World: MSS - Loading...
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“There, I see another fruit.” Borealis pointed.
He was right. About a hundred paces ahead, I saw the [Fruit of Clear Mind] on a low hanging branch. The translucent blue glow amidst this hellscape stood out so that even I could make it out from this distance.
“It’s my turn! Finally!” Delas exclaimed.
I held out a hand, holding him back. “Arrosh, distance to the nearest monster?”
The orc swordsman held up five fingers and with his other hand, pointed towards the east.
“Five minutes towards the east.” I closed my eyes, carefully feeling the warm breath of the volcano careen across my skin. “Delas, stay downwind.”
Nodding, the rogue sped off in a light jog, covering the distance with deceptive speed.
“Using the Wayfinder to figure out the location of the monster’s lair, then sending out only the minimum number of adventurers necessary to retrieve the fruit,” Borealis commented. “It’s unconventional, but efficient nonetheless. This way, you lessen the risk of getting noticed by the monster with backup still close by.”
I nodded, eyes fixed on Delas.
Thankfully, he returned without trouble, having consumed the fruit.
We continued on our way, looking for more fruits. Borealis. Arrosh. Then finally, me. We all ate the fruit once. Zenom was using his buff and since we were pressed for time, we skipped his turn. Now our minds were cleared of the effects of this Special Field, at least for the time being.
Slowly, I faced the party.
Truly, this was a party of strong adventurers. Arione, Delas and Borealis tried to look bored while Zenom retained his regal expression. Arrosh was unreadable.
“Ok, I think we’re ready now.” I looked at the sky. “Before nightfall comes, we’re going to check out the volcano.”
At first glance, there was no concept of night and day here due to the angry black smoke that blotted out the sky. But I knew better, one of the core mechanics of MSS was the day and night cycle. Since nothing had changed yet, I had to assume that it was day.
Borealis looked at me, his eyes uneven. “That would be the territory of the strongest monster in this place, if not the stronger variants. You’d risk it?”
“Six adventurers. Tasty, fresh prey just walked onto this island. Yet,” I began, “We haven’t encountered a single monster here, why do you think that is?”
The adventurers looked at each other, confused.
It was Arione who answered. “They’re afraid.”
“They are.” I turned towards the volcano, measuring it with my eyes. “Whatever lives in this place, it’s strong enough to turn it into a barren wasteland. It’s turned the volcano into a home and none of the monsters here dare come out. This plan is for naught, if we can’t defeat the boss.”
“And naturally, if we defeat the boss, chances are that the other monsters might be afraid of us too.” Delas muttered.
I motioned for Borealis and Arrosh to lead the way.
When you’re hiking it’s impossible to tell how big the mountain is. One of the beauties of hiking is that when you reach the peak, your mind is able to comprehend just how massive the world is –the view of a vista is not something that people easily forget. But those pleasures are often erased by the muscle aches and uneasy footing when climbing a mountain.
MSS had neither park rangers nor government funding to maintain mountains or trails. Even less so for an island in the middle of nowhere. I’ve been on islands like this before with a similar theme –perhaps not this exact one. There were thousands of islands in MSS and it was impossible to remember them all. But what I did remember was the fact that my character’s had their stamina and morale rapidly drained during the ascent.
Smoke got into our lungs, making it hard to breathe. It grew thicker and I could scarcely see the outline of the others against the black soil. The wind twisted this way and that without rhythm, bringing soot down and up into my eyes. Looking down didn’t help at all, it filled the gaps of my visor and my eyelashes were all but caked in black grime. Even worse, we were trudging up and the ash mixed with some kind of underwater reservoir, turning to muck. It clung to our armor, making each step a struggle. It reminded me of Coum’s spell, [Mire].
The ash beat us like a blizzard and Arrosh looked back, his body posture questioning.
“Continue.” I ordered, wondering if he could hear me. I pointed ahead of us, pointing it up and he nodded, leading the ascent once more.
We walked for an unknown time, nearing the peak.
And even before Arrosh cried out, I saw it.
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At first, I thought it was part of the volcano but upon a closer inspection, I realized I was wrong. It was big and that is an understatement. Colossal, massive and gigantic are the words that came to mind and at the same time, my brain continued to try and comprehend where the creature began and where it ended. But like walking on a mountain and being unable to comprehend the scope of its size until I climbed the peak, I knew I would never know how big the thing was until I had killed it and laid it out in front of me.
Shaped like a snake, it was coiled around the volcano like a nesting constrictor. I could tell because the disgustingly dry scales were heaving with each breath, shooting soot into the air that joined the swirling bodies of smoke that blocked the sun’s rays. I say the scales are disgusting because the creature must have been in the middle of molting –dry skin was still flaking off and there was a certain wetness of the creature that was just wrong. Like seeing a man who had been skinned alive.
A lot of people who love animals like to watch weird things: like the birth of one –and sometimes those same people are fine with disturbing images like a baby deer being torn to shreds by a pack of baboons. But I’m not one of those people and there was revulsion down in my heart at the rawness of life. I’ve killed monsters and bathed in their blood before, even still my first instinct was to turn away from this thing.
Fresh black and red scales writhed into place, and even as I watched they kind of locked into interlocking armor, kind of clicking into place. From the edges, I saw bits of red blood from where its skin had been scraped raw from the rocks. Its belly was fresh white like a egg yolk, both vulnerable and venerable at the same time. My eyes went down its sharp ridges, noting the four wings on its back –how long was this thing? Hundred fifty feet? Two hundred?
There was a flicker of movement and the shuffling of footsteps. The thing had stuck out its tongue –and at the same time, revealed where its head was– and we’d all reacted in surprise, taking a step back and getting into position. The tongue was split into three different ends, colored with a sickly dark jade green, sure sign of poison.
“Lock Slaveborn, do you recognize the monster?” Zenom whispered and I felt the other’s gaze on me.
Even Arione looked confused.
“It’s a [Myung-Sa (鳴蛇) ].” I answered. “A Grade-5 Boss monster.”
“That thing’s a grade 5?” Delas hissed. “It’s massive.”
“It’s most likely a variant, it’s not supposed to grow that big.” I’d never seen such a huge Myung-sa even during the 14 years of playing or maybe I was having difficulty translating how big it was on the screen to real life. Its size was jarring and I couldn’t tell where its head was anymore.
“A grade-5 boss monster.” Borealis had a slightly disgusted look on his face. He turned to Zenom out of habit then to me. “What do you wish to do?”
All eyes were on me again.
A grade-5 boss monster.
How long did I think I’d have to adventure before killing a grade-5 monster like the Cheonma? Two? Maybe three? Yet, in my first year in MSS, I’d killed the Cheonma. I hadn’t gotten anything direct out of it, but I knew that Aurora had grown much stronger. As a result, my party as a whole grew a lot –and the growth wasn’t limited to just the Core. Teamwork, strategy and battle prowess, those were all things that I’d have to develop as I chased being at the top of this world with my comrades.
What about now?
These guys weren’t my comrades, so there was no point in killing this boss monster.
Yet…
A grade-5 boss monster and a variant to boot.
What if it dropped a Core? Even split amongst the six of us, the sales proceeds to be considerable. Not to mention one of us could absorb it. Maybe I could pull another Aurora and just take it for myself, by ‘accident’. Hell, a grade-5 variant Core could be kept by me until something better came along. It was so good that even though it wasn’t part of my build, I was willing to use it for awhile yet.
Not to mention the items that could possibly drop. Artifacts and Legendaries that were a step above anything that these guys had as a weapon –something on par with my Lunar Shield.
I could have Arione cast the spell [Preserve]. It lowered the drops of a Core and Item but the parts from a monster this big… entire sets could be made.
Gone was Han. I was Lock, the Adventurer and greed was in my veins.
Still, it wasn’t just greed that drove adventurers though.
Fighting a grade-5 field boss was sure to create scenes of chaos. Where people were bound to show weaknesses and we’d all be pushed to our limits. What kind of choices would Arione and Delas make in those situations? Would Delas show me something that ousted him as a Player? For me to start actively plotting against him? And Arione? Would he be forced to show me a spell which he’d been saving?
But there was another reason.
Ujo(寓鳥), a grade 7 Boss-class monster.
The Named Variant of the Shadow Mimic Wolf, a Grade-7 boss monster. Prince Charming was around Grade 5 if I was being completely honest.
The Tortured Spirit, a Grade 8 monster.
And my latest Core, the Royal Oni, a Grade 4 monster.
Plus my [Aura].
My growth had stalled.
I felt it in the Scavenger’s Base. When was the last time I fought a strong monster? Challenged myself and took a risk that wasn’t involved in a questline or the [Player’s Guild]? I wasn’t growing stronger because those ties were holding me back. I was supposed to be hunting with my party, finding Cores and grabbing loot. Instead, here I was playing political subterfuge against Arione, Delas and Zenom.
Was I ready for the main questline with the Church, fighting over the Autarch’s Key when I was in this state?
No, I needed to get as strong as I could before we got there.
If I wanted to keep my party members alive, I needed to take risks. Looking back, my strongest growth spurts came through challenging myself and taking on risks.
“See how slick and slimy its scales are?” I pointed at the monster.
“Yeah?” Delas answered crossly.
“The creature has just molted.” I looked directly at Arione and Delas. They should know what I’m talking about.
The [Exhausted] status condition. Molting wasn’t the only way for a monster to receive this condition, but it was one of them. A minus 10% to all stats, including damage. Defense was reduced to 70% of what it originally was. Plus, its abilities would be weakened as well, and there were some monster who had certain abilities deactivated with the Exhausted status.
Adventurers will be adventurers. I saw them all perk up and peer at the peak with newly renewed vigor.
“Five minutes.” I said quietly. “Be ready in five minutes.”
Then I walked away from the group and began to ready myself.
Zenom came with me.
“I was sure you would turn back.” He said to me, just out of earshot of the others.
“You said we need this island.” I answered, taking out my sword and taking a whetstone to it.
“I did.” He didn’t sit down next to me and I avoided his gaze. “But I was unsure if the others would be willing to fight a boss monster who’s also a variant. It’s grade notwithstanding.”
“Don’t look down on the greed of adventurers,” I muttered in reply, “The monster is weakened and sleeping. A surprise attack might do half the battle for us. Plus,” I turned to him, eyes half covered by ash. “We have the famous Zenom Saintred with us.”
“I didn’t think you had such a penchant for flattery.”
“Neither did I.”
“You’re not at all who I thought you were, Lock Slaveborn. You are more like a politician. You are more shrewd than I thought.” Zenom paused. “Completely unlike the warriors of the North.”
I froze.
Slowly, I turned to look at him.
Was he suspecting me right now? Of lying? Because he saw how I dealt with the adventurers?
…How far down the path would that suspicion lead him? What kind of theories would he imagine for himself?
No. That was ridiculous. No one could suspect me of lying simply because I was a good party leader. Hell, I wasn’t a good party leader at first. Even thinking about my first expedition with Clover and L’teya had me kicking blankets at night sometimes. It wasn’t that.
Maybe he was just fishing. Trying to make me uneasy.
I met his gaze evenly.
“Thank you.” I said at last. “If you’re done, I’d like to focus.”
Nodding, Zenom left my side.
I pushed away my interaction with Zenom. I pushed away Arione and Delas, even Borealis and Arrosh. I focused on the blade in front of me, the Lunar Shield and the cold feeling of my armor. I wiped away the soot and ash, until I could move easily again. Then reaching deep inside myself, I went to polish the mind’s blade, ready to dip into the state where I could use Aura.
I was surprised by what I found there.
Prior, I only found fear when facing a monster.
The memories of pain visited me, unbidden. But they weren’t painful, not anymore. Instead, they numbed me. They numbed me to the warmth of my blood, accentuating the sharpness of my sword. They numbed the fear of pain and death, until nothing remained but needle sharp indifference. A numbing pressure that started from the pit of my stomach and reached into my heart, slowing my heartbeat.
No more thoughts of loot. No more thoughts of Cores.
Just hunger.
Hunger for the summit, hunger for dominance. That feeling of being alive after being pitted in a life or death fight. Something primal and raw, something so essential to those who lived on the edge of life.
Hunger for the hunt and right now, I wanted to hunt this monster.
A hunt where I chased down something strong. Something worthy, something that should be just barely out of my reach.
When I opened my eyes, I found the others waiting for me.
“We begin."
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