Ergarth flipped around with Backslide, to test how effective it was with his present Agility. He easily slid backwards in one fluid motion and noted that it was, indeed, very effective.
He opened his Status Screen and assigned one point to Agility, then repeated the process. It became slightly faster. Not by much, though. If he had to assign a percentage to it, it would be 1% faster.
Ergarth added another point to Agility. The result was the same, a minimal increase in effectiveness. He ran around Maria's backyard that she had graciously allowed him to use to test his theories.
Well, there wasn't much of a hypothesis he could create with that information. It probably wasn't even entirely correct. There would undoubtedly be some math whizzes who would dissect the game for him sometime in the near future. He had just wanted to gain a general idea about the rules of Statistics.
Deciding that the one hour of playtime he had remaining was enough time to explore, Ergarth made to leave the seemingly empty village. The other players had probably logged in immediately when the servers came online and used up the four hours made available to them without taking any breaks.
The forest was his target. After a few minutes of looking around, trying to remain unseen, he found an (ironically) lone wolf.
Ergarth wondered how good the wolf’s senses were. They couldn't be too bad, since he doubted the game devs would make NPCs so realistic yet forget about the actual enemies… The creatures one would be spending most of their time with.
...Unless you played the game just to be a merchant, or village dweller? He paused. That might actually be a feasible thing to do. After all, the game was so realistic, some might actually use it to replace their social lives. NPCs were predictable, after all. Some might prefer them to real people, and thinking back to Maria, they definitely were capable of being physically attractive.
His lack of focus was interrupted by a small whoosh sound, following by a pained yelp. The wolf he had been tailing had apparently found an enemy. Or more like, an enemy had found him. An arrow that seemed to be made of shadowy essence was now sticking out of its hind legs. Trailing the path the projectile must have taken, he found a fairly well-hidden mage. He must have been, given the magic. He was hiding in a tree overlooking the clearing the wolf had just entered.
It almost seemed like the mage had miscalculated. The arrow didn't do much damage, and the mana cost wasn't particularly low either, Ergarth knew from the forums. At their level he could only have enough mana for two to three shots. And the wolf still had health to spare. Someone smart enough to find a good vantage point, patient enough to wait for what was probably a while, yet not wise enough to make good use of his mana? A smart amateur?
Or, Ergarth thought as he watched the wolf growl at the tree the man was sitting at, the mage didn't know that monsters deaggroed after a while.
Or just maybe, Ergarth was the one underestimating other players he concluded as he saw the man fire another arrow, this time from an actual bow. It was never said you couldn't buy non-class-specific equipment after all.
Ergarth concluded two things. First, he was probably not going to buy a bow. The damage it dealt was too low, at least in the hands of the mage, given the slivers of health he was taking off the wolf. Second, he was going to killsteal that monster.
He started sneaking into a position behind the wolf while the mage kept firing arrows, taking his time to not waste expensive munition by aiming carefully. The mage still missed more than half his shots, as expected from someone probably trying archery for the first time.
The sneaking was exciting if anything. One simple mistake would mean his ruse was up, which meant being in a conflict with the mage and having wasted several minutes of his time on top of possibly leaving empty-handed.
The other fact that made it exciting was, well, this was an actual combat situation. It wasn't playing on a screen, this was him. This was all him. His steps were clumsy, palms sweaty, and leaves were on his sweater already. Detachedly, he wondered if he would unlock a skill for his sneaking. Nobody else had yet, but he could be the first.
This sparked an idea in his mind, but as he watched the health of the wolf fall into the red, the idea was blown out before it formed. He stopped caring about stealth, turned his back to the wolf, and activated Backslide.
He slid towards the wounded monster and ended the movement in several flips, finding himself in the airspace above the wolf. His back acted as a shield for the heavily limping wolf as an arrow thudded into him.
The arrow in his back made Ergarth wince, but he soon regained his good mood when the backstab skill he haphazardly threw out hit the wolf and depleted the rest of its health bar, raising his level instantly. He must have been close before.
Ergarth didn't have time for musings though. He rolled out of the way of an arrow headed straight for his head (the mysterious mage seemed to be a better shot once enraged) and picked up the scraps of fur the wolf had left behind. He turned around to the glaring mage, who was starting to spout vitriol, “Son of the cheapest whore on the fish street crawling inside the tappets of shit that make up your fucking brain...” at an almost blistering pace.
Turning to the man Ergarth meant to run directly under the tree and move around it, making it harder for the player to hit him with a ranged attack, but Ergarth paused as he saw the name of his now-enemy, and so did the mage.
“Tranquil!/Wrast!”
They just stood there awkwardly until Ergarth sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and smiled at Wrast, who now seemed more exasperated than mad. “Fancy meeting you here, Marco,” Ergarth said.
Wrast facepalmed, then dragged the hand down his face slowly. “You know, people have been wondering where you've been. Your account suddenly sold to some idiot who's been making a fool of himself in the ladder.” Marco glanced at him. “I guess I found you.”
Ergarth shrugged. “You know how it is, follow the money.” He smiled apologetically. “Sorry about the wolf.”
“Don't remind me.” The blonde of the pair scoffed, then jumped down from the tree, rolling to absorb the impact and not taking any fall damage. Interesting.
Ergarth drew his knife as they talked. “I'm going to enjoy this fight, you know.”
Marco grinned. “Always the opportunist. You know full well my mana is on empty.” Despite his words though, he started slowly shuffling backwards while nocking an arrow.
Despite only being a few days since they'd faced each other in the arena of a very different game, Ergarth found himself excited for this fight. Marco had always been one of the best players. He wondered how his ability translated into virtual reality.
“You know, it really is quite a coincidence that we were both apparently sorted into the same star-” Marco started saying, but broke off suddenly. His eyes widened, looking at something behind Ergarth. The man raised his bow and fired straight at Ergarth, the action synergizing perfectly with Ergarth rolling to the left, narrowly avoiding an axe that smashed down on his previous position.
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He turned around frantically and was just in time to see the arrow scrape off the shiny, glowy eyed, head of the enemy and be redirected into one of the trees behind it.
Skeleton
Level 3
[System: You have been invited to join Wrast's party, do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
Ergarth mentally pressed yes before throwing himself out of the way of another ferocious axe strike. He decided to finally do something about the enemy and surged forward, stabbing it in the ribcage, just like he'd jokingly practised at home with a kitchen knife.
An arrow impacted against his back, and amazingly enough, the concussive impact threw him closer into the monsters range, letting him narrowly avoid a quite painful-looking haymaker.
“Sorry!” Ergarth heard as he switched his grip on the dagger. He furiously hit the skeleton with the hilt as he clung to the monster. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw the thing’s HP bar lightly lower with every hit. Not enough. He tried and failed to untangle himself from the monster as it took a generous bite out of his shoulder. It was more the sensation than the pain that made him scream.
Then the head was suddenly knocked back, a loud crack resounding through the clearing as a bow impacted its skull harshly. Wrast had run in swinging the bow in a way it really wasn't meant to be used. The skeleton was sent reeling and dropped its axe. Not one to miss a chance, Ergarth turned his back to it and Backslid towards it, snapping the hilt of the dagger against its skull as he flew over it. Backstab activated even though his attack wasn't really a stab.
The skull cracked, and the small green lights glowing in its eye sockets were extinguished. The monster crumpled to the ground lifelessly without its health bar even being depleted yet.
Ergarth panted more from mental than physical exertion, walked over to the axe, and tried picking it up. His hand just went through it.
“We're in a party, you ass. We have to roll for it.” Tranquil crossed his arms, looked to the side, and pouted.
Wrast sighed. “Just take it.”
[Party member has relinquished authority over item: Rusty Axe.]
At his surprised look, Wrast continued. “I know you do this for a living; I don't really need the money.” He shrugged awkwardly.
“Thanks,” the assassin said as he picked up the weapon and put it in his inventory. He grinned. “For that, I'll give you a chance in our fight.”
Wrast scoffed and retreated back a few steps. “What fight? The only thing you could maybe call this is a massacre.”
The mage gave a thumbs down, grinning.
[System: You cannot fight a party member.]
“Huh, I forgot about that,” Wrast muttered to himself as he entered the options menu, looking for the disband party button.
[System: You cannot disband the party you are actively sharing a quest with.]
“What the fuck?!” He turned to where Tranquil had been standing mere seconds ago, only to find the spot empty. Wrast threw himself on his knees, and his theater years back in school came rushing back to him as he shouted.
“Tranquilllll, you piece of shitttt…!”
-/-
Ergarth threw out a jab at his opponent’s kidney. The punch traveled true and landed where it was supposed to.
Too bad it had the same effect as a mouse jumping against a metal wall. His right hand daintily tickled the muscled torso of his sparring partner and Ergarth had to jump back quickly to avoid Mouve's grab and subsequent knee to the face.
He wasn't fast enough. Ergarth dodged the grasping hands coming for his head but wasn't capable of evading the spinning heel kick that nailed him square in the jaw. He once again thanked the existence of sparring gear.
“You know, you're progressing quite nicely. Even if your style is a bit...” Mauve paused, his face probably scrunching up as he looked for the right word. Not that Ergarth could see it; the only thing he was capable of seeing at the moment was the ceiling. Lying flat on your back really wasn't the best vantage point. “Methodical, that's the word.” Ergarth raised his shaky fist in a thumbs up.
“If you're a beginner at... something, learn the basics first and try to be as systematic... as possible. Once you progress far enough you can start... making personal variations,” Ergarth rasped out as he tried to pull himself up on the ropes of what he assumed to be a standard muay thai fighting ring. Tried being the key word.
He gratefully grasped Mauve's offered hand, and his friend helped him get up, limp out of the ring, and sit down at one of the numerous benches littering Muave’s training hall.
Ergarth opened his thermos and greedily gulped down the precious fluid within as Mauve sat down on the mat in front of him and rolled his eyes. The man's sharply defined facial features made the act weird somehow. “You know, not everything is like those games of yours.” He gesticulated while also getting something to drink. “I trust you enough with your knowledge of video games. It is your job and hobby after all, but martial arts is something different.” Here he put on a serious expression. “And so will this new game, I imagine. You can't find the most efficient style and mechanically power through learning it. You have to find something compatible with you emotionally.” The martial artist let his eyes roam over Ergarths slightly pudgy body. It was only starting to bulk up. “And physically.”
Ergarth crossed his hands and leaned his head onto them. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail; he didn't enjoy the feeling of sweaty fibres on his back. “You know, I could have probably customized a specific body build that would perfectly suit the class I decided to take on later,” he said. Mauve only shook his head.
“Listen to me, Ergarth. I know more about virtual reality than you think. All fighters these days use it to train. The brain is not capable of handling a body that is suddenly different than the last nineteen years of your life have taught it to be. You made the right choice by listening to me, trust me. You have a good build, six feet tall, not to small, not too big.”
Ergarth leaned back, probably desecrating the wall behind him with his sweaty back. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and opened it again. “I'm worried.”
Mauve heaved himself up, flashing his developed sixpack in Ergarth’s face, patted his shoulder reassuringly, and pulled him up and started leading them both to the showers. “You shouldn't be. You have successfully managed to excel at four different games in the past ten years.” Mauve shook his head and chortled. “Hell, I think there was only one game where you weren't consistently in the top two hundred on the East-Asian server.”
Ergarth’s eyes narrowed. “We do not talk about Suncraft.”
Mauve laughed.
-/-
After showering and dressing in his casual clothes (too wide, to hide that he was slightly overweight), Ergarth made his way from the training hall towards the library of the small town he lived in.
It was more like a village, actually. But as he watched the expensive cars filled with wealthy people drive slowly past him on the main street, he couldn't really refer to it as a village.
Ergarth passed by the tastefully decorated cafes and restaurants that made up the town square and finally arrived at the library, where the pretty clerk behind the desk greeted him pleasantly. Her long blonde hair bobbed up and down as she spoke. “Good day Mr. Grimm, will it be the usual room with two cups of hot chocolate?” Ergarth nodded, but then paused. He took a closer look at Erika. Something was different about her today.
The slightly older woman tensed at his gaze. People got like that once you took them out of their comfort zone. Ergarth slowly shook his head at her. “No hot chocolate, just bring a glass of milk.” He smiled at her, trying to not look creepy. “Also, I like what you've done with your hair, the braids fit you surprisingly well.”
The receptionist thanked him politely as he walked past her and into the room he usually occupied. It was a small hovel with an open balcony that let him sweep his gaze onto the beautiful town and mountain scenery stretching out behind it.
He breathed in deeply. What a wonderful place to live. He sipped at the cold milk that somehow appeared next to his armchair while he was looking out into the distance.
Sadly, it was also an expensive place to live. A cost he wouldn't be able to afford in a few years. Unless he struck gold again in this new game. And as always, it was much easier to become good at something if you actually worked on it.
This was why he was in the library, after all. But looking around the room that he was in, which resembled more a gentleman's lounge than the packed building full of students he remembered, he wondered if you could still call it such.
“Bring me the books I was last looking at, DB203.” He would call it the library of the rich, yes. The whirring confirmed that the robot was hard at work, even if the company producing them promised to make them soundless. It wasn't their fault he had trained his hearing to an incredible point so that he could hear the footsteps of his enemy through the headphones while playing.
Not a few seconds later, a mechanical arm from above suddenly laid down a pile of books before him. Virtual Reality and Its Neuroscience, Psychological Behaviour of Anonymity, Immersion Chambers Simplified, and Storm of Swords.
It was always good to finish a learning session with some recreational reading, after all. He pulled out his notebooks, one titled “psychology” and the other “virtual reality,” and got to work.
Pangea had that pesky restriction that only allowed four hours of playing around in their virtual reality game. One reason was that playing longer than those four hours could negatively impact people in bad physical and mental condition. Suffice to say, he wasn't willing to hire a team of engineers and programmers for several millions to have them try to hack into Pangea's settings or servers.
Spending those millions would make it so he couldn't afford living here in a few months.
-/-
After eating dinner that his brother made, Ergarth once again went to research the game, information about player killing and the ingame auction flying past his eyes, and a plan started forming in his head.
He had surprisingly much time left after he was done researching. It was only nine in the afternoon, an entire hour before his bedtime. It had been quite a while since he had spent more than a few minutes on freetime activities.
He popped open QQ and wrote Wrast a quick message on where to meet tomorrow, and left an innocuous message in the high rank chat group of LoA he was still a part of.
Tranquil: @everyone, if you're playing Pangea contact me, will be forming a guild in the next few weeks.
Then he shut down his computer and went to watch a movie with his little brother.