CHAPTER XXV: THE LAST THING YOU SAID TO YOUR BEST FRIEND
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{11:15 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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LONG BEACH
PRIME-
Clyde and Soto lay against a wall that the forger had made. Next to them were the three women they had saved. The Loot Point was forming, and they were going over their post-battle prompts.
The road next to them was torn up but was still in pretty good shape; it was actually slowly but surely fixing itself. “What is a Noble Road?” Soto said out loud.
Bour landed next to them with Kekere on his shoulder, still pecking at his ear. He ignored the bird and addressed the duo. “A Noble road or the low road as it is commonly called is a system of roadways on the Mortal Realm that connect Strongholds, which are ordinarily led by nobles. They siphon off the excess mana of the closest Stronghold as long as it is patrolled daily. Non-elite Beast and Monster find it annoying to stay on the Noble Road long making it the safest way to travel for merchants, messengers, and even allied troops. As you know, however, ‘safe’ isn’t really a constant concept in the GREAT GAME. So we take it when we can. It is always recommended to have guards because it does nothing to protect against bandits and elite creatures.”
“And that Blood Hunter Grove just violated the safety of the noble road,” Soto stated.
“Yeah, Elite monsters aren’t bothered. The big problem with that was the ones that aren’t bothered were usually incredibly cunning and ambush unsuspecting players.” Bour replied.
“Oh great.” Soto sighed.
“So we should start maintaining this one now?” Clyde asked Bour.
“I think the Hamlet should still be responsible, but the Blood Hunter Grove should have generated an Event at the very least.
“Oh, it did. Once we get the loot and get these girls to safety, we can head to the Hamlet,” the Colonel said as he looked first at the girls lying against the wall and then at his HUD full of prompts.
“Well that is a pretty cool reward, I wonder what is in the vault?” Soto asked.
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< ZONE EVENT ALERT >
{EVENT COMPLETE}
EVENT NAME: Stag Hunt
DESCRIPTION: Blood hunter Groves are an invasive and dangerous Living Dead grove of sentient trees that, if left unchecked, can become a major nuisance to commerce in the local area. That can be a problem, but once they shed their immobile status and become Heart Stags, they become even more dangerous. Every tree that a Heart Stag touches becomes a minion of the Stag. Worst yet, if the Stag escapes, even if the minions are killed, the Stag can resummon them with enough mana. Once a Stag has found a safe place, they can bring these minions into their grove and expand rapidly, endangering nearby human populations.
Objective: Kill the Stag before it escapes. (1/1 Complete)
Rewards: 250K EXP, +10 free attributes, Stag ring.
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‘Pretty straightforward Event,’ Clyde thought, but that was a tough sumabitch for such a straightforward event. He shrugged. He had gotten a lot of layups in the game so far, so maybe it was time to start earning his power more honestly. He looked at the next Event prompt.
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< STRONGHOLD EVENT UPDATED >
EVENT NAME: Noble Road Disappearances II
DESCRIPTION: Now that you have eliminated a threat to the stronghold by 1) Killing or being responsible for killing and capturing the knights that were harassing the messengers, and 2) Killing the Blood Hunter grove in its Stag form(the one that was responsible for the merchant deaths).
Objective: Take information back to the CSU Chancellor Stronghold.
Rewards: 10K EXP, 100 uncommon mana crystals (Collected from the Stronghold Vault), 10 Rare Mana Crystals, and a meeting with the Chancellor.
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Colonel looked at the tied-up Knight ranger, who was still unconscious. They had found him after the fight back at their very first engagement sight. They tied him up and gagged him. Soto wanted to put the collar around his neck, but the Colonel said absolutely not. Soto didn’t try to convince him again. He knew his friend well, and he wasn’t playing around with the slavery thing, not even in games and not even to his enemies. It was good to have a leader with a good moral compass, but to have one who fought for that good compass was the best kind of leader.
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< TRADE RANK UP X5 >
+23 to STR, CON, CHA, & LUCK
{TRADE NAME: Grenade forging style(Active)
TRADE RANK: 5
DESCRIPTION: Mark a player with infused mana, allowing them to use a mana grenade when accessing the style through the tattoo.
Cost: Variable. Cast time: Variable. Cool down: None. Duration: 5 weeks.
EFFECTS:
The Legacy can forge High Rare mana grenade with time, concentration, and resources at a 99% chance of completion rate; the higher the rank of the professional, the better chance to make higher level weapons.
Grenades available: Many.
COMMON Trade Benefit:
Increased Damage over time.
UNCOMMON Trade Benefit:
Linked Damage: any enemy within 2 meters of the original target takes full grenade damage.
RARE Trade Benefit:
Extra Grenade per tattoo.
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< PROFESSION LEVEL UP X5 >
{+140 to all stats except Magic}
< PROFESSION HAS TIER UP >
{Forger is now Recruit-Trainee 2nd class}
{Free Trade option, +5 skill points, +500 free Stats.}
{PROFESSION NAME: Forger
PROFESSION RANK: 31 (Recruit-Trainee 2nd)
PROFESSION TYPE: Hybrid-Energy Creation
DESCRIPTION:
A Forger is a unique profession as it needs no special materials, only the legacy’s mana and, in some cases, blood to fill in the blanks of what is being forged. The legacy can still use materials to augment and reduce the Mana cost, you can learn Trades but all of that is second to the Mana creation.
Initiate Benefit:
Use mana with all trades to forge creations.
Amateur Benefit:
Absorb Mana from kills within a controlled area for use in forging creations
Recruit Benefit:
All Styles have an extra use or reduced cool down.
Trainee Benefit:
All creation bonus effects are triggered more often.}
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Clyde was very happy with his new Trade and Profession Benefits. The perks of having a Hybrid Professions were the dual benefits after Amateur Rank.
Professions come in many shapes and forms, according to Peck Joy, but most fall into two major categories.
One is knowledge-based Professions. These Professions were more common and make up the majority of Professions in the GREAT GAME. They were usually Passive. Passive Trade skills fed the Professional information about their craft. The Professional then used that information, their infuse Ability, and physical materials to create a craft. The Trades and Professions rank up generally quicker than all other categories. They usually can make a large variety of crafts within each Trade based on their own affinities and knowledge learned.
The second major category is Energy-based Professions. These Professions were a lot less common; they have more Active components than their counterparts, and even the Professions themselves are Active. They have to have their own Knowledge or must learn about their Profession and Trades from outside of themself. Usually, Knowledge-based Professionals teach them. They must have the knowledge in order to create anything. What energy they used varied wildly; the mermaids had a lot of stream, fog, and other water-based Professions and Trades, all of which required Mana and water, and the Infuse Ability to manipulate their creations. They usually can only make a small variety of crafts within each Trade based on their own memory, and their duration was much shorter than all other categories while ranking up slower than any others as well.
For example the Blacksmith Profession can be both Knowledge based or Energy based. The Knowledge-based Blacksmith could show up to a Smithy and get to work on a few common weapons, armor, and tools depending on the Trades chosen. An Energy-based Blacksmith doesn’t require a smithy to make their creations, but they do need to learn how to make their craft first before using the energy to create their creations properly. Often, Energy-based Professionals make one or two different creations per Rank of Trade, sometimes even the same creation, just a higher Tiered version.
Most Professions had Trade skills that fall into both of these two categories, especially as they rank up, but Professions stay the same until Artist Rank.
The Forger was a Hybrid Profession but was also a very unique one. Most Hybrid Professions would have an equal mix of Knowledge-based Trades and Energy-based Trades. Clyde's Profession was more Energy-based, but his knowledge of history was being magically amplified so that he could bridge the gap between the old-school mundane way and the new-school magical way. He didn’t get information fed to him, he had had his own information verified.
Almost ninety percent of the NPCs at the fort who got a Trade or Profession, got an Energy-based Hybrid one. They were using all of the materials the Colonel had brought back and given to the stronghold. Levels come fast in horde times and the Colonel had left orders to stay ready and build what they could.
Soto and Clyde chewed on a dry ration bar as they relaxed in the post-fight light breeze, they had burned quite a few calories, thank Gaia for the loot from his trial.
The Blood Hunter Grove had taken most of the trees in the area, but a few stubborn ones still remained, their branches providing shade to the duo as the sun was close to its apex. “Man during the fight I didn’t feel the hunger, but I am famished now though, how do you feeling?” The Dark Ranger asked.
Clyde nodded with his mouth full.
“As you level, the more calories you will have to take in. It is fair to say a high-level Stronghold spends most of its resources on feeding the high-level protectors. Bour said, “Cooking professionals and alchemists will be your best friends during long sieges. As they get higher in Rank, they can increase yield with Trade Benefits, Perks, and sub-skills. The most common way for Armies to take a City or above was to take the lands around it and starve out the High-level Classers. Desperate players make big mistakes in the face of hunger.”
“That seems pretty cruel,” Clyde said.
“True dat.” Soto agreed.
“It is the GREAT GAME, you do every little thing you can do to gain an advantage. The road to hell is paved with bodies of good intention people.” Bour added.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have said that, Colonel is a righteous one, he believes in the good of the average man. He grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, I grew up in the boogey down Bronx. We look at people very, very differently.” Soto said.
“Huh?” Bour asked.
“There is a slippery slope between gaining an advantage and taking advantage Bour.” The Colonel began, and Soto rolled his eyes.
"Here we go again," The Sergeant Major groaned.
Clyde glared at his friend, who decided that a tree off in the distance looked cool. He continued. “In my life I have seen the very statement you have said play out poorly. My brother was one of those intentional hell visitors.”
Soto looked back at him with concern.
“But he is back, so I guess the punishment didn’t stick.” Clyde smiled, thinking about his twin brother being alive.
“I refuse to hurt the innocence for power, at least directly. We will not be doing anything like that in our nation. If we cut off supplies to a city, we will offer food and safety to civilians at special locations outside of the walls.”
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< NATION WAR RULES >
{Never starve out civilians or non-combatants; if it can be done safely, offer food and shelter outside of the City being sieged.}
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Soto looked at Clyde and nodded his agreement to the rule, though a little reluctantly.
All the Colonel could think was he had like twelve more to go to complete that objective of the Race Quest.
“Not sure they will buy that. No Stronghold leader will allow their citizens to leave it during a siege.” Bour said flatly, unaware of their internal thoughts.
“Well that means we would have to take each city quick enough that the NPCs don’t starve. We all know it won’t be the high-level players that suffer first, it is always the weak that suffer when the strong have no conviction Bour.” the Legacy continued. “We will have conviction. We will have honor, and most importantly, we will have mercy.”
“Lord of Mercy.” Soto cheerfully replied in his horrible Jamaican dancehall accent.
Clyde glared at him once again, and once again, it may as well be a bead of water because Soto’s smile was like the back of a duck in a pond minding its own damn business. Kekere took that opportunity to steal the last third of the Colonel’s dry ration bar and flew off like a little blue street pigeon. The Colonel glared at her which was equally as effective as it was on Soto.
“I hope you can stick to that, Colonel; taking a city isn’t an easy prospect,” Bour began. “Those battles go on for weeks, even months, usually made even more complicated by the scheduled Hordes. Invading a City right before a Horde could mean your unit is locked out of a Stronghold with the defender's defensive siege weapons firing at you while wild escaped dungeon beasts and monsters bear down on you. All defenders got to do is hold out until Horde and they usually win it.”
“We are very good at hard Bour. Pause.” Soto started. “You can say we specialized in it. I’ll make you a bet.”
“A bet?” Bour asked, intrigued.
“Yeah, I bet you, Colonel, could take his first City in under a week of sieging.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Bour didn’t look convinced. “I would be a poor mentor if I took that bet. Let's go with two weeks of sieging, and we can come to terms.”
“Uhh, sure sounds good. What are your terms?” Soto happily asked.
“I want that bird.” Bour point at Kekere.
“No!” Both Soto and Colonel said.
Bour put his hand up. “To train with me. I have an unaffiliated Trade skill, Exotic animal husbandry, that I need to rank up. You don’t get more rare than a Rukh.” He smiled, looking up at the tiny bird as it devoured the dry ration twice her size.
Soto looked at Clyde, who nodded.
“Okay, we are good with that, as long as she is fine with it. Remember, Bour consent is sexy.” Soto said.
“I have no idea what that means, but by context, I don’t like the implications.” Bour deadpanned.
“Don’t mind him, Bour; he was dropped on his head a lot when he was a kid.”
“That’s just rude,” Soto said, grabbing at his imaginary pearls. “And I was only dropped three times, and the third time wasn’t on my head, it was my collarbone that broke that time, so ha-ha jokes on you Colonel exaggerator.”
Clyde was about to respond when he got a message pop up in his HUD.
[Colonel? Sergeant Major?] Corporal Buzbee’s voice came across Party chat.
[Prime 1 here, send it over.] Clyde replied, looking at Soto, who signaled Bour they had a chat going on. Their mentor seemed to understand.
[We are making our way back with a full squad of combatants and a medic team. We also have the Lady of the Fort with us. How copy? Over] The Corporal said.
[Good Copy, I’ll ping your map.] The Colonel said. He brought up his map ability and zoomed out a little to see the squad of green dots. He tapped them, then drew a line right to his three green dots. The Squad changed their angle slightly after a few seconds, heading in his direction.
[Lady Sugar, you are just in time for the loot.] Soto said to Sugar in their team chat.
[I was worried you two were dead assholes! There was a Gaia damn firestorm and a tornado that could be seen from the Fort. Pretty sure the Hamlet saw it too. That is why we came in force you probably have incoming. I left the Fort on high alert.] Sugar replied.
Clyde looked back at the recovering messengers.
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< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Alanna Stone
LEVEL: 37
CASTE: Commoner PROFESSION: Mail Courier RACE: Human
POOLS:
HP 523/900 regen 175HP per day
MP 88/300 regen 230MP per hour
DR:0/10
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical; Dexterity
Mental; LUCK
EFFECTS: Unconscious.}
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< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Julia Zord
LEVEL: 35
CASTE: Commoner PROFESSION: Messenger RACE: Human
POOLS:
HP 455/900 regen 160HP per day
MP 78/300 regen 210MP per hour
DR:0/10
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical; Dexterity
Mental; LUCK
EFFECTS: Unconscious.}
_____________________________________________________________
< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Corporal Valia Smith
LEVEL: 39
CASTE: Commoner PROFESSION: Personnel Trainer RACE: Human
POOLS:
HP 618/900 regen 190HP per day
MP 98/300 regen 270MP per hour
DR:0/10
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical; Dexterity
Mental; Charisma
EFFECTS: Terror, Bleeding}
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Alanna was a dark-haired, light-skinned Latin mixed woman, Clyde would go with Mexican, but he could be wrong, he was never good at figuring out people’s origin. He grew up with a melting pot of races, first in Trinidad then when he joined the US Army. People were just people. While we have different cultures, none of our cultures are so alien when we take the time to understand them. Alanna fell into the category of mixed ethnicity and could pass for either one of her parents' races if push came to shove.
Julia was a tanned woman of European descent and a runner's body. While Alanna was in good shape, seen through her light leather running suit, Julia looked like she was born to run. Her abdominal muscles were prominent even through her outfit. Her arms were defined, and her legs were strong. She looked a little between a sprinter and a long-distance runner.
The last member of their team had a rank, and was the one fighting at the end when they had found them. She was a curly-haired woman with olive skin and Mediterranean features. She was the shortest of them all. While Alanna and Julia were both over five foot five, Corporal Smith barely reached five foot even.
Corporal Smith roused a little, looking like she would wake soon.
Clyde got up and walked over to the Loot globe. “You Level up already, right?” He asked Soto since he had gained enough EXP to get his Combat Class to Level 30.
Soto had indeed specialized again. Taking the Advance Shadow Scout option after a recommendation from Clyde, it honestly was the best option he had anyway.
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{SPEC: Advance Shadow Scout
(”A blade in the neck is worth two in the kidneys, but an arrow in the eye is worth two in the heart. So that means a blade from the shadows can change a mind.”)
Dark Rangers are range, sneak, and reconnaissance-type players. The Advance Shadow Scout Spec is even more at one with the shadows. While they can deal high damage, they are mobile attackers that can hurt their target after their initial attack with stacking debuffs.
The Shadow Scout is a movement offensive Specialist that has a Major boost to damage over time damage.
This is a True Class Spec.
Advance Bonus: Shadow damage slightly increased.
Advance Shadow scout SPEC Stats added: +28 Strength & Dexterity, +15 Intelligence & Charisma per level. +1 Skill Point Per level.
SPELL CHOICE
Create Shadow Clone(Conjure): The Shadow Scout can conjure a shadow clone of himself; the Shadow Clone will have 10% of all Pools but do 110% damage. The Shadow Clone will follow the orders of the creator.
Cast Time: 30 seconds. Cost: 150 MP. Duration: 1 hour. Cool down: 90 minutes. Requirements: Chant and blood of Advance Shadow Scout.
Shadow Bomb Active) Empower any item with shadow mana and throw it at the chosen target making a shadow explosion.
Cast Time: 3 seconds Cost: 60 mana. Damage: 350+I. Blinding Duration: 3 seconds. AOE: 15 meters. Range: 250 meters. Cool down: 60 seconds. Requirements: chant and thrown weapon.
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Another Soto walked back to them. He waved at the quartet, Kekere looking between the two confused. The Clone in direct sunlight stood out, but once it walked under the shadow of a tree not many people could tell the original apart from the Shadow clone version. Well unless you look at it with a sight power.
The Clone came up to the team and reported. “The Hamlet is still under attack from the Beasts, but they seem to be holding up well.” The Clone had shadow-stepped ahead to scout out the Hamlet.
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< UNCOMMON BEAST HORDE >
{WAVES COMPLETE 3/5
Time until next wave 39M:43s}
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“That is cutting it really close. Do we need to help them?” Clyde asked Soto.
The clone looked at Soto, and then Soto turned to Colonel. “I don’t know. It is a little weird sharing information between the two of us, to be honest.”
“There is a platoon of knights that were also watching the Stronghold from a few kilometers away or so with binoculars. I couldn’t get to close to them, they had at least one tier 5 with them I believe.” The clone added.
The Clone had a little more game information because of Soto’s Noble Knowledge Passive.
“Okay, we take them out first. If they are just observing and not helping, they are probably with this group,” Clyde said, pointing at the bound knight.
“Sounds like a plan, Boss.” The Clone said.
“Okay, Soto. Send him back and get more information on the platoon. As soon as we are ready to move, we will engage them.”
“Copy that.” Soto and his clone replied.
Soto’s Clone stepped into his shadow and had moved away in an instant.
“That’s so cool,” Soto said. “When I do it, I just see blackness, and then I am where I wanted to go. Looking at it from the outside is pretty dope looking, am I right?” Soto said, excited at his new power.
“Agreed.” Clyde agreed.
Soto looked north. The Colonel followed his eyes and then looked down at his map. He saw green dots representing Buzbee’s team and Sugar.
[Heads up, Lady Sugar, we have an unknown enemy observing the Hamlet, so we will be taking them out before moving on to the Hamlet is that understood? Relay to your escort, Over.] The Colonel said in team chat.
[Copy that, relaying over.] Sugar replied a few seconds later.
[I see you on the map ETA?]
[10 Mikes.] Sugar answered.
[Pick up your pace Lady Sugar, we don’t have long until the next wave, and I would like to be at least able to see a wall before that happens.] The Colonel ordered.
[Aye, Aye, Colonel, we will run the rest of the way. Give us three to five minutes] Sugar replied.
[Good copy 5 mikes. 1 Out]
“Shall we check out the loot then?” Soto asked.
“Feel free to go ahead,” Clyde replied.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Soto stepped into Colonel’s shadow which then took him to the shadow of the loot globe due to the Tree branches providing shade. “Huh, I wasn’t sure I could do that. Oh wow I leveled up my Skill. Check this out.” He said a little surprised, and shared his updated general Skill.
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{SKILL NAME: Grand Shadow Manipulation Proficiency
(Passive/Active)
SKILL LEVEL: Apprentice 1
DESCRIPTION: The Dark Noble can use the shadows as his ally. As this Skill Tiers up the more access to more shadow-related effects.
SKILL EFFECT:
See shadows and gain stealth when in shadows. Enhance the shadows while in stealth, attacks from stealth do Triple damage on top of all other damage. Any attacks outgoing or incoming will break the stealth.
Effect scales with Intelligence.
STUDENT EFFECT:
Shadow Step; The player can step into any shadow other than his own and emerge from shadow within a certain distance from original shadow as long as their is a connecting shadow.
Cast time: Instant. Cost: 25MP each additional step doubles the cost. Range: 30 meters per level. Cool Down: None.
NOVICE EFFECT:
Shadow Dome: The player can create a dome of shadow around himself that he and his Allies can see in, but it impairs the perception of all others.
Cast time: Instant. Cost: 50MP. Range: Self. AOE: 10 meters per tier of skill. Duration: 15 seconds. Cool Down: 30 seconds.
Blinding effect scales with Charisma.
APPRENTICE EFFECT:
Shadow Spike: The player can solidify the shadows into a spike. The bigger the shadows, the more powerful the spike.
Effect scales with mental stats.}
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“That is a dope bonus effect there, Soto. That is slowly becoming your most versatile power, I think. You also seem to have an affinity for it. I believe the Dungeon reward gave us very compatible skill tomes for our rewards.” Clyde said, reading through the Tool Tips for some of his effects in his HUD.
“Yeah,” Soto said, looking back at Colonel from the Pink Loot Point. “Can I get a quick identify here boss?” He asked, pointing at it. “I leveled up my other general Skill as well. Check it out.”
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{SKILL NAME: Insight(P)(PASSIVE)
SKILL LEVEL: Apprentice 0
DESCRIPTION:
See the flow of the world as it is, not your limited perception of it.
SKILL EFFECT:
The Noble can Finely see the changes in the world represented by fluctuations in the air. The higher the level of the Skill the more information gained from the fluctuations.
STUDENT EFFECT:
Once per target, the player can get information on the fluctuation. The longer they observe the target, the more information is given.
Speed of information scales with Intelligence and Charisma
NOVICE EFFECT:
Stealth target fluctuations gain a red glow the longer they are in the player’s Skill range. Range of Skill is Minutely based on Charisma Stat.
APPRENTICE EFFECT:
For every dodge of an attack, the player gains a stack of Reveal, which, when used, has a Minute chance to reveal camouflage entities even if they aren’t currently hostile.}
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“That would have been an absolutely useful effect to have before we had shot those knights,” Clyde said as he looked at the bound knight ranger, who had flinched at the words of the Legacy.
“Word, I think surviving a situation makes you better equipped to handle it better next time. I can imagine many people end up just focusing on what they are good at and depend on other teammates or party members to cover their weaknesses.” Soto said to Bour, who was petting Kekere, who sat comfortably in his hand.
Bour followed Colonel’s eyes then slowly and deliberately looked back to Soto before speaking. “Yes, the unlimited potential of one's soul is only relevant if you have unlimited time to progress. The average player, depending on Path, may never make it to tier 8. Which is Cap level for Classers or level 100, 2 Executive Rank Professions, or a 1 Master Tier General Skill user. At best, you are looking at one thousand years of life. I know that seems like a long time, but in the GREAT GAME, that is less than one grain of sand compared to every grain of sand in the multiverse. High-rank Cultivators have lived to see mountains become plains and then oceans after that. The amount of power an individual like that can amass is frankly completely mind-boggling. So it behooves you as a player to find things that you are not only good at but also that you like to do; both are needed for quick advancement so you don’t run into too many bottlenecks in your progression.”
Colonel and Soto nod at him.
[Soto, I think our prisoner is up.]
[Yeah, I caught Bour’s look]
[I’ll analyze him real quick.]
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< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Mitchell
LEVEL: 41
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Junior Knight Ranger RACE: Human
POOLS:
HP 2155/3680 regen 900HP per day
MP 1600/1600 regen 1050MP per hour
DR:78/120
AR:22/75
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical; Dexterity
Mental; LUCK
EFFECTS: Alert, Faking sleep, Scared.}
_____________________________________________________________
[Well, that answers that. How do you want to handle it?] Soto asked Colonel.
[I say we have Kuma sit on him and see how much information he can give us.]
[That would be hilarious, but I don’t think Sugar would go for it.]
[Oh I definitely would be okay with it, I got eyes on your wall, Colonel.] Sugar interjected in the team chat.
Soto looked north and saw a half platoon of players heading their way. They were all wearing the same forest green cloak.
[Those cloaks are nice. Where did you get them from?] Soto asked as Colonel stood up.
[Buzbee secure the perimeter. Sugar and Kuma come straight to us and the prisoner.] The Colonel said.
[Copy that Colonel.] Buzbee replied.
[Aye, Aye, sir.] Sugar said.
Clyde cringed at her radio etiquette, but he would never correct a civilian, it wasn’t their job to get it right, but to be clear, and it was clear enough which was more than he could ask for from her.
[Before all of that let me look at the Loot point.] Clyde said on just the Command channel.
[Are you getting the shared Prompts, Lady Sugar?]
[Yes sir I am, go for it.]
[Good, here you go.]
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< ANALYZE >
{You have found a Loot point. Loot points are zones where combatants are killed in a large-scale battle and are then secured. Once the area is secured, all Loot Globes are absorbed by the highest ranked Loot Globe, often upgrading said Loot Globe.
The rank order: COMMON(Tier 1) GREY Globe. UNCOMMON(T2) WHITE Globe. RARE(T3) BROWN Globe. PLATINUM(T4) PINK Globe. DIAMOND(T5) RED Globe. EPIC(T6) ORANGE Globe. LEGENDARY(T7) GOLD Globe. RUNIC(T8) GREEN Globe. MYSTIC(T9) SILVER Globe. ANCIENT(T10) OCEAN BLUE Globe. ETERNAL(T11) SKY BLUE Globe. ASCENDENT(T12) PURPLE&BLACK Globe. TRANSCENDENT(T13) BLACK&GOLD Globe.
< CALCULATING REWARDS >
_____________________________________________________________
{Calculation complete. You have found a Tier 4 Loot point.}
< TOOL TIP >
{The color of the globe determines the rarity of the drops. PINK(P) globes have a 100% chance of giving at least 1 PLATINUM drop. 10% chance to get a DIAMOND drop. There is a 1% chance to get an EPIC drop, and a .01 chance at a LEGENDARY drop.}
_____________________________________________________________
[Platinum, that is pretty good, right?] Sugar asked after reading.
“Bour? Is a Platinum loot point good at this point in our world’s progression?” Clyde asked the desert dwarf. He knew that his trial was not the norm and didn’t want to use that as his litmus test.
“Yes? Especially for before the Rare horde.” Bour replied as he looked at the knight Ranger again.
“Oh, don’t worry about him, we know.” Clyde dismissed his concerns. “My question is, what determines the loot type in the globes?”
“The short answer is no one really knows.” He began, “Long answer is a lot more complicated. There is always some randomness in the rewards of the Game. Usually, they give you rewards first and foremost for the type of enemy you are fighting. You shouldn’t get a poison dagger from fighting an alligator or something like that...well, unless it is a poison alligator, those are the worst.”
“Okay, I just gained another phobia; thanks, Bour,” Soto said with a chuckle.
“Oh, that is not that bad. Wait until all of the tentacle monsters start spawning.” Bour stated.
Soto and Clyde look at him in horror.
“Please, Gaia, no. I can’t be an anime star; my sidekick is a black dude, they don’t have a good record of surviving the whole series.” Soto laughed at Clyde’s sour face.
“I’m Japanese, Mexican, and Portuguese. I think I should be a candidate for making it through the whole show.” Sugar said as she got to the wall, looking at the unconscious girls lying against it. “What is up with them?”
“Don’t know. Get a medic to look at them, please, Lady Sugar, okay?” Clyde ordered.
“Okay, I got you, Colonel. We should get used to his voice, Soto. They say it is the first thing you forget when people die.” She snickered as she sent a message.
“HA-HA! Allyuh is hilarious.” Clyde replied sarcastically with a slight Trinidadian accent.
“You see, that’s my best friend he laughs in the face of death and danger, I’ll miss you buddy,” Soto joked.
“I hate you both,” Clyde internally groaned.
“You better hope that isn’t the last thing you say to me, you would be pissed when you are sitting with saint peter, and he is like, ‘The last thing you said to your best friend was I hate you.’ What an asshole.”
“Saint Peter?” Bour asked.
“Saint Peter according to the bible...” The colonel started before Bour interjected.
“Which Bible?”
“The holy bible,” Soto said obviously.
“They are all holy lad.” Bour retorted.
“It is the first holy book of a few major religions that originated in the Middle East.” Clyde continued.
“The Middle East?” Bour asked.
“Southwest Asia is the biggest continent on our planet,” Soto added.
“Yeah, according to the Bible, Saint Peter is the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”
“Heaven doesn’t have any keys to it.”
“Wait, what?” Soto asked, confused.
“It’s supposed to be hyperbole,” Clyde added, annoyed at being interrupted.
“To get to the Heavenly realm, you just need to be powerful enough. The gods need workers like any other players.” Bour continued.
“I am leaving all of that alone for now,” Soto said, shaking his head.
“Anyway,” Clyde continued. “It is said, or at least semi-written, that those not fit to enter heaven are denied entrance at the Pearly gates and descend into Hell. Peter is the one who looks up the deceased's name in a book, weighing their life, before opening the gate, if they are worthy.”
“That sounds like nonsense,” Bour said incredulously, eyebrow raised.
“To many people, it is. There are too many discrepancies in all of the religions and religious stories. Most organizations, including the Catholic church, which was our first major global Christian religion, have never lived up to their patron.” Clyde got on his soapbox. Soto rolled his eyes.
“Human beings tend to make up heroes in order to worship, and in most cases, a large majority of the population couldn’t read, so those who could took advantage. I believe in God, but I am not sure how I feel about religion.”
“Oh no, not again.” Soto facepalmed, knowing where his friend was heading.
“The way God is described in holy books does not add up to who they are today. It seems that people in the past had more interaction with God than we do in the present. Today, we have people claiming they have talked to God, and we are just supposed to have faith in their word. Not this guy. It used to piss off all my aunties with my questions. If you were truly like Jesus, you wouldn't get so mad at me just trying to find meaning in your holy book. is what I used to say all the time.” Clyde said.
“My grandparents were super catholic, so I know the feeling. I am more of a Wiccan.” Sugar added her two cents.
“You were a witch?” Soto asked incredulously, involuntarily making a cross symbol.
“Not the same thing.” Sugar and Clyde said in unison, then chuckled.
“Which gods are you talking about?” Bour asked, intrigued. When he was born, he lived in a Runic world. Gods were everywhere. In every major city, there was at least a Temple to the local gods’ pantheon.
“Not gods, just one God,” Soto said.
“You only have one god here? Is that why you don’t have any skyways yet?” Bour asked.
“Que?”
“Huh?”
“Skyways, what is that?” Clyde asked.
“We can talk about skyways later. I did see an entrance to the Sky realm off to the east. I believe it was a Sky elevator, pretty common for Silver and Gold Cultivators to create for their Clergy if they are gods,” Bour said.
“That is fine. We have a lot to go over anyway. Like a lot, a lot,” Clyde acquiesced.
The medic showed up and started to check on the girls as they lay still.
Clyde stood next to Sugar as the medic did his job. They were all interested in what the girls had to say. “Not to rush you, Doc, but we have a platoon of people we have to go talk to. How long until they are ready to move?”
Sugar looked at them. “Are they going to be okay?” She asked with more concern than her team leader.
“No problem, Colonel, Lady Sugar. They were just exhausted. Their bodies had just shut down to recover. Just throw some liquid on them to wake them up.” The Medic joked. “I’m kidding of-”
Blood spattered on the Medic’s and Sugar’s faces as the ‘tied’ up prisoner jumped up, used a movement power to grab Sugar, empowered a dagger, and then stabbed that dagger into the eye of Clyde. A muffled explosion followed as the knife’s bonus effect activated for catastrophic internal brain damage.
The knight ranger, not wanting to give up his momentum, yanked Sugar by the neck with his blood-covered dagger to her throat. “No one move, our I kill her as well.” He yelled at the top of his lungs, getting everyone’s attention in the clearing.