The Elite didn’t charge mindlessly at Leon; it assessed him and the threat he posed. Suddenly, it howled to the sky. Leon initially thought it was calling for allies but noticed its muscles bulging slightly.
A self-buffing skill? The wolf charging at him with unprecedented speed proved his theory right. Too fast! He tried to dodge but still felt a sharp pain as the wolf grazed his side.
-10
Perhaps I should’ve got another level first. Leon thought, glancing at his nearly full EXP bar. Discarding unwanted thoughts, he focused on the wolf. It landed gracefully and turned back to him, charging again.
Leon barely dodged it this time, having got used to the timing. He put his hands together and waited for the wolf to charge again. As it neared, he activated the spell and fired at 5 mana.
-19
The missile hit the wolf, flinging it to the side. It quickly got up, eyeing Leon warily. Determination flashed in the wolf’s eyes as it howled again, muscles bulging even further.
It can do that twice!? He thought, gritting his teeth. It was already difficult enough dodging it before. There has to be a weakness. Why didn’t it do this before? But there was no time to ponder. The wolf set off again, almost a blur, and Leon felt a massive pain as the wolf bit into his side.
-35
I can’t evade it anymore. Leon thought, biting down on an apple for regeneration. The wolf charged again, and Leon hurriedly put his arms up to shield himself. The wolf bit down on his shoulder.
-30
Another huge number followed, but Leon ignored the pain and grabbed his dagger to go for a ‘Stab’
-12
The dagger went through the belly of the wolf and met a brief resistance along the way. Leon’s lack of strength was affecting him. He pulled the dagger out and when he wanted to go for a second regular stab; the wolf let go.
The wolf jumped back, panting heavily. It’s getting tired already? He thought and realisation soon dawned on Leon. That boosting skill must drain its stamina heavily!
That had to be the drawback to such a technique, and Leon was indeed correct. Every charge and lunge sapped an incredible amount of energy. Seeing it pant like that made Leon guess it had one last sprint in the tank.
Perhaps I can try that. An idea suddenly came to Leon that sounded plausible in his head. The wolf stared at Leon as he brought his hands closer again. The wolf realised Leon was going to attack again and charged at him.
A loud bang erupted from Leon’s hands as the wolf was so surprised it lost its footing during the sprint and tumbled into a nearby tree at full speed.
-15
The spell would make a loud bang if it failed, and Leon remembered that small little detail. The wolf tried to stand up, but its legs were shaky. Leon now charged at the wolf with full force, stabbing it repeatedly until it could no longer move.
[Level 6 Elite Grey Wolf killed. Obtained bonus experience for killing a higher levelled enemy, Obtained 122 EXP.] His level went up to 5 and he was nearly at level 6 from that fight, seeing the familiar glow on the wolf’s body made Leon sigh with relief and happiness that it was over. He had beaten another potent enemy.
Suddenly, the bushes nearby Leon rustled, making him turn in panic. He noticed a black shadow with a metallic light coming towards him fast. In a reflex, he threw his dagger into the path of the light.
A sharp dinging sound followed, and Leon felt he was being overpowered. He turned his body to deflect the attack and quickly jumped back to create some room.
-8
[Attacked by Player MadSmile.] The message came and Leon was stunned. It was a person!? But why would he? Leon tried to come up with a reason when he noticed that the man was taking his Elite corpse. He quickly fired an Arcane Missile to dissuade the man. However, the man just stood still and took the Arcane Missile.
-14
“Tch. You’re still not out of mana?” The man grumbled as he turned to Leon.
Leon noticed the man’s player indicator above his head. It’s yellow, meaning he’s wanted. Players could attack others and try to steal items from them like MadSmile.
Gaia considered players attacking others unprovoked as a crime, which would increase the indicator’s colour. Grey was neutral, meaning no wanted level. Yellow meant a warning if the guards caught you. When the indicator turned red, the guards would arrest you if they caught you.
Black was a death sentence. If players died at a wanted level, they would receive heavy punishments. Losing items and even EXP upon death depended on the colour.
Leon looked closely at MadSmile. The man had black short hair and a scar on his face. He was currently wearing the starter gear and a dagger. Still in starter gear? Leon found it strange but didn’t comment on it.
“Why attack me? I don’t know you!” Leon tried to reason with MadSmile, but he just laughed at Leon.
“Are you an idiot? I’m here to steal from you. Now, give me that robe and all your money, and maybe I’ll let you live,” He said with a cruel smile.
Leon still didn’t understand why MadSmile targeted him specifically. “Then why did you target me, of all people?” He asked as he desperately looked for a way out of this situation.
“Simple. You’re an easy target. I saw how you acted at the inn,” MadSmile revealed.
Leon grits his teeth. It feels awful to be taken advantage of because of his autism. He could feel his anger and frustration mounting rapidly. Now is not the time. Leon breathed deeply to calm himself down.
His mind quickly came up with a plan. He looked behind MadSmile and shouted, “Hey! Over here!” MadSmile quickly turned around, thinking another person was there. Seeing no one there made him angry, as he looked like a fool.
He turned back around to face Leon when a silver flash came to his body. MadSmile smacked it away with his dagger to notice it was Leon’s dagger. “Heh, now what-” He taunted Leon when he looked up only to find him gone.
“Damn, kid! He got away,” MadSmile cursed as Leon outsmarted him. He had watched Leon for a while now and he noticed Leon was a lot smarter than he looked. Oh well, at least I got the Elite loot and his dagger. MadSmile consoled himself.
A little further away was Leon, running at top speed towards the village. He could feel his emotions slipping, but desperately tried to keep them under control. He kept running until he was completely out of breath.
Leon could no longer contain his emotions, and he felt his body shake. He had to exert them somehow. He looked at a nearby tree and walked towards it and began punching it as hard as he could.
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He kept punching the tree while breathing in deeply, fury clear on his face. Leon gritted his teeth so hard they almost cracked, trying hard not to scream lest MadSmile found him again. He couldn’t feel any pain, but after a bit, he noticed blood soon clinging to the tree and damage numbers popped up.
Leon kept this up for a few minutes before he calmed down and felt the stinging pain in his hands. He ate another apple to recover and analysed the encounter. I’m too weak, I need more power. Leon realised his shortcomings.
Enough power to find him again. Anger flashed in Leon’s eyes again. He had never been in a situation like before in his past life. It felt like a burning pit of flames in his stomach as he thought about MadSmile.
Leon thought up a plan to confront MadSmile again. I have three hours until his wanted level is down. I have to strike in that time frame. An entire plan soon formed in Leon’s mind. He would take two hours to prepare and one to find MadSmile.
Taking a glance at his experience buff, Leon noticed it had 50 minutes left. It was time to level hard. Leon opened his character sheet and unhesitantly put all his points into intelligence. He had enough mana.
The robes gave great recovery for this stage and his mana hadn’t even dipped below 80 after the shot against MadSmile. Leon’s intelligence shot up to 17, making his Magical Power 34.
Leon looked around for an enemy to kill and after a few minutes of walking, he found another wolf, a common one this time. I have to get used to 10 mana before the confrontation. Using the spell at full power meant his damage would increase.
He had got a feel for 7 mana before deciding to use that until Leon got comfortable. Leon gathered and fired off an Arcane Missile. Spell Completion showed 66% meaning it was progressing. He decided that 70% was the threshold for moving up in the skill.
-31
The wolf howled out in pain as the missile struck. It was enough to kill the wolf in two shots now. And one shot later, it was indeed so. The wolf fell, and Leon collected the spoils. Leon continued to wander the forest for the next 48 minutes, killing anything he could see.
In the end, Leon had killed 6 wolves and 2 boars, gaining him 304 EXP and 52 copper coins. He fought no other elites but his level still shot up to 7; he spent the next 8 free points all on Intelligence making his magical attack power 50.
Leon had also finally grasped 10 mana Arcane Missiles, making his damage 62 per shot. It was impressive that he could kill wolves in one shot now. Still, he wasn’t done. Leon ran back to the village to do some shopping there.
Taking 20 minutes to reach the village, he quickly went to Jack’s residence. “Huh? What do you want, kid?” Jack asked upon seeing Leon.
“I need your help,” Leon replied in a monotonous tone with a look of cold fury. Jack noticed Leon was acting off and invited him in.
“Can you teach me how to skin animals?” Leon asked Jack directly in the same indifferent tone of voice. Animal hides were worth a lot more than animal carcasses.
“If they got holes in them like last time, then forget about selling them,” Jack advised Leon.
“Not this time,” Leon replied, not explaining himself. Jack told Leon to follow him downstairs where Leon dropped the wolf and boar corpses.
Jack was a bit surprised seeing their state but quickly understood. “Magic? Didn’t know you had that talent.”
Jack taught Leon how to skin animals and showed it a few times for him, [Gathering Skill: Skinning obtained.] A message ran out for Leon, but he ignored it to focus on the task at hand. “Want to tell me what’s got you so fired up?” Jack suddenly asked Leon.
Leon hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to trust Jack. He told them about his encounter with the Elite wolf and the consequential attack from MadSmile. “So, are you going to kill him?” Jack asked seriously.
Leon stopped and said, “We’re Blessed Jack. Killing each other means nothing.”
“I know you people don’t die permanently, but that’s not what I meant. I mean, do you have what it takes? Even if he’ll come back, it’s still killing someone.” Jack explained.
Leon took a deep breath and steeled himself before saying, “It’s a tough world. I don’t have a choice. I can’t let others walk over me like this.” Jack said nothing anymore as he nodded. Leon gave Jack all the meat for the furs. Jack also told him to not come back with meat, as they had enough for months now.
Leaving Jack’s residence, he followed the map and went to a tailor to sell all his hides, gaining another 50 copper coins, bringing his total to 1 silver and 44 copper coins. Using the map, he ended up at a magic shop.
Leon didn’t take the time to sightsee the shops as he was on a timer, mages could use three different weapons: Staves, Wands, and Orbs. Staves gave extra power while Orbs could speed up the casting time, and wands had a wide range of effects.
I don’t need cast time or power anymore; I need utility. Leon knew the plan and looked through the assortment of wands available. He thought back to his earlier battles and what he lacked during them. He quickly came up with three choices:
[Wand of Flash] (Green)
Equipment Level 5
Requirement: 10 Intelligence
Magical Power +8
Additional Skill: ‘Flash’ Create a blinding light that blinds for 1 second and disorients the foe for 3 seconds. Cooldown 30 seconds.
Durability 20/20
Cost: 1 Silver, 20 Copper
[Wand of Slowing]
Requirement: 10 Intelligence
Equipment Level 5
Magical Power +8
Additional Skill: ‘Slow’ Shoot out a magical projectile that will slow whatever it hits for 15% for 3 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds.
Durability 20/20
Cost 1 Silver 10 Copper
[Wand of Armour]
Requirement: 10 Intelligence
Equipment Level 5
Magical Power +7
Additional Skill: ‘Magical Armour’ Become enveloped in a magical armour that protects the user for 30% of their Magical Power. Cooldown 1 minute.
Durability 20/20
Cost 1 Silver 40 Copper
Leon’s first thought was to go for the Wand of Armour, as it would give him higher survivability, but he quickly thought otherwise. Survivability was nice, but it wouldn’t do him good against MadSmile, as the man was physically stronger and faster than Leon.
That left two wands, and Leon quickly made his choice for the Wand of Flash. While slowness could help Leon in evading MadSmile, he didn’t know for sure if MadSmile would be slower than him, even with the effect.
Cutting off one sense was very strong, especially at this stage of the game. Paying the shopkeeper and equipping the wand gave Leon another boost in his strength.
Name: Tempest (Human)
Affiliation: None
Title: None
Class Soul: Classless
Classless Soul: Able to transform into any other class soul.
Profession Soul: None
Ability Soul: None
Transfigure Soul: None
Enchantment Soul: None
Level: 7
HP: 100/100
Mana: 120/120
Physical Power: 9
Magical Power: 58
Physical Defence: 3%
Magical Defence: 5%
Strength: 3
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 25
Wisdom: 12
Vitality: 5
Free Attribute Points: 0
Skills:
Stab: Active skill. Requirement: Dagger. Additional 6 points of damage. Cooldown: 3 seconds. Skill Level: 1 (Mastery 18/100)
Arcane Missile: Active Spell. Requirement: 8 Intelligence. Condense a mass of mana into a missile to fire at the opponent for an additional 15 points of damage. Cost 10 mana. Cooldown 3 seconds. Skill Level: 1 (Mastery 20/100)
Gathering Skills
Skinning: Skin and process killed beast-like monsters under Bronze rank for materials. Mastery 20/100.
Equipment:
[Mage’s Robes] (White)
Equipment Level 4
Physical Defence: +1%
Magical Defence: +5%
Passive Skill: Recover 1 point of mana every second.
Durability 18/20
[Basic Boots] (White)
Equipment Level 2
Physical Defence: +2%
Durability 8/10
[Wand of Flash] (Green)
Equipment Level 5
Requirement: 10 Intelligence
Magical Power +8
Additional Skill: ‘Flash’ Create a blinding light that blinds for 1 second and disorients the foe for 3 seconds. Cooldown 30 seconds.
Durability 20/20
Leon nodded after looking at his character sheet. He still had enough food and water. It’s likely that MadSmile also has recovery items. Leon narrowed his eyes as he realised every player would receive the starter pack. It means I have to take him by surprise.
Anger flashed in Leon’s eyes again. He still had to find the man first, but he had a plan for that. First, it was back to the forest where he was sure MadSmile was hiding.
----------------------------------------
Ugh, this is so damned dull. MadSmile complained in his mind, he was currently in the forest waiting for his wanted level to clear. Initially, he didn’t think the wanted level was that big of a problem.
He, of course, had his reasons for believing so. By completing a quest in the slums, he became a member of the gang there. He could just hide out in the slums and wait the wanted timer out with the help of that gang.
Yet suddenly he got a message from the system that he got kicked out of the gang and made a local enemy. MadSmile had no clue why that was and could only find out about it when he could go back to the village.
Did he regret attacking that kid? Not at all. He did regret letting that kid go. He wasn’t an idiot and was pretty sure the kid did something. Leon didn’t know that Jack had informed the gang about MadSmile and his antics. The gang had one hidden rule. Don’t target those who helped the kids.
By pure chance, Leon had gained an invisible armour against all the crime at the tutorial village. Only another hour to go. MadSmile noticed the timer and continued to sit around. He had tried to take on an Elite boar that wandered around here only to end up nearly dying to it.
That kid could do it, but I can’t? What a load of bullshit. MadSmile would never admit it, but he knew that kid was strong. He was lucky the kid seemed to go the magic route or else he likely would’ve died already.
Suddenly, he noticed something being fired into the air. It was the spell the kid was using! Is he back already? MadSmile realised who it was and a cruel smile appeared on his face again, “Looks like my boredom ends here.” He muttered as he stood up and walked to where the spell was being fired from.