Congragulations! Your Brawler class has advanced to Martial Artist
“Sweet!” Zeilan pumped his fist in the air. “That was one heck of a fight, right Rook?” He looked over to the construct who weakly gave him a thumbs up.
“Fohoho! It’s good to see you’re still energetic after such a tough fight.” A man with a long beard and embroidered robes approached the two youths.
“It wouldn’t have been so tough if you held back a little…” Zeilan complained.
“Fohohohoho!”
It had been almost a week since Zeilan had reached the capital city, Hales. Once he arrived Carro let him off guard service for a while as she ‘didn’t need any guards’ in the city. For some strange reason she kept Lumin with her though. Although he was left a bit confused, Zeilan temporarily left her and began training around Hales.
At first he was running around the city doing quests by himself but later on Rook decided to join him and the duo began making a name for themselves around the city. Zeilan’s most recent quest involved him upgrading his class into an advanced one and it involved a bunch of miscellaneous tasks as well as formal training, ending in a fight against the bearded man who was laughing heartily.
“...” Rook made a few gestures.
“Yeah I’m pretty satisfied. I mean I am a bit late on getting an advanced class as most of the pioneers have already gotten one and moved to another area, but I feel a lot more confident now.” The pioneers Zeilan referred to were the players who reached the capital first and collected random bits of information to share amongst the players. Of course some chose to monopolize the things they learned but that was only natural. “Now that I’ve gotten this class, wanna help me test it out?”
“...” Rook gave a thumbs up.
“Alright, we’re off old man! Thanks for the training.”
“Of course! Remember to keep my teachings in mind!” The bearded man saw them off and the two headed to the outskirts of town.
Okay… stat-wise there are a few changes here and there. Most importantly my growth rates have changed as well, so increasing strength and vitality will be a lot easier now. Intelligence and wisdom… well it’s not like I was really using magic anyway. I can just equip flat MP-boosting items to make up for it. Hmm… most of my hand-to-hand combat skills will be a lot easier to level and use, but I wonder about weapons… Zeilan went into deep thought as he looked over his current status and thought about how to proceed for the future.
“...” Rook tapped him on the shoulder.
“...What? My face is scrunched up? Oh sorry, I was thinking again.”
“...?”
“Nah, it’s nothing important. Just thinking of which skills to max out first.” Zeilan laughed. Come to think of it, is Simon using a high-end class? ……… That’s actually highly unlikely. He always, ALWAYS chooses some weird combination of classes and skills and somehow manages to keep up with me in every game. I can’t have that happen again can I? Okay, next on the to-do list: Find something that’ll beat Simon!
Zeilan grinned as he began making anti-Simon plans. Unfortunately his grin also caused the surroundings to panic and people quickly got out of his path. Again… Should I start wearing a mask? Ah no, that’d be an obstruction during battle. But maybe if I only wear it in towns? But wait… Zeilan’s worries continued as the two left the city gates.
Of course there weren’t any monsters right outside of the city as guards and adventurers regularly patrolled the area and cleared out anything that approached. Instead there were many roads leading to different directions. In regular intervals on every road there were large crystals packed with magic that acted as lamp-posts. That wasn’t the only thing the crystals did though, as touching them would actually grant a speed boost for a short while. Apparently some adventurers worked together with the engineers in the city to create them and they quickly became popular which had the city’s lord immediately implement them in as many roads as possible, inside the city and out. The only drawback these crystals had was that they attracted monsters, but the adventurers and guards always dealt with them.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Zeilan and Rook sped along a beaten dirt path, touching a crystal whenever they got near one. In about half an hour of non-stop running they stopped at the foot of a mountain and took a small rest at a clearing. While resting Rook took out a guitar (a custom-made item from a crafter) and began to play a little. This actually helped speed up their recovery and before long they were ready to go up the mountain again. Along the way were many monsters to be found like rock elementals, large eagles and strange goat-like creatures.
At this point in time Zeilan had picked up and began to use multiple weapons at the same time in battle. Using a skill he learned - [Weapon Retrieval] - he could instantly access any weapon that was sitting in his inventory to bring out and use. Most of the time he used this ability to bring out a weapon to throw at something, then switch to another weapon and continue fighting. At one point in time he actually fought with almost 15 weapons at once.
His hand-to-hand combat wasn’t any less deadly though as his fists were strong enough to make cracks in boulders, while his legs could almost completely pulverize them. Combining his brutal attacks with movements he learned from dances made him a terrifying force on the battlefield. That’s not to say that his partner, Rook, was any less dangerous.
Although Rook played as an archer he played it in a very unorthodox manner. He placed a majority of his status points in defense and resistance which allowed him to stay in place and shoot at things without having to worry about being attacked. He also had some skills and spells to push enemies away if needed, but generally he fought enemies up close by using arrows in his hands and stabbing them. Due to his figure of stabbing enemies with arrows, he gained a secret name amongst the players who saw it: Silent Savage.
When they worked together tough enemies would fall within minutes, if not seconds. If the pair had a single weakness it would be enemies resistant to physical attacks, but even then...
“RAAAGH!!” Zeilan’s fist went right through a rock elemental. “Huh. These enemies are supposed to have a super high defense. Do you think my class up increased my power that much?”
“...” Rook shrugged.
“True. Let’s keep going. The top of the mountain has already been climbed but that’s no reason we shouldn’t make our way up there right?”
“...!”
“Yeah.” Zeilan and Rook continued onwards to the top of the mountain.
On their way up they saw a few groups of adventurers going into the mountain through various cracks in the walls, most of them holding pickaxes. Some of these groups took notice of Zeilan and Rook and began whispering amongst themselves as they headed inside. Zeilan could only shake his head and move on, as thinking about it would bother him too much. Eventually they made it to the mountain peak (not before being attacked by a gigantic bird which tried to throw them off) and took in the view.
The top of the mountain was cold and had a few patches of snow here and there, but it wasn’t that tall so adventurers could freely visit it without too much concern. From where they stood they could see Hales in the distance, as well as an incredibly large structure a fair distance south (which apparently was an evil mage’s tower). Towards the east if Zeilan squinted he could just barely make out a forest with dead trees and a fog cover.
“...It’s great that we’ve climbed up here, but there isn’t anything to do is there?”
“...” Rook gave a wry smile.
“Shut up you. I mean I’m used to my new strength now so it’s not all bad… I just wish something a bit more exciting will happen.” Just as he finished saying this, the ground underneath his feet began to rumble. “Woah!” Zeilan grabbed onto a nearby rock for support, while Rook lay flat on the ground. After a half a minute the shaking stopped but then a message appeared.
[New Event!]
The miners' excavations have discovered a ruin deep beneath the mountain. Unfortunately this also disturbed the Earth Elementals sleep, and now they are rampaging in the mountain. Stop the elementals so that the miners can work again.
“Hah! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s go Rook.” Zeilan slid down the side of the mountain searching for an entrance inside and Rook followed soon after. Soon enough they found a crack wide enough to slip into and they made their way inside the mountain.
The inside of the mountain was lit up with various magic crystals installed into the walls which gave a clear view of the facilities inside. The center of the mountain had a large hollowed out area where most of the miners and adventurers would stay and hang around when they weren’t working. Surrounding the hollowed area were many tunnels which led deeper into the mountain, as well as a few with signs that led outside of the mountain. Right now the area was filled with miners scurrying about, as well as adventurers heading down into the tunnels. Zeilan and Rook exchanged glances, then decided to follow a random group.
“Hey uh… what’s your name?” The leader of the group asked.
“Zeilan. This guy is Rook. He doesn’t talk all that much.”
“Ooh! So you’re the famous Zeilan! We heard a lot about you and your friend on our way here.”
“Rumors about us have reached outside of the city?” I seriously hope they’re not crazy ones. Zeilan wished in his heart.
“Of course. Anyone who’s playing wants to know who the strongest players are, and you two are pretty high up on that list. Well I mean not your level but in terms of battle strength. I know of a few people who have ridiculous strength with low levels…”
“Cool. So who are you?”
“Sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Verne, a level 56 Warrior and leader of the Crios Blades.” The leader proudly introduced himself. The rest of his party introduced themselves as well, starting from the expressionless dragonkin who held a thick machete-like sword and a small shield.
“I am Neira, a level 55 Valkyrie.” She nodded in their direction before turning back to the front.
“Heya, I’m Melun. Level 55 Magic Archer.” Melun waved excitedly at the two boys.
“Aeryn, level 56 Sorceress. Pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand in greeting.
“I’m Fortis Caleron, level 54 High Priest.” He gave a respectful bow.
“Pretty nice setup you’ve got there.” Zeilan grinned.
“Yeah. We were actually just about to make our way into Hales but then we got this event notice as we were passing by the mountain and decided to come here instead.” Verne said. “By the way, want to be a temporary party for a while? Seeing as we’re travelling together.”
“Sure, why not?” Zeilan accepted the party request and the group continued to make their way down into the mountain...