Nethy was difficult to navigate through. At times the road signs didn’t make sense and more than once he had to stop a random passerby and ask for directions. He got a lot of strange looks from the other players, but for the most part they were rather helpful.
As he neared the Magic Association the average level of players increased consistently. Elijah saw that Rose wasn’t the only near-Legend player in the city, even if this was a starting town. He couldn’t help but stare when a man walked by, decked out in high level armor that glimmered with golden magic.
[Player]
Name: Edmund
Class: Guardian | Level: 97
He was shocked that someone so strong would be here. This man should be out fighting in the highest level dungeons, and instead here he was brushing shoulders with Elijah’s level one self.
Speaking of which, his skill had activated when Edmund had brushed against him.
[Item]
Pauldron of the Stoic Goddess
Rank: Legendary
Damage Reduction: +97%
Condition: 100/100
Enchantments:
debug{
Stoic[Legendary,DR_PERC += 50]
Sturdy[Legendary,MAX_COND +=50]
SelfRep[Celestial,COND_IMPROVE_SELF]
}
He casually tapped at the various enchantments, each one kicking back an error message stating that he couldn’t affect them until his skill reached Legendary rank, or Celestial in the case of the SelfRep enchantment.
It was also interesting to note that a Legendary piece of armor could have a Celestial tier enchantment. He wondered if the same was true for lower ranked armor, and how much higher they could be compared to the base piece.
He filed the metadata’s names away in his mind for later, none of his crude gear had the option to add enchantments, but there was always a chance he could modify them later. Or enchant entirely new gear.
Having a list on hand of the different designators could allow him to quickly swap out stats of his gear depending on his specific needs.
The outside of the Association building was crowded with people of all tiers from Beginner up to Master and even a few Legendaries like Edmund, a couple of guards stood at the front door, either turning people away or letting them in.
As he reached the front of the line, they looked him over and then allowed him to pass. He wasn’t sure what metric they used to deny or allow entry, but he wasn’t about to question it and risk them changing their mind.
A strange looking woman was sitting behind a desk, in a row of other desks all of which were empty beside hers. Elijah guessed by her slender form and pointed ears that she was an elf.
He approached her and cleared his throat, “Uhm… Excuse me, Miss? A friend of mine said I should come here and register. I’m new to the whole adventuring thing.”
The elf looked up and sighed. “For the record,” it said in a slightly gruff voice, “I prefer ‘Sir’ over ‘Miss’, considering I am male.” He rolled his eyes and pulled some papers from a filing cabinet.
“You humans are all the same. You see a pretty elf and think it must be a woman… Name?”
Elijah was caught off guard and stammered, his face burning brightly as he blushed from his little social faux pas. “Uhm… It’s…” He pointed up above his head towards where he assumed his own nametag must be floating. The elf looked up at the ceiling and then down at Elijah again.
“Your name is… Ceiling?”
It struck him then that as a NPC, this person must not be able to see his name or class, unlike players. He felt stupid once again. “Sorry, no. My name is Elijah.”
He answered several other questions, such as his class, levels, and what he was looking for in a party before the elf stamped the paper and reached into another drawer.
His hand came out with a silver badge that he slid across the desk to Elijah. “This is your Association badge, keep it with you while within the halls and while out exploring. We’ll see about setting you up with a party within the next few days.”
He looked over Elijah’s file once more and grinned. “Actually, on second thought, we may actually have the perfect party for you.”
That was how Elijah had found himself waiting inside a large opulent room at the top of the tower. He’d asked the elf, whose name he learned was Erwyn, multiple times whether the building was safe and structurally sound. He’d just scoffed at Elijah. “Magic,” he had told him, as if that answered all questions.
Looking around the room, Elijah fidgeted nervously, broadcasting his concern over the nature of the party that would meet him here. It radiated the feeling of expense, and even if they only rented it from the Association, it must have cost them a hefty sum. The room was large and decorated in magically animated tapestries that showcased various different mages casting different spells. Even the window frames appeared to be trimmed with fine gold, but the only furniture in the room was a simple wooden desk with two chairs on one side and one on the other. It was almost incongruous to the rest of the room.
He didn’t want to be stuck with a high level or high profile party. Or worse, both. Sure, the experience might be great, but he wanted to actually experience the game and not be carried along.
His heart sank when a man walked into the room. ‘I suppose I don’t need to take the first job offer that comes my way.’
[Player]
Name: Alastor
Class: Cryo Mage | Level: 75
Not only was this man significantly higher levelled than him, but he also had a legendary class just like Elijah, making Elijah wonder if Legendary classes were as rare as the name made them seem, or if it meant that they were more powerful.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elijah,” he said, reaching out his hand which Elijah took. “I was excited when Erwyn sent me a message saying that someone with a unique class had arrived. Even more excited when I learned it was you.”
“You know me, sir?”
Alastor laughed, his voice was deep and warm, easing Elijah’s nerves. “The whole world knows you, or at least knows of you Elijah. We all got the system announcement when you unlocked your class.”
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Alastor sat down across from him and poured two glasses of water. “I was in the middle of a raid when it happened. The whole ground shook and threw everyone off their feet.” He gave Elijah a grin. “We were fighting a giant earthworm so the quake didn’t affect it very much. Wound up wiping us all out while we tried to get our footing.”
Elijah looked sheepish at this revelation, but Alastor just laughed again. “Hey, don’t worry about it. These things happen. We’ll rest and recover and then try again in a few days. The gear we lost wasn’t even our best stuff.”
“Is that why you wanted me to join your party? I’m not sure how much help I’d be considering the level gap.”
Alastor looked at him with a confused expression before laughing for a third time. “Oh! Oh, no. Sorry I completely understand your confusion here. I’m not looking to have you join my party.”
Oddly the rejection made Elijah angry, as if this man didn’t think that he was worthwhile as a player, but Alastor continued before Elijah’s anger could get far.
“I’m actually helping my brother put together his party right now. Apparently the last guy they brought on didn’t work out quite right, so he asked for my assistance to round them out. He’s the one you’ll be working with if you guys decide to play together.”
“So where is your brother?”
Just then another man walked in. “I’m here, sorry about that guys. I had trouble getting past the guards at the front door since I’m not a magic user.”
Elijah was instantly nervous as the man moved towards him. He was at least twelve or thirteen centimeters taller and likely outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. At one-hundred and ninety centimeters tall, Elijah wasn’t used to individuals who towered over him as much as this man did.
[Player]
Name: Nicholas
Class: Fighter | Level: 3
Elijah relaxed slightly when he saw this man’s levels. Only two levels above him. He couldn’t be that much tougher than Elijah, even if he was more physically imposing. They’d be able to close the gap between their levels quickly.
“So I hear you unlocked a unique class? Only a handful of those exist. Tell us a little bit about it?” Nicholas asked as he sat down next to his brother, the chair creaking under the weight of him.
Elijah hadn’t been expecting the interview to go like this and he had to quickly figure out the best way to describe his ‘skill’ in game terms, without giving away that he was using the debug menu itself.
“Uhhh… It’s sort of like a buff and debuff class. I can debuff the base stats of enemies as long as that stat is the same or lower tier to my skill.” Elijah’s nervous fidget was back, he’d always been uncomfortable talking about himself. “I am pretty sure I can also buff equipment and weapons, but I haven’t had much chance to play with that yet. Or really any time, I just finished my tutorial mission.”
Alastor’s eyes glazed over for a second, Elijah figured he was looking at menus, before turning to his brother and whispering in his ear.
Nicholas nodded his head and then looked at Elijah again. “What about players? Can you buff another player? Or debuff them?”
Elijah shook his head. “Not yet, I don’t think. I tried buffing my own stats while in the tutorial, but a system message told me I had to be Celestial tier to affect Players.”
Nicholas nodded his head, excitement written on his face, but Alastor merely shrugged. “Lots of buff/debuff users available in the Association. What makes you different or more useful? The fact you can’t buff allies is a bit of a down side.”
Elijah didn’t know how to answer that, considering he had no idea how other players utilized buffs and debuffs, but he decided to just go for it. “I have a lot more fine control over the buffs. Assuming my tier in the skill is correct, I can use the same skill to affect any of the mob’s stats. I don’t have to cast or specialize in multiple spells to do it.”
Alastor shrugged again. “My biggest concern is your level. I’m assuming you were killed in your tutorial, so how strong is your class really if you weren’t able to handle the easiest quests in the game?”
Elijah knew that he had them here. He felt like he probably shouldn’t tell them, but considering how eager Rose was to be his friend, he figured this high level player, and his brother, would be equally excited to keep him close.
“I met a new friend who told me that my tutorial was particularly difficult. I chose the ‘Prisoner’ tutorial and the final boss killed me.”
Nicholas didn’t react to the words, but Alastor nearly fell out of his chair in shock.
“You… You’re lying!” He shouted when he had recovered enough to finally speak.
“No, she told me how rare it was, but I think I just got really lucky.” He hadn’t expected this reaction from the Mage, and was starting to question whether he should have kept it a secret.
Alastor slapped the palm of his hand on the table. “The final boss of that quest? What’s its name?”
Elijah scooted his chair back slightly, afraid the man was going to jump across the table at him. “It was…” he struggled to remember the name on the fly, “It was Big Bad Boss Babe, but it wasn’t a babe. It was a really big, ugly male goblin.”
Alastor let out a large sigh, his shoulders slumping. He turned to Nicholas. “You want him on your team. He’s likely going to become the seventh Celestial in the entire game.”
Nicholas went pale at his brother’s words, his raised eyebrow and questioning look showed he had no idea what the prisoner tutorial was, but understood exactly what it meant to be a Celestial tier player.
“Since you’re gonna be my brother’s new team mate, I’m going to give you a word of advice,” Alastor said, his voice low and conspiratorial. “Don’t ever tell anyone you got that option. If anyone asks, you chose Scholar. Enough unique class players are cagey about how they got their class, so just keep your mouth shut.”
Alastor’s voice took on a note of danger to it that unsettled Elijah. “People are going to go after you for that relic once you unlock the redemption quest. They know where the Goblin Tutorial is, and will be waiting to kill you for it. You are lucky you died and respawned here, otherwise your introduction to the world would have been the Reaper Guild coming down on you the second you stepped foot outside.”
“What’s the Reaper Guild?” Both Nicholas and Elijah asked in unison.
“They’re a group of player killers that sit around and wait for people to get those relics. There’s a huge bounty for them, real world money. It’s against the terms of service to sell items for real money, but that doesn’t matter to them.”
A box appeared in Elijah’s vision as Alastor’s words rang in his ears.
[New Quest]
The Reaper’s GuildDescription: There is a group of players who make it their goal to hunt down and kill other players. Especially players like you. There are secrets to be discovered here, if you have the nerve to uncover them; find out more about the Reapers Guild
He closed the quest notification and noticed both of the two men staring at him.
“Did you… Did you just get a quest?” Alastor asked him, shock evident in his voice. Elijah nodded his head causing the mage to roll his eyes and look at his brother. “No, seriously Nicholas. This one is incredibly lucky, if you don’t have him join your party, then I’m going to conscript him into mine.”
Alastor stood up and left the room without saying another word.
Nicholas smiled at Elijah. “Sorry about my brother. He’s very… intense about this game. This character is his second one. The other one is already level 99 and he’s been trying to get one of those relics for years.”
Elijah’s eyes darted to the door that Alastor had just left. “Your brother was able to afford a second pod just because he stalled out? What does he do for a living?”
“He doesn’t like me talking about his normal job in-game. Keeps his private and professional life separate, but he also streams the game live and makes crazy money. He had to start a new character after he hit 99 because his fans got bored of him not progressing. That’s why he wants a relic for himself. Celestial tier unlocks so much content that it’s almost a whole other game. I’ve watched a few streams of the six.”
“What was all that about when I got my quest?” Elijah asked.
Nicholas chuckled and shook his head. “The system is super stingy with its quests, and players never get them from interactions with other players.”
“Anyway, enough about Alastor. What about you? Would joining my party be something you are interested in?”
“I’m definitely not opposed to it, if you think you have a use for me. I don’t want to just be carried because I have a chance to get a rare relic or ascend to Celestial tier. I want to actually experience everything the game has to offer.” Elijah’s voice didn’t sound like his own as he spoke. He was never this direct in real life.
Nicholas reached a hand across the table. “In that case, let me be the first to welcome you to the party, partner.”
Elijah reached over and fist bumped the man, immediately seeing a notification requesting he join Nicholas’ party.
He accepted without a moment of hesitation.
