Luna saw MadSmile suddenly dash at her. Fast! She exclaimed as MadSmile was already in front of her. She barely dodged a dagger swipe, but it still cut her cheek a little.
-12
Luna stepped back and thought back to Leon’s words. Tempest mentioned he was only level 5, and the death should’ve knocked him back to at least level 4. So why is he so strong? She tried to make sense of the matter, but MadSmile’s power was way above what it should’ve been.
MadSmile didn’t give her much time to think as he dashed forward again. Her initial surprise slowed her at first, but now she was ready to intercept. Suddenly MadSmile changed direction and dashed behind a tree.
Confusion hit Luna for a second but had a bad feeling as she didn’t notice MadSmile returning. Can it be? A stealth class skill?! This meant that MadSmile was level 10 and had a class.
She couldn’t wrap her head around the situation. It was all too confusing. Luna exhaled and focused on the battle. She steadied herself and waited for MadSmile to appear. She heard some rustling and spun around, only to find nothing there.
Cra-! Before she had the time to curse mentally, MadSmile was already coming at her from her flank, the dagger stabbing out and Luna barely throwing her arm in the way.
-54
MadSmile smiled at Luna. “I learned that little trick because of Tempest. He heard me coming twice.” He tried to pull out the dagger. However, he noticed a lot of resistance as he tried to pull out the dagger.
Luna tensed her arm in reflex, making the dagger stuck. She looked at MadSmile with a crazed smile, planted her foot on the ground and threw out an open palm directly at MadSmile’s midsection with practised ease.
-121
MadSmile felt like a hot rock had smashed against his body as he flew into a tree. He coughed blood as he stood back up. Luna would not give him a chance to retaliate as she dashed forward.
MadSmile smiled and took something out of his inventory. Luna didn’t recognise it as he threw it to the ground. A massive surge of thick white smoke sprung out, making Luna cough a little. A smoke bomb?
“You’re strong. I will admit that much. But you’re not my target, Tempest is. Give him my regards.” MadSmile’s voice echoed through the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Luna looked around, only to find no one else.
“Coward.” Luna spat as she didn’t have a single good word for MadSmile, Just a bully who’s afraid when someone can fight back. She mentally assessed MadSmile.
Luna tried to think about why MadSmile was at such a level, but shook her head after a bit. Maybe Tempest has an idea. She got back on track to go to Leon’s location.
Leon had waited around 15 minutes for Luna to show up. When she still wasn’t there, he got paranoid. Maybe she’s busy and I’ve disturbed her. Should I call her again? But I don’t want to annoy her. Many thoughts roamed in his head as anxiety was slowly building.
It was another problem with his autism. He didn’t understand if he was a bother to someone. Because he wanted to show her Beans, he called Luna, but now he second guessed himself. He feared losing his friendship already because he was a bother.
Leon gritted his teeth as his thoughts were turning from bad to worse. He had regretted calling Luna. I should’ve been direct, I should’ve just told her what she would find, I should’ve-.
“Tempest! Are you in here?” Luna’s voice came from the entrance as Leon’s thoughts were spiralling out of control. He let out a giant sigh of relief that he didn’t even know he was holding in.
“Yeah!” He yelled back with excitement that his new friend didn’t abandon him. Soon he saw Luna walking towards him, overly careful, which confused him.
Luna looked around carefully. “So? Where is it?” She whispered as she reached near him.
Her actions left Leon genuinely confused. “Where is what?” He didn’t know what she was alluding to.
Luna looked at him as if he had hit his head. “The Bronze Boss! I got the message as I came in here.”
Realisation dawned on Leon, as Luna had seen Gaia’s message. “Oh that, he’s right here.”
Luna looked around carefully but still couldn’t see it. “Tempest, what are going on about? I don’t see it.” Annoyance crept into her words.
“He’s right here,” Leon pointed to his shoulders. He opened his robe a little to show the sleeping beans sprawled out on his shoulders. Luna couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Oh, my, gosh! He’s so cute! Wait, that message earlier was for you!?” She said as realisation hit her about the ‘anonymous’ player.
“Yes, that was me,” Leon replied calmly. Luna was stunned. There were only two players so far that had made the game give an announcement.
The first was the mysterious ‘Titania’ and the second was someone anonymous, who turned out to be her new friend Tempest! As she looked closer to the sleeping beauty, she couldn’t hold back anymore and wanted to pet him.
As she took a step towards Leon, she suddenly recalled her studies. “Uhm Tempest, mind if I come close to pet him?” She asked, barely holding herself back.
Leon was a bit confused about why she asked that. “Why the sudden question?”
Luna got embarrassed. “Well, I’ve done…some autism research.” She admitted. It felt like she was studying her friend like some wild animal.
Leon didn’t seem to take offence. “Oh cool, no problem. Here.” He picked up Beans from his shoulders and showed him to Luna.
I’m glad she asked. That could’ve been awkward. Leon was actually happy that Luna did some study on autism. Luna was busy petting and gushing over Beans. Beans was completely asleep. Leon wasn’t even sure if he knew what was happening.
Luna stopped after petting Beans, and she adopted a serious look. “Tempest, I ran into MadSmile on the way here.” She told him about the fight with MadSmile. Leon wasn’t happy to hear that MadSmile was still here.
He didn’t want to encounter him anymore. “I see,” Was his only reply. Leon knew MadSmile wouldn’t give up that easily, but to hear he’s sticking around the tutorial for this long? One had to know that the player base was currently entering the mainland.
Stolen story; please report.
“There’s one thing that confuses me still. How did MadSmile get that strong? And a class to top it off.” Luna still didn’t understand.
Leon, however, knew of a method, “He’s likely purchased levels.” His words made Luna frown.
“Purchasing levels? How?” Levels had to be earned. They couldn’t just buy them, right?
“When killing someone higher levelled than you in PVP, you get a massive boost in experience. He likely paid someone a lot of silver and got a boost to his levels.” Leon explained.
It would also explain why he’s still here. He needs to farm money from elites. Leon guessed the truth from reading the novel, making Luna speechless. She couldn’t wrap her head around it at first, but when Leon said it, it sounded so easy.
Luna bit her lower lip. She felt like an idiot. “Tempest, tell me. Would you win against him again?” She asked him seriously as she looked down at the floor.
Leon didn’t notice her seriousness. “Maybe? I don’t know, to be honest,” He told her.
[Player Luna wishes for a duel. Accept or Decline] The sudden message caught Leon by surprise, “Luna? What are you-” Before he could ask she spoke up.
“I’ve fought him and I can tell if you could win against him in a battle if you fought me.”
She didn’t tell him she wanted to see where she stood between the three of them. Luna wanted to see Leon’s strength first-hand. Leon thought about it and it sounded reasonable enough to him.
“Fine, this will also be me and Beans’s first fight.” He said, looking at the suddenly awoken ferret on his shoulder. “How about it? Want a battle?” Leon asked Beans. Beans’s response was soft chittering sounds and jumping on Leon’s shoulder in excitement.
Leon smiled seeing Beans’s excitement, “Seems like he’s ready.” he said, making Luna frown a little. Leon didn’t notice it and hit accept. Soon, a countdown appeared, and they gave each person 10 seconds to prepare.
Duels involved players voluntarily engaging in battles, and the victor would be determined either when one’s HP reached 1 or when the opponent conceded.
Gaia safeguarded HP, so it would always remain at 1 and never hit 0 during duels. The players could make bets before the duel started and, after the duel ended, Gaia would heal them to the point they were before the duel.
Beans jumped off Leon’s shoulder while Leon took out his wand. Luna also got ready in a martial arts stance that Leon did not know about. Leon had no clue about martial arts or fighting, even in his past life.
Soon the timer hit zero, the moment it hit zero Luna charged in. A purple light came flying towards her left side, though Leon had already fired an Arcane Missile. Luna remained calm and dodged to the right at the last moment.
Yet when she dodged the spell, she felt a sharp pain coming from her leg. She looked down to see Beans biting down hard on her legs.
-41
Luna felt surprised to see Beans there. How did he-? but before she could even question how Beans got there, he let go and ran around her. Beans was running circles around Luna, making her confused. Why is he running in circles?
She remembered she had another opponent. Leon was already close to her in the moments she focused on Beans. “Flash!” Leon yelled and his wand created a blinding light.
Luna tried to close her eyes, but the light was too piercing. Another sharp pain came from her legs again as Beans once again bit into them.
-19
Luna gritted her teeth as she tried to make heads or tails of the fight, fighting two opponents at once who were communicating as one was disorienting.
Leon and Beans were indeed communicating as one. Summoners could communicate with their familiars, giving them orders.
Step back in case she flails around. Leon told Beans as he fired off another Arcane Missile. Beans let go in time as Luna was trying to swing where the pain was coming from. Suddenly she felt a giant force impact her, throwing her back.
-102
Luna’s vision cleared as she got up and coughed up blood, panting heavily. I can’t take another one of those. She thought as she glanced at her HP. She looked at Leon and Beans, who were standing next to him.
Both were still calm and had Luna completely on the ropes. This was baffling to Luna. She wasn’t even able to touch Leon; it was unheard of her to not even be able to touch her opponent. She had trained since she was an infant and now she couldn’t even touch this child?
Luna was getting frustrated. Was she truly this outmatched? She had always loved to fight, but this was no fight. It was a beat down.
With reckless abandon, she charged in at top speed. Leon stayed calm throughout the entire fight. He waited until she came a little closer.
Earth Bind. He said to Beans as Luna was close enough, Beans stomped on the ground with his front paws and sent a minor tremor through the ground. Luna was still running when one of her feet got stuck on something, making her faceplant to the ground.
What the-!? She looked behind her to notice a small mound had completely trapped her ankle. Luna looked back to see Leon standing over her with his wand pointing at her with Beans on his shoulder. “Do you surrender?” He asked her.
Luna bit her lower lip in frustration. She didn’t like to admit it, but she knew she was beat. With a heavy sigh, she said, “I give up.” The duel was over and Leon got a message congratulating him.
Leon helped Luna up as he also gave a small sigh of relief. “Why didn’t you just fire? What if I didn’t accept your offer?” Luna asked him in some confusion.
Leon was a bit hesitant to answer. “It reminds me of when I killed MadSmile. I know it’s just a game, but I don’t enjoy killing players.”
Luna was silent as she heard Leon, “You…don’t enjoy fighting much do you?” She realised he didn’t seem thrilled to fight her before the duel.
Leon shook his head as he talked with a distant look. “It’s not that I dislike fighting, I just dislike PVP. It feels a little too real, but I know I can’t dodge it forever.”
How is he this…mature? Luna didn’t know how to put it in words. It felt like she was talking to someone much older than her than this child in front of her. Wait…how old is he, actually? Would a child really be playing this type of game?
“Uhm, Tempest. Can I ask a personal question?” Luna asked him. Leon was curious to know as he nodded. “How old are you? You don’t look…that old.” Luna tried to be nice about it, but Leon’s answer stunned her.
“I’m 15.” Technically, he was mentally around 23, but Leon’s body was 15.
“H-Huh!? You’re 15!?” Luna didn’t believe him. Leon looked like was 12 at best.
Leon nodded. He could understand her reaction, even he thought he was younger than what he was when he came here. “How old are you then?” Leon asked curiously before regretting his question. Wasn’t it rude to ask a woman her age?
Just as he was about to apologise, Luna casually answered him, “I’m 16.” Stunning Leon.
“You’re 16!?” He asked with shock as he looked at her. Luna was tall. She was over a head taller than him and already developed in certain areas. If he didn’t know, he’d think she was 18 or above.
“I hit my growth spurt early,” She did not mind Leon’s shock.
“And I haven’t hit mine yet,” Leon grumbled. The lack of nutrition was stunting his growth. “So how did I compare to MadSmile?” He tried to divert the topic.
Luna smiled, “You should have no problems with him,” But on the inside, she was bitter. Her raw strength was stronger than both Leon and MadSmile, but the latter outwitted her, which made it a hard fight. Leon was even more clever, suppressing her completely.
I have to get clever as well. I can’t charge in blindly every time. She was really glad she bought this game. Her father was against it, but now she could already see a path to better her own martial arts after only 2 days.
I wonder how Dad and the others would do in this game? Her father was smarter and stronger than she ever was, and even the elders were no pushovers.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Luna asked.
Leon thought for a moment before answering. “I’ve still got some unfinished business. After that, I’ll go to the mainland.”
“I’m…not going to wait any longer. The mainland sounds very promising.” Luna was determined to not fall behind Leon anymore. Leon nodded and Beans was back asleep on his shoulders. Ferrets slept a lot.
Luna soon disappeared as she left for the mainland and Leon walked back to the village. He still had some equipment to sell and try to buy some upgrades.
Once back to the village, Leon sold all his unwanted equipment for 1 silver and 70 copper, leaving him with 6 total silver.
He had enough money to spend on a few items. Players could wear 10 items. From top to bottom, it was: Head, Necklace, Cloak, Torso, Pants, Boots, two ring slots, along with a weapon and a shield.
Leon looked at his equipment. He lacked a hat, a ring, some new boots and new robes. His weapon was fine, and his pendant was amazing. Leon wanted to leave a ring slot open for the Ring of Shadows.
Also quality-wise, I would love at least Green quality. Leon didn’t want to skimp out on the quality, so he walked around town and looked for some gear. After walking around town for about an hour and trying on many pieces of equipment, he finally spent 5 silver and 50 copper on two pieces.