problem was dependent to his level and he was confident he could overcome it soon. Since he used a huge variety of weapon shapes in a short period of time, he learned a new skill:
TRRRINGG!
You have learned Water Weapons Mastery
This skill increases the damage of any water weapon you create and use.
This skill is beginner level 1.
Also, an information window about Water Crafting popped up.
Also, an information window about Water Crafting popped up.
You have learnt Water Forging:
By squeezing large amounts of water into a smaller space and you can create denser weapons and objects, increasing levels of this skills will deal more damage. Forge more water weapons and objects to level this skill up.
This skill is beginner level 1.
“I see, so this skill can be used throughout my levels since I can make stronger weapons, which means I don’t have to waste any money on high level weapons either…”
Daemon checked the time, ‘they should be on their way here…’
He headed to the designated meeting location. As he was suspicious of the couple, he decided to practice his sneak ability and ensure there were no traps set up for him there. So he stuck to the shadows and treaded lightly on his way to the center of the park, which had a variety of statues depicting different classes, along with a fountain of heroes in the center. When he got there, he saw that no one was there…. ‘I am still too early?’
TRRRINGGG!
Critical hit!
50% reduction of health
You have been critically hit! You have been stunned! You have lost consciousness!
Penalties of being unconscious:
You have lost all sensory functions temporarily. This state will only end quickly when you are splashed with cold water or other similar stimulus or if you are healed. If you are not woken up / healed, you will resume consciousness after the 3 hours, with 20% lower HP.
After that everything went black in Daemon screen. A single window popped up,
Unconsciousness time remaining: 2:59:69
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Authors Note:
1. Well I wonder if this story progressed too quickly? I can elaborate on it later, so there might be a revised version of this soon. Hope you all like it now.
2. Thank you Jetmann for writing most of this and allowing me to use it.
3. Maybe I should do a side story for fire and earth affinities as well after this?
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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