It took Baron 3 days to make it back to Gorn. Him, Raiden and Thyne took their time to hunt on the way back. They were all trying to get stronger so they could strengthen the guild. Baron shared the details of his Legend of the Cinder Wolf Diamond quest with them, and now they both were determined to help. They still didn’t know about Baron’s other reasons for growing the guild. Everything to do with the experiment and the lab coats was still hidden, but they were just as willing to help.
The first step was to gain reputation as a guild. Raiden did some research IRL and found that they could receive jobs from a bulletin board in Gorn. Wealthy NPCs would hire mercenaries, or mercenary guilds, to do whatever jobs they needed. It often involved escorting a merchant's goods or clearing out a dungeon.
Once they started getting fame and money, the next step would be recruiting. In order to build the guild to its former glory they would need an army of the same or greater caliber to what it once was.
When they arrived in Gorn Baron sent Avrice a whisper. They only had 44 days left to complete the hunting store owners quest. He was hoping that she got her taming skill to a decent level so they at least had some chance.
He split with Raiden and Thyne who left to go visit the Knights academy. Thyne now met the level requirement and could take the apprenticeship exam like Raiden did. It was also important for Raiden to show face and train or risk his master dropping him as a student.
Baron went to the hunting grounds to meet Avrice. He wanted to reach level 20 before taking on any guild quests. When he arrived the sight left him shocked. Avrice already tamed not one, but two wolves. They started to growl as Baron approached, but backed off at Avrice’s command.
“I still haven’t gotten them to tier 2 training, so the quest isn’t over yet. It shouldn’t take more than another week though. Meet wolf one.” Avrice pointed to the wolf with black, patchy fur. Out of the two it was in the worst condition. There were bite marks on its ears and scars on its nose. Mange was starting to thin its fur in several places.
“And Rose.” Avrice pointed at the other wolf. It looked cleaner than the other. Instead of patchy, black fur the wolf had a beautiful grey coat with streaks of white. There was still evidence of mange, but it wasn’t as severe. ‘So her naming sense isn’t completely terrible.’ Baron thought to himself
Baron got on his knees to pet Rose and Wolf 1. When he was little his family always kept dogs, and the wolves weren’t any different. They still enjoyed to have their stomachs rubbed and behind their ears scratched.
Of the two Rose was the friendliest. Whenever you stopped petting her she would bite your hand as if to say, “I’m not done with you.” And each time Baron would feel obligated to oblige.
After getting to know the two new additions to the team they started hunting. Avrice stayed out of combat and just conducted the wolves. At her command they would dart off into the forest. At first Baron thought they had ran away, but Avrice assured him otherwise. Several minutes later they would return chasing a mob right to where Baron was. Like dogs herding cattle the wolves would find a lone wolf and bring it into the trap.
It was a much more efficient way to hunt. They were able to find five wolves an hour where before they were lucky to find three. Avrice was even able to command them to find stronger opponents now that it was Baron fighting and not her. The level 20 wolves that had once killed Baron were now getting slaughtered.
They kept up the level of hunting for the rest of the day, through the night, and into the morning. Baron managed to reach level 19, almost 20, and Avrice said that Rose and Wolf 1’s training was progressing faster than anticipated.
Baron’s skills were also progressing. His Sword mastery managed to reach beginner level 4 and Unexpected Reach progressed to beginner level 5. He was taken off guard when his Fighters Stance skill leveled up. The only way he thought it could be gaining experience was when he used the stance that Sir Redrick taught him.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sword Mastery (Passive)Beginner417%Allows for more skilled sword play. Increase the level for further benefits. Certain professions raise the rate that experience is gained.
9% increase in damage while using a sword
7% increase in attack speed while using a sword
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Fighter’s Stance (Active)Beginner24%Fighting with a proper stance is what separates the skilled from the average. A correct stance allows for better strength, speed, and resilience in battle. It is the core of all fighting styles.
Combat related skills gain experience at 1.05x rate.
6% Increase in Defense
7% Increase in Attack Damage
6% Increase in Attack Speed
Your opponent is 17% less likely to land a critical hit.
All status effects caused by physical actions are 12% less likely to occur.
Cost: 1.2x Stamina Consumption
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Unexpected Reach (Active)Beginner573%By switching between weapons of different length it is possible to catch the enemy off guard and land a critical hit. Using it in succession will result in a decreased chance of working.
16% increase in critical hit chance
30% chance of putting your opponent into a confused state
Costs: 75 Mana
Upon leveling up to 19 Baron also got his first profession related skill. He didn’t think it would be that useful though. It seemed to have the opposite effect than what he desired. Along with the skill there was also an update to his profession traits.
Berserker
A Berserker’s bloodlust has never been known to be quenched. It is only while fighting that they can truly be happy. They value Fighting Spirit above all else. Most men would rather face an army than a Berserker. Often shunned by society, they find their home on the battlefield where they are hailed as heroes by allies and cursed as the devil by enemies.
Where a swordsman would use technique, a berserker uses their emotions to gain the upperhand. They aren’t affected by intimidation and rise to any challenge. It is only when on the brink of death that their true strength is shown.
A Berserker’s main weapon is their Fighting Spirit which is fueled by their emotions. Measuring a Berserker’s skill is the same as measuring their Fighting Spirit. It is what gives them their intimidation and what allows them to fight on the brink of death.
Profession Traits:
+1% health and stamina for every enemy that falls at your hands
-Berserk is activated when health is reduced to 10%. Once active Fighting Spirit and regeneration are doubled.
-Not affected by other players Fighting Spirit of intimidation skills.
-Fighting Spirit is earned as a slightly accelerated rate.
Fighting Spirit
This stat is the embodiment of the users desire to fight or win. It can be used to intimidate weak monsters or players, and can allow the user to call out inhuman strength in moments of great need. Fighting enemies of higher level and of greater numbers will increase the stat.
Your profession changes the attributes of Fighting Spirit to make it a replenishing stat similar to health or mana. The base regeneration is 10 points/minute.
You are prohibited from distributing stat points to this stat, but stat points can be used to increase the regeneration rate.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Visible Bloodlust (Active)Beginner10%For the duration of use the users bloodlust will be visible as a red glow. Has the ability to make enemies hesitate or cower in fear. May also have the effect of decreasing familiarity with NPCs. Additional effects will be added as the skill reaches intermediate and above.
Intensity of the effects depend on the skill level and Fighting Spirit stat.
Costs: 5 Fighting Spirit/Second
The Berserk ability seemed useful, but Visible Bloodlust was more of a skill to avoid a fight. If the enemies get scared and run away there’s no fun in it. The same was true for Fighting Spirit. He didn’t want all the enemies to forfeit before the fight started.
He already managed to get +1 point to Fighting Spirit since the stats creation. He attributed it to hunting wolves that were 4-5 levels above himself.
When Baron’s inventory was full they decided to head back to town and sell off their goods. He still had the bones from the last quest and needed to sell them. He was ready to leave when Avrice stopped him.
“Someone needs to stay here with the wolves. They don’t allow hostile mobs below tier 2 in the city. Just give me your stuff and I’ll sell it for you. That way you can continue to level and I can log out for a while. It’s been over a day since I last logged out. I could really use a shower you know. I’ll see you in a day or two.” Baron could relate to her. It had been longer than he could remember since he had a decent shower. It was one of life’s comforts that an inmate gives up.
When Avrice left, Baron and the two familiars went back to grinding. The wolves coordination suffered without Avrice, but Baron was able to control them to some extent. They were noticeably more wild though forcing Baron to get rough a couple times. Once it was clear that he wasn’t opposed to physical harm they started behaving better, but never quite as good as they did for Avrice.
_________________________
Thyne didn’t stop talking the entire way to the knight academy. So much so that Raiden was starting to reconsider. He was doubtful the kid would make the cut, but it was worth a shot. If anything it would allow Thyne to move on and choose a new profession once he failed. So far the only path to knighthood known was through the academy. With the game only out for less than a month only one person was known to have acquired the knight class. He was the leader of the Hermes guild, Bad Ray. When looking at the guild leaderboards, Raiden saw them at number one. As expected considering the guild leader was also the highest leveled player.
Bad Ray and other high leveled players were starting to get contracts with entertainment providers. They would send in footage of gameplay in exchange for money. It was a good deal that required little effort and paid decent money. In the latest videos Bad Ray managed to reach level 22, but only held the position of highest level for a couple hours until several people started catching up. Still, he was only 3 levels higher than Baron.
‘It wouldn’t be that hard for him to catch up. Especially considering the amount of hours he puts into the game. I swear I’ve never seen him logout.’ Raiden thought to himself
The Hermes guild that Bad Ray commands had been around for the past couple years. It was started in an earlier game called Continent of Magic and transferred to RR once the game launched. 3 months had gone by in game and they already had a list of achievements behind them, and the guild had over 1,000 members. There was a rumor surfacing on the net that they managed to win favor with the king of Haven Kingdom, and were receiving secret, high level quests. Though there was no proof, the allegations weren’t that hard to believe.
If the House of Wolves ever became a major guild it would be the Hermes that they clash with. Considering the two sat on different sides of the Kallamore and Haven war, they would be bound to cross paths.. The Wolves weren’t based directly out of Kallamore, but they have a long history of allying with Gradian.
Inside the Gorns castle grounds, Raiden and Thyne found the academy. There was a group of players there waiting for the exam to start. All 135 players were level 10 and above. Raiden scanned the area for the instructor, but he wasn’t there yet. He planned to give Thyne a recommendation once he found him.
There was another familiar face in the crowd, but they weren’t too happy to see each other. Sitting by himself off to the side of the courtyard was Nick. Raiden and Thyne tried to bypass his gaze, but it wasn’t long before the obnoxious player started calling out to them.
“Hey! Funny seeing the ax man and the wannabe here. I hope you didn’t come for the entrance exam. It’s not like you’d have a chance anyway.”
“Fuck off, and what happened to the ‘I already know a knight’ thing you were saying. I thought that meant you already had an apprenticeship?” Raiden wasn’t about to let him insult Thyne in front of the rest of the players there.
“Not that it matters, but I was recommend to come by the instructor. Anyway you look at it I have the upper hand. It’s not like the instructor will pick someone he doesn’t know.”
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“No. It’s more like you’re lucky. Raiden already has his apprenticeship, and won't be competing. If he was you wouldn’t have a chance.” Thyne’s words made the surrounding players let out a sigh of relief. The moment they saw Raiden with his shiny armor and huge ax they all had lost some hope of winning the apprenticeship.
Nick was speechless. He never imagined that Raiden would have already accomplished so much. Because you could only take the exam in a few cities in each kingdom, and only one apprentice was chosen each week, there were less than 500 players who had one. Most were top tier professional gamers who had guilds and sponsorships supporting them. None of which seemed to fit Raiden.
Before they could continue the conversation the instructor arrived and gathered everyone’s attention to himself. He was a man of average height, but with more than exceptional muscle mass. He looked to be in his late 30s early 40s, and had armor that was making every player there jealous.
“Welcome, Welcome! I trust you are all here for the apprenticeship exam, no?” The mass of players nodded simultaneously. “Good, Good! Now let me introduce myself. I am Sir Hollis. I will be your instructor for this exam, as well as your master if you happen to do well. Now before we begin I will clarify a few things. One, I don’t HAVE to choose an apprentice. If none of you impress me then thats it. Likewise, I could pick several of you to receive my tutelage. And second, the tournament will be duel style, so killing is allowed. However, killing your opponent won’t impress me, so don’t try. Now if you would all get into a line that would be amazing.” Sir Hollis motioned to several guards that were there to help. They assisted in organizing the line.
The players were having mixed feelings about the Knight. Contrary to the typical stereotype he wasn’t loud and commanding. He seemed like a nice guy, but that was what scared everyone. It seemed like a facade that could crack at any moment revealing the monster beneath.
As the players were lining up Raiden went over to where his master was. He was hoping Sir Hollis wasn’t mad after his 5 day hiatus. Thankfully the knight welcomed him back with open arms.
“Ah! Raiden, what a pleasure. I’m glad to see you haven’t forsaken the path of knighthood.”
“Not at all! I only left because it was asked of me by someone whom I owed a favor, but my obligations are gone. I’ve returned to resume my training, as well as bring a friend of mine to the exam.”
“Oh? Who is it? From what I imagine of the company you keep he will be quite the warrior.” Raiden started to chuckle as he pointed Thyne out. Although he had determination and resolve, a warrior wasn’t exactly the image the kid gave off.
“I know he doesn’t have the physique of a knight, but his passion is greater than anyone here. I’ll guarantee it.” Sir Hollis chose to remain silent and not comment. His expectations were less than met. ‘Don’t say anything if you don’t have anything nice to say I guess’ Raiden thought.
The exam was set up with duel style tournament fighting. If you win you advance, and if you lose you don’t. As Sir Hollis had said, winning the tournament doesn’t earn you the apprenticeship. He has the right to pick any participant as his apprentice.
Each duel is set so that a player wins when their opponent’s health drops below 50%, however the system doesn’t prevent the accumulation of damage after that. If a player chooses they could continue to attack until their opponent is dead. For each match the players are chosen from each end of the line. The winners of each duel proceed to the next line and so forth until only one player remains and the tournament is over.
The first couple matches went by fast. There was distinctly different levels in the competition. Some players just recently reached level 10, while others were veterans competed in the last 2 or 3 exams. Half of the duels ended in one or two strikes leaving the victor with full health. Nick lucked out and got an easy first opponent. The player he defeated didn’t have any decent equipment or good skills to fight back.
It took 45 minutes and 37 duels before Thyne’s turn came up. His opponent let out a laugh as they both stepped forward. He was an average looking player with decent armor and an above average longsword on his back. As they faced each other and waited for the guard to signal the start, the player couldn’t help but taunt Thyne.
“Looks like I lucked out. Why don’t you leave and let the big boys do the fighting.” Thyne didn’t respond but just gritted his teeth. His size was something everyone picked on him for. It was a touchy subject for him. When making his avatar he tried to change the height, but the system only lets you adjust it within 6 inches of your original height. If not every player would be 7 ft. Even with the adjustment he was only able to make 5ft 5in. Since most players were taller in game than IRL he was still short despite being slightly below average.
When Thyne drew his dagger the crowd seemed confused. Knights had proficiency in all weapons, but something like a longsword or ax would gain more benefits. It would put any knight at a disadvantage to use a dagger.
Thyne’s opponent started laughing hysterically when the blade was drawn. He couldn’t believe the luck he was having. Once order was restored and everyone was serious the guard called for the duel to start.
The warrior was carefree and recklessly charged Thyne. To his dismay the kid wasn’t anywhere to be found. The wide swing aimed at Thyne’s neck swooshed through the air without connecting.
It was only when he felt the knife enter his back that he was able to realize what happened. As he turned to face the backstabber, Thyne’s dagger went from his back to his throat. Both players heard a ding as a message outlining the results of the duel popped up.
The winner of the duel is player: Thyne!
The onlookers were all surprised. This was one fight that few had hope in the underdog. No one expected much of his opponent either, but this wasn’t even a fight. The players that had wrote Thyne off were now starting to reconsider. Even Sir Hollis seemed surprised as he commented to Raiden.
“As I would’ve thought, your company are ones to impress.” Raiden was starting to think Thyne didn’t need the recommendation. He got substantially stronger during the last quest, and hunting with Raiden and Baron gave him additional skills in combat. The backstab skill he just used had become his signature along with the sneak skill.
The fights continued for another hour before round one was over. In the second half there were only a few players that seemed to stand out. There was group of players that all did surprisingly well. Each of the six won their respective fights without a scratch.
Two of them were able to end their duels with only one strike. The one looked to be in command of the others. Lucifer, as the guard called him, didn’t even pretend to try as he used a sword skill to attack faster than anyone could see. The attack glowed blue making it resemble lightning as it hit its mark. The impact seemed just as strong as it was fast. Before anyone realised the player’s health hit 0, and he faded into smoke.
The other player, Goliath, was the only non-human player at the exam. At above eight feet he was a giant that outsized Baron by nearly a foot. His large gut that was characteristic of the giant race seemed fatter than average, and his ugly face was more than most people could look at for a few seconds.
During his duel Goliath didn’t bother to draw the mace on his back. Instead, he grabbed his opponent by the throat, lifted him above his head, and slammed him onto the ground. The impact not only won him the duel, but his opponent’s health dropped to 0.
Sir Hollis was visibly agitated during the two duels but didn’t comment. Although he expressed his stand against killing your enemies in a duel, it was still allowed. Even if he wanted to discipline them he had no premise to do so.
As the matches for the second round started Raiden made his way to Thyne. Walking through the crowd he couldn’t help but overhear a conversation.
“It’s bad enough they terrorize players outside the city, but now they’re PKing inside the castle walls.”
“Why did we have to start in a city with a PK guild like them. We should just drop out. It’s not worth dying for.”
“What PK guild is it?” Raiden had to ask. He remembered Baron mentioning a PK guild at one point. He even went so far as to designate them hostile on the guild relations list.
“It’s the Blue Blood Brothers. The bastards have killed hundreds of players in the areas surrounding Sai and Gorn. They’re a plague to this city. I wish they would just move on to a new kingdom already”
Raiden went into the guild management window and looked under the guild relations tab. The only guild registered was the Blue Blood Brothers, and there name fell under the hostile category.
He looked at their guild profile page, but it was mostly blank. The only information he was able to get was a list of players in the guild. Looking through the list of 12 names Lucifer was marked as the leader with Goliath second in command.
Raiden thought about confronting them, but without Baron there wasn’t any point. It was his fight after all, not Raiden’s. He decided to let them be for now and mention it to Baron later.
Raiden gave Thyne a pep talk while they waited for his turn. He instructed him on how to deal with several of the players he might have to face. Most importantly he warned him about the PK guild. The last thing they needed was for Thyne to die. Baron already wanted these players dead, it wouldn’t help that they killed a family member.
Thyne’s next duel was shorter than the last. The underdog managed to shock everyone again by dancing around his opponent. The deadly accuracy of his dagger never failed to hit a vulnerable point in his opponents armor. Thyne may appear puny, but he proves that stigma wrong each time.
His next two duels went similarly. He only took a few hits before coming out victorious in each. Now, he only had to win one more duel to make it to the finals, and the way it was looking he would be facing a Blue Blood Brother.
Nick faced Lucifer in the third round. He tried to stand his ground, but couldn’t withstand the PKer’s lighting fast technique. It was a crushing defeat. His only redeeming quality was that he didn’t die. It was mainly through luck that Nick had managed to make it this far into the exam.
With only four players left the semi-finals were set to begin. First up was the duel between Lucifer and another member of his guild. The fact they were comrades didn’t seem to matter as Lucifer used two strikes to bring his guild members health to zero. It was cruelty that was expected of a player who enjoys murdering players.
Everyone there was wondering what would happen if Lucifer and Goliath had to fight. The only obstacle in the way was the duel between Goliath and Thyne. The crowd didn’t know what to make of the match up. Every duel they had predicted Thyne’s defeat, but he hadn’t lost yet. Goliath on the other hand was expected to win every match up, and he did.
As the two stood next to each other Thyne was completely dwarfed. Goliath seemed amused as he looked down on his opponent.
“I don’t mind fighting a baby, but please don’t die in one hit. Try to make it at least a little fun” In a deep, hoarse voice the giant started taunting. He finished the sentence with a belly chuckle that seemed to shake the ground.
The guard signaled and the duel commenced. Goliath went straight for a knockout punch, but it was as slow as it was forceful. Thyne sidestepped easily. Using the momentum of darting forward to stab the giant’s side. It would’ve have been a critical hit near the kidneys if it wasn’t for the layer of blubber protecting him.
Goliath kept trying to land hits using every part of his body he could, but no matter how much he tried he couldn’t match Thyne’s speed. Each strike missed it’s mark and kept going. In the time it took the giant to recover from the wide swings Thyne would move in and deliver a strike of his own. Goliath’s health was slowly starting to get chipped away. His race gave him extra health making it slow, but Thyne’s attacks were doing enough to be a threat. frustrated by his inability to win Goliath drew his weapon for the first time.
It was a large, steel mace that surprisingly swung slower than the giant’s fists. Thyne was worried at first, but after he ducked the mace he decided to continue his counter attacks. His attention was caught as he noticed the mace begin to glow red. As if it was put into reverse the weapon shot back at him. This time it wasn’t slow, but had the same lightning speed as Lucifer's skill.
Thyne took the full force of the impact and was sent flying into the air. He didn’t manage to hit hit the ground before fading into a puff of smoke. One hit was enough to bring his health to zero.
Raiden could do nothing but grit his teeth. He had grown close to the kid in the past several days, and would love to bash the giant’s skull in. As was the instructor reasoning, he had no cause to attack them. Technically they did nothing wrong, so he would be branded a murderer if he acted.
There was no doubt in his mind he could take the giant, but Lucifer would be a challenge. It would be next to impossible to take them at the same time. Plus they would have the support of the three other guild member that were watching. He decided to let them go for now, but like Baron he resolved to get his revenge later on.
He didn’t stay for last duel. After talking to Sir Hollis, Raiden left to go train. It was the best way to relieve stress, and keep himself from lashing out at those two. He found out from his master that Thyne didn’t pass the exam. Thankfully, none of the PKers made it either.
“That kid does have passion like you said, very much so, and under different circumstances I would have gladly taken him under my wing. I can look past his lacking physique, but I don’t believe knighthood is meant for him. He has the qualities of character, but other professions are more fitting. I will however, talk to some of my colleagues. I’m sure I can find a master willing to teach such a promising student.” If the knight said he would do it than the chances of Thyne still getting an apprenticeship were good. Raiden was just happy that Thyne dying wouldn’t be entirely in vain.