Boot Mountain, October 6 2012, 12.30 pm GMT+7
Flame Cerberus, a Nightmare in the form of a three-headed dog monster was blocking the two Saviors in front of him. A larger Savior was blocking the fire elemental magic attack that the three dogs were spitting out with his shield.
“Provoke!!!” exclaimed the large Savior uttering his Keyword Skill. “Now what should I do, Wing?”
The big-bodied Savior was named Rhinoceros. As the name implied, his posture was similar to that of a rhino that could stand like a human. Rhinoceros was a Swordman from the Fighter Class with his armor, a Sword in his right hand, and a Shield in his left. The Rhinoceros is one of several animals that belong to the Morphius Tribe.
“You must buy as much time as possible, Rhinoceros.” replied the small Savior. “Activate the Art, Cryomancer!”
Wing was a Savior with the Trickster Class and the Featherman Tribe. The Trickster Class was one of the promotions of the Magician Class besides Wizard and Cleric. His body was full of yellow feathers even though his hands were still shaped like human hands, with a head shape similar to a Paradisaea. Part of his body was covered with his orange Trickster Class uniform. As a Trickster, she used the Book weapon in her hand.
“So, can you explain to me about this Art you're using?” asked Rhinoceros while drawing the monster's attention.
“Art is a unique type of skill belonging to the Trickster Class in Magic mode,” replied Wing as he opened his book. “Unlike the Wizard Class's magic, Art requires a seance called Summoning. When the Trickster Class is in battle, you can see the Synchronicity bar meter along with the Break and Threat bar meters.”
“What will happen after you cast those spells that I don't understand the meaning of?” asked Rhinoceros hearing Wing's voice in a language he didn't recognize. Around Wing was also a large circle above his feet.
“According to the time and element of summoning, the monster spirits will start coming and help us in the fight with the magic we both use. Since I'm still a Trickster Class, I can only summon a spirit ball like this. As time goes on, this orb will get bigger and I'll start to be able to use high-level magic.”
“But, if I have to buy time and hold the monsters for a few minutes, isn't it too long?” Rhinoceros felt worried about both of their situations.
“Normally, it's the job of the Wizard or other DPS Classes if our group wants to deal damage and make the monster stagger or topple until the summoning time is over. If we're grinding against Noise, the Trickster usually stays in one place and is escorted by his party members while the Tank role goes around further to draw the monsters towards the Trickster so that his magic can effectively hit the group of monsters,” Wing said at length.
Rhinoceros tried to conclude. “So, in exchange for the long preparation time, Trickster will instantly deal Burst Damage—huge damage in a short amount of time. That means there's a trade-off as well.”
“That's right. The Trickster can't be knocked down so the summon process doesn't reset from the beginning. My movements are also more restricted when casting séance spells. Later, the higher my rank, the more features that make up for my shortcomings, and the summoned spirits will be stronger on par with Nightmare or Fear.” Wing said while showing his extremely slow footwork.
“Alright, this is troublesome. But I'll hold this Nightmare until the summoning time is over,” said Rhinoceros.
The process was not as easy as Rhinoceros said. As a Swordman, he had a Skill called Provoke that increased the threat bar faster than other Saviors and he had a skill called Bash that also increased the Break bar faster. Both of these skills can be performed in Defense mode and can cause a Stagger or Topple condition according to the highest amount of physical or magic DPS in the group members. Unexpectedly, Flame Cerberus had already entered the Break condition to be precise Topple.
“Wh-what? It's too soon for him to Topple right away!!!” exclaimed Rhinoceros holding back Flame Cerberus whose three heads began to growl.
“Rhino, I think you're using too much Bash Skill!!!” exclaimed Wing realizing how Rhinoceros was playing against the Nightmare.
“Damn it. He got angry and intensified his attacks. Argh!” Rhinoceros' body began to burn and he was hit by several scratches from the Nightmare. The damage he took was even greater due to Topple's condition.
“Rhino, you have to survive a little longer!” shouted Wing pointing at the Synchronicity bar which was already at eighty percent. “Damn it, I can't speed up the process.”
Wing saw the Rhinoceros' body being bitten by one of the Nightmare's heads. It seemed that because it had been programmed in the game, the Rhinoceros' body was too hard to bite so the Nightmare vomited the Rhinoceros onto the ground. Still, it had caused damage to the Rhinoceros. Rhinoceros' HP was getting low.
“Summoning process completed. Snow Rolling!” Wing spoke his Keyword. Several large snowballs magically appeared around him and they did not melt on the volcanic plain. The book Wing was holding also changed shape by opening wide and revealing the figure of an ice crystal ball on top of the page.
One of the snowballs began to roll and shattered crashing into the Flame Cerberus' body, dealing massive damage. The three Nightmare heads growled in pain but were still focused on attacking the Rhinoceros with their fireballs and claws.
“Rhinoceros, are you okay?” shouted Wing as he continued to push the snowballs one by one. He couldn't do it fast enough.
“I'm not. But just defeat this monster,” said Rhinoceros, but his body collapsed and could only take the Nightmare's attacks now. There were many cries of pain, though it wasn't his voice.
“RHINO!!!” shouted Wing as he saw his friend's dying HP.
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“Just keep attacking, I'll be knocked-out. It's my job to protect you as the Tank role,” said Rhinoceros.
Wing would be able to defeat the Nightmare with this much damage, but he was worried about his own HP if Rhinoceros fell. It seemed like they had indeed decided too risk to fighting this Nightmare just by two of them.
“Eldora Heal!!!” came a voice around the two of them. There was a feline figure that advanced towards Rhinoceros.
“This is…, Heal?” said Rhinoceros as he stood up to get his weapon and shield.
“Are you okay? I healed you.” said the cat girl who approached Rhinoceros.
“Sweetie, did you come to help me?” asked Rhinoceros after he stood up straight.
Meanwhile, Wing's eyes were focused on another figure in front of him. A blue dragon figure stepped in front of him taking a position to protect him. He was holding a hammer-like weapon that Wing recognized as Mace.
“Can't you wait for your best friend?” said the blue dragon figure looking back at Wing. “We're coming after you!”
“That voice... Velocity? Is that your character?” asked Wing in surprise.
“Bingo. We'll talk about this later. Invite the two of us into the party so we can use Buff for you guys.” pleaded Velocity.
Wing invited his friend and the cat girl into the group. He noticed that both of them were Cleric Class.
“Vestalia, let's take out the Buffs I taught you yesterday!” Velocity ordered his catgirl companion.
The two Clerics stood up straight and began chanting their respective Keywords simultaneously.
“Renovatio!!!” exclaimed Velocity raising his Mace.
“Fortuna!” exclaimed Vestalia raising her Staff.
The effects of the two Buffs were immediately felt in Wing's character's body. He saw the effect of Renovatio's Skill which healed his party member’s HP every few seconds and the effect of Fortuna's Skill increased all seven of their stats. They not only won in numbers now but also increased the quality of their damage as well as their defense.
“Heh, if there's already a Cleric, I can resist this Nightmare more strongly. Provoke!” Rhinoceros uttered another Keyword to attract the Flame Cerberus' attention. “Help heal my HP, sweetie!”
“I-yeah!” Vestalia nodded nervously. She moved away to keep her distance and prepared to heal the Rhinoceros when needed.
“Well, time for me to join!” said Velocity, stepping forward to face the Nightmare. “Aqua Force! Ginger Bread! Dragonic Power! Dragonic Bane!”
Velocity had used Items and Buffs on himself. His Mace weapon was covered in water bubbles and small dragons on the surface of the bubbles. His hands also seemed to be enlarged. She was in attack mode.
“No need for Clementia and Slyphario with Vestalia's Tribe Skill Fortuna which has more effects!!! I'm also using Dragonic Bane's Tribe Skill to increase my weapon attack. Everyone, Attack!” Velocity shouted to her friends.
A mixture of Wing's snowballs, Velocity's Mace blows, and Rhinoceros' Bash Skill sword slashes defeated the Flame Cerberus with ease. Vestalia also played a role in healing Rhinoceros' HP at a critical time.
“We did it!!!” shouted Wing running to meet his friends. All kinds of Rewards began to upload to their Mobius.
“Good job, Wing! Rhinoceros!!!” exclaimed Velocity who was the center of the group with the other three Saviors approaching. “At last, we meet again!”
Velocity's right hand patted Wing's hand, while his left patted Rhinoceros' hand. He was doing the High Five emoticon.
“Oh, Wing. You look like a Paradisaea. And Rhino is close to real Rhino.” Velocity commented on the appearance of his two friends.
“Hey, unlike Espion's game, it would be more handsome if we became these animals,” Rhinoceros replied.
“Err... Handsome??” rebutted Wing looking at Rhinoceros' face. “Please, would the rhinos at the zoo say Rhino is handsome?”
“What, are you more beautiful with your looks?” asked Rhinoceros starting to argue.
“More charming and wise!!!” said Wing sounding proud.
“Okay, okay! Whatever the term, I believe we design our characters' bodies according to our tastes!” exclaimed Velocity starting to mediate.
The two friends laughed, and Velocity laughed back. Suddenly, Velocity was overwhelmed by Vestalia jumping on her shoulders.
“Oh, Vesti! I almost forgot you were here!”
“She's the girl you told me about on WhatsApp yesterday, isn't she?” asked Wing, approaching Vestalia while extending a hand. “My name is Wing, nice to meet you.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. My name is Vestalia.” she came down standing on Velocity's hand to shake Wing's hand.
Rhinoceros also began to approach Vestalia. “Greetings, Miss Sweetheart. My name is Rhinoceros. I may look strange with a body like this, but believe me I'm handsome in real life.”
“You said you were more handsome in this virtual world!” snapped Wing.
“Shut Up!” retorted Rhinoceros. “Oi, Velo. How did you get to meet a girl in this game?”
“Fate?” replied Velocity sarcastically. “I just happened to meet her when I had to do the tutorial.”
“For Real?” Rhinoceros looked at him suspiciously.
“You think I'm lying? I told you everything on WhatsApp.” Velocity reminded.
“Ahahaha. By the way, all our Rewards have been uploaded. So should we head back to the city and continue with the field study?” interjected Vestalia while showing her Mobius.
“Oh, yes. Of course.” said Velocity as she mimicked Vestalia taking out her Mobius. “Let's go, Wing, Rhino. Respawn!
Velocity watched as his three friends imitated Keyword to return to the city. The four of them were now on the third floor of Dragavar City.
“Are we going straight to Maester Atroce to conduct the field study?” asked Rhinoceros to confirm.
“If it's ready, we can do it now,” replied Velocity. “Trust me, we'll have some free time to chat. We have to take the train to the city of Mjolnir as part of this field study.”
They finally started walking toward the fifth floor of Dragavar City and looked for the legislative administration building. Vestalia jumped back onto Velocity's shoulder and sat on it.
“Oh dear. Why can't we just teleport directly like the Espion game?” complained Rhinoceros. “The travel time is only half an hour from what I've read online, but it's lazy to wait like this.”
“The info says teleportation can only be done outside of field studies,” said Vestalia. “I had to teleport with the help of my guardian Vanilla during the tutorial.”
“Huh? I'm not doing that?” asked Rhinoceros confused.
“The tutorial process can vary by player, it said,” said Wing. “The town of Sandoria where I'm from is confusing. It's on top of two big trees and I have to ride a Gondola train to move between districts similar to what I saw in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah on television.”
“Wow, I want to see it,” said Rhinoceros in amazement.
“I'm sure we'll be visiting all seven capitals in all of our field studies and work.” said Velocity as he looked up the escalator. “Hey, we'll be there in a minute.”
The legislative administration building was located right in front of the top of the escalator. They passed through the monument with the Pendragon statue that served as the entrance, passed through the automatic doors, and entered the building's lobby. The lobby was rather crowded with many Survivors and Saviors passing by.
“Should be here, the GPS is close,” said Rhinoceros checking his Mobius. “Umm, the Tribe Fairy woman in the purple outfit?”
Wing pointed to their right. “That girl?”