《Avast Online (DROPPED)》


 Chapter 001 - Birth of a Grinder

    (4 years ago)


    As Zane observed the trailer for the VRMMORPG on the net, he decided it was enough time for him to start taking martial arts and study the art of swordsmanship. His excitement for the game was indescribable but his determination for the game remained strong and stable. He figured that learning various fighting styles can help improve his combat capabilities.


    He of course, went to a nearby dojo to apply for lessons, the prices were not in his range but it was going to be worth once he completely masters in his chosen fighting styles. Zane chose martial arts and swordsmanship since his body build was suitable enough to sustain martial art techniques at a recoverable rate.


    After hours of punching wooden trees, kicking steel poles and handling swinging a sword for his first time. Zane suddenly got to the point where his determination slowly faded away, as his dream to become the strongest in the game vanishes into cold air. Because it felt like it wasn''t helping him at all, he feels nothing but pain and injuries. But suddenly, Zane''s perseverance rapidly increased, just by imagining how awesome it will be to be strongest in the game. He was punching wood fast as he can despite that his fists were bleeding but he wasn''t noticing.


    Its been a month since Zane''s training began, it was difficult to learn techniques but it was not enough to stop him from progressing even further. Zane''s perseverance was excellent, but his learning pace needed to be quicker and proficient. Furthermore, his meditating was at its utmost perfection, his spiritual-self seems to connect to him exponentially well. But his master didn''t notice him ever since his arrival.


    Zane was working really hard, but it seems his Master Shikoku isn''t noticing his progression. ''Is he perhaps not interested him?'' Zane thought to himself ''He probably doesn''t care about me, but rather he wanted to see suffering within him'' but he told himself ''That isn''t going to happen, I''ll show him''.


    The other disciples laughed at his miserable stance he tried pulling off, It wasn''t successful at always. But he didn''t care, he kept on going, punching trees, kicking steel poles, practicing swinging with a bokken. It turned out successful, his master sure took a noticing and he seemed proud of it. Returning to his usual practice, he learnt a few techniques and decided to use it on his first combat with his opponent. It turned out, effective, it made Zane smile.


    (Present)


    It has been 4 years since Zane''s training from the dojo, he thought he wasn''t going to make through this intensive training. Especially when he was treated dirt from other disciples because Zane was worthless and I could not possibly achieve anything at all (Well, except for the meditating part). Because his perseverance never died out, after numerous weeks of studying swordsmanship, martial arts, practicing swinging my bokken (wooden katana), punching, kicking and learning various acrobatic techniques. Zane finally managed to pull it off, something I would never possibly achieve ever since my active years.


    Zane managed to become a successor because of his hard-work and participation to all his martial arts/sword combat (I had to face many strong opponents and luckily won from techniques Zane had discovered himself) Zane had exceeded his masters expectation and sensed great potential within him. Shikoku expected far great things for me in reality.


    But Zane was actually preparing for the Avast Online, which will make his life easier grinding monsters for experience points. And also other purposes which involves his combat skills in order to gain anything in return. ''Probably not that'' Zane thought to himself secretly.


    Master Shikoku: "Do not fail me young one, become even greater!"


    Zane: "Yes master!"


    Master Shikoku: "Good..."


    It was time for Zane say his farewells and departs from the dojo ever so silently.


    While he was walking towards home, his thought strucked him for second. Zane needed a way to obtain a capsule for himself If he going to play the game. He was too stupid to even realize how he was going to dive into the virtual world, probably Zane''s excitement overwhelmed his procedures of getting started into virtual reality.


    Then coincidentally, he received a text from his parents, which his problem was fixed instantaneously noticing is about Avast Online. Then a thought occurred to him.


    Its been awhile since his recent text from his parents that they were leaving. Zane''s parents moved into another country due to job conditions they have to meet (meaning if his parents did not go, his parents will be fired instantly). It was quite a shame that I would not visit them for a couple of years starting from now but it was their favorite job after all. I got no siblings, I am the only child after all, probably my parents decided one is enough.


    Nearly forgetting about the text he received, he quickly grabbed his smartphone and viewed it


    <table><tbody><tr><td>From: Father and Mother</td></tr><tr><td>Hi son!, I just tried out the VirChuix Capsule  machine its so amazing, Me and your mother just began playing Avast Online. It awesome son!, you should try it out, Your mother will be sending you your own capsule.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Have a go on it! You will be amazed by it!


    Your mother and I miss you son! <3</td></tr><tr><td>PS: We wont tell you our IGN, you find out yourself :)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    As Zane carefully read the message, It was a miracle indeed. My own mother is sending me a capsule!? As he thought to himself, ''Of course its a frikin coincidence, Its not like my parents just read my mind across the world. Zane was relieved to hear it, he did not want to go through all the trouble purchasing it. That last bit of the message, Zane face-palmed but it was proof his parents loved him even if they departed about a month ago. But he wondered when he will receive the capsule?


    As his pocket vibrated, he quickly grabbed out his smartphone once again and viewed his unread message from once again, his parents. It seems he will be receiving his capsule in about 3 business days. Its going to take awhile, he was thinking of studying Avast Online so he did not want to act like a total-noob which this game is about 5-years old so he began his studying when he reached home.


    (3 days later)


    *Knock *Knock *Knock, As Zane can smell the very essence of the capsule within, its almost if he can taste it, well the knocking disturbed his meditating. Anyways, he walked to the front door and found himself a huge package (capsule inside) and a technician requesting his signature for proof for receiving the specified package. He signed it and the technician installed the brand-new VirChuix Machine, capable of bringing a person to another world.


    Zane could not hold in his excitement, the urge to play was intense but he needed to stay calm because its the first moment he is diving into another world. Finally he received a response from the technician.


    Technician: "The installation is complete, just wait for the machine to calibrate itself and you are able to dive online"


    "Thank you!"  as Zane happily tipped him for his hard work for the installation of the capsule.


    Zane: "Now its time to dive in!"


    Before he went to dive in, he received a message from his fellow friend that he received his own capsule, the coincidences are strong within him, he was wondering before if his friends played Avast Online. Anyways ignoring the message he received, he placed himself into the capsule, it seems the case closes if I layed down. When I did, the capsule was auto-adjusting itself to match Zane''s height, probably for health-checking purposes. When he equipped the Virtual Headset, he slowly closed his eyes and waited for the capsules command. This was the moment.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Detected new user, activate character creation?</td></tr><tr><td>Do you accept? (Y/N)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    As his vision blinded from a surge of light crashing towards his eyes, his mind felt clouded probably its adapting to the machine whilst his body being calibrated. He appeared in a room, mid-floating in the air, surrounded by screens containing gameplay footage of Avast Online. Then surprisingly he was greeted by a female voice


    "Welcome User!, Please enter your name below!"


    As Zane looked below, a screen appeared before his eyes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td>Enter Name:</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "V-E-X" as Zane shouted every letter he said whilst typing down his name onto the screen. He chose this name because it was his first name he used in his first experience with MMORPG. He wanted to celebrate his first diving experience with his first name he used.


    "Vex, is that correct?"


    Zane: "Yes!"


    "Vex, Please select your race"


    He chosen Human of course, If he had chosen any other races his martial arts skills will be incapable of performing techniques,due to incorrect martial art adaptation of a different body and will be rendered useless and painful if forced a technique move upon a different race. He sighed and chose the most selected race because of appearances besides Elves due to similarity, Human.


    Zane: "Human!"


    "Would you like to alter your appearances?"


    "No thank you!"


    He also believed that it might have the same affect if he changed, probably not but anyways he proceeded.


    "Human!, You will begin in Layfall Town, safe travels to you adventurer and good luck!"


    As his vision blinded again, he was welcomed by a rather familiar town. The environment was beautiful, the skies, the air, everything is so realistic, just how he imagined. And his adventure just began on this very spot.


    <hr />


    Author Notes: This is my very first novel and of course, will expect errors and such. As my English is not professional, I will try explain it in its utmost detailed. Constructive criticism is always welcome and also, thank you for reading this novel.


    <hr />

 Chapter 002 - Training Hall (Part One)

    As Vex toured around town, he notices players in the distant plains, violently murdering rabbits and foxes like it was nothing, only seeing them as experience points.  It was utterly disgusting for Vex''s sight, his head was down with his hand on his eyes and quickly walking away. Vex decided he wanted to kill monster if their appearance were ugly or it opposed threat to him. Blinded by his hand, he accidentally bumps into a player, his face show ferocious killing intent as he gazed into Vex''s eyes. Vex felt shivering in his spines as he slowly apologize whilst backing up very slowly away from the frustrated player. His eyes told him to get lost or he was to curse him forever.


    Vex: "Phew!, that was so close!..."


    As Vex was walking, he appeared in the square which specialized in craftsman/production classes. In Vex''s sight he spotted the Blacksmith''s "Armory Forge", the "Herbalist Store" which Vex guessed it was alchemy, "Tailor n Tailor" obviously by the name and also the enchanting store which seems does not have a name yet or so. Vex''s curiosity urged him to have a look at their wares but tended to do so after his training at the Training Hall. Vex was quite surprised that his martial arts and swordsmanship were starting to rust a bit, so he decided to polish his skills again once he got there. Despite the fact that he can earn stats by hitting dummies. Vex was drooling, thinking how much stats he were to earn if he trained their half a year.


    "Ewww..." as nearby female players walked past him. Vex quickly cleaned his mouth and headed towards the melee square which specialized in combat and marksman. His mapping knowledge from his past researches showed that the "Training Hall" is just around the market, near the forth street on to his right. While Vex was walking, he can hear players whispering to him, "Is he seriously going to the Training Hall","I don''t know but shouldn''t he be out in the plains with the rabbits and foxes", "Don''t mind that noob" as three players were concerned about him. "Hey boy!" as the warrior shouted out loud to Vex but he didn''t respond at all.


    Vex finally got to the Training Hall, the building''s appearance wasn''t as he expected. Anyways, he approached the entrance, opens the door and finds himself surrounded with dummies. Then the Instructor was spotted just across the room, Vex called out to the Instructor.


    Vex: "Hey! excuse me sir!"


    Instructor: "Oh kid!, the weapons are to your left, have fun hitting dummy!" He said with a boring attitude which he didn''t care about.


    Vex: "Bout time!"


    Vex decided to inspect all his status, just to see how his character build will be.


    Vex: "Open Status Window!, Equipment! and Inventory!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Vex</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Money</td><td>50C 0S 0G</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Profession</td><td>Novice</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stats</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>100/100</td><td>Mana</td><td>50/50</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Stamina</td><td colspan=''2''>50/50</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>10</td><td>Intelligence</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom</td><td>5</td><td>Agility</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality</td><td>10</td><td>Luck</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Defense</td><td>10</td><td>Fame</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Popularity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Title</td><td colspan=''2''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''><EMPTY></td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Equipment</td></tr><tr><td>Torso</td><td>Novice Vest</td><td>Durability</td><td>¡Þ</td></tr><tr><td>Leggings</td><td>Novice Pants</td><td>Durability</td><td>¡Þ</td></tr><tr><td>Feet</td><td>Novice Boots</td><td>Durability</td><td>¡Þ</td></tr><tr><td>Arms</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>Durability</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Head</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>Durability</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Ring</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>Durability</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Earring</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>Durability</td><td>N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Inventory</td></tr><tr><td><EMPTY></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "My stats were to be expected, my equipment is basically what I am wearing with no bonuses and my inventory is empty!"


    Vex grabbed a bunch of bokken, then he walked to the dummy with a determined face, holding the bokken with his two bare hands and began striking it continuously.


    Vex: "5, 6, 7, 8"


    He counted the number of strikes he successfully executed.


    Vex: "14, 15, 16, 17"


    His stamina dropped instantly, but Vex had plenty so he kept going.


    Vex: "44, 45, 46, 47"


    He continued, he knows his stamina isn''t going to quit on him.


    Vex: "96, 97, 98 ,99, 100!"


    Vex''s body dropped to the ground. Vex''s stamina was fully diminished, his exhaustion was beyond what he handle back at the training he did since the past 4 years. Since his notifications were at silent, he was shocked to see numerous amounts of notifications popup right in front of his face. It was even noisy when the notification sound came up


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>After constant repetitive slashes, it seems the sword is well-connected to your self, executing sword techniques at it optimum whilst depleting stamina at its minimum</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Sword Mastery</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td><td>Increases damage dealt with a sword (+10% per level at Novice)


    Increases attack speed with a sword (+3% per level at Novice)


    Decreases stamina consumption rate (-3% per level at Novice)</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "That''s it!, I am staying here for awhile" meaning for about nearly 3 months, he thought about in his head without thinking about the consequences he may face.


    Luckily the system did not have any satiety/thirst system function, many players didn''t know why it wasn''t implemented into the system. Probably they haven''t advanced to the digestive system coding yet?, ''Its been 5 years already'' but Vex was relieved he can stay inside the training hall for awhile.


    Vex: "The Instructor fell asleep..."


    Vex is still exhausted, he manages to try meditation. He slowly get into his position, closes his eyes and focuses. As he felt absorption of power from his surroundings, as if its borrowing nature''s power to replenish his stamina at is newest form. It felt soothing and calm but I couldn''t move as if nature wanted to hold me back till I recover.


    Then a notification appeared.


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>As you meditate, you borrow nature''s power as your stamina replenishes into its newest form, but you are vulnerable in your state</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Active, Toggled)</td><td>Meditation of Respite</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>Rare</td></tr><tr><td>Buffs:</td><td>While activated:


    800% Stamina Regeneration


    Stunned until toggled again</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Haha!, are you serious?" as Vex questioned to himself, wondering why such skill existed in the first place, maybe the developers is a martial artist. "Wait don''t tell me that...". Vex will be shocked if Master Shikoku were to be the game''s developer. ''It couldn''t be him, he doesn''t even the know the word ''game''''.


    As Vex meditated, he couldn''t feel his body at all but the soothing effect he felt was nourishing and his power rapidly recovering his stamina back. It was fast but he was worried from his vulnerability state, ''Well it is only me right?'' as Vex thought to himself.


    Vex''s stamina was restored to its maximum capacity and he continued striking the dummy like it was nothing


    Vex: "12, 13, 14, 15"


    Vex''s Stamina was still full, probably the Sword Mastery''s effect has kicked in. Its doing a great job.


    Vex: "71, 72, 73, 74"


    Vex''s stamina suddenly dropped, still their were plenty of stamina so he continued without any interruptions.


    Vex: "111, 112, 113, 114"


    Vex''s stamina is running out, but he''s not going to stop here


    Vex: "146, 147, 148, 149, 150"


    And Vex''s body dropped to the ground, filled with nothing but pure exhaustion within him. Vex felt his breathing has changed, this strange pattern of breathing had a soothing effect and it felt relaxing against his exhaustion like his throat was not burning afterwards. Moments later, numerous amounts of notifications appeared again.


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Agility increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vitality increased by +2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>As you breathing pattern alters, your lungs are capable of adapting to any environment</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Lungs of Steel</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>Rare</td></tr><tr><td>Buffs:</td><td>10% Stamina Regeneration increase (+5% per level at Novice)


    Immunity to negative breath-altering effects.</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Nice!" with a huge smile in his face


    Vex: "I''m going to stay here until the system forces me out of the game"


    Hour after hour, nothing but meditating and striking the dummy. His only thoughts were, ''strike, strike, strike'' it was unbelievably the worse thing a grinder would do. After numerous days of training, it was about time the system forced him out of the game.


    ===


    The next day, Zane woke up with red in his eyes, his addiction to ''Avast Online'' was so much that his childish body could not handle such exhaustion due to practicing from the Training Hall.


    When Zane logged into Avast Online, he found himself in the Training Hall. With players sighted in his vision, perhaps it was his time for him to rest. Vex fell into a shock when he went to inspected his stats straight away. His stats were shocking for a Level 1 Novice.


    <hr />


    Author Notes:


    This chapter is very short indeed, but you will get the idea of him being the birth of a grinder, next chapter may be very long depending how active I am.


    The last chapter seemed very short because I wanted to get into the action quick, some of you may like it or not but I like it this way. Of course, there would be huge amount of errors in this chapter so please bare with me.


    Edit:


    lol, I keep forgetting to use his game name, not his IRL name, well anyways its all fixed now


    If you guys dont like short chapters, ill try my best to write down long chapters which the next chapter will be


    Also thank you for reading this chapter! :)


    PS: Will be making modifications to this chapter


    <hr />

 Chapter 003 - Training Hall (Part Two)

    Vex: "Open Status Window!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Vex</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Money</td><td>50C 0S 0G</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Profession</td><td>Novice</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stats</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>3152/3152</td><td>Mana</td><td>50/50</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Stamina</td><td colspan=''2''>378/378</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>126</td><td>Intelligence</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom</td><td>5</td><td>Agility</td><td>119</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality</td><td>126</td><td>Luck</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Defense</td><td>10</td><td>Fame</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Popularity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Title</td><td colspan=''2''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Meditation of Respite (Intermediate Level 6, 31.55%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sword Mastery (Advanced Level 8, 42.51%)


    Lungs of Steel (Intermediate Level 9, 54.76%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "That''s not possible, I''ve only trained here for two days non-stop"


    Grinding two days non-stop was unbelievable for a normal person, considering why the system forcefully terminated his access to ''Avast Online'' temporarily due to potential risks in his health. It was normal for Vex due to his four years of intensive training and the results, his body adaptation morphed abnormally and Vex is able to sustain for long periods of time. Despite his appearances, his body build appeared as some sort of a 17-year old body.


    Vex was concerned about his stat gaining, whether his grinding was legitimate or an exploit. The system issued as normal thing despite himself getting kicked off for warnings, the system seemed fine with it. ''With the huge amount of stats I''ve gained through training, I have no problems with any low-tiered monsters since my stats are equivalent to a level 50 player'', ''This feels way too cheaty a bit'' as Vex thought to himself. Again he reminded himself that no-one would grind for 2 days. Not even a hardcore RPG gamer, he would considered it boring and time-consuming.


    The atmosphere in here is normal as usual, no players were sighted, the Instructor is not even here. It seems only Vex was here, it was dead silent and the sounds Vex made echoed throughout the Training Hall. ''I guess throughout the past 5 years, no one likes it here'' he thought to himself, ''Luckily, I am the only player who has discovered this awesome thing.


    Vex thought to himself if he trained more, his stat gaining should be slower to obtain from hitting the dummies due to mass amount of stat bonuses gained from grinding. ''I should start training intelligence, perhaps the library can help me with it''.


    Instructor: "Hey lad, you''ve been here for quite a long time"


    Vex: "Yeah, Im enjoying myself in here!"


    Instructor: "You are interesting lad, no one would stay in here just hitting the dummies for a long time"


    Its has been awhile since the cheerful atmosphere vanished, many players left this place because it was rather deemed unnecessary for early character building and therefore had no effect in overall stat gaining. But Vex was the only player whose training felt enjoying and thrilling, probably why he obtained various stat gains and passive abilities throughout his training.


    Vex happened to pack up his stuff and preparing to leave the Training Hall. The Instructor had a upset face when Vex was walking towards the entrance.


    Instructor: "Are you leaving?"


    Vex: "Sadly, yes I am"


    The Training Hall was lively when Vex was here, his persevere, sweaty, hardworking face. It impressed the Instructor showing how much Vex looked forward into becoming the strongest. It has indeed been a long time since someone actually looked as if he thanked the Training Hall for changing him into a better person.


    Instructor: "Where are you planning to go?"


    Vex: "To the library to train my knowledge"


    Instructor: "Lad, wait here..."


    As the Instructor quickly rushes upstairs to grab something. The Instructor came down the stairs, towards Vex holding two strange books within his hands. With the books he held and handed to Vex, he explained to him what these book''s content contained. With a suprised look on Vex''s face, its not a normal book at all.


    Vex: "Oh, this is a skill book and this is a story book of whom?"


    Instructor: "That is the photographic imagery skill book and the other book, read it first."


    Vex: "Woah!, photographic memory are you serious?"


    With the skill he held in his hands, he can feel its very essence of mana as it surges through his hand. As he held it up high very tightly, with the heroic voice Vex shouted out, he had learned the skill. It was indeed his very first heroic act and he executed perfectly. With the instructor''s hands on his face (facepalming), As rays of light came crashing below to Vex, he learned the skill.


    Vex: "Learn Skill!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>As your brain takes images of a certain memory, its visual feedback of the memory is explained in a fully detailed manner.</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Photographic Memory</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>Epic</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td><td>Immunity to memory disorders


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.Able to recall memories 100% of the time.</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Damn, how lucky can I be?"


    Instructor: "Consider it a helping or a supporting gift for you reading purposes"


    Vex: "Thank you sir, it means so much to me, anyways may I know your name?"


    Instructor: "The name is Sivrowrighty but, you can call me Siv"


    Vex: "Yeah sure thing!, your full name will be hard to pronounce"


    Siv: "Yeah, that''s for sure"


    With a handshake he made, Vex sent his farewells and exit the Training Hall with the success face he made with his fists. ''Training inside the hall was so totally worth it, but lets not think about the goods'', Vex had felt a strange feeling something bad may occur but Vex wasn''t too sure about it. "Dirrrrling dirling dirling!", The vibration he felt inside him was actually the messaging system, it seems he has received a email from an anonymous person. As Vex examined it, it was bunch of advertisements for weapon sales at a cheap price. Vex got frustrated for a second because he was receiving spam emails from unidentified users. ''So that was the bad feeling I felt''


    During his recent researches, the location of "Layfall''s Library" was just next door to the craftsmen/production square were he visited 3 days ago. ''That book Siv gave me, I''ll read it once I get into the Library. The title is pretty interesting''. The title of the book was read "Zakfrost Lighorno - The Legendary Grinder"


    Vex: "Damn, I am walking pretty fast"


    Vex''s walking speed was incredibly fast due to his vast amount of agility points, he barely caught up to people who were running. Of course, the players were shocked how fast he was running. By his looks, he was only a novice, only players who were seen running fast were high-leveled players. With the players surrounding Vex with their jaws dropped to the ground, they assumed Vex was hacking and therefore players were reporting him. Vex looked worried because he knew the players were concerned of his insane speed, ''I just hope they won''t ban me, I obtained this fair and square''.


    Player #1: "How is he walking fast?"


    Player #2: "That idiot!, is he hacking!"


    Vex never knew he can alter his speed walking, it seemed his fast walking settings were at default. ''Dammit!, I should''ve changed it, Now I am standing out''. Vex quickly changed and hid himself out of the player''s sight.


    Player #1: "Hey!, where did he go!"


    Player #2: "Let''s go and find him!"


    Player #3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11: "Yeah!"


    With a huge crowd searching for Vex, Vex''s face showed confusion and fear, "I don''t know why they are looking for me, but I''m out of here". Its about time I''ll change my speed settings and run as fast as I can.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Speed Settings</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>You can alter your walking and running speed here, higher results require higher agility points</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Normal Walking Speed: 1.5</td><td colspan=''2''>Normal Running Speed: 4.5</td></tr><tr><td>Increase by 0.5</td><td>Decrease by 0.5</td><td>Increase by 0.5</td><td>Decrease by 0.5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    As Vex''s was running, Vex was spamming clicking on the increase button.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! ERROR !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Cannot invest into walking speed, please increase your agility stat</td></tr></tbody></table>


    As he swiped the notification out if his face, his running speed was at a whopping 13.5!, triple amount his running speed. "Woah!, I am running like flash, well almost" with a long face he did. "Well luckily I was able to run away from them, Now it off to the librar-" and he crashed onto a brick wall, it made a huge sound with a screaming man and it was Vex!


    Vex: "OWWWW!!!!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! ERROR !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Invulnerable Object - Cannot destroy</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have received 50 damage</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Goddamit!"


    With a bunch of players laughing at him whilst Vex was getting up. ''Oh, these people don''t know about my speed, just take it normal Vex'' He got up, wiped off the dust on him and proceeded like nothing happened, ''I need to control my speed and look where I am running as well'' with a little giggle Vex made. He continued walking and found himself into the craftsman/production square.


    Vex: "Finally, there is the library!"


    As he approached the entrance with his determined face he always show when he''s is up for a challenge, with his words he said to himself, "I am heading for the top of the library!".


    <hr />


    Author Notes: How I have calculated Vex''s Stat points


    Health: (VIT*25) + (2*Vex''s Level)


    Stamina: (VIT*3) + (Vex''s Level)


    About the speed, I just went with my instincts and chose the appropriate speed for his walking speed and running speed, I hope it doesn''t seem too fast or slow.


    And the passive skills, I chose an appropriate level and added some random numbers onto the percentage


    I also implemented the Defense, Stamina and Title into his stats as you noticed before


    Author Notes #2


    Again its a very short chapter, I have been busy with other stuff and I hadn''t being doing anything on this chapter. Sorry for the bit of delay. Its a bit of a rush chapter but ill improve it over days. Anyways I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Thank you as always for reading this chapter


    PS: I will be making modifications to this chapter! :)


    <hr />

 Chapter 004 - To the Top, You! (Part One)

    As Vex walked into the library, he proceeded with a bit of cautious inside of him, with the astonishing look on his face, really huge bookshelves ranging in size from 100-metres to 1000-metres can be seen from the sides, in front of him consisted of a really tall bookshelf, reaching itself to the end of the ceiling. As Vex looked up, it was misty and he could not see any farther than that. "Woah!, that is so tall!, I cannot see a thing there...", with the thrilling face he now took, he carried on exploring this library on his own despite the fact, the size of this building was like a house on the outside. What made Vex even surprised was on the inside, it was like a whole new world, nothing but a bunch of books stuck inside here.


    The colors of the walls were black, decorative thorns with flowers sticking out, and the outlines were navy blue with a glowing effect, As if the walls were breathing. Bright little blue lamps on the walls, 5 metres apart, enough light to spread across rooms. Numerous people walked past Vex with 3 or 4 books carried with them, they were magicians, priests, librarian (it was a hidden class, but mostly people knows all about it) and battlemages. Vex couldn''t contain his excitement, Vex imagined if he were to read all the books in here.


    Mostly all people (gamer(s)) knew that if you were to read books, the book instantly vanishes and a new skill is taught to the user within seconds. Sometimes, it would require to reach a certain stat number to learn a skill but this game, it allows you to learn any skills regardless of rarity or rank. But people would need the potential to actually understand it fully as in to learn the history of it, understand the causes and the effects and how to fully control it. Many people didn''t seem to get that bit, and players would get frustrated. For instance, a player tell his friend how he got such awesome skill or spell, then he replies to go and read the book named "Blah, the Blah Blah" in the library at town. He gets excited and starts reading the book, but he actually skips the history bit and continues to the sections whereas explains how to learn and control it. Then, he starts to complain why he didn''t learn it. Because he didn''t have the potential within to know how it truly works, what negativity this spell or skill work, what impact will it have on players and such. Skipping such important information can result in failing to learn the spell or skill specified in the book.


    Vex could see a lot of people getting frustrated over nothing, players jumping up and down angrily shouting out non-sense words saying as in "Why didn''t I learn it!". Players would leave the library with a angry expression and will leave with a atrocious aura emitting within.


    Vex: "Stupid people, getting angry over books, seriously?"


    It seemed their were 8 floors in total, meaning 8 trials/training he will have to pass to proceed onto the next floor, the librarians cast a spell onto the stairs, it was some weird magic that will only allow players to enter if they meet the requirements. As Vex approached the stairs, he was stopped by some powerful invisible force-field. It was the barrier that kicked in.


    Vex: "Woah!, what was that?"


    Then a notification appeared in front of his eyes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>You cannot pass beyond this point until you have met the following requirements</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Required Books to Read:</td><td colspan=''3''>500</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Current Books Read:</td><td colspan=''3''>0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Rewards</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Title</td><td colspan=''2''>+25 INT</td><td colspan=''2''>+25 WIS</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Gain Skill ''Concentration''</td><td colspan=''2''>Gain Skill ''Focus''</td><td colspan=''2''>+25 CON, FCS</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Wow!, such intriguing rewards for low-leveled players."


    With vex drooling, nearby female players gave him a disgust face whilst walking past him. As Vex cleaned his mouth, he proceeded into reading the books. But first he needed a place to read the books, He saw a black table with no one there so Vex decided to occupy the table. With his fists clenched whilst walking quickly towards the black table, he thought to himself, ''This is gonna be fun!...'' despite the fact it will be boring to read straight 500 books non-stop. An average bookworm would''ve read about 25 books till he/she got sick of it, mostly they like reading but doing something repetitive over long periods can really bore someone, even though it doesn''t involve actions as such.


    Until he arrived at the table, a black-hooded person was there already with a book he/she read. Something bothered Vex about that mysterious person, it appears to be a female due to her body shape, large rounded objects (lol...) were spotted on her chest, a bodily figure resembled much like female. Of course, Vex would have noticed such appealing Ahem!, anyways Vex sat opposite to the hooded person and started giving facials to that person, it didn''t respond. "Who is she!" with a confused face he pulled off. Vex assumed it was a high-leveled player but no high-leveled player would visit such poor-like town. Vex probably thought the library might have contained some useful basic information players may not get, even a high-leveled player.


    Vex grabbed out his book from his inventory, the book Siv gave to him at the training hall. Until now, Vex noticed unusual state of power emitting from the book itself. "Was the author of the book really Zakfrost?", he almost fell down to confusion. Vex prepared his mental self and began opening the book, nothing unusual happened, Vex expected like arcane-spells pouring out the book and then a somewhat spirit angel or something appeared out of nowhere, and it needed help of something, like there was someone who will bring only destruction itself to the world. Vex''s imagination was really good (he even considered it S-rank), but it was like a ordinary book, open and close and nothing happens. But Vex still wanted to read it, he had the tiniest bit of hope something really awesome would appear. With thrill and curiosity surged inside him, he read without hesitation and interruption.


    "Zakfrost Lighorno, the legendary knight (grinder) who served under Lord Hersche, with the power he possessed was beyond human capabilities. Over months and years, he will not stop no matter the circumstances until he has achieved his objective. His power grew and grew until his powers was matched for a mere god.


    Thousands of years ago, when the great war of legion was held, Zakfrost, the only knight who soloed against 50,000 knights with their captain by their side, with great fear the opposition felt they hesitated due to the enormous power emitting from Zakfrost, with the legendary blade he held, he rushed in without any hesitation and murdered those who were obstacles in his way. a slice into the chest, a thrash into the legs, and a stab into the head. Zakfrost was nothing but a mindless killing machine on the war-grounds. with 10,000 soldiers remaining, Zakfrost continued without any hints of injuries or exhaustion.


    Moments later, the war ended like nothing happened, thousands of people either sliced in half or stabbed lay flat on the ground surrounded with blood. With the smiling face he held, he knew the outcome of the battle, "You fools didn''t see my possession of god-like powers, never should of stood in our way" in a strong forceful voice. Zakfrost walked away as powerful traces of pure power emitted from him. No sign of him after 3 years, rumors spread, saying that he was killed by the elite guardians (they were the personal guardians of the king itself) due to his foolish acts"


    Vex: "That was so epic!, well excluding the disappearing bit..."


    With amazement Vex contained, it was nothing but pure awesomeness despite his atrocious-like behavior when Zakfrost fought in the war. With his curiosity urged him to turn over the next page, this time it was something even interesting. It even recorded his history of grinding but never told any specific details of what he was trying to improve/increase his chosen skill. This place Zakfrost wrote down "The Garden of Elterie", perhaps it was alchemy he was trying to improve, maybe that place contained such S-grade leaves which has a stronger potency when in use of creating potions. With even stranger places he marked down, Vex somewhat finds the places familiar as if he already knew about these strange places. Vex thinks that this may help him, even just a little bit so he proceeded into reading his grinding history.


    *3 hours later*


    Vex: "Damn, this book is so long (Vex is not complaining) but the story is so good!"


    Moments later, the book itself exploded any many magical spells were pouring out of the book, with huge smoke coming out, a familiar spirit appeared right before his eyes. Everyone in Vex''s sight was frozen, including his surroundings, the time stopped ticking, everything was paused. With his crimson eyes sparkled with terror, he approached Vex with a surprisingly weird but demonic-looking face.


    Zakfrost Lighorno: "Do you seek my power! young adventurer!..." with a cold breath he let out, it was indeed chilling, even his breath froze parts of the books left onto the table.


    Vex: "Well ye-"


    Zakfrost Lighorno: "It is done!" as he interrupted his last sayings, Vex was utterly shocked and attempted to cancel the offer, because he didn''t really trust him, the reason is "Its a damn spirit!"


    Vex: "Wh-wh-wait!, I didn''t finish my sent-"


    With the power collecting from Zakfrost''s hands, it resembled a white-looking sun, it is expanding as huge gust of winds blew straight to Vex''s face, with the surprised and terrified looking face. His response was quite the childish look, but with amazement, when such indescribable power came from Zakfrost itself. Momentarily, he threw the huge-ball and straight into Vex, huge explosion with bright lights came crashing down to Vex, and moments later, Vex was glowing white color, he could feel the very essence of its power surging through his veins.


    Then a notification appeared.


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Congratulations!, You have obtained a hidden class!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grinder (Lvl 1, 0.00%)</td></tr><tr><td>Description: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Due to gaining a hidden class, you may receive the following effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+20 to all stats (ex. Luck)</td><td>+500 HP</td><td>+200 MP</td></tr><tr><td>+150 Stamina</td><td>+500 Fame</td><td>Gain Skill "Fool''s Gold"</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>As your hands dives into the shadows, it brings the fortunes that your enemies cannot see</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Active)</td><td>Fool''s Gold</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>B</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>Steal 10 silvers from one enemy


    If activated:


    Stunned for 5 seconds</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Hours of grinding, your actions become more efficient at its optimum but your unnecessary knowledge cannot surpass the human''s limited intelligence</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Grind till Forever</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>SS</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>If grinding for more than 10mins:


    -5% Time-flow reduction


    10% Experience gained (from all sources)


    Lose ability to create repetitive memories</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Ignoring everything you own, your desires, people and life. You only focus what your body is doing right now</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Just Grind</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>If grinding for more than 10mins:


    5x Stamina Regeneration rate (from all sources)</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Master Level 10 (100.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    With Zakfrost disappearing with another huge explosion, with sounds of laughing skulls, huge black smokes started pouring out and suddenly vanished with sprinkling lights sparkling. Time suddenly started and everything in his surroundings continued as if nothing happened.


    Vex: "WHAAAAAAT!" he shouted out, in a shocked way.


    Players looked at him because he was the source of the shouting, obviously people would look for the root of the sound if someone is either making strange noises, weird actions or just a plain scream/shout. With all the players staring directly at Vex, he couldn''t help but cover himself, they were still staring at him, everyone was quiet. ''Do they have a eye problem?'' Vex thought to himself, staring at someone either unnoticed or unannounced was considered annoying and rude in his perspective. But Vex sure did give shouted at them for staring at him


    Vex: "What!, what is it!" he said in a rather intimidating voice, players around sure gave him the look and left off with their doings. Besides, Vex wanted to check his stats, the reward and the skills were overwhelming. Vex opened his stats with a hint of hesitation.


    Vex: "Open Stat Window!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Vex</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Money</td><td>50C 0S 0G</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Profession</td><td>Grinder Lv1 (0.00%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stats</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>4152/4152</td><td>Mana</td><td>452/452</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Stamina</td><td colspan=''2''>588/588</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Intelligence</td><td>5+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom</td><td>5+(20)</td><td>Dexterity</td><td>119+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Luck</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Defense</td><td>10+(20)</td><td>Fame</td><td>500</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Popularity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Title</td><td colspan=''2''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Meditation of Respite (Intermediate Level 6, 31.55%)


    Fool''s Gold (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sword Mastery (Advanced Level 8, 42.51%)


    Lungs of Steel (Intermediate Level 9, 54.76%)


    Photographic Memory (Novice Level 6, 0.00%)


    Just Grind (Master Level 10, 100.00%)


    Grind till Forever (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "I-I-It is incred-incredib-"


    With the words struggling to say, his face entered in something beyond shocking, his stat points surpasses an average Level 75 player. People struggle numerous times to reach this certain level, with his fists clenched, Vex promised himself never to reveal himself out often. There are number of skills which can inspect other people''s stats excluding currency and profession, it would''ve been a huge problem. All players will crowd, asking where to get such awesome hidden class, by its name, players would fall suspicion on him, because a rather low-leveled player who has obtained it. Vex decided himself to set on his adventuring solo, just like Zakfrost. He is the solidarity type, asking people for support since his previous MMORPG games he played. But he decided to play it safe.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    With Vex looking to the left and right fast, he continued reading some books he gathered himself from the nearby bookshelves, the title has a interesting name. With his "Grind till Forever" passive skill, Vex figured to put it into the test. ''I''m sure reading counts'' with the confusion Vex held, ''Anyways, I hope this works'', When Vex looked across, the hooded person was still there. It looked like she hasn''t noticed me, ''It just staring down onto his book, is it perhaps reading something?, she look frozen'', ignoring her, It was time for Vex to start reading. Slamming down the book onto the table, with his determined face, he opened the book and began reading.


    The first book he read was interesting, this story was based on the legendary blacksmith, Tolfro. Lord Hersche''s personal Blacksmith. ''Well, isn''t this promising?, I''m sure I can learn something in this?" Vex thought to himself.


    ==========


    "The Legendary blacksmith, Tolfro, who had served under Lord Hersche for thirty years. A warrior with immense strength, capable of lifting near-impossible objects. With the power he held, he could change the orientation of the weapon with ease, making a worn-out sword seemed stronger and durable. Tolfro had sharp eyes, he could pinpoint the broken sides and attempt to repair with a technique involving magic. Despite his appearances, he is an elf  born with special human-like genes.


    It was the day Tolfro went for mining, with his palms placed onto the rock whilst manipulating magic. He can detect any ores within his radius, including rare ores can be spotted. Somehow like a metal detector, but more advanced and efficient. His pickaxe was enchanted with chaotic powers, capable of destroying rocks within seconds, Tolfro has not mastered such destructive power, it was not to be handled easily. Tolfro knew he wouldn''t needed such power for mining. It was time he tucked this chaotic pickaxe far beneath the mining grounds.


    ==========


    Vex: "Hmm..., maybe the pickaxe is still here today?, it might be interesting looking for that pickaxe..."


    ==========


    When Tolfro returned to the kingdom, he was greeted by Lord Hersche and Zakfrost, Tolfro knew something wrong was going on. It was no time for him to be thinking, so he had to listen what both of them had to say. The words coming out of Zakfrost''s mouth was indeed mockery to Tolfro, his face was building up anger. Lord Hersche seemed concerned about Tolfro as well, but he didn''t had the slightest hint of talking to him.


    Zakfrost: "You dare defy our Lord!, your magic, you wield such corruptive power, I saw it with my own eyes. You treacherous elf, don''t ever come near us!"


    Hersche: "Calm down, Zak, that''s enough!"


    Tolfro: "You little..."


    ==========


    Vex: "Woah, who knew Zakfrost was here?, I thought he disappeared befor-" acting in surprised, he sure did interrupt like half of the readers in the neighbouring table.


    Librarian: "Be quiet!"


    Vex: "Sorry!"


    Librarian: "Hmph..."


    ==========


    With anger both filled Zakfrost and Tolfro, Tolfro pulled his hammer. With his powers, he enchanted his weapon with Fire just because "Frost" was a part of his name. ''Let''s give it a go!" Tolfro thought about it, he did feel weird considering fighting his long time comrade. With Zakfrost, he pulled out his golden sword. They began in their stance whilst looking at each other while strafing. Zakfrost made the first move, he dashed towards Tolfro from his side, it was quick but Tolfro was just able to dodge by enchanting his legs with the speed effect, pushing it against the ground, Tolfro was able to sidestep his slash.


    Following his counterattack, Tolfro smashed his hammer onto the ground, Zakfrost barely missed his immense flame strike, at its core temperature reaches about just as nearly as the sun''s outer surface. Zakfrost''s face sure did show a surprise but it wasn''t over yet. Zakfrost activated his time-slash ability, when he did, everything was slowed down by 50%. He executed a slash to his torso, then following a uppercut to the head. ''What is this!, Tolfro head is hard''. Zakfrost couldn''t barely leave a scratch on it. The time-ability only lasted for 10 seconds, then everything returned to normal.


    Tolfro sure was angry, he saw his torso being cut diagonally, blood was pouring out but luckily, he sealed it with his magic powers. Zakfrost was getting frustrated it, but surprisingly Zakfrost was holding back, ''Tsk, you''re lucky Tolfro''


    ==========


    Vex: "Damn, Zakfrost has a time-ability, I wonder if I can learn it if I train hard..., and also, Tolfro has a neat ability"


    ==========


    Lord Hersche stepped into the battle, he knew to stop both of them. It will cause havoc and even bring destruction upon the kingdom. With his hands outwards and clenched, orbs were growing on his fists and it was expanding. With the words coming out from his mouth, both Tolfro and Zakfrost stopped for a minute.


    Lord Hersche: "Stop now or I''ll kill both of you"


    With both of them dropped their weapons with their hands up, they both knew not to get into the mess with the lord. Even with Zakfrost''s grinding skills, capable of taking his combat capabilities to a god, He was more terrified of his lord. Tolfro was scared but showed no signs of fear from his appearances. Both of them walked towards the Lord, they knew what was going to happen.


    Lord Hersche: "You!, Zak, It was none of your concern to step into my business, and it was foolish of you to start a fight. And you Tolfro, since your powers can behold such evil, I hereby banishing you from this kingdom. Never come here again!"


    Zakfrost: "Pffft...."


    Tolfro: "But I was careful, I never use such-"


    Lord Hersche: "There were news regarding the citizens, reports found civilians murdered with black magic. Zakfrost was going to report you the news but he saw the dark magic you were possessing, it was similar to the ones on the report. You were such a good blacksmith to me, but to betray others, you''re nothing but a murderer."


    Tolfro did mess up pretty well, considering the fact he used it to enchant the pickaxe with dark magic. Tolfro didn''t know what to say. It was pretty much the ending of him besides the fact he didn''t have any proof. This happened the day before he went out for mining, such evidence right now would be considered fake.  It was twas the end of Tolfro, he grabbed his belongings and walk out the gates, otherwise The Lord himself will kill Tolfro on spot.


    ==========


    Vex: "Poor Tolfro, stupid Zak, I''m starting to hate you!", Even though Vex felt like shouting, but he knew he was to get kicked out if he ever shouted again. He didn''t want to experience that feeling again.


    It has been 6 hours reading the book, ''Damn, that hooded person is still there...'', Vex was feeling a bit tired but not a single stamina point was deducted. Vex continued reading, after he turned over the page. It was full of techniques used for blacksmith, ''Woah!, such techniques existed'', ''Probably I can make use of it'', with Vex reading quickly as he can, he notices that the instructions for learning these moves was a 1000-step instructed. Considering why people haven''t learn these moves yet, anyone can come and grab this book and read it.


    Every step in the process was complicated, involving precise movement on the exact time. Mostly everyone cannot pull it off, Thanks to Vex''s "Photographic Memory", he can recognize every step and the capabilities to handle it. ''These techniques look the same as how you would normally hammer things", but looking close at it required controlling your strength and altering your stance.


    Vex muttered to himself: "The first step requires using a quarter of your strength, position your legs, left leg is 5.2cm apart from you right leg. Then hammer."


    Every step was complicated, even Vex was having a long time, his stance sure did show funny movements and everyone was just looking at him laughing. But they sure did get in trouble from the librarian, everyone stood quiet and continued on their reading


    Librarian: "You there!, continue on what were you doing. Ughh..., you look like a ballerina"


    Vex: "Yes!"


    About thirty minutes later, people starting to leave the library, mainly because it was either night time in the real world or they were getting sick of it. It was just a few people in here.


    Its been 3 hours, a total of 10 hours inside the library. Vex was sweating, just from imitating the techniques from the book, hours of consuming stamina, it just regenerates back instantly. ''Is the "Just Grind" skill detecting it as grinding?'', It seemed like it was. One more step Vex had to mastered, it was basically just swing the hammer in motion, with his hands mimicking as a ''hammer head'', he smashed it onto the table. It did quite made a lot of noise.


    Vex: "Like this isn''t it?"


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Category Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Back in the ancient times, no things ever existed, by using their inner strength, they were capable of surviving in the harsh enviroment.</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Category Learnt:</td><td>[Ancient Art]</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>S</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>With no tools to create weapons/armors, fists were imitated as hammer heads to create such things</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Active)</td><td>[Ancient Art] - Blacksmith</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>S</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>Any creations requiring tools is ignored, if using skill apply the following effects:


    -2,500 HP


    -200 Stamina


    3.0x Durability to created weapon/armor


    3.0x Damage to created weapon


    3.0x Defence to created armor</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "I finally pulled it off!, I manag-", Another notification seemed to interrupted him.


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>With rapid eye movement, you intend to read things at a much higher rate</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive)</td><td>Speed Reading</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td><td>10% quicker to read</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *Ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Your [Grinder] level has increased by ''1''</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "You should''ve gave me that skill before I was going to read all of it!!!" with Vex shouting to the notification. Vex noticed the hooded person is not there.


    Vex: "Where did she go?"


    With Vex''s head turning sideways, she is walking towards the stairway leading to the next floor. ''Did she read 500 books!?'' Vex thought, he carefully inspected her, she was just a few steps to the force-field. With his eyes widened, her body blurred herself past the force-field and she made it through. ''Wow, she went past through it, but still something still feels weird'', but entirely it was just Vex.


    Vex can view his library card containing information about Lay-fall Library. It also records how much books Vex had read. Everyone was given one once they had stepped into the library, but he was too distracted by the fascination of the library''s inside appearances.


    Vex clicked on his card.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Library Card</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Owner: Vex</td><td colspan=''2''>Card Number: #01225690121</td></tr><tr><td>Books Read:</td><td>1</td><td>Current Floor</td><td>1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "So the book Siv gave to me didn''t count, huh..."


    It was a shame, Vex did spend hours reading the book and gained no knowledge from it (Well, just a bit). ''Well thanks to Zakfrost, my damn frikin hero, gave me a overpowered class, capable of battling gods'', Still, Vex was pretty shocked getting it. He is only still Level One whose equipping novice armor. ''Damn, I look like a hacker'', Vex needed to get some equipment soon. About the books, maybe you needed to read the books from the library, considering someone just could create a book with one word, and BAM!, there goes one book. Thats what Vex thought of it, it probably sounded stupid but it made sense at the same time.


    Without that hooded-person there, it seemed Vex can now focus on his reading since that bothering feeling suddenly faded away, it just made him concentrate even more. ''Damn, It feels so cheaty!, all these stat gaining just from books, it just plain stupid''. Vex reminded himself again, no one would ever stay inside the library nearly the whole just reading books. Even someone would''ve died from extreme boredom and therefore considered as "I''m sick of this!" thing.


    Vex: "It''s about time!"


    With 499 books stacked onto the table, Vex sat on the table and began reading, thanks to his "Speed Reading" skill, he was able to read books at a much faster pace. His eyes rolling to side to side, it was quick, it was spectacular. The amount of books he read was insanely faster, book by book, his reading seemed to get faster and faster at a visible rate. Surprisingly it was only one chapter he read, ''One down, 9 chapters to go to finish one book!'' with the determined face Vex pulled off, it was nothing but pure insanity of grinding books.


    But when Vex finished one book, massive amounts of people just appeared out of nowhere, ''Am I dreaming?'' Vex said confusingly to himself, (Author: For the people who don''t get it, the skill "Grind till Forever" has the ability to lose creation of repetitive memories. Pretend he/she was practicing hammering skills and it was day time. Just one hammer action and it becomes night time. His/her hammering skills just leveled up a whopping ''5'' times! and his/her whole stamina is drained (That''s when "Grind till Forever" stops activating), just because he/she lost memories of repeating the same thing over and over.)


    Vex: "Woah!, I actually don''t remember what happ-"


    Then a series of light came teleported Vex, and he appears into some sort of a room, With confusion Vex held, he was floating in mid-air whilst looking around his surroundings, it was nothing but glowing-like white substances. But Vex remembered this place, ''Ahhh, the memories of our first error encounter back in the training hall''


    Then a notification appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>! ERROR !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>You are temporarily kicked from this server due to the following</td></tr><tr><td>Reason:</td><td>You have passed the limited requirement of gameplay</td><td>You may resume your gameplay in:</td><td>0d 24h 0m</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "I''ll be back!"


    <hr />


    Author Notes:


    Here is the real Chapter 4!, its finally released!


    I kinda rushed it a bit, so if you notice any mistakes, please do so tell!


    And also the story, if it doesn''t make sense, I''ll rewrite it better.


    If you notice anything unexplained or unusual, please point them out!


    Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter! :)


    P.S: I will be making modifications to this chapter!, Any suggestions are welcome! :)


    <hr />

 Chapter 005 - To the Top, You! (Part Two)

    Zane: "How many hours has past?"


    Zane looked at his watch, it''s been 8 hours since his temperance of ban has been placed upon. What has he done since the past eight hours you say?, You know the usual thing for a "Grinder", staying up all night, studying about the library in Lay-fall Town. ''Who knew there was such informative website in here?'', Zane forgot "Avast Online" was released roughly about five years ago. Zane got curious and searched up "Zakfrost Lighorno" onto the search engine, the results were as expected, thousands of- no, hundreds of results of information about him. Zane thought to view it, just in case to know who he is truly is.


    Zane: "So Zak, was really spectacular, and insanely overpowered!"


    The note Zane read was something about his power, the way it was explained, truly meant he was too overpowered even he can stand against gods. ''Zak was really strong after all, the book I was reading looked like it was telling lies, despite the awesome bit where he fought in the war, it was really good!''.


    Zane was getting impatient, the way he was stomping, oddly strange noises coming from him, he was nearly at his limit. ''Ooooh, I want to play the game now!'', When he got kicked out of the game, Zane sure was jumping up and down like a kid complaining why he was kicked out. Someone who is insane enough to stay in the game five days straight will be absolutely be kicked out, imagine the health consequences if a normal person were to be diving in for five straight days. Well, for Zane he had training for withstanding extreme exhaustion for long periods of time, after his training he would never rest, staying up all night, it seemed Zane''s body has morphed abnormally and by now the shape of his lungs would look different compared to a normal one.


    It''s been sixteen hours, his face did not show any hints of exhaustion or whatsoever. His incredible amount of stamina he has hold was poured in from his intense training he had to sustain during his very difficult moments, despite his training for meditation it was really high compared to those high-ranked martial artists who would meditate to restore their inner power quickly. Well, Zane was part of them, not typically though.


    Zane''s face sure did show astonishment when he realized that his time his over, he quickly ran to the virtual pod but before he did, his hunger urged him to feed him quickly or he was to die alongside with it.


    Zane: "Whens the last time I''ve eaten, about a day or so?"


    Zane went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, the food wasn''t satisfying at all, just a bunch of frozen breads, leftover salads, yogurt, fruits and other stuff. Inside his cupboard was dry ingredients, bread, vegetables and other dairy products. Zane did had a widened face because he forgot all about the groceries he had to shop for. ''Damn, I forgot all about it, might as well go to the supermarket'', with his jeans and jacket on, he prepared himself and off he went to the supermarket.


    When Zane came back with bags filled with luxurious groceries containing nourishing food, with his face filled with delight, he ate his meal with no hesitation at all. ''It''s been awhile since I''ve eaten something so good''. Back in his training, he was not to consume anything that relates to junk food, Zane had only eaten foods which contained a lot of nutrients, suitable for training purposes, unlike the taste it was utterly disgusting even a normal person would''ve vomit the instant they took a pint of it. It was Zane''s nightmare to eat the food, but he was glad it was all over.


    Zane: "Phew!, What a meal!"


    With his stomach finally filled, he lay down on the couch, Zane couldn''t wait much longer but he wanted to rest a bit just in case. While he was thinking, he thought of getting some stats grinded and also some proper equipment before venturing up the library. Who knew something terrifying or dangerous could be up there, monsters in the library, it could be possible, trials perhaps, some puzzle-solving challenges can be in there. Zane said to himself, There might be all sorts of thing we may find.


    Now his rest is finally over, he headed towards the capsule, with the lid opened automatically with a built-in security device, only enables the owner to access. He proceeded into laying down inside the capsule and the lid closed automatically, with his eyes slowly closed, it was time for him to enter "Avast Online",''I hope something hasn''t changed since I was gone'' Zane thought to himself, he just had a weird feeling that something has changed. Then Zane shouted out the command and he was transported into the game, it was about time for him to settle things in "Avast Online"


    With a series of light flashing by his eyes, he appeared in the white room, the same one when he got kicked out, and he appeared in Vex''s body, ''I missed ya buddy!'' it was indeed a long time for Zane to be back in Vex''s body (Even though both appearance''s look the same). When Vex looked around, he was still in the white room, mid-floating in the air. Sometimes players do not teleport about a minute time, rather because of re-calibration process, health check or their might be a change to the system''s game engine. Vex did had a weird feeling about it, it could be a coincidence after all, maybe the game really missed him that much.


    Vex still mid-floating in the air, he was greeted by an unusual notification


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>New Update! (Update #19)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>New available update is ready to download, do you accept?


    NOTE: You cannot enter the game unless you have updated</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Yes</td><td colspan=''3''>No</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "A update?, that was the weird feeling?"


    Vex pressed on the "Yes" button without any hesitation, he just hoped nothing including his combat capabilities has altered or anything related to him has changed at all. Vex was just worried about his gameplay, nothing exciting has been taken away for him. He needs to see it for himself after this game updates.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Downloading...</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>NOTE: Do not leave the capsule until download is finished, doing so will lead to corruptions and update error</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>(0.09%) (25.36GB / 100TB) (15.21GB/S)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Zane luckily, has a built-in optic-fiber lightsonic speed internet cable implemented into his VirChuix capsule, 0.5 metres in length and width, capable of sending enormous amounts of download data to the server and stream about a terabyte of data within seconds. Thanks to their parents working in the second-largest networking company, this was possible for Zane to have such internet speed. People who play Avast Online required huge amounts of data passed through the servers in order not to actually experience "Virtual Paralyze", a term similar to lag but the user cannot move, making them rendered unusable and  therefore cannot log out at all. But its not a issue, players are logged out if the systems detects if they are experiencing "Virtual Paralyze", there are no health concerns regarding this thing, so it was good news.


    Vex rolling over, doing somersaults, back flipping and moonwalking in mid-air for some reason, it seems Vex was getting bored waiting for the download to finish. He check his download percentage, it was roughly about 75% till the update was downloaded, it''s been around twenty minutes now, about five to ten minutes time it will be done. While he waited, he thought what kind of update it was going to be. ''New content added in?, change into system stats?, new monsters added in?, new landscape implemented?'' Vex thought of, the more he thinked about it, the more decisions came into his head. It was starting to get annoying so he stopped and waited.


    Moments later, a notification appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Download Finished!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Updating... (1%)


    NOTE: Do not leave your capsule until update process has finished!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>(100%) (100TB / 100TB) (0.00KB/S)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Ughhh, I have to wait aga-"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Download Finished!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Updated Completed! (100%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>(100%) (100TB / 100TB) (0.00KB/S)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Now that was fast!"


    The update process completed within seconds, now it was time for Vex to prepare himself into Avast Online, the countdown sequence was activated as my body was fading away, the countdown came towards "5" and half of my body was gone. It was not long till the countdown reached zero and I was teleported. ''Its about time'' Vex thought out loudly while clenching his fists towards his chest whilst making determination facials. It was time for him to continue venturing up the tower. But before he did, first he needed to get some things prepared.


    ***


    *Meanwhile at a Guild*


    Vixi and Zeed both sitting on chairs, on the guild''s meeting table thinking of something. It seems they were planning about how they should start recuriting high-leveled players because they were lacking workers for their guild. The guild consists of thirty players, all above level three-hundred, most of them have hidden classes such as, Dragon Knight, Blood Necromancer, Dark Paladin, Jester and many more. This guild was well-known for having hidden classes, but Vixi had the "God''s Servant" class and Zeed had the "Death''s Disciple" class.


    These two class were considered super-rare and very hard to get, it involved quests with difficulties beyond SSS to get. Even the rumored rank, rarity or difficulty dubbed as "X" was even placed on their quests. Rumors spread, saying that they went to war with the gods to obtain such classes once they had defeated the hardest boss. But they have not confirmed if it was true, it still remains a mystery.


    While Vixi thinking of something, a thought came to her mind.


    Vixi: "What do you think our Son is doing right now?"


    Zeed: "Probably hunting down monsters with a group, who knows?"


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    And now we meet Zane''s/Vex''s parents, these two are known to run the strongest guilds in the game, ranging from mage''s to assassin''s. This guild is typically stands above all of them. "Corrupted", the name of their guild, meaning to take over and control of what is not fully theirs. It was indeed a suitable name for a guild who has defeated over millions of people.


    Vixi: "We don''t know our son''s name"


    Zeed: "I hope he hasn''t changed his appearances, otherwise it''s impossible to find him. We will meet him one day"


    Vixi: "Yeah I hope we wil-"


    Then a alarm start ringing from her notification.


    Vixi: "Ooooh!, Time for work honey!"


    Zeed: "Coming!"


    ***


    Vex then, appeared in the seat he was in before, players walking were spotted in his sight. And the books are still there from two days ago. It seemed Vex''s stuff were untouched since his arrival, He was not sure if he actually read five-hundred books so he wanted to check it later. Vex was only curious about the update, so he looked everywhere if anyone has noticed anything. Moments later, a huge crowd of players were seen running for some reason, we could seem through the large windows from the inside.


    Players rushed outside to see what was happening, also Vex went running outside as well, while he went outside, Vex saw a lot of people running towards the centre of the town, when he arrived there whereas all players were gathering. Vex forced himself into that crowd, what he saw was a huge board, it was a notice board containing information about the new update. Vex couldn''t help himself but read it, the results were shocking (probably in a bad or good way)


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>! Notice Board !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>UPDATE #19</td><td colspan=''3''>Here comes another update!, make sure to check out the following contents added below:


    - Added Satiety/Thrist feature, players will now experience hunger and dehydration as like before.


    - Added 3 new production skills, featuring: Cooking, Harvestation and Vegetation.


    - Added new class: Gunsman, also included new combat/production skills, Gun Mastery and Blacksmith - Gungineer


    - Added new weapons, armors and items, all available in your local blacksmith/tailoring shop.


    - Added 2 new hidden class, be the first one to obtain it!


    - All players receive the magic canteen, capable of holding unlimited water.


    - All players receive 20 ''Wheat Bread''.


    - HUD (Heads-up display) are implemented in, Now players can see their HP/MP/Stamina bar to their top-left side, Satiety/Thirst bar to the top-right side.


    - New PvP system, players can now 1v1 duel other players, rewards to come for the most PvP kills.


    - All foods have raritys implemented into, the higher the rarity, the more nourshing, taste, and the potency it has.


    For more update info, please visit our website for more details.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>NEW DLC (Valoth''s Vengance)</td><td colspan=''3''>Travel into a new land, filled with darkness surrounded with nothing but the gloomy undead, do you have what it takes to venture further into castle and defeat the Undead King Valoth, to restore the balance and lift this dreadful curse off this land?.


    Buy this DLC now for only US$29.99 (Special Offer: 50% discount)


    Requirements:


    - Level 150+ (Recommended: Level 200+)


    - 12-player raid


    For more info, please visit our website for more details.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Guild Wars</td><td colspan=''3''>The Guilds Wars was such a huge hit, millions of people enjoyed the war between other guilds, "Corrupted" sure did show who was boss, the intense amount of power poured into the battlegrounds was insane. Constant huge explosions were sighted everywhere around the wargrounds, it was hardcore for sure.


    - The third place goes to "Phantom Menace", they sure did had intense battles, but their stamina wasn''t enough to sustain themselves in the wargrounds, Congrats!


    - The second place goes to "X-Troyer", their massive amount of teamwork sure did bring themselves to the last 3 guilds, unfortunately their manpower was reduce, and was beaten by this last guild. Congrats!


    - The first place goes to "Corrupted", for the last remaining guild to stand. Their teamwork and manpower were at top notch, executing plans at its utmost perfection and eliminating guilds with nothing but a pint of stamina consumed, Congrats!


    - The runner-ups are "Happy Day$", "Burnout", "Justice Knights", "Void" and "Miyuki Kazaki", Congrats to all of you!


    All of the mentioned guilds will receive the following rewards:


    Runner-Ups:


    - Receive 0C 0S 250G


    - Receive new item, "Hazume''s Golden Statue"


    - Receive new chest armor "Vest of Midnight"


    Third Place:


    - Receive 0C 0S 1000G


    - Receive new spell tome, "Glacier Blaze"


    - Receive new gauntlets, "Force Blasters"


    - Receive ''Runner-Up'' rewards ex. Gold


    Second Place:


    - Receive 0C 0S 1500G


    - Receive new pet, "Hade''s Cerberus"


    - Receive new armor set, "Holo-Tech V2 set"


    - Receive new weapon, "Holo-Tech Laser Weapon (choice of any weapon)"


    - Receive ''Runner-Ups'' and ''Third Place'' rewards ex. Gold


    - Gain new title, "War Champion"


    First Place:


    - Receive 0C 0S 2500G


    - Receive new class: "War Ender", players may swap out their current class for this one.


    - Receive new spell tome, "Demonic Adrenaline Rush"


    - Receive ''Runner-Ups'', ''Third Place'' and ''Second Place'' rewards ex. Gold


    Thank you all hundred guilds for participating in the Guild Wars. For more info, visit the website for more details.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Tower of Voldred</td><td colspan=''2''>The legendary sword "Voldred''s Musk Blade", locked up inside a room in the very top of the tower, it consists of 200 floors, have you got what it takes to reach to the top. Gather your friends and venture up towards the Tower of Voldred and defeat the boss, Doragun the Skullseeker to obtain the legendary weapon.


    Requirements:


    - Level 100+ (Recommended: Level 250+)


    Rewards:


    - SS-ranked weapon, "Voldred''s Musk Blade" to all participated players


    - Gain new title, "Conqueror of Voldred" to all participated players</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "..."


    Vex was shocked to see the update information, it was beyond his current decision he chose what differences the game will have. Satiety and Thirst is implemented in, now Vex has to either buy his food from the nearby culinary shops or hunt down monsters for their meat. Vex thought it was about time to slaughter monsters for surviving, thinking about it, Vex can use the ''Fool''s Gold'' to steal off ten silvers from any monsters. That''ll not cause any experience gaining because he didn''t want to level up yet. About the HUD implementation, Vex can see his HP/MP/Stamina bar to his top-left side and the Satiety/Thirst Bar was onto the opposite side. It was easier for him to inspect his HP points instead of shouting out the command to bring up the stats, so it was a lot easier to consume any of his potions if his health hit below the safe zone.


    Besides the update information, Valoth''s Vengance DLC (downloadable content) pack sounded awesome, too bad it requires eleven other people. Vex thought of soloing because he wasn''t the solidarity type and people can get in his way, the recommendation of the level was two-hundred plus. ''Is it really hard?'', Vex thought it looked easier because it felt like it did. Vex thinks he''s confident enough to accept this quest, rather because of this overpowered class granted by Zakfrost, ''Oh thank you!'', Vex wondered what the rewards were, probably ranging from rank A to SSS. ''Who knows?'', The rewards may be more epic than you think. So he postponed this quest in another time, until he was high-leveled enough, Vex can purchase the DLC now but he wasn''t prepared yet.


    The Guild Wars, where all guilds come into one wargrounds and start offending each other, ten people maximum in each group participants. ''Corrupted, what a strong guild, heard about their rumors'', they were strong, their guild members each had their own hidden classes. Only thirty people were in the guild and only the owners were to choose their fellow recruits, ''If I was strong, I''ll prove to myself I am worthy of joining this Guild, just you wait Corrupted!'', with his fists clenched towards his chest, he hoped he can join this guild. The Guild Wars rewards were insane, talking about the first prize, ''Isn''t that a hidden class or a S-ranked class?'' Vex thought, it could be possible though. X-Troyer and Phantom Menace sure do sound strong as well, ''Phantom Menace came third because of stamina issues, that''s weird...'' Usually they will have high-stamina, ''Maybe someone used a spell to drain their energy'' it made sense but not stupid as well.


    Looking at all these notices sure made him feel hungry, the last one he had interest in it, ''Venture up the tower to gain a legendary weapon?, I am definitely doing it!'' Vex thought about it. It sure does sound fun but not in a good way, as in grinding in their for days reaching up to the tower without even stopping, there might even be safe places for players to safely logout. Thinking about it, Vex didn''t want to risk it, so he was to venture up their still by himself but taking extra precautions. After a lot of thinking, something was rumbling in his stomach.


    *Rowr..........


    Vex: "Crap, I am getting hungry!"


    <hr />


    Author Notes:


    So why the late chapter?


    As you may say, I have been doing somethings lately which has been avoiding me to write down somethings for the chapter. Or other things as in "extreme procrastination", I can''t help it lol :)


    So downloading is a thing in Avast Online huh...


    Audience''s Question (maybe, idk, probably never or everyone is just gonna ignore this): "Really?, A gigabyte transfer of data per second when downloading and a 100TB of storage data?"


    A: "Oh come on!, I rushed it a bit, no need to worry about that download rate per second and the storage thingy, its the future man! :)"


    DLCs in the game, huh....


    Audience''s Question (maybe, idk, probably never or everyone is just gonna ignore this): "Cool!"


    A: "IKR :)"


    Notice anything unusual or unexplained? Please give a heads out!


    This chapter is a bit of rush so if you notice any mistakes, I''ll fix them shortly


    Anyways thank you for reading this chapter! :)


    PS: Will be making modifications to this chapter


    <hr />

 Chapter 006 - To the Top, You! (Part Three)

    Vex felt hungry all of the sudden, looking at his satiety bar, it hit below 50%. It was enough for a person to notice his hunger before it gets any worse, judging by his hunger drop, Vex needed to consume some food before his satiety will drop down even further. Getting out of the crowd surrounding the notice board, Vex walked to a nearby inn just next to the library, "Dead Man''s Rest" it was called, the name is unusual but this weird feeling makes it think it was a suitable name for it. Vex walked in and sat on a nearby empty table, he opened his inventory and grabbed about three pieces of wheat bread and began consuming it. The feeling of eating something for a long time sure does give off a great feeling but something felt off.


    Vex: "This bread is disgusting!"


    Vex''s satiety bar did fill up to max but the aftertaste of the bread was horrible, if one was to describe it, it was just basically worn-out bread. Luckily, food poisoning or other negative things weren''t a thing, just imagine him vomiting all over the floor just because he ate about three pieces of bread. Vex overhearing the players on the neighbouring table, whispering about him, he became concerned about so pretending to check something, he concentrated on the player''s voice.


    Player #1: "What the hell is a noob doing here?"


    Player #2: "From his appearances, he doesn''t look like he has any money..."


    Player #1: "Just look at him, acting like a weirdo, he''s beyond a noob"


    Player #2: "Oh shut up, will you!, its not like he didn''t do anything wrong, besides you were like him when you first tried out this game"


    Player #1: " *angrily shouts* What right do you have to shut me up!"


    Player #2: "Why are you mad all of the sudden?, just because I said you were like him before?"


    Player #1: "Oh keep quiet, will you!?"


    When the players faced the other way sipping their drinks, Vex had a good inspection on them, judging by their equipment, their levels should be on a range from twenty to forty. ''Meh, they don''t look that strong'', it just some players who think all mighty against the beginners. Ignoring their unnecessary conversation, Vex decided to check his status and his skills, from the update Vex thinks there may be some changes to the skills or status window due to massive amounts of changes to the system''s stat and skill engine. Thinking of the command to open his status window, he proceeded with hesitation, maybe something either miraculous or unforgiving has changed, Vex needed to see for himself.


    Vex: ''Open status window!''


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Vex</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Money</td><td>50C 0S 0G</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Profession</td><td>Grinder Lv2 (9.87%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stats</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>4152/4152</td><td>HP/Reg</td><td>14.6/s</td></tr><tr><td>Mana</td><td>452/452</td><td>MP/Reg</td><td>2.3/s</td></tr><tr><td>Stamina</td><td>588/588</td><td>Stamina/Reg</td><td>3.7/s</td></tr><tr><td>Satiety</td><td>100%/100%</td><td>Consumption Rate</td><td>-1%/5m</td></tr><tr><td>Thirst</td><td>95%/100%</td><td>Consumption Rate</td><td>-1%/3.5m</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Battle Stats</td></tr><tr><td>DMG Dealt</td><td>73 - 110</td><td>DMG.Def</td><td>-22</td></tr><tr><td><EMPTY></td><td>N/A</td><td>MAG.Def</td><td>-75</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Points Remaining: 0 / Total Points Distributed: 0</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Intelligence</td><td>5+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom</td><td>5+(20)</td><td>Dexterity</td><td>119+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Luck</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Defense</td><td>10+(20)</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Popularity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Title</td><td colspan=''2''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Fame</td><td colspan=''2''>500</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Meditation of Respite (Intermediate Level 6, 31.55%)


    Fool''s Gold (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)


    [Ancient Art]


    Ancient Art - Blacksmith (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sword Mastery (Advanced Level 8, 42.51%)


    Lungs of Steel (Intermediate Level 9, 54.76%)


    Speed Reading (Intermediate Level 2, 77.76%)


    Photographic Memory (Intermediate Level 5, 88.88%)


    Just Grind (Master Level 10, 100.00%)


    Grind till Forever (Novice Level 4, 67.98%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "That''s way better, now I can see my HP/MP regeneration rate, and also the consumption rate for thirst/satiety, and also other implementations. But, why are my grinding skills highlighted yellow?. Everything else seems to be fine."


    Looking at the skills, it look liked it may have some issues regarding the new update, If you thought about it satiety can have a huge impact on the player if anyone grinds a certain skill involving hugely amount of physical-like training. As you grind, your satiety drops, its the most basic thing everyone knows about, looking at Vex face did show stupidity because he forgot about it all that time. By thinking about, that "Grind till Forever" skill can be a risky thing, you could die the instant you take on a grinding action and then the system death-penalises you for twenty-four hours.


    Vex carefully inspects his skills, it took him awhile to get himself prepared, its just that he feels worried about something. With hesitation, he proceeded into viewing his skills.


    Vex: "Open Skills highlighted in yellow!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Due to your skills being imcompatitble with the newest update, additional effects have been added to your skills, now your skills will remain back to normal</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Grind till Forever</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Hours of grinding, your actions becomes more stronger as your exhaustion lasts, but your brain denies processing your unnecessary knowledge</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>SS</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>If grinding for more than 10mins:


    -9% Time-flow reduction


    18% Experience gained (from all sources)


    Lose ability to create repetitve memories


    Satiety/Thirst are temporarily disabled


    If skill is used:


    -3,750 HP


    -475 Stamina</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 4 (67.98%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Just Grind</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Ignoring everything you own, your desires, people and life. You only focus what your actions are truly meant to show</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>If grinding for more than 10mins:


    2.5x Stamina Regeneration rate (from all sources)</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Master Level 10 (100.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Yessssss!, I don''t need to eat anything!, WOOHOO!", When Vex shouted it out, the neighnouring table did show some annoyed faces.


    Player #1: "Hoy!, shut up you noob!"


    Player #2: "Keep it down!, you noob!"


    Now Vex was starting to get annoyed, judging by his facials, he sure gets angry when people use the word ''Noob'' against him. Hearing the conversation before, it did make him a bit annoyed but it didn''t made him angry. Storming towards the two players, they never knew what''s coming.


    Vex: "What makes you think you can call me a noob!?"


    Player #1: "WOW, WOW!, just WOW!, everyone in here!, can I get your attention for a few seconds!."


    By looking at this guy who was twice the height as me, with black hair and beard. A pretty fat build I should say, equipping metal-plated armor with a two-handed sword on his back. He sure did get everyone''s attention in here, by looking at that player''s face, he had a huge laugh.


    Player #1: "Can anybody explain to this noob what a noob is!?"


    Random player in the crowd: "When someone is low-leveled, equipping nothing but the novice set, knows nothing at all, always asks high-leveled players for their help. Always struggles in the easiest monster and always..., always..., always loses!!!"


    Player #1: "See that person there!?, he exactly described your life in here..., in the end you are always going to be a total worthless loser."


    Vex: "What did you say, you old-bearded face!"


    Player #1: "Say that again, after I beat you up!"


    With the player''s fist readied, the player prepared himself onto a stance, then he came rushing towards Vex with a devastating punch. Vex prepared himself onto his defensive stance, then moments later, the crowd was shocked to began with. What they had saw with their own eyes is unbelievably true, Vex with his hands on the player''s fists he blocked with was stopped instantly.


    Vex: "I think you got it other way around, look at you!, you can''t even land a punch on a beginner or this so-called noob!"


    With Vex letting go of his hands, his facials were left with a quite bit of shock, noticing that he could block his punch. He thought he was tougher than him, by the looks on him, he actually doesn''t look strong now. With his ferocious face he held, the player does not look happy at all, even worse!, he is two times furious than before.


    Player #1: "YOU LITTLE BRAT!, HOW DARE YOU!"


    Random people in crowd: "Woah!, did you see that guys!?", "He blocked his punch...", "That''s unbelievable!", "Did he hack?", "Who is that guy?"


    Player #2: "You f***** hacker!"


    Luckily there was a system option that can censor any curse words.


    Vex wasn''t the kind of person who would swear over a little thing, but when he does, ho, ho, Ho!, no one wants to see that side of him.


    Vex: "Well excuse me, watch your mouth!"


    Then the player drawed out his two-handed weapon, any harm to players are disabled in safe spots such as the towns, kingdoms and other places. But, the only way was through PvP. Vex knew what was coming from him, it was expected of him, but moments later a unexpected thing happened.


    Suddenly the innkeeper came in interrupting our conversation, it was a tall person with a very muscular build, brown hair with a beard. With a killing intent he gave to us three was indeed a guaranteed chill into our spines, with words coming out from his mouth, everyone stopped making sudden noises and movements because no one wants to test his patience with a bunch of background annoyances. He continued his sayings with red glowing sparkles emitting from his eyes.


    Innkeeper: "You guys take your fight outside!, not inside here!, ARE WE CLEAR!"


    Vex, Player #1, Player #2: "Y-YE-YESSS!"


    Innkeeper: "I saw this whole fight thingy, whatever your name is who shouted out "he''s a hack-"


    Player #2: "Its Damian by the way!"


    Innkeeper: "Well okay!, Damian!, you cannot hack inside this game because the system''s security involves complicated biometric coding. Meaning in order to hack through, one will need a certain type of natural substance from the chosen living organism to access the desired system. Besides, this is the world''s strongest security, not even the world''s greatest hacker wouldn''t even dared try hacking it. So are you still going to say he still hacked the game?"


    Damian: "..."


    With nothing to say, I guess you could say Damian just got told from a Innkeeper, with embarrassment he held, he remained silent and listened what the Innkeeper was going to finish with.


    Innkeeper: "And also, glitches and exploits do not exist within this game, patches are released and auto-downloaded every second without even noticing it. With the world''s best game developers solving every issues, glitches and exploits are impossible to be taken advantage from players"


    Player #1: "How do you know this?"


    Innkeeper: "I''m a NPC, all NPC''s are connected to the main system but only have limited access to only info brokers. Only some special NPC''s have other access to either population system or other things like the emperor himself.."


    Damian: "Baron!, we are leaving now!"


    With Damian walking towards the entrance, he hesitated for a bit, sighed, and began walked outside. It seems something was on about him but it didn''t concern Vex one bit!.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Baron: "You kid!, what''s you''re name!?"


    Vex: "The names Vex!"


    Baron: "I''ll remember you!, next time when I see you im gonna kill you!"


    Then he walked out the door with a furious face, it looked like he really wanted to beat me up badly, ''Well, it wasn''t my fault to start this off anyways...''. With the Innkeeper giving off a saying to the crowd, it looked like he was telling them about the incident that just happened.


    Innkeeper: "You people!, I want you to forget everything that happened here. Tell anyone what happened here and I''ll let you suffer with great fear!!!"


    Crowd: "Y-Ye-Yes!"


    With all the players rushed back to their seats, they continued like nothing happened but a few had still got frightening faces on them. When the Innkeeper walked towards Vex, he gave pat on his head and placed his hand on Vex''s right shoulder.


    Innkeeper: "You alright kid, come and take a seat."


    We both walked to a empty and sat down, had a few drinks and such and we began talking. His name was "Druk", his name is quite strange for a human despite his terrifying face resembling a raged orc. As we got along, we talked more and more, Vex had a bit of laugh and nearly choked himself from the food he was given from Druk. As we finally rested ourselves, Druk asked Vex a question.


    Druk: "So, how did you gain such power!"


    Vex: "I guess you could say training non-stop for two whole days"


    Druk: "You''re lying, no one would want to-"


    Vex: "I''m telling the truth Druk!"


    Druk: "..."


    Vex: "..."


    They both remained silent for some reason, Vex thinks Druk doesn''t believe him, to be honest himself, Vex doesn''t look like the person who would train for that long. It''s the appearances that put people off, it drastically changes their thinking whether they did something or not, or probably depends on the person. Druk''s face showing confusion, still gazing at Vex, ''He still doesn''t believe me, never should of said that'' Vex thought about it. Sipping both of their drinks whilst still being silent, Vex completely forgot about his progression in the library, he is still on the first floor but he needs to pass through that forcefield to reach to the second floor. Finishing his last drop of drink, he slammed the cup onto the table and began saying his sayings to Druk.


    Vex: "I have to go now..."


    Druk: "Where are you heading off to?"


    Vex: "To the library"


    Druk: "Oh, you are doing that thing to get to the top of the tower?"


    Vex: "Yes!, how did you know?"


    Druk: "Well obviously that''s why adventurers all around ''Avast'' come here to reach to that top of that library"


    So that''s why high-leveled players are in this town, maybe because they were interested in taking the challenge to reach to the top, but Vex has a feeling that most of them would quit because it wasn''t their kind of style to take on a challenge which involved mass amount of reading or puzzle-solving like trials. Only combat would''ve interested them but of course, no such thing would exist in the library, ''Not only people can solve through combat, but rather with an intelligent mind, anything is possible'' Vex''s thought came to mind about it, this saying was suited for this library.


    Druk: "That is Archmage Galen''s Library a.k.a the Layfall Library, the greatest magician of all!"


    Vex: "So, would I meet this ''Galen'' when I reach to the top of the library?"


    Druk: "I guess..."


    With no time to waste, Vex needed to say something to Druk before he packed his things.


    Vex: "So Druk, I guess I will be going now..."


    Druk: "See ya lad, you are always welcome here!"


    Vex: "Thank you Druk!, It has been an honor..."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>You have developed a growing friendship towards ''Druk''</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Fame increased by +50</td></tr></tbody></table>


    With Vex walked towards the entrance, he hesitated for a bit and then began walking outside the door. It''s still as ever, players panicking from that ''Satiety/Thirst'' implementation, players running around with mass amounts of money on their hands to buy as much food as possible. Thinking about it, there was a fountain in center of town so that Vex can refill his magic canteen with water as much as possible. As Vex walked towards the center, the fountain was spotted in his sight, with his magic canteen he held, he opened the lid and scooped as much water as he can and he repeated it. After hours of scooping the water he closed the lid and began inspecting it to see how much water it contained.


    *Vex clicks on the magic canteen


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Magic Canteen</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Rarity: E


    Durability: ¡Þ


    Water: 1,000,000L / ¡Þ


    This canteen is enchanted with powerful magic, it seems this canteen can hold unlimited amount of water.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "O-ONE MILLION LITERS OF WATER!"


    Vex then quickly looked to the top left-side of his view, his health is below the safe zone, and suddenly Vex realized he feels exhausted already, due to the fact that "Grind till Forever" skill was kicked in, meaning when his ability deactivated, that extra effect was kicked in as well, deducting his HP by 3,750 points whilst his stamina was depleted by 475 points.


    After that a few notifications appeared.


    *Ding


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>! NOTICE !</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>New Skill Learnt!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>With nothing but bare hands and weak arms, people use to train their arms by repeating the same movement with swiftness and accuracy over days and weeks.</td></tr><tr><td>Skill Learnt (Passive, Toggled)</td><td>[Ancient Art] - Dominant Arm Mastery</td></tr><tr><td>Rarity</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>Effects</td><td>If holding weapons on dominant arm:


    Increase damage dealt by 10%


    Increase attack speed by 5%


    Decrease the durability''s worn-out rate by -3.0x


    If holding any tools on dominant arm:


    Increase its effects from created weapon/armor by 0.2x


    Increase smithing/tailoring speed by 5%


    If holding anything on dominant arm:


    Increase its durability by 3.0x


    If active, apply the following effects until inactive:


    -8HP/s</td></tr><tr><td>Experience</td><td>Novice Level 1 (0.00%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "When I can stop getting overpowered-like skills, I feel like I''m cheating"


    When Vex remembered about how Druk explained no one could hack or anything, it did make Vex a little bit better but his facials still shows the guilt of how overpowered he has gone and he is still a level one. Despite his monstrous-like training back at the training hall which massively skyrocketed his stats whilst still being a beginner, he deserved it for wasting his precious two days in the real world just to boost his stats. Getting himself up from the mountain while his HP and Stamina were slowing recovering, it was about time to settle things in the library, soon Vex will need to find food to replenish his satiety. While walking back to the library, Vex wanted to check his status, just to see how much he has grown from being a beginner to godly-like beginner.


    Vex: "Open status window!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Vex</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Money</td><td>50C 0S 0G</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Profession</td><td>Grinder Lv2 (78.96%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stats</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>4152/4152</td><td>HP/Reg</td><td>14.6/s</td></tr><tr><td>Mana</td><td>452/452</td><td>MP/Reg</td><td>2.3/s</td></tr><tr><td>Stamina</td><td>588/588</td><td>Stamina/Reg</td><td>3.7/s</td></tr><tr><td>Satiety</td><td>100%/100%</td><td>Consumption Rate</td><td>-1%/5min</td></tr><tr><td>Thirst</td><td>95%/100%</td><td>Consumption Rate</td><td>-1%/3.5min</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Battle Stats</td></tr><tr><td>DMG Dealt</td><td>73 - 110</td><td>DMG.Def</td><td>-22</td></tr><tr><td>N/A</td><td><EMPTY></td><td>MAG.Def</td><td>-75</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Points Remaining: 0 / Total Points Distributed: 0</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Intelligence</td><td>5+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom</td><td>5+(20)</td><td>Dexterity</td><td>119+(20)</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality</td><td>126+(20)</td><td>Luck</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Defense</td><td>10+(20)</td><td>N/A</td><td><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Popularity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Title</td><td colspan=''2''><EMPTY></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Fame</td><td colspan=''2''>550</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Meditation of Respite (Intermediate Level 6, 31.55%)


    Fool''s Gold (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)


    [Ancient Art]


    Ancient Art - Blacksmith (Novice Level 1, 0.00%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sword Mastery (Advanced Level 8, 77.76%)


    Lungs of Steel (Intermediate Level 9, 54.76%)


    Speed Reading (Intermediate Level 2, 77.76%)


    Photographic Memory (Intermediate 5, 91.92%)


    [Class Art]


    Just Grind (Master Level 10, 100.00%)


    Grind till Forever (Novice Level 5, 0.00%)


    [Ancient Art]


    Ancient Art - Dominant Arm Mastery (Novice Level 1, 1.21%)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Vex: "Look how much I have grown, gosh its only been about three weeks or so?"


    Then Vex continued walking towards the library, twas the day he will resume his progress into climbing up to the top!


    <hr />


    Author Notes:


    Calculations


    Vex''s HP = (VIT * 25) + (+500 HP (Gained from hidden class reward))


    Vex''s MP = (INT * 10) + (+200 MP (Gained from hidden class reward))


    Vex''s Stamina = (VIT * 3) + (+150 Stamina (Gained from hidden class reward))


    HP/Reg = (VIT * 0.2)/2 (Corrected to one decimal point)


    MP/Reg = (WIS * 0.09) (Corrected to one decimal point)


    Stamina/Reg = (VIT * 0.05)/2 (Corrected to one decimal point)


    Satiety = -1%/5min (Will change if either equipment effects/passives/active skills affects the satiety consumption rate)


    Thirst = -%1/3.5min (Will change if either equipment effects/passives/active skills affects the thirst consumption rate)


    DMG Dealt = (Lowest Damage Possible) - (Highest Damage Possible)


    Note: H.D.P is not typically the highest damage you can do, you know what I mean. :)


    L.D.P = (STR / 2) (Rounded off to nearest one)


    H.D.P = (STR / 2) + STR / 2 (Rounded off to nearest one)


    DMG.Def = (DEF * 0.5) + (STR * 0.05) (Rounded off to nearest one)


    MAG.Def = (INT * 0.5) + (WIS * 0.09) (Rounded off to nearest one)


    <hr />


    Author Notes #2:


    So you guys like the chapter?


    I know I have been writing down ''To the Top, You!" titles even though he''s not in the library, mainly because of some reasons.


    Notice anything unusual or unexplained? Please give a heads out!


    This chapter is a bit of rush so if you notice any mistakes, I''ll fix them shortly


    Next chapter will hopefully have no interruptions for Vex as he moves on to the next floor!


    Anyways thank you for reading this chapter! :)


    PS: Will be making modifications to this chapter


    <hr />