Another five hours passed in the blink of an eye. Raine’s drifter soared above mountains that hid canyons, ravines, and sheltered forests. He passed several remote towns, knowing each would eventually become a hub of humanity in its own right. Abundant resources lay in wait for the guilds ambitious enough to claim these wild lands, and they were but the tip of an unimaginably vast iceberg.
His feet blurred as he touched down at a decent clip. There was no sharp pain in his feet and legs associated with the real world version of landing after a long session of hang gliding. He was on a wide trail at the base of a mountain, the nearest lift almost a hundred kilometers away. This area was known as a deadzone, where normal methods of flying ended and began.
He checked his surroundings, then logged out. His muscles and ligaments screamed at him, still heavily damaged by his use of internal force at Mel’s old cafe. A groan was squeezed from his clenched abs as he sat up. Only three hours had passed in the real world, and his old frenemy—Temporal Disorientation—was rearing its ugly head. He unstrapped his thermo wraps and tossed them into the chute down to the drone bay.
Before getting up, he sent a quick message to Mel, then limped to the bathroom to relieve himself. The adrenaline of their crazy afternoon should have worn off by now. He wanted to make sure she hadn’t done anything rash as people were inclined to do when their entire lives were tossed upside down with little notice.
She responded before he got out of the bathroom and his lips stretched into a wide smile. It was always nice interacting with girls who didn’t play stupid games with his precious time.
“I’m probably okay? I think? I don’t know! I’m definitely still panicking. The pacing helps but I’m never going to fall asleep if I can’t stop my feet from wearing a track in this carpet. This carpet’s really soft…”
Raine chuckled, typing a response while buckling his helmet back on, “I understand the feeling well. Your new headset will arrive in the morning. I guarantee killing a few beasts will do wonders for your mentality. At least it always does for mine.”
“Wish I could join you tonight. Can’t believe that son of a bell broke mine. So rude! I’m getting worked up again, and you probably want to get back in. I’ll leave you alone. Sorry. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Mel. You’re safe, and you have enough funds to take your life in any direction you want. Breathe,” with that, Raine replaced his thermo wraps with freshly delivered ones and laid down on the bed.
Arriving back at the base of the mountain, he started his ascent at a stiff jog. The strangeness of being alone in an area that was usually packed with players settled in like a thick curtain of fog. The unease was banished by excitement as Raine opened the general skills shop and purchased his first utility skill.
[Leap - Novice: Increase jumping power after a short charge (Cost: variable up to 10 discipline)]
Had he felt more pressed for time, he would have purchased the long distance running skill. It had few uses later on so he was reluctant to waste a point on it. He ignored the attributes from his level up for now in hopes of boosting a growth weapon instead of locking in the points. Until he knew how difficult the mystic realm was, it was best to keep his options open.
The path led him to the base of a steep cliff. Zigzagging stone steps were carved within the natural wall and he took them two at a time. Despite knowing there would be no beasts on the climb, he remained vigilant. Being the first to a new place had surprised him enough times to no longer make assumptions.
Mount Boshamro was far from abnormal in its lack of deadly flora and fauna. While ZionLine prided itself in realistic, immersive combat, it also fulfilled the desires of those whose hearts yearned for exploration. Treasures and opportunities could be found anywhere, and only awaited those curious enough to lift every stone to find them.
After the initial starting zones, each map would need to be explored manually to unveil its enshrouding fog, which could in turn reveal many secrets. The only alternative was to visit specific landmarks that would reveal vast swaths of the map.
As Raine climbed the innumerable steps, he put into practice the several martial techniques he had visualized. His feet blurred, and his torso bent and twisted as micro-muscle twitches grabbed his momentum by the throat and threw it out the window.
A simple truth that became abundantly clear at higher levels was that attributes exerted unrealistic forces upon the world. They followed rules, of course, but those rules could be bent and twisted, and with enough force, the very foundations of the world could be shattered. A hard enough kick could propel a man through the air. A strong enough punch could destroy a mountain without releasing a whisper of displaced air.
This was the basis of the third inviolable law of ZionLine: Attributes do not follow physics, physics follow attributes. The potential of what was achievable was endless, but the reality was that Raine’s current form fell well short of any truly amazing feats. Weaving and shuffling, he rapidly advanced in blurring motions as though dodging a horde of ghosts.
The steps were strange to him, several far outside his orthodox and refined methods. They relied on fundamental understandings of internal force he was never taught. But that didn’t stop him in the least. On the contrary, his chest felt ready to explode with motivation as his meager attributes attempted to force the movements to function correctly.
He reached the top of the stairs an hour later after only succeeding in creating his very first martial technique in either lifetime. It was a shuffling backstep that only worked half the time. Overcome with emotion, he turned back to gaze out at the valley he had ascended from. Like rising from the pits of hell, he had freed himself. He was on top of the world, and tears leaked freely from his eyes—He did it.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Advancing his martial prowess by a single step after years of stagnation opened a new path that he would never allow himself to step down from. Raine recalled his old master at CronGate. The vile bastard used the acquisition of new techniques like a whip to enforce obedience. And no matter how much he begged or slaved, after a certain point, he was never trained again. But the truth had been revealed at last. He was never constrained by anything other than his own will to take another step.
Don’t be like your foolish big brother, Richtor. Keep moving forward, no matter how many times they knock you down.
Raine left the majestic view behind, sprinting up the straight, steep path. Snowy mounds sprinkled the rocky ground and his breath misted. The landscape grew more wintery, shrubs and brush replaced by pristine walls of white. He could see the tower now, jutting high from the peak. Tall and blue as the sky with a cylindrical shape; it was an obvious landmark that none would miss even from a great distance.
He arrived at its wide base, breathing heavily in the thin air. Narrow stairs wound around its outer walls and he took them without hesitation. Twice he circled the tower, each time the distance shrinking as it grew narrower. He almost laughed when three steps in a row were colored slightly differently than the rest. He jumped over the obvious trap, reminiscing how challenging these towers grew in higher level zones.
The stairs ended abruptly, replaced by long stone pegs at a much steeper angle. He navigated them without slowing. Several rotations later, the tower was thin enough that each leaping step required a complete shift in angular momentum; he was forced to slow and adjust between each. The howling winds buffeted him but didn’t hold enough force to throw his armored body off course.
The pegs were replaced by stones that protruded just enough for his fingers to grip. He scaled them with little fanfare, thoroughly enjoying the physical exertion and the danger lurking beneath him like a specter, daring him to fail. The stones changed angles, becoming more difficult to grasp but with sufficient attributes, such a hindrance was purely mental. The last obstacle was a gap of three meters (ten feet) made of smooth, pristine stone that lacked purchases of any kind.
He shimmied up until his hands were at his waist, fingers dug into the final handholds. Bending his knees slightly, he charged a Leap with five Discipline, then shot straight up. He cleared the slick-stoned section and directly landed in a dome-shaped cupola. A thrilling melody played from the arched walls.
[Congratulations Explorer]
[The spirits of Mount Boshamro commend your bravery]
[Map updated]
[Achievement for climbing your first Exploration Tower: General Skill Point dropped]
Raine snatched up his new skill point and took a deep breath to cleanse his muscles of their jittery energy. Then, he promptly leaped from the tower. His arms spread wide as he embraced the open air. The wind caught him and gravity flipped his stomach upside down as he activated his premium skydrifter. A shimmering stealth field enveloped him and the triangular sail on his back jerked him higher, absorbing the abundant winds.
He immediately leaned hard to the right, entering a barrel-roll that brought him into the brightest section of green sky. He kicked his limbs wide to stabilize, then tucked them in and blasted toward his goal.
image [https://i.imgur.com/hpsW3fY.png]
Four hours, and four lifts later, Raine neared the marker on his map. He was back in the obscuring fog so he couldn’t tell exactly where his destination was. Knowing he was close, he circled each mountain. While switching from one to the next, he passed through an obscuring bubble massive enough to hide an entire valley.
From one second to the next, a new scene unfolded beneath him. In the center of a sheltered valley, a large rocky hill had been converted into a circular stone gateway. Its center glowed a menacing crimson. Swirling energies trapped within reflected a similar, yet clearly different sky.
Raine touched down at a wide landing zone, a set of ancient steps leading up to the gateway. He took them quickly, his time growing short. Crackling whips of elemental energy sputtered from the portal, its glowing surface polluting the air around it in a dazzling display of ephemeral hues.
image [https://i.imgur.com/iPgGtGt.png]
A deep and menacing voice echoed from the stones around him, the gate pulsing with each syllable, “Heed well this warning, Traveler. You approach the resting place of Korahn. If you dare tread upon this sacred soil, you shall be tested. If found wanting, you shall never return.”
Raine boldly strode forward, placing his hand upon the flame-drenched, shimmering surface.
[Entry restricted: Level fifteen or below. No Class. Two achievements]
[Requirements met]
[You may proceed]
What was once solid, became like mud beneath his fingers. With little force, Raine pushed through the milky surface. A blast of foul air met his nostrils as an entirely new realm dominated his view. The matching gate he exited from flickered and died behind him.
[Unique Chain Quest: Fall of the Tyrants progressed]
[Acquire three Knightly Idols from within Korahn’s Legacy and return them to Zoarra The Great, before she grows tired of waiting]
Raine briefly scanned the updated quest with a frown, then his gaze tracked across the stunning view. From his high vantage, he was greeted by a giant, clear dome in the sky. Its spherical shape encapsulated a landscape approximately one hundred kilometers across that brimmed with fully separated biomes.
From right to left, a desert housing bleached ruins abutted a dense jungle to the north. The lush greenery wrapped around the backside of a massive mountain that dominated the entire center of the mystic land. The jungle abruptly ended to the west, where a flat field, scorched clean of life, took the final third.
Raine had been in such spaces several times, but the hair on his exposed skin stood on end when the return gate had deactivated. That was new to him, something only heard of in rumors and it indicated a significantly higher level of danger than normal. A meter from the gate, a tiny hole in the stones caught his attention.
I'll have to keep an eye out for something that will fit.
Upon entering a mystic land, a quest with penalties for failure would always be issued. The severity of those penalties were the best way to judge the difficulty of the monsters and traps within. A 10% reduction in attributes for a day was the least difficult. 20% for three days was normal, and the most challenging he had ever attempted (with a full party) was 30% for a week.
[You have entered an unstable realm. Time until spatial collapse: 1 day 14 hours]
[The return gate is currently nonfunctional. Pass the trials of Korahn to reactivate the gateway and escape before spatial collapse. All items acquired in the mystic realm shall be lost upon death. A 70% penalty to all attributes will persist for 20 days upon death]
[May Korahn’s judging gaze reveal your salvation]
Twenty days?!