《I Was Born For Glory》 Prologue... Prologue...
As the onlookers cheered and applauded, Eudora gritted her teeth and hurled several spells at her opponent; all of which were different arts of magic. She was a mage and the leader of the number one guild in Exelcia Online. She had a slightly curvy build and purple colored hair. The weapon she had started with was a legendary staff, but her opponent had destroyed that not long after the match began. Her eyes were blueish purple, and the clothing she was wearing had seen better days. The question that she kept asking herself in her mind washow? She couldn''t understand this. She couldn''t understand any of this,shewas losing, and horrendously at that. She had earned the title, the Sorceress of Exelcia, due to her mastery over almost all types of magic, so how was she losing to someone that had what was considered to be one of the, if not that, worst classes in the game. How was she losing to aJester?
As Loki usedDummyto take theFireboltEudora had launched at him, he couldn''t help from smiling. When he had first joined the tournament, no one had cheered for him at all, but now, everyone in the crowd including their mothers were crying out his name and offering their support to him. He had won over their hearts, and in a few minutes, he was going to win the Championship of Exelcia Online Season 1. "I cannot lose."Is what he told himself before somersaulting over a very advanced Arcane spell, which was known asEclipse, and vanishing into thin air. Loki had usedDisappearing Act, and after five seconds had passed, he had reappeared, but not in the air. "What the-" No, he appeared directly in front of her, much to Eudora''s shock and surprise. "Hello there~!" He greeted happily before grabbing ahold of her and dipping her like how you would in ballroom dancing only to then let go of her and allow her to fall onto her back, thus preventing her from casting any magic. As she began to sit up, Loki casually pulled a sword out of his coat, and aimed it at Eudora causing her to stop moving, and look up at him. His attire consisted of black tailcoat with a white dress shirt underneath it, and black gloves. He had a red rose, and red bowtie on as well. He wore black pants, and black and white dress shoes, and he had on top of his head a black and red sombrero like hat. He also had black and white face paint. The expression he had written on his face was more along the lines of neutral, but the look in his eyes were telling her one thing. It''s over. "How?" She asked in a low tone through gritted teeth. "How were you able to best me? I have done hundreds of duels and have not once ever came close to losing, so how did you do it? Especially as a Jester?" "... Because I felt like it." He declared after several seconds, which felt like several minutes to her.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Huh?" Was the noise she made with a slightly confused look upon hearing his answer. "I saw a video of one of your duels, and after reading the comments, I was like,I could beat her, and so I put in the work." He explained as he kept the blade aimed at her. "I-I," She stuttered, not exactly sure what to say to this information. "but as a Jester? I mean, I could understand that mentality, but why did you pick what is considered to be one of the worst classes in Exelcia?" "Oh, I liked the Jester''s look." Loki revealed with no traces of deceit in his voice, which made her even more confused. "The Jester''s look?" She asked after a couple of seconds. "Yeah, I mean, don''t I look pretty cool?" He stated with a smile as he gestured to his attire with his free hand. "I, I honestly don''t know what to say." She told him with a baffled expression. "I really wasn''t expecting that to be your reasoning." "Yeah, well, it is, so deal with it." Loki declared before plunging the sword into her chest and making her gasp for air only to then disappear into a puff of smoke. "What?" He said aloud in surprise before hearing somebody say from behind. "Fire-" The word was drawn out, but he knew who had said this, it was Eudora. "-Beam!" She then yelled with all her might as he turned around only to see a wave of fire before everything turned black.
As silence filled the stadium, Eudora huffed and puffed. "I did it."She said to herself as she continued to breathe heavily."I did it!" She doubted her plan would work, but to her surprise, she had managed to pull it off. She had casted an Illusion spell calledMimic, which was basically an advanced version of the Jester''s ability Dummy, and used that to get behind him. Not long after the stadium fell silent, did the onlookers begin to cheer again, except this time it was for Eudora and not Loki. Meanwhile, as they were applauding her, Loki respawned. Eudora had noticed him spawn back in, upon doing so, she immediately called out to him. "Hey, Loki." Is what she said as she rose to her feet, still a little surprised by the fact that she was able to beat him. "Yeah?" He responded as he removed the face paint from his face that increased his Luck, Perception and Charisma while she approached him. -Facepaint of the Fleeting Jester has been unequipped. "I just wanna say that it was a good game, and was wondering if you were-" Thanks, but I''m going to have to refuse." He interrupted as he took off his hat that increased not only his Luck and Charisma, but his Agility as well and dropped onto the ground. -Hat of the Fleeting Jester has been unequipped and dropped. "Why?" She asked with confusion in her voice. Eudora didn''t even finish the question, but she had planned on asking him if he was interested in joining her guild. "Because I''m done." He told her as he began to remove his gloves which increased his Luck, Strength, and Agility. "It was fun and all, but it''s time to move on and focus on Irl." "That''s-" She started with a frown decorating her face. She couldn''t understand his reasoning at all. "What I want to do." He affirmed as he finished taking off his gloves. "So uh, goodbye." -Gloves of Slickness has been unequipped. With that said and done, Loki pulled up the menu and pressed the logout button, and it wasn''t until this moment she asked him to wait, but unfortunately, Eudora was too slow and was unable to stop him.
After logging out, the person who created the character known as Loki on Exelcia Online deleted his character and exited the capsule. As he did so, he let loose a sigh that was mostly full of sadness. "I can''t believe I choked at the end there." It was the truth, he honestly couldn''t believe that, and it was because of that, he felt like lynching himself. Of course, he wasn''t going to do this, but the feeling was nonetheless there. "Oh well, things like this happen, and it''s not like it really matters." He told himself as he twisted his body around to pop his muscles. "I was going to quit regardless of the outcome." He wouldn''t have deleted his character had he won, but he still would have quit the game, for what he had told Eudora was the truth. He had to move on and focus on the real world or else he would fail and end up being a bum. He may not have wanted to, but he was going into his third year of high school in a week from now, and he had barely passed last year, so this year he had to do really good to increase his chances of getting a scholarship and to make his parents happy. Once he was done popping his muscles in his back, he grabbed his phone that had been sitting on the nightstand next to the capsule, checked to see if he had any messages or missed calls, and then unplugged the capsule from the outlet and turned off the lights while on his way out. He didn''t return to what his mother called thecavefor an entire year. Chapter I: Returning To Exelcia Online. Chapter I: Returning To Exelcia Online.
As the player who had made the Jester named Loki got off the school bus, he released a sigh of content. Today had been his last day of school, and he had passed his junior year with exemplary grades, so he wasn''t going to have to take any retakes. He also had managed to make some more friends this year as well as get some dating experience, which was good, but at the moment, he wasn''t in any relationship. However, he wasn''t entirely bothered by this, and the reason why was because he considered himself to be a little bit of a realist when it came to relationships. He believed that relationships in high school aren''t meant to last, and are more for experience than anything else. Of course, he wasn''t going to deny that there is a chance that you could find your one in high school, but the odds of that happening were really, really low, especially in this day and age. Not long after he had finished sighing blissfully did the former Jester player feel an arm wrap around his neck, and was yanked into an embrace of some sorts. "Hey, so how does it feel, huh?" Is what he was asked by the male teen who had wrapped his arm around him. "You went from being the worst student in the entire Junior Class to the best student, so do you feel proud of yourself or do you just not give a shit?" At this, the former Jester player''s expression changed to one of thought. In reality, he did feel a little proud of himself, but he didn''t feel like he could take on the whole universe or anything like that. "Eh, a little of both, I guess?" Was the response he gave to his friend who had finished his senior year. "Like, it feels good, and I feel like I had accomplished something, but I also feel like," He paused for a second to think about how to describe how he felt, but was unable to so his friend began to guess random feelings in an attempt to help. "Worthless? Nothing? Like you wasted your entire school year doing nothing useful?" "no, nothing of that sort." The former Jester player said as he got out of the embrace. "It''s uh, it''s hard to describe, okay?" "Oh, so like a pussy." Was his friend''s quick response with some snickers that eventually turned into full-blown laughter. He had found what he said to be golden. Meanwhile, the former Jester player didn''t say anything, but his expression did change to a slightly disgusted one, which didn''t go unnoticed. "Hey, why are you giving me that look? We''re both guys here, are we not?" Is what his senior asked him upon seeing the expression. "I like pussy, you like pussy, so why you give me that face?" "Because that was very vulgar of you and something I honestly didn''t want to hear." He told him with a tiny bit of irritation in his voice. "Eh, you''re a young man, you''ll live." His senior affirmed with a pat on the back before taking out his phone and unlocking it. The former Jester didn''t say anything in response, and simply made his way home, thus ending their conversation.
Upon arriving, and entering his family''s home through the foyer, the former Jester''s nose was greeted by a wonderful smell. He wasn''t exactly sure what was being made, but he knew one thing, it smelled delicious. "Hmm, it smells like steak," He said to himself in a low tone before inhaling through his nose and taking off his backpack. "asparagus," He then said before breathing in for a second time through his nose as he walked over to the large double door cabinet that was up against the wall and not far from the door. "french fries," He continued before smelling once again through his nose and setting his backpack down against the large cabinet. "and I think, biscuits?" He finished with traces of uncertainty in his voice. It was hard to pick up the smell of biscuits through all the other food, but he was pretty sure someone was making biscuits as well. Wanting to know for sure what was being made, he made his way to the kitchen through the dining room where his mother''s Chinese cabinet was located, and called out to his mom. "What are we making?" Is what he asked a second or two before entering the kitchen and being welcomed to the sight of his mother who had turned around upon hearing his "Dinner." Was the response he received before she turned around to focus on the steak she was cooking with the indoor grill. "Your father said he wasn''t going to be home until ten, so he told me not to wait on him. Now hurry up and set the table, dinner is going to be done soon." "Alrighty then." He affirmed before moving past his mother and opening up a kitchen drawer that had a bunch of silverware in it. "How many of us will be eating?" As he asked her this, he looked at her.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Three, you, me, and your brother." She told him as she cast him a quick glance. "Also, when you''re done with setting the table can you go tell your brother dinner is almost ready, and then can you pour me a small glass of milk?" "Sure." He answered with a small nod of his head after getting three knives, and three forks from the silverware drawer and closing it. "Thank you." She said aloud with a small smile. "Mmm, no problem." He hummed in response before setting the silverware down and then entering the kitchen again to get the plates. Once he was done setting the table, the former Jester made his way to the basement where his younger brother''s room was located. Originally, his older sister lived down in the basement, but after moving out, his younger brother decided to move down into the basement, which was understandable in a way, for he was a gamer and at night he could sometimes be a little loud. In fact, he could be too loud, which would then result in waking up his parents, for their bedroom was right next to his old one. After entering the computer room, which had now became a place to store random stuff, the former Jester walked down a hallway that had two doors in it. There was a door at the end of it, which was his brother''s room, and then a door next to it, which was the bathroom. The door at the end of the hallway had a sign on it that said in all caps. "KNOCK AND RECEIVE PERMISSION BEFORE ENTERING PLEASE!" He could hear some shouting coming from the room, but it was somewhat muffled so it was hard to make out what was being said, but as he got closer and closer to the door the shouts became more and more clearer. "Oh my god, dude fucking help me! Fuck! This guy is fucking throwing! All because someone told him to be quiet, what a fucking asshole!" Hearing this caused the former Jester player frown, and made him want to tell his younger brother to tone it down on the cursing and yelling, but he held his tongue, and just knocked on the door. A second passed, and he got no response. Two seconds passed, and he still got no response. Finally, three seconds passed, and he still got no response, so this time he knocked on the door a lot harder than before. Upon him doing this, he got a response, but the tone he had received wasn''t friendly at all, which made him frown even more. "What!?" Is what he asked in what sounded like the most annoyed tone ever. "Dinner is ready. Mom wanted me to tell you that, so come upstairs." He told his brother in a voice that wasn''t loud enough to be considered yelling. He got no response from his younger brother, and after several seconds hearing no signs of movement, he banged on the door. "I said what!" His younger brother practically screamed, which made him furrow his brows and grab ahold of the doorknob. He attempted to open the door, but was unsuccessful due to it being locked. "Unlock the door, now." He demanded in an authoritative voice that sent a shiver down his little brother''s spine. "I-I can''t." His brother told him in a shooken up voice. "I''m in the middle of a ranked game and-" "I don''t care, you don''t talk to me like that, or our parents, understood?" He interrupted in a serious voice that held no traces of joking in it at all or playfulness. "Yeah, okay." His brother affirmed, which caused him to relax. "Alright, finish up your game, and then come upstairs immediately. In the meantime, I''ll tell Mom you''re in the middle of something, and that it won''t be long before you come up." He said aloud before turning around and heading back down the hallway that led to the old computer room, not caring what his brother had to say in response to what he had told him.
After having dinner with his brother and mother, the former Jester headed upstairs to his bedroom to watch some Netflix, but stopped in the hallway due to his phone going off. Wondering who was texting him, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw a notification. Hey, it''s been a while, and I know you told me you were done, but I think you should come back to the game. It''s- He didn''t have to read anymore to know who it was texting him. It was an old friend, one of the only people on Exelcia Online he had given out his phone number to. He didn''t unlock his phone to respond, but his attention did divert to the room where his capsule resided in. It was only for a fleeting second, but he had nonetheless looked at the door. "Now that I think about it, it really has been a while, since I''ve played a multiplayer game." He said aloud as the phone''s screen turned off. He didn''t give up playing video games entirely, but after losing in the Finals of Exelcia Online, he had pretty much given up on playing multiplayer games in general and just played single-player games only. With the memories of all the good times he had in Exelcia Online coming back to him, he couldn''t help from smiling. The game was very fun, and while he tried not to hear about it this past year, he couldn''t help from hearing about it a lot at school, for it was a very successful game and one of a kind at that. Sure, the thing you need to play it cost a lot of money, but in the end, it was worth it, and there was nothing in this world that could change his mind on that. Keeping the smile he had on his face on, he pressed the power button on his phone, and unlocked it to respond to the text. "I''ll think about it, but no promises." Is what he said out loud as he typed up his response and then sent it. After that was said and done, he turned his phone off and went to his bedroom to start doing some research, for if he was going to be returning then he needed to know what has changed since he last played.
Time flew by, and after three days of researching, and two days of updating, he was ready to make his return to Exelcia Online. Was he a little nervous? Obviously, he was a legend and still is to this day. He wasn''t aware of this, but apparently not long after he quit the game did a lot of players create new characters and attempt to copy his build. Of course, there were some who had managed to do so, but he didn''t know about this, for when he first quit anything that had something to do with Exelcia Online he paid no attention at all. If he heard someone mention the game, he ignored them and whatever he heard them say about the game was purged from his memory. Once again though, this was when he first quit the game, and when he was the main talk. Nowadays, he is just someone who would occasionally get brought up in a conversation. "Alright, I think I''m ready." He said aloud before entering the capsule and having it close on him. As this was going on, he put on his headgear, and it wasn''t long after he was doing so his eyes were greeted by a message.
Connect to Exelcia Online? Yes. | No.
He didn''t do anything at first, instead he just stared at the message, but eventually, he made his choice. "Yes." He said aloud in a clear and audible voice. Chapter II: Getting Started Once Again. Chapter II: Getting Started Once Again.
Upon connecting to Exelcia Online, the first thing that he had heard was a female voice, and because he wasn''t expecting this, he was somewhat startled him, for back in his day you wouldn''t receive a welcoming from a woman when logging on. No, instead you''d hear this wonderful adventure music while signing in and what not to get you into the mood. "Hmph, I miss the old main menu." Is what he thought aloud as his iris'' and veins were scanned to see if he needed to create a new account or if he already had one. After the capsule was done scanning him, the former Jester was greeted once again, and was told by the female voice that he has no character, and that he must create a new one. Once he was done being enlightened, he was taken to Character Creation. Upon arriving at Character Creation, the female voice asked him a question. ¡ªWhat is the name of your character?¡ª The former Jester said nothing at first, and thought about several names he deemed to be cool, but after several long minutes of thinking, he reached a conclusion of what his name will be. "Ares." He declared in a firm tone with traces of pride in his voice. He had thought about naming himself, Hades or Thanatos, but Ares suited his persona best, so he went with that name instead. ¡ªWhat is your gender?¡ª The feminine voice asked him this as the options male or female came up. "Male." He swiftly stated. ¡ªWhat are you? Exelcia Online has twenty-five playable races you can be.¡ª "Undead." He told the voice causing a naked skeleton to appear and beside it a description about what an undead is and the pluses and negatives of being one.
The Undead are an old and abhorred race in Exelcia Online. In the past, they went by another name, and had created one of the strongest empires the world has ever seen, but those days are long gone, and nowadays it is rare to see them.
Benefits Of Being An Undead: Downside Of Being An Undead:
-During the night the damage you take is decreased by 10%. -You have the innate ability to use Dark Magic and Necromancy which is 20% more powerful. -You heal from Poison. -When fighting in a dungeon or cave, your damage is increased by 15% and your defense is increased by 12%. -During the day the damage you take is increased by 10%. -You are unable to use Holy Magic and take 20% more damage when hit by Holy Magic or Holy Items. -Healing Spells have no effect on you. -If unveiled people might refuse to speak to you, and some might even attack you as well.
Once he was done reading all of this and confirmed his selection did the voice ask him a question. ¡ªWould you like to alter your appearance?¡ª "Yes." He told the voice, which then led to almost twenty minutes of customization. After he was done, the voice spoke to him again as a bunch of pictures showed up at the bottom of his field of vision. ¡ªSelect your class. There are over fifty classes you can choose from, each holding unique¡ª "Classless." He interrupted in a stern tone causing one of the many pictures to become highlighted and his naked character to change into simple clothes with a hood to hide his boney features, and a short sword that was attached to his waist. ¡ªYou have selected Classless. Are you sure you want to be a Classless? Warning, once done creating your character you will be unable to change classes.¡ª Was what the voice told him. "Yes, I want my class to be Classless." He affirmed. ¡ªConfirmed, please select your¡ª "Aeraston Kingdom, Wintervale Village." He interrupted. ¡ªConfirmed, welcome to Exelcia Online.¡ª
In Exelcia Online, there were over dozens upon dozens of kingdoms players could start out in, but the one that was rumored to be the worst kingdom to start out in was the Aeraston Kingdom. He didn''t know why it had gotten so much hate, but almost everyone on the internet hated the kingdom and deemed it to be terrible. With a flash of light, he appeared out of thin in the Village of Wintervale in between two buildings. He didn''t appear high up in the air, but he did appear a few feet off of the ground, so he had fallen onto his knees upon spawning in. "This is," He started as he lifted his left hand off of the ground and moved his fingers one at a time. Both his arms and legs were covered so those who had walked by and noticed him in the alley had assumed him to be some drunkard who had too much to drink. His hands were also covered, so he was unable to see his boney fingers. "Stat Window." He said to himself after a few more seconds of moving his fingers.
Character Name:Ares. Title:None. Alignment:None.
Level:1. Profession:Classless. Reputation:0.
Health:120. Stamina:120. Mana:120.
Strength:12.
Perception:11.
Endurance:12.
Charisma:11.
Intelligence:12.
Agility:12.
Luck:10.
Attack:6-9. Defense:7.
Magic Resistance
Fire:0%. Water:0%. Ice:0%.
Earth:0%. Dark:20%. Holy:-20%.
Poison:100%. Lightning:0%. Wind:0%.
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.Once he was done looking at them, he dismissed the window and headed out of the alleyway with a small spring in his step."Hmm, not bad." He said aloud upon seeing his stats. "Could be worse." Upon exiting he was greeted by the sight of more buildings and people walking down the dirt road. The buildings looked to be in good condition, and those who were walking down the street were mostly NPCs with only a handful of them being players. "Huh, this place doesn''t-" Is what he was thinking before somebody bumping into him. "Hey, are you stupid or something? Can''t you see I''m walking here." The man who had knocked into him asked as he glared at Ares. He was a tall and burly man wearing simple clothing with a dagger strapped to his belt. "Sorry?" Was the response he gave the man with uncertainty in his voice. The man at first said nothing, and had narrowed his eyes, and looked like he was about to attack him, but eventually, his gaze softened a bit and he said, "Next time pay attention, or I''ll smash your teeth in, got it?" "Got it." He affirmed. With that said and done, the man walked away, but as he did so, he spoke his thoughts out loud. "Fucking newcomers." "I take what I said back, this place is pretty bad." Ares thought as he watched the man walk away with a small scowl. "Oh well, no take-backs." With that thought in mind, Ares looked for the bulletin board, which wasn''t that far from where he spawned in, and approached it. However, while he was walking over to it, he twisted his body, shot his arms forward, and jumped up and down a few times.As for why it was so that he could get used to the movement, for when leaving the alleyway, he didn''t leave in the most graceful of manners. One of the few players in the village had noticed his strange actions, and after taking a look at his clothing, came to a conclusion almost instantaneously. "Noob." A few of the NPCs had also witnessed him doing these things, and gave him funny looks, but they didn''t call out to him or anything like that. They just gave him weird looks as they passed by him. Upon reaching the bulletin board, Ares examined the map of the village as well as the Aeroston Kingdom, read the description about the Aeroston Kingdom and looked at the directions for how the basic interface worked. Once he was finished, he made his way to the Guard Barracks. When a newcomer starts in Exelcia Online, they''re unable to leave their origin town, city, or village for the duration of four weeks, which was a week in real life. Of course, they''d be allowed to go out to hunt, but they must stay within five kilometers of their origin place. Those who would try to leave early would be stopped by an invisible barrier, and get a notification telling them about how they can''t leave yet and how they are not ready. Another thing they''d be unable to do in this timeframe is PvP. Newcomers would be unable to fight other players for the first four weeks, and do PvE only. This was implemented to prevent higher level players from straight-up massacring players who just started out. Of course, once the first four weeks have passed their invincibility would be gone and they''d have to be more careful, for monsters wouldn''t be your only enemy in Exelcia Online. In the past, when he first played Exelcia Online, there wasn''t exactly a main storyline for players to follow, but now there was, and the goal of the players was to unite the lands and to become Emperor, which was easier said than done. However, this wasn''t something players had to do, and this wasn''t the only way to become a legend on Exelcia Online. Like he had once done, players could enter the once a year Exlecia Online Championship, and reach legendary hood through that, or they could gain reputation by completing quests and events and achieve it through that. The paths players could take were practically endless. Once he arrived at the Guard Barracks, which was located in the heart of the village, Ares entered it, and upon entering he was welcomed to the sight of a few men. However, the one that had immediately caught his attention was the one who was sitting behind a desk. Unlike the others, he wore a full suit armor that was blackened steel. He had a great helm with wings on it sitting on top of what he assumed to be his desk since he was sitting behind it that was also blackened steel, short black hair, and a well-trimmed black goatee. The armored man had felt Ares'' eyes land on him, but he paid him no attention and allowed one of his guards to deal with him. "Something you need, stranger?" One of the guards asked as he ceased eating his food and got up from the bench he was sitting on and approached Ares. He wore the standard guard uniform, which was a blackened steel cuirass with vambraces that were also blackened steel, and greaves that were blackened steel. He wore dark blue padded clothing underneath all of this, and he had black hair as well. "Mmm, I was wondering if I could speak to the Captain of the Guard, I''m new here." He told the guardsman as he continued to stare at the fully armored guard who was busy writing. "The Captain is busy, but if you''re wanting to do some work, then why don''t you go ask the Village Chief? I heard she is in need of adventures." The guardsman stated after coming to a stop and glancing at his leader only to see him act as if no one was wanting to speak to him. "Really?" Ares asked with interest. "Yep,I heard while I was patrolling, so you should go talk to her, and stop interrupting my meal." The guardsman told him with a smirk that made Ares wonder if he was actually telling the truth or bullshitting him. "Well alright then, I''ll go speak to the chieftain, and sorry for disrupting your meal." He said after a couple of seconds of staring at the guardsman before turning around and heading out only to then be stopped by someone calling out to him. "Hold it." Is what he heard before turning around and seeing that the guard captain was giving him a stern look. "Yes?" Ares questioned with traces of uncertainty in his voice. "If you plan on adventuring then you better not die, I don''t need the monsters craving for human blood to increase, okay? It''s already bad, and I don''t need you making it worse, you understand me?" The Captain of the Guard declared while maintaining a firm look. At this, a notification popped up.
The Guard Captain''s Request The Guard Captain of Wintervale has requested that you do not die for the duration of one month.Failure to do this will result in favor lost with the guard captain, and rewards will not be given at the end of the month. Difficulty Level: Hard. Quest Requirements: Must have started in Wintervale Village, and must have a neutral relationship with the Guard Captain of Wintervale. Do you accept this quest? Yes. | No.
"Hmm, how can you even turn down this quest?" He wondered upon reading the notification. "I mean, like how can you tell him that you refuse?" "I understand, I will try my best not to die." ¡ªQuest Accepted.¡ª
After accepting the quest and leaving the Guard Barracks, Ares made his way to the chieftain''s home. The house was surprisingly small, and instead of being in the heart of the village, it was on outskirts of it. It was a one-story house with a porch and a small garden that was surrounded by waist-length fences. On the porch, there was a rocking chair, and in the chair at the moment was a woman who looked to be in her late forties to early fifties. She had watched him approach her house, but instead of calling out to him, she continued to hum softly with a blissful expression written on her face. She didn''t stop her humming even as he walked up the steps of her home. Eventually, when he started to approach her, she stopped her humming and spoke. "Why hello there, mister." She greeted with a pleasant look. "Is there something you need?" "Greetings, ma''am, and yeah, but um if you don''t mind me asking, what was that you were humming? It was pretty nice to hear." He asked before complimenting her humming. "Oh, well thank you, and if you must know, I was just humming this song my mother used to hum to when I was a little girl. She would always do it to calm me down, and this peaceful day made me think of her." She revealed as she averted her eyes to the blue skies above them. "That''s nice." He told her with happiness in his voice. "Yes, it is." She affirmed as she stared up at the sky for a few more seconds before averting her gaze back towards him. "Anyways, what is it you need from me?" As she asked him this, he received a notification. ¡ªFavor with Lady O''shea has increased.¡ª "I uh, I heard you were looking for adventures, so I was wondering what it is you need?" He stated. He had a bit of uncertainty in his voice, but that was because he was distracted by the notification in the bottom left corner of his field of vision. "I am, but adventuring might be the wrong term to use." She told him with a small frown. "You see, as of lately I have been hearing about how the monsters in the area have been growing more and more, so I was wondering if someone could look into this, and perhaps reduce some of their numbers?" At this, he received another notification.
An Old Woman''s Concerns The Chieftain of Wintervale Village has asked you to look into the growing numbers of monsters, and if possible reduce some of the monsters numbers. Difficulty Level: Easy. Quest Requirements: Must have started in Wintervale Village, must have heard this from one of the Wintervale Guards, and must have a neutral relationship with the Village of Wintervale. Do you accept this quest? Yes, | No. Note, if completed without dying, you will receive bonus rewards.
"Sure, I can look into this." He told her after reading the notification. ¡ªQuest Accepted.¡ª Chapter III: A Day In The Wintervale Woods. Chapter III: A Day In The Wintervale Woods.
After accepting the chieftain''s quest, Ares spoke with a few of the village''s guards about what type of monsters were out there, and if there was anything he should know about them. Of course, the majority of the guards weren''t the most forthcoming with the information, and in short, had told him to piss off, but eventually, one of them was kind enough to tell him about the creatures that lurked in the woods. There were dozens of monsters that lived in the woods surrounding Wintervale, but the one that has been troubling the chieftain the most was the Kobold. They were a reptilian race that wielded primitive weapons, and stood roughly around the height of three to four feet. They usually are never seen alone, and if they are seen by themselves, it is because its comrades are hiding, waiting to spring the trap they had set up. It was also worth mentioning that once he was done speaking with the guard, his quest had changed. Instead of it asking him to investigate the growing numbers of monsters, it was now asking him to investigate the Kobold, and to kill twenty-four of them. This had surprised Ares, for he didn''t expect the quest to change this dramatically, but if he was being real with himself; he was okay with this change. However, there was one thing he was curious about, and that was what did it mean by investigate the Kobold? Was it asking him to look for the Kobold''s stronghold or something along those lines, or was it asking him to follow some of them around and listen in on their conversation? He wasn''t sure, but he did think about it while leaving the village. Once inside the woods, Ares practically changed characters and stopped walking so nonchalantly, and began to look for signs of life. He didn''t know how long he did this for, but after what felt like thirty minutes, he picked up a trail. He wasn''t entirely sure what type of creature it was, but the two things he did know was that it wasn''t human, and it was alone, which ruled out the possibilities of it being a Kobold, for they traveled in groups. Nonetheless, Ares followed the tracks, and that was for one reason and one reason only. Experience. Sure, he would get experience for completing quests, but if he was going to become the best player on Exelcia Online, then he was going to need to grind levels too, and right now, this was the best time to grind them, for no one could come up, and straight-up murder him for no reason at all. After spending about twenty minutes of hunting, Ares found a clearing, and in the clearing was not only the creature he was tracking down, but what he assumed to be its family. The creature he had been following for a while now was a six-legged wolf known as the Eni. They were a little bit bigger than that of a normal grey wolf, but smaller than that of an American Mastiff. Their fur was brownish-black, and they had red eyes. Upon seeing what he assumed to be the Eni''s wife and kids, Ares hid behind a tree that was on the edges of the clearing. He had ended up creating a small fraction of noise, which had gained the second Eni''s attention, but it didn''t move from its position. Instead, it looked at the direction Ares was in for a couple of seconds before averting its focus elsewhere. "Alright," He thought to himself as he lifted the scabbard from his waist up a bit, and began to slowly, and quietly unsheathe the shortsword. "I can do this." When he was researching about what kingdom to start in, he had found a lot of blogs about the Aeroston Kingdom, and why it supposedly sucked ass. Apparently, from what bloggers claim, the monsters in the Aeroston Kingdom are harder to grind than the starting out monsters in the other kingdoms, such as the Espera Kingdom or the Gelon Kingdom, and how almost all of them barely drop any good items for defeating them. However, there was one thing that caught his interest, and that was how in almost all the blogs he read, the failure to mention the experience you would get. Well, a few of them did mention something about the experience you would get, but he didn''t read anything bad, which was one of the main reasons why he chose to start in the Aeroston kingdom. Sure, it wouldn''t be easy to grind in the Aeroston Kingdom, and the loot wouldn''t be the best for a while, but he didn''t need it to be easy, nor did he need the best gear at the start of the game. All he needed really was a place he could farm levels without any interruption and this kingdom had that. Besides, even If he had located a good grinding spot in another kingdom that had yet to be discovered, it would only be a matter of time before other players would catch wind of it, and he''d be forced to either share the XP, or find a different location to farm. With his heart steeled, Ares unsheathed his blade and rushed the monsters.
Eudora had a bored expression written on her face as she listened to her second in command talk about increasing the kingdom''s taxes by 2%. She was wearing a set of armor called The Valkyrie''s Armor, whichconsisted of a white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, greaves, hip guards, pauldrons, and winged style hair clips. She wore black clothing underneath the armor, and had pale blue cloth wrapped underneath her hip guards, all of which are clad with pink lacing along with her hair clips. Resting against her throne-like chair was a staff like spear she wielded called,The Staff of Myrddin.They were both exotic items, which was the best type of gear in the game, that made her practically impossible to kill.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Sitting on her left with several sheets of paper on top of the table he was sitting behind was a handsome man with dark blue hair who was cladded in a full suit of white and gold plated armor. He wore a cape that was also white that had a streak of gold going down the center. Strapped to his waist was a bastard sword. This was her second in command Arthur, and the ones sitting in chairs behind the large round table with the two of them were high ranking members of the guild/kingdom, Nirvana. The bored expression she had written on her face had not gone unnoticed by any of her officers, but none of them dared to tell her to take this seriously, for those who had done so in the past had found themselves guildless, and banished from the Nirvana Kingdom. As Arthur finished up his explanation as to why the taxes should be raised, he looked to his queen who still appeared to be bored, and said to her. "So what do you think?" "Hmm?" She hummed after noticing that everybody''s eyes were on her. Although he was a little hesitant, Arthur responded. "About the increases in taxes. Do you think it''s a good idea?" Eudora at first said nothing, and tried to recall what he was saying earlier, but ended up failing. Eventually, she just shrugged her shoulders and told everybody. "I don''t know. I wasn''t really paying attention. I was thinking about something." Arthur withheld his sigh upon hearing this. "If you don''t mind me asking," One of her officers started. He was three chairs away from her on her right, and wore a full suit of white and dark blue plated armor that had griffin engravings. On top of the table in front of him was a helmet with dark blue feathers. "What were you thinking about?" He had silver hair, and covering his left eye was a black eyepatch. He had three claw-like scars that went from his forehead down over his left eye and to his jawline. His right eye was orange in color, and he was the Commander of the Griffin Knights of the Nirvana Kingdom. "Mmm, nothing in particular really." She answered truthfully. "I was thinking about what I want to have for lunch, and maybe grinding out to level 270 since I''m close." While a couple of them did grow a little irritated by this, none of them spoke their minds. Instead, they kept their annoyed comments to themselves. "I see." Was all the Commander of the Griffin Knights said in response to the information. "Yeah." She affirmed before getting up out of her chair. "Anyways, if you wanna raise the taxes by 2% Arthur, then go ahead. I could care less how much they are raised by as long as it''s not turning the people of Nirvana against us." "I understand," Arthur told her as he stood up as well. "I will do my best to make sure that doesn''t happen." "Good." She asserted with a small smile before grabbing her staff and heading to the exit of the room. "I''m going to go grind now so don''t message me, and if you do it better be about something important, okay?" As she said the last part, she had come to a stop at the door and looked at them all to make sure they understand. "Understood." "Got it." "Okay." These and a couple more were the responses she got from her officers, which had caused her smile to grow a little bit. "Excellent." She declared before continuing on her way with a spring in her step.
As Ares rested against a tree, he said in a tired voice. "Stat Window."
Character Name:Ares. Title:None. Alignment:None.
Level:4. Profession:Classless. Reputation:1.
Health: 43/150. Stamina:22/150. Mana: 88/150.
Strength:13
Perception:11.
Endurance:13.
Charisma:11.
Intelligence:12.
Agility:13.
Luck:10.
Courage:2.
Perseverance:2.
Fighting Spirit:1.
Willpower:1.
Mentality.1.
Attack:7-10. Defense:8.
Magic Resistance
Fire:0%. Water:0%. Ice:0%.
Earth:0%. Dark:20%. Holy:-20%.
Poison:100%. Lightning:0%. Wind:0%.
In the past hour and a half, he had gained five new stats, and had gone up three levels. This pleased him greatly and made him smile. "Inventory." He then said out loud causing the stats window to disappear and to be replaced by the inventory window. "Eni''s Fangs, Eni''s left eye, Kobold''s throwing spear, Kobold''s broken club, Kobold''s scale, Kobold''s claw." He thought to himself as he read what loot he had acquired in the past few hours. Needless to say, he wasn''t impressed by the items he had gotten, nor was he surprised. He knew he was going to get shit items, so his hopes were not even close to being up in the slightest. "I can probably sell a few of these to an alchemist, but the rest I might as well drop. They''ll just take up space and are junk." Ares told himself as he thought about what to do with the loot he had gotten from killing monsters. It wasn''t long after he thought about alchemy where he realized he could have been picking up plants along the way. Letting out a somewhat disappointed and annoyed sigh, he muttered. "Fuck me." He wasn''t one to curse a lot, but in this situation, he had felt like it was needed, for there were tons of plants he had passed by earlier that looked interesting. As he started to wonder about possibly going back and collecting some plants, he got a notification. ¡ªAs the sun finishes setting, you feel your bones become stronger, allowing you to take more attacks than before.¡ª He wasn''t surprised by the information, for when he was researching about the undead, he had read about how they were able to see at night perfectly. However, what he did find to be curious was the fact that this wasn''t listed as a benefit at all, for when he had played as a Jester he had to be a lot more careful at night, or else he''d end up dead. "Hmm, I don''t want to use one of my poison potions to recover my health, but this is the best time to hunt."He thought with a scowl as he had the inventory window disappear. His stamina was already close to being halfway done from recovering, but his health had barely gone up by ten, which was troubling him greatly. While letting out another sigh, he crossed his arms, and said to himself."I''ll just wait, and let my health slowly come back over time. Better to do that than to waste a potion that can instantly heal me." Chapter IV: Returning To Wintervale. Chapter IV: Returning To Wintervale.
As the village came into Ares'' field of vision, he let out a sigh of relief. He was currently very low on Health, Stamina, and Mana which meant he was in no condition to fight. Not to mention, the sun was beginning to rise, so it wouldn''t be long before he gets the notification of his defense weakening. "Today was a productive day." He thought to himself as he slowly limped to the village while pulling up his stats window.
Character Name:Ares. Title:Wintervale Hunter. Alignment:None.
Level:10. Profession:Classless. Reputation:7.
Health: 15/210. Stamina: 19/210. Mana:23/210.
Strength:19.
Perception:13.
Endurance:18.
Charisma:11.
Intelligence:14.
Agility:19.
Luck:12.
Courage:4.
Perseverance:4.
Fighting Spirit:5.
Insight:1.
Willpower:3.
Mentality.2.
Attack:9-13. Defense:10.
Magic Resistance
Fire:0%. Water:0%. Ice:0%.
Earth:1%. Dark:20%. Holy:-20%.
Poison:100%. Lightning:0%. Wind:2%.
He had not only managed to hit double-digit levels in a few hours, but he had also acquired a title halfway through his farming, which allowed him to gain XP at an even faster rate than before for the next two days when hunting in the Wintervale Woods. Of course, the XP he would gain was only being increased by seven percent; it was still better than nothing. "At this rate, I might be able to hit level 60 before leaving the starting area." He thought with a smile. He knew it was impossible for the monsters in starting areas scale to levels 1-26, but he couldn''t help from exaggerating. If he had somehow managed to get to level 60 before even traveling to the next area he''d be the talk of the game. Many players would want to know how he had managed to hit that level so fast, and that was something he didn''t need nor want at the moment. He wanted to avoid as much attention as he possibly could until at least hitting triple digits for he knew the attention would also bring negativity. Sure, a lot of people would talk about him, and say great things about him, but higher leveled players would see him as a potential rival and would hunt him down to stop his progress.There wouldn''t be many, but he had heard of high ranking players doing this. In the past, the level cap was 100, which was a level he had managed to acquire through a lot of time and effort, but since then, it has gone up to level 500, which was another reason why he was able to get to level 10 in under twelve hours. He didn''t need as much XP as he did before. Back when the game first came out, players would need to get ten thousand XP to reach level 2, but nowadays, players would only need to get five thousand, which was around twenty Level 2 Eni give or take. As he got closer and closer to the village, he dismissed his stats window and was approached by a guardsman that had spotted him a few seconds ago. In his right hand, he had a once lit torch. "You, you''re the one that wanted to speak to the Captain yesterday, correct?" Was what the guardsman asked him with a serious look in his eyes. "Uh, yes?" Ares answered with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. It wasn''t long he was asked this he realized this was the guardsman he had practically been delegated to. "Yeah, you were looking for a job, right?" The guardsman continued with a bit more sternness than before. "Yes, I was looking for one." He affirmed with a small nod of his head. "Then can you help me?" The guardsman demanded before beginning to rummage through his satchel. "My younger brother has been missing for a while now, but one of the villagers had reported to me a couple of hours ago about a young boy who matches his description standing on the opposite side of the river."
A Brother''s Request One of the guardsmen in Wintervale has asked you to look for his missing brother who had been spotted near the river a few hours ago. Failure to complete this quest before Nightfall will result in favor lost with Leon and the villagers of Wintervale. Difficulty Level: Easy. Quest Requirements: Must have a positive reputation in Wintervale, must have a neutral relationship with Leon, and must complete this quest before nightfall. Do you accept this quest? Yes. | No.
Although Ares didn''t want to accept the quest because he was getting a little sleepy, he saw there was no harm in doing it before logging off for the night. However, there were a few things he wanted to know. "I have no problem helping you, but do you mind if I ask a few questions first?" He told Leon with a solemn tone. ¡ªQuest Accepted.¡ª ¡ªFavor with Guardsman Leon has increased.¡ª "Of course, what''s on your mind?" Leon answered with a bit of energy in his voice. Ares at first was hesitant to speak, but it wasn''t because he didn''t know what to say. It was because he wasn''t sure what he wanted to ask him first. Eventually though, he asked his first question. "Why didn''t you go check this out yourself? I mean, if he''s been missing for a while now, then wouldn''t you want to go check this out yourself?" Is what he said to Leon. "Obviously, but I can''t." Came Leon''s somewhat cryptic response. "Captain Maxwell hasn''t been too pleased with my work as of recently, so he has been keeping an eye on me. If he finds out I abandoned guard duty, then he''ll strip me of my rank and I''ll be jobless." While Ares was curious about how one could do a bad job at guarding a village, he decided not to ask about that, and instead ask the second question that was on his mind.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "How long has your brother been missing?" Was his next question. "For almost two weeks now. I had tried to look for him myself when I have the time, but well you can see that hasn''t been successful. This is actually the first report of someone seeing him since he''s gone missing." Leon revealed in a mostly solemn voice with a few traces of what sounded like embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck. "Really?" Ares questioned in a dubious tone. "Yes, really." Leon affirmed as his eyelids narrowed a bit. Seeing how he didn''t like how he doubted him there, Ares raised his hands slightly in a surrendering motion. "Relax, I''m not doubting you, I''m just surprised to hear that this is the first time someone saw him since his disappearance." At this, Leon''s gaze returned to normal as he apologized. "Sorry, I shouldn''t have gotten upset with you just there, I just want my brother back, or at the very least, find out what happened to him." "That''s understandable, I think anybody in your situation would want that." Ares told him with what would have been a smile had he had lips. Upon hearing this, Leon smiled, and Ares received a notification. ¡ªFavor with Guardsman Leon has increased, he will now talk to you with a bit more respect.¡ª After quickly reading the information, Ares decided that he had asked enough questions and was going to end the conversation. "Anyways, I''m gonna go check the river out, so I will speak with you later." "Alright, and thank you for giving me a hand, it''s rare to see that these days." Was the response Leon gave him.
Eudora let loose a sigh as she had her Stats Window appear.
Character Name:Eudora Title:Queen of Nirvana. Alignment:Nirvana Kingdom.
Level:268. Profession:Mage. Reputation:37,576.
Health:25,785/30130. Stamina:26,210/28090. Mana:35,788/40,350.
Strength:128.
Perception:233.
Endurance:183.
Charisma:211.
Intelligence:298.
Agility:145.
Luck:129.
Charm:100.
Courage:43.
Dignity:202.
Honor:197.
Perseverance:78.
Fighting Spirit:89.
Faith:175.
Insight:186.
Willpower:207.
Mentality.200.
Attack:287-323. Defense:320.
Magic Resistance
Fire:50%. Water:50%. Ice:50%.
Earth:50%. Dark:-35%. Holy:80%.
Poison:50%. Lightning:50%. Wind:50%.
She had managed to go up two levels, which was nice, but that was only because she was already three-fourths of the way to level 267. Had she not been closer she probably wouldn''t have reached level 268. Nonetheless, she was content with the progress she made, and believed that if she continued to grind, she would reach level 270 before dismissing her Stats Window. It wasn''t long after she dismissed her Stats Window she was messaged by the Nirvana Griffin Knights Commander, Duncan.
From:Duncan
I know you told us not to message you unless it is very important, but a friend of mine just told me something very interesting that I believe will pique your interest.
While Eudora would have preferred if he had just told her the information in the first message so she could read it and move on with her day, she held back the little irritation she had and gave him a response.
To: Duncan
Alright, what is it?
It took him a little while, but in the end, Duncan answered.
From: Duncan
Remember back in the season one championship the Jester you fought in the finals? Well, from what my friend told me, he is planning on returning to the game. Unfortunately, I do not know when, I had tried to get more from her, but even she doesn''t know. All she knows is that he said he''ll think about it and that he might. Anyways, I thought I should have notified you of his possible return to the game.
At this, Eudora became speechless. She didn''t know what to say or think of this information. However, after about three minutes of standing there with a shocked expression, she replied.
To: Duncan
While this had definitely came as a shocker to me, I no longer have an interest in Loki. He has been gone for far too long, and would in no way, shape, or form be useful to the guild. Besides, I have no intention of asking somebody to join my guild when he had already turned me down once before. If he wants to, then he can come to us, but I will not be going to him with the offer.
With her thoughts on the matter clear, Eudora resumed her grinding, and ignored the next two messages Duncan sent her.
After arriving at the river, Ares spent a good thirty to forty-five minutes searching looking around in an attempt to find a young boy to no avail. A handful of the residents of Wintervale had also came down to the river, but it wasn''t to assist him. No, it was either to fish or fill their wooden buckets with water. Those who stayed to fish watched Ares with interest, for from their perspective it looked like he was trying to find his missing wedding ring. Of course, Ares barely paid them any attention for he was determined to find something that would assist him in this quest of his. Eventually, Ares ceased his looking and started to wonder if he was going at this in the wrong way and it wasn''t long after that he recalled one of the innate abilities he had. "Spirit eyes." He whispered under his breath causing his empty sockets to glow a spectral blueish green. The ability he had just casted was apart of the necromancer subclass, which allowed the user for a short period of time to see spirits who had yet to leave the mortal plane during the day. Besides that, it did nothing else. It was worth mentioning that the ability could be used at night as well, but it would be a waste of mana for at night you could see spirits no matter what. After casting the spell, Ares looked once more, and ended up spotting a ghost boy who looked to be around the age of ten squatting by the riverside. "That must be Leon''s brother."He believed upon seeing the boy who was glowing ghostly blue. Wanting to know for sure, he approached the boy and called out to him in a gentle manner. "Excuse me, but are you Leon''s brother?" Is what he said which had caused the boy to stop staring at the water and look around before spotting Ares. As he watched Ares slowly approach, he stuttered his response. "Y-You ca-can s-s-see me?" His voice was no louder than a whisper in the wind. "Yes," Ares affirmed as he finished closing the distance. "I can see you." The boy perked up upon hearing this, but the blissful expression he had didn''t last long for it was soon replaced by a saddened one. "I wanna go home." He said aloud in the same hushed like tone as he averted his attention to the ground. At this Ares said nothing, but he did feel somewhat sympathetic for him. Sure, the boy may not actually exist, but the traces of sadness and despair that could be heard in his voice made him feel for the child. "What happened to you if you don''t mind me asking?" Ares asked after a few seconds of silence. The child looked up at him upon hearing the question, and it wasn''t long before his lip started to tremble. "Th-The P-P-Pale Woman."He stuttered in fear. If Ares had brows then he would have furrowed them, for he didn''t understand who he was referring to. "The Pale Woman?" He questioned in a slightly confused voice. "Y-Yes." He affirmed. "S-She had to-told me that th-th-there we-were some d-d-duckies in th-th-the river, b-but it w-w-was a lie. S-S-She killed me." Upon hearing this information, Ares'' quest updated.
A Brother''s Request You have discovered that Leon''s brother had been murdered by a mysterious pale woman, return to him and inform of his little brother''s fate.
After reading the quick information, Ares let out a sigh. It wasn''t because he was going to have problems letting Leon know what happened, it was because he had a pretty good idea of what comes after telling him. A murder mystery quest.