Luna’s right, it is beautiful. Leon thought as he gazed at the moon for a few seconds before heading back. He collected the key from the innkeeper and went to the room. He let out a sigh of relief when he was in the room as exhaustion hit him hard.
Leon set another timer for four hours as he hit the bed, going into a deep sleep. His eyes opened up as the alarm went off in his head. Is it already time? He thought, still groggy from the sleep.
His mind soon cleared as he walked down the stairs and checked out. I suppose I should level first, can’t lose the buff. Leon now had 2 hours of the bonus experience buff. It was still nighttime outside and deserted on the streets.
The closed shops meant he couldn’t sell his loot from the previous day, but he still had enough room. As Leon thought about what to kill he suddenly got a message from Luna, [Player Luna wishes to establish a call, accept or decline?]
Leon felt surprised when Luna contacted him so soon, but he accepted the call with curiosity, eager to hear from her. “Hey Tempest! How was your nap?” she began simply as Leon heard her voice in his head.
“Good. Are you calling me purely for that?” Leon asked her bluntly.
“Would you be disappointed if it was?” She asked as she sounded amused. Leon was speechless.
What am I supposed to say to that?
Luna must’ve realised something when Leon didn’t answer. “Okay, I’ll stop teasing you. On a serious note, what level are you?”
Leon appreciated the shift in the topic as he said, “Level 7.”
“Dang! You just woke up. How did you level that quickly? Did you take down those Elites?” Luna seemed astonished at Leon’s speed.
“Yes.” Leon saw no point in hiding it.
“Then you gotta help me! I spotted something bigger than an Elite!” Luna revealed, making Leon interested.
Bigger than an Elite? Then it has to be that. He quickly came up with the answer from reading the novel but didn’t tell Luna.
“Where are you at? The forest?” Leon asked and Luna gave Leon a ping. The ping turned into a golden line for Leon to follow. He quickly made his way out of town and equipped the Ring of Shadows.
Being in the dead of night made the ring work all the time, which grated on Leon’s mind. Better to be cautious. I don’t want MadSmile or others following me. Leon rationalised as he made it through the plains.
Once he entered the forest, he confirmed nobody was around him and took off the ring. He walked to Luna’s ping and quickly found her. “Tempest, over here!” She whispered as she waved at him.
Leon looked at her and noticed she wasn’t wearing the starter gear anymore as she opted for a leather shirt and fur-like pants. She pointed in a direction and Leon looked over. He noticed a giant wolf bathing in the moonlight as it lay there.
[Alpha Grey Wolf] (Super Elite)
Level 9
HP: 400/400
Yep, a Super Elite. Super Elites were the hardest class monsters, excluding boss monsters. This wolf was no pushover. Leon noticed a lot of scars on its body, showing a lot of battle experience.
“What level are you?” Leon asked Luna.
“Here,” she said as Leon got an invite to her party. He accepted and noticed her level as it said 7. “Should we take it on?” She said with some excitement.
“We need to know what each of us is capable of,” Leon said seriously, not taking his eyes off the wolf. Luna was quiet until she nodded. Teamwork would be key in this fight.
They discussed their way of fighting and general strategy. “Alright, the general plan is there. Take this just in case,” Leon said as he handed her the Tough Shield. Luna nodded in thanks as she took it and put it on her back.
“Let’s do this,” she said with an excited smile. Leon looked at her oddly. She’s a battle maniac? he assessed. He quickly dismissed those thoughts, as they would only distract him.
Luna stood up and rushed towards the wolf, her speed surpassing the Elite wolf Leon faced earlier. She’s fast. Leon noted. Luna quickly got the attention of the Alpha and looked at her with saliva from its mouth.
She was a little confused by the reaction as she struck out with an open palm against the Alpha’s body. The Alpha grunted a little, but Luna’s power didn’t impress him.
-25
“Tch.” Luna grunted in annoyance, the damage a lot lower than she expected. Inherent defences. Leon analysed as he shot a medium-sized Arcane Missile over. The Alpha was about to snap at Luna when the missile pinged its face, making it recoil.
-40
The Alpha’s head snapped towards Leon and ignored Luna for a moment, which allowed her to kick it. The wolf flinched as she delivered a stronger kick to its underbelly. Luna was someone who preferred to fight using their limbs instead of a weapon.
-35
Monsters would normally target the biggest threat first. This meant whoever did the most damage. Players build up aggression, or aggro, as they deal damage. The tactic was simple: juggle aggression, making the Alpha switch constantly between targets.
However, unexpected variables can always happen. The Alpha suddenly howled to the sky, becoming enveloped in a red hue. It’s different from the Elite’s skill. Is it still the same? Leon wasn’t sure.
The Alpha suddenly jumped back as it looked at Luna. It kicked off with enough force to make it look like a blur to Leon. Luckily, it wasn’t a blur to Luna as she dodged the charge.
That rabbit soul is helping big time. Leon guessed the main reason she was keeping up was because of the soul. He suddenly noticed something odd about her.
Luna looked to be dodging the Alpha just fine, but if she wanted to counterattack, she’d move a lot slower than before. It was almost like- she looks a little stiff? He guessed.
Leon noticed she had trouble moving the way she wanted, and realisation struck him a moment later. Could it be she’s on low sensitivity!? Leon forgot that the setting was low normal.
“Luna, back off! Let me buy you three seconds!” Leon suddenly called out at her via a group message.
Surprise was evident to Luna, who questioned that, “That’s not part of the plan. What’s going on?” She asked with some urgency while dodging the Alpha.
“You’re using the wrong settings, you’re moving too stiff!” Leon revealed shocking Luna.
“What do you- wait, how did you know!?” She’s been feeling stiff since she began playing. There were settings for that? Who looks at the settings first? She mentally grumbled, as she couldn’t comprehend that thinking.
“Okay, will three seconds be enough?” She trusted Leon’s words, and although she knew him for a short while, she knew he wasn’t the type to deceive her.
“Yes, here’s what you do.” Leon told her how to change her settings and the risks to it.
Luna bought the game already prepared for pain, knowing that more was in store was nothing to her. “I’m ready,” Luna gave the sign and ran towards Leon, the Alpha heeling her.
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Once Luna was past Leon, he yelled out, “Flash!” activating the flash of light blinding the Alpha, making it howl in pain. Leon also fired off an Arcane Missile at the Alpha as he gained some distance.
-25
Leon was careful enough to not attract too much aggro. The Alpha shook off the effects after three seconds and looked around for Luna. He found her gazing dully into the distance. He growled and charged at her again.
Looks like I have to stall aga- Leon was about to fire another Arcane Missile as Luna turned around and nimbly moved to the side, dodging it easily.
“Whoa Tempest, you weren’t kidding.” She said with an excited look. She felt the sensation of chains being removed from her body.
Everything seemed lifelike, like the entire world had more colour and stronger smells. He’s been playing like this from the beginning? She felt regretful only finding out about this now.
The Alpha turned around to charge at her again and Luna suddenly moved into the charge as she twisted her body and roundhouse kicked the Alpha, throwing it to the side,
-40
Leon was speechless. Who is this woman? Those are not amateur moves! Leon wasn’t an expert in hand-to-hand combat, but even he could see that Luna was a trained expert. Seeing her damage going up, he could increase his damage as well.
-35
-43
-37
Damage was being piled on as Luna went toe to toe with the Alpha and Leon getting in shots when he found an opening, but a change happened when the Super Elite reached 100 HP. It suddenly jumped backwards and howled to the moon.
The red hue got dark as its grey fur began turning scarlet red. Another stage, just like the Elite. Leon and Luna could feel their skin tingling as the Alpha grew in power. The Alpha locked eyes with Luna.
Suddenly the wolf charged Luna, and it turned into a red flash. She knew she couldn’t dodge it and quickly pulled out the Tough Shield and braced herself. Bang! The wolf crashed into Luna, causing her to be sent flying into a tree.
-110
Luna coughed up blood as she felt harsher pain than she had ever before. The strike was enough to nearly empty all of her HP. The Alpha was intent on finishing her and got ready to strike. Suddenly a huge Arcane Missile slammed into it, making it tumble.
-78
Leon fired off his biggest Arcane Missile, but it wasn’t enough for the kill as the Alpha quickly got up and looked in Leon’s direction. Suddenly confusion was on the Alpha’s face as it couldn’t find Leon.
Leon had equipped the Ring of Shadows and quickly hid behind a tree, intent on waiting out the cooldown of his Arcane Missile. The Alpha had other ideas, and it jumped to Leon’s last location and sniffed. Suddenly, it whipped its head to where Leon was hiding.
Shit. That was all Leon could think of as the Alpha charged at his location. He could barely hide behind the tree, but that didn’t matter as the Alpha rammed the tree with enough force to break it in two.
-56
Leon’s insides churned as the force blew him away. The Alpha double-tapped and ran at Leon. Leon suddenly turned and fired off an Arcane Missile. It had just come back from cooldown. That should- Leon was about to celebrate when he got a shock.
The Alpha suddenly turned and dodged the attack! It stopped to gloat at Leon. Is this it? Leon thought as the Alpha got ready for another charge. It didn’t seem like this one had stamina problems.
Then Leon noticed a faint shadow in the air. It forward rolled and dropped its leg on the Alpha’s back. “Don’t forget about me!” Luna yelled with a crazed look as the Alpha’s back emitted a crackling sound.
-50
Luna and Leon received a message as the Alpha slumped down, [Level 9 Super Elite Alpha Grey Wolf killed. Obtained bonus experience for killing a higher levelled enemy. Obtained 378.] Leon’s level went straight to 9 skipping 8 while Luna became level 8.
A green glow came from the Alpha’s body as both Luna and Leon caught their breaths, “Phew! That was intense!” Luna still felt the adrenaline in her veins, especially with higher sensitivity.
“Yeah, but we beat it.” Leon smiled, as he knew he was one step closer to Rose.
“Hey hold on! That’s not fair! How did you get to level 9?” Luna complained as she noticed Leon’s level.
“The inn buff,” Leon pointed out, making Luna grumble.
Luna stared at the Alpha corpse, seemingly in thought, “Hey, didn’t it look a little oddly at me? What do you think?”
“Likely because of your rabbit ears.”
Luna didn’t get it for a few seconds before she turned red from embarrassment as she realised the wolf thought she was a big rabbit. “Forget I asked! So, how do we split the loot?” Luna desperately asked to change the topic as she looked at the green light.
“Let’s see it,” Leon aptly said and touched the corpse. Instead of a treasure chest, another screen opened up for both of them.
+ 1 Silver
+ [Fiery Fist Wraps] (Green)
+ [Leather boots] (White)
[Fiery Fist Wraps] (Green, Two-handed)
Equipment Level 8
Requirement 6 Strength, 10 Agility
Attack Power +20
Additional Effect: Gives punches fire elemental damage.
Durability 20/20
Luna nearly salivated as she read the description. “Tempest, can I pretty please have those fist wraps?” She asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.
Leon shrugged, “Sure, take those boots as well.” He said as he noticed she wasn’t wearing any.
Luna felt appalled. “Wait, that’s not fair at all! I get two items and you only have some money!” She wasn’t ready to accept that deal.
Leon looked at her oddly. “I’m not only getting money, I’m also thinking of taking him.” He said as he pointed to the Alpha.
Now it was Luna’s turn to look at him oddly. “What are you talking about? Don’t their bodies turn into light?”
“They do?” Leon didn’t know this. He had been picking up every kill he had got so far. Luna nodded as she explained that after 20 seconds, bodies would turn into light and disappear.
Must be to stop the area from being filled with corpses. Leon noticed why such a feature was there. “Will you accept the deal?” Leon asked once more. Luna relented and picked up the items, equipping them immediately.
Leon got the money and picked up the Alpha’s body. “So, what can you do with their bodies?” Luna asked curiously. It was another feature of the game that she didn’t know about.
“Drain them for blood, strip them of fur and for meat,” Leon repeated what Jack taught him. Luna flinched a little from the apt description.
“I-I see.”
“So what’s next? Wanna level together?” Luna offered to team up and take on some regular enemies.
Leon, however, wasn’t keen on teaming up. “Uh, I’d like to go alone, no offence.” He said a little awkwardly.
“Oh, no problem!” Luna was a little disappointed. She’d be lying if she said Leon wasn’t strong. His mind could come up with plans that she couldn’t think of, and his damage was better than hers.
“It’s mainly because I’ll be level 10 soon and then I can get my class soul,” Leon explained about his class soul seed.
Luna shook her head exasperated, “I still need something like that.”
Leon looked at the map from Jack and said, “There’s a fighting dojo at the edge of the village. They might help you.” Luna looked numbly as Leon pulled out that knowledge like it was normal.
I need to learn and explore. I can’t be relying on him or others like this. She realised her massive lack of creativity and knowledge hindered her progress.
“Thanks, Tempest, I’m glad you’re my friend.”
“Uh, okay?” Leon completely missed her message as she laughed. They soon separated, with Luna heading to the village. Leon looked around the area for a few enemies to kill.
It had only taken him another 30 minutes of roaming around before he received another message, [Player has reached level 10. Maximum level for the tutorial reached.] Leon’s smile was clear as he killed the last wolf.
He didn’t bother picking up the bodies of commons anymore and, like Luna said, they turned into motes of light and disappeared. Leon grabbed the Soul Seed from his inventory and once it was out, a light shined around him.
Another grey soul flew out of his body. This was the Classless Soul. The Soul Seed absorbed the soul, and it rapidly grew in size. Soon the transformation was done and the new soul entered Leon’s body.
[The Summoner Soul Seed has absorbed the Classless Soul. Successfully created a Summoner Soul.] A message rang out.
Luckily, there were no sensory issues. Leon felt relieved. It would’ve been bad had that been the case, but there was nothing to sense, as it didn’t feel like anything. Leon still had 12 free attribute points and thought about what to use them on.
Damage was always good, but he knew mana would become important the more spells he had. And then there’s health. Leon knew he would need a lot of that. Although summoners usually hid behind their summons, Leon had no intention of doing that.
In the end, he decided on 6 Intelligence, 4 Wisdom and 2 Vitality. This way he would focus on damage and mana while keeping some healthy for emergencies. Leon didn’t forget about the Class Soul.
Name: Tempest (Human)
Affiliation: None
Title: None
Class Soul: Summoner (Beginner)
Summoner Soul (Beginner): Gain +1 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom at each level. Gain 5 free attribute points per level up. Access to the Summoner skill tree, every 5 levels gain one skill from a choice of three.
Profession Soul: None
Ability Soul: None
Transfigure Soul: None
Enchantment Soul: None
Level: 10
HP: 140/140
Mana: 160/160
Physical Power: 9
Magical Power: 70
Physical Defence: 3%
Magical Defence: 5%
Strength: 3
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 31
Wisdom: 16
Vitality: 7
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 37/100)
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 17/20
[Basic Boots] (White)
Equipment Level 2
Physical Defence: +2%
Durability 7/10
[Wand of Flash] (Green)
Equipment Level 5
Requirement: 10 Intelligence
Magical Power +8
Durability 19/20
Additional Skill: ‘Flash’ Create a blinding light that blinds for 1 second and disorients the foe for 3 seconds. Cooldown 30 seconds.
He also had the Ring of Shadows in his inventory as he didn’t like wearing it, adding some apples and water, Jack’s map, An Elite boar and Super Elite wolf corpses, along with 1 silver and 40 copper.
It’s finally time to hit the books. Leon thought with excitement as he looked toward the village. Although he had the option to leave the tutorial village, there was still unfinished business here.
I won’t pass up that hidden Bronze boss. Leon thought as he walked to the village.