With eyes brightly reflecting the gold coins in his possession, Raine accessed and reviewed his auction sales history. He sold a total of two hundred and six items. The best earners were the forty Common Gray level ten drops from the croglocks. The rest were Dull Trash and tutorial gear. The lower tier items sold for an average of one and a half gold, while the crog drops went for over thirty-five gold each, some as high as forty.
Amazing that players scraped together this much gold already. Massive guilds are terrifying in terms of economic power. This must have been a massive hit to their bottom line. Wait, don’t tell me… I caused a bidding war that turned into an actual war?!
That makes so much sense. Greed is a huge motivator, and if one side was winning more of the auctions, the other would obviously want to take advantage of their weakened cash flow and hopefully snag some of those items in the process.
Similar wars had occurred more times than Raine could count. There was no such thing as a guild in ZionLine that thrived on peace. Since the cash shop had yet to open, it was difficult for corporation-backed guilds to turn digital assets into credits. Obviously, they needed to deliver results to their shareholders, and the best way to do that was to grow their initial investment. There were two primary ways to go about that. Either spread your people out and farm drops, coins, and levels, or steal them.
Raine licked his lips. Desire to create his own guild and join the fray filled his chest with excited tingles, and the only cure was action.
He tapped away at his kiosk’s interface, checking the current price for level ten gear. He filtered the selection until he found replacements for the last three items he had yet to upgrade. Their total was fifteen gold and he immediately bought and replaced his remaining Dull Trash pieces. They weren’t as good as the superior versions from the crog chieftain, but they were a decent boost nonetheless.
[Scaled Bracers - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +12) (PTC +1) (FNS +1) (PHY +2) (Durability 55/55)]
[Scaled Boots - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +15) (FNS +3) (PHY +1) (move speed +1.2) (Durability 55/55)]
[Kallnenko Branch: Common Gray - LVL 5: (AP +15) (AS -.25) (DEF +10) (PHY +4) (Durability 35/35)]
The branch was a thick, two meter staff with good heft. Even though it was technically a monk weapon prioritizing physical stats, he could still use Blast with it, making it a good fit for his current build. He replaced his old staff in the cursed roulette, then left the auction house, eager to continue leveling. His next goal was level fifteen and Silverlight City, where he could officially create his guild.
Currently, guild players were bound together by real life ties only, without any true support from ZionLine’s systems. If he was the first to access the guild system, it would make recruiting, and more importantly, keeping those recruits, much simpler. There was no point recruiting a bunch of random people before then, only to lose them to a major guild after a few empty promises of wealth and fame. He needed to take the opposite path, building wealth and fame, then letting the players come to him.
He had the perfect spot in mind to gain a few levels and score some nice equipment. Raine set out for the back gate of Vile Peak Town. On his way, he passed by a dark alley. A thin limb of black smoke shot out, wrapping around his ankle so fast that even his past self would have been powerless to avoid it. The limb’s Potency was off the charts and it easily dangled him upside down. He was pulled into the alley and magical darkness rapidly surrounded him.
A flash of light revealed his two-handed mace. He wound up for a swing when an unfortunately familiar voice stole his momentum. He froze, sweat sprouting and dripping up his spine toward the ground.
“Hello again, my adorable little Traveler,” the mysterious and powerful witch from the forest near Mirror Lake Town appeared before him in a swirl of dark energy. She snapped her fingers, and Raine fell to the ground, which had been replaced by the dark smoke. She smiled, revealing missing teeth and stained gums, “You unleashed something ancient and cunning in these mountains. I want it.”
Raine banished his weapon and leaped to his feet. The odd smoke was more than sturdy enough to stand on, though it undulated eerily beneath him. His stomach was doing backflips after nearly attacking the witch’s pet. The best result from that blunder would have been a quick trip to the local graveyard. He bowed, “Apologies for not recognizing you, Great One.”
“A pittance. Pay your ignorance no mind. You will call me Zoarra.”
“As you wish, Zoarra.”
Her smile widened and Raine did his best not to cringe, maintaining a polite demeanor. Even regular Vaaterrans were a force only the foolish took lightly. Abducting him in this town without drawing the attention of its famously powerful lord only proved all over again that Zoarra was a rung above extraordinary.
When she didn’t continue the conversation, Raine gathered his courage, “You said there was something you wanted?”
“Indeed. Your exploits in a nearby cave awakened a sealed curse. It is currently protected by three artifacts. You will bring them to me.”
Last time she gave him a quest, he wasn’t given a choice. When the quest dialog didn’t immediately appear in his HUD, his brows furrowed, “What are these artifacts, and why send someone as lowly as me?”
“They hold the forms of knights of old. The reason I am forced to send one of you pitiful Travelers is the location. Are you familiar with mystic lands?”
Raine nodded. Mystic lands were spaces separated from the normal rules and boundaries of zones, usually accessed through various mechanisms or rituals. Usually, only those below specific levels could enter them. Inside, one could find entire worlds of content and it was almost a guarantee they would yield astonishing rewards for those lucky enough to plumb their depths.
“Perhaps your ignorance is not so all-encompassing. The danger you will face is greater than the pebble you cleared from my garden. Will you go? Or must I find another?”
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The finality in her last question triggered alarm bells in Raine’s skull. He pushed down his concern; it was too early to accept such a dangerous quest with so little information, “How would I access the mystic land, and what can I expect to find there?”
She sneered, “Simply arrive at the designated location before midnight. As for the denizens, you should already know. If you can’t figure out something so simple, you’re of no use to me! Now, what is your choice?”
Raine hesitated, weighing his options. If he followed the course he set for himself, levels and progress were guaranteed, but little else. On the other hand, mystic lands contained great treasures, and far more Superiority. With challenge, comes reward. The only reason he didn’t immediately agree was how ridiculous her last quest had been. That ‘pebble,’ was eight levels above him, and the penalties for failure would have forced him to restart.
Raine already decided he needed to keep pushing himself. If he turned away from this opportunity because of fear, then it would prove his dreams of reaching the top were nothing more than pleasure seeking self-indulgence.
He met her glassy-eyed stare with a firm nod, “I’ll go.”
“A foolish choice. I eagerly await your failure, my future pet,” in a pulse of darkness, she vanished and Raine appeared in the alley once more.
[Unique Chain Quest: Fall of the Tyrants progressed]
[Locate the entrance to the Mystic Lands of Korahn’s Legacy: (15 hours remaining)]
[Warning: Failure to progress this quest will result in your soul being dominated by the Great Witch Zoarra. Quest may not be abandoned]
Seriously?! Don’t tell me she’s been waiting here for days just to try and turn me into her minion again. Give it a rest, you old bag!
Raine opened his map to check the location of the mystic land. Not seeing it, he zoomed out until most of the map was visible, but shadowed in fog. Since he had yet to visit the areas and uncover them, they would remain obscured. Still, he failed to find the location.
He ground his lips together in frustration, and zoomed the map out as far as it would go. At last, he found the little gold triangle that marked the entrance, several hundred kilometers away at the very edge of the zone. And of course, there was no road anywhere in that direction. There were, however, dozens of mountains packed with beasts to slow him down.
The timing would be tight, with little margin for error. Worst of all, it would be expensive.
Raine broke into the fastest jog he could get away with in a town. Empowering the body with Discipline was banned inside walls. If he tried, the guards would quickly dispatch him. He arrived at the Gromglenns’ yard and marched right up to Gazmo, “Can you show me the items you have for sale?”
“Sure-sure, smallest rock. Is here, everything for you-you.”
He found what he was looking for, and dropped just over two hundred gold to buy fifteen Dull Trash and Common Grey items, a Lustrous Blue cloak, and two Marvelous Gold devices; the latter costing a whopping seventy-five gold each. Grumbling under his breath about supply and demand, Raine equipped his new cloak.
[Technomancy Reverse Apron of Confundity - Common Grey: Worn around the nape, this device projects a translucent filter that obscures details of the wearer’s armor]
With the cloak active, anyone seeing him would think his superior scale armor was the regular variant, which would still leave him looking better equipped than anyone else he was likely to meet. He rushed for the back exit of Vile Peak Town. As if to spite him, a crowd had gathered and was blocking the way. They looked through the wide-open gate at something outside, their whispering nearly drowned by the morning winds that gently howled through the streets.
“Who do they think they are?”
“Hasn’t this gone on long enough?”
“There’s more than enough of us, let’s all go at once and it’ll be over in an instant!”
Raine wasn’t polite in pushing through the throng, eliciting curses and frustrated growls. Just outside the gates, ten level eleven players stood in a loose group. Each of them had a red banner above their heads, denoting a successful player kill within the last day. They could still enter most towns, but the guards would watch them like hawks and wouldn’t help if other players attacked them. As red players killed more, their banners darkened and eventually guards would kill them on sight.
Their leader was short and thick. He held a spear loosely to his side and was engaged in a heated argument against a burly man and two young women, “Two silver for the ladies, five for you!”
At a glance, it was obvious the girls had spent considerable time in the character creation menu. Even from behind, Raine could tell they were stunningly beautiful. They had even toggled the option to openly display their names—KindHeart and TooPretty—which made Raine want to roll his eyes all the harder.
Catching the leader's leering gaze, the burly man repositioned himself to block the view. His muscles bulged and his voice was somehow louder than the boisterous man, “Nine silver?! That’s hogwash! Who could afford that?”
The red leader spread his arms to the sides, a slick smile plastered on his face, “We’re not keeping these roads safe on charity, mister. Look.” He pointed about fifty meters down the trail to an archer. The man waved back with a goofy grin. “You think it’s easy guarding such a long and dangerous section of the road just so fine folk like yourselves can safely travel? Well, think again.”
The burly man looked back and forth between the nearby archer and the leader. He sputtered, unable to form the words to call out the ridiculousness of the situation. KindHeart and TooPretty stepped out from behind their escort, wearing pleading expressions, “Please make an exception. We simply don’t have that much. How about one silver each?”
“I think we can make an exception. If you’re willing to spend a little time with us,” the leader’s grin widened, and with a flick of his finger, two of his men closed in.
Raine hadn’t stopped to watch and was now halfway to the shakedown. The leader spotted him and his smile slipped. Not only was Raine wearing gear several cuts above the norm, he had a purposeful gait that reeked of confidence.
The leader held out his hand palm up, “Halt! One customer at a time.” Raine didn’t stop, preparing to walk right by. “I said halt!” The leader brandished his spear and the rest of his gang readied their weapons. When it was obvious Raine wouldn’t stop, the man Lunged forward with a Pierce.
Killing a red player wouldn’t mark him as a red player, but it would spoil a perfectly good opportunity. The moment he was no longer the aggressor, Raine’s arm swept to the side. A flash of light revealed his short sword. It smashed into the air well before the Lunging man could reach him. Rupture sent two rippling waves outward in an expanding cone that encompassed most of the bandits, the innocent burly man, and both girls.
The first wave neutered their defense by forty percent, and the follow-up five hundred percent shockwave dealt between eight and nine hundred damage to each. Raine, with all his weapon masteries completed and great gear, only had a little over four hundred health. In an instant, eleven players were reduced to shredded wrecks that barely had time to fall to the ground before exploding into particles of light.
Even though ‘innocent’ players died, due to being attacked first, and Raine’s primary target being the red player, his name remained white.
Jaws dropped, and the only sound that could be heard was the peaceful blowing of the mountain wind. Raine quickly collected the thirteen dropped pieces of equipment, (red players increased their death penalties with each kill, eventually resulting in additional drops, and even multiple levels lost) then continued on his way. Behind, voices exploded from the crowded gate.
“H-he just killed those girls!”
“What are you, fourteen? A real man’s heart would never be swayed by a pretty face!”
“Yah, they were going to pay those thieves instead of fighting with us, screw them!”
“There’s only four left. Get ‘em!”
A mad scramble ensued, the crowd chasing while the bandits bolted in separate directions. Since none were fool enough to chase Raine, he couldn’t have cared less.