With the new feature, Hunger, he wanted to test its effects. But, he would wait till later to see if anything is happening.
In this world, the monsters were very high leveled, reaching to the 30s, and some were even higher. With this high of a level difference, players would very likely have to team together to take the high leveled monsters, and most of the players did team up, as Horizon later found out.
The first party that Horizon had stumbled upon was an aggressive group of 5 players, 2 warriors, 1 mage, 1 archer, and 1 healer. This was a pretty good formation to have a team in, and each of them seemed confident, so he guessed that they were probably around the 17s or 18s.
They started attacking Horizon as soon as then noticed him, but because of his Behold, he was able to escape using the speed, and because he aggroed the nearby monsters, the party wouldn't be able to ignore something that has almost twice their level attacking them.
With a first bad encounter, Horizon grew wary of the other parties. With their aggressive tactics, high levels, and experience, they would be a late-game party.
With the deaths of 7 monsters he had killed, the increased rates of EXP and drops due to the higher level difference he had been able to level up. After repairing his armor using his blacksmithing skill, he needed to find a source of food because his hunger bar was quite depleted. It seemed that every 10% it dropped after 50%, the rebuff would become slightly higher! starting with -2% all stats at 50%, and he assumed that reaching 0% would cause the player to die, or have a serious debuff.
Using his Inspect skill, he was able to differentiate the harmful plants, herbs, and fruits from the edible ones, Slowly filling his hunger. As he walked around harvesting fruits, materials, and ores, he had stumbled upon another group. From his past experience, he was wary of any wandering parties. There seemed to be 7 in this party, quite a large number.
Even with his Presence skill, they noticed him. They didn't seem like to be an aggressive party, but they also seemed to be very experienced.
As they approached Horizon, they layed their hands in front as to show Horizon that they weren't holding any weapons or hiding any weapons.
"Hey, do you need a party?"(???)
Horizon was wary of the fact they had invited a stranger to their party with no precautions taken. They were either very sure of their strength, wanted to ambush him, or very idiotic.
With their current party size, and that they were still in the game, it was most likely not the latter one.
"I apologize for declining this offer, but I'm already with a different party."(Horizon)
'If he had revealed that he was alone, then they could make a move without worries on him, and he'd prefer not to have to kill other players, or be killed unnecessarily.'
Horizon confirmed after they had left that they were not trying to tail him, and re-continued grinding for levels.
Event:
Only 1000 players remain. Monster spawn rates have increased.
Hidden items will now appear randomly.
Unperturbed by the announcement as it would only assist in his grinding, the hidden items mentioned would most likely be unable for his use, so he did not care to actively look for them. but kept in mind that they could possibly be sold for an amount of currency. The spawn rate was somewhat noticeable, but not to an extreme degree, as they seemed to spawn a slight bit faster, but not fast enough to create a large issue for him.
212!
417![Crit]
198!
He had just defeated an Elite monster. Elite monsters carried a larger size, aggro range, and superior stats to that of a normal monster. Elite monsters were a rarer variant of a monster and generally dropped better loot. Elite monsters could be considered mini-bosses, in which that they were noticeably stronger than the average monster, but not yet at the tier of a boss monster.
The items dropped from the defeated Elite monster included 3 items, but only 1 was colored. (uncolored = white/gray)
Breeze-Fang AmuletRestrictionsNoneDefense10Durability50/50Quality:BlueAn amulet infused with the blessing of the winds.Special Effects-The wearer's speed is increased by 3%
+10 AGI +5 DEX
It wasn't a bad item, and additionally, it was an accessory. Accessories were different from the basic defense armors, such as a chest-piece, leggings, boots, helmets, and similar items. Accessories were more rare and sought after because they were an additional equip, allowing for increased stats. Having an accessory that increased his speed was a miracle. along with his dancer class' AGI buffs, the amulet would allow him to move faster, allowing for faster grinding and easier evasion, not that he ever got hit much anyways.
As time had progressed on, another notice was received.
Event Update:
500 Players remaining
Monster spawn rates considerably increased,
Monster level average increased as time passes,
More difficult monsters now spawn.
Monster drops increased 1.1x
This was his chance to get more loot and EXP! Horizon no longer went out of his way to kill normal monsters, as he noted the EXP received from the rarer variants of monsters was noticeably higher, but still slayed any monster that was near his position. Slaying Elite and Superior( a rare variant weaker than Elites) monsters, his EXP bar filled slowly up, as did his inventory. He had sparsely encountered the remaining 500 players, and when he did, he had hidden his presence until he determined he was a safe distance away from them. Thankfully, nobody had noticed him yet as he did this.
Inventory Capacity Exceeded.
Extra items will now induce a speed penalty.
He was originally worried about the penalty, but his high AGI stat had made the speed reduction penalty quite negligible, as it had hardly hindered him. The speed penalty slowly increased as he kept adding items into his already over capped inventory.
*Clang* There was a distinct sound of fighting in the distance.
Horizon changed his route towards the noises. Upon reaching the source of fighting, he found 3 parties battling each other and a Blue boss in the vicinity. The first party which he instantly recognized as the party that had attacked him in the beginning, He was not surprised to see that they were still alive, as he noted their prowess from before, excluding the death of their archer, who seemed to have been killed in the current battle. The second party, the largest one, was the group of friendly seeming players that had approached him earlier, had a slightly higher amount of players, but some of them had been killed, leaving only 6 left in his party. The third party was a party that he had not encountered before. They consisted of 4 players, and none of them yet defeated.
He also noticed that he was not the only watcher. He had counted at least 17 people around the surrounding area using his presence skill, and it there were at least 2 parties formed within those 17 or more players. They were most likely waiting for a chance to steal the Blue boss.
Markshvel, The Iron TitanLv.40 BlueMarkshvel, A titan of iron who controls the earth. He has wandered aimlessly, searching for an opponent to defeat.Boss SkillsRegrowthIron ShellEarthen Strike???
As to why they were trying to defeat a monster over twice their level, he had no idea, and a Blue Boss-type to boot.
*Shiing* Another player had been defeated, and one of the third party's members was gone. Each party now had a considerably low force, and both parties hiding took this chance to PK and steal the boss. With the different parties indulged in fighting each other, Horizon took notice as the remaining watchers, consisting of 2 other parties joined in the battle. He also noticed that one group was leashing the boss into a different region than the fighting, as a chance to defeat it, but they were promptly stopped.
After all the players had been defeated, the remaining players were 2 players from the third party. After they had regenerated their health, they approached the blue boss, who was a little distance away, in open plains. From the forest that Horizon had spectated from, he activated his Presence skill, and moved towards the player drops. The pair that was currently battling the boss had neglected taking the loot, prioritizing the take down of the boss over the player items.
After collecting the dropped items, he retreated into the forest near where the 2 players from the third party were battling the iron titan. He slowly sifted through the loot, and a few items caught his eye. Among them was another blue accessory, and 2 green armors that he could use.
Steel Chain mailRestrictionsNoneDefense 20Durability37/50Quality:GreenAn ordinary piece of chain armorSpecial Effects-+100HP
Orc leather Greaves RestrictionsLv.15Defense15Durability23/30Quality:GreenA pair of old greaves made from orc leatherSpecial Effects--0.1% damage taken
Chainmail wasn't considered a heavy piece of armor (i.e Full plated) so he had no problems equipping them, and the greaves also caused no conflict with his class.
Switching his attention to the iron golem once more, the pair fighting it were struggling against such a high leveled boss, and their prowess in skill was unmistakable. As one of the players fell, there remained one player left. The remaining player's skill seemed slighlty superior to her partner who had been slain just earlier. Horizon ran in and swiftly slashed at the golem multiple times.
67!
48!
97![Crit!]
53!
With the golem's iron-type, high level, and blue status, it had an unsurprisingly high amount of defense. No wonder the earlier group had such trouble in taking it down.
He felt a glare from the swordsman the golem. It was very likely that she(the swordsman) had assumed that he was attempting to steal the golem, but was unable to do anything, because she was aggroed by the golem and would be killed if she did anything rash. As they brought down the golem's health, the golem had entered an enraged state, where the boss' stats would be increased, and more powerful.
As the golem's health grew ever so lower, the swordsman 's blade emitted a faint glow. Horizon quickly backed off the golem, as the swordsman released her skill, and had drained the last of the golem's health. The golem fell, but something seemed wrong. The message. A window should have appeared when the golem was defeated, meaning that the golem wasn't finished yet! Seeing the low-healthed swordsman approaching the golem, he cursed at her mistake, and ran towards her. Just as she reached the edge of the corpse, the golem grew a faint black glow.
Regrowth! One of the golems skills, he had forgotten about it because it had never used it, but it seemed that it was automatically activated once the golem had fallen. As the golem's fist flew at the unaware swordsman, he shoved her out of the way. If she died, then he wouldn't be able to take the boss golem by himself.
Meeting the fist in the air. he swung his sword and glaive ferociously at the fist.
32!
45!
37!
41!
Markshvel the iron golem had been defeated
-Level Up-
He quickly grabbed the first item he got held of as pain surged through him.
572![Crit]
He was smashed with the full force of the golem's Earthen Strike, at around just the same time he had killed it.
His vision faded black as he died, then flashed brightly as he was teleported into his starting kindgom, Runa.
Event: Heaven's Judgement has ended.
Another window appeared in front of him.
Event Heaven's Judgement has ended. Do you want to keep your name private?
If he was within the leaderboards, then he could be targeted by other players, and he would prefer to not be pursued by others, so he declined the publication of his name.
Well, it was too bad that he had died when he was so close to achieving the first place prize, but it was his own fault for doing so, and he wouldnt be able to do anything about it now.
but it was such a shame that he came so close. Other than that, the event had dropped quite a bit of loot, and the exp he had gained during the event amounted to a generous sum.
Event Statistics : HorizonPlayer Ranking2Monsters Killed379Players Defeated0Treasures Found0Event RewardsPacifist-Title : Kill no players during an event
+10 All stats
+500 fame
-
Purger-Title : Kill the most monsters in an event, kill over 3x next rank
+10% Damage
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+20% damage to basic monsters (Non-Elite/Boss Etc.)
+5% chance to do 200% damage
-
Underdog-Title : Kill a massive amount of monsters with higher levels
+Negate Level Difference Debuff (Normally if fighting a higher level player, your stats will be decreased by a percentage, and theirs increased.)
+10 All Stats
-
For ranking second, you have gained the following rewards
10000 Exp
500 Fame
1 Random Rare[Blue] Equipment
1 Random Uncommon[Green] Equipment
50 Gold
Random Hidden Class Promotion Card(Dancer)
-Level Up-
He was finally able to achieve a title, and 3 of them too. Titles were obtained through completing various things, or achievements,
He distributed his unused stat points, then equipped the titles had had just gained.After doing so, he had inspected the Random Hidden Class Promotion Card Items that he had obtained from the event.
Random Hidden Class Promotion CardRestrictionsLv.20Quality:Gold-MythicA card that grants the user a hidden class, based on the user's skills, and stats. Occasionally affected by location.
Caution : The class change can't be declined once used, and the card disappears after one use.
Although it had the effect of being unable to deny the change after use, he didn't mind, as it would be a better rank than his dancer class, an he needed a promotion anyways.
Your class has been promoted the the hidden class Illusionist Dancer.
Stat ratios altered.
New Skill(s} learned :
Skill Name:Skill Quality:Skill Mastery:Skill Progression:MasqueradeMythicBeginner0/100000Using illusions, you are able to change your appearance,
When your appearance is changed, your stats will change ratios.
Max Aliases : 1
Current Aliases : 0
You can set an Alias, Fame gained by set aliases will remain permanent, and can be changed into with a lower cooldown ratio.
[/tr]
Player StatusPlayerHorizonLevel22AlignmentFriendlyClassIllusionist DancerRaceHumanGenderMaleTitlePacifist, Underdog, Purger-Health475Resonance0Defense1Critical Strike2%Fame780-Strength114Dexterity102Vitality55Agility89Unspent Stat Points0-BalancePlatinum0Gold73Silver96Copper22Status EffectsResonance- STR, DEX, AGI +0.0%
+2% LifeSteal
+Negate Level Debuffs
+Chance to 2x damage
His stats weren't bad, and he had a relatively high amount of fame, he then decided that he would see what effects this caused towards the other NPCs. Browsing the player merchants and NPC merchants, he decided upon a player merchant that seemed to offer decent prices for selling items. As his items were appraised, his over-cap bag slowly depleted.
"I don't know where or how you got such high tier materials and equipment, but I consider that these would be worth 70G."(Player Merchant)
'70 Gold? That nearly doubled the amount of gold he had right now, and the merchant seemed to be very trustworthy.'
After he had sold the items to the merchant, he turned to leave but was stopped by the merchant.
"Can you help me out? I'm trying to get to the next town, and you seem like you're strong. I could offer you 10 Gold if you will help me get there."(Player Merchant)
"Make it 5 Gold, I was on my way to the next town anyway, I don't mind if you come too."(Horizon)
'If he grew relations with a merchant, he would possibly be able to get discounts and possibly some rare items. Although the idea of losing 5 gold hurt, the potential gain he could get would amount to much more. He was also clueless about the next town, as he never followed the roads, but kept that to himself.'
"Tell me when you're ready, By the way, I'm Horizon, pleased to make your acquaintance."(Horizon)
While waiting for the merchant, who's name was apparently Arkas, he decided to find out who the event winners were, and the identity of the swordsman.
Event RankingsYour Rank21st PlaceAvrora2nd Place(Hidden)3rd PlaceSacredFlame4th PlaceTyrantDemon5th PlaceMiru6th PlaceShadowColossus7th PlaceBaron8th PlaceAstral9th PlaceAisha10th Place(Hidden)
It seemed the swordsman's name is Avrora, Her partner was SacredFlame. Baron was there also, the bastard who had stole the loot from the boss he had killed, he wouldn't ever forgive, Astral, and Aisha, names he had remembered from whence he had partied with, just a few days prior. There was also another Hidden player, not including himself.
Only the did he remember, the item he had snagged when he had killed the boss during the event.
Soul Of PlatinumQuality:Mythic(Gold)The purest form of Platinum, obtained from defeating an elemental golem.A very condensed and pure piece of platinum, infused with the soul of an elemental.
Used as a material for various items.
Another Mythic item! The only other mythic item he had was the promotion card, and that was a prize from the event. He wasn't able to forge with Mythic materials, so kept in mind promoting the tier of his Blacksmith skill. His thoughts were interrupted by the merchant, Arkas.
Tiriel, The next town, and the one Arkas had requested to go to, averaged a time of 1 day walking. Horizon found the pace Arkas was traveling irritatingly slow, but didn't let it show. As he was a merchant, he had a LUCK stat that only a few other classes had.
The classes that the basic trainers taught were: Healer- A SUPPORT class, that used spells or various methods to heal their parties or their self. In formations, healers were generally in the back, and were a necessity in parties. Healers can deal damage to Undead, and some Dark-type monsters.
Next, Knights. Knights were a TANK class, that had great defense, health, and damage. Knights wore heavy armor, and generally fought using heavy armor (Full Plated), Two-Handed Swords, or With a One-Handed Sword, and a Shield. Knights had many Crowd Control (CC) skills, and took the most damage in battles.
After that, the Swordsman. Swordsmen were the physical DAMAGE DEALERS. Swordsmen fought with either Half-Plate or Full Plate armor, wielded Two-Handed Swords generally, But occasionally two One-Handed Swords. Swordsmen had decent defense, great attack, and a decent amount of health. That, or they had a massive amount of damage (10-Point STR) After the swordsmen, Swordsmen's skills almost always had skills that dealt damage. In this group exist Axemen, who use large axes to chop away at enemy health.
The Archers were RANGED ATTACKERS. Specializing in dealing damage from large distances, and had some CC skills. Archers used bows and daggers. Archers would be far away from the front line and would pick off the enemy. Their high speed and dexterity allow then to hit hard, while they were safe.
Monks Have massive amounts of HP and defense, and tank better than Knights, but they also deal less damage. They tank damage while their teammates deal damage. Their weapons of choice, their fists.
Rogues. Rogues focused on dealing as much as damage as possible, as fast as possible. Focusing on their crits to deal damage, they also use poison to drain their opponent's health.
With high speed, they use their agile bodies to rush in and deal damage, then quickly back off.
Mages. Mages arguably had the best damage potential in the game, are able to deal large nukes to the enemy health, and massive AoEs that devastate armies. But they because they ussually have low health, and are slow, once they are in melee range, their advantage is negated.
The other classes included : Bard, Enchanter, Merchant, Artisan, Shaman, and a few other classes, including Dancer.
Dancer was a class that had high speed, surpassing that of Rogues, and were the class that had no known combat skills. They used buffs, and other skills, but other than that, seemed to have no other skills. Dancer buffs were more potent, but the Shamans, who were the buff class, had a larger range of skills, and thus the dancer class was shunned.
'Who was that player? They were either an idiot, or......... yeah, they're an idiot.' Avrora pondered.
Yes, she had won the event, but only because the suspicious player had saved her, but he died in the process. He could've easily let her die, and he would have gotten the first place prize, which was far superior to the second place prize. She had been foolish to approach the boss that she though was killed, but he noticed it. He didn't seem to have a party with him, unless they had been defeated, but something felt off about the way that he fought. He was a solo player. To make it to the end, by himself, he wasn't an ordinary player.
Even she who had made it that far, was accompanied by her party of 7 people, who she all knew well since they joined the event together. She had originally assumed he was trying to PK her, and steal the boss, but her thoughts changed after he showed no sign of attacking her, and he even fought quite well against the boss.
After the event had ended, she had obtained a mountain of rewards, but they all felt wrong, as she didn't feel that she deserved someone else's work. SacredFlame, her party member, and the party leader, had congratulated her, and even insulted the player who had saved her. SacredFlame who had died to the boss, had noticed Horizon taking the items dropped from the defeated players that they had neglected to check. he was unable to do anything. because if he ran at him, Avrora would take all the damage and the boss would be lost. He swore, it was a PKer. He admired Avrora for being able to take the both the boss, and the PKer alone. This, he was mistaken about, but SacredFlame wouldn't cope well with it, so she left him to his ravings.
As the party leader, SacredFlame declared that they should share the items, as the entire party worked towards it, and Avrora was unable to deny this, so SacredFlame announced that since he was the leader, he should naturally be able to chose the first item. This slightly enraged Avrora, but she said nothing. SacredFlame had hogged the best items, from both the boss, and the event. She also noticed how he said nothing about his personal rank, which was 3rd place. Being one of the top 3, he undoubtedly also had reaped good rewards from the event that he made no regard to share.
-
As Arkas had finished replenishing his hunger, he and Horizon continued to Tiriel. Horizon had noticed earlier, the suspicious players who had slowly surrounded them while they were replenishing, and prepared himself if they began attacking him. Arkas who had finally noticed them, froze still, and looked around. Horizon heard Arkas swear in a low voice. As 2 players walked from the forest surrounding the path, Horizon tensed. They had offered to let them both live if they would be as so kind to surrender their goods, obviously drunk on the idea that they outnumbered them. Horizon had glanced at Arkas, who was still frozen, before answering.
"I'm sorry but I'll have to decline the offer." Horizon replied.
"Do you think you're in any position to say no?" One of the bandits aggressively replied.
Horizon gave no answer as he lashed out with his glaive, quickly draining both the bandits health into the red zone.
"Kill them both!"
Someone screamed from behind. Apparently it was the leader of the ambush.
Horizon had activated behold as he prepared to fend off the attackers.
----------------------------------------
I haven't dropped this, I have just been kinda busy for the past 2 weeks, so I apologize.
Please notify me of any errors or tips you have, and I was planning to make this longer, but I felt that I'll post this for now, and make it up later.
I finished writing this really late... so expect some errors. both from by idiocy, and staying late.