《Edge of Magic》 Prologue : The Dark Lord Prologue Alexander was sitting quietly. Calming his breathing, he began to close his mind from the outer world and concentrate on his own body. One by one, he found each of his muscles and made them works a little, before turning his attention to the next one. With his training, he was now able to control his whole body in a few seconds, but he was in no hurry. The room he was in was white, and with no ornament to catch his attention. So he decided to take a deeper interest in his body. Truthfully, the way his body was restrained was quite uncomfortable, but nowhere nearly painful enough to stop his investigation. He heard a sound; a metallic one. At first he thought the guards were checking once more for what he was doing, but this time, the shriek of steel was stronger. He opened one eye and saw two jailors coming in. He simply relaxed all of his muscles one last time before expiring and standing up. - You have a new visitor, boy, said the older one. This one was around fifty, with traces of grey appearing in his hairs and short beard. He was always calm and kind. Alexander didn¡¯t mind being called a boy by this man. There were never any hostilities in his word. The other one, on the contrary, was throwing daggers with his eyes. Alexander knew he was a martial artist, and was quite arrogant with his ability. And each time Alexander received a bodyguard job offer, this guard was sulking a little more, and his jealousy was growing. - I¡¯m following you, answered Alexander sharply! - Bet you are, roared the angry guard. The kind one took Alexander by the shoulder to guide him towards the visiting room. The first corridors were really calm, but they soon arrived in the main hall, full of prisoners, and Alex could see the angry guard making a discreet sign towards some of them. Two began to fight just after, and others gladly joined the fray. The two guards acted quickly to stop it, letting their prisoner alone, his legs chained and his arms restricted because of his strait jacket. But Alex didn¡¯t stay alone for long though. A big bald mean-eyed guy with bulged muscles was coming to him. - Hi, simply said Alex with a little head salute. Don¡¯t mind if I don¡¯t shake your hand? - You won¡¯t stay that arrogant for long, barked the other. The big guy sent an enormous right fist towards Alex head, who just sighted before acting. With one step, he evaded the attack. With one spin, and using his right shoulder, he deflected it and threw him off balance. Finishing his turn, his forehead easily connected with his enemy¡¯s nose. The other prisoner fell on the floor, his hands hastily reaching for his bloody face. Doing so, he couldn¡¯t see what was coming next, but he heard the following words. - With such strength, you wouldn¡¯t even survived in the eliminatory grounds of the Death Tournament, and you¡¯re trying to fight against its 5 times champion, the Dark Lords, said Alex with a smile. Who¡¯s the arrogant one? Alex jumped with both legs and stomped with his heels in his adversary¡¯s stomach who jerked in pain before losing consciousness. Looking around him, he saw the fray being dispelled by all the guards and the round eyes of the previously angry and now frightened guard. Alex simply smiled at him and waited for them to come. When they came at him, the kind guard glanced at the fallen prisoner and asked: - Care to explain? - A new challenger¡­ - You didn¡¯t need to go that far! - I was still restrained¡­ - That doesn¡¯t mean anything. Even restrained, a shark doesn¡¯t fear a carp¡­ - ¡­ - Ok, ok! Come to the visiting room before going back to your cage, mister Shark. - Your naming sense is quite mean. - You deserved it, finished the man before asking two of his fellow guards to bring the defeated one to the infirmary. The three continued in silence, calm for Alex, thoughtful for the kind one, and nervous for the other. Playfully, Alex whispered to the latter: Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! - Do not fear! I won¡¯t harm you as long as you do not attack me! The guard jumped in surprise and tried, with no success, to hide his emotions. But at that time, they were at the visitor room and Alex stopped teasing him to focus and the one waiting for him: a woman in the mid-twenties, quite beautiful but keeping stern attire and looks. She wore thin glasses hiding her deep blue eyes and a white coat. Probably some doctor or scientist! Alex was a little taken aback by that. A lot of secretaries, male or female, came to see him in the benefit of their employers. Always the same scheme: ¡°Become our employer¡¯s bodyguard, and in no time you¡¯ll be free and rich!¡± He refused all of them. - Hello. I¡¯m Alexander, but you can call me Alex. No surname! And I¡¯m 21; he began with a smile, the gear in his brain trying to judge his interlocutor. I¡¯m also known as the Dark Lord of the Death Tournament or others less kind nicknames. I take you wanted to meet me. - Hello Alex! I¡¯m Nathalie Vercoss, or Doctor Vercoss. I¡¯ve come to you with an offer. - Bodyguards? - No, she said surprised! I¡¯m not hated to the point of needing a bodyguard. It¡¯s for my research. A friend of mine works in a tribunal and advices me about asking your participation¡­ - You have all my attention¡­ - We, I mean me and my team, are doing research on the impact of VRMMO on people and society. We have already some¡­ - One question, asked rapidly Alex, what is a VRMMO? Nathalie just looked at him, flabbergasted, her jaw dropping, before coming back to her senses. - Do you know what virtual reality is? - Yes, part of my training was done in. It¡¯s kind of another world where your body can¡¯t be broken. All injuries disappear after some time. - A VRMMO is similar, but the created world is bigger, and people from all over the world connect to it to live adventures! - Strange idea! But it might be fun¡­ - That why so much people play those games. We already have pro-gamers joining our tests, but we wanted to use the games to try some reinsertion programs. - And that¡¯s where my name came? Strange! I have no knowledge of such games! - And apparently not much experience at what normal interactions with other people should be¡­ - I won¡¯t deny this. So what¡¯s your offer? - You¡¯ll participate in our research. You¡¯ll be connected to one game nearly 24 hours a day. Each day you will have a talk with one of our expert to judge your progress, your change. If our specialists judge you ready, you could be released in less than two years. - That¡¯s your research, said Alex in a smile! What is there for me? - I¡­ You¡­ You don¡¯t want to go out? Alex calmly looked at the researcher and smiled. - Is that all? - Yea¡­ No¡­ I mean¡­ We¡¯re ready to take care of your sister health check-up, and find her a good house to stay and a school to go at, said Nathalie, not really sure of herself anymore. Alex took his time thinking, and judging the one facing him. After two minutes, she began to feel uncomfortable under his vigilant gaze. His past experiences had made Alex a good judge of character and he finally made his mind. - If you¡¯re ready to adopt my sister and take care of her personally, I will be yours to experiment on. Her jaw just dropped at those words, and she blushed at the double meaning of his world. Still shocked, but curious, she asked: - Why? - What do you mean, Doc? - You have refused so much more interesting offers. Why would you accept this one? - I have my reasons! But do you accept my proposition, he continued with a smile? One week later, Alexander was sent to the research facility and placed inside a Game Pod by a team of doctors and connected to a lot of devices which would constantly monitor his health and offer him the necessary nutrients. And there he would be thrown inside of the most popular game of this time, the VRMMORPG ¡°Edge of Magic¡±. Chapter 1 First Connection Chapter 1 First Connection Alex was in a strange white room. It was quite empty. He sighed while looking around - After all this talk about the greatest virtual reality, there¡¯s nothing¡­ - You¡¯re not connected to Edge of Magic yet, said a voice around him. - Where are you, he asked when he found nobody? - Wait a minute, I¡¯m coming. And less than a minute later, he saw the Doctor Nathalie Vercoss appearing before his eyes. - So! Where are we? - It¡¯s your cyberspace. You can modify it as you see fit. You just have to call ¡°Interface¡± and do the change. The time frame of this space is the same that the game¡¯s one: 6 for 1. You¡¯ll live for 6days inside for one day outside. - Why 6? - To simplify life for gamers: 10min correspond to 1 hour, easy to understand and calculate. - Good! - For you, there won¡¯t be any time difference! When you need to sleep, you can either do it here or in the game depending of the cases. - Other thing I need to know! - A lot, told the doctor, but I¡¯ll let the AI of the game explain the details of Edge of Magic. Concerning our research, you¡¯ll just need to live among your peers in any way you want. The only limit concern your account: you¡¯ll have only one avatar available, and your avatar¡¯s name has already been decided. And keep in mind that an AI will look at your action, and if it judges it dangerous for others people, you¡¯ll be disconnect for 1 whole day of real life, the same as the death penalty, or 6 days in here. - What do you judge dangerous? Fighting? - No! That would destroy the principle of the game, but any form of torture, or other behaviors which would risks to cause mental damages will be stopped! - I¡¯m fine with that, answered Alex. And for Emy? - Your sister will be able to connect to the game in 2 weeks, 12 for you. She¡¯ll tell you herself. - Thank you! - Now you just have to connect to the game¡­ Tell ¡°Connect to Edge of Magic¡± and that will do! The doctor disappeared saying those words, and Alex just called: - Connect to ¡°Edge of Magic¡±
You will be connected to Edge of Magic. Are you ready for the transfer? Yes/No
- Yes! A rainbow of colors twisted before his eyes and the scene changed. *** Alex found himself sitting on a chair, facing a beautiful woman. - Hello! I¡¯m the AI Kara. I¡¯ll be your guide for your first step in the game. That is to say the creation of your avatar. Do you want my help?
Do you want the help from the AI Kara for your avatar creation? Yes/No
- Yes! - Good! Do you know about the world, the races, and the game system?
Do you want the explanation about the game from the AI Kara? Yes/No
- Yes! - The world of Edge of Magic is plan and limitless. For the time being only two continent have been discovered, and a total of 102 kingdoms. There are a total of 29 races available for the players. During the gameplay, the player will discover new continent, kingdoms and races. Those will then become available for the new players. Normal players have 3 avatars slots, even if most use only one. But your special account will limit you to one, and your name has already been registered as ¡°Dark Lord¡±. - What?!? - Your name has been registered as ¡°Dark Lord¡± - I shouldn¡¯t have teased her, complained Alexander under his breath. Hey Doc, he shouted! I know you¡¯re looking! Can¡¯t I just keep my name? - ¡­ - ¡­ - A change has been made by your administrator. You can choose your name to be ¡°Dark Lord¡± or ¡°Alex Sanders¡±!
Choose your Name. Dark Lord/Alex Sanders
Without saying a word, Alex just touched the floating screen with his fingertip.
Your name is now ¡°Alex Sanders¡±
- Beware chickens, for I¡¯m on my way, murmured Alex dejectedly! - Do you want me to continue the explanation? - Yes, answered Alex without letting a new screen appear. - I¡¯ll give more information about cities, countries and races during the creation process. I¡¯ll continue the explanation with the game system. - Go on! - Each race have different bonus. Be careful with your choosing. The level of your avatar can give a general idea of your power and give you access to powerful weapons or hard quests. You can equip one Title that will give you different power-ups. You have two general attributes named Fame and Infamy. They govern the way NPCs see you. There¡¯s no upper limit for those. - I see the use of fame, but what of infamy? - Most players see infamy as a penalty, but there are some dark powers or organizations that¡¯ll only offer quests to people with enough infamy. High infamy can ban you from normal cities, but open you others paths, different paths. And there are cities that will only allow people with high infamy inside. - Fine. What else? - After, we¡¯ll talk about your classes. You can have up to 3 classes. The first after level 10, the second at level 50, and the last one at level 100. Each class has 5 steps: Novice, Acolyte, Expert, Master and Grandmaster. Each step has 10 levels before evolving. - Understood. - You can learn any skill you want in the game, but a skill linked to one of your class grow 2 times faster than a normal one. - Fine! - Then you have 2 professions. You need a class related to the said profession, and to succeed in a test. A profession will bring you more bonuses concerning the related class. The steps and levels are the same than for classes. Alex was still listening to the explanation of the AI, but decided to explore a little more the change in the feeling of his body. He began to do some push-ups, rapidly going from the standard form to a one hand and even one finger stand. - You can continue, he told the AI who stopped, looking at his training. - Then come the attributes. 6 primary ones and a lot of secondary ones. The primary are Strength, Agility for your speed, dexterity for your precision, vitality for your life and stamina regenerative ability and for your total amount of life and stamina, intellect for skill and spell power and total amount of mana, and wisdom for mana regeneration and skill or spell growth. At each level you¡¯ll earn 6 points to give to the primary stats alone. - None for the secondary? - You will need to unlock the secondary attributes by yourself, and they will grow depending of your playing. - So I¡¯ll have to choose if I want to be strong, fast, precise, enduring, mighty or fast growing. - Indeed. But you can also gain primary attributes thanks to your action in game as for the secondary attributes. After you have 9 Magic Affinity/Resistance. Higher is one, stronger your skills or spells related, and lesser the damage you receive from a related attack. - This one is easy to understand. - Depending on your actions or quests, you can unlock new magic affinities. - Interesting! - And the last concern the skills. Skills have steps and level as classes: Novice, Acolyte, Expert, Master and Grandmaster. You can learn skills by special actions, by quests or thanks to one of your class. Except for the five first skills you¡¯ll unlock. Those are called soul¡¯s skills. They are growing 3 times faster than normal ones. They will appear due to your first actions in the game. That is all I can say about the game system. - Thanks!
You have finished the tutorial. Do you want to begin your avatar creation? Yes/No
- Yes! - Your name is set as Alex Sanders. Which race do you want? - I don¡¯t know much. Can you explain? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.- Each and every race has bonuses and minuses. Most people take human in the beginning. Human have 10 in each of the 6 attributes, and no particular magic affinity. They can become whatever they want, except of some rare races classes or professions. - Are there some races that have a better growing rate of attributes? - Yes! The two races having the better growing rate for skills and classes are the Nephilims and the Horned Devils. - Can you detail their particularity? - The Horned Devils have a 10%higher growth rate for skills and classes, and begin with 20 in each of their primary attributes. They have a magic affinity to darkness of 20 and of light of -100. Their gain of fame is halved and their gain of infamy doubled. They begin with 200 of infamy. And even with high fame or infamy, depending on the location, the horned ones will be considered enemies by every other race, even dark ones. - That¡¯s no good! I can¡¯t be evil after all. - The Nephilims have a 10%higher growth rate for skills and classes, but begin with 5 in each of their primary attributes. Their affinity for light is 10, and for darkness -10. They do not have kingdoms but can pass for humans, and begin in human cities. Their gain of infamy is doubled when they do evil. Alex pondered for a little time, but finally decided. - I¡¯ll be a Nephilim. - Do you want to alter your appearance some more? Before him appeared a projection of himself, but his skin had change to become more golden and his hairs, already black, were even darker. His eyes kept their dark color. - This is okay! - Where do you want to begin your adventure? Before his eyes appeared a map with glowing cities. He chose one at random. Then he saw his avatar body and himself being absorbed by the map and falling towards the chosen city. *** Without the shock he was waiting for, he landed in the middle of plaza in his starting city, Lutetia of the kingdom of Gallica. He was standing up here and tried to take his first step, but stumbled on a pebble and fall on the ground. He rolled, avoiding the painful fate of hurting himself by falling shamefully on the ground on his first step. The people around him laughed at his antics and an information window popped up, but he discarded it as he was deeply in thought. His movements were so imprecise and he had to exert so much strength just to be standing up. That was quite a change from his well-trained body in the real world. But having no time to lose in regrets, he decided it will help him train his spirit more. So he just sat here and began to concentrate in his muscle. Soon a new window appeared and this time, he looked at it.
You have gained a New Soul¡¯s Skill: Inner Control (Passive&Active) You can see the description of the Soul¡¯s Skills after calling the ¡°Status Window¡±
- Status Window!
NameAlex Sanders
RaceNephilimLevel1
Title?
Health (HP)100/100
Stamina (SP)50/50Mana (MP)50/50
Fame0Infamy0
Class 1?Novice lvl 0
Class 2?Novice lvl 0
Class 3?Novice lvl 0
Profession 1?Novice lvl 0
Profession 2?Novice lvl 0
Primary Attributes
Strength (STR)5Agility (AGI)5
Dexterity (DEX)5Vitality (VIT)5
Intellect (INT)5Wisdom (WIS)5
Secondary Attributes
?
Magic Affinity/Resistance
Earth0Wind0
Fire0Water0
Light10Dark-10
Nature0Lightning0
Gravity0
Soul''s Skills
Ukemi Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 1 12%
Inner Control (Passive&Active)Novice lvl 1 42%
?Novice lvl 0
?Novice lvl 0
?Novice lvl 0
- Show ¡°Ukemi Mastery¡±.
Ukemi Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 1 12% By rolling upon falling you can reduce the damage by as much 6%. The effective percentage depends on your dexterity and timing of your action.
- Not so bad! Show ¡°Inner Control¡±.
Inner Control (Passive&Active) Novice lvl 1 42% (Passive) You have gained perfect control over your body. All of you stats increase by 6%. Your skill and class growth increase by 1%. Your stamina, life and mana regeneration increase by 6%. (Active) By meditating you can gain a temporary buff: All stats +18% Mana, Life and Stamina regeneration +18% Meditation time: 5min Duration: 1min
- The passive is fine, but I¡¯ll need to work on the active one if I want it to be useful! Standing up, and moving in an easier way thanks to the buff, Alex asked a guard for the direction of the library. He had decided of two things: he¡¯ll need to know more about the classes of the games, and he¡¯ll need to train his body so he¡¯ll move in a better way. But with the Inner Control and his own experience, he knew he will be able to do an effective training. However, for his research, he had no idea how he should do it. He decided to then use the remaining spots of his soul¡¯s skills for this. Chapter 2 The Epic Class Chapter 2 The Epic Class Alex was calmly walking in the city. He could have run but decided otherwise. His first reason was that he was in no hurry. The second was is low level stamina, which was depleting fast enough by walking. With just those reasons, he would have probably run just for the sake of training, but he had a third reason: Soul¡¯s Skills. He was sure that should he run, he would gain a ¡°Running Mastery¡± skill, and he was not interested to have such a skill take the place of one of the Soul¡¯s Skills. So he was walking in the city when he caught a glimpse of a falling object aiming for his skull. With his right hand, he deflected the flower pot and caught it in his hand without breaking it. Because of his low stats, he had trouble managing this move and he even lost some HP. But his years old training paid off.
You have lost 26HP
Achievement : Catching the falling pot DEX +1
New Soul¡¯s Skill: Seikuken
- Show Information ¡°Seikuken¡±, asked Alex with a sigh.
Seikuken (Passive) Novice lvl 1 12% You are aware of every movement 5cm around your body. When deflecting an attack, you can send 11% of its power in the direction of your choice
Sure the skill was good. Alex already understood how strong he would become when this skill would evolve, but he had one slot for soul¡¯s skill taken. Only two more to help him. He decided to be extra careful to not do anything out of ordinary. But having spent his youth training number of martial arts, fighting, and then in jail, he could easily recognize the fact that he had no idea of what was out of the ordinary. He just continued to walk, taking care of not doing anything other than walking. Letting people bumping into himself was really unnerving. He had to go against all of his carefully trained reflexes, but he couldn¡¯t afford to do any action the system would recognize as abnormal. So, the travel to the library took him thrice the time it could have taken him if he was walking normally, and nearly thirty times the time it would have taken him in reality. But despite the obstacles fate threw upon his way, he finally succeeded in reaching the library. It was a big mansion, with two statues of opened books in the entry. He stepped in and was taken aback by the sheer number of bookcase. A small man with round glasses and a purple robe came to him and asked: - Welcome traveler in the Great Library of Gallica. You will be able to find book on every subject that might interest you in here! If you want, I can guide you towards books concerning a particular subject! - Do you have books explaining quantum physics? - ¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m afraid such a subject does not exist¡­ - Sure it exists! But not here, teased him Alex. Perhaps you have some books explaining the reign of Dagobert of the Merovingian Dynasty? - Who? - ¡­ - ¡­ - Sorry¡­ In fact I just wanted books explaining classes and soul¡¯s skills, but you just had to say you had books about any subject so¡­ - Ah¡­ It was a joke! Fine¡­ Fine¡­ I thought we were missing books about important subjects! Just choose a table and I¡¯ll bring you the concerned volumes, told the man with obvious relief. Alex did as he was told and found a quiet corner to sit. Soon after the little man came back with tens of books. Considering the weight of one such volume he had to have quite a bit of strength. - Here! This one explains all about the acquisition of Soul¡¯s Skills. You¡¯ll find some examples but there¡¯s too much Soul¡¯s Skills existing for them to be all registered! Even here! The next explains the art classes. This one the craft classes. Here are the Magic classes, and this one is about the fighting classes. Another about adventuring classes. And this about dark ones! And finally the greatest: this one here, he said showing the last book, explains about the rank of classes! Quite useful for new adventurers! - Thank you very much! - Don¡¯t hesitate to ask for me if you need help! I¡¯m called Etourdix! - ¡­ I¡¯m Alex *** During hours, Alex just read those books. Tales could be recounted about his glorious fights against flies, dust or headaches, but it had been decided by a higher instance to just give a summary of his discovery. Soul¡¯s Skills had rank. Some situation could happen at not so random occurrence during your first days, and you reaction would help you gain a stronger or weaker skill. For instance, when falling in the first day, Alex could have unlocked the skills ¡°Tripping¡±, ¡°Falling¡± or ¡°Rolling Mastery¡±. But his quick action allowed him to obtain the strongest one ¡°Ukemi Mastery¡±. In the same way, from the falling pot, lots of adventurers were recorded to have attained the following skills: ¡°Fainting¡±; ¡°Blunt resistance¡±; ¡°Obliviousness¡±; ¡°Awareness¡± or ¡°Counterstrike¡±. But there were nothing about someone catching the pot intact, or about the Seikuken. Following this discovery, Alex decided to continue reading until he couldn¡¯t stand anymore in the hope of unlocking a high-tier skill, should he unlock one. After this first book, he had managed to create a new attributes, his first one: ¡°Reading (REA)¡± that should help him reading and discovering clues faster. It was soon followed by the ¡°Focus (FOC)¡± stat that will improve the success rate or skill or spells. But Alex just disregarded them, and the following messages about gain of REA, FOC, INT or WIS, and continued reading. After four more books, he received a message about the hungry state that will consume stamina. He just read through another book, gaining the Willpower (WIL) and Asceticism (ASC) stats. The former could help him endure curses and minuses when the former would augment the time needed to go to the hunger state and the stamina loss when in this state. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. When his health began to be affected, Alex finally took a break and took out of his inventory a piece of bread and a flask of water. He ate quickly and used the active effect of his ¡°Inner Control¡± skill to recover his stamina faster. And he came back to reading once more. It took him a whole 63 hours with barely any break to finish all of the books. Then he took a well merited nap. His stats were now:
Primary Attributes Strength (STR) 5 Agility (AGI) 5 Dexterity (DEX) 6 Vitality (VIT) 5 Intellect (INT) 11 Wisdom (WIS) 11 Secondary Attributes Reading (REA) 12 Focus (FOC) 11 Willpower (WIL) 7 Asceticism (ASC) 6
His Seikuken had passively gain 12 more percent towards the next level, and his Inner Control Skill was now:
Inner Control (Passive&Active) Novice lvl 3 64% (Passive) You have gained perfect control over your body. All of you stats increase by 8%. Your skill and class growth increase by 3%. Your stamina, life and mana regeneration increase by 8%. (Active) By meditating you can gain a temporary buff: All stats +24% Mana, Life and Stamina regeneration +24% Meditation time: 5min Duration: 3min
What he learned during his long read about classes were as follow: There are 4 class levels. The base classes are easily obtained, just by going to the related guild in any city. Harder to obtain are the special classes. They are usually derived from normal classes with some special bonuses and skills. You need a special quest, or to be in a special place to be able to obtain one. The third level concerns the unique classes. Such a class can only be learned by one person at a time. They usually need a high level quest to obtain. And the last are the epic classes. No one is known to have attained such a class. The requirements for those are usually insane. *** After some hours of resting, Alex woke up once more. He stood up quickly when he saw the window standing above him:
New Soul¡¯s Skill: Seeker of Truth (Active) Novice lvl 1 67% By examining objects and seeking bits of information, you have learned to discern if NPCs or books detain hidden information. By focusing on a particular subject, you can filter the information. You¡¯ll see a glowing aura in such a case. With each level, you can see the glow with less focus. You can also gain bonus of fame when discovering new facts, information or even discern hidden motives. No cost.
At first the whole library was glowing of a blue aura, but Alex focused his mind on the idea of hidden classes, and the glow receded. But there were still too much brilliance. So he concentrated on the thought of gaining an epic class. And he saw a faint glow coming his way. It wasn¡¯t a book. A person was glowing. Deactivating the skill, he looked right before him and saw Etourdix coming his way. - Have you found what you were looking for my friend? It¡¯s already been 3 days since you coming here! - I haven¡¯t found it yet. But I have a good clue in hand! - Oh! Can I help you? - Sure you can! For what I know, nobody else can. I am searching about information concerning an epic class! - Oh! I¡¯m sorry, but I have to tell you we have no book here that can help you obtain one! Others have come and none have found his desire. - I didn¡¯t ask for a book, but for information! Information I know you have! - Wha¡­ What? How? - You are a really bad liar! - How? - First, you were all flustered three days ago when I ask for a book you did not have. But now you just answered calmly.
Your deduction help you evolve your skill: Seeker of Truth lvl2 03%
- And I also have a skill called seeker of truth that tell me you have that information, continued Alex dismissing the pop-up window. - Ah¡­ Fine! Come with me! Without waiting or confirmation, Etourdix turned around and began to walk away. Alex quickly followed in his steps. Etourdix arrived before a metal door and searched a minute in sleeves for the key, and took out a big heavy key and opened the door. No shelves or decorations in this room. Just a pedestal with a book on. Alex took a step in but was stopped by the hand of the librarian. - You can¡¯t! Not yet! You have to prove yourself to me before! - What do I have to do? - You have to succeed in the Novice tests of the Hall of Power, Courage and Knowledge while still being level 1!
New Quest: Proof of Ability ? Requirements: Level 1 Skill Seeker of Truth Friendly with Etourdix the librarian Prove yourself by the 3 Novice tests: Courage in the Training Hall Power at the Blacksmith Knowledge in the Library Stay level 1 until the end of the quest Reward: Book ¡°the way of Tao¡± Fame +100
Do you accept the quest? Yes/No
- I accept! I shall prove my ability! What shall I do? Chapter 3: Trials Chapter 3: Trials Following the advices of the librarian Alex decided to continue the test of Knowledge. The Novice test was in fact quite easy. He just had to read books until he could gain up to 20 point in both Intellect and Wisdom. That was the more one could gain in the official library. During two more days, he could alternate between reading, eating, sleeping and meditating. He gained from that 5 more point in both Intellect and Wisdom, and also 6 for Reading, 4 for Focus, and 3 for Willpower and Asceticism. At this time, he received a message:
You have received a message from the exterior: Time of your daily check-up! Come out!
Without waiting, Alex disconnected from the game and reappeared inside his cyber space. - No modification in your cyberspace¡­ I had hoped you would have create a comfy place for our encounter - Sorry! I took too much time thinking of the kind of bed I should install but could not decide in the end. - ¡­ I knew I shouldn¡¯t have tried to play words with you. How is it? - Strange. I¡¯m weak and I just keep getting strange abilities? I¡¯ve also found a quest and I¡¯m trying to accomplish it! - Did you encounter some people? - Yes, the librarian. He is quite friendly and a great help for the time being. - Anybody other than a NPC? - ¡­ I don¡¯t think so! - You should try to interact with players sometimes. It is the base of our program after all¡­ But it is just the first day after all. - I will try to talk to people from times to times, Doc! - Fine! And do you want to talk about your past? - Do you want to hear so much about those I killed? - Not so much! I would prefer to hear about how you tried to live! - ¡­ I¡­ - Not Ready yet? - Sorry Doc! - No problem! But just remember that I¡¯m here to listen, if you happen to be ready to talk Alex! - Yes. Thank you! - So it should be enough for today. I will go then. - What? Is that all? - Nothing happened and you don¡¯t want to talk about your past! There¡¯s nothing left to do! Next time will perhaps be longer, but that should do. - Okay, was all that Alex could murmur, flabbergasted. *** During the following day, or six days from Alex point of view, he just continued to read, managing to finish the test of Knowledge. He tried once or twice to talk with normal people, but he did not know what to talk about and could not join a party at the risk of failing his quest. So he took a little time to install a chair and a divan for his next session with the doctor. He did not say much, but she seems happy enough of him trying. And then he came back to the game. - Hi! I was waiting for you, said Etourdix with a smile. They had become quite friendly during the last days. - Are you ready for the next one? - Can I go to the training Hall? - It would be better to do the Power Test first! You will gain more stamina, and it will help you for the Courage Test later! - You¡¯re right. But I want to try something for my last Soul¡¯s Skill instead of waiting with the hope of gaining a good one! I just need a scarecrow in order to test it! - Perfect! You just have to follow me then! The two of them just left the library and went to the training hall. The librarian had a few word with the instructor before bringing Alex to a scarecrow. - Do what you need! Without any word, Alex took a stance. In an instant, he plunged toward his imaginary foe, propelling himself with all the strength of his left leg. At the exact time the palm of his right hand connected to the dummy, he stomped with his right leg while rotating his foot. It was a powerful attack aiming at inner organs, but the scarecrow, which had no internal system, just withstood it with no damage. However, there was no problem as the system recognized the attack and created the fifth and last soul¡¯s Skill.
New Soul¡¯s Skill: Tsuuhaiken (Active) Novice lvl 1 50% Powerful energy attack. Need a direct contact, or an indirect through a solid material to work. Ignore all Defense Injure the enemy by 6% of the caster total MP amount Cost: 500MP
- So, asked Etourdix? Have you succeeded? - Yes! But the cost is really high! Twice my total amount of mana even after having finished the knowledge test! That¡¯s insane. - But if the cost is high, the skill should be powerful! - Not yet! But it will! Soon! - So it will be! Now, do you want to proceed with the Power test? - I¡¯m following! And the two left the training hall to go in the direction of the Blacksmith. Once more, Etourdix took a little time to talk with his interlocutor on his own before calling for Alex. - Alex. I shall present you Fulliautomatix, our blacksmith! He is the one who will show you where to train and explain what to do! Now I have to go! I can¡¯t let the library for too long! Good luck, and come back once you have finished this test. Saying those words, Etourdix just let Alex alone with the blacksmith. Even if he wasn¡¯t small himself, he had to look up in order to see the craftsman face to face. This two and half meter giant, with enough muscle to have two time Alex¡¯s shoulders width, just stood here, studying his new student. After a moment, he just turned. - Come. Alex quietly followed him towards the back of his store. He took a big two-hand hammer, lifted it easily and handed it to Alex. The young man took it in his hands, but at the very moment the blacksmith let it go, he fell on his knee because of the weight, barely managing to keep holding the tool. - Break that, said simply the blacksmith without any interest toward Alex and showing a big rocky pillar. You won¡¯t earn any point until the end of the trial! Bye. The giant turned back and left the dumbfounded challenger with a heavy hammer and a rocky pillar to destroy. Alex stood here, letting the hammer fall on the ground and thinking about the best strategy to succeed. He concentrated on the idea of weaknesses and activated the ¡°Seeker of Truth¡±, but the pillar was homogenous, and it was obvious he would have to rely on strength and stamina to overcome this ordeal. He took some bread out of his inventory. He had long finished his own stock, but Etourdix the librarian kindly gave him some more when he accepted the quest ¡°Proof of Ability¡±. He ate a bit and drank a little water, coming from the plaza¡¯s fountain. He then used his Inner Control which had hit Novice level 5 during his first challenge. He now could obtain a 30% increase in stats and regeneration for 5min, for a 5min meditation. He stood up once his buff obtained. He took the hammer¡¯s handle in hands, letting the head on the ground behind him. Then, in a swift movement using his legs, hips and back muscles, he managed to propel the heavy hammer toward his aim. He heard a loud noise and a powerful shock came back to him. But he kept standing and the handle in hands. He had just managed to do a little dent. Without despairing, he just began anew. He hit, hit, and hit again the pillar. Then he stopped for a short meditation before hitting once more. One hour passed, and he was still hitting. He had only made a fist-sized hole in his rock. And hours continued to flow. After 12 hours, he took a ten minutes break to eat a little. He had broken only one sixth of his objective. And without sleeping or logging out, he just continued to hit the rocky pillar, hour after hours, for three days straight, until it fell on the floor, completely broken. Hearing a loud noise, the blacksmith came back and pondered a moment, looking at the broken rock and taken by surprise by the fast end of the trial. He then turned to face Alex: - You¡¯ve done well, boy!
You have finished the Novice Power Test You¡¯ve gained: 20 STR 20 VIT
New Stat: Perseverance (PER) Perseverance lessens the amount of stamina needed for long, arduous or repetitive tasks.
Achievement: Mad Hitter You¡¯ve finished the Power test in one go, without sleeping or logging out. You¡¯ve gained: 20 WIL 20 FOC 20 PER 10 ASC
Alex also knew his inner control had evolved a few times, but he did not take the time to look at tit during the test. Now he asked: - Show ¡°Inner Control¡±.
Inner Control (Passive&Active) Novice lvl 8 56% (Passive) You have gained perfect control over your body. All of your stats increase by 13%. Your skill and class growth increase by 8%. Your stamina, life and mana regeneration increase by 13%. (Active) By meditating you can gain a temporary buff: All stats +39% Mana, Life and Stamina regeneration +39% Meditation time: 5min Duration: 8min
This skill was truly beginning to look good. Of course the increases in stats weren¡¯t shown in his avatar window and wouldn¡¯t help him with item restrictions, but Alex could truly feel his body moving faster and being stronger. Alex thanked the giant blacksmith and quickly went to meet Etourdix once more. Upon entering the library, he was stopped by a young girl of approximately 10 years of age. - Sorry Mister! Do you know where to find book of magic? - Why don¡¯t you ask the clerk, asked Alex by showing Etourdix who was lost between the pages of a two person tall volume? - No! ... He¡¯s too frightening with his glasses and his strange gaze! Alex was flabbergasted by the statement. The girl was finding this kind, friendly and unable to lie middle-aged man too frightening but was asking him, the Dark Lord, for help. But he then realized that nothing on him could connect to the coldhearted blood-soaked murderer he was, and he let himself answer the pledge of the maiden. - What kind of magic? - Summoning! I want to make lot of spirit friends and go to the world together. Alex just smiled at this statement, but for once his smile was forced and quite sad. But he soon dispelled his heavy thought and activated the Seeker of Truth by focusing on summoning techniques. He found different glows in the Library, all coming from the same bookshelf, but one in particular was stronger. He just took the concerned books and read the title: ¡°FengShui Summons¡±. - Information!
FengShui Summons This book contains technique for summoning the Five Great Guardians of a great fallen Empire. Requirements: Link with Tao or FengShui Seeker of Truth skill Interest in Summoning techniques Those requirements are for finding the book. If the book is the offered, anybody can learn of the techniques inside.
- Whoa! I didn¡¯t think it could turn that good! I haven¡¯t even got the first clue for the class and it already gives something like that! Then Alex turned toward the girl. - This book is special. Use it and you¡¯ll gain a special summoning class. Or if you prefer, just use any other book in this shelf! He then left the girl without waiting to hear her murmuring words of thanks and went back to Etourdix who had closed his tome. - So you are now guiding people in the library? - I wouldn¡¯t have to if someone wasn¡¯t so frightening, retorted Alex with a smile? - Who are you calling frightening? I¡¯m nowhere frightening comparing me to a madman able to finish the power test in 3 days! - Not my words, Etou¡¯! Not mine! Alex kindly let Etourdix pout for some seconds before coming back to the subject. - I¡¯m ready for the last test! But can it be done in 3 days? I went to try to do it in one go! - I wouldn¡¯t have thought it was possible to do the Power test in 3 days, so I can really say! Just come with me and judge by yourself! - Fine. *** Alex had talked to the instructor thanks to Etourdix help. This one told him that the first challenge was impossible without at least 4 days. Great warriors could accomplish it in less time, but it was obvious Alex did not have enough agility or dexterity to do it. So Alex just decided to take a nap. When he woke up, he then went to visit the city. He was looking around the stores, in his beginner attire, and with no money when he stumbled on a scene: a man in a shiny armor was holding a woman arms, visibly hurting her, and had his right fist ready to hit at any time. Just as it began to descend, Alex stepped in and deflected the attack and used his momentum to make his opponent fall. - Who do you think you are, began to shout the warrior? I¡¯m¡­ At the very moment his eyes caught a glimpse of the one who had stopped him; he paled and began to sweat. He then stepped back and bowed to the one who made him fall. - I¡­ I¡¯m so sorry! Whatever I¡¯ve done was by no mean to upset you, he told with a breaking voice! All the audience, who were simply looking at the dispute, began to wonder. Who was this noob able to make such a warrior fall on his knee crying of fright? At this time, the woman chose to thank her savior by taking what was inside his pockets. And that was what one could call a bad idea. Two of her fingers were instantly caught and twisted in a way that made her twirl in the air before falling on the ground. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Alex was using such techniques because he didn¡¯t need to use much strength or speed to make them work; just a lot of experience and a good timing were required. - So you were a thief! I¡¯m sorry of my misunderstanding, apologized Alec to the warrior. I¡¯ll let you deal with her. Hope you won¡¯t resent me! - No! No! It¡¯s fine! No problem, quickly shouted the other guy. It was my fault! No trouble! It¡¯s fine! Thanks! You¡¯re welcome! Fine! Bye. The warrior quickly delivered those words while stepping back, barely keeping hold on his prisoner. He soon left, letting Alex and the whole audience taken aback in the streets. However, this situation soon began to disturb Alex. First, he was wondering when he had met the man and what he had done to him, and secondly, he remarked that he had obtained some Crowd control ability. Wherever he went, he was like Moses crossing the Red Sea. Bothered, he went back to the training hall and log out from here. *** During two he did not logged in. He created a fine house in his cyberspace with a living room, a bedroom, even a kitchen and a bathroom. He did not truly need the latter one, but it find it more pleasant this way. He even created a small garden with a pond, and a big dojo where he could train, or to allow himself to unwind if needed. And during these days it was needed. When Nathalie Vercoss, his doctor and psychiatrist, came, she found him so focused in his work off that he did not even remarked her presence. She kept herself from calling for him and rapidly understood there was a problem. Then she took a chair and sat inside his new training hall to question him. - What happened? Alex turned quickly his guard already up, but he recognized the woman facing him and the tension left him. He then felt mortified of having not sense her before. - Can¡¯t believe I¡¯ll lose myself that much! I¡¯ve always managed to keep my head cool in every situation and now¡­ - Do you want to share? - It¡¯s nothing! Not really anything important¡­ - It is important if I can affect you that much! - It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯ve met a guy in the game. He was so terrified! Like he had seen a ghost, or a monster, or even the boogeyman! Perhaps even the three at the same time. I didn¡¯t know him, could not remember anything I could have done to have earned such¡­ - You¡¯ve met other people before. No one acted frightened? - Of course! I was terrifying! But I was in the Hell Ring! There were criminals, fighters, martial artists or others, but all were ready to die and had conviction! And from my former ¡°employer¡±, I could only met gangsters and truants. They were afraid of me. But I never saw so much horror in the eyes of anybody. - Even after? - My sister was never shocked! She¡¯s really strong. As for the Special Forces, the lawyers, the judges, the doctors, the jailers and my fellow prisoners, none of them showed much emotion. It would seem I wasn¡¯t the worse they had seen! - Was it the first? - The first¡­ no¡­ but I always knew why they were so afraid of me, or why they hated me so much. - So what upset you is that you don¡¯t know the reason is afraid of you? Alex just pondered a little on what Nathalie told him, and finally saw the true in those words. - Yes. I think it¡¯s that Doc. - You know your fight were filmed and sold in the black market¡­ - Yes, but what¡­ - Just think! If anybody were to find such a video, wouldn¡¯t they be afraid of you? I know you made sure your sister never saw those! That¡¯s because you know the effect it can have on an innocent soul. And if you¡¯re afraid of the reaction of the sister you care for and looked after, you should understand the reaction of someone who know you only by those! - Are you sure it¡¯s that? Couldn¡¯t it be something else? - If you¡¯re sure you never met or wronged him, I¡¯m quite sure he saw one of your fights. And the VIP in the arena knew what was going on, so it probably because of a video! Alex sat on the floor and his shoulders dropped slightly. - I don¡¯t know if I have to be happy to know why or be sad of this truth! All my adversaries were ready for death, but for someone to¡­ You can believe me or not, he continued looking at his hands, but never before I have been so painfully aware that my fists could truly hurt! I think I never scarred anybody as much as this man, or this boy I don¡¯t know! After all he seemed quite young! Nathalie sat next to him and patted him on the shoulder. During some long minutes, a kind silence floated in the room, letting Alex¡¯s soul heal itself and helping him recover. One thing was sure: after is heavy confession, Miss Vercoss could not have imagined the following words to be pronounced: - I was wondering, Doc¡­ - What? - You¡¯ve adopted my sister, right? - Yes, as we agreed! And she¡¯ll probably connect to the game in a little more than one week. - One week? - I wanted to make sure she was adapting to her new life before, so I made some conditions! - Ah! Good, said Alex, surprised! I¡­ Hum¡­ - So, what were you thinking about? - Oh, I¡¯m not sure I should tell you. It would be better left untold! - What? Just say it! Upon seeing the hesitant and yet playful smile on Alex face, Nathalie wasn¡¯t so sure anymore she wanted to know. But she didn¡¯t stop him, and he used the chance: - As I am my sister¡¯s brother, I was wondering if I should call you ¡®Mom¡¯! After that, the doctor logged out, flustered, and Alex just kept massaging his injured left cheek, impressed by the very effective wrist movement of her slap. *** After a short break, Alex was finally ready to go back to the world of ¡°Edge of Magic¡±. Until know he had considered the whole thing as a game he could play with no worry, just in order to have fun, for the first time in his life. But now he understood the importance of the word ¡°Reality¡± in VRMMO. People could get hurt in here, even if not physically, and people could truly live in. His whole life he was fighting, searching a place to live in, and he was now ready to fight for this new world, this world who would be his for at least twelve other years in game time. When he logged in, the instructor was already here and instructed him to come. He followed in a place where 4 scarecrow where standing. As instructed, he went in the center, having each of them looking to him: one was facing him, another was in his back, one was at his left and the last was at his right. Each had five blue stones: one in the stomach, one in the chest, one in the head and the two other in each hand. - When you¡¯ll begin, one stone will light. Hit it. If you take too long, the lit will go to another one. The same happens if you hit it. 200 000! It¡¯s the number of successful hits you need to pass this test. If you hit a wrong one, you¡¯ll need one more successful attack. All stats gain will be delayed until the end of the test. Call for me if you want to abandon. - I¡¯m ready! You can begin, Master! Hearing this, the instructor just arched a brow, and launched the session. And during hours, Alex just kept hitting the stone when they lit. At first nobody cared for him, but soon enough, all in the hall were looking at him. Then people began to come in the hall just to look at the one ¡®who was dancing among the scarecrows¡¯. In fact, Alex was far from fast and precise because of his low agility and dexterity attributes, but the way he reached at each glowing stone, with well-timed movements and no hesitation, was quite fascinating. When a stone was lighting, his hand or feet was coming from it. He was always balanced and ready to change his movement to meet his needs. No movement was wasted. No strength was lost. But if after the second day, even the fascinated crowd began to tire, and they all soon left, except for some rare people. It took him nearly 60 hours, 60 unending and exhausting hours, but after those 60 hours he received the following messages:
You have finished the Novice Courage Test You¡¯ve gained: 20 AGI 20 DEX
Achievement: Fast Hitter You¡¯ve finished the Courage test in one go, without sleeping or logging out. You¡¯ve gained: 10 VIT 10 WIL 10 FOC 10 PER 10 ASC
Achievement: Perfect Hitter You¡¯ve finished the Courage test without missing a single hit. You¡¯ve gained: 10 AGI 10 DEX 20 FOC 10 WIL
- Incredible! I¡¯ve never seen anyone finishing it this fast! No wonder Etourdix thinks of showing you this book! Just go to him and he will give you your reward! Alex was glad. He had now finished the last of the Novice tests, he had gained a lot of stats, and his skill proficiency for the Seikuken had grown a lot. But he was also quite tired this time, and he fell asleep on the floor of the training hall.
Here''s his avatar window at the end of chapter 3. Thank you all for your kind words!
NameAlex Sanders
RaceNephilimLevel1
Title?
Health (HP)790/790
Stamina (SP)395/395Mana (MP)282/282
Fame0Infamy0
Class 1?Novice lvl 0
Class 2?Novice lvl 0
Class 3?Novice lvl 0
Profession 1?Novice lvl 0
Profession 2?Novice lvl 0
Primary Attributes
Strength (STR)25Agility (AGI)35
Dexterity (DEX)36Vitality (VIT)35
Intellect (INT)25Wisdom (WIS)25
Secondary Attributes
Reading (REA)28Focus (FOC)73
Willpower (WIL)57Asceticism (ASC)34
Perseverance (PER)31
Magic Affinity/Resistance
Earth0Wind0
Fire0Water0
Light10Dark-10
Nature0Lightning0
Gravity0
Soul''s Skills
Ukemi Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 1 12%
Inner Control (Passive&Active)Novice lvl 8 67%
Seikuken (Passive)Novice lvl 7 23%
Seeker of Truth (Active)Novice lvl 3 46%
Tsuuhaiken (Active)Novice lvl 1 50%
Chapter 4 Way toward the Tao Chapter 4 Way toward the Tao Alex jumped backwards, escaping from¡­ a girl¡¯s hand. She had tried to approach him during his sleep, and if his escape from her hand could seem embarrassing, he was only feeling proud: proud of not having reflexively launched a preemptive attack. He rapidly looked at the time displayed at a corner of his vision, and knew he had sleep for nearly 14 hours. But he was now in great shape. - Are you okay, asked the girl with a worried face? - I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m just waking up. Alex stood up and took a look at the girl. With a height of 1m70, a slender figure, clear blue eyes and golden curly hair, she was sure to attract attention. But more than being attracted, Alex was being cautious around beautiful women. More than once some had tried to kill or incapacitate him by sending shiny eye-catching killers. - I¡¯ve seen you train on those scarecrows, continued the girl, ignoring his inner turmoil. That was incredible! My group is looking for a new member and I was thinking it could be good if you could join us. Alex instantly thought it to be a trap. She would bring him in a dark alley where he would have to face tens of attackers. He was ready to deny the offer, but he began to remember. First he could not die in this world, at least not definitely. Second he was no more the Dark Lord, and he should now live as Alex Sanders, no matter how lame that name was. Third the avatar¡¯s appearance could be changed, so the one facing him could as well be a normal girl, and not a beautiful and lethal assassin. Fourth, he had promised Doc to try to talk to other player. Moreover he was quite glad people stopped avoiding him. - That would be great, but I first need to achieve a quest first! - Would that be long? - I just need to go to the quest giver now. You can follow me if you want. Without waiting for her answer, he just went in his way toward the library. He heard more than once joyous exclamations and discussions. His new friend was obviously well known in the city. He first waited for her, but soon understood that she would keep talking until he was gone. He just stopped to care about her until he arrived at the library. - Etourdix, he said to his librarian friend. I¡¯ve accomplished the quest. I am ready.
Quest Finished: Proof of Ability ? Requirements: Level 1 Skill Seeker of Truth Friendly with Etourdix the librarian Prove yourself by the 3 Novice tests: Courage in the Training Hall Power at the Blacksmith Knowledge in the Library Stay level 1 until the end of the quest Reward: Book ¡°the way of Tao¡± Fame +100
- Come with me, said Etourdix with a smile. - Can you wait here for a minute, asked Alex to the girl? - It might take more, said Etourdix. You¡¯ll have a lot to learn.
Julia has sent you a friend request. Do you accept? Yes/No
- Yes.
Julia is now your friend.
- Good, said the girl happily! Just contact me when you¡¯re finished. - How should I find you, asked Alex? Julia paused a moment, before understanding the meaning of those words. - If you open your friend list, you can communicate with any of your friend, even from a long distance! Just do that when you come back. And she just left him here, waving her hand as goodbye. Alex turned to follow Etourdix and went once more in the sealed room. But this time, Etourdix let him in. - Knock on the door when you want to leave. - You¡¯re not coming. - I¡¯m the guardian of this book, you¡¯re his legitimate owner. I shouldn¡¯t be authorized to look at its content. And he left and closed the door. Alex opened the book and began to read: In the short plains of Infinity, Bearing the weightlessness of Gravity, During an instant of Eternity, Suffering from a light of shining darkness, The keeper of the Equilibrium, The Way is hidden by the Truth. Dumbstruck, Alex began to turn the pages of the book, but all the others were blank. He first thought the information to be hidden somewhere else in the room, but his skill was only showing a distinct glow coming from the book. When he looked at the first page, the words were glowing so strongly he was nearly blinded. But he didn¡¯t manage to understand the meaning of this poem. As he used to do in such a situation, where he was obviously missing an important point, he just sat down and concentrated in the sensation provided by his body. He soon calmed down and pondered on the word. He came to the conclusion that the hidden meaning was in the last word: this book should be giving a key toward the Tao, or the Way in his right meaning, and the Truth was hiding the Way. The Truth was probably a reference to the ¡°Seeker of Truth¡± skill, which was a requirement for the previous quest. As this skill should show the hidden meaning, his only assumption was that he had to focus on one idea: the Tao. He stood up and tried once more, but the book showed no reaction. He was still missing a point. He read once more the poem. He then understood. The word ¡°Tao¡± was the key! Its meaning was. And the poem was here to explain; to explain the junction of opposite element, the links between the elements of the universe, the balance that kept it stable and allowed for life and spirit to exist. Making those idea his, he focused on them until they impregnated each of his cells and looked once more the poem, activating his skill at the same time. The words began to twirl and swallowed him whole. When he woke up, he had no more body and was the powerless witness of the unfolding events. *** The Heaven¡¯s War was unfolding. The Gods, shining from their holy power, the Devils, clouded by a voracious darkness, the Dragons, flying through typhoons and breathing rains of fire, the Leviathans, in waves of destructions and auras of glaciations and the Titans, shaking the ground and making the whole earth quake with each of their steps, were fighting. And their battleground was the lands of mortals. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. At the time, there were no big cities or kingdoms: only small groups of survivors trying desperately to live through this terrible apocalypse. But no help could come as the higher being were too busy destroying each other. But among one of those surviving groups was a young man. He could not bear anymore to be left as prey for those above him who did not see him as more than a bug. So he left his family to see the world and to discover the true meaning of the universe. Fifty years had passed when he came back. No one could have imagined him coming back. They were all sure he was long dead. But he was not! He helped and healed the human, and then went and exhorted the higher being to stop this unending war and go back to their own realms. Some were interested, but others just laughed at him, claiming small beings should not care about the business of the greater one. During years and years again, he relentlessly tried to convince them, but one day he had enough. The Devils had purposely caused the death of thousands of mortals in the faint hope to trap one of the Gods. This fact angered the man, and the sheer might of his wrath was enough to break the skies apart. He spoke, and each of his words bound to his will the persistent fighters. And seeing as no word could end their animosity, he acted. A swift move of his left hand, and the Dragons were surrounded by raging winds and flames who took them far away in their burning lands. A gesture from his right hand: the water awoke to imprison the Leviathans and the Deeps opened to catch them. A stomp from his left leg and the grounds melted, devouring the great Titans. A stomp of his right foot and the dark shadows rebels against their Devils, sending them back in their far hell. And a last gesture, a simple and kind bow of the head, and the Gods finally ascended once more to their golden heavens. The mortals, delighted of the newfound peace, thanked their savior and sent him heap of gifts. But he never accepted any. He just continued to live, helping those in need and giving advice to the lost one. But came the day the memory of the Great War was lost. He kept watching over the realm of mortal, stopping the higher being from trespassing. But those soon remarked that their voices could be heard, and that mortals were too eager to fight in their stead: mortals forgot the kind and true advice of their former teacher to form cities and countries and Kings and Emperors began to wage war against one another. Hurt by the foolishness of those he had protected, the man simply disappeared. It is said he lived to this day, but none ever found him. *** Alex woke up inside the room and saw new windows popping up:
You¡¯ve witnessed the Great War: Fame +20 ¡®Seeker of Truth¡¯ proficiency rises up.
New Quest: Inheritor of Tao (S) Requirements: Level 1 Skill Seeker of Truth Quest ¡®Proof of Ability¡¯ completed Warning: This quest changes the working of your avatar window You cannot go above level 200 without finishing or abandoning that quest You cannot accept a class other than the one obtained during the quest without finishing or abandoning the quest. At each level, your stats point will be dispatched automatically, one to each stat. This quest consists of 4 step: 1- Grand Fighter 2- Harmonious Elementalist 3- Great Wanderer 4- Inheritor of Tao Reward: Epic Class ¡°Taoist¡± Step 1: Grand Fighter Learn the special Class Grand Fighter. Reward: Special Class Grand Fighter Step 2 Unlocked
Do you accept the Quest? Yes/No
Alex pondered a moment. This decision wasn¡¯t an easy one. It was already hard to manage to obtain this quest, and he probably wasn¡¯t the first one to obtain it. First, it was possible for someone to finish this quest before him, and he would then be let with a crippled avatar. But as far as known, one had yet to obtain an epic Class, and what he saw during the end of the Great War just let him stunned. In the outside world, he had seen and done some incredible things, but never had he seen such an incredible display of power. Slaying Gods, Demons and Dragons was just too much interesting. And he could foresee that he would have more chances to fight those beings were he to obtain the Class. He couldn¡¯t let such a chance pass. - I accept!
You¡¯ve accepted the Quest ¡®Inheritor of Tao¡¯ You are now limited to level 200 You can¡¯t dispatched your stat points anymore You can¡¯t take any Class
Alex just readied himself and knocked at the door. Etourdix opened with a knowing smile. He was holding 5 books in his hand. - So you¡¯ve accepted this quest. I think those books will help you. Just take them as a token of our friendship, and become a Taoist!
You¡¯ve obtained the book ¡°Fighting Temple¡± You¡¯ve obtained the book ¡°Befriending the Elements¡± You¡¯ve obtained the book ¡°Power¡± You¡¯ve obtained the book ¡°Courage¡± You¡¯ve obtained the book ¡°Knowledge¡±
- Thank you my friend! I shall now go to the world and find my Way!
Thank you al!! A little word: I don''t think I will be able to post a new chapter for the next two days. But it will come back. Chapter 5 The frightened Knight Chapter 5 The frightened Knight - Hi Julia, whispered Alex, I¡¯m done. Where should I meet you? - Hi Alex! Funny name by the way. Shall I call you Colonel? - Not if you want an answer¡­ - Fine. We are at the plaza and are getting ready for a dungeon. Can you come at the fountain? - I know here it is. I¡¯ll be here in a minute. Alex closed the friend window and got ready to leave. He had already spent enough time for the previous quests, and decided to take some time to just enjoy adventure before diving in the trouble this S Quest would without a doubt give him. He had put the books in his inventory. And he went to the fountain. He soon saw Julia with a patchwork group: a bulky dwarf with a bow and long braided blue beard, a skinny elf with scarlet hair and eyes armed with an imposing two-handed and double-edged axe, a young girl holding a kitten and a shiny terrified knight. Then Alex¡¯s hand rose to salute them. Julia just jumped waving at him, the young girl kept petting her cat while smiling gleefully, the dwarf bowed politely, the elf just acknowledged him with a head movement and the knight¡­ the knight fell in the fountain by trying to flee. *** David Felks was what people would call a fortunate man. He was born in one the wealthiest family. He was gifted and was soon seen as the rightful inheritor of his father¡¯s empire. He had two cute younger sisters and had nearly never faced a challenge he could not overcome. Or more precisely, he had never faced anything he could consider a challenge. But if his kind heart made him loved by everyone, or nearly, his father saw that as an awful weakness his competition would take advantage of. He then decided to teach his son the rudeness of the world. He showed him the fate of homeless one, but David joined an association to help those, and his good senses allowed him to better organize this association, which grew to help even more people. He then showed him a starving city which had been left to die by a warring country. But once more, he was no good. David soon managed to let this information filter to numerous organization, and international help rapidly came. And all his actions, to the great despair of his father, were comforting him in his choices. However, things can¡¯t always go in the same way, and took this time the form of his father¡¯s friend to destroy his ideals. He was a business partner, but not an official one, and when David¡¯s father, after a drinking bout, complained about his son¡¯s good heart, he whispered a few evil word to his ear: words about hell upon earth, word of a world where only the finest can live and where the wealthiest can enjoy the show, words about the Hell Ring of the Underground Arena. At first, David¡¯s father just discarded the idea, but as his son grew older, he himself grew impatient. And when David hit the 16 years mark, his father made inquiries about the most gruesome fight he could see in the arena and bought two places. Two months later, David and his father went to the meeting place. There two men invited them to enter a car with tinted windows. Half an hour later, they entered the arena. Even if he didn¡¯t share those, David¡¯s father knew and acknowledged the urges of his clients and business partners. And he knew quite a lot of them had such drives. And David was surprised by the number of people he knew to happily salute him. He did not know yet of the show he was going to see, and began to grow impatient seeing the eagerness surrounding him. One bell rang, but it was a tolling bell. And an announcer appeared in the middle of a replica of the Coliseum. - Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Welcome through time in the holy land of fighter. Today we will have grand battle. On the right side we have 50 heavy convicts: rapists, murderers, terrorists and others will fight for their life. No guns, but they have sword swords, wakizashis, knifes and baseball bats! And now on the right side, the greatest gladiator, the one we all love to see fighting, the true meaning of might, the four times champion of the Death Tournament, the one and only Dark Lord, Alexander The Conqueror! At this time the grandstands went in frenzy. Cheers erupted from every side, showing an incredible pleasure at the simple mention of this name. David looked at the man and recognized he was impressive. He wasn¡¯t the tallest in the ring, but with well-toned body and his cold gaze, he was exuding a threatening aura none other could match. But he had no weapon and only a Roman warrior¡¯s skirt as clothes. - Be ready, ladies and gentlemen! The bets are now closed. So what are the odds? I can see you believe in our champion as the odds are 1 against 8 in his favor. It sure seem profitable to bet against him, but that¡¯s only if he were to lose. Do you really think the impossible will happen? No need for words here. Let the fists judge! And the battle began. Without even an ounce of hesitation, half of the offender group jumped at the chance to quickly kill their enemy. Freedom was promised to them, should they manage to win the fight. And they only had one man to kill. But the warrior facing them quickly acted, and before 3 seconds had passed the group withdrew, missing three of them. One was rolling on the ground, crying while holding his broken knee. Another was on all fours, scratching the floor while desperately trying to breathe through his crushed trachea. The last one was still standing, but did not move. Alex¡¯s right palm was still on his forehead. When he retracted his hand, the audience managed to see the blood flowing through the man¡¯s nose and ears. He then went limp and fell on the ground, dead. If the spectators were more than delighted by those events, his adversaries weren¡¯t so eager to attack him anymore. They began to shout at each other, blaming others for errors. But Alex did not just wait for them. He quickly twisted the neck of the one with the broken knee and took his knife. Then he approached the suffocating one and caught him by his hair. And showing him to the audience, he simply put the knife against his skin and cut his jugular. Blood flooded. Spectators went in frenzy. David and the remaining convicts were on the other hand in a shocked state. The latter knew what urges and fire could make people do, but this man, if he was a man, obviously had no such feelings. He was simply here to kill them and was doing his job in a very efficient and cold-blooded way. The former was discovering a new face of humanity. His abilities had made him believe all wars or cataclysms were simply due to misunderstandings or inefficient reactions. But here, he could see people he knew whole-heartedly enjoying a one way slaughter. Because a slaughter was the only word able to describe what was happening. Before they could recover, the knife flew and stabbed one of them in the chest. They turned a moment to look at the origin of the sudden scream, but when they looked back, He was already there. They attacked him from all sides, fuelled by despair, but he just danced between the assaults. Some of them managed to graze him, but he took no dangerous hit while each of his disable one of them. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. In one minute, three more were dead, seven others disabled, and he had retrieved two wakizashis (shorts katana). For around ten minutes, David could only witness a bloody dancer invoking scarlet rain. The, it suddenly finished. Just one was standing in the middle of the blood soaked arena, surrounded by fifty cut in pieces bodies. Then the demon, because he couldn¡¯t be anything else, just bowed to his audience who applauded the display. He then left, letting behind him a mess of flesh and blood, an entertained crowd, and a mind-broken youth. What no one could see at that time was the profound disgust of the main performer. He walked out with a grieving heart and let out a sigh when nobody could hear him anymore. But he could not afford to weaken, and he steeled his heart once more, vowing to be the Dark Lord for as long as needed. On the other side, David had been completely terrified by the performance. His father succeeded in showing him this world¡¯s harshness, but now, his only son and inheritor was refusing to leave his room. It took one year and countless psychiatric session for him to recover enough to claim back his own life. And nearly two other years later, he was still having terrible nightmares at night. One particular psychiatrist had advised them to make him face his fear of fighting, but he never managed to overcome it, even while learning martial arts. He helped improve his condition, but no fight was realistic enough to really compare to ¡°that one¡±. But the idea finally came to send him inside of a new world, where true fights could happen, and no death or injuries were long lasting: Edge of Magic. He created his avatar and soon was send to the city of Lutetia. There he began his adventure, becoming rapidly an important figure in the city, and creating a guild with three of his friends. At first they just had fun together, but they finally decided to try to recruit some other players. But being a small guild, they could not attract much people, except for newbies. They each went their way, looking for interesting players. He first stumbled on a young woman who tried to steal his purse, but when he tried to stop her, he was harshly sent to the ground. And before him was standing the one from his nightmares. Incoherent thoughts began to flow in his mind: images of blood and flesh, and of a demon standing alone, smiling joyfully at the extent of his work, in the middle of countless dead bodies. He did not remember what happened, but he just knew he managed to flee with his life. He was even quite proud of himself to have been able to save the thieving girl from a horrible fate and just magnanimously let her go. But in the end, he logged out and did not come back before one day. He went to the meeting place and saw a new face, a young girl who seemed to be some kind of summoned, and Julia told him they were waiting for another, a truly incredible one. But when he saw him, he stumbled and fell in the fountain, trying to flee. *** Alex was meeting with the ¡°Triskell¡± Guild. Julia happily began the introductions. - Everybody! Here is Alex Sanders! Truth to be told, I know nothing about his stats or Classes, but he managed to achieve a ¡°Perfect Hitter¡± at the Novice Courage Test, so I thought it wasn¡¯t important. - How did you know about this achievement, asked Alex, surprised she was able to tell? - I simply asked the instructor. So now Alex, tell us more about you! - Fine! I¡¯m a level 1 Nephilim, and I won¡¯t be able to take any Class soon because of a particular quest. I finished the 3 Novices tests. - A level one, complained the elf to Julia. Are you sure he is strong enough? We won¡¯t have time to babysit. - It¡¯s fine, said the young girl, he is the one who gave me the book about my class! - That doesn¡¯t mean he is strong. - Strong? What is the meaning of strength, raved the knight with a shivering voice? If one shall be called strong, then it is that one! No one can be called strong when facing him. The elf, the dwarf and Julia exchanged a glance, worried by the state of their friend and guild master. - Don¡¯t bother about him, whispered Julia to Alex, I don¡¯t know what happened, but he has been acting strange since yesterday! Of course, Alex understood that it was since their last encounter, because of the time lag between this one and the real world. So he grew even more worried. But his attention was soon taken by Julia. - The young lady here is a new member of our group. It would seem you have already met her. Her name is Anna and she has the Class ¡°FengShui Summoner¡± and she¡¯s level 21. This cat is one of her special invocation. His true name is Bai Hu, she calls him Tigrou, and we call him kitty. - Hi Anna, glad to see you again. - Hi Alex. Thank you once more for your help. - You¡¯re welcome. - Next is the dwarf. His name is Kordur. His level is 64 and his classes are ¡°Sniper¡± and ¡°Tracker¡±. He does not talk much but he¡¯s really polite. When he says something, you can be sure it¡¯ll be important and clever. - Hi! The dwarf just bowed as response. - This mean elf here is Bob. Level 67, ¡°Barbarian¡± and ¡°Fire Mage¡±¡­ - I¡¯m a PyroBarbarian, explained the elf with a smile. - You can simply ignore him, continued Julia, and your life will soon become easier! - Nice to meet you Bob! - Nice to meet you Alex! And don¡¯t listen to everything this vicious girl will be telling you. She just can¡¯t accept that I¡¯m stronger than her. - Then about me, you already know I¡¯m Julia. I¡¯m also level 67 and by the way, I¡¯m stronger than this stupid bird-brain of an elf. My classes are ¡°Water Mage¡± and ¡°Sea bound Priest¡±. - Glad to meet you once more Julia, said Alex with a smile. - Same thing here. The last one is our guild master. Here he is called Percival and is level 69. His classes are ¡°Silver Knight¡± and ¡°Born Commander¡±. He is not like his usual self today, but he can be truly impressive. Even more than you! So now that the introductions are done, I just have to say that: Welcome to our guild. Welcome to Triskell!
You¡¯ve been invited in the guild ¡°Triskell¡±. Do you accept? Yes/No
You¡¯ve been invited in a party. Do you accept? Yes/No
I''ve found the time to write a little. Still don''t know if it will be possible for tomorrow. Hoping you''ll enjoy your read! Have a nice eve and a happy new Year! Chapter 6 First Hunt Chapter 6 First Hunt Alex looked at the members of ¡°Triskell¡±. In some ways, it was his first true interaction with other people. Sure he had some ¡°interactions¡± when he was the Dark Lord, and he had talked with different people since becoming ¡°Alex Sanders¡±. However, it was the first time he felt welcomed in a group, a group of friends. But one look at the bleached face of Percival was enough to convince him otherwise. He did not have to hurt people anymore, and neither did he wish for it. - Sorry, but I can¡¯t accept.
You¡¯ve declined the invitation in the guild ¡°Triskell"
You¡¯ve declined the invitation in a party
- What? Why, protested Julia? You don¡¯t like us? It is the fault of this stupid elf, isn¡¯t it? - Why would it be my fault? - No, tried to stop them Alex, it is not¡­ - Because of your stupid belligerent behavior. Who would want to party with a good-for-nothing brawler who thinks of nothing but putting an axe through the head of everything that moves! - It is still better that a clinging woman who keep smooth-talking people. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s feeling only disgust at your shameless act! - Please, tried to interrupt Alex, I¡¯m¡­ - STOP THIS NOW! Everybody turned at once to look at the Silver Knight who just spoke. His strong sense of duty, and the reflex of stopping the continuous clash between Bob and Julia, made him act without an afterthought. His presence sure was imposing, but his strong tone and commanding aura were quite dampened by his shivering and his closed eyes. But the latter helped him forgetting, even just a little, of who was standing near. But his overworking mind was quite vicious, and he had to keep his fear and survival instinct at bay continuously: Just stop thinking. He is not ¡°Him¡±. He can¡¯t be ¡°Him¡±. ¡°He¡± is somewhere else. Somewhere with battles, wars, blood and ripped flesh. No, don¡¯t think of that. Just that he is someone else. Someone who just use the appearance of the strongest to create his avatar. That¡¯s it! There is nothing to fear. - How do you want to convince anyone to enter the guild with such a scene in the beginning? Even Anna is frightened. The others looked at the young girl who was hiding behind Kordur¡¯s back while tightening her grip around her summoned pet. - I¡¯m sorry Anna to have frightened you, calmly claimed Bob with a bow of the head. - Poor child, yelled Julia while violently catching her in a hug! - So Alex, continued Percival with his eyes still closed. How long have you played? - Around 4 real world days. - Only that much¡­ So you still have much to learn about this world, said the knight, strengthening with all his might the belief that the one he was speaking to was not ¡°The One¡±. Are you already fine with your body? When too many changes are done to an Avatar, it becomes harder to get used to it. - No problem, told Alex, relieved to see the calmer knight! I haven¡¯t done any change! - Hugh¡­ No, David was screaming inside!!! It¡¯s him. I don¡¯t want to die! Please God, help me! No matter which god you are, I¡¯ll convert and donate enough to build a new cathedral for your glory! And I¡¯ll spend my life preaching and spreading your words! Help meeeeeeeeeee¡­ Alex saw Percival beginning to sweat profusely and going limp, unconscious. He barely caught him before looking around for help. Julia, Bob and Kordur were helping him in an instant. No quarrel or harsh words, they were all really worried about their friend. - I¡¯m sorry, told Julia to Anna and Alex, but we have to take care of him. You could go hunt together for some time and leveling up a little. I¡¯ll call you back once he¡¯s better. And don¡¯t hesitate to whisper me if you want information on something. *** Anna and Alex had gone to the surrounding of the city. Before leaving, Alex had accepted friend¡¯s requests from everybody except the sleeping one. Then Anna had created a new party and this time Alex joined her. She then spent their walking time to explain to him the difference between guilds and parties. She also tried to convince him to join the guild, but he told her he had a quest that¡¯ll require him to go far away. She accepted that reason and made him swear to contact her from time to time. But the real reason was of course the terrible effect he seemed to have on Percival. When he finally thought it could be resolved by showing politeness and goodwill, he had managed to make him faint. Even for him, it was the first time he could witness such an effect without at least being aggressive. - So it will be your first hunt, finally asked Anna when they arrived in the hunting ground. - Yes, I have not yet gone out of the city, I was busy with quests and training. - You know most people go to hunt when they first arrive in the game¡­ - What? How can they do that? It should be really dangerous to go and fight when you do not control your body properly! Anna sent him a strange look. - Slimes are really easy to kill! They are here only to help people learn the basics. And the virtual body is sensibly the same than your real one, except for people who change their appearance too much. But you said it was not your case, didn¡¯t you? - Sure, but this body was really weak when I first arrived, and it is still weaker than my real one, and your muscles and inner organs fells¡­ I don¡¯t know, kind of strange. This time, the young girl had a look that hesitated between impressed and doubtful. - Normal people find their initial body to be of normal strength I would say, but I am sure that nobody ever told they found their inner organs strange¡­ - It¡¯s true my master told me not much people knew how to do it, but there should still be at least half of the population who could do that, no? I knew a lot of people in the real world who could at least do that much. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.- I don¡¯t know who your friends were, but they are definitely not normal people¡­ - It¡¯s true. So, can you tell me what I should do? - First, kill a slime! - Why? Anna was showing him some round, colorful and moving balls of gelatin. They incidentally had eyes and mouths, but they seemed quite peaceful and had no aggressiveness toward anything or anyone. Alex was ready, and had always been, to fight and hurt other to keep his dears one safe, but he had vowed, since coming to this world, to never attack those that show no hostility. And slimes showed none. - They are the weaker monsters, answered hesitantly Anna, everybody hunts them. - I don¡¯t. If there are some aggressive ones, I don¡¯t mind fighting them, but I won¡¯t hurt those that don¡¯t attack me first. - But there are no monsters under level 20 that show ferociousness toward players. - Then you just have to bring me to them¡­ - To who? - To the level 20 monsters that show ferociousness. - But you¡¯re level 1 you¡¯ll be killed. It¡¯s too dangerous! It¡¯s just a game so there are no problems for killing a few of them. Alex kneeled in order to look at Anna in the eyes. He knew he had so much to learn about normality that this young girl could teach him easily, but concerning fights and honor, he could explain it to her. He smiled and patted her head. - You see Anna, I made a vow. And it would hold no meaning if I were to break it because it is difficult or because it is a game. I won¡¯t attack them, that¡¯s all. - But you will die¡­ - Maybe. But listen to that. When fighting, it is not always the strongest, or the fastest that will win. The one who win is the one that know his self the better, and understand how to use his ability to the fullest. And I have learned about this new body of mine during nearly 4 weeks. Do you still believe I will lose? - But they are really strong and frightening. To go alone would be¡­ - But I won¡¯t be alone. You will help me if I need it, won¡¯t you? - Y¡­ Yes! Anna finally recovered and steeled her resolve. She still wasn¡¯t sure if it was a good idea, but she was ready to fight and so was her tiger cub. He meowed his approval with as much strength as he could muster, making Alex laugh and Anna blush. Then Anna led Alex to some dangerous looking ermines. There were three of them, each measuring nearly one meter long, and they were viciously devouring the remains of a dead deer. Alex looked at them during some time, learning their agility and their strengths. He then turned to meet eyes with Anna. - I¡¯m better with this body, but I don¡¯t think I can beat the three of them at the same time. We would better be looking for an isolated one. - Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯m a summoner, and my Tigrou is a special invocation. I can also call for a normal summon, and the three of us should be enough to hold two of them back. At least for quite some time. - Are you sure? This time was Anna¡¯s turn to encourage Alex with a smile. She then began an incantation and was surrounded by a green light. - I call the one that dwells on the earth. Ground and Ether shall bind together. Come forth Golem! A small humanoid build of rocks, earth and dust appeared from the ground and got ready at the call of his mistress. She then called both of her summons by their true names, in order to buff them before the battle. - Bai Hu! Golem! I invoke upon you the strength of the Metal. Shall all of your attack be strengthen by His great sharpness! Two silvery balls came out of her hands, and she shot them at the two before turning toward Alex. During this time, he had meditated and had now obtained the buff of his inner control skill. - I¡¯m ready. We can attack. - Thanks! Here we go. And Alex jumped at one of the ermine. He saw the two invocations enter the fray and holding back the two other monsters. Anna had closed her eyes and was meditating in order to recover her mana faster. But it would prove unnecessary. The beasts were fast, and Alex was at first surprise by how nimble they were. They could bend their body in unimaginable way to evade his attack. But he was a master fighter, and he soon understood the attack pattern. He hit precisely at the joint and dislocated the limb of his enemy, sealing his quickness, and stroke multiple times at the neck, multiplying critical hit and hacking at its life bar. With his extremely high stats for his level, he was soon done and turned to look at the others. The Golem was enduring the hits for the vicious claw while the tiger was evading attacks and striking back with great power. Alex quickly disposed of the one attacking the Golem, but the tiger was faster with his own prey and they were soon done with this hunt. - I didn¡¯t think it would go so well, remarked Anna. - That was a good team fight. - How many level did you win, asked the young girl? - None I think! I have seen no flying window. - Those are automatically disabled during fights for not disrupting the player. You should look at your status. Alex just did as he was told and was surprised to see his level being at 7 already. He first thought there was an error and told Anna who just smiled. - The first ten levels are really easy to level up, even when killing only slimes. After it will become harder. And you also gain more XP, experience points, she clarified seeing the strange face Alex made, when you fight opponent with a higher level. - Is that so! I¡¯ve also a new stat. It is called fighting spirit. Show Fighting spirit.
New Stat: Fighting Spirit (FS) Fighting Spirit lessens the effect of mental or influence skills or spells affecting you. It can also frighten your enemy if high enough.
- Can you come back now? Julia had just whispered to both of them. They agreed and went toward the city once more, but only after Anna explained the looting system to her older friend and once they took it all. Ermine¡¯s furs were quite pricey after all. Chapter 7 Disguise Chapter 7 Disguise - Go first Anna, and look after Percival. I will need to talk to the others. - But¡­ Anna tried to object at first, but she saw a resolute yet sad glint in the eyes of her older friend. She hesitated for a moment before wishing him good luck and going to the rest of the party. Alex took a breath and opened the friend window and called for Julia. Even if it wasn¡¯t for long, he knew her better than the two others. - Julia speaking! What do you want? Are you lost and can¡¯t come back? - Julia. There¡¯s something we need to talk about. Can you bring Bob and Kordur too? Anna is going to you to stay with Percival for the time being. - What? Why do you¡­ - Please Julia. I will explain as much as I can to the three of you. Ten minutes later, those three were here and were sending strange looks in the direction of Alex. Kordur was more gloomy than usual, Bob was just intrigued and Julia was worried. - What did you want to talk about, asked Bob on whom the heavy atmosphere did not have any effect? - First, I want to say I was glad to have met you, and was sincerely happy when you asked for me to party with you all¡­ Julia and Kordur grew darker, understanding where this conversation could lead. Bob on the other hand was simply pleased by this declaration: - We¡¯re happy to have met you too, pal! - But I think it¡¯s better if I go my way alone now¡­ - Why, asked the elf surprised? - I pondered a long time, and decided against leaving without a word. For one, I wanted to express my thanks to you¡­ - And for two? Alex paused a moment, unsure of how he could say it. Finally deciding to be as frank as he could be, he heaved a sigh: - It could be detrimental for Percival if you were not able to understand what he is going through. - What?! The three shouted simultaneously. They were waiting for a lot of reasons, but didn¡¯t think the strange reactions of their guild master to be due to their last recruit. But Alex did not let them the time to ask question and continued: - I can¡¯t explain it all. I don¡¯t think I have ever met him. I can¡¯t be sure because of the changes you can make on your avatar¡­ - He told me he did not change his self, whispered Julia quietly, having troubles organizing her thought. - What did you do to him? Alex just stepped aside, avoiding an axe that ripped through the earth. The strong elf looked at him with an incredible fury, but he was stopped by Kordur. - Let him talk! We could still kill him later, but we need to know all there is to know in order to help Percival. - If he did not change his avatar, told Alex as if nothing happened, I can be sure I never wronged him. I can¡¯t tell you details, because you would be in danger if you were to know all, but here are the important things: for some reasons, Percival is deadly afraid of me. I met him first in the city nearly six days ago, and it¡¯s apparently when he began to go strange. - You don¡¯t act like that if you¡¯re afraid of something, tried to tell Bob¡­ - He is not just afraid, contradicted Julia. He is terrorized. That sure explains his actions. But what can we do? - Be there for him during the following day! That¡¯s all he need from us, answered Kordur. Seeing them talking about the necessary things, Alex decided to step back, but he was caught by the iron grip of the axe-wielder. - Still wanting to kill me¡­ I¡¯m ready to accept it¡­ - Don¡¯t accept death so easily, shouted Bob, knocking him on the head. And I¡¯m sorry for my earlier reaction. It would appear I¡¯m a little too hot-blooded. I can see now that you did not wish for what¡¯s happening with Percy. So there¡¯s no need to overponder about it. - Thanks, but why are you holding me back in that case? - Because Percy might need you¡­ - He is terrified when I¡¯m around! - So he is, and so he will be until he deals with it. It¡¯s something he will need to do, one way or another. It¡¯s better to do it as soon as possible! Then, Bob spoke loudly, so Julia and Kordur will listen to him: - Percy will stay like that until he is able to deal with it! That¡¯s why Alex needs to come back with us, be he wanting it or not! - Are you mad, shouted Julia? You saw how much he suffered earlier on. We just need to help him overcome it little by little! I¡¯m sorry, she told to Alex, I was the one to bring you here, but I know it would be better if you were to leave. - Nothing to worry about, answered Alex¡­ - A Man shall fight his fear head on, yelled the elf! - A friend shall protect him instead of spouting nonsense, opposed Julia. - Without fight, no recovery! - Recovery is a long and patient thing! No need to rub salt on his wounds. - Medicines can be bitter, but the bitter it is, the more effective it is! - That¡¯s not some bitter juice, but dead on sulfuric acid you try to make him shallow. Bob and Julia would have probably continued to fight like that if the dwarf had not made himself known with some coughs. He then talked: - You¡¯re point of view are both true in some ways, but you¡¯re forgetting something. The most important thing for recovery is the desire of the patient. We should just ask Percival of his thoughts. If Alex is not with us at the time, he should be able to answer with his usual calmness and cleverness. - You¡¯re right, recognized Bob. - It¡¯s true, accepted Julia. - I take it you¡¯re ready to help us if we decide to go with the shock method, asked Kordur to Alex? - If it¡¯s his choice, I¡¯ll comply. - I¡¯ll send back Anna. The next talk will take a little time, and we¡¯ll probably go hunt just the four of us to calm down a little. You should do the same with Anna and gain some level. You¡¯ll need to have some more if we ever go together later on. - Thanks! The three then went back to the place where their guild master was left with the young summoner. *** Alex and Anna had gone and fought more ermines and had even had a few encounters with goblins younglings of level 24. Alex¡¯s levels quickly grew, and even Anna gained two more levels before he receives a new call from Julia. He was now at level 14 and had also gain some proficiency in ¡°Inner Control¡±, ¡°Seikuken¡± and ¡°Tsuuhaiken¡±. For the last technique, he now had enough mana to use it if he used the ¡°Inner Control¡± active effect. The fight also brought him eleven fighting spirit points. - Alex. We decided on some ways for you to stay with the party. Percival asked for it too. Will you comply? - Of course! - Then meet me at the entry of the city. Just like that, Alex and Anna left the forest and went once more to the city. There was waiting Julia, smiling happily and bouncing around with so much eagerness that Alex considered for a second to flee. He would later regret not having followed his natural instinct. - Come on. Come on, told Julia when she saw the. We have a lot to do. Follow me! Without letting them say a single word, she brought them in the city, at a tailor shop. There she turned and looked at them once more: - Anna is a new member of our guild, so we decided to pay her better equipment. And by talking with Percival, we have understood what his problem was. Apparently, your appearance is problematic Alex. So you will have to change attires. We have already talked to the master here what is needed. Just explain to him the way you fight and he¡¯ll adapt the clothes so that it fits your style. - I¡¯m first, said Anna with a great smile. Alex had no objection on such a point. He just waited patiently, really patiently. When the girls come back from the inner shop, he could see the new attire of the young summoner. She had a white and black striped robe, black boots and white gloves. She also had an iron tiara with a blue gem in. She spun once to show off to Alex, and he smiled and patted her head before going inside. There stood the tailor. He was a young looking halfling. But the glint in his eyes and his demeanor showed he was older than what he looked like. He had round golden eyes and brown curly hairs. - So you are the one. Good! It¡¯ll be a fun work. So tell me about you. Race and level first. - I¡¯m a level 14 nephilim. - Oh. A nephilim. First time I work for one. Classes and profession. - None! Trying for Taoist. - Taoist. I¡¯ve heard about such a name, but how do you fight? - Barehanded fighting. - A kind of monk then. Need to move easily. What are your stats? - Show stats!
Primary Attributes
Strength (STR)38Agility (AGI)48
Dexterity (DEX)48Vitality (VIT)48
Intellect (INT)38Wisdom (WIS)38
Secondary Attributes
Reading (REA)28Focus (FOC)73
Willpower (WIL)57Asceticism (ASC)34
Perseverance (PER)31Fighting Spirit (FS)21
- Oh! Really good stats for your level. Long time I¡¯ve not seen such a promising youth! And now last but not least, what color would you prefer? Red, green, purple, yellow or black? - Can¡¯t you just do brown, asked Alex? - Don¡¯t want to. Alex pondered for a minute. He refused to use the black or red ones. They were the colors of the Dark Lord. But he truly had no idea of what he would look like with other colors. - Don¡¯t use red or black. But do as you would see fit except for that. - Fine. I¡¯ll be finished in a few minutes. Just wait a little. And Alex waited. The tailor was quick and it did not take him much time to finish his work. He saw dark mauve boots, pants, arms protector and also another piece of clothes. There was also an ochre short-sleeved shirt. He put them. The pants and shirts were loose in order for him to move adequately. But there was still the last piece of clothes. Alex looked at the smiling halfling and shivered. - It¡¯s a mask, the tailor said. You put it on your face and tie it on the back of your head. - Why? - Your friend asked for it. Alex went out and looked at Julia, showing her the last part of his attire. - Why? - Your features seemed to be the problem. It¡¯s possible to change them, but it is really expensive, and it would also be a shame. So we all decided you need a mask. - I¡­ - You said you wanted to help, continued Julia. That is the way you can do it! Alex sighed once more. He had no escape way. So he just put the mask on, hiding all of the upper part of his face, except for the eyes. Julia giggled looking at him, but Anna just blushed. Seeing there was at least one person who would not mock him, he patted her head. - One last thing also. It would appear your name sounds a lot like one from the outside, so we decide you need a nickname to be called. - What? - Is there one you would like? Alex thought for a minute, but nearly all his nicknames were link to his fights in the arena and were no good. And he could not remember his old name. However, even if he had remembered this one, he would have probably refused to use it. - I have no idea. Do you have an idea of how I should be called Anna? Alex asked the young summoner, because he knew Julia would use this chance to torment him. - It needs to be heroic, said the young girl with stars in her eyes. Julia took the chance to talk to Anna and convince of her own choice. And to Alex despair, it would seem the name pleased her. - We have decided, she said. You¡¯ll be the Colonel. - ¡­ Alex just did not know how to answer, especially with the hopeful and happy way the young girl was looking at him. Julia had a mischievous smile and decided to add a little: - Doesn¡¯t it please you? It is quite a heroic name for a masked fighter. Or perhaps it is that you have a better idea. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Fully knowing he had no chance to escape from this fate, he finally conceded the victory to the playful witch. He went with the other two, learned how to sell his japtem and also bought two short swords he put at his sides. He explained to Julia, who was curious, that he would prefer not having to use them, but that it could prove useful depending on the adversaries. And then, they went to the rest of the group. *** Percival was waiting with Bob and Kordur. When his three friends had talked to him, he decided to explain to them why he was afraid. But he did not managed to talk about the most frightening part. They just understood that when he was younger, he had seen a fight from a well-known champion, and that this display had frightened him. They did not heard about what kind of display it was, so they just assumed Alex was a widely recognize sportsman, or martial artist. Under the advice of Bob, he finally accepted to take this chance to finally go past this experience. And Kordur told him to go slowly, step by step. They all agreed when Julia finally thought of disguising the origin of fear, but they weren¡¯t sure he would be easy to convince. But Julia was eager to try and left them waiting, taking care of the situation. Now Percival was trying to convince himself that his new party member was not frightening. Imagine he is a teddy bear. Nobody is afraid of a teddy bear. A big fluffy teddy bear. With round eyes. And sharps teeth. A big bad brown grizzly bear which just woke up from slumber. In bad mood¡­ No! Stop with that. Think of some other things. Some kind thing that likes children. Like this orange monster, that was dancing and singing. What was it? Some kind of dinosaur? Heee¡­ A tyrannosaur dark lord¡­ That¡¯s frightening! I should just stop thinking about that. - Where should we go, asked Kordur? Percival was really grateful for the helping hand. They would have normally waited for Julia to come back before talking about his matter, but he really need to talk about something at the time being. - I don¡¯t really know. Can you ask Julia about their level and all? Kordur whispered with Julia and then looked up. - Anna was ready. She told she was using her tiger, which had a high offensive, and usually a golem. She would soon unlock her second special invocation which should have a great defensive ability, or so she said. The guy is a martial artist. He fights at zero point range. - Fine. What levels have they now? - 23 and 14. But they already fought goblins younglings¡­ - So we should just go to the goblins¡¯ den, interrupted Bob. If they can fight the younglings with just the two of them, they should be able to confront goblins and goblins marauders with the help of the party. That would help them growing faster. - Not bad, recognized Kordur. But we could also do the spider¡­ - Not the spiders, told Percival. I don¡¯t think it would be wise to bring Anna in there. At least not before she told us she¡¯s ready herself. We don¡¯t need two of our members to be hinder by fear. - Right, Kordur told. The goblins would be better in order to learn to work together, but I think it could be good to go to the hills of Lugdunum later on. - It would be quite hard on both of them, remarked Bob. None truly have a way to fight those beasts¡­ - That¡¯s why it¡¯s a good training, answered Kordur. - I don¡¯t think it would be so. Anna probably has other summons, and I don¡¯t worry ab¡­ about ¡°him¡±, finished with some difficulty Percival. Then they discussed about their own training and other subject as the major guilds and the strongest players. At that time, the three who had gone to the city finally came back. Percival, hearing them coming from behind him, straightened his back and gathered his courage, and finally looked. Then he just stood motionless, unable to understand what his eyes were seeing. Kordur and Bob had their hands before their mouth, hiding their smile. - To avoid any problem, it has been decide that the name our last party member shall be called with, Julia added, will be ¡°Colonel¡±. Bob just rolled on the ground in laughter, while Kordur barely managed to keep from bursting loudly. Percival just blinked a few time. That was working even better than he could have imagined. He knew with certainty that the one facing him was his worst nightmare, the strongest and most ruthless killer, the Dark Lord, but he could not see it like that at all. The colorful clothes, the mask hiding the upper part of his face and his hair, and the name ¡°Colonel¡±, everything was more worthy of a kid playing hero than a true dangerous fighter. *** At first, Alex was annoyed seeing the face of the elf and dwarf. But when he remarked there was almost no fear, but just some prudence and amazement in the face of Percival, he just withstood the shame. It was not so different from masks of Lucha Libre, in a little less frightening. But he did not want to be frightening. - Hello. And I¡¯m so¡­ sorry for earlier, finally said Percival. Alex understood it was still too early to be really fearless, but the knight still manages to greet him, what was a great achievement, even if there would not be nor pop-up message neither gain of stats. - There¡¯s no problem. It¡¯s nice to meet you. You can just call me Colonel, like the other. - I¡¯m Percival, and I¡¯m¡­ this guild leader. I ho¡­ hope we will be able to w¡­ work fine together. - Good, said Bob, his face still red from too much laughter. For some reason, I¡¯ll work as the party leader this time. Join me everybody!
You¡¯ve been invited in a party. Do you accept? Yes/No
- Yes. Alex answered at the same time that the others and saw their names, life and mana bars appeared above their head. - Option ¡°Nicknames¡± On, shouted Bob! Alex now saw the name change. Bob was now ¡°PyroBarbarian¡±, Kordur was ¡°QuietDwarf¡±, Anna became ¡°Girly¡± and Julia ¡°WittyMage¡±. Percival had become ¡°SilverKnight while he was now ¡°Colonel¡±. Now the basic preparations were done. And apparently, each of them, except for Anna, was familiar with those nicknames. - Now that we are ready, continued Bob, I¡¯ll talk about the formation and the dungeon. We are going to the goblins¡¯ den. There will be a lot of enemies from level 30 to level 56 at the deeper levels. We will begin the explorations today and continue through the day tomorrow. After that it will be morning in the real world and we will log out and come back ten real hours after in order to continue the exploration. Are you fine with that? Bob waited for a minute, but there was no objection. - Now for the formation. We will go with a two wings attack. From the right side, Percy will agro the mobs and I will be the main damage dealer. From the left side, it will be Alex and Anna¡¯s summons. You have learned to work together earlier on so I¡¯ll let you see your role for the time being. If needed, we will change it later on. Julia will be in charge of buffs and healing. If needed she could use some spell, but first come the healing. Kordur will be our scout when traveling and long range damage dealer when fighting. During traveling, one attack group will be the front guard and the other the rear guard. Is that fine? Then follow me. And Kordur went first, showing the way, followed by Percy and Bob, then Julia and Anna in the middle, and Alex was closing the group with Bai Hu. They soon went through the forest and arrived at the entry of a dark cave. The others went in, and he followed.
You¡¯ve entered a dungeon. You¡¯ve entered Goblins¡¯ Den. Goblin monsters are 30% stronger in the dungeon
Avatar Window:
NameAlex Sanders
RaceNephilimLevel14
Title?
Health (HP)1085/1085
Stamina (SP)542/542Mana (MP)429/429
Fame100Infamy0
Class 1?Novice lvl 0
Class 2?Novice lvl 0
Class 3?Novice lvl 0
Profession 1?Novice lvl 0
Profession 2?Novice lvl 0
Primary Attributes
Strength (STR)38Agility (AGI)48
Dexterity (DEX)48Vitality (VIT)48
Intellect (INT)38Wisdom (WIS)38
Secondary Attributes
Reading (REA)28Focus (FOC)73
Willpower (WIL)57Asceticism (ASC)34
Perseverance (PER)31Fighting Spirit (FS)21
Magic Affinity/Resistance
Earth0Wind0
Fire0Water0
Light10Dark-10
Nature0Lightning0
Gravity0
Soul''s Skills
Ukemi Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 1 12%
Inner Control (Passive&Active)Novice lvl 8 81%
Seikuken (Passive)Novice lvl 7 58%
Seeker of Truth (Active)Novice lvl 3 97%
Tsuuhaiken (Active)Novice lvl 3 06%
Chapter 8 Dungeon Chapter 8 Dungeon The Den was dark, but glowing balls of water were floating around the party, dimly lighting the place without blinding them. There was also a strong odor, but that much should be expected when dealing with goblins. Now entering the dungeon, their formation changed. Alex and Bai Hu were in first line and Percival and Bob took the rear guard. Kordur was still acting as a scout and opened a path, coming back from time to time to give a report. He soon came with the awaited information: - 3 goblins. Right before us. How do we do? - One for Alex and Bai Hu, one for me, one for Percy, told Bob. You look after the young ones with Julia, answered Bob. They went quietly to the group of goblins, and Bob launched the charge. With a war cry, he jumped on one and his battle axe cut it cleanly in two parts. Percival gave a shield bash to his one and the goblin just got crushed against a wall. It took a little time for the last one, but the teamwork between the tiger and the martial artist was good, so they manage to finish it without taking a single hit. Without taking a break, they want to a bigger group. There were 8 goblins. Percival went in first and just poked 7 of them on the head. They began to attack him, but he just calmly raised his shield, their strikes being less dangerous than mosquitoes¡¯ bites for him. The last one was for Alex. With his tiger companion, he attacked this one and killed him, then went on to take one from Percival¡¯s stock and continued. After the end of the fight saw two windows appearing before him:
New Skill: Unarmed Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 1 03% Increase the attack power when unarmed by 1% Increase the attack speed when unarmed by 1%
New Skill: Acupression Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 1 01% Allow the user to distinguish weak spots of enemies Hitting those spot will result in Critical Hit Increase the critical hit power by 3%
When he talked to the others about those skills, they explained most people obtained them thanks to their classes. Without, it needed a lot of training, and that¡¯s why despite the tests and earlier battle, he could only obtain them now. And as classless skills, they would grow slower. What was truly impressive in the other hand was for the two skills to appear at the same time, as the amount of hits needed to unlock the first one was the same than the amount of critical hits for the second. It was proof that Alex always knowingly struck the weak spot of his enemies. It took them a little time to take the loots, and they went on their hunt. Anna soon managed to make her ¡°FengShui Summoning¡± skill grow to Acolyte, unlocking the ¡°Xuan Wu Summoning¡±, and the ¡°Water Summoning Buff¡±. Xuan Wu appeared to be a small black turtle, slow but with a great defense. At the same time, her skill ¡°Bai Hu Summoning¡± also grew to Acolyte, and the tiger grew, going from a cat-like height to a panther¡¯s one. His stats also grew greatly, easing the next fights. Four hours after coming to the dungeons, they had managed to kill hundreds of goblins; therefore Alex and Anna had gained levels and skills proficiencies. Alex had also modified his fighting style a little. He was activating his Inner control buff when possible and used the Tsuuhaiken once after. He did not have mana for more. Following that he was fighting and dodging, using rolls to evade some attacks. During a long time his first soul¡¯s skill had stay at level 1 and he decided to not let it that way. During the fight, Percival was blocking enemies so there would never be too many of them, Kordur was acting as a scout and sometimes releasing a well-aimed arrow if needed and Julia was healing and buffing the fighters. So, as Alex and Anna were busy leveling up, only Bob was left with almost nothing to do. He decided to collect the loots and went to sell it quickly to the city before coming back. At first, Alex thought it was too much, but he learned from the others that the elf had gained in his early days the soul¡¯s skills ¡°Mad Runner¡± and ¡°Heavy Charger¡±. At his current level, Acolyte level 3 and Acolyte level 5, he could run with a 36% bonus compared to others peoples without using his stamina and he could carry 55% more weight than what his strength should allow him. Those skills also had some effects in battle when he rushed in, but Alex did not hear the exact details of this part. After fighting and training for a few hours, a normal party would have gone out in search of a safe spot in order to sleep or log out. But they just went in a nook and Percival used one of his own soul¡¯s skills: - Safe Spot! A golden light flowed around them, creating a 5 meters wide circle. Percival had managed to grow it to Expert level 1, which was an incredible feat knowing that even players of above level 200 rarely had a skill in the expert stage. He could create a safe spot anywhere he wanted, as long as no monster was in the zone at the invocation time. It used all was left from his mana and stamina, but for this width, he could create a safe zone lasting for nearly 7 hours already. They quickly set up a camp and went to sleep, not wasting a single moment. Alex did the same, but he was used to really short nights after long tiring days, and woke up only four hours later. During the three next hours, he simply trained his inner control skill, managing to bring it to Novice level 9, as the Seikuken which had grown a lot the day before. He was also at level 18 and had earned a few points of fighting spirit, perseverance and willpower. When the others woke up they went back to fighting. They all decided to keep cleaning the first floor of the den for today. So they fought and fought again, taking break when Anna¡¯s stamina was low. Usually, the frontline fighter would have weakened first, but with the bonus of his Inner Control and his perseverance stat, Alex almost always kept a good margin of stamina. At the end of the second day, Alex saw a new message:
Skill Test: Seikuken Kill fifty enemy using only deflected blows¡¯ power. 0/50 Reward: Seikuken step Acolyte
- Something called a Skill test appeared, told Alex to his companions¡­ - Already, asked Julia? - I remembered Anna went in the Acolyte level without any test for her skill yesterday¡­ - It¡¯s true, answered Bob. Class related skills do not need test to grow. But you don¡¯t have any class, and soul¡¯s skills do not belong to any class. Almost everybody can make it to Acolyte, but it becomes increasingly harder later on. Will you be able to manage? - No problem! It will take a little time, but there is no problem. - Fine. Then we shall go. Percival used once more ¡°Safe Spot¡± and they all logged out easily. Except of course for Alex. He took this chance to take off his mask and went hunting. He had been under a lot of stress during the last days, following the antics of Julia and doing his all to avoid making more trouble for Percival. They had not talked much during the last two days, but he could sense the knight being calmer in his presence. But now he had a lot to take out. The level 30 goblins were hard to kill for him, especially alone and using only the deflected blow from his Seikuken skill which was now:
Seikuken (Passive) Novice lvl 10 You are aware of every movement 50cm around your body. When deflecting an attack, you can send 20% of its power in the direction of your choice
But Alex was skilled enough to not take any blow during the fights. It took him a long time to do enough damages, but the enemies could not manage to harm him. It took him 6 hours, but he finished the test.
Seikuken (Passive) Acolyte lvl 1 00% You are aware of every movement 110cm around your body. When deflecting an attack, you can send 32% of its power in the direction of your choice
He quickly went back to the safe spot and logged out before he converted back to a normal zone. *** During 21 days, or 3 and half real life days, they continued to fight. When the group logged out, Alex continued to fight a little before going to his sessions with the doctor Nathalie Vercoss. Here he talked about a lot of things, about the game, but never truly about himself. But it was just a week since he had been send inside Edge of Magic, so the doctor wasn¡¯t really bothered. After logging back in, he had nearly two days to go on without anyone coming in. He decided to clean each of the floors completely, and was so thorough in it the party had to go down a floor each time they connected back. The four strongest did not really leveled up, but Anna managed to attain level 37 thanks to the hunt. Even if he had been the weaker one, with all the hunting he had done overtime Alex was now at level 42. Still weak for this dungeon, but his bonus stats for the three trials and his experience in fighting gave him the edge against numerous enemies. He had also, thanks to one of the few advices from Percival, let some enemies¡¯ attacks in, in order to obtain the endurance stats which could lower the damages taken from attacks. He had also, with a whopping 3 hours of meditation, managed to obtain the Acolyte for his Inner Control. During his fights, he had to deal with archers and mages, and so he learned to use his Seikuken to deflect those attacks. It was hard to hit someone with it, but he could at least avoid almost all damages from those attacks. And now, they were getting ready for the last room, the boss room. So Alex looked at all of his stats one last time before the fight:
NameAlex Sanders
RaceNephilimLevel42
Title?
Health (HP)1839/1839
Stamina (SP)920/920Mana (MP)797/797
Fame100Infamy0
Class 1?Novice lvl 0
Class 2?Novice lvl 0
Class 3?Novice lvl 0
Profession 1?Novice lvl 0
Profession 2?Novice lvl 0
Primary Attributes
Strength (STR)66Agility (AGI)76
Dexterity (DEX)77Vitality (VIT)76
Intellect (INT)66Wisdom (WIS)66
Secondary Attributes
Reading (REA)28Focus (FOC)81
Willpower (WIL)76Asceticism (ASC)58
Perseverance (PER)84Fighting Spirit (FS)76
Endurance (END)32
Magic Affinity/Resistance
Earth0Wind0
Fire0Water0
Light10Dark-10
Nature0Lightning0
Gravity0
Soul''s Skills
Ukemi Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 5 46%
Inner Control (Passive&Active)Acolyte lvl 1 15%
Seikuken (Passive)Acolyte lvl 1 77%
Seeker of Truth (Active)Novice lvl 3 97%
Tsuuhaiken (Active)Novice lvl 7 48%
Skills
Unarmed Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 5 31%
Acupression Mastery (Passive)Novice lvl 4 86%
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ukemi Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 5 46% By rolling upon falling you can reduce the damage by as much 10%. The effective percentage depends on your dexterity and timing of your action.
Inner Control (Passive&Active) Acolyte lvl 1 15% (Passive) You have gained perfect control over your body. All of you stats increase by 21%. Your skill and class growth increase by 11%. Your stamina, life and mana regeneration increase by 21%. (Active) By meditating you can gain a temporary buff: All stats +63% Mana, Life and Stamina regeneration +63% Meditation time: 4min Duration: 11min
Seikuken (Passive) Acolyte lvl 1 77% You are aware of every movement 110cm around your body. When deflecting an attack, you can send 32% of its power in the direction of your choice
Seeker of Truth (Active) Novice lvl 3 97% By examining objects and seeking bits of information, you have learned to discern if NPCs or books detain hidden information. By focusing on a particular subject, you can filter the information. You¡¯ll see a glowing aura in such a case. With each level, you can see the glow with less focus. You can also gain bonus of fame when discovering new facts, information or even discern hidden motives. No cost.
Tsuuhaiken (Active) Novice lvl 7 48% Powerful energy attack. Need a direct contact, or an indirect through a solid material to work. Ignore all Defense Injure the enemy by 12% of the caster total MP amount Cost: 500MP
Unarmed Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 5 31% Increase the attack power when unarmed by 5% Increase the attack speed when unarmed by 5%
Acupression Mastery (Passive) Novice lvl 4 86% Allow the user to distinguish weak spots of enemies Hitting those spot will result in Critical Hit Increase the critical hit power by 12%
*** - Listen well! The boss level is 62, and he is a King Goblins. But in Edge of Magic, a boss power is usually around 50% stronger than what it should be at his level, and his health, stamina and mana are even more overdone! Consider him like having a level 90 or more power, and a level 150 life bar. That¡¯s why there are usually only raids to fight against bosses. - And you want us six to defeat him, remarked Alex? - Yes, Colonel. That is why we searched for new members in the first place. Or one of the reasons, as there is a lot of dungeons we want to clear. Normally we would have train you longer, but you both are already quite strong, and we don¡¯t need much more¡­ - What, Anna shouted! But we¡¯ll all die. - You mean, Alex stated calmly, that you already nearly managed to defeat him once? - He had around 30% or 40% of his life bar left. He would take a lot of time for us to go strong enough to defeat him, but with new members¡­ - It will be easier¡­ What should we worry about? - I¡¯ll let Percival explain how we will fight. He should be good enough for that now, and it¡¯s better if our strategist take care of that himself. Bob sat on the floor, and the others followed his lead, letting only the silver knight standing up. - First the Boss! The Goblin King is an earth magician. He can attack with ¡°Earth Javelin¡± or with the AoE ¡°Spikes¡±. He can increase his defense with ¡°Stone Skin¡±, but it will also slow him down. Last, he has the skill ¡°Muddy ground, to slow us down. He will also use the skill ¡°Magma Geyser¡± once. Are you fine? Percival looked around, and soon continued: - He has guards. Around a hundred. Goblin Knight level 55, around 40 of them, Goblin Archers level 50, around 20 of them, Goblin Mages level 52, around 20 of them and Goblin Healers level 47, around 20 too. We will have to take care of them quickly. Once more, he looked around. It was strange for him, but it was the first time he was so calm since the coming of Alex in the party. The tension of the boss fight was his battlefield, and he could feel strangely relaxed here: it was not the underground arena of the Dark Lord; it was Edge of Magic, and a boss chamber. - In the rear guard will be Julia, Kordur and Anna. Julia, you will take care of the healing and the buffs. Don¡¯t bother about Bob, and when he activates the ¡°Undying Warrior¡±, use your ¡°Healer¡¯s Heart¡± with ¡°Raining Life¡±. - Fine, answered the healing mage. - Kordur, you will have to protect our fighters, especially the Colonel. He can avoid most damages but he did not have much life. The dwarf simply nodded. - Anna, you¡¯ll only use your special invocations. The turtle shall use its ¡°Prey Cry¡± to aggro as much of the guards as possible. Bai Hu will be on the offensive and kill those. I will personally take care of the other goblins. Are you fine with it? - Yes Percy, she shouted in a smile. - Bob, you¡¯ll be on the offensive. Directly on the King. You¡¯ll take some damages, but don¡¯t care about it as we go for the usual scheme. Just hit him with all you have. - Great! - Colonel, you shall fight at midrange. Avoid it and deflect those aimed at the rear guard. Don¡¯t bother about Bob or myself. Just protect the others. - Fine! - When the guards are finished, all the attackers shall go to fight the King. Anna, you will at that time call back Xuan Wu and use the gain of mana to put more buffs on Bai Hu. If I shout ¡°Protector¡± at this time, all of you shall go behind my back without losing any time, okay? All of them agreed. Percival continued his explanation: - Now, we will give as much loot as possible to Bob. His skill ¡°Heavy Charger¡± can do a great deal of damage depending of the weight of his inventory. So they all stood up and Bob loaded himself as much as he could. They were ready for the fight. *** The party entered the Boss chamber. It was a big cave, nearly 30 meters long and 20 meters width. The height was around 5 or 6 meters, but it was obviously needed as the Goblin King was really big. Even sitting on his throne you could see he was at least 5 meters high. But they did not come to sightsee and Bob went on the offensive. He used ¡°Fire Aura¡± and rushed toward the boss. Alex could only see a red blur before in and hitting the big goblin. What was incredible were the 6% of the boss total health which disappeared because of the charge. The goblin was stunned for a moment, and Bob took this chance to empty his inventory, being overweight and having already used a great deal of stamina for the first attack. At the same time, Xuan Wu had already attracted nearly 70 of the guards, and Bai Hu was busy ripping them. Percival was hitting either with his shield or with his sword. Ten hits were enough for most enemies, but the healers were making it difficult. He was also using skills from his second class ¡°Born Commander¡± to increase the damages and defense of his party. Julia used some stamina regeneration spell on Bob, and defensive buffs on the other party members. Kordur was sending arrows in the directions of the guards to protect the summons, looking from time to time in the direction of Alex. Alex was spinning around, deflecting attacks from the archers and mages which had not been aggroed. But the boss still did not attack the rear guard, focusing on Bob, hitting him with his scepter. But even as a mage, he could do some damages to the PyroBarbarian whose life was decreasing steadily. The fight continued for twenty minutes before Bob life disappeared. Alex had hesitated more than once to help the elf, but decided otherwise, trusting in Percival. And he had been right: - Now! ¡°Undying Warrior¡± is on, yelled the axe-wielder. - ¡°Healer¡¯s Heart¡±! ¡°Raining Life¡±, Julia followed. In this moment, a rain of green light appeared around the group, and Alex saw he was around 100HP every second. But no matter how surprised he was, he did not give up focusing on the fight. At this time, an ¡°Earth Javelin¡± went toward Julia, but he managed to send it toward the goblin healer group. Three of them died from it, easing the fight for Percival and the summons. 5 minutes later Percy finished the last of the guards. Anna called back her turtle and went chanting: - Bai Hu! I invoke upon you the strength of the Metal. Shall all of your attack be strengthen by His great sharpness! At the same time, Alex saw a ball of mana. He barely managed to divert its course, sending it to a wall where tens of spikes of hardened rock appeared. Then the true fight began. The boss still had more than 90% of his life, and he had now stood up. Percival, Bob and Bai Hu were attacking, but he just stomped on them while sending magic toward the rear guard. Hopefully, his physical attacks were not strong enough to one-hit the attackers and Julia¡¯s ¡°Raining Life¡± could last for 1 and half hour: ¡°Undying Warrior¡±, one of Bob¡¯s soul¡¯s skills, was automatically activated before his death, letting him with only one life point. This skill could only be used once a day, but after activating, he was invulnerable for a whole 4 minutes at his current level. But ¡°Healer¡¯s Heart¡±, a soul¡¯s skill from Julia, useable only once a day too, would enhance a healing effect, from spell, skill or mixture, depending of the percent of HP left from the most damaged person of a party. That is why a weak AoE healing spell like ¡°Raining Life¡±, only useful for its long duration, could have such an overwhelming effect. At the same time, Alex had his first real challenge since coming to this world. During the test, he could have taken a break without risking failure, and he never truly felt any danger during battles. Even when his opponents were strong enough to kill him with one strike, he somehow knew he was always able to dodge. But this time, he was fighting to protect someone. He had to jump right and left without any break, deflecting blows and diverting spells. Julia used stamina regeneration spells on him, but the tension was rising as he could not allow one hit in. But it was exhilarating for him. For the first time since long ago, he could have some pleasure from a fight, and not just the disgust he had grown accustomed to. It took more than 50 minutes for the attackers to bring the boss to 50 percent of his HP. At this time, the Goblin King took a breath in and a step back. He raised his scepter and began some strange guttural chant. - ¡°Protector¡±, yelled Percival! All of them run to stand behind him when the ¡°Magma Geyser¡± erupted, destroying half of the room. But ¡°Protector¡± was one of Percival Soul¡¯s Skills. For all of his remaining stamina (and at least 2000), he could invoke a spherical barrier that would dispel any attack for some time. Longer the time needed, lesser the area protected. That was why he asked them to come near him. In this configuration, he could hold it for a whole 5 minutes. When the barrier disappeared, the magma had already begun solidifying and the attackers went back on the offensive. Percival stayed there, panting, while Julia helped him with some buffs. He also took the time to take out a potion and drink it. Alex was still protecting the group from spells. After 40 more minutes, the boss only had 10% health left, but the ¡°Raining Life¡± ended. - Everybody attacks, Percival yelled! Without waiting, everybody launched attacks. Bob used all of his mana in one big attack, with fire swirling around his axe. Kordur send tens arrows in seconds toward the boss, each doing great damages. Anna send her summon to attack. Percival used strong sword skills and also some commander¡¯s ones to enhance the others¡¯ attacks. Julia used strong ¡°Ice Spear¡± to hurt the boss, but still kept more than half of her mana in case of emergency. Alex went to attack and precisely aimed at the joint, dealing a lot of damages and crippling the big goblin who soon fell to his knees. It took them 5 minutes to finish the fight. During those, Julia nearly depleted her mana pool, and the three close quarter fighters had lost quite a lot of their health. But they managed to win.
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Achievement: Goblin King Slayer You belong to the party which manage to slay the Goblin King with only 6 players below level 80 All Stats +2
The loot appeared, but none moved to take it. They were all exhausted, and fell down on the ground, smiling or laughing loudly, happy from their victory. - That¡¯s the way a fight should be, Bob yelled! - True, Kordur added. - Tiring, but rewarding, Julia said. - It was so hard, Anna complained a little but nonetheless happy. - That¡¯s how we do things, Percival commented on. Without fight, no glory as some would say. Chapter 9 Past and Farewells Chapter 9 Past and Farewells The whole ¡°Triskell¡± guild was at the inn. After the fight, they divided the loots. Alex obtained part of the treasure, more gold than he could have dream to have, a whopping one thousand golds. The stuffs were more for magicians, so the group decided it would be for Anna and Julia. The others earned more gold to keep it balanced. After that, they went back to the city and partied until morning came. Except for Anna who was too young to drink and Alex who had been trained to reject all substances that could hinder his reflexes. But he still enjoyed it very much, as the aroma of friendship and victory was sweet enough in itself. However, when morning came, he was alone in the street, looking at the rising sun. He felt someone coming behind and put back his mask. Percival looked at him. - Thanks you for your work, A¡­ Alex! - You have nothing to thank me for, Alex replied, you especially. - You could have ignored me, but you decide not to. My heart still has troubles accepting it but I know you¡¯re not the one everybody was looking at in the arena¡­ - It was still me¡­ - I don¡¯t know why you did those things, but I know you had a good reason. Don¡¯t keep it to yourself. Find someone you can trust with your past. Someone that won¡¯t judge you. - I don¡¯t think such a person can exist. - Seeing my reactions, I can¡¯t really oppose that, but you need it. Just think about it¡­ - Thanks¡­ - ¡­ - You did not come to say that, didn¡¯t you? - True! It was truly a good hunt, but you have your own fights to lead, haven¡¯t you? That¡¯s why you¡¯ll leave¡­ - I¡­ - Don¡¯t worry! I understand. You stayed back for me, and you appreciated the guild, but you can¡¯t, no yet. - Right! I learned a lot of things during my life. Things normal people would never learn. But I haven¡¯t been taught the most important¡­ I need to find it, and nobody can help me with it. It is my quests. - What will you do? - I¡¯ll travel. Far away. Doing Quests, fighting monsters, meeting people: learning. It will probably take some time. - Don¡¯t forget us. And if you need a party for some quests, we¡¯re ready for all, especially hard ones. The others will be a little sad but they¡¯ll understand. And next time, I would probably be able to see you eye to eye, without having to impose you this mask or nickname. At least I¡¯ll try to! - Julia will regret it¡­ - Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll find something else to torment you with. - Bet she will! Like that, the day awoke, and the adventurers too. During two more days the whole party fought as a whole, before it was time to say goodbye. Julia complained a little and forced him to promise to send her messages from time to time. Anna tried to hold back tears, but her smile was stretched and everyone could see the pearls of water at the corner of her eyes. Kordur did not say much, and just gave him a tap on the shoulder while Bob tried to squeeze him to death. Last but not least, Percival gave him a sealed letter and some partying words: - Here are some things that you will need to know. Everybody put some words. Have a good luck, Colonel! - You too, Commander. Until we meet again. - Until we meet again, Percival whispered with a smile. *** Alex was on his cyberspace. He still had some time until his next meeting with Nathalie Vercoss. Not much, but enough. He calmed his breathing and thought; about a lot of things; about a uselessly meddlesome girl who told him about the importance of talking; about a silvery knight who courageously faced his greatest fear; about the partying words of one of his so rare friends. Now he was ready. It was time for him to face his past. When the doctor arrived, he was lying down on the sofa, looking at the ceiling and at nothing at the same time. He stood up and greeted her before sitting back, while she took her usual place in an armchair: - So are you fine today Alex? - Yes Doc. - ¡­ - How is Emy? - She¡¯s doing fine. Seeing the easiness she has for making friends would make one believe she¡¯s not truly your sister. - How is her health? - Still some minor troubles, but it¡¯s coming back nicely¡­ - I know I probably should not tell you that, but if he was not already dead, I would probably take great joy in killing him. - It¡¯s true you should be careful with those kinds of statement, are some would probably take them seriously¡­ but it¡¯s fine with me. I understand where it¡¯s coming from, and what your old ¡°employer¡± did to your sister. Hopefully there were no permanent damages. And I am sure he regretted it in the end, when everything fell apart. - It is probably true¡­ - ¡­ - Doc¡­ - What is it, Alex? - What¡­ What do you know about me? About my past? Nathalie moved a little and sat in a way that made her stand closer to Alex. - Not much I¡¯m afraid¡­ Only what was on the files¡­ - I did not read those, joked Alex¡­ - It¡¯s quite simple: your only known family member is your sister, Emily. As you did not say anything and she could not remember, it is all is known about the family. No surname, no parents, no date of birth, no place of birth, nothing. You¡¯re called Alexander, but investigators thought it was a name given to you for the arena. Once again no luck from you, your sister, or the members of that organization. You were trained during some years before being sent to the tournament. From what was written, it was quite an insane training¡­ nearly a hundred days¡¯ worth in one day. That is part of the reason I thought you¡¯ll refuse to be sent once more in a VR world. You won the tournament 5 times in a row, and with the special events, it has been said you kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people and ferocious beasts. Then you help the Special Forces during the demise of your ¡°employer¡±, and willingly accept to be arrest in the condition the government would take care of your sister. Then you refused lots of bodyguard job offers but accepted mine, and came here. I think that¡¯s all¡­ Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.- I¡­ I¡­ - Take your time if you want¡­ Alex smiled and took a deep breath. - I would better be beginning somewhere¡­ Emy is not my only sibling. She¡¯s just the only one I¡¯m sure is alive. - What do you mean? - I do not exist. That¡¯s why nobody could find who we were, as neither I nor my sister were officially born in that world¡­ - You mean¡­ - Let me explain you my youth¡­ *** The young boy was coming back home, holding with one of his hand a bit of bread and with the other his hurting sides. He knew he did not have as much as his father wanted, but he also understood that should he managed to bring a whole bag of food, it would also be too little in the eyes of this man. So he just went in the slum that was his home. Of course, the man was angry. He always was. But since two years ago, he did not dare to touch his son anymore. The kid was strong after all. He was spending his time stealing some food, fleeing from policemen, or fighting against those that thought it was a good idea to take his spoils. And the boy had learned how to fight. His instincts were first rate, and no one was trying to steal from him anymore in those streets. Two years before, in one of his usual fit, his father raised his hand against him. But he had never been really dexterous, and the alcohol did not help at all. With two twisted fingers and a painful groin that were both done reflexively, the man decided to always keep at least a one meter safety distance. Losing to his 8 years old kid had hurt his pride, but not as much as the kid¡¯s hit hurt his manhood. So he was shouting, more than ever, but those were only the barking of a losing dog, at least in the child¡¯s eyes. His father was a mean, violent and cowardly person, and if he had hated him during a long time, he now only had disdain toward him. The shouting did not last long, and the father took half of the spoil, mumbling about the fact that he was hungry and needed more, but he took only his part and left, probably seeking a place to hydrate his self. And he was as fast gone from the home than from his kid¡¯s mind. The child quickly went to the small room where his mother was. She was sitting against the wall, with a warm blanket on her, and holding in her hands a baby as if it was a treasure. When the kid entered, she looked at him, with some fear first, but with a shining smile when she understood it was her son, and not her husband. - Here mother, said the boy shyly. I¡¯ve brought back some bread. - Thank you my dear, she answered while patting his head with one hand. But you should take some for yourself¡­ - I already ate some before arriving. It¡¯s your share. - My angel! Saying so, she used a freed right hand to draw him near and hug him. But the baby, his younger sister, quickly made herself known, shouting as strongly as she could. - Oh, little Emy. Don¡¯t cry¡­ He is your brother. With her mother pampering her, Emily quickly stopped crying and looked up with shiny eyes while babbling. The young boy hesitantly approached his hand, but the baby frowned and nearly started to cry again. Seeing the disappointment in her son¡¯s face, the woman smiled kindly and comforted him: - Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll perhaps take a little time but she¡¯ll eventually grow accustomed to you. The kid smiled back at the two before leaving. He still had to find something to eat for the following day, for him and his family. Today he knew where he could obtain a lot of food without many risks. It would be long and tiring, but he should manage. Or he should have. But this time, fate had decided otherwise, and he had to stop when seeing many policemen just a street away from his goal. So he had no choice but to give up and went back. When he arrived, he heard a quarrel and some shouting. As he recognized the voice of his mother, he speeded up. - No! I am not letting you take one of my children ever again! - Shut up woman! You don¡¯t want to anger me! - Aahhhhh! The last scream was terrifying for the young boy. He had heard a lot of screaming during his few years, and he could recognize, even if he was desperately trying to deny it, the holler of a hurt one. He just stormed in in a blurred rage. Noticing the man holding the blood-stained knife, he just elbowed the side of his knee, depriving him from balance. From a side glance he saw that being which was calling himself his father falling and impaling himself on the knife. He was shocked, but it did only last until he heard the hard breathing of his mother. He quickly went to her side: - Mother. It¡¯s me¡­ He¡¯s gone and won¡¯t be back¡­ His mother held a shivering hand up and brushed his teary cheeks. - Here you are my angel. Please, take care of your sister¡­ This man already took your other siblings away¡­ Take care of Emily at least¡­ in my stead¡­ as I¡­ can¡¯t¡­ longer¡­ - I swear it to you mother, I¡¯ll take care of her! So¡­ please¡­ don¡¯t leave us! But she could not hear anything any longer. After blanking out for quite a little time, the boy stood up, without much confidence, and took her sister with him, leaving the house. When he approached his hand, she caught him and giggled, showing him the same dazzling smile he had so often see on his mother face. - Yes. I¡¯ll protect you little Emy. I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you¡­ And the young boy definitely left his home, burying in his heart the memory of his parents and of his old name, focusing only on surviving and taking care of his baby sister.
Hello everybody! This chapter is short, but it was hard to write, and I''m still not sure I managed to do it the way I could see it happening. Hope you''ll like it. Next one will be the epilogue of the First Arc! Do not worry, the following is mostly scheduled, as I have too many ideas and just need to select the best one. Thank you for reading my works Epilogue First Arc Epilogue It was a dark castle. It wasn¡¯t until a few hours ago. It was originally a peaceful land where life was great and knights were killing monsters and at the same time insuring the security of the residents. One city, one country was what foreigner would say about it as this land was so small. But since long ago, a powerful country had its eyes on this land. Hopefully, an old treaty, ratified by using the blood of the ancestor of the actual king, was hindering his dreams of conquest. Should he launch an attack, he and all from his blood should die. That is why the king found the greatest mage, showed them the treaty, and asked if it was possible to break it. Numerous mages died, their answer displeasing the king, but one told about an old tale. There were, in some far away countries, some beings that had received great gifts from the gods. They were freed from death and other worldly laws. The king asked for an investigation and learned a lot. Those could be subdue by power, or money, but they each had eternal life, as they could be reborn each time they die, and great potential, as a few month were enough for them to grow stronger than warrior which trained for years. And the most important point was that even if they were hired, each of their actions were considered as a personal choice, and responsibility would not fall on the shoulder of the hirer. That was only working for the magic side of thing, as hiring adventurers would probably be enough to start a war in most case. But the king¡¯s problem was due to the blood magic of the treaty. But once the other party, or so to be said the royal family of the coveted country, would be dead, the treaty will become null and void. He would only need to find an adventurer discreet, able and willing to dirty his hand. In the first week, the king became quite distressed. All reports from his spies in foreign and far away countries were telling him that adventurers were rightful being who would accept request even from the most common people. There were even some ready to fight powerful monsters and help helpless villagers for nearly nothing. But as some would say, he soon discovered that Erro Erroni Lupus est (Adventurer is a wolf to adventurer). All were not good. Some were a little bad, but there were also those that attacked and hunted their own, those with the infamous title of ¡°Player Killers¡±. The king did not know the meaning of the title, but he did not care. He just asked his greatest spy to find the strongest PK and to give him a message. One month later, a man arrived. He was 2.10 meters tall. He had muscles and scars all over his body. He had a glint of madness and cruelty in his clear blue eyes. And he had a large two meters long two-handed sword hanging on his back. He was going under the name of Aaron, Aaron the Butcher. At the end of the meeting, the king was smiling. It would cost him 20 diamonds, or nearly 20.000.000 golds, but now, he knew the king, his family, the nobles and all the soldiers of this country he craved to own would die a very painful death. As he could need the residents after the invasion, he asked to the man to let them go, and with the air around him, the king was not surprised by the annoyed face of the traveler. Sparing villagers was bothering Aaron, and this fact alone was the reason he asked for such a price. One week later thirteen other adventurers arrived. They were the officers of Aaron¡¯s guild, and he had decided to invite them to the fun. Three days later, the castle was dark from the fumes. The city had been left nearly intact, but the castle was completely devastated, and all the surrounding countries could hear the terrible cries of agony of the poor souls who did not have the luck of dying during the attack. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Wodahs was one of the officers of Aaron. He was the only one left in the city. Like all of the officers, he was always ready for a bloodbath and had nothing against slaying players, kings, nobles or commoners alike. But he had no interest in torture as his leader had. But he knew, he had seen, what would happen to those displeasing him, and he had no intention to make his disgust known. But he had obtained information for his master, and he could not delay it, even knowing Aaron hated being disturbed when he was playing with his prey. Wodahs entered the room, denying to his eyes the display of living corpse begging for death and pity. And in the middle of this horrible scenery, sitting of a throne made of disembodied limbs, and carving bone, Aaron was looking at his officer with displeasure. - I don¡¯t want to be disturbed! The statue his leader was carving was that of a tormented woman, and Wodahs knew she would go with the other parts of his disagreeable collection. - I¡¯m sorry Aaron, but it could not wait¡­ - Are you ready for the consequences? Knowing you could be the next one here, would you still say it could not wait! - You said so yourself. - And what did I say? - That should one obtain some information about this particular ¡°subject¡±, one should tell you without losing an instant, no matter the reason. - You¡­ Aaron slipped, and ripped off the head of the statue. He looked at it a second, with some kind of regrets in his eyes, before dropping it and turning back toward his friend: - So you have information about this ¡°subject¡±¡­ - I have asked for some of my connections, and they found something strange. - And what is it? None would have managed to kill him, and I don¡¯t think he is the kind to take order for a stuck-up wannabe noble. He should still be in jail! - There¡­ there is some kind of rehabilitation program going on. They let prisoner roam nearly free inside of Edge of Magic in order to teach them how to behave in society. Aaron looked straight through his interlocutor, clenching his fists so hard his joints went white. He stood motionless for a moment. Here he could stand. Here he could clench his fists. Here he could see. Here he could move. But he was still suffering the feelings of his ripped-off feet, still hurting from his cut-off fingers, still screaming from his missing eyeballs, still yelling in agony from his broken spine. So he just smiled. - Found where he is! It is our time! It is time for the ¡°Dark Lord Slayers¡± guild to do his job and bring him before me, so I can take my revenge!
Some words... I don''t really know what to say. I don''t really like doing gore, so I always try to limit myself. But it seemed necessary for this character. I hope I did not put too much. It should still be an acceptable degree. It is short, but it''s normal as it''s for an epilogue. Don''t worry, we''ll go back to Alex''s side in the next one. For some reason, I don''t think I''ll be able to keep the current rhythm, but I''ll continue to write, and give you chapters. Last, I''ll ask you for a little thought for my fellow countrymen who died in a terrorist attack yesterday... ...Je suis Charlie... Thank you Prologue Second Arc Prologue Alex was looking at her. It was the fourth day, the fourth session he had since his talk about the past. He had to answer so much of her questions. He knew it was only four days, but it was going too fast. On the other hand he had live a full 24 days, nearly a month, but it was going too slow. He had been ready to tell his story in one go, from beginning to end, without a break, but Nathalie, or Doc as he was calling her, kept pestering him about details. The important part was that those detail stayed as such only until he talked about it. He did not think he needed to talk about his father, but only by doing so had he learned he could regret, and actually always had regret, being the principal cause of his death. He did not like him, and even despised him, but he was still family. And after all he had done, he did not think he could cry, but thinking about his mother, and thinking about this day¡­ It was virtual tears, as he said to Nathalie, but he could not pretend, at least to himself, he would not have shed them in the outside world as well. They had talk about nearly every detail, learned about everything about his early years, and even managed to bring back some vague memory about other siblings. But now, it was the important part of the discussion. He now understood every question asked and every answer given were all for this moment. He could feel it in the air: today, he would learn something important about himself. - That¡¯s the day, isn¡¯t it? - Which day? - This day, when your mother died, by the hands of your own father, when your father died, by your own hands, when you took charge of your sister¡­ That is the day you forbid yourself from feeling empathy; the day you created this resolve of yours to do anything, even unspeakable things, for your goals; and the day this unquenchable anger you have inside of you was born! Alex clenched his fists. He had learn, during long years of training, that he should never let his feelings run free, and he had always done so, except for some rare times. - I don¡¯t know! I have always been good at controlling myself. I know what my priorities are, and even my affection for Emy would not distract me if something needs to be done. But three times, or two if we count since my training, I have been blinded, by anger, by an overwhelming rage. - What was the first time? - Neglecting the death of my father¡­ Not showing feelings is not the same than not having them, but my anger was so much than seeing him dying had no kind of importance to me. I wonder how he could have feel, seeing simply indifference in the eyes of the son who killed him. - Your problem is that you put too much on yourself. If you don¡¯t learn to release anger by small doses, it is the kind of feeling that¡¯ll overwhelm you, as for the last day of your employer¡­ - You know about this one? Nathalie raised an eyebrow, looking at her patient. - Even with all the things they could see during their years of service, quite a number of the special force have been quite shocked by your display¡­ And I have all the reports¡­ - He was going to use Emy as a shield. - I am not here to judge you Alexander, but you can¡¯t simply ripped two arms off a man and go without being noticed. It¡¯s already impossible enough to rip one, but the two at the same time¡­ You won¡¯t make me believe you weren¡¯t angry at the time¡­ - I was. But it did not last long. - Maybe. And maybe not. The problem is not the time during which you lose control, but the fact that you lost control of yourself. You have done terrible things in your past, but most of the time, you had no other choice. But we cannot let someone as strong as you are be free if you can go out of control at times. - ¡­ You¡¯re right¡­ but what can I do? - For the time being, learn to let go a little of your feelings at times. But you have already begun to walk on that road. - How? - Speaking with people, sharing some things together, and killing monsters without thinking from time to time. - That much is fine by me. - Good! But if you want me to help you, you will need to honestly tell me what happened this last time you lost control of yourself. - ¡­ - It¡¯s important Alex. - ¡­ I know. But it¡¯s hard. - Harder than speaking about the death of your parents? - Yes! - Why? - Their deaths were hard to tell because it was hurting, and I was a little afraid of my own reactions to it, afraid of becoming once more the weak boy I was at that time. But that is different. - What are you afraid of? - Of what I am. Of what I was able to become that time! - ¡­ - ¡­ - I will never force you to talk, but I am ready to listen to you with an open mind any time you want. - I know. At first, I didn¡¯t believe you when you said you would not judge me, but I was able to see that¡¯s true. But that time¡­ - When was it? - It was during the final round of my second year championship in the arena. Do you know how it is working? - Please explain me¡­ - There are two kinds of events in the arena. The first ones are the tournaments fights. The strongest fighters around the world gather. It is the Death Tournament. Those fights should decide of the strongest true fighter, and each should put his life on the line to win it: some are like me, and do not have the choice, others want the glory, some want the thrills of the fight, and others to show their might. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.- What is the second kind of events? - Display. They are shows for the wealthy, advertisements for each of the fighter aiming for the Death Tournament. Those shows depend on the characters of the fighters. Some did not happen in the arena directly but were broadcasted inside, like murder challenges, or aerial fights. - And you? - My shows were called ¡°labors of Hercules¡±! They liked to give me seemingly impossible things to do, like fighting 50 criminals or 3 hungry grizzly bears¡­ This one nearly got me killed! - And how did that brought your anger? - During the finale of the previous Death Tournament, before I was ready to fight, the champion was critically injured. So my ¡°employer¡± decided it was a good time to start. And I managed to win the first tournament without serious injuries. - How was this old champion? - Strong. Really strong. And for the second tournament, I had to fight him in the final round. My ¡°employer¡± had been ready and had brought me to one of his shows¡­ That is not a good memory¡­ Even with all that I saw¡­ Even with the disgust that I felt toward some of my own action¡­ Nothing was as nightmarish as his shows¡­ His shows were neither display of strength, nor of might, nor of ability¡­ They brought him some prey¡­ There are no other words I could use to describe, as they were neither criminals nor fighters. They were just normal people send him to let him show his cruelty¡­ - I don¡¯t think they could have been interesting with non-fighter¡­ And every fight in this arena was cruel¡­ - Right! That is how one could see it. But I, for instance, have learned to kill people in a quick, efficient, but showy way. My enemies neither had the time to understand they were dying, nor the misfortune of suffering. But the spectators liked it, so there was no problem. My predecessor was, on the contrary, a specialist at making people die slowly, with intense pain! That is why his shows were about him carefully torturing of his prey for nearly two hours. And it could have last longer if it weren¡¯t for the management of the arena¡­ - And? - I saw him ¡°taking care¡± of a teenage girl, and I began to lose my calm. I was ready to fight and kill, but this man was enjoying the pain he inflicted on others¡­ But I kept myself in check. I had learned that strong emotions would blind you, and kill you during a fight, so I forced myself to forget about that, and I prepared myself for our fight¡­ - And at that time¡­ - I didn¡¯t understand it at the time, but now I knew I had been used by my ¡°employer¡±. The fact remains that this man knew I had a sister¡­ - ¡­ - He told me he would take care of her after dealing with me, and I could so clearly remember the tears and screams of this teenage girl from the other day¡­ I snapped. When I came back to my sense, my right arm and left leg were broken, and I had a large slash on my torso. And I had been pinned against a wall by five armored men, while five others were on the ground, injured or dead. - What about your¡­ opponent? - His legs were chopped off, he no more had eyes or fingers, and it would seem I broke his spine at 14 different places. - Do you know¡­ why? - Why? - Why did they stop you? The Death tournament as no rules, especially against killing, disabling or torturing your adversaries¡­ - I learned it later, the same way I learned that all of those events had been scheduled by my ¡°employer¡±. My opponent of that time wasn¡¯t a normal participant. He was in fact a wealthy sponsor of this arena who liked to go in for his hobby and for showing his might. And he was in competition for some business against my ¡°employer¡±. They stopped me because they could not afford to let him die¡­ - That¡¯s¡­ - That¡¯s hypocritical, isn¡¯t it? That was to be a death match¡­ But he finally lost the match, parts of his body, his autonomy and all the presence he had managed to earn by going in the arena. He was still rich, but utterly humiliated. And I don¡¯t regret it¡­ Except that it is the time I earn the title of Dark Lord: the one reigning on those hellish lands and punishing the foolish who did not comply with their rules. That¡¯s how they saw me¡­ - Do you know¡­ who he was? - I did not bury his name in my memory¡­ I was afraid of what I had been able to do because of my rage, but he truly deserved it¡­ He was Aaron, Aaron the Butcher¡­
There for a short prologue, or you can say a kind of follow-up from the epilogue of the first arc. Now for the sad new: I will go somewhere I won''t have an Internet connection for some time. It should soon be resolved, and I will continue to write, but i can''t tell when the next post will be. But Alex will come back!!!!! Thank you once more for reading it and for your comments and reviews! New chapters Hello guys (and girls), I have quite a lot of things to do in real life, and it has become really hard to find time to write a little. I don''t know when I''ll will be able to post some more. For the next few months, I''ll probably be really busy, but I''ll try to write when I can and post some time soon. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Sorry for the wait. Thanks for your understanding.