The narrow road meandered through the foothills until eventually weaving deeper into the mountains. It wound back and forth at the mercy of steep rocky cliffs, following the Sinner’s River uphill. Occasionally, as the path rounded a bend, Vile Peak Town could be spied before the landscape obscured it once more.
The sun was directly overhead, no longer hiding behind the towering slopes. Raine only slowed long enough to avoid the largest flocks of raptors, cutting down the stragglers with clinical efficiency. Rupture would have made it possible to take on the larger groups, but there was always a chance of something going wrong, or being ambushed from above in a moment of inattentiveness. The reward for such foolishness would be a quick trip back to Mirror Lake Town, and an even longer trek right back to where he was now.
No thanks.
Insult to injury, he was still one hundred thousand Superiority short of level eleven. The stingy beasts dropped a whopping five copper and a few hunks of tough raptor meat that were barely worth cooking—a skill he had no intention of wasting points on. The only silver lining was completing his class affinities, which yielded a surprising reward.
[Congratulations!]
[Class attunement: Brawler has reached 100%]
[Upon reaching level fifteen locate a trainer to specialize in the age-old style of laying hands and whooping ass. Combine speed, power, and unparalleled personal skill to teach your enemies that the only truth is the fist]
[Class attunement: Warrior has reached 100%]
[Upon reaching level fifteen locate a trainer to take your first step down the path of weapons mastery. Slice ‘em, bash ‘em, or stab ‘em to your heart's content. Stick with it long enough, and you may even learn which end to point at your foes]
[Class attunement: Defender has reached 100%]
[Upon reaching level fifteen locate a trainer to become a living wall of metal and brawn. Your mere existence will infuriate the beasts that threaten your allies. You’ll take their blows like a champ and give back as good as you get. Just don’t expect to give more than that!]
[Class attunement: Cleric has reached 100%]
[Upon reaching level fifteen locate a trainer to become a master of adjusting. Suck up to your allies by keeping their worthless hides free of holes, and someday they’ll appreciate you. Promise]
[Class attunement: Mage has reached 100%]
[Upon reaching level fifteen locate a trainer to learn that the only thing that matters in life is big numbers. You’ll become a paper-thin turret with the power to overturn any situation, so long as nothing looks at you]
[Achievement for first player to complete all basic class attunements! Class Change Token dropped]
Raine had never even heard of a class change token. To say his hand blurred to snatch up the potentially priceless item would be a serious understatement.
[Class Change Token: Activate to discard current class allowing for a new class advancement test to be undertaken]
Raine blinked at the description for several long seconds. Changing classes wasn’t supposed to be possible. He had certainly never heard of someone doing it. His own path was already firmly set in his mind, so at first, the item seemed useless. That was until he considered starting one class, taking a few of its skills, then changing to what he actually wanted. The possibilities were stunning, and would certainly surprise anyone who wasn’t expecting a fireball from a brawler, or any of a nearly infinite combination of possibilities.
The hairs on Raine’s neck prickled, and suddenly, the world felt like a far more dangerous place. If something managed to kill him in the next two hours, he would lose the opportunity of a lifetime. With renewed wariness, he marched on to Vile Peak Town.
An hour came and passed. Once he arrived, his first order of business would be stopping by the local tavern for a drink; a tradition as old as the lore of the world itself. Even if he chose milk or water, the act would bind him to the town so a death wouldn't result in another half-day’s journey.
But he wasn't there yet, and the last few kilometers were by far the most dangerous. Many had fallen victim to a horde of raptors, annoying giant eagles, or outright player on player piracy during their last steps before entering the town.
The steep cliffs were famous for the latter at one point in the past. Raine had personally led CronGate’s southern detachment, sweeping the entire mountain range clean of red players—those committed to the act of banditry. After the sweep, CronGate took over Vile Peak Town and turned it into a major hub where dentures—I.D. contract holders—could toil away their lives doing mundane office work under the brutal regime of seventy-two hour days.
Having no desire to fall prey to beast or man, Raine firmly grabbed the knob that controlled his vigilance, cranked it to eleven, and twisted it off. Even if he wasn’t on high alert, it would have been impossible to miss the large group of players huddling a short distance from the walls.
His brows shot up, surprised to see anyone here at all, let alone nearly fifty players. He ducked behind a rock and checked the cliff walls for signs of an ambush. Of course, there was none. Scaling required specific skills and equipment that simply wasn’t available yet. Not to mention anyone that high would be easy pickings for the birds without stealth skills beyond novice grade.
Raine crept closer to the gathering. Not near enough to overhear whatever they were chatting about, but close enough to get a read on their levels. The highest in the group was only level six, fifteen were level five, and the rest three and four. He shook his head, not understanding what they were thinking. Just getting through the raptors must have cost them several dozen players. It was entirely possible they started their expedition with three or four hundred members.
What’s the point? Why not level up normally and come when you’re ready. How much manpower did they waste? For what? To say they got here first? They can’t even enter the town until level ten. That’s probably what they’re discussing.
With one eye on the sky, Raine boldly approached the town. He could have snuck by, but he recognized their leader. In the past, this particular man had tormented Raine relentlessly. After all, he had been one of Raine’s supervisors at CronGate and took great joy in making his life a living hell. Since the psychopathic bastard came all the way here and stretched out his neck, there was no way Raine wasn't going to show his appreciation by cutting off his head.
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Raine was spotted quickly enough, earning the group a measure of respect for not being entirely oblivious. The moment one of their members pointed and shouted, thirty of them vanished from sight. The other twenty drew weapons but didn't immediately attack. Their reactions were within expectations. Those level five and above were unable to stealth due to being in someone’s line of sight. Those still protected from PVP could ignore that particular restriction and were taking advantage of it.
Their leader took a step forward. He was level eight. Tall and fit, with short blond hair and crystal-blue eyes, he was the picture of classically handsome. Raine didn't need an introduction, but he got one anyways, “Stop there, stranger. My name is Froust, 3rd sub-commander of Righteous. This is our territory, if you want through, you'll need to pay a small fee of fifteen silver.”
Raine nearly burst into laughter. The audacity coming from the notoriously cruel member of Righteous was expected, the ludicrous sum of fifteen silver was not. Raine had just over ten silver, so the man's guess at his wealth was far from accurate. He maintained his cool, continuing to approach without a word. Another familiar figure whispered in the leader's ear—the very same boisterous man from Mirror Lake Town.
Froust spread his arms wide, a friendly smile lighting up his features, “It seems you've met an accomplice of mine. He tells me you were less than kind. Unfortunately, I'll have to add a fee for pain and suffering. Fifty silver, and all of your equipment.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/qkG1dO4.jpg]
This time, Raine did laugh. Great, heaving guffaws echoed from the canyon walls, attracting the attention of several predators. “Sure, I'll pay. Pay for your trip to the graveyard!” A short sword appeared in his hand amidst a flash of light. Without another word, he charged at Froust.
The large man tutted, “Fool! You can’t beat so many. I suppose I should thank you for whatever items your corpse is about to gift us.”
Raine knew his words were true. No matter how much experience he had, pure numbers were often an unassailable advantage. ZionLine was far from the first martial arts based VR experience. Over the decades leading to its release, massive guilds had formed for the very purpose of defeating those too skilled to deal with any other way. Righteous was one of those guilds. Their members numbered in the tens of thousands, and the powerful martials they’d defeated couldn’t be counted. Superiority through numerical advantage was a brutal reality of warfare, it always had been, and always would be.
Though, it was far from the only brutal reality.
Thirty low level stealthers positioned themselves between Raine and Froust, eagerly awaiting their chance to bodily dogpile him where he would be easy pickings. Behind them, the twenty capable of PVP had already begun to spread out, readying arrows, staves, and wands. There wasn’t a single person facing Raine that doubted their victory.
Still dozens of meters short of his target, Raine’s charge became a Discipline-powered sprint and his form streaked forward, bypassing a few who misjudged his speed. He couldn’t see them, but he could see the grass and dirt depressed by their feet. Approaching a group of six, he leaped to the side at the last second, foiling their attempt to jump on him. The act of falling face first into the ground dropped their stealth. Seeing the failure, a barrage of ranged attacks were unleashed.
Ranged combat in ZionLine was a sore topic for many. One side declared it a dead end that would never result in the birth of a true martial, and was therefore useless. The other argued that the potential damage output made it the perfect role for those without the talent to become a martial. The truth was that hitting anything, let alone a quickly moving target, was highly challenging and any prospective martial would benefit from the practice. If Raine’s cursed ring allowed him the use of ranged weapons, he certainly wouldn’t have sneered at utilizing the advantage in certain circumstances.
The low ranking members of Righteous were far from true martials. Most of their attacks zipped right by him, the intricacies of aiming beyond them without the appropriate training. A few lucky shots were bound to hit, but his opponents lacked the attributes and gear to make them deadly. [-1] [-1] [-2]
“W-what?! Only one damage?”
If Raine were merely a few levels higher than them, they might have done more damage. Unfortunately for them, he also had great gear for his level after defeating the crogs.
Raine’s grin was predatory, his blurring feet bringing him closer to the suddenly less sure of himself Froust. The man drew the greatsword at his back, “Don’t stop firing! Pin him down, that gear is about to be ours!” An answering battle cry resounded and they redoubled their attacks. Meanwhile, Froust dashed forward to meet Raine’s charge.
Froust slammed his feet into the ground, shifting his built momentum into an overhead Slash. His future rank in CronGate wasn’t a fluke. With expert precision, he minutely adjusted the angle of his swing to account for Raine twisting his torso. Unable to fully dodge, Raine lifted his short sword at a steep angle, redirecting the attack.
The clang of metal was loud in their ears. Despite missing, Froust’s sword didn’t overextend to strike the ground. He once more shifted his momentum by pulling his arms in tight and bending at the waist. He shot forward, attempting to shoulder-check Raine who retreated a step. Five more ranged attacks smacked into Raine’s back as his sword darted toward Froust’s neck. The man lifted his pommel, narrowly blocking the stab. The Potency behind the attack caused Froust to stumble back three steps, his eyes widening.
“You're strong, I'll give you that. But a few extra attributes won't save you!”
Hearing hurried steps, and the grunts that followed, Raine threw himself to the side, avoiding several attempting to jump on him. Froust didn’t miss the opportunity to dash in his direction with another perfectly aimed swing, “Surrender and I'll make your death painless. Waste any more of my time and I'll cut you up piece by piece and feed you to the birds!”
Raine bent backward, his blade redirecting the much heavier weapon just enough to avoid being hit, “Funny you mention that. I was planning to offer you a similar deal.” Raine pitched his voice so all would hear, “Drop three pieces of gear each and I'll let you go.”
Jeering laughter was interrupted by a nearby impact directly atop one of the chortling idiots. The ground shook beneath their feet, rattling teeth and immediately interrupting their sadistic glee. A blinding explosion of dirt billowed outward and an ear-piercing “Kraw,” forced anyone too close to clap hands over their ears. Raine wasn't fool enough to lower his guard by covering his head. He ignored the pain ricocheting through his skull, keeping one eye on the sky as he had been from the very start.
A second reverberating explosion of dirt marked the death of another idiot. The dust from the first dissipated, revealing a huge eagle. Even inside the crater formed from its dive-bomb, it stood double the height of the tallest man. Its majestic wings spread wide, shaking free clods of soil as its intelligent eyes regarded them dismissively. In a powerful leap, it launched high into the air, ascending in preparation for another dive.
[Great Eagle: Level 15 - ????/????]
When the third eagle crashed, the members of Righteous panicked, no longer caring about Raine. Their eyes were cast toward the sky and they ran in circles, attempting to dodge.
A man shot by Raine, clearly intending to use the town’s wall as temporary shelter. Raine grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, “Not a chance!” With perfect timing, he bodily threw the man directly into another right as an eagle smashed into them both. After the eagle leaped into the sky, two shiny pieces of Common Gray gear were left behind, as though a present waiting to be collected. With a vicious smirk, Raine dove into the hole and rolled, avoiding three arrows and a Blast while collecting his spoils.
Froust roared, chasing Raine with a jump and putting all his strength into a heavy Slash. Raine directly blocked the attack with one hand, grabbing Froust’s wrist with the other. He turned sharply, redirecting the weight and force behind the blow into a throw that sent Froust right into one of the staff wielders. He slammed into the woman, knocking her into the path of yet another Great Eagle. Raine’s hand whipped to the side, grabbing a stealthed fighter by the hair. He lifted and then smashed him into the ground, jumping back just before the space he’d been in exploded.
The Great Eagle that emerged from the fresh hole was the largest so far. Its raucous caw was deafening, sending Raine stumbling back as his vision swam. [-72] The dozen nearest players fell dead, those further away bleeding from the ears. Seeing him still standing, the massive bird darted forward, its beak racing at Raine’s chest.
Raine dumped a full five Discipline into his body, split between his arms, legs, and the Slash that met the incoming bite. His sword bounced off the hard beak, failing to redirect it at all. He, however, was slightly thrown to the side and his hand that wasn’t occupied by a sword smacked into the creature’s face, allowing him to barely avoid being hit.
Froust, blood flowing freely from his eyes, ears, and mouth, launched himself at Raine’s back, his greatsword leading the way.