From behind the shawl of the sister of the cloth, beautiful red eyes glowed as the two quests were accepted. Since he had accepted the quest, and there was no timer for completion, Alex decided to explore the zone to figure out what he could and couldn't do while he was here.
In the worst case scenario, he could just return to The Town of Bells if he could not find something at the Moonglow Shrine.
Though it had taken him a few days, Alex had mostly gotten rid of the lingering dread of being pulled into this death game.
As Alex traveled around the Moonglow Shrine, he quickly realized how small it actually was. Though the buildings were comparably cleaner and had a certain rustic appeal, it was roughly half the size of the Town of Bells.
The citizens that resided in the Moonglow Shrine were covered from head to toe in either white or black cloth, and a large barrier made of haze seemed to float around the town protecting it from the nightmares outside the gates.
Try as they might, the creatures outside the barrier of haze could not enter. They would constantly run at the barrier, breaking themselves in order to test it's strength with no concern for their decaying bodies.
The most eerie thing from these seemingly useless attacks was the noise the undead made. Ever since Alex entered through the barrier, undead had begun ramming themselves against the haze in order to attack him. The sound the undead made as they rammed the barrier was like a a bird hitting a pane of glass.
To Alex, the sounds were incredibly unnerving, so much so that he did not wish to stay in the Shrine any longer than he needed to.
- System Message -
A display box appeared in front of Alex as a large P.A. type announcement rang in his ear, just when he was about to go explore the Shrine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| To all our lovely players, |
| |
| To show our appreciation for your continued support |
| in making ||Gate To Utopia|| the best it can be, we |
| invite all players to join our completely optional |
| event "Catch The Wild Hog." If you choose to enter, |
| you will receive instructions upon being teleported |
| to the new zone. We hope to see you there! |
| |
| GTU Developers |
| |
| - Yes! - No. |
| |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex had no doubt that for other players, this would be a rewarding experience. However for him, having to deal with forced events came at a hefty price.
As Alex attempted to click the No option on the display page, he saw that it was grayed out and he could not press it. He also noticed the lack of an exit button for the display.
"Cheap bastards..." Alex didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If they intended to go this far, why not just teleport him anyway. Rudy tilted her head to the side at Alex's frustrated face.
Unfortunately for Alex it was not something he could ignore, as the display page almost completely took up his field of vision. With no choice but to accept, Alex quickly donned the Quick Change Mask in the cosmetic head slot option; choosing for himself the face of a young boy with fiery red hair, deep blue eyes and a small but slightly droopy nose.
As Alex clicked Yes! and was teleported away from the Moonglow Shrine, a thought crossed his mind. What if the developers gave him the Quick Change Mask in preparation for this event...
Before that thought could continue, Alex became engrossed in the environment he was teleported to. For the first time, Alex saw the other players that made up the world of ||Gate to Utopia||.
Thousands of different players continued to teleport into the zone for the event, and soon Alex became lost in a crowd of people. This was the first time Alex had seen so many people gathered, even when he went to a gaming convention in the Metropolis he grew up in. Alex had never been so happy to see other human beings in his life. Everyone was excitedly talking among themselves, and those around Alex went up to introduce themselves to him, hoping to team up for the event.
"Hey kid! Come join us!" An older looking gentleman called out to Alex.
Alex responded by sheepishly walking toward the gathered group as they beckoned for him. For the first time in nearly a week, Alex had human companionship.
"Come, Rudy." Alex spoke.
There was no response, or nudge to his side. He looked around for a bit, but she was nowhere to be found and he could only surmise that she remained at the Moonglow Shrine. Rudy had not teleported with Alex to the new zone.
"What's your name kid?" The older man had a wide toothy grin as he spoke.
The man set himself apart from his companions as the Team Leader just based on the gear he possessed. While the others had leather garb or robes and iron weaponry, the man was basked from head to toe in a silver glowing armor, with a hefted silver Greataxe on his back. Alex had never seen anything like it in his limited experience of the game so far, and he was shocked at how brightly the armor shined.
"Shadow." Alex responded after looking the Leader up and down.
Alex couldn't seem to reconcile the Knightly aura and the brash personality of the Team Leader.
"I'm Kit. This here is Recon, LoveLess, S0ldier and Cold. We are all friends outside the game so we struck a good balance of skills." Kit seemed to fire off names as he pointed at his companions.
Recon was the typical rogue-type character, but curiously a lyre sat on his back ready to be played at a moments notice. Alex knew this item to be one of the starting instruments for the Songweaver class famed for their buffing and healing spells.
LoveLess was of the Druid class, as evidenced by the wolf companion sitting beside her and the Greatstaff she carried in hand. A wreathe of cherry blossoms floated around her head like a halo.
S0ldier looked like a very stereotypical mercenary type Fighter class, covered in latches and pockets filled with odds and ends to make his versatile job easier. The only thing that set him apart from the other Fighter types was the massive tower shield that covered his body.
Cold was the Wizard of the group, responsible for wide area attack magic and dispelling the enemies buffs for combat. Her small Ironbranch Cane allowed for an increased casting time, something that Alex had been coveting for since he learned how to cast spells. Cold's orb floated in her palm, held up by the magical properties of the item.
Even more curiously, each of the aforementioned players were of different races. Kit was a typical Human, but Recon played an Elf, LoveLess played a Fairy, S0ldier was a Dragonkin and Cold was an Elemental.
Not only had they greeted and welcomed Alex, some of the players seemed relieved after he was invited to the party. A display came up as Alex spoke with the group.
-------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Accept party invitation from (Kit)? |
| |
| Yes! No. |
| |
-------------------------------------------------------
Alex quickly clicked Yes! and saw the status of his new allies appear on the left side of his vision.
Shadow: Level 9
Health: 500/500
Mana: 300/300
Kit: Level 6
Health: 350/350
Mana: 150/150
Recon: Level 6
Health: 200/200
Mana: 250/250
LoveLess: Level 4
Health: 150/150
Mana: 250/250
S0ldier: Level 6
Health: 400/400
Mana: 50/50
Cold: Level 6
Health: 200/200
Mana: 300/300
"Woah!"
"Level 9..."
"This is the first level 9 i've seen."
"..."
"What are your stats?"
"Don't be rude Kit!"
Alex was bombarded with remarks as soon as he was invited to the group. They could only see his Level, Health and Mana but it was far beyond theirs. Even if they matched in level, the closest in stats to Alex would be Kit as a Paladin.
"I'm quite curious as well Alex, what class are you?" Cold unhesitatingly asked with an icy demeanor.
"W-w-w-wait! It's rude to ask that, Cold! What if he leaves and we have to put up with Kit again..." LoveLess reprimanded Cold when she finished speaking and slipped in an ambiguous statement in the end.
"I'm just the Vampire class, but I was the first to clear a special Dungeon and happened to get some rare gear." Alex responded with a small smile and showed off his Werewolf Hunter Set without giving any further details.
"Oh... That makes sense then." Kit laughed as he puffed out his chest with shimmering silver armor.
Undeterred, the party continued talking while players continued to port in.
"How come your level is 9 but you seem to be all alone? Are you a Solo?" LoveLess brought up the question that had been on her mind since Alex joined the group.
"Yeah, i'm a Solo..." Alex responded without skipping a beat in response.
Solo was an unofficial term that referred to players whom did not join groups to hunt monsters or do quests, but chose to do everything alone. In this regards, Alex definitely qualified.
As the conversation continued, Alex would often deflect the conversation away from himself and more to the other members of the party. From the flow of the conversation, Kit seemed to be a partner for a semi-famous law firm while LoveLess and Recon were a brother and sister combo that did everything together. S0ldier and Cold were friends whom went to the same high school together, and they all met through another game called
When the servers for
Alex was reminded of the friends he made playing various games through his high school years and wondered how they were doing. Now, more than ever, he wished he could see them again to apologize for the way he treated them.
For the 'friends' that used him for his money, he had a few choice words for them too. Looking back, he realized just how truly dense he was to give up good friends for friends that just told him what he wanted to hear.
The number of players teleporting in began to diminish as Alex looked around at the crowd. The party that Alex had joined thought his behavior a little weird, but decided not to comment on it.
For the first time, Alex saw the combinations of various races and classes, making his heart beat faster. Fey, Dwarf, Gnome, Catkin, Dogkin, Fishfolk, Changelings. All the races had various notable characteristics, with variance between all of them. The most exciting to Alex was the Fey and Fairy races, of which LoveLess was the latter.
This was because, for the first time, Alex saw the race that was reported to have wings and could fly anywhere in the open world. Though there was a certain amount of danger in the skies when flying of being attacked by creatures with wings, there was also an unabashed sense of freedom that came with the ability to fly. Alex had every intention to choose a race that could fly when he first started up the game.
"What is it like to fly?" Alex accidentally interrupted the conversation as he grasped the wings of LoveLess.
"Awawawa-" LoveLess was completely caught off guard by the question and Alex's action.
Before Alex realized what he had done, Recon had grabbed his lyre and hit Alex in the face with it. Alex lost no Health for the interaction, but fell backwards in surprise.
"What the hell, man!" Alex shouted in surprise.
"That's what I should be asking you, pervert!" Recon retorted.
The party stared at Alex in shock as he stood up, a look of complete bewilderment on his face.
"Do you not realize what you did." Kit lifted his hand to his face as he sighed.
"Touching a Fairies wings if like touching their naked body." Cold spoke in an icy and calculating voice.
Alex gulped down a mouthful of saliva as he realized what he had done. Immediately, Alex bent the knee and apologized to LoveLess.
"I'm so sorry LoveLess, I genuinely didn't know." Alex did not want to think about what would happen if the party kicked him and he went back to having no interaction with other players.
LoveLess sighed.
"I believe you. As compensation, you will be our friend and help us out." LoveLess had a sweet and innocent smile as she spoke.
Alex was dumbfounded, and could only nod his head in agreement.
"It's decided then. Everyone add him to your Friends list." Kit laughed as he spoke.
Simultaneously, all five members of the original party opened their Friends list and added 'Shadow'. The only one to hesitate for a moment was Recon, whom was still fuming at what Alex had done. However he understood that Alex did not know what he was doing and could only forgive him based on that fact.
In the bottom left of Alex's vision, five requests appeared for him to either Accept or Decline. Alex accepted all five requests and his Friends List display opened up. Alex had not even considered that there would be a Friends List display.
The number of players teleporting in for the event finally slowed to a stop and a voice intoned in the ears of those who chose to participate in the hunt.
"Thank you for joining us in the Special Event: Catch The Wild Hog! Players can form teams or go it alone, and the purpose is to successfully land the killing blow on the Wild Hog. The player that kills the Wild Hog will receive a special reward for defeating it. Fair warning, this is a PvP zone, and there are only two ways to leave this zone, defeat the Wild Hog or die and be resurrected outside." The voice faded away and a countdown began.
In a panic, as the countdown went from 30 seconds down to 1, the players that joined began to scatter in every direction. Alex stood in shock as the group he had joined began running together in a certain direction.
"Shadow, RUN!" Kit called out as he looked back to see Alex with a glazed expression.
To Alex, the announcement was tantamount to a death sentence.
Cold casted a quickened spell that launched her forward from her position over to Alex, and as she grabbed onto him she finished the cast to snap back to her original position.
The sudden lurch forward sent Alex spiraling ahead at an unprecedented speed, making him vomit the food he had previously eaten while waiting.
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Fortunately, this was enough for Alex to snap back to reality, and he wiped his mouth as he began running alongside the group. From the conversation he had with the players of his party, he was fairly certain they would not betray him in this event.
"If one of us lands the killing blow, no one says anything rude. This is an event purely based on chance." Kit spoke out as they ran.
The members of the group nodded their heads in agreement while they continued to run.
3.
2.
1.
The final moments of the countdown finished and screams began to ring out from every corner of the zone. Many of the Solo players whom had decided not to join anyone were being picked off by the other larger groups of players.
For Alex, the map that had previously been filled with numerous blue dots now only showed five blue dots, while the rest turned red.
The group of six ran deep into the forest of the new zone and had made considerable distance without stopping, with Kit leading the pack and S0ldier covering the rear. Before they had even realized it, the group had been running for ten minutes straight and there were no longer any red dots in sight. They were almost at the edge of the zone, and finally felt safe for the moment.
A few red dots would appear at the edge of the map, but would quickly disappear in the opposite direction when they realized it was a group of six they were headed towards. The screams echoed out for another half hour before they petered out and another noise took it's place. The gradually increasing noise was a massive squeal filled with malice and fear. A single red dot illuminated the map of the six man party as Alex focused his vision on the woods they had just escaped from.
Charging through the woods, knocking over rocks and trees alike, was a boar at least fifteen feet tall and weighing over two thousands pounds. The thick front and hind legs of the voracious beast trampled everything in it's path as it headed directly for the group of players in front of it.
Cold immediately began casting a quickened spell as soon as she saw the boar from the woods.
"Dodge!" Alex yelled as he rolled out of the way at the last moment.
Cold's spell went off as the field turned into a gentle sheet of ice beneath the feet of the boar. Alex saw that she was about to be gored by the boar and hesitated for a moment to save her.
In that moment, S0ldier dived and pushed her out of the way, getting gored himself before dying and leaving the zone. The massive tower shield that he faithfully used fell to the ground and disappeared with his body.
"S0ldier!" Kit called out as he saw his ally get struck by the tusk of the boar.
The boar could no longer control itself as it slipped on the ice and collided with the unbreakable barrier at the edge of the zone. Thousands of hexagonal patterns fluttered under the force of the boar but did not break.
The group of five regrouped and ran back into the forest away from the boar, and the boar began charging to the north to get away from the players.
"Dammit!" Kit punched a nearby tree.
Alex understood that Kit was not angry at anyone, in fact they had performed as they were expected to considering the abrupt situation. Kit was instead angry at the fact that the boar chose to run through the forest and happened upon their group.
Alex remained unconvinced that it was a coincidence at all, considering he was with the group. Of all the possible locations for the boar to run, through the forest and out the clearing, it just happened to meet them and attack.
Now the group of six had one less vanguard to defend against surprise PvP or to suppress the boar. Alex only had the intention of surviving in the zone until the boar was defeated, while the rest of the party wanted to try for the killing blow.
Alex's hesitation had been noticed by both Kit and Recon during the previous exchange, though they chose to say nothing.
"What do we do now?" Alex asked Kit.
Kit brushed the dirt off his armor and stood up straight before surveying the area. Their location was only thirty or so feet past the dense brush of the outer edge of the forest, so they could still see the edge of the zone.
"We'll trace along the edge of the zone and if we encounter an enemy we'll put our backs to the barrier. That way we can't be flanked." Kit announced.
It was a good plan and received unanimous agreement from the party. From the outer forest it was just a matter of them continuing along the edge until they could find the boar again.
Fifteen minutes later.
Though there was a fair bit of traveling from the group, the cautious movements had slowed them to the point that they did not cover much ground. This cautious behavior also kept them from being killed easily. The sounds of a squealing swine could be heard in the far distance alongside the noise of fighting.
"Approach slowly and if the players try to turn on us, defend the casters." Kit said.
Alex admitted to the group that he had never died before, and that he was too afraid and would not risk his life. Though they attempted to convince him to try dying once just to see that it wasn't a big deal, he was adamant in his responses.
Of course Alex had no intention to risk his life just for a potential event prize.
"Recon." Kit grabbed a bit of dirt from the ground before clapping his hands together. The dirt coated his hand, making the handling of his silver Greataxe easier.
"~ Oh Goddess of Wind, grant us your blessings. On the wings of momentum we carry your name.~" Recon began to chant rhythmically as he played the lyre flawlessly.
"~ Oh Goddess of Fire, grant us your blessings. The hearth protects us as we carry your name.~" Recon chanted and strummed at a higher vibration.
As the chants were finished, two buffs appeared above Alex's status screen.
"Movement Speed Increase and Defense Increase." Alex muttered as he looked over the buffs.
Alex had gone through many new experiences and this unique casting included that. His own Unholy Magic Spells did not even use the common tongue as Recon's did.
"Your turn LoveLess." Kit muttered.
"King and Queen unburdened, hear my song and feel my embrace. Renewal." LoveLess placed the end of her Greatstaff gently onto a mound of dirt on the ground while chanting. A small vine began to run along the ground, wrapping itself on the legs of her allies. Like a small ankle bracelet, the vine remained at the heel and pulsated along with the heartbeat of the player.
"Healing 1 Health every 5 seconds..." Alex was astonished, this was clearly a superior method that he was not capable of using.
"Your turn Cold, give us a level 5 AoE spell." Kit stood in a defensive pose while giving out commands.
From the information Alex possessed, he understood that AoE meant Area of Effect, the small zone where a spell would be active and dealt damage.
"~ [][][] . [][][][][] - [][] .~" Cold chanted some weird words that Alex couldn't understand, no matter how much he tried. It almost seemed to him to be an alien language.
A storm began to brew around where Cold pointed her Ironbranch Cane, at the horizon where the battle against the boar had begun. Thunder struck the ground randomly, hitting the players and the boar indiscriminately.
"What the hell..."
"Fuck, we gotta run!"
"Kite him properly!"
"I'm trying!"
The sounds of battle became much more hectic with the addition of the lightning storm. Players began to run in many different directions, and only those with electricity resistance in their armor continued to fight the boar hoping to land the killing blow.
The boar had become heavily wounded from the multiple fights it had endured through up to this point.
The players that had previously hunted down Solo players had agreed to stop PvPing and focused on fighting the boar to take him down, letting RNG decide who got the killing blow.
"It wasn't us!" The casters whom were fighting against the boar denied creating the massive thunder storm.
Over the small hill, Alex and the group appeared fully buffed and ready to charge against the other players. They had no verbal agreement with the other players to focus the boar.
"Charge!" Kit screamed as his beautiful white celestial horse mount carried him forward unto the battlefield.
"Paladin! Stop him from making this hallowed ground!" The leaders of the various groups shouted in unison, clearly understanding what Kit was trying to accomplish.
"Too late! BENEATH MY FEET THE DEAD SHALL REMAIN, STRENGTH BECOMES ME. HALLOWED GROUND!" Kit shouted as he dug his Greataxe deep into the ground.
A golden mist surrounded Kit as his form grew multiple times his original size. Standing well over twenty feet tall, Kit had become an Avatar of his deity. Taking on this form was a 24 hour cooldown, but this was precisely what the class specific skill was used for.
The silver armor that Kit usually wore looked even more intimidating clasped onto the mighty form of his deity. The golden mist churned unending as the Greataxe that was dug deep into the ground grew in size to match his new form.
Once the Greataxe had reached the proper mass, Kit removed it from the ground and the golden mist disappeared. The cast of the skill was successful and those that had attempted to rush to his position were now prime targets to be slaughtered.
Kit stomped the ground with his massive foot to cause the area to tremble. Even the boar could not completely maintain stability despite it's colossal size compared to the other players. The players shook and fell to the ground, unable to stand against the massive form Kit had taken.
With a single sweep of his Greataxe, Kit dispatched two Fighters and a Warmage.
"Kuuugh."
"Bastard."
Those whom were struck down could only utter brief sounds before being dying and being teleported out and resurrected.
"Let's see what a vampire can do!" Kit hollered back to Alex as he continued to fight off the other players.
The boar, seizing the opportunity, charged after the caster players whom had continued to attack it.
Alex couldn't use his damaged Iron Battleaxe or Kite Shield until they were fixed, so he decided to use the known curses from his Unholy Magic.
Now that his Unholy Magic Skill was level 6, he could cast his disabling spell on three additional enemies.
Removing the Bronze Short Cane he had looted from the old hag, Alex began casting the curse spell from the Unholy Magic Skill.
No one among the casters understood the language of the spells he was casting, nor their effects. The only thing they could do in defense was prepare wards to try and protect themselves.
Fundamentally, the spells that were cast were in fact curses and could only be counter cursed.
As the spell finished casting and multiple skulls shot out from Alex's Bronze Short Cane, they struck four players and completely disabled them. Their arms and legs turned completely to stone, and their bodies turned grey like ash.
"Arrgh!"
"The wards did nothing..."
"What the hell is this!"
Cries of anger and bitterness flowed from the casters as they were trampled beneath the feet of the Wild Hog, unable to resist in anyway thanks to the curses.
"Shadow, what language is that?" LoveLess was shocked at what she had just witnessed.
To Alex, whom was the one to cast the spell, the words that came out of his mouth were completely fluid, as if he knew them his whole life. However to LoveLess and Cold, it was a foreign guttural language that seemed to almost be mocking the enemies as it was spoke.
"Unholy Magic Skill, obviously..." Alex spoke matter-o-factly, but understood that this was a unique skill based on the expressions of the two other casters in his group.
"Only demons can use the Unholy Magic Skill, Shadow." LoveLess was the first to tell him such a crucial detail.
LoveLess was beginning to piece together in her mind what was actually happening, but she decided not to speak out as they were in the middle of the fight.
Alex had his back turned to LoveLess and Cold as he was watching the actions of the Wild Hog, unaware of their facial expressions.
The Avatar of Kit had similarly dispatched the melee classes that had charged at him, and now the battlefield was clear of obstructions. The Wild Hog saw the Avatar and began it's charge toward the large target.
Kit dug his massive iron heels into the ground to brace for impact as the Wild Hog burrowed into his chest armor. As the boar struck it's blow, Kit swung the Greataxe into the belly of the beast.
Alex racked his brains as to how he could help, since the sooner the Wild Hog was defeated the faster he would be safe and out of the PvP zone.
Before he could think of a solution, Cold stepped in front of him and began casting a spell.
" [][] - [] . [][][] [][][][][][] . " Again, to Alex's dismay, the sounds coming from Cold's mouth were alien and he could not comprehend them.
As the chant finished, a massive glacial spike formed in front of Cold, rotating in place as it gathered momentum.
As if all the air within the immediate vicinity was sucked away, Alex found it hard to draw breath.
Cold drew her hands to her side and made the 'push' movement with her arms.
As she did, the massive glacial spike hurtled forward toward the Wild Hog.
The already exhausted Wild Hog could not properly dodge away from the glacial spike as it was impaled through the neck.
The damage was sufficient to finally bring down the colossal beast, and for a fraction of a section Cold let out a genuine smile.
Alex saw her sincere smile and couldn't help but have his heart beat a little faster.
The body of the Wild Hog disappeared, just as Kit began to return to his original form.
"That was a little too close." Kit admitted. "Shadow, good job dealing with the casters, i've never seen anything like it."
"Haha, no need to be modest, that spell you cast to enlarge yourself was crazy. I've never seen the Paladin's Class skills until now." Alex responded.
LoveLess, Recon and Cold stood beside Kit but did not interrupt the conversation.
"I believe now that the event is over, we will soon be going our separate ways. Hopefully we can talk to you soon." Kit bowed with sincerity.
Alex was grateful, but he didn't want to leave the group.
An A.I. voice spoke in the ears of the surviving players.
"Well done to all players! The one to strike the killing blow on the Wild Hog was Cold, the Elemental Wizard! Your reward will be sent to your mail, for your convenience." The gentle female A.I. voice seemed like it had even more to say.
"As all of you are aware, the purpose of the game is to defeat the Demon King and ascend to the ||Gate To Utopia||. However, what we have failed to mention, is that the Demon King is a player just the same as you. Furthermore, he is in this very zone."
Alex was in complete shock as the A.I. spoke. He had never considered they would announce his arrival in this zone, since he had survived to this point.
"The zone will close in exactly 5 minutes."