It was but a short track from where Yunya was to the archer outpost and soon, he met up with Desmond again.
“You again? I’d almost start thinking you live here,” he laughed.
Yunya raised an eyebrow and wisely didn’t comment on it.
“Yes, hi, good to see you too. I have a question.”
“Again?” Desmond grinned.
“Yes. For a magic archer, does casting speed matter?”
“Why are you thinking about that when you’re not even an actual archer?”
“I was thinking about possible professions and that question suddenly entered my mind,” Yunya shrugged.
“You know what?” Desmond said as he pretended to think for a second before grinning even further, “Become an archer and I’ll answer that question for free. Now shoo, before you get too far behind others.”
The magic archer laughed as he pointed at some other players who had a certain feeling about them, a feeling of being an archer before kicking Yunya out.
Unperturbed, Yunya messaged his friends to see if they had a good spot to grind exp. Soon enough, he’d joined up with them and even Zephyr joined after a while. His combat prowess was a little lackluster, but he eventually explained that he disliked direct combat and preferred to just trap his enemies and let others deal damage. Hence, he hadn’t practiced much with weapons yet. But traps needed both materials and skill to really do the job, neither of which he had an abundance of at the moment. Not before he had an actual class that focused on traps and the likes. He used a few traps to show what he meant, but not much more.
“I’m saving most of my traps to use on bigger targets. It’d be hilarious if I came across a strong monster, but ran out of traps,” he explained to a nagging Breeze.
“These weak monsters aren’t worth it.”
“Oh by the way, Breeze,” Yunya skillfully interrupted the conversation, “do you still want info on the professions?”
“Of course I do. Don’t think you’re escaping me after tricking me into a quest,” she grumped.
“Then do you want a list of the available professions?”
As if struck by lightning, she immediately turned around and strode towards him.
“You have the list?”
“If you stand more than 5 cm away from me, then I might,” Yunya chuckled as he pushed her away with a finger.
“Fine, fine. Here, I’m away now,” Breeze said as she took a step backwards. “Now give me my list. Please.”
She almost choked on that last word though.
Smiling, Yunya messaged everyone, even Zephyr, the list he found on the forums earlier. He wanted to tease her some more, but he did in fact trick her ever so slightly into the deal earlier.
“I’ll still play guide later on, but you have a look at the options already.”
All three of his companions went silent for a while, engrossed in the list. Breeze was the first who spoke up again.
“I’m picking a profession for mind. I’ll just visit all 8 options and decide then.”
“So you’re not picking merchant?”
“Why would I do that? I don’t need charisma.”
“Because merchant will probably allow you to make more money, something you’re obsessed with?”
“I’m not obsessed, damn it. It’s just that uhm…”
Thankfully, Path came to her rescue. “Who doesn’t need money?”
“Yes, thank you. At least someone here is on my side,” Breeze said as she glanced at Yunya.
“Did you manage to narrow down the list, Path?” Yunya completely shifted the topic.
“Some from endurance, some from dexterity. Didn’t like the options for vitality. And you, Zephyr?”
“Survivalist, thief, architect, alchemist, spy or treasure hunter.”
“Except for strength and endurance, that’s at least one profession from each attribute. You really are not picky, haha.”
Zephyr just shrugged, “Attributes aren’t important. What a player does is. I want to become good at trapping opponents and restricting them. Thief or spy will probably increase my stealth, and with respectively increasing dexterity or charisma, getting closer to my opponent. Architect might help me make better, more intricate traps. Alchemist might be helpful in making traps that poison or freeze you. Treasure hunter probably means getting more loot from chests, which is always nice. And its increased luck might come in handy when someone tries to escape, making them trip. Survivalist is a maybe, I’d need more info on what that profession actually does.”
“Wow, you really thought things out didn’t you?” Breeze exclaimed.
“Of course. I increase my attributes with calculated reasoning.”
“Are you saying I don’t?”
“I never said that. Hey look, a monster to kill,” Zephyr said as he ran away from Breeze and her glowing wand.
Giggling, Path first and then Yunya followed him, leaving Breeze behind.
Nearly two hours later, Zephyr and Breeze reached level 5 and left to go get their archetype and explore outside the veil, leaving Yunya and Path behind. Yunya had been wondering for a while why he found Path familiar and with just the two of them now, wanted to ask. But having a feeling she had something to do with Leviathan, didn’t know how to approach the topic. Eventually, Path picked up on it.
“Is something wrong? You’ve been rather quiet for a while now.”
“That obvious?” Yunya chuckled before continuing, “I have the feeling I know you from somewhere, but I don’t know where from. Familiar, yet unfamiliar.”
“Aahn, probably from some previous games. I’m part of Leviathan. Or well, Ouroboros now.”
“The guild changed names?” Yunya didn’t have to hide his knowledge of the guild, since it was rather well known. Instead, he started wondering who Path was, not recognizing her name.
“Not yet. Starting in Infinite Odyssey, we will. My family recently acquired the whole guild after being part of it since the start. As a symbol change, we decided to change the name, but kept it somewhat similar.”
“From a big sea snake to the infinite snake.”
“Something like that, yes,” she said.
“Isn’t it ominous though? A snake that eats itself could be a symbol of destruction,” Yunya said, half serious, half spouting nonsense while racking his brain for information about inside families capable of buying Leviathan.
“It’s also a symbol of rebirth,” Path countered. “Certain things have changed, some people left while new ones came.”
She then put on a fake air of haughtiness. “Besides, how dare you speak to its future guild leader like that.”
“Sorry ma’am, I will not do that again.”
“Call me ma’am again and I will kill you, I swear to god. I recently graduated university, I’m too you to be called something like that.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Sorry, sorry. But such a young guild leader? Wow, congratulations.”
Meanwhile, Yunya had started sweating, suddenly knowing who Starlit Path was. Family part of Leviathan since the beginning and rich enough to acquire it, favored daughter, young, recent university graduate. There was only one person who fitted all those criteria.
Mia O’Donnell.
Sole daughter of the filthy rich O’Donnell group. And someone he knew in real life. They’d met at the start of university and had played together for a while. All that lasted until Yunya moved across the country to continue his studies elsewhere, causing them to gradually lose contact. And the only person who had stood up for him in Leviathan when he butted heads with the higher ups. But since leaving the guild, they hadn’t spoken any longer.
But through dumb luck, they met again in a random starter village in Infinite Odyssey. Not that Yunya had any intention of saying any of that out loud. Leviathan, or Ouroboros now, was part of the past.
Path giggled, “Thanks. Were you part of Leviathan before, since you recognize me?”
“Nope,” Yunya lied with a straight face. “But Leviathan is pretty popular. I guess I’ve seen you in compilations on the forums or maybe during a press conference?”
“Ye maybe. Hey, do you by any chance want to j-”
Path interrupted herself, “Oh, I’ve hit level 5. How far off are you?”
Yunya looked at his interface and started laughing all of a sudden.
Reached level 5, 1 free attribute points has been awarded.
Reached level 5, djinn race gives +1 to mind
“I apparently hit level 5 already. Two attribute points for the fifth level though, that’s nice. Guess I missed the notification, trying to figure out where I knew you from.”
With exaggerated dramatics, Path flipped her hair and said in a whisper, “Guess I’m that good looking, huh.”
“Do you want me to call you ma’am again to wake you up from your daydream?”
Yunya barely finished his sentence before he had to start running for his life, with Path/Mia hot on his tails.
Panting, Yunya arrived at the archer outpost, having lost Path along the way. Only reason he’d been able to do so was the boar hide leather jacket he could now equip since he’d reached level 5, giving him an extra point of endurance. Even if Path was faster due to her higher dex, he had higher endurance and thus more stamina. Regulating his breath, he went inside. Getting the archer archetype didn’t require much, just showcasing a minimum amount of archery skills was sufficient.
Archetype has been selected: ARCHER This archetype excels in long-range combat, focusing on precision, agility, and versatility. Mainly masters of bow and arrow, they can utilize various ranged weapons. +2 dexterity
Bonus: between endurance, strength or dexterity, pick one attribute to gain one extra point every five levels (retroactive)
“Oh, I didn’t know getting your archetype gave a bonus like that. Let’s pick dexterity then. If I combine that with me being a djinn, it’ll make it so that every five levels, I’ll get +1 to both mind and dexterity,” Yunya said as he looked at his personal status. He didn’t yet distribute his point from reaching level 5, wanting to talk to Desmond first.
IGN Ashen Fall Level 5 Race Djinn Archetype Archer (dexterity) Class / Profession / Vitality 1 Endurance 2 Strength 1 Dexterity 9 Mind 3 Charisma 1 Luck 1 Free attribute points 1 Skills /
“Congratulations, sir,” the receptionist said. “For officially becoming an archer, you may select one of these skills for free.”
Three different skill books entered Yunya’s eyes, all three white.
“Precision Shot, to make your shot more accurate. Quick Draw, to shoot faster. Eagle Eye, to shoot from farther away.”
“I can only select one? Any way I can get access to the other two at a later time?” Yunya asked.
“If you acquire enough reputation within the outpost, you might be able to buy them, sir.”
“Hmm,” Yunya pondered. All three were pretty basic, but any of them could easily become the foundation of an excellent archer. Respectively, it meant higher damage, higher speed or higher range. Yunya already decided to acquire all of them, but was indecisive about which one first.
“Do you think I can get enough reputation before I make it to the big city?”
“You would have to focus on it, but it is certainly possible. In fact, I recommend it.”
“Alright. I’ll take Precision Shot then for now. And why would you recommend it?”
“Someone with a solid foundation before even having a class is bound to be stronger than their peers,” the npc winked.
Skill Precision Shot Rarity Common Prerequisite Archer Description Makes the next shot more likely to hit a weak spot, dealing 25% more damage Cooldown 10 seconds
Yunya happily ignored Thelonius as he went looking for Desmond. He wasn’t afraid of the dark elf npc, but would never look for trouble on his own initiative.
“Oh, a real archer now, are we?”
“Yep. Now, how much will casting speed matter?”
“Impatient fella,” Desmond laughed.
“It depends. Some will focus on having long lasting magic arrows, while others will enchant their arrows just before or even in the middle of a fight. For the former, casting speed doesn’t matter as much, but for the latter, it does. If I may, I’d suggest you go for long lasting magic arrows. Djinns have a bigger mana pool, you should be fine having your arrows enchanted for a long time and having temporarily reduced mana.”
“Keeping up the enchantment requires a constant supply of mana?”
“Indeed. As a rule of thumb, djinns usually have long lasting magic arrows, high elves don’t. Although there are plenty of exceptions. And that’s not even talking about other races.”
“Thanks. Anything else I should look out for now before I pick my class?”
“Except for practicing your archery skills even further? Nope.”
“Speaking of skills, they said that I should increase my reputation at the archer outpost further if I want the other two basic skills. You don’t happen to have any requests for me?”
“Which skill did you pick?”
“Precision Shot. Although I’ll probably try to get all three of them.”
“The damage skill first? Not a bad choice. And yes, do get all of them. As for a request, I personally don’t. But look at the quest board near the reception, there should be some over there.”
“Thanks.”
“No need. As long as you know to pick the correct class later on.”
Yunya laughed and made his way over to said quest board. He didn’t find anything too interesting at first glance, but hidden below some other quests, he spotted something he liked and accepted it immediately. While he was looking at the board, he’d heard others saying that you could only accept one quest from the archer outpost at a time, so Yunya immediately made his decision.
Quest Lost Bow Description An apprentice lost his bow in the woods after an encounter with a monster. Find the monster, kill it and retrieve the bow Reward you may keep the bow
Outside the outpost, Yunya opened his interface and soon found what he was looking for, an app to take notes.
“Let’s make a to-do list. First, get to level 15 to get to the big city, get my class and get my profession. That’s the overarching goal for now. Although I still need to decide on my profession, so info on that is needed first. I’ll also need to do quests for the archery skills and then actually get those skills. I have a feeling that enough reputation will only give me the opportunity to buy the skills, but I’ll still need to actually pay for them.”
Yunya frowned as he thought about that last part. He had some silver on him, but it wasn’t much. Not that he knew the price of those skill books anyway.
“Besides that, there’s that Secret of the boars II quest I can do now with Path, Breeze and Zephyr. As long as Path doesn’t ask me to join her guild though, I’m not going back there. Big guilds like that are too much of a hassle.”
“But first, outside the veil we go.”
Thus, Yunya went to the mayor, whom he actually had not yet talked to. But only that npc could lift the restrictions on players in order to pass through the veil, so Yunya didn’t have much choice. The veil kept back most players inside the surroundings of the tutorial village and the strong monsters out, but there was something else. It disabled PVP. You could not attack and kill other players inside the veil, but outside?
Outside did not have convenient rules like that. Outside was where Infinite Odyssey truly started!
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END OF BOOK 1